Chapter 11:

DPOV

The plane ride has always been long, but it does seem to get shorter every time we take it. Although having movies there to occupy my wife did help with the length of the trip as well. When there wasn't a decent movie on Rose could be a bit of a handful. I did notice that she was fussing around with her dinner on the plane. Not that plane food was stellar cuisine but usually it didn't matter to Rose as long as she was fed.

"Don't like the food?"

She shook her head.

"I am trying but the plane right is already making me a bit queasy and normally I would take a cola but I can't have it anymore because there is caffeine in there. I tried mineral water but it isn't helping as much."

"Do you think it is more the twins then the plane right?"

"God I hope not. I know I am at the stage where I can get morning sickness but I was hoping to avoid it all together."

I laughed a little. I hoped so too. I decided not to share the pregnancy history of my mother and sisters. I heard from my mother her pregnancy with me was particularly bad. I wondered if it was the genetic make-up of the mother or of the child that determined the severity of the pregnancy symptoms. If it was the latter Rose was screwed.

We made it off the plane with Rose's dinner still inside of her, but she had turned a little green. I had asked the flight attendant for some crackers and they seemed to be helping. At the airport I got our bags and was hauling them towards the rental car.

"I can carry my own bag Dimitri. For god sakes it has wheels."

I sighed. This was going to be a long eight more months.

The drive towards Baia was long and not without peril. It was still morning and we should be able to make it before dark but I was still worried. I started to second guess this choice. I loved seeing my family and normally Rose and I could handle a stray Strigoi you would find here, but now I was getting anxious because I didn't want Rose fighting.

"Don't worry Comrade. We will be there before dark and otherwise I know you can protect us, and I can protect myself if push comes to shove. We will be fine."

Rose always knew what I was thinking. I knew she was right. She would be able to defend herself but that didn't mean I wanted her fighting now that she was pregnant. We were already lucky to have this miracle, I wasn't going to risk it. I knew Rose agreed. She would normally be right there with me in battle, but now she would be on the sidelines only stepping when absolutely necessary.

We got into the car and prepared ourselves for the long drive.

We were making good time and I was starting to relax a little until we got stuck in traffic in one of the larger cities we needed to cross. I had never seen a traffic jam here but I suppose economy was picking up. On the one hand that was a good thing on the other hand we lost two hours in the city. It meant we would arrive a little after dark. As long as we stayed in the car and the car was moving I suppose we were safe.

Of course that would have been the case if my beautiful pregnant wife had a bigger bladder.

"Dimitri there was a sign for a restaurant in a few miles, I really have to go."

"Again?"

"Oh I am sorry, It is your twins that are pressing on my bladder."

"It is only an hour and a half left to Baia, can't you hold it? It is already getting dark."

"Either you can stop at the next restaurant or loose the deposit on the car."

I sighed deeply. I guess we were stopping.

After a few minutes the restaurant came into view. It wasn't a very nice place but the only one in a radius of fifty miles. So we had no choice. I scanned the area. There seemed to be a few customers and the light was shining bright onto the street.

"I walked with Rose inside and as she went to the bathroom I bought us a bottle of water and some food for the last bit."

After a few minutes Rose came back out and we walked to the car. We were almost there when my worst nightmare came true.

"Dhampirs, we really did get lucky tonight."

Why on earth they always need to announce themselves I didn't know. Either they were too young to realize that was not handy if you wanted the upper hand in battle or they were too old to care.

I tossed the keys to Rose.

"Get in the car now."

She did as she was told. For once in her life. Two of them wasn't anything we hadn't handled before, so she trusted me to take care of myself. It was her job to take care of herself and the twins. If things went south she could drive off into safety. I knew she didn't want to, but I also knew she would if it became necessary.

