Childhood Neglect and Later Influences - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2083 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/03/13 Category Sociology Essay Level High school Tags: Childhood Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Creating and caring for another life is arguably one of the biggest accomplishments someone could possibly do. As a caregiver or parent, they have extensive control for another persons life and they can alter that in any shape or form they want. Caring for children includes a lot of time and effort from whom ever is taking care of the child. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Childhood Neglect and Later Influences" essay for you Create order On the other hand, there are caregivers all around the world that do not uphold this job as well as they should. This study focuses on the neglect aspect of childhood maltreatment and how it affects an individuals self-esteem. There are many underlying factors that influence a persons self-esteem; could it possibly be linked to their childhood experiences? Neglect Childhood maltreatment is defined as a child who has been physically, or sexually abused, or even neglected by their caretaker (Young-Wolff, Kendler, Ericson, Prescott, 2011). A child who has been exposed to different types of maltreatment can have an everlasting impact that could possibly develop into different varieties of psychological, social maladjustment, and behavioral impairments (Lim Lee, 2016; Pacheco, Irigaray, Blanca Werlang, Irani, 2014). Childhood neglect is one of the many different types of maltreatment (Oshri, Carlson, Kwon, Zeichner, Wickrama, 2017;). In 2007, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, there were approximately 3.2 million child abuse referrals and 794,000 confirmed victims of childhood maltreatment (Young-Wolff et al., 2011). According to Oshri, neglect is more implicit than other types of child maltreatment, such as child physical and sexual abuse (2017). When a person thinks of neglect, they think of a child who has been physically not taken care of correctly, which is ultimately correct. Neglect refers to when the parent or guardian fails to provide appropriate care to his or her child (Oshri et al., 2017). Self-Esteem According to Hosogi and his colleagues, the correct definition of self-esteem has been debated and defined by various psychologists, but no exact definition has been established (Hosogi, Okada, Fujii, Noguchi, Watanabe, 2012). Self-esteem is viewed as a feeling of self-appreciation (Hosogi et al., 2012). The social environment, such as parents, social values, personal values, and culture, has an enormous impact on ones self-esteem (Hosogi et al., 2012; Saleem Mahmood, 2011). Before adolescence, parents or caretakers have the biggest affect on their childs self-esteem. As a child gets older their environment continues to grow and what they encounter may could contribute to their self-esteem. Caretakers can contribute to their childs self-esteem development and maintenance by the degree of their involvement and affection towards their child (Saleem Mahmood, 2011). A child that has a damaged self-esteem has a higher chance of developing social as well as psychological problems (Hosogi et al., 2012). Overall to a certain degree a caregiver could significantly impact their childs self-esteem when it is developing. Over an individuals lifetime their self-esteem increases and decreases during certain points in their life (Robins Trzesniewski, 2005). Before adolescence, a childs self-esteem is relatively high due to their unrealistic self-views (Robins Trzesniewski, 2005). Overtime, around adolescence, their self-esteem decreases because of their social environment. An example of this is negative feedback, and this can be especially true for girls during this age period of adolescence (Robins Trzesniewski, 2005). Self-esteem gradually rises during adulthood, peaking around age 60, and then declines once again (Robins Trzesniewski, 2005). Incorporating Neglect and Self-Esteem An effective method for understanding an individuals past and present is evaluating their self-esteem (Hosogi et al., 2012). Several research studies have shown a link between childhood neglect affecting an individuals self-esteem. In one study, a majority of the participants reported one or more types of childhood abuse (64%) (Gudjonsson, Sigurdsson, Tryggvadttir, 2011). Within the same study it was found that participants who had a low self-esteem, were also the ones who have experienced neglect and physical abuse (Gudjonsson et al., 2011). According to another study, it was found that two types of child neglect, supervisory and physical, showed a link in the development of self-esteem in adolescences (Oshri et al., 2017). In this specific study, results showed an inverse relationship. What this means is that as neglect increases, self-esteem levels decreases (Oshri et al., 2017). Current Study The purpose of conducting this study is to provide additional research on an association between a neglected childhood and self-esteem levels later in an individuals life whos in college. Providing extra research to