AN: Sorry, I'm trying to be focused and get this story over so that I can write for other stories. If I'm lazy, you'll hate the ending; I know that much for sure. If I do it right, you'll love the ending or be okay with it. It doesn't matter too much. :D So, let's try to get this party started! Enjoy X3

Chapter 4 – the Belikov's plane

(Rose POV)

I squinted in the darkness before bolting upright. Something was off. Last night was amazing, Dimitri and were together and happy, but now? I felt empty and… awful. I moved towards Dimitri to wake him up, but when I opened my mouth I gagged. I had to hold back the sudden urge to retch. Moving quickly I got out of bed to run to the master bathroom to throw up last night's Sloppy Joe and all the chocolate. My throat burned from the acid and I gagged again from the smell. By now, Dimitri was up and he came by my side to help hold up my hair.

"Rose? What's going on?" I shook my head back and forth hoping he'd get the message that I was too busy choking on my own bile to respond. He tied my hair back and left the bathroom only to return with another bottle of TUMS and a bottle of water.

"Here, chew on the TUMS and do not brush your teeth until an hour has passed. Drink as much water as possible and please don't eat anything but the saltine crackers I left on the counter. I'm going to get Vasilisa." With that he left to go get changed. I couldn't stop the onslaught of bile though and the smell was getting to me. I flushed the toilet and went to brush my teeth, hoping he wouldn't catch me in the act. In another two minutes, he was out the door running to Court. I sat against the tub after, chewing on two TUMS and downing the water. My stomach was churning and I had a massive headache and cramp combo. It sucked, but fifteen minutes later, Lissa burst into my bedroom and found me.

"Rose! Are you alright? Adrian can you see her aura? I can't get a hold of it…" Adrian's green eyes peered into mine as his hand pressed against my forehead. I flushed, feeling sick again. I pushed past them and stumbled towards the toilet letting everything come up and out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lissa cringe back and Adrian turn a little green himself.

"Well, Lissa, she's sick that's for sure. I don't know what else to say… Maybe she shouldn't eat for another hour, unless you want to see it again five minutes later." He grinned hoping we would laugh with him, but he only got disapproving stares from Dimitri and Lissa. A painful groan escaped my lips and I clutched my stomach tightly. It was going to be a long morning.

-x-

My head rested against the arm of the couch and I stared blankly at Dimitri's ass while he made breakfast for himself.

He silently cracked a few eggs and emptied their contents in one pan while flipping the bacon in another. Dimitri was moving as quietly as possible, full well knowing that I'd chew him out due to my massive headache. He finally looked around till he spotted me curled up on the couch.

"Roza, are you going to be okay?" I kept staring. My mouth was dry and I couldn't form the words. He looked at me alarmed. "Roza?" The feeling vanished shortly after.

"Uh, yeah; I'm fine, but I'll be even better if you sneak me some of that bacon," I joked half-heartedly. I think he caught on too… He still looked concerned, but gave me the plate of bacon. We ate in an eerie silence and during that period, the nauseous feeling crept up again and again.

-x-

(Lissa POV)

Everyone was waiting for Rose at the landing platform at the Court's private airport. Tate and Charlie were the only ones to accompany me today. The three of us made small talk while waiting for Dimitri, Christian, and Rose.

When they arrived in the little airport buggy, the plane began to release passengers. I couldn't help but notice the grin that adorned Rose's face. She told me about how much she loved Dimitri's family and how she wished she could have spent more time with them.

They all stepped out of the private jet (partially paid for by Abe) and Rose's face lit up like a kid on Christmas. I could hear her giggle a little before running over to see them. The elderly woman looked up at her and gave her a small smile that wasn't forced in any way. Then the next woman, who looked to be Dimitri's mother, took Rose's welcoming hug graciously. I could tell they were all happy because to them, this was a family reunion. The teenager, who must have been Dimitri's sister, looked rather delighted to be near Rose. With smiles all around, I shooed off Tate and Charlie turning to go to Rose and Dimitri. Christian grunted as we got closer and pulled me to a stop.

