RPOV

After I ran out I couldn't think of anywhere to go, I felt mad, not a lissa and the others but at myself. I should never have thought I'd have my happily ever after not when there's a whole universe playing a big game against me, well you've won universe Rose Hathaway can't take it anymore as much as I want it I'm done fighting. I passed the gym and thought what my life would be if Mason was still alive, he'd probably punch me in the arm for giving up then give me some really cheesy advice that would be completely ridicules yet make perfect sense. What would he think about my baby?

He'd say "Ohh god not another Rose" but he would get Eddie to join in with a scheme on how to get my child into trouble with pranks just like we had when we were little. Despite his feelings for me I hope that he would have moved on and found a girl that was just right for him, as any girl would be very lucky to have him.

I flicked the switch on and the light spread across the room, chasing away the darkness. The gym reminded me so much of the one at St Vladimir's, sure courts was bigger but the equipment was still the same. Tattered and torn; the dummies hung from the pole, ropes for the obstacle course were tied back out of the way. They looked as though they hadn't been used in years unlike the ones at St Vladimir's that had been used only a few days before the attack by me and Dimitri.

Flashback

It was Sunday and everyone was taking a break from the field experiment, Lissa and Christian were off doing god knows what and Eddie was with all the other novices who thought it would be a good idea to have an all day party. I however decided to have a day to myself; I woke up this morning and felt like going for a run, when I got to the track the lights were on but the track was empty. Music blasted through my headphones as I alternated between sprinting and jogging around the track, the stars twinkled throughout the night. When I got to my bag to get a drink I saw a folded piece of white paper with my name written on, so I opened it.

'Rose come to the gym now. D'

Ok, last time I checked my training wasn't until later and I'm pretty sure it's not a romantic date as we were on the down low. So what could it possibly be? I picked up my bag and made my way across the field to the gym, surprisingly it was unlocked yet the whole room was pitch black,

"Hello" no answer, searching for the lights became useless.

"You know guys my birthday was last month so there is no need for a …umpf" I got knocked onto my ass by someone kicking me in the stomach. I stood up quite annoyed but crouched into the attach position, even though I couldn't see my attacker, so the question was; how could they see me?

"…Party. I was just going to say party. You know I understand Strigoi play dirty but this is plain mean." I got punched again but it didn't hold the same power as the kick, ok that means more than one attacker. Someone must

have tried to punch me because I felt something brush past my ear but I managed to dodge it, however these moves only annoyed me more I mean how is this fair?

"Right that's it!" I closed my eyes and concentrated on using my other senses, noises from the small quick breaths, right down to the creek of floorboards.

The smell of aftershave and perfume suddenly became overwhelming but it

was so noticeable that the all may as well have flashing signs above their heads. Someone came and then they fell, as did the next, then the next until no one was left and the lights came on, blinding me in the process. Looking around I saw the 12 guardians that dragged mine and Lissa's ass back to the academy, some were rubbing their shoulder or hip whilst others were still on the ground, the only ones still standing were Alberta, Dimitri and Yuri. And they were smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"See I told you she could do it" Dimitri said his eyes full of awe. Yuri came over and patted me on the back but then winced at the slight movement of his shoulder. I was a little bit confused right now as some of the guardians started to stand up.

"Can I ask what it is exactly?" Dimitri laughed and I'm pretty sure it was at me and not with me.

"That was a little exercise to see how you would react in a situation where you needed to rely on your other senses. Just your eye sight was gone so you needed to rely on sounds and smells around you in order to judge where your next attacker was. And let me say that you did not disappoint some of us thought you might not even last 30 seconds. Well done Rose."

The guardians began to leave, probably to fix themselves up, only Dimitri and Alberta remained and they looked impressed.

"Rose let me say that really was amazing for a trial run" said Alberta she started to move around the gym and setting up equipment.

"What do you mean trial run?" I asked, none of this is making any sense to

me.

"As you know your trials are coming up soon but you are already ahead of the curriculum. So I thought it would be a good idea to start training you more intensively by using more guardians and more complicated equipment, that's why there was twelve of us just, we thought it would be a good start to see how far you have come. Since you couldn't beat us all a few months ago we thought it would be a good starting point. Now let's get started"

And get started we did, they increased training every day, it included multiple obstacle courses all around campus often with guardians springing surprise fights on me whilst completing the course. Fights became more intense but I

was getting quicker at taking them all down, it now took me 7 and a half to take down all of them, Dimitri was always the longest fight lasting about 2 minutes.

Flashback ended

My last session before the battle was my favourite, all the guardians that weren't on duty set up a huge course all round campus. It tested all my skills, including how to protect a charge and paired guarding, me and Dimitri were paired up together and given another guardian as a pretend charge. Let's just say we both smashed the course and had fun while doing it.

I wish life could go back to that, the care free having fun part of being a novice. Now everyone expects so much and I just don't know what to do, how can I look after a child as well as run a society.