This is my first story and I'm just throwing it out there. Hope you like it!

Chapter 1:

With shaking hands I dialed the number I vaguely remembered. A female voice answered.

"Allo."

"Tamara? This is Rose…"

"OMG! Rose? What happened? Where are you? Are you okay?" She said her voice concerned.

"Calm down, I'm… well let's just say, that the strigoi I was hunting, he found me. I'll explain everything, but right now I'm on my way to Novosibirsk and I need a place to stay and heal." I didn't know what I would do after that. I had completed my mission, but I didn't want to go back to the academy. It held too many bad memories.

"Of course, you're always welcome here"

"Thank you! Could you maybe tell the woman I'm riding with, where to drive? My Russian isn't the best"

"Sure, just hand over the phone to her"

I did as instructed, and handed over the phone. The woman looked confused, so I pointed from the phone to her ear, hoping she would get it. She did and I leaned back in my seat in relief. I closed my eyes for a moment, my muscles aching and without the adrenaline thrumming through me, I was feeling exhausted. I heard the woman talking softly in Russian and after a couple of minutes fighting sleep, she touched my shoulder and when I opened my eyes, she handed the phone back. I lifted my sleep-heavy arm to bring the phone to my ear.

"Everything is taken care of, they're going to set you off at my place and I will see you in a bit."

"Thank you so much. I'll see you soon.

"Of course, see you"

She hung up and I finally let sleep take me.

…

After being dropped off and thanking the nice couple profusely in Russian, Tamara put a hand around my waist for support and we began climbing the stairs to her apartment. Every step was more exhausting than the last. Tamara unlocked the door and led me to the spare bedroom. After helping me change out of my bloody clothes and cleaning my wounds, Tamara shut the lights out with a whispered "goodnight".

As I closed my eyes, I saw him. Not the strigoi him, but the warm, kind and loving man he had always been. I was clinging to the memory of the old him, the one that chose to be with me no matter the consequences. The one who loved me no matter what. As I lay in the dark, I let sleep take me knowing that I had given him his rest. It didn't matter that I had no idea what would happen next, I had kept my promise.

…

I stayed with Tamara for 2 weeks. I used at least half of that time sleeping. My bruises were getting yellow, my cuts healing, but my heart hadn't healed one bit. He left a gaping wound in my heart, that I was afraid would never heal.

Tamara had been nothing but nice to me, but I knew I didn't belong in that small apartment with her. She said that I could stay with her as long as I wanted and for that, I was grateful. The thing was that I didn't wanna stay in Novosibirsk. I wanted to go back to the Belikovas, but I was afraid they wouldn't let me stay and the academy wasn't an option.

During the two weeks that had gone by, Tamara must have sensed something was up, because one afternoon where we were hanging out, doing nothing particular in her apartment, she cautiously asked me "Rose?"

"Hhmm?" I answered, curious as to what she wanted to ask, since the caution was clear in her voice.

"Do you have any idea what you wanna do now? I mean, you're always welcome to stay as long as you want, but it doesn't seem like you want that. So do you? Have an idea?" Her voice was curious, yet careful. Like she was talking to a frightened deer, about to run.

"I uugghh… Look it's not that I don't appreciate you're hospitality, I really do, but it's just…" I couldn't form my words so they would match my feelings. It was frustrating. It looked like Tamara understood, regardless of me not saying anything particular.

"Look, I'm not claiming I know anything, but to me it sounds as if you miss someone. I have no idea who it could be, but that strigoi couldn't have held you captive for that long. As I said I don't know anything about you're time away, but I'm pretty certain even a strigoi couldn't have had Rose Hathaway for that long with her finding a way out." She was right about that. If I hadn't let him bite I would have found a way out of there way faster, but I had let him bite me and I regretted it every day.

"And if you really do miss someone, then why don't you just travel back to them? What's holding you back?" My subconsciousness provided an image of an angry Viktoria outside of the dhampir club.

"You're right. There are some people I miss, but I'm not sure they ever want see me again and I'm not sure I could handle being rejected." My voice wavered and I couldn't speak, afraid if another word came out of my mouth, I would start crying. Tamara leaned over the chair to give me hug.

"I'm sure that if you think they're worth caring about, then they must be good people and I don't think good people could hate. You're a great person and you're worth caring about" her voice muffled, as she gave me a squeeze and pulled back to look me in the eyes.

"I really think you should give them a chance to prove your fears wrong" I could feel the hope growing in my chest and I had tears in my eyes at the thought of joining the Belikovas. Maybe I really could do this.

…

After that conversation, I started packing and booked tickets to take the exact same route as when I travailed with Sydney. On the train station, I hugged Tamara and thanked her for everything she had done. She made me promise to visit and I did. Tamara and I had become good friends and I didn't want to lose another friend. As I boarded the train, waving at Tamara, I thought of Lissa. I had blocked out her thoughts because I wasn't sure I could take seeing all my friends at home, moving on without me. I didn't wanna go back, but I knew that seeing everyone would be heartbreaking. As I looked for my cabin on the train, I felt a sudden sadness. I knew Lissa missed me and I hated being the cause of her pain, but I knew I couldn't go back. At least not yet.

I got a few weird looks from people on the train, I guessed it was because of all of my bruises. Even though I wore a long-sleeved shirt and jeans that covered all my bruises well, I still had a split lip, a huge bruise on my cheekbone and my ankle in a cast. I ignored everyone and slipped into my cabin.

I lay my bag that held very little clothes, a tooth- and hair-brush and an extra stake I had purchased in Novosibirsk, on the floor and crashed onto the bed. To my relief the curtains were already drawn, so I didn't have to stand up and close them. I kicked my boots of, got rid of my jacket and crawled under the covers. I still wasn't completely healed and healing took a lot of energy out of me. Therefore I was exhausted. I shifted around and when I found a comfortable positon, it took all of three seconds to fall asleep.

That was the end of chapter 1. Should I continue this?