Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy

Chapter One - Arrival

The bus came to stop and the door slid open. Anastasia retrieved her backpack from under her seat and slung it over her shoulder.

Marco glanced out the window and smiled grimly. "Cheerful place," he commented sarcastically on the dreary buildings outside.

Anastasia smirked, shook her head and walked off the bus. She glanced up at the night sky and sighed. The whole 27-hour flight she hadn't seen a hint of sunlight and probably wouldn't get the chance for a while.

"Kill me now." Zhanna appeared beside her, staring up at gothic style building. There was a slight hint of her slowly fading Russian accent as she spoke. She had left Russia eight years ago and had only returned to visit her parents, but she hadn't seemed to lose her accent, despite the many years of being surrounded by the Australian accent. Anastasia herself was born in Russia, but had been sent to Paige Isabella Henson's Academy of Specialised Arts at the age of four and hadn't returned since.

Zhanna and Anastasia shared some of the same physical characteristics that they inherited from their father, but obviously didn't share the same mother. Zhanna was a Moroi. Anastasia was an illegitimate dhampir, with an Australian mother. They both had deep blue eyes and pinkish lips. Though Anastasia had a nice reddish tinge to her brown hair and, at times, it was had to tell if it was red or brown. Zhanna had hair as black as ash and made her skin look even paler than it really was.

"It's probably not as bad as it looks," Anastasia said just as black crow landed on the roof and cawed, "...maybe not."

The sisters shivered simultaneously, "Creepy."

"Ancel! Stop it!" Antoinette yelled loudly with her French accent. The pair turned around and found Antoinette standing near the pile of baggage that had been unloaded from the bus. She was angry and all that anger was directed at Ancel who was holding her baggage hostage.

Ancel Brauer was trouble. Always had been and always would be. It wasn't that he was bad news; he was just a boisterous dhampir and was always full of energy. He was from Germany and had transferred to Paige Isabella Henson's Academy of Specialised Arts three years ago. To Antoinette's despair, he hadn't left.

Antoinette spotted Anastasia watching and glared at her. "Anastasie! Do something!"

"Ancel, down boy," Anastasia grinned.

"Anast-" she began to shout, but was cut off when Ancel grabbed her from behind and picked her up. Her light blue eyes went wide and her light blonde curls bounced around her shoulders and she struggled to escape his arms.

"Mr. Brauer!" Mr.. Beckford boomed as soon as his heel touched the ground as he stood off the bus. "Put Miss Girard down!"

Ancel immediately released Antoinette and she hurried to straighten her plaited skirt. Antoinette was a Moroi Royal, one of the few that attended Paige Isabella Henson's Academy of Specialised Arts. Her pampered life made her temperamental at times and gave her the illusion that she was the centre of the universe, which she wasn't.

She flicked her curls over her shoulders and wrapped her leather jacket closer around her.

The other students gathered around the baggage pile, collecting their luggage and waiting for the teachers' instructions.

Three other buses lined up behind their bus, unloading more students. Daniel, a dhampir, stepped off the bus and, without hesitation, he turned back around to scramble back onto the bus. "Take me home!" he yelled desperately, but a Guardian pushed him back off.

Marco finally exited the bus, searched around and spotted Anastasia and Zhanna.

Marco had pale green eyes and looks that could kill. Both his parents were Italian, but they had sent him to Australia for schooling because they thought it would be a safer place than Europe. They were wrong. The only reason they were in Montana was because it was no longer safe. Anastasia and Marco had known each other since they were four years old and had been best friends since their first night on campus and had gotten lost and ended up locked out of their dorms. They had snuggled up together outside during the night to keep warm. Though they tended to have a lot of fights that lasted weeks and sometimes got a little violent.

"This is going to be hell. Look at the place. It looks haunted..." he complained.

"Welcome." A deep Russian male voice spoke from behind them. They spun around and came to face a tall man. "I am Guardian Belikov. If the Novices will follow me, I'll show you to your dorms."

"Novices?" they asked each other. "Oh... the dhampir."

"See ya," Marco and Anastasia high-fived.

"Come on, Kautsky," Ancel said as he grabbed his luggage and gave Anastasia a playful shove.

"This is your room," the Matron told Anastasia, "You'll be sharing with Rosemarie Hathaway." She opened the door then moved on to show the other students to their rooms.

Anastasia peered in and found a girl about a year older then herself lounging on her bed, doing homework. She looked up and smiled. Anastasia dragged her luggage in and dumped in on the ground.

"Hi, I'm Rose and you are....?"

"Anastasia."

"So you're from Australia? You have the accent."

"Yeah, but I was born in Russia... My Mum's Australian but she's in Russia." Anastasia flopped down on the spare bed and sighed.

"My Mum's in Nepal." There was an odd silence between the girls for a few minutes until Anastasia spoke to break the tension.

"So when's dinner?"

"About an hour."

"Great," she groaned.

"Kautsky, let me in," Ancel knocked on the bedroom door.

"Friend of yours?" Rose asked.

Anastasia closed the drawer she was putting her clothes in and opened the door. "What do you want?"

"I need to you hide me," he pushed his way into the room and shut the door.

"Why?"

"I need an alibi."

"Why?"

"Someone stuck a stinkbomb in Enrique Stevenson's bag."

"And you had nothing to do with it? You were just an innocent bystander?" Anastasia asked, already knowing that there was no way in hell that he could ever be innocent.

"Exactly."

"Right," she rolled her eyes.

Ancel spotted Rose and a cocky grin crossed his face.

"Ancel, no," Anastasia said sternly. "Don't even think about hitting on my roommate. We've barely been here an hour."
Ancel ignored her and sat down on Rose's bed. "You're hot!"

"And you're not." Rose pushed Ancel off the bed and onto the floor with her foot.

"Aww... that's not nice."

"Ancel, out!" Anastasia yelled.

"Shh... You'll blow my cover," he whispered and dragged Anastasia onto the floor with him.

"You are so immature," she mumbled as she tried to remove his hands from inappropriate places. "Rose a little help."

Rose glanced at her watch, "Sorry, can't. Dinner." She walked around the pair and out the door.

"I swear, if you don't stop touching me I'll break your fingers."

His only reaction was to grin and continue to explore further with his hands.

Anastasia eventually managed to escape his grasp and ran out the door. He quickly followed and soon fell in step beside her. Anastasia glanced at him. He was grinning and for some odd reason, she smiled.

"Come on, don't you remember the good days when-"

"I don't want to remember."

He raised an eyebrow, sceptically, "Whatever you say....Oh no." He spotted Enrique and his pose further up the corridor coming towards them. They hadn't seen him yet.

He grabbed Anastasia's arm and pushed her against the wall, pinning her.

"What are you-"

He silenced her as he forced his mouth onto hers and started to kiss her. He managed to keep her pinned up against the wall and his face hidden until Enrique had passed, then released her.

"You disgust me," she frowned, but the illusion was destroyed when she ended up smiling.

"You enjoyed it."