Vampire Academy Chapter 4

FOURWE DIDNT HAVE THE ENTIRE commons attention this time, thank beau ideal, to a greater extent everyw hither(predicate) a few passing people had block upped to st atomic number 18.What the hell do you read youre doing? guideed Doll Girl, blue eye wide and sparkling with fury. Up skinny now, I was able to masturbate a better look at her. She had the same slim build as most Moroi save non the usual height, which was partly what made her look so young. The tiny purple dress she wore was gorgeous reminding me that I was indeed dressed in thrift-shop prevail tho closer inspection guide me to think it was a source knockoff.I crossed my coat of arms across my chest. Are you deep in thought(p), little fille? The elementary schools over on west campus.A pink skin rash sp file over her cheeks. Dont you ever touch me again. You screw with me, and Ill screw you beneficial back.Oh man, what an opening that was. Only a head shake from Lissa stopped me from unleashing any(pr enominal) number of hilarious comebacks. Instead, I opted for simple brute force, so to speak.And if you pile with either of us again, Ill break you in half. If you dont believe me, go ask Dawn Yarrow ab verboten what I did to her arm in ninth grade. You were probably at nap time when it happened.The incident with Dawn hadnt been iodin of my finer moments. I h mavenstly hadnt expected to break any finger cymbals when I shoved her into a tree. Still, the incident had given me a dangerous reputation, in addition to my smartass whiz. The story had gained legendary status, and I cargond to imagine that it was silence being told around campfires late at night. Judging from the look on this female childs face, it was.One of the patrolling staff members strolled by right then, casting suspicious eyeball at our little meeting. Doll Girl backed off, taking Aarons arm. get under singles skin on, she said.Hey, Aaron, I said cheer amply, remembering he was on that point. Nice to gai n vigor you again.He gave me a quick nod and an uneasy smile, exactly as the girl dragged him off. Same old Aaron. He might be nice and cute, scarcely aggressive he was non.I turned to Lissa. You okay? She nodded. Any mentation who I just threatened to beat up? no. a clue. I started to lead her toward the lunch line, simply she shook her head at me. Gotta go weigh the feeders.A funny liveing settled over me. Id gotten so used to being her primary blood source that the eyehot of returning to the Morois normal r bulgeine seemed strange. In fact, it almost bo in that respectd me. It shouldnt piddle. free-and-easy nutriments were part of a Morois deportment, close tothing I hadnt been able to offer her while animateness on our own. It had been an inconvenient mock upuation, wiz that left me weak on nutriment days and her weak on the days in between. I should require been happy she would get some normality.I forced a smile. Sure.We walked into the feeding way, which sat adjacent to the cafeteria. It was set up with broken cubicles, dividing the rooms space in an effort to offer privacy. A dark-haired Moroi woman greeted us at the entrance and glanced down at her clipboard, flipping by dint of the pages. Finding what she needed, she made a few notes and then gestured for Lissa to follow. Me she gave a puzzled look, solely she didnt stop me from entering.She led us to one of the cubicles w present a plump, middle-aged woman sat flick through a magazine. She looked up at our approach and smiled. In her eyes, I could see the dreamy, glazed-over look most feeders had. Shed probably neared her quota for the day, judging from how high she appeared to be.Recognizing Lissa, her smile grew. Welcome back, Princess.The greeter left us, and Lissa sat down in the contain beside the woman. I sensed a feeling of discomfort in her, a little different from my own. This was weird for her excessively it had been a long time. The feeder, however, had no such rese rvations. An eager look crossed her face the look of a junkie some to get her next fix.Disgust poured into me. It was an old instinct, one that had been drilled in over the years. Feeders were essential to Moroi life. They were humans who willingly volunteered to be a regular blood source, humans from the fringes of society who gave t successor lives over to the out of sight gentleman of the Moroi. They were surface cared for and given all the comforts they could need. hardly at the heart of it, they were drug users, addicts to Moroi saliva and the rush it offered with each bite. The Moroi and guardians looked down on this dependency, even though the Moroi couldnt go for survived oppositewise unless they took victims by force. Hypocrisy at its finest.The feeder tilted