This was it, the academy was no longer safe, Lissa couldn't stay here any more. She wanted to leave and I didn't but then, I did. If I left I wouldn't have to pretend anymore, I wouldn't have to suffer through every day and pretend Dimitri didn't exist. If I left I would probably never see him again. They come first, it was safe, lissa wanted to leave, I have to keep her safe. Of course she didn't want to leave christian, that would just be too easy, no, Christian had to come too. I am just so excited that I just want to go and give Stan a hug. Really? Heck no. But now, glancing around my empty dorm room, I was going to miss this. Mason was dead, all this place did was remind me of him. We are leaving tonight, in the middle of the day when there would be the least guardians on duty. I had also picked a day when Dimitri was stationed at the elementary campus where we couldn't accidentally bump into him, my ninja skills were good, but not russian god good
All my clothes were packed into my back pack and I had stolen a couple of silver stakes from the guardian dorms when they were all in an important meeting. easy. I stared down at the paper in my hands. What I write? The first one was easy, I would give it to the warden tonight when I snuck out in the pretense of feeling sick and going to the clinic. Christian and Lissa would wait in the church attic and we would sneak out the gap in the fences behind the old cabin in the woods. I started writing the first one as it was easiest.
Dimitri,
I know you will miss me terribly but I can't come to practice. You'll have to find something else to do with your time 'cos I'm sick. Fair warning, wake me and die. I will see you tomorrow morning for training unless I don't feel any better, if not I will go to the clinic. I promise.
Rose.
Even in writing I sounded sarcastic. Man I am such a bad-ass. Now that letter was done I needed to think of what to write to Dimitri when he came up to check on me like I know he will. I was going to leave my room door ajar with the note on the floor, everything tidy for him. I knew he would be hurt but he had hurt me too, every time he kissed me and then pushed me away. I was going to end it, protect us both, but man, was it going to be hard to do. I had always had a comeback, a response but now I was running on empty. I sighed and tried again, rememebering all our training sessions. I knew what I had to say.
Comrade,
I know you're going to be mad at me, scratch that, furious, but I need you to know that I had to. The academy isnt safe anymore, both me and Lissa can feel it. It was me that stole the stakes and thanks to you, I know how to use 'em, but I want to thank you, for the training and everything that you have done for us. I'm sorry it has to be this way but I can't do this anymore. I'm not giving up on us, I will always love you, no matter what, but I just can't take it anymore. I'm sick of all the pretenses, your hot-one-minute-cold-the-next behaviour and the feeling of my heart shattering every time you say we are a mistake. I am Rose Hathaway, I am strong, but you are the russian god that knew exactly how to break down my walls. My Russian God. I can promise you something though, you will never see me again. I won't contact you and I can garuntee you that we won't be found unless I fail and Lissa and Christian need to be rescued. In that case, I trust you to take care of her, take care of her when I can't. She will call you if or when i'm not around anymore. I know how to take care of her, I know how to take care of myself but I beg you, take care of yourself, for me. Please. I love you, more than my own life, I wanted you to know that before I left, that and I forgive you for moving on, I want you to, you need to be happy. Good-bye Dimitri, I will not forget you.
Love, Roza.
As I wrote I felt the tears streaming down my face. I could count the times I had cried on one hand and they basically all involved Dimitri, how pathetic. I wrote "Dimitri" in big letters with vivid on an envelope and placed itr carefully on the floor, propped up against a photo frame, a picture of me and Dimitri sparring that Lissa had sneakily taken making my eyes water again. I needed to stop being the human hose... the picture had Dimitri, grinning in triumph as he picked me up off the floor after pinning me, the light hitting his gorgeous hair. I was facing the camera, glaring my patented Hathaway glare. I sighed before picking up my make up kit and heading to the bathroom to make myself look sick.
An hour and a half later I had eye shadow bags under my eyes, pale face and a light sheen of "sweat" which was just water that clung to the foundation. I was ready. I lowered my bag out the window and shut it, making my way out the door, letter saying I was sick clutched in my hand. I fixed my expression to the universal I'm-gonna-vomit and walked like my stomach pained me. I was an excellent actress. The warden stood us with a disaproving look before she took in my appearance. I had denim shorts underneath my pajama bottoms, sneakers and a tanktop under a loose top that I slept in. She bustled over, the sunlight streaming through the window and warming me.
"Why aren't you in you dorm Ms. Hathaway?" I leant against the wall weakly and watched as her expression softened even more, this was easy.
