Chapter 36 :)

Hi, Everyone! :) I'm glad to say that chapter 36 is finally here! YAY :) I know that this is the chapter many of you have been waiting for and i hope with all my heart that i don't let you guys down. I worked really hard and this chapter and I truly hope you guys like it. It starts with a Abe POV because many of you asked for it, so there you go! Hope I captured his character good, though i have my doubts... well, let me know how I did! :)

Thank you all for all your support, it really means a lot to me and it touches my heart that many of you believe in me. Thank you for reading and please REVIEW! I LOVE to hear what you guys have to say! Well, I'll let you get on reading and please REVIEW! Hope you guys like! :)

DICLAIMER: Don't own Vamire Academy.

Abe POV:

Never before I felt this kind of worry, a feeling that was all consuming and terrifying, not even when I'd known that Cassandra was slipping out of my hands, when I'd realized I was losing her. But it wasn't because my love for my daughters was any different, but because I at least knew that Cassandra was safe. Yes, she had been away from me, but I preferred that than to have her gone forever and end up with the same fate her mother did, dead. What I was going through now was completely different. Not knowing if Rose, my little girl, was alive, tortured me. To know that there still might be a chance and that we might be too late to do anything killed me.

I broke my gaze from the car's windshield and looked next to me, at Janine, at her tear stained face and bloodshot eyes. I knew that she was trying to be strong, just like she had always been since the first moment I met her, but, with just looking at her I knew that she was being torn down on the inside. I reached out and grasped her hand in mine, squeezing it lightly.

"I'll be okay, Janine. We'll find our daughter." I said to her as she turned to look at me, that my words would help her in some way and that they turned out to be true.

"Oh Abe, what will I do if I lose my daughter?" she said to me, her voice breaking.

And for once, I didn't have an answer. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, pressing her against me, as silent sobs shook her body. I tried to vanish the idea of losing our daughter from my head, but it was no use. These last couple of months I had finally known how it was to live among a family, and to lose that now seemed unfair to me. To lose the daughter I had been forbidden to see for so long seemed like a low blow from life.

When Janine had told me she was pregnant I imagined how my life would be. To be with the woman I loved and a baby to be proof of that love, there was nothing I wanted more, nothing. But, nothing turned out as planned, nothing ever does. I was cruelly separated from my daughter, forced to watch her grow from afar, knowing her only from pictures and reports like a stranger. While I was living in a house with a woman that was forced upon me. The only light in my darkened world was Cassandra who, eventually, was taken away from me too.

I closed my eyes and willing myself to stop thinking about the past. There was nothing I could do to change anything that happened, it was what it was. What I had to do was focus on the now, the present, where I could actually do something to change things.

"How long until we get there?" I asked the driver

"About an hour and a half." he answered

"Can't you go faster?", I said,

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going as fast as I can. The van won't go any faster."

I leaned back against the car seat and huffed in anger and desperation. I cursed the damned van for not being able to go faster. I was itching to be in action, to do something, to claim justice for what had been done to my daughter. It were times like these that I wished I'd been born a Dhampir instead of a Moroi so I could have the ability, the strength to not only defend myself but the ones I loved.

The minutes that passed in a slow, torturous pace and the tension I felt, the tension we all felt was evident. We had left the house immediately after we had gotten the address of the house we suspected Tasha had Rose imprisoned in. Two vans filled with Guardians had left the house, in this van were me, Janine, Eddie, Christian, and Lissa in the back. Next to the driver sat Dimitri. In the other van were Adrian and Savannah. As much as I wanted them to stay at home, I was no one to stop them and I felt grateful towards them for caring so much for Rose.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we got to the house. Everything around us was trees and plants. The houses were miles away from each other and the house we were looking for was the farthest one from town. We parked some distance away from the house, so our arrival wouldn't alert anyone if they actually were people in the house.

The ten Guardians, plus Janine, Dimitri, and Eddie, that had come with us immediately got out of the van and started planning how to enter the house. I immediately followed them.

"Abe, you should stay here." Janine said to me when she say me join the group. "Its going to be dangerous in there."

I looked at her. Just like I couldn't stop her from coming, she wasn't going to stop me from going in.

"Janine, I'm going in that house and that's final. Don't worry about me. I can defend myself." I said and raised my hand up, flames coming out of it. She just gave me an exasperated look, but said nothing else.

