Vampire Academy 1. Chapter 1

I sat in my seat on the posh plane gazing at the piece of paper that sat in my hand. Actually, it didn't even deserve the name paper; it was a fine stationary that I knew I would probably never have been able to afford. The stationary had been folded and unfolded many times, it was worn and the edges were torn ever so slightly. This paper had been carted all over the world and had stayed by my side through all my travels. This piece of paper had been written by someone who had once loved me. I knew the thought was completely selfish, but I hoped he still did. I knew it wasn't fair to up and leave Adrian when our relationship was going so well and then expect him to wait while I traipsed across the world, but a small part in the back of my brain really hoped he had.

"Rose?" a bleary voice beside me said. Lissa looked from her curled position in her chair where she had been sleeping. "What's up?" I knew my best friend would realize something was bothering me.

"Nothing," I said softly, "Go on back to sleep. We'll be landing soon." I smiled gently as she snuggled back down beside me. I looked over to the seat across the aisle where Christian Ozera laid spread out across two seats. I silently thanked Abe for setting us up with such great accommodations.

I took a moment to contemplate the last few months' happenings. Lissa had agreed to come with me this time, actually, she had insisted. And along with her came the baggage of Christian. But I really didn't mind having him around after remembering how badass we were in the Strigoi attack against the school. We made a perfect team. After springing Victor Dashkov from jail and finding his brother, Robert Doru (who really was a nutcase, for the record), we attempted to get as many answers from him as possible. Again my selfishness, I wanted to find Robert in order to satiate my own theories that he could help us find way to wield Lissa's spirit powers to turn Dimitri back to life. Unfortunately, Robert had been a lost cause. We found him and asked the questions we needed to no avail, or so we thought. For weeks we were holed up in Dinaric Alps in a small cabin with this crazy man. During this time, even though we couldn't get the specific information we needed, Lissa was able to learn from the ancient Spirit user.

But in a roundabout way we did accomplish what we came to do. That was the amazing part, the surreal element to our journey. While Lissa and Christian sat and listened to the old geezer spew stories about his past accomplishments, I had done some snooping. I stumbled upon a book, more of a journal, that held stories Robert had written. I soon realized while I was reading the book that the dates were set in Robert's earlier years of life, before he had succumbed to the darkness that Spirit brought forth. I secretly placed the journal in my pack in hopes that I could smuggle the book back to a sanctuary.

The next morning, I abruptly told Christian and Lissa we needed to head back to Sarajevo where we could catch a flight to Madrid, and then on to the States. It took some convincing but I finally managed to get the two to agree with my plan. We headed out as soon as possible and we traveled from the remote mountain top to Podgorica. From there we rented a car and traveled to Sarajevo. When we got to Saraejvo, we put together some of our savings to rent a room. I used the phone to then call in the favor of the plane from my own father, Abe Mazur, or Zmey as I liked to call him. Abe had sent his private jet for us and the intended plan had been to fly from Sarajevo to Madrid, but unfortunately a storm had blown in and we were being forced to land in Rome. In my haste, I had made Christian and Lissa travel around in the day time which naturally depleted their energy, and thus they had now passed out on the plane.

I glanced behind me momentarily and saw Mikhail, Lissa's other guardian, sitting towards the back of the plane. A pang of guilt shot through me. It wasn't that we didn't trust Mikhail, but we decided it would be better to leave him in the dark about our plot to runaway and break Victor Dashkov free of jail. Understandably, we thought he might turn us in for breaking a convicted felon out of jail, especially one we helped put _into_ jail in the first place. We traveled to London over the summer under the guise of taking a senior trip, where we promptly made our mistake. But the first person we saw when we got on the plane in Sarajevo was the imposing form of Mikhail. He gave all of us a lecture like none I had ever heard. His Russian accent came through a lot more when he was upset. And with that thought, I felt a sharp stab to my heart. The comparison to Mikhail and Dimitri was obvious. Mikhail was from town called Tyumen, Russia where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. Mikhail stood at about 6'2" with messy brown hair. I knew that the queen had had a hand in placing Mikhail as my guardian but I couldn't decide if it was because she wanted to use this Dimitri look-a-like to tempt me away from Adrian, or if he were placed with Lissa just to be a constant reminder of the once love of my life. Either way, I knew Queen Bitch had bad intentions.

I unfolded the paper that Lissa had first caught me with and read over it for probably the thousandth time.

