I've heard rumors about head mistress Kirova. I heard she was one to give sermons instead of just telling them what exactly he or she did wrong. Well, that day I found out they weren't just rumors. Turns out my name was withdrawn from the list, seeing as I never went in for a feeding. When she went to report the discrepancies, they discovered how long I have actually gone without a feeding.

"Are you not aware that our kind can't survive without drinking blood? I have had students pass out from going two days without. My question is: how did you survive six weeks without feeding."

I answered with a shrug, "Easy, and it goes pretty well for me."

"How well did that go for you yesterday?"

I paused, "It certainly wasn't one of my best days. I passed out because some jerk-off rammed into me."

"And would the same thing have happened had you fed routinely?" The doctor asked. "That doesn't count!"

"It does count, Rosemarie!" Alberta cut in.

"Rosemarie? Okay, I know for a fact that definitely isn't my name unless I hit my head harder than I thought." I said. Realization flashed through both their eyes, then all three laughed.

The conversation turned serious once more as they calmed down.

"From now on, Magda, " Alberta carefully said, a trace of a smile lay faint on her face, "you will be escorted to and from feedings every day. We can't put the health of a student in jeopardy."

"EVERY DAY? You can't be serious!" I yelled, causing my vision to swim a little.

"Quite serious in fact, but I'm at a loss to take your punishment any further. Since this is your first call to my office," Kirova paused, thinking her words more thoroughly, "figuratively speaking, you get off with a warning."

"AND the feedings." I grumbled.

The attendant huffed. "That's not a punishment."

I shot the woman a look "You stay out of this." She raised her arms in mock resignation.

I turned towards Kirova. "May I ask you something?"

"You may..." she said, weary of what I was going to say. "Have I broken any rule? Like is there a rule that states how often you're supposed to feed?" She eyed me for a long time. "No, there isn't."

I raised my hands. "Then I don't really see why I am being forced to go to the feeders."
Kirova was at a loss for words. I suppressed a smirk that threatened to appear. Anyways it would have been wiped off with what Alberta was just about to say.

"Magda, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, chief, shoot."

"Seeing as you primarily take novice training classes, would you consider yourself a novice?" I had no idea where she was going with this conversation. "Um, yeah?"

"Aren't all novices graded upon their ability to follow orders given by the chief?"

Still unsure of her direction, I nodded slowly. "Yes Ma'am."

"Who is the chief of this school?" She raised a dark eyebrow... Wow it's crazy the things I noticed, but I was kind of getting tired of being the only person I knew who couldn't do that.

"I didn't quite catch that." She barked.

I jolted back. "Hmm? Oh! Well, you're the chief."

"Well then, Magda, I directly order you to be escorted every morning promptly at 3 to the feeders by Guardian Espinoza." she didn't even think about hiding the sly smile that slowly crept onto her face.

I let out frustrated sigh, but I wasn't the first to react to her orders.

"Every morning at three?" Gabriel asked, his formal guardian voice cracking a bit. "That's very early."

I only just remembered that he worked two shifts and now he would have to wake up an extra four hours earlier. I suddenly felt very bad for my coach, but as soon as I remembered I still owed him laps, I felt bad for myself as well.

"Yes, but there is no one there at that time so it will be much simpler to keep an eye on her."

I could sense he was about to protest, but he thought better of it and kept his mouth sealed. He looked at me bitterly. Damn and I thought we were getting on better terms.

"This is just great; fantastic, ever. Is there anything else you want to say so you can ruin my Sunday more?"

"No, we're done here. Have a good rest, Miss Szelsky." The head mistress said as she swiftly turned tail and left.

"So how's Frankie doing on the field?" Alberta asked as she walked out with Gabriel and the rest of the procession.
I rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. I would sneak out of there later, or so I hoped.

Sneaking into the back seat of a car wasn't fun.

First of all, I was not one for small spaces; just being there made me claustrophobic. Secondly, I was hiding near a pair of more-than-used gym socks; the rotten fumes were enough to drive me insane. But if I was going to put a stop to my brother's wrongdoing, I had to do it.

Lately, my brother has been sneaking out a lot. I would never tell him, but I always knew where he was. His emotions usually ran very high at that time, so it was like I was sucked into his brain.

Wait, maybe I should take this a little farther back.

My mother always said that Gabe and I had a major brother and sister bond going on. But I doubt many sisters could see their brothers' thoughts. When I tried to tell him, he didn't believe me, so I learned to stay quiet. I saw him sleeping with other girls, and it wasn't something an eight year old could easily forget. I felt dirty and violated; I spent a good four weeks huddled in my room, crying.

