Author's note: What? Another update so soon? YES! I did say I would try and update more frequently, and I meant that! So here's the next chapter! Enjoy and review! :)

Rose's POV

I was on a plane. It hadn't taken too long to find a ride to the airport. As I left Dimitri's hometown the sun was just starting to disappear from the sky. I knew they'd eventually come looking for me so I hid somewhere I doubted anyone would look for Rosemarie Hathaway; the church. Soon enough I found an older couple who were so concerned about a young female being alone that they offered to take me anywhere I needed to be. Maybe karma was finally realising what a bitch she had been lately and decided to give me a small break.

I'd noticed that the plane I was on now was very different to the fancy ones the academy owned. I definitely wasn't in first class, let's just put in that way. It amazed me how many humans could afford to fly. Most of them looked like they spent their time in trailer parks and spitting in cans or something. I knew I shouldn't judge them, but it was in my blood. I knew without a doubt that if the people on the plane found out I was a vampire they'd all have a very negative reaction. They'd probably try and stake me, or decapitate me. Some hard-core religious person might even take it upon themselves to exorcise the devil from within me.

I let out a sigh, glancing out the window. The moon hung precariously in the sky and I could see the faint glow of hundreds and thousands of stars glimmering in the distance. We were so high in the sky that the thick carpet of clouds below us resembled the ground, though much fluffier. I couldn't even comprehend that there was an entire world hidden beneath them.

Alberta had undoubtedly been extremely helpful and managed to secure me a teaching job at one of the many Moroi academies. Don't worry though, my job was teaching kids combat techniques, nothing educational. Since I had graduated with kickass results, especially in combat training, the Academy thought it would be good for someone my age to be teaching others. I wouldn't teach alone though, obviously. I'd just left school myself. I was simply helping, kind of like a mentor or co-teacher. And when I wasn't teaching I'd be performing Guardian duties around the school. It wasn't exciting or glamorous, but it paid well enough for me and I got free food and a room to stay in.

My new home would be in St Joseph's Academy in London. Apparently the Academy was similar to the one in Montana; ancient and foreboding, but it wasn't secluded. People thought it was some elite boarding school where the super smart and super rich were sent. It also differed from St Vladimir's due to the fact that it was guarded even more. More security and more warding's were set up everywhere. I was anxious to get there but I was also worried. I'd never actually taught anyone before. I was confident in my abilities. I knew I was practically a legend and the kids I would be teaching would have undoubtedly heard of my escapades. That was part of the problem. I'd always given my teachers hell and now these kids had the chance to flip the tables. In other words, I was royally screwed.

Since I'd been constantly worrying about my new job the flight seemed to fly by - pun intended. So I didn't have much time to stress over leaving everyone behind. I knew I couldn't just leave without a reason. I'd call Adrian or Christian when I landed. Maybe even Olena since she'd be so kind and welcoming to me. I just couldn't bring myself to call Dimitri or Lissa. They'd probably all want to drag my back by my hair if they knew where I was. I couldn't keep my location a secret forever though. Word travels fast in Moroi society. I'm sure they'd hear rumours about me being in London the second I set foot in the Academy.

At least I knew for now I was alone, and they wouldn't be getting here anytime in the next few days. At least that would give me time to mentally prepare to see everyone and deal with everything. Or maybe if I just ignored the problems they would magically disappear. Abracadabra right? No. I doubted it would be that simple. I was just hoping that everyone would understand that I needed time. I didn't want Dimitri and Lissa showing up and demanding forgiveness or trying to convince me to come back. I wanted time away from both of them to see how I really felt about everything that had happened.

Before I knew it I was getting off the plane. A driver was waiting with 'Hathaway' written on a sign. I suddenly felt extremely grown up and mature. I was technically an adult; it just seemed hard to remember most of the time. And now I had my very first job working at St Joseph's Academy. Sure I had no friends or family here but at least I had the chance to gain more Guardian experience and meet new people. Maybe I'd even make some friends along the way. I just hoped to limit the amount of enemies I made. I'm pretty sure I had enough of them to last me a lifetime.

I felt guilty for leaving everyone. I'd never been the type of person to put my own happiness before others, but I just couldn't stay there and face everyone. Getting my memories back had done horrible things to my mind. I got a headache just thinking about it. I didn't want to have to decide now what I was going to do. Dimitri would expect me to decide the fate of our relationship and Lissa would want forgiveness for being such a horrible friend over the past few months. I missed both of them so much. I literally felt like two chunks of me were missing. But I knew I just had to give it time. I couldn't just stay in Russia and fix my problems, not when they would be staring me in the face every single day.

I approached the driver, giving him a smile and a small salute. "Rose Hathaway reporting for duty, Sir."

Lissa's POV

We searched for Rose all afternoon with no luck. It was almost like she'd completely vanished. We were all worried, especially as the sun started it's slow decent. We couldn't stay out during night. It was too dangerous, especially since there was now three Moroi and only one Dhampir to protect us. We all returned to the Belikov house feeling defeated and upset. I could see the loneliness in Dimitri's eyes. He seemed haunted by Rose's disappearance.

