"Guardian Alberta," Meredith addressed her politely, "my boyfriend, Eddie Castile, is as Rose said, missing."

"For how long?" came a voice from the corner of the room that I knew all too well. Meredith and I turned to see Dimitri leaning coolly against a bookcase with his arms crossed.

I tried hard not to blush. "Not quite sure," Meredith piped up. "Maybe something like twenty hours?"

"You know we can't start a full investigation for a missing person until –"

"Twenty-four hours, I know. But something is rubbing me the wrong way," she interjected Alberta's sentence.

A sudden thought occurred to me. "Could we see if all the wards are up?" I asked. Everyone turned to me and I shrugged. "It just… Can we just check?" I asked. Dimitri and Alberta met eyes and nodded.

"Yes, we'll have to check the security room," she said. She stood up and walked past Meredith and I. We both quickly followed, Dimitri taking up the rear. We walked down the hall and through a couple other corridors. And holy crap, I had no idea this building was so big. We ended up going underground where tons of offices were kept. Dhampirs and Moroi alike were working at desks down here.

I was shocked. Who in their right mind would want to work here rather than becoming a guardian? I wondered.

We came to a closed off room and Alberta pulled out a set of keys. She opened the door and entered, the three of us following close behind.

To all of our surprise, there was no one in the office. "Oh…" Alberta mumbled. She went over to one of the computers and began to type in a code. A map of the entire campus showed up with different levels that were colour coded. The wards were yellow, but in one section of the grounds was there a red blinking light.

"Oh good heavens." She turned to us.

"One of the wards has been broken on the far east side of the court."

My dream… It happened.

"W—what?" Meredith turned to me.

I looked at her with wide eyes. Did I say that out loud?

"Dream?" came a slightly confused, slightly accented, much deeper voice.

This time, I knew it was Dimitri who had asked it. Didn't I tell him about having a bad dream; I did right? Things in his head seemed to be putting two and two together.

"Yeah—eh, I had this, I mean, it really was the weirdest, most realistic dream… I didn't really think much about it, it was scary and confusing," I admitted, my cheeks feeling a bit hot. "so I tried putting it out of my head…"

There was a moment of silence, and I stared at the ground. Ashamedly, I was afraid they were all holding in their laughs about me. It wasn't just any day that I was admitting to being scared. Instead, Alberta broke the silence.

"Hang on, Rose," she gazed at me intensely, "you're coming with me to the interrogation room. Dimitri, you too," said Alberta seriously, eyeing Dimitri. "Meredith, I want you to go to Kirova and tell her verbatim I want ten guardians to be waiting in my room. File a report of a missing person."

Meredith nodded almost robotically before racing out of the closed off room and down the hall. As soon as she left the room, I couldn't help but feel like I was just hit by a tsunami of emotion. The poor girl's boyfriend was abducted. I thought for a moment to myself. How would I feel if Dimitri was gone? Momentarily I had no idea how I would act or even be able to live on if that were to happen to him or me.

I met eyes with Dimitri and we shared a moment to gaze at each other. I was about to smile at him halfheartedly when Alberta grabbed my wrist and jerked me away. I nearly fell, but caught myself before I could make an ass of myself. Dimitri helped straighten me out by placing a comforting hand on my hip. My ears burned and I was sure my face was tomato red, but I didn't turn around to give him a chance to look.

Once up in the main floor and in the interrogating room, I was sat down on a metal chair in front of a table with Alberta sitting directly in front of me with Dimitri leaning casually but attentively in the corner of the room, watching carefully.

"So, lets cut to the chase and explain the entire dream."

I glanced over to Dimitri for a second before I met eyes with Alberta for a couple seconds.

She nodded. "Come on, Rosemarie, let's hear it."

At that point, I began blurting out everything in the dream, even getting down to the small details. The yelling, screaming, and fighting played back in my head as if it were a terrifyingly true movie.

"J-Jill," I stammered out. "Jill was there. She was in the dream. It was Jill and Eddie. Where is Jill?" I then demanded, stepping out of my seat. "Is she here? Is she safe?" my heart rate was beating a million miles a minute. Alberta looked alerted, and pulled out a radio.

