~Lissa~

"Rose!" I screamed as I ran over to her bloody body. Tears flew every which way, I couldn't think about what could happen. I was not going to lose my best friend. I love her so much and I just can't even think about it.

"You. Will. Not. Die." I screamed at her as my voice swelled up in my throat. Feeling the bond slip away, I held onto her closer not caring if her blood soaked through my shirt. I was already a mess anyway and being inside the courtroom with all of the chaos didn't help.

"Get her out of here! Get everyone out of here!" One of the head Moroi gestured to Dimitri and then he grabbed my arm. Everyone was in a panic with all of what happened. They just found out that Rose was innocent, so that she could get shot by Tasha. I have never hated someone so much in my life. Tasha Ozera. She just shot my best friend. My sister. Now she was going to pay, but prison didn't seem to be enough for me. I want her to suffer as much pain as I am in right now.

"LET GO OF ME!" I roared at Dimitri when he tried to grab me off of Rose's unconscious and bloody body, tears streamed down my face and my mascara smeared everywhere. Then I dropped my head over Rose's body and scanned her face. Rose's brown eyes, once so full of life rolled back into her eyes and I knew it was too late. But it's not too late, isn't it?! I can still save her! The magic!

When I placed my hands over Rose's bullet wound and tried to summon the spirit, Christian dragged me off of Rose.

"It's too late. She's dead. There's nothing you can do." He stared at me with such joy with his icy blue eyes. It wasn't until now that I realized that I was shaking. My blonde hair that framed my delicate face was soaked with so much blood that it looked like I was supposed to be a redhead. Christian seemed almost happy that Rose got shot. He was staring at me with a face full of satisfaction it scared me.

Out of pure anger, I punched him in the face, "Get off of me! I can save her! I can...I can..." my words seemed useless as a sob came roaring out of my painful throat and I fell to my knees. The ambulance already took Rose away and all that was left of where she once laid was a pool of her blood.

"She's dead, Lissa and it's a good riddance." Christian glided his hand through his black hair as he pecked me on the cheek. Fury rose within me. Good riddance! I kicked him in the balls hard and fast with my foot and he fell to the floor.

"Damn it, Lissa." he cried as he grabbed his crotch in pain. "She deserved to die for what she did to my aunt. Now, my aunt can be queen and we can be together without Rose judging us. She was just an obstacle that had to be faced eventually. And she was a slut! You saw the way that she flirted with all of the guys and I did not want you to do that too." Christian regained his strength and bent down next to me, his eyes were pouring such devotion into mine that it made my heart flutter, but then I remembered what happened and what he just said.

"You killed Rose!" I screamed at his face with such agony and pure hatred, more tears fell from my face. My voice was so hoarse and was in pain from all of the screaming but I didn't care. All I cared about is Rose, and she's dead because of Christian and Tasha.

All along I thought I knew the love of my life, Christian Ozera, but now it felt like I was talking to a stranger. When I looked into his icy blue eyes what I saw before was him just being a misunderstood, mysterious, and loving person whom I loved so much, but now all I see is a cold, selfish, and disgusting creature that took advantage of me. He was a liar and I believed every single word he said.

"How could you?" I whispered so quietly and my voice cracked. I was pretty sure that he couldn't have possibly heard what I said but apparently he did.

"Easy. It was me who came up with the idea in the first place. Tasha just did the dirty work for me." I shook violently and my teeth started to clatter loudly as he whispered in my ear.

"Get away from me. Don't come any closer." I spat at him and backed away slowly, tripping over a row of chairs in the courtroom.

"Why? You wanted me last night, and our first night in the church's attic. Why not now? I'm still the same. You still love me." He embraced me with a hug and I was repulsed by the closeness.

"I do not love you. Not anymore. I can never love such a monster." I struggled to leave the tight embrace and my heart started to beat wildly out of control. I needed Rose, but I knew she wasn't there because the bond was clearly gone. All because of Christian.

I kicked and fought but nothing seemed to work. He was stronger than me and I was weak. In defeat I sobbed in his chest and relaxed. I cried for Rose, wishing she was here and that she could protect me, but no, not even the last Dragomir had a guardian.

"Let go of her." I heard a scary and low voice come behind Christian. His hands dropped automatic in fear of the threatening voice. Dimitri. He is one of the few people who have been in complete hell today, like me. I know that he loved Rose almost as much as I did.

"Can't a guy give his girlfriend a hug?" Christian cynically stated, seeming as if nothing was wrong.

"You are not my boyfriend. Not anymore." I hissed at Christian and he looked as if he was taken aback. Does he really expect me to date him after he killed my best friend?! Four words for you. No. Way. in. Hell.

"There you go. Now back away from the Princess or I'll back you away from her myself. Take your damn pick." Dimitri's expression said that he was not playing around. The fierceness in his voice was very intriguing that I was shaking as I leaned cowardly behind him and peered through my ringlet hair. Even soaking in blood, the curls still seemed to hold from when I curled my hair this morning.

Christian didn't say anything as he sprinted off with the rest of the crowd trying to escape the bloodstained room.

"He killed Rose." I looked up into Dimitri's brown eyes with such fear. I knew he had to be torturing himself inside, like me, but his hard and blank expression showed nothing at all as if it was displaying a white canvas.

"I know," his voice broke the slightest at the word 'know'. "Tasha confessed to everything." I then put my face in his chest and cried.

