The Experiment Ch 1

I was bandaging Dimitris' hand when they came. Five Moroi all holding clipboards with a superior air around them.

"Dimitri Belikov? Rosemarie Hathaway?"

"Rose," I said, correcting him without meaning to, "What do you want?"

"Rose..." Dimitri warned, but I was already focused on his hand.

"I'm Kendrick Ivashkov. I'm the head of the psychology research department at the Court hospital," he paused like that was supposed to impress us, but all I noticed was that he was still standing over us as we sat on the mat. If he knew so much about psychology he should have known that standing over someone was not the best way to enter their confidence. "We are researching dhampir guarding partners, finding out what makes them work, how much stress the pair can handle together, things like that. When we asked around for partners that were the best fit for our tests, your names came up quite regularly."

"You could pick any pair of guardians and they would do the trick. Not just us. In fact, you seeking out a pair that would work best for the experiment could make it bias. It could become a confirmation bias experiment."

"You know about psychology."

"My best friend is depressed, of course I know."

"I see, well, I assure you this test will not turn out that way.

"The headmistress has already said she will support the experiment fully. She has already been briefed about what will happen. We will need you to come with us."

"I'm sorry," I said, finally looking at him, "I don't remember giving consent to being a part of the experiment."

"The headmistress has already given us the consent we need."

"She has no right!"

"She does. You are a minor placed under her control. Dimitri is an employee, that holds him to her service. Please, come with us."

I looked at Dimitri for help, but he was shaking his head, "If she gave consent we need to do it."

Before he finished, I was already getting up and heading towards Kirova's office, "You have got to be kidding me," I said, bursting through the door, "I don't want to do it."

"Doesn't matter, Rose. I fully support what the queen is doing. I'm sure she has her reasons."

"You don't even know her reasons!" I said, as I started to pace the floor.

"There are no laws about what a dhampir can't go through in an experiment. They could water board us, and we wouldn't be able to do anything about it! Do you understand that?"

"I promise you that there will be no water boarding in this experiment," Kendrick said coming in with Dimitri and the other Moroi.

"Oh no, you seem way to nice to do that. I can tell because you barged in unannounced and basically said, 'kay, you're doing this whether you like it or not'. You did however say that you were going to see how much stress we could handle which points to emotional abuse."

Everyone was silent. I had hit the nail on the head, "You have got to be kidding me."

"You two are one of the only pair of partners that would cover everything we want to accomplish. You're strong guardians, a novice and a guardian, a boy and a girl, a twenty four year old and seventeen year old. Not to mention the...new trauma you've been placed under."

"...Mason. You want to experiment on me using psychological torture when I've just seen one of my friends die a violent death?" no answer, "You all are sick."

"Rosemarie," Kirova said, "You and Dimitri will do the experiment."

"Why?!" I screamed.

"Because...I think it will be good for you both. It will put stress on your relationship and make it stronger."

I laughed, "If you make our relationship any stronger we'd be in bed together."

"Good."

I backed up a few feet, "That did not have the desired effect."

"The experiment," Kendrick said, "Would require you both to share a bed to see if you could take the stress of sharing a bedroom."

"Of course," Kirova said, "The law of the land still stands, and there would be no sexual encounters."

"Yes, of course."

"You are trying to torture us," I said, sitting down on the couch by Kirova's desk.

"Roza," Dimitri said, sitting by me, "There's no way to get out of this. We just have to do it."

"You'll be filmed around the clock for results. You'll share a house, a bed, and money. You'll pay Kirova for your rent, food, water, wifi, and lighting. You'll share responsibilities. Rose will still go to school. Dimitri will still work as a guardian. You may continue your mentoring relationship if you want."

"So not much will change except housing and money," I said to myself.

"Not exactly." Kendrick said, "There will be another change."

"Kids?!" Lissa said as we went through the cafeteria line.

"You heard me. A thirteen year old girl named Mary. A seven year old named Liz. A four year old named Alec and a two year old named Charlie."

"Four kids?! Dear Lord, Rose! Anything else?"

"The thirteen year old has a rare genetic disorder called CIPA, which stands for Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis."

"What the heck is that?"

