This is an idea that I've been considering for a while now and could be fun to write. An AU version following the book events (kind of), but Rose is Moroi instead of dhampir.

This is Lissa and Rose being found by Dimitri.

Also in this one I changed the timeline so that he finds them a couple of months later than in the book.

I gasped as I woke, shot up in the bed and clutched the material above my heart. I could feel it beating rapidly under my fingers as my chest constricted from the quick breaths I took.

It was just a nightmare—but it wasn't mine.

I threw back the covers and raced to Lissa's bed, shaking her awake until she jolted up similar to how I had. Tears glistened in her eyes when they met mine. Even years after the accident, she was still haunted by the memories of that night.

I couldn't remember much of it, granted I had died.

"It's okay, Liss," I soothed her, and gently pulled her towards me, arms wrapped tightly around her. "It's okay now."

After almost three years on the run since the car accident, I had become used to doing this. The nightmares were a little less frequent but they were still like a gut punch.

"Rose… they were—they were there but I couldn't—" she sobbed, pulling in sharp inhales.

"I know." There wasn't anything I could really say, nothing would take away the pain of being unable to save her family. I know she never regretted saving me but I sometimes wished she could have saved one of them instead.

They would have been able to protect her better.

We were both fifteen-year-old students, no one would have believed us if we told them someone was after Lissa. I had no pull in our world, I wasn't royal. I was just a normal Moroi that was abandoned by my mother and unwanted by my father.

After Lissa calmed down, I got us both some orange juice. The nightmares took a lot out of both of us but I didn't have a way to get us blood in the middle of the night so juice had to do. The flavour helped, the sugar giving us a slight boost. It wasn't much but we had grown used to taking what we could get.

It was the middle of winter, the apartment was cold, with chilled floorboards. At least it wasn't snowing. The academy would be covered in snow by now. I glanced out our window, part of me missing the scenery of St. Vladimir's; the only home I knew.

Movement in the street caught my eye; a flickering of a light revealing a person, their eyes directed up at me. My heart skipped a beat as dread settled like a stone in my stomach. Guardians.

Shit.

I made Lissa gather her things, encouraging her to move quickly and as I gathered both of our coats. If guardians found us then we needed to get out of here before they stormed the place. Whoever was watching us must know I'd seen them, for all I knew they were getting ready to break down the door as we scrambled.

We were out in the street, our roommates' keys hanging from my fingers as we ran to the car down the street. I was looking everywhere, deciphering shadows from possible threats. Being out at night was always a risk, both of us the preferred snack of Strigoi, but it was the guardians I feared now. If they manage to grab us we would be dragged right back to the place we had escaped.

"Hurry, Liss," I urged. I could feel the heat of my magic in the tips of my fingers, ready to be created. It was rare for our magic to be used defensively but I wasn't afraid to do so.

"Do you think—" She cut herself off, both of us tensed. Footsteps. And they were getting closer.

"Run."

We were so close to the car—our only escape—when the one I saw from the window stepped in our path. A long brown duster billowed around his legs and brown hair pulled back from his face. Our eyes met and my breath caught.

If I wasn't so focused on escaping the guy, I might admit he was hot, instead, I moved instinctively and sent a ball of fire from my hand. His eyes widened, quickly dodging out of the way, giving us an opening. The relief was short-lived, more guardians emerged and quickly surrounded us.

I was powerful but it had been days since I fed, weeks since my appetite was satisfied. There was no way I could use my magic on all of them; that didn't stop me from trying.

I fought them but they were highly trained and I only had a handful of defence training classes under my belt. I didn't want to hurt any of them with my magic, using it to scare them more than anything, but I was waning.

The man from before was in front of me again, approaching me with his hands out in what I guessed was meant to be a calming motion. I hide Lissa behind me, pressing close to keep her from them. "Leave her alone," I growled. "Don't touch her."

He tried to act like he wasn't a threat, as if he really cared for Lissa's wellbeing, but none of them realised that they were just going to cause her more harm. I lashed out, using my fist rather than my fire.

The amount I had already used took its toll. The guardian reacted quickly, and hard, knocking me away. My feet stumbled, my body unable to catch itself and I was going down. This was going to hurt.

A hand wrapped around my arm keeping me upright, saving me from colliding with the sidewalk. Our eyes met again, an unreadable emotion in them.

Once I was steadied, I broke out of his grip, or more he released me, and I tried to guard Lissa again.

Her hand gripped my shoulder, "Rose, don't." She was pleading me, knowing I couldn't take them all and unlike me, accepted we weren't getting out of this. I felt a calm ease into my mind, easing my muscles—it was Lissa.

It was pointless to keep fighting.

I gave in, relenting, body sagging in defeat and exhaustion. I definitely needed to feed now.

The man sensed my registration, stepping towards us and bowing towards Lissa, I received just a flick of an eye. "My name is Dimitri Belikov," he announced with a faint Russian accent. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."

Please let me know if this sounds interesting to you and what you think :)