Ok, thanks to Roza Dimka, my reviewer! love you xx did anybody have any opinions on the cover? Aaah, probably not. Never mind, here's chapter 21. I made it a bit longer for you
Rose
I stood watching the room. It was full of fifteen year olds. Not really my crowd. I wasn't allowed any alcohol either, because I was on duty. I sighed as I scanned the room. Nothing was out of place. It was just a normal party. Until my stomach squeezed.
I made my way to the door that led out to the back field and saw headlights sweep over the courtyard. Shit! The car! I just hoped to God that it was Amy and Lewis escaping. The car was being chased by eight figures. Eight! I flicked on my earpiece as I sprinted after them. Dimitri answered immediately.
"Belikov."
"Dimitri, there's Strigoi at the rec hall. You need to get here ASAP."
"How many?" His voice was urgent and I could hear him sorting out Lissa and Christian in the background.
"Eight." He swore and I reached the Strigoi at the back. He turned around at the sound of my voice to find that my stake was already lined up with his heart. I jammed it in and met with a couple of his buddies. Some of them turned back to me and some continued to chase after the car, which still hadn't got out of the parking lot. If we had been in a situation, I would've laughed at those idiots. I fought my way through the Strigoi and the car drove off. Some of them continued to chase after it, which was ridiculous. They were driving way over the speed limit. Good kids. I'd killed three of the Strigoi and was leaning against the wall, trying to sort myself out when Dimitri turned up. I leapt into the passenger seat, told him which way Amy and Lewis had turned, and sat back, panting.
"What happened?" Dimitri asked.
"I don't know," I told him. "They just...appeared." He sighed.
"Where did they go?"
"I don't know! I honestly don't know!" Dammit, we'd lost the car! We drove towards the motorway.
"Where do you think they would go?"
"Somewhere far away. Really far. It's what I told her to do." They could be driving away, out of there country. Not that they could go anywhere. Suddenly, my phone blared. I reached out instantly.
"Rose? It's Lewis," a panicked voice stammered into the receiver.
"Lewis!" I sighed in relief. Dimitri cast me an anxious glance. "Where are you?"
"We're in a field by these cliffs, do you know where they are?"
"Yeah, down the motorway for about five minutes, right?"
"Yep, I think so."
"Are you with Amy? Are you both okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine. There were these Strigoi..."
"I know. I killed three of them."
"Five got away?"
"Yeah, sorry Lewis, I couldn't get them all. I did-" I was cut off by a strangled,
"AMY!" and then there was crackling and silence. I swore.
"Lewis? Amy? Somebody answer me! Shit!"
"Roza, calm down. We're almost there." The Russian voice soothed me just a little. Behind us, Lissa was clasping Christian's hands with a worried look on her face. The feelings through the bond were anxious and I pulled some of the darkness from her. I continued to shout frantically into the phone, hoping for an answer. Hope shot through me when somebody answered.
"Rose? It's Amy! Put it on speakerphone!" I did as she said immediately. I could hear her hyperventilating.
"What's going on?"
"Strigoi. Five. They're...one's dead...I think...but-" I heard an agonised shriek and a cry of agony.
"Amy!" I yelled, and Lissa flinched. Dimitri edged the accelerator further down.
"Where are you?" Somebody on the other end growled. I repeated myself.
"Fields. I don't really know." I sighed.
"What do they look like?" Dimitri wondered.
"The Strigoi? Normal. Like Strigoi."
"No, the fields."
"Uhhh, fields. On cliffs by the coast. I-" We knew this already, but I continued to listen until she was cut off by another,
"Amy!" that clearly came from Lewis. I heard a couple of grunts and then a crackling as the line went dead.
"Shit!" I cried. "Oh, shit! What if they're dead? They're only fifteen! Against five Strigoi! It's all my fault!"
"No, Roza, it's not. Don't worry. They'll be fine." Eventually, we slowed as Dimitri reached the cliffs. The full moon lit up the road and we scanned the cliffs, all four of us.
"There!" Christian called. I glanced over and saw a figure standing on the edge of the cliff. We braked and I leapt out. However, instead of running straight over, I stepped back and glanced. Amy was standing there, her dress and hair blowing softly to the side in the light breeze. Her dress had rips in it and tendrils were blowing away as I watched. She turned her head to the side and the look she was wearing looked so grown-up, so intense, I could hardly believe that she was only fifteen. She looked like a hero.
Behind her, Lewis was picking himself up. Five bodies were strewn across the floor. I wondered if she had killed them all. I made my way up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. I could almost hear her snarky Do all Americans do that? But I didn't get a reply. Not even an acknowledgement. She was lost in thought. We took Lewis down to the car and laid him on the backseat. Dimitri was going to take this car and I would take the one that Amy and Lewis had taken with Amy.
