Ahh! I'm so sorry I didn't update as soon as I promised! To Lock Ness Monster13: Thank you so much! It's a DimitrixRose story, but don't expect their relationship to be smooth sailing! And also, thank you all so much for your reviews. I appreciate every single one of them! vvv Enjoy the chapter below vvv Oh, I almost forgot: I don't own one single thing of Vampire Academy. Zero. Zilch. Richelle Mead owns everything.

Chapter 4: Welcome to Headquarters

We both rode in a pleasant silence for a few hours in the Antarctic wasteland. A sudden dip in our otherwise smooth course sent me flying into the top of the dome. I shouted a curse that no child should ever hear. Adrian tsked and murmured something under his breath about how I never change. The barrage of snow and wind stopped suddenly, and we were in what looked like a never-ending cave. I spot the snowmobile Dimitri was riding in and blew a kiss to him. He spotted me and returned the gesture, and my heart immediately melted. He was a badass sweetheart. My badass sweetheart.

All four snowmobiles were in sight, swerving to avoid crashing into the rocky stalagmites and falling into bottomless pits. We passed through a transparent red screen that was definitely man made.

"Laser sheets," Adrian said out of nowhere. "They fry anything that was not registered with Recluse. We're safe since we're in one of their snowmobiles."

Something occurred to me. "But what about people? They can't be 'registered'" I said with air quotes.

I could sense Adrian's smirk from behind. "All agents and helpers of Recluse have a tattoo on the back of their necks that carry a computer chip that registers in the systems."

I tugged at the collar of his coat and looked up at the base of his neck. Nothing but bare skin.

"There's nothing," I whispered to myself.

"It's there, it just takes some special contact lens to see it."

"Lemme guess," I said rolling my eyes. "All Recluse agents have those special contact lens."

Adrian answered with a nod of the head. Wow, Recluse has everything! I wonder if I would still be able to guard Lissa if I joined.

We came to a sudden stop.

"We're here," Adrian said with a half- smile.

A simple metal door that looked like an elevator opened up. All eight of us shuffled inside the surprisingly roomy elevator. Adrian placed his hand on what looked like a simple smooth surface which scanned his palm, and the elevator started it's fast decent. I had to keep my hands on the walls to stop falling.

"How far does this thing go down?" I yelled.

"8,000 feet," an agent answered, standing perfectly erect. "Over one and a half miles underground"

I gave him an incredulous look. Well, you really can't be too careful of a mighty Strigoi army, can you?

The elevator abruptly halted it's fall, which sent everyone that wasn't from Recluse in the room splayed on the floor, including the graceful Dimitri. Everyone let out a simultaneous groan. I looked up to see where the doors opened to. It was a train station, with a bullet train waiting for us. I groaned even louder.

"A high speed jet plane, a snowmobile, a crazy elevator, and now this?" I complained. "What the hell!"

"Those last three trips were for security reasons, Guardian Hathaway," another agent stated. "This train is to get us around HQ. Antarctica is a very big continent."

"Wait," Christian interrupted, propping himself up on an elbow. "HQ spans across a whole continent?"

All the agents nodded.

"Damn!" Christian muttered, now pulling himself up.

We gathered into the train where someone was waiting for us. A small figure with what seemed like a Recluse uniform decorated in badges sat in an empty booth at the back of the car. Adrian and the agents strode up to the person.

"Comandante," they said in unison, bowing all at once. It didn't take an idiot to know that this person was their boss.

"Please," a high, reedy voice said. "I'm just like all of you; a soldier in our army. Just call me Amber."

The figure turned to us. To everyone's surprise, it was a young girl, 13 at most. She had almond- shaped midnight blue eyes that looked 1,000 years old. Her pitch black hair was tied into a side ponytail that hung beside her round, olive- toned face. A polite smile played on her lips as she stood up in all of her 5 foot glory. I thought about laughing, but reprimanded myself. My mother was the exact same height, but she still gave me a black eye. I didn't want to find out the hard way what this girl can do.

She curtsied. "Queen Vasilisa, Lord Ozera, Guardian Hathaway, and Guardian Belikov, it is a tremendous honor to meet all of you in person. I am Commander Amber Madeira. Welcome to Recluse HQ."

Who is this 13 year- old commander? Why does her name rhyme with commander? And why the hell does she have blue eyes? All will be revealed in the next chapter! (I did not put myself in the story if that's what you're thinking. I'm not even 13). vvv The review button is down there :D vvv