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I barely had enough time to react as I was thrown against one of the SUV's. I quickly recovered as all the guardians outside the vehicles were in fights with multiple Strigoi. I staked the one that threw me fast because he was new. Alberta was about to be overpowered, so I staked the one through his back that was about to kill her. I helped out with the rest of them by killing five out of the fifteen Strigoi by myself. When the last Strigoi was killed I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

I had a conversation with Sydney. She told me she was in the area, that she would come and dispose of the Strigoi bodies. I told her our exact location, and she told me she'd be there in twenty minutes. She also said she wanted me there to meet her. I explained to everyone that I was staying to meet with the alchemist. Alberta didn't want me to be alone waiting for Sydney so Damon told Nathaniel to stay with me. Adrian got out of the car, and I told him I'd be back after we got things cleaned up. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and told me to be careful. Dimitri paled as he got into the SUV. Adrian got in and they all drove off to go back to the academy. Nathaniel asked the question I was waiting for.

"Why did I get nauseous just before the Strigoi attacked?" He didn't ask because no one knew he was shadow kissed from the school. Well except Adrian because he asked me about it. He read Nate's aura and Adrian said he just had to ask if Nathaniel was Shadow-Kissed. I couldn't lie so I told him the truth; he was shocked to hear that Damon was a spirit user.

"The nausea is pretty much like an early warning system telling you that there are Strigoi nearby. Trust me it comes in handy a lot."

"Does it get easier to deal with?" He asked curiously.

"It really depends on you; I've been Shadow-Kissed a little over two years. The more Strigoi there are the stronger the nausea. The first time I got it I threw up although the ghosts giving me a migraine; didn't help." I wasn't expecting what he said next, it kind of threw me for a loop.

"Ghosts what ghosts?" I looked at him shocked. I explained to him everything I have learned about being Shadow-Kissed. I shared everything I knew and he shared what he knew. He said that he's only been Shadow-Kissed for about six months. When he first started guarding for Damon, they were ambushed by a few drunk humans. He was shot in the chest before the humans ran off. He died a few minutes later, luckily the bullet was a through and through. Damon was able to heal him right away without having to dig the bullet out.

We chatted for awhile waiting for Sydney to show up. She pulled up to us and got out of her jeep and got to work sprinkling her stuff on the bodies making them dissolve. After everything was cleaned up Sydney told us that she needed to go to St. Vlads to talk to the Head Guardian. So she could give a full report on the cleanup. I thanked Sydney and told her to follow us.

Nate got on his bike and told me to hop on. He handed me the extra helmet that Alek handed him before they left. I put it on and held on to his waist as we sped off with Sydney behind us. When I touched him I had gotten an electric shock, but I ignored it. The faster Nate went the tighter I held on. I could have sworn that when I held on tighter he would go faster on purpose. It took us a few hours to get back to the academy but the hours blurred by just like the scenery.

We pulled up to the gate and they looked at Nate than at me than to Sydney behind us. I told them who she was and why she was here and all of us were allowed through the gate. We pulled up to the garages and were greeted by the group we went shopping with. I let go of Nate's waist when we stopped and got off. I took off the helmet and handed it to Nate then walked over to Sydney's jeep.

She hesitantly got out and we walked over to the group. I introduced her everyone but didn't have to tell the guardians who she was because they saw her golden Alchemist tattoo. Alberta, Stan, and Dimitri gave me a funny look because I wasn't supposed to know about Alchemists until I graduate. I just ignored it while Alberta talked to Sydney. They talked for awhile than Alberta asked if Sydney was planning on staying awhile.

"I'll stay for a few days if that's ok with you, and the school." Sydney sounded extremely nervous.

"That is fine with us especially since you helped us with our earlier problem." Alberta seemed nervous too. (Am I the only one comfortable with an Alchemist around?) I wondered silently to myself. "I'll set you up with a room in the guest housing or the guardian housing." Sydney froze; I knew she wasn't comfortable with any other guardians and she definitely wasn't comfortable with Moroi. I spoke to make Sydney more comfortable.

"Sydney would you be more comfortable if you stayed with me?" Everyone looked at me as Sydney whispered yes. "Is that ok with you Guardian Petrov?"

"If that makes Sydney more comfortable than she can stay with you." Alberta was surprised that I offered to let an Alchemist stay with me and also for the fact that I used her formal name.

