Every Rose Has A Thorn Chapter 1 ;; Leaving

"You can't do this!" Mason protested.

"I can and I will," I said firmly, throwing more clothes into the bag.

"Why not let someone else do it?" he asked.

"Cause I'm the best choice and you know it, Mase," I said, stopping to face him. He opened his mouth to speak but I beat him to it. "EGO (A/ N: it's pronounced egg-oh) sum iens."

It meant 'I'm going' in Latin and Mason knew that I was usually serious when I use Latin. I returned to my packing, expecting Mason to drop the subject.

Instead, he took up the argument from a different angle. "What if someone went with you?"

"Someone like you?" I asked dryly, guessing his intentions.

"Yeah, why not?" he said.

"Because," I sighed, "You know what the plan is and you'd just be messing it up if you came."

"Yeah, well, it's a stupid plan anyway," he mumbled, crossing his arms like a kid.

"A plan that might just give us the upper hand in this damn blasted war!" I screamed.

"It's stupid! Full of holes! And totally irresponsible!" he shouted.

I bit my tongue to stop me from saying anything I might regret. I took a deep breath and continued packing.

Until a hundred and fifty years ago, humans had no idea we existed. Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampirs lived in secrecy from the entire world. And then a group of Moroi and Dhampir rebelled. They wanted a place in this world. The humans picked sides and the while world went into lockdown. Electricity was scarce so we had to go back to the times
when we used guns and swords for fights. We had to travel by horseback now. The world was a war ground and we had soldiers guarding the small towns we had made.

I was a Dhampir and so was Mason. We were fighting the people who exposed the vampire world. We still considered ourselves to be guardians considering that we still protected the Moroi who were on our side but we now had to guard them in larger groups.

"Rose! Time to go!" Eddie, another Dhampir friend of mine, called.

"Coming!" I yelled. I glanced at Mason who cast me a disapproving look before following me to where more guardians stood next to a group of horses. Legend has it, that before electricity was shut down, people used to travel in cars. "Are we going ye- OOF!"

I grunted as I was attacked by a pretty, blonde girl with jade green eyes. I staggered but kept my balance.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were leaving today!" she screeched in my ear. I winced slightly but the smile didn't leave my face.

"I can't believe you managed to sneak up on me!" I said, grinning.

"Never mind that!" Lissa said, dismissing the matter with a slight wave of her hand. "You can't leave today!"

I laughed at her whining and hugged her. "Liss, I was going to leave anyway. Why not today?"

"Because I don't want you to!" she said, hugging me back. The tone was meant to be whiny and joking but I could hear the genuine concern behind it, or maybe I could feel it seeping in through the bond.

"I'll be fine," I whispered in her ear, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You know I will. Plus, if I die, you could always bring me back again."

She pulled back and hit me on the arm. "Don't say that!"

"Yes, mum," I said, smiling. She stared at me for a few seconds before smiling back.

"Time to go!" Stan said, interrupting us.

I sighed before hugging Lissa again. "I love you. Take care."

"That was supposed to be my line," she complained. "But seriously, be careful." I raised my eyebrows at her. "Or as careful as Rose Hathaway can ever be."

I stepped away from her and mounted my horse. Mason, Eddie, Stan and a few other guardians copied me and we started going along the road to the forest.

"Bye!" I called over my shoulder, waving before urging my horse to go
faster.