Ch.13

Rose POV

Smoke filled my lungs as I staked a dark-haired strigoi. Her movements were erratic and you could tell that she was turned recently. That was the sixth one tonight. Fire users did their best to help, but it was difficult because of their sheer numbers. Everything had erupted into chaos, screams could be heard, and I felt helpless. Sure, I was fighting, but what about those who were being slaughtered? Or worse. I had lost track of Dimitri in the fight, but I had to believe that he was okay. I heard a high pitch scream, one that belonged to a child, and I ran towards it, but I was too late. As I rounded the corner, the strigoi bit a chunk of flesh from the boys neck, and his body was thrown to the side, next to the corpse woman with the same blue eyes and ash blonde hair. My hand covered my mouth, there was so much blood coming from that small boy. On the back of his neck, the strigoi had at least a dozen molnija marks surrounding a promise mark. He used to be a guardian. His reddish brown hair was illuminated by a dim streetlamp. He turned around, a wolfish grin on his face. His fangs were illuminated under the light.

"Just the girl I was looking for", he snarled, before lunging at me. I had recovered just in time to get out of the way. I aimed a kick at his chest, hoping to make him stagger, but it didn't work. I just barely dodged a hit he had aimed for my head. We traded hits and kicks, but while the longer the fight drew on and the more fatigued I was becoming, he just seemed to be getting stronger. I threw punches and aimed kicks at him repeatedly, but no matter what I did, nothing seemed to faze him. When I finally go some sort of an opening, I slashed my stake across his face, and he just laughed. It was the kind of laugh that made you shiver.

I tried again, but he caught my wrist in an iron grip. Pain exploded up my arm as a sickening crack filled my ears. My stake fell to the ground with a metallic clash, and I tried to hit him with my other arm, hoping that if there was a god, he'd take pity on me. I screamed, as he grabbed my other wrist , and snapped the bones in my arm as if it were nothing more than a toothpick. Black spots filled my vision, and it wasn't until that moment I realized who he resembled. His facial features matched the girl who had told me that her brother wanted revenge on both Dimitri and I. The girl who nearly eight months ago, crashed into our lives without so much as a warning. The striking resemblance between her and her brother was nerve wracking, the most significant difference was the red ring circling his irises.

"You must be Michael", I said through gritted teeth

I let out a gasp of pain as Pandora's brother twisted my already broken arm into an awkward position. I was vaguely aware of his response.

"You know, I was kind of hoping you'd do the whole 'why are you doing this to me', crap, it seems as though you already know though", he smiled a wicked grin. He picked me up by the collar of my jacket. My eyes flickered to the small boy, and tears pricked the back of my eyes. I wondered what they did to deserve this. Nothing. Michael looked at the boy, and turned his face back to me.

"I've got a sister around that age, I wonder if she would scream as much as he did", said the strigoi, nodding his head in the direction of the body.

"You won't get a chance to find out", a voice snarled, the strigoi spun around, chuckling when he saw who the voice belonged to.

"Little sister, I was wondering when you'd make an appearance", he let go of my wrists and I collapsed to the ground, the pain nearly unbearable both of my arms were useless, and bent in unnatural angles. I choked back a sob. I tried to move, but Michael pressed his foot onto my back with so much force, I got the wind knocked out of me. Dhampir's were strong, but Strigoi were stronger, and the more I struggled, the harder he pressed, and I was certain that he could easily crush my ribs right there, with just one foot. I cried out in pain

"Leave Rose out of this, it doesn't have anything to do with her." Dimitri.

"As god damn cliché as this response is, it has everything to do with her", he responded. "All you had to do was get her to tell us where the last Dragomir was, after that, you could have sucked her dry for all I cared. But you had to ruin it, you had to have it your way, you always do", his face contorted into a feral expression, "Now, things are going to go my way, and there's nothing you can do about it", he said, before picking me up again and plunging his pangs into my neck. I moaned in pain, and then pleasure before I started to fade.

