Well, here's the next chapter.

I know some of you may not be pleased, but I feel I rushed out some of the story in this one, although I think it is more rushing plot points out instead of rushing the story forwards.

So, I hope you all enjoy this, thanks for reading and please continue to read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or associated content, that belongs to Richelle Mead.

P.S - I may be doing a chapter of Uprising soon, since I have been feeling guilty about not updating it. Only time will tell.

Chapter Ten

The next few days passed at a painfully slow pace.

It was the same routine, I would be restrained in my cell, if you wanted to call it that, for most of the day, except when I was taken for about 20 minutes every day to eat, then it was straight back to my cell. Most of the rooms I was in outside of the cell were the same sterile, military style metal corridors.

This routine was broken when I was visited one day by Rose, but she wasn't alone.

She walked in followed closely by a Moroi, but it wasn't that doctor that followed the last time, it was the one I had fought with and heavily injured only a few days ago. Except now, she looked perfectly fine. There was no limp to her walk, and there were no visible bandages. She almost looked like an entirely normal Moroi, except her face was more serious than any other Moroi I'd ever seen. Then there was the mark on her right forearm.

It looked like a tattoo, but it was...different.

Rose smiled, "Eyeing Marissa's brand? Don't worry, you'll never get one."

I kept eyeing it closely, "What is it?"

It was an insignia or something, it consisted of a shield with two swords layed over it and a crown on the top, as well as a shadow stretching behind it.

"It's her brand. It identifies her as one of us. And if you are curious, it's burned into her arm."

I understood the point of having something for the people in this group to identify one another, but. Wait, "Did you say it's burned into her arm?"

Rose smiled sadisticly, "Oh, yes. It is burned in with Moroi fire magic. It's an old and ancient spell. Long way back, families used to use it to brand their family crests into their Guardians. But when Guardian numbers dropped, and reassignments became highly likely, it became a waste of time to do it."

I was intrigued by this, and even moreso by the fact that Tatiana's supporters were using their magic for something. But I knew she didn't come here for small talk, "Rose. Why are you really here?"

Her smile dissapeared and she turned serious, "Extesive testing has revealed that your blood is a match, and your genetics are perfect for our research. There's no easy way to say this, but you are going to die very soon."

I sighed and had to work very, very hard to hide my shock. "So, how soon is that?"

She smiled, "I have no clue. The doctors aren't too keen on letting their suppliers in on their schedules. Let's just say we'll know when it happens."

I decided that if I was going to die, I was going to find out what they were doing with my blood first. "So, what exactly is my death going towards?"

Rose smiled wide and chuckled, "Two things. One is a series of projects to create people like Marissa here. The other, is a permenant solution to the Strigoi problem."

"Well Rose, educate me as to how both of these things work."

"Well, let's start with Marissa here. She's an orphan, both her parents killed in a Strigoi attack. She was working a low level office job here at Court, but she wanted revenge. The Queen noticed, and she was brought in. Using several serums derived from blood of Humans, Moroi, and Strigoi, the researchers here have augmented Marissa's bone density, muscle strength, eyesight, reflexes, and treated her weakness to sunlight. She is essentially a mix of every one of our races all in one. The perfect hunter."

Marissa smiled, and I couldn't imagine what sort of things were going through her mind.

"So what, my blood is going to make more Moroi like her?"

Rose chuckled, "Not entirely. Part of your blood will go to the Guardian's Advanced Research and Training Program, better known as GuardianSecSix. The other part will go to the Dhampir and Moroi Research into Strigoi Extermination Program, better known as DAMISEP or GuardianSecSeven."

"Which is, I'm guessing, working on that permanant solution you mentioned?"

She chuckled, "Yes. It is going into research on creating a serum that will make our blood 100% toxic to Strigoi. It will mean that they would starve if they tried to feed from us. This means that they would stay weaker when they are turned, and when someone tries to turn from killing a Dhampir or Moroi, they'd be dead almost instantly."

I sighed, "I can't help but say that is almost reasonable. But how will you know if it's harmful to Moroi in the long run?"

She laughed, "Oh, Dimitri. Don't worry about that. This serum will not be introduced for at least another three years. The researchers are predicting that it will take roughly another six to seven months for a stable prototype to be developed. Then, it's only a matter of time and testing. At least one year of testing on a variety of volunteers. Now, I have time to answer you one more question, what else you want to know?"

I thought for a few moments. I wanted to know dearly how Lissa was doing, but I also had another question about Lissa I needed to ask.

"Lissa was recieving emails from GuardianSecFive, what's that supposed to be?"

"The Department of Guardian Espionage and Information Distribution. Some people might call it by the name 'The Propaganda Ministry'. Now, Marissa is going to stay here and have a little chat with you for a few moments."

Rose turned to leave and when she reached the doorway, she stopped and turned with a slightly disgusted look on her face, "Oh, and by the way Dimitri, Lissa is fine."