A/N: So this is going to be my entry for the shadowkissed fanfic competition. I actually had started another story and only got to finish one chapter before I thought a little more about my brilliant scheme. Having a different point of view as to how I think Last Sacrifice will be like is great, but fanfiction just makes me confuse what is real (or in the actual books) and what's the fans' points of view. So finally I decided, why not have a fanfic about one of the other characters in the series? Then, it was pretty simple to decide that I wanted to write about Lissa, considering that I think I can portray her feelings best, and that I wanted to recreate the Spirit Bound. I mean, I might as well have this leading up to Last Sacrifice. :D

And now for my lame title. Since I have to write 10,000 words in one week (which sucks, but the Thanksgiving holidays and NaNoWriMo will help me along), I'll keep this simple. I'll be holding a little contest, I guess. When you review this story, just add a suggestion for the name of the fanfic. It can be funny, serious, related to spirit, related to the books, related to whatever. Anything. Then I'll choose a winner on, I suppose, November 29th or 30th (depending on the feedback). Then I'll figure out what to do next. Which will probably be giving you the next chapter before everyone else. Or something like that. :) So remember to tell your other VA-loving, fanfiction-adoring friends!


Chapter One

I DON'T LIKE CAGES. BUT I was trapped in one, trying to break through this car that was swerving dangerously on the icy road. I screamed and kept on screaming as I watched my parents get hit by the windshield. Andre slumped forward, and Rose attempted to shield her head in vain. Pieces of glass dug into my skin as I screamed, screaming "Andre! Mom! Dad! Rose!" I started sobbing. And then I woke up.

I stared at the ceiling above me. The accident was three years ago. Three years ago. I was almost eighteen already. And yet I'd never gotten rid of the horrible nightmare that seemed to follow me wherever I went. It subdued a little over the years, but it still hurt to think of my deceased parents and brother.

Standing up and walking over to the bathroom, I rubbed my eyes and attempted to make my reflection in the mirror more cheerful. I knew what day it was. Rose's trial. Grinning, I brushed my platinum hair carefully. Rose didn't need these trials. It might be even easier for her to skip them.

But I knew that wasn't what Rose was worried about these days. Dimitri – the love of her life, the guy that turned Strigoi against his will – kept sending her "love letters," ones that claimed to show his love when, really, he was counting down the days to her death.

I frowned. Dimitri used to be one of the greatest dhampir guardians I'd known. He'd been slated to be my guardian when I graduated. But then, the Strigoi attack happened, and that killed Rose. Rose left St. Vladimir's – our school – to kill Dimitri in Russia. And she left me here.

I remembered the long weeks she'd been gone, how agonizing it was not to see Rose. Stupid one-way bond.

I suppose I should explain. There are two types of vampires in the world. Moroi are the good vampires, never killing for blood. Moroi are born and can use one of five elements. Strigoi kill for blood and are created. They're super strong and super fast. They love hunting the Moroi.

And that's where the dhampirs come in. Dhampirs are half-Moroi, half-human. Since the dhampirs have attributes that the Moroi don't, like better strength and no hindrance from the sun, they're our guardians. They protect us from the Strigoi. Like Rose does for me. Like Dimitri used to do.

But then, Rose and I have a special connection. I mentioned how the Moroi have different elements – fire, water, earth, wind, and spirit. The last one is the most rare, yet that's what I have. Spirit comes from within you and can do all sorts of things: healing, walking dreams, seeing auras, super-compulsion, and – the scariest of all – bring people back from the dead. And that's what I did to Rose. I brought her back from the accident, so now she's one of the shadow-kissed. She's bonded to me, so she knows EVERYTHING that I think and feel. Which gets really annoying sometimes.

But it's not healthy to be bonded to more than one person. Recently, I met another spirit user named Avery Lazar – and even at the thought of her I cringed – who bonded with two people. And she wanted to bond with me so that I'd give her more power. Long story short, she didn't succeed and instead went insane.

There were some things, however, that she messed up in my life before I revealed her true intentions. Like what happened between me and Chr –

Beep! Beep! Beep! Gosh, that alarm was annoying. I glanced at it, seeing that it was already 7:30. Rose's trial would start soon.