"Guardian Petrov to Guardian Malkom. Please make a check for Jill Dragomir. End," she said in a strong voice.

The man lifted Eddie up on his other shoulder and then began to carry on walking. A small, short-lived grim smile formed on his lips. He began whistling a tune as he moved his feet. He nodded to a man in the darkness a little ways off. Suddenly, he was in a familiar area. Near the royals' houses. He looked up and the light from a nearby lamp lit up his features. Blond, chin-length hair. Pale blue eyes. Pale, pale skin. An eerie smile.

"You're next, Rosemarie."

I felt my eyes dilate. My lips twitched. Then my body went rigid. "Wait…"

Alberta lowered her device and looked at me skeptically.

"Wait…" I repeated to myself, this time softer as I lowered my head to stare at the table. I heard Dimitri's approaching footsteps.

I remembered looking into the eyes of the vile strigoi. And hearing him talk to me in the most horrifying, nails on a chalkboard kind of voice.

'You're next, Rosemarie'.

It was my full name. Not exactly everyone knew my full name. Or even half of my name. And a random strigoi? Improbable.

I looked at him. He saw me. He spoke, and I heard him.

"I didn't dream this…" I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. "I watched this."

xXx

"What else can you tell us, Rose?"

I didn't have anything else.

Alberta had left the room to talk to some officials, so it was only Dimitri and I in the closed off, soundproof room now. God, the opportunities.

Unfortunately though, from the inside you can't see out, but from the outside you can see in. It would be an utter disaster if Alberta or someone were to be walking in on something private going on between Dimitri and I—but don't think for a second that I hadn't thought the opportunity over for at least twenty minutes.

"His name—his name is Nathan. Nathan… um, I'm not sure," I admitted.

Dimitri looked up at me nodded, pulling out a notepad and then began jotting this all down. He nodded again before he looked back up at me. "A description of him?" he asked next.

I shook my head. "Uhh… Tall. Blond. Strigoi through and through."

Dimitri smirked. "Really, Rose? You know, you really are a valuable piece of information in this operation; I'm so glad you're here, Captain Obvious," he said, jokingly at first but then becoming very serious and annoyed, rolling his eyes and pursing his lips. It shocked me that he could move from emotion to emotion that quickly, but I laughed anyway.

"Why thank you, kind sir," I laughed.

Dimitri began smiling as he continued to write. "Okay. Tell mw were there any distinguishing features? Scars, burns, untypical colour stained skin?" he wondered.

I had an answer immediately. "Yes—a scar—on his face. It starts around his eyebrows," I lifted my hands up and fingered my left eyebrow, and then slid the fingers down the side of my face, past my cheekbone, to the corner of my jaw. "It extends from there to the jaw."

Dimitri watched as I did this, looking a bit in a daze. I gazed back at him for almost a full minute until he snapped out of it and continued to write down things.

"Thank you… Rose," he paused and looked at his notepad. "That will be all," he said as he stood up. "I'll be back; I'll need to take care of some business with Alberta and some other guardians. I'd love it if you stayed in here, but," he sighed, "it's hard to be realistic with you."

I smiled internally at that. "I bet," I said more to myself than him, and started laughing.

"Please, just…" he paused and pulled out his iPhone out of his pocket and handed it to me. "Keep that with you, I'm going to need to give you a call later. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," I said politely with a little salute in addition. Dimitri chuckled and sent me a flirty wink before he opened the door and closed it behind himself.

"Don't let me down, Lieutenant."

I wondered how long I should wait before I should escape.

"Nathan, huh?" Alberta ran her tongue over her teeth. "And she knew him personally?"

I nodded. "Err, she knew of him. I'm not exactly sure what the relation was."

"She would be able to point him out?"

"Of course. She gave me a, well, menial description of him. I believe I have an understanding of his basic look," I replied.

"Guardian Petrov, reporting for duty!" saluted a tall, dark haired and very European looking man who seemed to be in his late twenties, early thirties.

"Guardian Malkom, I want a full map of the caves eighty miles every direction from the royal court," she said politely, but in an assertive tone.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied hastily and turned around, barking out orders to other guardian men and women in the room.

