I stood in the backyard of a small, old house in the middle of a residential street, looking up into the window I saw two beds, with two girls lying in those beds. One girl, the closest to the window was screaming and thrashing around on her bed. Her fear evident in the nightmare that consumed her. The other girl awoke and went to comfort her friend, she spoke soothingly and the frightened girl calmed. The girl who had had the nightmare had long, blond hair, extremely pale skin and was very thin, obviously Moroi. I recognized her as the Dragomir Princess. The other had luxurious brown hair and soft brown eyes; she had a determined look upon her face. I knew her to be the reckless novice dhampir Rosemarie Hathaway, daughter of the famous guardian Janine Hathaway.

Suddenly, Rosemarie threw her hair off her shoulder, exposing her bare neck, as if offering something. Then the princess bit into her neck, comprehension dawned, she was feeding. Disgust flooded my thoughts before I realised that for them to live their was no other alternative and my thoughts were then filled with compassion and the loyalty Rosemarie showed.

Rosemarie slumped against the bed, the princess stood and walked out of the room, I saw the novice speak to the cat that was perched on the window sill. The cat stared at me then puffed up and looked like it was going to attack me should I step any closer. Rosemarie stood and came over to the window; the cat flinched but turned back to stare at me. The dhampir followed suit, she saw me and her expression turned from being dazed to frightened before the cat's reaction registered and understanding took over. I stood back into the shadows so she couldn't see me. Guardian Yuri Andreev moved quickly through the shadows to speak to me.

"What's the plan now, Belikov? She knows we're here," Yuri said.

"She's supposed to know we're here, the plan stays the same." I said sighing before I turned. " Talk to me, Fedoseev," I said into my headpiece.

"The corner, near Brown, four blocks, green Honda." Fedoseev's voice crackled through the microphone in my headpiece.

"Let's move, Yuri," I murmured.

Yuri and I ran straight to the green Honda Fedoseev had described and hid behind the nearby shrubs. I heard the two girls before I could see them. They were huffing and puffing, Rosemarie was clinging to Princess Vasilisa, she looked in bad shape and the blood loss wasn't doing anything for her. Both girls looked frantic and slightly hopeful as they saw the Honda come into view, then I stood in their way. The princess appeared frightened while the novice dhampir's expression turned offensive and earnest. They came to a screeching halt and Rosemarie pressed the princess behind her, she was very protective and loyal, I admired.

I raised my hands and tried to appear calming, they were young girls, I didn't want to hurt them, just take them back to the Academy, back to safety. The other guardians came out from their hiding places and closed ranks around the girls, there was about a dozen of us.

"Leave her alone," Rosemarie growled. "Don't touch her."

"I'm not going to-," I said as I stepped forward but was cut off by the novice attacking me, using a basic offensive maneuver. I instinctively put out my hands to ward her off but I misjudged how much weight to put behind my shove. Rosemarie instantly began to fall towards the pavement; I quickly grabbed her arm and kept her upright while she steadied herself. I caught sight of her neck and couldn't help but stare at the bite on her neck. Comprehension flickered across her eyes and she raised her free hand to her neck, seeing the blood she shook her hair over her face. I continued to stare at her neck for a moment before meeting her eyes, she returned my gaze defiantly before jerking out of my hold. I let her go and watched as the young dhampir stood next to the princess, looking as if she was going to pass out, then bracing herself for another attack.

Then the princess spoke, " Rose, don't," she said quietly.

At first there was no change in her appearance but slowly she began to relax, tension leaving her body, sagging in defeat. Seeing her resignation, I moved forward focusing on the princess, face calm, before I bowed before introducing my purpose and myself.

"My name is Dimitri Belikov," I said with a faint Russian accent. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."

As soon as we had got the two runaways into the airport and onto the Academy's private jet, I saw the two whispering and taking one look at their mischievous expressions I knew they were up to something.

"Don't let them talk to each other," I warned Yuri as he escorted Rosemarie to the back of the plane. "Five minutes together and they'll come up with an escape plan."

I took the princess down to the front of the plane and sat next to the frightened girl. I knew that as soon as the airplane went up that there was no way the two could escape again and I relaxed slightly.

Sitting next to Vasilisa, her hand gripping a bottle of water tightly, betraying her fear, I leaned forward to pick up my latest Western from my bag. I sat there comfortably for the most part of the flight, except for the occasional interruption from another guardian or the princess shifting her weight.

Near the end of the flight I stood up and walked over to where Rosemarie and Yuri were sitting relieving him of his position. She turned pointedly away from me, looking out the window absentmindedly. After several moments of silence, I spoke, "Were you really going to attack all of us?" I sounded incredulous even to my own ears.

She didn't respond.

"Doing that…protecting her like that-it was very brave," I paused. "Stupid, but still brave. Why did you even try it?"

She glanced over at me, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Because I am her guardian." She said it like it was extremely obvious before turning back towards the window.

I sat for another moment before realizing she wasn't going to say any more, so I headed back to sit next to Vasilisa.

When we landed, Rosemarie looked around disgruntedly before accepting she had no escape route. We drove to the Academy, only stopping at the wrought iron gates so the guardians stationed there could make sure of our identity, only minutes later we were allowed to continue up the drive. It was sunset-the beginning of the vampire day.

The campus looked the same as it always did, sprawling and gothic. The building had an almost church-like architecture, what with the high peaks and carvings, wrought iron gates enclosing small gardens. The school was built around a large quadrangle ornamented with stone pathways and century old trees. I admired the loneliness of the place because we were in Montana, miles away from everything. The air was fresh with pine and leaves, overgrown forests ringed the perimeters of the campus and during the day, the mountains could be seen in the distance.

As we walked, I noticed Rosemarie race up to me.

"Hey, Comrade."

I kept walking, refusing to look at her. "You want to talk now?"

"Are you taking us to Kirova?" she asked.

"Headmistress Kirova," I corrected automatically. What did she want?

"Headmistress. Whatever. She is still a self-righteous old bit-"

I knew what stopped her rant right in its tracks, although there were at least a dozen other ways to get to the Headmistress' office, Alberta, captain of the guardians on campus, had instructed me to bring them straight through the commons.

Unfortunately for the girls it was breakfast time and our entrance had stopped the loud buzz of conversation, all eyes staring at our group.

By the way, I can't change the dialogue because I am writing the same book but from a different perspective, the only dialogue I can change I have highlighted