Tony

Maya said she would hurry back but there was something in me that was telling me otherwise. As I fumbled with the door handle of the expensive car, Kyle put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you worry about her but she's going to be okay. She'll be right back." I ignored him and followed after Maya, well tried to follow Maya. I picked up my pace, hoping that I could reach her. Nothing. I ran inside of and that's when I saw her.

But someone else had already beat me to her . . .

Avery Lazar gave me a quick look as she blasted Maya with some kind of power. I screamed out Maya's name as I fell down to my knees. The blast of power had not only affected Maya, it had affected me. The lights of the hallway were out so I didn't have the smallest idea of where Maya had gone. When I recovered and the lights came back all of sudden, Maya was gone.

I did not waste time going crazy. I ran to the elevators where the door to the stairs was. Running was probably faster than the elevator. Mr. Ivashkov was pacing the room when I burst in through the door. Everyone looked my way, even Mrs. Ivashkov looked my way with annoyance written all over her face.

"Mr. Ivashkov!"

"Guardian Lewis?"

"She took her!"

"Tony, calm down. What are you talking about?" Maya's brother Cade said, coming up to me and putting a hand on my shoulder.

But Lord Ivashkov understood.

His face paled and if not for Lady Ivashkov standing next to him, he would have fallen. She led him to a chair. For the first time in my life, Lady Ivashkov looked at me as a person rather than someone who was going to take her daughter. "What are you talking about, Guardian Lewis?"

I looked down at Lord Ivashkov, asking with my eyes if it was okay to tell her. He spoke on his own, telling his wife everything. "Tony has been assigned to Avery Lazar. He was assigned to protect the family because Avery wants to destroy our family."

Lady Ivashkov stared incredulously between me and her husband. "Why!?"

Lord Ivashkov shrugged. "Why? She and I dated many, many many years ago. When she found out about you in my life she understood that she stood no chance against you." He sighed. "To put it mildly, she hates you and she doesn't want anything in this world that you created."

"But Maya isn't just my daughter. She's your creation, too! Why would she want to kill her then? Why can't she just kill me?!"

"Rose, calm, darling. I do not have an answer to your questions because I don't know what to say. The best explanation is. Maya, or any of our kids, weren't supposed to happen because I was supposed to be Avery's."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about this?" Lady Ivashkov looked on the verge of losing it.

"She killed her guardian and her brother. They locked her up in a mental institution. How would I know she would ever escape?"

I stopped there arguing before it got out of control. "Argue later! We need to focus on finding Maya."

"Call Dante and the others! They need to get back!" Lady Ivashkov screamed at the son that was just standing there looking lost. "Cade! Call your brothers and tell them they need to get back! Tell them not to let Kayla out of their sight." That sure put the boy in action.

"It's all my fault . . ." Adrian said, putting his head to his hands. "If anyone should die, it should be me. My daughter does not deserve to suffer over something that I caused."

"How would you know this was going to happen?" I questioned and didn't wait for an answer. I had to make calls of my own. Guardian McCarty answered on the first ring. "She took Maya. We need all the back-up we could get."

"In New York?"

"Yes."

"We'll track the chip in the bracelet you gave her. You did give it to her, did you?"

"Yes, yes. I follow orders."

"We'll keep you informed. She'll be okay, Tony."

I didn't reply to his comment. "Hurry, Arnold." I turned back around to Adrian and Rose. "They're tracking Maya down."

"How?" Adrian's face was as confused as confused could get.

"We put a chip in one of Maya's bracelets. I told her never to take it off because it was a symbol of our love. We'll be able to track her down."

"What if we're too late?" Lady Ivashkov gasped out.

"Don't think like that, sweetheart. We'll find her."

I was going crazy.

Maya, please don't die on me. I'm coming for you, sweetheart. I'll kill Avery. And then you and I can be together . . .

Maya

I woke up to a hand going through my hair. I was almost going to say something to Tony for doing that but I remembered Tony was not here. The cold, harsh realization came at me like a thousand lightning bolts. I did not know where I was because someone had kidnapped me and taken me who knows where.

I sat up but immediately was held back by a small hand that was surprisingly strong. "Don't do that. The headache gets worse when you do that." What headache? Oh. That headache. My head started pounding really hard. Startled, I looked down when I realized it was a little girl talking. She could not have been older than four. She had round, round brown eyes and light brown hair. The little girl reminded me so much of Zara when she was this age.

"Are you okay?" The little girl asked.

Her words . . . they took me back to a memorable moment between me and Zara.

"Are you okay?" Zara who was the only about five years old run up to me.

I had climbed on the counter of the kitchen. I ran along I, screaming "Look at me, I'm a bird!" until I fell down and landed with a smack! on my face.

I shook my head. I had fallen pretty hard. And I did feel like crying like a baby.

Zara noticed my sad eyes. "Mommy said to kiss away the pain." She grabbed my hand and pressed it to her lips. "Better?" she asked, staring at me with huge brown eyes.

I nodded, silently letting some tears fall.

She wiped the tears away, too. "It's okay to cry, Maya. I fall all the time. And I cry Everyone cries. You can cry, too." She put her little arms around me. "I'll cry with you if you want."

I cried a little in her arms. That was the day I called a truce. No more throwing fish sticks at Zara . . .

"Where am I?"

She looked at me with sad eyes. "I don't know. They brought me here for something and I can't remember what." She looked away and I could see the bite marks on her face. I gasped. What kind of monsters did this to little girls!?

I took hold of her hand. "Who brought you here?"

"A really, really nice lady with blue eyes. She told me she would give me all the toys in the world if came with her. She is a lot nicer than my actual mommy. My mommy hates; she tells me every night."

