Disclaimer: the usual.
Chapter 18.
Our private aeroplane landed at Moscow airport in Russia just as the bright orange sun was beginning to set over the golden horizon. Dusk was approaching fast, which in turn brought along night fall, increasing the risk of Strigoi attacks. Our plan was to lay low over night and the approach the Strigoi house at sunrise tomorrow morning, making it slightly safer for us whilst we went in for the fight. Strigoi couldn't go into the sunlight, meaning that being outside would be our safe base. I knew that waiting out the night, knowing that every moment that passed could potentially be bringing Christian closer to death, would be the longest night I had ever been forced to endure.
The guardians had booked a hotel – obviously there were too many of us for the hotel to accommodate and since there was no way we would split up and go to different hotels – they had only booked for the Moroi and for those guardians who hadn't slept or gotten enough sleep in the pass few hours and needed to re-cooperate before we went to rescue Christian and Jesse. Dimitri was one of those who needed to rest up. He had dark purple, almost black, circles under his bottomless chocolate brown eyes and literally looked like a zombie. I shot him a sympathetic smile.
"Didn't you sleep at all on the plane, Comrade?" I asked him dryly when we arrived at a modest looking two story hotel. Dimitri just shook his head as I jumped out onto the ground behind him and followed him into the hotel lobby to check in.
Lissa, Adrian and I were sharing a double room whilst Dimitri and those other sleep deprived guardians each received their own rooms. Dimitri watched me with hawk like eyes as I unlocked the room door with Adrian standing behind me.
"Rose?" he called. I turned to him. Dimitri motioned with his hand, indicating that he wanted me to go to him. "Come here for a second?"
I hesitated for a moment. Adrian bent down and whispered in my ear, his lips brushing my neck lightly. "Go to your Russian cradle snatcher, Little Dhampir."
I slapped him across the back of the head whilst attempting to hide the smile that threatened to escape my lips. I crossed the hall to Dimitri's room and followed him inside.
I looked around the room. It was simple, but still nice. It had high ceilings, soft squishy carpet in a sort of creamy mocha colour, a small one person kitchen, a bathroom to the left of the kitchen, a small couch with a reasonable sized television and another room leading off the lounge room into what I assumed was the bedroom.
I was about to comment to Dimitri that the room was nice, when he suddenly caught me off guard by shoving me up against the wall, crushing his lips to mine in the process. The kiss was heat filled and oh so passionate. I felt like I was about to spontaneously combust from the heat that was begging to reach boiling point in my stomach. Dimitri pressed me even harder against the wall, if that was even possible and brought his lean muscled body closer to mine. I pulled away from the kiss of a life time, gasping for a much needed burst of oxygen into my straining lungs. Dimitri, apparently not needing any air, simply moved his hot mouth to my neck, leaving sensual open mouthed kisses along to my collar bone and back up to the hollow behind my ear. I moaned quietly as I laced my finger into his soft silky hair and pulled his mouth back to mine. But before I got it there, he pulled back, staring into my eyes for what felt like an eternity. His chest rose and fell with each breath he took.
"Roza." He murmured. I made to kiss him again, but the hand on my shoulder held me back.
"What are you doing?" I asked with a childish pout.
Dimitri merely smiled and pecked me on the lips. "Later," he whispered. "We both need to rest and you need to get back to Lissa before she realises that you've been in here for a while." He leaned down, kissed me slowly and softly for a brief moment, then lightly pushed me toward the door.
Back in my own room, I found Lissa sitting on the couch, Adrian lounging on the bed with the television on and... "Who's that?" I asked pointing to a girl sitting stiffly on a white love seat by the window, furthest from my friends.
Lissa shot me a look. "Rose, don't point, it's rude," she hissed. "And to answer your question, this is Sydney Sage."
Sydney looked a little older than me and Lissa with short hair and a golden lily tattoo glistening on her cheek. She was dressed in simple black pants and a white top with a vest. Despite the simplicity of her outfit, she managed to make it look expensive and designer. It looked great on her slender frame. The thing that surprised me was that she was clearly human.
"Hey," I greeted her, holding out my hand to her with a big smile. "I'm Rose Hathaway." Sydney gingerly took my hand in her small one and then let go quickly. I frowned. Okay then. "Nice tattoo." I commented, gesturing to her cheek. Her hand went up to lightly touch the lily.
"Thanks," she muttered.
I gave Lissa a questioning look. "Sydney is an alchemist, Rose," Lissa explained. My puzzled expression hadn't gone with her explanation. She elaborated. "Alchemists are humans who work in the Moroi world, well, undercover in the Moroi world. They clean up staked Strigoi in populated areas, and essentially what they want to do is protect humans from us. Basically, they keep the secret of the existence of vampires from the human world." Judging from Sydney's posture, I gathered that she wasn't a big fan of us.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Sydney," I gave her a genuine smile.