_Little Dhampir,_

_ This is my official date proposal. First among the numerous reasons you should join me on a date would be the fact that I'm drop dead gorgeous and if we ever decided to have children they would be the most beautiful children and we would make the most handsome family. It's fact. I would also like to mention that due to the fact that I'm ungodly wealthy I can make any of your wildest dreams come true. Every week I will perform romantic surprises, like picnics, roses, and trips to Paris. But none of these because they are, in fact, not surprises. I promise to quit smoking and drinking unless is completely necessary. I will completely support your harebrained, half-planned escapades, even if it may cost us our lives-_

That was when I had to cease reading. Adrian had been crazy over me for a while, and I had hardly given him the time of day. And finally when I had given him a chance, I up and ran away again, this time taking Lissa and Christian. I had abandoned Adrian once again and I didn't know if he would be able to forgive me, or if he had even waited for me. And honestly, I didn't blame him if he had moved on. I began imagining scenarios of Adrian and various super models I had seen in the magazines skiing in the Alps. Or maybe he would take them to a sensual spa getaway.

BAM!

The flash of lightening and clap of thunder awoke both Lissa and Christian. "What the hell? Are we almost there?" The later grumbled.

"Aw," I mocked sympathy, "Did the wittle boy get scared by the lightening?" Lissa giggled beside me.

"I'm glad that even in this crazy life, you two remain a constant in my life. Always bickering." Lissa got up from beside me and snuggled next to Christian. He wrapped an arm around her comfortably. I was about to make a witty comment when the pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"We'll be landing soon, so please fasten your seatbelts and put your chairs in the upright position." We followed the disembodied voices commands and it wasn't long before I felt the familiar pressure in my ears as we descended.

On the trip from Robert's home to Sarajevo, I had told the two of the diary I had stolen and let them look it over, but I knew that we had a lot to talk about then. I desperately wanted to about the notebook with my friends, but I knew we would have to be alone. Unfortunately, Mikhail wouldn't leave Lissa's side easily. He was nothing if not thorough. I knew that after this ordeal he knew that bad things always happened when he left us to plot alone.

Soon enough we were on the ground and unloading from the plane, not that there was much to unload, a duffel bag each for the three of us. We were greeted in the air port by a driver, who I supposed Abe had set us up with to take us to our hotel, also another favor from Abe. I was going to owe him so much after this fiasco. When we got to the car, I wasn't the least bit surprised to find two people sitting in the back already. Christian's guards glared at us and I knew they were just as pissed at us as Mikhail. This was going to be a long ride.

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	2. Chapter 2

After landing in Madrid and getting into our car, we were chauffeured to the grandest hotel I had ever seen. This beat anything I had stayed in at in Russia or the luxury lodge in the mountains. The humans might be oblivious, but they sure knew how to build. I looked at the sign that read "Hotel Ritz". _I am soooo going to owe Abe after this,_ I thought.

We were let in the front door by a middle aged gentleman and escorted into the lobby. I suddenly felt underdressed. Lissa, Christian and I did not have the best accommodations in the mountains. Showers had been few and far between and when we did get one, it was always freezing. All of our clothes were unwashed and wrinkly, and I just basically felt nasty. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the lobby starring at us as we walked in. I noticed the man at the lobby desk especially giving us a rueful look. I scurried up to the front desk to check in. "Hathaway," I said once I got up to the counter.

The man typed the name into his computer and his eyes grew large. He glanced from me to the computer a few times before saying, "¿Usted permanece en la serie de lujo?" The man asked, surprised I guessed.

"What?" I answered him. What in the world had Abe told these people to get such a reaction? I knew he had influence in the Moroi world and in the human world, but I wondered if he had threatened people to get me a room.

"I'm sorry, señora," the man apologized. " I was just taken aback that _you _have acquired this particular suite."

"Why's that?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.

The man gave a mysterious smile, "You will see." He gave me another look over and gave orders to one of the closest bellhops, who then hurried over and took all of our bags. The man gave me three keys. Lissa and I would share a room, but I left the four males to decide how they would split up. We were led to the elevators and up to the fourth floor. All three rooms were side by side, which was convenient. Our bellhop opened the door and led the way in, tenderly setting down our bags before taking his leave. But neither Lissa nor I noticed his exit. The room we stayed in was not comparable to any other.

There front door led into a large, circular sitting room. The wall were papered with an intricate design fit for a palace. Posh, plump seating was scattered against the room. On one side there was a book shelf and on the other, a desk. Curtains hang down from the ten foot high windows and were draped on the floor. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, immaculate enough to be hanging in any fancy ball room that the Royal Moroi held their parties in. Off to the right was a small mini bar, which I noticed happened to be empty. Underneath the counter, I noticed a small fridge. To the left of the circular room were French doors that led to a giant bed room. A single king size bed sat in the center of the room. Underneath the window in the bed room sat another small sitting area. A bureau sat on the wall opposite the bed. There was a bathroom attached to the bedroom that was easily bigger than my dorm room at the academy.

