Dimitri nodded to Guardian Alto before turning to me.

"Do you think you can make it back to your room from here without getting in trouble?" He asked with a hint of amusement. He moved closer to me, shielding me from Stan's view, and reached toward me and took the bra out of the waistband of my pants. I blushed as he tucked it in the inside pocket of his coat. "I do think, though, I'm going to hang on to this. You're usually not allowed such luxuries."

"I think I can manage my way from here, Comrade. Though, I will be wanting that back." He gave me a wide smile, but looked troubled. He nodded once before turning back down the hallway to follow Stan.

I sighed as I watched the two walked down the hall. When they were out of sight, I made my way to my room. The doors on our rooms aren't locked from the outside, but as soon as it closes on the inside, there's no way for me to get out. I was hesitant to close the door. If I did it myself, I was pretty much locking myself up, giving me no chance of escape. If I didn't close it, effectively locking it, and a Guardian walked by, I could be in big trouble and so could Dimitri.

Eventually I closed the door and listened as the locking mechanisms all fell into place. This had been my home for over two years, but some much had changed recently that my room felt foreign.

I reflected back on the past twenty-four hours of my life.

I'd found out that Dimitri was Spirited, the escaped Project Y. My father, whom my mother told me had run away, was Project Z and didn't actually abandon us. I discovered that my mother was Project V and had been lying to me my entire life about who my father was.

I'd met Dimitri's mother and grandmother and had lunch with them. But the biggest change in my life occurred as soon as Dimitri's lips touched mine.

I sighed dreamily just thinking about that kiss. It was perfect. He was perfect.

I floated sprawled out in the air thinking about Dimitri. If I didn't know I was literally floating, I would've equated the feeling I had to floating on clouds.

I wonder what Stan wanted to talk to him about? A knot began to form in the pit of my stomach and the feeling of dread settled over me. I didn't understand what my body was reacting to, so I did my best to ignore it.

"Do you think you could ask Dimitri to let Big D and Dimka come out tomorrow?" Rosemarie asked, appearing beside me.

"I didn't think you guys could control when you came out."

"Yeah, well…you don't know a lot of what we can do." Rosie snorted on the other side of me. It was like the angel and devil standing on either side of me having a conversation.

"I can always ask, Rosemarie." I ignored Rosie. "But I thought that you didn't want to be around Big D?" She turned her head trying to hide a blush.

"I don't. At least, I didn't. Not until Dimitri kissed you yesterday and today." I smiled again thinking about Dimitri's kiss. "I kind of want something like that to happen to me."

"Now look what you've done Rosie, you've corrupted Rosemarie!"

"I did no such thing! If you're going to blame anyone, blame the Russian, it's his fault." She cried indignantly. "Rosemarie was doing fine with her pure thoughts until he came along, I've got nothing to do with this."

"Okay." I conceded, "What about you and Dimka? Do you still want to see him?"

"Hell, yes!" Her eyes turned mischievous. "When I'm done with him, he's not going to know what hit him."

"I'm not so sure that Dimitri is going to enjoy that. He already had Big D whispering scandalous things in his head, adding Dimka to the mix could be disastrous."

"Or it could be just the thing to motivate him to grow a pair and do the deed."

"That's so weird. If you two have sex before me, is it like I had sex?" I pondered. "Especially if it's with Dimka and Big D, that's pretty much having sex with Dimitri by proxy, right?"

"I don't know, but I would love to try." I glared at Rosie. "You know you want to."

"Yes, but he might not."

"Please, I don't know about you but I could feel just how much he wanted it when we were sitting in his lap." She stated with a smirk. "Something that big is a little hard to hide."

"I can't believe you guys are talking about this." Rosemarie commented shaking her head.

"I can't believe it either, Rosemarie." Rosie declared solemnly. "We shouldn't be discussing anything, we should be doing. I mean we've nothing better to do, all we do is sit in that corner and think. I'm tired of thinking. I need to do something, I mean someone."

"You're unbelievable." I mutter. "What do you guys think Stan wanted to talk to Dimitri about?"

"He probably just wants a progress report on you." Rosemarie answered postively.

"Nah, I think he's on to Dimitri about something. Either the illicit relationship you two have started or that Dimitri is just too good at his job to be a normal human being."

"Do you really think that, Rosie, or are you just being pessimistic?"

"I believe that."

"I hope it's not either of those. If it's the first one, I'm probably going to end up with a new researcher and Dimitri would be fired. If the second one…Dimitri would be locked up right alongside us."

We talked for a little while longer before they yawned simultaneously. I rolled my eyes as they jumped back inside me and fell asleep. I was too anxious to sleep right now, but I knew tomorrow I would have answers. I showered, following my nightly routine, and changed into my pajamas before crawling into bed.

I lay in the dark, attempting to make sense of the shadows that surrounded me, when the door opened and he crept into my room.

"Good morning, Beautiful." I feel Dimitri sit down beside me. His smooth voice sending a pleasant shiver down my spine. He sounded tired and nervous.

