Lullaby of the Dead / A Vampire Academy Fanfic

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Richelle Mead!

Summary: Post SK. Dimitri's not Strigoi. Weird things are happening at St. Vlad's. Doors are locking, glass is breaking. People are seeing their doppelgangers and blood is pouring from the sky like the clouds are bleeding. When Rose see's her ghost, she knows things aren't the way they used to be. St. Vlad's is being haunted.

Uncivil Wars

I ran into class 14 minutes after the bell rang. About a week ago they started cleaning up the campus from the attacks and today they were starting classes back up; and as usual, I was late to History.

"-And the causes of the willow and mar- Well, Miss Hathaway, so nice of you to join us," Mr. Nagy, our replacement history teacher, jeered as I walked through the door.

"I, uh..."

"Just take your seat Miss Hathaway. You can copy the notes from Mr. Ozera, I presume?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Nagy." Mr. Nagy was one of the few teachers that I liked. He actually treated me with a fair amount of respect. I took my seat next to Christian and leaned over his shoulder to get the few pointers that I missed. Apparently, we were studying the Civil War.

"Southern states were concerned about states rights and loosing sovereignty morose than just slavery. With the election of Abraham Lincoln it was the last straw for the south. You could look as far back as the 1830s as to the beginning of the issues of the civil war, but the election of Abraham Lincoln was the spark that ignited the fire. Miss Rinaldi? I believe you had a theory?"

"This is not the commonly taught answer, but my belief is that the Civil War began October 16, 1859 with John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry. That raid marked the first use of troops against American citizens during this period. It also really struck fear into the South about possible slave revolts. Many of the State Militia's which had previously been, in essence, social organizations began to really drill and work on marksmanship and other military skills. Also, after the Raid, slave uprisings and runaways increased dramatically in the south. So, given the use of force and the increased militarization in the South, I think you can make a great case that the Civil War as a military conflict began in October of 1859." Mia gave her big long speech on it and I tuned out until I heard my name.

"And Miss Hathaway, do you have anything you would like to add?" He asked.

"Um, not really. I mean, why do you we even learn about this stuff when we didn't experience any of it? It doesn't effect Moroi culture." I said.

"And you are right."

"I am?" I asked incredibly.

"Yes. Why do we learn about History? Because it makes us smarter? No. You see, the reason the Civil war is such an important topic to the vampire world is because when the war began in 1861, we had a little Civil war ourselves. The Strigoi attacked this very school the same year, just like the one just 2 weeks ago. The only difference is that so many more lives were lost. Almost 260 causalities in total. Most were Moroi, but a good number of Guardians and Novices went out too. They died on the ground you are sitting on right now. It took almost 4 years to recover from the attack and rebuild."

"Oh my god," Lissa, who was sitting a few desk away, said out loud. "That's horrible!"

"But we must remember that the past is the past. Now onto the lesson-" He continued.

Even I was a bit shocked. I turned in my seat a bit to see the Guardians lined up against the wall. I smiled at Dimitri. He through a glance in my direction but other then that ignored me. He was way to serious.

The rose bore rigid, steely petals. He stroked his finger down one, and it blackened under his touch. As its color was leeched, the petal crumbled away like ash. In the dream, he wore a crown of rusted blades and nothing else, but he was alone. His hair was blonde again, plaited down his back in intricate ropes of gold. There was a slight breeze, and it plucked at the long bangs framing his narrow face. His land sprawled for leagues, a mad tangle of iron thorn and silver rose. As he began to walk, the bushes scratched the prince's porcelain flesh. Thin, dark lines welled black blood, but he felt no pain.

It was that moment you knew fairy tales were real. The dream where nothing was impossible. The life where everything was dead.

He couldn't feel the pain.

I woke with a start the next morning. After my eyes adjusted to the dark, I groaned. The weird dreams were coming back. I hadn't told Dimitri or Lissa or anybody. I mean, they were just dreams right? But in every one of them there was a prince. He was young and had raven black hair and eyes so dark I could swear he only had pupils. The theme would be different though.

