I Took Rose Hathaway's Place

Practice

The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 pm (Moroi world time), and made sure my hair was perfect, along with putting on a bit of makeup, all for Dimitri. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was 5:58, and raced out the door.

My watch beeped, telling me that it was 6:00.

Dimitri was on the mat, stretching, and looked up at my approach.

"Hey, comrade." I smiled.

Looking down at his watch, he spoke. "On time today. Good job."

I sat down on the mat beside him, and began stretching. 

"How long until I can fight with a stake?" I asked.

Dimitri thought for a moment before speaking. "I actually have to take you through gun practice first. So we need to go."

He stood, and offered his hand. I took it, feeling his warmth race through me. 

We held on for just a minute longer, before letting go. 

"Where's the gun range thingy?" I asked, realizing the books had never described this.

"In the freshman gym. There isn't anyone there. Have you shot a gun before?" 

I nodded. "Yup. I started 3 years ago, after thinking about..." I trailed off, fighting the memory of the man.

"So you know what to do?" He asked, not surprised by my knowledge.

I nodded, and almost ran into the door. 

Dimitri held back a smile, and spoke. "Careful, Alisa." (Russian pronunciation for 'Alice')

"Tikho, tovarishch." I spoke in Russian. (TRANSLATION: Quiet, comrade.")

He laughed, a deep rich sound, and I felt my heart thump as we went through the door.

I looked around, and saw we were all alone. Going over to one of the booths, I put on the headphones, and tossed a pair to Dimitri. 

I quickly walked over to the rack of guns, where Dimitri handed me one.

Turning the safety off, I began firing the round, hitting the target twice in the chest, once in the head, once in the groin, and on in the stomach.

When I put the gun down, and took off my headphones, Dimitri nodded his approval. 

"Wow, you were serious. Is there anything like this that you can't do?"

"Yes. I can't stake, or do Moroi magic." 

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Of course not magic, but... staking, I will have to teach you. But-" I cut him off.

"I will have to go over safety and rules."

He nodded. "Well, I you know, then tell me."

"Silver always has powerful effects on any magical creature - it can help or hurt them if you put enough power into it. These stakes are really hard-core because it takes four different Moroi to make them, and they use each of the elements during the forging." I frowned, suddenly considering something. "Well, except spirit. So these things are supercharged and are about the only non-decapitating weapon that can do damage to a Strigoi - but to kill them, it has to be through the heart."

"Will they hurt you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. I mean, well, yeah, if you drive one through my heart it will, but it won't hurt me like it would a Moroi. Scratch one of them with this, and it'll hit them pretty hard - but not as hard as it'd hit a Strigoi. And they won't hurt humans, either."

"Where are you going to put this?" he asked.

"In the heart," I replied irritably. "I already told you that like a hundred times. Can I have it now?"

He allowed himself a smile. "Where's the heart?"

I gave him an are-you-serious look. He merely shrugged.

With overdramatic emphasis, I pointed to the left side of the dummy's chest. Dimitri shook his head.

"That's not where the heart is," he told me.

"Sure it is. People put their hands over their hearts when they say the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the national anthem."

He continued to stare at me expectantly.

I turned back to the dummy and studied it. In the back of my brain, I remembered learning CPR and where we had to place our hands. I tapped the center of the dummy's chest.

"Is it here?" I asked.

He arched an eyebrow. Normally I thought that was cool. Today it was just annoying. "I don't know," he said. "Is it?"

"That's what I'm asking you!"

"You shouldn't have to ask me. Don't you all have to take physiology?"

"I wasn't here. Human life, remember?" I said, my tone dripping with 'duh'.