Russia – 35

We weren't in Baia; the plane of course wouldn't land there. The closest we could get was a whole day's drive from there. But at least we finally made it to Russia; sitting in the plane forever was starting to get on my nerves, even though I was starting to have some fun at the end with Apples to Apples.

We all decided to stay in a hotel near the airport until Dimitri could finally get transportation for all of us. And by the time we were all situated, I, of course, ended up falling right back to sleep real fast. Lissa did too, which ended up staying in the room Dimitri and I were sharing. She's actually been asleep most of the plane ride too. Maybe Strigoi just didn't like to fly. Anyways, she was back to sleeping peacefully, never having made any attempt in trying to escape anymore.

A little after I had fallen asleep, I woke back up when Dimitri finally climbed into bed, having made arrangements for transportation in the morning. We were going to be taking the bus into Baia, and then we were going to surprise his family by showing up unannounced. And then of course, after all of that, we were going to go to Oksana's to help Lissa.

When I finally got back to sleep, realizing that we had about twenty-four hours until Lissa was hopefully completely back to normal, I had a nightmare that we wouldn't be able to save Lissa. That when we went to Oksana's house, Mark, her husband, was crying with an unmoving, lifeless body in his hands. Oksana had had her throat ripped out the night before, preventing us any hope, other than Adrian, and maybe Sonya, to saving Lissa.

The next morning, when Dimitri woke me up so I could hop in the shower before the bus came, I was sweating all over. And when Dimitri looked at me worried, thinking I was getting sick again, I told him about my nightmare. He assured me that it was just that, a dream, and I hopped in the shower and rinsed off.

The bus got here right after I got out of the shower and packed all my stuff. We practically made Lissa our dog as I pulled her along with a chain and Eddie had another chain so she wouldn't run at anyone. We tied her in the middle of the bus so we could all watch her, and then we were off when all of our luggage was in.

The bus ride to Baia took about three hours, gosh buses are so slow, and the whole ride there I stared out the window, thinking about what I was going to say to everyone. I usually wouldn't get nervous about all this kind of stuff. Rose Hathaway never got nervous or scared, well of course except for the doctor visits; I always hoped nothing would be wrong with my baby, and so far so good. But this is kind of different. We never get to see Dimitri's family. I already know they like me and all, and will most likely be happy for us for our first baby, but there's always the small chance that they changed their minds. And there's always Viktoria. Dimitri told me that she had forgiven me, but what if she really hadn't and was just wanting to make Dimitri feel good?

As we got into Baia, Abe and Janine, and some of the others, thought it best for most of everyone to stay at a hotel, since there couldn't possibly be enough room for all of us. So we ended up stopping at a hotel, which happened to be all the way on the other side of town.

So after they paid for rooms, since Dimitri and I would most likely be staying at his house, they dropped off all of their luggage and we all went to see Dimitri's family.

After we loaded into back into the bus and headed to the Belikov's, I actually started feeling better. We were getting real close to turning Lissa back to herself. It was just a matter of time if Oksana could equip a stake with spirit. I knew she was really good at equipping rings and such, she was the one that made one for me for the darkness that Lissa's spirit using did to me.

Dimitri and I were the first ones to go knock on his family's door while everyone else waited in the bus. I just hope they don't mind all the people that we brought. I knocked on the door as Dimitri squeezed my hand. At first nobody answered, which kind of scared me. We came all this way and now we had to wait. But as I started to get impatient, someone opened the door and just stared at us, like she had seen a ghost.

I smiled as I said hi, but she didn't say or do anything but blink a few times. "Hey Vickie," Dimitri said as he went forward and hugged his little sister. "Where is everyone?" She stared back in reply with her mouth hanging open and tears in her eyes.

"Is she okay?" I whispered to Dimitri. He smiled at me and shrugged his shoulders.

Viktoria blinked a few more times before closing her mouth and smiling, finally registering that the big brother she hadn't seen for a while was right in front of her. "Dimka!" she squealed, using Dimitri's nickname. She giggled as he lifted her up and spun her around, hugging her to him. When he finally put her down, she squealed again as she looked at me. "Rose! What are you guys doing here? Not that I don't want you here, it's just such a huge surprise." She babbled on and on as we smiled at.

"Well we just wanted to surprise you all," Dimitri answered when she quit babbling. "So where is everyone?" he asked again.

"Well Karolina and Sonya are at work, grandma went to Oksana's, and mom went grocery shopping. And I'm watching Paul with Nikolai." I smiled when I remembered that Nikolai had a huge crush on Viktoria, but she had yet to notice. Which just made me want to ask her is they were dating or not now. But of course I didn't, I didn't know if she wanted Dimitri to know about that or not.

"Well can we come in?" Dimitri asked, stepping aside so she could see everyone in the bus. She nodded and ran back inside as Dimitri motioned for everyone to come on in.