I finished with my morning preparations and wandered the campus, trying to find Rose. It was likely that she'd already be at the stadium, but I doubted –

There. Rose was walking across the grass toward the huge stadium, looking dazed. I grinned. She didn't seem to be paying attention to my thoughts in the bond, so I could sneak up on her and say good luck.

I caught up with her stride, having to run across the green grass in the warm sunlight that made me slightly uncomfortable. Finally I reached her. "You look like you're ready to face an army," I said with a teasing smile.

Rose looked up and gave a twisted smile. I frowned slightly, wondering what was bothering her. "I kind of am facing an army," she said.

Laughing, I tossed my hair back. "I suppose. I didn't think you'd really be all that worried."

Rose countered, "I'm worried about how these grades will affect my future."

That was true. These trials would affect which Moroi she was assigned to – and, oh, did I want her as my guardian. Rose had black marks on her record – because she'd dropped out of school for two years with me to protect me and for those few weeks that she'd hunted Dimitri in Siberia. But I was sure that Rose would do well on these trials. "Alberta thinks there's a good chance we can stay together – that you'll still be my guardian."

Rose grimaced. "I think Alberta was saying that to keep me in school." I frowned, certain that Alberta wouldn't lie to me. Would she? "I think Alberta knows the only way they'd let me protect you is if I was the last guardian on earth. And even then, my odds would still be pretty slim."

We neared the stadium, the roars of the crowd growing louder. "I'm not giving up hope," I said. And I knew she knew it through the bond. I wouldn't give up. I smiled and stopped walking. "And I've got something that might help you out today." I reached into my jeans pocket and produced a tiny silver ring. The charm infused with spirit that I'd spent the entire last night to charm.

Rose's eyes widened. "Oh, Liss ... I don't know. I don't want any, um, unfair advantage."

I rolled my eyes. Liar. "That's not the problem, and you know it. This one's fine, I swear. This one works. Only a little, but it'll help keep the darkness away during the trial." And Rose wasn't stupid. She knew that she had to keep the darkness – one of spirit's side effects – at bay.

Rose smiled a little and took the ring, sliding it onto her pinky. "Thanks."

I was delighted. We continued walking, and Rose commented, "Hard to believe that after this, we'll be done here and out in the real world."

I froze. That one sentence reminded me of a million promises. I'd promise to go with Rose on her next crazy adventure – and, unfortunately, that would lead me to breaking Victor Dashkov, my enemy, out of prison. I hated Victor. I'd treated him as an uncle before and he'd used my magic to heal him – out of greed. As I got worse from spirit's effects, he'd used me for his own needs.

But I had to do this for Rose. Breaking Victor out of prison might be the only way she could save Dimitri from the terrible state he was in. Victor's half-brother, Robert Doru, apparently was also a spirit user and allegedly saved a Strigoi. I wasn't sure if I believed it – after all, I'd brought Rose back from the dead – but I had to help Rose either way. I was not going to be separated from her like last time.

Rose noticed my reaction and tried to fill the silence. She was interrupted by one of the guardians who instructed the dhampirs. "Hathaway!" he barked. "Nice of you to join us. Get in there now!"

My worry evaporated, and I hugged Rose quickly. "Good luck. Not that you need it."

Rose was led away by the guardian, and I didn't see her until her trial.

I watched, wide-eyed, as Rose performed impossible tasks. She fought the mock Strigoi – guardians acting as Strigoi – across obstacles over the arena. The most remarkable was when she convinced the "Moroi" she was guarding onto a bridge to escape the "Strigoi" following them. Then they were surrounded. Rose cut the ropes on the bridge and let the "Strigoi" fall to the ground and continued on, as if nothing happened.

And then she was done. I couldn't believe it. The best of all the dhampirs – of all the future guardians – was my best friend. I was proud of her.

Then came her molnija mark ceremony. Truthfully, guardians were supposed to get their promise mark before they made any Strigoi kills, but Rose already killed many – although with devastating consequences. Her neck was already covered in molnija marks when the tattoo artist added her promise mark. And that was it. My best friend was a guardian.

