The Trip To China - Chapter Ten

I was sent to my room to prepare to travel to who knows were. No one will tell me where we are going, all I knew was it was going to be me, Dimitri and Chris. They won't say it, but I know the real reason why they are sending me away. They want to protect me from the people that attacked my sister and to keep me away from the investigation. 

We board a private plane that my father used when he took trips for business or for family fun. After being in the air for so long, I must have fallen asleep halfway through the trip. The plane landing was what woke me up. I sit up in my seat and peer out the window. "Where are we?" I ask Demitri, who was sitting next to me. "We are in China," he replies. "China? Why are we in China?" I ask Demitri. "It is a place that I'm familiar with, plus it is a place that I can protect you from everything that is going on back at your home," he replies. 

I follow Demitri through the plane, then down the steps. I stop a few steps down, taking in the scene, it is breathtaking. The mountains are beautiful, I never imagined I would end up in China.

We take in the sights all around the town. I can't believe how different the culture is from what I'm used to. The people speak in a different language that I can't understand. Demitri is fluent in the language, which is amusing when I hear him talk to the locals. I never knew he could speak different languages. Chris is just as confused as I am when listening to their conversations. I get a few strange looks as we travel through the town. I can only guess it is because of my wings that no one else has. 

We come to a building that is familiar to Dimitri by the look on his face. "This is where I trained when I was younger. My parents sent me here to train so I could join the royal guard when I got older," he tells me as we walk across a small bridge to a normal looking building. I'm excited to see where he spent a lot of his younger years. 

When we walked in, it was empty and full of equipment. I walk over to one of the wooden posts that had several smaller posts sticking out at different angles. "What is this?" I ask Demitri. "This is one of the training dummies that we use to learn special kicks and punches," he tells me. I step up to one of them, giving it a punch. The wooden post rotates, taking me off guard. I almost fell if it had not been for Demitri rushing over to me to steady me. 

"That's not how you do it, let me show you," he says as he positions me in front of it. He steps behind me, placing his hands on my arms, he moves me like a puppet. I try to focus, but his nearness had me distracted. He steps away, "now you try it," he tells me. I fail once again. My frustration began to build and I think Dimitri noticed. Dimitri steps over to me to show me in detail the move once again as he encourages me with a smile. He shows me several times until I get a few moves right. "I never knew how much effort and practice that went into fighting," I say as I step back out of breath. "It was hard for me at first, but after a lot of practice, I got better the more I trained," he tells me. 

After a long day of sightseeing and practicing with Dimitri, I decide to call it a night. Dimitri and Chris are in the room next to me to give me privacy but to keep a close distance to me. After I wash up, I change into my nightclothes. I climb into bed, hoping sleep will come soon. I close my eyes, but my mind keeps racing with everything that's going on. I had a sort of normal life, and now it was a total mess. After what seems like an hour, I drift off to sleep. 

Jolted from a horrible dream, I wake myself up screaming. Tears stream down my face, I find that I can hardly breathe. My skin is crawling with goosebumps as the sweet covers my skin.

Dimitri comes busting into the room in a panic. Running over to the bed, he drops to his knees in front of me. He takes my hands into his. "What's wrong?" he asks with a worried look on his face. I sat there speechless, I couldn't form any words as the tears continue to run down my cheeks.

"Emily!" Dimitri says as he shakes my hands. It finally snaps me out of the nightmare that has ripped me wide open. "My sister," is all I can manage to get out.

I pull my legs up to my chest as I began to cry again. I can't even speak it, I don't want it to be true. Dimitri climbs on the bed, sitting beside me, he tries to comfort me. "Emily, please tell me why you are crying," he whispers. She's gone, she's dead, I can feel it. Part of my soul has been ripped out. I didn't think that I could feel her, but I can. I don't know how to explain it, but it was like a part of me was just tore away. In my dream, I could hear her cry's for help, and no one was there to help her. They killed her," I sob. "Who killed her?" he asks. "I don't know who they are, I don't know what they are, they have red eyes that are full of evil. They were the last thing my sister saw before they killed her. I watched as her life slipped away," I reply. 

Pulling me to him, I wrap my arms around him as I cry into his shoulder. He holds me until I was so tired that I could no longer stay awake. I doze off and on as the tears continue to run down my cheeks. He shifts me to where I'm laying down with my head resting on his belly. I feel him stroke my hair as his stomach rises with each breath that he takes. I know he's trying to reassure me that it was just a bad nightmare, but deep down inside, I know my dream was real.

After a while, I dozed off again as Dimitri continues to hold me. He never leaves my side, which was more comfort than I realized was possible. 

I open my eyes to find Dimitri wrapped around me. He must have fallen asleep after a while. I'm shocked at how close we are, he has me pulled against his body with his arms around me. His head is resting on my shoulder, and I can feel his steady breathing on my neck. His long, lean body is pressed right up against me, which is making my stomach all jittery inside. I've never felt this way with no one else before, and yet it feels so right with the way he is holding me. It reminds me of the first time he held me in his arms as he kissed me for the first time in his room. I fight the urge to roll over and watch him sleeping. I even get the stupid idea of stealing a kiss from his sleeping lips. I decide against it as I enjoy the comfort he is giving me as my heart breaks for my sister.

I can't sleep anymore, I don't want to disturb Dimitri as my mind runs wild with the images from my nightmare. I slowly roll over, looking at how peaceful Dimitri looks in his sleep. I have never seen him look this vulnerable. I shift to the other side of the bed very slow, so I don't wake him. Once out of bed, I look over at Dimitri, hoping that I didn't wake him. Once I know he is still asleep, I go out onto the balcony to try to regain my thoughts. The night air is crisp with a bit of a chill. It's still dark outside as I walk over to the edge of the balcony. The only sounds I can hear are the sounds of nature, I can even hear a waterfall not so far away. 

"Hannah, where are you? Why is this happening? Please don't let my worse fears be true," I say softly into the night as my tears return. When I return to my room, Dimitri is already gone. He must have known that I needed to be alone. 

I can't go back to sleep now that I'm up, so I get dressed. When I go back to my room, I find Dimitri waiting for me, fully dressed. It takes me off guard. My emotions get the best of me. 

I crumble to the floor in a fit of tears again. I'm sobbing when Dimitri's soft voice makes me open my eyes. "You ok," he asks. He's kneeling in front of me with a worried look. 

"I can't shake this feeling, I'm far away from home, Hannah is god knows where, and I could be next," I trail off.

"Emily, I will protect you if you want to go home I will try to convince your father to let me take you home. I won't let anything bad happen to you," he says softly as he put his hands on my shoulders. 

"Come, let's get you off this floor and get you something to eat," he says as he pulls me to my feet. I can't even think of food right now, and I know he won't let me argue with him either. 

"I'll make a call and see when we can go home. You know your father cares for you, he wants you safe, and so do I. It would kill me...........," he trails off. My mouth goes slack as my mind goes blank. Did he just confess something to me that he didn't want me to know? "Just be patient, and let us worry about this stuff. You're safe," he reassures me.