A/N: Woah! Over 50 reviews and counting-and I'm just getting started with this story! I just wanted to send out my humble appreciation to all the reviews, story alerts, favorites, etc. Your opinions/support is what drives and inspires me to write this story. So I just wanted to send out a huge thanks to you all : ) And now with that out of my system, on with the story...

With a forceful blow to my stomach and then one quickly joined to the chest, I stumbled backwards and fell over the edge. But before I completely fell, I managed to plunge one of my stakes into the heart of one of my attackers.

My hair whipped around my face as I free fell down the cliff's side. You know that moment where your life flashes before your eyes? Well I kind of had a similar feeling of that right now. Memories of every stolen kiss I had with Dimitri and every happy moment I had with Lissa coursed through me like a homemade video.

I felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach as I realized I still truly loved the both of them, and I was never going to see them again...

I could feel the pain I kept locked away start to stir from it's hiding place as my eyes started to sting. But before I could even shed a single tear, one of my arms shot out towards the jagged wall and grabbed onto a loose tree root. Before I could even understand what was happening, my body climbed back up the cliff at an unnatural speed.

My hands searched my pockets, I couldn't find my stake. It must of fallen out when I fell. I groaned aloud realizing I had to take down this last strigoi without a stake. I didn't have much time to think it through seeing as the last strigoi noticed me and stared at my approaching figure in bewilderment. In a flash, I stood before him and unexpectedly grabbed a hold of his arm and with a swift twist, snapped it in half.

He howled in pain as I staggered back. How the hell did I just do that? Before I could continue my baffled thoughts, I barely dodged a hit to my head.

"You just won't stop will you?", he muttered before he sent a roundhouse kick to my injured rib. Well, he tried to kick me, but I was faster than him.

I deflected the blow and in the blink of an eye my arms were firmly wrapped around his neck, "Impossible. She said you'd never survive the fall, she promised." he whispered to himself, before I snapped his neck. I paid no attention to his words, they were most likely his last feeble attempt to distract me. I disengaged my hold and the body dropped to the ground. This would only buy me some time before he would heal and regain control of his limbs. I scanned the area looking for the strigoi I stabbed before I fell. And far off a yard away from me, the body lay half sagged over the cliff's edge. I sprinted over to the body and flipped it over, I pulled out the stake and rushed back to the other strigoi body.

His pupils were dilated but his hands were starting to flex and regain strength, in one swift movement the stake collided with his heart and the muscle spasms ceased as his eyes changed from red back to a light brown. I pulled the stake out but immediately plunged it back in and struck the heart again, and again and again, again...

I found a good rhythm thrusting the stake into his chest repeatedly. With each puncture, my movements became faster and stronger. Blood was seeping out of the wounds and formed a thick puddle around the body, but I just kept going.

My entire mind was glazed over in an unhinged pathological bloodlust. These red eyed fiends were the cause to every wrong in the world. My world. My life was fine until they came and ruined it all. They stole my innocense, killed my friends and took away the love of my life. They needed to die in the most painful way possible. I needed to make sure of it. So I just kept striking out at the strigoi corpse. I was going to tear and pummel it into an oblivious.

"Rose! STOP! He's dead, they're all dead. You have to get us out of here!" a voice said to me. But I ignored it. These strigoi had hell to pay and I wasn't finished with them. I need a bigger stake I thought. This one wasn't inflicting enough damage. And I need more strigoi... I mused. I couldn't torture these ones, they weren't fun anymore. I need to go find more, I will hunt down all of them until there is no more. I have to kill them ALL.

And no, no, NO quick death would suffice. Hm, yes they need to suffer so so SO much longer before I pitied them with the sweet empty darkness death offers. I would tear them apart limb for limb slowly, and then watch their limbless bodies scream and writhe as their flesh burned in the sunlight. Mm, yes yes YES. I must do that. The shrilling cries of their suffering would be a prodigal symphony to my ears. Oh, but where to start? There's so many different ways to begin the fun...

"HATHAWAY! Can you hear me? I said we have to GO!" the annoying voice shrieked again, I glanced up to see that pathetic ghost. What was it's name? Hm... it doesn't matter, I had strigoi to hunt. I stood up and backed away from the bloody carcass. It no longer held my interest. I walked right through the ghost and started to descend down through the trees that were off to the side of the cliff. But before I could even make two strides, my body suddenly went ice cold as I became paralyzed and crashed down to the ground where I tumbled into a cluster of thorny bushes that caught my fall and stopped my body from rolling down the steep hill. I growled in irritation as the thorns dug in and scrapped my skin right before my vision went black and my mind was lit on fire...

