We all stood there in the living room. All eyes on the ticking clock sitting on the mantle. It felt like my heart and the ticking clock were in sync. Every time the second hand ticked I felt a thud in my chest. The time was drawing close for us to move out. I could almost swear I felt death at my door. I ran my hand over the sheathed stakes at my thighs. My mind pictured the extra one I had strapped behind my shoulder.

I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. My stomach was fluttering like crazy. The baby was probably feeding off all my nervous energy. Dimitri ook a hold of my hand and squeezed gently. I squeezed back and smiled up at him. I tried my best to mask the anxiety.

He leaned close to me and brushed his lips softly on my ear, "It's okay to be afraid."

I pressed my head to his shoulder, "Then I guess I'm okay."

He pulled back and smiled at me. All I got was a simple nod. I looked around at all the faces of my comrades. They all sported the stone Guardian face. Even Adrian. And it was rare to see such a serious expression on that guy's face. It almost made me want to laugh. Almost. Until I noticed the fire in his eyes. He looked determined. His mind was set on something and he was going through with it. Then I noticed it. They all had that look in their eyes. Each one of my friends were ready. They knew what we were facing and the severity of it all. It made my pride swell.

But then my suddenly felt so sad. At that moment I wish I could talk to Liss. I wanted to see my mom. Or even my dad. Olena and the family had been gone now for two days and I was really starting to miss them as well. God, I was even starting to miss Yeva. I smiled despite my sorrows.

Then the hour came. It was time to go. Dimitri stood in front of us all to say his piece. "If anyone has anything to do or say before we go you should do it now. As for me, I plan on seeing each and every one of your faces when we get back here."

Sydney was suddenly at my side. She hugged me to her. It was strange she had never done something like this. Not this kind of hug. It was always awkward or half hearted. This was a full blown hug. It was kind of comforting.

She pulled away and looked down at the floor, "You just watch out for each other out there, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay." I looked at Adrian who was busy talking to Mia and Eddie some few feet away. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

She shook her head slowly, "I tried but I just couldn't make the words come out. So I just told him good luck. And to be safe." She covered her face with her hand and sighed. "I'm such a idiot."

"You still have a few minutes." I couldn't help it. She had to. This could very well be it.

She scoffed, "I can't. I'm sorry, Rose. I just can't." She turned her back to me and walked off into the kitchen.

"What's wrong with her?" Eddie was looking in her direction. I guess their conversation was over.

"She's just upset." I felt sadness engulf me and my heart began to ache. I was really starting to hate that feeling with a passion.

He nodded, "You look pretty upset too."

I nodded, "I am."

"She should just get whatever it is off her chest. It'll make her feel better," he said shaking his head.

I sighed, "That's the problem. She can't."

"What are we talking about over here?" Mia came up with an obviously fake smile. I had never seen her smile look so frail.

"Sydney," me and Eddie said in unison.

Her eyes widened slightly and then relaxed, "Oh. Yea, I noticed she looked kind of sad about something. She spoke to Adrian a while ago. I think something's going on there."

I scrambled for the words, "Why do you say that?"

She shrugged, "Just they way they look at each other. I'm a blonde but I'm not stupid. I know a crush when I see one." She shimmied her shoulders, "Like you and Dimitri. I saw that coming."

"You did not," Eddie laughed.

She scoffed, "Did so!"

I walked off and left them to their little bantering game. Adrian was sitting on the couch with his chin resting on his knuckles. He saw me coming and smiled. "Little dhampir. How you holding up?"

I shrugged and dropped down beside him, "Alright I guess. Could be worse though."

He forced a laugh, "How could this be worse?"

"I could be going off to die without telling a certain someone how I feel," I stretched out my legs and pointed my toes. My legs were already feeling restless.

He laughed out, "You are really something, you know that?"

I smiled, "I know. But that doesn't solve your problem, Adrian."

His smile quickly vanished, "I know. I just can't."

"You want to know something funny? That's both of your excuses. 'I can't'." I sighed, "Do me a favor and let me know when you're both done beating around the damn bush."

I got up and walked away before he could say anything else. I was tired of hearing their excuses. I had done all I could do. The rest was up to them.

"Roza." Dimitri reached out and pulled me to him. I splayed my hand out over his chest while my other hand wrapped around his neck. He gazed down loving into my eyes. He kissed me, "I love you."

"I love you." I pulled him tighter against me and pressed a hard kiss to his lips. It made my blood churn and heart race. "Now let's go save some lives."

He smiled that genuine smile at me and my heart fluttered. He released me and it felt like it was all too soon. I wanted to just wrap myself in him. His touch. His warmth. His kiss. I just needed him in every way.

