The Portal
Adrian Ivashkov stood with a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. The cap was no where to be seen and he appeared completely wasted. A sigh escaped his lips as he pushed himself from the wall and chugged the last little bit of alcohol in the bottle. "Forget it." He whispered, walking away from the fall. He groaned in an almost agonized way. As he got further from the wall, the young Moroi tossed the bottle behind him. The sound of glass shattering against something wasn't far behind.
He stumbled his way across the large grass lot by the Moroi Court. Soon, Adrian found himself engulfed in trees. He had wandered into the forest without even trying. His hands balled into fists and he suddenly punched a tree. "I did everything… Everything. And still she… Chose him." He collapsed to his knees with his hands in his head. "Dammit. Get a grip Adrian." He growled at himself and moved into a sitting position on the forest floor.
The sound of footsteps caught Adrian's ears, and a few familiar voices. "This way, I think. He's in real bad shape, Eddie." It was Jillian Mastrano, the sister of Queen Vasilissa. She seemed to be talking to Eddie Castille, Jill's guardian. He momentarily wondered how the two had gotten away from Sydney, but then remembered she'd been called to an important meeting with a few other Alchemists. That was why they'd left California to come to the Moroi Court.
"Adrian! Adrian! Where are you?" Jill began calling. Adrian sighed, he knew she'd eventually find him, so he called back to her. "Here." His voice sounded almost dead.
Soon, Jill came running through the trees to where Adrian was. Eddie was close behind her. "Adrian. Don't be like this." Jill said, sitting next to him on the floor. "You'll be ok." She whispered. Eddie, too, sat next to Adrian. "Cheer up, man." He said, patting Adrian's arm. "Trust me.. Things will get better. After… after Mason died I was all… Well I thought I'd never feel better. But, here I am. It still sucks.. But…" Eddie sighed.
Adrian looked up, his eyes practically ablaze. "It's a completely different situation!" He pushed himself up from the ground. "You wouldn't understand. Neither of you! Rose broke my heart. Mason died. I still have to see Rose, and Dimitry." He groaned, and began walking off further into the forest. Behind him, Adrian heard the sound of Jill getting to her feet. He didn't hear Eddie, but he knew the guardian was there.
"Adrian. Wait." Jill was calling out. Adrian ignored her and kept walking. His hands were in his pockets, and his head was staring at the ground. Jill was still following, and Adrian had the feeling she wouldn't stop until she got to him. "Adrian! Please!" She started to run, but then her footsteps just stopped.
"Jill. Wait." It was a different voice. A familiar voice. It was Rose's voice. The sound of it made Adrian stop. He turned around. There was three editions to Jill and Eddie. Rose Hathaway, Dimitry Belikov, and Abe Mazur were now standing in the forest. "Adrian." It was Jill again. She ran forward to Adrian. "Please. Just come back." She whispered.
Rose took a step forward and pulled out her stake. "There's Strigoi in the forest!" She whisper-shouted. Adrian watched as Dimitry and Eddie pulled out their own stakes. Jill pulled Adrian to the group, and the three guardians surrounded Adrian, Jill, and Abe. Sure enough, two male Strigoi appeared from the trees.
"Look, Damien," the taller one spoke first, "lunch." He smiled, showing his fangs. The other, Damien, did the same. "Shall we, Mikeal?" Damien said, staring eagerly at the three Moroi. The two ran forward, and Rose prepared to strike since she was facing them. Then, they suddenly stopped. "Gotcha." Mikeal whispered, then about ten Strigoi stepped forward from the trees.
"Shit." Rose whispered. She looked from the Strigoi to Eddie to Dimitry and back to the Strigoi. Jill was almost hyperventilating. Adrian put one arm around her. "Don't worry. It will be ok." He whispered. The Strigoi laughed at his words. "No, it won't." A blonde haired female said, tilting her head. "Attack!"
The twelve Strigoi rushed forward towards the small group. Rose immediately kicked into action. She met up with Mikeal, the first Strigoi. Her closed fist struck across his face, and she kicked him in the chest. That was followed by a quick stake to the heart. "Easy." She whispered, but three Strigoi were suddenly jumping on her. She sent one flying with a kick, but the other two grabbed her wrists. "Ahhh!" Rose exclaimed, dropping her stake.
