I don't own VA.
Vampire Academy.
Alternate Ending.
Shadow Kiss.
1.1
Blackness, it was utter blackness. I had no other words to describe it. It was that kind of dark in which you couldn't even see yourself. Maybe I was back in that weird room. I seriously didn't even want to know what that room had been.
Stay with us, you belong to us.
There were moans all around me. I tried to raise my arms, to feel something, anything but I was frozen. And suddenly very scared. Something was shining, just a few feet away from me. Then, to my horror, more humanoid figures began to glow.
Rose, Rose. Stay with us.
We miss you.
You were supposed to die!
You are a traitor to us.
Traitor!
Wake up, I yelled at myself. Wake up you, moron! You need to wake up.
The blackness slowly started to fade. And pain was filling up the space. With a groan, I opened my eyes. The light hurt my eyes. It was too bright after the darkness. I blinked a couple of time.
Good god, did it hurt a lot!
"Roza?" Even though my eyes were still out of focus, I knew who that voice belonged to.
"Hey, comrade." I said, my voice low and hoarse. I swallowed, my throat was dry. "Water?"
Dimitri was hurriedly pouring me a glass. I tried to sit up and successfully managed to not even being able to lift my head. Dimitri gently helped me up. I winced as his hand touched the back of my head.
"Sorry." He murmured and lifted the glass to my lips. I greedily drank the water, some of it dripping down my chin, which he wiped. Embarrassed slightly, I looked away.
"How long have I been out?" I asked.
"More than twelve hours. The sun is up." He said, sitting on the only chair in the room.
I frowned. All the worry, the tension, came flooding back to me. I could barely remember what had happened at the caves. My head was pounding, not just mentally but physically too. I must have hit my head. But it was hard to believe that I had been out for more than half a day.
I remembered him fighting with the blond Strigoi and then pain lots of pain. But for now, what mattered was that he was alive.
"I'll get-"
I cut him off. "What happened?"
He hesitated. I hoped he wasn't going to start on me needing to rest first. I could handle it. Whatever it was. I had fought in a battle after all.
"You snapped, Rose. You lost control." Dimitri said.
I couldn't handle it.
Fear crawled on my body. I couldn't look at him. He was holding my hand tightly. My eyes were stinging. My vision was blurry. It was happening again this time I hadn't (consciously at least) taken the darkness from Lissa. Twice in just a couple of days. It felt like every minute, I was getting closer to the world of the dead (even if it did exist) and getting further away from my own world.
This time it had been worse. I had heard their cries. I had felt their pain. Who knew what was going to happen the next time? The spirits, ghosts, had taken humanoid form. They hadn't been the same weird skull-like things like before.
I leaned my head against him. "Tell me exactly what happened." I whispered.
He pulled back slightly before continuing. "Maybe the princess had used too much spirit. You weren't even responding to any of us. Roza, there were...ghosts. We saw them. They emerged out of nowhere. They were the only thing that kept all of us safe. And you tried to run back in. Your mother had to knock you out before you could go deeper in the cave. Adrian asked the Princess to take her meds. She had been using too much spirit. Adrian tried to heal you, but none of the elemental magic worked on you. He said something about your aura starting to fade and then it turned black."
"You-you saw the ghosts?" I asked.
He nodded. "I am sorry that I had a hard time believing. They were terrifying. They didn't hurt any of us but gave the Strigoi a hard time. The sun was going down, we barely had ten minutes left. It's because of you that half the team is alive."
"I saw the dead, Dimitri. The souls of everyone who had died during the battle, Moroi, Dhampir and even the Strigoi."
I shivered as I recalled. "But that wasn't it. The other souls wanted me to join them. Dimitri, they called me a traitor. They said they would make me join them, that I belonged to them." I could feel my eyes start to sting. I looked at my hands which were still shaking.
"Rose. Roza, look at me." Dimitri said. He cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him.
"I don't want to die." I cried.
"I am not going to let anything happen to you. We will go through this together." He said firmly.
"But-" I started to say.
His thumb stroked my lips. "I promised you, didn't I?"
I nodded. The memory was still fresh in my head. And it probably would remain like this for the rest of my life. If I managed to stay alive, that is.
"I love you." I whispered.
I felt him kiss my head. "I love you too, Roza. I have to go call the doctor."
I nodded.
Dimitri was back in under just a minute with the school doctor.
"My favorite patient is up." Dr. Olendzki said with a tired smile. She had bags under her eyes. With everything going on she probably hadn't had time to even take a nap.
I couldn't even bring myself to say a snarky remark. She checked me out while Dimitri stood in a corner.