this topic allows parents to become more aware of psychological problems that could possibly alter their childs well being. It is hypothesized that children who experience neglected childhoods are more likely to experience a lower self-esteem compared to children who did not experience neglected childhoods. Participants The sample that was obtained for this study consisted of participants that attended and enrolled at Christopher Newport University at the time. No other outside participants were allowed to participate. Participants involved in the current study were CNU undergraduate, college aged students, whose ages ranged from 18 to 22. The sample included both males and females. These participants were obtained by convenience sampling. Convenience sampling worked best for obtaining participants for this survey because it allowed the survey to be promoted to find participants of interest. After completion of the survey, participants were not compensated. Design This type of experiment is designed to find a correlation between two variables being studied. These two variables include: childhood neglect and self-esteem. It is hypothesized that children who experienced a neglected childhood are more likely to experience a lower self-esteem. Measures Child Neglect. Childhood neglect was assessed by self-reports from participants, measured by using a shorten version of the The Neglect Scale. Before the survey began, participants were asked what type of mother and/or father figure were involved in ones life. The shorten version of this self assessment consisted of nine questions using a 4-point Likert scale. The Likert scale was based off of a 4-point scale consisting of strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. This questionnaire is designed to measure neglect of physical, emotional, supervisory, and cognitive needs. Self-Esteem. Self-esteem was assessed by self-reports from participants using a shorten version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The shorten version of this scale consisted of nine questions using a 4-point Likert scale. The Likert scale was based off of a 4-point scale consisting of strongly disagree, disagree, agree, and strongly agree. This scale was intended to measure the participants current positive and negative feelings about oneself. Procedure A survey was created on Google Forms, from adapting two different types of self-assessment questionnaires. The survey was created to measure the two types of variables being studied: childhood neglect and self-esteem. The first section of the self-questionnaire included if ones childhood needs was meant by their caretakers. As well as their self-esteem levels now as college adults. The survey was administered through Google Forms. Participants were informed that all collected responses were Statistical Analysis For this study excel was used to find a correlation between the two variables being measured: childhood neglect and self-esteem. Results Majority of the responses were females (90.9%), with 81.8% identifying as 20 year olds, 9.1% as 21 years old, and 9.1% as 22 years old. Every participant answered (100%) that the father figure in their life was either their biological father or adoptive father. The results were the same for the mother figure in their lives as well: either their biological mother or adoptive mother. Overall, on the section about participants childhood they responded with a non-neglected childhood. As seen in figure 1, 100% of participants responded that their caretaker did keep them physically clean. The lowest score on participants childhood was on if their caretaker were proud when I succeeded in something. The mean for this response was 3.45, meaning majority of the responses agreed with this statement. On the section about participants current self-esteem scores were slightly lower compared to participants childhoods. As seen in figure 2, responses were either agree or strongly agree regarding the statement I feel I have a number of good qualities, the mean for this was 3. This means majority of participants have a high self-esteem. The lowest score on participants self-esteem question was, I wish I had more respect for myself. The mean for this question was 2.54, which means majority of participants disagreed with this statement. Discussion The purpose of conducting this study was to find more evidence on a neglected childhood and how it could possibly affect self-esteem levels later in adults. Providing more research will allow people to understand the negative outcomes of neglecting children. The overall finding of this study was the opposite of what was expected. The results of this study did not support nor reject the hypothesis that children who experience neglected childhoods are more likely to experience a lower self-esteem compared to children who did not experience neglected childhoods. Results were found that a person who has not experienced a neglected childhood has a high self-esteem. Within this study there were several limitations that could have possibly affected the results. The biggest limitation would be the sample size of the current study. The sample size gathered for this