I don't own Vampire Academy, Ms Richelle Mead does.

"Can we talk?" he asked, pleadingly.

"Make it quick," I replied coolly, following him into the house.

He led me into the same room he had led me in before; the room I had experienced the first Moroi bite. I felt like a blood whore just thinking about it.

I had to turn my feelings off and activate Guardian mode.

"Master Ivashkov," I addressed him.

"Don't call me that!" he snapped.

"What should I call you then!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Adrian. Just call me Adrian."

"Well 'Adrian', how may I be of assistance?"

"Forgive. Me."

Those two words shot through my heart, leaving two huge holes.

Be Strong, I willed myself.

"No."

"Please. What I did was wrong. Just please, let me make it up to you!" he begged.

"It's called 'leave me alone'," I answered in a bitter voice.

I turned to leave but he caught me by my arm. Reflexes kicked in. I gripped him tightly by his forearms and he winced. Underneath my fingers emerged blood. Not mine, his.

I removed my hands off of his and I pulled the sleeves of his shirt up.

More than a dozen cuts on both arms were revealed.

"Adrian—" my jaw hit the ground.

"I can't stop thinking about you. Or your beauty. Or your lips. Or your touch. Over and over again, I keep wishing I could change the past. Your father told me what you said to him: 'For all I care, he can get turned into a Strigoi so I can stake his heart. Like he did mine'," he quoted. "I would do anything to back into your good graces. I need to hear your happy voice again, not the business-like one."

All my emotions of him collided with each other inside my heart. Love. Hate. Care. Happiness. Sorrow.

I gulped, "You're forgiven. But I'm not taking you back."

His smiled disappeared as fast as it came.

"But, why?" he asked, seeming sadder than before.

"Because you're my brother."

"Real reason."

"Because I have a date for the night," I said, embarrassed.

"Oh, well. It seems like I'm coming out to dinner with you," he said, pulling his sleeves down.

"No," I protested.

He ended up coming.

The Purple Lobster was packed. If it wasn't for Greg to make reservations, I'm pretty sure we would have been seated on the ground.

Throughout the whole meal, we laughed and talked about school.

Every now and then, I caught Adrian glaring at Greg, rather enviously. His glares were dirty.

Curfew seemed to creep closer and closer and finally, we decided to leave.

The night seemed darker than usual as we left the restaurant and walked into the huge car park.

Finally, I realised why.

The 4 closest lamp posts to Noir and Latte were smashed.

Their presence was sensed before we saw them.

Our reflexes kicked in. Angeline, Eddie, Dominic and I surrounded the group with our stakes held firmly.

I cast a quick glance at Adrian and Jill. They come first.

"Young girlie, remember me?" said a cold male voice.

I turned to see a Strigoi who was a little older than me when he was changed.

I almost tripped. Not because of his "Strigoi-ness", but because I recognised him.

He was the Strigoi who had fled from Anna's attack back at St Niklaus' last year.

"I've been searching for you," he said, smiling. "Helena, you see, was my girlfriend and you killed her. Now, it's your turn to die." He looked at Dominic. "I remember you. So fierce and strong. You'd do well as one of us."

"I'd rather die than become one of you," replied Dominic, his tone unrecognisable.

"As you wish," said the Strigoi, bowing.

I looked around, to see what we were up against. Including the leader, there were 6 Strigoi surrounding us.

We were outnumbered. 4 to 6.

Oh crap!

Only luck, hope and skill was on our side.

"Sydney, you know that in order to survive, we are going to have to expose ourselves right?" I said, my eyes on the leader.

"Yes," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

"We can help," suggested Trey, indicating himself and Greg.

"No. You can't," said Sydney. "Those 4 have been trained years and years for this. You two will just be getting in their way."

"One Alchemist, two Moroi, four Dhampirs and four Humans. Mmmm, such a delicious treat," taunted the leader.

"Moroi? Dhampir? Alchemist?" said Trey in disbelief. "I've never heard these words before. And I'm not trying to sound stubborn but I'm not leaving until I find out what they mean."

I gritted my teeth. We were running out of time.

"Sydney," I said impatiently. "Tell them quickly."
I heard Sydney gulp. "Moroi is a mortal vampire. Dhampir is a half-human, half-vampire and as for the guys surrounding us, they are Strigoi, the immortal, evil vampires. An Alchemist is a human whose job it is to keep the vampire world a secret to the human world."

Trey did the math. "Adrian and Jill, I'm guessing are the Moroi, Rose, Dominic, Eddie and Angeline are the hybrids and you... you must be the alchemist..." he said slowly, looking at us all as if we had a disease.

I flinched at the term 'hybrid'.

"Sydney." I said her name longer than was required. My tone implied that I wanted her to hurry up.

"Yes, I'm trying. Now, will you move, Trey?" she asked, sounding scared.

"Silly, silly human," said the leader. "I think I might eat you first."

"I'll move. Let's go," Trey said, his voice trembling.

I turned quickly and threw my keys to Adrian. He caught them.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Listen. All of you. Listen clearly. Dominic, Eddie, Angeline and I will surround you all and guide you to the cars. Move with us, not ahead or behind us. We will try and keep these undead bastards off of you. Once we reach the cars, hop in and head to Adrian's apartment. I'm sure Dimitri will be there to protect you all. DON'T COME BACK unless we've given you a call."

"No," protested Adrian. "I'm not leaving without you!"

"Adrian, you all have to get to safety. Please. Just follow my instructions."

"No. I'm not leaving you."

"Adrian! Please. Do it for me. Leave and get the others to safety. Please. I beg you," I pleaded.

My voice seemed to have made it through his emotions for me.

He nodded.

The leader clapped and pretended to cry. "Oh my, was that young love I just experienced?"

I had almost forgotten that we were surrounded.

"NOW!" I screamed.

The Strigoi attacked us immediately as we attempted to move the group.

The leader however, just watched us with a companion of his. Their eyes seemed glued to me.

We managed to guard the others quite well.

Finally, after a long while, the group jumped into the cars and sped off, unhurt.

Swiftly, my relief of them leaving turned into power. I felt strong.

These Strigoi were skilled in fighting, but I was better.

I staked my Strigoi, indicating the one near the leader to take his place.

Angeline's fighting skills seemed sloppy and messy. She had missed so many chances at the Strigoi's heart.

Dominic, by the sound of his battle cry and a yelp, I had suspected had killed his Strigoi.

The one I was currently fighting moved away from me and towards Dominic.

"Dom, LOOK OUT!" I yelled, staring ahead at my opponent. The leader.

The leader was too quick for me. He managed to hit me several times.

In the middle of our deadly dance, I saw an opening of Angeline's Strigoi's heart. I took it.

I stabbed its heart forcefully and yanked my stake back out, falling back into step with the leader.

"Oomph!"

I was hit in the stomach. Not by the leader though, but by Angeline.

The little munch kin was furious.

"You idiot!" she screamed. "I had the fight under control!"

"Well, you ungrateful bitch, sorry for saving your life!" I replied, infuriated.

My eyes never left the leader's so I never saw her clenched fist readying itself to make contact with the back of my head.

Everything went black.