Sorry for delay in updating – I don't get a chance at all during the week to write. In fact, I barely get time at the weekends but I'm trying so so hard. Please let me know what you guys think, your reviews really do mean the world to me and helps me find the time to write.

Chapter 14

I took a few moments to gather myself together as Rose went to find Sydney, who had ran and hidden during the fight like we had told her to.

I just sat on the hard cold ground.

What I was feeling…it was…inexplicable. It was like I had finally found an air hole after being buried under a mountain of bricks for months. The tightness in my chest loosened, and I could breathe.

Sydney and Rose returned and I help Rose drag the bodies into a pile, where Sydney disposed of them.

After we had done that, we made our way to the car, where I climbed into the backseat, leaving the front for the girls.

"I hope you guys don't stain the car," Sydney said from her place at the driving seat.

"Are we going to Paris?" Rose turned and asked me.

"Paris?" Sydney said, sounding shocked.

"Not yet," I answered Rose's question. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I leant my head back. "We should wait until daytime. We had to go for Donovan now, but if Sonya's got a house, she's probably there all the time. Safer for us in daylight."

"How do you know he wasn't lying?" Sydney asked us.

"I don't think he was lying." Rose replied.

Seen as though we had no destination to go to, I suggested we stop at a hotel for the night and prepare for tomorrow.

The three of us decided on a modern hotel that was a definitely step up from the last place we stayed.

Sydney checked us in with the credit cards and we made our way up to the room. We had only gotten one bedroom but it contained two big double beds. It was a strange thing to feel for me, but I needed to be close to Rose tonight. She made my heart feel at peace.

"You can go shower first," Rose said once we had closed and locked the bedroom door.

I tried to insist that she go first, using what my mother had always taught me about 'ladies first' but Rose was having none of it. She insisted that I was much more of a mess and I had learned by now not to argue with Rose on the small things.

I didn't take as long as I would have liked in the shower as I knew Rose was waiting, but the hot pelts of water on my back felt good against my bloody and dirty skin. When I was sure that I was clean enough, I climbed out of the shower and dressed myself. I paused to inspect the cuts and grazes on my face but the mirror was fogged up from the steam so I left it.

Rose jumped in the shower after I had finished. After leaving the bathroom, I had gotten my first proper look at her state after the fight. Her legs had taken most of the damage, being covered in bad scrapes. As she had reminded me though, we were lucky to just be alive.

I sat on the edge of one of the beds, not thinking about anything in particular as Sydney shuffled through her bag. By the time she was done, Rose had finished and was out of the shower.

When Sydney finally straightened herself, she was holding a small first aid kit and forced it on both of us. Rose and I let her take care of the bandaging and disinfecting, knowing that she would not rest until she had. When she was done, she pulled out her laptop and started researching Paris, Kentucky.

Rose and I joined her at the screen as she studied a map of the area.

"Lots of creeks and rivers," Sydney murmured. "Not much in the way of lakes."

"Do you think that's it?" Rose asked, pointing to a small pool of blue on the map. It was marked 'Applewood Pond.'

"Maybe," Sydney replied. "Ah, there's another pond. That could be a suspect too or – oh! Right here?" She said, pointing to a bigger lake on the screen.

"That looks like the most likely option." I told them both, while fighting a yawn and losing. "If not, I don't think it'll take long to drive around the other ones."

"That's your plan?" Sydney said. "Just drive around and look for a blue house?"

I looked at Rose for her reaction. She looked at me at the same time and shrugged.

"It's more solid than most of our plans," Rose said after a couple of minutes.

After much deliberation, it was decided that we would leave to look for Sonya Karp's house after mid-day, which meant we had a good night of sleep ahead of us. I felt like a really needed it. And I knew Rose and Sydney both did too, despite Rose's protests.

Rose and Sydney took one of the beds and I took the other. It wasn't long before the sounds of Rose's and Sydney's deep breaths filled the room, and lulled me into a deep sleep.

