[[A/N: OMAHGOSH! This is my first Vampire Academy fanfiction! This is the summary:

Dimitiri is coming, but promises that Rose made to seemingly everyone at St. Vlad's has kept her from actively taking measures to find Victor Dashkov's illegitimate brother. But Rose is smarter now. She's changed since Russia, and knows not to go gung-ho on everything now. It's changed her, and people have noticed.

It's the week before graduation, and Rose begins to recognize signs of Dimitri's proximity. But under oath to Lissa and her kickass mother, Janine, Rose has to make it through the final Guardian exam until she is finally able to go find Victor.

What will happen as the clock begins to tick down on the time Rose has under the safe borders of St. Vlad's?]]

[[2nd A/N: Disclaimer stuff. I only own the plot.]]

--

Spirit Bound; Blood Red

It was so hard to believe that in one week, I'd be free from St. Vladimir's and set loose to be Lissa's Guardian. Of course, that also kept in mind my success in passing the final exam on Thursday – the Breaker, probably the most realistic thing a Guardian-in-training could experience before actually being face-to-face with a real Strigoi.

A grueling two day trek over a mountain, carrying a 120 pound dummy (a.k.a The Incapacitated Moroi Charge), fending off Strigoi (a.k.a Dhampir Instructors), and finding food and shelter every night. Better yet were the rules to this exam: I had 2 days exactly to get over the mountain to the other side. I needed to complete this without getting my charge or myself "killed." I could drop out of the race by shooting a flare into the sky. If I drop out, get killed, get my charge killed, or fail to reach the finish line, I fail the exam and am forced to take supplementary classes over the summer until the instructors are satisfied with my work—not something I plan to do when I'm also planning on heading off to find Victor's half-brother.

I tapped my pencil to my chin, my mind wandering during math class; big shocker there. I didn't really believe that the Breaker would be that challenging. Considering my rather badass reputation of Strigoi kills, I wasn't worried about failing.

"Miss Hathaway, can you please tell me the answer to this equation?" the teacher asked imperiously. I stifled a yawn. All teachers were the same, whether they were middle-aged, minimum wage humans or middle-aged, Moroi teachers who happen to work in one of the few vampire academies in the world.

I smiled. "That's easy. It's—" I began to say, but the shrill ring of the end bell cut me off. Had life ever gotten so cliché?

I quickly picked up my stuff and practically ran out the door. Ever since Alberta put me in extra Guardian training, I'd been without a moment of free time.

"Little dhampir, off to another extra class again?"

I turned and saw Adrian leaning oh-so-debonair against the stair banister.

"Adrian," I said, "don't you have some paper to be working on?"

Adrian's casual smile broadened even more at the mention of his boyfriend application—totally unexpected. I had made a personal bet that he would drop the whole assignment within a week. Turns out, he was pretty determined to get in my pants…well maybe not that fast.

"You're enjoying it, aren't you," I commented, shifting my weight to one foot.

"The paper has only made me realized my true feelings for you," he replied smoothly. I snorted. He'd probably rehearsed this conversation in the mirror.

"Really," I said. But suddenly, a feeling of seriousness washed over me. "Adrian, do you really want this? To go on a date with me?"

"You're thinking I can't handle a date with the kickass novice Guardian that has the vampire world on edge?" Adrian assumed, flashing a grin that would make other girls crumble—I'm not like those girls. Not since I'd gotten back from Russia.

I shook my head. "Never mind," I said, unwilling to ruin his unusually cheerful mood. I turned to walk away. I was already late for extra classes with, guess who, Eddie. Turns out, he's planning on staying at St. Vlad's for teacher training. But I still could kick his butt more times than not.

"Hey, little dhampir," Adrian said quickly, catching my shoulder with his hand. I looked at him.

"What?" I asked tiredly.

"Have you and Lissa tried that spirit healing stuff that the other spirit user mentioned?" Adrian asked, referring to Oksana.

"No," I said slowly. "What's it to you though? Is my aura darkening again?"

Adrian nodded. "But that's to be expected. You're closer to Lissa again. But it's getting darker…like a sky that sees light then dark, but the sun has yet to return to greet it. A lonely sky that is, surrounded by the stars that dazzle it, but forever separated." He paused, his eyes gazing off into the distance. It had a faraway look that I'd seen before. Not very many times, but I remembered that one incident I'd seen it. Back at the ski lodge.

"Adrian, don't talk to me when you're sober," I teased shakily. "It just ruins my impression of you."

Adrian smiled dreamily. "Sorry," he said. He turned on his heels and sped back up the staircase. I glanced after him, frowning. Why was he sober?

I didn't have much time to think about that…or anything for that matter. Because from my other side, I spotted Eddie running towards me. He didn't seem angry for me completely missing his lesson. But he rarely seemed angry anymore. He'd changed, just like me.

"Rose, why didn't you come?" he asked worriedly. "I was waiting."

"Sorry, Eddie," I apologized. "Adrian caught me on the stairs and started rambling on about some stuff." I didn't mention that it reflected my personal life (quite accurately, oddly enough) in a strange, but poetic metaphor.

"Come on then. Alberta won't give you the credit that you are missing unless you attend my practices," Eddie said, pulling me towards the gym.

I followed willingly. Eddie had really transformed into a competent leader. I knew that this was probably one of the last times I'd see him, unless Lissa decided to come back to the campus. Then again, I had no idea how I'd fit saving Dimitri, jail breaking a crazy Moroi royal from a high-security prison, attending college, and keeping up political appearances in Court into one lifetime. Sounded like I needed several. But then again, my Rose Hathaway determination always got me through.

"Eddie, I'm going to miss you," I said suddenly.

