Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy (unfortunately) and have used its characters and general plot in order to create this story. I have also kept the same sort of structure as the original story and include some of the original lines, and I AM NOT taking credit for Richelle Mead's work. This is my take on how the story could have gone with hopefully a few more things expanded on and explained. I also wanted more involvement of spirit and a more badass Rose, so...here it is.
Let me know what you think!
Chapter One
I felt her terror before I heard her screams.
Her nightmare pulsed into my own head, shaking me out of my dream, which had had something to do with a club, the perfect black cocktail dress and a hot guy dancing with me. Images—hers, definitely not mine— violently tore through my mind: the twisted metal that was once a car, a blazing fire and the bloody faces of Lissa's family. The pictures invaded my mind, suffocating me, until some part of my brain reminded me that this wasn't my dream. It was a pity considering it was the first night in quite some time I wasn't faced with nightmares of my own.
I woke up with a few strands of my long, dark hair sticking to my sweaty forehead while the rest of it created something along the lines of a ratty birds nest. However Lissa still lay in her bed, thrashing and screaming, getting more tangled in her plain white sheets. I quickly jumped out of mine and crossed the small distance that separated our beds in our current home, sitting down next to her gently.
"Liss," I said, shaking her. "Liss, honey, wake up. It's just a dream."
Her screams dropped off, replaced by soft whimpers. "Andre," she whimpered."Oh Lord."
"Come on, Liss. Wake up."
After a few moments, her eyes fluttered open, and in the dim lighting, I could see a flicker of consciousness start to take over. Her frantic breathing slowed, and she leans into me as I helped her sit up. I put an arm around her and ran a hand over her damp forehead, wiping away the sweat before tackling the tears on her cheeks.
"It's okay," I told her gently. "Everything's okay."
"I had that dream."
"Yeah. I know."
We sat like that for several minutes, not breathing a word. When I finally felt her emotions calm down a bit, I leaned over to the nightstand between our beds – trying not to jostle her too much – and turned on the light. It glowed a slightly dim yellow, but neither of us really needed it much to see by. It was more for comfort. But with the new light to see by I noticed how pale her skin was, whiter than it should be even for a Moroi and my panic began to rise again. Dark circles also decorated the area around her eyes and her face hollowed out, giving her the air of fragility.
"When did we last do a feeding?" I asked, studying her face. I couldn't remember the last time I'd given her blood. "It's been…more than two days, hasn't it?"
She shrugged and wouldn't meet my eyes, focusing on the sheets now piled at the bottom of the bed. "You were busy. I didn't want to—"
"Screw that," I said, shifting into a better position on the bed. No wonder she seemed so weak. "Come on. Let's get this over with."
"Rose—"
"Come on. It'll make you feel better. Just watch out for the new tattoos."
"I could heal them."
"And I've told you before, I can deal with it. You need your strength."
I tilted my head and tossed my hair back, baring my neck. I saw her hesitate, but the need for blood soon overpowered her. A hungry expression crossed her face, her lips parting slightly and exposing the fangs she normally kept hidden while we were living among humans. Luckily she was careful with the new tattoos and braced her hands on my arms and not my back.
I have several of them now, starting off with only a few Molnija marks on my neck only to add more as time progressed in the outside world. Due to Lissa's insistence of the "cool and totally you" tattoo, I now also sported a large collection of entwined, thorned roses down the right side of my body. I liked how it took some of the emphasis of the smaller designs which, from time to time, I felt ashamed of. After all, the strigoi had still once been people, only now I thought of these marks as honouring the people that once where rather than trophies or brands of worth.
The only reason I was alive at all and had gotten my first kill mark though was because of Lissa's darkness which I had began to take almost automatically after I was healed in the car crash and the bond was created. The panic and anger I had felt at the moment I thought I had failed her and that monster was about to drink her dry had caused the darkness to take over, leaving me livid. My speed and strength became so enhanced that it was almost easy to take out the strigoi with one of the stakes I had stolen before leaving the academy. It was from then on I used the darkness, but never depended on it to get me out of trouble, training as hard as I could. After a few more times of surprise attacks I even decided to go out looking for them, with Lissa in a protected and very hidden place of course, to clear out the strigoi in the immediate area just to be safe. It was always hard but it was worth it – we were hardly ever surprised after that, and the injuries Lissa would heal for me became less and less. It also helped get rid of the darkness from within both of us.
