Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and just remember how much you love me when you read this chapter. : ) Enjoy.
I love Vampire Academy, I just don't own it.
Dimitri POV
"Dimka, honey. Can you hear me?" I hear a familiar voice talking to me, but it's sounds faint and far away. The fog that is intruding my mind is slowing fading, as I begin to take in everything around me. I try to open my eyes, but the bright light in the room is making it difficult. Eventually I manage it and I look around to see where I am. It looks like I'm in a clinic. With as many times as I took Rose to one, I know the look well. I see Tasha standing next to me, holding my hand with a worried look on her face. What the hell happened to me? Why am I here? Then right on cue, the back of my head starts throbbing in pain. I reach my hand back and feel a big goose egg on the back of my skull. I try to focus on the last thing I remember to figure out what happened. I remember being in the Queen's parlor getting an assignment to go on a raid to kill Strigoi. I remember Rose pulling me aside to talk. Realization of what happened came slamming back to me.
"Son of a bitch!" I yell, sitting straight up in my bed. Tasha jumps at my outburst and tries to push back on the bed. I can't believe Rose did this. If she gets out of this alive, I'm going to kill her.
"Dimka, calm down. The doctor says you might have a concussion. You need to relax and lie back down." she pleads with me. I take notice of myself and see my fists clenched tightly by my sides. I see the worry and fear in Tasha's eyes, and I will myself to calm down. I don't want her stressing out with the baby and all. I lie back down and give her a half hearted smile. This seems to please her and she pulls up the chair closer to the bed and sits down. "Do you remember what happened to you?" she asks. I do remember, unfortunately I can't tell anyone about it, except the Queen. I need to talk to her as soon as possible. I shake my head no, hopefully ending any more questions about my attack. What time is it anyway? I look around the room trying to find a damn clock, but can't. I crane my neck to peek over at Tasha's watch. She sees what I'm doing and moves her arm to give me a better look. Holy crap! I've been out for five hours. I guess I'm not too surprised. Rose is freakishly strong for her size.
Five hours. It's only supposed to take two hours to get to the location. That means the fight is most likely over. I sure hope Rose and the others were able to kill this Strigoi we were after. Hopefully they'll be home soon. She better come home, or I don't know what I'll do. Why is she so stubborn? I should've been with her, protecting her. My thoughts are interupted when Dr. Brown walks in. "Guardian Belikov, how are you feeling? Any nausea, dizziness, problems with your eyesight?" he asks while shining a bright light in my eyes. Now I have vision problems, jackass. Of course now that he mentions it, I do feel a little sick and dizzy.
"A little, but nothing I can't handle." I just want to get out of here and find out what's happening with Rose. The doctor looks at me and smirks as he writes in my chart. What the hell? I cock an eyebrow at him waiting for an explanation for the look he gave me.
"You definitely have a concussion. Whenever a guardian tells me something hurts 'a little' I multiply that by ten to get the real answer. I'll release you but you must rest. You're officially off duty for the next three days." He smiles and nods to Tasha and me before he walks off. Great, just what I need. I wonder if the Queen knows already that I didn't go with the others. I pull out my cell phone to call her Highness' office when the lady herself walks into my room, and she doesn't look happy.
"Guardian Belikov, I heard about your attack. I would like to speak to you." she tells me and then turns to Tasha. "In private." Tasha kisses my cheek before bowing to the Queen and walking out of my room. Once Tasha is out of ear shot, the Queen glares at me. "Rose?" she asks. I wonder how she knew. I don't want to get Rose in trouble, but it sounds like she knows Rose too well.
"Yes your Highness." She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales loudly in frustration.
"That woman will be the death of me." she mumbles. I fight to keep the laughter form escaping my mouth at the thought that Rose has this effect on a lot of people.
"Have you heard anything from her, or the other guardians?" I ask. Not knowing what's going on is killing me.
"No, and that worries me. We're giving them one more hour and then sending another group of guardians to their destination to check on them. Let's just hope they're having car trouble. With Rose involved, that's not out of the realm of possibilities." she chuckles. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the Queen might actually like Rose. Crazy, right?
"I'd like to be in that group, if it comes to that." Sitting here doing nothing is going to drive me insane. I need to know if she's okay.
