With An Addition (VA Fanfic)

Going on

DPOV
Sunday came and so did Church. Rose and Jenée were present in the few pews ahead of the last one I sat in. I barely listened to the priest as I reflected. My kill count had gone up from five to six just before Ivan had been killed and it was taking its toll.
Rose had been back at the Academy a month now, it had been three months since Ivan hadn't returned, and five months since my extra kill. It never got easier. The suffering could be pushed aside for a little while during which time other issues took priority, but in quiet times such as these there was no avoiding it, absolutely no avoiding it. Killing a Strigoi was a necessary evil in our world. The one we killed might not have their soul with them but they had at one point and it was still hard to accept you were ending their continued survival as a twisted creature, but they were a creature nonetheless and still some semblance of alive.

Six pairs of eyes appeared before me, all connected by their faces' chalky-whiteness and their red rimmed eyes. As the light faded from those red eyes once more I saw the evil leave and their former selves shoot me a look of gratitude and relief. At least, that's what I kept telling myself I saw each time my stake pierced another heart.

My curiosity got the better of me when I was hit by the question of whether or not that was how Rose coped with her kills. My head snapped up and my eyes trained in on Rose's back. Her posture stiffened before she slyly removed her messy bun, freeing her curls, and shook her hair and shoulders as if to say: I know you're watching and I can't believe you have to ask.
She knew, she always knew what I was thinking. She didn't even have to lay her eyes on me to know where I was, to know when I was looking at her, to know when I wanted to ask her something.
I moved and so did she; she moved and so did I. We'd almost always been this way and it still scared me. How long would it be before someone realised? How long would it be before suspicions were raised? How long would it be before we were as obvious to the outsider as I often felt we were?
Not that I cared... well, for my sake, anyway. I was already going to hell because of my love for her, because was in love with Rose Hathaway. No, I didn't care about being caught because it would spell the end of my career, I was worried because it would spell the end of hers before her career had even started and I couldn't let that happen to her- I wouldn't let it happen. She had Jenée to look after; she couldn't afford to not become the kick-ass guardian I knew she would be.

Again, after mass Rose stayed back. Rose shooed Lissa off. Jenée left with her Aunty Lissa. Once more, I wondered what it was that had Rose intrigued that she stayed behind. This made three Sundays out of four and I hoped Father Andrew was providing Rose with the guidance I was failing to.

The Rose I had met as a senior of St Vladimir's middle-school had attended mass, though not because she believed. Now, however, she listened to services with avid attention, even when I accidentally distracted her. Now, she hung off Father Andrew's every word as it could provide some kind of answer, some explanation of the meaning of life. Sermons and readings had her enraptured these days. What had happened while she had been on "vacation" with Lissa and Jenée? I couldn't imagine this significant change in Rose's beliefs was brought about simply by her kills.

By Thursday morning's training I had a summary of Rose's quiz results ready to hand over to her. It would make her happy, I was sure. She had achieved, though when it came to guarding I knew nothing less than 200 percent was good enough for her... and even then...

I had already turned in a grade report to Petrov and she was impressed. Impressed but not entirely... happy... comforted, reassured, pleased. I'd shrugged the impressed look off with the passing comment of the advantages of progressive assessments. Petrov had let her amusement show, agreeing with me.
Though she wasn't entirely happy with Rose's 84.982 percent. It was in the highest rungs of a distinction, a GPA of 6! What more could Petrov expect of Rose? The Senior had eight subjects, nearly no sleep, a daughter, at least 5 hours training a day with me, and someone else's thoughts and emotions bombarding her night and day.
I was more than proud of Rose's mark, so what more did Petrov expect! A lot, apparently. Because I was handed a folder filled with the exact papers she had missed- exams and assignments.