"Do you see anything suspicious?"

"No," I replied back to the voice in my earpiece while rolling my eyes. I scanned the entrance of an abandoned rural small town in the middle of nowhere. "All I see are old shacks and haunted houses."

"Just check it out, Rose."

"Well, I didn't fly all the way out here to play The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

"I'm sure Lissa will be fine without you for a day or two."

"Easy for you to say, Edison Castile. I'm not the one comfortably in bed with the Queen's younger sister."

My lips curved up into a satisfied smile. Oh, how the tables have turned... Eddie was dating Jill who became the Dragomir Princess. And I wasn't going to let him live it down so easily, not when my love life was an apocalypse.

"You're just jealous you're not in bed sleeping in.  And for the record, I'm not in bed with Jill."

I chuckled, "Sure, I believe you wholeheartedly."

"Focus, Rose!"

"Yes, Guardian Castile," I bit back sarcastically.

I stepped over a log and looked into one of the broken windows. Using my hands, I signaled my team of seven guardians to search out the place.

"Anything suspicious?" He inquired, sounding almost impatient, which I found odd coming from Eddie.

"In a hurry to go somewhere?" I asked, pushing a wooden door open and peering inside with my hand on my silver stake. The floor creaked under my weight as I went inside.

"Be serious, will you?"

"The only thing that's suspicious is me being here," I responded, feeling slightly confused at the whole investigation, "Why would that pompous want me to lead the ground investigation? He hates me!"

"Maybe he had a change of heart."

"I see pigs flying."

I walked to the bottom of the stairs and decided not to go up because of how weak the wooden boards were. I doubted if that thing could take my weight without collapsing and sending me to my death.

"Look, he might come off as a jerk, but I don't think he requested you to lead the team because he hates you. I'm certain he has a solid reason."

"I found something!" One of the guardians shouted. I whipped around and took off running.

"What is it?" Eddie asked.

"Somebody found something," I answered, joining the rest of the team. They were all hovering over something. I moved in and had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes the millionth time today at seeing what it was.

"What did they find?" He sounded curious.

"Is a used condom and crystal meth suspicious enough?"

"Stop joking around, Rose!"

I scowled and said, "I'm not joking around." The guardians started snickering to themselves. I let out a laugh and shook my head. "Really, Eddie, we found a safe box with a used condom and a stash of illegal drugs. I have no idea what we're suspposed to be looking for."

"At least someone was having a good time," one of the guardians commented, earning a good laugh from each of us.

But Eddie was relentless. "Are you sure?" The hardness of his tone made me step away from the group for privacy. I pressed my finger to the earpiece to hear better.

"Is there something going on that I should be aware of, Eddie?" His determination with this investigation was setting me on edge, and I wasn't liking it one bit.

He sighed, like he was carrying a heavy burden alone. "I'm going to be honest with you, Rose. I don't know or understand everything about this investigation yet. All I'm asking you to do is check the place out as thoroughly as possible and report back to me."

"Is this something related to strigoi?" I asked quietly, casting my eyes across the town cautiously. My senses were suddenly hightened to detect any unusual movement.

"Yes," he breathed heavily, before finishing, "We don't know the history of that town, Rose. Be alert at all times."

His warning sent unpleasant cold chills up my spine. If Eddie was warning me about something, I knew better than to take it lightly. I threw a look to one of the guardians and gave him a hand signal to continue our search. Playtime was over.

"Tell me, how did they find out about this place?"

The sun was still shining on us which was the only thing that kept the strigoi at bay, if there were any in the area. I walked toward the church, remembering one important fact: strigoi could not walk on holy ground.

"St. Vladimir's Academy received an annonymous report with the GPS coordinates of this town. We're waiting still for the alchemists to get back with the town's information. Whatever you do, if an emergency happens, get yourself and the others out of there. Do you understand that, Rose?"

"Eddie—"

"That's an order, Rose!"

