Full Of Secrets - Chapter Four

My parents were in meetings, while my sister was busy with her boyfriend. Dimitri and Chris were off doing something, but close enough to keep a watchful eye on me. I had nothing better to do, so I sat down at the piano. I remember back when I was a kid taking all those piano lessons. I hated it, I just wanted to be like the other kids playing outside. As I grew older, I found playing the piano enjoyable. I let my fingers glide across the keys as the melody takes me on a wonderful journey.

I was almost through the song when I heard something, well someone behind me. I stopped playing with a grin, somehow I knew who was there. 

I turned around to see Dimitri standing there watching me. "Don't stop playing, it's beautiful," he tells me. He motions for me to continue as he smiles at me. I felt my breath catch in my throat. He never smiled at me like that before. I turn around, taking a deep breath, I place my hands on the keys. I cleared my mind, then steadied my hands. I started from the beginning of the song and played it flawlessly till the end. 

"I never knew you could play the piano that good, it's mesmerizing," he says. "I've been playing since I was a small child, I just never play around others. I guess that's why you never heard me play before," I say. I looked up at him, and we locked eyes. I stopped breathing as he held my gaze. I quickly looked away, I couldn't let him see what was in my heart. The feelings that I was trying to hide that was growing for him each time we were together. "Let's go outside for a bit," he says as he reaches down, grabbing my hand into his, leading me outside. 

He leads me into the back yard near the pool. He motions towards the picnic table. As he takes a seat, I sit down beside him. It was just Dimitri and me all alone without anyone else around. This would give me the perfect opportunity to learn a little more about what made Dimitri so special. "Ok, I get that you can wield magic and do spells and such, but out of all the time I have known you, I realized that I don't know that much about you," I told him, hoping that he would give me some answers, and to explain what I had witnessed the other night when he was sparing outside with Chris.

"There's nothing to tell, I'm just one of the top royal guardians that your father picked to protect you," he says. I could hear it in his voice that he was holding something back. I was becoming very frustrated, I wanted to know more about him. "Dimitri! Why hide things from me? You know everything about me, but I don't know that much about you. You have dedicated your life to be by my side for as long as I live or if something happens to you," I yell, not realizing it.

He stood up and looked over at me. I had gone too far, he was mad, and now I was in big trouble. "Ok, you want to know more about me, then follow me," he says in a stern voice.

I follow him, not saying a word, as he leads me into one of the libraries in the house. It was one of our small library's that no one hardly visited. Just when I thought he was going to pull a book off the shelf to teach me some history lesson, the whole bookshelf moved to the side, revealing a doorway.

 My mouth was on the floor with shock, I had lived here my whole entire life and never knew about this secret room.

I followed Dimitri through the doorway into a room that had concrete walls, with shelves of books that lined its walls. There were tables with books that were opened, along with stuff I had no clue what they were. Dimitri turns to me, "this is where I keep my family's history, along with important things," he says.  

"I didn't know this existed," I gaped. "It was built when you were a young child in preparation for Chris and me when we would join the guards. It had been requested by my father that this room be built to hide our family's secrets. Everyone in the royal family knows we have magic that makes us different from the other guards, that is what makes us different from all the other guards. There are a few of us that exist," he says. "So that explains the other night," I say out loud, not realizing it. "What do you mean by last night?" Dimitri asks. "I saw you and Chris sparing outside one night. It looked like any other time you guys fight, but then you both moved so fast that it looked so unnatural," I say. "I see, Chris and I are unique from all the rest. How do I put this, we are the same as you but...…..we don't have the light. Only my family are hybrids that have special abilities," he says. "What about Chris?" I ask. He is a distant relative of mine, cousins to be exact, he tells me, leaving me stunned as speechless. 

He grabs my arm, pulling me over to a table that had a large, antique-looking book that was propped up on a stand. He opened it and began to flip through the pages. 

