Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming [A Vampire Academy fanfiction]

Chapter VIII

I hated sweat. It was disgusting and so unladylike. But oh well, I was a guardian, a Dhampir, and I killed Strigoi for a living. I stripped and jumped into the shower, making sure the water was bone cold. I had a lead, and I was pretty sure it was reliable enough. It had to be true. It had to be, or else I was going crazy.

I pulled on a tank top and some random jeans and grabbed my jacket. It got cold often in Montana. It snowed every winter and it was chilly every fall. I pocketed my silver stake and took along some money. You never know when you might need it. I hastily stuffed my feet into my sneakers and got the heck out of that suite.

Into the elevator I went, anxious to go and get Cass. Get Wesley. Get the rest of them. And save Dante....I needed to save Dante. The doctors wouldn't let Dante stay hooked up to that machine for long. I had to get Adrian now, there was no other way. I couldn't possibly contact her royal highness Lissa Dragomir for this.

The elevator dinged and stopped at the lobby and I climbed out. Oh shit. I forgot my cell phone. Ugh. Damn. What now? "Wing it, Emma, wing it," I muttered to myself, and continued walking, walking, walking. I could live without a cell phone. With Adrian's dreamwalking thing I was pretty sure I was covered on all this. Before I knew it, I was out the door and yes, in another friggin' cab.

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Despite what Adrian told me, I still thought it was good to go to the scene of the crime and check everything out again. Maybe I would get some dirt on this whole ordeal with the Strigoi and what not. Maybe they had revived the school somehow. I just had to know.

I had never been good at being sneaky, but, hiding in the bushes seemed like a good idea now. I wasn't exactly sure who could be around, so, revealing my face wasn't exactly an option. I approached the school as quietly as I could. I could see the charred remains. It was....more than a little heartbreaking.

"Time to be the better version of James Bond. The female version," I whispered to myself, and chuckled. It was kinda funny, you had to admit. I crouched down and hid behind the biggest bush I could find closest to the school. I had to be more than 20 feet away, but this was the best I could do.

Hopefully, I would see something. Someone. Anything, really, was going to be a major plus in this mystery. The school looked completely deserted. No one was around and every once in a while I thought I could the blackened building collapsing. I sighed, it seemed like this was hopeless and I might as well just buy a ticket straight to Spokane or something and search for caves.

"Any leads?" I heard a familiar voice asked, after what felt like sitting behind that bush for an eternity. I check my watch. Hmm, 15 minutes. I slowly craned my head over the bush. It was Mrs. Applebaum. Who was she talking to?

"No...we've looked everywhere possible. We've got nothing. Honestly, they couldn't have gotten that far," replied Mr. Uzicov, a new teacher at St. Vladimir's. He had only been at St. Vlad's for a month before this incident happened.

"You're telling me that you didn't find anything? Nothing at all...?" she inquired. Mrs. Applebaum had always been a bit....how do I say this? Interrogative.

"Nothing. I mean, we saw two Strigoi, but as much as we tortured them, they claimed they knew nothing about this," he replied promptly.

"Alright, thanks," she said simply, and walked away. Mr. Uzicov did the same. Hmm, they came to talk to each other, and then they just walked away? I figured that the school would start rebuilding by now. What was going on?

"Emma, I know you're back there," Mrs. Applebaum said about 5 minutes later. Geesh! Busted! For a kindergarten teacher, she was sure smart.

I crawled out of the bush and then stood up, brushing grass off of me. "Mrs. Applebaum, I really want to help. Y'see, Cass got captured and Wesley did too and I really want Ashley to be happy...." I started, and then I just began to ramble. It was a quality of mine that got out of control when I was embarrassed. Especially when I was embarrassed  "And then there's Adrian too....he got captured and they're holding all of them hostage and I'm really worried and I don't know what to do...." I said, and was about to continue when Mrs. Applebaum held up a hand to stop me.

She raised her eyebrows at me then, curious. She had hair the color of maple, and eyes a mesmerizing grey. A Dhampir she was, only 35. "Adrian....Adrian Ivashkov? Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, then chuckled and shook her head. "Some match that is...." she muttered, laughing.

"No! He is not my boyfriend. It's just.....he and, uh....Cass, right! He and Cass are friends and it would probably mean a great deal to Cass if I rescue him and whatnot...." I said. Oh God. I was rambling again. Someone please stop me.

"All right Emma, just calm down and relax. Everything will work out, and honestly, I'm pretty sure that the 2nd group of people we're sending will get all of them back," she said, sounding very sure of herself. "I think you should just go home and leave this all to the adults," she remarked, and looked at me sternly. "This is not any of your business, Emma. I advise you to stay out of it. There's no use in losing more students," she said coldly. "Go home," she muttered and left me to stand there alone.

I stood there for what seemed like quite a while. I hadn't really found out anything new. I knew that the teachers hadn't reached Cass and all the rest of them....Adrian had told me. So I wasn't crazy. He really could walk dreams. Thinking that made me smile for some reason. Then a sound startled me. It was the sound of a car pulling in, right in front of the school. The windows were tinted and it was black. Strigoi? I stood up and prepared to fight. The car door opened, and someone stepped out.

"Holy shit! Would you look at this place?! It's a wreck!" a voice exclaimed. That voice was famous. Famous for chaos and saving the world and being a kick-ass fighter. That voice belonged to no other than Rose Hathaway.