Chapter 1
"Shit". I told myself. In a hurry it was stupid of me not to notice that I forgot about it. Hell, can you blame me, I'm not exactly in the best shape of my life right about now. I swore again, this time a little more audible, expressing my frustration. The roads that twisted and turned, making my sense of direction very fuzzy.
"Where the hell is that bus again?" My mood didn't improve as I wandered aimlessly across the landscape. The sun was almost down and the start of the "vampire" day was very close. When I say vampires, you probably think I'm nuts. But it's true. There's an entire world of vampires living right alongside humans. The vampires your probably familiar with are called Moroi. Their sleek and slender bodies are kind of a give away. Moroi's are also very gifted. They can wield one of the four elements, calling it specialization. However there are some that don't specialize. Like my friend Lissa...
A sudden chill ran down my spine as I recalled my friend. She was like a sister to me, and we'd spend almost all of our time with each other. Letting her slip into my mind, I suddenly felt something.
Rage. Regret. Loneliness.
Lissa apparently was still shocked, shocked that I, her best friend and soon to be guardian, left her. When we parted, it was less than cheerful. But I had a reason. A reason so powerful that it was worth going through the heartache with Lissa.
"Dimitri..." My idol. My mentor. And above all else, my one and only love. Shortly after Lissa and I left St. Vladimir's Academy, we were tracked down by the guardians and sent back. It was when I first laid eyes on him. I was drugged out of my mind thanks to some endrophins (A vampire's bite was as good as any high you'll get. Trust me.), but I still wanted to protect Lissa. Protect her from going back. Protect her from herself.
She was specializing in an element, one we later found out called spirit. There were some nasty side effects to using her powers, like becoming mentally unstable and otherwise insane. She went as far as to cut herself. After a while, we controlled that part of her. During this time, I restarted my guardian training. A guardian is exactly what it sounds like. We protect them, swear our lives to them. They come first. This philosophy is one that was drilled into our heads since day one.
But someone shaked my faith in that philosophy. A beautiful guardian, one in charge of my training. He name was Dimitri Belikov. On the outside, he was a badass. A god. One role model no one could bitch about. But as we grew closer and much, much more intimate, it grew into a secret relationship. We were going to be happy. Living with Lissa and being safe inside the Royal Court...
That was a dream that shattered just days ago. You see, some Strigoi raided the campus, and it ended horribly. If you're asking yourself, What the hell are Strigoi? I'll answer. They're evil, undead vampires. That's it, just an act against nature. They need to be killed and be killed quickly. Strigoi are the reason why Moroi have guardians in the first place. Strigoi love blood. Especially Moroi blood. Which is why guardians are assigned to protect the Moroi.
As I was saying, the strigoi attacked the academy. Thankfully we caught on thanks to a warning from my ghost friend Mason (more on him in a minute). Because of that advantage, we totally kicked their asses. But it still wasn't perfect. The surviving Strigoi took prisoners and we went after them. It was a pretty cut-throat mission. We rescued all the ones captured. But we lost many guardians. I can still see them. The bloody heaps, the horrible wounds, the look of terror in their eyes...
But one moment stood out in my mind about that day. And only one. A blonde Strigoi, one I had briefly fought on campus, took Dimitri by surprise. Something I thought that was near impossible. No one can beat him. I thought. But the blonde Strigoi bit into his neck. At that moment, I lost all feeling in my legs. By sheer impulse I just stared at the extremely pale faces obscuring Dimitri from view. I felt like screaming, raging. Like I wanted to pry him off of Dimitri. But I stood there. Transfixed by the bloodlust in their eyes. I soon ran away, still looking back. My mother ushered me to hurry, but everything slowed down. Nothing was moving. It was as if time stood still for me.
Horrified even more I was when I talked to Mason again. He said that Dimitri was neither dead or alive. That he was Strigoi. A piece of me, I don't know how big that piece was, died that day. It was also then, at that moment that I decided to spare him the agony of that life. That I was going to kill him.
The thoughts revolved and swirled in my head till I was at the bus stop. I had a faint feeling where I could find Dimitri, but I needed a few things before I could go on the hunt. My stomach wrenched when I said the word. Who knows how long I'll be gone? I sure as hell didn't. And I didn't care. I know what I was doing was right. That was all that mattered.