Good morning/afternoon/evening/whatever pertains to you! I was going to wait a little longer to post this, but I felt bad for leaving you hanging. Eager to find out what Christian is hiding? Read on and find out!


My rage was leading me blindly through the fog encompassing the air around me. I had to find Christian, and I had to find him now. I had only been to his house once, on a quick trip during lunch time. He had forgotten a geometry book he needed for his next class. I still didn't know the streets of Belmont well enough to know where I needed to go, but the town was small enough I should be able to find him relatively easy. I needed an immediate explanation as to why Christian somehow directly knew everything, and why he didn't tell me he knew. It felt like a betrayal. He knew how badly this all had affected me, and he still didn't tell me.

When I reached the school, I knew where to go from there. A ten minute walk later, I found his car outside a small brick home. Thank God he was here. Kicking his ass would be a little hard if he wasn't. I strode up the steps and pounded aggressively on the door. A dog started barking next door. Figures. Animals never liked me much.

Surprise lit up Christian's features when he opened the door. I was ready to attack, but instead I froze. Looking at me was Christian, but he didn't really look like Christian. Somehow, though I really didn't believe my eyes, he was taller. His icy blue eyes stood out more than they normally did against unusually pale skin.

"R-Rose?" he stammered. "What are you doing here?" he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a black ring. I noticed it as the one he always wore on his right hand. He slipped it on, and he was. . . normal.

"What the fuck?" I breathed. "How-what-" so much for attacking. I could barely form a sentence.

He looked around anxiously outside. "What are you doing here?" he repeated.

"I-" I was cut off by another surprise. How much more shock could one person handle?

"Dude, come on. I'm starving." Adrian appeared behind Christian, and stopped dead in his tracks. He too, was taller, and his normally dark complexion was paled. "Well this is unexpected. I thought you were our pizza deliverer. Hi, Rose." He tried to maintain a carefree attitude, but his posture showed he was anything but. "Christian, you didn't tell me we would have company."

"I wasn't expecting any." Christian grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. "Okay, talk. You obviously came for a reason."

"I came to ask why you lied to me. I was hoping I was wrong, but after seeing that," I eyed his ring, "I know I'm not. So tell me why you didn't tell me you already knew what I was." I crossed my arms, hoping to assert some dominance in here, even though I kind of wanted to go running the other direction. I came for answers, and I was going to get them.

"Shit, dude." Adrian chuckled. "Busted."

Christian and I both shot glares his direction. "It's a long story. You may as well take a seat." Christian motions to a leather couch. I hesitantly sit, careful to stay on the far end. Completely missing me wanting space, Adrian plops down next to me.

"You look absolutely beautiful tonight." Said Adrian. I rolled my eyes and shifted so our legs were no longer touching.

"I knew you'd find out about the Ozeras eventually, I was just hoping somehow you wouldn't connect them to me." Christian ran a hand through his pitch black hair. "You understand how Strigoi work, right?" I nodded. "A few years ago, my parents turned by choice." My blood ran cold. There were two ways someone could change, and they had chosen the worst. They chose to drink from someone until that person died. "They wanted to keep me until they deemed me old enough, and then turn me. My Aunt Tasha, the one I was sent to at the school, sent me into hiding. She had Adrian charm this ring," he held up his hand, "with compulsion so that I could go to a human school. The compulsion makes me look human."

"But wouldn't you be safer behind the wards? They're charmed so the Strigoi couldn't come on school grounds, right?" I tried to recall exactly what I had been told.

"In a way, yes, but my parents would know where I was, waiting until I left to take me. So Tasha bought a house in Belmont and left me here." Christian motioned around the room. "After my parents turned, we were basically shunned to society. It became harder and harder to be around people after that. Tasha got her job at the school to pay for the house. She told everyone she sent me off to Russia to live with a few distant relatives. We were living at the Royal Court when everything happened. We haven't heard anything about my parents whereabouts in over a year, so for the time being, this is where I'll be."

It made sense. Well, as much sense as undead parents searching for their child to turn him undead could make. I felt sympathy for Christian. I could see in his eyes how much it hurt him. He had a stroke of luck being taken to Tasha when we were busted at the school. I voiced this to him, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I wasn't lying when I said she about beat my ass. She couldn't believe I had done something so stupid." He had a smirk on his face.

"Wait a minute," I turned to Adrian, "What do you have to do with this?" His dazzling green eyes held humor. Now that he was showing his true self, he was even more gorgeous than before. Not as gorgeous as Dimitri, but still enough to make a girl notice the small space between our legs.

"Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, my great aunt, has certain plans for me." My eyebrows shot up. He was related directly to the queen and ran off? Damn. I had to admit I was impressed. Plans I have no interest in following through. So, when Tasha asked me to partake in this crazy plan, I decided I wanted to join. I had so much fun in high school the first time, why not go again?" he had a flippant air around him, but I sensed something in his posture; discomfort.

"I'm sorry," I held a hand up and about busted up laughing. "You're in school again? Who the hell would want to go through high school again?"

"I don't actually go to classes. I only show up sometimes." I thought back to school, realizing I'd only seen him a few times. "The compulsion makes people think I do. I'm here, most of the time."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stop the headache that was forming from information overload. "Okay," I said standing. "This is all a little much for me." Something popped into my head and I frowned. "How did I find that information online?" I asked. "My Uncle Victor said there's no way I could have found it."

Adrian's frown matched my own. "That's why Christian agreed to go with you. He wanted to find that out himself."

Christian nodded. "According to Tasha, someone must have wanted you to find us. She searched online, but found nothing. Someone, somehow, put that on your computer. Someone that wants you at the school."

I started toward the door, deciding I needed to give my brain a break. I said my goodbyes to Adrian, and Christian took me home. We were silent the whole way home. My mind was reeling. I couldn't believe this. I had a feeling I would be getting a lot of shocking news over the next few weeks. My face would probably be permanently shocked by the end of this. When we pulled up to my house, I suddenly had a thought.

"All Moroi specialize in an element, right?" Christian nodded. "What's yours?" No sooner than I asked, a small ball of fire shot past my face, evaporating as quickly as it came. I yelped, and my hand flew to my chest. "You could have just said fire." I got a sarcastic laugh, and a wave of his hand ushering me out of the car.

Grumbling something about my hair being lit on fire, I trekked up the stairs to my new home that suddenly felt very, very strange. With a sharp pang, I thought how badly I wished I could talk to my mom. I pulled out my keys to unlock the door, and stopped. Something was wrong. The door sat slightly ajar, barely enough to notice. The wood was splintered, and the lock was broken. I considered calling Christian to come back for half a second, but decided against it. Sonya's car was in the driveway, but Victor's was gone. He must have been called into work. Slowly, I pushed the door open.

The house was quiet. Too quiet. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I was afraid it would beat out. I checked the lower level of the house, then started up the stairs. I grabbed a fireplace poker and I passed by. The stairs creaked under my feet, and I froze. I waited for a moment, listening, before I kept going. When I reached the top, I saw a gentle light on under Sonya's door, and heard the TV in her room going. I relaxed, letting out an audible sigh of relief. I swung her door open.

"Hey, I don't know if you saw the front door, but its brok-" I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a man holding Sonya up by her head. She had bite marks along her neck, the blood coming from them staining her shirt. She was alive, but barely. She had a dopey smile on her face, and her eyes were glazed over. I couldn't tell what scared me more; Sonya bleeding to death, or the man that was holding her. He was chalk white, with dark hair curling down past his shoulders. His eyes were almost normal, a nice blue color, but a strong red circle surrounded the blue. If death had an image, I always pictured the Grim Reaper. The poor bastard looked like a unicorn compared to this thing.

"Rosemarie Hathaway." His voice was chilling, making my bones freeze up. I couldn't move. "There's a prize waiting for whoever finds you. Unfortunately, it only asks for you. It's a shame, really. Sonya here would make a great traveling snack. I did, however notice you had a friend. Christian Ozera. I can only imagine the praise I'll get for bringing you both. Now say goodbye, Sonya." And with the most ease I have ever seen, he snapped her neck. Her eyes went wide for a millisecond, and then nothing. The life was gone. I screamed involuntarily, a sob catching in my throat. No. No, no, no. This isn't happening. Oh, God, a voice screamed in my head. So this is what a Strigoi looked like. He closely resembled the picture I saw, but not quite. He was even more terrifying, if that was at all possible.

The Strigoi let go of Sonya's head, and she dropped to the ground. I regained feeling in my bones, and I tore off down the stairs. I almost reached the bottom, but he was fast. Oh, so fast. He grabbed my shoulder and dragged me back, making me lose my footing. I yelped, and tried to regain composure. My mom had me take self-defense classes, and I was pretty good. I wasn't sure how much that mattered with this thing, but it wasn't in my nature to just give up.

Realizing I still had the poker in my hand, I drove it through the Strigoi's foot. He screamed in agony. I pulled it out and struck again, this time sending it into his stomach. His face twisted in pain, and saliva dripped off his fangs when he screamed louder. I wasted no time admiring my work and flew down the stairs and to the front door. I swung it open, and yelped when I saw someone standing there.

