AN- So, I was really pleased with the reaction to the first chapter. I was expecting maybe two or three views, and was surprised by the twelve I got. Hopefully this chapter will get the same response. Happy reading.
I believed in a lot of things. I believed in God. I believed in souls and Heaven and Hell. I believed if I pass a black cat I will have bad luck. And after Rose's experiences, I also believe d in ghosts. Even though I went through a lot in my life, am still going through struggles, there is one thing I would always believe in. At times, God would come and go. I found it hard to pray to an invisible being as I watched Strigoi torture Moroi. More than once I felt like I belonged in Hell and that Heaven would always be a dream.
But not matter what, since the day she came into my life until the day she left, I believed in Rose Hathaway. We met on bad terms, but in those early days I saw that she had talent, and a fierce love for her best friend. As I began to know her, I discovered her dry sense of humour, her charm, her tendency to put others before herself, and her amazing beauty. She was easy to fall in love with. I just never thought she'd be easy to lose.
It's an open casket. I was never fond of them. Abe and Janine were supposed to see her last, but they had already seen her. After all, Lissa and I were closer to Rose then they had ever been. As we approached the casket, Lissa tightly gripping onto my arm, I felt the eyes of all the attendants staring at us. How would the Queen react? Would she turn mad and fall apart? Would her scandalous love stop at nothing to kill the thing that had done this to his lover?
I let Lissa go first. She seemed to understand. She was Rose's best friend, her sister, but me...I was her husband. I was her husband. Somewhere in our clouds of emotion, we both knew I'd have to go last.
I heard a horrible sob and saw Lissa's shoulders bob as she cried. Christian, her ever present fiancé, rushed to her side and wrapped his arms around her. "Rose," she wailed, "R-Rose...". Lissa took another glance at her dead body, shrieked, then ran out of the funeral home. Christian and Adrian chased after her. Guess that means it's my turn.
I walk the short distance to the casket with my eyes close. If I open them and see her lying there, it means its real. She'll be dead and never with me again. No trips to look forward. No rushing into her arms after a long day's work. No more Rose Hathaway smiles.
I let my eyes open. And there she was. Her own eyes closed, mouth un-smiling, cheeks sorely lacking life. Her olive skin was pale and her hair, her beautiful brown hair was lying uselessly around her face. Her body was lying straight and was dressed in a Guardian's uniform of black slacks and white shirt. She should have been wearing a dress, or my t-shirt, something she'd be comfortable in, but I knew that she would want to be buried as this. As a protector.
I only realised I was crying when the tears hit the wood of her coffin. This wasn't her. This wasn't the woman I loved. She was gone and she would never be back. I felt my breathing go beyond me as I started to shake.
"No, no this isn't my Rose," I whispered, "She's still alive, they have her somewhere,"
I felt a hand on my shoulder but shrugged it off, "No! Rose wouldn't leave me, she wouldn't die!" the fact that I was screaming didn't escape me, but I didn't care. I could feel an awful tugging in my chest and I just wanted it to go away.
"Dimitri, come on, let's get out of here,"
It was Alberta. When I looked at her face, usually strong and confident, I was surprised to see tears dripping down her cheeks. Roza affected everyone. I wish you were here.
"Please Al, tell me it is a lie," I whispered, "Tell me that isn't her! Tell me that isn't my wife in there," I begged her while looking at Rose's face.
"I'm sorry Dimitri, but I can't do that,"
I reached out to touch Roza's cheek, but the thought of her being cold was enough for me to lunge my hand away. I looked again, really looked at her again. Even in death, even when she didn't look herself, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
"Whoa, Dimitri, I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"
It was one of our earliest training sessions. She laughed at my choice of music.
I gathered myself together. No more crying. I'm a man and I need to act like it. She wouldn't want me to act like this, she'd want me to live.
"Wow. You beat up your dad. I mean, that's really horrible…what happened. But, wow. You really are a god.
You really are a god."
I stood up tall and didn't look at her again. Alberta stood next to me, seemingly understanding the change that had just occurred in me. Rose always thought I was the hero, and that I would never be the one to die. In truth, that's how I saw her. She would never die. She would live forever, because she was the best damn Guardian in the country.
We walked away from the coffin. I never looked at it again.
AN- Yeah, a lot more sappy than the last one...but at least we see some change in beautiful Dimka.
