I wasn't going to update this tonight because I have lots of homework which includes writing a story (which I love), But I have to write it in Irish (which I don't love) :/

Anyway, hope you enjoy it and thank you to those who did review :)

Chapter 9

I sat there for a long time, just listening.

Listening for what, I wasn't sure. Danger? I doubted it. Not in a place surrounded by Dhampirs, unless the danger happened to be coming from these Dhampirs themselves. I didn't believe it would; but there was no way I'd risk Roses and Sydney's lives because of carelessness.

After about an hour, and the sounds from the other rooms in the house died away as everyone went to bed, I let myself relax slightly.

The memories I had been pushing away from my mind engulfed me. I couldn't feel any of the newly-discovered feelings that I had felt over the last few days. All I felt was pain.

I wanted to shove my fist through the wall, or break something just to feel something other than this mental grief…even if it was physically pain.

I looked up when I heard a sigh.

I realised it had come from Rose. For a moment I thought she had woken, and I struggled to reel in my emotions. On closer inspection however, I realised that she was still asleep.

I watched her for a while. She made no other sounds, no movements. I just took in the image of her hair, framing her face around the pillow.

I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and she took in deep, calming breaths. Without realising it, I had slowed my breathing to match hers and felt some of my anger and hurt slowly and gently slip away.

Her right hand twitched slightly and a frown appeared in between her eyebrows. It made me wonder what she was dreaming about.

The frown only got deeper and more pronounced in her features as time went on, and I had an unusual urge to go over to her and smooth it out.

An hour or two later however, the crease on her forehead disappeared and her face relaxed into its previous state.

I left her sleeping for an extra half an hour, before moving to her side and gently waking her up, not wanting to startle her.

Surprisingly, she got up no problem and moved to sit near the door. I climbed into the already brilliantly warm bed, and suddenly felt the exhaustion in my eyes and body.

Not unsurprisingly, I fell asleep within a minute.

I slept for what only felt like an hour, before Rose tapped me shoulder in an attempt to wake me up.

I shot up into a sitting position, unsure if there was a major reason that she had woken me up, or if it was just time.

"Easy," she said, smiling in amusement at my reaction. "Just a wakeup call. Sounds like our redneck friends are getting up."

I looked outside at the well-risen sun.

There was movement on the opposite side of the room and I noticed Sydney stirring.

"What time is it?" she asked, yawning and stretching at the same time.

"Not sure," Rose answered her. "Probably past midday. Three? Four?"

I would've guessed around the same, based on the sun's position in the sky.

Sydney shot up. "In the afternoon?" she exclaimed. "Damn you guys and your unholy schedule."

"Did you just say 'damn'? Isn't that against Alchemist rules?" Rose teased her.

"Sometimes it's necessary." Sydney retorted, trying to waken herself up properly by rubbing her eyes.

I could now hear what Rose had obviously heard when she had chosen to wake me up, only it was louder now. I could hear the sound of people cooking and talking to the kitchen area.

"I guess we need a plan," Sydney said, not too loudly.

"We have one. Find Lissa's sibling." Rose said to her.

"I never entirely agreed to that," she replied. "And you guys keep thinking I can just magically type away like some movie hacker to find all your answers."

"Well, at least it's a place to-" Rose cut herself off. "Crap. Your laptop won't even work out here."

The thought hadn't occurred to me until she had said it.

"It's got a satellite modem, but it's the battery we have to worry about." Sydney stood up and straightened out her clothes. "I need a coffee shop or something."

I had to admit, coffee sounded better than good right about now.

"I think I saw one in a cave down the road," I felt a smile almost reach my lips at her joke.

"There's got to be some town close by where I could use my laptop."

I joined the conversation at her thought.

"But it's probably not a good idea to take the car out anywhere in this state," I told them both but directed it at Sydney. "Just in case someone at the motel got your license plate number."

"I know," she replied. "I was thinking about that too."

There was a knock at the door and the three of us turned to it. Sarah's face peeked in.

"Oh, good. You're all awake. We'll be getting breakfast ready if you want to join us."

We thanked her and she left. We joined her soon after.

"Good morning," Raymond greeted us with a smile. "I hope you're all hungry."

