Jeez. I say this every time I do it, but I should NOT be starting ANOTHER story. I have a ton that are unfinished, and a few WIPs yet to be uploaded. Anyways, let me give you some background so I don't get the same complaints. If you don't read this, don't complain!
Rose is 21, she left the academy on her 18th birthday, thus she has been gone for 3 years. This story takes place after book 3, Shadow-Kissed. Ignore what happens in book 4 (since it comes out in, like, a week). I DID add that Rose is looking for the blond, too, since I think he should be taken down in revenge. Teehee…
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Nothing had changed. Not a thing. Not a damned thing. With two exception. I glanced around the campus slowly, allowing myself to take it all in and become accustomed to the ever-so-familiar setting. My boots made soft thuds against the concrete path, and aside from the occasional rustling leaf, it was the only sound around. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought the place was deserted.
But I did know better.
Unfortunately.
On high alert, I scanned the area around me. The only thing in my life that had changed was the strigoi. They went into hiding nearly two years ago and, despite my tries, seemed to have been wiped off the face of the earth. That is, until a month ago when small massacres began and everyone knew who it was. Or rather, what it was. After the second massacre, everyone was on high alert and even some on lock down.
I proceeded along, not knowing where I was headed.
"Well if it isn't Guardian Hathaway, coming back to the academy," a voice filled with emotion chirped from behind me.
Sighing, I turned around and smiled. "You know, I never actually graduated."
He took a drag on his cigarette and chuckled. "A shame," he murmured, stepping closer to me. "Though, that tattoo on your neck that represents the uncountable numbers of strigoi you've killed might suggest otherwise. But that's beside the point." He suddenly grinned, large and toothy, displaying his fangs. "You are still as beautiful as the day you left."
"I'd hope so. I'm only twenty-one." While I had changed a bit, looking more like an adult and less like a teenager, Adrian had not changed a bit. Everything from his style and flirtatious personality to his bad habits remained exactly as I had remembered.
"You've changed," he noted seriously.
"My aura?" I guessed, but he shook his head and gestured to the cigarette in his hand.
"It's in your eyes," he murmured, so close to me that I could smell the cloves on his breath. "Some sort of…soullessness, though that's not the correct word at all, but it's the closest…" he brushed his fingers across my cheek and I swatted his hand away and took a step away.
"Trust me, I have my soul," I said firmly and began walking away before he could say anything more on the subject. If I knew the old Adrian—obnoxious and persistent—he would follow.
Which he did.
"What are you still doing here anyways? I thought you'd follow Lissa to the Royal Court and live there."
"Well, I was asked to teach here." I began laughing. "Hey, come on now, I'm not that bad. And I only mentor students who haven't specialized with the rest of your class. Those who eventually specialize move on with their class, those that don't are mentored by either Lissa or me."
I stopped dead in my tracks and turn to look at him, disbelief coloring my face. "What? Lissa is still here?"
"Of course. I thought you knew. You know, the—"
"I haven't unblocked the bond in years," I muttered, leaving him standing behind me as I continued toward the main office. I figured I should check in with Kirova, or whoever the current head of St. Vladimir's Academy was.
After the disappearance of strigoi, the academy had sent a few guardians around to places that needed them. Now that these massacres were occurring everywhere, it was safe to assume they were back. And the academy needed all the help it could get. Since I wasn't exactly invited, I hoped they would accept me anyways. Even if they didn't, I'd be hunting down two particular strigoi—Dimitri and the blond one that turned Dimitri into a Strigoi.
The secretary looked up, eyes wide when I walked in.
"C-can I help you with something, Rose?" she asked quietly.
I smiled politely and asked for Kirova or whoever the head of the school was, since I had no idea if Kirova was still there or not. She nodded anyways and scurried off.
"Rose Hathaway, to what do we owe the pleasure?" a voice asked, a hidden smile in it, even though the headmistress's face held no such thing.
"I've come to help," I said with false confidence."
"You're not a guardian," she stated.
"I may not be a guardian, but I am good," I reminded her.
"That you are," she agreed. "And you are needed." I felt my stomach untwist and I sighed in relief. Half of me had expected her to turn me away, to turn her back on my like I had the academy three years ago. But another half of me had expected her to allow me to stay and help—the more help the better.
"But," she said, and I felt it coming, the bad part to the agreement, "only if Ms. Dragomir allows it. She's the one organizing the guardians from off campus." When I didn't say anything, she continued. "You need to find her and sign in. She'll give you further instructions."
I nodded and she walked off, while I left the building in confusion and fear.