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Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.


CHAPTER 51

JESSE POV

Nearly two hours had passed since Nathan had left. I hadn't heard a sound since then. I didn't know why, but something felt off to me. Why hadn't Dad stopped Nathan from sneaking off? Was he even here? It was eerily quiet in the house and, in the time that had passed, I hadn't heard Mom coming home from her Pilates either. I'd been hiding in my room like a coward, thinking someone else would stop Nathan. But was there even someone at home?

Quietly, I walked down the stairs. "Dad?"

No answer. I could hear the TV playing so I walked into the living room. Dad was stretched out on the couch, sleeping.

"Dad, wake up," I said, shaking his shoulder. "I think Nathan is going to do something he shouldn't…"

Still no response.

"Dad, wake up!" I repeated.

Nothing.

I shook his shoulder again. "Dad!"

Why the hell wouldn't he wake up? I noticed an empty glass on the floor next to the couch. I picked it up and examined it. I'd figured it would be alcohol, even though my dad almost never drank, but it smelled like juice. But still… I thought this was very strange. Dad usually didn't sleep so heavily. He was a light sleeper. So why wouldn't he wake up?

Nathan must've put something in his drink, I realized. Just like he'd done with Rose.

But what? When the police searched the house they found all of his drugs. Did he still have some of it somewhere?

And where was he now? With Rose? Mia? Were the police aware that Nathan was out? I needed to do something. Now.

I nearly jumped ten feet in the air when the front door slammed shut. Mom walked into the living room with several shopping bags in her hands.

"Oh," she said upon seeing me. "Jesse."

"Mom, I have to go somewhere," I said urgently. "Call 911."

She looked at me, confused. "Why?"

"I think Nathan drugged Dad. I can't get him to wake up."

"W-what do you mean?" she stammered, walking in further. She dropped the bags and shook my dad's shoulder. "Reece, stop fooling around. Reece!" She turned to me, eyes wide. "Why won't he wake up?"

"Call 911!" I said, snatching Mom's keys away before running outside. "I need to check on something."

As I drove off, I dialed Alto's number. I didn't have Karp's number so he was my only chance. "I think Nathan is planning to do something," I said when he answered the call.

"Jesse? What's – what's going on?" Alto asked.

"I think Nathan is going to hurt Rose," I said. "Or Mia. You have to send help."

"Wait, wait, wait," Alto said. "I can't follow. Will you tell me what happened?"

"Nathan left the house a few hours ago. I don't know where he went, but I have a feeling that he's with Rose or Mia. Or both," I explained hastily.

"But your father would have called us if-"

"My dad has been drugged by Nathan!" I screamed into the phone, starting to panic. What if he wouldn't believe me? What was I going to do then? I couldn't stop Nathan on my own. "He can't call! Please listen! I really think that Nathan is going to do something…bad."

"Okay, okay," Alto said. "Where is Nathan?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I think he might be at Rose's place."

"Okay. I'll go check-"

"Or Mia's."

Alto sounded frustrated. "Well, which one is it?"

How the hell was I supposed to know? He wants to hurt Rose more than Mia, a voice inside my head told me. It would be better to check her house first.

"Rose. Go to Rose's house," I told him.

"You sure?"

"Yes! Hurry!"

"Fine. I'm leaving now."

"I'll meet you there," I cut him off.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Jesse," Alto said. "You shouldn't go there. Nathan is dangerous and if he really is there…" A pause. "You shouldn't go."

"Too late. I'm already on my way."

Then I disconnected and threw my phone on the seat next to me. I couldn't believe I was really doing this. I'd much rather go back home and see if my father was okay, but I had to do this. I couldn't let Nathan hurt Rose again. I didn't want to be a coward any longer.

DPOV

There was a commotion going on when I arrived at the police station. Cops were running around while Alto was shouting orders. I walked over to him and said, "I think Rose is in danger. Nathan-"

"I know," he said, his face hard. "We just got a call from Jesse. He thinks Nathan went to Rose's house."

Wait, what?!