"Good morning, Comrade." I purred. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm leaving."

"You're what?!" I sat up abruptly as my hand shot out to grab his arm. "Why?!"

"It's not safe for me here anymore." He explained. "Stan is starting to get suspicious. He has questions about me and about you. Mostly you. There are some things that aren't adding up, and he's trying to piece it together."

"So, you're just leaving?" I ask. "Without me?"

"I have to. If I leave it will draw any attention away from you. He'll stop questioning if something is amiss with you. If I run it will look like I was the only thing that he got right. If I take you with me, he'll know something else was up with us." He cupped my face in both his hands and looked pleadingly into my eyes. "You have to understand, Roza. I have to keep you safe. Not just for you, or for Abe, but for me. I couldn't live with myself if something was to happen to you."

"I want to go with you." I demand, my voice coming out as a whine. "I don't want to be here if you aren't with me."

"You must stay here, Roza." Dimitri stated firmly. I shook my head slightly, seeing as it was still being restrained by his hands. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. His lips pressed into mine with a hunger that I've never felt before. This kiss was passionate and loving and everything it should have been, except I detected a goodbye. This was his goodbye kiss. "I love you, Roza. Never forget that. I love you, always."

With one last passionate kiss, he stood abruptly, leaving me cold, and rushed to the door and out into the hallway.

"Dimitri, wait!" I chased after him, but was stopped by the locked door. "Dimitri, come back! Please?!"

I pounded on the door, but it didn't move, it was too thick, and I was too distraught to focus enough to move it. Dimitri didn't come back. He had left the Academy and its grounds. I could feel him getting farther and farther away. With one last punch to the door, I sunk to the ground and cried.

I cried. It was the first time I'd cried this hard since The Accident.

But you see, the problem with crying this hard is after you're done being sad, you start getting mad. You start blaming your sadness on someone or something. I blamed my sadness on the White Coats, the government, this room…Dimitri.

I got angry.

I screamed and yelled and cursed. Still, no one came. No one cared.

That's a lie. Dimitri cared, but Dimitri was gone. I started to shake and tremble. I felt my chest ache and I staggered for breath. The rage was uncontrollable. There was no way to release it. The pressure started in the middle of my chest and moved outward. It felt like my heart was going to explode out of my ribcage.

I heard a crack come from above me. The ceiling had a gaping fracture, starting just above me and splintering out in all directions. It collapsed inward, but nothing landed on me, leaving shattered bits of glass and cement scattered in heaps around me. I stood from where I had slumped against the door and the walls began to crumble. I could hear screaming and yelling coming from the other side of the rubble.

Nothing touched me. I wasn't scared, I wasn't confused. I was focused. My heart was shattering into pieces and so was the rest of my world. I stepped over the crumpled heap of metal that used to be the door and out into the hallway. I strode down the corridor, ripping the doors of Lissa's, Mia's, and Jill's rooms, motioning them to follow me.

All three looked a little worse for the wear, but they followed wordlessly. We wound our way through the maze of passages until I found the male dorms. Again, the guys followed wordlessly. Christian, though, did look a lot more terrified than he usually did when he looked at me.

The reunited couples made my heart ache more. The ground beneath my feet began to tremble as we navigated the hallways as quickly as possible.

The White Coats were running in search of us. They weren't going to find us. They were trapped. They were scared. No, not scared, scared isn't a strong enough word. They were terrified.

They never believed that one Project could escape their cell, let alone all of them. But nothing could stop me. The only thing that could stop me was already running, and he was getting further and further away from me.

Up until twenty minutes ago, I had remained calm and in control of my powers. But Dimitri was threatened and had left, fled. He left me behind. I loved him too much to have him running. With the destruction I caused, he could be presumed missing, no one would think that he was Spirited, like us. If he was presumed missing, no one would look for him.

"Rose, what's going on?" Lissa asked as we ran off Academy grounds and into the surrounding woods.

"Dimitri left me. He is Spirited, Liss. Just like we thought." Her eyes widened. "Stan was getting suspicious so he was just going to leave me and throw Stan off my trail. But with him gone I would have no one to protect me. Needless to say, I lost control and here we are."

"Here we are, indeed." Replied Christian. "But where are we going."

"I have to find Dimitri, but first we have to get somewhere safe."

"Where's that going to be" Eddie piped up, clutching to Jill who was looking a little queasy.

"We're going to find my father." I turned and started marching through the woods. I didn't know how I knew where to go, but my instincts were telling me to go north.

'Pennsylvania' A voice in my head whispered. It was a start. My friends trailed closely behind me, following wordlessly as I led them on.

Dimitri was gone, too far away to be felt. I don't know how he got away so quickly, but if my gut was correct, I was heading in the same direction. Maybe he went to my father, too. As long as he stayed put, I'd find him eventually. I had to.

My rage was wearing off.

I'd escaped from the Academy, and I was on the run with my friends.

But now I knew, no one, not even the White Coats, could keep me from finding Dimitri.