Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy (unfortunately) and have used its characters and general plot in order to create this story. I have also kept the same sort of structure as the original story and include some of the original lines, and I AM NOT taking credit for Richelle Mead's work. This is my take on how the story could have gone with hopefully a few more things expanded on and explained. I also wanted more involvement of spirit and a more badass Rose, so...here it is.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed!

IMPORTANT AN: Ok, there have been some reviews that say that I have been copying the book too much and yada yada. I was wondering if you all felt that way or if you like it in there (I do try and cut it down though). I myself haven't read the books in a while, mostly sticking to other fan fictions based on the series. These sometime change different things about the story and the characters within them so I just wanted to revise on the facts.
If you believe it would be best for me to remove the explanations from the earlier chapters just let me know.
There will be less as the story continues and changes.

Chapter Seven

A couple weeks passed after that safely, and I slowly put my worries behind me as life at the Academy wrapped around me. The shock of our return had finally worn off, and Lissa and I began to fall into a semi-comfortable routine. Unfortunately my days mostly revolved around school and training, and being denied any real free time, I didn't have too hard a time staying out of the spotlight. Although, I did manage to steal a little attention here and there. I couldn't help it. I liked flirting, big groups, and making smartass comments in class to boring teachers (Stan most of all after the stunt he pulled on my first day).

Lissa's new, quite role attracted attention simply because it was so different than before we'd left, but most people soon let that go, accepting that the Dragomir princess was fading off the social radar and was content to run with Natalie and her group. That girl's rambling still made me want to beat my head (or hers) against a wall sometimes, but she was still nice and I enjoyed hanging around her most of the time.

As more time passed, I grew progressively bored with just doing normal exercises and practising with a stake in the confines of my room. My muscles continued to grow though (I sneaked on more weights, ran that bit faster and stretched just that little further when Dimitri wasn't looking) and so did my stamina. I still also kicked ass in class. However, other than boredom with the simple routine, the only additional problem now seemed to be my skin. Being outside in the cold so much was drying out my face, and only Lissa's constant supply of skin-care lotions kept me from aging before my time. Lissa also helped with the blisters on my hands and feet, often subtly healing them (without my permission) on the occasions her hand brushed mine whenever we saw each other. I did think it was good use of spirit but she didn't think such small healings would matter, not even thinking for a second that all those little healings would add up.

A routine also developed with Dimitri and me. Mason had been right about him being antisocial. Dimitri didn't hang out much with the other guardians, though it was clear they all deeply respected him just as much as the students. And the more I worked with him, the more I respected him too, though I didn't really understand his training methods. They didn't seem very 'badass.'

It was three weeks after my return to the Academy that thing finally began to look up.

I walked into the gym before school and found him sprawled out on a mat, reading another cowboy book and listening to a crappy '80s song on a portable CD player that someone had brought in.

"Whoa, Dimitri," I said, tossing my bag on the floor. "I realize this is actually a current hit where you come from right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"

Only his eyes flicked toward me; the rest of his posture remained the same. "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running."

"Ugh. Again."

I made a face as I stretched my hamstrings. All things considered, Dimitri had a good tolerance for my bitchiness. So long as I didn't slack in my training, he didn't mind my running commentary. In fact, at times, I saw him smiling at some of my remarks.

"Hey," I asked, moving on to the next set of stretches, "what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something to do with actual fighting?"

He set the book down but didn't move from his sprawl. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and fight Strigoi, right?"

"Yup."

"So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"

"Depends on what store we're in."

He looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake. Duh."

Dimitri sat up now, crossing his long legs in one fluid motion. I still couldn't figure out how someone so gigantic could be so graceful. "Oh? Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?"

Yes and Yes.

Only I couldn't tell him that, so I dragged my eyes away from his body and scowled. The blades are not only lethal to strigoi but to Moroi as well, so they weren't given out lightly to novices. My classmates had just started learning how to use them. Of course, I was still on probation.

Fortunately, there were two other ways to kill a Strigoi, so even if I couldn't tell him about my stake (well, stakes) I had those options.

"Okay. I'll cut his head off. Simple."