"I was just there," I said, frantic. "I don't think anyone's there. I think Nathan took Rose-"

"Alto! What happened?" Karp came marching in. "I just got a call saying that-"

"Nathan is with Rose," Alto interrupted. "At least, that's what we think."

"I don't understand. The Chief would have alerted us-"

"According to Jesse, he's been drugged by Nathan," Alto said.

What?

"Jesse says that Nathan is probably at Rose's house," he continued.

I was confused. "I don't think they are there. I went and there were no signs of a struggle. I think he must have taken her someplace else."

"We should still check it out," Karp said. "You might have missed something." She turned around and shouted at a few officers, "Smith, Bailey, you two go to the Chief's house. See if he can tell you anything. Report back to us immediately."

"We should also send someone to Mia's house," Alto said hurriedly. "Jesse wasn't certain where Nathan would go first."

"Alright," Karp said, resolute. "Sanchez, Edwards, gear up and go to Mia's," she commanded. Then she looked back at Alto and me. "We're going back to Rose's house."

"But what if we can't find anything there?" I asked anxiously, following her out. "What are we going to do then? How are we going to find Rose? For all we know, Nathan is hurting her right now."

I knew I shouldn't panic. It wouldn't do any of us good, but I was desperate. And angry. How could I have let this happen? I had promised Abe to keep Rose safe. I had promised Rose that I'd always be there for her. But Karp had made that same promise, too.

"And where the hell have you been?" I exclaimed in frustration. "You said you would keep an eye on Nathan and-"

"I know," she said, clenching her jaw. "I drove past Rose's house a couple of times today and everything seemed fine. The plan was that Reece – Mr. Tarus – would alert me immediately if Nathan left the house. I never got the call." She shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh. "Apparently because he's been drugged by his own son."

"I can't believe we let this happen!" I said, anguished. I felt sick to my stomach. "Who knows what he's doing to Rose… I'm never going to forgive myself is something happens to her."

I needed to call her parents. They were going to be furious I let this happen under my watch – and they had every right to be. I was furious with myself, too. Roza, where are you? Please be okay. Please be okay…

"Dimitri, focus!" Karp said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. Holding my gaze, she continued, "You can't panic right now. We're going to Rose's house and look for clues. We will find her, Dimitri."

"We need to leave. Now," Alto barked, pushing me towards the car. "Let's go."

RPOV

I woke up with a massive headache. It only took me a few seconds to remember what had happened. Nathan!

Gasping, I sat up and took in my surroundings. I was in my room. I looked down and sighed in relief when I saw that I was still fully dressed. Hopefully, that meant that Nathan had kept his hands to himself while I'd been out cold.

My stomach was upset, my head was pounding and I felt awful. My head was spinning as I stood up and for a moment I thought I was going to throw up. I gagged a few times, but nothing came up.

I took a few deep breaths to get myself together and quietly walked to the door. I bit my lip to keep myself from groaning in pain. I had bruises everywhere and every movement hurt. But I had not time to worry about that now. I needed to get out of here before Nathan came back. Where the hell was he anyway? Did he leave?

That's when I heard voices downstairs. As quiet as possible, I tiptoed into the hallway and listened.

"You should haven't come!" Nathan growled. "Do you know how stupid you are? Now I'm going to have to deal with you too!"

"You can still stop this, Nathan! You don't have to do this!"

I frowned. Was that…Jesse?

"Let's just go home, okay? Please leave Rose alone!"

"I can't!" Nathan exclaimed angrily. "She ruined everything for me! And so did you!"

Carefully, I walked down the stairs. Maybe I could make a run for it, after all. If Nathan was distracted enough…

Don't be a coward, I chastised myself. Jesse came to help you and now you want to leave him here with Nathan?!

But how had he known Nathan was here?

It didn't matter. Jesse was here now and we both needed to get out of here and alarm the police.

"It's too late, Nathan," Jesse said. "I called the cops. They're on their way here."

Oh thank God, the police is coming!

