Don't own VA, only own plot and a few characters.

Chapter 15

RPOV

No weapon, no strategy and no clue on how to actually escape the plane, and still I was posed for battle. Hmmm, I'm starting to feel like my old self again.

I could hear them coming. And lets just say that's there's at least ten Strigoi coming my way. While I crouched down on the space provided outside the door to the room I was locked in, there was only a corridor that led up to a staircase ten paces from me. There was no way out. So I went with the flow, completely winging it when I saw the first three Strigoi bound down the stairs. One was a woman, in the lead, and the other two were men, to my surprise. This chick must be a badass for them to send her first. She ran at me, her fingers spread out and her nails were razor-sharp, like claws. Her face went from determined to snarling in a second. The men fell back a bit letting her hit me first.

I was unprepared. I didn't know which move to use on her, knowing that in the next second that her and I made contact, the others would go for me as well. That meant I'd have to use the extreme fighting techniques that even Dimitri hadn't taught me yet at the academy. The one who taught me was the very one who back stabbed me.

Raiden.

Remembering him brought unwanted pain that slightly caught me off guard. Anger settled in me. I was a bit startled at how much hatred I had towards him. It didn't occur to me that I could be that hurt. I never allowed anyone to hurt me emotionally. Ever since the Dimitri incident, I very really thought anyone could hurt me that much. But I was wrong.

The fact that I let that unimaginable pain flow through my body made me feel weak and worthless. I hated myself for that.

But then again, this anger was helping me. When I was angry, everything pissed me off ten times worse. So a little sprinkle of the anger I felt towards Raiden felt like World War II in my head.

Letting anger drive me onwards, I took a deep breath and analyzed my bearings. On the left was a fire hydrant that I'd use on the second Strigoi. On the right was a steel rod that was the handle for a locked door. The third Strigoi was going to have a big ol' concussion when I'm through with him. And as for the girl, well I'm sure Raiden's training would work it's magic.

She stalked towards me, half running half dragging her feet until finally she ran at me the last few steps. She must have been going eighty kilometers per hour when we first made impact. I lifted my right foot into a high kick that slammed into her neck, sending her flying backwards. I lunged for the left just as the second Strigoi attacked. I wrenched the fire hydrant off the wall, grabbed the muzzle and sprayed him until he fell in the room I was just in. I lifted the fallen door, and scraped in where it used to be. All I need was the steel rod to secure it. The last Strigoi had made his way to me just as I yanked the rod off and finally delivered the last blow. Instead of giving him a concussion, I 'accidentally' decapitated his head, sending it right for the female. The bloodied head collided with hers and she fell back yet again. Pathetic.

I grabbed her by the waist and threw her up in the air. As she fell I sent another high kick right to her stomach, kicking it hard enough so that her body broke in two. I quickly secured the door with the thick rod, already knowing he'll get out eventually. I was taking the stairs by two, already hearing him punch the door and give a frustrated yell. At the top of the staircase I emerged into another corridor, although this time there were three passageways. The one that was straight ahead was unreliable. It would only lead me deeper into the plane, increasing my chances of running into Tasha. I was unsure why the passage on the right was calling to me, but when the door to the left corridor opened slightly and laughter echoed down the hall, I flung myself into motion. I dived for the door on the right and closed it just as I heard footsteps in the corridor. Only when they faded down the hall did I relax slightly. The room was consumed by darkness, but I still could see well enough. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I turned around and ran smack into a wall. Startled, I took a step back. Then I narrowed my eyes. There was indeed a wall in front of me but also there was an outline of a body. Either the wall was extremely bumpy or I had just run into a set of biceps and abs.

I sprang forward, twisting around my captive and held him in a headlock.

"Who are you?" I hissed in his ear.

"Smooth move," he spoke, with a low, sexy Russian accent. Oh shit, not again.

It was just my luck to be holding Dimitri in a headlock. I reluctantly left go of him. I was so grateful that I couldn't blush or else I would have resembled a tomato. Once he stepped away and turned around, he flicked the switch that was situated next to the door. The room illuminated with bright fluorescent lights, giving me the advantage to see where I was clearly. But for now, Dimitri, as well, distracted me. He was shirtless, standing in front of me with low cut black jeans that fitted him perfectly. I don't think he could have looked any more comfortable. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and looked dead sexy. Oh boy.

I cleared my throat. "Um, hi," I said lamely. I mentally kicked myself.

His mouth formed a soft grin. "Hello."

We stood there in silence, him looking amused at me, and me? Well, it was a bit awkward, you know, talking to my ex. In a room. By ourselves. Yeah…

I knew he was the enemy and therefore I had to ignore the fact that he was unbelievably good looking and undoubtedly a distraction. No doubt he was here on his own accord. That's the thing with Dimitri. He was no follower and despised being ordered around like a lost puppy. So Tasha definitely had no part in this encounter. So was this a little scam of his? If it was I intended to have no part in it.

