Chapter 5

…

Now that wasn't something I expected. I opened my mouth to protest but nothing came out. I closed my mouth almost instantly, refusing to appear like a gawking idiot. I looked up into his eyes.

Damn.

How do people know these things? Is it that obvious?!

"He didn't exactly tell me…but, I knew."

"I am seriously considering punching your lights out right now." Peter ignored me.

"He was always like…" He paused, choosing the words, "Hurt her and die."

"He actually said that?"

"No."

I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "It's the eyes." He pointed out.

"How do you know Dimitri anyway?" I asked, although I tried to hide it, annoyance dripped from my mouth.

"Oh, Dimka and I go way back." He chuckled, thinking it was funny. But I wasn't amused. Oh, if my blood wasn't at boiling point before, it was now. Peter analysed my expression.

"It's a nick-"

"I know what it is." I snapped turning around to leave, but he stopped me by grabbing onto my arm.

"Look, Rose…" he pulled me back "Dimitri isn't with Tanya."

"You mean Tasha?"

"Whatever, he isn't with her he's-"

"Rose?"

Peter instantly let go of me and took a step back. I turned my head around to see Lissa standing in the open doorway. I really, really, really, hoped that she hadn't heard what we were squabbling about.

"What are you guys doing in here?" she asked.

"Discussing." Peter blurted.

"Discussing…?" Lissa released her hand from the door handle.

"My…my practical exam next week." I choked out.

"Yes. Rose's practical exam…next week." We were really killing ourselves here.

Lissa didn't believe us. I felt that. Her suspicion grew as she looked back and forth between the two of us.

"Let's go." I rushed forwards and grabbed her hand, leading her out into the hallway.

"Rose…I…"

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

She was lying but I wasn't in the mood to listen or know what she was thinking. The only thing that was ringing through my head at that moment was Peter's words.

Dimitri Isn't with Tasha. Dimitri Isn't with Tasha. Dimitri Isn't with Tasha.

That was good news at least. But that still doesn't change the fact that he's not here. I would know by now if it hadn't been for Lissa. Damn her. She always stops me one way or another.

"We only have twenty minutes of our break left." She broke the silence. Oh god.

"Look Lissa…" I stopped her on the way to the open grounds where everyone seemed to be sitting and laughing happily. "I can't…" her face lit up suddenly.

"Christian!" poo face popped out of nowhere. Lissa rushed to his arms. Not caring that there were people everywhere, they continued their make out session. I almost gagged at the sight, and I think a couple of hovering guys around me did as well. Did they have no consideration at all? What the hell was happening to the world?

After a few minutes of saliva swishing and lip locking I decided I had been forgotten about. I headed to the library pissed and annoyed. Yes, the library. The last place on earth anyone would find me. You have to admit, I was better then being out there with them.

The silence that welcomed me was immediate and I sighed in relief. I was afraid that the sounds of their kissing would begin to echo in my head, and I was glad it wasn't. The librarian gave me a weird look as I passed her by in the lobby. She sat behind the counter, curly hair wrapped in a tight bun making her look all cute and old lady like. Her glasses slid down her noes as she eyes me up and down suspiciously. I smiled sweetly, or at least I think I did. She looked at me as if I was up to no good. People expect too much of me nowadays. It's tiring to live up to their expectations. What did she expect me to do? Make a bonfire with all the books in the library?

We said nothing to one another. Which was fine by me, so I continued walking. I scanned the area. There was no one around. The computers at the side were bare and there was no sign of the Asian super nerds that usually hoarded the place. The silence grew on me. It made me calm as I walked among the endless mass of bookshelves. I never realised how big our library was. I breathed in the scent of it all. For once I felt somewhat…calm.

"I know something you don't," a familiar voice chanted softly in my ear. That sneaky bastard. I hadn't realised anyone was behind me…least of all him. "We really need to stop meeting like this." He came into my view, closer then I usually allow.

"Like what?" I tilted my head to the side innocently.

"Like this," he looked around at the shelves but soon placed his eyes back on mine. The look made my spine tingle. "In the shadows…where no one can see." He leaned in, causing me to take a step back into the shelves. Crap. I was stuck. I wasn't stupid enough to attack him so I decided to take the liberty of opening my mouth. But nothing came out.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Why do the sharp remarks fly from my head now of all times?! He seemed amused at my baffled reaction, and leaned in closer.

His lips were barely centimetres from mine. That's when I freaked.

"NO!" I pushed my free hand up against his face. It was warm. He sighed, defeated.

"You can't help but play hard to get, can you Hathaway?" he chuckled, bringing his hand to mine. I noticed his fingers were also warm as he peeled my hand away from his face.

"Keep it there," I said. I felt his eyebrows rise questioningly beneath my fingers. "I've seen enough of your face this week, Adrian." He sighed and dropped my hand in response.

"Let's go somewhere." I rolled my eyes at this. "To chat."

"Do you mean as in casual conversation chatting? Or I'm-going-to-try-to-seduce-you chatting?" now he was the one to roll his eyes.