I was suddenly thankful my parents were the parents I had had as I was growing up as a child. Silent tears started to fall out of my eyes and I pulled the little girl close. She was a comfort, like Zara would be if she would have been here. I pulled back from the little girl and looked at her straight in the eyes. "If I get out of here, I'm taking you with me. I will buy you all the toys you want. I will be your mommy." I soothed her hair. "Do you want that?"

She smiled and threw her arms around my neck. "Can I start calling you mommy now?" She welcomed herself to do it. "What's your name, mommy?"

"It's Maya."

"That's a pretty name."

"What's your name?"

"Illiana," she said as she yawned.

"Illiana, sweetheart, why don't you go to sleep?"

"I'm scared," she said, pouting.

"Don't be. I'll watch over you. Go to sleep."

"But what if someone comes for you?"

"I'll still protect you."

"And you won't leave like my other mommy left?"

"I promise I won't leave . . ."

"Okay, thanks, mommy." She reached up and kissed me on the cheek. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Sleep well."

I watched as her delicate features turned into an innocent child's face when she sleeps. I stroked her hair, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. There were no blankets so I took off my coat and covered her with it. The coat was long enough to cover her whole body. How could a mother be as stupid to not realize what beautiful miracle she had in front of her? There were some woman that spent most of their lives trying to conceive and there were other woman that spent all their lives despising what they had in front of themselves; they had no heart.

I looked down at the bracelet Tony had given me a couple of days ago, right after we had shared a nice moment in that cabin. He said I had to wear it every day if he meant something to me. Of course he meant something to me, which was why I found myself wearing it now. He had bought himself one, too and he wore it as well.

An hour passed of the little girl sleeping when someone walked in through the door. It was the woman with the blue eyes, the one that Illiana had talked about. The woman didn't look nice at all. She smiled when she noticed me look at her. I kept my expression as blank as possible; I did not want her to know how freaked out I really was. But she could probably assume.

"How about you follow me? I do not want the little girl witnessing what's going to happen next."

"I promised her I wouldn't leave her alone . . ."

She stared at me for a couple of seconds, without blinking. "Marc!" A couple seconds later, one of them walked in. A Strigoi. I tired hiding my fear as well. This was scarier than facing the woman, a billion times scarier. The woman nodded at the little girl in my arms. The Strigoi took her out of my arms.

"Don't hurt her please . . ." I whispered.

"What happens to her, is none of your business."

I stood up and tried taking the little girl out of the Strigoi's hands. "Don't take her! Leave her here!" The little girl held whatever last bit of sanity I had.

But the Strigoi was gone.

I looked around and there was black mist surrounding me. The mist looked like it was taking shape. I glanced back at Avery and she was smiling quite deviously. "This never fails to amuse me." The fog had formed into two shapes. One shape was on either side of her. "Say hello to Oscar and Reed, Maya."

I was terrified, but at the same time I was amazed. I had never seen anything like this ever before. Even though we were certainly not human, my dad wanted us to blend in with the human world, Day World. And what I was seeing was completely beyond anything I had ever seen in my entire life. It amazed me.

"If you don't comply, Oscar and Reed will be sure to make you regret it." She tapped her finger under her chin. "Now, do you know who I am?"

"No."

"Your father never mentioned and old love by the name of Avery?"

"No."

Her anger made the shapes move closer to me. I flinched.

"Well, this is going to be harder than it is."

"What do you want from me?!" I suddenly demanded. Bad idea, Maya. The shapes started attacking me, going through my body and making me feel the worst imaginable pain in the world. There were no words to describe what I was feeling. I started screaming. It was horrible. She didn't stop it either.

"I was going to make you suffer and let you go." She said as casually as you would say you wanted cheese on your cheeseburger. "But now I am going to make you suffer and then kill you."

I didn't pay attention to the world or time or anything. I just knew that it hurt. Bad. I wanted to die and not live through this pain ever again. I didn't even see Tony fighting with some Strigoi when the doors opened. I wasn't aware of anything . . .

"Make it stop!" Tony yelled at Avery who just laughed. He himself had was also experiencing the pain. A Strigoi walked through the door and even though he was about to pass out, he still battled the Strigoi. The Strigoi all but killed Tony. I saw the Strigoi go down as Tony's stake plunged through her heart.

Then, her turned on Avery. She didn't even flinch as he grabbed her around the throat, choking the life out of her. She just laughed and laughed. "You can't kill me." Tony tried harder. Nothing happened. I saw that determination in Tony's eyes. Somebody was going to die tonight.

"Help me! Help me!" I kept yelling. Tony was debating whether to go for me or kill Avery.

Finally, though. Tony pulled out a knife out of his pocket and slashed Avery across the shoulder. She gasped out in pain. "Stupid dhampir!" She yelled. She was getting killed now. She was going to be the one to die tonight . . .

I was wrong.

Nothing could have ever prepared me for what I saw next.

Out of nowhere, she took the knife out of Tony's hand and stabbed him in the heart. I screamed, louder than ever before. Seeing Tony fall was a lot more pain than getting attacked by the shadows. Nothing would ever hurt so much as seeing him fall.

Avery was distracted and I was free.

I crawled over to Tony. Blood was gushing out. I gripped the knife and tried pulling it out. It was stuck in his heart. It seemed like the knife was the only thing that was keeping him alive. If I pulled it out, he was dead.

My tears mixed with his blood.

I saw Avery smile cruelly. "Poor, poor Maya. The second round is going to be worse." With an evil cackle, she left.

"Tony!" I screamed out.

"Maya . . ." Tony gasped. "I love you, Maya. I always have loved you . . ."

"Tony . . ."

But he was already dead.