When I set off to look for him I didn't expect to find him alive. I expected a cold and dark heartless strogi, who thirsted for my blood. I expected him with red eyes and pale skin. I didn't expect to not find him at all. Yet that's what I did. It's been over five years now, and still nothing. I'm twenty three years old and have killed countless strogi, over two hundred at least, and I don't even have my promise mark. I had dropped out of school on my 18th birthday to look for my lover turned strogi, in the hopes of killing him. Dimitri was a great guardian and mentor. He was also a great kisser. I loved him so much, but he was taken away from me on a suicide mission. A blonde strogi had grabbed him by surprise and bitten him. The group retreated before I could help. The next day I summoned my ghostly friend Mason to ask him about Dimitri's fate. When I asked if he was alive, Mason said no. When I asked if he was dead, Mason said no. This meant he was strogi. I asked to be certain and Mason said yes. I left then borrowing money from Adrian then headed to Russia. I looked in Russia for two years then used the next three years to look everywhere else. He wasn't anywhere. I found many who had heard of him or even met him. They said he was strong, yet not a killer. Many tried to kill him because he was to powerful yet kind hearted to be in their groups. They say he wanders alone now, looking for his fate. It was a weird story. But there were others. Some said he was now the king of their world, that he's dead and rotting six feet under, that he's still dhampir, or even the he's moroi now. I didn't believe any. When most of the strogi see me they see a weak little girl. But that's not what I am. They underestimate me because of my two only documented strogi killings, and lack of the promise mark. They realize who I am too late. My name instills terror on them. They cower if they recognize me, or run away. I laughed then catch them and stake them. I'm deadly. That's what happened when you lose the one you love. All I am is an empty shell of who I used to be. No emotions what so ever. I live in various hotels and support myself with the money Adrian had given to me. 300,000 go a long way. My clothes aren't anything special, Wal-Mart or goodwill stores of sorts. Baggy sweats that are easy to move in. A special belt for my stakes. I have four in varying sizes. There was also one built into my shoe. All of these were hidden under my Dimitri style duster jacket. No one ever suspected me to be Rosemarie Hathaway. But that's who I am. Daughter of Janine Hathaway, famous guardian, and okay mother. She wasn't the best mom, but she was there when it counted. My father was just some Turkish guy, I'd never met, and that was fine. No sisters or brothers, just a best friend. Her name was Lissa Dragomir; she was the last in her family, who were all royals. Her parents and brother had died in a car accident; I and Lissa were the only to survive. I should have died but Lissa brought me back and now I was shadow kissed. Lissa was currently engaged to Christian Ozera. They were happy and in love. I could tell all this because of the bond me and Lissa shared. I could see into her head and feel what she felt at times. It came in handy now. Although I hadn't seen her in years, she was still my best friend. The wedding date was set on June 5th at the Royal Courts. Even though Christians parents turned strogi then were killed, no matter what they were still royal too. That is why I'm sitting on a plane now, June 4th heading back to the US. It's nine p.m now and were expected to arrive at four in the morning. The weddings at nine. That left me five hours to get ready and drive there. Shouldn't be that hard.
The plane just landed. I called for a cab so now I'm waiting for it to come. All I have is a small bag with a dress in it. My dress was a brilliant blood red and covered only what was necessary. Which meant it was a tube top dress that went only to mid-thigh, and clung to my curves perfectly. The wedding was all done in light colors, and that's what people were expected to wear. I wanted to make a statement though. I knew Lissa wouldn't care. She told Christian once before the wedding it was all she wanted. For me to be there, she said it didn't matter what I wore, jeans or sweats, she wouldn't care. So I decided to take her up on that offer. The cab came half an hour later, it was now 5 a.m. The drive to the hotel just outside the court took another hour. I got there at six, just as the sun came up. This meant security wouldn't be as tight, since the sun would protect them against strogi. I got dressed in little shorts and a tight tank top that I could easily slip a dress over. My dress was thrown in my backpack, with the old school logo on it. My shoes were also thrown in. I would my bladed sneakers there and change into my high heels that had a stake on the heel, when I got there.
I was wrong. Since the only living Dragomir was getting married security was increased. There was almost no chance of me getting in. Almost. Just as was about to give up and tell the guard my name to tell Lissa I was hear, I saw a familiar figure staring at me. He easily crossed through the guards and approached me.
"Little dhampir, comes home at last?" he asked. His breathe smelled of Clove cigarettes and alcohol.
"Adrian, think you can get me in without Lissa knowing?" I countered, smirking. He laughed.
"Of course you want something, apparently 300,000 wasn't enough?" he joked. I laughed then ran to him and gave him a hug. He hugged me back tightly. I broke away first.
