A/N: Hello, people xD

Thanks to: Theeviljordan (aww I'm glad you like her xD. I like how it turned out too. Oh, the kiss thing was kind of my invention, about how they got bonded . Sorry if it confused you xD), amy (hey, thank for your suggestion! I'll think about it, even though I'm not a huge Selena Gomez fan), Jasmine-Dec31 (yay thanks ^^), vampirelovr333 (I'm glad you liked Andreea xD though I never intended to make her that alike Rose, I guess they are actually quite similar. Enjoy this chap too!), disha (they are not in particular after someone, they're just acting like strigoi do: trying to get food. I'm happy you liked it^^).

Here it goes:

Shit. Strigoi. Many strigoi. I can feel from my left, right, and somehow, in a weird way, I can tell there are strigoi under us.

Andreea looked at me with big eyes.

"Do you have a stake?" she asked.

"Yes."
"Good." She said taking hers out. I got mine and looked around. One of them appeared.

"Şefu, uite. Mâncare." One of them said and laughed.

What the… oh, they Romanian strigoi. So they're talking Romanian. What the fuck are they saying?
I could feel Andreea flinch near me.

"Gelu…pericol…" she mumbled and ran in the stone wall, on the secret entrance.

What the fuck girl? You left me here…? Oh, I can't speak the language, but I can tell. Gelu is in danger.

Shit.

I would have done the same in her place. I would have run to save Adrian. His life would be more important than anyone else's.

Wait a minute.

Adrian is with Gelu.

Crap!
"Unde crezi că te duci, păpuşă?"
"Dude. English" I said raising my stake, looking him in the eye. The strigoi smirked.

"Boss. She's a stranger."

Three more strigoi appeared.

"Then let's make it her way, shall we? I'd like my food to understand what I'm saying." The one who seemed to be the boss said, and the other laughed.

They were five. Five strigoi. I was one.
Adrian. Adrian might be in danger. Andreea sensed something trough her bond. That's why she run away so fast. To find and protect him. Crap, I hope she can protect Adrian too. She cares about him, right?
Right?...

"Where are you from?" the boss asked me.

"Doesn't matter where I'm from" I mumbled. "The thing is that you're from hell. And you're going back there!" I said and jumped at the closest one.

This is pure suicide. I can't kill them all. It blocked my attack, with one bare hand. I moved my stake from one hand to the other, and managed to cut his hand. He screamed in agony, but nothing more happened. Another one approached.

The others were laughing around.

"Foolish girl." One said.

"Wait." The boss said. "Don't eat her yet. She's strong. Maybe we could make her one of us."
"She's from abroad, boss. What if she's Hungarian? I don't like Hungarians."
"And I don't like those who disobey my orders." The boss hissed. "Shut up, and do what I tell."

I took a step back. I needed to get out of there. Or get help. Screaming would do no good in those stone walls. It would just amuse them. Where did Andreea go?
I saw it. I saw the secret entrance. But I couldn't go. I would only show them the way inside.

What do I do? I don't know the places. I can't run and hide somewhere, they'll sure find me. They're locals.

Shit.

Aghh.

Think, Rose, think.

I could feel the adrenaline rushing trough my body. I needed a plan. And fast. The strigoi took a few steps closer to me. I was surrounded.

"Ion. Take her back."
"Sure thing boss. Hah, I like this English talking" he grinned. "Makes me feel smart"
"We all have our fantasies" another one smirked, making the other laugh.

"Shut it, Darius. You aren't any better."
"Really now? I used to be a high class moroi. You used to be a what? Male whore?" the Darius one spoke.

"Watch your words, Ion" the boss said. "You don't want to be torn apart by Darius. He's a strong one."
"And, what, I'm a weak?"
"Indeed." Another one spoke.

"What are you saying people? I'm weak?" Ion said again. What a weird name. "Darius….Marius, my man?" he said turning to another one. "Boss? Mihai? Anyone?" he mumbled, but the other were laughing.

What the fuck. This strigoi are really dumb. They're fighting against each other instead of getting rid of me or something. Idiots. This must be my lucky night.

The boss took Ion's head off with one move. Wow. Okay, maybe this isn't my lucky night after all.

"Back to business." He said turning to me. "Are you scared, little dhampir?"
Little dhampir.

Adrian.

I jumped towards the wall, staking Darius on my way. He screamed. I hit his heart.

"Idiots! Move!" their boss ordered, but I was already getting through the wall. I pushed the ivy away and ran closed the secret door behind me.

