IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

Yes. I'm still alive. SUPRISE! No really, I'm REALLY SORRY! I have been so busy lately! Like, 'only 2 hours of sleep every night' tired. Okay, maybe not that bad but you get what I mean.

And my best friend was pestering me to update, and it was fun annoying her when I didn't ;) Hi Chloe :D

Anyway, to my beloved readers I formally invite you to read the SECOND LAST CHAPTER!

(I know I said that it would be the last chapter (in previous chapters ((oh look, brackets within brackets!)) but I really wanted to get this chapter up because it was taking too long, so the REAL last chapter will be posted at the end of the week.)

Previously...

I crouched down into defensive mode as we walked out into the open air, heading towards the gym. Out here, in the open, it was hard to keep watch on all the surroundings, so I had to be extra careful.

The gym turned up ahead, looking as dark as the rest of the school.

I was particularly relieved to see it still in good condition, particularly because Dimitri and Eddie were having their prac class in there.

Well, I was. Until it blew up.

(SERIOUSLY, PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOTE ABOVE)

And by blew up, I mean it literally blew up.

It all happened so quickly, and there was no warning. Only silence.

Light, heat and flames exploded from the roof of the loud gymnasium, igniting the vampire's day- human night. The stars no longer sparkled like the used to, the moon didn't smile at me and the flora stopped looking beautiful, because at that moment my world shattered.

Dimitri was in that gym. The love of my life.

Eddie was in that gym. One of my best friends, and the brother I never had.

And not only that, but Lissa was knocked back by just the power of the explosion as well.

We were both thrown back by the force, wood, bricks and dirt flew across the courtyard like a filthy nightmare. Clouds of ash and smoke, a foggy grey, circled my head, clogging up my senses. I couldn't see or hear, forced to rely on my sense of smell and touch, a loud ringing in my ears from the explosion.

Heat surrounded me, causing instant sweat to form over my forehead. It rolled down my red face so that I could no longer differentiate sweat from tears. The ache in my head compared to the ache in my heart was like comparing a paper cut to being eaten alive. Both painful yet the more excruciating one was obvious.

The wind was knocked out of me when I was thrown back. I quickly closed my eyes in a completely futile attempt to rid myself of this situation, but I couldn't be weak. Not when I could hear Lissa's scream. I found myself screaming too, a sound I hadn't heard for a long time. It was high and frightened, like a scream you would hear in a horror movie. It rang in my ears, I could not belief it came from my own mouth.

I let out a tender grunt when I landing hard against the ground, back first. I'd just opened my eyes when Lissa landed on top of my stomach. A cracked brick was not far in her path. It came soaring across with a speed so immense that I didn't have time to shield Lissa from the impact. It hit her right across the forehead, another strangled scream erupting from her throat. Blood gushed from the cut, oozing down the side of her face like a red waterfall.

I choked back a small squeak as Lissa blinked, her eyes becoming heavy. I stood up hurrily, bringing an injured Lissa with me. She sagged a bit, but determination filled her features, causing her to stand up straight. We held back, counting to ten, waiting to see if another explosion would occur.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

It was quiet.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

I braced myself to run forward.

Four.

Three.

Two.

Still quiet.

One.

At the same time Lissa and I shot off, making a bee line for the destroyed gym. We had to find survivers.

"Liss, stay close." She could have a concusiion, most likely, and I couldn't handle having to carry her back and rescue survivors.

"Oh please God, please." It wasn't praying, not really, I was just hoping like hell that Dimitri made it. We reached the reckage, rocks, broken bricks, cement, all polluted the earth, covering metres of it.

"Hello?" I called out, hearing Lissa do the same from the other side. I waited a while, but no one called out.

My heart rate increased further, which I guarantee wasn't healthy. My eyes filled with tears, blurring my vision as my emotions took control. Blue lights shot from my fingers subconsciously, heading straight for the rocks, covering them like a blanket. My hands twitched, and felt irritated from not moving so I lifted them a bit. The rocks came up along with the light. Groans sounded, they were small and if it weren't for my dhampir hearing I wouldn't have heard it.

