My feet collided with the pavement in a quick, consistent rhythm. They weren't in sync with the others but when you were running for your lives, I didn't think it mattered too much. I was panting since I wasn't used to running this much, or this fast. I didn't even know who I was running from at the moment. I was hoping it was the Alchemists, or even Strigoi, which would be easier to deal with. I heard a voice, obviously female, muttering an incantation in Latin.

I swore.

Rose and Dimitri turned simultaneously, both ready to take on the threat. They started rushing toward the woman, and in that instant, I knew I couldn't let them do that. Their quick physical attacks would mean nothing against the potential magical power that this woman possessed. I grit my teeth and muttered out an incantation of my own, this one in Italian. My arms spread out automatically, palms facing toward my companions. A purple misty wall formed in front of them and blasted everyone twenty feet back. I heard some grunts and groans of pain, but I couldn't focus on that now. A large bench was hurtling towards me. Annoyed that I couldn't just dodge it for fear of it hitting my friends, I focused my energy on blocking the bench. It stopped about a feet from me and dropped harmlessly on the ground. I wasted no time on dashing forwards, jumping over the wooden bench and summoning a large blue fireball to hurtle towards the witch's face. She deflected it, but was momentarily distracted by the flame. That was all I needed. As soon as it was diffused she found herself tackled to the ground, courtesy of me. I pinned her down and pressed my thumb in the middle of her forehead. I felt the magic swirl up inside of me again and a blue glow coursed out of my thumb. Her alarmed, wide green eyes closed, but not of their own my command but because of my spell. If done right, she should be unconscious for a day or so and have no memory of the day before this was cast. The immediate threat dealt with, I got up and ran, unsteadily, towards my friends. They were closer than they should've been, but I would have run over to investigate if I had been in their shoes. They were all staring me gape-mouthed and alarmed. Everyone but Adrian, Adrian was staring at me with a mix of pride and worry.

The attacker was down, but I wasn't reassured. There could be more, or worse, I could have messed up the spell. We needed to move, now.

"Who here can hotwire a car?" I asked, a little desperately when I reached them.

"I can." Dimitri managed to say through his shock and confusion. I nodded.

"Rose, Adrian you're with me. Christian, go with Dimitri. Meet us at the motel in the next city. Grab a car that will be able to transport all of us." This way we would have a guardian in each group. I guess it didn't matter which Royal went with whom, but I preferred travelling with Adrian over Christian.

We went our separate ways. We were back to running, but I was tired from the magic use and was holding us back. Rose and Adrian had no problem hooking their arms around mine and practically dragging me forward. Yes, Rose was shocked, but she was used to working under conditions such as these. She had also seen her fair share of impossible things in her life time. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a Honda civic. Small, beige, suitable for four, and best of all unmemorable and easily disposable. I got to work as soon as possible and quickly and efficiently hotwired the car. Rose and Adrian had gotten in the car as soon as the doors were unlocked so I had my foot on the gas the very moment I closed the car door.

I had to convince myself to drive the speed limit as not to attract attention to myself. I glanced over my shoulder, and sure enough it seemed to be as if the muscled brunette witch was the only person that was sent. Horrible plan. That was better for me though; it meant that today was going to be a little less stressful. My eyes were focused solely on the road, illuminated only by my headlights. Since we were out in the quiet countryside it was pretty much pitch black at this hour. No one seemed keen on interrupting the silence, which was just as well, I needed to focus. Exhaustion was grabbing hold of me and anything that deprived me of energy could very well lead to a nasty crash.

Once I was sure that we were within a comfortable walking distance from the motel I pulled over.

"Out." I ordered.

"Why?" Rose asked. A small smile spread over my lips.

