"And you don't speak Russian?" asks the woman, raising a hair-line brow.

I flinch. "Well...no..."

She nods, and puts down my resume, sliding it across the desk. "I'm sorry, but we don't have any positions available at the moment-"

I sigh and rise from the stool, nodding to the woman. "Thanks anyways."

My last resort. I had pretty much failed the interviews, feeling under qualified and hopeless. You don't know the city very well? You can't speak Russian? You don't own your own transportation?

I shuffle out of the old diner, hands shoved into my pockets. My mind wanders to Lissa as I step into the streets, what she's doing, how she's coping.

Stop it. Stop missing her. You ran away for a reason. Suck it up and get over it.

But I've spent the last thirteen years with Lissa. Forgetting her was not going to be easy.

And why was someone I've only known for less than two years on my mind as much as my best friend? Or more? He didn't even love me, right? He didn't care. And I couldn't let him go. A lovesick teenager. That was all I was.

Although I long to just slip into Lissa's head, ease my homesickness, I refuse. I have to let go. Lissa's better off without my reputation. Dimitri's better off without me reminding him off what happened to him. Adrian's better off, with his father, with the rest of the royal world, without me tagging along. I had let everyone down. Disappearing is the least I could do.

But my self-moving fingers slid into my jacket pocket, taking out my phone and turning it on.

21 new voice mails

28 missed messages

I am so tempted to listen to the familiar voices, to read my messages, but I can't. I won't let myself. I can't. I won't.

So I walk, completely alone, back to my empty, gritty motel room. No job, no purpose, no friends, nothing.

"NO!"

I freeze. Did I really just hear that? The pulse of the music in a nearby club pounds in my ear, and I stop on the sidewalk.

"Please, please, please!"

Humans crowd the streets, laughing drunkenly, their dull ears not detecting any sound but the electronic beat.

So I slip down an alley, between two nightclubs, my hand instinctively sliding towards my stake, concealed in my pocket.

"No! Please! Leave me alone! Please just leave me alone..." A voice sobs and moans.

With a deep breath, I run full speed into the back of the side street. Through the shaded moonlight, I can make out a shape, huddled, shaking.

I immediately drop to my knees beside her. "Hey, hey it's alright," I soothe.

The girl lifts her head. She's human, with long blond hair, and mascara-stained cheeks, her eyes caked with eyeliner and eyeshadow. She looks so much like Lissa I want to cry. She is wearing a very short, clingy red dress that plunges downwards in the front. Her chin is quivering, her whole body shakes. Her eyes are wide and foggy. She's in shock.

"What happened?" I asked softly. Her eyes flutter and her head rolls back, hitting the brick wall behind her.

"No-" I start, reaching towards her. That is, until, I see the smear of red that flows from her neck. Oh God.

"What do we have here?" rasps a voice from behind me. I jump up, but not before I feel a pair of ice cold hands around my neck. Broken neck, instant death.

I gasp for air, shoving my elbow into his gut. He grunts, and ever so slightly loosens his grip. I take this moment to reach into my pocket and pull out my stake, before the strigoi tightens his grip. I shoot my hand backwards, waving the stake wildly as the darkness at the edge of my vision begins to grow. I can feel the lack of oxygen, weakening my muscles. I gasp and fight, until finally, finally, my stake streaking across what I assumed to be his cheek.

He cries out and releases me, and I collapse onto the pavement, gasping desperately for air, every part of me shaking. I shakily rise to my feet, baring my stake. The man hisses a curse at me, a gash deep in his temple, running down to his jaw.

He starts forward and I drop, rolling off to the side. Pushing myself onto my hands and the tips of my feet, I pounce, jumping on him, shoving him into the brick wall. He manages to turn and grab the front of my shirt, trying to reach my neck.

I am panting sweating, trying to maneuver my stake. With one last act of desperation, I shove my fist into his stomach, then, when he leans forward, I bring my stake up, piercing his heart.

We both slide onto the ground. I choke and cough, allowing the flow of air back into my lungs. The burning pain in my throat subsides, and I slowly roll onto my stomach and crawl towards the girl.

She's unconcious, leaning off to the side. A shake her gently, then with a little more force. Nothing. A look over at the body of the strigoi behind me, then repress a shudder, reaching into my pocket, I pull out my phone and call the only person I know can help me.

"Sydney? Hey, it's Rose."

...

I flop down onto the tiny cot, kicking out of my shoes. I am stiff and sore, my whole body aching. I curl up onto the bed, fully clothed, and let sleep take me.

My world is dark until I suddenly awaken. Except I'm in my old room. At the Court.

"Little Dhampir," a voice booms from behind me. "You've got some serious explaining to do."

I groan. "Adrian, leave me alone."

"When have I ever quit, Rose?"

I sigh loudly and spin to face Adrian, who looks as amazing as always. "Where the hell have you been?" he asks, his calm, lazy exterior showing through, but his whole body tense and pained.

"I'm letting you move on. All of you."

He groans loudly. "Rose,"

"No!" I intrrupt. "It's true! Lissa could be Queen! She doesn't need my reputation bringing her down. Neither do you! Dimitri can't even look at me! My parents barely know me! What? What do I have to stay for?" I am yelling now, because I would rather be angry then crying.

"That's what you think?" he shouts back. "That we'd all be better without you? Lissa's a mess, you'd know that if you'd check your damn phone! Or the bond! Your parents are worried sick! And Belikov! God, Belikov is falling apart, Rose! He misses you, he loves you to death! I swear to God, you're going to make that man age before his time with the stress you cause him. And believe me, with the age difference, he really doesn't need the extra years-"

"Adrian!" I shout. "Shut UP!"

"Not until you come back!" He yells in return.

"LEAVE!" I scream. "I HATE YOU! GET THE HELL OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! LEAVE!"

I reach for a pillow, a lamp, anything to throw at him, but suddenly, the room is empty, sparse, barren.

Adrian stiffens, giving me a cold, deadly look. "Fine. Goodbye, Rose."

And he vanishes, leaving me to collapse onto the ground, sobbing, rocking myself, trying to soothe the pain, the loss, that is all consuming.

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