her head, giving Lissa full access to her neck. Her skin there was marked with scars from years of daily bites. The infrequent feedings Lissa and I had through had unploughed my neck clear my bite marks nev er lasted to a greater extent than a day or so.Lissa leaned forward, fangs biting into the feeders yielding flesh. The woman closed her eyes, qualification a soft sound of plea certainly. I swallowed, watching Lissa drink. I couldnt see any blood, but I could imagine it. A surge of sense grew in my chest longing. Jealousy. I averted my eyes, staring at the floor. Mentally, I scolded myself.Whats ill-use with you? why should you vault it? You besides did it once every day. You arent addicted, not want this. And you dont want to be.But I couldnt help myself, couldnt help the way I matte up as I recalled the bliss and rush of a vampires bite.Lissa immaculate and we returned to the commons, moving toward the lunch line. It was short, since we notwithstanding had fifteen minutes left, and I strolled up and began to load my plate with french fries and some rounded, bite-size objects that looked vaguely a the same(p) chicken nuggets. Lissa only grabbed a yogurt. Moroi needed foo d, as dhampirs and humans did, but rarely had an appetite after drinking blood.So howd classes go? I asked.She shrugged. Her face was bright with color and life now. Okay. Lots of stares. A destiny of stares. Lots of questions nearly where we were. Whispering.Same here, I said. The attendant checked us out, and we walked toward the planks. I gave Lissa a sidelong glance. You okay with that? They arent bformer(a)ing you, are they?No its fine. The emotions advance through the bond contradicted her words. Knowing I could feel that, she tried to modify the subject by handing me her class schedule. I looked it over.1st stopover Russian 22nd Period American Colonial Literature tertiary Period Basics of Elemental Control4th Period antediluvian patriarch Poetry-Lunch 5th Period Animal Behavior and Physiology6th Period Advanced Calculus7th Period Moroi Culture 4eighth Period Slavic ArtNerd, I said. If you were in Stupid mathematics like me, wed have the same afternoon schedule. I sto pped walking. Why are you in uncomplicated basics? Thats a sophomore class.She eyeball me. Because seniors take specialized classes.We fell silent at that. both Moroi wielded basal supernatural. It was one of the things that differentiated living vampires from Strigoi, the dead vampires. Moroi viewed magic as a gift. It was part of their souls and connected them to the world.A long time ago, they had used their magic openly averting natural disasters and helping with things like food and weewee production. They didnt need to do that as frequently anymore, but the magic was allay in their blood. It burned in them and made them want to reach out to the earth and wield their indicator. Academies like this existed to help Moroi control the magic and elate how to do increasingly complex things with it. Students also had to learn the rules that surrounded magic, rules that had been in regularise for centuries and were strictly enforced.All Moroi had a small ability in each ele ment. When they got to be around our age, students specialized when one element grew stronger than the others earth, water, fire, or air. Not specializing was like not going through puberty.And Lissa?well, Lissa hadnt specialized yet.Is Ms. Carmack keep mum teaching that? What shed say?She says shes not worried. She thinks itll come.Did you did you tell her about Lissa shook her head. No. Of course not.We let the subject drop. It was one we belief about a lot but rarely spoke of.We started moving again, scanning the tables as we decided where to sit. A few pairs of eyes looked up at us with blatant curiosity.Lissa came a nearby voice. Glancing over, we aphorism Natalie waving at us. Lissa and I exc falled looks. Natalie was separate of Lissas cousin in the way Victor was sort of her uncle, but wed never hung out with her all that much.Lissa shrugged and headed in that direction. Why not?I followed reluctantly. Natalie was nice but also one of the most putdownable people I kne w. Most royals at the school enjoyed a sorting of celebrity status, but Natalie had never fit in with that crowd. She was too plain, too uninterested in the politics of the Academy, and too clueless to real(a)ly pilot them anyway.Natalies friends eyed us with a quiet curiosity, but she didnt hold back. She threw her arms around us. Like Lissa, she had jade-green eyes, but her hair was jet black, like Victors had been before his disease grayed it.Youre back I knew you would be Everyone said you were at peace(p) forever, but I never believed that. I knew you couldnt stay away. Whyd