I am back in civilization! Camp was beyond amazing! My classes were wonderful, my classmates were spectacular and we were taught by brilliant actors and actresses. And this year's opera! Ohhhh! But I don't want to bore you with all the details. I'm sorry you had to wait this long, so without further ado, here is chapter four!

I push Vlad across the room as blood begins to spurt out of Dimitri's nose. Lissa and Tasha rush over to Dimitri's aid while Sparky stands there and does what he does best. Nothing. I give Adrian a questioning glance and he nods slightly. I look back at my son who still has the fire in his eyes.

The fire is burning brighter.

Fuck.

Adrian starts to walk towards us, but I stop him. He's got to fight it. He needs to learn. No one can stop this from happening. Not even me. And Adrian, or even Lissa, won't be there every time it happens. Vlad has to learn to fight it.

He has to learn to fight my burden.

He shouldn't have to go through this. It's my problem, not his. But here we are, with him suffering and me standing here helpless.

No. I'm Rose Hathaway. I'm never helpless.

And neither is my son.

I look into his eyes and see the flames that are burning. "Fight it," I scream. "This isn't you, Vlad. Don't let it win. You can't let it win!" I see him trying… but he doesn't win. He tries to get past me, but he's too slow. I try a new tactic. "You and Dimitri have a lot in common," I calmly say. Stories about Dimitri have always been his favorite thing. Vlad's eyes meet mine and he momentarily stills. "I never told you this, but Dimitri punched his father when he was a teen. The only difference is that he had a reason and you don't." Once again, he tries to get around me and just like the last time, I push him back. "He knew his father was a bad man. His father liked to beat his mother. Dimitri punched his father to stop him. You punched your father because you're angry." My son's eyes find their way to Dimitri, but I step in front of them. "You have a right to be angry. But not at him. It isn't his fault; it's mine. If you're going to punch anybody, you're going to punch me." I step back and hold my arms out. "Punch me. No repercussions, no punches back." He doesn't move. "Punch me."

I can my friends saying no, but I pay them no attention. Instead, my eyes are glued to my son. His fist slowly raises and his body trembles.

He's fighting the darkness. You can see it in his eyes.

The raging fire dims before it completely dies out. His fist goes down, but he's still trembling. I do the only thing I could think of. I wrap my arms around him and whisper soothing words until he stops. He looks at me, his face full of shame.

This is all because of me.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault. All of it. I didn't realize-"

"Mom," Vlad interrupts, "it isn't your-".

Ignoring him, I continue. "You're more like me than I ever thought."

"Really?" He starts to grin.

I want to laugh, but I don't. I give him a small smile. "Really." His grin gets bigger. "We'll talk more about this later. I think it's time for you to go to bed." He nods slightly as I turn my head towards Adrian.

"It's gone," Adrian replies softly.

Turning back to Vlad, I tell him goodnight. He kisses my forehead and practically runs out of the room.

It's been a long day.

Too bad it's not over.

I have five pairs of eyes staring at me. I look at each of them, saving Dimitri for last. He's stopped bleeding. That's good. But that's the only good thing in this situation. I can tell Dimitri's in his guardian mode… but his eyes… his eyes that are so much like our son's… tell the whole story. With just one look I can tell everything he's thinking; everything he's feeling.

I can't deal with this right now.

But I have to.

"Anyone else?" I ask. "My offer stands." I put my hands to my sides. "Might be your only chance at beating the crap out of the legendary Rose Hathaway."

I look at Adrian first. He smiles and replies, "And ruin your beautiful face? Hathaway, I would think you'd know me better by now!" He adds in a wink for dramatic effect.

Next is Christian. "You know, Rose, I've always wanted to punch you in the face… just not in this situation."

When I look over at Lissa she just shakes her head. I can tell from the bond that she thinks I'm crazy, but she loves me. Moving on, Tasha is next. She doesn't meet my eyes. Finally, my eyes make their way towards Dimitri. He doesn't move or speak. He just stares at me, his eyes conveying everything I needed to know.

It's too much.

"Right. Thanks for inviting me to dinner, Lissa. I had fun," I say sarcastically, which makes Christian laugh. "You guys are going to be late for dinner. I don't want to keep you guys waiting."

"Rose, come with us. Please?" she asks.

"I have a meeting with the queen in the morning. If I have to be nice to that bitch tomorrow, I'm going to need some sleep." Adrian looks like he's about to make a comment, but wisely he chooses not to.

"Dinner tomorrow, then? We haven't seen you in years. Please?"

"I can't make any promises."

Lissa takes that as a yes and hugs me. I hear her voice in my head ask, "Are you going to be okay?" I nod slightly and she lets go. Adrian is the next one to hug me, followed by none other than Sparky. Without looking at the other two people in the room, I leave.

It feels nice to finally be alone. Lissa and Christian's apartment was becoming suffocating.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

We were all supposed to live together like one big happy family. There weren't supposed to be secrets or anything else. Just us being happy.

Now look at us.

Everything's a mess and it's all because of me. Why don't I just-

"Rose?" his voice asks. "Rose, wait!" That voice. I'd know that voice anywhere. Probably because I hear it every day in the form of my son. But this isn't Vlad.

It's Dimitri.

A/N Well…that was that… If it seems a bit odd it will hopefully make sense later on. Please review… it'll totally make my day. Thanks for reading!