I run up on the long hall, only lighted by torches, which were emphasizing the shadows. If I wasn't freaked enough.

"Andreea! Adrian! Maria! Anyoneeeee" I started shouting as I ran. When the heck does this tunnel end?

I kept running, until I bumped into someone tall coming from a secret door. I looked up. His eyes seemed bright orange.

Oh!

I took a step back. I looked better. He was no strigoi, his eyes only seemed red thanks to the torches.

It was only Gelu.

"Gelu, fuck, man, you freaked me out. There are strigoi outside! A lot. How did they get so close to the academy?" I said without breathing. He put one hand on my shoulder.

"Breathe. They're inside too. I just got away. The guardians and dhampirs are fighting. We're running."
"Did you see Adrian?"
"Yes, he's all right" he said and started running on the hall.

"WAIT!" I said . "Is Andreea fighting too?"
He stopped and half turned at me, frowning.

"Yes."
"And you are leaving?"
"Yes."
"COWARD!" I said. I don't know why. It just made me so angry, that she would give her life for him, and he was running away.

"I'm not a coward! I'm doing what she told me to do: go and hide."
"You idiot! She might die, while you're all warm and good in your comfort zone!"

He frowned again.

"Shut up! You know nothing! We just met, what could you possibly now?"
Poor guy, he wasn't making sense anymore.

"Do you love her?"
"What? We don't have time for this!"
"Do you love her?" I almost screamed.

"The hell, of course I do!" he shouted back at me.

"Then go and fucking help her!" I said. "She would never leave you like that!"
"How do you want her to concentrate to her duty if I'm there"
"I don't care! But if she dies tonight, you'll never forgive yourself" I screamed and went on the door he just came out from.

I could hear steps behind me. He was following. But I was a trained runner, so I was way ahead of him.

Still.

Why did I tell him all those things? While I talked to him I could have arrived and saved some lives…

Still, I couldn't help it. Really. What if Andreea died? And he was running away?
I couldn't bare the thought.

Still, please, don't die!

God help us. I hope Adrian's all right. Please be all right!
….

I run on all those deluding halls, until I got the one that took me to the big dining room.

But it was empty.

Every single hall and room I've checked was empty. Where is everyone?

I couldn't hear Gelu's steps anymore. Why didn't I just ask him to show me the way?

Stupid me. I arrived at the rooms. I knocked loudly at every one of them. No answer. I entered my room.

At first I thought it was empty, but someone came out of the bathroom.

That millisecond I hoped it was Adrian. Heck no, it was just a filthy strigoi.

"Hei, ai rămas în urmă? Oh, bun, nu mi-ar strica cineva doar pentru mine... hai aici" he said making me a sign to approach him. Right.

I took a step back, raising my stake. At three.

One.

"Ce faci? Crezi că poţi să îmi faci ceva cu jucăria aia?" he chuckled.

Two.

"Nu mă enerva, copile!" he said more angrily.

Three.

I jumped, pressing my stake in his chest. He cried, and I could tell I hit the spot. He died then and there, with my stake in his heart.

"Damn, that was annoying" I mumbled. "All that babbling"

He really just kept talking that weird language. I needed to kill him.

I closed the door and walked further. How can I find Adrian and everyone else in that huge place?

I growled angrily at my incapability, when my phone rang.

Phone?
STUPID ME!

It was Adrian. Of course. Why didn't I think to call him? I had a phone, he had a phone, I could find where he is in one second, without any other difficulties.

"Hello?" I answered.

"ROSE! Thank God you're okay. Where are you?"
"You tell me where are you. Are you all right?"
"Yes, yes. Uhm, we're in the basement. Find one of the racks on the floor, and open it. Get underground and you'll find us at the torch number seven hundred sixty five. Hurry up, we're about to leave the castle!"

Seven hundred sixty five torches?

"Are the torches numbered?"
"Yes, now hurry!"
"Aye, aye, captain. Take care of you."
"Love you."
"Love you too." I said and hung up.

I run down the hall, only looking at the floor. No rack on this one. I walked further, exasperated. Second hall. Third. Finally. I opened the almost invisible door covered with a detachable rack and went down on the rope.

Yes, there was a rope.

I looked around me at the torches. I was at number seven hundred fifty nine. Thank God I was close.

I heard voices. As I took the corner I saw a pretty large group of people. I saw Maria. She saw me too.

"Darling! Oh, you're all right! We can finally leave."

I thanked her and looked around. I saw Andreea. Near her was Gelu. So he found his way before I did. Next to him was Adrian, who technically jumped when he saw me.