"I'm going to do a little off-roading. Don't wait for me. "

They were quick to obey. I pulled away and drove into the woods that were off to the left side of the street. I was considerably deep into the woods when I pressed on the brakes and got out. I couldn't survey the damage in the dark but I winced to think of the damages that were done. The small car wasn't meant for the rough journey I had just put it through. Luckily, this whole time I had been planning to dispose of it. I felt around the insides of my purse. I threw the components that had dissolved Marcus's window. This one was a bit more powerful though. I heard a sizzle and smelt burning metal, meaning I hit my mark. Satisfied, I fished my dying phone out of my purse. I used it as a makeshift flashlight and navigated my way out of the woods with the help of the tracks the car had made. I looked around, no sign of my partners in crime. Good. They had listened to me.

Trekking toward the hotel was very difficult, since my body was desperately craving food and rest. I found a solution to my hunger quickly. Along the way, I spotted a McDonald's and cast an invisibility spell, I then wandered into the back and managed to sneak some large bags full of food and stuffed about a dozen of bottles of whatever was available in the fridge into another bag I had stolen. I also managed to sneak out easily, thanks to the noise of diverse chit-chat amongst colleagues and the sound of machines running. It also helped that while invisible, whatever objects I touched turned invisible as well. Nothing alive though, I had already tried with Adrian, it didn't work. As soon as I was out of sight, I deactivated the spell and was once again visible.

I got to the front desk and found myself with a dilemma. I didn't know how to find them. Yes, I could go around shouting at them, or knock on every door but that would draw attention to me. The man at the desk would probably give out the information, if I bribed him. Seeing as I had no money, the plan was useless. I walked up and tried my best bet.

"Excuse me; is there someone under the name of Jet Steele here?"

"Room 7" He said lazily.

I nodded and thanked him, not that he noticed. I walked and looked at the numbers on each door. They were all faded, but still visible to some extent. I murmured each number to myself as I saw them. One, two, three, four, five, six and seven. I wondered if I should just barge in or knock. Knocking seemed like a better plan so it was the one I went with. I had to juggle my many bags to manage it but I eventually got one hand free to do so. Thanks to superior vampire hearing, the door was open the very moment my fist made contact with the door. I nearly fell to the floor, but a pale hand reached out to steady me. I dragged up my eyes to meet the impossibly green ones of Adrian. I nearly collapsed in relief, right room, I thought. I was in, so the door was closed.

The four of them were all there, both Dhampirs standing and Christian sitting on the ground. I didn't blame him. I didn't even want to know what kind of people were on that ratty old couch before us, or what they did. It was small for the five of us, but we couldn't really afford anything luxurious right now. They all looked relieved when they saw me but I couldn't think right now. I sat down, leaning my back against the green door. I plunged my hand into one of the takeout bags and took out a couple of burgers. I aggressively tore open the wrapper of the burger and bit into it. I didn't pause for breath until I was halfway through my second burger. I reached out my hand for the drinks and luckily found some orange juice. I wrestled off the cap and tipped my head back; my lips attached to the rim of the bottle and drank greedily. I didn't look up or communicate until I finished off my beverage and my burger. Feeling a little more energized I uncrossed my legs and stretched out my tense limbs. Rose and Dimitri looked surprised at my vicious eating episode, Adrian was comforted that I had my blood sugar back up to normal levels and that I returned without any severe bodily damage, Christian looked at me and smirked.

"Hungry, much?" He said.

With the silence broken, reckless Rose had no problem coming forth with the question on their minds.

"What the hell was that?"

"A burger. McDonald's, figured you'd appreciate food." I answered, deadpan.

"No! You know what I mean. When you were fighting that person. Doing, uh, weird stuff."

"Weird stuff?" I wanted to know how much she knew. Revealing that I was a magic user wasn't something I enjoyed doing. I would like to avoid it, if possible.

"You were muttering and we got blasted back and, and you looked like you threw a fire ball and a bench was flying and then in stopped and the person was randomly unconscious!" She sputtered out.

A little too late, I realized that there was a million ways to render someone unconscious without magic. However, they probably wouldn't have lost twenty four hours of their memory. But still, I had to conserve energy, wasting it on frivolous spells wasn't helping anyone.