Before the Strigoi could make another move, Eddie slammed his stake through one of their backs, straight to it's heart. That made Rose able to kick the other and let herself fall to the floor so she could grab her own stake. She pushed herself back up and ran to the first unprotected Strigoi she could see, jamming the stake through his heart.
Adrian watched in awe and fear, still holding onto Jill. Then, four Strigoi advanced on the three Moroi and Dimitry. Dimitry immediately began fending them off, but one managed to get to the Moroi. He grabbed a hold of Jill's arm and yanked roughly. Jill was pulled away from Adrian's grasp, and the Strigoi was now backing away. The other three were still on Dimitry, and Rose and Eddie were hassling with the other five. "Jill!" Adrian leapt forward, knowing it was the only thing he could do. He sent his fist flying at the Strigoi, knowing it wouldn't do much.
Shocked, the Strigoi let go of Jill, giving her enough time to run back to Abe. The Strigoi, the blonde female that had spoken earlier, stepped toward Adrian. "How dare you, you little shit!" She grabbed his arm and flung him into a tree. Adrian's side exploded in pain as he slid to the floor. The female Strigoi moved towards him with blinding speed. But Dimitry had staked the other three, and he was now pulling the female by her hair. She kicked backwards, hitting Dimitry in the groin. The large guardian dropped to his knees, and the Strigoi turned towards him.
"Ah. Dimitry Belikov." She said, before kicking him in the face. Dimitry gasped in pain and looked up at the Strigoi. "Annalise." He said, recognition filling his face. "Aww. You remember. How touching." She kicked him in the face again, and bent forward. "You would have made a great leader." Annalise whispered in his ear and grabbed either side of his face. "Now, you will die at the future leader's hands!" She started crushing his skull, but Adrian jumped onto her back. Annoyed, Annalise grabbed Adrian and flung him forward, right at Jill and Abe. The three fell in a heap, but it gave Dimitry the opportunity he needed. He staked Annalise quickly, and watched her writhe in pain.
The three remaining Strigoi that Rose and Eddie were fighting suddenly laughed. "Now, let's try something new." The one called Damien whispered. "I hope she wasn't lying." He said under his breath, throwing something down. A ball of fire and smoke filled the area, but the fire did not burn anyone within it, not even the Strigoi.
The next thing they knew, the three Strigoi, the three Moroi, and the three Dhampirs were in a completely different place. The Strigoi, who had anticipated this, quickly ran off into the cool night. The other six were left confused, and Adrian was in a lot of pain. His arm was bleeding and quite possibly out of the socket. Eddie was the first guardian to get to him, and he examined it quickly. "This might hurt." He said, and then he proceeded to pop Adrian's shoulder back into it's socket. Adrian flinched from the pain, but he wouldn't let it get to him.
Rose and Dimitry were soon with the group, and Jill, Abe, and Adrian began to push themselves up so that they were standing. "Are you alright, Adrian?" Jill asked, staring at the blood on Adrian's shirt and arm. Adrian nodded, looking at her with the affection of an older brother. "I'm fine. Don't worry." He looked around. "Where are we?" He said, waiting for anyone to have an answer. It was Dimitry who replied. "It seems to me that we are still on our planet, yet something seems different. Come on, let's go ask someone. If anything let's find a place to stay. It's almost morning." He began walking.
No one followed at first, but soon Rose caught up to the man she loved. Adrian watched as her hand entwined with his, and he stepped back in anger. Jill looked up at him. "Adrian, it's alright." She and Eddie were the only two by him now, as Abe had followed his daughter and Dimitry. "Come on. We need to stay together." She said, grabbing his wrist. He sighed and let her pull him forward.
After about twenty minutes of wandering about the town, the group finds themselves outside of a beautiful house. It looked like something a Moroi might live in, and the lights were on at this early hour. Abe, being the oldest, took lead then. He stepped towards the door preparing to knock. Before he could, the doors burst open. A girl with brown hair ran from inside and straight into Abe. "Get out of the way." She exclaimed, shoving him. Abe moved back as she did so, but he looked extremely agitated.
Adrian and the others turned to watch her run off. "Who the hell are all of you?" A male's voice asked, causing the group to whip their heads back to the door. He was showing a set of fangs, for he must have seen the ones Adrian, Jill, and Abe had. "You're a vampire?" Rose spoke first. "But you don't look Moroi." And Dimitry finished for her. It angered Adrian, and he crossed his arms.
