The plane began to descend and the buildings of my old academy came into veiw. I sighed and put on my mask, knowing how the novices faces would go from respect to awe in a matter of seconds when they saw my marks. I knew it yet I hated it. They thought it was all about glory, but the marks I bore reminded me of lives lost, of the pain I went through to get here. I knew exactly what Dimitri meant now, why he went to church every sunday to make peace with him self. The plane touched down and Cam came out for our plan and details.
"Ok, here is the plan. We need to look in her dorm and find any indication of her plans, there were no struggle signs except for a tiny puddle of blood, apparently she had cut herself in the playground beforehand though. Those of you who don't know the grounds, pair up with someone who does. Ask questions. Go for her classmates and the other guardians. Lucian, Dimitri and I will check out her room and speak to the headmistress" they all nodded and headed out the plane, fixing our tough faces and dangerous walk on, the swarm of novices parting like the red sea. I walked between Lucian and Dimitri, just reaching their shoulders, I looked they all stared anyway, the Hathaway legend, the girl who escaped from the school three times, shared a bond with the Queen and had killed countless strigoi before she even turned 18. Now walking through their school with two Russian gods flanking her. It was pretty impressive.
We found her dorm where she shared a room with another Royal, a Dashkov. Her side was simple, dark red bed coverings showed her differences to Lissa. Dimitri stood at the door, watching for anyone that didn't look like they were meant to be there. There were pictures of Lissa and Christian with Christine on wall and one of me holding her on my lap with both of our icecreams. I smiled and kept looking, a tear in he duvet making me look closer. I studied it and found that it was roughly torn, like someone had stabbed into it.. the tear looked like it could have been made with a stake. I lifted the blanket and it was heavy. Too heavy. I put my hand into the tear and my hjand closed around the cool stake that lay hidden in it. Christine had been attacked. A singe mark on the door frame, a stake stabbed into her bed. She was taken by a guardian. I stood up straight and faced Lucian and Dimitri. Dimitri was studying me, worry evident in his eyes, Lucian was reading a little book he found. I raised my eyebrows at him, still unable to raise just one. Dimitri chuckled and I knew he had noticed my failed attempt. He raised one eyebrow at me as if to mock me and stepped closer to Lucian to read too. It was Christine's diary. Her untidy 6 year old writing was all over the place but it was still cute. The first bit made me laugh but then one sentence made me look at the singe marks again.
I can make fire just like daddy. Lilah was mean and put it out at the playground.
Christine had specialized early. She was a fire user. I looked at the singe marks closer and saw they were around Christine's height. I took off out the door and was pounding on Kiorva's door within 5 minutes. Dimitri and Lucian weren't far behind and looked at me with curiousity. They didn't make the link I had. Kiorva looked at me, disproval clear. Looks like she thought my pounding and running was against school rules. Tough. I let myself in and she sat down, looking at me the same way she always did.
"When did Christine specialize?" she looked at me as if I had gone mental. Maybe I had. Dimitri just stared straight ahead and Lucian smiled knowingly. I glared for all I was worth and she re-thought her disbelieving approach.
"Guardian Hathaway, you know as well as I do that moroi children don't normally specialize until they are at least 10 years old. However, I have a feeling that Guardian Lockheart had to put out a fire yesterday in the playground." I nodded and started pacing, thinking about the complications of it all.
"What was Guardian Lockheart's first name? And I need the files of all the guardians that are at the academy. I need them now." she sighed and handed me a key for the files and veiwed me over her clasped hands.
"Guardian Lockheart's first name is Lilah. She isn't here right now. She was taken at the same time as the princess." This confirmed most of my suspicions. I nodded again and went to the file room for the first time in years. The last time I did I went to read the records of Christian. I got caught by Dimitri for that, my awesome ninja skills were over powered by his russian godness. I looked through the Guardians one and found Lilahs. My heart stopped and I saw the papers fall from my hands rather than felt them. She was one of Victors old guardians, coming to work here the year that Christine started. I let the room at a sprint and ran to the guardian buildings, Wes and Alberta were nearby and joined us, busting through the door to the very surprised warden.
