Chapter 6

The plane flew high over the United States, hitting turbulence here and there but nothing too strong. Dimitri was continuing to read his Western, Lissa was lost in her head – thinking, while Abe choose to spend his time between glaring at Dimitri and working. While he was a mobster, he still needed to have a way to launder the money on the outside, so he did have at least 3 legitimate businesses.

Suddenly the voice of the pilot came over the loudspeaker, "Good Afternoon, we are about to begin our decent into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Please buckle up and turn off all electronics." Powering down his computer, Abe shot a quick text message out to Janine Hathaway before taking a quick peek at Lissa and Dimitri. Neither of them knew that Janine was going to be with them, and since Janine still detested Guardian Belikov, Abe thought he was going to like this reunion. Unfortunately, the more he thought about Janine, the more he realized that he probably should have given Rose a heads up that her mother was going to be staying with them as well. He had a good reason not to, he didn't want her changing her mind about this whole thing. Hell, she was under the impression they weren't going to be arriving for a few more days; Deacon knew but that is because they were moving into his house. Abe and Deacon had agreed that due to the secrecy level and the danger present, this needed to be sooner than later, and they did not want Rose to back out of her agreement to help – not that she could once he got Deacon involved.

In all truth, this little trip wasn't just to keep Lissa safe. It wasn't just because of the Strigoi threat. He wanted to see his little girl happy – and he knew that the three of them (four if you include Janine) need to talk. Each one of them needs to have a conversation. He wouldn't be Ibrahim Mazur if he didn't get involved in situations that he had no business being involved in.

He had hired 2 private investigators the moment he found our Rose left court again. One was to track Rose and the other was to get information on one, Dimitri Belikov and whether or not he needed to invite him on his boat, only to anchor him to the ocean floor. Finding out that Belikov had been severely depressed since Rose left was a bit of an ego blow – he didn't realize just how deep Belov's feelings ran for Rose, but he needed all the information he could have when he met back up with Rose.

The investigator that was supposed to find Rose initially lost here. She slipped them and they couldn't track her anyway until finally one of his contacts in Philly had seen her, sitting in a park looking lost. It wasn't the safest city but someone of her caliber and training would easily be able to handle anything it threw at her. Quickly, he called the investigator back out, this time with an order to find her with repercussion of deadly consequences if he failed yet again. Low and behold the information coming out of his Philly man was accurate and the investigator was able to track Rose down to Purgatory, PA – he failed to make any more contact after that. Abe immediately took off to Purgatory where he interrogated several of the locals who finally admitted that she lived at Clayton Manor about 3 miles outside of town and that if he was going to go there, he should be prepared, as another man who was questioning Rose's whereabouts turned up dead soon after – well least he knew what happened to his private investigator. He and Pavel immediately took off in the direction of the Manor to be met face to face with his daughter; he had never been more relieved.

She introduced him to Deacon who was shaking with anger – but he calmed down visibly as soon as Abe honestly stated that Rose had no idea, he was tracking her – that he wasn't a man of legality, and he would do anything for his daughter. Deacon understood, more so after Abe also showed him his fangs, indicating that he wasn't human.

Once the plane landed, everyone stood up and began filtering out of the plane. At the top of the steps Abe stopped, turned around and walked to the back of the plane remembering that he had a large bag stored in the plane's fridge – 6 blood bags, Lissa wasn't going to be able to have a feeder with her. Abe already worked out a delivery once a week of blood bags so that she wouldn't starve; the rest of the time, she'd have to rely on human food.

Finally walking down, the steps of the plane, bag in hand, he visible gulped at the glare he was receiving from Janine. She stood next to Lissa and Dimitri – the later who was clearly blanched as he didn't realize she would be going either. Good, it would do the man to fear something other than him. You don't hurt a mobster's daughter and get away with it.

"Ibrahim. Explain."

"I can and will do that, Janine. Just have one last stop to make on the way to the hideaway," Abe said and walked around her.

Her face beginning to turn as red as her hair – Lissa could see that she was on her way to losing her cool, so she impulsively grabbed her hand causing Janine to look at her. Giving her a small smile, Lissa pulled her into a hug and said "he's hiding something. I'm not sure what. It doesn't seem bad given his aura. He seems almost…happy.". Following her statement to Guardian Hathaway, Lissa immediately let her go and climbed in the waiting car – according to her watch, it was close to 4pm – not much time left before sunset.

As everyone piled into the car, Lissa felt peace wash over her. Everything seemed calm and any hunger pains she had were satiated, which was strange because she knows she hasn't eaten since yesterday. Eyes wide, she snuck a look at Abe and met his eyes before quickly looking away. Thoughts started to get the best of her, and Lissa settled for looking out the window, deep in thought.

