Sorry it has taken me so long to update! Oh, and it will get more exciting after this chapter...I promise! :D

The trial was only minutes away and my nerves were taking over. I was walking over to the courtroom –highly guarded- when Adrian approached me.

"Hey little dhampir." He whispered to me as he slung his arm on my shoulders. I really have no idea how he got past all of the guardians. "Show them the mark today. You need an alibi…and well, everyone already knows about my reputation. They would definitely believe that I did that to you."

"But there's no point. I gonna lose so-" I started.

"No! You won't lose. I won't let you."

"Thank you, but-"

"Adrian, may I talk to Rose for a minute." Abe's voice came from behind. Adrian nodded his head then walked off into the courtroom.

"Hey zemy." I said. He rolled his eyes as we entered the courtroom too. We took our seats at the front where my mother sat.

"Rose, if you are ever unsure of how to answer a question, just look at me. I will try to guide you. Oh and try to match your story with others so that it seems like you are telling the truth. And most importantly, I know that you have a past of…let's just say- of throwing tantrums. Just make sure that you don't have a fit today. That will make you lose your case like that." Abe snapped his fingers. I looked around the courtroom, and a very sick feeling crossed my stomach.

"Rose, are you okay?" My Janine asked from beside Abe. I swallowed then nodded my head slowly. Abe talked more to me, but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. I fidgeted with my hands and they turned sweaty. In fact, my whole body felt like it was on fire. I felt like I was going to throw up. Then somebody's hand touched my shoulder and I jumped. Before I was blocking people out, so when Lissa touched me, I was scared.

"Shit Liss! You scared the crap out of me." I said. Suddenly her emotions clouded mine. Extreme worry was the main emotion. She stared at me wide eyed and confused.

"Rose, I've been sitting here practically the whole time." She whispered as more people shuffled in.

"Oh…sorry." I said. Just when I was about to say more, the judges voice rang out.

"We are here today to finalize the trial for Miss Rosemarie Hathaway- former student at , and now an unemployed guardian." The judge continued. "She has recently been held responsible for Queen Tatiana's death. The charges will be execution if the defendant is found guilty. However, if the defendant is found innocent, then all charges shall be erased." The rest of the trial was a blur to me. People went up to talk to either testify for me, or against me. The majority had strong feelings for me being executed but-

"Miss Hathaway, please come up to the stand." My thoughts were interrupted by the judge's voice, which was hard and cold…and almost tired, like she knew this was a waste of her time.

I stood up after giving Lissa a quick squeeze, and sat back down at the stand. That's when the questioning started. I had to remember what Abe had said. He had mentioned that I stick with other's stories and that if I was ever unsure of a question to just look over to him. Most of the questions were the same ones as the first trial, but some were different.

"Where were you when Queen Tatiana's murder occurred?" A lanky man walked back and forth in front of me, while writing and reading things on a notebook.

"I was in my room." I said. The lack of detail didn't seem to please the man asking the questions.

"Was anybody with you at this time?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Adrian Ivashkov." I answered. Heads turned to the back where Adrian sat looking straight at me. I knew he was trying to convey a message, but I ignored it.

"Was anyone else in your room?"

"No."

"And, what were you and Mr. Ivashkov doing?" He asked. I bit my lip and looked over at Abe. He nodded his head as if to tell me, 'Tell him the truth.'

"Just talking." I said. That was the truth…even though I was leaving something out.

"About?" He prompted. I thought back to what had been said between us. Finally I remembered.

"We had been talking about Lissa, and her family,…and our relationship." They could take the 'relationship' part however they wanted. It sounded like it was my relationship with Lissa, but it was actually my relationship with Adrian. As for the family, they probably just thought it was about her dead parents and brother, but it was actually about the person who was taking money from Lissa's account.

"Do you have any proof of this alibi?" He asked. Damn it! What should I say?

"No. I-" I began. Adrian cut me off though.

"Yes she does." I looked over to him and saw him standing. The judge gave him a sour look and said,

"You may not speak without permission, Mr. Ivashkov."

"But, she has a bite-"

"Enough!" For that one second I actually liked the judge. It looked like Adrian's reputation would not be ruined tonight. Suddenly, all liking I had for the judge faded. "You will have your turn to speak after Miss Hathaway here is done."

"Oh, we are done here, Judge Truman." The man who had questioned me spoke up from where he stood in front of me.

"Then, Adrian Ivashkov, please come up to the stand." Judge Truman said. I got up and walked back to my original seat after giving Adrian a pleading look. He knew very well what I was pleading him to do…or well, what not to do. I didn't think he would listen to me though.