"Dr. Brown informed me that you have a concussion and are off duty." I want to protest, but this is the Queen I'm talking to. Although, Rose would make her opinion known no matter who she's talking to. I bow my head in defeat, when she speaks again. "But, if you can convince my nephew to heal you, or the princess, then I would prefer that you lead the team to find them. But do not tell them about the mission, especially Adrian." I'm so thankful that I want to run up to her and give her a big ole hug. But I don't. Instead, I bow to her as she and her army of guardians leave.
I find Tasha as I walk down the hall, on my way to find Adrian. It's about time for the committee meeting to start, so I figure that would be the best place to find him. Tasha takes my hand as we walk, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She doesn't know about the raid or the fact that Rose could be in danger. She's just worried about me. We walk into the room and I scan around looking for him, but he isn't here yet. I wait for about ten minutes with no sign of him. I'm just about to leave and hunt him down when my phone rings. Well, speak of the devil. "Belikov." I answer.
"Hey, this is Adrian. Have you seen Rose anywhere? I can't find her. I think something's wrong." he sounds panicked. Great. Now what am I going to tell him?
Adrian POV
I wake up still feeling the tingle on my lips from kissing Rose in our dream last night. That was a great dream. I'm so glad we made up. I hate when we fight. I jump out of bed, eager to go see her in person and maybe pick up where the dream left off. As I walk to the shower, I notice I have an uneasy feeling growing inside me. I try to ignore it as I finish getting ready to go see Rose. Hopefully all the secrets are behind us now. This Stephan guy sounds like a real nut job. Of course, the thought that Rose and I have been in love many lifetimes over just makes us being together feel more right, like it's meant to be.
I go to the coffee shop and get Rose her favorite donut and some coffee to surprise her with. I see Rose's friend Mia working this morning. She seems like a nice person, though I don't know her very well. I say hello, get my order and leave to find Rose. As I walk to her apartment, I have the strangest feeling that she isn't there. I can't explain it, but I know she isn't there. I knock on the door, not really expecting a response, and I don't get one. I get my keys out to let myself in, just to make sure that she isn't in trouble. I walk in and immediately look around for any sign of her. I check the bedroom, hoping to find her asleep in her bed, but it's empty. I wonder if she has an early shift today. Okay Adrian, let's not panic. There are still lots of places she could be, but this uneasy feeling inside me is telling me the opposite. I pull out my phone and decide to just call her. No answer, it just goes to voicemail. I leave a message for her to return my call ASAP and hang up. This knawing feeling inside me is driving me crazy. If I don't find her soon, I think I'm going to loose it.
So my journey begins to find Rose, just to prove to myself that she's alright. I go to the gym, not there. Guardian cafateria, library, spa, Queens wing, not there, not there, not there, not there. I think I've searched every inch of this place only to confirm what I already know, she's not here. I go to the guardian office to see if they can tell me anything. The guardian there looks over the days schedule and back up to me. "It looks like she's been taken off the roster today." That sounds kinda fishy to me.
"Why has she been taken off duty today? Is something wrong?" I don't want to sound worried, but I can't help it.
"It doesn't say, but it looks like a couple other guardians have been removed also." I sneak a peek at the list and see that Belikov has also been scratched off. I'll try giving him a call before I tear this place apart.
"Belikov." he answers.
"Hey, this is Adrian. Have you seen Rose anywhere? I can't find her. I think something's wrong." I tell him a little panicked. He doesn't say anything for a second.
"I don't know where Rose is right now, but can you meet me somewhere? I need to talk to you." I have a feeling he knows more than he's letting on, so I agree to meet him back at my apartment.
"So Belikov, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" I ask as I let him in. He walks past and stops in the middle of the living room and turns around to face me.
"I was hoping you would be able to heal me. I was...in a little accident and received a concussion. The Queen wants me back on duty and asked that I come to you for help." he says in the usual guardian monotone voice. Hmm, that's interesting. My aunt must have something important in mind is she would suggest he get healed so he can get back to duty.
"I'll heal you on one condition. You need to help me find Rose. I have a bad feeling she's in trouble." I know he still loves Rose and will do anything to help her, which of course I'll use to my advantage.
"I'll do anything I can to find her." I can see in his aura that he means what he says, so I walk over to him and put my hands on the lump on his head and send the magic through to him. I pull away when I feel that his injury is no more and sit down on the nearest chair, feeling worn out.