He breathed out deeply, briefly closing his eye, before our eyes connected again.

"Remember how we met?" he asked, a small smile played on his lips. "You were such a rat bag then."

I lifted my eyebrows up with mock innocence. "Me? You drove me insane with your profound Zen crap thing."

His eyes widened and he touched his heart. I'm hurt," he teased. We both laughed, despite ourselves.

"And the one day we just," he paused, looking deep into my eyes, "clicked."

My expression grew solemn. "It wasn't meant to be."

"Yes, it was," he said, taking a step closer.

"I'm meant to be with no one."

"And what about Raiden?"

I almost answered what about Raiden, but I stopped myself. I told myself not to grieve about what happened with Raiden, that it was just not meant to be. Telling myself that just made my mood that much more unbearable. But why? What good will it do for me to sob about someone that ripped out my heart? It hurt, yes, but now I need to move on.

"How can I be with him, knowing he was working for you the whole time and-"

"Wrong," he interrupted.

I ended what I was about to say, just as confusion settled in me. My brow furrowed. "Huh?"

He gave me a sad smile. "You've got it all wrong."

I put my hands on my hips. "Oh?"

"It was the other way around."

I laughed. I genuinely laughed at his unrealistic answer. Like Dimitri would ever do such a thing.

"So you're saying that you were working for Raiden?" I said exasperatedly.

He nodded. "I knew Raiden before he turned Strigoi. When he became one of us, I found out from Boris. He thought I was still Strigoi, so he keeps me updated. When I heard Raiden had recruited with Sonya and was in town, I knew she was coming after you. I told Raiden, well told Boris to tell Raiden, to take care of you," he paused, looking away. "And you both fell in love."

I bit my lip. Trying to lighten up the mood, I joked , "It must have been my undying beauty that bewitched him from his duty." From the look Dimitri gave me, it was clear my teasing failed.

"It sure did lure me in," Dimitri admitted. I turned away, unable to look at him while he continued.

"I purposely turned Strigoi to come after Raiden. I was overwhelmed with anger when I saw Raiden busting you out of the Court's prison. That was my job. I knew then he had feelings for you. It was then I started to plot turning back to being Strigoi. Turning Tasha…" he trailed off. "Well that was an after thought."

I frowned. "So Tatiana lied."

Not that I'm overly surprised. It's not the first time the banshee lied.

He nodded.

"Why did you turn Tasha?"

He shrugged. "As a Moroi, she was determined to get what she wants. Turning Strigoi didn't eliminate the need to have everything her way, but instead it intensified. So I thought of her as a worthy companion. All I had to do was snatch Hope away from her and deliver the baby to you. That's all I had to do to set Tasha off on her hunt for you."

I looked up at him, my eyes widening with shock. "It was you," I whispered. In normal tone, I said, "You dropped Hope off that night. How'd you know where I was?"

"You and Raiden have tracking devices planted somewhere on you two."

As soon as he said tracking devices, I remembered that night after my wedding. I had just finished having a shower when I realized I left my bra in my room. Instead, I brought in with me an extra pair of panties. I growled in frustration before roughly putting on my white bathrobe. My fringe stuck to my forehead, while her damp hair was pushed over my shoulders as I opened the door and called out, "RAAAAAIIIIIIIDEEEEENNNN!"

"ROOOSSSEE!" he had called back from downstairs. From what I heard, he was in the kitchen and scared the crap out of Stephanie. She slapped him on the head.

"Shut up!" she had yelled in his ear.

He had laughed and escaped her wrath, bounding up the stairs. I burst out laughing when he tripped over the top step. He wore a sheepish grin when he caught me watching him. As soon as he stood in front of me, his grin vanished, and looked at me in awe.

"I have a mission for you," I said.

"Uh huh," he dragged out the words; his eyes traveling down my body. Oh boy.

"I need you to run to our room and grab my black bra. Please," I added with an angelic smile.

He grinned. "Which one?"

"I don't know, you pick," I purred, and stepped forward to playfully kissed him on the lips. When he started to kiss me back, I pulled away and his bottom lip started to quiver.

I laughed and gently pushed him on his way. "Go fetch my bra," I said.

Reluctantly, he slowly made his way to our room and retrieved my bra for me. Once I rewarded him with a quick kiss, I started closing the door – only to find him blocking it with his foot.

"May I come in?" he asked, lifting a eyebrow.

"Fine," I said exasperatedly. He bounded in excitedly, and closed the door behind him.

After I slowly, for his benefit, got dressed, my bra started to feel uncomfortable.

"What in the world," I hissed, and adjusted it, but it was no use. There was like an object in the padding on my bra. It was starting to piss me off.

"Allow me," Raiden said, and unbuttoned my blouse before grabbing a hold of my breast.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

He laughed and grabbed the bra instead. I watched his hands as he adjusted the padding and finally letting go of my bra. No longer was it uncomfortable.

