CHAPTER 12

It has been two weeks since I was discharged from the infirmary. I was handling it well but  still haven't figured out if I should forgive my mother or not. I was in front of the cabin in the woods. It had the same looks from my dreams, suggesting that it wasn't renovated. On the outside, at least.

At first, when I walked in, I expected cobwebs but noo. It was fully furnished. I closed the door behind me and took in the place. I walked over to the kitchen. I found something on the counter. It couldn't be . . .

A western.

But not just any western. It was Dimitri's. I gasped. They probably lived here whenever they came to St. Vlads. And he probably left the book when they were headed back to court last week. I walked over to the bedroom. Eww. Gross details happened here and I wasn't in the mood for more. The floorboards creaked as I stepped on it. It indicated how old this cabin really is. Just as I was about to leave, my phone blasted 'Roar' by Katy Perry. I fished it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. Dimitri's ID was written on the screen. I groaned and answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Ah, Sofiya, are you free?"

"Yeah . . . why?"

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Umm . . . outside" I said softly.

"Ok. There's a cabin in the woods on the school grounds. I need you to go there and grab my western. Can you do it?" he explained.

"Got it"

"You do . . .? That was fast unless . . . where are you, really?"

"I . . . in the . . . cabin" I stuttered, chuckling sheepishly.

"Oh. Okay. What are you doing there?"

"Uh, I was looking around and I found it" I lied.

"Okay. Thanks. Love you. Bye"

"Bye. Love you too"

He hung up and I did too. I let out a huge breath and walked back over to the kitchen. I picked the book up and made my way to the school. On the way, I heard someone calling my name. I turned and noticed Benjamin and his clique trying to catch up with me. I decided to tire them out and ran towards the church. Thanks to Daniel, my stamina and speed had increased tremendously. And I was grateful for it.

On the way, everyone I passed by looked at me curiously. After minutes of running, I finally arrived at the church. I was panting but only a little. I opened the doors and walked in. There were a few people and a priest was talking. I decided to let Ben and his friends play hide and seek. I slipped out easily and ran to the back of the church where Christian and Lissa used to spend a lot of time.

I found the back door and walked in. it was definitely creepy and creaky. There were old scrolls and books everywhere. Messed up in every corner you turn were leather journals. I picked one of them up and blew the dust off. "Anna and Vladimir" I read aloud. I opened the book and was instantly coughing, sneezing and gasping. I blew the rest off and stared at the writing which was cursive and elegant. I put it back and walked out of the church.

On my way to campus, Ben found me. Unfortunately. "Hathaway!" he exclaimed. "Where'd you go?!"

"Oh. Gee . . . , I don't know"

"Run off with somebody?" he teased.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Your instructor's looking for you and I volunteered to find you" he grinned.

"Oh, Ben. . . how I hate when you try and act flirty" I gritted my teeth.

"Oh and how I love when you act badass"

"Too bad then" I said cheerfully.

I punched his nose. There was a cracking sound and blood started oozing out. I chuckled. He looked extremely pissed off. "You'll pay for th-" someone cleared their throat. I looked behind Ben's friends and saw Daniel.

"Mr. Zeklos, please run along to the infirmary"

"But-"

"Now." He exclaimed.

Ben hesitantly got up and walked to his clique and to the infirmary. I had a huge grin on my face. Daniel showed no emotion but his eyes betrayed him. He was amused and happy. "You know, you can laugh too, if you want"

"Nope. Lets' go. You have to find out your detention" he said, clearly amused.

I raised my eyebrows and sighed. He started walking and I followed. At Alberta's office, she was waiting for us. When we walked in, she headed out the door and made us follow her. Oh, no! if I ever have to go there . . . crap!  "Headmistress Kirova is back" she explained.

We walked into her office and found her going through a stack of papers. "Yes?" she looked up and saw me. "What is it this time, Miss Hathaway?" she half sighed half whined.

"A punch on Mr. Zeklos's face, Headmistress" explained Daniel.

"Ah. Well, this will definitely go on your record and detention will be . . ."

"Fine. Put it in my record. I don't care"

"Miss Hathaway, did you just not throw a fit for this?" asked Kirova.

