Since my first beer when I was 14, I had been addicted to the brilliant taste of liquor. It was my vice and my pleasure, and in so many ways, it was all I could ever depend on.

Because, you see, liquor never lied to you. Liquor never let you down, nor did it ever get up and decide it didn't want to deal with you anymore. Before I met the greatest people who ever came into my life, I thought nobody or nothing could ever do what Liquor did for me.

Today I was going to be shown else wise though.

"Adrian?"

Something cold was being pressed onto my forehead. As a faint flickering of light crept into my vision, I found opening my eyes easier than I expected.

I was looking up at a girl with curly brown hair and the greenest of eyes, a unique shade different from mine, courtesy of her royal bloodline. Jill wore a gentle smile upon her pretty face and over my forehead hovered her hand. As a water user, Jill had the power to control a blob of icy water so that it could be used as a makeshift ice-pack for me. Jill was developing her magic at an advanced level after all. She was always practising behind Sydney's back in Palm Springs.

When I found myself scanning the white and under-furnished room, it wasn't a surprise to see an old friend or two hanging near the back wall.

Slowly turning my head, my headache and stomach still in its completely shit condition, I found enough strength to muster a welcoming grin for them. The girl turned red in response.

"Mia," I nodded, recognizing the slim, blonde Moroi girl. She gave me a tiny smile but snuck a peek to the boy next to her. I found my grin expanding. "And Christian too. What a great surprise to wake up to."

The Royal Moroi most well-known for the acts of his parent's conversion and his feisty nature, pushed off the wall only to join Jill. He too, like Jill's green eyes which were most noticeably inherited from the Dragomir bloodline, held a unique shade of icy blue irises found only by the Ozera's. His black hair was always a little over the top, I found, like it screamed obnoxious. But I suppose that was the way Christian liked it. He never did fit in with the Royal crowd much.

"Hangovers at eleven in the morning, Adrian," Christian began snarky. "What a surprise."

Oh, just great. It's another Rose.

Upon my silence, Jill retracted her bubble of water and drifted it to a sink. Releasing her connection with magic, the bubble exploded down the drain, and in my defence, Jill said: "It wasn't a hangover this time."

Christian threw a sarcastic eyebrow up.

"Oh, it wasn't?" he said, and Jill shook her head shyly.

"It's the spirit again, isn't it Adrian?"

She was looking at me with such worry and misery. I hadn't the heart to lie to her saying it wasn't the spirit that was causing my hangover, but neither did I the heart to have her concerned over someone she should have tried best to avoid while at Court. So shifting on the bed, slowly using the rails by my side to heave myself up, I shook my head casually.

"I wish," I said satirically. "Spirit hangovers aren't as bad as Johnnie Walker scotch ones."

Christian scoffed and crossed his arms like it was just as he expected. Well, why wouldn't he? I was always known as simply 'that party boy'.

"Scotch," Christian repeated. "At least you do it with class."

"Always," I smirked. I dragged my legs across the bed, wishing no more than to escape this crowd and this bleach-smelling room, but Jill's tiny hands fell onto my chest and pushed me back.

"Adrian," she said desperately. "You shouldn't be moving. You aren't feeling well."

I gave her surprised eyes. I wasn't feeling well. I was feeling as hellish as I was back in the hotel room, but I made sure that in no way possible would anyone be able to see it on my face. So how did she ...

Ugh, it was the bond again, wasn't it?

I kicked back, knowing after that claim from Jill, Christian and Mia wouldn't let me leave so casually. So I decided I'd leave when they let me. Which hopefully would be soon.

"Where am I?" I asked and astonishingly, Mia spoke up before the others.

"It's a private clinic owned by a Moroi one of my guardian friends worked for. It's safe and is still in court, so you don't have to worry" she said. The fact that Mia had pointed out that the clinic was 'safe' and 'still in court' confirmed my thoughts of her knowing about my and Jill's case. It wouldn't surprise me if Christian knew as well. Honestly, wasn't it 'the less who knew, the better'?

"You missed out on our feeding appointment," Jill informed. I sighed and averted my eyes guiltily.

"My bad—"

"Oh, I'm not blaming you! You can't help it if you have an .. um ..."

"Panic attack?" A new person walked through an opened door with a tight smile. Surely enough, she held her head up with confidence but shared me a disapproving look. Rose glanced around the room and traded quick greetings with Mia and Christian before pacing her way to my bed. I winced.