I heard them speak, staying quiet not wanting to interrupt. Though I felt like screaming at them, Rose could be in that house going through who knows what and we were her talking? She could be dying for gods sakes. At last they decided go in the house, Eddie would stay here with the Moroi and all the other Guardians, Janine, Dimitri, and I would go in.

My heart thumped in my chest but not because of worry for me but because I was afraid of what we would find in that house. I looked over at Janine and something in her face told me she felt the exact same way I did. I closed my eyes briefly and prayed that the two people I loved the most would be okay.

DPOV: (Dimitri)

I led the group of Guardian's towards the house, looking around me seeing if anything seemed out of place or suspicious. The ride here was long and torturous, to sit in that car and watch the minutes and the hours pass without anything we could do. But, finally we were here and I could finally do what I was best of. All I hoped for was that we weren't too late.

I divided the group into two. I send one part to the front of the house while me Janine, Abe and the rest of the Guardians went through the back. The plan was to catch whoever was inside the house by surprise and to corner them in. We walked quietly to the back of the house and once we got there I saw something that filled me with hope and dread at the same time. There in the backyard, was a parked white van that looked exactly like the van we had seen in the surveillance video.

"Hold the attack." I said into the head piece that was connected to all the other Guardians. "I think I found something."

"What is it, Belikov?" Janine said to me, her voice sharp and harsh.

"That van parked over there, it looks a lot like the van in the surveillance video." I explained.

I reached into my pocket for my phone were I had everything we knew about so far.

"Stay here," I said to them "I'm going to check if it's the same. Stay alert of the perimeter." I ordered and ran to the van. I crouched down at the back of the van and compared the license plate number letter by letter and number by number. It was exactly the same. Immediately, I bolted upright and started running towards the house.

"There's no doubt, this is the place. Commence attack." I ordered.

"It's the same van." I explained to the others when I got to them. "Rose has to be in there."

Both groups broke into the house at the same time, knocking the door off its hinges.

"Head for the basement." I yelled out, remembering what Rose had told Adrian. That they had her in a basement. I ran down the steps that led to the basement, scared of what I would find behind that closed door. If I found Rose hurt in there… or worst… I don't know how I would react. But, one thing I was sure of, if Tasha was in there, she wouldn't come out of this alive.

I kicked the door opened and barged into the room, ready to attack. One after the other, all the Guardian's filled into the room to find nothing. I stood in the middle of the room, looking around for danger, but the place was deserted. That's when I noticed that in the far corner of the room laid a body. Immediately, I froze, thinking the worst, thinking it was my Roza. But then I looked closely and it was obviously a male body. Immediately, I started thanking god that it wasn't my Roza, though I knew it was bad of me considering there was a dead man.

I walked cautiously towards it, whoever it was could be playing dead and preparing to attack. The others followed my lead, spotting the body too. Once we got close enough we knew for sure it was a dead body. A piece of wood, very much like a stake, was sticking out of his chest, rendering him dead.

"Check the rest of the house and surround the perimeter." I said as I walked closer to the body, knowing that it didn't portray any danger.

"Belikov, he's the Strigoi from the video." Janine said.

"Yes, he is." I said, as I looked at him closely and recognized him too. Hate ran through me as I looked at him. He had hurt Rose and with just that alone made me hate him. He has taken Rose away from the safety of her home and from the people that cared about her. There was no way I could feel any amount of pity towards him, maybe only because he had obviously been human, a life taken away from him, but that was it. And now… we had no clue whatsoever where Rose was.

"Could Rose have done this?" Abe asked, gesturing down to the body on the floor.

"I don't know. Rose is very strong, I wouldn't doubt it. She's taken down two Strigoi before in the harshest of situations. She could have killed him too." I said as I walked around the room. Images of what Rose could have gone through in this moldy basement flashed in my head, making my despair even greater. Rose's screams ran through my head once again, chilling me to the bone. My hands clenched to fists making half moons on the skin of my palm. Anger and frustration coursed through me, I had put all of my hope and faith that we would find Rose here and to go back empty handed, to go back to waiting, to maybe not find anything… no, I couldn't live this way. I had to find Rose, even if it was the last thing I did, even if I died trying, I had to find my Roza.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud commotion outside. I immediately thought the worst, but when I heard Adrian's voice, yelling out my name. I ran up the stairs and found Adrian at the hallway, being restrained by two of the Guardians.

