Outside A Cheesy Motel in Sturgis, MI | Friday Morning
It didn’t matter how often they happened, spirit dreams were always weird. Weird but - usually helpful. They were a little like Fandom that way. The spirit dream Rose was pulled into this morning was from Sonya Karp with generally bad news. She hadn’t been able to get to Jill - Victor and Robert had stolen her away from her mom’s house. Victor and Robert - or more like just Victor - had also been the ones who’d called the guardians. Like Rose needed another reason to hate Victor. Sonya had been apologetic that she hadn’t been able to get into Jill’s dream to figure out where they were, but Rose had the beginnings of an idea. She told Sonya to stay with her cousin and make sure Emily was okay while she and Dimitri went after Jill.
Thankfully the car Victor had stolen had been one that Dimitri had acquired legally. Which meant that Rose, when she woke up, was able to triumphantly call OnStar and inquire after its location. Southwest Michigan. Sturgis, to be specific. Apparently Victor and Robert hadn’t gotten terribly far either.
The drive after them was mostly silent, punctuated by Rose responding to a text or two, but mostly her tense shifting, testing her still sore knee, and coming up with plans about how to separate Jill from her captors.
Robert and Victor had holed up in a little motel just off the highway, and the plan that had finally been agreed upon involved waiting for them to try to move Jill. The Moroi weren’t trained in evasive maneuvers like guardians, but Victor was too cunning to stay in one spot so long. Rose was surprised he’d stayed at the motel as long as he had. She’d been surprised they still were using the same car too, but, like she pointed out to Dimitri, it wasn’t like Victor was a hotwiring expert like some people.
When the three Moroi finally emerged from their motel room, the parking lot was thankfully empty. The last thing they needed was some human calling the cops because two old men were being assaulted. Somehow Rose doubted that the cops would believe the two old men had kidnapped a teenage girl and were, even now, compelling her to go along with their plans. And they were definitely compelling Jill, the weird, jerky quality of her movements showed the proof of that. On one hand, it made it easier - once their concentration was broken, she could run away without having to be untied. On the other, Rose couldn’t exactly tell which one was doing the compelling. Guess they’d have to get both of them.
The wordless connection between her and Dimitri was in full force as they sprinted across the parking lot. Dimitri’s bad battle god self was going for Robert, and Rose - Rose caught Victor in a flying tackle, slamming him into asphalt and punching him full in the face. To her everlasting surprise, he laughed.
“Well done, Rosemarie,” Victor chuckled, not moving to wipe off the blood trickling down from his lips. “So very violent of you.”
Rose glared, not letting up one bit. “God, I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time.”
“Of course you have,” he drawled, smirking up at the little dhampir. “I used to think Belikov was the violent one, but it was you. All along, you were the one with no self-control, no higher reasoning, just animal savagery. You can’t do anything except fight and kill.”
“I’m not the one who tortured Lissa!” she snapped. “I didn’t make my daughter turn Strigoi! I didn’t kidnap and compell a 14 year old girl!” He was still smiling and Rose clenched her fist, just barely keeping herself from punching him again to knock that smile gone.
“Ahhh, but she’s so valuable,” Victor replied, gathering his strength as he watched the girl divide her focus to try to control herself. “So very valuable, she’ll be. And you led me right to her.”
And...now. Before the dhampir could respond, he sent nearly all the magic he had out into the earth, making the parking lot roll and shake. Riding the movements of his element easily, Victor pushed the girl off him, centering the earthquake on her. Finally, he wiped the blood from his nose.
Rose stumbled as she fell back, collapsing to her already-painful knees and unable to get her balance long enough to stand back up. She glared up at Victor, surprised at the power of his magic. He looked tired though, tired and draining quickly as he exerted his power. She just had to stay free of the asphalt prison he was trying to form around her, and he’d be exhausted soon enough.
“I even tried to explain it to you, Rosemarie,” he gasped, sweat rolling down his face. “You’ve got all that brawn - for what? Strength is nothing. In the end, it’s only the power of the mind that’s worth anything. In controlling Jillian, I control Vasilisa. Controlling Vasilisa gives me control of the Dragomirs - and the entire Moroi. I did tell you she’d be a leader. Controlling her, that’s real strength.”
Too busy trying to get her balance back, Rose didn’t pay attention to most of that tirade. Blah, blah, evil genius blah. But suddenly a few of the words jumped out at her and echoed through her head. I control Vasilisa....Controlling Vasilisa...that’s real strength. No. He wouldn’t.
Summoning all her skill, Rose bounded to her feet, glaring at the man in front of her as she sized up the path to him. He’d tortured her best friend, nearly killed her, he’d threatened Dimitri, kidnapped and hurt Jill - he was the root of all her troubles and had been for years now. Some back portion of her brain warned that she wasn’t thinking clearly, but that bit was trampled in a wave of red rage washing over her.
