A/N: Hey all! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I caught the flu and have been sick all week. : ( But I'm starting to feel better. For those of you who read the "preview", I deleted it so I could post this as the official new chapter. I took my time writing this, it's the biggest chap I've written so far. I was listening to the band Paramore when writing this so you might find some of their lyrics hidden in there-especially from the song 'Misguided Ghosts' The beginning of this chapter is Lissa's reaction to finding out Rose is gone. The rest is Rose in the present time. Hope you like it.

LPOV

I left Dimitri's apartment and went looking for Rose. I couldn't believe how blind I've been. Rose doesn't even deserve my apologies but I had to try. After my family's death, Rose has been the only one there for me. She is family. Guardians lay their lives on the line everyday for the moroi they protect and with Rose I felt completely the same way.

I would risk my life for her in a second, I love her like she's my blood sister. I remember a word I heard once. It was when Rose came back from Russia, she had met another spirit user and a shadow kissed dhamphir. She said they mentioned the term 'bondmate'. That's what what we were. I was connected with Rose is such a deeper way than any blood relation could ever hold. Yet, I couldn't feel her emotions or suffer in her pain as she did with me. The bond was one way. I didn't know how she truly felt.

But I could hardly blame my ignorance on spirit. I should of been more supportive with Rose. I've never wanted anything bad to happen to her. Yet I've already done that to her myself. I have failed Rose so badly. I'm no longer someone she can rely on. And the worst part in all of this was that this wasn't the first time I've been completely negligent to her feelings.

All the time spend at the academy I saw her change when we were brought back. She was still her humorous outspoken self, but I watched her transform into an amazing guardian and person. She was always the one protecting me, making sure I was okay, but I never put too much thought into how she was feeling. She was always so confident and carefree. I thought she was happy and having the time of her life.

But the whole time she was hiding a relationship with Dimitri. I gritted my teeth and flinched from the sudden movement. I loosened my grip slightly, my fangs were poking my bottom lip. I was too oblivious to pick up on the changes in Rose. But now as I looked back, it was right there in front of me the entire time, her aura always lit up like a christmas tree when he was around her, she was always so determined to prove herself. She had more motivation in life. But it wasn't just her aura, it was body language and moods too.

She would smile when talking to Dimitri, and she seemed to pick up on being more serious when he was around. I always wrote it off as an 'impressing the mentor' type thing, but it wasn't. She was changing and falling for him. I remember days where she was in a pissy mood but after a practice with Dimitri she was more calm. And then there was Dimitri.

He was always the serious, stone faced guardian, but around Rose, his features would soften, sometimes I would even see him smile or hear him laugh. He was in love with her all along. Around her, he would loosen up and show emotions. And then he was always so worried and serious if anything would happen to Rose. I just thought he was looking out for his student, but I couldn't be more off base.

They were in love and it was right there in front of me flashing brightly like a neon sign. I watched my best friend crumble to rubble when she thought he died. She left me and went on that insane suicide mission to hunt him down and free his soul. At the time I was too astonished by the fact that they had a secret romance that I didn't fully grasp onto how intense their feelings for one another truly was. I brushed it off as just attraction, and was too busy trying to selfishly convince her to stay with me than to notice her intentions or feelings. When she came back I thought Adrian would mend her broken heart, but he couldn't. Even now with their relationship, I could tell from their auras Rose just wasn't into it. Her heart belonged to someone else. And Adrian being a blind idiot, was too stubborn to accept that.

Then I brought Dimitri back and he did nothing but shove her away. Hurting her all over again when he told her he no longer loved her. I wanted to march back up to that damn apartment and make him suffer. I wanted him to feel triple the amount of pain he had caused to Rose. I wanted to kill him, put only after he begged for it. I wanted him to writhe in pure torment.

But I wanted Rose there to witness it. It was the least I could do for her after being the bitch I've been. I walked to my room and tried calling her. It went straight to voicemail. So I left a few messages. I shocked myself with the first few. I kept scolding her for being so reckless. I didn't mean to really leave so many messages and yell at her, but I wanted to be as honest with her as possible. To prove how sincere I was.

I knew we had the bond, but it felt good to get out all that I was thinking. I knew she was hurting but she had to see that what she did was not helping her situation. If she wanted to get a good guardian assignment, instead of a lifetime behind a desk, she had to play nice and not cause attention to herself. I mentally sighed, Rose is not one to sit around and be quiet. But this was her future at stake. I wanted her to be successful and happy. Not disgruntled and miserable doing filing and community service work.

