A/N: Hey guys, I'm not sure which story running around in my head I should write first (they're listed on my profile), so I decided to upload the first chapter of each one. They will be continued in the order of how many reviews they get.
Chapter 1: The Dream
Rose Point of View
The tangy smell of blood, the sight of tangled metal and the bodies of her – our – family jolted me from my own thoughts. Her fear had drawn me into her nightmare, as I kept the wall between us down while she slept for precisely this reason. I needed to be able to wake her up before it got too bad.
It was a familiar scene, but it terrified her just the same. The burning metal of the car and the sight of her family lying there. I was finally able to extract myself from her head and quickly scrambled away from my position in front of the window where I had been scanning the area outside. I moved towards the bed before she started screaming.
"Lissa! Wake up! You're not there!" My voice was gentle; it was a tone I used only with her, a sharp contrast to my usual harsh demeanor. "Lissa!" She was tossing and turning in the bed, and I was running the danger of getting sucked into her head again. "Andre!" she moaned, I had to wake her "Oh God, Andre wake up."
"Liss!" I spoke louder, as she was beginning to awaken. "Rose…I had that dream." She told me, shaking. She had bags under her eyes and her skin was even more pale than usual. She was weak: I could feel it, as well as see it.
"Yeah, I know." I told her. "When was the last time we did a feeding?"
I couldn't remember the last time I had given her blood. It would explain why she was so weak, and why the nightmare had almost overcome her.
We sat in silence, as she tried to think of an excuse. She hated to hurt me , but she also knew that I would do what I could to keep her alive, so eventually she always caved and fed off me.
"Umm, Friday? You were busy…" She tried to reason. It was Tuesday; she had gone 5 day without blood. That was nearly unheard of for a vampire, especially a royal one.
I quickly popped an endorphin regulating pill in my mouth – courtesy of the alchemists – from the stash that Alastair managed to smuggle me before we embarked on our own last year, away from the relative safety of his training studio. I always did this, to make sure that the endorphins didn't affect me and that I was still alert for the rest of the night for attacks. If I was high, I could easily allow a Strigoi to just walk right in and have a shot at the last of the Dragmoir line.
"Screw that," I said "you need blood." I shook my long, wavy dark hair away from my neck and exposed it to her. Lissa didn't like to drink from me because the blood loss weakened me slightly, but while Alastair had helped me train, he had failed to mention alternatives to feeding her myself. Lissa brought her face towards my neck, and drank just enough that she was satisfied. It was over very quickly.
I felt slightly weak from the blood loss, but she looked much better. She was less pale, and the rings underneath her eyes were less defined. "I'll go make you some hot chocolate." She said with a smile. I thanked her, then returned to my post by the window.
As soon as I looked out again, I noticed the number of shadows increased. There was only one that I could make out – a tall man wearing a long jacket who was close enough to watch us. Close enough to see what we had just done.
I got up immediately and started running downstairs, shoving my feet into my running sneakers as I went. As soon as Lissa saw me, she knew something was wrong. She immediately turned to our housemate, Jeremy, who was staring confusedly at a Calculus book. Running smoothly through the situation I'd drilled heavily into her mind. Well, one of at least eight I had drilled into her mind; this one was for if we were at home and together when they found us.
"Jeremy, we need your keys." Lissa coaxed. "What, why?" he managed to say, before the thrall of her compulsion won over. His eyes adopted a glazed look, and he handed them to her without further struggle.
"Where is it parked?"
"The corner by Brown."
Damn. That was two blocks away. I knew Jeremy parked his car far away to avoid fines, but in that moment I would've given anything to have the car right outside the window.
We started running, and even in my slightly weakened state, I had to slow for her. The car was within sight, and, oh man, I could taste the freedom. Dear God, when we get out of here, I promise to actually go to church on Sun-. My impromptu prayer was cut off as I realized we had just been surrounded by dark figures.
"Lissa, stay behind me and don't move" I said to my best friend as a tall dhampir approached us. In any other situation, I would have considered him attractive. He was very tall, about 6'7", and muscular. So muscular that I could tell through the large duster he wore that would look silly on almost anyone else, but he somehow pulled it off. He had brown eyes that I would have drowned in, was I not preparing to fight him for my best friend and charge's safety. Man, I wish I could have known him another life. But right now, he was just an obstacle in the way of Lissa's protection. He stepped closer. Too close. I immediately got in to a fighting stance.
"I am not here to hurt you" he said in what was meant to be a placating tone and put his arms up.
"My name is Dimitri Belikov and I am here to take you and the Princess back to the Academy" he said with a standard guardian mask in place. I thought I could hear a slight Russian accent in that dreamy yet dreadful voice of his.
I made a dramatic show of throwing my head back and laughing, and I could tell through the bond that Lissa was just amused by my antics, as well as his confidence, but she didn't show it at all. They wish. I brought my head back down and looked him directly in the eye and put on a face of mock shock.
"Oh, you were serious." I said with a smirk. I knew he was going to be a piece of cake to take down and I wanted him to know that as well. But instead he kept a stern face as if he wasn't in the least affected by my words. Wrong move, buddy.
"You can either come willingly back to the academy, or I force you to. The decision is all yours." he said slowly as if talking to a child. Oh, that does it. There was nothing I hated more than being treated like a child.
"Let's go with option three." I said. He raised one eyebrow and gave me a look that said 'Really?'
"And what is that?" he said. Now he was just humoring me. Wait…what if he is stalling for others to come into position? Just to be safe I checked my surrounding and sure enough there where about twelve other guardians hidden it bushes, behind cars, and around buildings. I wasn't worried – I knew I could handle them, but I was mad at him for his games and patronizing tone, and at myself for falling for them. I gave Dimitri an innocent smile that could have fooled anyone. Anyone, that is, that doesn't know me.
"Option three is where I take down the two guardians behind that Honda, the other three in that ally way behind those dumpsters, the three up in that tree, the one behind you inside that jeep, and the other two behind that bush. And then I take you down, and my charge and I go along our merry little way." By the time I had finished my little speech, his eyes told me he was annoyed. Awe the big bad wolf does not like it when a plan goes south.
"Well, let's see you try Ms. Hathaway." He taunted, as he motioned with his right hand for the guardians behind the Honda to come out. One was a rather large woman with pixie cut blonde hair and bright red lip stick. The other was a bulky man who was shorter that her but taller than me. Oh, this is going to be fun. Within three minutes, both guardians lay unconscious at my feet. The others came at me left and right. To the untrained eye it was a mess of multiple kicks, punches, and blocks. But to me it was a slow moving fight taking on one at a time until there was only one left…The tall leader. I checked behind my back to find a rather impatient Lissa begging me with her eyes to speed this up. I gave her a silent nod then shifted my gaze to my next opponent.
"Look, I didn't want to damage that pretty Russian face of yours," I say actually apologetic, hating to hurt the guardians that I once aspired to be "but if you don't give up now I might have to." He looked a bit taken back by my words. Then his face took on a mix of pure guardian-focus and anger. He got into a fighting stance, and I rolled my eyes. He was a stubborn one. I crouched defensively in front of Lissa, showing that I would not back down. He then lunged forward and began to attack.
A/N: Heads up that I may not continue this until I'm finished with my other story, Budding Rose. Don't you just love cliffhangers? Review if you want this to be continued!