Fueled by that rage, she sprang for him tackling back into a concrete wall with all her strength. Victor immediately slumped to the ground and Rose knelt beside him, still shaking him, screaming for him to get up again. He would finally face her, and she would make him pay for everything he’d ever done.
Thankfully the car Victor had stolen had been one that Dimitri had acquired legally. Which meant that Rose, when she woke up, was able to triumphantly call OnStar and inquire after its location. Southwest Michigan. Sturgis, to be specific. Apparently Victor and Robert hadn’t gotten terribly far either.
The drive after them was mostly silent, punctuated by Rose responding to a text or two, but mostly her tense shifting, testing her still sore knee, and coming up with plans about how to separate Jill from her captors.
Robert and Victor had holed up in a little motel just off the highway, and the plan that had finally been agreed upon involved waiting for them to try to move Jill. The Moroi weren’t trained in evasive maneuvers like guardians, but Victor was too cunning to stay in one spot so long. Rose was surprised he’d stayed at the motel as long as he had. She’d been surprised they still were using the same car too, but, like she pointed out to Dimitri, it wasn’t like Victor was a hotwiring expert like some people.
When the three Moroi finally emerged from their motel room, the parking lot was thankfully empty. The last thing they needed was some human calling the cops because two old men were being assaulted. Somehow Rose doubted that the cops would believe the two old men had kidnapped a teenage girl and were, even now, compelling her to go along with their plans. And they were definitely compelling Jill, the weird, jerky quality of her movements showed the proof of that. On one hand, it made it easier - once their concentration was broken, she could run away without having to be untied. On the other, Rose couldn’t exactly tell which one was doing the compelling. Guess they’d have to get both of them.
The wordless connection between her and Dimitri was in full force as they sprinted across the parking lot. Dimitri’s bad battle god self was going for Robert, and Rose - Rose caught Victor in a flying tackle, slamming him into asphalt and punching him full in the face. To her everlasting surprise, he laughed.
“Well done, Rosemarie,” Victor chuckled, not moving to wipe off the blood trickling down from his lips. “So very violent of you.”
Rose glared, not letting up one bit. “God, I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time.”
“Of course you have,” he drawled, smirking up at the little dhampir. “I used to think Belikov was the violent one, but it was you. All along, you were the one with no self-control, no higher reasoning, just animal savagery. You can’t do anything except fight and kill.”
“I’m not the one who tortured Lissa!” she snapped. “I didn’t make my daughter turn Strigoi! I didn’t kidnap and compell a 14 year old girl!” He was still smiling and Rose clenched her fist, just barely keeping herself from punching him again to knock that smile gone.
“Ahhh, but she’s so valuable,” Victor replied, gathering his strength as he watched the girl divide her focus to try to control herself. “So very valuable, she’ll be. And you led me right to her.”
And...now. Before the dhampir could respond, he sent nearly all the magic he had out into the earth, making the parking lot roll and shake. Riding the movements of his element easily, Victor pushed the girl off him, centering the earthquake on her. Finally, he wiped the blood from his nose.
Rose stumbled as she fell back, collapsing to her already-painful knees and unable to get her balance long enough to stand back up. She glared up at Victor, surprised at the power of his magic. He looked tired though, tired and draining quickly as he exerted his power. She just had to stay free of the asphalt prison he was trying to form around her, and he’d be exhausted soon enough.
“I even tried to explain it to you, Rosemarie,” he gasped, sweat rolling down his face. “You’ve got all that brawn - for what? Strength is nothing. In the end, it’s only the power of the mind that’s worth anything. In controlling Jillian, I control Vasilisa. Controlling Vasilisa gives me control of the Dragomirs - and the entire Moroi. I did tell you she’d be a leader. Controlling her, that’s real strength.”
Too busy trying to get her balance back, Rose didn’t pay attention to most of that tirade. Blah, blah, evil genius blah. But suddenly a few of the words jumped out at her and echoed through her head. I control Vasilisa....Controlling Vasilisa...that’s real strength. No. He wouldn’t.
Summoning all her skill, Rose bounded to her feet, glaring at the man in front of her as she sized up the path to him. He’d tortured her best friend, nearly killed her, he’d threatened Dimitri, kidnapped and hurt Jill - he was the root of all her troubles and had been for years now. Some back portion of her brain warned that she wasn’t thinking clearly, but that bit was trampled in a wave of red rage washing over her.
Fueled by that rage, she sprang for him tackling back into a concrete wall with all her strength. Victor immediately slumped to the ground and Rose knelt beside him, still shaking him, screaming for him to get up again. He would finally face her, and she would make him pay for everything he’d ever done.