you go? in that location are so many stories about why you left Lissa and I exc take careed glances as Natalie prattled on. Camille said one of you got pregnant and went off to have an abortion, but I knew that couldnt be true. Someone else said you went off to hang out with Roses mom, but I figured Ms. Kirova and Daddy wouldnt have been so upset if youd turned up there. Did you last we might get to be roommates? I was talking to?On and on she chatted, flashing her fangs as she spoke. I smiled well-manneredly, letting Lissa deal with the onslaught until Natalie asked a dangerous question.Whatd you do for blood, Lissa?The table regarded us questioningly. Lissa froze, but I immediately jumped in, the lie coming effortlessly to my lips.Oh, its easy. There are a lot of humans who want to do it.Really? asked one of Natalies friends, wide-eyed.Yup. You find ?em at parties and stuff. Theyre all feel for a fix from something, and they dont genuinely get that a vampires doing it most are already so wasted they dont remember anyway. My already vague exposit dried up, so I simply shrugged in as aplomb and confident a way as I could manage. It wasnt like any of them knew any better. Like I said, its easy. Almost easier than with our own feeders.Natalie accepted this and than launched into some other topic. Lissa shot me a grateful look.Ignoring the conversation again, I took in the old faces, trying to figure out who was hanging out with whom and how power had shifted within the school. Mason, sitting with a group of novices, caught my eye, and I smiled. Near him, a group of Moroi royals sat, laughing over something. Aaron and the blond girl sat there too.Hey, Natalie, I said, turning around and cutting her off. She didnt seem to notice or mind. Whos Aarons new girlfriend?Huh? Oh. Mia Rinaldi. Seeing my blank look, she asked, Dont you remember her?Should I? Was she here when we left?Shes ever so been here, said Natalie. Shes only a year junior than us.I shot a questioning look at Lissa, who only shrugged.Why is she so pissed off at us? I asked. Neither of us know her.I dont know, answered Natalie. mayhap shes jealous about Aaron. She wasnt much of anybody when you guys left. She got really popular really fast. She isnt royal or anything, but once she started dating Aaron, she Okay, thanks, I interrupted. It doesnt really My eyes lifted up from Natalies face t o Jesse Zekloss, just as he passed by our table. Ah, Jesse. Id forgotten about him. I liked flirting with Mason and some of the other novices, but Jesse was in an entirely different category. You flirted with the other guys simply for the sake of flirting. You flirted with Jesse in the hopes of getting semi-naked with him. He was a royal Moroi, and he was so hot, he should have worn a warning flammable sign. He met my eyes and grinned.Hey Rose, welcome back. You still breaking hearts?Are you volunteering?His grin widened. Lets hang out sometime and find out. If you ever get parole.He unbroken walking, and I watched him admiringly. Natalie and her friends stared at me in awe. I might not be a god in the Dimitri sense, but with this group, Lissa and I were gods or at least former gods of another nature.Oh my gawd, exclaimed one girl. I didnt remember her name. That was Jesse.Yes, I said, smiling. It certainly was.I wish I looked like you, she added with a sigh.Their eyes fell on me . Technically, I was half-Moroi, but my looks were human. Id blended in well with humans during our time away, so much so that Id barely thought about my appearance at all. Here, among the slim and small-chested Moroi girls, certain features meaning my larger breasts and more defined hips stood out. I knew I was bewitching, but to Moroi boys, my body was more than just pretty it was sexy in a risqu? way. Dhampirs were an exotic conquest, a novelty all Moroi guys treasured to try.It was ironic that dhampirs had such an allure here, because limber Moroi girls looked very much like the super-skinny runway models so popular in the human world. Most humans could never reach that ideal skinniness, just as Moroi girls could never look like me. Everyone wanted what she couldnt have.Lissa and I got to sit together in our shared out afternoon classes but didnt do much talking. The stares shed mentioned certainly did follow us, but I found that the more I talked to people, the more they warmed up. Slowly, gradually, they seemed to remember who we were, and the novelty though not the fascinate of our crazy stunt wore off.Or maybe I should say, they remembered who I was. Because I was the only one talking. Lissa stared straight ahead, listening but neither acknowledging nor participating in my attempts at conversation. I could feel solicitude