He took center floor and clapped his hands once very loudly. My ears left like they wanted to pop. "We are moving out."

We all filed for the door. Dimitri stepped outside to the van while I waited behind to make sure everyone was properly filed out and equipped.

Suddenly Adrian stopped at the door way. He looked back at Sydney who was leaning on the stairway railing just a few feet away. He gave me a quick smile and turned to her. In just a few quick steps he was standing in front of her. He scooped her into his arms and finally kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

Mia had been behind him and stayed to watch. She nudged my arm, "Told you so."

I couldn't help but smile. "You got a knack for these things."

They slowly released each other. He reached out and ran his hand over her cheek. She was smiling with tears running down her face. He wiped them away with his thumb. "I'll see you when I get back." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. He pressed another kiss to her cheek. Just like that he backed away and turned to walk out the door. She just stood there speechless. But it was there. That look. She definitely had it now. She watched him go with that look of yearning in her eyes.

Mia and I exchanged smiles and walked out behind him. The door shutting behind me was a reminder that we were leaving home and making our way to a battle ground. I got into the passanger side of the van and stared out the window at the house. I plan on seeing you again when we get back.

The scenery passed me in waves of trees, grass and soon some secluded buildings and houses. Whoever lived out here like privacy. Each building had at least three acres between them if not more. Some had a look of being abandoned too.

"That was pretty ballsy back there, Ivashkov," Mia's voice broke the silence.

Eddie chuckled, "What are you talking about now?"

She ignored him, "What made you finally do it?"

I heard Adrian chuckle, "Because I had to."

"Are you guys really keeping secrets now?" Eddie sounded like he was curious which only increased my smile.

"I kissed Sydney." Adrian sounded pretty proud about it.

That was followed by more silence and then suddenly something that sounded like two hands hitting. "Good shot." That was Eddie.

"Scandlous." And that was Mia, "An Alchemist and a Moroi. Who would have guessed that was coming?"

"It's not about an Alchemist and a Moroi." The voice of reason was clear. Gabe. "No one can choose who they love. And there's no shame in that. Love is love."

I clapped my hands, "Well said." I turned to look at Dimitri. He had a smile on his face. He gave me a quick glance then turned his attention back to the road. I looked back at the group. They were all looking from face to face. Smiling. In all the darkness we had found a reason to smile about.

Adrian looked up at me. A new found look of fire in his eyes. The emerald green was bright and clear in the dimness of the van. "Thank you, little dhampir."

I shrugged, "What are you thanking me for? I didn't do anything."

His smirk grew, "Either way."

I turned back around and looked out the window once more. I was feeling good on the inside. Seeing Adrian happy made me happy. Seeing Sydney happy made me happy. And the only thing that would make this all even better is if we all lived through this and got back home to our loved ones and friends.

Dimitri clasped his hand over mine, "That was a great thing you did."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said innocently.

He chuckled, "Well, whatever you did worked." He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the backs on my fingers.

I swooned, "You know me all too well."

"That I do."

The drive lasted only a few minutes more before Dimitri pulled over on the side of the road. He parked in an area that had so much foliage that when I stepped out my foot instantly got tangled in some kind of vine.

We all started walking into the woods. The sky had already dimmed to a navy blue with specks of stars being the only light. No moon for tonight. We had only made it in what seemed like a few yards when lights from a big building came into view. Security lights. Great.

Dimitri signalled for me to go to him. He leaned in close to me, "Stay close. Stay quiet." He tilted his head back to the others. I nodded.

I waited until Adrian was at my side, "Dimitri says to stay close and quiet." I tilted my head to the others. He caught on quickly and passed it on. From hearing the hushed whispers I knew everyone was passing it on.

I made it back up to Dimitri and gave him a quick nod. He nodded as a reply. At this distance even a Strigoi could pick up on a voice. We didn't need the trouble. I looked up and was quite surprised. The building reminded me of a prison. But the fence was nothing to complain about. It was a chain linked fence about eight feet in height. No barbed wire, no electric box.

Alek slipped to the front and started working on the fence. He snipped a vertical line up the metal links causing a gap. We all slipped through easily. The grass beneath our feet was soft so it helped to keep our movement quiet.

Gabe took the lead at that point. He lead us to a side of the house that was secluded in darkness. He pulled out a small sketch of the building and looked back up. He ran his hand along the wall as he walked. He suddenly came to an abrupt stop and tapped it lightly. We were met by a hollow sound. He nodded to Dimitri.

