Rose's Point of View

"Rose you have to tell him." Lissa told me, while rummaging around in her closet.

Adrian could show up here any day now and I still hadn't gotten the nerve to tell Dimitri. I knew how he felt about him, and I wasn't looking forward to popping the pretty pink bubble we'd been floating around in for the last few weeks.

"How Liss? How do I tell Dimitri that the one man he feels most threatened by in this world is about to show back up in our lives, just when were finally getting our relationship back on track."

"Well certainly not like that." Sophia scoffed, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Thanks Soph, that's real helpful!" I glared.

"Rose, just talk to him. Tell him how much you love him and reassure him that Adrian showing up here doesn't mean anything is going to change for the two of you." Lissa encouraged. I knew she meant well but it annoyed me she made it sound so easy.

"What if…." I bit my lip in hesitation. I didn't want to finish that sentence out loud for fear that it might come true.

"What if what?" Lissa probed. Clearly she wasn't going to let me off that easily. With a defeated sigh I continued.

"What if when he finds out he starts second guessing me again? The last time Adrian showed up in our lives, it was after Spokane and Dimitri convinced himself I'd eventually leave him. What if after Adrian shows up he takes off again?"

There it was; the ugly truth of my mind. I wanted to trust Dimitri when he said he wouldn't leave, but after last time how could I be sure?

"Rose, he's not going to leave you." Lissa said sympathetically.

"It wouldn't be the first time." I muttered.

For the rest of the day I found myself incredibly distracted and as a result I completely let my guard down. I hadn't even bothered to notice that the door to our dorm room was slightly cracked before I entered and I gasped out loud at the sight before me.

The entire room was covered in black roses; large bouquets covered every flat surface. There were petals on the bed, strewn across the floor, and the smell alone was making me nausea's. I was so overwhelmed by the initial shock that it took me a moment to notice the note tied to a single stemmed black rose on a vase next to my bed side table.

"What the hell is all this?" Sophia asked glancing around the sinister room warily. Lissa and Serena were behind her looking equally disturbed. Something told me that whatever was in that note wasn't anything I wanted to read, but I took a deep breath and opened the note anyway.

My Dearest Rosemarie,

It has taken quite a long to find you, but now that I have, I will never let you go.

I'll be seeing you soon...

All my love,

Victor

This can't be happening.

I knew the girls were all waiting for me to say something, but honestly, what could I say? The homicidal Strigoi who kidnapped and killed my friend is now stalking me? Just the thought of it made my head feel like it was going to explode. My hands got clammy, and I suddenly felt as if the rest of the world was moving too quickly. I tried to reach out and hold on to something, but all my hands caught was air. That's the last thing I remembered before it all went black.


*Flashback*

We carefully made our way up the basement stairs, and I was desperately trying to ignore the blazing 3rd degree burns on my wrist. We didn't have much time, who knew when the Strigoi would be coming back for us. We had been in that basement for over a day, but due to the lack of windows I had no clue as to whether or not we were working with daylight. If we were, all we had to do was make it out of this god forsaken house and we'd be home free, the Strigoi wouldn't be able to follow us.

Beside me Mason was bearing the weight of a half conscious Eddie while Christian led the way, a fireball constantly burning in the palm of his hand.

When we got to the top of the stairs, I carefully peeked my head around the corner and found the coast clear. Unfortunately for us, it was now night time.

"Shit" I muttered, silently cursing our string of bad luck.

"Just breathe Rose; everything's going to be okay." Christian told me, but one look at his face told me he wasn't so sure.

The one good advantage to being trapped in this giant estate was the fact that it gave us plenty of places to hide, and that's exactly what we did. We had barely turned the corner into the living room when we heard the sound of their cold voices headed our way. We quickly back tracked and dodged into the first empty room we could find, which happened to be a library. There weren't very many places to hide in here, most of the room was furnished in bookshelves that covered and lined every wall. There was a small closet however, and we stealthily took cover in there. No sooner did we close the door that we heard them.

"They've escaped!" Robert shouted, causing a flurry of activity.

Beside me Eddie moaned loudly and I quickly covered his mouth. Just then two Strigoi entered the room. One was Robert Dorou who'd been torturing us, and the other was one I instinctively remembered. He was an older looking man, with salt and pepper hair and the same jade green colored eyes as Lissa, although his were now rimmed with red. It was Lissa's Uncle Victor.