She slipped into the seat next to me and we drove back in an awkward silence, Amy staring out the window the whole time.
When we got back to the hotel, I put my hoodie on Amy to disguise her a bit. She looked a mess and I didn't want the hotel staff questioning us. We piled into the room and Dimitri hauled Lewis onto one of the beds. He'd broken a leg and sprained his wrist. Lissa set to work on him immediately as I scanned Amy for injuries. She had several scrapes on her arms and legs, grass stains on her dress and a large gash along her back which was leaking blood. It stained the pure white of her dress and was seeping further and further. I heard her swear and for a moment came up blank. Suddenly, I realised...
"Does anybody here not know how to swear in Russian?" I was met with either blank stares or Rose-is-crazy faces. "Oh come on! Sparky, how the hell do you know?" He pointed at Lissa. "Lissa?"
"Russian 101," she replied.
"Dimitri-obvious. Lewis?"
"My Mum's part Russian. I grew up with it," he answered honestly.
"Nice. Amy?"
"Hobby," she mumbled.
"What?"
"It was a hobby of mine to swear in different languages." I saw a brief ghost of a smile flicker on her face and an expression I'd seen on Dimitri before. Wistfulness, I recognised, remembering her old life. Lissa crawled over to Amy and we watched as the gash closed up and the scrapes were healed. I drew some more darkness away as Amy thanked her solemnly and got up, edging towards her room. Lewis got up to go with her.
"Amy..." he began.
"Save it, Lewis. I need some privacy." With that, she shut the door on us.
Amy
I shut the door and sank down to the floor, burying my head in my hands. What was I going to do? Five Strigoi. Five more people. I couldn't take it anymore. It was going to make me crazy. I picked myself up, realising I needed to use this time wisely. I peeled off my dress, that was completely ruined, and folded it up, swapping my clothes for a T-shirt and shorts. I nipped into the bathroom and cleaned myself up, washing all the blood off of my face. I dragged a brush through my hair and tied it up into a high ponytail. Grabbing my suitcase, I found the rucksack that I'd packed for absolutely no reason. I shoved in all the clothes I'd bought as well as my toiletries and other stuff. I zipped it up and hid it away quickly, knowing I had something more to do. I walked through to Rose and Dimitri's room, all conversation hushing as I passed by. As I turned to open their door, Rose called," He's in the shower." Good.
"That's okay, I just needed to get something," I answered. I shut the door behind me and started rifling through the drawers. I stuffed a fistful of notes into my pockets and then picked up the coat that Rose had slung on the bed. I felt through her pockets until my fingers touched smooth metal. I clenched my fingers around the gun and slipped it beside me.
I was just about to go out, when Dimitri came out of the shower.
"Roza?" he mumbled. "I can hear you, you know." I decided it wasn't wise to pretend I was Rose, so I replied,
"No, it's Amy." He poked his head around the door, his hair damp and touching his bare, tanned shoulders.
"Amy? What are you doing?"
"I, um, had to get something," I muttered lamely.
"What?" He trained his skilful guardian eyes on me and I quivered beneath his gaze. Stay strong.
"Uh..." I reached into my pocket for the first thing I could find and held it out to him. A warm blush crept across his face and I looked down to see a sanitary towel in my hand. Crap. I felt myself flood with mortification and quickly stuffed it back in my pocket.
"Let's keep this between us, okay?" I nodded hastily and escaped back into my room, concealing the gun. I grabbed my iPod from the side where Dimitri had left it and flung it into the bag. I zipped it up and tossed it onto my shoulder when a glint of silver caught my eye. I'd already put my stake in the bag, of course, but I'd forgotten about the bracelet on my wrist. I glanced down at the little charms on the elastic, memories flooding through my head.
"Wow, I mean, thanks Lewis. You shouldn't have."
"I wanted to give it to you."
"What is that thing you're wearing around your wrist?"
"Ilike it. It doesn't matter if you don't, 'cause it's not your bracelet. And it never will be. Deal with it."
"I don't want that piece of string around my perfect wrists, thank you very much. Whoever gave that to you is a total idiot."
"You've got a boyfriend? Wow. I'd never have thought it with your face." Becca's words echoed in my head as I realised I'd lost him. I clenched my fists, unclenched them, and pulled the bracelet off of my wrist. I set it on the side, took a deep breath and silently slipped out of the door, hurrying down the hallway before anybody noticed I was gone.
Oh I love being unpredictable!