"Where were you when the Queen's murder occurred?" The questioning started again. Adrian scoffed at the question, knowing that I had already answered that question for him. The questioning went on, and it was practically the same as my questioning…but Adrian's answers weren't always the same…

"Do you have any proof for your alibi?" The man asked. I glanced at Adrian, but he wasn't looking at me.

"Yes."

"And what would that be?"

"She has a bite mark on her neck…where I had bit her." There were a few gasps- one which belonged to Lissa.

"Rose?" Lissa whispered beside me. I couldn't look at her though. I was too embarrassed.

"Did she receive that bite mark when the Queen was being killed?"

"Yes." I looked around to see others expression. Only one expression caught my attention.

Dimitri sat in the very back, alone. His jaw was clenched and his lip sat in a thin line. His face showed something I had never seen before…jealously. No it couldn't be! Dimitri can't be jealous. Finally our eyes met. Even though he didn't say it yet, I could tell he loved me. A grim smile formed on my face and I turned back around to face Adrian.

"Miss Hathaway, will you please come here." The Judge said. Slowly I got back up and brushed the hair from my neck. The bite mark was still there, but it was fading. The judge and the lanky man examined my neck before gesturing me to sit back down.

After a few more minutes, Adrian was dismissed and Abe came up to testify for me. I was very thankful I had him (though I would never tell him that) because he was good at testifying.

Suddenly, a hand was on mine. I looked over into my favorite brown eyes.

"Can I tell them it was me? Please." Dimitri begged quietly.

"No. I'm not worth it."

"Yes you are." He said. Then he started to stand up. Guardian reflexes kicked in, and I grabbed his arm and yanked him back down.

"Please. Don't." Now I was begging. He leaned towards me, still hand in hand and said,

"But you have barely lived you life. I have already had two. You don't deserve to die right now."

"This is my second life too!" I said, recalling the accident. "I was supposed to die then. In the accident. And we are not that far in age, so don't even say that I have barely lived compared to you." I knew I had a good argument, and I knew that he knew it too. I released his hand when he finally relaxed in his chair. He surprised me when he did not pull his head away. Instead, he just stared into my eyes. I was the one to pull away when someone jerked me from my stupor. Mikhail.

"Rose. I have an idea of who killed the Queen."

"This isn't really good timing." I whispered softly.

"Ambrose." He continued. "He is the only person who could've gotten the Queen alone." He had a good theory going on, but it wasn't enough evidence.

"Why would he want to kill the Queen?...And frame me?" I asked.

"Wait…wasn't Ambrose 'gone' for a while?" Dimitri asked. I nodded my head.

"This is not something we should talk about right now."

"Alright. The jury has reached a verdict." The judge's words rang in my head and I turned towards her. The knots in my stomach suddenly got tighter. Dimitri squeezed my hand, and I squeezed back. I probably squeezed a little too hard.

"Miss Rosemarie Hathaway has been found guilty, and will be executed tomorrow at 1 pm." I didn't remember anything that happened to me after that. I didn't know how I ended up back in my jail cell, or anything. I knew that I would have been found guilty, but the full impact didn't hit me until just now. The judge's words, flowed through my mind, and it became like a bad song that was stuck in my head. It replayed itself over and over and over again. 'executed', 'guilty', '1 pm'.

I also remember a rampage starting after the judge declared me guilty. Tasha, Abe, Lissa, Adrian, Dimitri, Janine, and even Christian were shouting out protests while others shouted back. At least they were on my side. Unfortunately, 7 people were not enough to change everyone else's minds.

To my surprise, I slept. It was probably the middle of the night for vampires, when I heard grunting. I listened harder and I heard someone was fighting others. I sat upright in my bed as I heard the door to the prison swing open. Someone appeared. It looked like a man to me, but I couldn't tell who it was at all. He was dressed in all black. He even had a black mask and black gloves. I couldn't see any of his skin since it was all covered in clothes. There was also a stake in his hand, so all thoughts of him being a strigoi were erased from my mind.

"What the hell?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Then the man put his stake to work. He hit the bars of my cell repeatedly until finally, there was a big enough space for me to fit into. I walked away from the hole as much as possible, while still being confined into the jail cell. I looked around for a weapon, but there was none. I would just have to rely on my fists and feet. Then I thought again, and realized that weapons might be unnecessary. I mean, this guy had just hit a hole in my cell which would help me escape my death tomorrow. Or maybe, this guy was a killer and just couldn't wait until tomorrow to see me dead…