As a matter of fact, I was hungry. It was a strange feeling; I was still getting used to the whole eating thing.

"Do you think that's, like, real bacon?" Rose leaned over and whispered. "And not like squirrel or something?"

"Looks real to me," I answered her truthfully.

"I'd say so too," Sydney whispered back. "Though, I guarantee it's from their own pigs and not a grocery store."

A look of horror crossed Rose's face.

I laughed at her. "I always love seeing what worries you. Strigoi? No. Questionable food? Yes.

It slipped out of my mouth unconsciously. What had I just said?

I have always loved?

Love?

I didn't have time to contemplate my own words and thoughts when the annoying Joshua kid and his sister Angeline entered the house.

"What about Strigoi?" Angeline asked us.

"Just talking about some of Rose's Strigoi kills," I covered for Rose, not wanting her to be put in the awkward situation of explaining to them why she was not exactly comfortable eating their food.

The boy stopped mid-movement and stared at Rose in awe.

"You've killed the Lost? Er-Strigoi? How many?" He asked.

Rose shrugged. "I don't really know anymore."

I felt something very close to pride well up in my chest. Yes, Rose had killed more Strigoi than was countable.

"Don't you use the marks?" Raymond asked. "I didn't think the Tainted had abandoned those."

"The marks-oh. Yeah. Our tattoos? We do." Rose said and lifted her hair to show the back of her neck. I felt that pride come back when she showed them her many kills.

Before I realised what he was doing, Joshua had moved forward to touch the marks on Rose's neck. Rose felt the finger on her neck and abruptly turned around. I understood her not wanting him to touch them. Most guardians did. These marks were badges of honour, yes, but they were also full of pain. Especially for Rose. She had earned her first marks on the same day one of her best friends had been killed.

Joshua lowered his hand and apologised. "I've just never seen some of these. Only the molnija marks. That's how we count our Strigoi kills. You've got…a lot."

Rose did have a lot. More than most guardians would ever get. And she had a long way to go before she was finished.

"The S-shaped mark is unique to them." Raymond explained. "The other's the zvezda."

Joshua and his sister both gasped at this. They obviously knew what it meant. Rose did not.

"What?" she asked.

"The battle mark," I explained to her. "Not many people call it zvezda anymore. It means 'star.'"

"Huh," she said. "Makes sense."

"Now I understand how you could have killed the Tainted queen." Joshua said to Rose.

"It's probably fake," Angeline said.

"It is not!" Indignation crossed Rose's face. It was also the first time I'd ever heard anyone doubt Rose's skill before. "I earned it when Strigoi attacked our school. And then there were plenty more I took down after that."

"The mark can't be that uncommon." I said to the room. "Your people must have big Strigoi fights every once in a while."

"Not really," Joshua said, still looking at Rose, looking absolutely star struck by her. "Most of us have never fought or even see the Lost. They don't really bother us."

I was a little surprised by this information. It would make sense that Strigoi would prefer to target a group of Moroi, dhampirs and human in the middle of nowhere.

"Why not?" Rose asked.

Raymond winked at her. "Because we fight back."

I suppose I could see the entire 'community' defending each other from a Strigoi should the need arrive, but apparently, Strigoi didn't come near them too often. It sort of reminded me of my own family. They lived in a small dhampir commune where everyone knew each other and almost everything about their lives; Strigoi didn't bother them too often either.

The conversation moved on as the family sat down to eat.

I zoned out as the conversation went on and started eating my breakfast. I savoured each taste and texture; it was like being born again and learning everything all over again.

I noticed Sydney had been silent and didn't look like she was listening to the conversation.

"We need some supplies," Sydney said abruptly, causing an interruption to one of Rose's many stories. She didn't seem to mind. "Where's the nearest town that would have a coffee shop…or any restaurant?" she asked them.

"Well," Paulette said. "Rubysville is a little over an hour north. But we have plenty of food here for you."

"It's not about food," Rose jumped in. "Yours has been great." I mentally scoffed at her lie.

"An hour's not so bad, right?" Rose asked Sydney. She looked so eager to get out of this place for a couple of hours. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to get out of here either.

