Chapter Twenty-One
It's On.
Dimitri POV
There was something going on between Rose and her mother. "You haven't changed one bit." Yeah, definitely something going on. Rose had a cross look on her face, and it turned soon enough to just plain rage. I wanted so badly to sooth her, make her calm down and let her know that I was here for her. So badly, but I couldn't.
Rose violently jumped up. I knew this was rapidly headed downhill from here. I cautiously looked up at her, hoping to make some sort of eye-contact, but her eyes were filled with outrage, like she wanted to rip somebody's head off, preferably her mother's. To say she looked mad was a complete understatement. She was enraged!
"Rose..." I said her name so softly that I could barely hear it. There was no way in hell that she could have heard it. In only a split second, she was ripping down the hall after her mother. Janine was pissing me off. Why would she decide to talk to Rose now of all times? It's Thanksgiving for fuck's sake!
I got up after her and followed her at a reasonably quick pace, not wanting to alarm her that I was on her trail. I vaguely heard other fast paced footsteps behind me, but I honestly didn't care all that much. I just had to make sure that Rose didn't cause too big of a commotion in the next five minutes with her mother.
"What the hell's your problem!" Rose shouted. I was about to turn the corner, but decided it would be best if I didn't. Eavesdropping isn't too bad, right? I had gotten good at it over the years, listening in on my sisters fights and such. I have to admit I'm kind of a sucker for gossip. What can I say? I was raised in a family of only a bunch of women!
"What the hell is my problem? Please, don't use vulgar language. Don't embarrass me." Janine sneered back.
"God, well sorry that I was born, but I can use any goddamn, fucking language that I fucking want. Fuck, fuckity, fuck-fuck. Cunt, slut, whore, bitch-" Rose was going on and on, continuing to be defiant to her mother. It was starting to get pretty funny, actually, not that I would tell anyone that.
"That's enough!" Janine shouted. Rose abruptly stopped all together and just stood there slumped over with her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't even know why I bothered with you." Janine dug deeper with her harsh words.
"What I want to know, is why, you got knocked up with me in the first place. Since you seem to hate me so damn much, why did you ever get fucked? I'm sorry that I'm such a fucking disappointment. Wait, no I'm not sorry. I don't give a flying fuck about you," Rose said bitterly. I heard the slapping sound of her flip flops as she started walking away. Janine aggressively grabbed Rose's arm and yanked her back to her.
"Shh!" I heard behind me. I whipped around at lightning speed to see Lissa holding Christian's hand, dragging him with her, much like she was doing earlier today. Lissa looked up at me, and for once she didn't glare. For that, I was thankful. Christian looked peeved, like he couldn't give a shit about Rose fighting with her mom.
"Let go of me!" Rose screeched. I turned so that I could get a glimpse of what was going on. Rose angrily slapped her mother's hand off of her wrist and glared at her. "Just leave me alone!"
"I have to talk to you!"
"Then talk!" Rose shouted. Janine was looking at her incredulously, like Rose was making way too much of a scene, which I suppose she was. But to her defense, her mother had not only interrupted Rose's dinner, demanded that Rose not embarrass her, and to top it off, Janine hadn't spared a single moment for Rose in the past five years. So what does Janine expect?
Janine sighed and looked around, as if to make sure nobody was around. This caught my attention. Her voice got lower as she leaned in slightly. "Who is that woman that Ibrahim was hanging all over?" she asked. At this, Rose busted out laughing. I almost did too, if it weren't for the fact that I was hiding from them. Lissa slapped my arm as if to say What the hell is going on?
I just shook my head at her and leaned over the side of the wall to see what was going on. "Are you serious? You're jealous that Abe is seeing someone else?"
"No! I'm not. Don't accuse me of being jealous of some blood whore!"
Rose was eerily silent. My blood ran cold. How could Janine call my mother a blood whore? She doesn't know the first thing about her! "Do not call Olena a blood whore," Rose paused to put her hands on her hips. "In fact, are you any better? You've been fucked by that man, you must know his antics. So who really is the blood whore here?" I gasped. This was getting into a really serious fight between the mother and daughter.
Janine just gaped as her daughter. I'm all for parental respect ... but frankly that was a little over the line on Janine's part. Janine decided to ignore Rose's comment. "I only asked a simple question. Who is that woman?" Janine was taking short, choppy breaths. I knew she was this close to getting physical.
Rose threw her hand up in the air and it fell to her side in exasperation. "Her name's Olena Belikova. She's Dimitri's-err, Guardian Belikov's mother," Rose answered. "Abe and Olena are... together now. Why do you care anyway?"
"Because, he's your father, I like to know things about him," she looked around the room awkwardly. "We started dating a couple months ago, but he broke up with me. For the second time!" she crossed her arms over her chest. I see Rose definitely shares the same genes as her mother.
"Maybe she should pull that stick out of her ass and things would last longer," Lissa whispered beside me, and I had to fight the urge to laugh. Instead I snorted. It was quiet, but Rose looked in our direction. I zipped my lips and she must've waved it off as something minor.