"I did my part, now you need to do yours. Go find her." He looks at me, hesitant to move, obviously concerned for my now weakened state, but I wave him off and he heads out the door. I have a feeling whatever's going on has to do witih Rose. I just have to trust that he'll do everything he can to bring her back to me.
Rose POV
Who would've guessed that inside this quaint little white farm house, evil incarnate dwells. It's actually the perfect place for them. It's isolated from the rest of the world being surrounded by a forest of trees, completely shaded and miles away from the next neighbor. Off to the side is a big red barn that looks like it recently had animals living in it. No animals now, though. They were probably the side dishes to the main course, the family that lived here.
We all slip out of the car as quietly as we can, and creep toward the house, ninja style. I position myself at the front door with Conner and Ailseworth while Guardians Chenko and Johnson take the back door. I listen at the door for any movement inside. I hear what sounds to be an argument deep in the house but I can't quite make out what they're saying. This is the perfect time to go in since they'll be distracted with their own drama. My nerves are going crazy, knowing this may be my last chance to take Stephan down. I take a couple deep breaths to calm myself down and focus on the task at hand. I look over to Conner and he is in full guardian mode, face serious and determined. He nods to me, letting me know that he's ready. "Now!" I whisper in the com link to let the other team know it's time to go in.
I move aside while Conner kicks the door open with so much force that it almost falls off the hinges. I have my favorite stake ready as I rush in and stab the first Strigoi I see before he knows what's happening. My sole goal is to locate and kill Stephan. The other Strigoi in the house don't concern me at the moment. I run from room to room searching, only stopping to kill when a Strigoi decides to challenge me. All the extra training has really benefitted me because I have no trouble bringing them down one by one.
I see a stair case and run up two steps at a time to get to the top. I go from room to room looking for him. I'm getting so frustrated since I've yet to see him. I enter the last room and see a couple human teenage girls tied up and awake, sitting on the floor. They must be a midnight snack. I don't have time right now to deal with them. I run out of the room, their muffled screams for help trailing behind me. I get to the top of the stairs again to go back down, but there are two Strigoi blocking the way. From behind I hear more footsteps coming closer. They think they've got me surrounded now. "It looks like the end of the line for you, sweetheart." one in front of me taunts. The corner of my mouth pulls up into a smile as I close my eyes and focus on everything around me like I learned in training. I hear and feel one coming up to my right. I spin around with my stake and hit her right in the heart in one swift motion. Bullseye! They all pounce at me at once. I pull out one of my reserve stakes sheathed to my leg and go to town on their asses.
One of them got in a hard punch to my ribs, breaking a couple. I suck it up and stab the bastard in the gut for breaking my ribs and then the heart. I'm down to one left, and I can tell he's scared. I attack and in less than a minute, he's dead. I'm standing at the top of the stairs, trying to catch my breath when I smell smoke. Then I see the flames all around the walls down stairs. I wonder why I didn't notice it before. Probably because I was blocking out all distractions and focussing on the Strigoi I was fighting. I rush downstairs and the smoke is so thick I can't see anything, but hear coughing and fighting. All the windows have been boarded up to keep the sunlight out, making escape through them impossible. I take off in the direction I think the front door is when I run into something, or someone. It's Conner.
"Rose, **cough** get out of here." he yells. He grabs my arm and pushes me toward the door. I turn around and I can barely make out him fighting a big Strigoi through the smoke surrounding us. Suddenly I hear a big crack and look up to see that the ceiling is breaking apart right above where Conner is fighting. No! No! No! No! No!. I start running to him but I it feels like I'm in a never ending tunnel. The faster I go the farther away he is. Everything seems to be in slow motion. I see Conner look up just as a big beam comes crashing down on top of him and the Strigoi. The impact of it hitting the floor knocks me down on my butt. I freeze. I don't know how long I sit here and stare at the fire before me, until reality hits me. I've got to get out of here. I get up and turn to run to the door. I hear more loud crashes and glass exploding behind me, but I don't look back. I'm about ten feet to the door when I feel something heavy land on my head, and then blackness.
Okay, don't be hatin'. Review and tell me what you think so far and what you think should happen next. Thanks for reading.