Sydney nodded at her. "Is there any way…is there any way we could borrow a car?" she asked Raymond. "I'll…I'll leave the keys to mine until we get back."

"You've got a nice car," Raymond stated, raising his eyebrow.

"The less we drive it around here, the better." She said.

The three of us were told to take Raymond's truck, and we decided to leave very soon after that. I didn't want to still be out in the dark in case of any lurking Strigoi so the sooner we left, the sooner we'd arrive back.

The Joshua kid walked with us to the truck.

"I hope you won't be gone long," he said to Rose. "I'd wanted us to talk more."

Poor kid. He was so love struck by her.

"Sure," Rose answered him. "That'd be fun."

"Maybe I can show you my cave." He said to her. I nearly tripped myself up.

"Your-wait. What? Don't you live with your dad?" she asked him.

"For now. But I'm getting my own place." He said proudly. "It's not as big as his, of course, but it's a good start. It's almost cleaned out."

"That's really, um, great." Definitely show me when we're back."

I felt my eyebrows furrow. What was she doing? She was with Adrian…and we were on the run! I couldn't understand why she was leading him on like that…unless, she didn't actually like him...did she?

Joshua left us shortly before we reached the truck, and after discussing with Sydney who would drive, we were on the road.

"You shouldn't lead him on like that," I said after about ten minutes.

"Huh?"

"Joshua. You were flirting with him." I said, trying to figure out if she was interested in him the same way he was most definitely in her.

"I was not! We were just talking." Rose replied indignantly.

"Aren't you with Adrian?" I asked her, knowing full well that she was.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. I could see her glaring at me but pretended not to notice. "And that's why I wasn't flirting. How can you read so much into that? Joshua doesn't even like me that way."

"Actually," Sydney leaned forward from the backseat. "He does."

Rose turned to her. "How do you know? Did he pass you a note in class or something?"

"No. But you and Dimitri are like gods back at camp."

"We're outsiders," Rose reminded her. "Tainted."

"No. You're renegade Strigoi – and queen-killers. It might have all been southern charm and hospitality back there, but those people can be savage." She told us. "They put a big premium on being able to beat people up. And, considering how scruffy most of them are, you guys are…well…let's just say you two are the hottest things to walk through there in a while."

I almost laughed in surprise. That was definitely not the first thing that crossed my mind when I wondered what the Keepers thought of us.

"You're not hot?" Rose asked Sydney.

"It's irrelevant," Sydney replied, looking uncomfortable. "Alchemist's aren't even on their radar. We don't fight. They think we're weak."

"Raymond's family was pretty good-lucking," Rose said, causing me to grunt in annoyance. She was no doubt thinking about Joshua, despite her earlier words about not flirting with him.

"Yeah," Sydney continued. "Because they're probably the most important family in town. They eat better, they probably don't have to work in the sun as much. That kind of stuff makes a difference."

We drove the rest of the way to Rubysville without saying another word about flirting. We reached the small quiet town within one hour.

"Pull into that gas station and I'll ask them for directions." Sydney instructed me, gesturing to the tiny station on the side of the pot-hole filled road.

I pulled up and didn't bother turning the engine off as Sydney ran inside. She came back and gave me directions to the nearest café while she clicked her seatbelt back into place.

When we got there, Sydney brought her laptop inside and ordered coffee. The three of us just sat in silence as Sydney waited for her laptop to start up. I noticed the waitress giving Rose and I dirty looks – probably for not ordering anything, so I thought it would be best if we left Sydney to work in peace.

Rose and I strolled through the quiet town. We were both silent, and I noticed her taking in the scenery all around us. It occurred to me that she may not have ever seen scenery like this; she had grown up in a place that was surrounded by mountains, hills and more mountains.

"Or any place," Rose murmured quietly to herself.

"Hmm?" I asked her.

"I was just thinking about if the guardians find us. I never realised how much there was I wanted to do and see. Suddenly, that's all at stake, you know?" She said to me.

I did know.

"Okay, suppose my name isn't cleared and we never find the real murderer. What's the next-best-case scenario? Me: always running, always hiding. That'll be my life. For all I know, I will have to go live with the Keepers."

