Chapter 6

Special Thanks to Dad for helping me out a bit! (and, Dad, it's vampires not, badminton empires!) …He got a little confused. Haha

"Guess who?" he said.

"No…" I whispered. It was so much wore than I had imagined. He was covered in blood—it was in his hair, on his clothes, and it was dried in rivulets coming from his mouth. He had horrible, ugly fangs that I could see even in the darkness. They shone brilliantly white. He had on the same guardian's outfit that he had worn when I last saw him. And, lastly, I looked into his eyes: they were the same dark, chocolate brown, but they were scarlet around the edges, and there were bags under them.

But I could see so many emotions flooding through those gorgeous eyes. There were two sides of him now: the Strigoi side that wanted to kill me and suck my dry, and the human Dimitri, who loved me, hated for me to see him like this, and who didn't want to hurt me. The Strigoi half was winning. He laughed viciously.

"Surely you're not surprised to see me? You were looking for me, correct?" I picked myself up off of the ground and backed away from him, shifting into a defensive position. I nodded tightly.

"Yes, but before I destroy you, the real Dimitri should know that I love him, and that I hate that I have to do this." I hardened my heart and hoped that the small human portion that was left could understand.

His hand clutched his chest over his heart, "I'm hurt! The real Dimitri? This is me, Roza," he mocked me, "the real me! You were right, that day you kissed me in the gym—I was always holding back, always guarding my feelings!" He threw his arms wide and tilted his head back, taking in a deep breath. "And now I don't have to!" he yelled. I cringed back towards the wall. This certainly wasn't what I had expected. Abruptly, he calmed down. "Roza," he said again, still mocking me, "Were you looking for me?" I nodded, never taking my eyes off of his heart. This would not turn out like my dream. "Well, then you listened to nothing that I taught you." I staggered back as if he'd hit me. It was a cruel insult, but I let my hurt dissolve into anger. I straightened up, tensing, ready to pounce. He laughed.

He was teasing me, trying to get me to say something stupid. It was not going to work.

"Just shut the h*** up fand fight me!" I screamed at him. He actually looked a bit astonished. "It doesn't matter what you say to me! You are not my Dimitri! You're a fake, a cheap imitation of the man that I love! And now I'm going to kill you." Something flickered in his eyes. Hope?

Then it was gone. "Oh? So sure that you can beat me? You could barely best me when I was human. I may have taught you everything that you know, but I didn't teach you everything that I know." He laughed again, seeming to take great pleasure from my uncertainty. I stopped, knowing that he could be telling the truth. He took the crack in my defenses to kick me hard in the stomach; I hear something crack loudly, and I yelped, but I managed to grab his leg and twist it around before he could withdraw it. I used it to shove him away and into the wall. I smirked.

He righted himself, "Same old Rose. And you're wrong, about two things actually: I am Dimitri. All of him. And, I never loved you." He spoke excruciatingly slowly, driving the words home.

"No. You're lying," I whispered, refusing to believe him.

"You were just a toy to me—a child—I never took you seriously. You were just something to keep me busy until I found someone better."

"You're lying!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "You are lying, and I hate you! You will die. Now. Right now, you son of a b****f." I jumped on him, smacking him in the face, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the wall. My own fury surprised me. You know those stories where a car crashes and there's a kid trapped inside, and the mother gets a burst of super-powers and is able to roll the car over with one hand and save the kid? I was having one of those moments. He smashed my hand between his head and the wall, but I ignored it and grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him across the seven foot wide cave and into the other wall.

I looked down at my hand; it was bloody and broken, but I didn't care. I had forgotten about him for a second, though. Big mistake. He had crawled back to me, grabbing my ankle and pulling my feet out from under me. I was standing very close to the wall, so when he pulled me down, me head smacked into the wall. My vision swam; I could feel the blood running down the back of my neck. No. I told myself. He has to die.

He was on top of my now, straddling me. He leaned over me, pressing my wrists into the ground. My shattered hand was screaming in pain; I moaned. "Rose," he said. I looked at him. I could see the two parts of him fighting for control and I wondered in passing which one would win. I was going to die, I was sure. Either that, or wake up Strigoi. I'd rather die. I struggled, trying to get free, but he was so, so strong.

Finally, the Strigoi side won. He lowered his head down to my neck, his teeth grazing my skin. I closed my eyes tight.

Then he bit me.

It was not like a Moroi bite—it hurt so bad—I screamed.

But, in his feeding frenzy, he had released my wrists. My hands came up and grabbed both sides of his face, pulling him away from my neck and pushing him off with my feet. He took a big chunk of my neck with him. He growled and rolled back onto his feet.

"Nice try, Comrade," I said. He flinched like I had slapped him. I pulled out my stake.

"You really think you can kill me, Roza?" he asked. He sounded pleading and serious, but I could see in his eyes that he was toying with me. "After that night in the cabin? How we loved each other? And you still love me—I know you do. Join me, Roza. We can be together. No one can stop us. No guardians would be a match for us together. There's no one to stand in our way. We c1an love each other without me losing my job or you getting expelled from school," he really was begging now; it confused me. He crossed the space between us, putting his hands on my shoulders and staring lovingly into my eyes.

"Dimitri," I whispered, lowering my head. "Kiss me," I said suddenly. "kiss me—I need to know that you still love me." He smiled and pressed hi lips to mine, kissing me passionately, almost violently.

I almost lost myself in that kiss, but then I remembered my goal. I didn't have a clean shot to his heart, but I could get close. My right hand cam up, shoving my stake up and into his chest. He stopped the kiss and screamed, falling backwards. I looked down at him, and he looked up and saw me. His eyes were not red anymore, but all I could think about was that I had stabbed the man I loved, and he was going to die. His humanity was back, or at least the Strigoi part had given us some alone time.

I knelt beside him, and he smiled. "That's my Rose," his eyelids fluttered, but I wasn't ready for him to die.

"No, no, no," I sobbed, "Don't leave me yet!" He looked at me, making a visible effort to stay conscious.

"Okay, Roza. I'll try."

"Tell me what you need me to do…" I begged.

"Ah, Roza. I love you. I was lying before. I do love you, with all of my heart and soul, I love you." His breathing hitched, and I stroked his face with my fingertips. With my other hand, I brushed the blood-caked hair back from his forehead.

"I love you, too…" I could barely speak from crying so hard, "I don't know how I can live without you… I don't want to live without you."

"No, Roza! You have to. You have to take care of Lissa. You'll move on. I need you to move on, for me." I shook my head.

"I don't know if I can."

"Please, doushka," he said, the Russian making his words that much more beautiful. "You need to heal," he said the same words that Adrian had said to me before, "Let Adrian heal you," I started to protest, but he stopped me. "He loves you—almost as much as I do." I looked down, seeing that I had gotten the side of his heart. He would die within minutes. "Roza, there are more Strigoi in this cave. At least one hundred. You have to get back to Lissa; you have to give Adrian a chance. For me, please. Promise me, Roza." We were both crying now.

"Yes, Dimitri. Anything, anything for you…" I sobbed, my tears washing some of the blood from his clothes and chest.

"Roza," he breathed, he tried to lean towards me, but couldn't, so I leaned in. He kissed me softly, lovingly. I kissed him back, tasting both of our tears.

"I love you Dimitri… I love you more than Lissa, more than I could ever love anyone else. More than my own life."

"I love you too, Roza, doushka, my soul."

And then he was gone.

Sorry guys, but I had to do it, or it wouldn't be a story! However, THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY!!! So please don't stop reading….3