Hey guys, this is Jess. I wanted to write a VA fanfic for ages and decided to write one. I thought what would happen if there wasn't a Rose? It would be very different.

I don't own anything, Richelle Mead does. I just own my character Anastasia Mallory.

PROLOGUE

If I knew my parents were sending me to a boarding school, I probably would've left the country. My parents believed that being home-schooled and being on the move was safer than being sent to an academy in Montana, which was said to be miles away from any city. Great.

Even if I were to escape from the academy, I would most likely die from being attacked by a Strigoi. Strigoi are a race of vampire, who are immortal. They are very fast and very strong. Strigoi feed on blood, as they are vampires, however, Moroi blood is their favourite, well, that is what I've been told. I'm a Moroi and we are known as the good vampires. Like all Moroi, we all specialise in an element – water, earth, fire and air. I specialise in fire, which is a great element. However, Moroi aren't allowed to use our elements anymore. The Queen, along with the other royals, had banned it from being used as a weapon. Like all of us Moroi, we tend to be slim, tall and have our sight, smell and hearing heightened. There is another race, which protects Moroi from Strigoi. They are dhampir.

What make a dhampir are is both Moroi and a human getting together, which can be quite rare, or a Moroi and a dhampir. They are stronger, faster, good senses and usually a lot tanner, since they can withstand the sunlight, unlike Moroi or Strigoi. Dhampir are supposed to grow up and protect Moroi, to become guardians. Although, there are female dhampir who decide to stay at home, look after their children rather than protecting an important race. Many female dhampir live in communities, where male Moroi would go in once and again and sleep with these women. Some are called blood whores, since they let the Moroi bite them, which is looked down upon to many. I personally find it disgusting, but that's life.

I'm Anastasia, by the way, but I prefer Ana. I'm seventeen years old, and today was going to be my first day in an actual school.

CHAPTER 1

Saying goodbye to my parents and our guardian was the hardest thing to do in my life. We were in the Idaho airport, where three of St. Vladimir's Academy's guardians would escort me to the academy. I never expected myself to cry. Heck, I didn't cry when Rose said goodbye to Jack in Titanic, so this was a rare event for me.

"Remember you can always get the academy to call us, if anything goes wrong?" my dear mother said, crying. "You don't have to do this Ana, we can home-school you."

"Dear, you have to let Ana go and leave the nest." My father, despite being a combat trainer, he was a softy. He was always soft and reassuring around my mother, unlike with me. My father would be hard and demanding with me, to make sure I would be able to protect myself, even when I was alone. "You just do your best, okay?" he said, giving me a bear hug.

"Okay."

I'm not sure why, but saying goodbye to David, our guardian, was more difficult than my parents. He had been my best friend, trainer and practically like a brother to me. I don't think I would've stayed with my parents if David wasn't there. He kept me sane. I loved him, not in a romantic way, but in a family way.

"Anastasia…" David whispered, allowing his Russian accent to tie in with his words. His eyes were glassy, almost as if he was going to cry.

"Woah, hold on a sec," I paused with my hands in front of me, stopping David from walking closer to me. "Are you going to cry? I have never seen you cry… Except for that time we watched The Lion King… Aahh!"

David gave me a bear hug, which my arms were glued to my side. I was definitely not expecting this to happen. Maybe with my mother, but definitely not our bad-ass guardian.

"You make sure you listen hard and be on your best behaviour," David explained, letting go of me, but staying at my eyelevel. "Don't attack anyone if they annoy you…" Behind David, I noticed one of the guardians raise an eyebrow. "Just be yourself." David then straightened his posture, nodded to the academy's guardians before going to my parent's side.

A beeping sound came from the short guardian's watch. The other guardians looked at their watches simultaneously.

"It is time to go, Miss Mallory," a shorter guardian said. I quickly gave a hug and kiss on the cheek to the three before being escorted into a black jeep, with its windows tinted jet black. "It should take approximately five hours to reach the academy."

About three hours into the trip, I decided to break the silence, which ended an hour ago. All three of the guardians seemed like they would be able to take on a Strigoi if it some how magically appeared in the sunlight. They were all tense, all focusing on the road.

"So... What are your names?" I asked casually, hoping that I was in fact allowed to speak. The short guardian, who was sitting in the passenger's seat decided to answer.

"I'm Guardian Yuri," he said, keeping his eyes on the road. "This is Guardian Alto", Guardian Yuri acknowledging the guardian who was driving. Guardian Alto looked into the rear-view mirror and gave me a nod. The final guardian, who had raised his eyebrow before was sitting beside me. He had dark brown, shoulder length hair which was in a ponytail. If he had been a normal guy in the outside world, I would've flirted with him, but he was "off limits" for being a school guardian.

