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

Chapter IX

Wow. Rose Hathaway. In the flesh. When would I get another chance like this? And if Rose was around then Lissa and Dimitri would be as well. I had never known them well when we were back at St. Vlad's. Now St. Vladimir's was in ruins and the golden trio must be checking it out and devising a plan to rebuild it. Where else would a nerdy Dhampir like me go to school anyways? St. Vlad's, in a way, had been my own sanctuary. I hated stayed in my own apartment all alone. At the academy, I had Ashley and Cass, and now that I realized it, Adrian Ivashkov wasn't all that bad either.

"Hi," I said more than a bit shyly, coming out from behind my little land of bushes. Rose raised her eyebrows at me, and Dimitri Belikov peered at me curiously. He was tall, and had a handsome face, with brown waves as his hair. Nice enough. "I'm not a Strigoi, so don't look at me like that!" I said more than a bit hotly.

Dimitri chuckled and Rose managed a small smile. Her royal highness, Lissa Dragomir, smiled at me. "Hey, you're Emma DiCamillo! I remember you," she said. She looked elegant even in jeans and a white t-shirt. But she carried herself in a way that only a royal Moroi would. She had a serene, peaceful smile, and eyes with a color so special, they sparkled. It was 6 PM, so of course Dhampirs and Moroi were about right now. Her hair had gotten longer since I had last seen her.

"What are you doing here?" Rose asked, seeming more quiet than I remembered her.  But her words had fire and attitude in them. Of course. That was expected of a Hathaway.

"My friends were taken hostage by a group of Strigoi and I was here to see if I could pick up on any additional information besides the information that I was already given," I replied.

"I know all that," Rose said. "So does Lissa," she said. She had long, dark brown hair, and tough exterior. Hopefully, on the inside, she was a softie. She had exotic skin and a pretty face.

"Royal highness," Dimitri corrected, and elbowed her playfully. She smiled at him, but gave him a look filled with warning. What was that all about?

"Who gave you the information?" Lissa asked. She seemed so nice. I was surprised that she remembered someone like me. Tall, blond, and attractive, not to mention intelligent, she made the perfect queen with her regal air of sincerity. I had talked to Lissa Dragomir a total of 5 times, and then she became the queen. Of course, she was juggling college as well as a relationship with Christian Ozera. The girl had a lot on her plate.

"Adrian Ivashkov," I replied promptly. There was no doubt that Rose would believe me. "He contacted me yesterday in, well, a dream....and I'm not crazy. I swear I'm telling the truth," I said.

"Sounds like Adrian found his new chew toy," Rose muttered angrily.

"Rose!" Lissa exclaimed. "Be nice," she crowed, and turned back to me. They were kinda treating me like a little kid. I didn't like it.

"He's not my boyfriend," I retorted. I had been hearing all of this 'Adrian's-my-boyfriend' talk from nearly everyone. It was so annoying. "We just happened to meet when he was on a errand and had to go to the academy," I said, very annoyed. I had a temper.

"I can't believe he didn't contact me..." Rose mumbled. This time around, Dimitri gave her a look. Everyone had known about Adrian and Rose. No woman could have a relationship with Adrian Ivashkov for long, even I knew that form just looking at for 5 minutes.

"I can't believe they're all still alive," I said.

"They're alive?" Dimitri asked. This was the very first time I had heard him speak. I had saw him around the academy, but, I had never once dared to speak with him. He seemed like a person who had a lot of power and a lot of influence. Not to mention he was really tall and that kinda intimidated me. (You never heard me say that, alright?)

"Yeah. Apparently, the Strigoi haven't turned any of them yet. They're just feeding off of them one by one, and they actually stop. I didn't think Strigoi were even capable of that," I said. "Anyway, I'm just on my way there. Adrian told me that they were in a cave somewhere in maybe Washington or North Dakota," I added, hoping that would help. Although Dmitri and Rose were off guarding Lissa, the queen, it didn't mean they couldn't recruit an elite guardian and try to find them. I could use some help.

"The Strigoi obviously want something," Rose said, sounding pissed. She was scary when she was pissed. "I just can't figure out what," Rose muttered, tapping her foot and crossing her arms.

"That's what I said to myself too. I just can't figure out what," I said. Rose ignored me. I had a feeling she didn't like me. Probably the Adrian thing. Geez, Adrian caused problems. Everywhere. Even if he wasn't there.

"I think it's dangerous for you to be going by yourself, although your intentions are pretty noble," Lissa said.

"I think I can handle it," I said, and gave her a confident smile. Inside, I was honestly thinking that I couldn't. There had to have been at least 12 to 15 Strigoi hauling 20 of my classmates away. I couldn't take on all of them....and that was only if I was lucky enough to find them.

"Keep in touch with us," Lissa said. "Hand me your cell and I'll punch in my number," she said politely. Wow. The queen's number. Who would've thought? Oh shit. Yeah...I had forgotten my cell phone. "Then you can reach us and we can reach you whenever," she said.

"I, uh, forgot my cell phone back at the hotel," I said sheepishly, and blushed. Wow. How humiliating. "But, uh, I can still give you my number," I said.

Lissa handed me her cell phone and I punched my number in. Then she took out a gum wrapper and scrawled down her number, Dimitri's, and Rose's onto it with an old pen she found in the car. "Here you go," she said.

"Thanks," I muttered. "I'll, uh, be going now," I said, and waved a good-bye, and walked away. Geez. How lame was that? I'll be going now? Who said that? Dork. I slapped myself on the forehead.

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I really had no idea where to start now. It was getting darker and darker. I was Dhampir, so the sun didn't really affect me as much, so it was okay to rough it through the sunlight. I guess my first stop would be checking out the nearest city in Washington that the Strigoi would probably know. I headed straight to the airport and bought a one-way ticket to Spokane.

Just one more thing I have to tell you before I wrap all of this up. Don't think I'm going to fall for Adrian. He seems like an okay-guy and all, but he's not my type. Adrian Ivashkov is a royal Moroi, stuck-up, cocky, and absolutely a pain in a ass. No matter how dashingly hot he was or how charming he could be, the Emma DiCamillo's in this world don't fall for guys like him. Ever. Well, at least to my knowledge.