Chapter 1

We were supposed to drive all the way to Billings – a five hour trip – in Alberta's old Honda Pilot.

Clearly, God did not intend to keep neither me nor Rose alive for too long.

Oh, don't get me wrong. That car was as boringly sturdy as they come. I knew it wouldn't fall apart easily.

That was the problem.

You see, I have this thing for big cars. Really big cars. They make me get… excited. And when I'm excited while I drive, I start crashing into smaller cars.

On purpose.

Daemon dropped his prayer book in shock when I told him. It took him about ten minutes to stop laughing.

By the time Rose chose to appear, I was seriously pissed off. Not because she was about half an hour late – oh, no, that I was used to – but because Daemon really would not stop laughing.

Plus, the drive to see Art didn't look like it was gonna be too much fun.

Rose took one look at me and rolled her eyes "I know, I know. Sorry I'm late"

You know, Daemon, I might get away with your murder if I plead innocent by cause of insanity.

That shut him up.

"Who else is going?" Rose asked, pushing her messy dark hair out of her face. Clearly, using a hairbrush in the morning was beyond her abilities.

She looked gorgeous "Just you and me"

"How far away is it?" She asked, giving up on her hair and tying it into a messy ponytail instead.

"Five hours" I dead-panned, thinking of the Honda behind me.

I must not crash anything. I must not crash… not at all. It's not like this is a NASCAR race we're talking about. I'll be fine. No one's gonna die. Besides, it's not like these roads are very transited, anyway… right?

"Oh" We both got into the car and shut the doors quietly. "Don't they usually come to the Academy? I mean, I'm all for the field trip, but why are we going to them?"

"Actually, you're just going to a him, not a them" I corrected her "Since this is a special case and he's doing us the favor, we're the ones making the trip"

"Who is he?" Rose asked.

"Arthur Schoenberg"

Rose's reaction… well, I wasn't expecting it.

"What?" She squeaked. "Wasn't… wasn't there anyone else available?"

I shrugged to hide my amusement "You'll be fine. Besides, if Art approves of you, that's a great recommendation to have on your record"

And he would approve of her. In fact, he and Rose would probably hit it off right away. Schoenberg was not your typical older-and-wiser hero, he was actually a really funny guy.

I smiled as I thought of when I'd met him. He'd burst into the school and started shooting paint guns all over the place to show the other guardians which places they weren't guarding properly…

Rose bit her lip, a frown on her face.

"You'll be fine" I assured her "The good on your record outweighs the bad"

She smiled and looked at me out of the corner of her eyes, snuggling into the leather seat "Thanks, Coach"

"I'm here to help" I joked.

"You know what would really help?" Hathaway asked, looking out her window.

"Hmm?"

"If you turned off this crap music and put on something that came out after the Berlin Wall went down" Rose said.

I couldn't help it – I laughed "Your worst class is history, yet somehow, you know everything about Eastern Europe"

"Hey, gotta have material for my jokes, Comrade" She grinned.

I turned the dial. To a country station "Hey! This isn't what I had in mind!"

I pressed my lips together "Pick. It's one or the other"

She'll take the country station. Daemon smiled.

No. She hates that.

Wanna bet? He asked.

I nodded.

Rose sighed in exasperation "Go back to the 1980's stuff"

I knew it all along.

Smiling, I switched the dial.

Hathaway groaned and put her head in her hands.

***

Two hours later, I was groaning too. Or my stomach was – clearly my breakfast had not been good enough for him.

"You know, Dimitri…" Rose began carefully.

Sweet Jesus, what is this woman planning this time?

"…I am as hungry as you are" She pouted "And as it happens, there's a diner right there"

I shook my head "We're late enough without stopping for food"

"But I didn't get to eat anything this morning! I'm starving!" Rose protested "If I faint while we're in Arthur Schoenberg's house…"

"Fine" I conceded "You have ten minutes. Starting now"

Hathaway jumped off the car as it slowed to a stop in the diner's parking lot and began running towards the smell of food. I followed calmly behind her.

She was sitting at a table drinking a huge milkshake by the time I caught up. "I ordered two hamburgers"

"Great" I sat down across the booth "Hey, can I try that? Since I am apparently gonna be the one paying for it"

Rose smiled sheepishly and handed me her glass as a waitress stopped in front of us.

"Mm... I'll have one of these, please" I said.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"No, thank you, we're fine" Rose crossed her arms and glared at the young blonde's retreating back.

My eyebrow went up… and up… and up.

"What? I ordered some fries for us, too" She defended herself at my skepticism "Besides, you never eat that much than me"

I let it go, pleased at her… jealousy? Possessiveness?

Daemon rolled his eyes at my reaction. This is all so elementary-school-like.

Dude, your comments are so boring, they're not even funny anymore. I snorted.

The waitress returned with two steaming plates with hamburgers and French fries and my vanilla milk shake. Smiling, she set them down on the table and then leaned her arms against it, showing the world her ample cleavage.

I swallowed a smile. How pathetic.

"Would you like anything else?" She drawled.

"No. Go away" Rose snapped. The blonde – Nancy, her name-tag read – left us alone in a huff and I burst into silent laughter.