Her fangs bit into me, hard, and I was shaken out of my thoughts of the past. Then it faded, replaced by a wonderful joy that spread throughout my body that I always loathed once the act was over. It was better than any of the times I'd been drunk or high. Better than sex—or so I imagined, since I'd never actually done it. It was a blanket of pure, refined pleasure, wrapping me up and promising everything would be right in the world. On and on it went until I lost track of the concept of time and the world around me, lost track of who I was and what I had done.
Then, regretfully, it was over.
She pulled back, wiping her hand across her lips as she studied me. "You okay?"
"I…yeah."I lay back on the bed, dizzy from the blood loss. "I just need to sleep it off. I'm fine." And I would be. I'd had worse and she knew it. She just doesn't like it when I was in pain.
Even after telling her I was fine, her pale, jade-green eyes still watched me with concern. She stood up suddenly, blurring a little in my vision. "I'm going to get you something to eat as I know you won't let me heal you."
I didn't bother to protest, her bite had lessened as soon as she broke the connection, but some of its effects still lingered in my veins causing me to smile goofily. Turning my head, I glanced up at the window and wriggled deeper into the bed only to be disturbed by a feeling in my stomach. It wasn't the same nausea that came with the close proximity of strigoi, but it spelled danger just the same. When the darkness warned me of something, I had learnt to listen to it.
My smile faded, and I forced myself to sit up, needing to see what was going on. The world spun around like a top and I had to wait for it to right itself before even trying to stand. When I finally managed it, the dizziness set in again and this time refused to leave. Still, I felt okay enough to stumble towards the window and peer out.
In our own yard, I could only see the silhouettes of trees and bushes. That was at least until I spotted a man watching me in said trees and bushes.
I jerked back in surprise. My gut feeling was right – always was. A large figure stood by a tree in the yard, about thirty feet away, where he could easily see through the window. He was close enough that I probably could have thrown something and hit him if I wasn't so close to passing out. He was certainly close enough that he could have seen what Lissa and I had just done. Shit!
The shadows covered him so well that even with my heightened sight, I couldn't make out any of his features, save for his height. He was tall. Really tall. He only stood there for a second before stepping back into the shadows, clearly knowing he'd been spotted. I was pretty sure I saw someone else move nearby as well. This wasn't good. I had to get to Lissa now. They had finally found us.
Icy fear raced through me, almost—but not quite—eradicating the lovely bliss that Lissa's bite had left me in. Backing up from the bedroom window, I pulled on a pair of jeans that I found on the floor, nearly falling over in the process. Yep, real smooth Hathaway. The skimpy pyjama top would have to do for now.
Once the bloody pants were on I grabbed my coat and Lissa's, along with our wallets. Shoving my feet into the first shoes I saw – thankfully not heels – I headed out the door.
Downstairs, I found her in the small kitchen, rummaging through the refrigerator.
She sighs at me. "You shouldn't be up."
"We have to go. Now."
Her eyes widened, and then a moment later, understanding clicked in. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. I knew I couldn't explain how I knew for sure. I just did. The men lurking outside helped my case though.
Luckily our housemate Jeremy always left his keys in a bowl in front of the door so we didn't have to worry about Lissa using anymore of her spirit to snag the keys.
Walking out the door her fear poured into me through our psychic bond, but there was something else too: her complete faith that I would take care of everything, that we would be safe.
Like always, I hoped I was worthy of that kind of trust.
"Come on, it's parked down the street. Little less than four blocks away."
"Four?"
"It'll be ok, Liss"
"Rose…what are we going to do if they catch us?" she whispered.
"They won't," I said fiercely. "I won't let them."
"But if they've found us—"
"They found us before. They didn't catch us then. We'll just drive over to the train station and go to L.A. They'll lose the trail. Easy peasy."
I made it sound simple. I always did, even though there was nothing simple about being on the run from these people. We've been hiding wherever we could and had just been trying to finish high school for the last two years. Our senior year had just started, and living on a college campus had seemed safe. We were so close to the freedom we both desperately desired.
She spared me a quick smile and then went quite after that, and I felt her faith in me surge up once more. This was the way it had always been between us. I was the one who took action, who made sure things happened— sometimes recklessly so. She was the more reasonable one, the one who thought things out and researched them extensively before acting. Both styles had their uses at times, but at the moment, recklessness was called for. We didn't have a single second that could be donated to hesitating.
Lissa and I had been inseparable ever since kindergarten and we weren't going to be separated now.
"Do you hear that?" she asked suddenly.