I shook my head, she didn't need to hear this coming from me, so I started apologizing. I know she's really upset but maybe if I tried hard enough, she'd eventually listen to me. I left a few more messages telling her I was sorry and that I wanted to meet up with her for dinner.

When I was finished, I took a quick shower, put on something decent to wear and headed out to the restaurant I told Rose to meet me at...

It had been three hours and the restaurant was about to close. My waiter came up to me and refilled my glass of water, he glanced at me and then to the front door. Trying to give me the hint that my guest wasn't going to show and that the restaurant was closing soon. I didn't order anything, I kept holding out for Rose. But she apparently wasn't going to show. I raked a hand through my hair and let of a loud sigh. I left a tip on the table and stalked out of the restaurant.

The cool air of the night brushed my face as I briskly walked my way towards Rose's room in guest housing. I whipped out my phone and called Rose, and of course, it went straight to voicemail, her voiced chimed through the receiver,

"Hey sorry I've missed your call, I'm probably out having more fun than your sorry ass right now, but if you miss me that much, leave a message and I might hunt you down"

I rolled my eyes right before the beep sounded, signaling the start of my message "Rose I've given you enough time alone, I'm coming to your room. Whether you're ready or not", I said angrily.

When I got to her room, I pounded on the door. "ROSE! Open up! You can't avoid me for forever!", I hissed. I gripped the knob expecting it to be locked, but it wasn't. I suddenly stumbled forward, as the door when flying open. "Rose?", I called out. Her room was empty and quiet. The drawers of her dresser had been cleaned out and her closet was messier than usual. Something wasn't right.

I turned around to head out, she obviously wasn't here, so I'll have to continue my search. But as I walked past the door, my shoe scuffed on something crumpled on the floor. I bent down and picked up a folded piece of paper, I smoothed out the wrinkles and my heart stopped beating as the note revealed my name scribbled across it in Rose's handwriting. With trembling fingers, I unfolded the letter and froze in complete shock at the words written on it:

Liss,

I'm going away for awhile, but i'll be back. Don't try and follow me, cause i'll return as soon as possible. I just need some time alone. Don't worry, i'll be fine. Love You.

-Rose

I slowly slipped out of my dazed state as my breathing became uneven, my heart started racing, somehow my legs started to move, guiding me out of her room. My mind was spinning with so many thoughts. Rose left? This couldn't be happening. She can't be gone. I was vaguely aware that I was standing outside now. I started searching the area. This is just some joke. Rose isn't gone, she's just really mad and avoiding me that's all, I tried reassuring myself. But it wasn't helping. I needed to find her.

I'll go to the cafe that's not too far from here. Rose will be there munching on eclairs and sipping a cup of hot chocolate. She'll be right there, in front of my eyes. But you know what the bizarre thing was? She wasn't there. She wasn't at the gyms, or the running track, or anywhere that sold food, or at Adrian's place. She wasn't anywhere.

I started panicking, I called her every few minutes. I left numerous messages on her voicemail. This was just some nightmare I'm having. But it wasn't. I did this to her. She left because of me. I was horrible to her. And then there was Dimitri. He had upset her.

I wanted to rip his head off now, but I couldn't because I was frozen where I was. My eye sight was blurred as tears poured out of my eyes. I clutched my chest as my heart pumped wildly. My breathing was labored. I wanted to call out for help, but I couldn't find my voice.

I was so stunned that I didn't notice the lean figure approaching me. "Lissa?" it asked. I blinked back tears to see who it was. My heart did a flip as I recognized who it was.

Christian. Guilty washed over me. We weren't together anymore. Just like Rose, I had ruined his life too. I couldn't handle this anymore, I was the cause of so much suffering. I had to get away from him before I could hurt him even more.

But he took one look at my tear stained face and in the span of a blink I was crushed to his chest. I whimpered, I didn't deserve his comfort, but it felt so right wrapped up in his arms. "Lissa, what's wrong? What happened?", his voice asked strangled.

I don't know how, but I managed to find my voice, "S-she's g-gone C-Christian", I stuttered. "Who?" he asked pained.

"Rose!", I cried. "It's a-all m-my f-fault!", I stammered out. One of his hands stroked my hair soothingly as he said, "Don't worry, we'll find her." Rose was a highly skilled guardian. If she wanted to, she could disappear without a trace. I doubt we could find her even if we wanted. But she didn't want to be found. Her note said she wanted some space. I only hoped Christian was right. Because sooner or later I would go looking for her. I needed to find her. I had to know if she was okay and tell her I was sorry.

