Russia was beautiful. I could see why Dimitri would look like he had homesickness when it was mentioned. It was dark outside but I could still tell it was beautiful. I stood in the heart of a town with a name I couldn't pronounce. I decided to try to find a city hall or a place where I could get information. This was a tourist town and lots of people from all over pass through it. Finally a building that resembled a place of law and order came into view.
I walked into a designer decorated lobby. It was magnificent. I walked up to the man behind the counter. He looked to be about in his late thirties. It was obvious he was a Moroi.
"Excuse me," I said. Luckily he didn't seem to be confused with my English. "I need some help. I am here visiting an old friend. She lives in one of the feeding communities around here. I'm not sure which one exactly it is, though." Yes I lied a bit, but I needed information. "Do you have a list of theses communities?"
"I can see you are a Dhampir." He said. I nodded. "There aren't many around this side of the country. Only two. And yes I can give them to you. What is your friend's last name? I may be able to direct you to the right one. I know a lot of people around here."
"Belikov," I said.
He walked into a room in the back. He came back holding a peace of paper. He was reading over it.
"Ah, yes. There is only one Belikov family around this area. They live in the Vitaly commune."
"Thank you, sir. You have been a big help. Have a nice night." I waved and turned toward the door.
"Wait," called the man. I turned. He was giving me a very scrutinizing look..
"Yes," I asked.
"You look very familiar. I know I have never seen you before, but maybe a relative. Are you related to a man named Ibrahim?"
The name rang a dim bell. Then I got it. The queen had mentioned that name when she was talking bad about my mother. "I'm not sure," I told him truthfully. "I don't know anyone of my family other than my mother. All I know is that my mother is Irish and my father is Turkish."
"I am friends with Ibrahim. We have known each other for years. What is your name miss? If I may ask."
What did it matter. He may know my possible father. I didn't think anyone would follow me here. "Rose Hathaway."
His face lit up. "I don't know how I didn't see it when you walked in. You said your mother was Irish, right?" I nodded. "I believe you just may be Ibrahim's daughter. I remember him telling me that he had and Irish Guardian when he was younger. They were very close and they had a child together. He said he got tired of being shunned by other Moroi she he left her. He said that's when she made off with his only daughter."
This man's story sounded very reasonable. The queen had said something about my father getting over my mother and how he didn't love her. It would make sense with what Mom's reactions were when I talked bad about her being with my father.
"By any chance is this Ibrahim Turkish?" He nodded. "I think you may be right. Do you know where he lives. I'm kinda in a hurry right now, but when I get time, I would like to meet him."
"He lives not far from here in the forest. But he is actually on a trip to the feeding commune where your friend lives. It's the closest feeders around here. That's where most Moroi around here go."
"Thank you, sir. It was nice talking to you. Bye."
"Here take this paper. It has the address of where your Belikov friend lives. Goodbye, Rose. Have a safe journey."
The blood whore commune was not what I had expected. I remember Dimitri telling my that it isn't as bad as the stories say. He was right. Everyone here was in high spirits. Children were laughing and playing while their mothers cleaned.
The paper said that they lived on Viktor. It was off the left side of the road. In front of the Belikov house was a young woman gardening. There was definitely a resemblance. It was Dimitri's youngest sister. He had said he had two. I walked up to the woman. She was maybe three or four years older than me. She looked up from her gardening to see I was heading toward her. She stood up to greet me.
"Hello. Do you speak English?"
"Yes. May I ask who I am speaking to?" She spoke with perfect clarity but she still had the Russian accent. She wasn't able to pull it off as well as Dimitri.
"My name is Rose Hathaway. I have come here to speak with your family about your brother Dimitri."
Her eyes widened. She was definitely not expecting this. "My name is Zhanna Belikov. Please, come inside so you may speak to everyone at once."
She led me into the small house. Dimitri's mother was in the kitchen cooking. An elderly women stood on the other side of the room chopping up vegetables. I guessed that it was Dimitri's grandmother.
Zhanna addressed her mother and told her why I was here in Russian. They seemed just as surprised of my presence as Zhanna had.
"Hello Rose," Ms. Belikov said. "I am Liliya. I see you have already met Zhanna. This is my mother, Irina." She gestured to the woman beside her. "Please, come have a seat. Zhanna says you bring news of my precious Dimitri."
I followed her back into the seating room. The two older women sat in the love seat. I sat in an armchair and so did Zhanna.
"I am here because I need your help." I stated it plain and simple. Might as well get it out now. "I have come here from St. Vladimir's Vampire Academy. I was a student there. Training to become a Guardian. I dropped out not but a week ago. There have been strange things happening. I don't know if you know or not, but in America there have been a lot of Strigoi attacks against Moroi lately."
"Yes, we have heard. It is so sad. Royal Moroi and Dhampirs being killed like that is slaughter. But please, go on with your story."
"Well two years ago I ran away from school to keep my Moroi best friend safe. Dimitri was the one that found us. Him and his team took us back to school. Our headmistress put Dimitri in charge of training me so I could catch up with the rest of my class. Over these few months Dimitri and I have come to friendly terms." Liliya nodded. "But a week before I left school, Strigoi attacked." I realized I had tears in my eyes and wiped them away. "You have to understand this is hard for me to talk about." She nodded sympathetically. "Students and Guardians were killed. We went to the Strigoi's base and attacked them. Some escaped. They took two victims with them."
I could tell they knew where I was going with this. We all had tears in our eyes.
"Please, tell us what happened," she sobbed. I felt sympathy for them. They were close to Dimitri unlike how I was with my mother.
I continued on with my story. "Dimitri and a girl named Molly were both taken. I was there when Dimitri was bitten. My mother was there and she wouldn't let me go back to help him. We were being swamped by Strigoi. When we went on a trip once, some other Guardians and us talked about what we would want to happen if we were turned. Dimitri and I promised each other that if one of us turned the other would go and kill them." I stopped to wipe the tears off of my face.
Zhanna was the one who spoke. "You can't kill him! He's my brother."
"Zhanna," said Irina, "Calm down. We all knew there was a chance of this happening. But Rose, why did you come here to tell us this. I'm glad you did, but I don't see why you would want to."
"I came here because I felt it was the right thing to do. I knew about you because he would often talk about you all. I need your help. I plan to find him. If anyone is going to kill him it should be me. I made him a promise. I have killed Strigoi before. Dimitri knows all of my moves an I his, but I have to find him. I'm the only one who can do it. I have beat him before when our teachers were doing our trials. He snuck up on us on our day off but I was able to beat him."
It looked like Liliya was fighting back tears. "Yes. I see your point. You should go after him. Dimitri is a tough fighter and he will kill anyone without the right amount of experience. He will be even tougher now and we don't need anymore Strigoi. But what is it that you need our help for?"
"I need you to tell me places that he liked or may want to go. It's the only thing I can think of right now"
"Yes-" she was cut off by a knock on the door. "Excuse me a moment" She went to go answer the door.
She greeted him in Russian.
"Hello," the man responded in English. He had an accent I couldn't place. I was told I could come here for today's feeding."