"You too," she said quietly. She then opened her bag, pulled out a thick novel and turned to her page. She became quiet and totally absorbed in the book.
"Hey Liss, wanna go for a walk?" I asked her. She glanced up from the television.
"Sure."
We headed out the door and went upstairs. There was a pool up there and since it was heated, I sat down on the side, rolled up my jeans and dipped my feet in the warm water. Lissa followed suit.
"So, what exactly is that Sydney chick doing here?" I asked.
"She's here to help. She knows about the Strigoi house we're looking for. She says a few humans hang around outside it during the day. Armed humans. Obviously these Strigoi have humans working for them as well. Just like with the Badica attack," she said grimly. "Sydney will be able to dispose of the Strigoi bodies when we get out," she didn't have to add if we get out. I could hear it ringing loud and clear in her thoughts. "She's really just here to help with collateral damage control."
"Oh, I see." I said. "Does she have a problem with us?" I asked casually.
Lissa smiled. "You noticed that?" I nodded. "Well, alchemist don't really like us, and by us, I mean all of us. Moroi, dhampir and Strigoi alike. Strigoi for obvious reasons. Moroi because we drink from humans and dhampirs, well I assume it's because you originally came from Moroi and human relationships. Sort of, the unnatural off-spring." Lissa let out a small giggle. She found Sydney's prejudice against our races pretty ridiculous. Although she did understand her hating of Strigoi. We all hated Strigoi. It was just something that came naturally to us. They killed Moroi and dhampirs. They were attempting to rid us all of the world.
"Huh," I mused. "Fair enough. Hey, what's with the tattoo on her cheek?"
"That's the tattoo that all alchemists have. It's infused with Moroi blood and a little bit of compulsion to make sure our secret is kept at all times. It's quite pretty, don't you think?"
I snorted. "Sure, if you like flowers." I muttered. Lissa just rolled her eyes.
"Come on, it's getting late. We should go eat and get some rest. Apparently we have to be up at 3am. The sun rises at around 6am." I sighed and got up. Great, another early morning. But it was something that had to be done.
I followed Lissa back down the stairs and back to our room. Adrian was asleep on the bed, Sydney hadn't moved from her position on the love seat and was still reading her book. I collapsed on the bed next to Adrian, not worrying about waking him. Adrian was the soundest sleep I had ever met and sober or drunk, he always slept like a baby.
I fell asleep lying next to him, awaiting the morning.
I groaned when Lissa shook me awake. "Come on, Rose, rise and shine." She left me and moved around to the other side of the bed to wake Adrian who looked like he was knocked out. I swear to god that kid hadn't moved for hours!
Lissa was already dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers. Sydney came out of the bathroom dressed in similar clothes she had on last night, only now she wore a purple mini coat. I couldn't help admiring how good her sense of style was.
"Morning," I said as I slid out of bed, stifling a yawn. Even though in about five minutes I would be totally awake, right now, I hated everyone for waking me up. I grumbled as I walked into the bathroom to take a shower. The hot water woke me up pretty quickly and soon I was ready to go. I dressed exactly like Lissa; jeans and a t-shirt and went back into the bedroom. Lissa was dolling out doughnuts to everyone and I grabbed three chocolate glazed ones and stuffed them down, then washed that down with a scalding hot coffee.
"Ready to go?" I asked everyone. Adrian was standing by the door looking only slightly awake.
"I was with Christian last night," he said sleepily. I smirked at the sexual meaning that sentence could hold. He shot me a dirty look. "You know what I mean, Little Dhampir. I spoke to him. He seemed to be worse than when I spoke to him the night before last. More... defeated. He looked pretty beaten up and definitely blood deprived." Lissa shuddered at the horrible words Adrian spoke.
"We'll get him, Liss. Don't worry." She just nodded.
We walked down stairs in silence. Dimitri met us at the bottom of the stairs in the lobby. "Good morning, Rose," he said quietly after my friends had passed through the door and out onto the still darkened street. "Sleep well?" he asked, glancing around before kissing me lightly on the fore-head.
"Not too bad, you?" I asked. He looked well rested, more alert and alive. Like a gladiator ready to take on his newest challenger. He nodded yes.
2 hours later.
The cars all stopped two streets away from the Strigoi house. Because the sun was now beginning to rise and light up the quiet streets, any Strigoi who were hanging around outside would now be holed up in the house.