"Guardian Belikov, I would appreciate it if you would handle this operation; there are very few who I would trust with a case like this; unfortunately you happen to be one of them." She smiled at me. "I have trained with you for seven years. I believe you are perfectly capable of taking care of this mission, are you not?"

I nodded eagerly. "Yes, ma'am!" I said, gripping my notepad so tightly in my hands that they began to hurt. "I mean, yes ma'am, I would like to properly thank you so exceedingly much for this opportunity—"

"Dimitri, please." She smiled genuinely. "Zip your lips and get on it before I change my mind, young man," she threatened with a small smile.

I nodded only once. I wanted to make sure she understood I was ready for this mission. That would be the last time she would call me 'young man'. I turned around and headed back to my apartment. I was going to need to be prepared for this.

XXx

I slammed the tall door behind me and tossed my notepad onto the counter in the other room.

Next I heard a low moan and in the matter of seconds, I made a full three-sixty. There, sitting on my countertop was the very gorgeous and seductive Rose Hathaway rubbing the side of her thigh where a small red scratch had formed from the metal on the pad. We made eye contact only a moment later, and my mind began racing a mile a minute.

"R—Roza!?" I blurted out.

She held a hand up and waved me over. "Dimitri… I knew you would come back here."

I wasn't quite sure if I was more surprised or shocked. As if she were a puppeteer and I the puppet, I was right at her feet in the snap of fingers. "But Roza why—"

"No," she whispered. Leaning in closer to me. I felt completely enveloped by her scent of flowers and cinnamon and completely captivated by the unnerving gaze she allowed me, making me feel like a mere peasant before a queen. That was it, I thought, she truly looked like a queen.

"Belikov! Snap out of it!" she yelled in my face. I was definitely sent out of my daze and back into the harsh, cruel world.

I clicked my tongue and rubbed my head, taking a step back from her. "My head, Roza, aish," I murmured. I got my head back onto my shoulders and remembered why I had come here. I turned around to see Rose who was now examining her long purple nails. She was wearing a see-through burgundy sweater with a white tank top underneath along with a pair of high waist jean shorts. She had on a pair of simple vanilla coloured Vans for shoes. She wasn't dressed for a fancy occasion or anything, but she still looked like a goddess. As per usual, I guess I should add.

"Maybe I am really still a strigoi," she snarked. "I still have a knack for compelling people."

"You're a siren is what you are," I said, turning the corner into my bedroom. I heard her laugh as she jumped off my counter and walked down the hall into my room. I turned my head the second she poked her head through the doorway.

She smiled innocently and crossed her arms.

"Why are you even here?" I asked, going through my drawers in search of a special notebook.

She shrugged, I noticed out of the corner of my eyes. "Had nothing better to do, I guess," she said boredly, and then her attention when back to her nails. "Just waiting for the operation to continue," she said, saluting me again.

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "Say what?"

"Captain," she addressed me.

I began to chuckle. "What are you talking about, Rose?"

"You!" she hollered. "I know you're conducting a search party with Malkom and Alberta—"

"I'm going to go ahead and stop you right there, and tell you that you are too valuable for me to bring along with on such a mission as this." I paused and began to laugh at the consequences of bringing along Rose. "Oh no, not a doubt in my mind that you will be left here. Oh, you not coming along."

Rose's facial expressions changed in a matter of seconds. "What do you mean? I can be— I am such an asset to your team!"

I turned from my dresser and folded my arms over my chest. "Rose. Think about it. Do you even believe you are ready for such a mission?" I asked, turning back around and pulling out a drawer with clean shirts. I pulled off my current black tee and pulled a plain white undershirt before putting on a navy blue and forest green flannel. I hadn't worn it in a while; it was something my sister Viktoria and I had bought a long time ago when I was back in Russia, and I was surprised how snug it was on me now. I turned around to Rose who looked shaken. She was staring straight at my chest as if she had just seen a ghost a moment there before.

I felt my face heat up and I turned back around. My dark brown twill pants would have to do with this. I heard Rose behind me and this time when I turned around, I saw she was sitting on the edge of my bed.

