I thought of this when I was reading Shadow Kissed. I hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: No malicious motives were intended in writing this story. All recognisable characters belong to Richelle Mead. I reserve the right to includes M rated scenes, but they will be labelled and you can skip them if you want.

I approached the wrought iron gates with hesitancy. My shiny Audi was the only car in sight; I assumed the academy had an onsite car park, hidden from view. I pulled up to the guard station to my left and cranked the driver's window down.

"Name." The voice belonged to a man in his late sixties, bald, supporting a bit of a mid drift. He was dressed in the navy uniform associated with St Vladimir's Academy's security staff. He looked anything but threatening, but as I leaned out to give him an answer, I saw a holster on his belt, supposedly with a gun inside.

Well, at least there won't be any chance of mad axe-murderers breaking into my room at night and killing me.

"Dimitri Belikov. I'm-"

"Ah, yes. The mentor slash security guard slash self defence teacher." The man sneered back at me. It was true that I was to mentor some students a couple of days a week, and I was drafted in to help teach the kids self defence, but I was hired as a security guard. Head of personal safety, if my memory served me correctly.

"Yes, I am the new security guard."

"Great. Just what we need. Another jumped-up, over-grown teenager in charge of the delinquents this prestigious academy has degraded itself by accepting." Must be an old student or something. "Back in my day..." Defiantly an old student.

Thankfully, he was cut off by a woman of about 40 walking briskly towards us.

"Thank you, Stan. I'm sure I can take it from here. Mr Belikov? I'm Alberta Petrov, Head mistress of St Vladimir's Academy. Stan, let him in. I'll give him the passes and everything later." The guard – Stan – grumbled, but opened the gates nevertheless. "Mr Belikov, please drive up to the main building facing the quadrangle. I'll meet you there in about 5 minutes. My secretary will have paperwork you will need to fill out. It was nice meeting you." And with that, she walked away, the echo of her heels trailing behind her.

I did what I was told, and parked right in front of the main office. I got out and walked through the double doors straight in front of me. I was met with the sounds of a sobbing girl. I looked around and saw her, sitting on one of the chairs opposite the desk that ran the length of the room, splitting it in half. She was sitting on the chair furthest away from me, and I was debating whether to approach her or not when the secretary called me forward.

"Mr Belikov? Miss Petrov said you would be coming down soon. Let me just get you the forms." She was a pretty young woman of about 20. Blonde hair, blue eyes, thinks she's a lot prettier than she is. Not my type at all. But all the while she was talking to me; her eyes flittered up and down my body, unabashfully checking me out. My thoughts were confirmed when she 'accidentally' dropped a pencil and bent over, giving me a rather unwelcome view of her arse that had been squeezed into a skirt that barely passed as one; it looked more like a belt. It even rode up to give me a full view of her red underwear that she had on underneath. Disgusting. She took her time straightening back up, and turned around, pushing the papers forward and unnecessarily leaning down so that I got a full view of her cleavage. She was oozing in desperation.

"Thank you." I said, cold and curt. I really didn't want some slut hitting on me right now. I walked away and chose to sit near the girl I had seen on my way in. She had stopped crying now, and was trying to get rid of the mascara lines the tears had left down her face. She looked about 18, had long dark hair, tanned skin, and a bit taller than average height; 5'9"? 5'10"? I reached into my pocket and pulled out my handkerchief. I sat down next to her and held it out. When she looked at me, I realised that she had the most amazing brown eyes that I had ever seen. Regardless of the tears still swimming in them, they seemed bottomless and full of emotion. Right now it was gratitude.

"Thanks" she whispered, accepting it.

"You're welcome." I murmured.

It was only when I heard Miss Petrov approaching that I realised I was still staring into the girl's eyes for too long to be classes as socially acceptable. But she was staring right back at me.

"Miss Petrov." I greeted.

"Mr Belikov, please come into my office, and we shall go over the forms." With that, she walked through a door to the left of the counter, expecting me to follow.

I stood up, and turned to leave when I felt a small hand rest on my forearm. I almost flinched at the electricity that sizzled at the touch. I looked at the girl who was holding my handkerchief in the hand that was not touching me.

"Thank you." She said again, with a voice that was stronger but still full of gratitude. There was also an accent there, but I couldn't place it; she hadn't said enough.

"No problem. And, you can keep it. I've got plenty more." I don't know why, but I had the urge to leave part of myself with her. Not even an urge, just a little itch, a nagging.

"Than-" She was smiling now, but I still cut off her apology.

"Shh. Don't mention it." I smiled at her, glad I was able to help cheer her up. Her smiled widened, and I felt mine do the same. I turned and walked towards the door where the headmistress had disappeared behind. But just before I entered, I looked back at the girl, who was still smiling and looking down at my handkerchief. She proceeded to fold it up and put it in her pocket. A small gesture, but it still made me happy. I have no idea why.

An hour later, and I exited the office that I had been stuck in, signing paper after paper, often repeating myself. But at least it was all done now. I hopped in my Audi that was still outside and drove to where I was to stay for the duration of my employment.

I decided against lugging all my luggage up to my apartment until I had seen inside it, but I needn't have worried. The apartment was a lot like a real apartment. It had a lounge, kitchen, decent sized bathroom and a big bedroom with a king sized bed, which was an unexpected bonus.

It took me ages to get unpacked, but the feeling of accomplishment when I had finished was welcomed. However, I was knackered and couldn't be bothered to get changed or have a shower. I just stripped down to my boxers and crawled under the covers.

The silence was eerie; I was used to the hustle and bustle of New York to send me to sleep. I was aware that curfew for the students was hours ago, but I expected some noise at least. It made me uncomfortable, but I knew I had to get used to it. I sighed and rolled over onto my side, trying to get comfortable. Sleeping in an unfamiliar bed was always a struggle for me. Oh well, another thing to get used to. It seemed like I needed to adjust to a lot here. My last thought before I fell into a restless slumber was;

Welcome to St Vladimir's.

Let me know what you think :) xx