As for Dimitri, he didn't know what to do, think, or say. Here he was surrounded by Rose's mom, her best friend, and a mobster. A little voice in the back of his head said that this was how he was going to die. He knew this wasn't the actual case, but he couldn't help the jot of fear that ran though his heart. So, he took a page from Lissa's book and settled for staring out the window as well, watching the city slowly transition to trees and meadows. It had to have been at least 20 minutes of awkward silences before Dimitri saw that they drove by a sign "Welcome to Purgatory. Pop. 1436".

"Well, Abe. We're here. Can you explain yet?" Janine growled.

Unwilling to let her eyes penetrate his thoughts, Abe kept faced away from her and said "not just yet. Food first," to which everyone except Pavel looked at him like he was nuts; meanwhile Abe was smiling like a cat that ate the canary.

"Food." Janine stated. "Food?" She stated again this time phrased as a question. "Ibrahim if you do not start explaining why the hell I needed to take an extensive Leave of Absence from Lord Seletzky, I swear to Vlad, you will have no more children."

"All in due time, sweetheart" Abe cooed, laying it on thick causing Dimitri to look quickly between them out of the corner of his eye. Sweetheart. Were him and Guardian Hathaway together? Abe Mazur and Guardian Hathaway? 'No way', was the thought he settled on. Janine was smart enough to know ending up in bed with the mobster was a bad idea. So, he definitely settled on the 'no way'. Janine's irritated sigh filled the car.

Quickly the car made a jarring left turn before screeching to a halt. Being the Guardian that he is. Dimitri struck his arm out in front of Lissa to ensure she didn't fly forward. She grabbed onto it wide eyed and looked around, bad memories clearly surfacing a bit. "We're here" Pavel had stated afterward, and everyone poured out of the car, Lissa clamoring out first, her face paler than normal.

"You alright Princess?"

Lissa just stared at him before taking a shaky breath. She nodded yes before saying "for the last time, call me Lissa!"

Dimitri blinked once before finally relenting. "Okay. I'll call Lissa.". Normally he would have never agreed to that, it wasn't his place to call her by her name rather than her title – his place was to guard the princess but something about where he was had him at ease. Looking around at the trees and up at the little diner they stopped in front of, for the first time in a long time – Dimitri felt peace and as though he could let his guard down, just for a moment. Be her friend rather than her protector. It's what Roza would have wanted.

"A diner? You prefer extravagant meals, Abe. What are you playing at" Janine said with a side eye on the Moroi that stood to her left.

"No games, Janine. I found this place the last time I passed through her. It's delicious food for such a small operation." Abe stated easily. Lissa took a glance at his aura, he didn't appear to be lying, maybe it was just good food. She shrugged and looked up at it. MILLY'S was the name of it and the big block letters look as though they had seen better days. As the sun slowly set behind them, the lights behind the letters came on – the blubs in the "I" not lighting up as brightly as the other letters. Lissa looked around before scurrying inside the diner, waiting just inside the door for the others to catch up. No matter how peaceful this little town felt, nothing could fully put her at ease after the attack.

Once everyone entered the diner, they stood around at a podium before man approached them. He looked to be about 25 years old, tall with dirty blonde hair. His golden eyes raked over the newcomers before focusing on Abe.

"Mr. Mazur. Eeeyyyyyy, how you doing, sir?" before approaching and shaking his hand.

Janine and Dimitri looked at him incredulously, who was this man and how did he know Abe on this friendly of a level.

"Sebastian! Good to see you, son! Can I get my usual spot?"

"Of course! Follow me!" before grabbing 5 menus and walking off to the back; he opened a door to what appeared to be a larger room. Tables and booths littered the room, but it was otherwise devoid of people. Sebastian led them back to a booth by the window. He placed the menus down before going to walk off.

Before he got two steps away, Abe called back out, "Where are you going? You normally eat with me when I'm here."

This stopped the man, and he did a 180 with a smile. "Well sorry Mr. Mazur, you appeared to have your hands full already. I didn't want to intrude.". He sat down with them before saying "Once you decide what you want, just tell me. I'll go put the order in with my cook".

"Your cook?" Janine questioned surprised as she looked over the menu.

"Yes, Milly's is mine. Inherited it from my great grammy, Milly. Hence the name." Sebastian stated proudly. He loved his great grandma; in fact, he went to see her at least twice a week. She wasn't in a bad way – she still had a good portion of her life left. She was only 98 after all – just wasn't practical for her to run a diner in a town full of humans. They assumed she was off in a nursing home somewhere.

Dimitri's POV

There was something about him. Not sure what. The golden eyes off putting but not in an uneasy way – more of a "mess around a find out" kind of way. I'm not sure what it was – maybe it was the fact that he seemed successful, or that he was clearly on good terms with Abe Mazur. He had to be doing something illegal to warrant such good graces from Mazur.

I quickly picked out what I wanted. Just a roasted turkey dish. Abe, Janine and Pavel both ordered a steak, Lissa opted for a salad. I would have gone for a steak but since being Strigoi, red meat just…. didn't hit me the same.

