Confusion; betrayal; heartbreak; rage- my emotions swirled around my head like an out-of-control storm and I knew I just had to put as much distance between her and myself as possible. How could she do this to me? I thought vehemently as silent sobs began to wrack my body.

I knew that she would not be far behind- she would come to the house to torment me, try to reason with me, but all I wanted was for her to stay away from my family. She had come only to bring pain and anguish to all of us and now she had destroyed my life- how could Dimitri have loved such a skank? She clearly only wanted Roland for herself- she had probably never even loved Dimitri. I relinquished with thought quickly as the image of her gaunt face at the funeral: it was clear she had loved my brother, but who wouldn't?

All the emotions I had supressed for the last week for the sake of my loved ones came bubbling up to the surface as I ran into my room and sank to the floor. This had been my last chance to see Roland before school- Oh god, school… how could I go back to school in a few days after all that had happened?

Rolan would never touch me again- Rose had made sure of that. I heard her come in the front door and walk quietly up the stairs, knocking softly on my door.

"Go away!" I seethed. "Get out of my life- stay away from my family." I heard Rose's breath hitch and a voice in my head told me I was being unreasonable, but my judgement was clouded by fury- I did not want to be reasonable. I heard Rose whisper desperately from the other side of my door.

"Viktoria please… you have to understand I was only trying to protect you…" But I didn't understand, nor did I feel the need to. All I wanted was for her to get out of my life and I tried to make that clear to her- I knew she wouldn't, of course, but for now I wanted to hurt her as much as she had hurt me.

"Viktoria, Rolan is the one who got Sonya pregnant." She whispered. "I'm sorry…I…" she stumbled for words, and my stomach dropped as my brain began to process the information. But of course, that wasn't possible.

"You're lying." I cried- it wasn't possible… it couldn't be…

"GO AWAY- I HATE YOU AND I NEVER WANT TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN" I sobbed- it was the only thing I could think of that would cut deep enough to stop her harassing me. If she stayed there begging for forgiveness then I might give in, and I didn't want that- I wanted to be mad at her for what she did.

She deserved to suffer. I crawled into my bed and began to cry myself to sleep, but I couldn't supress the bud of doubt that bloomed in my chest- was Rolan really the father of my sister's child? Rose really didn't have any reason to lie to me about that… In the morning I would sort it out- I would ask Sonya and she would tell me that of course he wasn't the father. The front door closing was the last thing I heard before drifting into the world of unconsciousness, a sweet escape from the black hatred churning in my chest.

I woke up the next morning warm and content, at least until the events of last night slowly came back to me. I felt a slight jab of guilt when I thought about my words to Rose- I had been acting rashly, too caught up in my own broken heart to realise what I had been doing, saying.

I cursed myself for letting my emotions get so out of hand- Dimitri would have been disappointed. I got out of bed, promising him that I would make amends with Rose as soon as I could- I was still wounded over Rolan, but I could see now that I was thinking rationally that Rose had only done what she thought was best. That was just the way Rose was- she did what she thought was the right thing to do.

Her presence in Baia alone was enough to justify that. But first on my list of agendas was talking to my sister- I needed to know once and for all the truth about Roland- get this out of the way and proven wrong so that I could move on. I padded into the bathroom, my bare feet freezing, and washed away the remaining makeup that marked the path of my tears from last night. I scrubbed my face until I was semi-satisfied with its state, there was nothing to be done for the swollen, red, and puffy condition of my eyes, so with a sigh I knocked softly on Sonya's door.

"Come in" I heard her muffled reply from the other side of the door and I opened it to find her making her bed. She paused to look up at me, her face shocked as she took in my bedraggled state.

"What's up?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion and concern.

"It's just…" I sighed- there was no point beating around the bush- might as well get straight to the point, "I was wondering if you knew anyone called Rolan. I'd heard… things… and I wanted to hear it from you, you know, to make sure." I said, chewing on my lip. Her eyes widened and lit with recognition at the name, before narrowing and fixing on me with a scrutinising stare.

"Where did you find out about that?" she asked in a fierce whisper, before approaching the door to check if anyone was around, then closing it firmly before spinning back to face me.

"Explain." She demanded. I seated myself on her bed and told her, right from the beginning, of my relationship with Rolan, and her features were twisted in disgust as I neared the end of my explanation.

"So it's true?" I said in disbelief. I put my head in my hands when she nodded- how could I have been so stupid? She took a deep breath as she took in my miserable state.

"Thank god Rose was there otherwise things could have been… well, a lot worse. Rolan is a no good piece of shit- way more trouble than he's worth. Good riddance if he is too cowardly to come after any of us again. What a dickhead." She announced with a scowl. and she continued to mutter profanities directed at Rolan under her breath. My stomach felt like an iron weight had been dropped there at the mention of Rose- what had I done?