"Well maybe you need to get out there with other guys," Rose said, cracking a smile. I guess that she realized that her mother was only trying to seek dating advice from her daughter, not aggravate her. "Maybe you should take time off of being a guardian. You know, go on a couple dates. Wear some heels," they both laughed at that last comment. I peeked around the corner to see that Janine was only wearing sandals.
It was an awkward silence then. I guessed that Janine truthfully didn't want to piss her daughter off. She just wanted to talk. Maybe her ways of communication weren't too effective, but she had good intentions in the end. "Look Rose...You know I really didn't mean to… act like a bitch earlier. It came out all wrong and I'm sorry, Rose. You can go back and eat now if you want to. I was just being selfish. I just wanted to know who that woman is," Rose smiled at her mom.
"It's okay... Mom," Rose said awkwardly. I knew she really despised her mother, so hearing her call her 'mom' was hard to believe. They hugged and Janine began to walk the opposite way and Rose went the other, meaning towards Lissa, Christian, and I.
"Shit! Move guys!" I whispered angrily. Lissa and Christian began to scurry down the hall, but I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Dimitri," a calm voice beckoned behind me. I anxiously rubbed my hands together. They were clammy. The only thing running through my mind was one word. FUCK!
I turned around with a wide false smile on my face. "Hey, Roza!" I said, trying to distract her from the fact that I've been eavesdropping on her entire conversation for the past ten minutes.
Her calm face snapped. "Don't Roza me! You jackass! You heard everything didn't you!" she hollered. She punched me hard in the stomach and I doubled over. I took a quick peek behind me and made sure that the princess and Christian had gone already.
"I'm sorry! Babe, I had to make sure that nothing went wrong. I didn't want anything physical to start," I said, trying to stay calm while still catching my breath. I stood up, but my stomach still hurt. I cupped her face with my hand. "Only because I care about you so much," I whispered.
Rose sighed, obviously persuaded. She looked down at the ground. When she looked back up her eyes had softened. "I'll meet you outside in twenty?" she asked, and I chuckled.
I leaned in and pecked her softly on the lips. "Of course," I answered. She smiled and went the way her mother had gone.
"Oh, bring me some turkey!" she called, turning towards me, but walking backwards. I smiled and nodded.
"Anything for you," I said and winked. At this, Rose laughed and continued on her way down the hall.
The reason that we had to go out at different times was because... wouldn't it be suspicious if we had both gone out at the same time? I know for sure if I saw that happening, I would definitely become curious. Well…. Maybe not-I am her mentor, Right?
I walked back into the huge dining room. Everyone was at ease, and hardly anyone noticed me walking back to my seat. Lissa eyed me, wondering what might have happened between Rose and me. She must have realized that there was nothing physically wrong with me, so she began to question.
"How did it go?"
"Fine," I replied nonchalantly. Lissa nodded, probably wondering if I were telling the full truth or not. Christian was picking at his food, not really eating anything. Eddie looked over at me.
"What happened to Rose and her mom?" he asked.
I gave the shrug of my shoulders. "They were just talking. I went along to say... hi to her..." I replied, totally lying. Christian snorted and Lissa shook her head, chuckling.
Eddie nodded his head obliviously, and then began eating some more food. He turned to his right and began to make conversation with a boy to his right... Dean or something. Thank god for inobservant kids.
"So where is she now?" Lissa asked, taking a sip of water. I gulped. Time for lying...
"The bathroom, I think." I was getting kind of used to this. Lissa nodded, not willing to pursue the topic. I ate rather quickly, I wanted these twenty minutes to hurry up!
I kept glancing at my watch, and I think Christian noticed. He nudged Lissa, and she looked up at me. "I kind of noticed that Rose hasn't been here for the last ten or fifteen minutes," Lissa said. I bit my lip. It had been long enough; I could go out and meet her now.
I nodded. "I better go check on her," I replied. A smirk formed on Lissa's lips.
"Don't get caught, yeah?" she asked as she and Christian began to laugh. I couldn't fight the cocky smirk forming on my lips. I got out of my seat for the second time and decided to go outside. It was really beautiful; it was about five AM and it was still pretty dark out. The seasons were changing, so it would stay dark like this for the next couple of months during the longer days of winter.
I left the building and stuffed my hands in my pockets. It was pretty warm still out. I had a smile on my face as I continued walking down a little walkway. It truly was gorgeous out here. I entered the woods and I could already smell her. I was getting excited. I broke into a run. I heard her voice, but it wasn't a good sound- as much as I love her voice, this didn't sound right.
I ran faster.
Rose POV
I walked outside. It was so nice out, if only there was a beach- that would take the cake for being romantic. Dimitri and I would walk hand in hand on the beach and play in the water... Aah how amazing that would be... We could lay out a beach blanket and make out under the beautiful stars as the waves roll in and out. His hands running up and down my bare heated skin… mmm… Yes, I can picture it.
I entered the woods pretty much skipping. Happy, warm, erotic beach thoughts ran through my mind. I made my way in far enough into the thicket of the woods and decided to take a break and wait. I knew for a fact that Dimitri would find me out here. He was one sexy hot, smart badass. I made myself comfortable on a boulder and hugged my knees to my chest. It was pitch black out here, and I had to squint even though I had superhuman sight.
