Disclaimer: As i'm sure you well know i don't own House of Night or Vampire Acadamy :'( Richelle Mead owns VA and P.C and Kristin Cast own HoN. If i could own Stark and his crossbow and Dimitri and his Duster i would die happy, but unfortunately i'm thinking the authors wouldn't appreciate it if i stole them and that's the only way i'm gonna get 'em. so...yeah.
A/N: Hi guys! very happy to see that i have story and author alerts! I love each and every one of you that has read this story because it means it's not only making me happy but other peeps too and i like to make other peeps happy!
Rose POV
"So that's it. That's been my life for the past year or so." I hadn't intended on telling this sweet stranger my full life story. So I didn't. I just told her everything that had happened since Dimitri had taken me and Lissa back to the Academy over a year ago. Obviously I'd told her other parts as well to fill in the gaps, like how I died in the car crash along with Lissa's family. And how my mother had been non-existent for most of my life but how we had become slightly closer this past year. Emphasis on the slightly.
It was nice to have two complete strangers listen so intensely to my stories and yet not really be able to identify with what my friends and i all went through. And yet I could see the sympathy on Zoey's face and felt, to a certain extent, appreciated. I could see Stark sneak glances at Dimitri with a sliver of admiration on his face and I felt proud of our achievements. I could see Dimitri was as well. His guardian mask may have been etched onto his face, but behind that tense jaw and those beautiful guarded eyes I saw a gleam of excitement at how we had survived.
Finishing the story had led to a silence that had a subtle glimmer of hope. I knew it was for the couple across from us as Dimitri and I no longer needed hope as much as in the past.
Zoey's eyes flickered between the both of us and she opened her mouth to speak, "Wow. Just…wow. That doesn't even sound like real-life. So you're saying you lived through all that and you still look…incredible?"
I looked down. Only Dimitri could make me blush, but that was so…well, nice. "Well I wouldn't say-" I was quickly cut short.
"No, no. I'm sorry; I don't mean to sound so forward. But truly, you do. I don't know how you can go through all that and come out looking so radiant. There are days I don't even wanna move from my bed! I'm just so shocked that after going through all that you got your happy ending. We've probably been through as much as you and we still haven't got ours. I don't know if we ever will. It gives me hope, you know?" Zoey stared into Stark's eyes with such intensity it made me think of the times when I had done that to Dimitri. The hard times. And I instantly felt sorry for this girl. If it was true that she had been through as much as us and still hadn't found that peace she must have been broken.
Stark matched the intensity with a look of his own. Determination. I admired that. I could see clearly that he wasn't going to give up without a fight. In that second I knew Dimitri and Stark were cut from the same cloth. So similar, yet so different, but united in one thing - love.
Dimitri had picked up on the looks as well and had analyzed them as well as I had and I could see that he was starting to like them almost as much as I was. He looked at me and smiled, a small movement of his lips, not nearly as big a smile as what he gave me in private. But in that smile I saw his affection for them and I knew he would assist me in helping them. As long as it didn't put us in too much danger he would aid them in becoming a step closer to their happy ending. Just like I would.
Upon realizing that I saw Zoey and Stark break eye contact and look over at us with a sliver of embarrassment. Ah, I remembered when that was Dimitri and I giving those looks when caught in a romantic moment.
Zoey began, "I guess this means we should tell you our story?" I nodded enthusiastically. Not because I wanted the excitement but because I wanted to hear my task. What it would be that Dimitri and I would be getting involved with.
"Well, don't get too comfy," Stark said quickly. "It's getting dark and I think we should head back. You never know when Dallas and his crew will pop out." He looked at Zoey with a knowing look and she nodded back.
"It seems we should go. This probably isn't a good idea, my grandma always told me never to talk to strangers, but it seems that listening to your story has made me feel like I've known you forever. So, would you like to come back to our place- it's nothing fancy, trust me- and we'll tell you what we've been up to these past few years?" her face was so bright, it seemed like she wanted us to say yes. And I couldn't say no. I looked over at Dimitri and although I could see he was apprehensive I knew he was curious as to what they had to tell us. I looked back at the strong couple standing before us and nodded silently. Dimitri and I rose from our seats and followed them out of the café, leaving behind us only a few bills to pay for our drinks.
Zoey and Stark walked to the side and slightly ahead of us. I could hear them talking in hushed tones but their voices stayed the same pitch so I could tell it was a calm conversation.
Dimitri and I had entered into our own casual talk but we soon started wondering about our destination ahead.
"I know I shouldn't Comrade but I have full trust in those two complete strangers." I said in a quiet voice.