It was silent then. I knew I had less than an hour to report back to Alberta with a plan to stake out the strigoi, but I was caught in a lethargic trance. All I saw was Rose sitting on the edge of my bed, her gorgeously tanned legs looking like they went on for days. It was cold outside—I knew that for a fact… But then why did it seem so hot in here?

"Dimitri?" her voice sounded hot, and far away.

My cheeks flooded with colour again and something downstairs was beginning to awaken.

Rose looked up at me with her large hazel eyes from under her slim eyebrows and just something about that look made me want to step across the entire room and rip all her clothes off… and the rest would be history.

But—no. I swallowed, my throat feeling thick with saliva.

"Yeahh…" I replied, turning my head, and looking into the floor to ceiling mirror in the corner of my room. I saw myself, and farther than that, Rose. We were both looking into it, and still in that haze, my lips curled into a smile.

The flannel and undershirt were quickly discarded. I flipped around to see Rose breathing deeply, her chest heaving. "Dimitri…" she spoke my name once again.

"Roza, I need you," I murmured, racing across the room to her, as I held her in my arms. In a matter of seconds, she was down to her bra and her shorts were sliding down those mile long legs.

She gasped as I dipped down to her womanhood. I breathed in her scent, and for a moment I was lost. We met eyes; she looked determined, yet disheveled, but in a sexy way.

I came up to her face and placed one simple kiss on her lips. And from there, I began to loose control of myself. I groped her breasts and she moaned like a cat. One kiss after another and then we were in a heavy make out session. Our tongues intertwined and hugged furiously. I only then realized how addicted I was to this woman.

"I need you," I repeated.

xXx

Racing down the halls, I felt my heart pounding happily in my chest.

I had to admit, I felt more awake than I had in a long time.

I had ended up going farther than I had first imagined. We had sex twice before I carried her with me into the shower where I admittedly started another round of steamy sex. I had only had sex once before, that's all once, and that was when I was when I was sixteen with a surprisingly gorgeous human girl when a couple friends and I snuck into a college sorority. But that… That, wow, had been nothing compared to the last hour.

I felt cleansed. I wanted to think about it and remember it all day, but unfortunately, there were other distractions.

"Belikov—?" It was Alberta. And I was ready for her.

"Guardian Petrov, I admit that I'm not completely one hundred percent sure, but I am certain that I have a hunch that the remaining strigoi in the area are hiding in the caves you pointed out earlier. Eighty miles all around the court should be far enough to radar wherever these vampire bastards are hanging around."

Alberta looked out of place with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Guardian Belikov, when do you believe would be the best time to set out?"

"Oh, absolutely at once we need to make a move on," I said confidently. "In fact, it is pertinent that we leave immediately; the strigoi possibly could have left by now," I added.

She checked her watch. It was nearly four pm. The sun would be going down soon and they would be on the move. "We have wasted enough time already," I continued.

The guardians shuffled around and in seconds they were out of the room as well as out of my mind. As they were attending to the needs of the mission, I was doing the same.

Rose walked into the room and her eyes met mine.

Feeling all my power and more importantly my manliness diminish, I ran out of things to say to her.

"Hi."

She grabbed me by the front of my flannel. "I'm coming with you," she demanded.

My eyes narrowed at her. Did she really think she was ready for this? Did I think so? Could this be the last time I would ever see her?

I wanted to sigh, but instead I pursed my lips and stared hard into her unwavering eyes. "Meet me at the guard post in two minutes, the rest of the team is leaving in five," I said, and remembering that this possibly could be the last time I would see her, and noting that there was no one else around, I leaned in, cupping her jaw in my big hand, pushed my lips onto hers. Not surprisingly, Rose applied a fair amount of pressure in return to this kiss. It seemed to have the intensity of the last hour of our life all summed up.

"Whatever you do," I told her, "do not die."

She took a step back and stood ramrod straight. "Aye aye, Captain."


RAINY DAY UPDATE! In fact, count on more updates, particularly a First Class Hooker chapter? maybe?

What do you guys think about Adrian x Rose? Or should I stick to Dimitri x Rose? I want to mix things up a little. By the way, Teacher x Student relationship for R and D? already got the first chapter written up, I'm just trying to finish up these stories first. REVIEW? More you review, more chapters I will write!