Hey guys! I'm so so so so so so sorry I haven't updated in awhile!!!!!!!!! I got an extremely bad case of writer's block! Please forgive me??

It's not one of my best chapters ever. Basically a filler. But there is some juicy stuff at the end :)

Disclaimer: It belongs to the beautiful and talented Richelle Mead =]

Chapter 7

I continued down the tunnel, my breathing became shorter as my mind considered the different possible outcomes. I'd been walking for about 15 minutes now and I knew that I was getting farther and farther away from the warehouse.

There was absolutely nothing down here! Except for a couple of rats - ew - it looked like no one had been down here for a really long time. As I walked, I replayed all the strange things that had been happening lately in my head.

First, there was the strigoi attack in my mom's office. Or, more correctly, the human attack. Once they knocked me out, all that they had done was put me on the couch. Which I found quite disturbing, I'd have expected them to kidnap or kill me, maybe break a leg or two. Then the microwave alarm goes off for no apparent reason. Leading us to a stupid warehouse. And now I am alone in an underground tunnel in the middle of nowhere. Story of my life. When I find the idiot who put that trap door there, they're gonna regret-

Beep beep.

I jumped slightly at the somewhat loud noise in the silent tunnel. I looked down and saw my walkie-talkie flashing. I huffed in annoyance and brought it up to my face.

"What?" I snapped.

"Rose?"

I stopped short. Barely able to breath. That voice, that deep, Russian voice. The one I missed so, so much. My free hand went to my necklace and I felt myself smile.

"Rose?" Dimitri asked again when I didn't answer. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

I was now. But I didn't say that out loud, not wanting to sound like a school girl crushing on her hot mentor. Which I kinda was... Stop it Rose! I mentally slapped myself. This was not the time to get distracted.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said in the carefree way I knew only I could pull off. "How 'bout you comrade?"

"Rose, Rose..." He gently chastised me, but I could detect a small smile in his voice.

"Hey, how did you get here so fast anyway?" I asked.

"I was already on my way here when Guardian Hathaway called." He answered.

"I see. Well are you gonna get me outta here or what?" I asked, suddenly wanting out of this hell hole and into Dimitri's arms. Ya, I wish.

"We're trying to pry open the door..."

"This'll work!" I heard Eddie in the background with my super sensitive hearing. He sounded like an excited 10-year-old.

"Eddie!" I heard Janine chastise him. "We are not blowing it up!"

What the heck were they doing up there?

"It's the only thing we got." Dimitri said, obviously talking to Janine and Eddie.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then I heard Janine mutter something under her breath and Eddie cheer.

"What in the world is going on?" I huffed, annoyed I was being left out.

"We're gonna blow up the trap door!" I heard Eddie yell. I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm but laughed. His excitement was a nice change from the gloomy tunnel.

"Rose?" Dimitri said, turning his attention back to me "In two minutes you can start walking back the way you came. We'll meet you half way."

I suddenly heard my mom whispering to Dimitri.. Only catching the words "strigoi" and "down there". I pieced it together and realized that she wanted to see where this tunnel would lead to. To see if it lead to a strigoi nest or something. Which, if you ask me is pretty stupid, since there were only, uh, four of us and two of us were still novices. But I could finally see where I got my pride from. Like mother, like d- I can't believe I just thought that. I stopped walking and stared in front of me, down the tunnel. But like before, it just went on and on, not showing the end. If there was one.

I then heard Dimitri's calm voice interrupting Janine's. Probably telling her all the cons of this situation. He must have won in the end because I heard my mom walk away in a huff. Dimitri told me to make my way back to the trap door. It took less time going back the way I came - mostly because I was sprinting the whole way back.

When I was pulled out of the hole I immediately jumped into Dimitri's arms. I closed my eyes and breathed in the familiar smell of his aftershave. This was heaven.

Someone cleared their throat behind me. I suddenly realized what I was doing and jumped back. I looked over and Janine and Eddie who looked both confused and amused. I cringed and my face heated up in a very un-Roselike manner. Trying to break the tension, I patted Dimitri on the back. More like pounded, actually.

"It's, uh, good to see ya teach!" I smiled.

Dimitri gave me his half amused, half disgusted look and Janine just sighed.

"It's past your bed time Rose." She muttered, walking back to the car.

____________________________________

The bell for lunch had just rung and me and Hunter were walking out of our science class. Today, I was wearing a vintage looking Butterfly dropout summer dress that had their signature antique looking designs on it (A/N pic of dress on my profile), coupled with a cute pair of cowboy boots. I had also let my hair naturally curl down my back. To say the least, I got many admiring looks today... of the male category.

I couldn't help but notice Hunter today. He looked extremely handsome in a plain white cotton button-down, and diesel jeans that weren't about to fall down at any moment. I also noticed that I was right about my earlier assessment, around his left arm was a cast. I should probably ask him about that....

"Hey Hunter?" I asked.

We had reached his locker and I was leaning against the locker beside him.

"Wassup?" He replied, putting his books away.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's with the cast?"

"Oh, uh, I got it playing football." He mumbled.

I looked at him for a few seconds, then snorted. Not too lady-like. "Ya right, numbskull, you don't even play football." My smirk threatening to turn into a full blown laugh fest as I saw the tips of his ears turn red.

"All right, you caught me." He admitted, sounding like he wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, but here.

He paused, looking for the right words. "I was play-tackling with my little brother when he pushed me... I landed wrong."

Ah yes. That was a very, very good reason for lying. Oh man, to be beaten up by your little brother.

"And, uh, how old is your brother?" I tried to ask in a mature voice. It wasn't working very well.

I saw him gulp visibly and he turned to me, looking me straight in the eye. "Four."

For a minute I forgot what we were talking about. All I knew was that he had the nicest blue eyes I had ever seen. I seemed to be falling. Just falling. He took a step closer to me and when I looked up, his face was only inches away. All I had to do was go on my tiptoes and then....

Slam!!

We jumped apart hastily as someone slammed their locker shut.

Oh man. I was stuck. What could have happened if we weren't rudely interrupted? I didn't even want to know.

"I gotta go to my locker." I mumbled to him, practically running away.

How could this have happened? How could I have been so blind. So stupid. He's a human for god's sake! I'll be finished here in more than a week!!

As I closed my locker and was heading toward the cafeteria, something hit me. Something that not only made my heart speed up, but it made me want to throw up. Or maybe crawl into some dark little hole and just die. I was that ashamed.

Dimitri.

What did you think? Sorry again for such the long wait! But I've got good news.......

BLOOD PROMISE COMES OUT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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