He hugged me tight. I smiled and hugged him back.

We started walking down the subsoil hall, identical to the one above. Adrian, Gelu, Andreea and I were behind the large group of moroi and dhampirs. I noticed how each moroi had one or two dhampirs near him. They sure knew how to organize.

"How did the strigoi get inside?" I asked.

"We don't know yet" Andreea responded me. "The protections have disappeared apparently."
"Why are we leaving?"
"Not everyone is leaving. A lot of guardians remained behind to take care of the left strigoi. But we had to leave because it's not safe for now. The castle I mean. There are too many strigoi inside, hid in a lot of places."

"Where are we going?" I asked again, needing to know everything about our plan.

"To another safe place, we call it the house with eyes. It's a house in the middle of the town, with weird windows on it's roof, which look like eyes. It's fortress actually. Looks like a normal house, but it's sealed with many charms. No strigoi can get trough it."
"How did they manage to get trough the ones at the castle?"
"We don't know, I told you" she said seeming to lose her patience, "but the House with Eyes is smaller. Easier to protect. Don't worry, we'll be safe there."
"Can't we stay and help?" I said.

"No. The guardians are doing well enough. And we pretty much cleaned the way for them."
"Yeah, I killed two strigoi too" I said ruffling my hair, and Adrian smiled.

"Good job" he said taking my hand in his. I smiled at him, then turned to look at the other two.

Andreea was looking straight ahead, and seemed angry somehow. Did my questions annoy here? No, there was something more.

Gelu was looking at his shoes as he walked, and he looked proud. Why? What the… I can't just ask, though I'd like… Well, let's keep walking for now.

I was happy to hear that there are tunnels like this under the whole Sighisoara. No one knows about them, but few people at the academy. Like Maria and other leading moroi, who were showing us the way.

So, instead of fighting, we're running away. This is boring. What kind of people are there?

I mean, yeah, they save the moroi, I agree, that's what we'd do, but there are no almost guardians willing to fight? They don't want to? I mean, they would let them if they wanted to fight, right?
I'm intrigued.

After some time, I could see a rope. Maria and the others got up on it. I let Adrian go ahead of me, then got up myself. We were in the House with Eyes.

It was very pretty inside, old and new at the same time. I mean the building had ages, but it was recently renewed, from furniture to mortar.

People gained together in the great living room. They ate. I heard someone say something about a room full of feeders. So everything was cool.

But I could tell something is off. I don't know, I just had a feeling. It was still night, so the eye shaped windows didn't show much. Just an empty street, maybe a car now and then.

One of the moroi kids was looking at me with big eyes. He sat near me on the couch.

"Salut."
"Yo. English?" I said to avoid any misunderstandings.

"Yes. Follow me." He said and got up. Uhm… okay?
"Why?" I asked.

"Please! Something's wrong! Help me." He said and I got up. What's with him? He leaded me on the main hall, then entered a room. There was someone in there. A woman.

"Well done, Alex" she said, while the moroi boy closed the door.

Shit. She's a strigoi. I'm trapped. I could hear the door locked, probably by Alex. I jumped in the next second, but it was too late. I only hit the old wood of the door.

"It's useless." The woman said. She was clearly a strigoi, I could tell now. And a smart one. She had some kind of armor protecting her chest.

I still got my stake out. Maybe I could take her head off with it…

She smiled cruel when she saw me jump to attack her, hit her, and fail.

"It's futile. There is no way you can defeat me. And you were the only actual danger. So I'm going to take care of you, okay?" she said with the same cruel grin on her face.

How I'd like to wipe it off…

I looked at her. She was like a turtle. Thanks to that heavy thing, she couldn't move too fast. She was still fast, but not that much.

I need to find her soft spot…

"My name is Rose" I said trying to buy time. I took a step closer to her.

"I don't care" she replied looking at her nails.

I jumped once again, and once again she threw me away. I fell on the floor. Shit.

They got rid of me. So they can attack. They found me a danger. They wanted to get rid of me.

Adrian.

Aggh, I'm not coherent anymore.

I jumped again, but this time my purpose was another. She tried to throw me away, but I pushed my foot in her chest, jabbing myself to the door. I hold my left hand, with the stake, towards it.

YES! The door broke under the pressure, setting me free.

"You bitch!" I could hear the strigoi woman scream. I started running with all my strength. Futile, huh?
I'll show her futile.

I could hear her fast footsteps behind me. Getting closer. I took the corner and entered the first room. A big one. I looked around me for something useful. I could find nothing.

The door opened. She found me.

"You little witch!" she hissed.