Looking around Janine clearly wanted to question Abe more but new it would be fruitless as he's been evasive since he arrived at St. Vlad's. Lissa was slowly sipping on one of the waters that had been brought out by another server. Pavel appeared uninterested but had a ghost of a smile and well Abe just kept his cool.

Sebastian quickly came back out and sat down and took a drink of what appeared to be Pepsi. "Oh. I never formally introduced myself. I'm Sebastian Barnes and as I said before I own this fine establishment." I appraised him quietly.

"Dimitri Belikov," I introduced myself to him only for him to slowly narrow his eyes as though he heard of me. I swore his eyes flashed for a second before reaching over and firmly shaking my hand before turning his attention to Lissa.

"You must be Lissa" he said with a smile, she looked shocked for a second and then nodded.

"Vasilisa Dragomir, but please call me Lissa" she said with a side eye at me as if to tell me 'Don't you forget to call me that either'. Instead of shaking her hand as it was offered, he leaned down and kissed her hand causing her to blush and look down.

"Well now that we are all properly introduced, why don't we eat." Sebastian said as a waiter walked in carrying the food we ordered.

We ate in silence, no one really knowing what to say to one another. A good 15 minutes passed in silence and our meals were nearly finished before Sebastian interrupted the silence. "So, Abe. Thought we weren't expecting you and the guests for like a week?"

I proceeded to choke a bit on my water before swiveling my head to Abe, as did Janine and Lissa's. Pavel just continued to eat his meal, paying none of us any mind.

3rd Person

"Abe. What does he mean? No more roundabouts or evasiveness. Answer me" Janine demanded wiping off her mouth before placing her napkin down with a solid stare.

Sighing, Abe set down his utensils and pushed his plate to the middle. "Okay fine. I ran across the town on business. I know from personal experience that Strigoi absolutely do not attack here. I knew Ms. Dragomir would be safe but I also knew that she would not come without her Guardian, and Janine – you work too much. You could use a break. I'm sure you'll understand in a little bit. I'm asking you to trust me."

"How come Strigoi don't attack here" Janine asked calmy. She never heard of Strigoi just avoiding a town, especially one as remote as this. Forests, darkness, perfect cover.

"It's a small town, Janine. Barely any population. No nightclubs, yes there is a bar, but this town looks out for its own. Plenty of Dhampir around. Just trust me." Abe said looking her directly in the eye. It seemed to put her at ease. Dimitri though still was not sure. How could a place just be devoid of Strigoi just because unpromised Dhampir lived here? That would almost entice them more.

"Don't worry Guardian Hathaway. Abe is right. Strigoi would be stupid to attack us here. We have a perfect defense system. You all will be perfectly safe" Sebastian agreed with Abe said as well, somehow still eating when everyone else had quit due to the conversation.

"I'm trusting you, Abe." Janine said softly with a quick look at his eye.

"That's all I ask" Abe confirmed before lightly grabbing her hand underneath the table. It was so slight that no one would have noticed except Dimitri was trained to notice these things – the little movements. It appeared that Guardian Hathaway and Abe Mazur were indeed an item, or they at least had history. History that Dimitri wanted to unravel.

"Okay, so heavy conversation over. Everyone done eating? I'd like to close up and get home to my kid" Sebastian said while standing up. Everyone nodded respectfully and Abe went to hand him a wad of cash to cover the bill and presumably for hosting Lissa, Janine and Dimitri. Sebastian shook his head and pushed the money Abe's hand back to him, "It's on the house Mazur. Don't worry about it.".

"You know I'll find a way to get it to you" Abe stated while smirking.

"I'm sure you will, Sir", Sebastian laughed before continuing. "I'll clean this up tomorrow. Are you all following me home?"

Dimitri really wasn't sure how to feel, but suddenly he felt pressure on his chest, right near his heart. Gasping he pressed his fist to it to try and ease the ache.

"You good there, Belikov" Abe said as they started to follow out Sebastian.

"Yes. I'm fine" Dimitri said though gritted teeth, before hobbling after the group, making sure to keep his eyes moving around as they were headed out into the dark and he did not fully believe that a town was "Strigoi Proof".

Right before they hit the door, Sebastian snapped his fingers, "get in your car, I forgot something in the kitchen".

Dimitri was uneasy about how this man they didn't know but were staying with was disappearing into the dark behind them as they flooded into their cars. As the doors shut, he saw Sebastian run out the building as well, this time holding a doggy bag of food – he turned and locked the door to the restaurant before walking to his own car. A black SUV, of course. It roared to life in front of them and he signaled his hand out the window, and Pavel followed him even though he clearly knew the way himself.

Janine, Lissa and Dimitri couldn't help but be anxious the entire ride. They were trained not to be outside wards in the dark. The dark meant many things. Hidden enemies. The unknown, Darkness. Death.

Fear the dark was beaten into their minds – but what they didn't remember was that without darkness, there was no light; and Purgatory, PA was definitely filled with light.