The one thing that was drilled into me from a young age, they come first. 'They,' means the Moroi and well, I have always followed the rule. Even when I ran away two years ago with my three best friends: Rosemarie 'Rose' Hathaway, Vasilisa 'Lissa' Dragomir and Vasela 'Ela' Dragomir. Rose and I have sworn to protect the two Moroi princesses for as long as we live. I have to protect Ela while Rose protects Lissa. All four of us ran from the academy for the same reason. The Princesses felt depressed and out of place while Rose and I acted as their guardians. We were in Portland and were staying at a college campus. Oh by the way, my name is Jasmine Lancia and this is my adventures.

I was just getting to sleep when I heard some screaming. Then there was another scream. I knew exactly whose they were. I bolted out of my bed and ran down the hall. I pushed open a door and saw Ela thrashing around in her bed. I ran over to her bed and knelt placing one of my slightly tanned hands onto her pale, cold arm.

"Ela, Ela,"I was shaking her, attempting to wake her. I could just hear Rose doing the same thing to Lissa. Ela was now whimpering and I took it as a sign. She then slowly opened her green, jade eyes and looked at me.

"Mom, Dad," She moaned. "Oh my god." I helped her sit up and sighed.

"It is ok. We are in Portland, not in the accident," I said comforting her. I felt her calm down through the bond. The bond we got from the car accident. We were being escorted to a ball following Lissa and Rose in the car in front. We begged the driver to turn the volume up when we saw the crash. We barely had time to brake before we crashed into the back of the car in front. Shaking myself from the memory I looked at Ela and gave her my gentle smile which never came so often.

"I hate that dream," She muttered. I lost my smile.

"I noticed," I said. Ela lip's curled into a smirk. Ela wasn't exactly calm but was still scared. I pulled her into a hug and felt her emotions calm down more. I pulled back and noticed the bags under her eyes. Her skin was also pallier than normal.

"Feeding time," I whispered to her shifting my head.

"No I don't need-"She started to protest. I raised my hand and gave her a stern look.

"Don't. Let's do it," I said. Ela started to protest but I moved my chestnut hair from my neck. She sighed hesitating, obviously knowing she was defeated. Then a hungry face grew on her face as she eyes my bare neck, exposing the fangs she tried so desperately tried to hide. I saw her lean towards my neck. She then pushed her red hair out of her face as her face was next to my neck. I then felt her fangs slowly touch my skin before bitting into my neck. I muffled my moan as the sweet, lovely sensation filled my body. That was the one thing I hated from the feeding. The fact that I was left in a state that left me weak for hours to follow. She then drew back, grabbing a tissue and wiped her mouth. I then grabbed one for myself and wiped my neck. I heard Rose moaned and guessed she and Lissa did the same thing.

"Alright?" Ela asked. I nodded and felt the dizziness come over me, fighting through my defences.

"I'll sleep it off." She gave me a stern look before going to get us food. I stood and walked into Lissa's room. A small smirked appeared as I heard Rose protest to Lissa grabbing food.

"Ela gone to do that," I said sitting next to Rose. Lissa shrugged before going out. I turned to Rose and saw she was watching Oscar.

"You don't know what you're missing," She said. I smirked again and we both noticed it. Oscar would have normally turned and hissed at both of us but he didn't. Rose and I both walked towards the window looking out. It still cast enough light for me to make out the shapes of cars and buildings. In our own yard, I could see the silhouettes of trees and bushes. Then I saw it. There was enough light to see an outline of a shadow. I looked near the shadow and saw a man staring at us. I jumped back and turned. I estimated he was about thirty yards away.

"I will get the girls," I said. Rose nodded and I ran towards the kitchen. The twin sisters were talking as I saw Jeremy studding.

"You shouldn't be up." Ela said immediately.

"We have to go. Now." I said. Lissa's eyes widened. After a few moments she nodded and Ela was still watching me. Lissa went upstairs to talk to Rose as I was to explain to Ela.

"Are you…really? Are you sure?" I nodded. I couldn't explain how I knew for sure. I just did. Jeremy watched us curiously.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Ela's face said she had an idea come to mind.

"Can we have the car keys?" Ela asked.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked.

"We just need your car keys," Ela repeated using a bit of compulsion. "Where are they?" Jeremy smiled and I shivered slightly. I hated the feeling I got when she used compulsion. Jeremy reached into his pocket and handed them over.

"Thank you," said Lissa. "And where is it parked?" I didn't jump but they certainly startled me. Jeremy told us the location. It was four blocks away. Fun. "Thank you," she repeated, backing up. "As soon as we leave, I want you to go back to studying. Forget you ever saw us tonight." Jeremy nodded and I shared a look with Rose. Rose nodded and she went outside first. I let Lissa and Ela go before me before I went outside. I felt a cold breeze against my bare arm.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. I forgot to grab a jacket. I saw Rose stumble a little and Lissa caught her. Ela eyed me, expecting me to do the same.