study was eleven CNU students, which is not large enough to reflect the entire population. This sample size was extremely low for accurate results. Another limitation about the sample is that it only consisted of Christopher Newport University undergraduate students. A sample consisting of just CNU students is neither as diverse nor unprivileged as it should be for a study. Majority of students at CNU most likely have not lived a life of neglect by their parents, which ultimately will produce inaccurate results as well. Another aspect of the sample, is that it does not precisely represent is the number of females and males within the entire population since CNU is more females than males. Another limitation of this study could possibly be participant honesty on the self-assessment questionnaire the sample took. As stated in the self-assessment questionnaire, all responses are anonymous, but some people may answer incorrectly about themselves. Some people want to make themselves look better or even worse than they actually are. Participants that took this survey could have lied about their childhood and their current self-esteem levels. This will overall affect the results of this study. Further research on childhood neglect can provide more insights and knowledge on the negative outcomes that could possibly affect an individual self-esteem level. Conducting more research on neglected childhoods could provide more evidence, not only how it negatively effects self-esteem, but other factors as well. To expand more knowledge on this study and research found, researchers would need to conduct research on different populations and samples. Expanding the sample size increases the results that could provide evidence on the negative outcomes. Providing more research could directly help many individuals, such as parents and late adolescences. References Gudjonsson, G. H., Sigurdsson, J. F., Tryggvad?ttir, H. B. (2011). The relationship of compliance with a background of childhood neglect and physical and sexual abuse. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry Psychology, 22(1), 87. doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1080/14789949.2010.524707 Hosogi, M., Okada, A., Fujii, C., Noguchi, K., Watanabe, K. (2012). Importance and usefulness of evaluating self-esteem in children. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 6 doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1186/1751-0759-6-9 Lim, Y., Lee, O. (2017). Relationships between parental maltreatment and adolescents school adjustment: Mediating roles of self-esteem and peer attachment. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(2), 393-404. doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1007/s10826-016-0573-8 Oshri, A., Carlson, M. W., Kwon, J. A., Zeichner, A., Wickrama, K. K., A., S. (2017). Developmental growth trajectories of self-esteem in adolescence: Associations with child neglect and drug use and abuse in young adulthood.Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 151-164.doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1007/s10964-016-0483-5 Pacheco, J. T. B., Irigaray, T. Q., memoriam), B. W. (., Nunes, M. L. T., Argimon, I. I. d. L. (2014). Childhood maltreatment and psychological adjustment: A systematic review. Psicologia, Reflex?o e Cr ­tica, 27(4), 815-824. doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1590/1678-7153.201427422 Robins, R. W., Trzesniewski, K. H. (2005). Self-esteem development across the lifespan. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(3), 158-162. doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00353.x Saleem, S., Mahmood, Z. (2011). The development of a self-esteem scale for children in pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 26(1), 1-21. Retrieved from https://0-search-proquest-com.read.cnu.edu/docview/920830262?accountid=10100 Young-Wolff, K., Kendler, K. S., Ericson, M. L., Prescott, C. A. (2011). Accounting for the association between childhood maltreatment and alcohol-use disorders in males: A twin study. Psychological Medicine, 41(1), 59-70. doi:https://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1017/S0033291710000425

An End to Bullying A Look at Some of the Causes of...

Recently, the topic of bullying amongst pre-teens and teenagers has gained national recognition. Devastating stories of student suicides due to bullying have brought the issue to the forefront of American attention. A number of television news channels have aired specials about the issue, including Anderson Cooper’s in-depth coverage on his CNN program. President Barack Obama has addressed the topic of bullying, most notably when he held a conference at the White House in March of 2010. An Associated Press release about that conference quotes the President as remarking that we must â€Å"dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. Its not† (â€Å"Obama: Bullying†). Clearly, Americans are†¦show more content†¦723). While this is just one study, it indicates that often times it is difficult to recognize when bullying occurs. This is not necessarily the fault of the other students or teachers. They a re very busy with their own