Hey guys! Here's chapter 21! Thank you to those who reviewed!

Disclaimer: All rights belong to richelle mead

Pandora POV

My head was pounding, everything hurt, and my neck burned like hell. Kinda like when you get completely wasted and then end up getting attacked by a strigoi. I groaned and tried to stretch my arms, but couldn't. My hands were bound to the wall. The place looked like a medieval prison. The kind with the rats in the shadows and the skeletons hanging from the wall. The ones where the only light was from a grimy looking window . There weren't actually either of these things though (at least that I could see). A chill ran through me, and I looked down and saw that I was pretty much naked except for my bra and underwear. At least it's a sports bra and not a normal one. Regular bras were a pain in the ass, so I tended not to wear them unless I had no choice. There was a squeak, and the door opened.

"Nice to see you again", said a male strigoi, the one from the previous night, the one who bit me. He was tall and slender, his blonde hair was slicked back. His green eyes were cold and calculating, the red ring around them made him seem more menacing. His chalky skin showed that he wasn't new to being part of the undead scene.

"I've got to say, of all the sticky situations I've been in, I've never ended up in a dungeon. A bit medieval, don't you think?", I asked. I probably should have been scared, but I wasn't. If he had wanted to kill me then I'd be dead. Not chained to a wall.

"I've always had a fascination with the dark ages", he said.

"You got a name?", I asked him. I wanted to know who the hell it was that knocked me out.

"Of course, where are my manners? My name is Nathan", he replied. I snorted at the word manners.

"Yes, because it's such good manners to chain a girl up in her underwear. You should have at least bought me dinner first", I said, "Not to mention I'm not really into all that kinky shit", I replied. He stalked up to me and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"You talk too much", he stated.

"So I've been told"

"Most mortals would cower in my presence, but you don't even flinch when I touch you", he whispered.

"I don't scare easily", I said breathlessly.

"You should be scared, I could snap your neck in an instant. It would be so simple, like breaking a toothpick"

"If you wanted me dead then I'd be dead", I said, my voice hard. He threw his head back and laughed, the kind that you hear in horror movies, where the serial killer is about to catch the victim.

"So smart, your brother said that you were clever", he said. My eyes widened.

"Michael's here?", I asked. I wanted to see my brother. I don't know why, I knew he was a strigoi and he wasn't himself, but he was still my brother.

"No, he is away on an errand", Nathan responded, the way he said errand made my skin crawl.

"Care to elaborate?"

He chuckled in response.

"Not particularly. While this conversation is quite intriguing, it's making me a bit peckish", he said. I stiffened, not liking where this was going.

"That's cool. I know this great diner near Baia", I said, noticing my voice was beginning to sound panicky. He picked up on this too.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you", he said "much". He ran a finger along the scar that I had gotten when I fought against Michael months ago.

"You have such beautiful eyes", he murmured, "they're like molten silver", he continued. His finger continued to trail down from my jaw to my shoulder where my bra strap was. He hooked a finger around it and slowly pulled it down my shoulder.

"Hey, I don't do that kind of thing with strange guys", I said, my voice high. He just smiled wickedly, continuing to pull it down, slowly. It caused goosebumps to appear on my skin. I was panicking, I did not like where this was going. I did the only thing I could do, I kneed him in the crotch. My feet weren't chained to the wall, just my arms.

"You bitch", he snarled before grabbing my throat.

"I will make you beg for death", he growled before biting into my neck. I screamed in pain. I tried telling him to stop, that I was sorry. It felt like I was being burnt alive. I felt like I was fourteen again, back when all I could do was cower in fear.

There are two kinds of strigoi bites. There are the ones that make you high as a kite, then there are the ones that make you feel like you're insides are on fire. His fangs felt like knives that had been plunged into my neck, I slowly felt myself fade away, but not before wondering how the hell I was going to get out of this mess.

Rose POV

A couple hours after we left the pond and returned home, we went out searching for Pandora. She hadn't returned and while Olena tried to reassure us that she was probably just at a bar somewhere getting drunk (a common reaction to her becoming upset), Yeva had said something about needing to find her before the darkness consumed her. I had responded by arguing that it was in fact night time out, and therefore dark. Her words however, made Ivan uneasy. And that's why we were hanging around a deserted street.

"Ivan, there's nothing here", Dimitri said to his friend.

"We have to find her, she could be in trouble", he countered, his voice panicky.

"Hey guys?", I said. "I think I found something" Ivan walked over, his eyes desperate. There was a small trail of blood that stood out against the white snow. It wasn't much, just a few drops really, but it was something. Ivan crouched down and ran his fingertips lightly over the snow before grabbing something and lifting it up. It was a silver pendant on a black cord, the one that Pandora always wore around her neck. Looking at it closely, I noticed that there were traces of blood on the cord, and a light coat of it on the pendant.

"I don't think she's at a bar", he said gravely. We searched a bit more after that but not having much luck.

"Ivan, it's late. We're all tired. Let's go home, and we'll come back out tomorrow and search some more", said Dimitri, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It might be too late tomorrow, she could be anywhere by then, we have to find her", his voice became more panicky by the second. Dimitri sighed.

"She could be anywhere now, come on, let's go", Dimitri replied.

"What if it were Rose?", Ivan countered. "Would you wait to go find her then? Not knowing where she was or whether or not she was hurt?" he continued. His voice was hard, daring Dimitri to challenge him.

"Ivan, come on, we have to go", Dimitri said, ignoring the question. His voice was hard.

"If you want to go back then be my guest, but I'm going to stay and look for her", Ivan replied, his voice determined. Dimitri sighed.

"Ivan, we're not leaving you here alone", I said softly.

"Then stay with me, but I'm not leaving", his tone left no room for arguments. We continued to search for a while, it didn't do much good considering we were getting colder by the second and we were all exhausted. Ivan was becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of progress.

"Ivan, we've been searching for hours, come on. It's time to go", I said softly. He took a deep breath before walking back in the direction we came from, his expression one of defeat.

The walk back to the house was silent, and by the time we reached it the sky was pink, the first signs of dawn. Ivan looked up and smiled softly.

"You know, Dawn was named that because it was Pandora's favorite time of day. She always said that it was the only time where you could really find peace", he looked at me.

"Of course she was high as hell at the time she told me that, I doubt she even remembers it. She'd never admit to that sober", he took a deep breath and sighed, looking at the sky again before going into the house. Dimitri wrapped his arm around me and led me into the house. When we got to the room I collapsed on the bed, completely exhausted. The last thing I remember was Dimitri kissing my head softly and whispering sweet words to me as I drifted off.