Author's Note: Welcome back my dedicated readers, and please enjoy the next chapter in 'Make Me Forget' = Murder and Mayhem. I hope you enjoy a glimpse into Lissa's new life, and the good old gang's planning session.

'Murder and Mayhem'

Lissa's POV

A terrified scream cut through the night air and pierced my ears like a sharp blade. I was still adjusting to my heightened senses. I saw the world so differently now. Everything was clearer, brighter. And while every noise seemed to reverberate inside my skull, I couldn't complain because I could see the struggling human running through the darkened streets as if the sun was still high in the sky and I could hear her terrified cries like she was standing by my side.

My laugh echoed off the buildings, reaching the ears of my little human. I'd be chasing her for quite some time but she had nowhere to go, no one to help her. These streets were deserted at night. We were in a business district that had warehouses and nothing else. So while she continued to run and plead and beg I simply sauntered after her, taking my time and letting her fear build.

"Please, please…" her petrified voice carried back to me. "My name is Maria. Maria Michaels. I have a family. My parents will know I'm missing." Does she think I care?

Maria's arms flailed in her attempts at escape but I was growing bored. The chase was fun at first, but it had grown…tiresome. And I was getting hungry - ravenous actually.

Suddenly I was standing before her. She jumped back in surprise, landing on the ground. Her hands spread out to catch herself, scraping them. The scent of blood carried to my nose. I'd always needed blood to survive…but this. Oh, my. It smelled exquisite…like nothing, I'd smelt before. As I breathed the air in deeply I let out a moan and smiled down at her. Her brown eyes widened in fear, either because she was now staring directly into my red-rimmed eyes or because upon smiling I'd revealed my sharp fangs. Maria was crying silently now as if she'd finally realised what I was and what was about to happen to her.

I knelt down in front of her, studying her. I found my fingers tracing her cheek, down to her neck. The vein there pulsed so strongly I could see it. It inflated beneath my finger as her blood pumped through her body, a steady rise and fall in time with her pulse.

"Don't be afraid." I grinned. "Everything will be over soon."

I'll give her this…she tried to run. Despite knowing how futile it would be she sprang to her feet just as I locked a hand on her wrist and pulled her towards me. Before she could breathe another word my fangs broke through her delicate porcelain skin and I felt the heady rush of blood filling my body. Just for a moment, warmth washed through my veins. I realised why this blood tasted so exquisite – it was life, and I was death. Of course, I would crave it, lust for it, and kill for it. I drank deeply, savouring the taste of her. If I'd learnt correctly, this wasn't even the best blood around. Dhampirs and Moroi each had distinctly different blood…and it was far more exquisite then a human could ever be.

As her lifeless body hit the ground I licked my lips, angry to still feel that pit of hunger gnawing at me; it was something that might never be filled. I glanced at Maria's body with disdain – her porcelain skin, brown doe eyes and long black hair. She was useless – a vile piece of human trash that hadn't curbed my hunger in the slightest.

"Well done." Markus emerged from the shadows, slowly clapping. After awakening me he'd taken it upon himself as my new Master to show me the ropes of my new life. "Very neat. Not many newly awakened Strigoi can control their hunger. Bodies are normally torn apart in the feeding frenzy."

"Like I said earlier," I growled, "I don't want blood on my new dress."

Markus was…insane - more insane than most Strigoi. He had this foreign notion in his head that he was somehow going to become the Master of all vampires – Strigoi, Moroi and Dhampir. Of course, the other kinds wouldn't last long. I don't think he could see the dissent in his ranks. Strigoi, after all, didn't pack creatures.

He chuckled in response to my words, a hollow sound.

I suppose I sounded the same now: emotionless. But it was good. I didn't feel fear or sadness – just a burning hungry and a fierce anger. Another thing that had changed was the clarity of my mind. I'd struggled with spirit before and the effects of it…but that had been wiped away. For the first time in a long time, my mind was clear. My senses were strong and I felt better than ever. I could conquer the whole world but first I needed to find a meal that would fill me.

Markus motioned for me to join him before turning his back toward me.

Suddenly, my eyes turned toward the night sky and I noticed for the first time just how good my vision now was. The stars…seemed to explode in the sky and it was such a marvellous, breath-taking sight. I could see the different planets, their distinct colours and patterns. I realised with surprise that I was grinning. But that couldn't be right. I quickly erased it from my face before Markus could look over his shoulder. Strigoi didn't grin at the stars or marvel at their exploding colours…

I knew in that moment that if I could still feel emotion, I would be washed in dread.

Something wasn't right.

Rose's POV

We'd assembled our little group in one of the rooms they'd used to plan Lissa's rescue. I couldn't concentrate on that detail now though. We needed to figure out what to do, and fast. I didn't want Lissa out there as a Strigoi. Who knew how many people she would kill by the time we found her?

