Chapter 1
Why? Just why?
"Comrade, why must we leave St. Vladimir? If I'm not near Lissa, I won't be able to take the darkness away from her, which means that the madness will take over her sometime."
It was the middle of the nighttime, or daytime as humans call it, and Dimitri and I were driving to an airport, for some kind of 'mission' that Alberta put us on.
"Roza, for the millionth time," Dimitri responded exasperated, "I am not allowed to tell you the details until we are in Rus-" He abruptly cut off, probably already spilling some details.
"Dimitri, why are we going to Russia?" I asked back, now clearly interested in what we had to do in Russia. Maybe we were going to visit Baia, where Dimitri's family lived, maybe we were going sightseeing, maybe we were going there for a secret mission to stake Strigoi. With the endless possibilities flowing through my mind, I decided to shut up and let Dimitri tell me when he was ready.
"Now you have to tell me, Comrade. You promised…" I asked as soon as the plane touched the ground again, in Russia.
"I never promised anything, Rose. I just slipped up and told you we were going to Russia." He replied, stubbornly, as we drove down the highway, and towards nowhere.
"I can only think of three possibilities." I started,
"We are staking Strigoi," I paused, looking at Dimitri for a reaction.
"We are sightseeing," No reaction from him,
"And we are going to Baia." Dimitri flinched, just a tiny millimeter, but I still saw it.
"Ha! I know the secret mission! We are going to Baia!" I yelled happily.
"Calm down Rose, that is only part of the mission." He replied. "I will tell you the rest once we get to Baia." He continued.
"Come on Comrade! More riddles?" I asked back, clearly annoyed that he wouldn't tell me.
"I never gave you riddles, Rose. I just told you when I'll tell you." He calmly replied, as he made a left turn and a village came into view. It was a small village, with the houses spread far apart. It looked like each house had its own garden or farm, but I was not sure.
"Look," Dimitri said, and pointed towards a decent looking house with a garden in the back, "That's my house, and that is where we will stay in for the next few days. I hope you don't mind my sisters and their kids, we have a crowded house right now."
"As long as you tell me the mission, Comrade." I answered sweetly.