Now Mia was up. She unstrapped a container from her hip and opened it. She placed her fingers just at the mouth of it and pulled out a thin stream of water. It looked magical. I hadn't seen magic used like that in a while so it was pretty amazing. She pressed the line of water into a box shape on the wall. It all soaked in leaving a dark stain. She then pressed her palms onto the wall and took in a deep breath and pulled. The dark boxed part of the wall came off! She sighed and sagged in relief. She tilted her head to Adrian.

He smirked and crawled into the wall. I followed him. Then Dimitri, Gabe, Alek and Eddie. Mia went last so she could close the hole in the wall behind her. She was also there because once we had gotten to the second floor she would be in the perfect position to make another 'door' into the servants' quarters.

Once inside I hadn't realized I might get a little claustrophobic. There was enough space so that Dimitri still had room to turn but I was still feeling like the walls could close in on us at any moment. I felt Dimitri clench my hand and squeeze. He displayed an easy smile and nodded for me to go.

It felt like it took a while to move around the house. Adrian finally came to a stop and pointed up. We had finally get to the stopper so we could start moving up. He pulled himself up and started climbing. We all did. The inner walls were lined with planks of wood that supported the older wall. So it was easy to scale the wall without having to even attempt the spider walk.

And we found that Sydney was right. The gap only lead to the second floor. We reached the top and Mia once again did her thing. She pulled out another bottle of water and repeated the technique. This time she made it longer than she did wide. And she pushed. The wall came off. And we all rushed in.

The servants were laying in bed. One of them was startled by the sound of us coming in and shot up. Adrian was quick to be right in her face. And he had her complete eye contact.

"Hi." He smirked, "It's okay for us to be here. You were just going to leave anyway and needed a replacement. Right?"

She nodded, "Yes. I was just leaving." A dreamy smile spread on her face, "I'm going to leave now."

She was about to turn for the door when Adrian grabbed her arm, "Oh no. You have to sneak out."

She frowned, "There is no other way out."

"You can take the gap in the wall. Just climb down and keep moving until you reach the very end." He smiled, "Everything is okay. It's okay."

She smiled again, "Okay." And she walked over to the hole in the way and climbed in.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That was awesome."

He pressed a finger to his mouth then walked up to me. "Whisper. I still have to deal with the other six."

"Five," Eddie said.

Adrian groaned, "No, six. Sydney said there were seven servants and I just sent one out."

"Well unless I forgot how to count, there are only five left." He gestured to the sleeping bodies, "See?"

He was right only five left. But how? I counted them again and again until I came to the conclusion that there were indeed only five. I shrugged at Dimitri, "What does that mean?"

He raked his fingers through his hair, "I don't know. Maybe they turned them or killed them." He held his chin between his thumb and pointer. His thinking pose. "It's not a set back. We still have the six we can use."

Adrian nodded, "Yep, with the seven of us."

"What?" I looked around. Yup. Including me there were seven of us. How'd she miss that? "Shit."

He smirked, "It's fine. Let me get just started." He walked up to the next cot and gently shook them awake. It was an instant eye contact as soon as their eyes opened. He went on to do all of them.

Mia sighed, "I'll go without."

"No," Eddie looked dead serious.

"It's fine. I can pull off being a crazed Strigoi's servant." She smiled unsteadily.

Adrian shook his head, "You won't have to. Just wear the disguise of the missing servant anyway. They'll never know."

"As fun as this all is, shouldn't we be doing something?" Alek sounded anxious.

Dimitri put up a hand, "Patience. We have time. We still need the disguises."

He sighed heavily, "We don't really need them."

The last servant climbed into the wall. Adrian turned his attention to him, "Really? Then go ahead. Walk out there without it." When Alek didn't move Adrian grinned, "Didn't think so."

I pulled out a few silver rings, necklaces and bracelets and laid them out on the bed, "Your equiptment, sir."

"Thank you, me lady." He picked them up, one by one, casting his magic on them.

Gabe was standing watch at the door and looked back at us, "Almost done?"

"Almost." I looked back at Adrian, who was already one the last ring. "There." He took my hand and slipped the ring on my finger. "Huh."

I frowned, "What?"

"You look fuzzy," he smirked.

"Shh." I wanted to slug his arm but I settled for a pinch since we had to be quiet.

He made a face like wanted to cry out but he knew better. He bit his lip and made me a face. I just smiled and helped pass out the rest of the charms. I wrapped a silver necklace around Dimitri's neck. Honestly, I just wanted to get close to him.

Once we were all in our disguises we stepped out into the hall way. It was so quiet. The walls were an industrial grey and the florecent lights seemed dim. Each door was just as plain. No markings. Not even any number system. God, I sound like Sydney. I glided across the hall until I reached a four way. I peeked out and found nothing. Just more empty space and silence.