"I need to know Guardian Lockhearts room number NOW!" I looked terrifying and my voice sounded cold and menacing. She looked horrified, taking in my eyes, my eyes that I knew could turn to stone and make me as dangerous as the strigoi I killed. She took in all of us, jumping when the door slammed open again and Daniel and Cam exploded in, stakes drawn. She looked at me, face pale.
"Room 32. Go. Take the key and find the princess. " She looked at us as if we were strigoi but it didn't register for me to care. We got to the room and opened it, expecting the worst. There was more blood, in the corner of the room, like someone had cowered there for a while,slowly bleeding. A warped piece if plaster caught my eye and I picked it up. It looked strangely familiar. Then it all came rushing back. Spokane. Christian had melted off my wrist cuffs and they had ended up like this. Christine was more like her dad than I thought. `Eddie came running in then, blood covering one side of his face. Cam took the window, Alberta shut the doors and they all stood guard as I checked him out.
"Alex and I were on perimeter, finding entry points. They came out of nowhere. Strigoi. Alex is unconcious, at the edge of the trees. They can't get him. I ran here as fast as I could. They are by an old run down cabin." he managed to gasp out details and I left Alberta and Wes to look after him. The rest of switched into battle mode, going down the stairs 4 at a time using walls to turn. The warden was at the hallway, watching anxiously but moving out the way very fast when she saw us. Streaking out the door we only slowed down when we reached the trees. I saw Alex, feebly crawling with one hand, the other clamped over his neck. He had been bitten. Daniel and Cam hesitated, looking to me for direction. I nodded and they helped him up, moving swiftly towards the main buildings. Dimitri was looking at the cabin, remembering. I looked at it too, pain making me want to scream at the whole world. I picked up some of my old bravado and tried to lighten the mood a bit before we hit the strigoi world like a ton of bricks.
"Aw, c'mon Comrade, think of me naked in your own time." I grinned and knew I had hit the mark. He smiled sadly and we started to stalk into the trees, full stealth mode. I heard a twig snap and motioned for them to stop. They looked confused but obeyed regardless. Slight nausea was growing in the pit of my stomach. I knew the strigoi were close by. I raised three fingers to my eyebrow and pointed to the left of a falled log. Lucian nodded. He knew what it meant. We closed in around a gap in the trees, fresh bark scraped off, the damp leaf litter scattered, revealing the soil underneath. There had been a fight here. I felt the nausea growing and whirled around to face the strigoi. He was a moroi before being awakened but he wasn't alone. A couple of guardians and strigoi began sauntering forwards. I snarled and was about to leap when a felt a sting and then nothing. I was blissfully off into nothingness.
I awoke alone in a luxuriously furnished room, the windows blacked out and the door heavily bolted. I was on a couch that was bigger than my bed at home. I leapt up, checking every inch of the room, every single stinking item was Rose-proof. I threw the table over, shattering the vase and sending the red roses smashing against the wall. It felt good to finally be able to let go so I kept on going, my frustration fueling my rage. Eventually I was left with just the couch, bits of books and chair were all over the floor and it was oddly silent now I was quiet, my throat sore from my ferocious battle cry. I was considering the best way to take that down when the bolts on the door grated against eachother, alerting me to someones prescence. I got ready to slip out the door but the nausous feeling grew and I knelt, feeling the edges of my boots. My daggers were still there. I straightened, facing the young strigoi, coming towards me like I was a wild animal. I let him grab my arm and lead me out, noting every twist in the corridoors. Rule number 7 – always know your way out.
He led me to another room, made for the very rich. Lucian and Dimitri were already there, knocked out on the floor. I snarled and struggled to get to them. Straining against the guy who held me in an iron lock. Victor strode into view, hands clasped in front of him, studying my futile attempts.
"if you hurt either of them OR Christine, old man, there WILL be hell to pay." he chuckled and circled me again, I continued wriggling until Victor told my undead jailor to let me go. I tried to get closer to Lucian but I was blocked, so I sighed in frustration, hoping to find an opening and not too much damage.
"why do you care Rose? Dimitri left you for six years and Lucian doesn't love you back, why go to them?" he was trying to manipulate me and I knew it wasn't going to work. Lucian did love me.
"wrong. I go to them because I love them, like I love Lissa and Christine. Where is she? And if you have harmed her, i will make you pay with your life." I growled at him, letting my full glare hit him, he simply looked amused.