The burning was so painful, that I could do nothing but endure the torture. And just as fast as it had flared up, the fire ceased. The icy numbness of my body soothed my senses and soon my eyesight returned. I saw Kate's tranparent body hovered above me as I started to regain control of my body again, I began to recall what I'd just done.

"Oh my god..." I weakly said. What the hell did I just do? It was like my mind was twisted into a frenzy of evil thoughts and action.

What's happening to me? It was like I didn't have any control of my mind or body. Am I really insane now? I shuddered, it reminded me eerily of how a strigoi's mind works. Strigoi. Resolve suddenly slapped me in the face, or was that just Kate?

I glanced at her as she sheepishly grimanced, "Sorry, I didn't know what else to do. I asked the others to help me, but then your shadows shut them out. And don't even ask me how I just slapped you, it just sorta happened. I have no idea..." she rambled on, I put up a hand to stop her. We could banter about this later. I needed to save the others.

I got up slowly, my body was aching and throbbing all over, the adrenaline was wearing off. I winced as I prodded the tender spot on my rib. I didn't have much more time until my body gave in to post batte fatigue, so I started walking back to the caves to start my tedious task of carrying everyone to the truck...

Turns out most of the cave hostages were capable of walking, just painstakingly slow. I only had to carry Kate's body down the steep hill. But it would of taken me a lot faster of a time to carry each and every survivor one by one down the hill and they still wouldn't of made it halfway down. But if they could walk the better for me, I needed to conserve my strength. The six scattered around the trees I would definately have to haul over to the truck...

In all it took me about a half hour until everybody was filed into the truck. I hadn't seen Kate's spirit since she slapped me, the moment she saw her body she flickered away. I took that as a good sign, maybe she reconnected back with her body. But I was on high alert nonetheless...

The truck's engine groaned in protest as I drove maniacally to the academy. When I saw the outline of the front gates ahead, I pressed further down on the gas peddle forcing as much speed into this metal beast as I could.

The young girl I spoke to earlier tapped on the window behind me and frailly shouted, "Hey you have to slow down! You're going to hit that gate!" I grinned widely in response and averted my attention back to the gate. That's exactly what I'm going to do. Once the guardians on duty saw my face, I didn't have much time before I had to leave. There was no way in hell I was going to be spotted out here in Montana. I didn't want to go back to court yet.

I let off the gas as the truck knocked the front gate down ferociously. Once we made it inside the wards, I slammed my foot down on the break and steadied the steering wheel as the truck swerved wildly across the well groomed lawn. My passengers in the back that were conscious screamed from the suddenly collision. I put the truck into park and cut the engine, I reached over to the floor of the passenger side of the cabin and dug my hand into my duffle bag where I pulled out Lissa's bracelet and slipped it on.

I felt a slight tingle as the magic worked it's way over my body morphing my appearance. I jumped out of the truck as four guardians came charging at me, I held my hands up as I shrieked in a high pitched voice, "Please you have to help us! There w-was strigoi a-and they attacked us! P-please help, my friend is dying!". I purposely studdered to fit the part.

When the guardians reached me, they took in my appearance and lowered their stakes. At this precise moment, I looked like a young moroi woman mid-twenties with dark red hair and deep forrest green eyes. To top it off, being the fantastic actress that I am, I wore a mask of terror and fright. "What do you mean strigoi? Where were they and how did you manage to escape?", one of the guardians asked coming towards me as the others started approaching my truck filled with the survivors.

"I, I don't know! O-one minute me and my friends are out camping and the next th-thing we're been dragged o-off into the woods by strigoi. M-my friend K-Kate Olendzki was going to visit her m-mom here b-but we didn't make it. T-then this women c-comes and saves us and t-told me to drive here! Please you're wasting time, my friend needs help!"

After that little rant, I went back to the truck swung the passenger door open, slung my duffle bag over my shoulder, and lifted Kate's limp body in my arms and took off sprinting for the infirmary.

I heard the shouts of the guardians faintly behind me but I paid no attention to them. I was running out of time. If I stayed over there with them, my story would continue to sound suspicious and I didn't have the energy to think up another half-lie. Plus once they found the stakes concealed in my duffle bag all hell would break loose. So I just ran, like my life depended on it, which was kind of true. Another life depended on it, Kate's. I had no idea if she was still alive or not so I needed to find out now.

I burst through the doors of the infirmary where a moroi receptionist seated behind a desk jumped when she saw me. Before I could start yelling for help Dr. Olendzki walked down the hallway that led to the reception area. When she glanced up to see what the commotion was all about, the file of papers she was holding dropped to the floor as she took in the scene before her.

"Katelyn!", she screamed in complete horror watching me carry her daughter's limp, bloody body in my arms.