"A panic attack? What happened? Did I forget to turn off the stove back in Palm Springs?" I mockingly asked. Rose was not impressed.

"You stopped breathing and I had to give you CPR. Hardly something to joke about."

Jill suddenly looked to me with urgency.

"It was the spirit, wasn't it?"

Oh, God. Not the spirit talk again. But the mention of spirit had Rose curious.

"The spirit?" she questioned. Jill turned to Rose hesitantly.

"Yeah ..." she began before I could intercept and change the topic. "I felt it strongly this morning. The darkness, I mean ..."

Rose glared at me.

"Jesus Christ, Adrian. Have you been overusing your magic?"

I looked to her and squinted my eyes purposefully.

"You know, I can't remember anything before this morning. Maybe I'm still in shock ..." I said feigning illness. Rose brought her hand down onto the rail.

"This isn't funny, Adrian. You know how dangerous spirit is."

I gave her a stern look.

"And you know my methods of keeping it under control."

Christian butted in.

"With Johnnie Walker scotch?"

I inclined my head. "More or less."

Rose took a frustrated step back.

"It's not enough now, is it? The alcohol isn't numbing your spirit."

Well, to be honest, I wouldn't know. I gave up drinking and smoking for Sydney's sake some time ago, and although I itched for another drink, I resisted. But telling these guys here not only would destroy my killer reputation, it'd complicate things. And it'll have Rose pressuring me again.

With slow dread, I shook my head.

"No, no. The alcohol's comforting me the way it should be. Me and liquor go way back after all."

The lie would have been convincing if Jill didn't mess things up.

"But I thought Sydney had you come off alcohol?"

Rose sighed and closed her eyes. I shot evils at Jill, but couldn't stand looking at her apologetic face afterwards. So I turned around on the bed and scoffed.

"It doesn't matter what Sydney had me do. She's not here, and I'll never see her again—"

Jill lunged for me. "Don't say that!" she chastised wholeheartedly. Then, once realizing her outburst, she took a step back and nibbled on her lip. "Just ... just don't say we won't see Sydney again. Because we will. We really will."

I saw Jill begin to fidget with the chain around her neck. In her slim fingers, she played with a tiny sliver cross. And I found I was choking on my breath looking at it. Only Sydney would buy something like that.

"Whatever," I dismissed. I lifted myself off the bed and placed my feet onto the solid ground. Mia was the one this time who urged me to not move around.

"Whether your hangover and panic attack was because of spirit ... or because of something else ... the doctor said you'd be better off resting for a while."

I brushed her comment away.

"All I want is a bloody drink."

Knowing me, that meant something like Dr. Pepper instead of whisky, as it once would have been.

Rose rolled her eyes and walked out of the clinic room's door. Then a second later, she brought in a human girl with short copper brown hair and a fazed kind of look. Her hair wasn't long enough to cover the bite marks on her neck. I shuddered at the sight of her. In my mouth, I felt my canines grow longer. My fangs were craving to pop out any second now, but I controlled my thirst and my vampire instinct and instead just scowled at the girl.

Rose gave a little 'ta-da!' and shared us a sneaky grin.

"You did after all miss your feeding."

Five minutes later, I let the feeder exit the room. I joined the others in the reception lobby a few minutes later, wiping the last remnants of blood from my lips. God, I needed that feeding. Say what you want, but unless you've experienced the taste of blood as a vampire, you've never truly lived. A mouthful of blood from a willing human was like heaven's wine. It was brilliant. Completely sensational. A million times better than sex.

But then again, I haven't experienced sex with Sage yet. That could give a feeding a run for it's money.

"Why are you laughing?" Rose asked after I joined her on the seats. Mia and Christian said they actually had to meet up with some other moroi for magic training. That's right. Magic training. It was nice to see the Moroi race advancing towards somewhere, at least.

I eyed Rose and smirked.

"I was just thinking." About Sage.

"Oh," she said. Then her attention drifted to Jill who was watching from the seats over. Jill still wore a concerned expression.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked with frowning eyes. I gave her a soft smile.

"Jailbait, I was feeling better the moment I woke up in that clinic. Honestly, you two worry too much."

Rose shrugged.

