Sorry! I know it's been a few days and I've been trying to write but I was in a car accident a few days ago and I was still shaken pretty bad and the only things I could come up with when I was trying to write was kill off a bunch of characters but that didn't sound very interesting. Then I had tests I needed to study for, one of them being Spanish, and I had the activities I needed to go to and one thing just led to the next and now here I am finally writing again.

Hope you like this new chapter!

Chapter 5

Dimitri's POV

"What do you mean you now where Claire is?" I asked.

I can't believe he just said that. One minute we're talking about how he'll practically hunt me down if I hurt Roza again and then the next he's telling me he knows where my daughter and Marie are.

"I know where they are. Marie is a Spirit user. Somehow, just like my dad, she can dream walk. No one knows how she inherited the ability since Lord Ozera is a fire user and Queen Dragomir is a Spirit user who can heal, but somehow she's able to dream walk."

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing about all of this? The Spirit using that is?"

"It's probably because with all that's happened since you and Claire got here, things have been kind of crazy lately," he told me.

I just stared at him. This could not be happening. Not again. I thought this was over after the Spokane incident when Rose, Christian, Eddie, Mia, and Mason were captured by Strigoi and held hostage. But now, my daughter. How much more of this could I take. I had to find her. I had to find Claire and Marie.

"Okay. Well, if you know where they are, then where are they?"

"Well, see that's the problem. She doesn't exactly know where she is. She just gave me details of the place, and to me it seems familiar. I'm guessing that if I give you the same details she gave me, you would know what place she is talking about."

"Connor, just spit it out already!" I shouted. I ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

"They're in a cabin. She doesn't know if they're by the wards or not, but it seems pretty close to the academy."

A cabin? The same cabin Rose and I made love for the first time in, or another one?

"She also said that it was quite cozy on the inside despite the fact that they're being held hostage. She told me to tell you, 'it's the cabin that you always used to talk about. The one where her mom would stay when she came to visit the academy.' I hope that helps you."

No. It couldn't be. Not that cabin. Anywhere else but that cabin. Rose...

"I know where she's talking about. Connor, did your mom ever tell you about how we went to a cabin before the Strigoi attack and how it was just outside the wards? Do you know anything about that?" I asked him.

"What... what cab..." His mouth formed the shape of an "o" as realization hit him. "It's that cabin?"

I nodded my head in confirmation.

"You know, when my mom first became the head guardian here, I would go and try to find her. I would always find her by this cabin where she would just be staring out into the sky. Maybe that's why she was there. To relive the memory that is. That's a long time to hold on to someone for so long." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Guardian Belikov, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"How old was my mom when you guys first met?"

That I was not expecting. "She was seventeen. I was twenty-four."

"Is that why you left her? Can you be honest with me and tell me why you left her in the first place?"

"No. That's not why I left her. When I left her, she was about to graduate and had turned eighteen already. Her age has nothing to do with why I left. It's very complicated." That was half true. The complicated part I mean. Her age did have some to do with why I left. But on a scale of one to ten, the rating would be around a one.

"Please, I'm begging you. Please don't hurt my mom again. Please." His eyes were pleading for me not to hurt her. Well that was something I was never going to do again. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

I placed my hands on his shoulders and stared at him. "I promise to never hurt your mom again. You can trust me with that."

"Okay. Well, since that's settled, all we have to do now is come up with a plan to get Claire and Marie back."

"I agree. We should talk to your mom and see-" he cut me off.

"No! I.. I mean... I just want to keep my mom out of this. You heard what I told my mom. That Strigoi who knocked me out wants to kill her! I can't let that happen. I don't want my mom to die too. I already lost my dad..." Connor looked like he was on the verge of tears, but he quickly put his mask back in place. He was strong, just like his mom.

"Alright. We'll keep your mom out of this. But we still need to find other guardians to help us. There's no way we're going to fight this on our own," I told him.

"I know."

"Connor, go get some sleep. We've got practice in the morning. I'm going to start training you, and training you hard. While we train we'll come up with a plan. You need to be ready to attack a Strigoi." Although, I wasn't really sure if he needed to be training that hard. Rose had been his teacher for years and I had been Rose's mentor. He's learning from the best.