"Thank you for everything, I really mean it" I told him.
"No problem, and to getting you that is also no problem" He grabbed my hand and started walking towards the guards. We walked right by them, and they didn't care. All Adrian had to do was nod his head, and all I did was keep my face hidden. Adrian led me to his room. I sat on his bed. Still 2 hours till the wedding.
"So, whose hear that I'd know?" I asked.
"Everyone, your mom, Alberta, Stan, Kirova, Tasha, Mia, Eddie, and more" he said.
"Like the whole school more, or whole clan more?" I asked.
"Both" wow, this would be huge. We then talked about pointless things, like what we'd each been doing and stuff like that. Finally I looked him in the eyes.
"Look I know I said I'd take you seriously when I came back, but it's not fair to you or me. I still love him, and I can't love you at the same time. I'm grateful as hell for all you did and stuff, but I can't do this to you. I'm sorry" I said. He laughed.
"Calm down Rose. Besides I found someone better then you by a long shot. She's blonde and beautiful and smart. She actually appreciated me unlike you" he accused then laughed.
"Who is she?" I asked.
"You know her, Abby Badica, senior with you, royal too" he added. I was happy for him. Abby, if memory served was perky and fun loving. Just what he needed. I smiled then looked at the clock. It was eight fifteen. I gasped.
"What?" he asked.
"The weddings at nine" I shrieked. He too looked at the clock and his jaw dropped.
"Shit we have to hurry; you can be my guest since Abby has her own invite. It does say you could bring someone" he told me.
"Thanks" I sighed. Up until now I hadn't thought much about actually getting into the wedding ceremony. We got dressed quickly, me in my red dress, and him in a light khaki suit with a green tie. He looked my dress over.
"You do know this is a light themed wedding?" he asked.
"Of course, why do you think I'm wearing this?" I laughed. I brushed out my hair and looked in the mirror for the first time in months. I was barely recognizable. My face was older, more mature. My once sparkling brown eyes were dead and cold. My skin wasn't tanned anymore, but pale, almost Moroi pale. The shiny brown hair I prided myself on was past my butt and curled slightly. It wasn't as shiny as before but still it looked great. Bruises graced my legs and arms, never going away. Along with those were bite marks, from strogi trying to kill me. I looked like a warrior, a hot warrior. I wore the stake heels too. They were like five inches. "Ready" I called, then grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door. Everyone was basically already there. There were a few stragglers hanging about here and there. Luckily I didn't know anyone.
All the seats except the back ones were filled up. Although Adrian had gotten me in, I decided to not sit with him up front; instead choosing the aisle seat in the back away from the door Lissa would enter. A lot of people gave me dirty looks about the dress, but I ignored them, and kept my face hidden. At exactly nine the bells rung out and Christian stepped out onto the alter with the priest. I had to admit, he looked good. His suit was black and he had a red rose pinned to his lapel. He smiled really big at everyone. And the wedding march began. Lissa walked down the aisle with an unknown male. He looked to be about forty or fifty. Her dress was simple and elegant. The white was so bright it kind of hurt to look at it. She smiled too. In her hands was a bright red bouquet of roses. The wedding went on and on. The priest talked about random stuff. In reality I knew it had only been about half an hour, but I always hated church. Finally their vow part came; it would start after he asked if anyone objected. This was my chance. In Lissa's mind she had dreamed about me showing up at this point making some rude comment on why I wasn't invited. She would laugh then run at me, while everyone whispered wondering who I was. I had decided to do this as my wedding gift to her.
"Does anyone here have any objections to why these two should not be wed? Speak now or forever hold your peace" the priest asked. I stood up and yelled out loudly.
"Yeah, I do actually. I'd like to know why my supposed to be best friend didn't invite me to her wedding" People all over gasped and whispered about the rude girl who would dare to say this at a royals wedding and come dressed like this. I started to get out of the aisle, but two guardians stopped me and pinned my hands behind me. I could have gotten rid of them easily but I didn't want to get in trouble. The whole time Lissa stared open mouthed at me.
"Rose?" she whispered through her thoughts.
"Got another best friend I don't know about?" I joked. No one got it since Lissa hadn't spoken out loud.
"Let her go" she commanded.
"Liss, we don't know her. She could e dangerous" Christian warned.
"I won't hurt her flames; you are a different story though. I don't seem to recall you asking me for her hand in marriage" I told him kidding around. He looked confused then something clicked for him.
"Of course you would have to make an entrance like this" he told me. Then laughed. The guards let go of my arms and I took off running to Lissa. She hugged me so tight I had to struggle to breathe.
"Congrats Liss" I told her before we broke apart. She smiled at me, tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm so glad you came" she told me. Christian came up behind her and smiled.