"Well, that's good to hear, considering you almost gave me a panic attack. Adrian, if the spirit's having that effect on you ..." Rose suddenly glanced to the white bottle in her hands. I looked too, and upon reading the label, I shifted subconsciously in my seat. Rose threw her hands up suddenly. "Hold on, just listen to me—"

"I've told you, Rose. No drugs."

"It's not really a drug. I mean, it is, but it'll help—"

I stood up.

"I don't want to be cut off from my magic. I can't risk that."

"It's not permanent," she argued. "Look, these really helped Lissa deal with the insanity when she was struggling too—"

"I'm not struggling!" I yelled. "And I'm not going insane. I don't need anti-depressants. What I need is a little fucking space!"

You know that's a lie.

The voice. There it was again.

I must have seemed like the weirdest person alive at then, what with my sudden eruption and then my instant shift to stillness. But you couldn't blame me for acting the way I was. It was that voice inside my head again. That little voice that sounded so familiar, but I just couldn't place who it could be ...

"Adrian?"

I blinked twice before I noticed Rose giving me the 'danger' face. I slowly shook my head and then looked around the room for an exit. Once spotted, I mumbled, "I'm leaving," and I didn't spare a second glance.

When I walked outside, the cold air hit me like a slap. I huddled closer into my arms, cursing Rose for dragging me to a clinic and not bringing along a jacket. Winter was about to come in a few days or so, I could tell. Fall was ending evidently by all the moulted leaves drifting beneath my feet. I was actually looking forward to Winter once when I was in Palm Springs. It meant I could huddle close to Sydney when it was cold (although I doubt it actually ever got truly 'cold' in Palm Springs) and I'd be able to make her all types of soups in the mornings for her (soups are my specialty after all). All of that could have been possible ... it could have ...

But you had to go and screw it up, didn't you Adrian?

I shut my eyes and tried to block out the voice. But it was still there.

Didn't you?

"Shut up! I was only protecting her! Only protecting ..."

A little hand came onto mine, like fire on ice, and I jerked. As I spun around, more frightened than I could ever be, I saw Jill and her little body recoil in fear.

My mouth fell open. "Jill ..."

She looked around.

"Who were you talking to?"

I went for a moment without answering. Then, deciding it would be best if I dropped the case of that little voice in my head, I ignored her question.

I found myself instantly growing protective of Jill. I walked over and noticed the little floral dress she was wearing. Her pale skin had goosebumps all over and I cursed at Rose once again for not bringing along a jacket for me. I would have given it to Jill right now if I had one.

"Jailbait, go back to the clinic," I said at last. I tried to wrap her in my arms while she shivered the best I could. "You know you aren't supposed to be all by yourself around the Court."

Jill glanced up and gave a little smile, trying to hide the shaking in her voice. "I'm not alone, though."

I sighed. "Being with me is probably worst," I said. "People like to gossip about bad things of royals around here."

Jill chuckled. "It's alright. I won't shame Lissa's name."

I frowned. I was about to tell her that it wasn't Lissa's reputation that I was most concerned about, but her own, until I saw someone walking up to us on the footpath. It was a short woman, about my age with a rather sharp look to her. She had short red hair and hazel brown eyes, and a cone-shaped nose upon her light beige complexioned face. Her long pixie haircut came down to her shoulders and bounced with every menacing step she took. As she slowed when she approached us, I gave her scrutinising eyes and noted her black trousers and skin-tight turtleneck which outlined her inverted triangle shape quite nicely. Definitely a guardian, I thought.

"Mr. Ivashkov," the woman greeted upon arrival. I gave her an acknowledging look and a forced smile. The woman turned to Jill next. "It's an honour to meet you, Princess Dragomir."

Jill suddenly went red, still not completely comfortable with the treatment as royalty.

"It's just Jill," she said, and the woman smiled, something I rarely saw guardians do (well, when they were on duty at least). The woman held out a long black woollen jacket to Jill.

"Then Jill, please wear this. It's too cold out here for you."

Jill took the jacket gratefully but refused to turn back around to the clinic. I rolled my eyes.

"Jill," I groaned. "Seriously. Back the way you came. Now. Rose is probably waiting for you."

Jill frowned stubbornly.

"What do you plan to do, then? I don't want to return back to my room only to be stalked by a gazillion guardians."