~Dimitri~

Sitting in my small apartment, I pulled out a sheet of paper and started to write. I used to do this sometimes when I was having issues or was feeling stressed out, but this feeling I have right now was the most agonizing and tearing pain I have ever felt. This was ten times worse than the bleeding pain I felt from after Lissa turned me back into a dhampir, because this pain cannot be turned back into happiness. She is gone. I will never touch her again.

Roza, I started to write on the musty piece of paper I found in one of the drawers of my desk.

To my one and only love, Rosemarie Hathaway.

I am sorry that I couldn't protect you and save your life when you ran in front of Lissa to protect her like a guardian should. This proves that you truly are a greater guardian than I am. You're so strong...so caring, and that's one of the many reasons why I love you.

A tear fell onto the page and I wiped my eyes, glad for once that I live alone. I was crying so much which was something I haven't done in the longest time. Crying shows weakness and I will not be put into that category. I am not weak.

But I am...

I continued the letter to Roza.

There are so many reasons why I love you that most are so elusive that it's nearly impossible to express why. I love you because you are simply you. I love the way how I can see the few light strands of black in your hair in the sun. I love how you say my name as if I was the last man on earth. I love your expressions when you are joking around with your friends. I love how you can kill a Strigoi in a heartbeat and then the next minute be there by Lissa's side when she's upset. There are just too many little things that I love about you that I don't think that the world has enough paper for me to list on and on about it. But if you wanted me to, then I would spend the rest of eternity listing what I love about you because I would do anything for you.

I threw the paper aside with shaking hands, not wanting to tear myself up too much. I already hit a spot of complete agony by writing the first word of this letter. Roza. She was the only thing that mattered to me; more than being a guardian, more than my family, more than the small amount of friends I managed to get, and the only thing that I truly cared about is gone.

The last memory I had of her was when she was lying there on the floor dead and was drowning in her own pool of blood. Damn, I tried so hard not to burst out bawling in a mental breakdown but I knew that it wouldn't solve anything. Seeing Lissa screaming at Rose to wake up made a quick tear fall down my face because watching her pleads made me realize that this isn't just my worst nightmare. It was my worst nightmare coming true.

Besides me, the person who had it the worst was Lissa. Earlier today at the courtroom when Rose got shot, Lissa was so devastated, the face she had on was heartbreaking and tortuous. Everyone in the room could feel the radiation of her tormented soul when she besought Rose to keep her heart beating. All of the yelling and threats that Lissa threw at Rose almost made me leave the room in fear of crying. One of the threats Lissa screamed at Rose that I thought was funny but yet I didn't think it was funny the slightest bit was, "I'll kill you if you die." Simple words with a devastating result because in the end she did die.

No Dimitri! I said to myself. Don't think of her like that. She is not dead. As many times I kept telling myself today, I know the truth. She is dead.

When I keep trying to picture her alive it seems that the only image that keeps appearing and reappearing over and over again in my head is the image of her in the courtroom with Lissa crouched over her. An image that will be burned into my mind for the rest of my life. Similar to how the memory of her and me in the cabin, the hotel room, and then the night after prom with the lust charm will always be burned into my mind forever.

Those happy memories of her and I was proof that she really wasn't a dream or a figure of my imagination. She was real. Or maybe Roza was just a dream all along and I have finally woken up, but she had felt so real and full of such life that it was so obvious that it was reality.

Wiping my tear stained cheeks, I moved my way over to my bed and laid down underneath the cold blankets. Failing to fall asleep, I thought more about Rose and how it was my fault that she died. I could have protected her. When my eyes finally gave up and stopped crying I quickly drifted to sleep.

"Hey Comrade." Rose's voice came behind me. I was at her Funeral wearing my only all black outfit. When I turned around and saw her I gasped with how breathtakingly beautiful she looked, although something about this wasn't right because she was supposed to be dead and in her casket. She wasn't supposed to be standing next to me.

"Rose?" I said stupidly and she laughed. It was like wind chimes on a summer day when she laughed, warm and bright. Almost realistic. Something else was really strange about this dream. Rose's whole body was glowing luminously and the color of her skin and hair was a lot lighter than usual. She was also wearing a lovely, white, and strapless loose-fitting dress to a black-tie occasion. It didn't bother me too much because this was only a dream after all and I'd rather take this dream of Rose looking beautiful and angelic than a nightmare her looking bloody and gruesome.

"I have a message for you Comrade." She whispered in my ear. Her voice was almost as beautiful as her laugh. It was like melting chocolate. I shivered delicately by the sound of her voice.

"What is it?" I asked her, pouring into her buttery brown eyes. Her long dark brown hair was gracefully flowing with the breeze. Then, she unclenched her nazar necklace that her mom gave to her and wrapped it around my neck.

"I love you." She whispered and slowly faded away and out of my dream.

It was the middle of the night when I woke up from a different dream. A nightmare. Fortunately, I didn't remember a thing except for the fact that it had to something to do with Rose and that I was shaking violently when I woke up.

Walking to the bathroom to try to splash some water on my face, I squinted my eyes through the dark searching my way through the room. Then when I reached the bathroom, I scratched my chest to find myself wearing a necklace. I don't really wear necklaces so I thought this was strange overall but it was even more peculiar because I don't remember falling asleep with one on.

When I looked down to see what necklace it was I froze like a stone statue. It was Rose's nazar. The slamming of a window,threw my was a storm outside, as the window kept slamming, my mind question, everything.

"Rose?"