lives and responsibilities. It can be difficult to tell when others are just teasing each other or if they are participating in a more serious form of victimization. When the school community is not aware of the bullying that is occurring, they may not even know the problem exists. Without this awareness, the bullying continues to go on and become worse. It would occur anyway, but this lack of knowledge about the situation can make it happen more often and with more severity. In order to correct this, awareness must be raised. Discussions should be open between educators and students. Students should be encouraged to anonymously report signs of bullying they see around them to counselors and teachers. If educators are made aware of the situation, measures can be taken to solve individual problems and reduce the occurrence overall. 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Blood Promise Chapter One Free Essays

Chapter One I was being followed. It was kind of ironic, considering the way I’d been following others for the last few weeks. At least it wasn’t a Strigoi. We will write a custom essay sample on Blood Promise Chapter One or any similar topic only for you Order Now I would have already known. A recent effect of my being shadow-kissed was the ability to sense the undead-through bouts of nausea, unfortunately. Still, I appreciated my body’s early warning system and was relieved my stalker tonight wasn’t an insanely fast, insanely vicious vampire. I’d fought enough of those recently and kind of wanted a night off. I had to guess my follower was a dhampir like me, probably one from the club. Admittedly, this person was moving a little less stealthily than I would have expected of a dhampir. Footsteps were clearly audible against the pavement of the dark side streets I was traveling on, and once, I’d caught a brief glimpse of a shadowy figure. Still, considering my rash actions tonight, a dhampir was the most likely culprit. It had all started earlier at the Nightingale. That wasn’t the club’s true name, only a translation. Its real name was something Russian that was beyond my ability to pronounce. Back in the U.S., the Nightingale was well known among rich Moroi who traveled abroad, and now I could understand why. No matter what time of the day it was, people at the Nightingale dressed like they were at an imperial ball. And, well, the whole place actually kind of looked like something from the old, royal days of Russia, with ivory walls covered in gold scroll-work and molding. It reminded me a lot of the WinterPalace, a royal residence left over from when Russia had still been ruled by czars. I’d toured it upon first arriving in Saint Petersburg. At the Nightingale, elaborate chandeliers filled with real candles glittered in the air, lighting up the gold decor so that even in dim lighting, the whole establishment sparkled. There was a large dining room filled with velvet-draped tables and booths, as well as a lounge and bar area where people could mingle. Late in the evening, a band would set up in there, and couples would hit the dance floor. I hadn’t bothered with the Nightingale when I arrived in the city a couple weeks ago. I’d been arrogant enough to think I could find Moroi right away who could direct me to Dimitri’s hometown in Siberia. With no other clues about where Dimitri had gone in Siberia, heading to the town he’d grown up in had been my best chance of getting closer to him. Only, I didn’t know where it was, which was why I was trying to find Moroi to help me. There were a number of dhampir towns and communes in Russia but hardly any in Siberia, which made me believe most local Moroi would be familiar with his birthplace. Unfortunately, it turned out that the Moroi who lived in human cities were very good at keeping themselves hidden. I checked what I thought were likely Moroi hangouts, only to come up empty. And without those Moroi, I had no answers. So, I’d begun staking out the Nightingale, which wasn’t easy. It was hard for an eighteen-year-old girl to blend into one of the city’s most elite clubs. I’d soon found that expensive clothes and large enough tips went a long way toward helping me get by. The waitstaff had come to know me, and if they thought my presence was strange, they didn’t say so and were happy to give me the corner table I always asked for. I think they thought I was the daughter of some tycoon or politician. Whatever my background, I had the money to be there, which was all they cared about. Even so, my first few nights there had been discouraging. The Nightingale might have been an elite hangout for Moroi, but it was also frequented by humans. And at first, it had seemed those were the club’s only patrons. Crowds grew larger as the night progressed, and in peering through the packed tables and people lingering at the bar, I’d seen no Moroi. The most notable thing I’d seen was a woman with long, platinum-blond hair walking into the lounge with a group of friends. For a moment, my heart had stopped. The woman had her back to me, but she had looked so much like Lissa that I’d felt certain I’d been tracked down. The weird thing was, I didn’t know whether to feel