"It means she can't feel pain. The seven year old has leukemia. The four year old was burnt in a fire that killed his parents and still suffers from it. The two year old has a pervasive developmental disorder."

"They're giving you these kids? Those kids need-"

"A family, Liss. They need a family and because of things they can not control they will never get one. These disorders or diseases or situations make them undesirable to any other couple, but the researchers want to put stress on Dimitri and I so they gave them to us."

Liss studied me for a second, then seemed to decide on something and went to sit down at our table where Christian was sitting.

"What? What are you thinking?" I said, watching Liss give Chris a peck on the cheek and start eating.

"Nothing, I just..."

"What?"

"I think you're going to love these kids."

"Lissa...it's just for two months. Then I'll never see them again."

"You'll see. I promise."

The next day, Lissa woke up early with me and Dimtri to get the kids and settle into the house.

While Dimitri and I were going to get used to a lot, they were going to have to go through more. They were coming from a small orphanage that taught them into a strange world. Sure, they were all dhampirs and training to be guardians, but in the end they were just kids and this was a lot of change in a short manner of time. I couldn't help but think that this experiment extended to them as well.

When we entered Kirova's office, they were all sitting on the couch. Two of them turned around, the seven year old and the four year old. Liz rushed towards us with enthusiasm, her hair (more likely her wig) flying behind her. She had pale, sickly skin and bright blue eyes. Her chubby face was framed by dark curls. She looked like an angel.

Shit, Lissa was right. I would love her.

"Miss Kirdoova says you are my new mommy! Hi, Mommy!"

"She's not your mother, Liz." Mary said, not looking at me. All I could see of her was her long brown hair. So this was the girl who didn't feel pain?

Alec had made his way off the couch and slowly towards us. From what I could see, nothing was really burnt except for his neck which was a slight pink in the back reaching into his shirt. His hair around there had been shaved off so it wouldn't aggravate it.

He smiled at me and waved as Liz moved onto Dimitri, jumping up into his arms. I made my way towards him and the couch and he grabbed my hand as I reached him.

"This is Charlie," he said, looking over the back of the couch at the toddler sticking his tongue out dumbly, "And that's Mary."

"Hi, Mary. I'm Rose."

"Don't expect me to call you 'Mom'."

"I don't expect you to do anything except what you have to."

"If that's really what you mean than we should have no problems."

Kirova handed me a file for each child, "Follow me."

Dimitri, Lissa, the kids, and I moved out of the office and to a small house that was built between the elementary school and high school. Liz clung to Dimitri's back trying to get him to talk but failing. I stayed back with Alec, who was having trouble walking.

Mary seemed to have pity on both Alec and I and said, "Bend down and let him get on your back, just don't hold onto him and he'll be fine. I did as she suggested and we were able to move a lot faster.

Entering the small two floor house, Kirova pointed to a stack of files, "Those hold the houses info and cost for everything. Each child is able to get their own room. The master bedroom is the last door at the end of the hallway. Two and a half baths and a living room with a kitchen. You all should be set. Your stuff has already been moved in. Call me if you have any questions."

Lissa stayed all day, helping Dimitri and I get accomodated to the kids and the house. She stayed until it was bedtime for the kids and left us to take care of getting them ready.

With Charlie on my hip, I entered Mary's room, "Bedtime. Get ready for bed."

She looked at me, "Is there any way I can turn that off?" she asked, nodding towards the corner of the room. I stepped further into the room to look and found a camera in the upper left corner of her room.

"I don't think so."

"So I'll be videotaped whenever I'm changing."

"I'm afraid so."

"...Super." she said, then lifted up her shirt, "I need you to chek my back for any bruises that look dangerous besides the ordinary bruises from training."

There were bruises, but none of them looked any different from the ones I had on my back, "Looks good."

"Any scratches?"

"No."

She lowered her shirt and came towards me, "Do I feel like I'm running a fever?"

I put the back of my hand on her forehead, "No. You're fine."

"Thanks. Looks like you're not totally worthless."

"Um, thanks?"

"You need to go change Alec's bandages for him before he goes to sleep. You have to have him lay on his stomach with the bandages off for five mintes to let the burns breathe, then you can bandage them back up."

"Okay, thank you."

