Vampire Academy: A Desperate Cause
Chapter 17 of my Vampire Academy story, enjoy.
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead.
Chapter 17
DIMITRI POV
I sighed as I shook my head, following Rose and Adrian as he led the way. He had explained his plan as they walked down the street. Our destination was an abandoned manor house, just on the outskirts of town. The reason for going there was simple, yet crazy as far as I was concerned.
"Are you absolutely sure this will work?" I asked.
I heard Rose sigh while Adrian replied. "Of course it will; look, we worked this all out and..."
I then explained the reason behind my misgivings. "Right, like anything will go wrong, we're walking straight into a Strigoi den."
That was my main issue, this abandoned manor house had been used by the Strigoi as a base. Adrian explained that our best bet for finding the kidnappers was through something he had discovered in regards to his spirit power.
It involved using his spirit powers, our stakes and at least one Strigoi. The main problem with that of course; it would mean fighting the Strigoi.
"Dimitri, listen, this..." Rose began.
I quickly spoke. "I know what you're going to say Rose, I get it, its our last chance, but...is this really a chance we want to take, the risks involved are..."
Adrian sighed. "Oh please, give it a rest. I wouldn't have suggested this if it wasn't workable. Most of the Strigoi have already left the den, there is only a handful left."
Somehow that didn't reassure me as much as it should have.
But I knew Rose was right, we were running out of time, things were desperate and I suppose Adrian did have a point, he wouldn't have formulated a plan like this without making sure that things would work, as much as possible.
'But all the same, I wonder, if this is not just yet another wild goose chase...What if we find...all the Strigoi are gone?' I thought quietly.
Glancing back at me, Rose rolled her eyes and spoke quietly to Adrian for a moment before turning to me.
"Dimitri, we need to talk, over here." She said at once.
Confused I followed her, Adrian remained waiting for us at the end of the street.
"Rose, what…?"
She spoke at once, cutting me off. "I don't know what your problem is, but enough alright. I don't like this anymore than you do. But we have to do this, for Lissa and Jill; everybody is waiting for word from us. Once we know what we're up against, we have to contact them, remember."
I nodded. "I, I know that, but..."
"Now just calm down, concentrate and we'll get through this, working together, alright." She explained calmly.
I nodded and we briefly kissed before making our mind up and preparing ourselves as we went to join Adrian again.
Finally we reached our destination and carefully, quietly began to stake the place out. In the end, we were able to verify that Adrian was indeed right, that there was only a handful of Strigoi remaining, five to be exact. We regrouped.
"So, how are we gonna do this?" Adrian asked.
I pondered briefly before speaking. "We need to go on the offensive, but we can't just go charging in through the front door...This plan of yours, how many…?"
Adrian smiled lightly and replied. "Just one is needed...just let me know when you're ready to make that strike."
We nodded and prepared, Rose then spoke.
"I checked the windows, one is unlocked, we can sneak in through there."
We nodded and began to approach the house. We had to be careful, it was starting to get late again and we knew, this night, these Strigoi would leave and we'd have no further clues.
So we began to move quickly, but quietly as we reached the window and Rose slowly, carefully, opened it. We climbed in slowly until we were all inside. Now it was time to begin.
I watched carefully as I stood, hidden and ready, Rose took up her own position, as did Adrian, three of the five Strigoi were in the room we were about to attack. It was then we struck, no hesitation, we launched a surprise attack and swiftly took down two of the Strigoi without a fuss.
The third leapt to his feet and yelled, I quickly went to attack him, but it soon became a skirmish. While we struggled, the two remaining Strigoi entered the room and, seeing the fight, attempting to join in. Rose and Adrian immediately cut them off and the fight resumed.
C'mon, got to...we need to hurry...' I thought desperately.
Finally however, I found the opening I sought and killed the Strigoi, I turned to see Rose had been disarmed but was holding the Strigoi back, looking for an opening. Something distracted her however, causing me to react at once, killing the Strigoi trying to kill her.
"Rose..." I hissed.
She shook her head. "Dimitri, look..."
The last remaining Strigoi had stepped back, sizing us up.
"She's our key everyone, ready..." Adrian told us.
Rose nodded. "We have to be, of all people...her..."
I bit my lip, realizing what she meant, for the Strigoi that remained was instantly recognizable, Natalie Dashkov. She growled and attempted to attack, but Adrian threw Rose her stake, no doubt imbued with his Spirit Powers, she caught it and, taking advantage of Natalie's recklessness, she struck out, leaving us to watch in amazement as Natalie began to change before our eyes.
Having managed to sneak back to our hotel room, we waited for Natalie to wake up. I still couldn't believe it; that she had actually had her transformation reversed, she was a Moroi again. There was still too many things going on; and Natalie, I knew, was going to face the brunt of it. But, from Rose's expression I could tell she pitied him.
"Rose..."
She turned to me. "Dimitri, we, what are we going to do?"
"I don't know." I replied honestly.
It was then, Natalie finally woke up.
"Natalie, you..." Rose began.
Startled Natalie reacted at once, freaking out, Adrian and I had to hold her steady while Rose tried to calm her.
"Rose, I, God, what have I...We, I..." She cried out, stammering in terror.
Rose shook her head. "Natalie, we can get into that later. What matters is, you're you again, no longer that monster. Now, we need your help, think of this as a chance for redemption."
She slowly calmed down and we were able to let her go.
"What, what do you…?"
I quickly explained. "We are looking for Lissa and Jill, they've been kidnapped, the Strigoi here are..."
Her eyes widened. "Oh, that, yes...We were all involved yes, I...I know just what you are talking about."
We all tensed at that, Natalie was indeed the key to this.
She shook her head however and I could see she was struggling with this.
"I, I. Listen, I know where they are being held, I can help you, but there's something you have to know, the two people behind all this, I know one of them."
"Who is it?" Rose asked, her voice shaky.
Natalie's expression told us, before she even opened her mouth. "My father."
As we had suspected when we saw her face.
Viktor Dashkov.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.