Hello friends! So here's chapter 20, now we're really beginning to get into the plot, next chapter I'm really excited for and am already being overwhelmed by my brain with ideas as to what's going to happen. Anything you guys definitely was to happen though? Just let me know!

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Richelle Mead

Ch. 20

Pandora POV

My eyes began to water, and black danced in my vision. It was like I was having the air sucked out of my lungs. Sure, I had been an ass hole to Andrew, but in my defense he deserved it. Everything around me was blurry, and I saw a shadow knock Andrew over, and air rushed back into my lungs. I gulped down a breath of air, relieved to be able to breathe again. When I could stand up, I saw that Dimitri was holding Andrew up by his collar, Vika trying to pry him off. Ivan was right next to them, giving a deathly glare to Andrew. Rose had a hand on Dimitri's shoulder, presumably trying to calm him down.

"Quit it Dimitri", I said to him when I could talk without coughing. This snapped him out of his trance, and slowly, he lowered Andrew back to the ground. The moment his feet were flat on the floor and Dimitri had stepped away, Ivan was on top of the son of a bitch, hitting him hard. This made me angry, I wasn't weak, I didn't need someone to come in and protect me.

I stormed over and produced a strong gust of air from my hand, knocking Ivan off. He landed on his back, but I was too angry to care. Rose looked at me, her eyes wide.

"Stop", she said in the same voice that one would use to calm a wild animal. She took a step towards me and I used the same spell on her that I did with Ivan. She landed with a thud, and Dimitri ran over to her side.

"Are you okay?", I heard him ask her.

"Yeah, just a little winded", she replied. I stalked towards Andrew, my fists clenched. He tried get up, presumably to run, but before he could my foot landed on the middle of his back, the bottom of my skate was probably going to leave a mark, but I didn't care. I wanted to prove to everyone that I didn't need them to protect me. I began by forcing all of the oxygen out of his lungs. It wasn't hard to do, it was a simple manipulation of the air inside them. He gasped for breath, and I smiled, loving the sound of him choking. I was simply doing what he tried to me, the only difference was that I wanted to kill him, not just hurt him. I wasn't aware that anyone was charging towards me until I was already on the ground. Vika was on top of me, pinning my wrists to the ground.

"Let go of me", I growled, my voice not sounding like my own. I thrashed under her but she was stronger than I was.

"You need to calm down", she said, her voice hard. She was trying to protect her charge, and while a small part of me knew that she should have, the majority of me was too angry to care. Eventually I decided that it wasn't worth trying to fight her because lets face it, I wouldn't win. When I stopped struggling she slowly let go of my wrists and pulled me up. It wasn't until then that I realized just how scared everyone looked. Their faces may not have shown it but their eyes were a dead give away. Ivan advanced towards me and it was at that point that I bolted. I didn't know where I was heading, all I knew was that I had to get out of there. I kicked off my skates when I reached the end of the ice and just ran, my socks were going to become soaked and I was probably going to get frostbite but whatever, I just needed to get away from there. Ivan called after me, but Dimitri put a hand on his shoulder and said something to him. I ran, it was all I could do. I ran from the pond, from the people I considered family. I ran from the pain I had brought them. Not just now but always. I ran from the past, I ran from the present. I kept running until I couldn't breath. By then my feet were numb from the cold, my cheeks wet with tears. I collapsed to my knees, unable to stand any more. I didn't know where I was, nor did I care. I looked up to take in my surroundings. The streets were deserted except for a single person walking down the street. I got up, not wanting anyone to see me like this, even if it was a stranger.

"You okay", asked a gruff voice. I spun around, cursing at myself for not noticing the second man sooner. He had a hood on, making it so I couldn't see his face. His thin, tall, body gave him away as a moroi though. I briefly wondered why he was out alone, without a guardian or anything to keep him from becoming a midnight snack or something like that.

"Yeah, I'm fine", I said, not liking the way he seemed to be stalking towards me. I backed away.

"You sure? You look lost, let me help you", he said, continuing his advance.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for the offer though, I should be heading home", I replied.

"Come on, at least let me buy you a drink. I know this great place just down the street", he continued.

Part of me knew that it was a really bad idea, stranger danger and all. That side won. I shook my head.

"I really should be going", I said before turning away. He grabbed my wrist.

"Quit it", I said, yanking my hand from his grip. The guy just smiled wickedly, white fangs glistening in the moonlight. That's when I noticed his eyes, and the red ring surrounding them. I backed away slowly before turning to run. I didn't have enough energy left in me to use magic, maybe a couple of pathetic sparks at best. So I ran, again, but I wasn't fast enough. An arm wrapped around my waist, and I barely had time to process it before I felt a sharp pain in my neck, then everything went black.

There ya go! Hope you all enjoyed it, stay tuned for the next one. Let me know what you think is going to happen, I'd love to hear from you. As always, please R&R!