"Nice to see you following rules" he nodded towards my dress. I laughed then did something I'd never imagined. I hugged him and he hugged back.
"Thanks for coming, it's all she wanted" he whispered. I nodded then let go of him, as he grabbed Lissa. People were staring and muttering trying to figure out who I was. But they didn't have a clue.
"Can I make a speech at your reception?" I asked Lissa.
"Will you tell them who you are then? Your poor mother doesn't even know it's you" she asked me.
"When I make the speech, now get back to flames over there" I pushed her in his direction, and then sat down again. The vows were simple and traditional, they said their "I do's" then kissed. The priest introduced Mr. and Mrs. Dragomir Ozera and they left for the reception. Lissa had to keep her last name to keep the bloodline flowing. Everyone left for the great hall together. I waited till everyone was out and then left.
The hall was covered in light silks and light flowers like daisies and lilies. Everyone was already sitting at their assigned tables when I got there. Lissa motioned me over to the head table.
"You can sit here, with my guardians" she motioned to the guy that had walked her down the aisle and the two that had grabbed me. I nodded at them and sat. The food was delicious and I listened to the three guardians talk about trivial things. Like vacations and children and such. It was boring. The plates were cleared away and it was time for me to make my speech. I stood up and looked around; no one was paying attention to me. I cleared my throat, and still nothing. I looked down at Lissa,
"Do you mind if I get their attention in a way the queen wouldn't like?" I asked her innocently. She and Christian laughed then nodded.
"No really bad swearing though" he warned. I nodded in agreement then turned around again.
"Hey, listen up assholes" I yelled. I heard Lissa gasp and Christian laugh.
"What did we say about swearing?" Lissa demanded.
"Asshole is a bad swear, if I said effing assholes that would be bad" I told her grinning. Finally she laughed and muttered something that sounded like same old Rose. I looked at the shocked faces of the guests. They seemed outraged.
"Okay, sorry about that, but you wouldn't pay attention when I clapped, clinked my glass or cleared my throat, but that's not the point. I'm standing here today for my best friends and my least favorite person in the world. Lissa would be the best friend, her husband is the less favorable" people laughed at me. "Just kidding, I love them both. I'm not good at making speeches or anything; I'm just good at swearing and making rude comments. But what I really want to say is this: Lissa and Christian make a great pair; they're like two pieces of a whole. They love each other so much and bring out the best in them. I know this too from experience, true love is hard to find, but when you do find it you'd do anything to keep it safe and happy. I can't imagine a greater guy for my best friend. So in conclusion I just want to say congrats, and Christian even though Lissa isn't my you know what" I had to say that because people still didn't know it was me. "I'll still kick your ass if you hurt her, and I'll know if you did." I warned him, hugged Lissa and sat back down. Everyone clapped and applauded, then Lissa stood up. They quieted at once.
"I know she won't like me for this, she'll probably think she's stealing my wedding, but I have something to say about someone very near and dear to my family's heart. My best friend Rose Hathaway ran away five years ago for reasons I still don't know. All I wanted was for her to be here today. The red roses are in honor of her. I missed her so much over the years, I convinced myself I wouldn't care if she showed up to my wedding naked or in her famous sultry tee's and sweats, and I don't. Today there was this strange girl in the back who objected to my wedding and wore a bright red dress to my light wedding. I was mad, she was ruining my wedding, but then I saw her face. And I got the best wedding gift ever, my best friend, who all of you know and yet you didn't recognize her, even after the comments she made. Because after five years of running and hiding Rosemarie Hathaway has come home" she finished and smiled at me. I glared.
"Lissa now all the attention will be on me" I sulked. She smirked.
"Too bad, have fun" and with that she left with Christian to get photos taken by themselves. People were just starting to grasp what she had said. My mother was the first to approach me.
"Rosemarie, is that you?" she asked. Her normally stoic face had tears in it. I broke.
"Yeah, it's me mom" I told her. She hugged me just as tight as Lissa had.
"I thought you dead, I'm sorry I was a bad parent to you Rose" she told me, then let go. Her face was once again a mask. Awhile ago I would have minded this, but it's what made her who she is. Alberta came next, then Stan, then Kirova, and then Mia. Last was Eddie. They each hugged me tightly. Lissa and Christian came back then. Lissa grabbed the mike.
"Since it's my wedding I decided to do something" she announced, "I bet everyone wants to hear Rose's story, so let's hear it, and I'm sure she'll let you ask questions too" she looked at me. "Please Rose, we were all so worried about you, tell us why you left, please" she begged.