Sydney had provided the guardians with a floor map of the house that she had gotten from a real estate agent nearby. Apparently this house had just recently been sold. And obviously bought by the Strigoi now holding hostages.
I had to admit, the house was perfect for someone wanting to conceal people. It was three stories high along with a basement which had no windows. We would enter through the side door. We assumed there would be lines of Strigoi stationed throughout the house. They knew Lissa was coming, and even though she had told them she was alone, they most likely suspected that the last Dragomir would not come alone into the fray of Strigoi. They weren't stupid.
The plan was to go into the house in groups of five or six. I was part of the second group along with Dimitri, Alberta and two other guardians from the royal court. My mother was going in as the leader of the first group. She had a grim, determined expression on her face.
As we approached the house – we had left two other groups behind, they would come in a few minutes – Janine stopped, turned to face me and hugged me. She pulled back hastily and said gruffly; "Be safe." She then faced the house again and proceeded to jump the fence surrounding the property. The rest of her group followed close behind. My group – led by Dimitri – would follow in exactly one minute. Dimitri quickly pulled me around the side of the neighbouring house and kissed me roughly for a second before pulling away.
"Don't do anything stupid, Roza. I love you." I allowed myself a moment of happiness before I returned to my guardian mode – composed and determined.
"I love you." I whispered. Dimitri turned on his heel and returned back to the others. No one suspected that we had just had a hot make out session.
"Ready everyone?" Dimitri asked and, not waiting for an answer, proceeded to jump the fence. One of the royal guardians gave me a boost up onto the fence and Dimitri helped me down on the other side. The others followed quickly.
I heard a noise from within the house and knew my mother's group had run into Strigoi already. We went through the same way the others had gone in – a window they had smashed out – and came face to face with four Strigoi straight away. Nausea swept over me, but I pushed it aside, focusing on the issue at hand.
A blonde female, either human or dhampir before being turned, lunged for me, probably taking me for the weakest threat. She messed with the wrong girl. I elbowed her in the face and she stumbled. A new one, I assumed. I knocked her back again and shoved my stake through her heart. She fell with a thud onto the floorboards. I ripped my stake out and looked around for the next one. Dimitri looked like he was doing fine; two bodies lay in front of him.
I felt a Strigoi take a swipe at me from behind. Attacking from behind was weak and a dirty play. "Dirty bastard," I muttered spinning around to face my attacker. A tall male Strigoi, clearly Moroi. He gave me a fang filled smile as his eyes glowed red. This one was not going to be as easy as the last one. We began a sort of dance, he lunged, I dodged, I lunged and he dodged. On it went. Finally, finally I began to gain the upper hand. He was getting distracted with all the people flooding into the house. The rest had joined us and my mother's group had even managed to get into the next room – getting closer to Christian. The big Strigoi slipped up in his defence allowing me to get through and pierce his heart.
I allowed myself a second to look around at the dead bodies littering the floor. I did a quick count, seven Strigoi bodies and two guardians. My stomach lurched when I saw the guardians. No one I knew, but still, they were my own people. We were ahead from what I could tell.
"Rose!" Dimitri called to me from the door into the next room. "Let's go!" I made a bee-line for the door and went through in front of him. That room had pretty much been taken care of. There was only one other guardian left fighting a Strigoi. The others had proceeded. Once again we outnumbered the Strigoi. There were more Strigoi bodies than guardians.
On and on it went, every time we passed into a new room, we were met with new challenges. At one point Dimitri had to save my ass because I got distracted when I heard a scream from my mother and almost lost my own battle when the Strigoi I had been fighting leaned in, fangs bared ready to bite into my flesh. Dimitri had seen this and shoved me aside and pushed his stake through to hit the target.
From what I could remember about the floor plan Sydney had shown us, we were nearing the stairs where we would be able to go down and scout out the place for Christian. Screams and death surrounded me. I didn't want to think about how many we had lost, the thought made me depressed. Guardian numbers were already small. We could hardly afford to lose many. They come first. The saying had been beaten into me from when I was a small child, but sometimes, like when I saw the death of my would have been colleagues, I just wasn't sure that the Moroi were always the main priority. Why weren't our lives important too? I pushed the thought aside. I was here to fight and rescue one of my friends. I had to focus. "Focus Rose, focus." I muttered under my breath.
Entering the front room that led to a stair case, I was once again face with a Strigoi. This one was small and young. She looked no older than about seventeen and probably once a dhampir. I felt a pang of sympathy. No young girl should have that sort of fate. Hell, no one should have that fate, but unfortunately it was inevitable sometimes. I made myself focus on the fact that she was a Strigoi and no longer a dhampir. I went into the fight like I would any other Strigoi. I swung my fist up and hit her in the neck. She blanched and fell back a couple of paces. I advanced. Kicking out with my feet, I swept her feet out from under her. She fell. I swiftly brought my right hand forward and plunged my stake into her chest effortlessly.