"You always expect the worst in people don't you?" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Shut it, Adrian what is it that I don't know?"

"You'll be happy to know that your boyfriend isn't dead or with that…uhm…I forgot her name."

"I already know that."

"I know you know that…"

"Then why bother?"

"Well I haven't exactly finished yet have I?" I rolled my eyes while he waved his finger at me. "Dimitri and various other not-so important guardians were sent on a special mission initiated by the royal highness herself." The smirk returned as soon as he mentioned the Queen, but my head spun from the information.

"What do you mean by not so important?"

"Because you're only interested with one guardian in particular and if I went into all the specific details you'd get bored…and I'm not interested in putting you to sleep with my voice."

"I see your point. Go on."

"Okay…so….The Queen decided she'd take action on the large strigoi packs."

"That's a first." Adrian ignored me.

"She didn't like the fact that their numbers have been growing substantially for the past few years. And you know the Queen better then anyone, Rose. When she feels threatened, she acts."

"I think we all know that."

"Yes, well, the consul agreed with her proposition and sent out for the strongest and most reliable guardians around." I was curious. What proposition? But I didn't ask. I had a feeling it was something I didn't want to know.

"They divided them all up in specific divisions and sent them off to the Strigoi hotpots."

"Where did they send him?" he must of noticed the slight hysteria in my voice because he looked down at his toes as if he was about to say something embarrassing. He looked me carefully in the eye.

"…Boltus Point." He cringed away from me as soon as the words left his mouth. I blinked a couple of times.

"Boltus…Point." I breathed slowly. "Am I supposed to know what that is?" Adrian's face turned into sheer bewilderment. He almost looked gob smacked as if someone had just insulted his good looks.

"Adrian, what is Boltus Point?"

"Shhh." he took my arm and led me further into the library.

"What is it?"

"We shouldn't talk of these things here."

"What do you mean?" as far as I was concerned we were far enough away from any possible eavesdropping. Apart from the librarian the place was as desolate as limbo, not that I would know what that was like, of coarse (I hope).
"Just keep quiet and follow me." he let go of my arm and hastily made his way through the mazes of bookshelves. I followed him silently. The smell of dust became strong as we ventured through a part of the library that I'd never seen before. It was dark, and the ruby red carpet seemed to have become greyer and more un-kept. In fact, this area was completely different. It smelled old and musty and the books here lived among the dust and cobwebs. It was as if it had been completely forgotten about. The spiders and creepy crawlies were the only company here.

I had never imagined how large the Academy library was. I never took the liberty of exploring, and by the looks of things, neither did anyone else. Adrian stopped as soon as I began to wonder how long we'd been walking for. He was browsing through the books, looking for something.

He pulled out a large old book. I caught a glimpse at the crinkly leather cover and a strange symbol engraved on it before he tucked it under his jacket.

"This way." He commanded. It amazed me how I had never heard him speak in such a controlling tone, but regardless; I followed him silently once more.

We turned down another alleyway. Through the dark I could see a sold wall. We had finally come to the end. As strange as it felt, the shelves seemed to lean towards us. And the further we went the narrower it became. I was almost afraid that the slightest movement would cause them to topple onto us. But they seemed surprisingly sturdy when I placed my hand on it.

We stopped and Adrian began browsing for another book. He seemed to have found it but instead of pulling it out he reached behind it. His arm disappeared into the books for a second. Something creaked and groaned. He smirked and winked at me, and I suddenly felt a strong breeze tickle my neck. I turned around to find the books behind us moving away and disappearing. In its place there was a small dark doorway.

"Wow," I breathed. "I've only ever seen that in movies." Adrian chuckled and took my hand, slowly leading me through the dark door. I could see nothing, and my foot floated in thin air before setting down onto the solid ground.
"Watch it; we've got a few steps to go down."

"And by a few you mean a lot." He chuckled again. "Where exactly are you taking me, the castle dungeon?"

"No, the dungeon is on the other side of the complex."

"How do you know these things?"

"Because I'm special."

"Oh, I know you are." I mocked.

"This passage leads to the underground tunnel that passes underneath the castle, it leads to a couple of towns, a clearing in the west and the closest city."

"Wait, what? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." I ripped my hand away from his.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?! People will know that I'm missing and graduation is less then a few months away. I am not going to throw that all away now!"

"And where did this sudden sense of spirit come from?"

"Fuck if I know…" I grumbled.

"Consider this, Rose. We'll only be gone for a few hours. It's late, Lissa and all the other Moroi are preparing for sleep and the guardians have probably already started their patrol shifts." He had a point; no one would notice that I was gone.

"There are a lot of things you need to know, Rose. Things that your fellow novices don't know, things that the guardians and teachers don't tell you. Secret information that I am willing to give you." He was very convincing. So I followed him. I followed him down the dark winding staircase, trusting his moroi eyes to guide me. We'll just be a few hours.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'what took you so long?' go have a cry. I'm not in a very good mood.

PLUS... I've noticed a couple of comments about my spelling, so all I ask of you is to actually TELL ME what the word is so I can fix it, common courtesy people. lol.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter though :)