My fangs left my victim's neck, blood dripping as they slid out. I let the unconscious body fall to the floor as I wiped my lips with the back of my lips. I could never get over how good it felt to drain a victim dry. It's a way of the strigoi, and it's not like I can help myself to my wants.

I've been like this for probably eight years. Ever since that car crash with Lissa's family... I cursed myself for remembering all of it. But now that it was on my mind, I couldn't push it away.

I turned and left the near dead body by a cluster of garbage cans before leaving the dark, damp alleyway. I strolled back to my apartment, carefully hidden in the shadows.

My mind wandered back to the day. I was probably eight.

The day had been glorious. Well, night, actually. There were countless starts in the sky and the full moon hung low in the sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight.

As I was sleeping, I heard voices. I'd always been a light sleeper. "Lovely day it is, wouldn't you say so my dear?" a platinum blond haired man said. I imagined him smiling brightly at his wife. She would return the gesture and check the children in the backseat of the car they were riding in. Three in a row, a blonde boy about the age of nineteen, a dark haired brunette, and probably around sixteen, and a blonde haired girl. It appeared to be a domino effect, each one laying their head on the next. They had all passed out from the past days', or nights', events. It was around two am, and the sky was as dark as can be.

"Why yes, Honey," the woman said and ran her hand through her husband's hair. "We had a marvelous day," she looked back at the kids.

That's when the horror began. My eyes flew open, and I lifted my head from my best friend's shoulder. Lissa was sleeping soundly, as was her older brother, Andre. His head was on my shoulder. I took a deep breath; something didn't feel exactly right. Maybe it was just my dhampir senses. Something was rubbing me the wrong way, and it wasn't my best friend's brother's breath on my neck.

I met eyes with Mr. Dragomir in the rear-view mirror. He noticed I had awoken, and looked pleasantly alarmed. "Rose," he said in a low voice. Rhea turned around and looked at me.

"Are you okay?" she asked, always the picture of perfect calmness. I swallowed and nodded, leaning back in my seat. Eric turned around and watched the road. I saw him squint, as if he were trying to make something out. Then I saw it. I didn't have as heightened seeing as Eric did, so I was surprised when he didn't stop and pull over immediately.

There were headlights on our side of the road. With my ten years of knowledge, I knew that they did not belong on this side. And, cross my heart and swear to die, they were headed straight for us. "Stop the car!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Whoa!" Time slowed as Eric made a quick turn on the wheel, causing everyone, even the two sleeping blonds, to lurch in their seats. I jumped forward and went for the wheel, turning it all the more, and I heard Rhea shriek right in my ear as she realized what was about to happen.

My eyes widened, and I blinked. Why hadn't Eric stop the car?

The two cars collided, smashing the most expensive car we were in almost completely. A loud bang, and everyone sliding forward, and then back. Rhea slammed her head against the windshield and was out like a light. I didn't want to look at Eric. But after the first minute after the crash, I was certain Rhea and Eric were already dead. Blood flowed freely from their wounds, and I couldn't hear a pulse from either of them.

I wanted to take a deep breath, but a mere second later, a second car crashed into ours. Lissa screamed, and Andre was slammed uncomfortably against me. And that's when the pain hit. Some sort of bar, possibly the one from the door that was supposed to keep us all safe, was lodged through both our stomachs, ending Andre's life almost immediately. He coughed a mouthful of blood on my face, and I didn't have the energy or will to clean it off me.

His head rested on my shoulder for the second time that day.

"R-Rose..." came a trembling voice behind me. It was Lissa. She was past hysterics now. "Rose, you're bleeding." Yep, I thought, trying desperately to keep myself alive.

"Rose, there's a pole through your stomach."

"Rose, don't die."

Her frightened voice terrified me more than this whole situation. A horrific cough rocked my body. I tried to laugh casually as I always did to try not and frighten Lissa, but it sounded low and almost demonic. "Sorry," I whispered.

Lissa's ear-splitting scream sounded like a siren, and that's when everything went black for me. It was almost as if someone flipped a light switch off. I was gone. And... I was strangely okay with that. My last thought was knowing Lissa was alive, and as far as I knew, okay. Somewhat. I had protected her, and she was alive. I always knew when the time came to save her, I would give anything to do it. My body included in that deal.