"Wait a little, let them finish up." And wait we did. We stood there for fifteen minutes waiting until the teenager looked at us and squealed.

"Oh my gosh! That's Queen Vasilisa Dragomir!" I smiled widely at her and nodded. I waved then turned my back to Christian.

"Can we go now?" I wanted very much to meet Dimitri's family because, hopefully, they would one day be Rose's family. Christian looked back at the overly exuberant teen and nodded.

"Hi, I'm Viktoria, Dimitri's youngest sister. That's my mother Olena and my grandmother, Yeva. Our two older sisters, Karoline and Sonya, couldn't make the trip, but I believe they would also be thrilled to meet you!" Viktoria's smile was contagious. We made small talk for awhile before Viktoria took her mother and grandmother towards the Guardian dorms, one of the nicer ones of course.

After all of the excitement, I proposed we enjoyed a nice dinner with the four of us at the best… Shelly's Shine'n Dine'n. I felt a little bad because I knew Rose wanted to eat Sloppy Joes with us, but couldn't due to her stomach.

-x-

(Rose POV)

Finally arriving at the diner, my stomach growled. I was ravenous. "Explain why it took so long?" Christian grinned. "We were driving in circles just to annoy you." Ugh… the boy had a death wish I swear… He chuckled at my irritated expression and I heard him say 'Mission accomplished' under his breath. I was ready to pummel this boy….

Cassie, our overly flirty waitress, took our orders and brought our drinks and constantly flirted with Christian and Dimitri and before long she was trying to get their numbers. The boys discouraged her, but she looked extremely pathetic as she walked away from our table.

"Wow, how desperate can a woman get? I mean Dimitri might as well be a god. You, on the other hand, look like a pale toothpick with blue eyes. And Lissa? Grow a pair of balls would you? I would've ripped her limb from limb for looking at Dimitri like that!"

"But you didn't…"

"That's because Dimitri would have had to explain to the cops why I killed our waitress!"

"Okay?"

We went on like that for the rest of the night, bickering like we always did. And as the night progressed, our conversations became less entertaining and more depressing.

After talking to Christian about the 'Tasha thing', I realized that he truly did worry for her. The guards acted as if they wanted her to rot in her cell and there has not been a word of an execution… yet. Even without the bond, I knew Lissa didn't like Christian hurting like this. She hugged him and little while later he looked up from his thoughts. Dimitri must have sensed my grimness because he looked at me with very serious dark brown eyes.

"Rose…"

"Leave it. We have bigger problems. I didn't want to bring this up, but it is important." I looked over to Christian and Lissa and began again, "I was told of a string of murders that have to do with the Moroi. Jesse and Ralf were both attacked… Ralf was killed. There were a few others as well, no names that I had recognized though. All of them lead back to St. Vladimir's Academy though."

"What do you mean lead back?"

"They were all former students at St. Vladimir's. I know Lissa wanted to go check it out and so did Eddie when I ran it by him. I was wondering if you and Dimitri were also interested… I understand if you're not so –"

"We'll go." Christian's pale blue eyes sparked and I knew that he wanted in no matter the consequences. I smiled at his certainty and let my gaze fall on Lissa.

"Well, the date needs to be set. I'll deal with flight times and everyone's schedules; Lissa will double check her meetings and Eddie will confirm with everyone when we'll leave." I smiled proud of my handy work. We finished lunch and left to do our own things.

-x-

Dimitri walked me back to our cabin chatting about diner and what we needed to do before we got there. I wasn't really listening… something was bothering me and for some reason I couldn't let go of it. Guardians were failing at their job… The more I thought about it, the more it began to piss me off. I was the first of our group to hear about Ralf's death, but the emotions were still present and were beginning to turn into something other than grief.

"Who was Ralph's guardian?" Dimitri looked at me funny, probably wondering why I asked him that when he was talking about his mother's trip to America. He responded and I didn't like his answer. He didn't know who it was, but whoever it was they were resigning. In hindsight, I'd say I overreacted just a bit, but at the moment, I felt entitled to this rage.