Then I heard the faintest creaking of a doorknob turning. I waved behind me to the others. I heard some soft shuffling before the door fully opened. A man stepped out. His clothes were nice and fit him well. He adjusted his jacket as he walked by me. He didn't even spare me a second glance as he rounded the corner and made his way down stairs. But he definitely caught my eye. He was Strigoi. The red ringed eyes and pale skin was a dead give away.

I relaxed once he was clearly out of ear shot. "Pst!

Dimitri peeked out and the rest followed. He made it just a few steps to me and then signalled the others. He waved them to pass him and cross to the other end of the hall. The bombs. We were setting the bombs on the second floor's four corners. Mia, Eddie and Alek took a steady pace as they crossed the empty halls until they were clear out of sight. Dimitri tapped my shoulder and turned me back into the hall we had just been in. There was a long ways more on this side too.

Dimitri pointed to Gabe and Adrian to go to the left door together while he and I went right. They nodded. We each split into two teams and pressed to our sides. The last doors were both just as plain as the last ones we'd passed. We walked right into the room with no second thought.

And it was empty. Our room was totally and completely bare. Just grey walls surrounding us. He looked back at me with a confused face. All I could do was shrug. I didn't know what the hell was going on.

He took his pack and just set it on the corner. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Then I felt completely stupid. I stepped forward and picked it up.

"What are you doing?"

I shushed him and went back to my idea. I pulled the bomb out of the case and placed it flat against the wall with the metal back facing us. From the doorway it wouldn't be automatically visible if someone were to just take a quick look in. If anyone ever bothered to look in here. I stuffed the case into the casing of my bomb I carried.

Dimitri was smiling at me as we stepped back out into the hall. I just smiled back and did a quick pose. The smile turned into a grin. But then he hurried me along. Adrian and Gabe were already waiting. Gabe gave us a firm nod.

We all walked down the hall, two by two. It was still so very quiet and dim. We made it to the four way. The others weren't back yet. Dimitri looked down at his wrist watch and then back at me. Concern marks playing on his face.

I shook my head slowly and signalled back to their side. He shook his head. Then he pointed at me and to the ground. Stay here? No. I took three long strides away from him and made my way across. I should have looked.

I nearly ran into the missing servant. Her eyes took me in and she squinted. "What are you doing up? Maestro hasn't called on anyone."

"Oh, um, we heard a loud noise. Got a little carried away." I decided to try a serious look.

She shook her head, "You know you'll get in trouble if someone catches all of you out." She looked between us, "Where are Trevor and Michael?"

"The room. They didn't want to get in trouble. Guess they knew better," I sighed.

"Which is what surprises me. If I had to guess I would have said Trevor is the most likely to try something like this." She eyed me for a moment more. Then rolled her eyes, "Let's go to the room before someone sees all of us."

I hadn't realized how close the door was. She walked past us and into the room. I quickly followed her in. It didn't take her long to realize that the others weren't in there. She turned to face me. I don't know if it was anger or shock that she showed but I quickly pressed my hand over her mouth and pulled her to a cot with me. I mounted her back and put her in a rear naked choke. Then wrapped my legs around her stomach and squeezed. Soon I felt her body slacken and I let go. She was out cold.

Dimitri kneeled down and checked her pulse. I was breathing pretty heavy from keeping her from struggling. I felt a small discomfort in my right elbow but it was nothing I couldn't tolerate. He turned to us and nodded. She was alive. I sighed a heavy sigh and shook my head.

Adrian smirked and nodded. He gave me a thumbs-up. Which I returned. I felt pretty proud of myself.

Dimitri smiled and shook his head at me. I know. That was too close. I waved him away. Eddie was in the door in seconds. A look of worry on his face. Until he spotted the unconscious servant. He pointed at her and looked at Dimitri. He shook his head and was quick to point me out. Thanks.

Mia waved at me for attention. She mouthed the words, 'Is she dead?'

I shook my head. I placed my palms together and rested my head on the back of my hands. She nodded to show she knew what I meant.

"What now?" Alek whipsered so lightly that it was almost inaudible. But talking at all was a risk at this point unless we were being addressed by someone.

I put a finger to my lips and pointed to my ear. If he didn't get the hint then I wasn't going to bother. I turned back to Dimitri and pointed to the ceiling. Going up?

He nodded. His stone Guardian face was back. We stepped back into the hall. It was empty again. It always seemed empty. But twice I already had little run ins with people. First a Strigoi and then a servant. This was already starting to annoy me.

We made it to the base of the stairs going up. It trailed the wall to the third floor. It look like it lead into another similar hall. I looked back at everyone. They were all looking at the the stairs. I took in a deep breath and sighed. The only way to go is up.

By Shadow Kissed Mori