I could hear the concern in his voice underneath all the toughness and guardian appearance he always had on. He was in so many ways like Dimitri. The only difference was, with Dimitri, our time together had allowed me to read into him and him to open up more.

Eddie, on the other hand, wore a mask of strength and shut himself off to the rest of us after Spokane. Jill was one lucky girl to be able to see a different side to him.

"Yes, I understand. I will get back to you later."

I hung up and headed straight to the old church building. This was the one place the strigoi wouldn't be able to infiltrate in this town. I took a deep breath and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Need a little help?" A familiar teasing voice offered. I turned to see a tall, handsome, blue-eyed man I knew too well. 

I grinned, "Nah. I got this."

Ben chuckled gesturing to the door. I lifted my foot up and kicked it with all of my strength. The door flew open revealing a dirty and dusty church hall. All the pews were scattered and broken. I turned to the chestnut brown-haired man next to me with a smile.

"After you, Guardian Morwick."

"Ladies first?"

"Not this time," I pushed him in as he laughed stumbling into the church.

Our laughter died out when everything settled into us fully. Something definitely happened here whether it was strigoi-related or not. The windows were boarded up and there was no sign of life at all. 

"What do you think happened here?" Ben asked, kicking a piece of wood aside with his combat boots.

Shrugging my shoulders and switching on my flashlight, I sighed, "I don't know. Doesn't look too good."

A loud clanking sound echoed throughout the church making the two of us pull out our silver stakes and go into our fighting stance. Ben went ahead of me using his flashlight to see better in the shadowy parts. I followed him closely keeping my eyes focused for anything that moved or posed as a danger.

We came up to two doors; undoubtedly were used by the priests. I looked at Ben and suggested that we separated to cover more ground in shorter time. I went to the door on the right and twisted the knob. It swung open and I saw an old mattress lying on the floor with all kinds of trash like soda cans, banana peels, and bread crumbs. Obviously someone was living here.

Just as I was about to turn around, a figure jumped out and pushed me to the ground. I tried to grab its arms and didn't expect it to close its mouth and teeth on the flesh of my teeth. I bit back a curse and tackled it until it was underneath me. All the growling and screaming stopped when I held it down flat on the dirty floor. It happened to be a child not older than ten years old. 

"Rose!" Ben came running in with his stake in hand ready to plunge it into whatever was attacking me. 

"I'm alright!" I reassured him, feeling a wave of astonishment wash over me. I gaped at the young child as she furiously glared back at me. Her little bite was already leaving me a mark on my skin. Thank heaven, she didn't bite through my skin.

●●●

"Humor me. You are able to handle a strigoi, but not a nine-year-old child?" Nikolay Volkov questioned, pointing his ringed finger at me. His snake eyes lingered on the prominent bitemark on my arm. This egomaniac happened to be what they replaced Alberta Petrov with. I feared for the future of this school and its students. 

"Well, that's what you get when you expect strigoi activity, not a screaming animalistic child!" I retorted, a sense of burning rage overcoming me. 

"Silence!" He shouted, "I am the Captain of St. Vladimir's Academy's Guardians. I expect a little more respect from you, even if you are Queen Vasilisa's guardian and best friend."

And there it was again, someone thinking that I got the job because I was her best friend, not because I was actually qualified. Volkov never looked so punchable as of right now. I wanted to show him just exactly how qualified I was to hold the guardian title. 

"Not until you tell me about the whole investigation, Guardian Volkov. If I recall correctly, you requested for my assistance in leading a team out there. Don't you think I deserve a little info on what I'm investigating?"

He sat back down in his hair drumming his fingers on his desk. The drumming sound annoyed me more than I cared to admit standing there in front of him like I was some seventeen-year-old student about to get her fifth detention this week. 

He raised his eyebrow and looked at me with complete disdain. "I requested your assistance because of your erratic behavior in your teenage years," he smiled like he knew he was going to win this game, "You did manage to take down your lover—oh, I mean, mentor. Despite your savage ways, even I must admit you are good."