"I'll go. Oh, and Guardian Belikov, thank you." With that he turned and walked off towards his dorms.

I told Connor to go get some sleep but that didn't mean I was going to. I needed to find Rose, and I needed to find her fast. I needed to explain to her about why I left her. I wanted to explain before we started to fight Strigoi again.

I was walking towards my room when I heard shouting coming across the campus. I ran over to see what was happening.

I shouldn't have been so shocked to see that it was Rose who was the one screaming. I noticed that she was kicking, screaming, and thrashing around while Eddie had his arms locked around her waist trying to hold her back. Lissa was bent over trying to help someone, but I should have known that this would have replayed out in some way. It was Jesse Zeklos laying on the ground with a broken nose and blood dripping everywhere. Lissa was trying to heal him and Rose was taking the darkness away. Christian just stood along the sidelines ready to help whenever he was needed.

"Guardian Belikov! Help!" Eddie shouted. He knew what was happening too.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Same thing that happened sixteen years ago. Except this time, he was harassing Rose and not Lissa. So I'm guessing you know what happens next." Eddie was having a hard time talking because Rose was still kicking and screaming trying to free herself from Eddie's grasp. Good thing he was strong because Rose was being difficult.

Right then I knew what I needed to do.

I walked up to Rose, signaling Eddie to let go of her so I could catch her and take her back to her room. When he let go, I wrapped my arms around her waist and started dragging her off.

"Lissa, heal Lord Zeklos and get him out of here. You and I will need to talk later," I told her.

Lissa just nodded her head and went back to healing Lord Zeklos.

"Belikov, are you going to be okay with her?" Eddie asked.

"Yes. I'll be fine. Just look after Queen Dragomir and Lord Ozera."

He nodded his head yes and went over to stand by Christian. I carried a screaming Rose to her room. Once inside, I locked the door and windows so she wouldn't try to escape.

When I turned around back to Rose, I saw that she was hunched over, grasping a chair so hard that her nails were digging into it and leaving imprints.

I spoke softly. "Rose..."

She turned her head and glared at me. Oh no, this couldn't be good.

Claire POV

Oh man, does my head hurt. I tried to touch my head by my body wouldn't move. I had no control over it. Crap. What am I going to do now.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a cabin. The cabin was kind of small, but cozy at the same time. That is, if you get past the point of realizing that I'm being held hostage. But the question still remains. How did I get here?

The last thing I remember was Connor walking me to my door, saying goodnight and shutting the door. Then I was hit over the head. Then, nothing. I wish I could remember everything. But clearly that wasn't going to happen.

Slowly, I regained control over my body. I turned my head to the opposite side of my bed to find... Marie! Oh, no. She couldn't have been kidnapped too. Who would do something like this to her? She did nothing wrong. Unfortunately, she was still unconscious. Crap. How are we going to get out of here?

A few minutes later, I heard footsteps near the door. I quickly snapped my eyes shut and pretended to still be unconscious. Although I wasn't really sure how that was going to work since my heart was hammering inside of my chest and my breathing was back to normal. The door opened with a load creak, making me wince internally.

"Oh look. They're both still sleeping." The footsteps came closer to the bed. I then felt cold breath against my neck. Inside my head I kept chanting, Stay Calm. Don't move. Act normal.

"She smells divine, Tasha." What?! Mom?! "Are you sure I can't taste her? She's making my mouth water."

"Don't touch her. Not yet. I want her father to come her with Rose." Rose? What does she have to do with this? "Rose held Dimka's heart since she was seventeen. Now she's finally going to get what she deserves." She chuckled darkly to herself. "Then I'll awaken Dimka and Claire. Then we can be a happy family again."

No! No, no, no, no, no, no. no. This can't be happening. This Strigoi may be the woman who gave me life, but there was no way that I was going to let her turn me and my dad, and kill Rose.

Come on Marie, wake up!

Okay. So I know you all knew who the Strigoi was gonna be. But just wait. There is something that will shock you all! You won't even see it coming. :]

Hope you liked it. :]

(Should I start adding titles to the chapters or just leave it be?)