This series is my own spin off of vampire academy. It takes place at the same time as the VA books, but the main character is Jessica Ray, who is in the year below Rose. I've never made my own fanfiction before but been as it's the holidays, I thought I'd give it a go! Please review and tell me what you think :)

Chapter One – Running Late

The sound of my blaring alarm woke me way earlier than I would have liked. I rolled over and pulled the duvet over my head. It was Monday, 8pm. My first lesson would begin in 45 minutes, and I was currently missing breakfast. I considered getting up but my bed felt so comfy right now so I snuggled into it instead.

I must have drifted off again because when I next looked at my alarm clock an hour had passed. It was 9 o'clock, meaning I had missed the whole of my guardian combat techniques lesson. Crap. I have Emil and he will probably be pretty pissed the next time he sees me, but that's fine because I don't have that lesson again until Wednesday so hopefully he'll have forgotten by then.

I jumped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom at the end of the corridor in our dorm to have a quick shower. 15 minutes later I had showered, dried my hair - and pulled it back into a loose ponytail, brushed my teeth and got dressed into some grey jogging bottoms and a purple hoodie. Pretty impressive speed if you ask me.

Looking at my timetable, I groaned.

"21:00 - Period 2: Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection III"

I've been at St Vladimir's Academy nearly a month now, but I still haven't quite gotten to grasps with all the changes that my lifestyle has suffered. I've come to terms with the cold weather and living on a campus full of vampires now, but I still can't get used to the nocturnal schedule, neither can I remember most of my timetable. I shoved it into my bag which I slung over my shoulder, and trekked across campus towards the academic buildings.

It only took me 5 minutes to get to my room, but I could see through the glass on the door that Guardian Alto was already yapping away at everyone. I stood outside the room for a few minutes, deciding to wait for him to set everyone off on a task so that I could sneak in unnoticed. The minutes passed and he was still rambling on. I held my breath and knocked on the door. All heads turned in my direction as I stepped in.

"Jessica, I take it you didn't fancy the first half hour of my lesson today?" asked Guardian Alto, giving me a sharp look. I shrugged my shoulders and sank into the desk next to my friend Matty, hoping Alto would carry on with the lesson. He didn't. He continued with the humiliation, clearly not satisfied with my response. "From what I hear, you didn't fancy Emil's combat lesson either, I don't know why you even bother staying at the academy. Without the training you'll never graduate. Then you can't be a guardian and will just end up being a... " he didn't finish right away. I knew what he was thinking, everyone knew what he was thinking – just end up being a blood whore. I felt my cheeks heat up. His lips twitched a little, like he was holding back a smirk. "Well you won't end up being very successful." he finished. I glared at him, and he turned away to carry on his lesson, clearly happier now he'd humiliated me. Since I enrolled here he's seemed to hold something against me, though I'm not sure what. I haven't done anything to him.

The remaining 15 minutes dragged and I paid no attention to Alto's never ending speech. Matty kept giving me pitiful glances, which he did to make me feel better, but he was actually just getting on my nerves. He was the first person I spoke to when I moved here, and the one who helped me adjust to my new life. But that doesn't mean I particularly like him. He's ok, just really annoying!

Alto finally shut up and dismissed us with a wave of his hand and I was up and out of there before he could start on me again. Apparently not fast enough to avoid Matty though. He caught up and walked in step with me.

"You've gotta give it to him, Alto knows his stuff, I hadn't heard about any rescues like that before and I bet it was pretty damn impressive!" I gritted my teeth silently, wanting him to just go away. I didn't want to get a recap of the lesson, but it looked like I was going to get one. "I mean 9 strigoi! 9! That's pretty epic you've got to admit!" He was looking at me expectantly but I stayed silent still looking straight ahead. Appearing to notice my lack of interest, he changed the subject.

"He gave you a bit of a grilling in there!" He said, stating the obvious. "Though, you were pretty late, what were you doing?" I stopped and turned to look up at him. He was a good couple of inches taller than me but I was giving him my evil glare which I knew got to him. As I'd intended he gave me a weak smile, muttered something about catching me later and practically ran in the opposite direction to which I was going. It was mean of me, I know how much he likes me so I can upset him pretty easily. But he really wasn't helping to improve my bad mood.

I reached the bench outside the gym and sat down, waiting for my best friend, Amy. She'd been instructed to go to Kirova – the headmistress' office first thing. Neither of us knew why. 10 minutes later she appeared and came and plonked herself down next to me. She looked mad but gave me a big smile anyway. "Good morning?" She asked, pulling out her mobile from her bag. She had the new iPhone, because really, what else would she have? She too was a Dhampir like me, but she knew both of her parents and lived with them when not at the academy. Her father's an important businessman in the moroi world and he owns an expensive retail line that sells high quality clothes to all the rich people who can afford them. Her mom's a guardian at a Dhampir training school near where they live. They have a massive house with a ridiculous amount of land. I've never been there but I've seen pictures and from how Amy describes it, it's enourmous. Her dad sends her gifts pretty much every week, the newest gadgets, gift cards for her favourite shops and really expensive jewellery, though she hardly wears the jewellery saying they don't fit her style. Which is true, I guess you could say she has a punk princess kind of style, always dying her hair and wearing thick black eyeliner. Her hair's a light blonde at the moment with bright pink streaks through it.

She looked up at me and remembering her question I shrugged. "What did Kirova want?" I wondered. She screwed her face up and grunted. "My hair colour is inappropriate and doesn't follow the Academy regulations" she mimicked Kirova and I grinned. She had it coming really, it had been green last week. Amy ran a hand through it and it got tangled and knotted, probably because of all the hairspray. She sighed and stood up. We both had the same classes next and so set of towards the gym for weight training and conditioning.