"Guardian Belikov," the attractive guardian spoke, snapping me out of a possible daydream of us where we re-enact the flying scene in Titanic. I noticed that his accent was Russian, like David's. I smiled. After ten minutes, I decided to have a nap, since there wasn't anything to do except listen to silence.

I was amongst a group of people on a deck, with people screaming on the top of their lungs, running all towards the side of the boat. It took me a minute to realise that I was on the Titanic and the ship was starting to sink. The lifeboats were being filled quickly by women and children. Since I was in the middle, unaware that I was supposed to be walking to the lifeboats, the men were shoving me towards the side of the deck.

"Ana!" a voice yelled in the crowd. I tried to turn around to see who was calling. The shouting of the men had overridden the voice. "Ana, where are you?" I stopped moving towards the lifeboats and towards where I believed the voice was yelling. After struggling to get out of the crowd of men, I noticed who was calling my name, several meters away from where I stood. It was Guardian Belikov. He ran to me, ignoring the possibility of slipping on the deck.

"What are you doing?" I gasped. His face became firm and confused.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" he yelled, above the shouting men. "Why aren't you on a lifeboat?"

I was dumbfounded. "I- I heard you call my name. I had to find you!" Without realising what I was doing, I kissed him. And what a kiss it was.

"There are Strigoi on the ship," he explained. I couldn't believe it. How the heck could Strigoi manage to get on the Titanic? "They have already murdered many of the first-class citizens. We both got to find them and attack them before they kill anymore people!" He was yelling now. The crowd was becoming unstable, with the amount of lifeboats decreasing. I tried to argue, but he cut me off. "It doesn't matter if you aren't allowed to use your element, you must use it now!-"

We were at St. Vladimir's Academy. I realised that I had had my head on Guardian Belikov's shoulder while I was asleep. I sat up quickly, avoiding his gaze. I hope I hadn't drooled over his nice duster. When we were parked, I got out and stretched. Man, it was a good stretch. A female guardian arrived, to the car park and walked with us to the Headmistress' office. The exterior was like something from a period movie, with the interior being more modern and up-to-date. We went through many hallways before going through large doors which lead to the commons, where everyone was. I didn't notice anyone but I believe I noticed the last Dragomir royal, Vasilisa. She was with a group of other Moroi, who looked to be in the centre of attention before I arrived. We continued to the Headmistress' office, which wasn't far off from the commons.

"Miss Mallory, welcome," a woman with grey hair and a sharp nose said. I presumed it was Headmistress Kirova, after she was the one sitting behind the desk. She reached her hand towards me, and I shook it. "Sit. It is so good to see you again."

Wait what. "I beg your pardon, but have we met before?" I stuttered, as I sat in a plush chair adjacent to the Headmistress. She chuckled, as if what I said was a joke. I can't remember a lot of my past before I turned thirteen just because it boring and didn't believe it would be of any use to me in the future. Guess I was wrong.

"Your parents and I are old friends," she explained, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "Anyways, back on topic. This is your first year of schooling… How did you manage your studies whilst on the road?"

"Our guardian, David," I paused. She raised her eyebrow. "I mean Guardian Northman. He was able to be my instructor, along with protecting my parents and myself. He taught me many moves."

"I see… What do you specialise in, dear?"

"Fire."

"Fire?" she repeated, amused by this information. "We don't have as many students in your year who specialise in fire, so this will be very good. Now- Hold on, what do you mean, 'He taught me many moves'"? A few of the guardians raised their eyebrows, along with Guardian Belikov.

"Guardian Northman taught me self-defence," I replied. The Headmistress' eyes widen, disgusted by this information. "Since my parents are much older, I figured it was best to know how to protect myself and my parents, if David was ever surrounded by a great number of Strigoi…"

"I don't know what to make of this - Yes, Guardian Alto?" I never noticed him among the other guardians.

"Sorry to intrude," Guardian Alto apologised. "I am just wondering what you learnt self-defence. If you touch a silver stake, it will hurt you. Well not as severely as a Strigoi…"

I stared into the wall behind Headmistress Kirova. Oh, shit. I definitely did not wanting to explain what I was doing. "Umm, I did the basic defence. Punching, kicking, running… Except-"

"Except what?" demanded Kirova and Guardian Alto simultaneously.

"I did my own training, away from the others…"

Everyone was unsure what to do. Many guardians looked at each other, while Headmistress Kirova sat still, palms together. "Are you telling us that you used your fire abilities, even when you knew they were forbidden?"

"Yes."