I woke shortly before eleven in the morning, an hour earlier than I should have but I felt wide awake. I had a feeling of anticipation in my stomach. It felt nice to have a goal to work toward that we were actually close to finding.

I got up and checked on the girls. Sydney was still lying in the way she had fallen asleep, Rose however, was splayed across more than her half of the bed, leaving only about a quarter of it to Sydney. The sight of her hair sprawled all around her head brought a smile to my face. There was something oddly comforting and familiar. I felt at peace.

After I was washed and dressed, I sat on my bed and waited for twelve o'clock to roll around. I had a strong craving for a cup of coffee but there was no way that I would leave the two of them open and vulnerable.

The alarm went off at twelve and both Rose and Sydney arose from the sleepy state.

After a couple of minutes, Rose woke up enough to sit up and realise that I was awake. After questioning me as to why I was up so "early", she sent me to get my coffee.

I grabbed Sydney's keys and drove quickly to the nearest coffee shop I could find. I didn't want to leave the two of them on their own. Being separated was not what we needed right now. It was not was I needed.

I just ordered one cup of coffee and then called the cashier back after spotting doughnuts on display. I bought a box of them, knowing Rose would no doubt be hungry.

Driving back ten minutes later, I spotted a hardware store right across from the hotel. I pulled up and ran inside and asked for their strongest chain.

I walked back across the street with a long piece of industrial-strength chain and back up to our bedroom. The whole journey had taken less than half an hour.

I explained to Rose what the chain was for when she raised her eyebrows at me. She took the doughnuts off me without saying a word and we all made our way back down to the car.

We had been driving for about five minutes when Rose made a surprising announcement.

"So, Victor Dashkov might be joining us soon."

"What? That guy who escaped?" Sydney exclaimed.

I hated the guy, and I knew Rose did too. So I trusted her/

"Why, is Victor Dashkov joining us?" I asked her.

"Well, it's kind of a funny story…" she began and told us of how both he and his brother Robert had visited her in a spirit dream. She told us about Victor's brother, who I knew next to nothing about. She quickly brushed over the part about Victor's escape from Tarasov but it suddenly occurred to me.

Rose tells me that she meant through so much to find out this information about changing Strigoi back to their original state. At the same time this is happening, Victor Dashkov mysteriously breaks out of one of the most well protected prisons in Montana.

I suddenly had a feeling I knew exactly who had helped Victor out.

"Look, whether he can help or not, this is our chance to catch him," Rose added. "That's a good thing, right?"

This whole Victor thing was something I definitely wanted to know more about.

"It's an issue we'll deal with…later." I told her.

She stayed quiet after that.

We arrived at Martin Lake not long after that. Out of the few scattered houses around, only one was blue.

The three of us stepped outside of the car and walked towards the house.

"Well. It's a blue house," Sydney said. "But is it hers? I don't see a mailbox or anything."

We all studied the property for clues. Nothing tipped me off. It looked like a pretty ordinary suburban house.

Something however, seemed to make Rose sure.

"Yeah," she said. "This is her house."

I walked up to the front porch, noticing the dark pieces of material inside the windows.

"What are you doing?" Rose said quietly. "She might see you."

I walked back over to her, sensing that she was feeling a little edgy.

"Those are black-out curtains. They aren't letting in any light, so she isn't going to see anything. It also means she likely spends her time on the house's main floor, rather than a basement." I explained to her.

"That's good news for us," Rose replied after thinking it through for thirty seconds.

"I'll scout the other side," I said and moved toward the backyard.

"Let me," Rose said, catching up. "I'll sense any Strigoi – not that she's going outside but, well, just in case."

I hated the idea of Rose walking into known danger by herself. But I was also positive that she could look after herself and that she needed to know that I trust her."

"Okay," I told her, pushing my instincts to protect her aside. "Be careful."

Rose moved around the house and out of my sight. I waited for a couple of minutes before she returned.

