Dhampir Life: Vampire Academy Countdown: Day 6

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Vampire Academy Countdown: Day 6 - Chapters 16-20 Recaps

Only 1 week away from the movie release! We're almost done with re-reading the book before it hits theaters. Here are the next recaps for Chapters 16-20:

Chapter 16

Lissa seems to be back with Aaron, leaving Mia and Christian absolutely miserable and Rose completely grossed out.

Rose questions Ms. Carmack for more information on St. Vladmir: what were the stories of his healings? Did he specialize? Is it possible he didn't specialize? What about Ms. Karp?!

Ms. Karp was one of the rare ones who never specialized. Rose believes Lissa to be just like her as well as St. Vladimir. Ms. Karp was capable of using compulsion on Moroi and Dhampirs, clawed and scratched her own skin, and more signs of going a little crazy much like Lissa. Rose asks her to stop with the partying, dragging Aaron around, torturing Mia back, and enough with the compulsion and healing. All of which Lissa agrees to and she'll give it a try.

Meanwhile Rose realizes how boring Aaron is and pretty much wishes she'd be back with Christian. Rose may still hate him, but she sees how much more interesting, smart, and funny he is and more importantly how he brings a calming effect to Lissa. She let her anger and jealousy get in the way of their relationship and essentially their separation.

Rose apologizes to Christian and wants him to hang out with Lissa again. But Lissa has formed her own world and popularity with the other royals. Rose says they need each other because they connect on certain things they could relate to, like the death of both their parents. Christian does notice something off about Lissa but isn't sure what he could do about it. He suggests Rose goes to someone else for help like Kirova or Dimitri. Someone she could trust.

And the chapter ends with a line straight from the book to the trailer:

+ Read Chapter 17-20 Recaps Below!

Chapter 17

Lissa is trying to get Rose to go on a shopping trip along with Victor, Natalie, and Dimitri. While they're planning this out, Lissa discovers a dead dove in a backpack. She almost tries to save it before Rose stops her and reminds her that she promised she wouldn't use her powers anymore.

Rose gets permission to leave campus and go on this shopping trip. Dimitri says it would be good training exercise for her to get out and practice being a guardian in the real world. He gives her a run-down on always staying close and keeping an eye on your environment. Rose wishes she could have a stake with her but Dimitri thinks she's just not ready yet. She would have to learn how to subdue them first and then bring herself to kill them.

Well why wouldn't she want to kill them? Dimitri tells her that Strigoi are sometimes people they know who were turned. It may be difficult to kill someone you personally know. The talk in the car grew heavy as Dimitri threw in all these questions about what she would want to do if she were turned Strigoi against her will. Rose answers that she would want someone to kill her. Dimitri agrees saying "So would I".

Ms. Karp was brought up again about how she had to kill to become Strigoi by choice. Lissa snaps from recalling a person at school that made her angry and Rose could feel that hatred rising inside of her. Rose is suddenly terrified for Lissa, that she may become Strigoi if she loses control. She realizes she has to save her from herself and they almost decide to hitch a ride and leave the academy altogether once again.

But then Rose finds....the dress: "The kind of dress that started religions." It also got a little attention from Dimitri:

"Did you see that dress?"

"I saw the dress"
"Did you like it?" He didn't answer. I took that as a yes. "Am I going to endanger my reputation if I wear it to the dance?" When he spoke, I could barely hear him. "You'll endanger the school."

They return to the school and start walking back when Rose steps on a bench that gave way underneath her, breaking her ankle, and then blacking out.

Chapter 18

Rose wakes up to Dimitri next to her. He tells her she wasn't seriously injured but she could've sworn she heard her ankle crack. Dimitri tries to cheer her up by saying he has some presents for her. One is from Victor which is the rose necklace she spotted at the mall. The other was lip gloss from Dimitri who sneakily bought it for her at the mall because he simply thought she would like it. They share a very sweet and almost intimate moment before they're interrupted by the doctor who tells Rose she's free to go.

Dimitri mentions to Rose that she has "an amazing body"....in terms of healing of course. He's referring to the car accident Rose survived. It all suddenly clicks to Rose that the reason why she's okay right now and after the accident is because of Lissa. She must have healed her both times.

Rose goes into the Lissa-vision through the bond finds her at the attic of the Chapel with Christian. Christian is trying to make Lissa see Mia's point of view on why she did what she did to her and Rose. He tells her that her brother Andre literally screwed her over and then dumped her after a few weeks. Lissa doesn't want to believe him, but she figures this is probably why Mia hates her.

Suddenly Christian pulls Lissa in for a kiss, because "that's what you do with someone you like". But this somehow angers Lissa. She claims she neither likes nor likes Christian and asks him to leave.

With the pressure that Lissa faces on a daily basis: stories about Andre, Mia's hate, Christian's kiss, healing Rose, etc. Rose realizes that this is all too much for her. It's enough to cause depression and physically inflict pain on herself. Lissa then begins to cut her wrists with a razor blade. Rose snaps out of the bond, seeing Dimitri's concerned face in front of hers, and she realizes she does have someone to trust. She tells Dimitri that they have to help Lissa.

Chapter 19

Lissa's wrists are bandaged up and she got some blood back into her. She's upset that Rose told someone and asked for help. Lissa didn't want any help because they would treat her like they did to Ms. Karp.

They end on a bad note but Mason convinces Rose to get ready and go to the dance. But first they run into Dimitri and Alberta, in which Dimitri and Rose do nothing but stare longingly at each other. Mason then drags Rose over to Jesse and Ralf. They both confess that Mia told them to spread all those rumors and lies in return for sex with the both of them.

Chapter 20

Wow, so Mia must have hated them enough to not only sleep with both Jesse and Ralf but to also be cheating on Aaron. Meanwhile, Rose sees Lissa across the room and they make brief eye contact. Rose can feel the guilt wash over Lissa. She stands there talking to Aaron when Mia suddenly approaches. She begins to yell nasty insults and accusations at Lissa. It seemed to all happen in a quick second when Rose intervenes, Mia bares her fangs, and Rose impulsively punches her in the face.

Lissa abruptly leaves the scene out of shame and embarrassment that people now know her secret about the cutting. Rose screams at Christian to go after her. When all seemed to be fine after awhile, Rose snaps into Lissa's head from a sudden emotion of terror. Someone had attacked Christian and Lissa was in danger. Rose tried to see more of her attackers when she was suddenly pulled out from the bond.

She couldn't figure out why and then forgot what she was even doing in the first place. All she thought was Dimitri. It was like this magnetic pull dragging her to his dorm room. Without even thinking, she tries to kiss him. Dimitri, obviously confused by her actions, asks her to leave until he grabs her hand and feels that same magnetic attraction that Rose felt.

And I think we all know what happens from here....

"You...you got rid of that dress fast," I pointed out between heavy breaths. "I thought you liked it."

"I do like it," he said. His breathing was as heavy as mine.

"I love it."
And then he took me to the bed.