R-pov

I felt conflicted. Today was the day. Halloween, yet I felt it was inappropriate to dress up. Besides what happened last year, today was also the day of Tasha's execution. Why they had to choose this date, I didn't know, but I did know it meant that Christian and therefore also Dimitri was occupied all day. Lissa wanted to be with her boyfriend during this time of difficulty, but out of respect for me didn't want to force me to come. As I was her primary guardian, that meant she had ordered me to take the day off. I kind of wanted to make sure the bitch was dead, yet I didn't really feel like seeing a person dying, and I also felt uncomfortable with Christian there being all depressed. So I had indeed taken the day off, meaning I had a nice hot shower while Dimitri went off to work. We had the chance to sleep together for once, seeing as Lissa was at court for once, but I let him get up without me.

I sat on the bed in a towel when I decided: What the heck! I am dressing up!
I pulled a short black dress from the closet and went down to lend a car to go out of court. There was a nice small town just out of court, and I figured I could find something there.

It was nice and hot for the season, and I went shopping happily for myself, just before the stores closed as I was again on a night schedule. It felt nice to reclaim Halloween. I hadn't received any more messages since last year, and I felt like it was all in the past now.
The town didn't have a wide selection of Halloween costumes, but I found a white dress with a deep V-neck and a blonde wig, so I decided to do a Marylin Monroe kind of vibe. I bought a bright red lipstick and a set of lingerie for another night and went home. I was about ten miles from court when I got a text. Deciding I really didn't have much to do today anyway, I pulled over to check it. It was from an unknown number, but the text was familiar.

Hey Rose! My battery ran out, so I am borrowing a stranger's phone. Execution is postponed, we won't be done for hours. So sorry, hope you have something to do. XOXO Lissa.

It was weird that she used Lissa instead of Liss, but hey, she was probably crazy stressed. Seeing as they wouldn't be home tonight anyway, I decided to change into my costume and roam around court for the day, trying to enjoy my day off. I was quietly drinking a smoothie at a café when Adrian strolled in. We blinked at each other in surprise, but then he sat down with me and an Irish coffee. "Well don't you look lovely? What is the occasion?" He asked with a grin.

"It is Halloween?" I asked him back.

"Yeah," his eyes darkened. "Also a rather good day to not be Rose Hathaway isn't it?" He asked knowingly, making my mood sour.

"The others are there," I explained.

"Figures," he answered and pushed his cup towards me. "Take a sip. It helps," he urged.

I glanced at it but then stood up abruptly. "No, I'll get them to put some vodka in this," I held up my cup and went ahead. The barista gave me a judging glance, but I ignored her and went back to Adrian. "Want to get out of here?" I asked him.

"Sure," he grabbed his cup and went out with me.

We walked around court and joked a little. He was doing great, and I was happy as I still felt bad for how things went down.

Suddenly he stopped and stared at the church. Sun had set and it was quite dark already. "What is it?" I asked him worriedly.

"Nothing," he tried to shrug it off. "Just... There is this weird aura..."

"Don't," I warned him. "Not today!"

"Sorry," he muttered and shook himself out of it. "Probably just some hormonal teen. Let's go." He put his hand on the small of my back and led me far away from the church. I almost forgot about it entirely, instead of enjoying a nice afternoon with my friend. Adrian explained his parents were out of town at a wedding, and so he had little to do at court. Eventually, he booked us a table at a restaurant and took me to dinner. We received the usual amount of scandalized glances, even though I had changed into a nice, deep red, evening dress, a dhampire in this restaurant was enough of a reason alone for their outrage, but Adrian didn't care and the attitude was rubbing off on me. He ordered tartar while I had a pasta dish. It was nice - he was nice and friendly, and it was easy to forget that we had ever dated at all. When the check came up I tried to grab it, but he snatched it from my hand before I got a proper look at it. All I saw was a note at the bottom.

"I think the waitress has got the hots for you," I joked and finished my wine.