"How touching. And yet, I remain unmoved" Victors cold strigoi voice made me cringe in digust. My eyes conveyed what I was feeling perfectly 'go Jump off a cliff'. He chuckled at my glare. I replied as sarcastically as I possibly could, a new record on my bad ass scale
"I have a sneaking suspicion that might have something to do with you being a heartless bastard and your inability to think like a rational person" his eyes grew wide with very fake astonishment. I resisted the urge to punch him and focused on something else, like the unconcious forms of Lucian and Dimitri, laying behind Victor. I guess my improved vocabulary and self control suprised everyone these days
"as much as I hate to dissapoint you Rose, my heart still beats and I think as rationally as you do. How else would I manage to get the legendary Guardian Rosemary Hathaway unprotected?" I guess he didn't know about the daggers hidden in my boots, just waiting for me to pull them out. But I couldn't, not yet, not while Lucian and dimitri were out cold. I needed both of them to be on the top of their game
"You flatter me. But it's going to take a lot more than a little bit of sweet talk to soften me up, in case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly your most obliging hostage." I was of course referring to the entirely trashed room they had put me in. I think if I had another 15 minutes or so and I could have dismantled the couch too. He chuckled, the sound still managing to give me the chills. I snarled at the young strigoi that was inspecting the others.
"No my child. Leave them be." she smiled sweetly at me, fangs fully exposed and melted into the shadows. The nausea became bearable and I knew she had left the room. " so what happened dear ROse? You and Dimitri were so close and now I see two men lying at my mercy, both totally smitten by you. I hoped my killing Tasha would have given you your Dimka back. Who is the younger one I wonder?" he glided over to their prone forms, nose tracing the veins on Lucians wrists. I growled, itching to pull out my dagger and sink it into his black heart. Victor had killed Tasha for himself, not me. I bit back my recklessness and glared even more.
" touch either of them and i will personally make sure it's the last thing you ever do." my words were strained, my control slipping. He pulled then both into sitting positions and clapped, four more strigoi stepped out of the shadows and stood around me, each grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the door. I stared at Lucian, watching as his eyelids fluttered a little. I had to get him awake. I struggled, ramming my elbow into the closest ones face and dragging nails accross his cheek. He let go, clutching his eye where I had gotten him. The others tightened their grip on my arms and I winced internally, I kept fighting them but they didn't really fight back, they weren't allowed to hurt me. I kicked out, having the satisfaction of seeing one crumple. I managed to free my hands and clapped them over the ears of the closest strigoi, he collapsed, howling in agony, his enhanced hearing making it that much more painful. Then I realised what was happening, Victor was trying to figure out my fighting style. I stopped and fell back, allowing myself to hit the floor. I slowed my breathing and pretended to be unconcious.. It worked until I felt warm breath on my face. It was a familiar scent, honey and cinnamin, Lucian. I squinted into his worried green eyes, they crinkled in relief and he slipped the mask back on, winking slyly.
"she's knocked out. What the he'll did you do to her?" lucians outrage was real, he hated them as much as I did. I heard a gasp and a thud next to me. Then footsteps going away, getting closer to Dimitri.
" take those two back to the destroyed room. Make sure he never wakes up and leave him with her. We need to destroy her from the inside out. I'll take care of dear Dimitri." I wanted to leap up but I needed to be moved out into the corridoor so Victor couldn't reach me. I felt myself being lifted and carried, the steps long and swift. I was about to act when I felt eyes on me. I stayed still, limp in their arms. They huffed and kept walking.
"what do you think Victor is going to do to the other one?" the voice reverberated under my ear, rumbling like thunder. My carrier had spoken the very question I desperately needed answering. The other grunted in response. It was frustrating to say the least, I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I was laid gently down on the still intact couch, my hair smoothed back off my face.
"we need to kill the spare. Stop staring at her and help me, I don't care about your fascination, maybe master will let you have her once he awakens her, right now you need to help me" it was the other strigoi, a female. They were going to kill Lucian because of me. I moved slightly, stretching my fingers down to my boots. They stopped talking and I felt the unspoken agreement. There was a moan of pain and then bliss, they fed from Lucian, probably getting him to the brink of death. I leapt up and ripped one of them off, plowing into the other. His suprise made it easy, i sent him and the other one out the door which I slammed. I wasn't leaving without Dimitri and Christine OR Lucian. I fell to my knees next to him, moving his hair off his forehead. He was very weak from loss of blood. My split lip stung and I could taste blood, crouching over Lucian, I shook his shoulders slightly, watching his eyes flicker and fade. They focused on me again and I inspected the bites, they were pretty bad. I heard him chuckle as he rested a hand on my lap, tracing circles.