RPOV

I stood at the edge of the cliff looking out at the rolling hills of Montana. If I peered my eyes closely, I could see houses, a few parks and a couple shopping centers all tucked away in a small city. The houses and cars from this height looked more like small toy models than the real things that they were.

And with the setting sun spilling rays of golden hues that cast on every surface, it made everything look picturesque-as if it were a painting or post card. I let out a sigh, if only I were like the normal lives down below, where seeing a beautiful sunset over a mountainous area would lull them into a blissful trance and after the setting had finished they would head back to their homes and enjoy a good meal and have a restful sleep.

Unfortunately, I wasn't one of those people. The sunset to me meant something entirely different, it was the calm before the storm, a moment of peace, before death and destruction would consume the night.

"You don't look so good," Kate said beside me. I tried forcing a smile but the end result turned out to be a grim smirk. "I'm fine, just harnessing my chi", I quietly said. She nodded, "Hmm, calling up the inner guardian warrior huh? I used to take yoga, the meditation always helped me with my element skills", I chuckled, "What'd you specialize in?"

"Water, you should of seen me, I was pretty good, I choked an ex-boyfriend once with his own saliva". I gave her a quizzical look, maybe it was a good thing she was a ghost, this chick was crazy when she was alive. She caught on quickly and hurriedly said, "Hey now wait a minute. He deserved it. He cheated on me with my roommate and slept with his cousin too! He was a chauvinistic bastard!"

I rolled my eyes, "Then why'd you date him in the first place?" She grimaced as she whispered, "He wasn't always like that..." I wished I could comfort her but I couldn't. She was energy. I was flesh, blood and bone. I frowned remembering how I'd just met her...

After I got off the plane I went straight to the location of the house that me and my friends had been taken to when kidnapped by strigoi. The last time I was here, I had been a shocked and scared novice.

The house looked abandoned, but I walked up to it anyway. And as the closer I got, the more nothing happened. No sensation of nausea. I couldn't really understand the relief I felt at that fact.

It's funny how guardians always say you never forget your first kills, but for me, I wish the memory would just fade away. It wasn't something I was proud of or wanted to boast about or even remember for that matter. It was the moment when my carefree innocence dissolved away.

I could still feel the fear when I thought this was where I'd die-even now it still haunted me. I flexed my fingers and took a deep breath. But the horrible memories of what happened here flooded my mind relentlessly. Frustrated, I knocked down the front door and entered, still no nausea.

I shuddered as I walked past the place where my friend Mason had died. Even if his spirit had moved on, I still ached over the loss. He was a good friend, and he died because of me...I shook my head, strigoi could still be lurking around, I needed to stay focused...

After an hour, I. Found. Nothing. I was disappointed, and also grateful at the same time. Disappointed because I didn't have any strigoi to get rid of but grateful because apparently they had been spooked away.

I assumed, after the little 'invasion' the academy guardians had conducted when they rescued my group, any remaining survivors would have left. I was happy strigoi weren't continuing their 'torture' escapades here anymore. But as I thought of all they did to us and obviously others before, anger coursed through me. The strigoi were gone, but they could always come back. I swiftly turned around and left the house.

I stalked over to the truck I had recently stolen and pulled out a gallon tank of gasoline and book of matches. "They can't come back if this place is in ashes'", a wicked voice snickered in my head...

I was quick with my new task, the hellhole turned out to be pretty flammable all on it's own. I was expecting to feel better about this action, but I was nowhere near satisfied. I thought by setting this place on fire, I could burn the memories away too. But it didn't. They were permanently etched in my mind forever. Always hiding away until they felt the need to remind me that they were an imperishable virus eagerly waiting to torture me with it's malice.

Shaking the unease off my mind, I jumped into the truck and sped away, the last thing I needed now was to be taken into the custody of human police for arson.

As I watched the flames lick the house to shreds through the rear view mirror, I contemplated where I'd go next. As I turned onto the main road I caught sight of a billboard advertising cavern tours. "That's it!"I thought. I would visit the caves where I went on a rescue mission with the academy once. I cringed remembering the attack on the school. So many innocent people had lost their lives.

I laughed with no enthusiasm, it seems I keep visiting all the places that kept all my worst memories and fears. It was like I was drawn to them, forcing me to relive all my darkest hours. I took an unsteady breath remembering the most terrible thing that happened there. Dimitri. Just thinking his name was a painful jab at my heart. But maybe I could find peace when I got to the caves. The place where our relationship had been crumbled and crushed.