"Grab your stuff and we'll go to my room," I said before saying goodnight to everyone. Adrian walked over to me and pulled me into a huge hug and whispered into my ear. He said that he was thankful that I was ok but he asked if it was a good idea to let Sydney stay with me. I reassured him that everything was ok, and I gave him a good night kiss. Dimitri was still a little shocked since he found out that Adrian and I are actually dating, he first thought Adrian said it to get the creeps to stay away. He did not look happy at all, he gets pissed when Tasha put her arm around his. She looked like a clingy tramp, and Christian looked disgusted.

I stepped away from everyone and grabbed my shopping bags out of the SUV. I yawned and said goodnight again and walked to my dorm room with Sydney by my side. We talked while we walked; it was past curfew so everyone was in their rooms. When we got to my room I unlocked it and walked in. I turned the light on and Sydney followed. For once my room was actually clean and my bed was made. I told Sydney that I was going to get a shower and she could have the bathroom after me. I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom.

I got a quick shower, got dressed, brushed my hair and brushed my teeth. When I was done I went back into the room. I told Sydney that she could have the bed and I'd take the couch. She tried to argue but I laid down on the couch, she gave up and grabbed clothes from her bag. I said goodnight to her as she was walking to the bathroom. I fell asleep pretty fast because I was exhausted. Adrian was nice enough to let me sleep in peace.

I woke up pretty early in the morning, and Sydney was still sleeping. I got dressed in a blood red spaghetti strapped shirt and black running shorts. I wrote Sydney a note in case she woke up while I was gone. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, grabbed my I-pod and left the room. No one was around; it was Sunday morning so everyone was either still asleep or in the chapel. I went to that cafeteria and grabbed two water bottles and a chocolate doughnut. I ate the doughnut as I walked to the gym. I set my water bottles on the bleachers and went into the girl's locker room to wash my hands. When I was done I walked out of the locker room and walked through the gym. I walked outside and onto the track.

I put my headphones in and turned on the band My Darkest Days. I jogged for about a hundred laps. Alek saw me when I was on lap five; he decided to lean against the gym building and watch me do laps. I finally decided to do laps when both Alek and Nate came up beside me. I pulled my headphones out and picked up the pace. We were on about lap fifty when we started to get an audience. No doubt they heard about the fight at the mall. Guardians and students alike were watching us, we picked up the pace. We ran another fifty laps, which gave them a total of a hundred laps. It gave me a total of two hundred laps, I ignored the fact that people were watching us as I walked into the gym.

I grabbed my water bottles and drank one after the other. Alek and Nate did the same thing. Then they told me that I needed to go get cleaned up, get something to eat, then I needed to go to the guardian's hall to get my molnija marks. I was walking to my dorm when I felt like I was being watched again. I scanned the area and didn't see anyone. I walked faster and got to my room, I locked the door as soon as I was in. Sydney asked what was wrong so I told her about the fact that I kept getting the feeling of being followed.

I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a matching pair of panties and a bra. I got a shower and didn't bother drying my hair. I put it up with one of my hair clips. Sydney was dressed already so we left and went to the café. We grabbed some breakfast and when we were done I walked Sydney back to my room. I told her that I'd be back in a bit that I had to go get my molnija marks.

I was walking to the guardian's hall when I had the feeling of being watched again. I was scanning the area around me that I wasn't even paying attention to where I was going and walked right into something. Well, I should say, someone I had walked straight into a giant Russian wall. At least it was Alek and not Dimitri, I have been avoiding him like the plague. Alek took one look at me and said.

"Rose is everything alright?"

"No, I'm not," I said getting irritated.

"What's wrong?" He said scanning the area like I had been doing a few minutes ago.

"I'm being followed, I can sense it but I don't see anyone."

"Are you sure you're being followed!" He said sounding concerned.

"I'm absolutely positive, someone is following me, this is the third day in a row that I've had this feeling."

"I'll have Abe assign us a schedule, so we can keep an eye on you. I know you're not lying, something has you on alert and we are going to find out."

"Ok, and thank you for believing me." At this point, we were walking the rest of the way to the guardian's hall. While I had Alek alone I decided to ask him the question that was on my mind since they arrived. "Alek, what happened to Jesse?" He swallowed and looked a little pale as he told me the truth.

"He was turned about seven months ago, Nathaniel is his replacement." He didn't say anything after that and neither did I; at least I knew what happened to him. We walked in a grim silence as we walked up to the hall. We walked into the building which was a giant room and was shocked to see who was there.

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Shannon