Lissa's POV

I sat outside, in the grounds of , leaning against a tree waiting for my knight in shining armor. Christian.

He'd been my life, other than Rose, in most of the months since I'd been back from running away. A lot of times Christian had been the one to calm my feelings when spirit's side effects were taking their toll. At one point I'd hardly known he excised, now I couldn't imagine a life without him.

As I waited for him my thoughts drifted to Rose, my best friend. Alone somewhere in the world trying to find and kill Dimitri. He'd recently been forcibly turned Strigoi. Rose and him had been in love, much to my surprise and made a deal. It was that if either of them turned Strigoi, the one who remained Dhampir would kill the other.

I had no idea where in the world she was, or if she had even found Dimitri, she never replied to emails. I figured it was because she didn't want the school officials to find her. But I still wished she would give be some sign that she was ok.

Sometimes when I thought about it I couldn't believe she had left me in search of him. I felt dark feelings coil inside of me. Partly, anger at Rose for leaving and jealousy that she had chosen killing him over protecting me. But fear over ran all of that, fear that before she could put her stake through his heart, he or something else would kill her.

I understood her need to leave to a level, I would do nearly anything for Christian but I couldn't help those other feelings stirring inside of me.

I opened my eyes startled, as I felt something brush against my cheek. I hadn't even known my eyes were closed. I looked up to see Christian hovering over me, looking worried. At that point I realized it had been his hand on my cheek, brushing away tears I hadn't noticed my eyes spilling.

"Are you okay Liss?" He asked concern obvious in his tone.

"Yes," I said wiping my eyes and getting up, just to fall into Christian's arms, "I was just thinking about Rose, I'm so worried about her!"

I buried my head in his chest and tried to keep more tears from falling as he held me tightly and whispered re-assurances in my ear.

After that brief moment we tried to put our minds on happier things. We snuck up to my dorm room, me fighting back giggles. Girls and boys are not allowed in each other's rooms, but honestly my dorm attendant was so out of it, she didn't even register me and Christian holding hands and moving silently up the stairs, she just stared straight forward blankly.

He and I slept together that night, I don't mean sex, I mean snuggling together, falling asleep while watching some movie, wrapped in each other's arms. In the middle of the night I woke up, for no reason I just did. I looked over at Christian's face and sighed happily. He looked so peaceful asleep, as if he had no worries or cares in the world. I fell back asleep staring contently and the boy I love.

When I woke up the next morning, Christian was gone. I figured he'd left early in hopes to avoid my dorm attendants 'watchful' eye. A few moments later I realized there was a letter sitting on my floor. How cute, I thought, Christian left me a note. I opened it smiling, excited to read it.

But what I read was not a sweet letter from Christian it was from Dimitri. It read;

Dearest Vasilisa,

I regret to inform you that I have killed Rose. I did not wish to, I had hoped to awaken her, but all she did was fight me.

Really she forced my hand, even said she would rather die than become like me. If only she knew how amazing it is. Rose did go down fighting, and for that you should be proud, but now she is dead none the less. I thought you ought to know.

Dimitri

After the words 'I have killed Rose' my mind blanked out, my eyes read the other words but my brain didn't process it. After the signature I let my hands drop the paper.

The first thing I did was run to my old purse and unearth the razor blade I hadn't used in so long. Because why not die like Rose? I had no reason to be on this earth without her. She was to be my guardian, she was my best friend, and surely I could not go on without her. But just before the razor's sharp edge tore through the skin on my wrist, I remembered Christian.

I couldn't leave him, not add to his pain by leaving him like his parents had when they chose to become Strigoi but were killed. I would not do that to him so with a lot of self control I dropped the blade. Without bothering to put of shoes or even real clothes, I picked up the letter and ran like hell to Christian's room.