excited or horrified. I missed Lissa so, so much-yet at the same time, I didn’t want her involved in this dangerous trip of mine. Then the woman had turned around. It wasn’t Lissa. She wasn’t even a Moroi, just a human. Slowly, my breathing returned to n ormal. Finally, a week or so ago, I’d had my first sighting. A group of Moroi women had come in for a late lunch, accompanied by two guardians, one male and one female, who sat dutifully and quietly at the table as their charges gossiped and laughed over afternoon champagne. Dodging those guardians had been the trickiest part. For those who knew what to look for, Moroi were easy to spot: taller than most humans, pale, and uber-slim. They also had a certain funny way of smiling and holding their lips in order to hide their fangs. Dhampirs, with our human blood, appeared†¦ well, human. That was certainly how I looked to the untrained human eye. I was about five foot seven, and whereas Moroi tended to have unreal, runway-model bodies, mine was athletically built and curvy in the chest. Genetics from my unknown Turkish father and too much time in the sun had given me a light tan that paired well with long, nearly black hair and equally dark eyes. But those who had been raised in the Moroi world could spot me as a dhampir through close examination. I’m not sure what it was-maybe some instinct that drew us to our own kind and recognized the mix of Moroi blood. Regardless, it was imperative that I appear human to those guardians, so I didn’t raise their alarms. I sat across the room in my corner, picking over caviar and pretending to read my book. For the record, I thought caviar was disgusting, but it seemed to be everywhere in Russia, particularly in the nice places. That and borscht-a kind of beet soup. I almost never finished my food at the Nightingale and would ravenously hit McDonald’s afterward, even though the Russian McDonald’s restaurants were a bit different from what I’d grown up with in the U.S. Still, a girl had to eat. So it became a test of my skill, studying the Moroi when their guardians weren’t watching. Admittedly, the guardians had little to fear during the day, since there would be no Strigoi out in the sun. But it was in guardian nature to watch everything, and their eyes continually swept the room. I’d had the same training and knew their tricks, so I managed to spy without detection. The women came back a lot, usually late in the afternoon. St. Vladimir’s ran on a nocturnal schedule, but Moroi and dhampirs living out among humans either ran on a daylight schedule or something in between. For a while, I’d considered approaching them-or even their guardians. Something held me back. If anyone would know where a town of dhampirs lived, it would be male Moroi. Many of them visited dhampir towns in hopes of scoring easy dhampir girls. So I promised myself I’d wait another week to see if any guys came by. If not, I would see what kind of information the women could give me. At last, a couple days ago, two Moroi guys had started showing up. They tended to come later in the evening, when the real partiers arrived. The men were about ten years older than me and strikingly handsome, wearing designer suits and silk ties. They carried themselves like powerful, important people, and I would have bet good money that they were royal-particularly since each one came with a guardian. The guardians were always the same, young men who wore suits to blend in but still carefully watched the room with that clever guardian nature. And there were women-always women. The two Moroi were terrible flirts, continually scoping out and hitting on every woman in sight-even humans. But they never went home with any humans. That was a taboo still firmly ingrained in our world. Moroi had kept themselves separate from humans for centuries, fearing detection from a race that had grown so plentiful and powerful. Still, that didn’t mean the men went home alone. At some point in the evening, dhampir women usually showed up-different ones every night. They’d come in wearing low-cut dresses and lots of makeup, drinking heavily and laughing at everything the guys said-which probably wasn’t even that funny. The women always wore their hair down, but every once in a while, they’d shift their heads in a way that showed their necks, which were heavily bruised. They were blood whores, dhampirs who let Moroi drink blood during sex. That was also a taboo-though it still happened in secret. I kept wanting to get one of the Moroi men alone, away from the watchful eyes of his guardians so that I could question him. But it was impossible. The guardians never left their Moroi unattended. I even attempted to follow them, but each time the group left the club, they’d almost immediately hop into a limousine-making it impossible for me to track them on foot. It was frustrating. I finally decided tonight that I’d have to approach the whole group and risk detection by the dhampirs. I didn’t know if anyone from back home was actually looking for me, or if the group would even care who I was. Maybe I just had too high an opinion of myself. It was definitely possible that no one was actually concerned about a