Chapter 25:

Sasha's POV

The next few days I went to the bar in the morning. We would talk and we would have sex. And we would avoid the topic of her death. Whenever she would ask, I replied that Lera was thinking on it and devising a strategy. There really wasn't another strategy than simply putting the sword through her heart, but I think she understood I needed a bit of time too to come to terms with it.

But today I hadn't come alone.

Lera was walking beside me a little anxious. Rosie was behind us but out of sight. I knew that if Casya knew what I was planning, she wouldn't agree. I hoped she would be able to forgive me for this.

Lera had her weapons strapped on her back and I had my broadsword in its holster at my back as well.

When I came to the back of the bar and crossed the ward line I saw her standing there with her back against the side of the bar. One foot was raised against it and she was looking at the sky. The sky was clear and the stars were clearly visible. To us, it would look like a damn disco, but I saw her admiring the view in wonder.

When she turned around she was excited and then the relief she had been longing for finally crossed her face as she saw Lera following me behind. With a small smile on her face, she turned back to the sky.

"Sometimes I wonder if I am a big baby. These stars have been around a lot longer than I and will be there long after I am dust. I don't hear them complaining."

"Why are you complaining? How do we know this isn't some trick?"

Lera asked and I shot her glare, but Casya smiled.

"Yeah a wonderful trap I have laid, where I leave myself completely vulnerable and open to being killed. Besides, I was mortal once. We simply aren't built to last forever. Maybe our minds are too simple, maybe we as a species are too weak. But I need it to end."

"So you don't mind if we restrain you a little then."

Casya looked over to me as if asking for reassurance. I gave her a small nod and she extended her hands to Lera.

Lera had brought a pair of heavy duty cuffs. From where I don't know and I don't want to know. She instructed Casya to turn around and she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Are you sure?"

I asked her as she turned back around.

The look of peace on her face told me as much as her actual words of assurance did. I was doubting my decision now. I think she would hate me forever. But it was too late to change my decision now.

Lera pulled her swords from her back.

"We figured these were our best bet. They are super-sharp because the blade was folded and I think Sasha's broadsword may be a bit much don't you think? I'll be wielding the blade."

She looked a little panicked back to me.

"You're not going to help?"

"I'll be holding you. It will be as much a task of pushing from this side as it will be slicing from that side. The counterweight will actually help."

And it would help. It would also ensure that Casya couldn't escape once she saw we had something else in mind. It was the only reason Lera was willing to help. She had to be restrained at all times and if our plan would fail we would kill her. Either way, the first Strigoi would be no more after tonight.

I moved behind Casya and I heard her breath hitch as I pressed her body against mine. I felt a little excited and a little sad. Would she still react this way to me after this was done? Would she be alive to do it?

"When Lera charges, I will move you forward that way we will have the maximum force both ways and we can utilize our powers more efficiently than when we would both be yielding that sword."

Also then I wouldn't have to look her in the eyes if this went all wrong and the light would fade from them.

I saw Lera pull back the sword to strike. I subconsciously pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.

"I love you. Please forgive me."

The moment Lera charged Rosie came around the corner and placed her hand on the sword. She and Lera both yielded the sword as I braced Casya against me and pushed her forward. We were hoping Rosie's hands on the blade would be enough. Our blades were always charmed with all five elements so she didn't have to charm it again. We were hoping this would be enough to restore her.

But I couldn't see the results as a white light blinded me and knocked me out.

I woke up groggy. I tried to move my hand but was surprised at the effort it took. I could hear a faint beeping, but the sound sounded muffled. I tried to open my eyes and expected the light to be blinding, but it was actually really dull. I placed my hand in front of my eyes and saw a tube coming out of it, or going into me?

I pulled it out and it hurt. But that wasn't what was weird. The weird thing was that it kept hurting. The little drop of blood was still there and it didn't seem to go away. I wiped it away but a new drop formed almost immediately.

I was so fixated on the dripping blood and the slight sting it seemed to associate with that I didn't notice Eric walking in with a cup of coffee.

"Dude, Are you high, you have been staring at your hand for a while."

"Yeah. I am fine. How did I end up here, what happened?"

He sat down next to me.

"We are still trying to figure that out. I was with your Dad when he passed out. He was having his 'talk' with me about my date with Lera this weekend when he suddenly collapsed. I hear my Mom scream and your Mom had collapsed too. We took them to the hospital when we got a call from a very tired Rosie. You, Lera and this girl were unconscious, but Rosie isn't talking. She said you would explain when you woke up."

"How are my Mom and Dad and Lera, and is that girl here too?"