"You have got to be kidding me! Ralph is dead and his guardian's taking an extended vacation? What the hell! These things shouldn't be happening! Ralph's guardian should have done his job! He shouldn't be out there relaxing and playing chess on the beach! More Moroi citizens are going to fall and it's because guardians' are becoming too soft! We are getting weaker and forgetting that we are to protect the Moroi at all costs! This isn't right and we need to do something about it!" My emotions were jumbled and I couldn't think straight. Tears blinded my vision as I ran away to my guardian dorm room. Throughout it all, I couldn't help but see Lissa's pale corpse crumpled and deformed, drained of her blood. A broken sob escaped my throat as the image lingered. Next to Lissa was a Strigio, lips ruby with her blood. In the back of my mind I heard Dimitri calling to me, catching up to me, but not near enough to get me. The image of Lissa's corpse, the Strigio beside her, the blood… it was enough to make me tremble from my cries… That stayed with me, even when I tried to cast it away, it came back with a force. It hurt to think about my best friend dead at the hands of something I was supposed to protect her from.

The locked door posed as a problem; and fumbling with the keys, I finally got it to open for me. Just as I was about to fling the door shut, Dimitri's foot propped the door open enough for me to see his pleading eyes. He was trying to get me to open the door, but I couldn't hear him over my bawling. I tried to slam the door on him and finally I was able to. I slid down the door and held onto myself. The cries of anguish died down and turned into hiccups and gasps of air and then into soft sniffles. Dimitri had left an hour ago and inside, I knew that things weren't really working out. I wasn't feeling well, I had emotional breakdowns; if it wasn't one thing, it was another! But, I hoped that Dimitri wouldn't get fed up with me.

The knocking on my door broke into my thoughts and I scrambled up to look through the peephole. It was Dimitri.

"Rose, please open the door."

"Guardian Belikov, if you wish to speak to me, then do so at dinner." I knew I was being a little shit, but I couldn't bear to let him see me a sniveling, sobbing mess. My eyeliner was smeared, trails of black from my mascara were dripping down my face, my nose was red, and my normally perfect hair was snarled and resembled a bird's nest. He was not seeing me like this. Ignoring his calls and pleas, I dragged myself to bed and fell into a serene sleep.

-x-

(Adrian POV)

God, Mercy was making me run! RUN! I was sweaty and tired and I could have killed someone for a drink. I was on my eleventh lap when I saw the Russian's retreating figure leave the Guardian dorms. Across the field, Mercy was solely focused on Damien, the poor fellow. I took this as my only chance to go over to Belikov. I jogged over to him and nudged him with my elbow. The man looked like he was about to break down in a heartbeat.

"What's wrong now Belikov? I thought you were going to make your move…" His broken voice responded, sounding less than impressed with himself.

"I screwed up. I took a death to lightly. I had originally thought that she was being unreasonable, but I don't know now. What if– what if we're done?" I shook my head.

"Over that? No, Rose will come around. You mean too much to her." The big Russian just nodded absently. The man was a wreck and I couldn't let Rose make a mistake and leave him, although I doubt she would….

I finally got Belikov to explain everything to me in detail and again, I reassured him.

-x-

I snuck away from Mercy and headed back to my room to get a quick dream-walk in with Rose. I pulled her in almost instantly. I hid behind a large palm tree, trying to obscure myself from her vision. She still knew I was there though.

"Adrian… get your sorry ass out here. It may have been two years, but I still know when I'm being pulled into a dream-walk." I nodded, more to myself than to her, and walked over to Rose. We were at some no name beach, but it had soft sand and crystal blue waves. Rose looked up at me through her red rimmed Ray-Banz and chuckled. I looked at the rest of her, noticing that her red bikini with black polka dots showed me a lot more than a certain Russian would've liked. I myself was wearing a white band tee with black board shorts. That's when I noticed that faceless men and women were also walking on the beach with various beach attire and accessories.

I motioned to a certain faceless man and raised an eyebrow at Rose.