But then, what felt like a hurricane inside my body happened. My eyes flew open and I sucked in a big breath of air. I found that I was out of the car, and Lissa was leaning over me, looking at me with her wide, sea foam green eyes. I wondered how much time had passed since I fell asleep. Or had I been asleep? I wasn't sure, and truthfully, I didn't want to be sure. All I knew was Lissa was alive, and I was pretty sure I was too.

Although I was awake, I couldn't tell if Lissa knew that already. She was a sobbing, snotty mess. Tears and mucus dropped onto my face as she leant over me. "Rose, you can't die... I can't... I won't let you," she muttered almost unintelligibly. I heard a siren wailing in the far, very far distance. That didn't surprise me. We were in the middle of nowhere. A pass-byer must've made a call by now. Another hurricane went through me, and I felt like throwing up all of my insides. The hole inside my chest somehow felt like it was in the process of closing up. As I bent my head forward slightly, I could see that it was actually happening right before my eyes. My eyes widened in shock, and it was like I could feel my cells dividing and organs closing up and becoming intact once again. I was in shock. That must've been it.

I slid Lissa's hand into mine. "Liss... Thank you," I rasped out. Lissa gasped, and sang shrilly in delight.

"Oh, Rose! Jesus, Rose!" She held onto me with all she had before I felt her go limp in my arms. Feeling her pulse, I decided she had collapsed from tiredness and fatigue. I gave her a once over, noting only a few scratches and scars. She was okay.

I let her lie on the concrete next to the car. I hopped up, feeling more energetic than I had in a long time. My long, skinny arms and legs were bloody, but there were no visible scrapes or wounds.

Thankful that I still had clothes and shoes to wear, I looked around at the other cars. The first car that had crashed into us consisted of four teenage boys. All human. No pulses.

Next car, an elder man and woman. More humans. Not a pulse over there either. I felt my eyes well up in tears. This was... I didn't know what to say. Or think, for that matter; everything just felt so blank. In fact, I was still seeing spots.

Then I heard the sirens coming closer. I cried out, unable to help myself. I went into the car and looked through the crushed foot area for Rhea's purse. This felt wrong, like I was some kind of robber, but this was the best I could do. Rummaging through Rhea's things, I found a wallet. I knew I couldn't do with her credit card since the two would soon enough be pronounced dead, and that wouldn't make much sense. Thankfully, she had a good couple thousand in there. I balled the hundreds up and stuck them into the front pocket of my jeans.

I couldn't stay. I wouldn't. I didn't want this memory to be burned into my mind the rest of my life if I were going to live the life I currently was. Not happening. I didn't dare another look at Lissa, because I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to let myself leave.

I hurried off into the woods that were conveniently right beside the highway. I was grateful for them, because as soon as I was hidden, the police cars and ambulances were right there. Everyone was there. I watched from the darkness to see the police investigate. There were even some dhampir and Moroi there. A tall woman; that was Alberta. She was one of the head guardians from my school! One dhampir lifted Lissa into his arms, and I momentarily felt jealous, and surprisingly, lonely. I missed Liss already, and I was a mere thirty meters away. I recognized a couple others, but then decided I best head off. I was not about to get caught.

I was out of there in record time. I found a small town soon enough, and I was out of breath from running the whole way, so I stopped. I was ten, I realized suddenly... How was I supposed to do anything? Could I call someone? I swallowed. I felt so alone, like a child abandoned in a shopping mall. Tears found their way to my eyes again, and soon enough, I was bawling like a baby.

I rubbed my eyes profusely, trying to hide the tears. I tried not to think about what happened. I tried not to want to return to the academy, my home. After about two hours of wandering around aimlessly, an idea popped into my head. What if I were to call my mom?

Well, no. I shot that thought down almost immediately.

But who else could I call? My dad? Yeah, sure, if only I knew him.

Instead of calling anyone, I sullenly wandered around.

My whole body felt weird and tingly, and I was pretty sure whenever I closed my eyes, I saw another pair of chocolaty brown ones staring straight at me.

I stopped for a moment and wondered what was going on with me. Shock, I reminded myself, but I wasn't so sure.

"Princess! Princess Dragomir! Lissa?"

