Time travels on and I'm floating in the air. I see a sight that I never want to see. A cherry wood casket lays open for the entire world to see. People are walking down the aisle of an ancient church. They come to pay their respects to a person who may or may not deserve it. Then a sight that almost stops my heart… Rose Hathaway. Face completely emotionless and I can tell that it takes every ounce of her control to keep it that way. If this Rose is the same as my Roza her mask will soon shatter. She gets closer to the casket and suddenly though she tries to fight it, tears slip and shatter her mask. I don't know who lies in that casket but they must have been great to have all these great people here, Tasha, Alberta, Stan, Vasilissa, Christian, Janie and others who I don't remember. Soon, my vision switches and it pans the room. I can almost see who lies there… just a few inches more…

"Wake up! Belikov wake up man please." a harsh voice said next to me. My eyes fluttered open to see ten other people with me in a dark cave.

"What happened?" I asked I turned to the person next to me and noticed it was a kid from one of Rose's classes.

"I think we were captured by the Stroigi for a nice mid-day snack." He said. I just nodded. My hands and feet where tied and my wounds where healed. I wondered who did that.

"I saw Adrian heal you before he was knocked out. You jumped up and tried to attack but there was so many of them that they just knocked you out and dragged you here. I gave up the fight after I saw that. I thought if they could over power you no one could win." I heard a voice say from across the way.

The room went silent and I used it to contemplate an appropriate answer. "I'm just one person. I don't have super strength. I'm just like you. If I fall that means I failed and just because I fail doesn't mean you will. If what you said was true than I had many Stroigi attacking where you might have had only one. Never give up the fight because someone you look up to falls. Just keep fighting. Just…keep…fighting."

The room was silent for minutes after I spoke and then we heard voices. "I'm hungry so I'm grabbing a snack."

"We need them! You know when we attacke d that a lot of us never made it back and are dead. We need those we captured alive!"

"I know but we also need the strength in case they find us and attack. So I'm grabbing a snack!"

"Don't you care that we-"

"Don't ever accuse me of not caring Eric. We need our strength more than we need to replenish our numbers. If they attack we won't be strong enough to fend them off. I'm not grabbing a lot of them, just one little one, okay?"

"Fine, just don't pick any that would be useful when turned."

No one said a word as the female Stroigi walked in and looked around. "Who shall I pick? Hmmm… you look good enough to eat "she said one of the boys. "But not now I'm looking for a nice looking girl like….you" She said stopping in front of the youngest girl in our cove. She trembled as the Stroigi's hand made it its path for her arm.

"Leave her alone and take me."I heard myself say. The Stroigi turned towards me.

"You! You want me to choose you over the delicious morsel over here. No fucken way. You couldn't stop even if you weren't tied up you useless piece of garbage." She said and grabbed her anyway. The girl screamed and the Stroigi hit her. The force of her slap made the girls head snap to the left so hard we heard the sickening crack that was her neck. I saw the others shudder and watch silently as she was dragged away.

"Monica." someone whispered after her. No one moved or said anything for a long time. Soon a hoard of Stroigi walked in. I watched as the murmured amongst themselves pick one person after the other until they came tom me.

"He'll make a good one. He's strong, take him." I didn't scream, like the rest of them did. I let them cut the rope around my legs and help me up. I let them lead me away from the rest and didn't even look back. I had to find away to get away. I had to get back to Rose. We promised each other that if this situation ever happened we would kill ourselves instead of turn. We promised each other if one turned the other would kill them without hesitation, but Rose would hesitate. I knew she would. She would want to try and save me even though I was far from being saved. So I searched and waited.

Then I saw it. The perfect opportunity to escape.