"Ok, here it is, I belong to a special group of wizards, guardians or sorcerers, as you would call them, have always been the royal guards to the king and queen that serve the throne. My grandfather and his before him, have taught us special fighting skills, spells, and potions to aid the king and queen. Your father handpicked Chris and me when we were children. I was chosen to protect you, the future queen. Chris and I were trained specifically for when you became of age. He has known our secret, and has kept this a secret like all the other kings before him," he says as he flips through the pages. I'm speechless and have not said a word as he tells me the history of his kind. I had known they were different, but I had no clue how special Chris and Dimitri were. "I am a direct descendant of the royal wizards that have protected the kingdom, my fate was already decided before I was even born," he says. "That doesn't seem very fair," I say. "It's the same fate you were given before you were born," he adds. I couldn't disagree with that. We were so much alike, and I didn't even realize it. "These books are all the techniques, spells, and potions that have been passed down through the generations of guardians in my family. 

As he shut the book, I had to break the silence that was hanging between us. I elbowed him in the ribs, "now how hard was that," I tell him as he rubs his side. "I was not supposed to tell you my secret," he says. 

Before I can even say anything, he pulls me into his arms, then kisses me on the forehead. He had his arms around me, and his lips were pressed on my forehead. My heart was beating so fast, and I couldn't breathe as he held me against him. His body was warm, and his lips were soft and gentle. I wished they were on my lips, but I knew that would never happen no matter how much I wanted him to kiss me. I finally relaxed and wrapped my arms around him. He only held me a brief moment. "I will always protect you," he told me, then he released me. 

He stepped back, and I was already missing his touch. He looked at me, locking his eyes on me as I tried to hide how much he had affected me. I wanted him to kiss me and hold me in his arms again, I was lost without his touch. He looked away, "we must be going before we are missed," he says, then leads me out of the hidden door in the library. 

Dimitri told Chris and me that he had some errands to run and that I was to stay close to Chris for the rest of the evening. It was a hot day, so Chris and I headed toward the pool, except I couldn't get him to join me. "Come on, it's nice," I said as I looked over at him, setting in one of the chairs by the pool. "I'm fine, I'm perfectly content sitting here," he says as he shifts in his seat. "Is it because of your on duty?" I ask. "It's not, we are always considered to be on duty. I just don't feel like getting wet right now. Enjoy yourself, if I change my mind, I will join you," he says. 

I did a few laps, then decided I was going to join Chris by the pool. 

The sun was warm and welcoming as I sit back in my chair. 

I sent Chris into the house to keep him close by, while I got showered and changed. I headed down to the kitchen to get a snack. My sister was in the kitchen roaming through the cabinets when she turned to face me, "how are you?" she asks. "I'm good, it's been a really boring day with Mark out of town, and mom and dad away," I reply. "Can I talk to you about something without you getting mad at me?" she asks. "You can always talk to me, what's on your mind?" I ask. "I know a secret, and you're not going to like it. Mark, well, he's only going out with you because you're the king's daughter. He wants to make himself more popular until he becomes king one day. He was even talking about trying to score with you to some of the guys as school," she tells me.  

I can feel the tears fill my eyes, flowing down my cheeks. I'm 

shocked and hurt all at the same time. I don't even know what to say. "How did you find out?" I ask. "I overheard some of the boys talking about it at school, and it makes me angry that he would do that to you. I know you don't like him that way, so I don't want you to waste another second on him, he doesn't deserve you. Just be careful around him," she says.

"You don't have anything to worry about sis, I can take care of myself," I told her. She gives me a funny look. "Yeah, like how your crushing on Dimitri," she says. "I'm not crushing on Dimitri, he's my guardian," I say. "You're going to have to be more convincing than that, I see how you look at him. I'm not sure how he feels about you, but you know you can't be with him like that, it's forbidden. If you have to get it out of your system, you can fool around with him, as long as you don't get caught. 

 Your secret is safe with me," she added with a smile before she walks out of the kitchen. She knows my secret, what am I going to do now?

Mixed Feelings - Chapter Three

I was walking through the dinning room when I almost ran right into Mark that came through the door. I was startled at first, but he walked right up to me as if nothing had happened the other night when he walked out on me after I had rejected his advances.  

"I'm sorry for walking out on you the other night. I was just frustrated, that's all. I don't want to push you into things you don't want to do," Mark explained. 

"Can you forgive me?" he asked. I couldn't say no, he was looking at me so pitiful. 

I'm not mad at you, I just don't want to rush into anything so fast," I told him. "Of course, we don't need to rush anything, let's just take it step by step," he replied.