"Dimitri, its Rose. She called me, she escaped from here." he said to me, his voice desperate, still struggling with the Guardians that held him in place.

"Let him go." I practically screamed.

"What did she say?" I asked him, hearing the frantic tone in my voice. "Tell me what she said! Where is she?" I screamed, my control slipping out of my hands.

"She escaped from Tasha and said she was Visalia, the next closest town from here. But, I- I don't know what happen. It sounded like if she threw down the phone or something. There was a scream but it wasn't Rose. What if Tasha caught her again? We have to go and look for her!"

I didn't even bother with responding. Immediately I ran to the vans, everyone else followed behind me. I jumped into the van Adrian and Savannah coming with us instead of the other van.

"Start driving and don't stop until you get to town." I said to the Guardian next to me. He looked over at me and I saw pity in his eyes when he looked at me. He knew how much Rose meant to me, he could guess that she was my life.

I turned around in my seat to face Adrian and everyone else at the back, but all my focus was on Adrian.

"Okay, Adrian, you have to remember. Think, really think. Did you hear anything while you were talking to Rose? Any car honks, airplane in the sky, people taking - please, you have to think. This is really important." I said to him, staring straight into his eyes.

"I remember talking, and I remember hearing doors closing. The sound the store doors do when they open and close. That's why I think she was in a shopping center or something like that. There were people nearby, somebody let her borrow a phone."

I looked out the window, at the two-way road ahead of us. There were no other way out here. If Rose escaped she had to go in this direction to get anywhere. If Tasha took her, I'm sure she wasn't going back to the house. Tasha was many things, but one of them wasn't stupid.

"Drive until you get to Visalia. The moment you're in town stop." I said to the Guardian next to me.

The whole drive there, I spend interrogating Adrian. Pressuring him to remember anything that could help us get a lead on Rose.

"Guardian Belikov, were here."

Once I heard those, my eyes snapped out the window. I looked around, the place was mostly deserted except for a few people coming out of stores or store owners closing up their shops. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but something didn't feel right to me. Something told me that things weren't right.

"Okay, we have to check the surroundings. Go in groups of two and if you find anything that seems out of the ordinary report to me immediately."

We all got out of the vans in groups on two one at a time to not attract unwanted attention. When I got out of the van, followed by Janine and Eddies I saw that Abe was heading with her I had to stop him.

"Mr. Mazur, I know that you are worried about Rose, but this is no place for you to go. There is just to much danger. Please, stay behind with the others and Guardian Miller."

"Look Belikov, I already said this-" in that moment I didn't care that I was talking to Rose's father, to the great mobster Abe Mazur. All I cared about was Rose and how he was wasting precious time, time that could mean saving Rose's life.

"Mr. Mazur, I know how much you care for your daughter and for that reason only is why I'm asking you to stay. If you come with us we are sworn to protect you at all cost, and that means that we have to but you before Rose. They come first. Moroi come first and if you want to save your daughter, you have to stay here." I said to him, my voice firm and hard, and I wished with all my might that he would understand.

"He's right, Abe." Janine said, looking at him, her face torn between agreeing with me and pleasing him.

The look on Abe's face told me he wasn't happy but I knew that I had convinced him.

"Alright." he finally said, "But call us if anything happens. Anything at all." he said, his voice just as hard and firm as mine had been.

"Don't worry, you'll let you know immediately if anything happens." I reassured him, hoping to leave him a bit more called.

With that me, Eddie, and Janine head to check the surroundings.

"We should so our separate ways", Eddie suggested "That way we can cover more ground in less time."

"You're right." Janine agreed with him and we went our separate ways.

I walked around the area close to the woods, listening out for strange sounds, screams, anything that seemed out of the ordinary. I was just about to call the others to report in when the frantic voice of Eddie filled my ears.

"I need backup, I found Tasha and Rose and I need backup." he said as I heard him struggle who I guessed was Tasha. "I'm in an ally way located at the back of the third store on the right. I repeat, I third store on the right."

"I need everyone to go to the back of the third store on the right of the shopping center, immediately." I yelled through the headpiece and heard everyone responses.

I ran as fast as I had ever run, I felt like if I was flying. I got there before anyone else did. I found Eddie giving Tasha a series of roundhouse kicks, knocking her down on the ground. I looked around for Rose and my heart thumbed when I found her. She was on the ground and it seemed she was unconscious. I wished for nothing more than to go to her but I knew Eddie was in trouble, I had to help him.