I rolled over and checked my clock. 5:16. I had about 15 minutes before I would have gotten up anyways. With my fingers digging into the thick sheets, I sighed softy. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood. My toes sunk into the thick carpet, all but hidden from view. I walked groggily into the bathroom. I stripped and climbed into the shower. Clouds of steam billowed from behind the crystal screen, fogging the mirror. I stood under the water, as it came out from the shower head at boiling point. It felt oddly good as the water washed away the sweat, leaving red burns on my skin.

When it was almost 5:30 I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body, walking into my room for clothes. I changed into grey sweatpants and sweatshirt, which absorbed any access water in my hair. I opened the curtains revealing what looked like a very drowsy day. The sky was a dark grey and rain poured from the sky. Unlike a lot of people, I loved this weather. I loved the smell and the feel of the water on skin. I loved the color the clouds made everything.

It was just 6 when I left for training. The bad news was that I would have to go through the courtyard to get to the gym and I wasn't in the mood to get wet. At the last second I made a run for it. I was almost back under the awning when I hit a wall. A clear, glass, wall. My body flew off of it and hit the ground hard, face down. I felt the blood running from my nose to my mouth. A copper tang filled my mouth. My hair was sprawling all over the ground and my face, sticking to my cheeks. I sat up in pain. I stood slowly wiping the sleeve of my sweatshirt. It brought back blood. I pushed toward the empty air. My fingers hit the wall again.

My fingered pressed against it, pushing hard, but it wouldn't break. To say I was confused would be like saying Lissa wasn't as blond as it got - so basically a major understatement.

Then, my fingers turned red.

My head shot to the sky, where rain wasn't pouring anymore.

Blood was.

I gasped and scrambled backwards where I was met with another wall. They were closing in on me. The blood rain poured on me, soaking my hair and clothes with red. I screamed and pounded on the walls petrified. Before I knew it, I was clawing at the ground, the air around me just evaporating.

I knew I was about to black out with all the red clouding my vision, but then I heard his voice.

"Rose!" And the walls broke, shattered, burst. The air was coming back in short shallow uneven breaths. My skin was completely dry of any trace of blood. Rain fell from the sky like it should on days like this.

"Rose, what's going on? What happened?" But before I attempt to answer, Dimitri pulled me into his arms, lifting me up and carrying me into the Guardian's lounge - the equivalent to a teacher's lounge. He set me in one of the plush chairs, leaving only to return with a bright red towel and a cup of his famous hot chocolate.

"Tell me what happened." He stated, bringing over a chair of his own. Luckily for us, nobody in their right mind was up at this hour and we had the place to our self.

"I don't know." I said. "I was fine this morning, and then when I tried to get out of the rain...I couldn't. It's like there were real walls that were holding me in. All the air was gone." I said softly, not meeting his eye. I decided it would be best to leave out the blood-rain thing. Then he would really think I was crazy. I heard him sigh. His hand reached to my chin so I would look up at him.

"Rose, I-I don't think your lying. I trust you with everything in me, but for right now, lets keep this between us, okay? Tell the Princess, but keep it small. With everything being processed with the Shadow Kissed stuff, well, it's already enough for the royals." He said with a small smile. "I'll walk you back to your dorm and get you out of your classes for today,"

He kissed me forehead and sat me back up on my feet. This little attraction was rare for him. When he said we were going to stay after from each other until graduation, he wasn't lying. All of our trainings were kept strictly professional and he ignored me all the others times we were together.

I smiled up at him and when I told him I loved him, he said it back.

That night was the worst. When I woke from the dream about the Prince and the Rose, I turned on my lamp, only to be faced with me. A pale, grey, dead me. I shrieked and scrambled up into the pillows, hitting the backboard. An exact copy of me was draped over my body, staring me in the eyes with death. I couldn't stop screaming, but I did when her hand trailed down my cheek and covered my mouth.

Shhhh.

She placed a finger over her lips and disappeared. The magic trick was almost enough to make me forget the bloody knife sticking out from her side. Almost.

Review! Should I continue?

-Elisabeth