"Normally, I wouldn't agree with you, but I feel the same way. It's crazy, Roza. They know nothing of our society and yet they claim to know of vampires. I would never have trusted someone like that in the past but I seem to see their desperation and I feel like we should help them. If I didn't know any better I would say they were using compulsion on us but it would have to be pretty strong to break through both of our barriers."
"I don't think it's compulsion as much as we have a sense of duty. I think we see they have a challenge on their shoulders and we want to help. Zoey reminds me so much of myself that I want her to be happy. I don't want my doppelganger living in misery!" I said the last part with a smile. Big words always did that to me.
"I understand completely Roza. In a way I see a bit of myself in Stark. He has a slight arrogance that I had when I was younger and I hope that by helping them, I can squeeze it out of him and help him become a stronger guardian." Dimitri's eyes lingered on the back of the guy in front of us. Just looking at Stark I could see a slight resemblance to Dimitri. The strong set of shoulders and the straight stance where obvious in physical form but the determination I had seen earlier was there too and made me even more certain that they were similar.
"Feeling fatherly, Comrade?" I elbowed Dimitri in the side, teasing.
"Ugh. Rose, they're about your age. Don't make me feel older!" Even though his words were light and joking I could see his eyes go slightly tense around the edges and I knew I'd hit a nerve.
Dimitri's problem of him being 7 years older had dragged on forever and he still brought it up to get at me every now and again. I finally decided to hit the nail in the coffin and tell him to shut the fuck up.
"Look, Dimitri, you could be 20 years older than me and I wouldn't care. Don't think that you being older puts me off in the slightest. Believe me, at times it can turn me on," I winked, he smiled. "But really you need to get over this! I'm sick to death of having to tell you I don't care! And I wish you would stop caring too. Do you not like that I'm younger than you?"
I'd clearly caught him off guard with that last bit as his face seemed to fall slightly and I could tell he was thinking of a response that wouldn't make me blow up.
"Of course not. I just think sometimes people look at us and, I don't know, assume we're brother and sister or uncle and niece. It hurts that people don't see us as a couple unless we show them we are. We shouldn't have to do that Rose!" I could tell that this was probably hard for him to say as he had always tried to avoid the subject in the past unless it was necessary. But what he had just said was a load of crap. That wasn't really how he felt. It was something else entirely different, and I knew what.
"Dimitri, I know that's not everything," he looked at me with miserable eyes and I continued on with more affection. "Comrade, I know that sometime in the future you would love to be a father. And believe me if I could I would give you a child as soon as I was ready, but I can't. And that hurts me as much as it hurts you. But when the time is right we'll figure it out and everything will be okay! Just hold on and stop moping. When someone mentions our age difference it's just because they're jealous they can't get a piece of me!" I laughed and saw him smile again even bigger than before and I knew I'd made him feel better. I just hoped he'd finally gotten over this age difference situation. I grabbed his hand and slotted my fingers through his putting the pieces of our puzzle together.
We finally reached our destination. And it was…dull. I realized why Zoey had said it was nothing special. Because it wasn't, it was anything but!
The large, grey, derelict depot did not do anything for itself with its broken windows and open grates. But by the way Zoey and Stark seemed to slow down when we neared it; I guessed it was where we were headed.
"Home, sweet home." Stark commented sarcastically. Zoey elbowed him in the ribs. Dimitri smiled. I grimaced.
"You're saying we gotta go in there? Where I'm guessing the rats are camping out and there's a meet and greet for bacteria?" I wasn't usually this superficial but when you're made to go in a dank building and it's not at the risk of yours or your family or friend's life then you kinda do throw a fit.
I'd been in many empty places before that usually turned out to contain lots of Strigoi and therefore weren't empty. But like I said, they were usually in the middle of life threatening cases and so I had to go in. when it comes down to a choice to enter a building like that, I liked to say, hell to the no.
Stark surprised me with a large grin that I knew held a secret I wouldn't like. He said in a smug voice, "Inside. Oh no. We gotta go under this monster of a building!"
Hmm, his smugness reminded me of Christian. Damn him.
"It's not so bad once you get used to the smell and all that," Zoey said sweetly. She was probably trying to make me feel more comfortable. I glanced up at Dimitri and saw he had a thick eyebrow raised at me as if to say, is tough, strong Roza scared of the big, bad building. Well, I wasn't going to give in. I walked straight up to Zoey, gave her a look that made her point me in the direction of a grate, and got on my hands and knees to lift the grate up. I slowly swung into the underground room feet first and landed silently. Without turning around to look I heard the others one by one jump in after me.
I could see in the slight shadows of our figures casted by the moon that there was something at the side of the grate we had come through. I turned to look and saw a large black bird stood at the side of the gap.
