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

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

I could see that Adrian was waiting for me to explain what I meant. Surprising, I truly wanted to tell him everything. However, I couldn't. Not yet anyways. I wasn't ready to face what I had done yet. Talking about it now would force me to re-live the entire thing all over again. In addition, where would I begin? Oh Adrian by the way, since the last time we spoken I have escaped a Strigoi hide out with the help of their leader's now dead lover, who is probably planning her revenge against me as we speak, sentenced Dim…someone to death, and oh yeah I may be having an impossible pregnancy. So anyways how have you been?

As I internally laughed at my own sarcasm, I couldn't help but be surprised. After everything I have been through today, I didn't think I had it in me to be anything but an emotionless zombie. Now as I stood here in Adrian's dream…or rather my dream…I felt a little better. Seeing Adrian, in a way, eased the pain I had been feeling. He was a part of my old life, the life I so desperately wanted back now.

It was the feel of Adrian hand brushing up against the upper part of my left arm that brought me back to reality. As I looked up startled, I saw that Adrian was now standing in front of me giving me a concerned look.

"Look you don't have to talk about it okay. I'm not here to interrogate you. I'm just worried. "Adrian said pausing briefly to collect his thought before continuing. "I mean, before you said that you wanted to come back here but couldn't. All I really want to know is…are you in trouble Rose?"

"I'm always in trouble." I said looking away from him. "I'm beginning to think 'trouble' follows me around. Whether it is Strigois trying to kill me or... "I stopped abruptly before I told Adrian too much. True, I had wanted to tell Adrian about what had been going on in the past 24 hours with the Strigois but this secret would be too much for him. It was too much for me to deal with. Placing my right hand over my belly and closing my eyes to take a deep breath, in order to collect myself, I decided that for now I would keep this burden to myself.

"I want to come home." I said breaking the silence and opening my eyes to look at Adrian. "I'm done running way from my responsibilities. Lissa needs me. I should have never left her." I said trying to sound motivated but really I felt ashamed. I left Lissa to find Dim… but I failed. This mission was nothing more than a waste of time.

"You're right. Lissa does need you. Something is terribly wrong with her. I can't help her, I've tried. This is the reason I came to see you before. You need to come home right away." Adrian said worried.

"What do you mean? What is wrong with her?" I asked now becoming worried myself. I had checked up on her a few times since I had been in Russia and even though she seemed depressed about my departure, I never got the imprecision that something was deeply wrong with her. Hearing Adrian pleading with me to help Lissa now sent waves of panic throughout my entire body.

Removing the hand that had been resting on my arm this entire time, Adrian began to pace around in front of me. "She's become reckless. She drinks and parties all the time. Lissa even kissed Aaron. It is like her entire personality has changed. I knew that she would be upset about you leaving but this is insane. I tried to confront her about her actions one time and she basically stated that I was crazy for worrying over nothing and that she was just having fun." Adrian said stopping to look at me directly. "She even went as far as to accuse me of not knowing how to have a good time. " He stated pointing his thumb to his chest. "Really, me? " And then threw his hands in the air in outrage. "I'm like the 'King' of having a good time. "

To say I was shocked would definitely be an understatement. Adrian was right, this wasn't typical Lissa behavior. I needed to figure out what was going on with her.

"I need to leave." I said abruptly.

"Yes, finally someone who listens to me. Yes, you need to get back here. Pronto."

"Yes, yes, I know that but I need to leave this dream like right now. Let me out." I said impatiently.

"Oh yeah, then just leave." Adrian stated as he squinted his eyes at me in suspicion.

"What? I don't know how. Stop playing games. This is serious, let me out." I demanded becoming angry. Really Adrian this is not the time to keep me hostage in my dream.

"Before, you were able to leave the dream. I must admit that doesn't happen quite often." Adrian stated confused.

"Oh well maybe I just woke up." I responded annoyed.

"No you didn't. Once I have you, there is no escape." Adrian said still confused but I could see some amusement in his eyes.

What is he talking about? Oh wait, Nathan. I woke up because Nathan had attacked me. "Someone woke me up."

"Oh. I guess that could work. I thought maybe it had to do with you being shadow kissed. Like maybe you could contradict my powers. I'm glad to hear you can't. I guess this means I can keep you hostage in your dreams whenever I want." Adrian stated giving me a devilish smile.

Before I could object, my surroundings began to shift. As I looked around, I found myself back in the Alchemist's car. I wasn't quite sure how I had awoken. Typically when Adrian let me go I would just fade into one of my own dreams. I suppose my body must have felt the urgency to see Lissa and knew I couldn't afford to sleep any longer.

As I closed my eyes and relaxed my mind I silently hoped that Lissa wasn't sleeping. I mean, Adrian had dream walked me so there was a huge possibility it was night time back at the Academy. I wasn't sure about the time schedule.