"Yeah . . . I mean it's not like I'm gonna be a guardian anyway"

"Yes . . . recent events certainly were shocking"

"Let's get this over with"

"Very well. You don't have a punishment but it still goes on your record"

"Okay. Bye"

I just got up and walked out of the room. All I wanted to do was go back to the church and start reading the journal. A vibrate in my pocket made me fish out what caused it: my phone. I looked at the screen and found it was Sara who sent a text.

Hey, you ready? We have to go soon so hurry up!

Go where?

Court, silly.

Oh . . . crap! I forgot.

Don't worry. Daniel sent your stuff with us. So, you've got to hurry. And bring him along :D

Yeah. Sure. 10 minutes.

I quickly sent Daniel a text.

Hey, court. Now! And, when did you pack my clothes?

I'm already at the car. When you were off somewhere on the school grounds.

Ok. . . thanks?

Welcome. Now hurry. The plane leaves in twenty minutes

I thought we were going on a private jet?

We are. But if we are late . . . we're doomed.

Haha, very funny (Sarcastically) Seriously?

Our parents would kill us. Especially Lissa. Yes, DEAD serious.

Coming!! I'm running down the stairs.

Be careful, Sofiya.

I will. See ya! *-*

I was running in full speed but luckily, managed to not crash into people. At the parking lot, I saw Daniel waiting impatiently outside the SUV. I practically ran into the car. He got into the driver's seat and started the car. Joseph called shotgun, Sara and Val were talking about shopping and magic class, Mikael was talking to Joseph and I (who was crushed anyways) were listening to songs on my phone.

*                                                        *                                                           *

Daniel and I were walking to the throne room. According to the guardian at the gates, we were requested to be there for some urgent matter. Very urgent that we had to come straight here.

At the door of the throne room, two guardians opened it and let us in. I walked in beside Daniel and heard the door close. The guardians on the inside had locked the doors. Everyone was there except for Mia and Aaron. They all looked curious. I bit my lip. The way they were looking at me was as if I was going to die soon. "What's wrong?" whispered Daniel.

"Nothing . . . that's the problem" I whispered back.

"Sophia . . ." started Lissa.

"Sophia, we need to tell you something important" my mother frowned.

"Okay . . .?" I said awkwardly.

"Remember the prophecy we found in the library . . ." Sydney started. "We found the continuation"

"Actually, Lissa did" said Dimi. "And it has a great burden to carry"

"OK?" I said. "So, why are you guys telling me this?"

"Here it goes and listen very carefully, Sophia" warned Sydney.

"The last Vladimir  will and has to do everything in his or her power to protect their family and the vampiric world from the human world. He or she will be threatened and will either be the cause of death or savior for vampires.  As such, another is born . . . Tables have turned and families turn against each other"

"You know, at least it ain't in riddles" I joked.

"True but we should find out more" said Lissa.

"How'd you find it?" asked Daniel.

"I was going through Tatiana's stuff and I found it"

"What does this seriously got to do with me?"

"Soph . . . , remember there was a time when we went shopping and you saw a fortune teller?" asked mom.

"Yeah . . .? She said I have a . . . destiny"

"Yes, darling. She did"

"That doesn't mean it's about this" I said defensively.

"How about we all go fortune telling?" asked Adrian with a huge grin.

They ended up calling the fortune teller to the throne room. Poor lady thought she did something wrong. Sydney, Sonya and Jill were sent to find out more together with Mikhail and Eddie. The fortune teller ended up doing weird things with my cards, bones and my hands. Once she finished, she called my mother. She did the same with everyone in the room. Including Daniel. I was getting nervous when she asked Daniel to sit beside me and did the test on him. "The child has a great destiny. So does this young man. You both" she pointed to mom and Dimi. "Were put through a lot of terrible events so that she could be born. One of her parents has blood that makes her special" she took in a breath of air. "Your destinies are entwined with each other. You will go through everything with each other. And, you're her guardian. Since birth you always have been"

"What do you mean?" mom questioned.

"Their birth was written long before they were born. And they were destined to meet each other"

"Anything else?" Dimi asked.

"Yes. The girl is gifted"

"With?" asked Christian.

"The power of 5 elements, visions and is the last child of a long lost line of moroi royalty" it was dead silent.

"Which line?" questioned Adrian.

"Vladimir"

I stared at her. I couldn't help it. That freakin prophecy was about me. Me! that meant, one of my parents had some DNA that belonged to Sir Vladimir in their system. As I replayed the whole prophecy from A to Z (shocker that I remembered, I know) , I began to realize most of it was true about me. she wasn't wrong but she was DEAD RIGHT. "We haven't heard of Vladimir" said Lissa.