I laid back, so that I was sprawled out on the rock. It was odd how it was so flat; it was like one of those pedestals where people would be sacrificed... I jumped off the rock, it was seriously starting to freak me out. I wrapped myself up in my arms. I heard a rustle in the bushes, and suddenly became hyper aware of what was going on.
Someone was out there. Shit!
That person suddenly emerged from the bushes. I tried to make out who it was, and well, Jesus Christ, I couldn't believe it, Tasha! Is she stalking me or something!
I stumbled back a couple paces and Tasha stalked forward.
"Tasha?" I asked nervously. I had to make sure I knew who it was.
"Hey there, Rose," Tasha calmly replied. It was slightly freaking me out. She knew it was me. So she must have known that I was out here. She must have watched me as I left the building.
"What are you doing out here?" I asked hesitantly.
Tasha sat down on the boulder. "I should be asking you the same thing," she said, crossing her legs. I crossed my arms. What the hell, she was playing games with me. I made sure to avert my eyes from hers, just to be sure that she wouldn't use compulsion on me. I cracked some of my knuckles; it was something that I did when I was nervous.
"I came out for a breather," I replied, slightly lying. It felt good to be out here at night, but I had also agreed to meet with Dimitri. That reminded me, I had to get Tasha out of here in the next twenty minutes or else we would be busted.
Tasha stood up and steadily walked towards me. She had a menacing smile on her lips, and something felt wrong with the way she was looking at me. I glared at her and backed up a couple steps. I walked into a tree, and Tasha let out a soft giggle. "Where are you going, Rose? I'm not going to hurt you," she said sweetly, but something told me this was not good.
This felt all too much like a Freddy Krueger horror movie. She was the mentally deranged ruthless murderer, and I was the innocent pretty little schoolgirl. Well, innocent for dhampir standards. I just had to remind myself to be calm; Tasha was a Moroi for god's sake! There was nothing, absolutely nothing to be worried about.
"You're waiting for someone, aren't you?" she asked, a sneer forming at her lips. I glared at her all the more.
"Tasha, you're freaking me out, back off."
"I won't back off," she replied too quickly. She revealed a stake. I gasped.
"What the fuck are you doing with that?" I shouted, and jumped back-running into the tree again. I banged my head against it, and rubbed it. Tasha was only a foot away now, so I slipped away from her so I had some breathing room.
"It's not what I'm going to do with it," Tasha said, flicking the hard metal. She looked up at me and caught my eye and made contact. I tried to pull away, but I couldn't. Suddenly, I felt hazy. "So tell me, Rose, who were you going to meet out here?"
Something told me that she already knew the answer, but just wanted to hear it escape my lips. "D-Dimitri," I stuttered. It felt reasonable to tell her, as if she was Lissa, and I could trust all my secrets to her.
Tasha chuckled, but it sounded distorted, like it wasn't really her laughing, but an evil cold-blooded murderer. "That's what I figured. He chose you over me," she said quietly, but I still picked it up.
I felt the need to ask about it. "What do you mean?"
Tasha had a hurt look, and I caught her completely vulnerable. "I asked him to be my guardian, but he rejected me. We could have had a family together! Kids! Marriage! Sex! Anything he could have ever wanted! It was right there waiting for him, but he said No!" her look became scary. I was honestly terrified of her. "He chose you," she said cocking her head to the side, her eyes got this wild strange look. She seemed to remember what she was about to do with me. The compulsion had slipped a little, but now it was back at its original strength.
I hissed slightly. "So? That's not my fault!" I pulled my eyes from hers, and I could breath properly again. I took in a deep breath of air and breathed it out. "It's not my fault that Dimitri likes me more than you," I said.
Tasha lashed out and grabbed my chin. She brought it closer to her face so that we were centimeters from each other's lips. For a second I was horrified that she was going to start making out with me, but then she began to speak. "It is completely your fault! You're a child," she spoke child like it was a venomous word. "You don't deserve him."
I scoffed. "Tell me, Tash, has Dimitri seen this side to you?" I asked. Tasha was about a second from either slapping me or better yet bitching at me some more, but I didn't give her the chance. Her arm was connected to my face, and it was outstretched. I knew a dirty move, and I almost hesitated to use it. Almost.
Fuck it, I thought and internally laughed. Tasha didn't even deserve jack shit.
I pumped my fist up and it connected with Tasha's elbow. I pushed it with all the force I had until I heard a sickening crack. Tasha screamed out, but there was nobody near enough to hear it, no one around to become curious. Nobody was even out; hell I was probably going to get it for sneaking out! "You bitch!" she screamed again, but it was animalistic. I grinned, and looked into her eyes. I caught myself and tried to rip my eyes from hers.
Tasha held her arm, the one that was twisted at the wrong angle, and glared daggers at me. If looks could kill... you know the rest. She picked the stake up off the ground with her good arm without breaking eye contact. I was paralyzed. She held the stake out to me.
TBC
Ciffhanger... am I an ass or what? *evil face* I have the second part written... How about if I get twenty five reviews I'll upload the chapter? OOOH CHALLENGE! So get reviewin'!