"I'm sorry, but I was going to the clinic, I don't feel very well. Could you get this to Guardian Belikov please? I don't think I will make to my extra practice session with him in the morning." I made my voice seem strained which wasn't hard, Dimitri's shift finished in little over half an hour, I needed to get this show on the road and quickly. She looked at me sympathetically and I knew I had won.
"Ok, I will do that, off to the clinic now, quickly." I threw her a grateful look before shuffling out the door and towards the clinic. Once I was out of sight I started running, climbing up the wall of the building and getting my bag off the ledge. I could have just climbed out of it but I needed the warden as my alibi for when Dimitri asked her like I knew he would. Once I had made to the ground I stripped off the pajamas and left them in the bush before sneaking round to the church. I loved the feeling of the sun on my skin again, missing it in the noctornal schedule of the moroi. The church was quiet and empty as I hurried up the stairs to the attic and threw the door open. Christian and Lissa flew apart, not even half dressed, dear god.
"Omg guys, can you not spend five minutes alone without ripping eachothers clothes off! we need to get moving and out of here now, so get dressed and do it fast." I closed my eyes while they scrambled around pulled on their clothes. Through the bond I could feel that Lissa was sorry but that didn't really change anthing, I had to put up with this at night, I wasn't going to have them endanger the whole plan just baceause they couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Once they were dressed and had their bags on their backs, we tip-toed down to the front doors of the church. Dimitri's shift ended in 5 minutes, hopefully we would make it out of grounds before then. It was all clear as we ran past the the old cabin and out of the wards into the brilliant sunshine. Now, we needed a car and money. We doubled back to academy car park and I spotted a guardian in the gate post. Stan Alto, my favourite. I snuck to the nearest car convinced a somewhat reluctant Christian to melt the lock so I could open it. Five minutes later we were out onto the road and away from there.
"Rose, it's getting dark, we need to stop at a hotel soon. I can use my card?" Lissa and Christian haed been pretty quiet the whole ride, I had beeen seething in silencee, driving with far more concentration than was needed. I knew they could track her card, I came up a plan instead.
"Better idea, empty the account tonight. We can't use the cards as they are trackable. We are going to need to dump this car, get very good fake and start somewhere far away. Is that ok?" they gave me a quizical look but nodded all the same. We ended up with a lot of money and a room between the three of us. They shared the bed, falling asleep quickly while I kept watch, the window locked as well as the door. Dimitri would be finding the note soon. I wondered how he would react, hoping he wouldn't try track me down but knowing he would. I had done it, I had left, but I had left half of me behind.
Dimitri POV.
I felt odd, like something was about to go incredibly wrong. I had finished my shift on the elementary campus an hour ago but I still couldn't sleep. In five hours I would be seeing my beautiful Roza. I was so proud of her, how far she had come, how well she fought, she was so amazing. Thinking about her made me feel weird again. What was going on? I sat up, the blanket falling from my shoulders, staring around my room. I needed to sleep... I managed to fall asleep after a while, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke at 5 and hopped into the shower. Fully waking my mind up and getting ready for the day. A knock on the door made me jump but I wrapped a towel around me and opened the door a crack, seeing Lily, the dorm warden. Rose...
"What's she done now?" I hated being so presumptous but every time I saw Lily, Rose had snuck out or broken something, usually rules. She smiled but handed me a note with a very familiar scrawl on the front. My heart leapt, what had happened! I kept my guardian mask in place before looking back at Lily.
"Sorry for being so early Belikov, but Hathaway wanted me to get this to you, she went to the clinic, she looked pretty bad." My Roza was in the clinic? Again? They must have a room reserved for her now... I forced a smile and she left, probably going to crash. I shut the door and opened the letter with shaking hands.
Dimitri,
I know you will miss me terribly but I can't come to practice. You'll have to find something else to do with your time 'cos I'm sick. Fair warning, wake me and die. I will see you tomorrow morning for training unless I don't feel any better, if not I will go to the clinic. I promise.