"You're not going to like it" I told her then grabbed her mike. "Five years ago I left to pursue a strogi, to whom I had fallen in love with. I knew he didn't want to be strogi so I seeked him for murder. I never found him. Through my connection with Lissa I knew about her marriage so I came here as a wedding gift to surprise her" I left all the good parts out. "Any questions?" I asked them. Hands flew up, and I glared at Lissa, she smiled sadly. I pointed to Mia.
"Did you meet any other strogi?" she asked.
"Yes" I answered curtly
"How many?" she asked.
"Too many to count" I answered. I called on Alberta.
"Did you kill any?" she asked.
"Yup" I was kind of enjoying the single syllable questions.
"How many?" she asked impatiently.
"Oh, well at my four year runaway mark I stopped counting. At that point I had killed about 200 or so, but I've killed about one or two hundred more in this past year give or take a few" I loved their expressions. Alberta was shocked, as were the others.
"How many again?" she asked.
"Four or five hundred, why is there something wrong?" I asked. Everyone looked at me like I had two heads.
"I think we'll continue this later, after the happy couple goes on their honeymoon" the queen said. It was an order. Everyone obliged. Lissa and Christian danced first, then Christian danced with other royals and guardians like the queen and my mother. He then danced with me. Lissa danced with other royals to and her own guardians, she even danced with her ex, Aaron. They then said goodbye, Lissa warning me that I' better be here when she got back, I told Christian I wouldn't be there when they got back and to give Lissa the note I would leave with Adrian for him for her. He nodded and thanked me again for coming
"Good luck" he had said and then they were gone. This left Kirova, my mom, Alberta, Stan, Mrs. Carmack, the clinic doctor, Mia, Eddie, Adrian and the queen to talk. Great. They motioned me towards the queen's office. I was told to sit, so I did. My mother sat beside me, as did Eddie. Mia, sat next to him, and Alberta next to mom. Stan stood behind the queen's desk with her and Kirova. The other three stood around us. The queen started.
"Were you serious about the four or five hundred killings?" she asked. I nodded.
"Rose, that's amazing, it's like a record" Eddie told me.
"You're certainly going to get quite a few molja marks for this" Alberta told me.
"It wasn't about the marks, never was" I told them, and they seemed shocked.
"But Rose you always loved those" Mia said.
"Someone told once that you didn't do it for the marks you did for the greater good for all, Moroi and dhampir" I quoted Dimitri. Tears threatened to escape. I blinked them away.
"Well, you'll still get along with a promise mark of course, in fact I have the tattoo guy outside" The queen said then clapped her hands. A familiar looking dhampir walked in. He was smoking hot, it was the blood whore, Ambrose.
"Hey, nice to see you again, Rose" he told me.
"You too, Ambrose" I told him. "Any chance I could see you Aunt again for a reading?" I asked.
"I don't see why not" He then proceeded to tattoo the promise mark to my neck along with countless other molja marks. Nothing hurt my anymore. It took about two hours to finish.
"Done" he announced.
"Thank you Ambrose that will be it" the queen dismissed him.
"Guardian Hathaway jr. we would like to hear your full story now" Alberta told me.
"You're going to be mad, it was against the law" I told them.
"Rose, just tell us please" my mother begged.
"You should have listened to Victor at the trial, he was right" I told them.
"Using Lissa as his own personal nurse, kidnapping her, and torturing her isn't right Rose" Stan spoke up
"Not about that, the other part, about me and someone else, I'm not saying his name out loud, it hurts still" The queen seemed to get it, kind of.
"Guardian Belikov raped you?" she asked shocked.
"No, it was consensual" I assured her. There mouths dropped.
"You slept with your mentor, Rose?" my mother asked.
"Yes I did" I told her, "I loved him, mom." She patted my hand.
"Rose, he's dead now, is that why you ran away to try and find him?" she asked.
"But he's not dead techinaclly, mom. He's just strogi" I told them.
"How do you know Rose?" Kirova asked.
"You remember how I saw ghosts, well Mason told me he wasn't dead or alive, and then I asked if he was strogi and he nodded. It made sense to. Ambrose's aunt had told him he would lose what he loved and valued most. He thought she meant me, so he protected me at all costs. But what she meant was his humanity. He told me once that he ever became strogi that he was to be killed. He didn't want to hurt people, so I looked for him, but it was in vain." I looked down at my hands.
"Rose, you need to give up, he may have wanted to die, but if he loved you he would have wanted you to move on too" my mom told me. I nodded and wiped away my tears. I stood up thanked everyone and left. Eddie and Mia followed me out.
"Rose wait up" Eddie called. He tackled me to the ground when I didn't stop.
"Where are you going to go?" Mia asked. I didn't answer. "Exactly, you can stay with us" And my life as a guardian began with a sleepover, joy.