So I got her into open space. I have a stake. She was her armor. I am fast. She's not faster. She's at the door. I'm blocked. She's a strigoi. I'm a dhampir.

I have a soul. She doesn't. Finally, advantage.

I jumped again, and missed. This starts to bug me!

She laughed. GO TO HELL! I threw the stake, like a small, silver, boomerang, straight to her neck.

She saw it coming, but didn't have the time to stop it. The stake hit it's spot.

The strigoi woman flinched in pain, looking somewhere behind me. I run at her, took the stake out, took her armor off as fast as I could, and staked her heart. She moved one last time, than died.

Again.

Well, farewell. I took off, trying to find everyone else. It wasn't that hard. The living room was full of people. Everyone was there. Also were strigoi. A lot of strigoi. This was planned. They knew about the house with eyes. They somehow got inside.

Shit, everyone knows everything around here?
"NO! PLEASE Take me instead!" I could hear a girl scream.

Andreea.

What is going on in there?
I looked around. The hall was empty. The door was closed. Andreea kept shouting. I heard a male voice. Another male voice, a harsh, cold voice. Another strigoi.

I approached the door as silently as I could. Just then it flew open. Shit.

It was Darius. Or Marius, I'm not sure which of them.

"Oh, the little dhampir from the castle. Welcome" he said with a sly grin, and grabbed my arm. I tried to get away, but he was strong.

Shit. Instead of saving them, I got caught myself.

"Oh, hey there" someone said. I turned my head. It was the boss. The one from outside the castle. Shit.

"Go stay with the others until we're done with her" he said nodding to Andreea. "She was stupid enough to offer to take a moroi's place." He mumbled grinning.

"Andreea, don't!" I shouted, thinking that Gelu wouldn't do the same for her. She smiled at me sadly.

"I'm sorry, Rose."
"Enough talking, time for some screaming" the boss said smiling cruel. "Take her" he said and Darius (or Marius, still not sure) took me where the others were. They were tied up near the wall. I couldn't try anything funny, there were too many strigoi in there.

Gee, I came here to have fun with Adrian, and I did, but I ended up being tied up by strigoi. Shit. This can only happen to me.

Adrian moved as much as the rope allowed him, and hugged me tight.

"Rose" he whispered. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I should have never brought you here"
"Shut up. Don't be all corny now. We'll find a way out of here" I whispered back, touching his lips with mine. Ah, that felt so good, after all that running and fighting, being held by Adrian was the most normal thing. It calmed me down, remembered me I have a reason to live.

I won't let Adrian die. No matter what. He's my Adrian. And I, okay, I love him. A lot. I want him to live, and be happy, and have a lot of pretty kids, preferably all this with me. Delete the last part.

"Rose. You know… the thing I had to get for my father from Romania?"

I nodded.

"It wasn't something for dad actually… it was…this" he whispered taking a small box out of his pocket. He opened it.

I was about to have a heart attack.

It was a ring. A beautiful ring. Golden, with a discrete, yet quite big diamond.

"Adrian" I whispered.

"Yeah. I was going to propose to you after your graduating" he said with a sad smile.

"Were going to? Now that you saw I'm not capable of anything decided to marry Karla?" I said with a grin.

"No you silly" he mumbled. "But I'm not sure we're making it out of here. So, Rose, will you marry me?" he said with no other introduction.

Hell, yes!

"Yes!" I whispered with a huge smile. Like, a huge one. AHHH! Adrian proposed to me! Ahhhh!

He smiled back, put the ring on my hand and kissed me, full on the mouth. I put everything in that kiss. All my feelings for him, all my love for him, all my hate for strigoi, all my lust, all my life desire, all my thoughts and wishes.

His tongue gently traced my lips. Ahh this feels good.

I'm getting married!
If I make out of this alive, that is….

Anyway, we can't die.

Not yet.

We both have our lives ahead of us. This isn't the end. I promise you.

I didn't tell him that. I just made a promise for myself, so I won't give up, no matter what.

Our lips met once again, and I could feel Adrian's hand on my butt. Idiot. Yeah, I could actually say things are as usual. Except for the fact that we're staying in line to be tortured then eaten, that's all.

I have to get us out of here.

That was 20!

Was it a bit too long?

Don't hate me for leaving them like this, but it would have been WAY too long xD.

So, the thing from Romania was the ring xD. I thought Adrian would buy something expensive from a foreign country, but Rose wouldn't like something too big. So I kind of made a mix up.

Likes? Dislikes? Please review and tell me what you thought!

By Anana