"Rose! Lift your hands up further!" Lissa exclaimed, waving frantically to wake me from my state of shock. I didn't even know I could do that.

I did as Lissa instructed and lifted my hands about an inch. Along came the wreckage. I grinned, despite the tears dripping down my tear-stained cheeks, throwing the rocks over onto the deserted oval, wincing when they made an incredibly loud noise as they clashed and banged against each other. Should have thought that through more.

I looked back down at where the gym once was, wincing when I saw the bodies, but my sorrow was only really restricted to two people at the moment.

"Liss, you look for Eddie!" I shouted out to her, panting with anxiety. Please, Dimitri, don't leave me. I ran past all the people, alive or not Dimitri was my goal. They could wait.

"Dimitri!" I called out again, looking right and left.

Suddenly, I saw him.

He was sagged over another body, covered from head to toe in dirt. I gasped, running over like I running from my worst nightmare. Strangely enough, I was running straight into it.

Tears fell down my cheeks at an incredible rate, but that was the only evidence that I was crying as I sprinted over to him. I gently pulled Dimitri off the other body, a dhampir I didn't know, and pulled him into my arms.

His eyes were closed gently, and if I didn't know any better I'd think he was asleep. I pulled his head onto my lap, stroking the dirt off his forehead.

Letting out a strangled sob I heard Lissa yell out.

"I've found Eddie!" She came running over. When she saw Dimitri her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh Rose, I'm sorry." She knelt down beside me, placing her delicate over my tense shoulder. I let out another violent sob, leaning forward to kiss the tip of Dimitri's nose. He wasn't moving and he wasn't breathing. I'd failed.

But, as I was leaning back, further away from him, I could feel his breath on my cheek, a slight tingling sensation. I gasped, but Lissa didn't notice.

'C'mon Rose, I understand that your hurting, I am too; Dimitri was a good friend but-"

"He's breathing!" I interrupted with a large grin, turning back to hug Lissa tightly. She was in shock for a little while, before leaning forward like I did, listening to hear any breathing.

"Oh my god, he is!" She squealed with happiness but winced in pain afterwards, from the cut on her head. I shushed her, we needed to be silent (even though I wanted to scream with happiness). "Liss, can you send a message to Christian telling him to send help?"

She nodded reaching into her back pocket. Like last time I leant forward only this time I spoke to Dimitri.

"C'mon Comrade, I don't know if you can hear me but you need to stay here, stay with me." I gripped his hand, kissing him softly on his lips, which- even with the cut and small amount of blood- still looked beautiful.

His breathing picked up a bit, not in speed but they became deeper, longer breaths, meaning he was getting a bit better; getting closer to waking up. My hand gently brushed away a stray of short, dark brown hair from his face, which must have been tickling his nose. His hair was still so soft, but dirt and ash was woven into the locks making it look even darker than normal. The ends were tinged and the length was a bit shorter, but he was still my Dimitri. I hugged his body to my chest, protecting him like a lioness protects her cubs.

"Uh, Rose? I don't have my phone, I must have left it in my room this morning. Do you have yours?"

I nodded lifting Dimitri's head off my lap for a second, so I could reach into my back pocket. I felt around, flinching when I pulled out something that looked something like a mangled phone. It was.

It must have smashed when I landed on it, when I fell onto my back just before. The screen was blank, a huge crack running from one side to the other, while some of the buttons were missing either residing in the bottom of my pocket or on the ground where I landed. Great.

Lissa saw my shattered excuse for a phone and sighed, before suddenly brightening up.

"Does Dimitri have his phone with him?" I shook my head. He wouldn't; were not supposed to have our phones on us when we're in gym class, so it doesn't get broken, and knowing Dimitri, he wouldn't go against the rule.

But that doesn't mean someone else doesn't have their phone, disobeying the rule. Lissa and I had the same thought at the same time, don't ask me how I know- I just do, and the two of us craweled over to someone. Lissa headed right, I went left. The first person I saw didn't have their phone, neither did the second. Well, maybe I am the only person who fights the schools system, which was kinda depressing.

Finally I got to another body, after checking that the other two people were alive (sadly, they weren't, I instantly felt terrible), the body I kneeled at know was familiar. Red hair, fit body, oval face-

Meredith.