I approached him slowly. "We'll find her. It'll be okay."

Dimitri let out a tortured sigh. "She's made her decision Lissa. She doesn't want either of us in her life anymore. She left us here, without even saying goodbye because we both hurt her beyond repair. It won't be okay." His stoic Guardian mask had been plastered on his face all day, but his eyes revealed how much pain he was in. The love of his life had just vanished without even saying goodbye. No explanation and no forgiveness. I was also hurt that Rose could just take off without a word. Had we really hurt her so badly? I didn't think what I'd done deserved this kind of treatment. I understood she was hurting, but I was too. Did she even care about the pain she was causing everyone else?

"She has to face us again one day Dimitri." I replied, placing my hand gently on his arm, hoping to reassure him. "She loved you so much. I doubt those feelings could ever go away. She just needs time, and I'm sure she'll find her way back to you. She always does."

He gave me a curt nod. "Hopefully." And then he retreated to his room.

I let out a sigh and approached the boys. Adrian was still trying to devise plans to find Rose and Christian was shooting them all down for their stupidity. The plans were getting crazier. And Adrian was getting more tired as the night wore on.

"I could just find her in her dreams tonight." Adrian stated with a gleam in his eyes. "Maybe she'll tell me where she is. I mean, she's not mad at me, just you and Dimitri." He said to me.

"Shut up Adrian." I said. It wasn't just me and Dimitri. There had to be another reason why she left.

She'd always been so strong. How had she been so hurt just because I wouldn't let her see Dimitri when he asked me not to let her see him? It was beyond stupid that she was holding a grudge over something like that.

"That's true." Christian stated, shooting me an apologetic look. "We didn't do anything to her. She'd probably like to hear from us. I bet if you got her in a spirit dream she'd agree to meet us somewhere. Maybe then she can explain why she left."

"We know why she left." Adrian stated, not elaborating any further.

I shot him a glare. Even they thought it was my fault!

Suddenly Adrian's phone rang. "It's Rose." He said in shock.

Rose's POV

"Hey Little Dhampir," Adrian's voice said hesitantly when he answered the phone. "How are…things?"

I let out a laugh. "They could be better."

I could hear voices whispering wherever Adrian was. Undoubtedly it would be Lissa. I could feel her surprise through the bond that I'd actually called. She was probably trying to urge Adrian to find out where I was. Did she seriously not understand that I just wanted some time without her and Dimitri?

"Hold on." Adrian said to me. After a few seconds I heard a door close, cutting off the whispering. "Okay. I'm alone now."

"I'm sorry." I said. "I shouldn't have left without saying goodbye to you. I just called to let you know that I'm okay." I felt horrible for leaving Adrian behind. If I could have I would have brought him with me. But Lissa and the rest would just follow. I missed Adrian. He'd always been a great friend to me, even when I'd dragged his heart through the dirt. I was a horrible person, yet he still cared about me. He was a loyal friend and I knew I'd always be able to trust and rely on him.

"I'm not going to say it's okay, because it's not." He sighed. I could practically see him running his hand through his messy hair. I knew his emerald eyes would be shining with sadness. I felt like I was constantly re-breaking his heart. But I was too selfish to let go of his friendship. He just meant too much to me. "But I understand." He finally said.

"I just need to deal with everything without constantly having to see Lissa and Dimitri around every corner." I tried to explain. I knew he already knew why I'd left, but I felt like I needed to explain. I needed him to understand that I never wanted to leave him.

"I know." He replied. "I just wish…I wish you weren't hurting so much. I wish I could help."

"You do help." I replied, meaning every word I said. "You help just by being there for me."

By the time I got off the phone the Academy was looming in the distance. Its iron gates looked daunting and huge, surrounding the school like an impenetrable barrier against all the evil in the world. The city spread out around the school. Busy London patrons would assume that this was some educational school for humans, not the Vampire Academy it truly was. A wooden sign was standing on f the ground near the gate with the schools name written upon it in some fancy font. It made the school seem even more prestigious.

The driver stopped in front of the gate and Guardians immediately surrounded the car, checking every inch of it for signs of…anything. They got our names. The drivers name was Charlie. The Guardians recognised him immediately and waved him on through. But despite their familiarity with the driver they still cast me suspicious looks as the car drove through the now opened gates.

The school sat upon acres of land. I could see stone buildings in the distance. Apart from the buildings all I could see was green. Grass spread out through the entire Academy as well as tall oak trees. The sun had begun to rise again, so I knew the students and teachers would be turning in for the night. I would be doing the same as soon as I met the Head Mistress of the Academy.

I was dropped off near the entrance of the school and the driver gave me some directions to her office. I found it pretty quickly and knocked on the door. I felt nervous. This was my first job. I was actually in a school. I hadn't even liked being in my school and I rarely got along with my teachers. What made me think I would do any better here?

"Come in." A voice called out.