runaway dropout. But if anyone was looking for me, my description had undoubtedly been circulated amongst guardians worldwide. Even though I was now eighteen, I wouldn’t have put it past some of the people I knew to haul me back to the U.S., and there was no way I could return until I’d found Dimitri. Then, just as I was considering my move on the group of Moroi, one of the dhampir women left the table to walk up to the bar. The guardians watched her, of course, but seemed confident about her safety and were more fixated on the Moroi. All this time, I’d been thinking Moroi men would be the best way to go to get information about a village of dhampirs and blood whores-but what better way to locate this place than by asking an actual blood whore? I strolled casually from my table and approached the bar, like I too was going to get a drink. I stood by as the woman waited for the bartender and studied her in my periphery. She was blond and wore a long dress covered in silver sequins. I couldn’t decide if it made my black satin sheath dress appear tasteful or boring. All of her movements-even the way she stood-were graceful, like a dancer’s. The bartender was helping others, and I knew it was now or never. I leaned toward her. â€Å"Do you speak English?† She jumped in surprise and looked over at me. She was older than I’d expected, her age cleverly concealed by makeup. Her blue eyes assessed me quickly, recognizing me as a dhampir. â€Å"Yes,† she said warily. Even the one word carried a thick accent. â€Å"I’m looking for a town†¦ a town where lots of dhampirs live, out in Siberia. Do you know what I’m talking about? I need to find it.† Again she studied me, and I couldn’t read her expression. She might as well have been a guardian for all that her face revealed. Maybe she’d trained at one time in her life. â€Å"Don’t,† she said bluntly. â€Å"Let it go.† She turned away, her gaze back on the bartender as he made someone a blue cocktail adorned with cherries. I touched her arm. â€Å"I have to find it. There’s a man†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I choked on the word. So much for my cool interrogation. Just thinking about Dimitri made my heart stick in my throat. How could I even explain it to this woman? That I was following a long-shot clue, seeking out the man I loved most in the world-a man who had been turned into a Strigoi and who I now needed to kill? Even now, I could perfectly picture the warmth of his brown eyes and the way his hands used to touch me. How could I do what I had crossed an ocean to do? Focus, Rose. Focus. The dhampir woman looked back at me. â€Å"He’s not worth it,† she said, mistaking my meaning. No doubt she thought I was a lovesick girl, chasing some boyfriend-which, I supposed, I kind of was. â€Å"You’re too young†¦ it’s not too late for you to avoid all that.† Her face might have been impassive, but there was sadness in her voice. â€Å"Go do something else with your life. Stay away from that place.† â€Å"You know where it is!† I exclaimed, too worked up to explain that I wasn’t going there to be a blood whore. â€Å"Please-you have to tell me. I have to get there!† â€Å"Is there a problem?† Both she and I turned and looked into the fierce face of one of the guardians. Damn. The dhampir woman might not be their top priority, but they would have noticed someone harassing her. The guardian was only a little older than me, and I gave him a sweet smile. I might not be spilling out of my dress like this other woman, but I knew my short skirt did great things for my legs. Surely even a guardian wasn’t immune to that? Well, apparently he was. His hard expression showed that my charms weren’t working. Still, I figured I might as well try my luck with him on getting intel. â€Å"I’m trying to find a town in Siberia, a town where dhampirs live. Do you know it?† He didn’t blink. â€Å"No.† Wonderful. Both were playing difficult. â€Å"Yeah, well, maybe your boss does?† I asked demurely, hoping I sounded like an aspiring blood whore. If the dhampirs wouldn’t talk, maybe one of the Moroi would. â€Å"Maybe he wants some company and would talk to me.† â€Å"He already has company,† the guardian replied evenly. â€Å"He doesn’t need any more.† I kept the smile on. â€Å"Are you sure?† I purred. â€Å"Maybe we should ask him.† â€Å"No,† replied the guardian. In that one word, I heard the challenge and the command. Back off. He wouldn’t hesitate to take on anyone he thought was a threat to his master-even a lowly dhampir girl. I considered pushing my case further but quickly decided to follow the warning and indeed back off. I gave an unconcerned shrug. â€Å"His loss.