An unfamiliar Guardian was droning on about Lissa's last known location and where they anticipated the remaining Strigoi had gone. Guardians had been dispatched to the warehouse again this morning to check the tunnels and see where the door Lissa took would lead. And this time they'd sent such a large force you'd think Lissa was still there. After that, they'd split up to see if they could find any trace of where they'd gone.

I felt my nerves fraying by the second. Every word out of this Guardian's mouth was making my head pound. It felt like a waste of time. All this talking was wasting air and time. I just wanted to go, to find Lissa, but this Guardian was more concerned about discussing some run down crap-shack of a warehouse in some isolated part in Moscow that we had already been to. Did he not know that our group was the one to search that warehouse? Because it sure as hell didn't seem like he had any idea who we were. Just as I was about to explode, to yell at him to shut the hell up, he finally finished his report and let us know that we'd all be updated once they'd finished conducting their search. I let out a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I knew Lissa's…situation was affecting me, but I never expected to feel this much anger.

As he exited the room I scanned the drawn faces around me. Alberta had arrived this afternoon and I was surprised to see how aged she looked at the news of Lissa's…awakening. Aside from her, we had Guardian Tetrov, who had been instrumental in finding the abandoned warehouses, Dimitri, Christian, Oliver and Adrian. Of course, we also had a large force of Guardian's ready to set out whenever we needed them but for the planning stages we'd agreed to stick to our group since we knew Lissa best, and Dimitri was her sworn Guardian…or at least he had been before he too had been awakened.

"Where do we even start?" A dejected Christian managed to ask. I could see the hopelessness in his eyes. He didn't expect this to become a rescue mission any more than we did. We knew this would end with a stake in Lissa's heart. But he also retained a little spark of hope, even if that was just him hoping to set the women he loved free from the curse that monstrous Strigoi had thrust upon her.

"Once we've narrowed our search we'll begin to deploy units of Guardians to find her and..." Alberta began but couldn't voice the final part, kill her. We all understood. I could see the tears in Christian's eyes but somehow he held them at bay. I continued to barricade my heartbreak away, letting it build. I would deal with it once this was over. I felt my hands clenching beneath the table as if they were trying their hardest to hold my sadness and anger at bay.

Guardian Tetrov cleared his throat. All eyes flew to him. I guess something about his distinguished greying hair and steel blue eyes could command the attention of any group, even one as broken as ours. "I mean no disrespect…but why are we talking about…killing when there's still a chance to save her?" His tone was perplexed like he'd expected us to hatch some brilliant rescue plan that would save the life of our Princess. Maybe that was expected considering our groups' legendary escapades of the past…but to save a Strigoi we needed Lissa.

Adrian scoffed. "Look around Padre. I'm the only spirit user here and I hate to break it to you but my spirit abilities would be as powerful as throwing water at her." I could hear the self-loathing coating each of Adrian's words. I knew he was stronger than he believed…but he was right, he didn't have the right skill set and that's why we'd relied on Lissa last time we were in this predicament. We'd needed Lissa to turn Dimitri back for a reason – she was the most powerful.

"Alright." Guardian Tetrov settled. "But there are other spirit users out there. According to the stories, Lissa isn't the only spirit user to turn someone back." He gave me a pointed glance and I felt my face harden at the scrutiny in his eyes. Surely he couldn't know about Robert…or what we'd done to find him.

I sat up, unsure where he was going.

Dimitri sighed. "We know Robert Doru turned a Strigoi back…but he's untraceable now. And even if we found him, I don't think he was very…stable." He gave me a meaningful look. He'd heard of our encounters with Robert, probably from Lissa. That made me flood with jealousy and unnecessary anger. Even now, why couldn't I just let go of what they'd done? Why couldn't I forget Lissa cutting me out of Dimitri's life when…when she was gone?

"And there's Oksana," Adrian added. "But like me, she wouldn't be powerful enough."

I let out a sigh. "Sonya Karp is the only other we know that might be willing to help, but her powers drove her crazy before so I don't think she'd be willing to risk herself again." But with each added name, I noticed something; hope began to return to Christians eyes. His back straightened and he began to listen to the conversation with his full attention.

"Oh," Adrian said. "Avery Lazar as well. Though I think she fried her brain, so maybe not."

Guardian Tetrov stood and made his way over to one of the whiteboards they'd used in the search for Lissa. After rubbing it clean he began to write down the list of spirit users we knew of Robert Doru, Sonya Karp, Oksana, Avery Lazar and Adrian Ivashkov.

"Now, I'm not suggesting we find one and they do it on their own." His voice travelled to our ears and with every word he began renewing our long lost hope. "But…if we can guarantee the help of a few different spirit users they might be powerful enough between them to complete the process."

After a beat of stunned silence, he posed his final question: "So, what do we need to accomplish this?"