Dimitri.

He strode in past me, and to the Strigoi that was now closing in on us. With the most grace I have ever seen, Dimitri pulled out a silver stake and drove it through the Strigoi's heart. His eyes instantly glazed over, and he fell. The whole thing took maybe twenty seconds, yet it felt like a lifetime. I stood frozen in place. What the fuck just happened? The adrenaline that was pumping through my veins stopped, and I fell to the ground. Dimitri ran over me, scooping me up in one swift movement. He set me down on the stairs, and his eyes searched me frantically.

"Are you hurt?" I couldn't answer. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. I stared past him, not looking at any one solid thing until Dimitri grabbed both sides of my face, forcing me to look at him. "Rose? Rose, say something."

"Sonya." I choked out. I tilted my head towards the hallway leading to her room. It only took Dimitri a moment to understand what I was implying. He picked me up again, not wanting to leave me alone, and ran up the stairs to her room. He set me down again when we reached her room. I collapsed again, seeing Sonya's unmoving body. Dimitri took out his cellphone and spoke rapidly in Russian. Once he got off the phone he used the bedspread to cover Sonya's body.

I was sitting on the couch in the front room when Victor burst through the door, eyes panicked. He saw me and ran to me, pulling me close. "Oh, thank God you're okay. A guardian at the school alerted me to a Strigoi attack and I just knew. Where's Sonya?" I looked at him solemnly and shook my head. "No," he whispered, "Where?" I pointed upstairs, and he took off. I heard his loud cry, and I closed my eyes.

The next hour passed in a blur. More Guardians showed up, and helped Victor remove Sonya's body. Dimitri never left my side, except to give his report to his superiors. Someone told me to pack a bag, that I would be accompanying them back to St. Vladamir's. I moved in what felt like water, everything slow and hazy.

"What are the odds that poker was all silver?" I heard a guardian outside my door ask another guardian. "The kid got lucky, for sure, but there was skill behind that too." The wonder in his voice made me shake my head.

Once my bag was packed and I said goodbye to Victor, I headed to St. Vladamir's with Dimitri. We were a few blocks from my house when I remembered the threat against Christian. "Wait, stop!" I exclaimed. My abrupt outburst shattered the silence we were wrapped in and Dimitri nearly swerved.

"What's wrong?" asked Dimitri frantically, pulling over.

"We have to get Christian." Dimitri gave me a puzzled look. I launched into my story about what Christian and Adrian told me. "Call Tasha. She'll tell you it's true." He looked skeptical as he dialed Tasha's number. His expression went from being unsure to disbelief. He hung up and looked at me.

"I don't know how in the world you have already gotten yourself in such a mess." He said, running his hand down his face. "You've been here, what? A week?"

"Are we going to get them?" I asked. "We need to hurry!"

"They're sending others after them. For right now, you're my main concern. We need get you to behind the wards." Dimitri pulled the car back onto the road and sped to St. Vladamir's.

"Now what?" I asked quietly.

"Now you enroll in St. Vladamir's, and start your guardian training." Dimitri glanced at me, and I found myself getting lost in the features of his face. Those deep, brown eyes drew me in and wouldn't let me go. My eyes flicked to his lips, and I wondered what it would be like to kiss him. When I looked back up to his eyes, I saw something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing. Almost as quickly, his expression hardened into stone, showing me nothing. I sank back into my seat and stared out the window the rest of the way to the school.

After a brief meeting with the headmistress, Celeste something, I was shown to my new room in the dhampir dorms. I dropped my duffel bag onto the floor next to the dresser and surveyed the room I would be spending the next year in. It was small and plain. The brown walls were bare. A twin sized bed, the dresser, and a desk housing a computer were the only furniture in the room. Since classes were now in full swing, I was sent to my room to rest. Tomorrow, however, I started my new endeavor. Since I only had my senior year to learn what novices had their whole childhood to learn, Celeste wanted me to start immediately. I would have to set aside my grieving.

Dimitri stood awkwardly in the doorway. "Get some sleep. We start training tomorrow morning." I nodded and sat down on the bed. I think I looked lost and helpless enough he took pity on me. He covered the distance of the room in three steps. Damn 6'7" Russian God. He sat next to me on the bed and grabbed my hand. "I'm sorry about Sonya. It's a horrible loss so soon after your mother." He squeezed my hand once then let go. "I have a lot to teach you. You need to be strong now. For them." And with that, I was left alone. So, so alone.


As always, leave me your thoughts :)