Oh god. Meredith, the girl I had once been jealous of and the girl I then wanted to be friends with, because I felt guilty. Dimitri had told me a bit about her, and how she was going to be a good guardian, a fierce warrior. And now, her blood was on my hands. I closed my eyes, I couldn't look any more. But the image of her face, or well, what was left of it, was forever burned in my mind. Her light eyes were open staring into my soul, begging me to save her, but she was long gone. A tear fell from my eyes for her, landing on her arm, the arm that was gripped tightly on a practice stake. She must have been practicing on one of the dummies when the explosion went off.

I closed her eyes with the tips of my fingers, finally letting her rest in peace.

Eventually I reached into her pocket, pulling out the slightly broken iPhone. I hoped and prayed that it would turn on as I clicked the button to do just that. Finally, after what seemed like hours, it flashed brightly. I jumped up, with one last glance at poor Meredith, sprinting over to Lissa who seemed to be talking to Eddie.

"Eddie!" I exclaimed in shock. He wasn't up and completely awake, but at least he was talking. He was sitting up gripping his leg, which looked broken, and he seemed a bit groggy. His eyes classed in my direction and widened.

"Rosie, hey." He mumbled, nodding at me painfully. I ran forward, crouching down beside Lissa. I pulled him into my arms, trying to make the embrace as painless as possible for him. It was selfish, but I just needed to hug my friend.

"Thank God you're okay!" He patted my back softly, taking a strangled breath. I pulled away slowly, understanding that I had to put him first, not myself.

I looked back at Dimitri, to make sure he was okay, just for a second.

"Did you find a phone? I didn't really look properly because then I heard Eddie calling out." Lissa asked.

"Yeah, here." I handed her Meredith's phone. She quickly started typing a message to Christian, having memorized the number.

"Isn't that Meredith's phone?" Eddie questioned, brightening at the idea of someone else being okay, but the problem was, she wasn't okay.

I nodded slowly, sadly, watching as Eddie frowned, seeming to notice my mood. He sat up straighter, using his arms to hold himself up.

"She's...she's okay...right?" Eddie asked nervously. I felt extra pressure now, because Lissa was also listening, glancing up from the phone screen.

I sighed, "No, she didn't make it," It was silent then, all of us mourning the death of Meredith, even though none of us were close to her. Because really, it wasn't just her we were mourning, it was all the people that had died in general. Now knowing about Meredith's death, it finally hit home that this wasn't school, this was war. And whether we like it or not, people were going to die.

"Rose?" A croaky voice sounded from behind me. I twisted around to look at the voice. I couldn't recognize it, because it sounded so strange, so different. But then, when he said "Roza?" I knew exactly who it was.

I jumped up, completely forgetting about everything except Dimitri, running over to him. I was taking long, powerful strides so I could get to him faster, when at the last second my foot dipped into a hole in the ground and I went down, landing right beside Dimitri, my ankle throbbing heavily. I moved a little closer, so I could see him better. He was still lying on his back, but it was obvious he was awake. Thank. God.

"I missed you Roza," he mumbled turning his head to look at me, his gorgeous eyes still holding their spark. Just hearing him say those words, after what seemed like years, made my heart race.

"I missed you too, Comrade. You don't know how much."

"I think I do,"

He leaned closer, and suddenly, as our lips met, the world didn't seem as bad.

I'm really sorry that it took so long. I feel really bad but as I said before I've been really busy.

Wanna know what I've been doing? Cool, I'll tell you.

Camp (sleeping at SCHOOL! Eeek, that traumatised me for another two nights, meaning no writing ;) )

Swimming comp (CAME THIRD!)

Homework.

Assignments.

Homework.

Homework.

Running for class and house captain.

Writing speeches.

Social life (barely :P)

School Ipad night (WE GOT IPADS FROM SCHOOL!)

Ipad meetings (cause I'm special)

etc...

I think you get what I mean now :D

I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, if you did, let me know, if you didn't, let me know!

REVIEW!

I've also started a poll, to see if you want this story to continue on with a sequel? Do you? It's on my profile.