Hi guys, I am back! After a few months off, I'm ready to start my next story, so here we go :)
This story is based on the song 'As the world caves in'.
Enjoy!
"Fuck," Dimitri cursed as he looked down at his phone.
"What's up?" Rose asked as she sat up from where she was laid on his chest, looking at him with a worried expression on her face. Dimitri rarely cursed, and when he did it meant something bad was happening.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Dimitri repeated as he shot up from the sofa they had been cuddling on. "Grab the essentials," he commanded, looking around the room frantically.
"Dimitri," Rose said, standing up from the sofa and grasping his arms. "What's going on?"
"It's happening Rose, check your phone alert. They are actually going to bomb court".
"What?" Rose whispered, her stomach dropping as their worst fears were confirmed. "No," she breathed, feet stuck to the floor.
"We have to go, baby," Dimitri said, resting his forehead against hers for a brief second. "We have to go if we have any chance of getting out of here."
"But we don't, do we," Rose whispered back, a small tear rolling down her cheek as she fisted her hands into Dimitri's t-shirt. "We've planned for this, we've seen the chances of survival for people on court, we helped calculate them". Her voice faded away as she realised this could be their final night alive.
They had less than a 5% chance of survival.
"We've had better odds, yeah," Dimitri whispered, putting his hands on her face and tilting it upwards until she was looking at him. "But we've also had a lot worse. We've gotten through worse. We have to try, Roza".
With a sniffle, she nodded up at him.
"Get the box," was all she said as she ran into the kitchen where they stored the rucksacks that had been packed months ago when all this became a possibility.
No way was she leaving that box behind.
Moments later, they had gathered everything that they would be taking with them.
"Do we still have time to leave?" Rose asked Dimitri as they paused in the doorway.
"Not much, but yeah," Dimitri whispered, his voice quieter than before.
"It's you," Rose whispered to him, screwing her eyes up as the tears threatened to fall.
"And it's always been you," Dimitri whispered back, pressing his lips against hers. "Now let's fight".
The world was in chaos as they stepped out of their house. Many people had left last year, but there were still families that chose to stay. How they would be regretting their choice now.
"Lissa," Rose said, pulling on the strength of her mind and body as she slipped into guardian mode. "If we can get to Lissa, we have a chance."
"She will have left by now".
"Yes, but we might be able to catch up with her. It's the only chance we have Dimitri".
He nodded, realising that she was right. Without the royal bunker, they stood very little chance.
"South exit," he commanded, slipping naturally into the leadership role he was born for.
Rose gave him a small smile and nodded. She already knew it was the south exit, she had written the plan herself last year, but she always felt a flood of warmth when she saw Dimitri like this, even if they were facing extinction.
"I'll race you, comrade," she smiled, squeezing his hand.
They set off, running through the crowds of people heading towards the evacuation square. Sure, they could go there too, but the chances of survival were slim and they wouldn't dream of taking up places that could be used for those who were unable to defend themselves. Plus, Lissa would need them. She would need protection, and the royal guards who had been on shift would need the reinforcements. Even if they hadn't guarded for a while, they would significantly increase the odds of survival in the chaotic aftermath of the bomb.
They raced past couples dragging suitcases and belongings behind them, both grimacing at the sight. There had been drills before, and it had always been emphasised that you were only to bring the essentials with you. Not only would extra's slow these people down but there likely wouldn't be space for it on the transport out of court.
Dimitri cursed as he looked down at his watch.
"We need to go faster Roza," he urged.
They'd always believed their running would come in handy with strigoi, and it had, but it seemed like this was the very moment they had been training for.
"I don't know if I can," Rose panted, legs and lungs burning from the exertion. She wasn't unfit, she would challenge many other guardians even though she wasn't on active service, but after last year, she wasn't in the peak condition she used to be. A lot of things weren't as they used to be.
Rather than tell her she had to run faster or they wouldn't survive, Dimitri knew that she was going as fast as she could. Hell, he had seen her broken body last year, the fact that she was even running this well was a miracle.
"Just a bit further," he urged when inwardly he knew they would have to give up soon and take shelter. Dimitri was never one to give up, but then again he had never faced a bomb before. And neither had his wife.