"Roza, don't look so worried. I'm okay, it's just a little blood." even his voice sounded weak. I smiled, laying him back on the couch and pushing it through the debris to the far side of the room. "you're beautiful Roza. Did you know that? You're beautiful and I love you" his voice was getting quieter and quieter so I just sat next to him, watching his skin get paler. He was just slipping further away. Tears started running down my face and he tried to wipe it away but couldn't quite reach.
" I love you too Luc.. I love you too. But you're not allowed to leave me, you promised." he smiled and held my hand in his, once again making me feel tiny. He looked thoughtful for a moment before a cheeky gleam lit his dimming eyes.
" you really love me? Kiss me." the way he said it told me he knew, knew that he was going to leave me, go where he could never come back. I leaned forward, my tears falling on his cheeks, his lips. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his, fire exploding with in me. He kissed me back, perfectly synchronized, ending it with a sweet love filled peck. I saw my blood on his lips, shining ruby from my split lip. He ran his tongue along his lip to get rid of it, still staring at me, tears beginning to fill his own eyes. I realised then that I loved Luc more than I had ever loved Dimitri, that now I was losing my best friend as well as my heart. Dimitri never let me close enough to get to know him properly, I knew everything about Luc. I lifted Luc's head and sat down, putting his head in my lap. I continued stroking his hair, staring into his eyes. My tears mixed with blood dripping down faster than I could wipe them away. All too soon, his grip on my hand loosened, his unsteady breathing stopped and his eyes grew cold and distant. Sobs racked my body and I curled up into his side, my Luc was dead. I kept on crying until exhuastion made me fall asleep. I felt myself drifting and I opened my eyes, resisting the urge to scream. I was looking at me, curled up asleep under Lucians arm. His pale body made me want to hurl. I looked down at my hands, they were smoky and indistinct.
"Rose." I turned and really did scream this time. Dimitri stood next to the door, except he was the same as me. A spirit. Was I dead? Ghost Dimitri shook his head, looking sad. " no Roza. You walk the line between life and death. You're in the spirit world, where all our souls go." I was confused. Then why was he here? It all fell into place as soon as I thought the question. This is where the souls go, strigoi were soulless monsters. Dimitri had been awakened. Spirit Dimitri nodded and turned to the door, walking towards it. I followed, hesitating to look back at me and Luc. New tears fell and Dimitri strode back, wiping them away.
"Why am I in the spirit world? " he nodded towards the other me.
"did Lucian get any of your blood or tears in his cuts or mouth?" what would that have a anything to do with it. It had, my split lip and tears that I couldn't control. I nodded numbly, watching me frown in my sleep. "Well, it means he has a piece of you with him, a piece that still hangs on to life, to you." I looked at him indcredulously. I had seen him die, the light had gone from his beautiful green eyes. I shook my head vigourously, it wasn't true.
"No. He's gone, like everyone else. You left me, Adrian left me and now Lucian has. I'm like poison. Every one I care about are killed off, just like Mason." I continued to stare hopelessly at Dimitri. How could I ever recover from this? He stepped forward and looked directly in my eyes,
"I love you Roza, I never stopped, but Lucian and you different. You are here for a reason. You have to bring Lucian's spirit back before you wake. You have very little time. Oh, and promise you'll kill me, tell my family I died in battle, but make sure I can't hurt anyone. Remember, you have to get Lucian's soul back into his body," Dimitri began to fade, I still didn't know what to do, I cried out, reaching for him, his face remained now. He saw my unspoken question. "I am so proud of you my Roza. You need to claim Lucian as your own. I don't know how but just listen to your heart. If you ever need me, just call, I will never leave your side. That is a promise I can keep. Remember, he is yours to take." Dimitri completely faded, leaving me alone in a the dim room. I looked around in a panic and for the first time noticed a tiny beacon of light in Lucian's chest, glimmering dimly, his precarious hold onto life, one that I had to race to save him and myself.