Great, she was putting me on bed rest for the next four days. I was not going to have my training sessions Dimitri (for another half a week), I was permanently taken out from the field test and I would have to go to Deirdre twice as much as I did before. But hey, I could leave the hospital after a few hours of observations.
"I need the field test to graduate." I had said and she had called Alberta to prove her point.
I scowled the whole time. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dimitri slightly shake his head.
"Belikov," Alberta exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
Dr. Olendzki answered her questions. "Miss Dragomir didn't want to leave Rose alone. Guardian Belikov volunteered to stay with her so that Miss Dragomir could go to bed."
Thank Vladimir for the doctor's response. It would have been so difficult to get Alberta understand our situation. Dimitri could have been fired. I could have been thrown out.
Alberta had of course seen the 'ghosts' and she was having a hard time being around me. Even if she didn't show it, I still knew.
I was officially a freak.
The days that passed were filled with grief for everyone. There was silence all over the Academy. Classes had started running on the fourth day. Students were barely seen out of their rooms after their classes ended. It was either the confinement of their rooms for everyone or the chapel. A memorial service was organized to honor the dead. The families of the students, especially the royals, had wanted to come to the school to ensure the safety of their children but noon was allowed to come. Having more Moroi on campus meant having more people to worry about.
The Guardians and some novices were given a Zvezda each. It was a tiny star indicating that a guardian had been in a battle and killed unknown number of Strigoi. Christian had been offered to get a zevzda mark too. He had agreed. It was unheard of, but Christian wore it with honor.
Whatever injuries I had were healed by Adrian. Little by little, he had managed to heal me. He had been exhausted afterwards. Lissa was on meds, something she was doing for me. I knew she felt slightly helpless as if someone had taken away a part of her, but she told me she had been even more helpless watching me on the bed when I was out.
Dimitri and I hadn't been able to talk again after I left the hospital. I had about two weeks' time off, then the field tests would be over and Lissa would start pestering me about exams. Sure, I was good at the practical part, but theory was something that made me go mad.
I seriously didn't want to think about it. My birthday was tomorrow and it was also the day I was going to start my trainings with Dimitri again. I wasn't really excited about. After everything that had happened, it seemed... wrong to feel any sort of excitement.
I had been spending most of my time in my room, obviously. But when I had been finally allowed to leave my room, I spent the whole time with Eddie, Lissa, Christain and Adrian.
At the current moment though, I was with my mother. She was packing as she was leaving in a few hours. We hadn't really talked. But I had a couple of things to tell her before she left.
She continued to fold her clothes while I sat on a chair with my knees up.
"Mom." I said finally after a lot of silence.
She looked up. "Yes, Rose."
I took a deep breath before uttering, "I am sorry...about the way I have been in the past. I understand why you," a lump formed in my throat, "I want you to know that I don't hate you."
Anything else that I had wanted to say were drown by her fierce hug.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Rose. I haven't been the mother you deserve."
I shook my head, "You are the one I look up to, Mom. Watching you as their leader, it was kinda amazing. I hope I am at least half as badass as you are, when I grow up."
"You are going to be one of the best. I know it. And I also know you won't be making the same mistakes as I did. Whatever you choose in your future, I know it will be right." She said with a smile.
My smile mirrored hers. She went back to her clothes.
Perhaps it was the right time to mention the other thing too.
"Uh, you know, the Queen mentioned about my father. Is his name Ibrahim?"
I saw her stiffen for a moment. "Yes."
I chose to continue. "Does he know about me?"
She nodded, "He does." She sat down on her bed with a sigh, "He was there when you were born. He was there for the nights when you kept me up," she smiled briefly, "he was there to do all the dirty work."
I could see her struggling to keep her expression in control.
"He was there for your first step, for your first word. We were so happy, Rose. I thought I had everything with me. And I did, even if it was for just a moment. Then it got snatched away." I heard the pain in her voice, but in another second it was gone.
The topic was closed... for now at least.
So here it is. I had to write this again because I didn't like the previous one that I wrote.
Thank you for reading and following and reviewing WSHH.
Thank you so, so much for your responses. And here's another thing. I want ideas for what Lissa, Dimitri and Adrian would have gotten for Rose's birthday.
For Lissa, it would be something unique and a bit expensive. (I was thinking something like matching bracelets maybe?)
For Dimitri, it would be something simple and something that Rose would have wanted for a long time. (In Blood Promise, Rose mentions their trip to Idaho. So maybe something that Rose saw there? Not a silver stake)
As for Adrian, it would be something flashy. Something not-so-practical.
So, suggestions please.
See you soon.
Sacraa.