My fists tightened as I held back all the strong emotions building up in me quickly.

"Your point being?" I seethed through gritted teeth.

He leaned on his elbows and chuckled, "Which is why you were suitable for the assignment. If anything went wrong, your downfall wouldn't be much of a loss to us."

Something in me snapped. A second ago I was standing still, and a second later I was over the desk punching him like it was my last time fighting for something worth my strength and knuckle pains. And I liked it a little too much. Seeing his nose broken and bleeding was beyond personal satisfaction.

"Insult me like that ever again and I will bury you alive with my bare hands!" I threatened, gripping his collar and nearly considered banging his head on his desk. I felt two hands grab my arms pulling me away from beating the man into a pulp he was, but that didn't stop me from creaming the following words. "You're disgusting! I bet you can't even see past your small little—"

Eddie dragged me out of Volkov's office and shook me, "Rose, that's enough!" His voice was like a siren ringing in my ears, waking me out of rage. I stood still against the wall and closed my eyes trying to ignore how Volkov's words stung in places that I had long buried deep inside me, never to be spoken again.

"Are you okay?" Now he was asking me as a good friend, a caring brother.

I opened my eyes to meet his hazel irises looking at me like I was something fragile. I hated those kind of looks the most. "Stop looking at me like that," I hissed, putting a distance between the two of us.

"Rose, I'm just trying to be your friend," he reasoned. 

Every part of me knew that he was right, but it didn't stop the hurting, did it. I knew I was going to regret what I was going to say next.

"You're just pitying me! You're treating me like a child!" I accused him, raising my voice and pointing my finger. "Ever since Mason died, that's all you seem to do."

"Rose, don't go there."

"Admit it! You feel guilty about what happened. So you run around trying to play mother hen with everyone so you could feel better about yourself," I mocked, feeling dampness on my face as I spat out those words so venomously and treacherously. It was cruel of me.

I knew I had hit a nerve. He was rigid and his whole face was tensed. He was hanging onto a very thin line. He breathed in and out slowly as his eyes had darkened a shade. Now he was just as angry as I was. 

"Congratulations, Rose! You've won! You're right about everything! So hate me all you want just because the thought of losing another best friend is too much for a man like me to bear. And don't you dare turn your back on me! You're no better than I am, cracking your silly little jokes just to cover up that you're a girl with a whole lot of baggage. Admit it, Rose, you will never be over Dimitri."

That felt a lot like a punch to the gut. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks like the Niagara Falls as I glared at him through my blurred vision.

But he didn't stop there.

"So next time someone tries to comfort you, just accept it for all of our sake," he finished, and walked away until I couldn't see his retreating back anymore.

I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand and stormed back into my room. I locked the door and kicked my shoes off, throwing them across the room in frustration.

I sat down at the foot of the bed and ran my fingers through my hair willing the tears to stop coming. The argument tonight was like using a knife to cut open a scar that wasn't fully healed, and now it was bleeding all over again.

It was my fault.

What Volkov and Eddie said hurt because I knew it was true. That was why I got angry and out of control. I rarely talked of the past. Heaven knew I avoided talking about Dimitri altogether. It had been years since I staked him, but that night still haunted me. He was a part of my soul, and somehow it terrified me to know that I could never move past what happened.

I laid down and tried to let sleep take over so I could get a break from the world—from everything. I knew my journey was going to continue the next day, but for now, I needed some very alone time.

Author's Note

Hi my awesome VA fam,

I missed you guys so much! Remember all those times we spent commenting about our love for the VA franchise? I remember them so well and they always bring a smile to my face. I am officially back from the dead. Life has been crazy with its ups and downs. It got so hard for me that I forgot my inspiration to write. I realized that I needed to retrace my steps and start over again, not as a teenager, but a woman who is wiser. I want all of you to embark on this journey with me. Remind me that the reason I got into writing is because I wanted more than what the VA books offered. I didn't want to the stories to end so I wrote them to keep them alive in my mind.

Stay with me <3

Iris