"I don't think it'll come to that," I told her, wanting so much to tell her that I would never let that happen. I was positive that we would find the real murderer and Rose would finally be free to live her life the way she wanted to.

"Abe and Sydney would help you find some place safe."

"Is there a safe place? For real? Adrian said the guardians are increasing their efforts to find us. They've got the Alchemists and probably human authorities looking for us too. No matter where we go, we'll run the risk of being spotted. Then we'll have to move on. It'll be like that forever." She said.

I understood her point, but it was better than being dead.

"You'll be alive," I said to her. "That's what matters. Enjoy what you have, every little detail of wherever you are. Don't focus on where you aren't."

I really wasn't sure if I was still talking to her, or if I was telling myself.

"Yeah," she said. "I suppose I shouldn't whine over the dream places I won't get to see. I should be grateful I get to see anything at all. And that I'm not living in a cage."

I felt my mood lighten considerably. I realised that I missed this. I missed spending time with her and just talking to her.

I smiled at her. "Where do you want to go?" I realised that in the time that we'd known each other, we'd never talked about the cities and countries that we wanted to see.

"What, right now?" she asked, looking around the almost-empty town.

"No, in the world," I specified.

She gave me a funny look.

"Sydney's going to be pissed if we take off for Istanbul or something."

I burst out laughing.

"Not what I had in mind. Come on." I got an idea and led her to the small building I had spotted a few minutes ago.

"Woah, hey," Rose said, stopping in her tracks when she noticed where we were headed. "One of the few perks of graduating was avoiding places like this."

"It's probably air conditioned," I pointed out, drawing attention to the fact that we were both drenched in sweat from the heat.

"Lead on," she said after inspecting herself.

I was right about the air conditioning and felt relief as soon as we entered the building. The library was small; smaller than any I'd ever been too.

I looked at the signs indicating which section was which and made my way to the one that said travel. Rose followed silently behind me.

I felt disappointed when I got there. I was hoping for a lot more than just one shelf.

"Not quite what I expected." I looked back and over along the row and pulled out the one that looked most interesting. It was a large, bright-coloured book entitled '100 Best Places to Visit in the World.'

I settled myself, sitting cross-legged, on the floor. Rose copied me, and I handed her the book when she had settled herself.

"No way, comrade." She shook her head. "I know books are a journey of the imagination, but I don't think I'm up for that today."

"Just take it. Close your eyes, and flip randomly to a page."

She just looked at me for a moment before taking the book out of my hands and doing what I said. I watched her close her eyes and flip open a page.

"Mitchell, South Dakota?" she exclaimed loudly. She quietened her voice remembering where we were…not that it mattered, we were the only ones here anyway. "Out of all the places in the world, that makes the top hundred?"

I grinned at her. She was right of course. How South Dakota made the cut baffled me.

"Read it," I told her.

"Located ninety minutes outside of Sioux Falls, Mitchell is home to the Corn Palace." She looked up from the book in disbelief. "Corn Palace?"

I scooted my body over next to hers, intrigued.

"I figured it'd be made of corn husks," I said, studying the pictures.

"Me too," she said. "I'd visit it. I bet they have great T-shirts."

I shot her a sly look, thinking of our earlier conversation. "And, I bet no guardians would look for us there." I teased her.

It was Rose's turn to burst out laughing, not caring if we got in trouble…which we did, by the very annoyed librarian.

As I went to take the book back off her to take my own turn, I took a deep breath and smelled a scent that could only be described in one word.

Rose.

Her scent felt familiar and comforting to me, like it always had, but this time intensified.

I took my own turn with the book and opened my eyes.

Sao Paolo, Brazil. Rose took another turn. Honolulu, Hawaii.

We kept passing the book back and forth, laughing at some of the strange ones we got, and imagining some of the more amazing ones.

Rose lay down on her stomach on the ground and I copied her, both of us getting more comfortable.

"Florence, Italy," Rose read. "Sydney wants to go there. She wanted to study there, actually. If Abe could have managed that, I think she would have served him for life."

"She's still pretty obedient," I said. "I don't know her well, but I'm pretty sure Abe's got something on her."

"He got her out of Russia, back to the U.S."