Rose looked across the room and met my eyes. I grinned at her, although her face was contorted with worry. Get that look off your face, I thought. You shouldn't look that anxious, not today. You need to celebrate.

And we did celebrate. Rose's father – Abe Mazur, who she called a "pirate mobster" occasionally – threw a party worthy of the Moroi queen. She had her party, meeting all kinds of people who congratulated her on her new title. I started walking over to Rose, about to congratulate her –

Oh, no. Christian. Christian was at the party. I assumed as much, considering that he was still good friends with Rose. He was talking with her, probably saying his kudos to her. He was shadowed by Jill. I clenched my teeth at the sight of Jill. She was a Moroi freshman and probably wouldn't have caught my attention if she didn't hang out with Christian all the time. I turned away.

Calm down, I told myself. There's no reason to get mad at Rose's party. But the more I thought about Christian and Jill together, the more I glanced their way. And the more I glanced their way, the madder I got. Eventually, my feelings must have broken through and Rose glanced at me. Christian noticed and followed her gaze. His face hardened. I quickly turned toward the nearest guy – a recently graduated dhampir – and started flirting with him. I couldn't help glancing at Christian out of the corner of my eye, though. Once I saw Christian leave Rose, I wrapped things up with the guy I'd been talking to – I felt really sorry for using the guy – and walked over to Rose. She was talking with her father, apparently about something confidential. I didn't want to intrude their family talk, but I was curious. So I lingered near where they were.

"... You didn't actually go there, did you?" said Rose. I frowned. What were they talking about?

Abe snorted. "Of course not. I wouldn't set foot in that place. I simply worked my network." Rose's father supposedly had many connections with both the vampire and human world, making bribes with all sorts of people. That was why he was known for his notorious reputation.

"Where is that place?" Rose said, sounding slightly curious.

Abe squinted at his daughter. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm curious! Convicted criminals always disappear without a trace. I'm a guardian now, and I don't even know anything about our own prison system. Is there just one prison? Are there lots?" I froze. Rose wasn't talking about ...

Abe paused. "There's more than one. Victor's in the worst." That name made me cringe and almost made me spill my punch. "It's called Tarasov."

I had it. I left the room, texting Rose a note that I returned to my own room to get some rest for tomorrow's ceremony. But I couldn't even think about tomorrow as I lay on my bed. I was rewinding that conversation over and over again. I hoped Rose wasn't paying attention in our bond. All that would accomplish was her guilt over bringing me to Tarasov. To free Victor.

Before I knew it, I fell asleep. And today I graduated from St. Vladimir's. I looked around at the many boxes – already packed – and got up to start the day.

Time passed. I don't know how it passed that quickly, but it did. Before you knew it, everyone was throwing their caps in the air. I soon followed suit, though I was daydreaming – or more like having a nightmare – about what could go wrong once we freed Victor. But I couldn't believe it. I'd just graduated. Almost fourteen years of my life, done. Gone.

I walked out with all the other Moroi graduates, the dhampirs following. And I realized something.

My name is Vasilisa Dragomir, Lissa for short. I am a Moroi with the rarest elemental magic possible – spirit. I am the last of my family line. I was tortured by my "uncle," Victor Dashkov, and I am about to break him out of his prison with my best friend, the now-guardian dhampir Rosemarie Hathaway, Rose for short, to free her long-lost love Dimitri Belikov stuck in his terrible Strigoi state. My own love life sucks, to put it simply. And my life at the school I'd been raised in has just ended. Now I am out in the real world, and Strigoi will follow me everywhere I go.

Well, that certainly makes my life harder.


A/N: I thought I did well. Do you think so?

And if you're wondering why I reviewed a little in this fanfic (with what Moroi, Strigoi, and dhampirs are), here's my explanation: I want this to be like the books. And all the books reviewed, so it would make sense to add this too. Plus, it's interesting to know Lissa's perspective of the way things are.

So remember to review and enter a suggestion for the title! ^_^ And thanks for reading!