and sadness burbly out of her.All right, I told her when classes finally ended. We stood outside the school, and I was fully aware that in doing so, I was already breaking the terms of my parallelism with Kirova. Were not staying here, I told her, looking around the campus uneasily. Im going to find a way to get us out.You think we could really do it a second time? Lissa asked quietly.Absolutely. I spoke with certainty, again relieved she couldnt read my feelings. Escaping the first time had been tricky enough. Doing it again would be a real bitch, not that I couldnt still find a way.You really would, wouldnt you? She smi led, more to herself than to me, like shed thought of something funny. Of course you would. Its just, well? She sighed. I dont know if we should go. Maybe maybe we should stay.I blinked in astonishment. What? Not one of my more silverish answers, but the lift out I could manage. Id never expected this from her.I saw you, Rose. I saw you talking to the other novices during class, talking about practice. You miss that.Its not worth it, I argued. Not if?not if you? I couldnt finish, but she was right. Shed read me. I had missed the other novices. Even some of the Moroi. But there was more to it than just that. The weight of my inexperience, how much Id fallen behind, had been developing all day.It might be better, she countered. I havent had as many?you know, things hazard in a while. I havent mat like anyone was following or watching us.I didnt say anything to that. Before wed left the Academy, shed always felt like someone was following her, like she was being hunted. Id never seen indicate to support that, but I had once heard one of our teachers go on and on about the same sort of thing. Ms. Karp. Shed been a pretty Moroi, with deep auburn air and high cheekbones. And I was pretty sure shed been crazy.You never know whos watching, she used to say, walking briskly around the schoolroom as she shut all the blinds. Or whos following you. Best to be safe. Best to always be safe. Wed snickered amongst ourselves because thats what students do around eccentric and paranoiac teachers. The thought of Lissa acting like her bothered me.Whats wrong? Lissa asked, noticing that I was lost in thought.Huh? Nothing. Just thinking. I sighed, trying to balance my own wants with what was best for her. Liss, we can stay, I guess?but there are a few conditions.This made her laugh. A Rose ultimatum, huh?Im sedate. Words I didnt say very much. I want you to stay away from the royals. Not like Natalie or anything but you know, the others. The power players. Camille. Carly. That group.Her amusement turned to astonishment. Are you serious?Sure. You never liked them anyway.You did.No. Not really. I liked what they could offer. All the parties and stuff.And you can go without that now? She looked skeptical.Sure. We did in Portland.Yeah, but that was different. Her eyes stared off, not really focused on any one thing. Here?here Ive got to be a part of that. I cant avoid it.The hell you do. Natalie waistband out of that stuff.Natalie isnt going to inherit her familys title, she retorted. Ive already got it. Ive got to be involved, start do connections. Andre Liss, I groaned. You arent Andre. I couldnt believe she was still comparing herself to her brother.He was always involved in all that stuff.Yeah, well, I snapped back, hes dead now.Her face hardened. You know, sometimes you arent very nice.You dont keep me around to be nice. You want nice, there are a dozen sheep in there who would rip each others throats to get in groovy with the Dragomir princess. You keep me around to tell you the truth, and here it is Andres dead. Youre the heir now, and youre going to deal with it however you can. But for now, that means staying away from the other royals. Well just lie low. Coast through the middle. Get involved in that stuff again, Liss, and youll drive yourself?Crazy? she supplied when I didnt finish.Now I looked away. I didnt mean?Its okay. she said, after a moment. She sighed and touched my arm. Fine. Well stay and well keep out of all that stuff. Well ?coast through the middle like you want. Hang out with Natalie, I guess.To be perfectly honest, I didnt want any of that. I wanted to go to all the royal parties and wild drunken festivities like wed done before. Wed kept out of that life for years until Lissas parents and brother died. Andre should have been the one to inherit her familys title, and hed certainly acted like it. Handsome and outgoing, hed charmed everyone he knew and had been a leader in all the royal cliques and clubs that existed on campus. After his death, Lissa had felt it was her family duty to take his place.Id gotten to join that world with her. It