So here's chapter 7!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the VA characters or the plot…

Chapter 7

Next morning…

As I started to walk down the stairs, I saw my dad sit at the dining table, looking firmly at me. I glared at him and then ignored him.

"Don't give me that attitude in the morning, Rose," He warned me. I glared at him.

"I can give you whatever attitude I want because you deserve it all," I spat at him, venom clearly in my voice.

"I won't let you date him, Rose. He's your mentor," He finally spoke up.

"So is this what this was all about?" I asked him back.

"Rose, he's twenty four! You're what? Seventeen?" He argued. I scoffed at his remark.

"Seventeen. Nice of you to actually keep track," I poured myself some coffee.

"You're seventeen. It's wrong for you to be with him!" My father raised his voice. "It's illegal!" He kept going.

"Illegal…are you really one to talk? You're a mafia boss to speak, aren't you?" I growled. He was starting to get on my nerves. "Also, I never asked for your opinion," I added.

"Oh? Then what about your mom? What about Janine? Does she know about this?" He exclaimed.

"You tell mom and I will rip you apart, right here, right now. You may be my father, but you do not, whatsoever, have the power to tell me what I can and cannot do!" I felt the dark power surging again.

"What's going on down there?" Olena came downstairs and saw the two of us. "Dimka!" Dimitri rushed out and saw the two of us.

"I can tell you what to do because I'm your father. I'm sure your mother has the power too, so don't start," My father kept arguing back.

"Mother…she hasn't been around! She doesn't care about me! She never came to visit! Not once. After I ran from the school, I swear she hates me more than any other person on this earth," I hissed.

"You…ran?" I looked away.

"I ran. I ran for two years with Lissa. Dimitri found us eventually," Dimitri stood still, high on his guard, but still giving us distance.

"I hated the place. It was destroying Lissa, but I protected her. Then when I got back, I regained a family with my friends. I started to like the place. I fell in love with Dimitri. Maybe that wasn't right, but it was through my decisions because he protected me! He kept me safe! But because of this now…I don't have that comfort anymore. You took me away from my family!" Out of pure hatred and fury, I spilled my coffee on him. He was stunned.

"ROSE!" Dimitri suddenly restrained me, but darkness pushed him back. I went up to my father, looking him dead straight in his eyes while he was still shocked.

"This is your daughter, Zmey. You did this. So don't tell me that I'm wrong," I stormed out of the kitchen and back into my room. I started to pack my stuff. Then when I stopped, I heard them talking downstairs.

"Zmey…"

"It's alright, Belikov. She's right. I deserved that," I started to cry from upstairs as I started to pack again. When I grabbed all the stuff, I headed out my room.

"Where are you going?" Dimitri saw me.

"Home. I'm going home!" He saw the tears streaming down my face.

"Rose!" He started to run towards me.

"Bahlskra!" I screamed. Dimitri was stuck in the darkness's grasp. I just sobbed in front of him. "I…I can't…I can't do this anymore. I rather be captured and tortured than go through this. I've had enough!" I ran out the door. Right when I stepped out though, the Strigoi boy from before was standing there. But when I looked into his eyes, they weren't red.

"Hi, Rose," He smiled.

"You…" I tried to talk.

"Yeah, it's me. I got changed back," He suddenly had a confused glance. "You're crying. What's wrong?" I shook my head. He slowly came towards me, but I backed away. "It's alright. I won't hurt you. I promise," He told me quietly. Before I knew it, he had pulled me into a hug. "Shh…no reason to cry..." Dimitri suddenly came out.

"You! What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"I escaped from that school. I came here because Princess Vasilisa led me here. She gave me a mission too," I looked at the boy.

"What mission?" Dimitri asked warily.

"To bring Rose back. Apparently Lissa jumped into her mind the last time around," He explained.

"She's not allowed to go back," My dad came out now. "Not with your father hunting her down," He added in a firm manner.

"Not your decision, sir," The boy retorted. "Rose? Do you want to go home?"

"I want to go home," I sniffed after I had stopped crying.

"Rose! You can't go back! You know what'll happen!" Dimitri yelled at me. "Is it really better to be captured and tortured than stay here? Think about it!" He was trying to hit a nerve somewhere. He was hoping I wasn't thinking correctly. I pushed the boy away.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Ryan," He stated.

"Ryan, he's right. I can't leave. Your dad's waiting for me back there and until it's safe, I have to stay here," He suddenly had his hand on my forehead. I blinked and he smiled a bit.

"You're easy to read," He stated.

"Read?" He pointed to his mind.

"I have your same power. It's easy for me to connect to your powers like that," He smiled. "Guess I'll head back then. Want to leave a message for Lissa?" My mood brightened and I started to smile a bit.

"Yeah. Tell her that I'm alright. Everything's fine now. Thanks," He smiled. "How did you get here anyways?" I asked.

"Magic. Watch," He stated.

"Portal, open!" A hole just opened out of nowhere. "St. Vladmir's Academy!" There was an image of the school. "I have to head back now. I'll see you around," He jumped into the portal and then the hole closed up and disappeared.

"Rose…" I clenched my fist. I had lost my chance to go home. But I did what was right…didn't I? I threw my stuff back at Dimitri. He caught it and gave it to my dad. "Rose…are you okay?" I didn't look at him. I didn't look at Dimitri. I didn't want to see his sad face. The face I had created.

"I'm going for a walk," I whispered before turning and running. I kept running and running until I ended up in the lake. When I put my feet into the water, a gust of wind blew at my face. My hair was blown by the wind too. I sat by the water and just started to think.