Lissa and I looked around wide eyed and then looked at each other.

"Did you...." Lissa began but couldn't continue.

"I had no clue," I answered her unasked question. There came a pounding at the door that startled both of us. Lissa rushed over to the door.

"Christian?" Lissa said. "What are you.." Lissa was having a hard time finishing questions today. Like me, she was not prepared for the amazing accommodations and was stunned into silence.

"How in the world did you get us into this place?" Christian asked me. He had gently slipped past Lissa and come into the sitting room where I stood aimlessly.

"I... I don't know. I mean I figured Abe would have made some sort of arrangements when he learned that we would be landing, but I never imagined..." I shook my head and just looked around the room. "So does yours look like this?"

"Yeah," Christian nodded as he slumped down on our couch. Lissa slid beside him and I noticed how tired the two still looked. But it had been a full day without food or blood for the two Moroi. I wondered momentarily if Abe would have thought of that and found some feeders to send here. "Mikhail is in the room right now resting. I think Jared and Aldo are in their room." Jared and Aldo had been the two guardians assigned to Christian. Jared was not too much older than me. He had graduated about four years prior to me, Lissa, and Christian. Aldo, on the other hand, was a German man in his late thirties. From what I had seen, these two were not the most competent of guardians, but then again, Christian Ozera was not a top priority for the guardian council.

I sat down in an adjacent chair and just looked at the chandelier. Lissa and Christian had started a conversation that I wasn't listening to and I let the thoughts of what had happened recently flow through my mind. I thought of the restless nights that I spent in the cabin, wondering every night if Dimitri was about to break down the door. Or if a squad of guardians sent by the queen would be the next to find us. The fear of being found had become almost unbearable. When I traveled by myself earlier in the year it was easier to travel. But now I had two Moroi to keep in line and protect now. Although I wouldn't have minded not being caught by the other guardians, a small part of me was glad to know the burden of watching two royals was not solely resting on my shoulders.

Then my thoughts turned to Christian. Why had I brought the tag-a-long in the first place? Lissa and I had planned to go on the London trip by ourselves, but somehow Christian had managed to wheedle his way in. He ended up going with us to London and Lissa somehow managed to convince me to let him come along to the mountains. _What's happened to you Hathaway? You've gone all soft. What happened to the girl who would have just run and left Lissa too?_ I shook her head at her newly found weakness. I had promised Lissa she could come along with me, and apparently that meant bringing along some extra baggage.

And then I started when I remembered the notebook sitting in my duffel bag. This was the perfect time to talk about what she had found.

"I need to show you something," I said as I darted out of my chair and to my bag. I rummaged through and quickly found the leather bound diary. I rushed back over and pulled my chair close to the couch so that I was in front of the two cuddled up on the couch. "You already know how I found the book, but now we have a chance to really look through it. I glanced at a couple of things, Robert mostly wrote in the beginning about not realizing what his power was. He knew that he could heal people and he could force his way into their mind, but that was all he had discovered." By now Christian had taken the journal out of her hands and was flipping through.

"Seems like he gradually discovered more and more," Christian said, "By finding other Spirit users he was able to learn from them. But it didn't take him nearly as long for him to learn powers from others as it takes you and Adrian, Liss," he sounded contemplative.

"Let me see," She reached over and grabbed the book from Christian. She read a few pages that he pointed out to her, "You're right, but how's that possible. According to the dates he learned a new power only days after hearing about it. It doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know," Christian groaned. He rubbed his eyes and let his head fall back on the couch. "I can't think when I haven't eaten in so long. I'm so damn hungry." Lissa gave him a sympathetic look.

"All you do is complain isn't it?" I said, laughing internally. Christian and I did not initially hit it off, but now I knew his character so well that I actually enjoyed his company. I shoved off of the chair and went to look in our mini fridge. Empty. Maybe Abe hadn't been as prepared as I thought. A soft knock to the door drew me closer to it. I looked through the eye hole to find a twenty something man, distinctly human, behind the door. I opened it cautiously, "Yes? May I help you?"

"Miss Hathaway?" The man asked in a distinctly Spanish accent. "Mr. Mazur sent me here. I'm... um..." he shifted his down both sides of the hall way then leaned forward slightly, "I'm dinner." He smiled hopefully. I realized right away why this man was now trying to gain entrance to our room.