I faintly heard Dimitri yell my name before my world turned black.

oOo

"She'll be alright, she's lost quite a bit of blood and her ribs are bruised but she should make a full recovery", I heard an unfamiliar voice. There was a steady beep of a machine in the background, and the air was dry and smelled of antiseptics. Slowly, I opened my eyes, moaning as a bright light pierced my eyes.

"Roza", I heard frantic footsteps and felt a warm hand clasp mine.

"I'm so sorry", he whispered, "I'm sorry. I wanted to rush in and help you, but I didn't want to risk him hurting you more, I'm sorry I hesitated", he said, his voice sounding choked.

"Rose! I'm so glad your okay", I was engulfed in a hug from Lissa, her baby bump making it awkward for her.

"Yeah, me too, I just hope my wrists heal properly", I said, my voice raspy. Lissa just gave me a strange look. A new person shoved a cup of water in front of my face.

"Here", I looked up to see Christian, and I smiled at him gratefully before draining the cup dry.

"Knock knock", said yet another voice. I looked up to see Ivan standing at the doorway, Pandora behind him, her arms crossed over her chest defensively, and her eyes darting frantically around.

"How you feeling?", said Ivan, his hands shoved into his pockets. He pulled Pandora close to him, wrapping his arm around her protectively. She seemed to ease up a bit. Not much though.

"Adrian and Sydney send their wishes to get well, and an appoligy for not being able to show up", said Dimitri, still clutching my hand.

"How bad is the damage on my arm?", I asked. Thankful that the painkillers really did do a good job at killing the pain. I felt a bit of soreness, but that was it. Again, Lissa gave me a puzzling look.

"Rose, you're arms are fine", she said worridly.

"I heard the crack, and I sure as hell felt it", I said, holding up my arms to prove my point. The first thing I noticed was that they were in their normal position, no cast was present, they looked as though they hadn't even been touched.

"Um, my mom put the bones back together, it's going to be sore for a few days and you can't put too much strain on them but you'll be fine", Pandora spoke up for the first time.

"I would have done it but broken bones aren't really my strong suite", she said awkwardly.

"Thanks", I said, giving her a small smile. Lissa looked at her doubtfully.

"You're human", she said, matter-o-factly.

"Really? No shit", said Pandora, irritation leaking into her voice.

"You expect anyone to believe that you could use magic?", she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nah, I learned long ago to have low expectations for people. You can believe whatever the hell you want", she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Be nice", Ivan warned Pandora.

"Anyways, when can I get out of here", I asked, looking at Dimitri.

"The doctor wants to keep you overnight to make sure you're okay, and if all goes well you should be discharged tomorrow afternoon", he answered. I groaned.

"Do you have a problem with me", Lissa spoke up, looking at Pandora.

"What makes you think I have a problem with you?", she replied.

"Well for one, you've been nothing but bitchy to me since the moment we met. I invited you to dinner with us, and you were very unpleasant, and then you'retrying to take my best friend away from me", she stated. Pandora just waved her off.

"I'm not trying to steal your best friend, I already have two best friends thank you very much, and I happen to occasionally enjoy their presence. And as for being a bitch, that's just my personality. I'm mean to everyone. Yesterday I told Ivan that I hope he gets the plague and dies, and he's the father of my child", she said casually. Ivan's head snapped over to her.

"You have friends?", he said, faking surprise.

"Go get you're god damn intestines cut out by the French army", she said flippantly.

"Hey, Braveheart is a quality film and that was a bad-ass scene", Ivan defended.

"Both of you shut up", Dimitri said, sounding exhausted. Pandora just showed him her middle finger, and Ivan scowled. Not long after, the nurse came in and ushered everyone out, except Dimitri, who refused to go.

"Do you need anything?", Dimitri asked me. I smiled at him softly.

"I'm okay", I replied. I yawned and he kissed my forehead softly.

"Sleep, my Roza", he whispered. "I'll be here when you wake up"

"Hey Dimitri?", I said, looking up at him.

"Yes, love?"

"I love you", I told him before closing my eyes.

"I love you too, more than you'll ever know", he whispered. It wasn't long after that I drifted into a dreamless sleep.