I went to Alec's room and he smiled at me, "Hey sweetheart. We need to redo your bandages, okay?"

He nodded and I put Charlie down on the ground t help him take off his shirt. He had bandages all along his back to his thighs, no wonder he couldn't walk. I had undid the bandagesand had him lay on his stomach for a while.

"It hurts," he said.

"I'm sorry, just a few more minutes," I said, picking up Charlie from his spot on the ground. Part of his developmental disorder meant he couldn't even crawl, which was good I guess, it kept him from doing something he wasn't supposed to.

When the time was up, I redid the bandages and tucked him in.

"Night, Mommy," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

I was so startled by the name it took me a moment to realize he meant me, "Night, baby."

I was about to turn off the lights when he yelled, "No! Lights on! Then the monsters can't come."

So I left them on and walked to Charlie's room, changing him into pajamas and laying him in bed since he was already asleep.

Closing the door with a baby monitor in hand I ran straight into Dimitri, "Sorry."

He smiled at me, "Liz won't go to bed before she sees you."

"Okay, I'll go see her now."

"Then we need to go downstairs and talk about money."

"Sounds like fun."

Entering Liz's room, I saw that I was right, her wig was now sitting on a head manicin on her bedside table, "Mommy, I need a hug before I go to sleep."

I smiled and gave her one, "Night, Angel."

"Night, Mommy!" she said as I turned off the lights.

I was so not ready to be a mother.

I made my way downstairs, trying to get that word out of my head, but failing. "What's going on?" I asked Dimitri, sitting down beside him.

"I think you're right about them torturing us. There's no way we can pay for everything. Medical bills, food, rent, and lighting take up our whole income. I'll have to start working sixteen hours a day to pay for everything."

"What?! No! That's ridiculous."

"That's what we need to do. Otherwise we can't pay for everything."

"You do realize that there are only twenty-four hours in a day, right? You work for sixteen hours then you have to come home and try to get enough sleep to do it again the next day. Let me take some of those hours."

"No," he said, sternly, "You have school. Despite what most people think, that takes up a lot of time. I'm also going to need you to take care of the kids, even if I don't take the hours I won't be here when they get home from school. You'll need to take most of the weight."

I sat there for a second, not really knowing what to say. Dimitri looked at me with frustration and pity, covering his head with his hands, "You shouldn't have to deal with this. You're seventeen."

"Doesn't matter," I said, "I'm dealing with it now. I want to help you. What's the point of having us if the kids never see one of us?"

"What's the point in having us when neither of us are around to take care of them?"

"Okay, so I'll take two hours off you back."

"Rose..."

"What?! It's two hours!"

"That's two hours away from school or the kids or Lissa or training or having a life."

"You won't have a life if you do this."

"You're extroverted. You love people. I'd don't. I'm asking you to take care of people. It's what you do best. Even with the illnesses, you know more than I do about them. You'll know what to do with them.

"Liz took off her wig and I had no idea what to do with her. You came in and checked Mary without a second thought. Charlie was attached to your hip all day and he was fine. I try to pick him up and he cries. You're the best one to do this and I'm not going to take that away from them.

"Me taking sixteen hours instead of twelve will allow us to handle the cost of everything as long as we don't need anything else."

"What if one of the kids need to go to the infirmary?" I asked, interrupting his speech.

Dimitri was silent for a while, "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

"Great."

We were silent for a while, then I looked at him, "doctors don't usually do appointments during the weekend, I need you to take one day off of work after school finishes so we can take them to appointments together. I won't do that alone."

"Deal."

"Will you have to work weekends?"

"Yes. To pay for the emergency trips I guess I'll have to make those days sixteen hours too."

"Could we live off of twelve hours?"

"...Yes, unless they need something else."

"Take that time off. They need to know you're there for them."

"...Until we need the money, we can do that."

"If they have anything big, recitals, plays, or whatever they do, I want you there. Even if you're guarding, they need to know that you saw."

"I'll ask Kirova when something like that comes up."

"Have we covered everything?"

"I think so."

"Bedtime for the parents," I said, rushing towards the bedroom.

Dimitri laughed from behind me at my excitement to go to bed.

Maybe we would be okay.