I swear to God…Only Rose can be that blunt…

"What?!" Rose hissed in that annoyingly high-pitched voice girls can't help but get when they're mad "This is a restaurant, not a fucking strip club! She could've tried to seduce you somewhere else, you know – some of us are trying to eat here, and looking at her boobs is really not helping my appetite"

I smiled, trying not to laugh again "Oh, I can see that"

Rose looked down at her half-empty plate and blushed "I was hungry. So sue me"

I decided not to – which was probably a smart move considering we had three minutes to finish up and get moving again.

Nancy returned as soon as our food had vanished and piled the dishes, taking them in her arms "May I offer you anything?"

"The bill would be nice, miss" I said quietly before Hathaway could get a word in.

"Anything besides that?" She prompted, squishing her chest between her arms.

I scooted away from her – all the perfume she had on was making me dizzy "No"

Rose left the diner with a smug smile on her face.

***

The Badicas' house was as simple as they come.

It was single story, with a dark, low-pitched gable roof and huge windows looking out into the street. The trees surrounding it and the small shrubs beneath the windows were covered in snow, the warm wood making the house seem cozy and inviting.

There was a pebbly sidewalk stretching from the driveway – where we'd abandoned the Honda – through the front yard. I began walking, alert in case Art decided to play some kind of joke on us.

Rose slipped on the thin sheet of ice covering our path and I instinctively steadied her.

"You OK?" I asked her – her ankle was probably still a bit weak.

"Yeah. Haven't these people ever heard of salt?" She wondered.

My whole world came crashing down as I took another look at the house. No smoke came from the chimney – odd in such cold weather – there was no sign of footsteps on the snow. The path did not, as Rose had pointed out, have any salt, and the lawn was undisturbed, like it had not been shoveled for a while.

Please, God, please, no, not here – not Art…

I silently began walking towards the front door, Rose following behind me. Seeing it more closely, I could tell it wasn't shut – not entirely, at least – and the handle was broken, the scuffs beside it telltale signs of a forced entry.

My throat dried.

Strigoi. It's obvious. Get Rose away. Get her far, far away from here. My mind screamed.

But… if they are still on the perimeter… if they are watching us…

"Rose, go wait in the car" I told her quietly.

"Wh–"

"Go" I said firmly, begging every deity I could think of to please, please make her obey me for once in her life and lock herself in the Honda. It was a strong car – one of the best in the market. She would be safe.

Rose is the top priority here.

She backed up and got into the car without a word. The keys – I should've given them to her so she could get away.

But it was too late. I gave the door a gentle push and stepped into the foyer.

It was clear. Still tense and acutely aware of my surroundings, I scanned the empty dining room and kitchen before me. Sensing no danger from there, I turned to my right…

And saw my friend Art Schoenberg lying on the floor, dead.

He wasn't the only one. There were several bodies in the living room. Several Moroi had been killed: two women, a man and three children. A guardian lay beside a little girl, his body pressed to hers protectively.

I didn't feel pity. I didn't feel pain, though I knew that would get to me later. All I could feel was fear.

Fear for Rose.

I was out the door in a flash, my eyes immediately going to the empty car.

Empty. She's not here. How can she not be here?

I went cold all over.

Footprints! Look… she's fine! Daemon grasped at straws wildly. She must've gone off to check the place out.

And he was right. Footprints went all around the house u p to the porch.

Rose stood frozen at the edge of the living room, a stake in her hand. She drew in a ragged breath, ready to scream.

I clamped my hand over her mouth and felt her fight for a moment before she knew it was me and relaxed.

"Why don't you ever listen?" I demanded roughly "You'd be dead if they were still here"

It took me quite a while to take my hand away. When I did, Rose turned around to face me.

"It's daytime. Bad things don't happen in the day" She said weakly, her eyes wide and horrified, like a little girl's.

I wanted to reassure her – and yet, I couldn't. Not if I wanted to keep her alive. "Bad things can happen anytime. And this didn't happen during the day. This probably happened a couple of nights ago"

Rose scanned the room over her shoulder again and stepped closer to me, her gaze fixed on the largest body.

"Arthur Schoenberg" I said, respectfully naming one of the greatest men I had known in my life.

"He's dead. How can he be dead? How could a Strigoi kill Arthur Schoenberg?" She asked, shocked.

I put my hand over hers – the one that held the stake. "Where did you get this?"

"Outside. In the ground" Rose whispered.

"It broke the ward" I held it up to look at it better.

"Strigoi can't touch stakes. And no Moroi or dhampir would do it" She puzzled.

I nearly gasped "A human might"

"Humans don't help Strigoi…" Rose trailed off and I saw the dismay in her eyes as she reached the same realization I had had moments before. "This changes everything, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It does"

Le gasp! EVERYTHING has changed!

Guys, I just found out that LOVING LITTLE ROSE is a mere nine reviews away from being the 9th most reviewed VA fic on ! AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO YOU.

Btw, Cathleen - I love you. I really do.

IF - and only if - it wouldn't kill you guys to go back AND REVIEW so we can kick some ass (and review this too, if it's not too much to ask) then I'd love you all even more than I already do! And I do. Too much for it to be considered healthy. In fact, it is very wrong - on too many levels to count.

Let's hope this fic can beat LLR and make it to the Top Ten again - on the 8th position ;)

PD. The TOP TEN MOST-REVIEWED VA FICS list is on my profile