I don't own Vampire Academy, Ms Richelle Mead does.
Chatter woke me up. I was in the lounge of the Royal Chamber. The couch was comfortable. I sat up in an instant, feeling a sharp pain in the back of my head.
"I'm so sorry," I apologised sheepishly.
"No, I'm sorry for snapping at Adrian like that. And for hitting him. And fighting you," Rose said sympathetically.
Adrian sat beside me on the couch and held my hand, I smiled at him. His presence made me feel cheerful.
I stole a look at Rose's face. It didn't look as bad as I thought it'd be. I immediately wondered what my face and ribs looked like.
"I apologize deeply for throwing you into the wall. That wasn't my intention." Dimitri looked away, clearly ashamed.
"You had to do it though. I'm sure you couldn't stand to see the love of your life being hurt," I replied as I lifted my shirt up, getting a good look at my stomach.
A blue and purple bruise on the left side of my ribcage was threatening to keep me up all night with pain. Whereas yellow marks were spread around my stomach. More bruises. Great.
I touched them all. Only the blue and purple one ached.
I caught Adrian staring and he turned away as soon as he was caught.
Didn't he get hit also? I asked myself.
I raised his shirt and studied his injuries. He had two massive bruises. I ran my fingers over them, watching him as he reacted to my touch. He closed his eyes and his breathing began to race.
Then I clicked. This reminded him of last night; the way my hands searched his body.
I pulled his shirt back down and I kissed the palm of his hand.
"No, I have to tell him, Dimitri," whispered Rose. I didn't realise they were talking amongst themselves.
"Usually," she began, "I would have just had a yell at you Adrian, but something made me go ape shit. And that was because you had slept with my sister. Twice." She looked at me this time. "And yes, I was jealous. I mean, I love Dimitri with all my heart, but I still kinda love Adrian too. I got a little too defensive when you asked me if I was jealous. I'm sorry."
I nodded, showing I had understood.
"I've never stopped loving you Rose," Adrian replied. "And your sister was kind of a replacement for you."
I became rigid and my breathing caught.
Dimitri and Rose's eyes widened.
Adrian clamped a hand over his mouth. "That didn't come out right!" he said quickly.
My tears threatened to make an appearance and I tried to ignore the lump in my throat. I stood up.
"Please let me explain," he begged as he grabbed my hand.
"Thankyou. Thankyou so much Adrian. You showed me that I was falling too fast for you. And for your information, I'm nobody's replacement. I'm their first choice."
"No. Please. Please let me explain," he pleaded.
"Fuck you." My voice was cold and numb. I pulled my hand out of his reach.
He flinched at my choice of words.
I walked towards the door.
"Rose," I called back, "if you hear from Jill about him fucking someone else, please, do me a favour and smash the fucking shit out of him." My own voice scared me. It was cold, dark and heartless.
Once outside, I ran to Noir, thankful I had the keys to her.
I jumped into her and I released all the tears I had held back. I put the keys in the ignition and brought Noir to life.
The passenger seat door opened and Sonya boarded Noir.
"I saw what happened honey."
"Were you looking through the window?" I asked, my voice wavering.
"Hon, I was in the lounge too; with my husband. Lissa and Christian were there too."
Great. Everyone witnessed my heart breaking.
Dimitri jumped into the back seat.
"Please excuse my sobs," I said before I began to sob, rather loudly.
I didn't know whether I was angry or sad so I combined the both.
I released the handbrake and I pushed down on the accelerator as hard as I could manage, causing the tyres to let out a loud SCREETCH!
Once out of the gates of the Royal Court, I skidded onto the road and sped through the red lights and cars.
It was 2 am so the road wasn't as full as it would have been in the day.
"Rose, calm down," Sonya said, a little uneasily.
Tears continued to flood out of my eyes, almost blinding me.
"Rose, please calm down," said Dimitri in Russian.
"CALM DOWN! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN! MY HEART'S BEEN TORN OUT OF MY CHEST AND STABBED!" I screamed back in Russian, sounding a little hysterical.
I ran several red lights.
"SLOW DOWN!" Sonya yelled in alarm.
A car in the intersection I had just sped through missed Noir by an inch, almost nipping Dimitri's side.
"Rose. Calm down, honey." Sonya's voice was soft and gentle.
My foot eased off the accelerator and onto the brakes. Noir eventually came to a stop.
Dimitri exited Noir and opened up my door. He picked up my crying being and placed it in the backseat, carefully putting my seatbelt on.
"You compelled me. No fair."
"Sorry. It was the only was to stop you." Sonya turned to stare at me. "You speak Russian?"