The woman beside us chuckled. "Not stalked, but guarded, Princess. As a fellow guardian, I do have to recommend you follow Mr. Ivashkov's instructions."

I proudly nodded.

"Look, even the dhampir said so. You know you have to."

Jill scoffed.

"Whatever. Fine."

I sighed whimsically and brought my hand down to ruffle Jill's neat hair. She gasped and pushed it away. The woman beside us interrupted.

"Oh, Mr. Ivashkov, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?"

I looked to her curiously and grinned.

"Well, feel free to do so anytime, as long as I introduce myself firstly and point out that it's Adrian, not Mr. Ivashkov. That would be my father."

And no one wants to be mistaken as him, I silently added. The guardian nodded, as if the telling of my given name was vital information, which for the record, it wasn't. She held out her hand.

"The name is Eloise Harper, recent graduate from St. Vladimir's Academy."

I took her hand and happily shook it, my ladies charm suddenly switching on.

"St. Vladimir's, was it? And how come I didn't notice anyone as cute as you while staying there?"

I was expecting some type of reaction—blushing, disgust—even a look of depression would have been better than Eloise's composed face. It was like she didn't even understand I was flirting with her (although, of course the flirting wasn't meaningful. I was only curious to see how she would react to my witty words ... oh, the irony).

Jill glared at our prolonged handshake. I suddenly let go and let my arm fall to my side again. Eloise smiled.

"I had only recently transferred to St. Vladimir's before graduating. I originally was training up in England."

The mention of England made me frown. I only knew one person in my whole entire life who had 'once lived in England', and because of him, my situation was in the shits here at Court.

Jill pulled me away from my heavy thoughts with a little question.

"What's in your pocket?" she said, and we all looked at Eloise's trousers. Surely enough in her pocket was a little note with black writing scribbled on the front. Eloise gasped.

"Oh, this was for you, Adrian," she said, somewhat smug over her remembrance to use my first name. Although Eloise looked older than her actual age, her behaviour said else wise. She reminded me of a little beagle, trying it's hardest to do the best it can, but meanwhile putting aside anything that wasn't guardian work—like handsome men complimenting her looks. The fact that she ignored my comment still irritated me. At least Sydney would say something. Knowing Sage, she'd have probably whacked me over the head and tell me off for being such a tease.

I took the little note with a haunting smile.

"Thanks," I said while turning the thing around in my hand. "Who sent it?"

Eloise stared at it intently, trying to remember. But she couldn't.

"I don't know ..." she said. "All I remember was someone telling me not to read it and to give it to you as soon as I could."

I looked up and eyed her sceptically. The whole thing sounded suspiciously like someone had compelled her. I would have taken a look at her aura and confirmed my doubts on whether Eloise was compelled or not, but with my overuse of magic by using spirit to control my dreams every night recently, I didn't have enough strength in me to do it. Not to mention I still had that terrible spirit hangover.

Jill asked a very good question. "Why would they get you to deliver it?"

Eloise seemed to recover from her glazed look and turned to Jill readily.

"Probably because I was recently assigned to Adrian Ivashkov as his guardian."

Both Jill and I were shocked. "What?" we both said. Eloise turned uneasy.

"Well, Guardian Staffan said it was best if Adrian had a guardian with him at all times."

"Oh, Staffan. That makes sense," I mumbled. So they decided they couldn't trust me ...

I tried to shake the thought away by opening the note. On the cover was my name, and on the inside, I saw more black ink. I silently read it before I felt dread, fear and horror creep over me.

Dear Adrian, it read, I hope you have been splendid these past few weeks. It has been such a shame that I haven't had time to catch up with you during that time. The reason I write to you is because I hear you are staying at Court at the moment, which is no less than thirty-five minutes from where I am! So I thought perhaps we should meet up, that is, if you can make it. 11:15pm at the Wild Blue's Bar, on the next full moon. I will be waiting, Adrian, for you and you alone.

P.S. It's cowboys night that night. You look good in a cowboy's hat, so be sure to come with one.

I couldn't believe what I was reading. I could definitely confirm that Eloise probably was compelled to have this get to me, as no way in hell would anyone let this go through, at least, not while I was still under house arrest.

