Sorry, but I don't always have access to the internet.

I hope you like it, even though I still kind of have writers block,
and I didn't really proffread, I just scaned it.

Please R&R...

Searching – 28

We didn't stop for the rest of the night. We drove up and down every rode, searching every creepy house that we came along, and then some. Well, I didn't really search, Dimitri made the other guardians, whose names I still don't really know, go in first. But who could blame him?

But after fifteen or more of the houses that we searched, we still didn't find anything. Christian kept wanting to go in every house, not risk jumping over the one that they were really in. It was getting later, and the Strigoi were probably about to be moving. It started to drive me crazy. If they were actually going to be moving on today, we needed to find them within the hour, or it might just be too late.

Eventually, we did start to search some other houses that didn't really look like places Strigoi would be, but we had to give them a shot, even though it did slow us down a bit.

By the time we only had about fifteen minutes left before we guessed that the Strigoi would be moving around, I was pretty much crazy. I kept thinking that if we didn't find her tonight, then we might not ever find her again. And I definitely did not want to risk that.

When I was about to go completely out of my mind, I remembered what had happened at the airport when Lissa was taken. At the thought, I felt like I wanted to jump with joy. Why didn't I think of it earlier? It's so simple. I could just sense them from the front porch, I didn't really have to go all the way in and search everywhere.

So at the next house that we came to, as I stepped on the front porch, I yelled 'Nope' and headed to the next house.

"What do mean no?" Christian had practically shouted at me. "How are you so certain?"

"Well I just remembered about what I found out at the airport when Lissa was taken. At first I thought it was just the pregnancy, but then it hit me," I explained to them all. "Even though the bond is gone from Lissa and me, I can still feel the weird feeling that lets me know when Strigoi are near."

"What?" Christian yelled in my face. "And you're just telling us this now?"

"I just remembered," I shouted back, shoving Christian out of my face. "Don't blame me. I've been as freaked out as all of you. I've known her longer than any of you." I knew my face was red, I've been holding all this in for hours, waiting to find Lissa, and now Christian just wants to yell at me; no way.

"Well now we know," Dimitri said, standing between Christian and me. "So let's make a move on it, or we will lose her." He pulled me after him, shoving me in the passenger seat. "Do you think you can feel them on the road?" he asked me.

"I don't really know. I'll probably have to be near the house, probably on the porch, unless there are a lot of them."

"Well, okay." And at that, we checked every house, wishing the right one would come around soon.

I knew we were probably almost out of time; it was almost completely dark outside, and Christian and Adrian looked exhausted. Probably having to do with being in the sun, even if they were in the van the whole time, it still slows them down. I told them to just rest a bit, that I'd wake them if we found anything, but they just argued. But eventually, they did dose off a bit.

After a few blocks of not finding anything, some of the guardians wanted to call it a night. They weren't really tired, just bored. But so was I, I hate staying still for too long. I am Rosemarie Hathaway after all, I don't do with waiting.

But eventually, after a few more blocks of driving and running to the porch like crazy, I started feeling dizzy and light headed. I almost tripped over myself, and tried to grab a railing, but missed it. But like always, Dimitri caught me just in time.

"Are you okay?" he asked me with a worried look.

"Yeah," I said as I looked around, wondering how I could have tripped on myself. I'm always on the lookout, how could I let myself do that. "I just have a weird feeling." As I was saying it, it hit me that it could be the Strigoi's nearby. I looked up at Dimitri, seeing him have the same look. "Go wake Adrian and Christian," I told another guardian nearby. "Fast!" I straightened myself up, trying to be calm as I stepped forward a little, feeling sicker and sicker. "There must be a lot," I whispered. "Because we're not even close to the basement and I already feel like passing out, not that I will," I said quickly as Dimitri looked worriedly at me.

Christian and Adrian came running up fast, looking much better with their little nap. "We're ready when you guys are." I looked at Christian, seeing him eye the door, ready for anything. Then I looked at Adrian, seeing him sweat a bit.

"Are you okay Adrian?" I whispered. "You don't look so well."

"I'm fine," he replied, shoeing me away. "Just nervous. And I don't really know if I equipped the stake right. I can feel something different about it, but I don't know if it's enough."

"Well just hope it is," I said as I motioned for a guardian to slowly, and quietly open the door. "Ready?" I looked at everyone, seeing them grip their stakes and nod. "Alright, let's go," I whispered as I stepped in the door right behind Dimitri.

Adrian's POV

I can't believe I'm about to do this. I have been practicing a lot. Day and night. But gosh, I'm so nervous. This is Lissa after all.

We rounded a corner, only see darkness everywhere we looked. At least we have better sight than humans, 'cause if we didn't, this would really suck.

I was right behind Rose, trying to stay calm, which was hard since my grip on the stake was already all sweaty. Rose kept looking back at me and smiling, trying to reassure me, which actually helped a bit. Just seeing Rose not totally lose it was helping. But she was Rosemarie Hathaway; she never lost it, that's just how she is. If only I had more convenience like her.

We all stood there in the dark, staring around so we knew the place better. There was stairs to our right, leading upstairs, and then there was a kitchen in front of us. Right now we stood near the living room, by a door that was probably a closet. Dimitri slowly walked forward, looking around every corner before emerging into the next room.

He had half of the group; Abe, Janine, Christian, Sonya, Mia, Eddie, and four 'nameless' guardians go search one half of the house while the other half; Mikhail, Dimitri, Rose, myself, and the other six 'nameless' guardians search the other half.

So my group, we headed into the kitchen and looked around, looking in doors leading to the basement. We even looked in the pantry, just to have that remind me that I was starting to get hungry, oh great. Then we went pass the kitchen that we into the dining room, then lead into the study, or dean if you want to call it that. There were three doors in the study that I saw; making me think one of them has to be to the basement.

"Which one first?" I asked, looking at Rose and Dimitri, since they were obviously the leaders here.

"How about that one by the desk," Rose said, looking at Dimitri and then slowly walking to the door she pointed at. When she laid her hand on the knob, I had the urge to reach out and stop her. But it had to be done.

She slowly turned the knob and raised her stake; Dimitri crouched by the door, ready to pounce. I raised my stake and hid behind the desk, I know, I'm such a wimp, but I've never really fought a Strigoi before, so I didn't know what to expect.

She thrust opened the door as the other guardians, along with Mikhail, barged into the room, not evening making that much noise.

"Just the bathroom," Mikhail said as he went in and looked around. "All clear," he said softly as he lowered his stake and came out. "Which one next?" he asked as he pointed at the two remaining doors.

"How about the doors closest to the door we came in at?" I suggested as I stood up from behind the desk. Everyone nodded as Dimitri reached for the knob and turned it, opening it slightly before yanking it open.

"Nope, just a closet," one of the guardians said. "One more now." He slowly walking to the remaining door and opened it slowly. We all leaned in to look inside, just to see darkness.

Rose's POV

As the guardian opened the door wider, Dimitri slowly peaked his head inside to look around. He pushed the door open further and stepped inside. "Get the other group over here fast," he said as he walked back out and found a flashlight on the desk.

We stood there, getting ready and waiting for the others silently. This was our opportunity to save Lissa. It was now or never.