I sometimes carried a machete when I went out patrolling an area for the first time, just in case I lost my stakes. Again, not exactly something I could tell Dimitri. I have a feeling I'm supposed to fail this question.

"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?"

My awesomeness?

I straightened up from touching my toes, annoyed. "Fine," I say annoyed, "I'll set him on fire."

"Again, with what?"

I'd use the lighter and flask full of fuel I also carry around with me when going out. Usually I only use it to destroy the bodies at night in case Sydney is unable to make it, but it could also be used in a fight. And again, not exactly something I could tell Dimitri.

I'm sensing a pattern here...

"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?"

He looked at me and didn't blink. "You run."

I repressed the urge to throw something at him. When I finished my stretches, he told me he'd run with me. That was a first. Maybe running would give me some insight into his killer reputation.

Maybe he travelled at the speed of light?

We set out into the chilly evening. Being back on a vampiric schedule still felt weird to me and with school about to start in an hour, I expected the sun to be coming up, not down.

As we ran we didn't speak, only kept a steady pace. Something about that bothered me however, and I suddenly very much wanted his approval. So I picked up my own pace, working my lungs and muscles harder. Twelve laps around the track made three miles; we had nine more to go.

When we reached the third last loop, a couple of other novices passed by, preparing to go to the group practice I'd soon be at as well. Seeing me, Mason cheered. "Good form, Rose!"

I smiled and waved back.

"You're slowing down," Dimitri snapped, jerking my gaze from the boys. The harshness in his voice startled me. "Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?"

Embarrassed, I increased my speed once more. Ha, take that Mr. Long Legs.

We finally finished the twelve laps, and when he checked, he found we'd shaved more than three minutes off my best time.

"Not bad, huh?" I said smugly when we headed back inside for cool-down stretches. "Looks like I could get pretty far. Not sure how Lissa would do, though."

"If she was with you, she'd be okay."

I looked up in surprise. It was the first real compliment he'd paid me since I started training with him (though I could tell he was impressed when I picked up my speed). His brown eyes watched me, both approving and amused.

And that's when it happened.

Sheer terror exploded in my body and in my head. Small razors of pain and fear attacked every vein. My vision blurred, and for a moment, I wasn't standing there. I was running down a flight of stairs, scared and desperate, needing to get out of there, needing to find…me.

My vision cleared, leaving me back on the track and out of Lissa's head. Without a word to Dimitri, I tore off, running as fast as I could toward the Moroi dorm. It didn't matter that I'd just put my legs through a mini-marathon, I could take it for Lissa. They ran hard and fast, like they were shiny and new. Distantly, I was aware of Dimitri trying to catch up to me, asking me what was wrong. But I couldn't answer him. I had allowed the darkness to spread into myself and was fully concentrating on getting my legs to work faster than they ever had. I had one task and one alone: get to Lissa.

Lissa came first. And always would.

Lissa soon came into view and met up with us, her face streaked with tears. I came to a jarring stop, my lungs ready to burst, and I rushed to stop the on flow of darkness.

"What's wrong? What happened?" I demanded, clutching her arms, forcing her to look into my eyes. I would look into her head myself, but I needed to remain calm for the both of us, not add on to the panic. But she couldn't answer. She just flung her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. I held her there, stroking her sleek, silky blonde hair while I told her it was going to be all right—whatever 'it' was. And honestly, I didn't care what it was just then. She was here, and she was safe, which was all that mattered to me. The world could be ending and it would be all ok. Dimitri just hovered over us, alert and ready for any threat, his body coiled to attack. It felt safer with him beside us, allowing me to be fully there for Lissa, knowing he was there in case anything came to attack us.

A half hour later, we were crammed inside Lissa's dorm room with three other guardians, Ms. Kirova, and the hall matron. This was the first time I'd seen Lissa's new room. You could clearly see that Natalie had indeed managed to get her as a roommate and you could clearly see which side was hers and which was Lissa's. Natalie's looked lived in, with pictures on the wall and a frilly bedspread that wasn't exactly dorm-issue. Lissa had as few possessions as I did, making her half noticeably bare. However she did have one picture taped carefully to the wall, a picture taken from last Halloween, when we'd dressed up like fairies, complete with the wings and glittery makeup. Seeing that picture and remembering how things used to be made a dull pain form in my chest. Recognising the tell tale shine of my 'wand' also made me long for my stakes.

