"Ivyyyyy"

"What! Who? Where?"

I sat up in bed panting, to see the room was pitch dark.

There were frantic knockings on my door.

I groaned, covering my ears.

The knocks resounded.

Clutching my shawl to myself, I padded to the door and unlocked it to find Rose in a gorgeous burgundy gown, wrapped in a layer of white furs and a smile pasted on her face. Beyond her, Dimitri in a soft black woolen coat, stood leaning against the wall, a hat covering half his face.

"What's the matter?" I yawned. "It's middle of the night. Shouldn't you two be sleeping or something?"

Just then somewhere a grandfather clock struck twelve.

"It's the middle of the day for us… what do you mean?"

"Why do you guys have such weird schedules?" I sighed, longing for my already spoiled sleep. "I mean I know the sun hurts and all, but it doesn't burn. So you guys should go out, reverse this stupid routine actually."

"That's not what we need to talk about," she grabbed my arm.

"You remember what day it's today, right? It's Christmas and we have a party."

The excitement in her eyes made me even more frustrated.

"Santa won't come if you don't sleep."

"Rose, she is a guest and if she's tired, I think we should let her sleep," interrupted Dimitri, straightening up.

"I won't go without her," Rose crossed her arms, jutting out her lips. "She'll miss our party and spend the day alone! She came here for Christmas after all."

"Fine!" I raised my arms in mock surrender. "Give me five minutes, I'll join you."

Rose grinned maniacally as Dimitri raised an eyebrow at her.

I twirled before the mirror holding the dark velvet dress in midnight blue. It had a heavy cloak to go with so I wouldn't have to worry about the cold too, though vampires are a lot more resistant to the weather.

I dug my hands into the pile of eye liners and took the thick pencil one. Once my eyes were done, I took my hair and tied it up with a pair of chopsticks. One final glance at the mirror and I was sprinting out of the room to join a group of crazy people out to party at a wee hour.

"Whoa! I could have mistaken you for a Strigoi if I didn't know better. It's Christmas and not Halloween."

"Rose, you can't blame her, after all she loves gothic styles," Dimitri fell into step beside us.

"I've been like this from the very beginning. My father never objects to it. Our house is draped in black too and I actually have a coffin in my room for fun…"

They looked at me as if I had suddenly grown wings.

"But I still wear less makeup," I said, desperately trying to change the topic. "The girls who aren't vamps actually spray paint some white foundation to look like a typical Goth."

"Yaaa, you're so pale."

"Like a willow in the woods," added Dimitri.

"The music, gosh! They put it so high!" Rose exclaimed and sure enough the loud DJ music blared from somewhere.

"Jesse…" we both groaned together.

"You know what," she added. "He used to play this awful since we were kids. I wonder why nobody threw tomatoes or even shoes at him."

"Come on, he's a Zelkos. He will have his cahoots. Just ignore them."

"So is Lissa a Dragomir and the queen and you a Lazar for that matter," she argued. "You don't walk on the clouds like him."

"Attitudes differ, Rose. Lissa is your friend and as for me, I had always lived a normal life and never knew I was a royal…My mother…" I choked.

"I'm sorry," Rose squeezed my hand. "I didn't mean to remind you off her."

"It's okay," I tried to fight the brimming tears.

I had never seen her as she had died at childbirth, only her ring which was on the finger of my twin Olivia reminded me of her. Dad said Olivia, who had been given away for adoption long before, looked exactly like Mom.

I went by the name of Ivy Vega until I bumped into Olivia Abbott and together we realised that our father was none but the most mysterious and rumored royal, Karl Lazar. Father wanted me to meet my grandparents and so we came for Christmas and were garaged at the court guesthouse.

It was there that I had befriended Rose, the most ravishing yet sassy and deadly guardian and the queen's friend and heard the story of her love on the grapevine. The story of Romitri had almost become legends as they had conquered age, society, restrictions and even death to be together.

And on the other hand was my boyfriend, Brendan. He is so shy to even kiss me. To think he was a long time crush.

"Come on," Rose tugged at my arm, breaking my reverie. "A party awaits us."

I entered the room and was immediately struck by the grandiose. The walls were draped in dark purple and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings. The majestic Christmas tree was bathed in twinkling golden beads of lights and glistening stars. The entire flor gleamed in costly dresses and heavy jewellery.

"The Queens's party for the special ones," Rose whispered in my ear. "I and Dimitri are the only dhampirs allowed to attend."

I simply nodded as we made our way to the dais and sure enough there was the queen in her regal white gown, chatting away happily with a dark haired boy.

"Hello Lord Ozera, this is Lady Lazar." she winked, putting on a regal tone.

Christian Ozera flashed me a genial smile which I returned.

"I know Ivy, you don't need to introduce her again," he smirked.

And soon the party was in full swing, everyone reveling in Christmas mood, exchanging greetings. The music played clear and the hall glimmered with the playing shadows. I had soon forgotten about my sleep and let myself loose, enjoying the night.

