Chapter 2:

I pulled out my cell phone, dialing the head of the Guardian Council. Reporting what had happened at the Badica house. They said they'd be here in a couple of hours.

Rose left me in the house, saying that she was going to wait out in the car. I examined the house further, trying to see if there was any evidence on who the Strigoi might be. For instance: hair, fingernails, skin cells. But to my dismay, nothing was left. Sighing I decided to join Rose.

We didn't say anything, but that was okay. I was lost in thought anyways. Thinking about how this incident was going to change the Moroi world. Never before had humans worked with Strigoi. Never before had they even known they'd existed. As Rose said: This changes everything.

Finally the first group of guardians showed up, I opened the car door and glanced over at Rose. "You should see how this is done."

I figured since all of this happened Rose should receive somewhat of her test. She needed to graduate, and I was determined to make that happen.

She hesitated for a moment and then got out of the car to follow me. I knew the guardians that had arrived. Some I wen't to school with, the others I met when guarding Moroi. They were surprised to find a novice on the scene, but none of them protested Rose's presence.

She walked behind us as the guardians examined the house. They didn't touch anything but they knelt by the bodies and studied the bloodstains and broken windows. I had discovered earlier that the Strigoi had entered the house through more than just the front door and back patio.

The guardians discussed what was best to do about this situation. They asked me how this had all happened, how they had managed to get through the wards. I reported telling them that it was most likely humans. I was positive. Tamara, the only girl in the group of guardians, knelt down next to Arthur. She was my age, we had guarded the same Moroi for years. She had black hair that barely touched her shoulders.

Sadness flickered in her gray eyes as she studied the dead guardian's face. "Oh, Arthur." She sighed. "Never thought I'd see this day. He was my mentor." With another sigh Tamara rose.

I had known her well enough to remember her mentioning Arthur. Back then I was shocked that she had possessed such skills. Later on learning that Arthur was the answer behind that.

I could see Rose tense. She was at a distance from me but that didn't stop me form noticing the way her muscles flexed. I prepared myself for Rose's outburst.

"How could they do that?" She blurted out. Six sets of eyes turned to her. I was curious as to what she was going to say next. "How could they kill him?"

Tamara gave a small shrug. "The same way they kill everyone else. He's mortal, just like the rest of us."

"Yeah, but he's... you know, Arthur Schoenberg."

Time for her test. "You tell us, Rose. You've seen the house. tell us how they did it." I said.

She took a moment to think about my question. Finally she spoke, and I knew she was going to be correct, by the flash of realization in her eyes. "There were four points of entry, which means at least four Strigoi. There were seven Moroi...And three guardians. Too many kills. Four Strigoi couldn't have taken down that many. Six probably could if they went for the guardians first and caught them by surprise. The family would have been too panicked to fight back."

"And how did they catch the guardians by surprise?" I prompted.

I knew the answer already but I wanted Rose to think of it for herself. I knew she was bright, I just had to bring it out of her.

She hesitated. But only for a moment. "Because the wards were broken. In a household without wards there'd probably be a guardian walking the yard at night. But they wouldn't have done that here."

She waited for my next question. But I didn't ask it. There was no need to ask how the wards had been broken. We all knew. We'd all seen the stake.

I simply nodded and the group continued their survey. When we reached the bathroom I refused to avert my gaze. I had seen this room with Rose earlier and knew every detail. There was a dead man in here, his dry blood standing out in a stark contrast against the white tile. The smell of death filled the small room.

As Rose turned away she caught a glimpse of the mirror. I followed her gaze. There was something dark red--more like brown--on the mirror. I had noticed it before. It was a note on the mirror done in blood. Written in scrawny letters.

Poor, poor Badicas. So few left. One royal family nearly gone. Others to follow. I could hear Tamara snort in disgust from behind.

The Badicas were one of the smaller royal clans. But there were more Badicas out there probably about two hundred. Although there were a lot more royals with bigger families. Like the Ivashkovs. That family was huge and widespread. But some royal families didn't have as much as the Badicas or the Ivashkovs.

Like the Dragomirs.

Lissa was the only one left.

If the Strigoi were meaning to kill off all the royals then surely they'd go after Lissa next. Which meant more protection from me and Rose.

I took the guardians around the rest of the house. Rose was quiet. So quiet that I had forgotten that she was there. When we finally got into the car to ride back to St. Vladimir's, Rose slammed the door hard.

I glanced at her in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Are you serious? How could you ask that? You were there. You saw that." She exclaimed, incredulous.

"I did," I agreed. "But I'm not taking it out on the car."

She fastened her seat belt and glowered in my direction. "I hate them. I hate them all! I wish I'd been there. I would have ripped their throats out!"

She was yelling by now. And I stared at her calmly, astonished at her outburst.

"You really think that's true?" I asked her. "You think you could have done better than Art Schoenberg after seeing what the Strigoi did in there? After seeing what Natalie did to you?"

She faltered. Natalie, Victor's daughter, had turned Strigoi in order to free her father. And in the process of doing so Rose had gotten in the way and nearly got herself killed. Luckily for her I had found the blood and tracked Natalie down. Just in time to square off with her and kill her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a long moment she opened her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said more calmly. I was surprised and concerned from her sudden outburst. That wasn't like Rose. Sure she was reckless and got out of hand at times but she was never like this.

"It's okay." I said concerned for her as I reached over and placed my hand on hers for a few moments. Then I removed it and started the car. "It's been a long day. For all of us."

When we got back to the Academy around midnight, everyone knew about the massacre. The vampiric school day had just ended. I noticed Rose's sluggish posture and ordered her to immediately go back to her dorm room and get some sleep. I started to feel the same way. Although I didn't show it.

I left her to consult with the other guardians about the attack after she promised to do as I said. I arrived at the main office and Kirova practically dragged me inside.

All the school guardians were huddled in her office talking about the attack. As soon as I stepped in the room they started bombarding me with questions. I told them everything, how we discoverd that humans had helped the Strigoi and and what the crime scene looked like.

At the end of everything Kirova spoke up. "We need to send the students to a safer place if the Strigoi are really after the royals."

"Yes but where?" A guardian spoke up.

"We could send them to the Court, that's the safest place." She replied back.

I shook my head, "we cant, not all of the Academy's student's will fit."

"Then we'll send only the royals."

I looked at her shocked. Why was it that Moroi were more worried about the royals? Why not worry about all of their race. I shook my head again. "No, we have to protect everyone."

She sighed, tapping her long fingers on the hard wood of her desk. "Then what do you suggest we do Belikov?"

I shrugged. "Can't we rent a place out?" I had remembered hearing that Moroi would rent a place out that belonged to them, in order to keep themselves safe. "There has to be a place that is equipped with wards and guardians?

"What about the ski lodge in Idaho?" Alberta spoke up. "That's where most of the Moroi families go during the Christmas break."

I nodded in agreement. "We have the money to rent out rooms to each of the students." Kirova started to protest but I cut her off.  "If you don't like that idea then assign two or three students a room."

Kirova looked at me through her glasses. Scorning at the thought of spending money. "I'll think about it."

Alberta wouldn't take that. "Please, the students would love it, and if the royals are really worried about everything they can go to Court, but the non-royal families have to go to the ski lodge."

Kirova looked between Alberta and I. The other guardians had fallen silent. Obviously liking the idea. After a dreading two minutes Kirova finally spoke. "Alright, we'll go at the beginning of break."

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Whew, so tell me what you guys thought of the end, I had to think of something and I'm afraid I'm not very good at meetings. So please tell me if it was good or bad :P Thanks so much for reading!

<3LittleDhampir18