Luckily with all the excitement, no one seemed to remember that I wasn't supposed to be in there. Outside in the hall, other Moroi girls crowded together with their phones, trying to figure out what was happening. Natalie pushed her way through them, wondering what the commotion in her room was. When she discovered it, she came to a screeching halt.

Shock and disgust showed on her face, just like it had on everyone else's, as she stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange and it looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and snuggle with.

Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit.

The inside of the throat was gruesomely exposed and blood stained that soft coat, running down onto the pale yellow bedspread beneath, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The fox's eyes stared upward, glazed, over with a sort of shocked look about them, like the fox couldn't believe this was all happening.

You and me both, buddy.

Even after all the death I had both witnessed, and more often caused, nausea still built up in my stomach as I forced myself to keep looking at the poor animal.

What had happened to the fox was sick and twisted, obviously done by someone too fucked up for words. Lissa stared at it, her face death-pale, and took a few steps toward it, hand involuntarily reaching out. This gross act hit her hard, I knew, digging at her great love of animals.

While on our own, she'd often begged me for a pet, but I'd always refused and reminded her we couldn't take care of one when we might have to flee at a moment's notice. Plus, they hated me. So she'd contented herself with helping and patching up strays she found and making friends with other people's pets. She also had to patch me up on occasion due to the amount of scratches the bloody things gave me if I got to close.

She couldn't patch this fox up, though. There was no coming back for it, but I saw in her face she wanted to help it, like she helped everything. I gripped her hand tightly and steered her away, once again recalling a conversation from two years ago.

"What is that? Is it a crow?"

"Too big. It's a raven."

"Is it dead?"

"Yeah. Definitely dead. Don't touch it."

She hadn't listened to me back then. I hoped she would now.

"It was still alive when I got back," Lissa whispered to me, clutching my arm."Barely. Oh God, it was twitching."

I felt bile rise in my throat. Under no circumstances would I throw up. "Did you—?"

"No. I wanted to…I started to…"

"Then forget about it," I said sharply. "It's stupid. Somebody's sick joke. They'll clean it up. Probably even give you a new room if you want."

She turned to me, her eyes wild. "Rose…do you remember…that one time…"

"Stop it," I said. "Forget about it. This isn't the same thing."

"What if someone saw? What if someone knows? I can't – "

I tightened my grip on her arm to get her attention. She flinched. "No. It's not the same. It has nothing to do with that. Do you hear me?" I could feel both Natalie and Dimitri's eyes on us but I ignored them.

"It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay."

I began to take the darkness that had built up in her and store it away in the back of my mind to get rid of later. I could tell Lissa felt it leaving her as her face slowly relaxed and she almost seemed to sway on her feet.

Lissa nodded, putting her trust in me once again.

"Get this cleaned up," Kirova snapped to the matron. "And find out if anyone saw anything."

Someone finally realized I was there and ordered Dimitri to take me away, no matter how much I begged them to let me stay with Lissa. Or told them to move Lissa in with me.

He walked me back to the novices' dorm. He didn't speak until we were almost there. "You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?"

"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke."

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?"

I considered this. Before we'd left, it could have been any number of people. That was the way it was when you were popular. People loved you, people hated you. But now? The only person who really and truly despised her was Mia, but Mia seemed to fight her battles with words and petty disagreements, not actions. And even if she did decide to do something more aggressive, why do this? She didn't seem like the type. There were a million other ways to get back at a person. "No," I told him. "Not a clue."

"Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious."

I spun around, taking my anger over the fox out on him. "Yeah, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps every figgin' day when I should be being taught to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me! I already know how to run away."

I didn't realize until that moment how badly I wanted to prove myself to him, to Lissa, and to everyone else. The fox incident had made me feel powerless, and I didn't like that. Not even my darkness could get rid of it. I wanted to do something, anything. I was sick of hiding my skills in the shadows of my room it was time to show him what I could really do.

Dimitri watched my outburst calmly, with no change in his expression. When I finished, he simply beckoned me forward like I hadn't said anything. "Come on. You're late for school."