I sniffed. "Yeah."
"Impressive."
Throughout the whole journey back to Palm Springs, I cried, non-stop. I was afraid to go to sleep. I didn't want to wake up in a spirit dream of his.
"Sonya," I asked. "How can I avoid being pulled into a spirit dream?"
"You can't avoid being pulled into one. But you can get out of it. Will power. Will yourself out of it."
My phone rang. Dad was on the other end of the line.
"Dear, go back and pick up Adrian. You've left him behind."
"No."
"You're his Guardian. You need to protect him."
Adrian obviously didn't tell my father what had happened.
"No. For all I care, he can get turned into a Strigoi so I can stake his heart. Like he did mine." I hung up.
Dimitri drove to their apartment, offering to drop me at Amberwood and delivering Noir back later on.
"It's ok," I replied as he and Sonya exited the car. "I'll be fine."
Once I arrived at Amberwood, it was half 6 in the morning.
My eyes were puffy from crying so I searched the car for something to cover my eyes. In the glove box, I found a pair of black fancy and shiny sunglasses. They matched Noir. I put them on and walked back to my dorm.
I couldn't stop crying.
Sydney tried to comfort me but it didn't work.
"I'll tell you after school today. I'll tell you what happened."
"Ok," she said. "Where are you going?"
I pulled my iPod out of my drawer and plugged it in my ears. "For a run."
I ran around the East Campus four times with my iPod turned up loud. My anger and sorrow gave me a lot of energy. Evanescence blasted through my headphones, fuelling my strength with the sound of the loud bass drums and hypnotising electric guitars. I sprinted to the gym and to the punching bag.
I punched and kicked the bag with all my might, imagining Adrian's face on it.
A hand landed on my shoulder and suddenly, my Guardian reflexes kicked in.
With precise and quick measurements, I reached behind me, grabbing the head of the person and I flipped them onto the ground in front of me as I let out a battle cry.
Their body hit the hard ground in front of me with a loud THUMP!
It was Dominic.
Crap.
I removed my headphones.
"Ow, sis," he groaned as he held his chest.
Clapping sounded behind me as I re-adjusted my sunglasses. I turned around saw a couple a guys staring at me in admiration.
"Wow. You. Are. Amazing!" said the tallest guy of them all.
Dominic stood up and groaned once more. "Greg and friends, this is my baby twin sister, Rosalie."
"You're Rosalie? After what I just saw, you ARE one hell of a battle goddess!" They all cheered at 'battle goddess'. "You just flipped your brother over onto the ground," commented the one who I assumed was Greg. "Maybe I'll take you to prom."
"Maybe I'll pass," I said as I began walking towards the exit. His friends 'Ooohed'.
"Playing hard to get. I like it. Catch you around, Xena."
I headed back to the dorm with my sunglasses still on. Thank God the sun was out or else people would have been bugging me about what I was hiding.
Sydney decided to wait for me while I showered.
The shower reminded me of Adrian and once again, I began sobbing.
My sobs wouldn't impede as I walked out of the shower, more puffy-eyed than before.
"Explain," said Sydney as I changed into my uniform.
I told her everything; from my fight with Rose til the end of the phone call with my father.
"The worse thing was that I had forgotten about Jill's bond with Adrian. I slept with him." I said, clearly sounding ashamed.
As if on cue, Jill walked in; her eyes mirroring the look of mine.
"What happened?" asked Sydney.
Jill strode towards me and I caught her in an embrace.
"Jill, I'm so sorry. I forgot all about the bond."
"Apology accepted," she said with her voice trembling. "But, you must know that Adrian is VERY sorry about what he had said to you. VERY SORRY. Is there a way he can show you he's sorry?" she asked, eagerly.
"Yes. Of course there is, Jill. And that's him leaving me alone." My voice once again was cold. I began to walk out of the room.
"But he's a wreck!" she screamed after me. "He tried to walk your dreams a few hours ago but he sensed that you were still awake; avoiding him. He was going to binge drink but he remembered me. He was then going to smoke but he remembered you. He didn't know what to do so he..." Jill trailed off.
"What did he do?" I asked. I started to worry.
Jill did a cutting motion over her wrist.
Adrian was self harming himself.
"Please, PLEASE, PLEASE!" she screamed, "Please talk to him."
Maybe he was doing this on purpose; trying to get my attention. Of course, I knew that wasn't true but I had to force myself to believe it.
He'd hurt me.
It was his turn now.
"Jill, I'd rather have my heart stabbed several times than talk to him. Ever." I put my sunglasses back on and walked out of the room.