I entered slowly, closing the door behind me.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, I presume?" A woman questioned. She looked to be in her mind twenties. Her auburn hair was wrapped in a tight bun on the back of her head and her face wore a perpetual scowl. I didn't think it was directed at me. She was probably just tired after working all day. She was clearly Moroi; she was slender and pale. Her eye colour was a mixture between Lissa's jade eyes and Adrian's emerald, though I didn't know what someone would label it as. Probably just green.

"Yes." I replied in a formal tone. "It's a pleasure to meet you." I extended my hair which she quickly shook. Her handshake was strong for a Moroi.

"Please, sit." She gestured to a chair on the opposite side of the desk. I complied immediately feeling like I was back in school. I glanced around the room. It was decorated like everything else in the school, with furniture which seemed ancient and huge. The desk was made from a dark wood and had elaborate carvings surrounding the edges. "My name is Alexandra Kedrov. Or Head Mistress Kedrov as the students refer to me as."

For the next half hour she explained my role in the school and gave me my schedule and a map of the school, along with my room key. Every day would be the same for the first semester, then after that I would get a new schedule which would most likely just be a different rotation of the one she'd given me now. As I left I glanced down at my schedule once more.

1st Period Advanced Guardian Combat techniques (Teaching)

2nd Period Ancient Poetry (Guardian)

3rd Period Culinary Science (Guardian)

4th Period Animal Behaviour and Physiology (Guardian)

-Lunch-

5th Period Russian 2 (Guardian)

6th Period Junior Guardian combat training (Teaching)

7th Period American Colonial Literature (Guardian)

8th Period Slavic Art (Guardian)

I would only be teaching two classes, but since I'd never taught before I figured that would be for the best. I didn't even know who I'd be working with. All I knew was that at eight o'clock each morning I would report to the gym and begin my long and torturous day of teaching and guarding. I was looking forward to earning money, but I wasn't looking forward to all that hard work. I felt like I was back in school myself. It felt weird to think I'd been in an Academy so recently. Sure, I'd graduated now, but it felt odd. That part of my life was over forever. Now I was starting a new chapter. One I wasn't sure would turn out all that great. Whoever was writing my story seriously needed to edit out all the bad and give me more good times. I just wanted to be happy.

Dimitri's POV

"Where is she?" Lissa exclaimed. "You were talking to her. Did you even think to ask?" She'd been grilling Adrian over the phone call Rose had made to him for what felt like hours. What did she say? How did she say it? Did she sound upset? When is she coming back? Why didn't you ask her anything important?

He shrugged for the hundredth time. "I already told you. I don't know."

Christian rolled his eyes. "Liss, do you honestly think she'd tell Adrian where she is? She knows you'll come looking for her and she doesn't want that."

"You're not helping Christian." Lissa snapped. I let out a sigh. They'd all been bickering for hours while I just sat and listened. I couldn't deny that it had hurt when I'd heard Rose had called Adrian. I literally felt my heart twist in my chest. I'd never experienced jealousy before I met Rose. I guess she brought out the best and worst in me.

"Can you just stop arguing?" I groaned. "She'll let us know where she is when she wants to."

"Or maybe we won't ever hear from her again." Lissa replied, anger in her voice. "For someone who supposedly loves Rose so much you don't seem to care that she's missing. Do you ever plan to look for her, or are you just going to wait around for years hoping she'll suddenly forgive you and magically appear on your doorstep so you can spend the rest of your lives together?" There was so much venom in her voice that I almost didn't recognise her. She'd always seemed so angelic. I guess looks can be deceiving.

"Lissa." Adrian said in a stern voice. "Stop."

"No." She replied curtly. "It's the truth. He doesn't care about her. He probably never did. He broke her heart. That's why she isn't here. He hurt her so much that she erased him from her mind, and he doesn't even care."

I could feel anger welling inside myself but I refused to let it go. I took a deep breath and kept my Guardian mask in place. I would not let Lissa Dragomir get to me. I loved Rose with all my heart; nothing she said could change that. My love for Rose didn't need validation from her former best friend.

"Stop." Adrian said louder now. The anger in his voice was palpable. "You don't know what you're talking about. So just stop." Lissa shook her head at both of us, like we disgusted her. Then she turned and left my home. Christian shook his head before following her out.

Adrian approached me slowly. "Thank you." I said.

"You love Rose." Adrian stated. "Your love for her consumes your aura, and I can see the sadness she caused you by leaving. You'll get her back."

"How can you be so sure?" I questioned. Rose may never forgive me. I knew that. Maybe Adrian was just trying to be reassuring, but it wasn't working. I may have lost the only girl I could ever love, all because I'd been too stupid and stubborn to fight for her when I was supposed to. I was the one who drove her away. I couldn't blame her if she never wanted to return.

"I'm sure because her love for you has always consumed her aura as well, whenever you two are together. Even when she didn't have her memories it flared brighter than the sun." He stated sadly.

Chapter 18 done! Tell me what you think about it in the reviews. I hoped you all enjoyed it. :) Oh, and thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter! I know I haven't updated in so long so it's nice to see so many people who still want to read this story!