Then he leaned over and kissed me. The kiss didn't long, he pulled away before I had time to even register what had just happened. It was not what I had expected at all. It took me off guard and it felt a little awkward. But I guess that's what first kisses are suppose to be like.

Later on that evening me and Mark were outside shooting some hoops. It was nice to just have some fun and not worry about anything. It was like the old times when we were just friends and not trying to make it all complicated.

I was winning in points when Dimitri showed up. "Its dark, you know how your mother doesn't want you out after it's dark. "Yeah it's late, I better be getting home too," Mark said. Mark walked over to me, giving Dimitri a look before he leaned over giving me a quick peck on the cheek. "See you around," he said before he left. Still standing outside with Dimitri, I watched Mark drive off. When he was gone, I turned to Dimitri. "What was the rush?" I asked. "It's late, neither of you need to be out this late," he said, then he turned and started walking into the house.  

I went inside and got ready for bed. I must have drifted off to sleep pretty fast. It was in the middle of the night when I woke up to strange noises.  

When I sat up, wiping sleep from my eyes, I noticed that the sounds were coming from outside. I slipped off the bed, heading for the window. I moved the curtains, peering outside to see if I could see anything.  

It was dark, all I could make out were two people fighting out by the garage. I squinted, pressing closer to the window, when they came into view. 

It was Dimitri and Chris sparing with each other. I continued to watch them, it was like watching a dance as they exchanged blows with each other. They both exchanged dangerous punches and kicks. They were both good, only getting a few hits on each other. I continued to watch as they continued to fight each other. 

I found myself drawn to them, I had no idea that both of my guards were hot. I had never paid attention before, I was always paying attention to Mark. As I watched them fight, I didn't realize how well trained they were in fighting. I had never watched them spar like this before. I started to feel guilty having these thoughts about my guards, knowing I had a boyfriend that was so in to me.  

Then something unexpected happened, their movements speed up and they were matching each others moves as their movements became blurred. They moved with such fierceness, that a faint light radiated from their movements. I blinked several times to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I look again and was shocked at what I was seeing. When they finished fighting, I watched them walk out of sight, shoving each other as they made remarks to each other. They seemed to get along pretty well when they were not in public. I went back to bed, letting my mind play back their fight. I drifted back off to sleep. 

The next day, I went out to play some ball with Dimitri, there he was in a black sleeveless tank top that showed off his lean muscles. He was breathtaking, how did I not notice him before. He tossed the ball and it bounced off the rim, heading right back at him. He shifted as the ball flew past him, barely missing him. 

I started to giggle, that's when Dimitri looked over at me with a weird look. "What is it?" he asked as he stood there waiting for my reply. "I thought you would be better with your kind of skills," I said as I giggled again. "Hey I might be good at fighting, but I'm not perfect," he replied.

It was the weekend and my parents were going to be away on business. I was instructed to stay with my two guards today. They chose to spend their time working out, so I had to had to hang with them in the gym. I had nothing better to do anyway, Mark was not coming over today, and I didn't want to hangout at the mall when my guards had to keep in shape. Chris burned up the treadmill and Dimitri was lifting weights, while I tried doing some stretches.  

As I was stretching, I looked over at Dimitri. I watched him work out on the bench, wondering how I never noticed how hot he was. He was lifting weights, not even paying me or Chris any mind. I continued to watch him, when I noticed a tattoo on his upper arm. It was only visible when he was in his work out clothes. It was always covered up when he was working. It looked like a beast with wings, probably had something to do with his job as a guardian. They took their jobs serious, that is what made them good at what they did. I finally made myself look away to go back to doing what I stared to do in the first place. I had to quit staring at him.  

That didn't last long, my eyes wondered again when he moved to kicking at a wooden dummy. He was graceful and precise with each kick. I bet at this point I was staring with my mouth hanging to the floor. 

Dimitri finished up with his workout, leaving me and Chris in the gym while he took a shower and changed. Dimitri came back in, when Sandy came through the door. She walked right over to him, starting up a conversation with him. They talked a few minutes, when I noticed Chris staring at Sandy. I knew that look from anywhere, he had a crush on Sandy. As they continued to talk, I found myself a little jealous of the way her and Dimitri could talk with such ease. Dimitri usually kept himself at a distance with me, other than for the first time the other day when he was trying to cheer me up. If I was a betting girl, I would have thought she had a crush on him. I looked over at Chris and he just looked crushed.  I couldn't blame him, I was getting a little jealous myself. Then I realized with a strange clarity, I had a crush on Dimitri. How did this happen, I thought to myself. He was older than me, it was forbidden to date a guardian. He wasn't a royal, but man I would break the rules for him any day.