Our relationship had never been easy, but once upon a time we were confident that it could work. But it had all changed when he was taken down, bitten and forced against his will into a monster.

By going to the place where his love and soul had been so violently ripped away from me, perhaps I could finally get closure returning to where all our current problems had started...

As I stepped out of the truck I gripped the holster around my leg to make sure it was secure, the last thing I needed was to reach for my extra stake only to find it had fallen out. I stood up straight and cautiously walked up to the cave's entrance. It was the early evening human time, so I took advantage of the light to survey the area.

I noticed that the jagged rocks above the cave led to a cliff over looking the the valley below. Just like the location of Ambrose's 'contact' the drive up here was in the high altitudes and deserted. A perfect place for a hideout.

I decided to walk around to the other side of the cavern in the hopes of maybe getting a nausea feel for any strigoi that might be inside.

As I started walking, taking in all of my surroundings, I lurched to a stop as a translucent form appeared right in front of me, "What the f-, AHH!" I suddenly crouched down to the ground in pure agony, my head was roaring with hot searing pain.

And then there was the screaming. Loud, ear spitting howls of terror. I shut my eyes trying to grasp onto some shred of stability throughout this chaos. I tried to calm my ragged breath and rapid pulse. 'Get a hold of yourself Hathaway', I chanted to myself.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and took deep breaths. 'I can get through this'. This helped ease the pain slightly. "Oh my god, Oh my god!" I heard a voice say and then I heard the faint sounds of hysteric crying? I slowly opened my eyes and sat up, the fire was still thrashing wildly in my head but I managed.

I looked up to see many translucent forms surrounding me, some just stared, others flickered, some seemed like they were coming towards me. I was seeing ghosts, but I wondered how. I thought I blocked them out. I quickly stood up. As I got up I noticed long dark shadows surrounding me. I looked down at my arms, it seemed as if they were coming from me.

I lifted up one of my hands and gasped to see a shadow-like substance formed into a clouded ball in my palm, I clenched my fist and released. It was still there. I turned my hand over and jumped, the shadow cloud divided and started to extend beyond my finger tips, it was like they were leaking waves of grey smoke. What the hell?

As I performed the gesture, the ghosts seemed to back away. I was still confused as to how I was even seeing them. I thought I had my mental barriers up. I then focused on my barriers, I could feel them, but they were weak. And then I felt something else. It was identical to my barriers, but it contained considerably more energy- it was something stronger.

I extended my concentration on it, this foreign energy reminded me of the grey smoke I'd just seen escape from my fingers. I experimented by pulling on it and covering the barriers with it. As soon as they touched, my barriers hummed back up to full strength. And the pain along with the shadows and grey smoke dissolved away. Also, the ghosts one by one started fading away, until there was nothing in the woodsy, rocky area but me and one lone ghost.

It was so strange, I hadn't noticed before, but this ghost appeared to be the least translucent from the original bunch. As I focused my attention on it, I picked back up on the crying noise I had heard before. My mouth gaped open as I figured out I was staring directly at the source.

A few feet before me hovered a girl around my age. From what I could tell she was Moroi. She wore jeans that were wrinkled and ripped, but not in a fashionable way. A white t-shirt with stains and worn dirty sneakers. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a messy bun. And all across her neck were bite marks. They were gruesome, and blood was smeared all over her skin. I quickly recognized the stains on her shirt as blood.

I sucked in a breath as realization hit me. I jogged up to her, "Hey are you okay?" I said, I stupidly lifted my hand to grip her shoulder but my hand just went right through her. I shivered as cold chills ran through my spine. She recoiled from the action and looked straight at me "You...can... see... me...?" she said in between hiccups. I was shocked, I heard her crystal clear. The only ghost I'd ever spoken to was Mason, and verbal communication had been nonexistent. "What the hell is going on?" I didn't mean to speak it out loud, but it was already too late.

She gave me an angry glare, she snapped out of whatever break down she was having as she shouted at me, "WHAT DO YOU THINK! I'M DEAD!''

And like the snap of a finger she flickered away. I was momentarily dazed before my whole body started to tremble. What just happened?

I searched around the area to make sure I was truly alone before I perched on a nearby rock as my breathing became ragged. I clasped my shaking hands together as my heart pumped wildly in my chest causing sharp little staccato jabs of pain. Never before have I ever had a panic attack or 'freak out'. But this was all just too much.

