I woke to the sound of my father crying. In all my life I had never seen him cry. He was as tough as nails and it took a lot to rattle him. Whenever I had been scared or upset as a child I would run to him, knowing he was willing to stare down death just to keep me safe and happy.

The sound of broken sobs and gasps coming from his chest were like a knife straight to the gut. It physically hurt me to know that I had reduced this strong, infallibly brave man to tears.

"Dad?" I croaked into the dark, reaching my bloody hand out toward the cell bars. "Don't cry, Daddy. I'm okay."

"Thea? Baby? Oh, thank God you're alright," he called out, and I could hear him shuffling as close as he could toward me. "I thought you were dead! Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

A half-hearted smile made it's way onto my face as he scolded me. I felt like I was five-years-old again and had gotten caught playing too close to the road. It seemed things could get back to normal now – or well, as normal as could be with us trapped in a vampire dungeon.

"I told him you'd be okay," my mother's voice whispered. It lacked a lot of conviction though, indicating she probably hadn't believed it despite what she claimed. "You're a tough old gal."

"Who're you calling old, grandma?" I tried to joke. It came out sounding forced and no one laughed, but the mood did seem a bit lighter.

I took a few moments to take stock of my situation. My body felt strange: equal parts agony and nothingness. One minute I would feel like I was dying and in another I would feel cold and empty. I assumed this was how I would have felt during my last vampiric transformation but I couldn't remember. The difference this time was I planned on completing the transition.

"Mama, are there any vampires down here with us?"

"No. After that one bit you they all ran off and haven't come back," she explained.

"Are you two okay? Are you hurt?" I asked; knowing Moroi had probably treated them badly.

Mama huffed and snapped, "Stop worrying about us. We're fine."

"No, Mama, you don't understand." I had to stop and take a deep breath as another wave of pain assaulted me. After a few seconds it passed and I panted out, "I have a plan to get us out of here and I need to know you can both walk."

"If you can get me out of this cell, I plan on doing a lot more than that," my father said darkly.

"Good because we may have to fight our way out of here. I'm not really sure how many vampires Moroi has or even where we are, so we need to be prepared for anything."

"Well as far as I know we are still in Rome," he explained. "He didn't take us out of the city. And from what I can tell there are only about five vampires, including the three you saw earlier."

"Dad! You're a lifesaver! What else do you know?"

"I'm afraid that's the best I can do, Thee."

"I just wish I knew what time it was," I complained.

"Actually I can help with that," he replied, and a soft blue glow lit up my parents cell.

I wanted to shout with joy when I realized my dad was wearing the watch I had gotten him for Christmas. It had a built in light so he could read it in the dark.

After a moment's pause he said, "My watch says it's half past two on the 25th, which means we've been here two weeks and one day."

"Do you know if it's two in the morning or afternoon?"

"I've been trying to keep track of it and I'm pretty sure it's two in the afternoon, not morning. Why does that matter?"

"If I can get you outside in the sun the vampires won't be able to follow into the sunlight. You will be able to get pretty far away before they can follow you."

"Us, you mean," my mother responded.

"What?"

"You said, 'if I can get you outside,' but we're all escaping, right?"

When I didn't reply she snapped, "Right, Alethea?"

"No, mama. I won't be going with you."

I cringed and waited for her anger.  It was completely justified and I would take whatever she threw at me.

"What do you mean you aren't escaping with us?" she shouted and I heard my father trying to shush her. "Don't you dare shush me, Walter! Our little girl is being a reckless idiot and I plan give her a piece of my mind!"

He chuckled and replied, "Well that's fine, dear, but could you please do it in a lower tone? Just so the vampires upstairs don't figure out what's going on?"

She took several deep breaths before saying more quietly, "Why aren't you coming with us, Alethea? And it better be a damn good reason, young lady."

Scooting toward the bars I laid my head against the cool metal and closed my eyes. "Somebody has to stop Moroi, Mama. For good. I'm the only one who knows enough about him and what's going on to do it."

"So we will kill him and then escape," she argued. "All of us. Together."