Rose.
heard her voice in my head, full of sarcasm and attitude. She was trying to shrug it off and be strong, but it must be bad if she was already in the clinic. I didn't care what she said, I was going to see her, I had to make sure she was alright. I dressed quickly and left the dorm at a quick pace, the only one up as usual. The grounds were beautiful, the sun warming my back as I continued towards the female dhampir dorm. The warden let me in without a word and I took the stairs two at a time, suddenly very anxious to see my Roza but then dreading it. I froze at the top, seeing her door slightly open, switching to guardian mode I crept silently until I could see it's bare interior. I pushed the door open fully, my heart sinking in my chest. She wasn't here. Then I saw it. In the middle of the floor was an envelope, my name in thick black letters. It was propped up against a picture frame. I reached it in three steps and sank to my knees, looking at the picture first. It was of me and Roza sparring. I was holding her up, her face set in her usual glare that meant she had lost but I saw the humour deep in her eyes. I was smiling too, the last rays of sunlight hitting us, making us look less mortal and more immortal, she looked like an angel. I sat on the edge of her bed and opened the letter, my smile fading with every word. no...
Comrade,
I know you're going to be mad at me, scratch that, furious, but I need you to know that I had to. The academy isnt safe anymore, both me and Lissa can feel it. It was me that stole the stakes and thanks to you, I know how to use 'em, but I want to thank you, for the training and everything that you have done for us. I'm sorry it has to be this way but I can't do this anymore. I'm not giving up on us, I will always love you, no matter what, but I just can't take it anymore. I'm sick of all the pretenses, your hot-one-minute-cold-the-next behaviour and the feeling of my heart shattering every time you say we are a mistake. I am Rose Hathaway, I am strong, but you are the russian god that knew exactly how to break down my walls. My Russian God. I can promise you something though, you will never see me again. I won't contact you and I can garuntee you that we won't be found unless I fail and Lissa and Christian need to be rescued. In that case, I trust you to take care of her, take care of her when I can't. She will call you if or when i'm not around anymore. I know how to take care of her, I know how to take care of myself but I beg you, take care of yourself, for me. Please. I love you, more than my own life, I wanted you to know that before I left, that and I forgive you for moving on, I want you to, you need to be happy. Good-bye Dimitri, I will not forget you.
Love, Roza.
My heart no longer existed. I stood up, clenching the note in my hand and wrenching her draws open. Seeing them bare and empty was worse than the note claiming sickness. Something glinted faintly at the far corner of the bottom draw, my gaurdian eyes just noticing it. I reached and pulled out a ring, it was tiny but I knew what it was. It was my Roza's, Lissa gave it to her for her birthday. It fit Roza's middle finger but it was so tiny that it just fit my pinky. I stared at it. The simple silver band, the ruby surrounded by onyx, Rose was inscribed in the band in writing similar to my own. I pocketed it and ran down the hallway, jumping down the stairs and into Alberta.
"Dimitri, what's wrong, you look like you have seen a ghost." she was exhausted, looks like she had just finished her night shift. I shook my head, trying to edge past without seeming rude. She looked behind me and saw the open door before looking at my hands, the photo and note still visible. She raised an eyebrow, something I knew Rose wished she could do.
"Rose has left the academy and she had taken Christian and Lissa with her." I knew that Alberta loved Rose, saw her as a daughter, it was one of the reasons she was so scary. Her expression faltered before I saw a flash of something. She was hiding something from me, something that had just been confirmed.
"Alberta, what do you know? I'm going to find them and if this is important, then I need to know" my desperation must have shown and she looked resigned before checking that there was no one to over hear. I stooped to hear her better and she started in a rushed whisper.
"Look, we have been hearing reports ever since Spokane that the strigoi have switched targets. They don't want Lissa as their top proirity, they want Rose. I don't know if it's to prove that they can kill the best novice that was ever born, the fact that they are bonded or if it's because if she was awakened she would be almost impossible to kill, but all I know is that they want her and they want her more than they want Lissa. Every minute she spends out there unprotected is another minute that could mean her life. I know that you love her and I want you to prove it. Find her Dimitri, find her and make it fast, they stole Stan's car." I nodded before tearing out the building and sprinting back to my room. This was my fault, god damn it! If I let myself love her she wouldnt be so desperate to escape and get away from me. If anything happened to her I would never forgive myself. I packed my back and was out the door in ten minutes flat, vaulting the fence and reaching my car. It unlocked and I saw where Stan's used to be. These cars all had trackers in them. I opened the laptop on the passenger seat and searched for Stan's car, finding it in the town not so far away, where Lissa had also used her card to withdraw money. She had emptied the account. I would bet my life on Roza dumping the car there too. I had given her all the knowledge she needed to get away, in fact I'm pretty sure she would be able to break in and out of a maximum security prison if she set her mind to it. What had I done?