"Of course," I said. I let him in with just a slight feeling of disgust. I always felt uneasy around the poor souls who lived for the high from a vampire bite. Then I felt the guilt of that reproach, it hadn't been long ago when I was one of those helpless souls. I waited day in and day out for a bite from Dimitri, not caring about what was happening around me. I noticed then that the feeder had also wheeled a cart in behind him. Pizza. I could smell it before I even saw it. I swiftly followed him into the sitting room where Lissa and Christian stared curiously.

"Abe sent this guy for you," I said off handedly, I couldn't take my eyes off the tray of food. "He's a feeder." I glanced up at the two and smiled. I put on my best fake English accent. I felt it appropriate for our settings, "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to retire to my quarters and enjoy my meal, while you enjoy yours." I stole the cart and left, knowing that I wouldn't be able to bear seeing someone else get the bite. It had been a while since I had felt the venom course through my veins, but now my hunger for the high was even greater than before. Now, I could hardly watch the Moroi drink. Lissa smiled brilliantly back at me and shooed me away into my room.

I sat on one of the chairs in the small sitting area under the widow in the room. As I ate the still warm pizza and marveled at how delicious it was, I contemplated our next moves. The only thing we had left to do was go back to the Royal Court and then on to Lehigh University. And then what? Lissa and Christian get married? Or will Dimitri finally find me? I knew we had to discover how to turn Dimitri back if we could. And I also knew that the only way to find out how to change Dimitri was that journal.

After finishing my meal, I went to take a shower and change into pajamas (I had done some snooping and found a two pairs of pajamas and a change of clothes. One outfit I knew was exactly Lissa's size while the other would fit me. I really was going to owe Abe.). I figured that Lissa and Christian would be done feeding by the time I got out of the shower, but I also realized they had not had a minute alone while we had been on the trip. And I had no intention of walking into the love birds' nest.

Instead I curled up into the bed and let myself drift into a gentle sleep. I woke up while Lissa tried to sneak in. I lazily sat up and looked at the sheepish Lissa.

"Christian and I...." She began, but stopped when I held my hand up.

"Please, spare me," I grinned. "There's an extra set of pj's in the cabinet. And they are the most comfortable pajamas I have ever worn. I swear to you." Lissa giggled at my gushing while she pulled on the micro-fiber pajamas.

"Wow," she said after she changed. "You were right. So soft." Lissa smiled and settled in beside me in the bed. Lissa sighed and lay beside me. When she looked at me next, I realized how truly tired she was. Not just physically, but mentally. This was my second time traveling haphazardly across Eastern Europe and parts of Russia, but Lissa was a first time traveler. I had dragged her all up and down through multiple countries. "What are we doing, Rose?"

"We're crazy, Liss," I smiled. "But I gotta say, for crazy women, we're pretty damn hot." Lissa giggled and closed her eyes.

"I hope everything works," she whispered. "I hope we can change Dimitri back. He was so good for you. We can still have our family." I watched as Lissa slowly drifted off to sleep.

"I hope so too, Liss," I said softly. I lay there for a while. I couldn't sleep for some reason and just let thoughts run through my head. I don't know when I finally drifted off again, but it was long after Lissa had joined me in the room.

The next morning, I was awoken by a knock at the door. "Damn," I mumbled. I stumbled out of bed and to the door.

"Hola, ___Señorita," The man greeted as he handed me an envelope. I nodded and thanked him before he left. After I shut the door, I flipped the envelope over to find it was addressed to me. But my breath caught in my chest when I recognized the hand writing. _

_Roza, _

_ I hope you are enjoying your little vacation. I see you've already found Robert. Victor told me everything. Have you ever listened to Victor Dashkov before, Rose? His ideas of how the Moroi should be ruled are fascinating. I must say, he and I make a fantastic team. And more importantly, we both have the same goal. You see, after you left the poor Mr. Dashkov incapacitated and hidden in that cabin, I found him. And we hit it off to say the least. He was more than excited to see that I was awakened and searching for you and Lissa. Though I would just like to rid the world of both of you, it seems he wants to keep Lissa for some science experiment. I really could care less about that, but he is a very useful resource. Though, I plan to use him in further ways when I grow tired of his company. But for now, he is too valuable. As you can see I've already located you. But now I'm unable to come to you. I grow tired of this silly cat and mouse game. Be prepared, Rose. You never know when I may show up. _

_Love,_

_Dimitri_

I stood motionless. Then bolted to wake up Lissa. We had to move. Now.

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Vampire Academy, Drama, Romance