Like I promised...another chapter.

Enjoy!

As my body hit the freezing water, I suddenly regretted my decision. However, I couldn't dwell on this. I had no idea whether or not Galina would follow into the water after me. Using the swimming lessons I had learned in a summer class I took with Lissa, I used all the strength left in my body to swim as fast as I could. After swimming for what felt like forever at full force and coming to the conclusion that I had not been followed, I slowed my swimming speed down dramatically. Having no sight of land and my limbs beginning to become numb from the coldness of the water and the exhaustion slowly taking over my body, I forced myself to not give up. I had made it this far. Rose Hathaway cannot die from drowning. That couldn't be my destiny. No I needed to die in an extreme battle. Like I had taken out a hundred Strigois and on my hundredth-one my body, gives up and I die an honorable death. Yes that is how Rose Hathaway will die. Surprisingly contemplating my honorable death gave me the courage to continue swimming.

I hadn't even noticed I was close to shore until my feet hit the bottom of the water's floor. When I looked up, I saw a beach.

"I made it." Was all I said before walking the rest of the way onto shore.

When I was finally out of the water, I collapsed from exhaustion. After laying on the beach for about thirty to forty minutes, I saw the sun began to rise.

"Strigois don't come out in the sunlight." I said relieved. However, my relieved feelings were short lived and quickly replaced with pain. If Galina killed Dimitri and left him on the boat, he would be destroyed by the sunlight.

Before I could allow myself to feel the true effects of the pain of losing Dimitri again, someone approached me. As their shadowed stood over me I realized that it was an old human man. The man began to speak to me in Russian.

"I don't speak Russian." I said defeated.

"I called for help." The man said understanding that I spoke English.

"Thank you." I said smiling at him.

Kindly enough the old man sat quietly next to me on the beach waited with me until the sirens filled the once quiet air and the ambulance arrived.

Once the medical help arrived, they began to ask me all sorts of questions in Russian. However, the old man quickly explained to them that I spoke English.

When they started to ask me questions in English like 'What is your name,' 'How did you get here?,' 'Did I come out of the water?,' I simply asked them for a phone. At first they were hesitant about it but after I continued to beg them, one of the ambulance drivers gave me his cell phone. Once the phone was in my hand I quickly dialed Sydney's number.

"Allo?"

"Sydney, it's Rose. I need your help."

"Where are you?"

"I'm not sure."

"What is that loud noise in the background?"

"It is an ambulance."

"Please tell me it is a human ambulance?" Sydney asked nervously.

"Yes."

"Get away. They can't know what you are."

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"They think you're human. Did they take your blood?"

"No."

"Look I traced your call. You're on a beach in Novosibirsk. About a mile from the beach is a family restaurant. I will have someone meet you there. You need to get away from them. You're in big trouble if they figure out that you're not human. It will be a mess."

"Okay." And just like that I dropped the phone and stood up and ran from the people who tried to help me. It just about took all of my strength to continue running. At first the people that tired to help me ran after me but my years of training to be a guardian left them unable to keep up with me. I was surprised that they didn't attempt to drive the ambulance truck after me. I guess my unexpected departure was not a typical thing. I had caught them off guard.

The family restaurant wasn't hard to find. It was exactly where Sydney had told me to go; about a mile from the beach. As I walked into the restaurant, I decided to sit in a booth with a window view of the road so I would see the person Sydney sent for me drive up. Surprisingly enough, no waiter/waitress came to get my order while I remained in the booth. I was relieved that I wasn't approached. Having no money and being too emotionally spent to hold a real conversation, I had no desire to interact with them. However, this left me alone to my own thoughts. I wasn't ready to fully allow my emotions to come over me just yet.

I decided to go to the bathroom in order to divert my attention elsewhere and to clean myself up. Once I took a glimpse at myself in the mirror I was shocked by my appearance. I looked horrible. My hair was in complete knots because of the water and the sand at the beach. In addition, the skin around my lips was red and swollen due to Nathan's forceful kiss. When I took a closer look at my clothing, they appeared to be grass stained, covered in dirt and were still a bit damp. I finally understood why everybody left me alone, I looked crazy. If I was them, I would leave me alone too.

Finally coming to the conclusion that my appearance could not be fixed, I exited the bathroom. When I walked to the table I had just been residing at, I saw that there was a tall guy waiting in the booth. Like Sydney, he wore a tattoo on his face. He was the alchemist sent to find me. Did he know I had been sitting there previously or was it just pure coincidence?

"You're my driver?" I asked.

"Yes. I was sent here to get you. My car is right outside. Let's go."He said calmly but I got a feeling that he shared the usual hatred for Dhampirs as Sydney had.

"Sure. Where are we going?" I asked as I followed him out of the family restaurant.

"There is someone who wishes to see you." The Alchemist responded.

"Great. I mean as long as it isn't a mafia of Strigoi." I stated. In response to my comment the Alchemist gave me both a suspicious and concerned look.

"Should I be alarmed?" The Alchemist asked me in 'serious business mode' as we approached his car.

"No." I answered him.

Appearing to be content with my answer, he proceeded to unlocked the car's doors, after hesitating briefly, I decided to sit in the back seat. I wasn't really sure whether he would have tried to talk to me had I sat in the front seat but I couldn't risk it. I was in no mood to have a conversation. However, I needed to know where we were heading.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Somebody wishes to see you." He repeated.

"Does this somebody have a name?" I asked impatiently.

"You will find out soon enough."

"Could you at least tell me how far we have to drive?" I asked deciding I didn't have enough strength to argue with him.

"We will arrive at our destination in about seven hours."

Without replying to his comment, I layed across the back seat and decided to allow the exhaustion to take over me. After everything I had been through today, I just hoped that there wouldn't be any nightmares waiting for me in the dream world.

As soon as my eyes were closed, I was suddenly standing in a room that I recognized instantly. It was one of the guest rooms at St. Vladmir. My estimation was proven right when someone spoke from behind me. Adrian.

"Do you have any idea how worried I have been about you!" He said in a statement more than a question.

"You have no idea what I have been through..." I replied.

Please review

Thank you