"Oh Rose, everyone has got the hots for me," he snarked back and opened it. His face changed briefly, a look of concern flashing before he grabbed his wallet and stood up. "You know what? I am going to pay for this at the counter. Grab your coat and mine, would you?" He asked, not taking his eyes off whatever it was. He left me puzzled, but I did as he asked and figured I'd ask him later. I tried to spy on his exchange with the waitress, but nothing seemed unusual. He did however tuck the receipt in his pocket before he left, which wasn't really his style. "There you are. Thank you," he greeted me politely and took me by my forearm, and walked me out.

"What was it?" I asked puzzled but he shook me off.

"Nothing. Just someone trying to be funny. Don't worry about it," he brushed off.

I tried not to. It was pretty late, so I decided to invite Adrian up to the apartment. Dimitri would probably be home anyway, but I wanted to spend some more time without us being out and about.

The apartment was completely dark when we entered, not a single light on anywhere. I called out upon entering but received no answer. Quickly glancing into the dark bedroom, I noticed there was no sleeping figure, so Dimtri probably wasn't home yet. I told Adrian to sit in the living room while I got us some wine glasses.

"I think this is a good bottle, but honestly I have got no idea," I disclosed, entering the living room.

"It contains alcohol right?" He asked me warily.

I stopped and held up the bottle and glasses. "Yeah?!" I answered. Duh!

"Then I am sure it is good," he confirmed and took a glass from me.

He drank faster than Dimitri, but normal for him, and I figured the note probably was just some old flirt of his.

"You mind if I use the restroom?" He asked me at some point and stood up.

"Uhm no, it is right through the bedroom," I instructed and checked my phone. No messages. That was odd, I figured Dimitri or Lissa would have at least texted to let me know what was going on, but nothing. Trying not to let it bother me, I put the phone away quickly.

"Rose? The light switch?" He called confused and slightly drunk. We had shared a bottle at the restaurant too, and a few drinks before that, so we were both buzzed.

"To the right!" I yelled and tried to put the TV on a music channel. I heard him switch on the light, but no footsteps followed. "Everything alright?" I asked, hoping he wasn't puking.

"Yeah... No actually, you need to come and see this," he changed his mind and sounded worried.

Furrowing my brows I went up to check it out. There was no one on the bed, as I had figured, but something was there. Something I hadn't put there. A big organ, a heart, maybe from an animal, was lying in the middle. Blood had entirely soaked our sheets. Above the headboard, there were bloody handprints and a note was attached to my pillow with a stake.

"What the hell?!" That was my first response, as I went to check the note. Why don't you rip out my heart too? You may hide, but you can't run. I'll find you, his precious flower. It read. I was confused. Was it a love note or a threat? It felt like a threat. Suddenly cold ran down my spine. Tasha. Her execution was delayed, Lissa hadn't texted... She had escaped. She had escaped and she was coming for me. I quickly went into guardian mood and went to the closet to grab my gun from the safe, then my stake and shrugged on a jacket. "Come on," I told Adrian. "I need to talk to Hans quickly."

He just nodded and followed me to the headquarters where I reported to the first person I met, a female guardian at the reception desk.

"Guardian Hathaway, I can assure you: Natasha Ozera was executed yesterday afternoon," she insisted.

"What?" I asked even more confused. "No, it was supposed to be this morning..."

"No," she corrected me. "it was yesterday." As if to prove her point she reached out for the newspaper and passed it to me. Tasha's execution was on the cover, the article clearly stating it had already happened yesterday.

"But I-"

"Rose," Adrian cut in. "Let's go check on Lissa. She is the queen: I am sure she is okay," he assured me, sneaking just enough compulsion into it that I complied and nodded, letting him take my hand and lead me out.

Once free of the compulsion I was slightly pissed at him, but since we were headed for the palace anyway, it didn't really matter. I stormed in past the second guard and went straight for her quarters. Bursting the doors open, hand on my gun already ready to strike. "Liss?! Liss, I-" I was cut short when I came face to face with a small crowd that all looked startled. Startled and in costume.

Seeming to find themselves again, they brightened up in a smile and yelled. "Surprise!"

