The blaring of an alarm pulled me out of a fitful sleep. I rolled over and hit the 'snooze' button, dragging myself to a sitting position, stretching. I sat on my bed for a few seconds before standing and making my way to the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and ran my brush through my hair as the details of a few long and annoying hours ago came rushing back. I'd been dragged out of my bed in the early hours of the morning by my History teacher Ms. Terwilliger, to perform a scrying spell. She'd wanted me to look for someone, her sister, and had then proceeded told me I needed to develop my powers. Ms. Terwilliger was a practitioner of magic and had told me a while back, as well as telling me that I have magic in me. It was wrong, unnatural and goes against everything the Alchemist and I believe in. I was an Alchemist; a secret sect of humans charged with protecting secret vampire race from being discovered the human race. To keep the Alchemists from telling anyone about the vampires, we were all given a golden lily tattoo; infused with Moroi blood. The Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi made up the vampire race. The Moroi were mortal, magic-wielding vampires. The Moroi can control the four elements: Earth, Air, Water and Fire. There is also a fifth and rare element: Spirit. I've only met a few Moroi who have Spirit: the Moroi queen Vasilisa Dragomir, former Strigoi Sonya Karp and Adrian Ivashkov. Moroi blood mixed with human blood created the ultimate Guardians; the Dhampirs. The Dhampirs spent their childhood and teenage years training to protect the Moroi the Strigoi. The Strigoi were the evil, undead counterparts of the Moroi. Stakes can only paralyse Strigoi, not kill them. There are only two ways that we know of, that can kill Strigoi; fire and decapitation. To myself and other Alchemists, all of them were unnatural and completely wrong.
Recently, there had been an attack on the Moroi Royal Court. The Queen's sister, Jillian Mastrano Dragomir, had been the intended target. The Moroi rebels wanted Vasilisa off the throne. The laws state, that the current must have at least one relative who is still alive. Until recently, Vasilisa had believed she was the last Dragomir, when her parents and brother were killed in an accident. Jill was the result of an affair between Vasilisa's father, Eric Dragomir, and Las Vegas dancer, Emily Mastrano. Making Vasilisa and Jill the last Dragomir's. That's why the rebels had attacked the Royal Court. But during the attack, the rebels had successfully killed Jill. But Spirit user Adrian Ivashkov had used his magic to bring her back from the dead, forging a one-way psychic bond between the two; Jill could see and feel Adrian's emotions and would know when there was something wrong. Until the laws could be changed, Jill had to go into hiding, kept safe from the rebels, as well as the Strigoi. The Alchemists had sent me, Sydney Sage, to keep her safe. Also being sent to protect her was Eddie Castile; a blonde-haired blue-eyed, eighteen-year old dhampir guardian. Also along, was Adrian Ivashkov; a twenty-one year old moroi with stylishly messy brown hair and brilliant emerald-green eyes. We were all sent to live in Palm Springs, California. Jill, Eddie and I were currently attending Amberwood Prep; a boarding school, as siblings, while Adrian, also posing as our brother, had recently begun going to art classes at a local college. We were later joined by two former Strigoi's; Moroi Sonya Karp. And legendary Dhampir guardian; Dimitri Belikov. They were part of an experimental team. Recently, it had been discovered, that Strigoi could be turned back to their original form, using a spirit charmed stake that only a spirit user could wield. And via experiments, we had also discovered that those who were once Strigoi can no longer become a Strigoi again. We'd also found that Strigoi were unable to drink my blood; it tasted tainted to them.