After another minute of sprinting, both of them knew that any further attempt was futile. They were still another couple of minutes from the south exit, let alone the bunker.
"It's time..." Dimitri began, slowing his pace.
"I know," Rose interrupted, her voice weak and defeated.
"You should go on, you might make it..."
Rose knew he would never leave her, but she still had to try. That was what you did when you loved someone, you put their life above your own. Every time.
Dimitri didn't even give a reaction to her words.
"We need to find somewhere with an underground cellar or something," he said, slipping back into the commander role.
They both glanced around frantically, trying to recognise any building around them that offered any shred of a chance at survival.
Hope filled Rose's features as she recognised a building she had only been in once in her life, an experience she hadn't wanted to repeat until now. And that was because death was the only other option.
"There," she shouted, setting off into a fast sprint towards the plain-looking office building in front of them.
Dimitri threw open the doors, ad together they ran for the stairs, descending down and down until the walls changed from smooth plaster to damp cobblestone.
After another 30 seconds had passed, they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, moving out into the abandoned dungeon.
"Will this do?" Rose asked Dimitri.
"Yeah," he nodded, certainty filling his voice. He didn't know if this would do, he didn't know whether the ceiling above would cave in and crush them, he didn't know if the bomb would his this exact space, he didn't know if they stood more of a chance continuing running, but he didn't was Rose to know that. He wanted her to have hope. She always had hope, more so than him, and for her to lose it would break him.
"Come here," he said, flopping onto the cold floor, leaning his back into a corner.
Settling down beside him, Rose nuzzled her head into his chest, Dimitri's large arms wrapping around her small body and squeezing her in close.
"Will we be safe here?" she asked, her voice as small and weak as she felt.
"We've got the best chance here," Dimitri told her, telling the truth. Their odds were never fantastic, they had the greater chance of survival here. "How did you know this place was here?" he asked, attempting to distract her from what was coming.
"I came here when I first came to court, Adrian snuck me in actually".
For a few moments, Rose was transported back to the simple times of working her way up the ranks, wondering what to wear on nights out, and having fun with friends. It had been so long since she had thought about any of that.
"That must have been, what, 12 years ago?" Dimitri asked, prompting her back to the future and further distraction, away from painful thoughts the memories could bring up.
"Yeah," Rose answered, knowing exactly what he was doing. "The royals use this place for a sort of funeral ceremony, it's a bit creepy, but they mean well. They honour the dead here, moroi and dhampir alike".
Both of them fell into silence as they thought of all those they had lost, both recent and past.
"How long do you think now?" Rose asked, cuddling further into Dimitri.
Checking his watch, he replied truthfully. "It's been 7 minutes since the notification, they said that we would have anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes in the last training session, but they never really know".
Silence fell again.
"I'm not ready to lose you, comrade," Rose whispered, a tear streaking down her cheek. The use of the old nickname made something clench in Dimitri's chest.
"I know baby," he whispered, gently stroking her hair. "I'm not ready either, but if this is it then I'm glad my last moments are with you. We've had a good run of it really".
Lifting her small body up, he sat her so that she was straddling his hips, holding her face so that he could see her silver-lined eyes in all their beauty.
"I love you, Roza, I've loved you before I even knew you. If this is it, then I know I will see you again wherever it is we go. There is no way, no way at all that a love like ours will just end. You are tied to me, as I am tied to you, and I know with all my heart that I will find you again."
He pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her small form, nuzzling into her soft hair. If this really was how things were going to end, there was no better way to go than this, with her, feeling her warm skin against his as they waited.
"I think I always knew that I was waiting for you," Rose mumbled against his chest, her voice thick and heavy. "I dated before we ran away, I kissed a lot of boys, but they never meant anything to me, and I think I knew that I was waiting for you to come along. I always had this idea of someone super tall, that I was waiting for them and that they would find me, and until they did, I was happy to wait.