"What?" Nathan shouted. "You son of a bitch. I'm going to-"

Jesse let out a surprised yelp. I rushed down the stairs as I heard them struggling. I ran into the living room and saw Nathan beating the crap out of Jesse, who tried to cover his face with his hands. Then Nathan stopped and reached behind his back and pulled out my dad's gun.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Nathan hissed.

"STOP!" I screamed. "Please stop!"

They both looked up in surprise. Jesse whimpered. Nathan narrowed his eyes at me.

"Finally awake, huh?" he said, waving around the gun. "Why don't you come and join the party?"

Hesitantly, I took a step closer. "Please put that gun down. Before someone gets hurt."

Nathan scoffed at me. "Don't you get it? That's what this is all about, Rose! I came here to hurt you. And my little brother was dumb enough to come and meddle," he said, pointing the gun at Jesse, "so now I'm going to hurt him, too."

"No, please don't!" I pleaded. "Please don't shoot him! It's me you want. Please let Jesse go. Please-"

"Shut up!" Nathan snapped.

"Nathan, please," Jesse begged. "Let us go. Please. You don't have to do this."

"I said, shut up!" Nathan screamed. He was breathing hard and, for the first time, there was a panicked look in his eyes. He stepped back from Jesse and tore at his hair with his hands. He looked crazy for a moment. "You ruined it! You both ruined it all!"

Jesse started to get up. "The police will be here soon, Nathan. Please stop-"

"SHUT UP!"

Nathan pointed the gun at his brother again, a determined look on his face. He was going to shoot his own brother.

"Nathan, please, don't hurt him," I whispered. "I'll go with you. Just…don't hurt him."

Nathan looked up at me. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not. I will go with you."

He gave me a suspicious look. "I don't believe you."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. I'll go with you if you promise you won't hurt Jesse."

Nathan hesitated. He glanced at his brother, then turned back to me. Taking a step towards me, he said warningly, "You better not be lying or I will-"

Nathan cried out in pain when Jesse crept up behind him and slammed a chair into his back. He stumbled forward and landed face-first on the floor, dropping the gun. I dove for it, but Nathan was quick to get up, clawing at my ankles. I stumbled and Nathan crawled on top of me, tearing at my hair again.

I cried out and then, suddenly, he was gone. I rolled onto my back and saw Jesse fighting with Nathan. Even though, Jesse managed to get a few hits in on his brother, Nathan was much stronger. After several blows to the head, Jesse stopped struggling. Nathan didn't stop, though. He started smashing Jesse's head onto the floor. He was killing him, I realized.

The gun was still on the floor, forgotten for a moment. I picked it up and pointed it at Nathan.

"S-stop!" I shouted, my voice wavering a little. "Let him go right now or I swear to God I will shoot you!"

Slowly, Nathan let go of Jesse and rose to his feet. I glanced down at Jesse, who was moaning and groaning. He was covered in blood.

"Jesse, are you okay?" I breathed.

A moan. Not what I was hoping for, but at least he was still awake. Nathan took a step towards me. I fixed him with a glare.

"Don't you dare come closer!"

Nathan held up his hands in surrender, but he was smiling. A knowing, cold smile. "You won't shoot me."

"I will," I said, taking a deep breath. I couldn't get my hands to stop from shaking. "I will shoot you."

In the distance, I heard sirens. Thank God. The police is here.

Nathan realized it, too. His eyes widened and he looked around for a way out.

"Don't think about leaving," I said, gritting my teeth. "You are not going anywhere."

"Like I said, you won't shoot me," Nathan said, slowly backing up.

"Don't test me."

Despite the smile, he looked nervous. "Rose, we both know you won't hurt me. So why don't you let me just go? If you let me leave, we'll call it even."

I returned his cold smile. "I don't think so."

"Rose," he started.

"This is for all the girls you've ever hurt."

And then I pulled the trigger.


As some of you had excepted, Jesse came to save the day...sort of! Do you think Rose killed Nathan? ;)

I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! I hope you're all having a great day/evening! :)