Prologue
I woke up crying, sweating, shivering and cold. Images, bright and vivid, raced through my head so fast I could feel the familiar throb of a headache beginning to start. My hands shook as I pushed hair out of my face, scrubbing at the wet trails on my cheeks. As the nightmare faded I couldn't shake the desperate feeling of clutching at something that had already slipped through my fingers.
Three sharp knocks came from the door.
"Rose?" came Christian's voice.
"Y-yeah?"
"We said we'd meet Belikov and Lissa in ten. Are you ready?"
No, in more ways than one.
"I'll be out in a few minutes," was all I said, and threw the blankets aside as I got out of bed.
"I'll see you there."
)(
It was raining again, the sky grey and hostile as it cracked and boomed and flashed.
I opened the door quickly and quietly, unsurprised to see that everyone had already arrived.
Christian was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, partly hidden in the shadows, wearing a pristine white shirt rolled up to his elbows and unbuttoned at the neck, slim black suit pants hanging low on his hips and a ugly frown that twisted his face into something dark and grotesque. His hair was still wet and combed back out of his face, gleaming the same black as his polished shoes that tapped an irregular and sporadic rhythm against the hardwood floor. They had already told him, I assumed.
"Sorry I'm late."
I stepped into the room, into the thick intensity of the silence crowding to every corner, and my eyes settled on Lissa. She was sitting on the sofa, legs crossed at the ankles and hands clasped together in her lap, glowing in the soft light. Her pale eyes met mine.
"What's going on?"
"I'm pregnant."
Her milky white hand rested gently on Dimitri's tan one.
)(
"We should leave," Christian said a few days later, and I couldn't think of a single reason not to.
"Don't hesitate," Dimitri had once told me. And so I didn't, and I didn't look back as we raced away from court, from people that I would never forget or forgive.
Note: I know it's short but it's just the prologue and the actual chapters will be longer. I hope you like the changes to the story, and leave a review!
*Also posted on natkingalieston