Luckily, Tasha's back was to me and she hadn't noticed my arrival. I sneaked up behind her and pulled her hands behind her back, giving Eddie a clear view to her chest, but just as he was pulling out her stake, something sharp ran across my stomach. I shrank away from her on instinct, but was soon upon her again. I kicked her straight in the stomach and threw her against a tree truck. I walked towards her again and grabbed her by the hair, all my control had gone out the window. Every time I saw Tasha, I heard Rose's scream fill my ears. I saw the way Rose looked when I first saw her right now. Anger filled me and all I wanted was to destroy her, destroy her with my own hands. With all my strength I threw her across the area, wanting her to feel pain just like she had caused pain to my Roza.

I heard the sounds of the other Guardians that had arrived and I hoped that one of them would go to Rose. God knew what kind of damage Tasha had done to her. When other Guardian's started to come in and help me fight and Tasha found herself cornered in, I saw the panic and anger in her eyes, and I found joy in that panic. She wasn't the women I had met so many years ago, the women with all the honorable characteristics that made me respect her. She had turned into a monster. Into a monster I was born to kill.

Suddenly, it was as if she had disappeared, immediately, I looked to where I had last seen Rose and there she was. I saw Janine thrown away from Rose on the ground, but I knew she was okay when she instantly got up. I started to walk to Rose ready to kill her once and for all, only to stop, frozen on my tracks.

Tasha had Rose pressed against her chest, holding her barely conscious body up by the torn collar of her shirt, a dagger pressed against her pail neck.

"Don't come any closer." she threatened, "Come any closer and she dies."

Everyone else stayed where they were, immobile, but I couldn't do that. I knew that if I didn't do something now, things would be over in the blink of an eye.

"Tasha, if you think you can get away with what you are doing, you are so wrong. This is your end and there is nothing you can do about it. You can't escape me, and if you do, I will haunt you down and kill you slow and torturously just like you deserve. But if you give Rose to me, I'll spare you all that pain and kill you instantly, you won't even feel it. Face it Tasha, this is your end, whether you like it or not."

"I told you not to come any closer!" she screamed out and I saw the effect my words had on her. She knew I wasn't joking, she knew I would be true to my words and she didn't like it.

"You never wanted me Dimka. Why? Why? When I could have given you everything you wanted. I loved you and you never cared." she said, my eyes clued to the dagger she had against Rose's throat.

"Tasha, you were a good friend until you mixed everything up. I never saw you for anything more than just a friend, but you never understood that. Tasha I never loved you and you have to accept that."

"No!" she screamed out and pressed the dagger closer to Rose's skin, a stream of red blood flood down the side of her neck.

"You preferred this blood whore instead of me. Look at her Dimka. Look at her, what can she possibly offer you."

"She can offer me everything you never could." I said to her, "I love her and nothing you do or say will ever change that." I said to her and that was what made her snap.

It all happened quickly, but I saw everything perfectly. I saw Tasha release her hold on Rose's neck only to grab her by the arm and sank the dagger into her stomach. Just as Rose fell to the ground, Eddie came behind her, taking her by surprise and doing exactly what I had done before.

"Stake her Dimitri! Do it, kill her!" he yelled out to me and I didn't have to be asked twice.

I ran towards them and shoved my silver stake straight into her heart, my eyes locked on hers. I watched the anger vanish from her eyes and turn into shock. Then I watched that shock turn to anger once again, anger that consumed her and then everything vanished. Her eyes glazed over and her anger contorted face turned slack. She was dead and never before had I felt such relief. The person that was out to kill the reason I breathed everyday was done for, but she hadn't gone without consequence.

I turned around and looked straight at Rose's limp body on the ground her mother holding her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks, agony pure and alive on her face and I felt my world crash and shatter to a million pieces.

So, tell me what you think? Please, review and let me know! Thanks so much for reading and hope that you guys liked it. And-once again... REVIEW! I'm dieing to know what you guys think. Okay, enough with my blabbing, thanks again and bye!

Oh... I'll be updating again on Tuesday, so be on the lookout for that. :)

( P.S. Rose-Phoenix0 thanks for the suggestion about Eddie, hope you liked it. Everyone who wanted Eddie to get a bigger spotlight, sorry that it wasn't too big but i hope this is a good start. i'll be sure to try and include more of him.)