The room was now quiet and I realised everyone had gone down the stairs into the basement. I ran. I could feel myself start to get tired, but I soldiered on like the ninja I was. I met one Strigoi on the stairs. A man. Honing my purely awesome ninja skills, I took him down, shoving his body out of the way of the stairs so I could keep going.
At the bottom of the stairs, there were three guardians in a hot battle. They were doing well enough that I was able to slip past and run to the closest door. I burst in. Empty. I vacated that room and made for the open door at the end of the long corridor. Only when I reached it did I realise that the room was on fire. Strigoi were screaming in agony and falling one by one. Dimitri was pressed up against the wall, avoiding the flames, but oddly enough they seemed to be very controlled. I looked around for the source of the fire. Jesse and Christian were against the back wall controlling the fire. Why hadn't I thought of fire? And, more importantly, why hadn't Christian or Jesse thought of using fire before? I shook it off, I would ask them later.
A Strigoi came to a halt near the door where I stood. He had been trying to escape the mounting flames. It didn't bother me where he went. Either way, it was going to end in his death. He could choose being burnt to a crisp in the most painful way ever or I could end it quickly for him with my stake. Either one, I wasn't fazed. He chose me. He launched his body at me. He was much bigger and faster, but I had skill he didn't, plus I had a stake. It felt like a never ending battle and I started to wish he had chosen the fire. It would have been easier. His hand came at me and I ended up with a nasty punch to my cheek. There would be a bruise there soon. But that was the least of my worries. I shot out with my stake, swiping it across his face. He screamed in anguish. I swiped again, this time getting him in the chest. I shoved all my weight behind the silver and pierced his dead, un-beating heart.
It was over. The fire was extinguished and the results lay in front of us. Bodies, burnt beyond recognition. The only way we would find out if we lost any in that fire would be to count our dead and then work out who was missing. I hoped we didn't lose any in the fire.
Christian was passed out on the floor and Jesse looked close to it as well. I hurried over to Christian's unmoving body. I felt his wrist and neck for a pulse. I was relieved to feel the steady thud. He was alive.
"Christian," I said hoarsely. I could feel the smoke in my lungs and throat. It felt dry and raspy, like sandpaper. I cleared my throat. "Christian!" I said louder and shook his body at the same time. His hand twitched and his eyes fluttered open, revealing the brilliant blue.
"Rose," he whispered the coughed.
"Don't talk." I instructed. I knew he probably wouldn't be able to get up, what with having no blood for over a week and that he had just used a great amount of energy. I did the only thing I could think of to help. Throwing my hair back over my shoulder, I exposed my neck. "Drink." I said firmly, indicating that he wasn't to argue. He looked wary.
"Rose..." Christian began, but I cut him off with a death glare. Out the corner of my eye I could see Dimitri helping Jesse up. He averted his eyes from me. Christian leaned in and his fangs cut deep into my flesh. I cried out a little in pain at first then it quickly turned to a moan as the endorphins rushed through my body. It was over quickly though and I instantly missed the pleasure the bite brought with it.
I looked around the room and saw that all the Strigoi bodies were being brought into this room. Sydney had also arrived with Lissa and Adrian behind her. Lissa shrieked and ran across the room and threw herself at Christian. I got up and moved away to let them have some sort of reunion. I stood next to Dimitri.
"How many?" I asked.
"Eighteen." he said grimly. I gasped.
"And ours?"
"We lost seven." That was a huge blow.
Suddenly an ear splitting scream filled the house. Sydney. She had left the room about a minute ago to get her bag. I flew up the stairs. I could hear Dimitri and Adrian behind me. "SYDNEY?" I called. I saw her then in the lounge room. A Strigoi leaning over her, his teeth buried in her neck. I felt sick. We weren't quick enough. As soon as the Strigoi saw us, he pulled back and snapped Sydney's neck with a sharp twist of his hands. Three guardians were on his straight away. He was dead within a second. I noticed then that Adrian was leaning over Sydney's limp, lifeless body. I looked around him and saw that he had his hand out, hovering over her chest... her heart. There was a look of deep concentration on his face.
AN. This chapter took me all day to write. I was sick today so I didn't go to school. But it's now 11:30pm and I feel exhausted and I have to be up at 7am tomorrow. So help me god. But, I hope you enjoyed this chapter ! it's almost 4000 words! I feel so proud of myself :)
Reviews !
xxB.