Soon, Gabe was doing all kinds of stuff: drinking, drugs, sex, you name it, and he'd probably have it in his system. And that would result in me feeling the side effects of whatever he did, which never ended up well. I had my first true hangover in the third grade. I barely knew what a hangover actually was, so trying to give my teacher an excuse for that was most definitely not a walk in the park.

Now he couldn't get his stash from home, Oh no, he had to go out at dead time, and drive up to god knows where to get some from his "provider" Kyle. So I decided to sneak into his car and follow him the next time.

The car ride took a good hour. Then he stopped suddenly and got out. I counted to ten, got out of the car, and gasped for air. My next mission: get Gabe to wash his gym clothes, pronto.

Gabe had driven to a VIP parking lot in Coco Walk, the only place he would trust to keep his beloved Maserati convertible safe; but I knew he wouldn't stay there. I tried to reach into his mind, something that I hadn't mastered 'till about two years ago.

Just like I guessed, Gabe was walking toward the uglier side of town. I followed him to the back of a rundown convenience store.
Just then someone drove up to where Gabe stood.

And then he pointed a gun at him.

"Listen Darrell, I've got your money here, there's no need for this." my brother stammered.
Darrell cocked his gun. "You lied to me boy, I needed the goddamn green last week. And where the fuck was you, huh?"

"My sister had this play and-"

"Shuddup! There 'ain't no 'scuses no more."
Fear poured through the bond, along with something dark and ugly that could break him any second. Without thinking, I pulled away the darkness.
I didn't know why, but as soon as I pulled away the darkness, I snapped. I got out of my hiding place and stood right in front of my brother.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I threatened.

Darrell laughed so hard the car shook. "You got a fourth grade pipsqueak to guard your little white ass?"

"I'm a sixth grader. And I really think you should stop laughing, unless you don't want to live the rest of your pathetic existence in one piece.
Darrell's face turned serious. He looked me square in the eye, a big mistake on his part.

I let myself into his mind. The man had no family, no job- besides this one- and no one true place to call his home. I was more than sure no one would miss him if he died.
I searched deeper into his mind until I found what I was looking for: fear. Fear itself takes many shapes and forms; but what really scared Darrell were rats, oddly enough. I took advantage of the situation and projected his worst fear before him.

He twitched and shook violently as he screamed bloody murder. But there was no one around to hear him.

"Magda, whatever you are doing, stop it now. People are going to find out." Gabe commanded. I didn't mind him. I pictured the windows rolling up so they wouldn't hear him. To my surprise, the widows rolled up on their own.

It was then that I discovered I could move things with my mind. Almost effortlessly, I raised the car up a good ten feet off the ground. I then made it do little flips I the air, enjoying the sound of Darrel's muffled screams.

"No way," my brother breathed, "Magda stop this NOW."

Some part of me wanted to stop already, he got his scare. But no matter how hard that part of me tried to pull back, I couldn't stop. It was like I was taken over by some dark spirit, which didn't look like she was going anywhere for a long time.

"Magda, snap out of this please."

"No brother," I said in a voice I barely recognized, "he needs to suffer."

"¡Basta!" He commanded in a voice so piercing and clear cut, it was impossible not to obey. I instantly snapped out of my trance; the traces of darkness dissipated, leaving me both exhausted and confused. At the same moment, my control on both Darrell's mind and car was lost. The car dropped on the passenger side.

Without hesitation this time, Darrell found his gun and fired. Frightened, I shoved the car into the wall of the convenience store. Sparks flew from the car's broken wiring, which upon meeting the cars fuel tank, caused the vehicle to explode into many unidentifiable pieces of metal.

Gabe grabbed my hand and told me to run and not stop until we reached the car. I did as I was told, but I wasn't able to reach the car. My adrenaline had gone down enough for me to feel pain, and boy did I feel it. I fell to my knees. I looked down at my side, and saw only blood. Damn, I guessed Darrell must've gotten his lucky shot. I collapsed and weakly called to Gabe. As soon as I was in his arms, I passed out. I vaguely remember the same hot and cold sensation before...

I woke up again. This time to meet Gabriel's worried mossy gaze. He cocked his head to one side; I had to admit he was rather good-looking when he wasn't pissed off at me.

"Are you ok?" He asked, truly concerned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Let's see, you suffered a concussion that left you unconscious for half a day, you were just reprimanded by the head mistress, and you were shut up quite embarrassingly by the school chief-"

"Wow, thanks for the memo, coach." I bit out.
His face softened, "The real tip off was the fact that you are crying."

"I am not!" I defended. But sure enough, little bead-like tears silently slid down my cheeks. I dried them quickly. I hated crying in public; it was a sign of weakness and vulnerability that I tried my best to hide.

I thought of my most recent dream, which was like reliving a nightmare. Every last detail of that dream had actually happened. It reminded me of what I was capable of.

I would never resort to that power again.