"Oh, shit. Look at that raven! It's huge!" I unsuccessfully tried to shoo it away with my hands, but it seemed the stubborn thing wouldn't budge.
"Calm down, it's just Rephaim. The sun is nearly set; he'll be getting ready to come in. Just leave him and he'll enter in his own time." Having said that Zoey knelt on the floor and lifted another grate, and slowly started disappearing into the hole.
After Zoey had gone I followed, realizing she had descended some stairs further into the ground. Jumping the last few feet I looked around and saw nothing but brown walls. Upon touching the sides of the hall I felt them slightly crumble and acknowledged that it was earth. Literally, earth. Nothing covered the walls to seal them, they had just been carved into this labyrinth and left to make the place seem more natural. Like the earth had done this itself.
I heard the gentle thud of Dimitri landing behind me and felt his hand on the small of my back as he came to survey our surroundings as well. Just feeling Dimitri's touch made me relax and I felt more at home. I could be anywhere with Dimitri and I would be home.
We turned in synchronization to stare at Zoey and Stark. Oddly enough they were stood in exactly the same way we were. It was like looking in a mirror. Almost.
I smiled at Zoey and said quietly, "I have to say this is quite eerie, especially those lanterns on the walls. The shadows are freaking me out!"
She smiled and reached out to grab my hand dragging me to walk with her in front of the guys yet still talking to both me and Dimitri.
"Like I said, you get used to it. A lot has happened down here and I have to admit this place still scares the bejeezus out of me, too. But forget about our surroundings for now, we'll take you to one of the spare rooms down here and then we'll tell you everything that's happened to us so far." Zoey carried on leading us down the tunnels past lanterns with small glows around the edges, hardly giving off any light.
We passed several doorways with covers over them and I could hear people moving about. It seemed these types of vampires were on a nocturnal schedule as well.
"Not to be rude, but we did kind of book ourselves into a hotel room. Just so you know we won't be able to stay here more the one night. I'm sorry," I whispered. I didn't want Zoey to feel embarrassed for assuming we had nowhere to stay, but I hoped she wouldn't take me declining her offer the wrong way. If her type of vampire had heightened senses, though, I'm sure Stark heard everything.
Zoey shocked me by smiling, "Of course. I didn't think. Don't be sorry. But you're here now so you can stay if you don't wanna get caught by any… Stigo? Strigo?" she grimaced knowing she had pronounced the name of our evil vampires wrong.
"Strigoi. And thanks, we'd love to. Especially if we get a story out of it as well. You never know, we might be able to help." I smiled and saw Zoey grimace with apprehension.
"We wouldn't want to drag you into-" she was cut off by a small thump from behind us. Silently, we listened as the smack of what I thought were footsteps grew louder and louder. Dimitri and Stark had turned around as well and unintentionally mirrored each other in defensive positions.
Through the small - and dark - gap between them I saw a figure loom up in front of us and slowly ground to a halt. Stark relaxed but Dimitri stayed frozen. I turned my head and looked at Zoey questioningly.
She smiled at me vaguely as if reassuring me everything was okay before turning to the unknown figure and saying, "Hey Rephaim! Stevie Rae should still be in her room if you're looking for her."
"Actually, I came to see who these people where. I can't see any tattoos, are they wearing make-up like you? Are they human?" The face-less voice stepped into what little light came from a close lantern. In the vague light I saw that this guy was only wearing plain black trousers and a defined six-pack. His tan skin seemed to glow even darker than mine in the light and his brown wavy hair gave him a look that seemed quite native American. Come to think of it Zoey kind of had that look, too. I'd have to ask her about that later. Right now my mind was too busy thinking about what she had called this guy.
"Wait. I thought the raven was called Rephaim. I thought it was like a pet or something," I said foolishly.
Zoey lowered her eyes before raising them again to meet mine, "Oh. Yeah, about that…we should probably sit down."
With that Zoey dragged me past a few more doorways before leading us into a bare room where she sat me down on the mattress that had only a thin sheet, like a layer of skin, to protect it from the outside world. Kind of like me, then. The three guys followed us in and Dimitri took his place next to me, staying on his feet ready for action, if need be.
A/N: Hey, hope you liked the chapter! Just thought i'd inform you, although i did mention kids between Rose and Dimitri i will not be making Rose pregnant in this story. I'm informing you of this so you either don't get your hopes up and expect it or are put off by it and stop reading my story. But just because i'm not making her pregnant doesn't mean there won't be a lot of drama!
If you love me or this story, i'm sure you know what i want you to do. Put your finger on that mouse and direct it to the little link below that says review this chapter. Then...review it! I'd love to see what you think of this story even if it is only two chapters long at the mo' :)
love Laura xxxx