I remember telling Lissa when we were talking about some guy who wanted to date me, that I was waiting for someone. I just presumed that I would know when I met them, and I did. I felt a connection to you the first time I set eyes on you. It wasn't love at first sight, I hated your guts for a good while, but I felt a connection that I had never felt with anyone before, even Lissa. I think I knew from the very first time I spoke to you that I had been waiting for you".
"You've never told me that before," Dimitri whispered into her hair, his eyes screwed tightly shut. "Even on our wedding day, you didn't tell me that".
"I'd forgotten until now," Rose whispered softly.
"It was perfect, wasn't it," she added, moments later.
"Yeah," Dimitri agreed. He wanted to add more, wanted to tell her that it had been the most perfect day of his life, that she had been the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that the love he had felt when he saw her walk down the aisle had physically hurt, but he couldn't get the words out. This conversation was reminding him that they could be about to die, that her life was about to be snuffed out and that he could do nothing to stop it.
He had vowed to protect her, to keep her safe from all possible danger, and he had failed. Even if he knew she would have never agreed to move away, he wished that he had insisted more. So many things would have been so different. Their life now would have been so different.
Rose could tell from the thickness in his voice that there were many words that had been left unsaid. When you were with someone for so long, when you understood each other so well, you just knew little details like that. Dimitri was a man of few words, and she had learnt the slight changes in his tone of voice that let her know when he wanted to say more, but couldn't.
"It's ok," she whispered, looking up and resting her hand on his cheek. "I don't regret anything".
The words weren't true, but they were what he needed to hear. In all honesty, she regretted not leaving when Dimitri had suggested it. She had wanted to stay, had wanted to protect her society just like she had vowed to do since she had enrolled at the academy, but it had cost her so much. It had cost her things that others would drown under. In all honesty, she had drowned for a time too.
Silence fell once more as the cold from the stone seeped into their bones.
"I love you," Rose whispered after a few moments. "I love you."
"I love you too," Dimitri said, wrapping her up into his body.
Thoughts of how the world had gotten into this mess whirled through their heads as they awaited the bomb that could be the end of moroi and dhampir culture. They had survived hundreds of years, evolving and changing, and yet it would be this moment that would be written in history books, this story would be told around campfires by those who sent the bomb.
Vampire culture was about to be ended by a cowardly, nondiscriminatory force that killed men, women and children alike. They didn't care who died, so long as court was wiped from the map.
As these thoughts swirled around in the heads of all still on court, Rose and Dimitri held onto each other like a life-line, clinging to each other and whispering sweet nothings as the bomb closed in, targeting in on the palace that had once been the heart of society, held balls and events and meetings that furthered the community and helped individuals thrive. The palace held such significance amongst Moroi and Dhampirs, that once it fell it would send a message so strong that vampire culture would fade away, survivors drifting away and dying out, and they would win. The humans who sent the bomb, who started this war would win, just as they had warned 2 years ago when it first began.
Humans, with their fears and prejudice, humans who were unable to look beyond these and truly see vampire culture for what it was. Humans, who were about to take everything away from the innocent, from the dreamers, from the people who just wanted to survive and feed their families.
The world paused as the bomb hit, those unfortunate to be close enough watching their death happen in slow motion as dust and rubble was thrown into the air, swirling around before tumbling back to the ground with a screech that reeked of death and destruction.
Those who had made it onto the busses screamed as they saw the bomb hit, felt the impact from miles away, faces pressed up against the windows as they mourned for those who weren't so lucky.
Children cried as they saw the pain on their parents face, saw the pain of the sacrifices made by those who gave up their seats to help women and children escape first, who were now most likely dead.
Rose and Dimitri shook from the impact, still clinging to each other as the world caved in around them taking with it everything they had once loved, the memories they had created in their house, the belongings they had loved, the people they had loved.
Through everything, they still clung to the love they shared as the earth burned to the ground, as the world caved in.
I hope you enjoyed this very first chapter! This story will be a long one, similar to the length of 'The Dreaded Age', and I hope you stick around for the journey! It will be rated M because of the themes involved, but also because I do love to write a lemon or two so I imagine there will be a few of those appearing at times lol.
Anyway, please review, follow and favourite (I love to read your feedback), and I look forward to the journey of this story!