"They are fine. Your Mom woke up an hour ago and your Dad is coming around, but Lera and Jane Doe are still unconscious, although their vitals are stable so we expect them to wake up soon."

"Where is she?"

"Lera is in the next room."

"Not Lera, Casya."

"Who?"

"Jane Doe, Where is Jane Doe?"

"Room 220."

Eric looked at me funny as I was trying to get out of bed and stumble across the hall.

"Dude, hospital gown."

I just glared at him and kept walking. My legs felt strange. It felt like they could barely support my weight. I was glad room 220 was across the hall because I would have gone full noodle in the hallway if it was any further.

There she was lying in the hospital bed. The same tubes that had been in me, were also attached to her. I heard her heartbeat on the monitor and saw the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in and out. She was as beautiful as the first time I saw her, but this time her skin wasn't as pale as snow. It had a slight shade of pink in it.

I sat down next to her bed. I grabbed her hand in mine and just rubbed the soft skin.

I felt her stir a little as I was slowly making patterns on her skin.

"So did your dumb-ass plan work?"

I looked around and saw my sister standing in the doorway. Eric was by her side in a moment and I understood why. Just like me, she looked a little weak. She looked vulnerable. I don't think Lera or I have been vulnerable a day in our lives.

"I am not sure. I don't think she is Strigoi anymore. But I won't know exactly how she is until she wakes up."

Realization crossed Eric's face.

"She is restored?"

I nodded while looking at Casya.

But I should have been paying attention to Eric. Because he decked me.

"You let my fourteen-year-old sister get close enough to a Strigoi to restore her. Do you know how dangerous that is? Do you know what could have happened?"

Then he turned around to Lera. A storm on his face.

"You knew about this? You allowed this?"

"Oh keep your pants on Eric, Rosie volunteered and we were with her the entire time, she was never in any danger."

He just gawked at her not really knowing what to say.

I think he was about to comment when I heard Casya stir and groan as she opened her eyes. Everyone seemed deadly silent. Her eyes turned to me and for a long time, they stayed focused on me. I didn't know what to say and I don't think she did either. Not right now. I saw she was processing this but was rather confused as to what had happened.

"Okay, well, we will give you some privacy, but you get to explain this to Mom and Dad. I am not touching that." Lera said as she and Erik walked out the room with her hands raised in the air as if cleaning her hands of this.

When they were gone and the door closed Casya eyes narrowed and became angry. Yeah, I expected that.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

I took a deep breath.

"I restored you. Well actually Rosie did, she is the spirit user. But you aren't Strigoi anymore. You are a Moroi again."

Shock registered on her face and she looked at her hands as if she expected to see something completely different then her soft warm hands.

"Why."

"You asked me to kill you and I couldn't. But I realized that it wasn't so much you dying this instant, but you needed an end to your life. And now you do. You will age now. You will hopefully live another seventy to eighty years. I know this isn't what you asked for. But I hoped you would live one more lifetime. With me."

I looked down at my hands. I was a coward and didn't want to see the anger in her eyes directed at me. I didn't want to hear her laugh at how foolish I was for thinking this fling was worth anything. But she didn't laugh, she didn't shout. All I heard was a broken whisper.

"You want to spend a lifetime with me?"

I looked up and saw the same fear I had reflected in her. She was afraid I would reject her because of what she was. What she used to be.

"I do. I love you."

Tears were starting to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"Why, I am a monster."

"You are not a monster. Not anymore, and to me you never were."

She sat up in her bed. Slightly panicked and annoyed and angry.

"You don't get it Sasha. That may be true for every other Strigoi, but not for me. They cursed me for a reason. They made me the monster I was on the inside. All the evil every Strigoi has done since then, has fallen on me. Because I was that evil, to begin with. I can feel my soul as this foreign thing inside of me. Rejecting me and everything I have done. I don't deserve redemption Sasha. I don't deserve to be loved. I don't deserve forgiveness for everything that I have done."

I took her hand in mine.

"You have paid for your crimes. You have suffered for almost an eternity. Everyone deserves a shot at redemption. This is yours. Live one life. That is something you haven't done in all your eons of existing. You haven't lived."

She didn't know what to say. I didn't either. She had to decide for herself if she wanted to give this life a chance. She may have experienced almost everything over the years, but this was new for her. I was just glad she wasn't a blubbering mess. From what I heard about Strigoi restorations is that it is quite the emotional roller-coaster. But I suppose she had gotten her emotions in check eons ago.

I laid down next to her and pulled her against me. She laid her head on my chest and this seemed to give her some peace.