I remembered the exact spot where Darrell shot me. I lifted my shirt just enough so I would see the scar. "Yeah, still there," I sighed ruefully.

"Is that..."

"Eeyup." I finished for him. He kept eyeing the faded purple scar as if something did not register with him: "When did this happen?"

"Almost four years ago. The coolest part it that the bullet is still there."
I thought the scar was pretty cool, no matter how many memories it brought back.

"How?"

"Long story short: I stopped my brother from doing something stupid." I relayed. His eyebrow shot up in thought. "You were very protective of your older brother weren't you?"

I gave him a sad smile. "He was the only one my parents let me talk to while growing up in Mexico. We stayed close in St. Lourdes. Then the school was attacked and we got even closer."

"So you must've been devastated when he was killed." He observed. "Devastated doesn't even scratch the surface. When he died-" I choked up. I paused for a moment, fighting back those traitor tears that would only come when I talked about Gabe, "When he died it was like he ripped off a part of me and took it with him to the grave."

He stayed quiet. Then he smiled and placed his hand over mine. It was rough and callous, but still held a warmth and gentleness to it that I only wished I could possess. "So you chose to become a guardian because you saw what happened to Gabriel and you want to prevent that from happening to those who deserve to be protected... Am I close?"

I blinked. "Bulls eye."

"That's noble of you." He reasoned.

"Well, yeah. But sometimes I think that I don't have to guard a Moroi to protect others. Do you know how skewed that could get. 'Stop, Mr. big tough Strigoi dude! I'm here to guard this Moron who could have spared a few classes to at least learn to defend himself. But since I am Moroi, you can come straight for me and take him as a second course.'" My rant earned a hearty laugh from the guy.

"Seriously though, this school is full of those who can protect themselves. I mean, what happened to the times when our kinds fought side by side? All the Moroi do nothing but sit on their flat, bony asses all day doing lame ass magic tricks and sipping blood and wine until they die. Just like my father will." I said.
"You should not speak like that about your father, even If you do not like him." he reprimanded me.
"Well, I don't not like him; he is my father after all. I mean he's just... Boring."

He laughed for no apparent reason, as if I just referenced an inside joke, "Your father is not boring."

"You don't know him. He sells flowers for a living. Then he goes on these yearlong conferences about gardenias in Japan or Russia or some other random country."
He laughed harder now. "A flower seller, really?"

"So you see my pain." I groaned.

"You never know, people may surprise you." he gave a sly smile.

I groaned "You act like you work for him."

He shrugged.

"So besides waking me up why did you come?" I asked.

"Its 3..." He trailed off before I groaned and pulled off the covers.

"Um... Are you sure your walking like that to the feeders station?" He pointed at my bare feet; they must've taken my shoes and socks off while I was sleeping. I raisedmy shoulders. "Sure, why not?" jeez, it was like people never saw feet in this damn school.

At the station I was greeted by the same lady who attended me two days ago. I made sure that she knew I was more than unhappy with her and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. She smiled cloyingly at me. I swore if Gabriel wasn't there, I would have punched her so hard she'd lose a fang.

We were lead into the same room that I was sent to the last time. And who better to feed me than the crazy old lady who thought I was some other person?

"You're back." She mused.

"As I will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day and pretty much every day until I graduate." I said.

"Well it's a good thing your protector is here to keep us company. I've always said that three's a party."

"Um he's not my protector..." Gabriel smirked.

"No, I am your coach. You will be the protector soon enough."

"Yeah, if I don't flunk out of my Moroi elements class first."

"You have talents for more powerful than many Moroi and you know it. But you are afraid to use it lest the darkness take you over- like it has done be-"I sunk my fangs into the old woman's neck before she could say any more. She let out a euphoric sigh, which I found disgusting. I didn't know what freaked me out more, the fact that the old woman knew about my 'powers' or the fact that the taste of her blood didn't bother me as much as it did the last time I had fed.

I finished with the old woman and stood up to leave. She was too far off in her mind to notice me leave. Gabriel led the way; as I followed him I could have sworn I heard the woman say: "You are more dangerous if you don't hone in those powers of yours. The darkness is always watching, always."
I shrugged it off and left. "Crazy old woman." I muttered

The following morning I was released from my medical prison. The day breezed by pretty swimming. My fellow novices welcomed me back by graciously jacking all the Bavarian cream donuts and churros they found at the lunch line. I think I might've had a little food baby showing after such a feast. We talked about sports and trainings as if I hadn't been gone for the past two days.

Then Aimee showed up. "Magda, the şef wants to know now."

I stopped eating my Twinkie. "Huh?"

"He wants to know if you're in the Mână or not." She looked down in resignation, which struck me as odd.

"What is it with me joining your secret royal fan club anyways?" I said, almost spitting the cream filling in her face.