"Really? Why not do this?" With a snap of my fingers, Dimitri appeared in nothing but blue board shorts and navy sandals. I watched her expression carefully and she didn't disappoint. Her eyes widened and she let out a small squeak. Her hands flew up to cover her eyes as she pleaded with me to make him go away. When the Belikov look alike disappeared, she curled up into a ball by my side and silently let the pent up tears fall freely from her eyes.

"I don't know Adrian… I've been so over emotional and I don't even know why! Dimitri's probably pissed off and I just can't help but think we might be over! Two years without any contact other than email, our connection and attraction might not be enough if I can't keep it together…" I shook my head and let my hand slide through her auburn curls. If only you knew how much you both love each other…. I never stood a chance…

"No, Dimitri was a complete mess. He thinks that you'll be the one to end it. At dinner, apologize to him. Let Dimitri know you love him more than anyone or anything. He'll respond, I promise you that much." She nodded her head and I let her return to her dreamless sleep. Dinner was definitely going to be interesting…

-x-

(Christian POV)

Mercy all but kicked my door in. "Do you know what happened to Rose? She hasn't answered any of my calls and I'm starting to get worried!" Lissa looked up from her laptop, "What? Where's Rose?" After their fast and very agitated conversation, they were out the door heading to Rose's dorm room in guardian housing.

I stood there watching them leave, feeling a little more than impressed. Girls… Looking at my watch, I realized that I had only two more hours before Mira had to make dinner. That gave me two hours to make a quick little trip to visit someone. I headed out to the feeders to fill up and then I made my way over to the Court's holding cells. They had yet transferred my aunt to the larger and much scarier prison, but only because Lissa was hesitant about how I would react. I waited at the entrance of the cells and waited till the guard allowed me admittance.

Most of the prison cells were empty, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I was on a mission to get to my aunt before dinner. I stopped in front of cell 37. The exhausted woman who sat inside looked up and smiled genuinely at me. Her body seemed to sag and her hair hung limply in her face. She was a shell of her former self… My aunt Tasha tried to say something but it ended in a fit of coughs. As she tried to regain what was left of her voice, I wondered what would be worse, death or this.

"Christian! Oh god, how have you been? I overheard the guardians talking about the recent attack. Where was it? And how's Lissa? What about Rose?" With a small sad smile, I nodded.

"I've been good. The Court has been too good. I miss you though… I wish you didn't act so foolishly. And yes, there was an attack. It was just about everywhere… All of the people who were attacked can be traced back to St. Vladimir's though. The guardians weren't able to protect everyone… Ralph died and Jesse Zecklos was severely injured. Lissa is safely hidden on Court grounds and of course Rose is with her at all times. What about you? How do you feel?"

"Yes, yes. I'm hungry, but alive… for now. So Rose is back? Tell her I have an important message for her. It's about the attack and if anyone wants to survive the next one, she needs to know this. Tell her there is many more coming; many who will do anything to please their leader." She kept nodding to herself, muttering under her breathe, "Yes, tell Rose and she'll come. She'll come and then… she'll save lives."

I walked away from the cell letting her words sink in. Survive the next one; the next attack? I almost ran into Damien, Rose and Lissa's tutor. He looked a bit frazzled and out of place…

"Hey, sorry about almost running you over there… Where are you headed? You're not going outside the Court, are you?" Damien looked nervous and slightly guilty.

"Um… uh- No… I'm not. Wait- yes I am…. I have to meet up with the some college professors. Tell Rose we'll start studying tomorrow…" I stopped him again.

"Wait, you're not coming to dinner tonight?" He looked shaken and muttered, "I really shouldn't. Honestly, I can't. I have plans." He swallowed again and left in a hurry.

He had to be lying. He had to be… I mean the guy was always calm and collected; right now, he was sweating bullets… The man could NOT lie…

I started walking back to my house.

AN: HULA! Alright, so this was definitely not as long as it should have been, but I had to post something or else I would have exploded… I really hoped you readers enjoyed and please review! XD