"Where is Rose?" asked a hysteric voice. It sounded oddly familiar, almost like Lissa's. "Where is Rose? Rose!" Whoa, whoa, wait. Rose?

"Lissa." Why did that sound like Alberta...? "What happened... Please, we need to know this information."

Okay, Lissa? I just separated from her. What the hell was going on? I must be hallucinating or something, because something weird was definitely going on in my head.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when a human couple stopped before me and watched me, almost as if they were seizing me up. I felt plain compared to them; they looked like they just came out of a fancy 5-star restaurant. Looking up at them with my big, brown eyes, my ripped denim jeans, black tee, and blue Vans didn't even register to them. Though they smelled a little seedy despite their clothing, I openly went with them when asked to. They took me back to their house, which definitely did not match their clothes.

For the second time, something didn't feel right. "Wait!" I cried, but the man grabbed me by my arms and pulled me inside. Why hadn't I just stayed with Lissa? I asked myself as tears began to stream down my face and I struggled for control. When I came in, the place absolutely reeked of strigoi. The door slammed behind me and we were approached by some men. All strigoi. A tall one looked me over and smiled at the couple, giving them some amount of money before the two of them left. I glared at the door, wanting to leave so badly if it weren't for the fact I was suddenly in the choke hold of a very strong, very old strigoi.

"Please..." I begged. "Let me go. Please." The old strigoi told me his name before he led the man who held me to the basement of his house.

When the man turned his back on me, I elbowed the guy behind me with all the will I had. He didn't appear to be too strong, probably just a newborn strigoi. I took that to my advantage. I was only ten, but I was a dhampir. I was strong for my age. I had already developed muscles and knew many different moves that could possibly take this man down. I took my chances.

He lurched, and I slid out of his arms, turned around, and punched him square in the jaw. He fell back on his ass and growled up at me. "You little–"

The bigger strigoi took my hair into his hand and yanked. I shrieked as I pounded against his brick wall of a chest. He slapped me across the face and called for someone to take me. Another man picked me up and held me tightly against him, cutting off my air supply. Then we continued down to the basement.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," he said almost sympathetically. I almost fell for it. He snarled as he put his hands on his hips and the man behind me released me. He slammed the door behind me and I looked around, assessing places to escape. Big Man put his hand on the crown of my head and squeezed, turning my head so that our eyes met. A cruel smile crossed his chapped, pale lips. "You have impressed me. Therefore, you could become an asset. I'll give you have a choice: And trust me, it's only you I've ever given this to." The smile faded. "Either become awakened, or I will simply drain you."

My eyes became big and I sucked in a deep breath of air. "I don't want to become one of you. Never in my life. I'd rather die," I bit out in my meanest voice I could muster. I held my hand to my chest and secretly searched for my necklace under my shirt.

He smiled grimly. "Well then, that's too bad. You're ungrateful. You should be on your knees, pleading me to awaken you! I have been merciful. Now choose before I make the choice for you."

"I said neither!" I shouted as I ripped my necklace off my neck and raked it across his face. It was a charmed stake. Alberta had given it to me once a couple months ago. I never knew it might come in handy, but hey. I as never one to complain.

I turned around and thrusted the stake into my captor's chest, and although it could hardly compare to the regular size stake, it did do a degree of damage. I merely rendered the man unconscious from the pain of the stake in his chest.

I ripped around, right about to kill the one who wanted me to be like him, when he grabbed me by my cheek and threw me against the wall several feet behind me. He was furious and vicious. He chuckled deeply as he glared at me with squint-like eyes. "Now I will awaken you against your will," he said with a rueful smile. It made me honestly want to vomit in his face.

"Go die." I spat in his face. I tried to rake my mini-stake across the other side of his face this time, but he rendered my arm immobile. His face rested in the crook of my neck. "Stop this!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. He just kissed the skin there and licked the whole right side of my neck. I didn't want to go into details how violated and disgusted I felt at that moment. But I didn't really have time to dwell. He sunk his teeth into me.

I screamed again. I felt like it was the second time I was dying that day. Just when I thought I got it all back, it was ripped right out from under me.

"You believe me, don't you? I knew you would. I know you trust me."

And then there was silence. Dead silence.

A/N: expect this to be short. maybe seven or so chapters. review please, tell me what you think. if there is more than twenty reviews, i'll know to continue. thanks.