I sighed. "It doesn't work that way, Mama. He can't be killed here. I have to go back to purgatory and kill him there or he will just keep coming back again and again."

Her breath hitched and a sob hiccupped from her throat. "Why does it have to be you? Can't someone else do it? I would do it for you! Just, please, don't-"

"Mama," I cut her off softly. "Why do you think I let that vampire bite me? It has to be this way. I won't let him hurt you and Daddy anymore. I have to take a stand. I have to do what I feel is right."

"I'm not asking you to be okay with this," I continued, tearing up and feeling less and less sure of myself as I listened to her cry. "I know you're angry with me and you have every right to be. All I ask is that you try to understand why I'm doing it. I'm trying to help people, help you, and this is the only way I know how."

My father cleared his throat and I could tell he was just as upset, but trying not to show it. "I don't agree with how you're doing this, Thea. If you had just talked to us, we could have come up with a plan that didn't involve sacrificing yourself!"

"I know, Dad," I whispered back. "But there wasn't a lot of time for discussions. This was the best plan I could come up with that didn't involve you two getting hurt and killed."

 "So what you're saying is, if we hadn't been here you might have been able to escape without sacrificing yourself?" my mother whimpered.

"Mama, no. Don't think of it that way," I argued. "None of this is your fault. And sooner or later I would have had to deal with Moroi. It's better to get it over with now then always looking over my shoulder waiting for him to attack."

 "Is there no way we can help you?"

"Yes. You can help by getting out of here. I want to know you're safe."

My father huffed out an aggravated breath and replied, "Don't you think we want the same thing for you? How are we supposed to walk out of here knowing you're going to die? You can't ask that of us. I can't do it. I won't."

"They're vampires, Dad! If you stay then they'll kill you! The only option you have is to escape while you can!"

"No."

 "You're father's right, Thea," my mother agreed. "We're not leaving you to die alone. If you are going to fight, we are gong to fight with you."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I shouted, throwing my hands into the air in frustration. "I'm trying to save both of your lives!"

"You don't get to make that choice for us, Alethea. We're staying with you, no matter what."

"Well this argument certainly sounds familiar," a deep voice echoed down the corridor. "I can see where you get your stubbornness from."

I glared in the direction of the voice. "You might as well shape-shift into someone else because I won't fall for that trick again."

"What trick?"

"Oh, don't play dumb," I snapped. "Just run along and tattle on us to Moroi like a good little lackey."

The jingle of keys in the lock startled me and I turned just in time to see him yank open the door to my cell and turn toward my parent's. Inching forward, I pulled the somewhat-straightened bedspring from my hair and readied myself to strike at any second.

When my parents were free he turned back to me and said, "First, I have and never will be anyone's lackey, and second, the only thing I'm going to do when I see Moroi is stab my knife into his ugly, undead face."

Looking at the metal in my hand, he rolled his eyes. "Put that pitiful thing down. I have a knife you can use."

He pulled a knife out of a bag near his feet and held it out to me. I could only stare at it in confusion.

Was it a trick? Was this all some sort of twisted plot by Moroi to make us think we were getting free and then kill us all?

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" I asked, taking the knife despite knowing it could be a trap.

This time it was his turn to look confused. "What are you talking about, Thea? You know who I am."

As I opened my mouth to argue further, the sound of running footsteps pounded down the stairs. I strengthened my grip on the knife and kept one eye on the shape-shifter who had leant it to me. Things were looking more suspicious by the minute and I prepared myself for the worst.

A tremendous hulk of a man rounded the corner. As soon as I met his eyes my own eyes filled with tears and the knife clattered from my fingers. I had only ever seen glowing orange eyes once before. But he didn't seem to care about me and after a glance turned to face the man standing behind me. The man I had been so sure was a shape-shifter.

"What's taking you so long? We need to get out of here, Roran!"

I turned around slowly and felt the tears drip down my face. "It really is you," I whispered.

My knees wobbled and just as I slipped into the black I heard the sound of a distant explosion followed by a tremendous roar.

...

A/N: Sorry if there are errors in this. I re-wrote it several times because I could never get it to sound how I wanted. I hope you like it anyway.