"What in the hell is a Moroi? And like I said, who the hell are all of you?" His dark hair moved ever so eerily in the slight breeze. "I am Rose Hathaway, and this is Dimitry Belikov. We are guardians to Queen Vasilissa. Surely You-" But the other vampire held up his hand. "Queen? What the hell are you talking about? " He asked. It seemed he had no idea there was a queen. Rose looked from the male in front of her to the other five standing behind her.
"Hmm. It seems that those Strigoi have sent us somewhere very different." Abe said, walking up to the vampire. "I am Abe Mazur. The other's are Adrian Ivashkov, Jill Mastrano, and Eddie Castille." He pointed to each in turn. "May I ask your name?" He said. The other vampire scoffed. "Whatever. Name's Damon. Damon Salvatore." He said, in a tone that implied he was being bothered. "Look I don't have time for this. You guys need a place to stay for the daytime, fine, go ahead. I have to go after Vicky, seeing as how last time I checked she was dead." And with that the male vampire called Damon left in a blur of speed, leaving Abe, Rose, Dimitry, Adrian, Jill, and Eddie standing In utter confusion.
Deciding his word was good enough, the six walked into the house. Eddie, being the last to enter, closed the door behind him. Abe led the way through the seemingly deserted house. Adrian heard the sound of voices. "Bonnie, what did you do?" A girl's voice was saying. "How did this happen?" From the sound of it, she was pacing. Then, another girl, probably Bonnie, replied. "I don't know, Elena. I was just doing a spell to let me see what was bothering Jeremy. The next thing I knew, Vicky appeared next to him."
The group walked into the room where the two girls were talking. A boy sat on the couch with his head in his hands. A brown haired girl sat on one side of him with her arm around him. The other girl, a black girl, stood facing them. They all looked up as Abe and the others walked inside.
"I'm so sorry." Jill said. "We seemed to have interrupted something." She looked at each of their faces. "I'm Jill. That guy.. Damon? He said we could come in." She smiled, accidentally showing her fangs. "you're.. Vampires?" The brown haired girl asked. Jill nodded. "Yes. Adrian, Abe, and I are Moroi. Eddie, Rose, and Dimitry are Dhampirs." She pointed at everyone as she said their names. Adrian was busy staring at the liquor cabinet on the far wall. He walked towards it, ignoring Jill as she called for him to stop. The young Moroi opened the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass. He poured some into the glass and moved over to the couch opposite where the other three were.
"Umm.. Well I'm Elena. This is my brother Jeremy and his girlfriend Bonnie." The brown haired girl said, looking from Jill to Adrian. "Damon won't be happy about that." She whispered. Adrian chuckled. "At this point, little miss, I could care less." He lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip, then flinched in pain. "What happened to your arm?" Bonnie said, noticing the blood. "Why hasn't it healed?"
"It's in process." Abe was the one to reply. "You three don't appear to be Vampires." He said, looking over them. "Or Alchemists." Elena, Bonnie, and Jeremy looked confused. "We're not.. Either of those. Bonnie is a witch.. Jer and I are human." Elena replied. "Umm.. And you mentioned something.. Moroi and Dhampir? What exactly is that?" She asked. Abe was quick to fill her in about the Moroi and Dhampirs, and Elena replied by telling him that she's never heard of such a thing.
It was Bonnie that cleared up the confusion. "It's got to be them. Klaus and Stefan, I mean." She started. "I remember hearing about this spell. It supposedly could take you to a different… Well a different world. They must have had a witch bring you here." That sparked something in Adrian.
"That Strigoi. Before he threw that thing he said something like 'the witch better be right' or something." He said. Bonnie looked at him. "So it was a potion?" She asked. Abe nodded. "I suppose it was. Eddie, Rose, Dimitry, why don't you guys go get some rest. You fought well. We'll be fine." He said. At first, they were hesitant, but Abe insisted. Elena agreed to take them to where they could sleep.
"And you two," Abe looked from Jill to Adrian, "You look a little hungry. Is there a feeder here?" His last question was directed to Bonnie. She looked confused. "Oh, you mean for blood? No, but they do have some stored." She led the three to where Damon kept his blood and gave each a packet. "What about the other three?" She asked. Abe shook his head. "Dhampirs do not drink blood." He said. "Now, let us figure out a way to return home, shall we?"