I couldn't handle this stress. I kept mentally begging to wake up. Because this has to be some kind of horrible nightmare. Soon someone's going to pinch me and I'll wake up in Dimitri's arms in the cabin at the academy. Everything will be carefree and blissful. The only thing I'll have to worry about is what dress I'm going to wear to the party Lissa wants to go to on the weekend and whether I can seduce Dimitri into canceling our morning practice.

But that was the true dream here, it wasn't my sick, twisted reality. It was just a warm hazy wish that would never come true. Cold waves of loneliness and betrayal slithered around me. Even spending time away from my problems couldn't erase the damage it had caused. And now on top of all of that, I was hallucinating, see ghosts and shadows. I was going insane. And there was nothing I could do to stop the inevitable.

"Hey can I talk to you?", a feminine voiced asked, I involuntarily jerked my body off the rock and onto the hard ground, "Fuck!" I swore aloud. Since when am I so jumpy? But then again, since when do I panic? Oh crap, I thought, I'm arguing with myself now too? Before I could muse any further my eye caught onto something on my far left. I turned my head and looked up to see the ghost girl again, "Sorry" she said, "Didn't mean to spook you".

Maybe I was hallucinating again or maybe I really was seeing a ghost in front of me, but one fact remained echoing in my head. This wasn't me. I wasn't handling this situation right. This wasn't the confident, quick-witted Rose Hathaway I knew I was. I forcibly calmed my breathing as I stood up and shook my head.

"Um, don't worry about it. I have questions to ask you too now that you mentioned it." She simply nodded her head.

"Okay, so how can you see me? You're a dhampir, and not dead. But I don't know, I'm drawn to you? Why?" her words came out rapidly like she was afraid she wouldn't have enough time to say it all.

I smiled encouragingly to her as I said, "Calm down, let's take this slow. I'm Rose and you are?"

"Kate. Kate Olendzki", she beamed despite our unusual meeting. Where have I heard that name? It was familiar...Olendzki...and then I remembered.

"Wait, are you related to a Dr. Olendzki? That works at the St. Vladimir's Academy?", I asked hurriedly.

"Yep. She's my mom..." she trailed off lost in thought. The small glint of enthusiasm leaving her face. I was shocked to say the least.

"You're her daughter? I didn't even know she had a kid", I rambled on to fill the silence.

Kate looked up at me with a grim look plastered on her face, "I used to attended a human university far away from here. Not very many people know about me because I'm always traveling or at school. I usually just send her emails to keep up. And then I was on break so I planned a surprise visit but never made it to the academy..."

My heart went out to her. She was so young and innocent, and her life had just been ripped away from her. "I know who you are though. You're a legend, not to mention mom's number one patient", her voice held a slight tinge of hope. Maybe if I kept talking to her, I could erase the memory of her tragedy.

"Oh, so I see my badass rep hasn't gone unnoticed", I said confidently putting my hands on my hips. This made her smile and I could feel my own personal thoughts of despair fade. It felt nice to talk to someone new, even if they were a ghost.

"You're being too modest Hathaway. A young novice with molnija marks and a battlestar mark all before graduation? You're as badass as they get!", she said, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm. We both laughed in synchronization. I only just met her but I liked her already.

"Okay back to business, I'm shadow kissed" she gave me a confused look. "It means I died once and was brought back, and I see you because I'm still tied to the world of the dead."

"Huh?" she said. Okay she was starting to loose cool points.

"Look I don't really have a full understanding of it myself, but there's another Moroi element called 'spirit'. Someone who possesses the element can heal wounds, walk dreams and read auras amongst other things. They also have super compulsion. My friend Lissa's a spirit user and when I was young I died in a car crash. The ability of her spirit element brought me back to life. I could go on all day about this, but just roll with it. How come I keep seeing you while blocking out the others, and I can talk to you. The other ghosts can't even utter a whisper."

"Oh yeah, they don't like you." she said as she glared at something behind me. I turned around and saw nothing. Shaking the tension, she continued on, "I don't know about this 'spirit' element you mentioned but it does kind of seem plausible. As for me, they" ,she pointed behind me, "said I just died so my soul is still lingering near my body. I haven't fully crossed over to the world of the dead. I'm like in an in-between stage because there's still a chance I could be brought back. Maybe that's why you can't block me out. I'm not completely dead yet."

This was just too weird. "Just died? where, what happened?"