"Everything is so quiet. Before I could hear everything. I could hear the individual muscles in your heart contracting. I could hear the blood rush through your veins. I would have been able to feel the molecules of salt enter my body in this IV. But nothing. I don't feel anything."

"Do you miss it?"

She smiled against my chest.

"No. I kind of like it. It's… calm and peaceful. I now realize I have been on sensory overload for a few millennia."

I chuckled. I tried to turn on my own Strigoi senses so I could compare, but noticed it wasn't working. Huh. I might still be in shock or something from the spirit blast.

I think it took my parents and Lera another hour to finally lose patience and come into the room. Casya had fallen asleep on my chest.

I saw my mother's eyes bug out of her head when she saw me in bed with another woman. My Dad's eyes just darkened.

"So how are you. Eric told me you two collapsed too. Why?"

Both my parents looked at me shrewdly.

"We don't know, we are trying to figure it out, but in the meanwhile, care to explain this. Who is she?"

Sighed deeply. I wasn't getting out of this.

"This is Casya. She was the Strigoi that kidnapped us. We kind of… bonded while she had me captured and I decided that restoring her was better than killing her."

My Mother's eyes were going from me to Casya, to me and down to my hand and arm firmly and protectively wrapped around her and then she started laughing. Hard.

Lera and my Dad were just staring at her. But she was keeling over now from all the laughing.

"Seriously, Strigoi? You had to fall for a Strigoi? I knew that if you brought home a date it would surprise us all, but a Strigoi?"

And she kept laughing. I heard my Dad chuckle and my sister just shake her head.

I think it took five minutes for my Mom to calm down, but when she finally did, I had to tell the whole story.

So I might have left out the hardcore sex part, but I think I saw my mother looking at me knowingly at the parts I edited.

"Well, this will be a big adjustment for her."

That was all my Mom said and I nodded. My Dad, however, had a different approach to this.

"Have you thought this through? I mean where is she going to live? What will she do? Has she even had a basic education? Does she have any skills? Will she be able to live in the Moroi world, when other people find out she was the cause for so many of the death of family and loved ones?"

Well no I hadn't thought about any of that.

"Well, I don't think the fact she was the original Strigoi should become common knowledge. I restored her because she deserved some peace."

Well, we all nodded to that. I hadn't told Rosie that part either. And that information hadn't been given outside of this room.

We were all discharged from the hospital that afternoon and my father's question came back to me. Where would she live? I looked pleadingly at my mother and she nodded.

"She can stay in the guest room for now until she can figure out what she wants."

I nodded. I had hoped she hadn't specified the guest room but okay.

We were welcomed by the entire family and extended family. Even Grandma had come. God, why were they all here?

I grabbed Casya's hand and squeezed hard.

"Oh good, you are all here, We have a problem… Oh hello, and who do we have here?"

Grandma's words may sound nice, but I could feel Casya recoil at the intensity of her gaze.

"Grandma, this is Casya, Casya this is Janine, my grandmother, and this is the rest of the family. I would love to introduce you grandma but you said there were problems?"

Nice deflecting. But grandma shared a look with Sydney and she nodded.

"We have been getting weird reports on Strigoi activity."

"Weird how?"

"There are none."

"What?"

"There have been no reports of Strigoi, nothing with the alchemists, nothing from the slayer unit and nothing from the regular guardians. There have been reports on Strigoi suddenly fleeing, but we have no idea what is going on. One report said that a Strigoi just turned back to Moroi in front of them, but that is just silly. They probably were just dealing with a drunk Moroi, that seemed violent. Although we have been getting an increase in Moroi interfering with human affairs but being thoroughly confused about it. "

Casya's breathing became labored and I think I was beginning to see what she might be thinking.

"Mom, Dad, Lera? Have any of you been able to transform?"

They looked at me funny. I saw they were trying but came up empty. Just like me.

"Son of a bitch."

"Sasha, you think that because I…"

I silenced her with a nod. I didn't know how much we could tell them. I trusted them I did, they were family. But I trusted them with me I didn't know if I trusted them with Casya. I looked over to my parents and they seemed to understand my struggles. My father took the lead from here.

"What I am about to tell you has to stay within these walls. I will tell this once and after that everyone is to forget this and never speak of this again. I need to have your words, that this information will never leave this room."

They all nodded. If my Dad was this serious we knew he meant business.

"Casya, do you want to tell your story?"