"How did this happen?" He asked Robert, casually taking a seat at his desk. He was the picture of tranquility, a stark contrast to the man standing across from him. Robert however looked ready to pull all of his hair out.

"I have no idea! Those little fire using brats are probably to blame!"

"Surely I don't need to remind you how important Rosemarie is to me. I want her found, immediately." Victor told the other Strigoi, his voice taking on a slight edge.

"Oh I'll find her alright, and when I do I'll drain her dry." Robert sneered.

Faster than seemed possible, even for a Strigoi, Victor was out of his chair and had Robert pressed roughly against the wall.

"You will do no such thing Brother! Rosemarie is of great value to me! I've spent far too much time tracking her where-a bout's to let your foul temper ruin anything, is that understood!" Robert just nodded numbly, clearly terrified.

"Yes Brother, I'm so sorry."

"Good, now go find her." And with a sinister smile, Victor sent him on his way.

*End Flashback*


Dimitri's Point of View

The scene in Rose's room was horrifying.

As if the nightmare's weren't bad enough, now she had to worry about Victor finding her again, something Lissa told me Eric and Rhea had worked hard to ensure wouldn't happen.

"Dimitri, there's something else I think you should know." Sophia told me, pulling me from my own thoughts. She had a serious look on her face and immediately had my full attention.

"What is it Sophia?"

"It's about Adrian." She started, and I let out an involuntary growl. "When Abe was in town a few weeks ago, he told Rose Adrian was transferring here."

Seriously, could things get any worse? And how could Rose have not told me?

"Rose has known about this for weeks and didn't tell me?" I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice, but I couldn't help but feel a little betrayed.

"She had her reasons." Sophia looked at me sternly before continuing. "Rose was terrified that if you found out about Adrian being here, you'd start second guessing your place in her life again and take off."

I wanted to be angry with Rose for keeping this from me, but Sophia made a valid point. Not that I would ever make the same mistake again, but I could understand Rose's reluctance to believe me.

"I would never do that Sophia, please know that." She stared at me for a few months, studying my face looking for the truth, and when she was satisfied with what she found she gave me a halfhearted smile.

"Good. But now you need to make sure she knows that. I know she wanted to tell you herself, but she was scared, and now with Victor on the prowl, I figured I'd give her hand. It's one less thing for her to have to worry about."

"Thank you for telling me." I hated that Rose felt like she couldn't come to me herself, but what was important right now was making sure she felt safe and I was willing to do whatever it takes to make sure she stays that way.


Rose's Point of View

When I came to, I was alone in Dimitri's room. It was a little mortifying that I fainted, and I took the few moments I had alone to try to get my bearings.

"Oh good, you're awake."

I looked up and saw my Russian God standing there with a box of Krispy Kreme's. He wore a concerned look on his face, and underneath was some emotion I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Are those for me?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. I wiggled my eyebrows and it worked when he laughed.

"Of course Milaya." He settled himself next to me on the bed before opening the box and offering me a doughnut. He waited until my mouth was full before he started talking. "Sophia told me about Adrian." And I nearly choked on the doughnut in my mouth. He quickly began patting my back and gave me an apologetic look.

"Dimitri, I was going to tell you..."

"I know Roza." He cut me off. I thought he'd look angry, but mostly he just looked disappointed.

"I'm sorry." I told him, feeling like a horrible human being. Anybody who says anger is worse than disappoint is a liar.

"Rose, you have nothing to apologize for. I know I've given you enough reasons not to trust me, and I know you were scared I'd take off again. But please, believe me when I say this, I'm not going anywhere. Not now and not ever."

I looked into his eyes and they were full of such earnest truth, that suddenly all my previous fears seemed so ridiculous.

"Thank you." I told him resting my weary minded head on his shoulder.

"No about this whole mess with Victor..."

Ugh. Way to kill the moment Dimitri.

"I think we need to talk to your father."

"What?" I screeched. After his previous visit that was the last thing I wanted to do.

"Rose, if anybody can keep you safe, it's him. Now I know you're angry with him, and I'm angry with him too. But right now you're safety is the most important thing, which means..." He trailed off handing me the phone. I rolled my eyes before I took it and dialed.

"Hey Old Man, I think we need to talk."