"Can I sit here?" I looked up and Dimitri gave me a smile.

"Do what you want," I mumbled, getting up and starting to leave.

"That was really brave of you. You turned down the chance to run," He suddenly spoke up. I stopped walking, back facing towards him.

"It's not like I wanted to. It's not like I could go anywhere, either," I started to talk to him.

"Tell me something. Did you do it because you knew I would be angry at you? Or the fact I would hunt you down?" He said with a straight face. I didn't answer. "Answer me, Rose. Why didn't you run?" He demanded now.

"I didn't run…because…" My voice trailed.

"I can't hear you," He said. What was he getting at?"

"I didn't run because I knew you would come after me, just like you did back at Portland," I growled at him.

"I see. Then what's keeping you here?" He asked.

"Isn't that the same question?" I asked back.

"Not from my point of view," He stated.

"What's keeping me here? Nothing," I straight out told him.

"Really. Then run. Run away and never come back," He suddenly told me. Without a doubt, I sprinted off. When I looked at him, his back was still facing towards me. But nonetheless, I wanted to get out of here, I wanted to go home. As I ran through the forest, I ended up stopping. Something felt wrong. This was wrong. I shouldn't be running. But he was letting me go, right? I turned around and started to head back. However, right as I turned though, there he was, standing there, watching me. "Couldn't do it, could you?" He asked me. I looked away. When I looked at him though, he had a straight face on. Tears streamed down my face.

"DAMN IT!" I hit my fist into a tree. He slowly came to me and just gave me a hug.

"Shh…it's alright…" I cried into his chest. "It's going to be okay…" I bit his neck lightly. Not enough to puncture and draw blood, but enough to make Dimitri gasp a bit. "Does your hand hurt?" When I saw my hand, it was dripping with blood. "Come on, let's get you back. You have school tomorrow and you can't be injured already," He walked me back to the house. "Sit on the chair over there. I'll get the first aid kit. Mama?" He called out as he went upstairs. I gritted my teeth as the wound stung. Dimitri quickly came downstairs and sat next to me. "From the looks of your wound, you're lucky you didn't get any splinters. It just seems to be multiple cuts," He started to treat the wound. Making sure everything was done gently, I started to talk.

"I have school tomorrow?" He looked up at me.

"Of course. We can't have you fall behind. You're going to attend St. Basil's Academy. It's like St. Vladmir's, just nearby here instead. And don't worry, I'll be there too. I'm teaching combat so you'll be in my class," I nodded.

"Am I taking anything else?" He shook his head.

"Every course besides combat is in Russian. I contacted Headmistress Kirova and she said that you knew enough to waive out of it. Plus, because you never took Russian, you can't really understand the teachers there too," I nodded. "There," I looked at my wound and it was bandaged up nicely.

"Thanks…"

"Go wash up. I want to introduce you to my grandmother," I headed upstairs and saw my dad at the top of the stairs. I just walked by him and headed to the bathroom. After getting ready, I walked back downstairs and there was a little old lady, staring at me. But the way she stared, she knew something.

"Dimka…she's different. She's a child of death," I cringed.

"Yes, she's shadow-kissed if that's what you mean," The old lady nodded.

"Child of the snake too," She spoke to me.

"Zmey is her father," He nodded.

"Look, am I here to be introduced or insulted?" I asked Dimitri.

"Babushka, be nice," Dimitri told her. "Look, she's Ro-"

"Roza Hathaway. I already know. Dear, it would be wise for you to be careful tomorrow," Dimitri's grandmother told me.

"What?" Suddenly, she just left.

"Sigh…my grandmother's weird like that. Just ignore her comments a bit." Dimitri gave me a kiss on my forehead. "How about we go out on a date?" He suddenly asked. I nodded before I realized it.

"Come on. We can go to the marketplace," He took my hand and I cringed. "Sorry," He walked to my other side and grabbed my uninjured hand instead. When we headed to the marketplace, for once, it was fun. We went through stands and bought fruit as well as some snacks like peeled roasted chestnuts. After buying some snacks, we sat next to a fountain.

"Open your mouth," He told me. I opened my mouth and he popped a chestnut in my mouth. "Is it good?" I nodded. He also ate one too. "God I haven't had these since I was little," He laughed. I leaned against him and gave a light giggle. "Want another one?" I opened my mouth and he popped another one in. As time passed we bought other snacks here and there and just had fun, something I hadn't done in a while. After eating, we started heading to parks where we played kiddie games like hide-and-seek. Before we knew it, it got dark outside so we headed back.

"I totally beat you in hide-and-seek!" I mocked Dimitri.

"Hey! I'm tall! Where do you want me to hide? In a tree hole?" He pushed me a bit. I pushed him back.

"I'd like to see you try," When we got back inside, Dimitri told me to go to bed while he was getting plans ready for tomorrow.

"Rose, before you go to bed, I do have to warn you, try to play nice with the kids. Let me know if things scare you or aggravate you. I don't need kids getting injured, alright?" I looked at him and nodded. "And if your powers spark, just let them out on me. I'm stronger than you so I can take it," My eyes slowly closed and he smiled.

"Get some rest," I finally fell asleep, happy, but tired from the date.

Eh…I know the later half of the chapter was rushed, but this really isn't the best chapter. I just need to get to the school day chapter and things will get better from there. So, review! What did you guys think of the first half of the chapter? Will Rose ever forgive her father?