"Alright, where do we begin?" Lissa asked.
"Start with what you were doing twelve hours before you woke up this morning..." Adrian commanded
"I was eating breakfast," I told him
Lissa blushed, "I was... with Christian"
Dimitri must have realised something because he looked at me knowingly, "Rose got pulled into Lissa's head while we were eating breakfast... didn't you?" I nodded and Lissa was now blush a deeper red.
Adrian looked thoughtful, "Maybe... the bond got stronger when you were in her head intimately like that"
I shook my head, "They weren't having sex, it was after and besides I've been pulled into her head at worse times," I shuddered.
"Did you see something that you shouldn't have?" Adrian asked; I nodded and shuddered again.
"I think Adrian is right. The bond got stronger when I was with you mentally and you were intimate... But the thing is how do we reverse it?" I looked around at everyone's thoughtful expressions.
"Perhaps we have to do the opposite; I mean... Lissa is in Rose's body so that means she has the bond, so if Rose slept with someone and Lissa got pulled in then maybe it will reverse it" Dimitri suggested.
"I would gladly offer my services, little Dhampir," Adrian winked at me and I grimaced.
"Your services will not be needed" I needed to sleep with Dimitri but that would be weird because I am in Lissa's body. "We need to find another way, there's no way in hell I am doing that in Lissa's body" I demanded.
"Rose; I don't mind... I just want my own body back." Lissa said
"No" I said, sternly before opening my bag and grabbing out some books about Anna and Vladimir. "Search through these, there has to be another way"
*7 hours, three food and four toilet breaks, later*
"Dimitri?" I asked
"I got nothing" He closed the book and threw it in the middle of our circle.
"Lissa...?"
"Nothing" she said
"Adrian?"
"Same here..."
"Me too" I sighed
"Rose it looks like you are just going to have to sleep with someone; I don't care who just do it!" Lissa exclaimed, storming off to one of the bedrooms. "Goodnight!" She called, slamming the door.
I sighed, "I don't know little Dhampir but you better figure it out soon, this could be permanent" Adrian kissed my forehead and left, leaving Dimitri and I alone on the floor.
"Great..." I muttered, lying down on my back and staring at the ceiling.
"Rose, tell me something that no one knows about me..." Dimitri asked, lying beside me.
"You are in love with a stunning Dhampir named Rose Hathaway, the only woman who can test your self control" I whispered, looking into his eyes.
He laughed and I enjoyed the warmth it gave me. We were silent for a while and I just studied Dimitri's appearance, his eyes, his skin, his soft silky hair and most importantly those soft luscious lips. Dimitri wasn't studying my appearance or touching me because I wasn't me right now. "I'll do it" He whispered
"What?" Dimitri caught me off guard by such a weird question.
"I'll sleep with you..."
"No." I looked back up at the ceiling again.
"I want you back, Roza please let me do this," He begged. That was the first time he has called me Roza all day.
It broke my heart to deny him this, "I can't..."
"Please, let me help you. What if this is permanent? I want my Roza back..." Dimitri pleaded, "Please" he said again.
I gave in, "Fine on two conditions," I told him and he nodded, "We get dressed straight after... and you stay hidden from my view so that if it does work then Lissa doesn't have to experience sleeping with you, it makes things awkward the next day."
Dimitri stood up and helped me, "Okay..." He whispered, pulling me into the other bedroom. I knew that this would be different than all the other times we've slept together because to him it would feel wrong, like he's cheating on me.
"If it feels weird for you then I want you to stop," I told him whilst pulling off Lissa's shirt.
"I'm still technically having sex with you Rose it's just Lissa's body..." He reminded me. I sighed and sat on the bed, waiting for him.
I closed my eyes and had some time to really use Lissa's senses. His scent was stronger and intoxicating and when we kissed he tasted a lot better. My eyes were also keen and I could pick up on every small movement he made. His moans were soft and quiet but Lissa's sense of hearing made it seem louder than it really was. The whole time Dimitri kept his head buried in my neck so that he was out of my sight; I stared up at the ceiling as he made me hit my blissful high because I knew if it had worked then Lissa would be in my head right now. I tried not to think about Dimitri because she would figure out it's him. As Dimitri came inside of me I closed my eyes, we had used protection because Lissa could still get pregnant. It's a good thing hotels supplied stuff like that. Dimitri pulled away from me and I kept my eyes closed until I heard him leave the bedroom.
I jumped up and quickly got dressed before, heading to Lissa's bedroom, trying not to glance at Dimitri when I walked past him. When I opened the door Lissa shot out of bed and looked at me sympathetically, "That was the worst thing I have ever experienced!"
"Yeah well, let's get some sleep and pray that it worked."
"Goodnight Rose" She said as I climbed in to bed next to her.
"Night"
The next morning I woke up with a god awful headache. My eyes fluttered open and I realised I was lying on the opposite side of the bed that I fell asleep on. I got up and walked into the living room to find Lissa back in her own body talking to Adrian. They both gave me weird looks and I sighed, "Oh god, please don't tell me I woke up as Dimitri" The warm and rich chuckle that could only belong to my Russian lover sounded from beside me.