"A patio and two windows," she told me. "All curtained. There's also a wooden deck chair, a shovel and a wheelbarrow."

"Any pitchforks?"

"Unfortunately, no, but there's a big ass rock sitting outside the fence. It'd be hard to get it into the yard though. We're better off using it to help us climb over. No gate in the fence. She's made a fortress." Rose reported.

I nodded, thinking carefully about every detail she had told me. It didn't take me long to come up with some sort of plan. Looking at Rose, I knew she understood exactly what I wanted to do.

We walked quickly back to Sydney and entrusted the thick chain to her. The plan was that she would wait out here by the car for us, while Rose and I ambushed Sonya through the back of her house.

I stood up on the big rock Rose had described and studied the back of Sonya's house for myself. It was exactly how Rose had described it.

I hoisted Rose up over the fence and she landed with a thud on the other side. I quickly followed her and landed with an even louder thud. If Sonya was indeed inside, there was no doubt that she had heard us. Rose and I sprang forward at the same time not wasting any time.

I grabbed the shovel that was leaning against the wall of the house and Rose leaned back a little as I swung it hard against the glass door. I didn't break but I felt it crack under the strength of the hit. I swung again, this time lower and the glass cracked in another place. Before I could strike again, Rose rushed forward with the wheelbarrow and slammed it with all her strength into the door. The glass shattered with the impact and we both ran through the now-gaping whole.

I saw Sonya as soon as we had come through the opening.

She was ready for us. She lunged at me first, obviously mentally tagging me as the bigger threat.

My stake was still in my belt and I didn't have enough time to go for it seen as though I still had the shovel in my hands. I struck out at her with it, hitting her hard on her shoulder. It wouldn't have hurt much but she held back a little. She began to move around, trying to find an opening. I followed her movement so that we ended up circling each other.

A little more to the left and that put her right in between Rose and myself. Before we could move any further, Rose suddenly charged at Sonya's side. Sonya was fast though and pushed her to the side. As soon as Rose was out of the way, she made a move to go left. I mirrored her movement but wasn't quick enough to realise that she had feinted the move and gone right.

Before I had properly realised what mistake I had made, she had the shovel knocked from my hands and had me pinned by my throat against the wall.

I struggled, trying to loosen her hold. I wasn't having much look when suddenly, Sonya screamed in pain. She realised me and frantically turned to Rose. I saw that Rose had stabbed her in her right shoulder with her stake.

I grabbed her as she attack Rose, effectively knocking her to the ground. I pinned Sonya down and grabbed Rose's fallen stake and held it to her throat.

She flailed and screamed in pain and anger.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose move to help me.

"Get Sydney…" I managed to choke out at her. "The chain…" I needed no further explanation as Rose sprinted away. Now all I had to do was hold Sonya until she came back.

Easier said than done.

Sonya struggled and kicked against my weight and I put every ounce of my strength into just keeping her down and away from my neck.

Mere seconds had passed and Rose was back. She dropped to the ground by Sonya's head and we succeeded in keeping her down until Sydney ran in with the heavy chain.

I felt that same need to destroy Sonya, the same way I had destroyed the others. But Rose's words kept running through my mind, stopping me from doing anything rash.

Living is in the details. You've got to appreciate the details. That's the only way to defeat what the Strigoi did to you. The only way to bring back who you really are.

"We need her…remember we need her." Rose's warning only made me double my efforts to not kill Sonya right here and now.

I nodded ever so slightly to let her know that I was in control of myself. Then Sydney ran in, as best as she could while carrying an industrial strength chain.

Rose and I lifted Sonya as best we could while not endangering ourselves and placed her not so gently into an armchair in the same room.

I held the stake back at her throat while Rose grabbed the chain off Sydney and wrapped it quickly but effectively around and around Sonya.

As soon as Rose had run out of chain, and Sonya was pretty securely locked in the chain, we relaxed.

I exchanged a breathless, weary look at Rose.

"Time for questioning," Rose said grimly and we both turned to face Sonya once more.