Chapter 2
After reaching Spokane I headed towards the shopping mall and below into the tunnels where the Strigoi had left their list of Royals, their hit list. I didn't expect any Strigoi to be here, I didn't even know if they still used these tunnels, but I was carrying my stake in hand just in case. I thought my best chance at catching Dimitri was at one of the Strigoi's attacks, they would be too busy fighting and killing their proposed targets to see me come out of the nowhere and take him down. I found the wall with the markings and copied it down on my own paper. I stared at it trying to work out where they were likely to make their next attack and work out the pattern at which they choose who to attack. I stared aimlessly for what seemed like hours until finally it hit me. They were picking the families by location and isolation. They chose the families that lived away from the big cities, that were isolated from the majority of their family and royals in general, thus lowering the amount of protection, both guardians and magical in the area making the kills easier as they were undetected. But they are not only killing royals, their main targets are the royals but they don't just stop there, they are killing all within the houses, Damphir and Moroi alike. Stunned at this new revelation and feeling the need to flee the tunnels incase any Strigoi returned, I headed out of the shopping mall and to my next location.
I really didn't want to return here, the memories it held were not ones I wanted. I had made my first kills at this house and lost the life of a friend. This house changed me, for better or worse I don't know. This sun was starting to set but there was enough daylight to keep the Strigoi out of sight for now. It was odd that their hideout was located in the middle of suburbia, in a nice house with manicured lawns; it didn't look like an evil layer for the walking dead. I didn't know if they were still here but I waited in a nearby yard under the cover of an oak tree. As soon as the sun was below the horizon and the night took over the sky, I saw the front door open and watched four Strigoi walked to the black SUV parked on the driveway. I recognised two of them. The blonde Strigoi which threatened Lissa back at the academy during the attack, and Dimitri. My heart sank as I couldn't stop staring at Dimitri as he walked so gracefully towards the car, climbed in and drove away. I stared at the direction the car left for a few minutes before finally a cool breeze broke my trance.
I returned to a hotel near the shopping mall where I entered the main office and asked for a room, the woman at the counter eyed my quizzically when I refused to show her my identification and insisted that I would pay cash and promised to make no trouble. She considered for a while before finally agreeing if I slipped her an extra two hundred. I agreed. I didn't like using Adrian's money unless it was necessary, but it was definitely useful to have. I headed toward my room where I ate some spoils I acquired at the shopping mall whilst working on my plan. The room came with internet access and I perused through it for information on the royal families, where they lived, how many there were, how influential they were, etcetera. Once I thought my plan was as good at it could get I took a steaming hot shower before heading to bed and putting my plan into action.