Rose had seen everything, which meant unfortunately that I actually had to explain everything. Everyone was looking at me expectantly, even Adrian. Though probably for a different reason. When we first went on the run, we decided we'd only inform them of the Alchemists and skip over all of the 'witchy stuff'. Adrian was a bit uncomfortable with it, but had agreed. He was probably glad that the truth was going to come out. I swept my eyes over everyone and looked to the ground, unable to meet anyone's gaze. I fidgeted with my hands and figured I'd take the very direct approach.

"I'm a magic user. I'm one of the few humans that can use magic."

No one spoke; it was kind of hard to do so with your jaw on the ground. Even stoic Dimitri was looking at me with disbelief.

"You saw it. You saw it with your own eyes. I blasted you guys back, I stopped that bench. I created and threw that fireball. I used a spell that knocked her unconscious and took away her memory of the twenty four hours before. Which means she won't remember our location, and if she does, well we'll already be somewhere else by the time she regains consciousness." I added, feeling defensive. I didn't mention the car melting and the food stealing, they had enough proof already. I had the urge to add you're welcome, but well, the only reason they were here was to help protect me.

"Are you serious? Like us?" Christian asked.

"No. Not like Moroi. Like humans. Or, er, magic users." I clarified. No matter how comfortable I was around them, I wasn't thrilled at being referred to as one of them.

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that your magic works the opposite way. Your magic goes from the inside out. Mine comes from the outside in. There's a lot of effort involved, it drains you of energy, requires a great amount of concentration and precise calculation. Moroi wield a sort of internal magic. You connect with it on a very basic, practically effortless level. I, as a human, don't have that connection. It also makes my blood sugar drop . The amount of energy drained varying on the amount of magic I use and the difficulty of the spell. Hence, the intense hunger. "I concluded, almost echoing Ms. Terwilliger when she had first explained magic to me.

They didn't look as doubtful as before, but they were still cautious.

"Prove it." Christian once again spoke. I almost considered throwing him across the room to make my point, but I didn't. I looked around.

"See that glass on the counter?" My question was met with affirmative nods and murmurs. I made a small hand gesture and it exploded, shards flying to the space around.

Everyone seemed impressed and scared, well except Adrian. He looked a little smug, since he knew something that the others didn't. I didn't think that happened to him a lot. Just in case they didn't believe me I also created a blue fireball the size of a soccer ball in the palm of my hand. If they had any doubts before, they were long gone now. They looked at each other, and none knew how to respond.

"She's a prodigy. The others aren't usually this scary."

"Adrian! I am not scary." I protested.

"Which is why they're all wearing matching expressions of 'Oh, shit'." He retorted flatly.

"You were fine with it when I told you."

"Well it wasn't like you were throwing fire around the first time you told me. That came after, not that I'm complaining… it's kinda hot."

"Hot? Fire? Seriously, Adrian?" He was making puns?

He opened his mouth to speak, a michevious glint in his eyes but was interrupted by a deep voice laced with light Russian accent.

Dimitri was the first to grasp the concept of me being a magic user and interrupted our banter.

"Okay, you use magic. Was that woman a magic user as well?"

"Yes."

"Why was she after you?"

"It's a long story."

"We've got time."

A/N: Ok, quick question. How many of you authors spend hours after writing narrating your own thoughts and actions? Or is it just me? Anyway, since The Indigo Spell is out I've decided to abandon my fic. I'm starting this one since inspiration had been poking my forehead for a while and today had come prepared with a hammer and whacked me across the head. The Indigo Spell was amazing wasn't it? I spent a lot of time staring at it, hardly believing my eyes. Unfortunately being a quick reader means a longer wait for The Fiery Heart. After I finished the last page, I closed it and started reading it again. Yes, I began as soon as I finished the first time. Now another question, should I make this a collection of one-shots of them being on the run or into a multi chapter fic with a chronological order? Leave in the reviews please! I hope you like it! Oh and this will DEFINITELY be a two part thing. It makes no sense otherwise. Leave reviews please! They make me happy!

Disclaimer: We already know what I don't own so use your imagination to make something ridiculous and witty.