Eddie stopped walking and looked at me. I saw the scars from Isiah's fangs along his neck, red against his pale skin. They'd healed as well as possible, but I didn't think the old, jokester Eddie Castile would ever come back. I kind of missed him.

"I'll miss you too, Rose," he said softly. He laughed. "Hell, I'll really miss all the good times. But if you don't come to practice anymore, I won't have to worry about that."

I smiled. That seemed more like him. "You're right."

We traveled to the gym in silence. The doors were wide open. Technically, the gym was open to everyone at the time, but Moroi tended to hang out in the dining hall and the dhampir avoided the gym unless they were needed—it was our second home that we didn't want, so to say.

Eddie had dragged several practice dummies into the middle of the court.

"What's the lesson for today?" I said wearily. I suddenly felt extremely exhausted.

"I'd planned for a simple staking practice, since you seem to keep insisting on working on that," Eddie replied, moving to stand the dummies up on their metal poles.

I nodded. I definitely needed practice on that. How many times had I missed in Russia? Twice? And the last time, when I put all my heart and soul into that final kill, I still couldn't hit Dimitri's heart. I beat myself up for that every time I touched my stake.

"Rosemarie Hathaway!"

I laughed quietly. It seemed like I was a popular commodity that day.

It was a young, Moroi woman. I'd seen her around. She usually appeared in classrooms to bring a student to the main office, followed by a round of "Oh" an "Haha." At least this time I was spared the embarrassment of having my retrieval broadcasted to twenty classmates.

"You are requested in the main office," the woman said. I nodded. But the woman didn't leave. I sighed, getting the picture. I supposed the administrative branch of St. Vlad's had gotten a little smarter on how to deal with Rose Hathaway—mainly to make sure she is supervised all the time.

I said goodbye to Eddie, sending him a silent plea for help. But my good ol' pal shrugged innocently, proceeding to disassemble the dummies for storage.

The woman led me down the corridors to the administrative building. I wondered what Alberta had to say to me, when she already had her hands full in preparation for the Breaker and arranging assignments for the students after graduation.

But when I stepped into the lobby, I was shocked to see a blond Moroi woman wearing a cashmere sweater dress standing there, waiting for me.

"Deirdre, I'm meeting you?" I asked incredulously.

My old counselor smiled—I groaned. I hated those smiles. And I really hated Deirdre. Well I guess I didn't hate her as a person. She was annoying, I admit, but I hated the helljob she called a profession much more.

"Rose, it'll only take a few minutes," Deirdre said calmly. She beckoned me to follow her to her office. I knew the way well.

We sat down in our usual spots. It hadn't changed in the month I was absent. The silly nature pictures hung on the wall next to her impressive amounts of psychotherapy awards.

"So, Rose. Let's talk about school," Deirdre began, taking out her usual notebook. I was pretty sure that she had a whole novel on my appointments with her.

"Am I starting therapy sessions again?" I asked slowly. "Because I'm pretty sure that requires an hour of the day that I don't have anymore."

"Just today. I've been instructed to evaluate your psychological profile before you take the Breaker," Deirdre explained. I was shocked. It was rare for her to explain rather than to ask. And she did that a lot.

"Oh," I said shortly. "Well school has been fine."

"Can you explain fine for me?"

There we go. Deirdre certainly didn't disappoint me. And here I had gone insulting her by thinking she had moved away from the question-question tactic.

"I don't have any free time anymore, but I agreed to taking extra lessons in order to get enough credits to graduate. This is my choice," I said firmly.

"Do you dislike having no free time?" Deirdre pressed.

I sighed. I remembered my first sessions with her and how vexed she made me with all her endless questions. She was like a fortune cookie. Giving me more questions than answers.

"No, of course not," I muttered. "But I like having the ability to graduate."

"Why do you feel the need to graduate?"

I frowned. "You're kidding right? I hope you are, Deirdre."

"Why do you think that?"

"Look, Lissa is depending on me to be there for her. We need to graduate together so we can be assigned together."

"Why do you feel that is so important, graduating together. You could very well wait a year and not have to be so pressured. Lissa wouldn't mind, I'm sure."

I bit my tongue. I wondered if Deirdre had been told about my spirit bond with Lissa. If she wasn't informed, I was pretty sure I wasn't allowed to tell her. And I'm completely sure she didn't know about my secret plan-in-the-making to break Victor Dashkov out of jail.

"Because we're best friends," I explained firmly. It wasn't a lie, so I didn't feel guilty about saying it.

Deirdre scribbled something down on the notebook.

"Let's talk about your trip to Russia," Deirdre said finally.

My eyebrows formed a line. She was more informed than I thought. "Let's not."

"Why do you not want to talk about it?"

"I just don't like talking about it, okay?"

Deirdre looked at me with a serene smile. She wrote something quickly down into her notes, but didn't look at what she wrote.

She opened her lips and said the words I had been dreading to hear from her from the moment I sat down in her office.

"Is it because of your relationship with Guardian Belikov?"

--

I buried my face in my pillow, forcing myself to get to sleep. It wasn't hard. I was bushed—from all my classes, to Adrian, to my almost-lesson with Eddie. And then Deirdre. I was so thankful that I didn't need to go back.

"No. It is not about him. And I'd like not to talk about him again."

I grimaced, thinking about my response. I sounded like a bitch. I knew that. But she'd crossed the line. Then again, nothing I could say would change that patronizing serenity on her perfectly calm face.

I felt the weariness begin to wrap around my limbs. I embraced it. The darkness caved in around me, bringing me a beautiful peace. But I knew what was coming next.

I'd dreamt the same thing over and over again, ever since I returned from Russia.

The same thing; I'd come to expect it.

I had dreams about Dimitri Belikov.

[[A/N: Did you enjoy reading this? PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON BELOW! I LOVE YOU IF YOU DO!]]