"The last one died centuries ago. of course you haven't" the lady answered.

"Then why now? Why me?" I asked exasperated.

"There's more to the prophecy than meets the eye, my child"

"What are you talking about?" mom asked.

"She has an interesting love life, don't you dear?" she said. I shrugged and blushed. "And so do you, young guardian" she whispered to Daniel. He smiled a small smile. "My work here is done"

She curtsied for Lissa and walked out with her things. Everyone was cracked up trying to find out more of the prophecy. I got up and decided to go for a walk. Daniel caught up with me and walked beside me. I could sense him wanting to talk but was afraid that I would run away or not reply so I started. "I can't believe it"

"Which part?"

"Everything"

"Me too . . . you're royal" he said.

"Yeah. And the last of my line"

"Creepy" he commented.

"Very" I agreed.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"What I'm supposed to be doing" I answered confidently.

I stopped walking and turned around. I ran back to the throne room. Daniel followed me but now, I sort of knew what I had to do. I had to face the facts. And the truth about who I was and wasn't. It is the only way I'll ever know what I'm supposed to do. I may sound zen- master like but it actually isn't. It's the real deal. And If I am normal, I wouldn't have escaped from Robert Doru. Or even win fighting against few of the best guardians.

All my life, I thought I was a dhampir with the task of protecting Sarafina Dragomir. I've always accepted it but now I know I'm apart of something bigger. Bigger than Sara. Bigger than my parents. Bigger than my friends, my life and most importantly, the vampiric world. No way am I turning this offer down and I'm going to need all the support I can get.

I burst through the door of the throne room and looked at everyone who was staring at me. I took in a deep breath and walked forward more. Daniel trailed after me. I turned, smiled at him and looked back at everyone. "I need to talk to Dimitri, my mom, Lissa and Christian" I said confidently. "Now. It's urgent" Sonya and Mikhail grinned. Of course, they knew what was happening. "Daniel . . . , stay" the others sent questioning looks at each other.

Once I knew the whole room was empty except for us, I walked closer towards them. Daniel, falling in step beside me showed no expressions on his face. I did the same. Once I stopped, I looked at each of them. "What's going on?" mom asked. "What's going on?!" I exclaimed. "How dare you keep my father a secret to me?!"

Each and every one of them froze except for Daniel and I. "W . . . what?" mom stuttered. "Yeah, mom. I know who it is!"

"Sophia, why should Christian, Daniel and I be here?"

"Because!," I exclaimed. "You guys knew and didn't tell me!"

"Christian . . . , you . . . knew?" questioned Lissa.

"Yeah, Liss. I did"

"Who is it . . .?" Dimitri said. "You said you knew"

"You. Dimitri. You're my father" I said calmly.

"Finally!" sighed Christian.

"Excuse me?" asked mom.

"Christian and I knew all along" my dad said. It felt good saying that.

"You what?" asked a confused Lissa.

"Liss, we figured it out on our own. I mean, look. She has Belikov's eyes"

"How long did you know this for?" mom asked.

"She knew it for a few months" Daniel replied.

"You knew?" wondered Lissa.

"I told him first. I trust him"

"Why now?" mom questioned me.

"Because . . . , It's killing me. The truth. I've always wanted a dad so . . ."

"Come here" dad said.

I walked over to him and I gave him a warm hug. He did the same."I love you . . . , dad"  I said. "Love you too, Sofiya" he answered back.

"Dimitri . . . when? When did you find out?'

"From the moment she was born" he replied to my mom.

"You let me freakin lie to you for 18 years?!" mom shouted.

"Sorry, Roza. But I was hoping that you would tell me" he chuckled nervously.

"Whatever" she crossed her arms over her chest.

My mom left and my dad and I broke apart from each other. He followed my mom. I smiled at her 'innocence'. Lissa and Christian had also left. And that left me and Daniel alone in the throne room. I turned to face him. He was grinning. I smiled back. He came closer to me and crashed his lips on mine. God only knows how long we were kissing but the door opened and we broke apart from each other. My mother stood there gawking at us. I gasped.  Oh, no! no, no, no, no! that did not just happen .  I bit my lip. "Dimitri?!" my mom hollered."Yeah?" he answered. "Sophia, you have some explaining to do" she said sternly.