I woke up to Dimitri gently touching my shoulder, and saying my name.
I sat up, and pulled out the headphones.
"Are we here?" I asked.
He nodded, and I stood, slightly dizzy. I began to fall, and Dimitri caught me.
"Careful there."
I smiled. "Thanks comrade."
His hands lingered on my waist for a few seconds longer, then, seeming embarrassed, he pulled away.
We got off the plane, and I looked around. There was a few vans, and we began walking toward them.
Dimitri opened the door, and I slid in, him beside me.
He was driving, and I was shotgun.
The ride was silent, as we neared the apartments, I pointed to one. "There. That's where they are." Dimitri pulled over, and we quietly spilled out of the van.
We hid behind the van, and I began walking toward the apartment.
I knocked on the door, and a few moments later, Rose answered the door, and after a moment of looking me over, she recognized me as a fellow dhampir.
"Hi, my name is Alice. My car broke down, and I was looking for some help, maybe a phone to borrow?"
She stepped aside, and gestured me in. "One second."
"Thank you so much."
She disappeared around the corner, and arrived with a phone, and Lissa.
I stood. "You look vaguely familiar... have we met or something?" I feigned confusion.
Lissa looked into my eyes. "We have never met before, and you don't recognize us..."Her voice was soft and sweet, and before I could fall for it, I realized she was using compulsion.
I looked down at my shoes, and acted as if it had worked. I shrugged. "Hmm, maybe it was someone else."
Rose took a step forward and handed me the phone. I pulled a piece of paper out from my pocket, and dialed the number.
Dimitri answered promptly. "Hello?"
"Love, Dimitri, I need you to come get me. My car broke down, and I am borrowing a girl's phone to call you."
"Where is it?"
"Uhm, an apartment outside the college campus. I'll wait outside."
"Okay, I'll be there soon." Then, in a whisper. "Take her down."
"Love you!" I hung up.
Then, as I handed the phone to Rose, I grabbed her wrist and flipped her, easily putting her in a handcuffed position.
"Princess, you need to sit down. My name is Alice Hathaway, and I'm here to take you back to the academy."
Just then, Dimitri and a swarm of guardians entered the room.
"Alice, good job. Alberta, get her." Alberta came over to me, and took Rose from me, and stood her up.
The princess followed obediently as Rose struggled, and we took them out to the van.
The ride was quiet, save for Rose's struggles.
"Hey, why do you have the same name as me?!" She asked me.
I turned to her in the backseat. "I don't know why yet. Maybe we are related, or maybe it is a coincident. I will find out though."
"Are you a guardian?" She asked. "Or maybe my long lost sister?"
I laughed quietly. "No. I am a novice, and probably not your sister, unless your mother's name is Julia Hathaway. No, your mother's name is Janine. And I just found out I was a dhampir. Kind of weird."
I turned to Dimitri, who was driving, and spoke in Russian. "Skol'ko ya mogu yey skazat'?" (How much can I tell her?)
He answered in the same tongue. "Skol'ko khochesh'." (As much as you want.)
I turned back to Rose, and she looked confused. Of course, she didn't know Russian.
I turned to Lissa and spoke. "Vasilisa, may I call you Lissa?"
She nodded, and I spoke again. "You, uhm, I need to talk to you about something very important. In private later."
The rest of the ride was silent.