"Look I only do the inviting, but he really wants you tonight by the east gates at twelve. And if you don't come," she stopped. She looked like she desperately wanted to complete her sentence! It was as though her tongue dried up inside her mouth. She sighed in resignation: "I just need you to go. Please?"

I don't know whether it was pity, or a divine act of compassion, but I felt the need to help Aimee; I had a feeling that something crappy would happen if she didn't get me to go. "Fine I'll go. But one fishy move and adios."

A huge weight lifted off Aimee's shoulders as her mood instantly perked up. "Thanks... I... I owe you one." She stood up and turned tail. She took about two steps before quickly turning round and adding. "Just don't let them give you any jewel- Ahh!" She winced and almost collapsed. I shot up to help her, but before I knew it, she was up and running back into the hall way."

I was left standing there, bewildered. My lunch mates snickered. I shot them a glare: "What?"

Max rolled her eyes, "that Aimee is such a drama queen. Why would you help her anyways? Isn't she-"

"Majorly bitchy?" I offered.

"Always putting you down," she corrected, "Isn't it odd that she's nice all of a sudden?"
I considered it. There was something she wanted to get across when she talked to me but just couldn't find the words.

Or she's being compelled.

The thought crossed my mind before I could think it trough. But at the moment it seemed like one of the most reasonable conclusions I could make. "I don't know," I told her, "but I doubt that she was acting it out."

"What makes you think that?" She asked between bites of her salad. Eww, rabbit food.

I smiled mischievously: "She just sucks that bad."

Ray, Leo, and Frankie laughed outright.

After school, and about an hour of rummaging through my closet, I stealthily made my way over to the east gates.

Sure enough, a couple of people were huddled underneath a tree. Aimee was with them, searching desperately for someone. Was her eyes fell over me , she breathed a huge sigh of relief. "See, told you she'd come through."

I felt the eyes of the others on me, probably searching for signs of weakness. Besides Aimee, I didn't know any one there. I recognized a few of the faces from Brett's party, but none of those whom I considered friends were there. So why was I there?

I would have come up with various reasons as to why, but a hooded figure spoke before I could get the chance. "State your name."

"No. You should know who I am since you were the one calling for me." I bit back.

The figure hesitated: "Magda Alexandra Szelsky."

"So why am I here? You know besides attending this whole warped Masonic lodge meeting thing."

"This is not a lodge. We are a congregation of the most elite who stand to take action into our own hands. Whether politically, by force, or by use of our divine magic."
"Well that either makes this whole Mână shpiel a lodge, a mafia, or a coven. You choose."

"Cut the crap."

"You know, this isn't really how you get people to join."

"Oh, we don't want you to join." One of the hooded figures laughed. Out of nowhere, a large rock pelted me in the face.
Aimee gasped "Shura, this wasn't what you told me to bring her for. This isn't what we do. Stop it." She ordered another hooded figure.

"You don't tell me what to do!". He said in a cold and frightening tone. There was something vaguely familiar about his voice, but I just couldn't place my finger on it.

"Continue."

More rocks were being thrown at me. I tried blocking most of them, catching the brunt of it with my forearms, but it didn't really ease the pain.

"What the fuck?" I yelled.

"Because of you we lost a valuable asset from our group. You think we'd let you slide?"

"She brought that on herself. There's an unwritten law that states: No one messes with Magda. A pissed off Magda will fuck you up if you try. Now leave me alone, now."
Another rock hurtled toward me, but I sent it back to its owner at twice the speed. I lifted everyone but Aimee off the ground and pushed them away as far as I could. One of them hurtled towards a tree head first, but Aimee slowed his impact with a gust of wind. She used her magic to propel herself towards me and pin me to the ground.

"Stop please, we can't have a full blown elemental fight."

"No, Aimee. Get off!" I shrieked like a banshee, "they're mine."

"Hold on, this isn't you. You're an insane person, but this is something else. Calm down now before someone gets hurt, you have no idea what could happen if you continue."

That cold slap in the face made me freeze. "Why are you doing this? You hate me. Well, actually, that explains why I'm here but why must you back down now?"

"Things aren't always black and white. I may dislike you because you are an overly talented, too-perfect, self-righteous Mary Sue, but no one deserves this. Now just get up and leave. Don't say a word of this to anyone and act like nothing happened; this little incident will remain quiet in return."

"I'll try. But if people ask questions-"

"Come up with something on the spot. You're a drama kid, right? You should know how to do that. Go."

"But-"

"Go." Her voice echoed through the wind, which was most likely realized by her own magic.

Against my better judgment, I ran. I snuck into the dorms through the window and sped toward my room. I locked the door, shut the windows, and crawled under my covers.

Scared, I swore to keep a few feet from anyone I suspected to be part of that group, knowing better than to push their buttons.

... At least for now.