The next few minutes flew by in what felt like seconds. Kate's body was ripped away from mine as a team of nurses and Dr. Olendzki herself, rushed her to a room containing lots of equipment. I followed them but kept my distance, they seemed to be too preoccupied to notice. There was so much going on that I couldn't really tell what they were doing, but from the frantic shouts and worried mumbles it didn't sound like it was going good.

I closed my eyes to focus on my barriers, I removed them and suddenly felt a painful headache. Gritting my teeth I focused on Kate's spirit, trying to locate her, silently hoping she wasn't there but in her own body.

I felt a cold shiver rack my spine and my eyes snapped open. Kate hovered before me but her appearance was very faint. She wore a sad expression as she stared at me emotionlessly. My blood ran cold as I realized she was different. She looked just like the other ghosts. My heart stopped beating at that realization because what I was seeing now was far worse than the pain my head was swimming in. Kate wasn't coming back, she had lost her will to the living world.

I locked gazed with her as tears started to form in my eyes. She stared back equally sad, she opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Frustrated, her bottom lip trembled as she turned to her frantic mother performing chest compressions on her and pointed, then turned back to me. She had a serious look of concentration on her face as she barely whispered to me, "It's okay Rose. Thank you for rescuing my body. Tell her I love her..." she then looked at me with a smile on her face but it didn't meet her sad eyes as she faded away into nothing.

Silent tears streaked down my cheeks. Kate just died. I didn't save her in time, I wasn't fast enough. "Time of death..." I heard her mother murmur before she broke out into hysterics. I didn't notice I was walking up to her until I stood only an inch away. I slipped my bracelet off as I gripped her shoulder.

She flinched from the touch and lifted her head up. She jumped back as she saw who I really was, "Rose!" she half shrieked half sobbed. I gave her a grim smirk before I pulled her into a bone crushing hug, my rib screamed from the contact but I ignored it.

"She told me to tell you she loved you. I'm so sorry I didn't get her here sooner. M-maybe she c-could of pulled through if I did..." I trailed off as my voice cracked with emotion. She held onto me like I was the only thing keeping her standing, and in truth I think I was, as she broke out in a fit of sobs.

I would have stayed there all night comforting her over her loss but what happened next was not what I was expecting. My body was pried out of her embrace as I fell backwards and slammed onto Kate's lifeless body. My vision went black as violent currents of blazing fire engulfed my entire body. My head felt like I had just gotten a brain freeze from chugging a giant slurpee but at about ten times worse. I felt the sensation of a thousand razor blades slicing my skin and hundreds of pairs of cold hands grabbing at the torn flesh. My hearing was drowned in the sounds of many shrilling screams and then I passed out...

I felt like I'd just been run over by a bus. My entire body ached everywhere with soreness. I fluttered my eyes open and immediately shut my lids back down as my head throbbed from the bright lights above me. I tilted my head to my left and coughed. This only made my head ache more and I noticed that my throat felt dry. I tried sitting up but a strong arm pushed me back down. My eyes snapped open as I realized I wasn't alone.

"Whoa there Hathaway, you need to rest", a familiar voice said as I looked up to see that it was none other than Guardian Alberta Petrov. I don't know why but I felt relieved to see her. I smiled at her but swatted her arm away and stubbornly sat up anyway. But as I sat up I groaned as I felt a sharp pain bite into my side.

"Still stubborn as always..." another voice said. It was farther away and I glanced over to see Dr. Olendzki standing against the door frame of the room I was in. It was then that I noticed I was wearing an ugly pale green hospital shirt. I looked down and pushed away the papery fabric to reveal my upper torso wrapped up in some type of bandage. That's right, I broke a rib...

"What happened?" I asked, my voice sounded strange and my jaw felt funny. I lifted my hand to the side of my mouth and stiffened, it was swollen. Crap. This was going to be a bitch until it healed.

"That's what we should be asking you", Alberta said pulling me out of my thoughts. Dr. Olendzki quickly stepped forward holding up her hands. "She needs to rest, we can sort this all out later. Rose you have a broken rib and a minor fracture in your jaw. I've given you a lot of painkillers but you really shouldn't be talking just yet. You need rest." she said in a stern voice. She whispered something to Alberta.

She nodded her head, took one last look at me and strode out of my room leaving me alone with Dr. Olendzki. I grimaced remembering all that had just happened. I sadly looked into her eyes and asked the question I was dreading the answer to, "Where's Kate? Is she okay?"

Tears brimmed her eyes as she looked mournfully back at me, "She's gone." I didn't stop the sobs that erupted from my mouth as I started shaking my head. It just wasn't fair, I found her body, I talked to her spirit. She should of lived. "It's my fault, I was supposed to save her..." I whispered, barely audible.

