This is my first fanfic so I hope it's ok... if you like it, review to let me know to keep going! :)

Disclaimer - I do not own Vampire Academy or any of its characters! Although I wish I could have Dimitri! Yum! :P

It was chilly in the cool Portland air. After weeks of searching, going back and forth between the school and Portland, looking for the Princess, we finally had them, at least I hoped.

I heard a sudden scream and I realized that it was coming from a third floor window. I saw someone get up and rush over to the other side of the room. I watched carefully, wondering… We knew the Princess was in this building, we just didn't know where. We were planning on waiting until her and Miss Hathaway left in a few hours, but if this was them, maybe we wouldn't have to.

After a few moments and no movement around the room, I decided to turn my attention away, watching the other windows of the dorm room.

No sooner had I looked away, and the light to the room where the screaming had come from, had flickered on.

And there they were.

The light in the room was dim, but plenty for me to know that it was Vasilisa Dragomir and Rosemarie Hathaway sitting on the bed. It must have been the Princess that had been screaming, because it was Rose that was comforting Vasilisa.

I saw a cat jump onto the window sill. It couldn't have belonged to the girls, because, naturally, I saw that it gave Rose a wide berth, animals hated dhampirs. But that didn't stop it from going to comfort Vasilisa.

Suddenly I saw Rose look at the princess with worry, saying something to her. Vasilisa shrugged and mumbled something in reply, looking away from Rose.

Rose spoke again, shifting around on the bed—while the cat jumped back to the window sill. I could see Rose telling Vasilisa to do something, but she kept up her protests. Eventually Rose brought her hair back over her shoulder and tilted her head, exposing her neck.

I took a step forward, partly leaving the shadow of the tree I was standing beneath. A stupid mistake, yes, but I was unbelieving of what I was about to witness. Suddenly the princess gave in, and slowly lowered her head to the exposed neck.

A heard a small scream of pain from Rose, before she relaxed and let the endorphins of the Moroi bite take over. I had never known what it felt like to get the rush from a Moroi bite, nor did I ever want to, and I had a feeling Rose hadn't wanted it either once. Although she probably still didn't, her resistance to it was clearly weaker since she was doing it for Vasilisa.

When Vasilisa pulled away, I watched Rose fall onto the bed exhausted, leaving my view. The princess said something and left the room, grabbing a jacket.

With nothing left in the room to really watch, I noticed the cat was sitting on the window sill, watching me. Damn it.

I stared at the cat for a few more moments before realizing that Rose had stumbled her way to the window. A warm breeze played with her long hair as she leaned out and suddenly spotted me, the only other person on the dead campus. She jerked back for a moment before leaning back forward to see me better.

I realised then that I had stepped out of my shadows before and forgot to hide myself again. Damn it.

I stepped back as one of the other guardians came to me, asking me what was going to happen next. When I was sure we were completely lost to Rose's view but I could still see her, I told him to wait a moment.

I looked up at Rose as the cats' behaviour towards me, finally clicked in her head. She jerked again with realization and grabbed her coat and probably some shoes, rushing out of the room.

"Move," I said to him and he contacted the other guardians that had come with us. I moved around to the front entrance of building just in time to see both girls rush out and run down the street. I followed them in the bushes for two blocks before Vasilisa stopped—I stopped dead too—and suddenly spoke, "Did you hear that?"

Rose listened for a few moments hearing the footsteps of my colleagues catching up. "We've got to run for it," she told Vasilisa.

"But you can't—" the princess protested.

"Run."

And they bolted. I kept my pace with them for another few blocks, waiting for my opportunity, but with the other guardians growing closer—and consequently the girls trying to pick up speed—I had to stop them. Ten feet from the corner I stepped out in front of them.

I looked at Rose first as she pulled Vasilisa back behind her, took in her appearance; her long, dark hair that matched her dark eyes and skin tone. She was short, like her mother whom I had met a few weeks ago, and she was pretty well built; attractive, probably to anyone who wasn't about to drag her back to school—most likely kicking and screaming.

Vasilisa behind her looked scared as she looked around at the hopelessness of the situation.

The other guardians surrounded them with me, and Rose became even more defensive.

"Leave her alone," she growled at me. "Don't touch her."

I kept my face blank and raised my hands, hoping to convey that I wasn't going to harm anyone.

"I'm not going to—" I tried to explain, stepping forward.

Rose attacked, or tried to attack anyway. I knocked her away a little harder than I had meant to; I had forgotten that she was just a novice who hadn't properly trained in two years, and that she had just given Vasilisa a lot of her blood. She started to fall towards the pavement at a hip-first angle. I knew it was going to hurt; and I was going to let her, too, but I reached out and stopped her, grabbing her arm just as fast as I had deflected her. But it hadn't been my choice, I was honestly going to let her fall as a small punishment for being stupid enough to try and attack me. Instead my body had made me save her.

While I held her, my gaze wandered down to her neck, staring at the dark patch of blood that had partly started to dry. I noticed Rose put the tips of her finger to her neck and pull her hand away, looking at the blood before using her hand to bring her hair back over her shoulder to cover the wound.

She jerked out of my hold and I let her go freely. Rose stepped back towards the princess and when she looked like she was about to strike again, Vasilisa grabbed her hand and whispered for her not to.

Rose looked like she wasn't going to back down, but suddenly, like Vasilisa had made her be calm, Rose sagged in defeat. I carefully stepped forward; worried I would set her off again. I turned to Vasilisa and bowed to her. "My name I Dimitri Belikov," I told her, hoping she would calm if I introduced myself first. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."