I held a glass of sparkling wine, and stood there with Lissa and Rose. Their friendly banter was contagious and I joined in. They wanted to hear everything about my life in the human world and how I mingled with everyone. I just babbled whatever came to my mind.

I was so engrossed that it took me a moment to register a strangled scream of Dimitri followed by the shriek from Lissa. I felt the shove seconds before I heard the sound of clattering of glass as sharp pain shot through my limbs. To my utter horror, the chandelier under which I was standing was lying on the ground and it would've grievously injured me if Rose hadn't pushed me out of the way.

But she wasn't so lucky, as the glass shards had lodged into her limbs as she writhed, sitting in a pool of blood. I tried to go to her, but had sprained my leg. I dropped to the ground, defeated.

And then the real calamity set in. the candles were upset on the carpet which went up in flames in an instant. The crowd cried out as they started running for their life. I screamed and tried to scramble to Rose's fallen form. The fire engulfed the wallpapers and the whole room had become one giant inferno.

Black smoke billowed from everywhere, which made my eyes sting and I coughed and spat, trying my best to get up. I found a bloody hand grip mine.

"Rose…" I panted. "You there?"

"You need to get out, now!" her voice was frantic.

I can't, I gasped, clutching my chest. The clouds of smoke was settling thick around her. The screams had dies down, which meant all others were out already.

Tongues of flames came creeping like a serpent, trying to engulf us. My only thoughts were of death, which seemed so close. I would never see dad or Olivia again.

"Ivy, Rose!" a voice called.

"Here!" we mumbled weakly.

Dimitri was beside us in an instant, crawling on his knees, a cloth tied to his nose. His eyes flickered briefly from me to her, no doubt in a dilemma of duty and desire.

"Help her first," I screamed to him. "Mine is just sprained."

"I can't leave either of you."

"You can't drag both either, take her out first…"

"Here," I heard another voice and felt the brief tingle of magic to see Lissa crawling up beside me. Her entire form was covered with soot and angry red patches were on her skin.

"I healed you. Now come," she caught my hand, dragging me to the exit."

Dimitri's focus changed and soon the four of us were out, choking and coughing soot.

Rose was the worst, lying there all caked in blood.

Dimitri picked her up, bridal style, in spite of all her half-hearted protests that she could walk.

Christian came to my rescue as he provided me a shoulder for support. I tried to take a step but my leg was still too weak to bear my weight. Lissa offered to heal me completely.

I refused flatly because using spirit at random would not be good for her sanity and a little of sprain was something that I could easily handle.

"Heal Rose," I asked instead.

"If she would allow me," Lissa shrugged.

"Certainly not,' Rose mumbled, her face still buried in Dimitri's chest.

Dimitri gave us an apologetic look and went off with Rose straddled against his chest.

I burst into the spotlessly clean hospital room to see Rose sitting up on the bed, and Dimitri propped up beside her, a hand on her shoulders. He was whispering something as she giggled.

Seeing me however they sprung apart.

"Wrong timing," I apologized.

"You're always welcome," Dimitri gave a genuine smile.

"You shouldn't have save me like that."

"I don't regret it," she flipped back her hair.

" I knew I couldn't win against Rose Hathaway logic. Anyway, thank you for saving me," I wrapped her up in a hug.

As I drew back however, the hospital dress had streaks of black on the shoulder.

"Oops! Smudged eyeliner…" Rose couldn't help smile at my shocked reaction. "Nurse Ava wouldn't be happy."

"I'm sorry," I tried to wipe my eyes.

"Seriously Ivy, stop crying," she chided. "You look like a raccoon with all that mascara running down your cheek in black streaks."

"Hope I'm not intruding" I heard a gruff voce and spun around, running into the arms of the man who came in.

"I heard about all that," his expression was grim.

"Come on Dad, it was an accident." I tried to cheer him up.

"It wasn't an accident. It was a deliberate attempt on you." His voice was flat.

"What? Why?"

I couldn't make head or tail of it.

"Ivy, it's true," Dimitri came face to face with me, his sincere eyes looking into my soul. "We investigated the scene, the hook of the chandelier was bent, and with all the heavy candles, a disaster was waiting to happen. Forensic experts say that somebody made the carpets and the walls of highly flammable synthetic cloth…"

My mouth dropped open as I sank on the small stool.

"But why? I have never made any enemies."

"You haven't but your clan has. They fought the Badicas and both parties were at fault. By virtue of position, you're the next princess of the clan, so eliminating you would be very convenient," my dad confessed. "I knew it all and brought you here to keep you safe at court. Guess I was wrong."

"She's safe here now. We take full responsibly of her here," Rose spoke up.

"I saw what you did, and I need to take away ivy so that these doesn't recur. We'll go somewhere else.

"No," asserted Dimitri. "We can't hide. We'll find the culprits and rescue Ivy from the black depths of hate.

The story is in Vampire Academy world by Richelle Mead, where the Canon characters Rose and Dimitri exist. The narrator is Ivy Vega from the series 'My Sister is a Vampire' by Sienna Mercer. Hope you like it.