We made a short list of the things we would need. We needed four powerful Moroi, each skilled in a different element: air, earth, fire and water. And we needed them to charm a silver stake with their element. Then we needed to figure out which spirit user would be the strongest because they would have to charm that stake with spirit and be the one to stake Lissa through the heart.

It was still a volatile plan…but it was the best we had.

Dimitri's POV

I was worried about Rose. Once we'd assembled in our meeting I'd noticed how pale she looked, like the life had been drained from her after everything that had happened. And she was so tense. I don't think she even realised it, but every unexpected sound had her body tensing up.

As the night wore on and we delved deeper into our haphazard and unlikely plan I noticed it more. She was quick to get angry anytime someone suggested something she didn't agree with. I knew she was passionate about Lissa and she wanted nothing more than to save her life…but I didn't know how viable our plan was and I didn't want Rose to be disappointed should it fail. I'd always prided myself on being a great Guardian and I'd done nothing but blame myself once Lissa had gone missing. She was, after all, my responsibility…but since we'd found her like that…my focus had been Rose. I wanted to be there for her during this time and if that meant I had to shirk my responsibilities as a Guardian then so be it. It was so unlike me to put anything before my job, but Rose was my life and I needed to be there to protect her, especially now that I'd failed Lissa.

Though whenever my gaze fell on Rose's face my heart would twist. I couldn't get back what had been taken from us, what had been destroyed by my foolish actions. I had created this distance between us and while I'd loved holding her in my arms again last night I knew it hadn't meant to Rose what it had meant to me. For her, it had been a bit of comfort in a horrible time. For me, well…that's what I wanted to be doing every night for the rest of my life. And while it was selfish of me to enjoy having her in my arms considering the situation; I'd relished every moment.

"We need to move as soon as possible," Rose said in an exasperated voice, slamming a fist on the table below her. Adrian flinched at the sound, slowly raising a hand to rub his head. I could tell he'd been drinking, and a lot, by the glazed look in his eyes.

"We will," Oliver said soothingly, worry creasing his face. "But like Guardian Tetrov said…we need to have some idea where Lissa is first. We can't just rush off to find her without direction."

"As much as I hate to say it," Christian spoke with deep sadness in his eyes. "We have to wait." This seemed to upset him further and tears gathered in his eyes. I couldn't imagine what he was going through right now. "We need to be ready before we find her. We need a solid plan for this to work."

"And we need to wait for the spirit users to arrive." Guardian Tetrov added. They'd all been contacted. At least, the ones we could find. Sonya Karp had booked the first flight to Russia while Mark and Oksana had hesitantly agreed to drive here, though Rose added that Mark didn't like Oksana using her powers too frequently due to the toll they took on her health and mind. But I suspected they had a soft spot for Rose and Lissa too by extension. I knew Oksana had helped Rose and Lissa before. Avery Lazar…well she was still locked away and it didn't seem like she'd be able to help, which was probably for the best considering her attempt to kill Lissa.

"And we need to wait for the four Moroi as well," Adrian added, resting his hand on his chin, his bleary eyes fighting to stay open.

"We also need you to stop drinking," Rose said in a quiet voice. I could see a small spark of anger in her eyes as she took in Adrian across the table. He was obviously intoxicated and even our lengthy meeting had done nothing to lessen the effects of whatever alcohol he had consumed. "I know you're…" she cut herself off. I could see her jaw tense. "We need you and we need you coherent and able to use your abilities." An unspoken insult hung in the air from her cut off words.

Adrian schooled the shocked expression on his face to something more…normal. Even I could hear the slight trace of venom in Rose's voice and see the disappointed look in her eyes. Hurt flashed through Adrian's eyes at the sight of it. I felt…confused. Because Rose had always cared for Adrian and even in a time like this…I didn't expect her to embarrass him in front of everyone. Especially after the difficult night, we'd all had. I'd found comfort in Rose and vice versa…Adrian had taken comfort in alcohol. Was it the best decision? No. But we all had our ways of escaping.

"I'm sure Adrian will have no problem with that," I said in a calm voice, giving Adrian a reassuring look. "He's always gone above and beyond to help this group, even when he has no reason to. We're lucky to have him."

Christian nodded a small smile on his face. "Yeah, he's always been there for everyone…especially Lissa." He glanced at Adrian. "I know she appreciated everything you've done to help her."

"We'll get started tomorrow then." Rose stood and abruptly walked out of the room, her fists clenched at her sides.

We all exchanged glances, each of our faces marred with shock or confusion at her behaviour. We were all under stress. We were all experiencing sadness. But Rose…she was a force of nature at the best of times and now she looked ready to destroy the world. Her anger hung in the air and we all exchanged worried looks.

Adrian shrugged and as if explaining why she was acting this way, he said one word: "Women."

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