I was gently embraced in a half hug as Dr. Olendzki said, "No Rose, you did all you could do. She lost too much blood, it was already too late." her voice cracked but she continued on, "Don't blame yourself for this. And you did save her, you brought her back to me and for that I own you my upmost appreciation and gratitude. If there is anything you ever need, please don't hesitate coming to me." My bottom lip quivered but I nodded in response before I said, "A cellphone."

She pulled back, "What?"

"I need to make a few calls. Can I borrow a cell phone and have a few minutes of privacy?" I asked. She looked at me for a few minutes trying to figure out if I was serious, but I gave her my best serious face. She nodded her head and walked out of the room.

I searched the room they had me in and breathed a sigh of relief as I saw my duffle bag sitting on the floor near my bed. I scanned the room to see if it had a window...

Dr. Olendzki returned a few minutes later with a cellphone in hand and tall glass of water. She handed me the water as I gave her a quizzical look as she also handed me two pills, "Don't worry these are just some painkillers, but they might make you drowsy, when you're done with the phone, swallow them and drink this entire glass of water. Rose you really do need the rest."

I nodded my head. I think I looked a bit frantic because she quickly said, "And don't worry we haven't contacted the royal court yet. That's something we'll discuss once you're in better shape. For now please, just rest." And with that she placed the phone on my lap and gave me another hug and left the room closing the door behind her.

I smiled, despite her tragic loss, she still treated her patients with such seriousness and dedication. She really was a great doctor. I gulped down the water and was a little shocked as to how thirsty I was and stuffed the pills into my jean pocket. Thankfully they didn't stick me into a hospital gown.

I didn't waste anytime, I got out of that bed, put on a fresh shirt from my bag, put the cellphone in my other pocket and went over to the window. I unlocked it and opened it up as wide as it would go. I sighed in relief, I was on the first floor. I threw my bag out the window and with much protest from my body, I heaved myself out the window too.

As my legs touched the ground, my balance quivered slightly and I had to grab onto the brick wall for support. I grumbled to myself, I was still drugged up from the painkillers I was given before which meant getting out of here was going to be more difficult than I originally thought.

I rounded the corner of the building's side and stepped onto a courtyard connecting to the parking lot and to my relief the lot was empty. Well not completely empty, deserted off to the side sat a jet black motorcyle. Someone had left their riding jacket and helmet on the seat. I scanned the area double checking that no one would see me, around this time of day, most of the students, guardians and faculty were busy over at the teaching quads, meaning the opportunity to leave unnoticed through the school's old windy back exit road in the woods was highly possible. Plus school wasn't technically in session because it was summer break, so that was even better.

I walked up to the bike, shrugged on the jacket and winced from the slight pressure to my broken rib. I made note that I would have to take the extra painkillers soon seeing as the ones in my system now were already starting to wear off.

I tied my dufflebag securely to the back seat as I felt a mischievous grin spread across my face. I pulled on the helmet and felt the rush of adrenaline start to course through my veins as I readied myself to go on the run once again...

The fire before me blazed wildly as I threw in the final body. I had left the academy and returned to the caves where I collected all the strigoi bodies and started a bonfire. It had taken me awhile seeing as my body was fighting fatigue, but I fought through it.

I pulled out the cellphone Dr. Olendzki had given me and dialed a number I had memorized. After two rings, a groggy feminine voice answered, "Hello?" I silently chuckled, it was the middle of the night human time. I probably just woke her up.

"Hey Sydney, it's me Rose. Um, can you send a few alchemists to Montana?" I quickly explained the drama of the past few events only listing off the important details and gave her directions to the academy and cavern site. "The strigoi bodies are in a bond fire at the moment, there's a group of humans at the school and oh! I kind of set a house on fire a few miles back."

"WHAT!" her voice yelled through the reciever...

A/N: For some sick reason, I love writing in RPOV when she's all 'darkness crazy'. I know, I'm weird. Plus I find it kind of fun spooking you out.

ah, the joys of writing a suspense story... muah ha ha ha...

naw, I'm just messing with you, this is just a minor detail of the story outline. I haven't pre-written anything yet involving the whole "spirit darkness" thing. But I will tell you guys this, it plays a secret role in this story. But that's all I'm saying, I don't want to give away too much. I still want to keep you guys guessing on what's going to happen next. Review!

~Fabulous

ps- mystery POV hint:

-it's someone rose has met before.

-yes they're evil.

-no it's not tasha... maybe later...

i haven't decided yet if i want to make her good or bad.

pss- Getaway bike: black Yamaha YZF-R1 (the link for it is on my profile!)