He smiled at my reaction.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A tracking device," he said as-a-matter-of-fact.

I narrowed my eyes. "Why did you put it in my bra?"

"For emergencies. So I always know where to find you," he said sweetly. I had to give it to him; he was making me suspicion flutter away.

And to make things seem even more extra casual, he kissed me roughly on the lips, making me completely forget about the tracking device.

I zoomed away from the memory, now on the plane with Dimitri. What are the odds of wearing that same bra? Damn Raiden!

How cliché of him to place it in my bra. Now, not only can he track, but also Dimitri…

Raiden can track me, maybe find out where I am and come rescue me. If I was that desperate, I'd want Raiden to do that, but I wasn't. I'd get out on my own.

"Huh," I said to Dimitri. "So if you were working for Raiden and knew we were falling in love, why didn't you stop it?"

He grimaced but continued. "Because he loves you. He adores you, Rose. If anyone could replace me, it'd be him. So I backed off, and for good reasons too. I'm not going to be here much longer so-"

"Whoa, what?" I interrupted him.

"Rose, I'm not-" he started. He blew out a ragged breath. "There's no other way, Rose."

My breathing became labored. "What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"How else am I going to get rid of Tasha? Why do you think we're on a plane, Rose? Why do you think I installed them in here," he gestured to the door on the other side of the room. I looked towards it, confused.

"Go on, look what's in there," he urged.

My legs responded before I could stop them. I walked towards the door, unsure what I'd see on the other side. I hesitated for a second before wrenching the door open and looked inside.

Oh my God.

I spun around to see Dimitri's jaw tighten.

"Is this some kind of joke?" I screeched.

Behind that door was a compartment of bombs.

Tears would have streaked my face, if I wasn't Strigoi.

"That's your plan? To blow us all up?"

"No, not all of us. Everyone except you," he said, his voice thinned.

My breathing hitched. "No. No, no, no! What about you?"

He gave me a small smile. "It's the end for me, Roza."

My eyes darted to the compartment. No, way was I letting Dimitri do this to himself.

"I can't-"

Just then, the door to the room we were in opened. An overwhelming scent filled my nose.

Tasha.

Before she stepped in, Dimitri lunged forward, grabbed my arm and towed me into the compartment. There was an emergency exit door near one of the biggest bombs. We ran towards it. He opened the door, sending it flying off the plane. The air was sucking us out.

I heard Tasha scream in anguish as I ran to the opening, clutching Dimitri's arm. He was wrestling me off him, but I held on to dear life. If I'm going, so was he. Tasha had joined us as well. Dimitri pushed, while Tasha pulled me.

"Rose!" he screamed. I looked at him and saw that he was sobbing. I saw that he activated the bombs and the only thing that kept me from falling out of the plain was Tasha. I swear, they were both going to rip my arms off.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DIMITRI!" Tasha screamed at the top of her lungs. I looked at the bomb's screen and saw the numbers were going down.

10…9…8…7…

Dimitri was trying to pry Tasha's hands off me.

6…5…

I looked at Dimitri and thought shit; we're all going to die.

4…3…

Dimitri roared and let go of me, sending Tasha forward which sent me almost out the door. He stepped forward and punched me as hard as he could in the face.

That's all it took.

I flew out of the plane, almost taking Tasha in tow before Dimitri chucked her back inside.

2…1…

Boom.

That's all I heard, and all I could hear. I had been sucked out of a plane and was floating in the harsh air, watching the plane blast into a billion pieces. Nothing was left.

I know there's noting left. I was under the plane itself. Bits of steel were flying at me like missiles. Large chunks of the plane were falling with me.

The ocean was underneath and I prayed it would kill me, but it couldn't. I smashed into the water, head first and never in my entire life had I felt anything more painful.

I didn't resurface. I didn't dare. All I wanted to do was to die with Dimitri. Right here, right now.

I wanted to forget everyone. Hope, Raiden, everyone. I wanted to have nothing attached to me, to my heart so that I could die without any guilt of leaving anyone behind.

But I couldn't.

Already the pieces of the plane collided with the water and soon the main piece would crash upon me. I swam as hard as I could out of its path.

I just barely missed it, as I swam as if I was racing to get out of the water because a shark was tailing me.

I resurfaced once I was a few hundred feet away from the catastrophe. At first all I could see what the fire on top of the water. Bits and pieces were still hitting the water but soon my attention was caught elsewhere. An island not incredibly far from me was my best shot of going home.

Sucking in a deep breath, I swam for it. The current was harsh but that of all things it couldn't stop me.

After I made it to the beach, I looked back at the wreckage. Again, all I could see was the fire. Tasha was dead. And Dimitri…

I fell to my knees, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

"DIMITRIIIIIIIIII!" I screamed in anguish, collapsing onto the sand. The only light source was the moon, and for once it didn't comfort me.

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