"Stay here with Chris, me and Sandy have some work to do," he told me before he left. I watched him leave, leaving me and Chris to relax while they did whatever they had to do. I sat down on the bench as Chris settled down on the floor. I couldn't help but be nosy, "I see how you look at Sandy, you like her don't you?" I asked. He looked at me like I just figured out a big secret. "Yes I have liked Sandy for a long time. I just can never get up the nerve to ask her out, plus I think she likes Dimitri. I see how she looks at him.," he replied. "I don't see it, I think you are just paranoid," I told him. "Have you seen the guy, he's a walking hunk!!!" he said with amusement. 

"You are not giving yourself enough credit, I think you would have a chance, just as much as Dimitri. You should just ask her, I think she would go out with you, then you wouldn't keep wondering what if," I told him.

"Yeah, what about you little miss? I have seen how you have been staring at Dimitri all day. I can't blame you, most girls do that around him," Chris huffed. "Well that's different, I can't be with Dimitri for so many reasons. For one, he's older than me, my guardian and he's not royal. It's forbidden for us to be together," I replied. "I guess we both know how each other feels then," Chris  said. Dimitri poked his head in the doorway, get dressed, it's spar time. 

Chris headed to go get changed and I went outside to join Dimitri and Sandy who were already dressed in their training clothes. Chris joined us only moments later, wearing the same training outfit as Sandy. Dimitri wore a completely different outfit than the two of them. It was the same outfits they had on the other night I watched them fight each other. I jumped up and took a seat on the picnic table to watch them do what they do best. First up was Chris and Sandy, as Dimitri stood by observing them to teach them better techniques and point out any flaws they had.

Sandy was deadly, she could jump at incredible heights and could dodge kicks and punches with graceful movements. She was really good at it, she was sleek and tall with movements like a dancer. She was beautiful, I found myself wanting to be a lot like her. 

Chris tried really hard to get a blow in on her, but she was fast.

Then it was Dimitri and Sandy's turn. She was able to block a lot of  Dimitri's blows, but she wasn't as good as him. They didn't have the experience that he had, he grew up training to be a guardian and even had a fight with a Night Walker. That's how and why he was so good and why he was selected to teach others how to protect themselves and the ones they were protecting. He had faced them before and knew what they were like. They said he almost didn't survive, his skill and training that he had, allowed him to escape before they had a chance to kill him.  

Sandy was taking a few blows from Dimitri, so he slowed down to show her a few different moves. 

Dimitri was done and headed back into the gym. Chris walked over to Sandy that was picking up a towel from a nearby chair. I could hear them talking, as Chris was crushing on her. She seemed interested in Chris, I could see it by the way she was looking at him. I was a little surprised, all this time I had thought she had a crush on Dimitri. 

The next day after school, me and my best friend were walking home with Chris and Mark. Mark was paying no attention to me while he was talking to Chris. Out of nowhere she started drilling me, "Ok tell me!" she started. "There's nothing to tell," I replied. She was looking at me like I was full of crap. I just wasn't wanting to tell anyone about my crush on Dimitri. I knew I could trust her, but I wasn't sure what all these feelings I was having for Dimitri were, and what I truly felt about Mark. 

"Ok I get it, you and Mark!" she started just as I cut her off. "No, not that," I replied.

Then she did it, she used her magic. If had no time to react when I was hit right in the face with a cloud of mist. I was putty in her hands as I looked over at Mark and Chris who were laughing at us. "You," is all I got out as the spell began to work. "I see you guys later," Mark called out as he walked over to his car. 

"Tell me what's got you so distracted?" she asked.

I struggled to keep the words from coming out, but the truth spell left me not choice. "I've got a crush on Dimitri," I replied. She started to giggle. "I knew it, I knew you were acting strange. I can't blame you, he's very handsome. The best part of it, you get to see him all the time. What about Mark?" she asked. "I don't know, I'm not sure what I should do," I replied.