I shook my head. I hadn't given it much thought, but it had entered my mind. "It's got to be more than that. Alchemists are loyal to their order. They don't like us. She hides it – they're trained to – but every minute with the Keepers is agony." I remembered her glumness this afternoon at breakfast. "For her to help us and betray her superiors, she owes him for some serious reason."

We both thought for a moment before I remembered that it wasn't any of my business. That was between Abe and Sydney. My business, was making sure Rose was kept safe and out of harm.

"It's irrelevant, though." I broke the silence. "She's helping us, which is what matters…and we should probably get back to her."

I hated saying the words. As much as I denied it initially, I missed spending time with Rose. Just the two of us: no complications, no danger.

Rose looked reluctant to leave as well. "One more."

I looked away and slipped my hand into a random page. I pulled the book open.

I felt the smile that had been on my face slide off.

"Saint Petersburg."

My heart ached when I thought about all the memories there. Most of which were with my family when I was growing up. My home. There was a strong chance that I wouldn't get to see the place again. Not the same way. I was a fugitive now; I wouldn't be able to walk the streets without the fear of getting caught.

I felt a soft nudge in my side. "Hey, enjoy where you're at, remember? Not where you can't go." She threw my own words back at me.

She was completely right.

I shut the book along with it's oh so familiar pictures, and looked away.

"How'd you get so wise?" I teased her.

"I had a good teacher."

I smiled at her and felt my heart jump a little when she smiled back. I ignored it and concentrated on what she was asking me.

"Is that why you escaped with me? To see what parts of the world you could?"

Surprise hit me again as she once again, guessed something about me that nobody had before.

"You don't need me to be wise, Rose. You're doing just fine on your own. Yes, that was part of it. Maybe I would have been welcomed back eventually, but there was a risk I wouldn't. After…after being Strigoi…" I could make the words flow smoothly from my mouth. "I gained a new appreciation for life. It took a while. I'm still not there." I admitted. "We're talking about focusing on the present, not the future – but it's my past that haunts me. Faces. Nightmares. But the farther I get from that world of death, the more I want to embrace life. The smell of these books and the perfume you wear. The way the light bends through that window. Even the taste of breakfast with the Keepers." I opened up to her, surprising even myself a little.

"You're a poet now." She said.

"No, just starting to realise the truth. I respect the law and the way our society runs, but there was no way I could risk losing life in some cell after only just finding it again. I wanted to run too. That's why I helped you. That and –"

I cut myself off, shocked at what I had been just about to say.

"What?" she asked me, looking at me closely.

I pulled myself up off the ground.

"It doesn't matter. Let's go back to Sydney and see if she found out anything…although, as much as I hate to say it, I think it's unlikely." I admitted.

"I know," Rose agreed and rose from the ground as well. "She probably gave up and started playing Minesweeper."

The two of us walked side by side back to Sydney. We did however stop at the ice cream place I had noticed Rose eyeing earlier.

We sun was started to lower itself and I was getting a little anxious to get moving.

When we got back to the café, Sydney was still on her laptop. We sat down beside her.

"How's it – hey! You are playing Minesweeper!" Rose exclaimed, peering at the screen. "You're supposed to be finding a connection to Eric's mistress."

"I already did," Sydney replied. I felt astonishment. Rose's face reflected the same emotion when I looked at her.

"But I don't know how useful it'll be," she continued.

"Anything'll be useful," Rose said. "What did you find?"

"After trying to track down all those bank records and transactions – and let me tell you, that is not fun at all – I finally found a small piece of info. The bank account we have now is a newer one. It was moved from another bank about five years ago. The old account was still a Jane Doe, but it did have a next-of-kin reference in the event something happened to the account holder." She explained.

"A real name?" Rose asked, looking like she was holding her breath.

Sydney nodded.

"Sonya Karp."

AN – I don't know about anyone else, but the library scene is one of my favourite scenes in Last Sacrifice – anyone else's favourite? Apart from the hotel scene of course ;)

Also, anyone else read Foretold? I'd love to have someone to talk to about it :P I'm thinking of doing Foretold from Dimitri's POV but I'll wait a while so that everyone gets a chance to read it first :) if you haven't read it – get your hands on the book and read Homecoming! :D