† And with no other words, I walked casually back to my table, like the rejection was no big deal. All the while I held my breath, half-expecting the guardian to drag me out of the club by my hair. It didn’t happen. Yet as I gathered my coat and set some cash on the table, I saw him watching me, eyes wary and calculating. I left the Nightingale with that same nonchalant air, heading out toward the busy street. It was a Saturday night, and there were lots of other clubs and restaurants nearby. Partygoers filled the streets, some dressed as richly as the Nightingale’s patrons; others were my age and dressed in casual wear. Lines spilled out of the clubs, dance music loud and heavy with bass. Glass-fronted restaurants showed elegant diners and richly set tables. As I walked through the crowds, surrounded by Russian conversation, I resisted the urge to look behind me. I didn’t want to raise any further suspicion if that dhampir was watching. Yet when I turned down a quiet street that was a shortcut back to my hotel, I could hear the soft sounds of footsteps. I apparently had raised enough alarm that the guardian had decided to follow me. Well, there was no way I was going to let him get the drop on me. I might have been smaller than him-and wearing a dress and heels-but I had fought plenty of men, including Strigoi. I could handle this guy, especially if I used the element of surprise. After walking this neighborhood for so long, I knew it and its twists and turns well. I picked up my pace and darted around a few corners, one of which led me into a dark, deserted alley. Scary, yeah, but it made for a good ambush spot when I ducked into a doorway. I quietly stepped out of my high-heeled shoes. They were black with pretty leather straps but not ideal in a fight, unless I planned on gouging someone in the eye with a heel. Actually, not a bad idea. But I wasn’t quite that desperate. Without them, the pavement was cold beneath my bare feet since it had rained earlier in the day. I didn’t have to wait long. A few moments later, I heard the footsteps and saw my pursuer’s long shadow appear on the ground, cast in the flickering light of a street lamp on the adjacent road. My stalker came to a stop, no doubt searching for me. Really, I thought, this guy was careless. No guardian in pursuit would have been so obvious. He should have moved with more stealth and not revealed himself so easily. Maybe the guardian training here in Russia wasn’t as good as what I’d grown up with. No, that couldn’t be true. Not with the way Dimitri had dispatched his enemies. They’d called him a god at the Academy. My pursuer took a few more steps, and that’s when I made my move. I leapt out, fists ready. â€Å"Okay,† I exclaimed. â€Å"I only wanted to ask a few questions, so just back off or else-â€Å" I froze. The guardian from the club wasn’t standing there. A human was. A girl, no older than me. She was about my height, with cropped dark blond hair and a navy blue trench coat that looked expensive. Underneath it, I could see nice dress pants and leather boots that looked as pricey as the coat. More startling still was that I recognized her. I’d seen her twice at the Nightingale, talking to the Moroi men. I’d assumed she was just another of the women they liked to flirt with and had promptly dismissed her. After all, what use was a human to me? Her face was partly covered in shadow, but even in poor lighting, I could make out her annoyed expression. That wasn’t quite what I’d expected. â€Å"It’s you, isn’t it?† she asked. Cue more shock. Her English was as American as my own. â€Å"You’re the one who’s been leaving the string of Strigoi bodies around the city. I saw you back in the club tonight and knew it had to be you.† â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  No other words formed on my lips. I had no idea how to respond. A human talking casually about Strigoi? It was unheard of. This was almost more astonishing than actually running into a Strigoi out here. I’d never experienced anything like this in my life. She didn’t seem to care about my stupefied state. â€Å"Look, you can’t just do that, okay? Do you know what a pain in the ass it is for me to deal with? This internship is bad enough without you making a mess of it. The police found the body you left in the park, you know. You cannot even imagine how many strings I had to pull to cover that up.† â€Å"Who†¦ who are you?† I asked at last. It was true. I had left a body in the park, but seriously, what was I supposed to do? Drag him back to my hotel and tell the bellhop my friend had had too much to drink? â€Å"Sydney,† the girl said wearily. â€Å"My name’s Sydney. I’m the Alchemist assigned here.† â€Å"The what?† She sighed loudly, and I was pretty sure she rolled her eyes. â€Å"Of course. That explains everything.† â€Å"No, not really,† I said, finally regaining my composure. â€Å"In fact, I think you’re the one who has a lot of explaining to do.† â€Å"And attitude too. Are you some kind of test they sent here for me? Oh, man. That’s it.† I was getting angry now. I didn’t like being chastised. I certainly didn’t like being chastised by a human who made it sound like me killing Strigoi was a bad thing. â€Å"Look, I don’t know who you are or how you know about any of this, but I’m not going to stand here and-â€Å" Nausea rolled over me and I tensed, my hand immediately going for the silver stake I kept in my coat pocket. Sydney still wore that annoyed expression, but it was mingled with confusion now at the abrupt change in my posture. She was observant, I’d give her that. â€Å"What’s wrong?† she asked. â€Å"You’re going to have another body to deal with,† I said, just as the Strigoi attacked her. How to cite Blood Promise Chapter One, Essay examples