"You shouldn't be walking so soon after feeding. Same for you Jass," Lissa said.

"Well we can't help it. We have to keep going," I said. Lissa gave Ela a pleading look.

"She's right Liss. We have no choice. We kept going before Lissa and Ela stopped.

"Did you hear that?" They both asked at the same time. It took me a few seconds to pick up what their sharper senses already had. Footsteps, moving fast. I grimaced. We had two more blocks to go. From the expression on Rose's face, she had the same thought.

"We have to run," I said. Lissa and Ela started to protest. "Run," I repeated. We started to run and it took everything I had not to pass out and leave Rose to protect them in her state. The footsteps echoed louder and louder. We turned around the corner and I saw Jeremy's green Honda. We were almost there. My expression filled with Joy then I saw him. A man ten feet from the car. We came to a screeching halt, and I jerked Lissa back by her arm. Rose grabbed Ela's. It was the same man we saw stalking us from the window. He was older than us, maybe mid-twenties, and as tall as I'd figured, probably six-six or six-seven. He had Shoulder-length brown hair, tied back in a short ponytail. Dark brown eyes. A long brown coat-a duster, I thought it was called. He was the only thing that was standing in between us. I moved next to Rose. Then more guardians appeared. Oh god! They sent twelve guardians after us. Not even the queen had that much.

"Stay away from them," Rose growled. She stood in front of us while I had Ela's and Lissa's arm. His face was unreadable, but he held out his hands in what was apparently supposed to be some sort of calming gesture, like we were rabid animals he was planning to sedate. "I'm not going to - " He took a step forward. Too close. Rose leapt at him preforming an offensive manoeuvre neither of us had used since we had run away. That was a stupid move. He then just brushed Rose away with a swipe of his hand. I tightened my grip on the princesses as he then caught Rose with ease.

"My name is Dimitri Belikov," he said. I could hear a faint Russian accent. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princesses." I hardened my face.

"Like hell." I then turned and pulled the two princesses away. We ran down a dark alley and slipped into a hiding spot behind a dumpster. They ran right past us and I paused. Once I was sure the guardians were gone and couldn't hear us, we walked back to the car. Rose and that Dimitri guy was gone. But I silently cursed. There was another guy. He looked exactly look exactly the same. They were twins I guessed.

"This time they will come with us," He said, sharing the same faint accent. I pushed them backwards.

"Over my dead body," I hissed. I didn't see any facial expression change but I guessed he knew I was going to say that. I heard the princesses walk backwards. Thank god they had the good idea. I didn't want them hurt. He looked at me and I felt a feeling. Oh shit! Don't tell me I liked the guy. He and I walked in a circle, neither wanting to attack. My patience grew thin and I lunged at him, repeating the same move Rose had earlier. Only until the end did I realize that it was a mistake. He swatted me away, probably just intended to keep me away - but my lack of coordination interfered with my ability to respond from the bite. Unable to catch my footing, I started to fall, heading straight toward the sidewalk at a twisted angle, hip-first. It was going to hurt. A lot. Only it didn't.

Just as quickly as he'd blocked me, the man reached out and caught my arm, keeping me upright. When I'd steadied myself, I noticed he was staring at me - or, more precisely, at my neck. Still disoriented, I didn't get it right away. Then, slowly, my free hand reached up to the side of my throat and lightly touched the wound Ela had made earlier. When I pulled my fingers back, I saw slick, dark blood on my skin. Embarrassed, I shook my hair so that it fell forward around my face. I could've sworn my cheeks were bright red. My hair was thick and long and completely covered my neck. I'd grown it out for precisely this reason. The guy's dark eyes lingered on the now-covered bite a moment longer and then met mine. I returned his look defiantly and quickly jerked out of his hold. He let me go, though I knew he could have restrained me all night if he'd wanted. Fighting the nauseating dizziness, I backed toward Ela again, bracing myself for another attack. Suddenly, her hand caught hold of mine. "Jass," she said quietly. "Don't." Her words had no effect on me at first, but calming thoughts gradually began to settle in my mind, coming across through the bond. It wasn't exactly compulsion - she wouldn't use that on me - but it was effectual, as was the fact that we were hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed. Even I knew struggling would be pointless. The tension left my body, and I sagged in defeat. Sensing my resignation, the man stepped forward, turning his attention to Ela. His face was calm. He swept her a bow and managed to look graceful doing it, which surprised me considering his height.

"My name is Damion Belikov and my brother and I have come to take you home princesses," he said before I passed out. I could still imagine the face as the darkness surrounded me.