I engaged the first one and was a little disappointed to notice he was indeed old enough not to care if he alerted the enemy. The other one joined in and I should have been having trouble with the both of them. Both of them were ancient. But I wasn't having trouble. I could keep up with their speed, their punches hardly fazed me and when I came face to face with the one who attacked first I saw shock on his face and he physically recoiled back. I had no idea why he did but it gave me the opening I needed. Normally I would have taken my stake from my pocket. Normally I would have been focused and precise. But this time I wasn't. I was brutal. I snapped his neck and he fell to the ground. I knew it wasn't permanent but I didn't care. I wasn't seeing them as enemies anymore. I wasn't registering that they were powerful creatures that we needed years of training to defeat. No I saw them as prey. And I think in that moment they felt like it too. The other one tried to get away but I wouldn't let him. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back to me. Instinct took over. I was getting tired, drained. I felt more than just the adrenaline from battle. I was hungry. A hunger I recognized as my time as Strigoi. But my prey was something else as it had been before.

I pulled the Strigoi flash against me and I sunk my teeth in his neck. I didn't know how I knew it would satiate the hunger but I did. How I had developed fangs in the last few minutes I didn't know but I had. As the blood was running down my throat I could feel the intense hunger dissipate. I could feel strength returning to me. When the last drop of his blood was in my system he fell to the ground. I knew I didn't even have to stake him. Life had left him a few moments ago.

When I turned around to focus on the other one I saw Rose standing there with a stake in her hand. She had taken care of the other one. But that wasn't what struck me. Rose still had her stake raised. Raised towards me. The look in her eyes broke my heart. She was afraid, she was hurt and most of all she looked broken.

"Roza?"

"Comrade?"

Her voice was shaky and I saw a tear escape the confines of her eyes.

I slowly walked up to her. She seemed hesitant at first but she didn't move back. Only inches away from her I lowered her arm that held the stake.

"Roza. It's okay. I took care of them."

I realized that wasn't exactly what happened. I hadn't neutralized them. I had devoured them.

Her hand moved towards my face and I didn't quite understand why she was so afraid. She ran her hands down my cheek and to my mouth. I followed her hand and I felt them. Fangs. I shouldn't have fangs.

"Dimitri. You're eyes."

I didn't know what my eyes looked like but I can imagine. Increased strength, speed, fangs and a bloodlust. My eyes were red no doubt. I remember the feeling of being Strigoi. I remember my body being hardwired for the hunt. I remember all of it. But there were two things completely different from last time. One being my choice of prey. And the second: my soul. I could feel the warmth of her hand spreading through me. I could feel the ache in my heart at seeing her broken over me. I could feel the love I had for my family.

I closed my eyes and relished in the feeling of her hands against my face. She stepped closer and wrapped me in a hug. She patted my hair and I bend down and buried my face into hers.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay."

When I pulled back and opened my eyes again I could hear a small sob of relief escape her.

"You're back."

I just nodded. I didn't know what had happened exactly, but I knew what had caused it. I sat down on the ground a bit defeated.

"This is what it does, isn't it. The tattoo. It worked."

She sat down on her knees in front of me.

"You came back to me. That is all that matters. It means you didn't turn. Whatever the tattoo does, it is reversible."

I buried my face in my hands.

"God I drank from him. I drained him."

"Dimitri, did you feel that hunger before. Do you feel it now?"

I looked deep inside myself. I needed to be sure. If there was even a trace of that hunger I shouldn't be around anybody. Certainly not Rose and the twins. But it was gone. It was like it was never there in the first place.

"No. It's gone. I didn't start feeling it until I was in battle. I didn't even know what I was doing until I was doing it. Instinct told me what to do to replenish the strength I lost."

My voice sounded lost. I didn't know how to deal with this. I didn't want to turn into that monster again. God I hated Nathan at the moment.

"Come on we need to get moving."

Rose was getting up and I did the same. I dragged the bodies behind the restaurant where the morning light would leave nothing more of them but dust.

I got back into the car and took a deep breath until I felt more in control.

"We'll figure out what is going on, but for now I think we should keep this between ourselves. I want this to be a happy visit. I want them to be excited about the twins. I don't want mama worrying about me, about us."

She nodded.

"You think it'll happen to me, to the twins?"

Honestly I didn't know. Randall words were coming back to me. Whatever he saw in my aura was in Rose's and the twins too.

"I don't know."

After we have pulled up on the road again, Rose took my hands and squeezed it.

"Even if you do have their strength, speed and even bloodlust, you won't become that monster again. You were still you. I saw it in your eyes even if they were red. Otherwise I would have run the other way."

Her words calmed me down, if only a little bit.