Once I'd dressed, I left my dorm and made my way to the cafeteria for breakfast. Walking in, I immediately found Eddie, Jill and Angeline sitting around one of the tables towards the back. I grabbed a bowl of cereal and a coffee and made my way to the table. All three looked up at my approach, Eddie and Angeline smiled at me, while Jill just looked at me. Thanks to the bond her and Adrian shared, Jill had found out that I'd rejected Adrian, and had shown a little resentment towards me ever since. Over the last few months, I'd grown close to Jill, Eddie, Angeline, Dimitri, Sonya, but more importantly, Adrian. And then a few weeks ago, Adrian and surprised, confused and scared me by kissing me, then admitting his feelings for me. Panicking, I'd rejected him and walked out. Since then, it had been awkward between us, only speaking to each other when absolutely necessary. Out of the corner of my eye, I'd catch him staring at me, a look of raw pain and agony etched across his handsome face that had disappeared the moment someone spoke to him. Once, he'd walked out onto the balcony, cigarette packet and a bottle of vodka in hand, Jill running after him, glaring back at me. Something inside me had twisted when Adrian had walked out, as well as at Jill's glare.
"Morning Sydney." Eddie's voice had pulled me out of my reverie. Blinking, I sat down and looked around. Jill was looking at Eddie's and Angeline's clasped hands and there was sadness in her eyes. Eddie had pretty much been in love with Jill but had kept his distance because he didn't think she'd ever see him in the same way that he saw her. Angeline had a huge crush on Eddie and had been throwing herself at him until I'd had a go at her. Eddie had told me that he was going to give Angeline a chance, see how their relationship plays out. But then Jill had told me she was starting to see Eddie differently and I'd told her that he was giving Angeline a chance.
"Morning guys," I answered. Angeline surprised me with a bright "Hey Sydney!" while Jill just murmured her hello. I frowned, but let it go.
"Are you coming to Clarence's tonight for more experiments?" Eddie asked. Clarence Donahue was an elderly Moroi living out on the outskirts of Palm Springs. Jill and Adrian went to Clarence's to feed. Moroi needed blood just as much as they needed normal food. Clarence's Feeder, Dorothy, was on hand for their feedings. Feeders were humans who willingly gave their blood to Moroi. It was all disgusting to me. Wrong, unnatural, it went against everything I believed in. It was also where the experiments were being held.
"Yes. I'll be there. I want results just as much as you guys."
"We know. We just weren't sure whether you'd be there that's all." Eddie shrugged.
"Why would you think that I wouldn't be there?" I asked curiously.
"You just look tired that's all. We thought that once classes are over you'd maybe want to get more sleep." Angeline said.
"No. I'll be there. I'll feel much better once I've had this coffee." I said picking up my coffee and taking a sip. I let out a contented sigh as the bitter sweet taste of coffee and sugar mixed with hot water and milk hit the back of my throat.
"Sonya's back for a couple of days. Mikhail is with her," Jill said moving the scrambled eggs around on her plate. "Just to check on things," She looked up at me. "And she promised that she won't hound you for more blood samples." Sonya had been trying to persuade me to let her and Dimitri take a little of my blood for testing. At first I vehemently denied, Adrian even jumping to my defence when Sonya kept pushing. I'd thought about it, and decided that they could have a small sample to work on. Sonya and then asked, again, for another sample so that Moroi could taste to see why it tasted foul to Strigoi. Again, I had refused, and again, Adrian had jumped in to defend me. It was that night that Sonya had been kidnapped by the Warriors; vampire hunters who had used to be Alchemists back when we were just forming. I'd gone in to their compound to try and convince them that Sonya was no longer Strigoi. I was unsuccessful in my attempt to convince them and they were about kill her when Guardians burst in and began raiding the place. Just then, the bell rang, signalling the beginning of first period, and we all said our goodbyes and walked off. On my way to my first class, I bumped into Trey Juarez. I had recently discovered that Trey was part of the Warriors and knew what Jill, Eddie, Angeline and I were. Though he didn't know about Eddie and Angeline until later. He was also at the compound the night the Guardians had raided. He and his father had been exiled from the Warriors because of me.
"Watch out Melrose." He said grabbing hold of my shoulders to steady me.
"Sorry Trey. I wasn't watching where I was going."
"That's alright. I wasn't watching where I was going either." He laughed.
"I was busy thinking about something's." I said. Trey nodded.
"I gathered that. You had that faraway look on your face," He said. "Anyway. I had better get going. Don't want to be late to class!" He said walking off in the direction he was heading, waving at me over his shoulder. I walked off to my first class, ready for a long day.