I read the note over and over again, in hope that perhaps I had missed something. Because in all honesty I had no idea who the sender was. No one signed off on it. I couldn't make out what it really meant. I mean, who the Hell would write a note saying 'it has been such a shame that I haven't had time to catch up with you'? Everyone I knew was at Court (or at least everyone who would matter). Everyone except ...

No. I discarded that thought. Sydney wouldn't write this. She wouldn't. Not to mention she's forgotten everything to do with me ...

Jill tugged on my dress shirt's sleeve.

"Adrian?" she asked. I was pulled from my thoughts back to reality only to see a quizzical Jill and Eloise looking at me. I tucked the note into my vest's inside pocket. Then I faked a sweet smile.

"Just a reminder of a tab I owe someone," I said. Jill didn't look like she bought it, but then again, Jill wasn't the type of person to push a matter that didn't really concern her. Or at least, I hoped she wasn't.

Eloise shortly after fell back into her sharp, guardian mode. It was almost like that girl had two personalities.

"Jill," she started. Then she nodded back down the path which led to the clinic. "You're keeping Guardian Hathaway waiting."

Jill frowned but didn't try to resist like before. Instead, she quickly turned to me and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry," Jill said. Then she whispered quietly: "We'll deal with the spirit issue as soon as my sister gets back from her business trip."

I chuckled and leaned away. Jill really wasn't going to let go of the 'spirit' thing, even if she was right. Sometimes sharing this bond wasn't that bad after all. Eloise told me that she'd take Jill back to Rose before meeting up with me again. I told her not to hold her breath because I'd be gone. I didn't want some pesky guardian hovering around me all day long.

As I turned around, deciding maybe I'd head back to the hotel room to catch a few more Z's, something in my head clicked.

Why didn't I notice it before!

I brought out the note once again and read the very last part. You look good in a cowboy's hat, so be sure to come with one. The only times I had ever worn a cowboy hat was once during high school when I went to some frat party and got completely wasted, and the time I was at the Villagefest back in Palm Springs for Jill's birthday. Although I'm sure a lot of people would have remembered that party and my crazy dance moves, I doubt anyone would have motivation to send this note to me years after. But there was someone who did have motivation from the Villagefest, someone who would go as far to have somebody infiltrate the Royal Moroi Court and compel the note's way to me ...

And that person was the only other person besides Sydney who had seen me wearing a cowboy's hat that night.

"Keanu Brown," I muttered.

Author's Notes

A new OC! Adrian's Guardian, recent graduate from St. Vlad, a girl whose personality switches from bubbly and naive to stern and business-like in a second ... *drumroll* ... Eloise Harper!

UPDATE: A new chapter will be updated every three days. For more information, or to ask questions, please visit: www . innoviatopia . tumblr . com

I will be starting on a new fanfic called West Vlad High School. WVHS will be posted in the Vampire Academy section of ffnet and will appear on my blog. It supports the shippings of RosexDimitri, LissaxChristian, AdrianxSydney and EddiexAngeline. Basically, West Blad High School takes the characters of Vampire Academy and shifts them to an alternate reality where all are human but still have to face troubles in high school and such.

Sypnosis: RosexDimitri
Rose is currently failing geography at West Vlad High School, and her geography teacher, Mr. Belikov, has offered tutoring sessions to help her catch up with the rest of the class. Complications are sure to arise when Rose finds her teacher completely attractive and soons finds herself purposely failing her tests just to spend more time with him ...
Sypnosis: LissaxChristian
Lissa Dragomir is cheersquad captain and the most popular girl in school. She faces the pressures of teenage insecurities, as well as her distancing relationship with her best friend Rose Hathaway who's always too busy studying with their Geography teacher. One day, after Lissa recieves detention for the first time, she meets the social outcast freak Christian Ozera ... but what she doesn't know is that in reality, the two share a lot in common.
Sypnosis: SydneyxAdrian
Sydney's a geek. Adrian's a party boy. When the two are forced to pair up on a health assignment, how will Sydney cope with the possibility of receiving an F? Or worst yet, falling for a party boy?
Sypnosis: EddiexAngeline
Eddie is a jock on the football team, crushing on the girl next door to him, Jill Mastrano. When Eddie finds out his friend's sister is best friends with Jill, he pleads for the help from Angeline Dawes to set Jill and him up. But what happens when Angeline secretly comes to like Eddie and ends up trying to sabotage Jill and Eddie's friendship?