A:N:/ So yea, this is the shortest chapter yet, but I needed a bridge from the beginning to the middle. And yes, this is the start of the middle, aka, the interesting part of the story :)

Rumor Has It

My head was pounding. I had spent the past 4 hours banging my forehead against my door, hoping to forget how screwed up my life is. Luckily, I had avoided any visits from Anna or Adelina in the past couple of days, but that wouldn't last for long if I had to continue to reside in my dorm for the rest of eternity.

It'd been 3 days since my house arrest from Kirova and she had still yet to send me to her office to discuss a different form of punishment. I'd survived training without any questions from Dimitri, and I hadn't been able to talk to any of my friends since I was now assigned to eat lunch in my dorm and after that was more house arrest. Until I was able to get into her office, I couldn't get the stone, and I needed it.

I had no choice. I was going to break into Kirova's office and very well hope that I didn't get caught.

Although it sounds cliche, I needed to blend in with the night, therefore, I put on a tight black tank top and jacket, and then black skinny jeans, fitting to my body perfectly.

I smiled when I thought that I looked totally ninja.

Right. At 3:24am I opened my window and observed the guardian who was lingering below the 2 story floor. I knew exactly how to deal with this type of situation. You simply picked up a heavy and non-valuable item and tossed it out the window to the left, hoping that it lands around the corner of the brick building. Fortunately, when I threw the history book out the window, it caught the guardian's attention and he went to investigate. I leaped out the window and made a break for it, quickly and silently running for the other side of campus where the office was located.

I quickly jumped up on the ledge of the window seal on the side on Kirova's office. I took to key that I had stolen off of her desk stuck it into the medal. The lock clicked open and I pulled the window up, hoping inside. Her office was dark and it was hard to make out what was what, but I could tell that the stone was no longer on her desk. I through open the desk drawers, and when I found nothing there, I search the cabinets on the wall. Again, nothing.

I ran my fingers through my hair and took another step, searching in one of the heavy bags leaning against the door. When my hand touched something cold, I grabbed the object and pulled it out. The bloodstone. Unlike when I touched the stone in the tomb with Vladimir, this time nothing happened. No rush, no shock. I was about to turn to leave, which would have been a smart decision, but my eye caught on something else in the bag.

It was my file. I lent back down and pulled it out of the bag.

It was a huge file. Papers were overflowing out of it. Had I really done that much since kindergarten?

The entire first page was a list of every violation of school property I'd made, which then carried on to the next page, but really what made me attentive was the last page. The entire page was about why or what I wanted the bloodstone for. I guess they really had been doing their research.

Bloodstone Gemstone meaning

Bloodstone (also called heliotrope) is green with distinctive red spots that resemble blood, giving this stone its name. The bloodstone was used to stop bleeding especially nosebleeds.

There is a legend that says the bloodstone was formed from the blood of Christ dripping on the green earth and solidifying. It was also called heliotrope by the Greeks and was thought to bring change. The bloodstone has been used as an amulet to protect against the evil eye. Bloodstone is the symbol of justice.

Healing properties of bloodstone

The bloodstone is used for circulation of all energy in the body and helps to remove energy blocks. Bloodstone is used in the alignment of all the centers of the body. A healer must do this alignment while the patient lies on his stomach. It also aids in the circulation of blood. It is good to have several pieces of Bloodstone in the home to increase the flow of life energy.

Sources of bloodstone

Locations where bloodstone can be found include India, Brazil, China, Australia, and the United States.

Reasons

Guardian Dimitri Belikov has recently reported that she admitted into seeing 'ghosts' again. On March 23rd this was confirmed in Headmistress' office when she admitted to "A little ghost told me". Hathaway has also been experiencing mental lapses, such as in the cafeteria during a hard thunder storm and the electricity shut off, or saying that it was "raining blood" and the walls were closing in, windows mysteriously breaking, and reported screaming from her dorm room (342 second floor) during the night. With more further research, it has been found that bloodstone is a type of insulter against evil spirits.

"Helps ward off danger and clears one's path of pitfalls. Protector against evil. Self-love stone. Vibrates calming radiations, protective, and restores healthy mental attitude. Stone of friendship. Balancing and healing. Great strength and vitality. Takes on characteristics of the wearer. It is unwise to wear bloodstone formerly worn by one who has died. excellent for both Spiritual atonement and healing of the energy centers and the physical body, valuable for grounding as well as for vision quests and astral travel , purifies all levels of being and is capable of handling strong negativity, also used for wounds and for damage to bones." From metaphysical stones in North Carolina.

The bloodstone was retrieved from St. Vladimir's tomb in Malta, Italy. As of now, that is all the information that has been viewed.

Was it actually bad to wear bloodstone if it was worn by someone who died? Vladimir was dead. Why would he have wanted me to wear something that would just get me worse luck then I already had? But then, it didn't protect from the ghosts...

A light clicked outside of the office and my head shot up. I closed the file and shoved it back into the bag without care. I rushed over to the window and pulled myself up, throwing my body over the ledge, not having the time to check for Guardians outside. The last thing I heard as the window snapped shut was the sound of hushed whispers...

When I through myself down on my bed, I realized I only had about an hour before I would have to get up for training - oh wait, tomorrow was saturday. No training. I smiled to myself as I threw the covers over my head and settled into the first quiet night in a month.

Of course, that was sort lived. The second I woke up I was pulled directly into Lissa's head. Worry and anticipation streamed through her emotions. It was already breakfast and, I, of course, hadn't woken up early enough to get my breakfast from the cafeteria. So now, due to my damned house arrest, I would have to wait for the cafeteria to clear out to go down and eat.

"I'm worried about Rose," Lissa said. Eddie and Christian were the only ones at the table with her.

"She's fine Babe. I'm sure her jailers will release her soon and we can just forget it ever happened." Christian told her.

"It's not that! I mean, usually she'd been sneaking out at night (I have done that), or at least pulling pranks on the guardian's outside her window (I have done that). I haven't heard a word out of her in classes, where she's usually loud mouthed and sarcastic. And she went to ITALY! And without telling me too! Plus, her outburst at lunch last week, and how when the lights went out she acted like a crazy person! She's so closed up and secretive these days. She won't talk to me anymore," She ended with a whisper.

"Lissa," Eddie said. "When hasn't Rose been a little secretive, and mental at that. I'm sure she's fine. When the headmistress relieves her of the house arrest, I'm sure she'll come talk to you. She did just meet her dad too. Maybe she's just stressed with everything going on." He said.

Lissa looked doubtful. "Yea, whatever." She stood up and threw her tray away, walking out.

I knew I should get out of there, but curiosity made me hang on. A young girl, probably a junior or sophomore approached Lissa. She had dark hair like mine, but it was thicker and most definitely rougher compared to mine being silky. Actually, being in the light you could tell that it was actually a raven black. Her eyes were deep grey and she had full pink lips. She was only a tad shorter then Lissa.

"Are you Vasilisa?" She asked.

Lissa looked shocked, as most people around the school knew her name, but she'd never actually seen this girl before.

"Yes,"

"Do you know Rosemarie - oh." Her eyes met Lissa's and she smiled. Then, I was suddenly pushed from her head and landed silently back on my bed. My breathing was quick and shallow. I was swallowed in my own sweat.

Had this girl actually kicked me out of Lissa's head?

Reviews make me smile :)

So Avery's going to play a different role in this fanfic. She won't necessarily be evil or good, but she will cause some drama. :) Plus...uh, she's not exactly alive...

Would it be totally unprofessional to add a lemon that doesn't actually have a lemon? Wow, that was the biggest .:hint:. ever...

Elisabeth xx