We waited a little over an hour until Dimitri's mom finally got home; all the while talking with Viktoria about everything that had happened since the last time I was here. Then we started telling her about the help we needed with Lissa, and she grew all excited about seeing a Strigoi up close. We had decided to leave Lissa in the bus with a few guardians until we got everyone aware of her so they wouldn't freak out.

I helped Olena put all her groceries away, all the while her smiling that she finally got to see her baby boy again, happy and healthy. She kept asking what made us finally come and she her all the way here in Russia, but she just told her we really, really wanted to surprise her. Which she will be surprised once she hears that I'm expecting.

By the time all the groceries were put away, Sonya and Karolina, Dimitri's other sisters, and Yeva, their grandmother, walked in the door and then stopped in their tracks once they saw me, and then Dimitri's sitting in the living room. Sonya and Karolina were shocked to see me, but Yeva, she grinned like she knew I would be back here with Dimitri back to himself. She always seems to know everything. After his sisters finally registered that we were real, that they weren't seeing things, they rushed forward and gave Dimitri a big hug. Everyone laughed as he got tackled and was begging for air. Yeva didn't come rush up and hug anyone, but she was extremely happy by the way she couldn't stop smiling and looking at both of us. But then I guess she finally noticed everyone else that we had brought since the living room was crowded, and she looked at me with a questioning glare.

"They came to surprise us," Olena told Yeva when she stopped in the kitchen to get a drink. She said something in Russia in reply, which was something like 'I can see that.' But then she just walked to the backyard and sat in a recliner. "She's happy to see y'all," she assured us. "We just likes to sit out there in her chair, says it calms her. I don't know, but it seems to make her happy." She came into the living room carrying a huge tray of snakes and sat down between me and Dimitri. "So what's up with everyone?" she asked, looking at Dimitri.

"We came to surprise you guys," he answered.

"Yeah, so that's what I keep hearing. But there had to another reason to travel all the here, with all these people that I don't know. Well, I know Abe, but nobody else. So what's really up?" She stared Dimitri in the eyes, knowing he'd give under the pressure.

But instead of answering her question, he started introducing everyone. Starting with Abe since she already knew him, then to Janine, then Adrian, Christian, Mia Addie, Mikhail, and Sonya. Then he mentioned the other four guardians that came to protect them, and then Lissa, the queen.

"The queen's here?" she asked stunned. "Isn't she supposed to stay at court? Why is she here? Where is she anyways?" She looked all around the room, seeing everyone Dimitri named off, but when she thought about it in her head, seeing that people were missing. She looked back at Dimitri, waiting his answer.

"Okay," he started. "To answer your question from earlier, that's another reason way we came." He looked down at his lap, then at me, thinking of ways to say it.

"Come on Dimitri," Olena said. "You know you can tell me everything."

"Come on Dimka," Viktoria said from the other side of the living room. "You have to tell her." Olena looked at her youngest daughter, looking confused that she already knows what he wants to say.

"It's Lissa," I said. Olena looked at me then back at Dimitri, wanting to know what was going on. I opened my mouth to say more just as Yeva came back in and stood behind the couch. She said something in Russia again, probably something along the lines of 'Just go on'. So I looked back at Dimitri and went on, asking them for our help. "Well right now Lissa isn't herself. She got kidnapped by some Strigoi about two months ago." Olena stared at me with her mouth hanging open. "They tortured her for a month, and then finally turned her into one of them. We tracked her down in Vegas, with Robert, Victor Dashkov's brother. Apparently he started a clan of Strigoi. But when we were going to turn her back, Adrian over there," I pointed to him as he gave a weak smile. "Lost the stake and now he can't equip another one with spirit. So I thought maybe we can ask Oksana if she could help." I looked at Yeva, knowing she was friends with her. "So what do you think?"

Everyone was speechless as she pondered it over in her mind. After a while, she said something in Russian and Olena replied back in Russian. I made me made because I still hadn't learned Russian. I looked at Dimitri to translate, and he just smiled and nodded his head.

"She said she'll take you guys tomorrow, since it's really late right now," Olena said. "But she doesn't know if Oksana as ever equipped a stake and if she can even do it. But she thinks Oksana would definitely not mind to help you Rose, because after you left last time, she kept talking about that she hoped you would be okay." I looked at Yeva and she smiled at me as I smiled at her.

After that we just talked about how everyone was doing and joking around. After two hours, everyone decided to go to bed, so Olena said we could stay in Dimitri's old room and then she saw everyone else out. Adrian and Christian said they'd watch over Lissa, which I was all too glad to agree with since I really hated seeing Lissa like that, chained up and all.

That night I slept real well. All around me I could smell Dimitri. Just like the last time I was here, I imagined how Dimitri lived here. I could see him as I little kid and play cowboys and Indians like his western novels. I smiled at the thought and never wanted to leave.