Chapter 11 - The Sighting

Present day - March

Dimitri POV

Heaven. This was simply heaven, after over a month of sleeping in a small tent, next to a Spiridon who cared less and less about boundaries and personal space. The breaking point came when I woke up one morning only to find him spooning me, with something hard pressing against me. After that incident we slept in shifts.

It was now our third morning at the Bed & Breakfast, in our room with two separate beds. Emphasis on separate. Heaven.

I heard the shower running in the bathroom while I mulled over our situation. Arthur had given us a week to stay here, thinking a longer stay would attract too much attention. We hadn't decided yet if we would go back to searching the area within a larger radius, or if we would end the surveillance mission. I had a nagging feeling that we were missing something vital, and I didn't want to give up the search just yet. Today was a Sunday, and the staff at the B&B had told us that there was going to be a small market at the main square. Since we still had to be wary of any guardians that might recognize what we were, our plan today was for Spiridon to visit the market while I got to a position where I could monitor the area from a distance. He was a bit shorter than I was and looked friendlier, so out of us two he would attract less attention.

I heard the water turn off and I got up to get ready for a shower myself. Spiridon stepped out and was humming on a song. I wasn't as irritated anymore, a good night's sleep doing wonders to my control.

"After your shower I need your help with my make-up, girlfriend" he said in his usual joking manner. Already early March, the weather was getting warmer and it might be suspicious if he had a scarf around his neck, so we had to cover up his marks with make-up instead. It was easier if I applied it to the back of his neck, but that didn't stop him from joking about it. "Only if you braid my hair" I retorted back as I closed the door to the bathroom.

Hours later I was situated in the nearby forest, on top of a hill that allowed me to have a visual of the main parts of the village, while giving myself cover. I was scanning the area with my binoculars. We had decided against Spiridon wearing an earpiece for communication. It was less conspicuous if he spoke on the phone than talking into an earpiece. He was currently sitting in a café with a small outdoor area, seemingly enjoying the afternoon sun behind his sunglasses. I knew he was scanning the crowd while sipping on his coffee.

Something grabbed my attention to the far left of the market square. I focused my attention on two men. Guardians. I was sure of it. Behind them was a girl, dressed a bit too light for the weather. I couldn't really see her face, but from my distance I saw that she had brown hair. My heart started racing, and I speed-dialed Spiridon. He answered on the second ring "Hi honey, I was just thinking about you."

"Three o'clock, two males and one female."

"That sounds good, babe. What color did you want to buy?" I could hear the rustling over the phone as he moved.

"One male appears to be of Arthur's age and is wearing a navy blue jacket with black jeans and black boots. The other one seems closer to our age and has lighter jeans and a green jacket. The female has brown hair and a thin gray jacket over a gray dress and black boots. Careful, I think the older male has spotted you." I couldn't really see any of their faces well, they were all too far away even with the binoculars, but one of them had turned towards Spiridon.

"I think gray curtains would be better for the living room." he said while turning his back to them to check a stand. His left hand rubbed the back of his neck, drawing attention to that area. He knew his marks were covered and it was a smart move to show he didn't have any. It worked, and the man seemed to dismiss him. "If you save the receipt I'm sure we can exchange them if they aren't the right color."

"Finish up the call and plant the tracker on the girl. I'll meet you in our room later on. Try to confirm their marks."

"Sounds good, babe," he said, seemingly bored by the call. "I'll see you when I get home."

We hung up. I kept following the party as they made their way through the market. They stopped at one corner, and it looked like they were just standing there for a while. I didn't understand the purpose of it, scanning the surroundings for anything to give away what they were doing. Until I spotted them in one of the windows. Two Morois.

I wasn't really sure what made me so certain that they were Moroi, relying somewhat on a hunch. I could barely see them through the reflection of the glass, but I was sure. It looked almost like the guardians were displaying the girl to the Morois. After a while the guardians started leading the girl back towards the center of the market. I didn't want to attract attention to Spiridon so I decided against calling him again, I knew he had the situation under control. He had to plant the tracker on her as we couldn't really follow them with our car.

It was difficult not to focus on the girl again, difficult to trust Spiridon. But I had to keep the building under surveillance, hopefully catching a better look at the Morois when they exited the building. That didn't stop my mind from wandering. That girl on the market could be Rose. After ten years I might have finally found her. It took every ounce of control in me not to run back to the village and drag the girl away from the men.

We had to do this the right way, I knew that. It wasn't only about the girl we saw right now, it was bigger than that. There were bound to be more taken ones if we only found the Institution in this area. We had to keep our cover.

An hour later I had made no new sightings. I was just about to make my way back to the village when Spiridon called.

"I'm in our room now. I got the tracker on her. Definitely guardians, saw the marks on their necks. The girl was exactly as the baker had described, barely looking up from the ground. She was clearly shying away from the men, especially the older one."

I felt the anger course through my veins, and I tried to steady my voice as I replied "I spotted two Morois in the window of the yellow building next to the bakery. I kept monitoring the building but didn't see anyone exit."

"What if they used an exit you couldn't see? Was there a back door?"

"Negative. The only two exits were visible to me, I walked behind the building this morning."

"Could they still be in the building then?" he asked and I heard a door close.

"Yes, but somehow I doubt that they are. Check it out but don't blow our cover, and don't take any risks."

"Yes honey, I love you and miss you too. Bye babe." he said before hanging up.

We met up to clear our room and to check out of the B&B, claiming a family emergency. The owner had insisted that we take sandwiches for the road. As we were heading towards the car Spiridon explained that he hadn't found anything while examining the building where I spotted the Morois.

"It's not like I could go inside without drawing attention to myself. Instead, I went to the bakery to see if the baker knew something. He hadn't seen any Morois in the village, but he told me that most of the buildings were built after the Cold War. Meaning they had underground shelters, some of them connected to each other. They probably used those."

I didn't say anything as I fought back the nervousness. We drove in silence towards the location the tracker was showing, and I was getting increasingly anxious that something was wrong. That the tracker would be found or stop working. It looked like a pen and it shouldn't draw any attention, but that didn't help settle my nerves. Had they thrown out the tracker somehow? The location it was showing was odd, we were certain that there weren't any buildings in the area. What if they took her there to do something to her? I was almost shaking as I thought about all the horrible things two men might do to a young girl alone in the woods. Or maybe even worse, left her there alone where she would be an easy treat for a Strigoi. Not that we had yet seen any signs of them but a nomad wouldn't be unthinkable.

Spiridon sensed that I was on edge. "The tracker is still on her, I'm certain. I managed to drop it in her pocket."

"How'd you manage to do that? Are you sure that they didn't see you plant it?" I asked, the accusation clear in my question.

"I bumped into the girl when the two gorillas were occupied. Don't worry, Belikov." He looked at me with a weird expression before he continued. "She had brown hair and brown eyes, and was about 5ft 7 tall. Her skin was slightly tanned. Hard to say the exact age but my guess would be somewhere between 16 and 19".

I ignored what he said about the girl's appearance, not showing any signs of reaction to what he had disclosed. I didn't know how tall Rose would be as I saw her when she was seven, but the rest of the description matched. It was a long-shot, but I couldn't contain the hope that swelled up in my chest.