She turned and pointed to the caves, "There, strigoi..." she spat the last word.

The rage I had been hiding away suddenly engulfed my body. "How many and are there any survivors?" I said in between gritted teeth.

"Ah about eight and excluding me, twelve." I nodded my head. "Why do you want to know?" she asked. Honestly? She couldn't put it together? I mentally sighed.

"Because I'm going to save them and kill your murderers..." I said in a cold, flat tone.

"You might be able to s-save me? I m-might l-live?" she asked now trembling. I didn't know much about paramedics, or medicine in general, but I was pretty sure she wasn't going to make it, but I forced my lips up into a grin as I said, "I'm sure as hell going to try."

It's been one hour since I promised those words to Kate. Since then I've surveyed the outside area of the cavern thoroughly taking note of every uneven surface and noting the places where I could hold an advantage.

Kate told me there was a hidden exit in the caves two quarters of a mile above ground at the top of the cliff. After an initial scan of everything she told me that's where the strigoi would be leaving from when the sun went down.

The plan was to take down all eight strigoi and fit all thirteen captives in the back of my truck where I would take them to St. Vladimir's. They'd be safe in the protection of the wards and I could then rush Kate's body to the infirmary where they could possibly revive her. I silently prayed Kate was right about still having a fighting chance because the other outcome was going to be hard to handle. Either way, Doc Olendzki was in for one hell of a mother daughter reunion.

I was horrified with the story of how she came to be in this predicament. The university she was attending had just finished up with the spring semester. I silently laughed to myself when she told me she was pre-med. I guess the saying 'the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree' was true. She and a few of her friends planned an end of the year roadtrip. They traveled from New York to Washington D.C. attending a few concerts and doing some sightseeing. Afterwards they visited Chicago and they were on their way to Seattle, Washington when she decided to pay a surprise visit to her mom.

She and her friends had rented out a charter bus for this epic adventure, so they had stopped at a camping site in Montana to get some rest before Kate went to go see her mom the next day. But they never even made it out of the camp grounds the next morning because a pack of strigoi had attacked them that night. And of course because she was living out in the human world and not a royal, she didn't have any guardians with her. Her group was dragged off to the caverns where the strigoi fed from them. She said their leader was a tall blonde that seemed to pay extra attention to her. I shuddered from the story, Kate had died being used as a bloodwhore. If it wasn't for the fact I was consumed in a violent rage, I would have started crying over her horrific end. But I had to stay strong and not let my emotions control me, everything she was telling me reminded me so much of the strigoi named Nathan and the time I spend when I was captured by strigoi Dimitri. I didn't need my past to effect my performance in this fight.

She had been traveling with mostly humans but I was shocked to find she had a few dhampir friends with her too. Kate said they had attended an academy with her in Vermont where she lived with her dad. They all graduated but never accepted an assignment for a charge. They wanted to live "off the grid" so to speak and experience a normal human life -filled with attending college, dating cute frat boys, going to crazy toga parties, and working on getting degrees and starting a profession in the human world.

I had never heard of such a thing. Sure, I had met some unpromised dhampirs back in Russia, and of course there was the whole 'blood whore' thing. Not to mention Ambrose and his 'day spa' career. But I never even considered we had another option to choose. A life of your own where the old 'they come first' guardian mantra was chucked out the window.

I distantly remember hearing something once of two guardians running off together, getting married and living in the human world. But these people Kate knew were my age and in the current present time. It made me start to wonder, that maybe the world I grew up in and still live in was just a cult driven society run by a dictatorship. It boggled my mind with the thought of having a life of freedom where I got to choose what I wanted to do and live a long life without worrying if tomorrow's next strigoi attack would be my last.

But as the idea wrapped around my head, I couldn't help but dismiss it. I loved Lissa to no end and I could hardly turn my back on the life I've worked so hard to achieve. I cleared my throat to steady my mind from my crazy thoughts. I chose this life because I wanted to protect and save lives and that's exactly what I'm going to do now.

"They're getting ready to leave", Kate whispered beside me. I smiled, "Thank you for all your help, I'm going to try my best to rescue everyone, but Kate", I locked gazes with her, "You have to prepare yourself with the fact that I might not get you to the infirmary in time." She nodded her head and I saw thin tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Good Luck", she faintly whispered as she flickered away leaving me alone to battle the undead demons who had twisted her innocent soul into a misguided ghost.

A/N: I'll try updating again soon. But in the mean time, what do you think? Review and let me know.

~Fabulous