I felt her stiffen beside me at my father's question. I was surprised at the gentle tone he spoke to her. As a restored Strigoi himself, he knew part of what she went through, but I can also imagine he resented her because it was her crimes that led to him becoming Strigoi in the first place. It was her crimes that made the profession of the guardian's necessary. And even if my father was made to be a protector he didn't have much choice when growing up and ultimately that had started with Casya.

Eventually, she nodded as she took a deep breath.

"Hold on girl. I have a feeling this will require something strong. Tea anyone?"

Grandpa Abe got up and went to the kitchen to make tea. His Turkish heritage had come out in his old age. The man couldn't do anything without his damn tea. But right now I think I could use some of his special brews.

Five minutes later he came out with a tray of tea and biscuits. He handed me a cup and I took it greedily. I took a deep sip and let the bitterness burn my tongue. Turkish tea was flavorful but bitter. He handed a cup to Casya, who drank it, and immediately started coughing. I didn't know if it was because she wasn't used to anything but blood or if it really was that damn strong.

But she mustered a thank you after a few moments. Grandpa Abe smiled indulgingly at her.

Casya took a deep breath and started her story.

"I can't really remember how long ago but…"

After she told her story I saw everyone processing this. Sydney was the first to do something. She actually got up. I saw Casya look at her in horror thinking her abrupt departure was a clear rejection, but I knew Sydney better. Although I didn't really know what was happening either. But Dani left a few moments later to go after her mother.

The silence was deafening for a few moments.

Until both women came back with piles of stuff.

"Now I know I've got it in here somewhere."

"My dear, beautiful wife, what on earth are you doing?"

Uncle Adrian asked. I saw Sydney roll her eyes.

"I think I've found a reference to the curse Casya mentioned. I thought it might be an anti-Strigoi spell, but I guess I was wrong. I have been looking for the translation for years… oh, here it is. Well in Sumerian anyway. There are so many nuances I have tried three different translations and asked colleagues but we aren't sure about what it says."

"I can read Sumerian. It has been about five thousand years but I am sure I can manage. I didn't know there was a record. Back then we didn't really have language except for spoken word."

Everyone else looked impressed but I think by the blank expressions of Dani and Sydney I was beginning to understand how rare her skills would be in this world.

Sydney handed her the piece of paper and I saw her eyes scan over it.

"Yes, this seems almost correct. A few details are a little off but this does refer to the same ritual."

"Then I think I know what happened. If you would have died, your connection to the spell would have simply been severed but the curse would still exist in others, but the spirit magic that restored you, actually neutralized the human magic, not just breaking the spell, but redirecting the spell and dispersing it. The magic that made the Strigoi is no more."

We all said there in silence, letting the news wash over us. Somehow though we knew it was true. I could feel it especially. I felt strangely empty. The animal that has walked beside me all my life was now gone. And strangely I didn't feel much different. I suppose my mother was right. Our Strigoi side didn't make us into anything we weren't it just brought our wild side to the surface. But that had been a large part of me. I wondered who I was now that I wasn't a hybrid anymore.

Casya pulled on my sleeve.

"I think your grandfather tried to poison me."

I laughed.

"I doubt it but why?"

"My stomach hurts."

I suppose it could be that her physique simply wasn't used to anything other than blood. And Abe's tea was strong, but I suspected something else was going on as I heard her stomach rumble. How long has it been since she felt hunger for food? Hunger for blood was definitely something different.

I laughed as her stomach rumbled again.

"You're not hurt, you are hungry. Anything you want to eat? I can get almost anything."

Dad caught the end of the conversation.

"You might start her on a liquid diet first. Maybe some yogurt or something. It will be strange for her to eat and chew."

My father had been Strigoi for four months. I image he was speaking from experience. I can't image how strange it must be for her to eat after so long. Maybe he was right.

"No. I only have seventy years to try all the foods in the world. I need to start now. What would you recommend I try first? It has to be special. I will remember it for the rest of my life."

I looked over to my mother and sister and they looked back at me and all three of us said at the same time.

"Pizza."

"I'll order her a Vingino's pizza." My mother suggested. It was the best place at court to get Pizza and overall pretty good.

"Oh make that two."

"Three."

My sister shouted.

"Well, I'll order for all of us then. In the meantime, get her something to drink."

I tried not to get excited as Casya moaned over the pizza she was stuffing her face with. We had gotten all different kinds so she could taste them all. So far her favorite was double pepperoni. Wasn't it always.

But as I saw her face all covered with pizza grease and a smile on her face, I knew she would be fine. She might have experienced everything over the past few millennia but now I knew for the first time in a long time she felt alive.

I know a little rushed. There is one more chapter after this and then over time, I might add some epilogues going further into detail about Casya.