I was dumbfounded. Surprise? Was this all a dumb surprise party? If so, she really crossed the line! "Omg, you weren't supposed to be here yet!" The person in question gushed and came up to me in her zombie-nurse costume. She turned to scold Adrian who came jogging in after me. "You were supposed to keep her distracted!"

"Liss, don't-" he tried to warn her, but I was way ahead of him.

"What the hell Liss?!" I exclaimed enraged, making everyone stare at us.

Her face fell quickly, her eyes big and sad. "I... I thought you would be happy? Halloween is your favorite, and I wanted to surprise you and-"

"Surprise me? You can send me on a goose-chase if you want to surprise me, but this... You went too far!" I exclaimed, not finding this funny at all.

A tall figure appeared behind Lissa, my Russian god in all of his fireman-costume glory. "Roza? She just wanted to do something nice-"

"Nice?" I cut him off disbelieving. Adrian was trying to cut in, but I didn't let him. "Seriously? You sent me a text from an odd number, put a heart on my bed with a threat, and soaked it in blood! I was petrified, thinking Tasha had escaped only to make a fool out of myself at the headquarters-"

"Wait what?" Lissa asked her time to be confused. "What text, what heart?"

Finally, Adrian got to cut in. "I tried to warn you: Something else happened." He grabbed my arms and turned me towards him. "Lissa wanted me to distract you and act a little off, so she could surprise you. She didn't do any of the other stuff." He reached into his pocket and fished out the receipt, handing it to Lissa. "This was left for us at the restaurant," he explained.

She took the bill and read the note that I had yet to see. Her face palled even further, and she handed it to Dimitri, who scowled. "Call everything off. Rose, come with me," he ordered and grabbed my arm before I could protest.

He was halfway down the hall with me, when he started scolding me, which was an improvement from doing it in front of everyone. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"Tell you what?!" I exclaimed, utterly confused by what was happening. He glanced at me in the elevator, apparently deciding I was being sincere, and handed me the bill from the restaurant. Third time is the charm. You won't be able to ignore me this time. "What the hell is this?" I asked, before thinking it through. Halloween two years in a row, I had been receiving these messages. First I thought they were from Lissa. Second-year from Dimitri's father but what if they weren't? Was someone really watching me?

"You tell me?" He demanded. "Third time is the charm? How long has this been going on?"

I was speechless. How long? Three years apparently and I didn't know. "I... I think someone has been sending me notes for three years. I just... I thought I knew who it was..."

"Rose!?" He exclaimed impatiently but sighed as the doors opened. "Come on. I am taking you to see Hans," he explained. I was about to protest when he stopped and went rigid in front of me.

"Dimitri?" I asked timidly.

He didn't glance at me, he just looked ahead. "You see that?" He asked.

"See what?" I asked him confused.

"Run!" He barked at me before I truly understood what was going on.

"Wha-?"

"Now!" He ordered. Just like back when we found the dead Badicas, I understood his tone and did as he asked instead of arguing. Behind me, I heard him take off in the opposite direction. I glanced over my shoulder, only to see him disappear around a corner. I went back into the building, back to the now closing party Lissa had attempted to throw.

As luck would have it I ran directly into Adrian who was exiting. "Rose? What happened?" He asked worried at seeing me back.

"I don't know! Dimitri asked me to run then took off-" I began.

He scanned the room and found Lissa immediately, handing me over to her and explaining the situation. Lissa pushed me down on the couch and told me to stay, a small bit of compulsion laced in her words to get me to comply. I didn't understand what was going on at all, but they all seemed to know something.

Finally, after running around and giving people orders for a while, Lissa came over and kneeled by my side, her green orbs staring at me with empathy. "Rose..." she hesitated worriedly. "Tasha wasn't executed yesterday."

I stared at her blankly, not understanding any of this. "What?!" I exclaimed, but my mind instantly went to Dimitri. He was out there, right now, and she wanted him. This person leaving notes wasn't after me. She was after him.

So sorry for the delay! I am in the middle of an election campaign and have a lot less time to do this! Here is this year's Halloween chapter. Enjoy!