It took me a few seconds to pick up what her sharper senses already had. Footsteps, moving fast. I grimaced. We had almost two more blocks to go.
"We've got to run for it," I said, catching hold of her arm.
"But you can't—"
"Run."
It took every ounce of my willpower not to pass out on the sidewalk. My body didn't want to run after losing so much blood or while still metabolizing the effects of her saliva. But I clung to Lissa as our feet pounded against the concrete and pushed her forward. Normally I could have outrun her without any extra effort—particularly since she was barefoot and I had been training hard—but tonight, she was all that held me upright.
The pursuing footsteps grew louder and black stars danced before my eyes. We were almost to the car...
A man then stepped directly into our path, less than two feet in front of the car. We came to a screeching halt, and I jerked Lissa back by her arm. It was him, the guy I'd seen watching us. He was older than us, maybe mid-twenties, and rally tall, probably six-six or six-seven. Hell, he was practically a giant compared to me. And under different circumstances—for example, if he wasn't holding up our desperate escape—I would have thought he was hot. Shoulder-length brown hair, tied back in a short ponytail. Dark brown eyes. A long brown coat, a duster, I believe it was called.
But his hotness was – unfortunately – irrelevant now. He was only an obstacle keeping Lissa and me away from our freedom. The footsteps behind us slowed, and I knew our pursuers had caught up. We were surrounded. They'd sent almost a dozen guardians to retrieve us. I couldn't believe it. The queen herself didn't travel with that many. I guess I should take that as a compliment.
Panicked and not entirely in control of my thoughts, I acted purely out of instinct. I pressed up to Lissa, keeping her behind me and away from the man who appeared to be the leader.
"Leave her alone," I growled deeply, pushing away the haze in my vision while also trying to summon the darkness. I couldn't. I was useless now."Don't touch her."
His face was unreadable in the night, but I could see how he held out his hands in what was apparently some sort of calming gesture, like I was a rabid animal.
"I'm not going to—"
He took a step forward. Too close, according to my hazed brain.
I attacked him, leaping out in an offensive manoeuvre I used on strigoi but it was sloppy and slow. Another reaction caused by instinct and fear, not by sense. And it was hopeless, of course. He was a skilled guardian, not a short girl wacked up on Moroi saliva. Any other circumstance I could off taken him – or at least that's what I told myself.
And man, was he fast. I'd forgotten how fast guardians could be even without the extra qualities the darkness gives me. He knocked me off as though brushing away a fly, and his hands slammed into me and sent me backwards. I don't think he meant to strike that hard but my lack of coordination interfered with my ability to respond. Unable to catch my footing, I started to fall, heading straight toward the sidewalk at a twisted angle. This was going to hurt. A lot. Not only my body, but my poor pride as well.
Only it didn't. Well, my pride still got bruised, but the rest of me was fine.
Just as quickly as he'd blocked me, the man reached out and caught my arm, keeping me from crashing down. When I'd steadied myself, I noticed he was staring at me—or, more precisely, at my neck. I didn't get it right away, but then my free hand slowly reached up to the side of my throat and touched the wound Lissa had made earlier. When I pulled my fingers back, I saw blood on my skin. Maybe she should have healed me. It would have made this whole running away thing easier.
Embarrassed, I shook my hair so that it fell forward and covered the area. My hair was thick and long and completely covered my neck. I'd grown it out for precisely this reason. It also helped cover my tattoos, which I wasn't sure were being fully covered by my jacket at this moment.
The guy's dark eyes lingered on the now-covered bite a moment longer and then met mine. I returned his look defiantly and ripped my arm out of his hold. He let me go, though I knew he could have restrained me all night if he wanted. Fighting the nauseating dizziness again, I backed toward Lissa again, bracing myself for another attack. If I was going to make an idiot out of myself I may as well do it properly. Besides I promised Lissa.
"Rose," Lissa said quietly before reaching forward to grab my hand."Enough."
Her words had no effect on me at first, but she started to send calming thoughts through the bond which gradually began to settle in my mind, causing my body to relax. It wasn't exactly compulsion—she wouldn't do that to me—but it was effective and helped me realise the helplessness of the situation...as did the fact that we were incredibly outnumbered and outclassed with me in this state. The last of the tension left my body, and I sagged in defeat.
Sensing my resignation, the man stepped forward, turning his attention only to Lissa. He swept her a bow and somehow managed to look graceful while doing it. "My name is Dimitri Belikov," he said. I could hear a faint Russian accent. "And I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."