"Hey sweetie,"

That familiar voice called me. Where am I? This place is familiar for me and I just need to think harder about what- Oh. I remember now. This is Adrian's great-grandmother's garden. So, I am currently in a Spirit Dream. I wore the guardian's formal attire, black slacks along with matching blazer and white blouse underneath. I don't know why but I looked good.

I walked around the garden, it was beautiful and lovely. There were flowers, almost everywhere – lilacs, daffodils, and even orchids. Almost all types of flowers were there, in the garden but there was only one flower that caught my attention. Roses. I walked towards the bushes and carefully plucked one of the roses. They are indeed beautiful but dangerous as there were thorns as well to protect themselves. Just like Rose Hathaway, my mother.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" The voice was getting closer. I turned around and saw Adrian Ivashkov, wearing a simple-designed tuxedo. I smiled and walked up to him. I may not have a close relationship with my father but every time I see him, I felt happy for some unknown reason.

"Look at you, Adrian Ivashkov. You look like some typical businessman who just went back from overseas while I am your loyal guardian," I said, examining in more detail about his outfit. I have to admit, this old man has some sense of fashion in him. Even though he only wore the tuxedo with one of his branded shoes, he still looked like the playboy he used to be, only with wrinkles and gray hair.

"I might hire you one day to be my guardian when you graduate, but I knew it's impossible as you are bonded to my dear nephew, Michael." He winked at me. He thought I had a crush on Michael, which is so not true or was it? I don't know.

"Did that brat sent you the letter I told him to? He better did or not," He narrowed his eyes at me as if he could look straight through me to tell whether I was lying to him or the opposite. I giggled as this would be the golden opportunity to get him but since he was on his good behavior lately, I decided to save his ass. You owe me this one, Jeremy.

"Yes, he did. In fact, he is in a good mood lately, which is fucking creepy." I shivered. Adrian laughed, maybe because of my exaggeration on Jeremy or maybe because of my profanity which reminds him of mother or whatever. He held my hand and kissed the top of it. His lips were warm and I could feel his fangs brushed against the skin. I felt the chill snakes its way down my spine.

There was a cold silence between us afterwards. I fiddled with the rose petals, slid my thumb down the stalk and felt a deep prick. I flinched and tried to hide my thumb from the old man like a five years old tried to hide their wet pants under their bed. He sighed, he probably thought that I still think of him as a douchebag or something. I knew Adrian Ivashkov was my father two years ago when he made a visit to St. Vladimir Academy. My mother tried to keep me away from him as he didn't know anything about my existence at all. At first, I thought it was because mother knew he was a dangerous person but then, after I observed her weird behavior when she talked to him, I knew there was something else.

"Let me see that," He said in a gentle tone, grabbing my hand. He wrapped his hand around my wrist and what I saw next was amazing even though I've seen it many times. The blood that dripped earlier somehow reversed its way back and the wound sealed itself. He kissed the wound somehow to imitate an action of a caring father after he wrapped his daughter's wound with a plaster. We kept on being silent all the way until he had to end the dream as he got some other things to deal with. He looked into my eyes and I could see the curiosity arise as he wanted to ask more questions, probably about mother. He didn't waste any time as he kissed my forehead and hugged me tight before he bid me farewell.

I woke up and the first thing I noticed was that I was at the clinic near the Moroi dorm. They had an excellent job in renovating the school that they built clinics almost near every building despite of my mother's records of her recent check-in a couple of decades ago. I struggled to sit up and I certainly needed help for this. As if I said my thoughts aloud, a pair of hands helped me to accomplish my pathetic goal.

"Don't force yourself kiddo," My mother said. I looked at her as if I was looking into a mirror. A lot of people said that I looked exactly like her when she was around my age. She looked absolutely beautiful even though she only wore the official guardian attire with her dark brown hair tied into a high ponytail.

"How long have I been out?" I stared into her eyes. I admired her dark brown eyes, the pair that looked exactly like mine.

"Almost all day," She looked at the window. There were little rays coming through indicating the sun was about to rise. This was night time for all the Moroi as we ran in a nocturnal schedule, "Michael was here all day with you. I told him to go back to his room as it was almost time for curfew. That boy is very protective towards you, Chloe. The last time I saw him, he was still a little boy who hides himself behind his mother's back," She chuckled.

I smiled. He really had been a coward when he was a kid. I remember a time when we were chased by mad dogs during one of the field trips arranged by the school. It was exactly a few weeks after Michael had brought me back and I made a pinky swear where I vowed to protect him at any cost. During that time, we were taken to a river as we were studying about rivers in geography at that time. Michael and I were happily playing in the river when Jessica Zeklos yelled at us. I was confused at first but when I saw the actual problem, I screamed on top of my lungs at Michael to climb one of the trees. I was scared to actually face those dogs but his safety is my priority. I did managed to take them down but there was actually a big problem than all the bites and blood all over my body, Michael cried as he desperately needed someone to bring him down.

"Adrian Ivashkov visited me in my dreams earlier," I said after I finally came back to real life. My mother gave me a bitter smile. I knew she didn't like me to mention his name but I had to. I didn't want to keep any secrets from her. That is certainly not me.

"And? Did he asked anything?" I knew she was going to add 'about me' but she cut them off.

"Not a single word," I played with my fingers and realized there was actually a wound on my thumb. Everything that I experienced in any spirit dreams is real, which is totally weird, "By any chance, do you know Aunt Lissa's current plan. I'm pretty sure that's what Michael has been hiding from me. So, any luck?"

She averted her eyes away from me. She only did so because she felt guilty about something. I remember I was still clasping her hands. I gave her an assuring squeeze to tell her that she doesn't have to be afraid of the consequences of telling me what she knew.

She sighed, she climbed into the bed and sat beside me, "Things were complicated. I knew something wasn't quite right when I checked back the history about the attack that happened a few years ago. At that time, the school ward were weak and the only creature that could passed those wards without any scratch is humans. Later evidence shows that there were indeed Strigoi entered the school but they couldn't passed those wards without the help of humans. So I believed that the humans helped them and this is what I feared the most, it happened all over again,"

"So, how does your whole theory have any relationship with Michael?" I asked, feeling a bit confused.

"Lissa had done some thinking these days. She had ordered someone to find a safe place for all the students while the older guardians do some research. Now, as for Michael, Lissa has asked him to stay with her at the Royal Court,"

"Really? That's great. I really could depend on the security there," I said confidently. I've been to the court once and I realized how heavy their security was. Damn I was caught for sneaking Michael out to a party. Luckily Aunt Lissa understood us, "When do we start?"

She smiled at me. She caressed my cheeks and tucked strands of hair behind my ears, "You won't be joining us."

"What?!"