This chapter is on what happened to Lissa and Dimitri back in Chapter 19. Sorry I haven't been updating but I hope I haven't lost my readers yet. This chapter may not be much but I hope you guys will enjoy it nevertheless. Seeing the reviews you guys had taken your time to post really makes my day when I was buried under tons of work.

Thanks guys for subscribing and reviewing! You guys rocks!

~ Rei

Disclaimer: All VA characters belong to Richelle Mead.

Chapter 21: New Found Abilities/It's Too Late

LPOV:

"Liss! Liss!" I hear Christian shouting my name, worry evident in his voice.

"Liss! Open your eyes and look at me!" he said and I felt a pair of hands prying the ones on my neck.

"Strigoi…" I said with a cracked voice as the hands on my neck tightened

"Liss, don't scare me like this. Let go of yourself!" he yelled and desperately trying to pry the hands strangling my neck. "wake up Liss, there wasn't any strigoi. You're safe. Don't hurt yourself…" Christian said again, his voice breaking.

I opened my eyes carefully, afraid that I'll see Guardian Belikov, but I saw Christian and felt my body relax. The grip on my neck loosened and dropped limp on my sides. I fell into Christian's arms, almost breathless. Christian set me down carefully against the tree and enveloped me in a hug.

"You're ok baby. You're ok." He said as he stroked my hair.

"Where's the strigoi?" I asked.

"There weren't any" he replied.

"But I saw him, he attacked me and held me against the tree"

Christian pulled me away from the hug and looked into my eyes. "Liss, no one else was here. You just started screaming and strangling yourself. You scared me."

"I strangled myself?" I ask, puzzled.

Christian nodded his head and I saw Mason and Guardian Petrov did too behind Christian. They looked worried.

"What happened?" Guardian Petrov asked.

"I don't know. I remembered I was attacked by a strigoi, by Guardian Belikov. He was a strigoi." I recounted.

"Guardian Belikov?" she asked?

I nodded. I can still see the cannibalistic look in his eyes when I was being 'attacked' by him.

"You must be too worried about Rose that you started hallucinating."

"NO!" I yelled. "I wasn't hallucinating. It was so real, I swear I felt it like it really happened to me…" my voice faded as a thought struck me. I tried to make some connections in my mind that I didn't know I was voicing my thoughts. "no, it couldn't have. It couldn't be possible…"

"What was not possible?" Christian asked, breaking me out of the trance.

"I had a theory, but I didn't think it was possible" I said.

"Tell us about it" said Guardian Petrov.

"I think that what I felt just now was real, as in it really happened, but I wasn't the one being attacked. I think I just saw and felt what Rose had. I think she was taken by Guardian Belikov."

"Belikov? It can't be. He passed away at the ski lodge…"

"He's undead. A strigoi. In my vision, I saw the ring of red around his iris. I'm sure it was him."

"Are you saying that there was a strigoi in the academy?" Guardian Petrov asked again.

"I think so. It was the only explanation I had to explain what just happened to me." I said calmly.

"Well, if what you said is true, then do you have any idea where Rose was taken to?"

I shook my head, disappointed that I still do not know the whereabouts of my best friend.

"Alright. Mr. Ozera, please escort Miss Dragomir back to her room to get some rest. I need to gather the guardians to scout the area around the wards." when she finished, she went to join Guardian Alto.

"Can you stand?" Christian asked.

I nodded and he helped me up. Mason came over and held me on the other arm.

"Thanks" I said.

He gave me a weak smile and he asked, "Do you know if she's alright?"

"I'm not sure, but she's still alive. I can feel it. The bond isn't broken and that's good news right?" I told him, although I wasn't that sure myself.

"I, I guess." He said.

Dimitri's POV

I cut through the thick bushes and knew it the instant I crossed into the wards. I was back, finally. I was back at the academy. My body slouched and I dropped onto the grass. I knew I was safe, safe from the Strigoi, safe from…

Tasha…

Memories of our younger days flooded into me as I tried to remember the Tasha I once knew. She was courageous and not like the other moroi I had seen. She was a woman with a strong character and always knew what she wanted and worked for it. That was the Tasha I knew and I can't believe what had become of her. I felt responsible for the state she was in now as I failed to protect her during the battle. I felt that It was my negligence that had brought her this horrible fate until I found out that she was the one who collaborated with the Strigoi.

Then, my memories skipped to the day at the gym when she launched a surprise 'attack' on me. She kissed me and I kissed her back, but at the back of my head, I knew something was wrong. I didn't have the kind of love for her like I did to Rose. To me, Tasha was like family, someone I felt comfortable to be with. She had used compulsion on me. Then I recalled the horrible things I said to Rose and I wished so hard that I could take them all back. I love her too much, and that was the reason why I had to take such a big risk by coming back. I had to tell Rose the truth as it was never my intention to hurt her. Back then, I was afraid to reveal to her my true feelings and the tension between us was so strong that I could have ruined her future if I had reciprocated the love she had for me. However, I have nothing to lose now. I had to tell her. I need her to know what I feel deep down. I want her… I want Rose…

I picked myself up from the grass and walked towards the cabin near where I was. It was a safe place as people seldom come to that part of the academy. It was the perfect place for me to stay for the moment and the place to confess my love to Rose…

"Roza…" I said as her image appeared in my mind.

I got to the cabin and thankfully there were shaving tools in the small drawer beside the bed. I remembered I was the one who put those things there. I'd always like this cabin and sometimes when my guardian shift was over, I would crash in here. I really love the tranquility of this place.

