Chapter Fifty-Two: To the Belikov's We Go!

It was really too much to ask for a day off.

Within only a week, Abe had received news from Janine that Rose suddenly dropped out of school and left the country. Within the next two weeks, we received news from, ironically, Sydney Sage, the Alchemist who I ripped out Keith Darnell's eye out for, that Rose was in Russia. Within the next day, we were on a plane heading to my native country.

Immediately, I knew Rose had left to go after Dimitri; however, Abe didn't know about the more-than-teacher relationship between his daughter and Dimitri. I debated whether or not to break the news, but decided he would rather hear it straight from the source. I mean, I was Abe's guardian, not secretary. I was simply along for the ride and to smooth out any bumps in case we ran into danger.

Once we were off the plane, Abe was already making phone calls, turning into the serious mobster most people knew him to be. I tagged behind him and tried to make conversation with Pavel, which, of course, failed. I even spoke to him in Russian and he still wouldn't answer my conversational questions with more than one or two words.

Abe turned to me when we were off the phone. "Well, apparently Rose is passed out and keeps mumbling about the Belikovs. Do you want to drive us there? You know it the best out of all of us."

"Of course."

Taking some fancy rental car, we met Sydney and the unconscious Rose in a very small town a couple hours outside of Omsk. We all helped to move Rose into the back seat, where Sydney and Pavel sat on either side of her. Abe sat in the front with me. Sydney seemed particularly sad that we left her vintage rental car behind, but I think she understood why when I started to drive. If there's one thing Russians are good at, it's driving like a maniac. I knew these roads like the back of my hand and I drove approximately fifty miles over the speed limit. It wasn't like there were any cops around these deserted areas to stop and give me a speeding ticket.

"Jesus, Schoenberg, I didn't realize you were such a driving hazard," Abe joked.

I shrugged. "You're the one who gave me the keys," I replied as I drove over a bump.

Rose jumped and mentioned something about Dimitri, but settled back down, leaning her head on Pavel's shoulder. I giggled as I saw Pavel's expression in my rearview mirror. "You don't have many women hanging over you, huh?" I asked.

"Not really."

Abe smirked and leaned over toward me. "I'm telling you, he will never say more than two words so you should stop wasting your energy on him," he whispered.

"And spend it on you instead? You know, he said a full sentence to me before with a noun and a verb. It's not a lost cause."

"But wouldn't it be more fun to talk to me instead of trying to get Pavel to even carry on a conversation?"

I thought about it for a moment, even though I really didn't have to think about it. I would rather have a chat with Abe any day over Pavel. "Depends," I responded, toying with him. "Will you let me drive all the time?"

Abe leaned back in his seat. "...Schoenberg, are you trying to make a deal with me? I swear you're becoming more and more like me."

"Scary concept."

I couldn't help but notice the quiet Sydney sitting in the back seat, staring out the window. She hadn't said one single word since we got in the car. I knew Alchemists were uncomfortable around vampires, but I didn't think we were that intimidating. Well, okay, maybe Abe was with his flashy outfits...and I guess Pavel was with his overly muscular build, and after seeing the way I drive, I guess I was, too.

As we got closer to the Belikov household, I became more and more uncomfortable. I hadn't seen Dimitri's family since after Ivan's death...and I was assuming that was the last time Abe had seen them, too. Did I tell them about Dimitri? Looking back at Rose, I realized that also might have been the reason she was here.

Abe picked up on my nervousness right away. His hand started to reach toward me but stopped when he glanced back at Sydney. I simply smirked. Abe couldn't possibly show the Alchemist that he had a sensitive side.

Finally pulling up to the Belikov house, I sighed as I parked the car and got out. Abe walked around the car to meet me. This time he did reach out and touched my arm. "...I'm going to help Pavel carry Rose in...do you think you can do the talking?" He asked.

"Sure." I figured I should be the one talking anyway because I knew Dimitri's family the best.

I lead everyone to the front door and I looked back at Abe before knocking. He nodded at me and gave me a reassuring smile. My heart raced as I finally knocked on the door. Once the door opened, I was overwhelmed by the familiar faces of the Belikov family. All of their eyes were the same as Dimitri's and I couldn't help but think back to Dimitri's piercing red eyes.

"Maya!" Olena immediately wrapped her arms around me. "It's been so long since we've seen you!"

"It's nice to see you too," I said, but I couldn't quite make myself sound as enthusiastic as she was. "It's nice to see all of you," I added as I let go of Olena and looked at the rest of the family. They all gave me worried smiles because they could see Abe behind me. "Oh, um, I hope you don't mind...but there's someone that needs medical assistance...she kept mentioning Belikov so we brought her here..."

They all curiously looked behind me and saw Rose in Pavel's arms. "Maya, we don't know who she is..." Olena told me.

"Well, that's that. They don't know who she is, let's go find another place," Abe concluded.

I stared at him in surprise. I didn't realize how uncomfortable he was here until he said that. "Olena, please..." I begged. I knew we had to bring Rose here. There was simply no other place to bring her.

Olena glanced over at the unconscious Rose and back at me. "Fine, come on in."

I cautiously walked in while the others followed behind. We got Rose settled in on one of the beds as Olena checked her out. I stood beside Abe and he didn't seem particularly pleased. "I'm sorry..." I whispered to him. "But there was a part of me that knew Rose needed to be here."

His expression softened when he looked over at me. "It's not that...I just know this isn't easy for you..." I tried not to be affected by his genuine concern, but looking at him I still thought of the day after Dimitri turned when I had quietly admitted to him and myself that I loved him. I still wondered if he had actually heard it, but it was hard to imagine he didn't hear me with the way he was looking at me.

"It doesn't matter. This is what's best for Rose."

Abe stared at me, speechless.

Olena, done with her check-up with Rose, backed away and looked over at me. "So, how's Dimitri?"