was easy for me, because I didnt really have to deal with the politics of it. I was a pretty dhampir, one who didnt mind getting into trouble and pulling crazy stunts. I became a novelty they liked having me around for the fun of it.Lissa had to deal with other matters. The Dragomirs were one of the twelve ruling families. Shed have a very powerful place in Moroi society, and the other young royals wanted to get in good with her. Fake friends tried to schmooze her and get her to team up against other people. The royals could bribe and backstab in the same breath and that was just with each other. To dhampirs and non-royals, they were completely unpredictable.That cruel culture had eventually taken its toll on Lissa. She had an open, harming nature, one that I loved, and I hated to see her upset and emphasise by royal games. Shed grown fragil e since the accident, and all the parties in the world werent worth seeing her hurt.All right then, I said finally. Well see how this goes. If anything goes wrong anything at all we leave. No arguments.She nodded.Rose?We both looked up at Dimitris looming form. I hoped he hadnt heard the part about us leaving.Youre late for practice, he said evenly. Seeing Lissa, he gave a polite nod. Princess.As he and I walked away, I worried about Lissa and wondered if staying here was the right thing to do. I felt nothing alarming through the bond, but her emotions spiked all over the place. Confusion. Nostalgia. Fear. Anticipation. Strong and powerful, they flooded into me.I felt the pull just before it happened. It was exactly like what had happened on the plane her emotions grew so strong that they sucked me into her head before I could stop them. I could now see and feel what she did.She walked slowly around the commons, toward the small Russian Orthodox chapel that served most of the scho ols religious needs. Lissa had always go to mass regularly. Not me.I had a standing arrangement with God Id agree to believe in him barely so long as he let me sleep in on Sundays.But as she went inside, I could feel that she wasnt there to pray. She had another purpose, one I didnt know about. Glancing around, she verified that neither the priest nor any worshippers were close by. The place was empty. move through a doorway in the back of the chapel, she climbed a minute set of creaky stairs up into the attic. Here it was dark and dusty. The only light came through a large stained-glass window that fractured the faint impertinence of sunrise into tiny, multicolored gems across the floor.I hadnt known until that moment that this room was a regular retreat for Lissa. But now I could feel it, feel her memories of how she used to escape here to be alone and to think. The anxiety in her ebbed away ever so slightly as she took in the familiar surroundings. She climbed up into the wi ndow seat and leaned her head back against its side, momently entranced by the silence and the light.Moroi could stand some sunlight, unlike the Strigoi, but they had to limit their exposure. Sitting here, she could almost pretend she was in the sun, protected by the glasss dilution of the rays.Breathe, just breathe, she told herself. Itll be okay. Rose will take care of everything.She believed that passionately, like always, and relaxed further.Then a low voice spoke from the darkness.You can have the Academy but not the window seat.She sprang up, heart pounding. I shared her anxiety, and my own pulse quickened. Whos there?A moment later, a habitus rose from behind a stack of crates, just outside her battleground of vision. The figure stepped forward, and in the poor lighting, familiar features materialized. Messy black hair. wan blue eyes. A perpetually sardonic smirk.Christian Ozera.Dont worry, he said. I wont bite. Well, at least not in the way youre afraid of. He chuckled a t his own joke.She didnt find it funny. She had completely forgotten about Christian. So had I.No matter what happened in our world, a few basic truths about vampires remained the same. Moroi were alive Strigoi were undead. Moroi were mortal Strigoi were immortal. Moroi were born Strigoi were made.And there were two ways to amaze a Strigoi. Strigoi could forcibly turn humans, dhampirs, or Moroi with a single bite. Moroi tempted by the promise of immortality could become Strigoi by choice if they purposely killed another mortal while feeding. Doing that was considered dark and twisted, the greatest of all sins, both against the Moroi way of life and nature itself. Moroi who chose this dark path lost their ability to connect with elemental magic and other powers of the world. That was why they could no longer go into the sun.This is what had happened to Christians parents. They were Strigoi.