I took off my worn-out top and looked into the mirror. I saw my disheveled state in the reflection and the tell-tale marks of a strigoi bite. I took a wash cloth and cleaned the dried blood on my neck and chest and the dirt that covered my body. After I was done cleaning myself up, I took a shirt from the small wardrobe and put on my jacket. I sat on the bed for a while, wondering how I should tell Rose without alerting everyone. I couldn't afford for anyone to know that I'm here. If words get out, Tasha would be here hunting for me and everyone in the academy would be in danger.

After going through my plan again in my head, I put on my jacket and headed into the dormitory as stealthily as I can. Luckily for me, Rose's room was on the second floor, the room at the farthest end with a window at the side. I scanned around again and climbed up the wall using the ridges and grooves in between the bricks as support. However, it was not as easy as I thought it would be, not in my current weaken state. I turned the knob of her door softly and to my surprise, it was unlocked. I slipped in and I saw her sleeping soundly on her bed. She was as beautiful as I remembered her to be. I went into the bathroom and steamed up the place as quietly as I could. I wrote on the steamy mirror and slipped out as I heard her stir in her bed. I placed the note and the stalk of rose I had snipped off from the garden at her door step and jumped out of the window. I ran all the way back to the cabin, dropping the remaining roses along the way.

I took off my jacket and hang it on the back of the chair in front of the fireplace. The fire was cracking with warmth. The ambience was just right. I hid myself in a dark corner and waited. A while later, I heard someone turning the door knob. I knew it was Rose. She came in with a stake in her hand and her focus was immediately directed to the fireplace. She walked slowly towards the fireplace and saw my jacket. Quietly, I walked up behind her. I wanted to hug her but I guess my voice must have startled her when I called her name.

She spun around quickly, stake in her hands, ready for combat. I chuckled in my mind that she was indeed my student.

She yelled for me to stay away and that I shouldn't be here. She thought I was dead. I explained to her calmly and the moment she saw my eyes, she dropped her guards, ran forward and hugged me. I was finally able to hold her in my arms. I missed her so much. I tightened my arms around her and placed my head on hers. Her hair smelt like strawberry shampoo and I remember one occasion when I teased her about it after our training session, how her character and her choice of shampoo doesn't match. I inhaled the scent of her hair and I knew I never wanted to let her go again. A moment later, she broke away from the embrace and sat down on the chair. I sat down on the floor beside her and filled her in on the details of Tasha and my being held captive after the battle at the ski resort. I reached out my hand and stroked her cheeks which she allowed but shook my hands away suddenly. I looked up and I saw her getting angry as she told me that she saw me kissing Tasha at the gym and the nasty things I had said to her. I felt guilty to have caused her so much pain that I knelt in front of her and held her shoulders. I looked into her eyes and her gaze matched mine as I told her how Tasha had used compulsion on me and made me do the things I did.

"I love you too much Roza…" I finally told her.

But her reply shook me like an earthquake. She is with Adrian now.

I knew how Adrian Ivashkov was like and I tried to warn her but she seem convinced that he really loved her. I didn't know what else to say but I saw the love burning in her eyes when she mentioned him, the love that used to be mine.

She then told me that I was too late and that I needed to get some rest. But when she mentioned Alberta, anxiety and fear – fear to lose Roza – coursed through my body and I roared, "NO!" as I grabbed her by her wrists.

She was shocked at my sudden outburst and puzzled. I explained my anxieties and wanted her to keep my presence a secret. I then told her that I would be leaving to return to Russia when I could get the flight back home and I asked her to come with me.

I knew she would reject me right away so I shushed her up and told her that I would give her some time to consider it.

She nodded and left.

I stood at the door, looking at her as her shadows disappeared into the woods. I closed the door and laid down on the bed.

I couldn't bring myself to think that Roza is with him now. He was the typical royal that partied hard and fucked hard. I couldn't let Roza be with someone like him. I had to take Roza with me. I'm the only one that would love her even at the cost of my life. If Roza agreed to come with me to Russia, I made a promise to myself that I would never allow anyone or anything to hurt her ever again.

Then a knock on my door brought me out of my daze. Thinking it was Roza coming back to tell me that she wanted to come with me, I opened the door to find a human at the door. He pointed to the back of the cabin and wanted me to go there. I picked up the stake on the table near the door and hid it behind me. I followed him to the edge of the academy and I saw Tasha holding Roza hostage.

"Let her go!" I shouted.

Tasha shook her head. "Do anything rash and I'll snap her neck" she said as she tightened her grip on Rose's neck. I saw Roza struggled against her grasp and I threw my stake onto the ground. I didn't want anything to happen to Roza.

"Good. Now come over to me" she said again.

I did as she said but once I was out of the wards, she dropped Roza and backhanded me in a flash. I looked down at the spot where she dropped Roza and realized that it was a set up. It was a human girl who resembled Roza. I should have seen through it but I was too stricken with fear and worries that I didn't notice the difference.

"Game-Over" I heard her whisper into my ears and she bit into my neck. I felt something different this time.

"NO! I yelled as I realized what she was doing, but it was too late.

So do you like it? I thought I should be clearing up some doubts about how the whole Dimitri turned Strigoi thing and also I should do him some justice coz I used to like him a lot until I found my new love – Adrian! This might be like a filler chapter to fill up some gaps and while I thought about the dungeon scene with Adrian and the rest. I still have no clue how to continue from there. So review and leave your comments! Signing off at 0135am GMT+0800.