To my luck, Lissa was awake. As I slipped into her mind, I was suddenly filled with all kinds of emotions: anger, hate, sadness, - fear. What is going on? As I searched through Lissa's mind to figure out what was happening to her, I eventually found it. Christian broke up with her. No wonder she was a mess. But this made no sense. They were perfect together. As I tried to look around Lissa's surroundings through her eyes, which was difficult since she refused to stay focus on anything too long, I figured out that she was in her own room. In addition, there was somebody else in the room with her. Avery. Even though I hated myself for not being here for Lissa in her time of need, a part of me was happy she wasn't alone.

At the sound of Lissa's voice, I quickly shut up and tried to focus only on her. I couldn't be there for her physically but I would try to be here with her mentally, despite the fact that she may never know I was even here.

"How could he do this to me?" Lissa asked crying.

"He doesn't deserve you." Avery replied.

"He didn't even give me a chance to explain myself." Lissa explained as she tried to talk through her tears.

"Forget about him." Avery said as wrapped her right arm around Lissa's shoulder. "Like I said…he doesn't deserve you. You will find someone else."

"I don't want anybody else. I want Christian." Lissa exclaimed, which caused more tears to fall from her eyes.

"Well apparently he doesn't want you. So we'll go searching for another man starting tomorrow." Avery said as she squeezed Lissa's shoulder.

"But…" Lissa exclaimed but before she could object Avery twisted her body around so they were making contact.

"Look how many times does he have to hurt you before you realize he isn't the 'one.' Move on. He is." Avery stated as she continued to maintain eye contact with Lissa. However as she continued to stare deep into Lissa's eyes, I sort of got the feeling she was also looking at me.

You're right, I am looking at you.

What the…did she just talk to me?

Yes, I'm talking to you. Are you stupid?

This isn't real. I must have fallen asleep while I was in her mind.

You're not sleeping. Look, I don't think you should visit Lissa's mind anymore. You're really not needed. She has moved on from you. Lissa has me now.

And just like that the world around me dissolved. Suddenly I was laying in the back seat of the car again. Immediately, I tried to re-enter Lissa's mind but I couldn't. I felt as though I was being blocked. Usually this would happen when Lissa was asleep but I knew that wasn't the reason this time. Avery was blocking me.

Putting the pieces together in my head, I figured that Avery must be a spirit user. It is the only thing that made sense. The ability to enter the minds of others as well as the charming personality was hard proof of it. These were the same traits Lissa, Adrian and Oksana had. I also came to the conclusion that if Avery could go into my brain while I was in Lissa's then there is a good possibility she would have the other capabilities as well. For instance, she could very well be the reason behind Lissa's new personality. Was it possible that she was somehow manipulating Lissa? But why wouldn't Lissa and Adrian see it. I thought they could sense Spirit magic. Was she blocking them somehow? These were answers I needed and the only way to get them was to return to the Academy and confront that bitch.

I knew I needed to get back to the Academy but I wasn't sure about how I would do that yet. So far I decided to continue pretending that I was sleeping. Maybe I could surprise attack the Alchemist. But then again, attacking him while we were driving would not be a good idea. As I tried to figure out what my next move would be, I, trying to be inconspicuous so that I didn't alert the Alchemist, looked out the windows to figure out our location. I could tell by, the frequent signs we passed with pictures of rest stops and fast food restaurants, we were on some sort of highway. Knowing that we were driving at high speeds definitely eliminated the surprise attack idea. In addition, I couldn't exactly open the car door and jump out. There would be no crazy James Bond escapes today apparently. I would have to escape the easy way; I needed him to pull over so I could run away.

Sitting up from my laying position across the backseat I asked, "Could we get off at the next exit?"

"Why?" The Alchemist replied looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"I have to use the bathroom." I stated trying to sound convincing.

"Could you wait?" The Alchemist answered sounding annoyed.

"I don't want to wait. Look there is fast food restaurant about 2 miles away." I exclaimed pointing to one of the highway signs as we passed it.

"I have clear orders to bring you to someone without any stops." The Alchemist explained showing no signs of budging. If I hadn't been in a hurry to get back to Lissa, I would have actually felt bad for what I was about to do. I had no doubts that whoever hired him would be furious at him because of my actions.

"Fine. Could you pass me that cup in your cup holder?" I asked.

"What for?"

"I'm going to relieve myself in it." I stated.

Instead of giving me the cup, the Alchemist put his right car blinker on to get over into the exit lane. I hadn't planned on actually relieving myself in the cup but I was happy that the Alchemist had thought so.

As we exited the off ramp and turned right into the fast food restaurant, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to return to Lissa immediately. She needed my help and Avery was in some serious need of an ass whipping. I had to escape from the Alchemist at whatever cost.

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