"It worked, Rose" Lissa sounded glum... I checked the bond but she was blocking me out.
"That would explain the headache then..." I mumbled to myself. We were out of the wards and it was pretty bad. I looked down at my body and touched down my curves, "Sweet..." I breathed; it felt good to be back in my own body. "I never realised how much I loved my body until now..." Lissa smiled and I took a seat beside Adrian at the dining table.
"Rose..." Lissa started, "Do you know what today is?"
I wracked my brain, trying to figure it out. It was the third of June... Why did that date ring a bell? I gasped, three years ago today Lissa's family and technically me all died in a car crash. Tears sprung to Lissa's eyes as she remembered the way the car hit the tree and the pale faces of her family.
"What so special about today...?" Adrian asked
I shot him a look that told him to shut up, "Liss don't remember it like that. Remember it as the day we were all a happy family, doing normal things" I tried to smile but the tears that ran down my cheeks gave me away.
"It's just so hard!" She cried; I pulled her into a hug a lead her over to the couch. "It's supposed to get easier but it doesn't. The pain is numb until I replay it all over in my head... I wish I could have saved them"
"You did everything you could" I assured her
"No I didn't..."
"Lissa you couldn't have saved all of them no matter how much you wanted to" I wiped away my tears and tried to be strong in front of her. Adrian looked confused but Dimitri must have realised what we're talking about. I mean, with him being a Guardian and reading our records then he would have known this was her family's death anniversary. "If you want... we can visit the cemetery" Lissa had insisted for her parents to be buried at a human cemetery, the very same cemetery Mason was buried at.
"I would like that..." She whispered; I looked up at Dimitri and he nodded, grabbing the keys out of his pocket.
"Well then let's go" I mumbled to her, softly.
It was a short drive to the cemetery and Lissa was hesitant as we stood in front of her family's tombstones. We hadn't been here since the funeral and I know that it bought back bad memories for her. Lissa kneeled in front of her brother's grave and brushed her fingers along the stone where his name was engraved. Tears streamed down her face and I looked over at Dimitri. He was watching me with concern, watching for my reaction. I smiled at him despite the tears filling my eyes. "Watch her" I murmured to him before walking away to find Mason's tomb.
Mason Ashford
Jan. 5th 1992-2010
'Beloved son and friend'
His grave was three rows away from Lissa's family and as I approached it the tears finally spilt down my cheeks. "Hey Mase" I whispered, kneeling by his tomb. "I wish I could come to your grave everyday to talk to you. I know you can't hear me because you're gone, but in my eyes you are still here. You're still in my heart and you always will be," I sniffled and a few sobs racked through my chest, "I cry when I think of you, and people ask me why... I just tell them that I still love you and that I miss you so much. They tell me there is no point in still loving you because you're never coming back. I agree with them... you are gone but I will never forget you and one day we will meet again." My tears dropped from my chin onto the soil below me, "I promise to pray for you every night and to see you again someday." Behind me I felt the presence of someone but I ignored it, "I wanted to kill myself just so that I could see your face again but then I realised you wouldn't want me to do that..."
"I try to be happy but I can't when I know I won't hear your voice for a long time; I always thought I could live without you. I really feel like I can't..." The person behind me shuffled a bit before sitting beside me, out of the corner of my eye I could tell it was Dimitri, "I never thought you would have left me and I know you didn't... not really. Lissa told me god just needed an angel; I ask if I can be his next angel too so I can be with you, but he never replies." I sighed and wiped the tears from my face only to have fresh ones glide down my cheeks, "Why did he have to take you?" I whispered, touching the stone where his name was placed.
"Why did he have to make it hurt so much? I don't really think anyone knows how much it hurts to miss you... maybe except Eddie. I hate you for not being around; I wish I could see you one last time so that I could say goodbye," I sobbed, "No one understands me anymore... No one understands that I will always miss you. I never knew this would happen, no one did." I picked up the rose that sat on top of his grave and played with the petals, "I wish I could look back on the good times I had with you, but that has all gone. Everything has changed and even thinking about it makes me want to cry. Lissa tells me not to cry... she told me you are looking over us and wouldn't want me to cry" I smelt the rose and set it on the soil, gently.
"I tell her that I'm sorry for crying but it's all I can do. She told me to look back on the good memories but I said that I can't do that unless you're the one sitting next to me and reminding me to smile. Then she asked why and I told her I needed to see your smile too, your touch while we remember everything we ever did." More silent tears, "Lissa asked me to tell her the good memories but instead I wished that I could tell you... She told me I can because you will always be with me, and then she said that you would never give up on me because you love me too much." I sighed and sniffled again. Glistening tears rolled down my cheeks and I didn't bother wiping them away.
"Roza..." Dimitri sighed. I leaned into his shoulder and promised myself not to breakdown. His arms wound around me and rocked me gently. Once hand stroked my hair while the other supported my waist.