"Oh god, Rose…I was horrible to her- I didn't believe her." I rambled, "You don't understand- I said so many horrible things, I thought she was lying- I have to find her…" I said, yanking the door open and racing down the hall, ignoring Sonya's protests.

"Rose?!" I called as I ran into the kitchen.

"Mama where's Rose?" I asked as my eyes swept around the room to find only my mother bustling about in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"I don't know, probably still sleeping, but do you think you could help me with-" I cut her off with a huff, earning a look of warning from her.

"I will," I promised, "but first I have to find Rose because…" I trailed off as I noticed a lone piece of paper on the dining table.

"What's this?" I asked as I picked it up curiously. My breathing stopped as my eyes skimmed the first line of the hastily scribbled note before skipping to the name at the bottom. I began to choke as I went back and read, then reread, the entire letter.

To my dearest Belikovs,

First of all, I'm sorry. As much as I want to be a part of your world, full of love and loyalty- away from the heartbreak of my own, there is something that I need to take care of. I am so sorry for just leaving out of the blue like I have, but seeing you all would only crumble my resolve and make me stay.

You remind me of Dimitri, and this is why I so much want to, but cannot, stay. When I lost Dimitri, I lost a piece of my soul, and leaving you has done so too- with you I leave a part of me. Please believe me when I say that leaving you was one of the hardest things I will ever have to do, and you will all stay with me for the rest of my life, but it's not who I am.

Being part of your family is something I could have had in another life, a happier one, but not this life. Please do not think that I leave you because of anything you did- I could not live with myself if that were the case. I have come to love all of you so much, and I wish I could be there to protect you but I made a promise that I have to keep.

With all my love,

Rose

I started to hyperventilate and my mother leaned other my shoulder to peer at the messy note in my hand. Her hand flew to her mouth as she choked back her own tears. My heart contracted painfully to see the grief in her eyes, knowing that it was my fault she felt that way. I had made Rose leave- I'd told her to go myself. What have I done? I thought with horror.

Last night, I had been like a storm- rampaging through the house and wreaking havoc- now I was left to deal with the destruction left in my wake. Rose had been my only casualty, and now she was gone for good. What have I done? I thought again- how could I have done this to her?

The worst part, though, was thinking of how I'd let down Dimka- I'd treated the woman he'd loved like dirt last night- he wouldn't be able to look me in the eye. The shame I felt travelled all the way down to my toes. I let my face fall blank for the sake of those around me, but on the inside I was falling apart.

The anguish around me was suffocating- I needed to get away or it would smother me. Blindly, I stumbled towards the door, waving off my mother's coos of concern with a mumble about fresh air that I barely even comprehended myself. My thought were a jumble of dark thoughts that I couldn't seem to pull apart- they were too tangled and trying to distinguish one from the other was like trying to separate the tangled mess of intertwined vines.

I leaned against the bricks that covered the outer surface of the house, taking comfort in their solid presence against my back. Taking deep breaths of air, I felt my hysteria begin to recede. I tried to formulate a plan in my mind but it was impossible- trying to find Rose now would be like finding a needle in a Haystack- I didn't know how I would find her if she was still in Baia let alone the rest of Russia.

I huffed in frustration at my incompetence- how on earth was I supposed to get her back?

"You're being stupid" My grandmother said decidedly. I jumped at the sound of her voice- I hadn't heard her approach, too caught up in my own thoughts to notice. Another mistake, I thought bitterly. I felt a flare of annoyance flare up at my grandmother and I glanced up at her with a grimace. She was standing about three metres away with her hands on her hips, fixing me with her scrutinising stare.

"She's not coming back, Viktoria, and it's not your fault she's gone either." She said, not taking her eyes off of me.

"Yeah? Then why did she leave if not because I told her to?" I mumbled- I knew I was being childish, but I didn't have the motivation to care.

"You think Rose would give up on you that easily? No. She left because I reminded her that she came to Baia with a purpose that is one she needed to fulfil- it was her duty and she would never get it done if she stayed here," she stated. "This is not where she belongs." My eyes narrowed at her words, and the weight that had settled in my stomach finally lifted- my grandmother was not a liar. Well, not when it was important at least, thinking back to when she had made Rose believe that she couldn't speak English.

"Why? What did she need to do that was so important that she had to leave us?" I wondered with wide eyes, more to myself than to my grandmother, but as my eyes lifted to meet hers I could see she was waging an internal debate. When she finally came to a conclusion she nodded to herself and took a deep breath.

"Rose made a promise to Dimitri, they made a promise to each other, that being dead was the better alternative to being one of the undead" she started slowly, and my mind began to spin as a started to comprehend her words.

"So what are you saying?" I whispered, though I knew, I knew exactly what she was saying but wanted to hear it out loud. Her eyes never left mine and she stared me down as she told me the horrible truth.

"Rose came to Baia to find, and to free, Dimitri. Rose is here to kill him."

Please Review and Thanks for reading!

xo