5 days till school… but Clockwork Angel comes out tomorrow and I'm FRICKING EXCITED! Anyone else? Come zomg with me :D

:D :D :D :D :D :D Anyways… another chapter for your pleasure. Hopefully all the morbid sad stuff is over but there's no telling. Hell, the only thing I'm sure of is the ending.

I burned my thumb putting lasagna in the oven yesterday so writing this was total torture on my thumbs part.

Well, enjoy and remember that I am Darla, not Richelle Mead. Identity theft is a crime. Don't do it.

I fell in and out of a daze consisting of Adrian when sleeping and Lissa or Abe when awake. Dimitri never made an appearance except for my non-Adrian-affected dreams. Really, it's amazing how one guy can so royally screw with your mind. First it's "Rose, I'll love you forever," then it's "Love fades, babe. Mine has," then "Lol, jk, I love you. Just took me getting drunk to realize it," and then… was he shunning me? Or was he just too busy? No, if he really wanted to see me, he'd make an effort to. He always used to make an effort, if only for a minute. Fucking Russians. They can't make up their minds.

Lissa helped me along with my healing, making sure not to overwhelm me with the darkness from it. Spurt here, spurt there. Within a week I was out of there.

The day I was to leave, the whole gang showed up to show me off. Minus Dimitri, of course. "So, where am I headed to now?" I asked, honestly having no idea.

"Well, I got a little house for you out in the middle of no where. It's the only place safe for you until we get all this taken care of," Abe replied. 'This'I assumed was a mixture of Victor and the Queen's murder.

"Can I come?" Lissa practically begged.

Abe shook his head. "No. You need to get back to court. You too Adrian," he said before Adrian could add his piece. "You've been gone for a week with absolutely no excuse. Time to get back before people start getting worried and look into your whereabouts. Don't want that now do we?" We all shook out heads and Lissa and Adrian took their leave, but not before Adrian gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and Lissa gave me hug. She once again said how bad she felt about what I went through for her (even though I could already feel it through the bond) and again thanked me, continually saying it as she left.

I turned to Abe. "And, this place I'm going to, is it, like, solitary confinement or do I get the pleasure of your company until everything is resolved?"

He chuckled softly. "Rose, Rose, Rose. Did you already forget about your partner in crime?"

"I thought my partner in crime forgot about me. He hasn't visited since the first day I got here."

He rolled his eyes. "So needy. He's already out getting everything ready. You know, making sure no one's staking the place out to provide your untimely death etcetera, etcetera. You should give the guy more credit. I bet you thought he'd completely ditched you know that your 'mission' is over. Am I correct?" Yes, he was very correct. I assumed my silence was a good enough answer for him since he gave a knowing smile and indicated I get my ass moving. He lead me to a black limo with the blacked out windows all Moroi had so that they could travel during daylight. Which it happened to not be. We were shadowed by three of Abe's hired help. We sat in the back, me sipping a concoction of orange juice, sprite and some other thing that Abe wouldn't identify for me. It was good but the bobbles probably weren't good for the whole rib healing thing. I set it down after my first rib splitting burp.

"So, where's this 'middle of no-where' that I'm heading?"

He shrugged. "Somewhere between the US and Canada."

"Can you get anymore vague?"

"Absolutely. I could have said it was located between the North Po-"

"Oh, nevermind. Is there a flush toilet?"

"A flush toilet? Whatever gave you the notion that I, an obviously rich Moroi with connections to get whatever the hell I want, would have a flush toilet in one of my secret getaway houses? Surely you can't be suggesting I prefer those silly contraptions to the lovely shacks of outhouses or, my favourite, letting loose in a bush."

"I guess I get my sarcastic nature from you."

He winked. "Yep," he said, popping the 'p'.

"And I'm assuming there's more than one bed?" Please say no, please say no.

"Of course. Can't have my little girl sharing a bed with an older man…"

I resisted the urge to snort.

XXX

I sat staring out the window, watching the rain as it left little drops on my reflection. A drop drizzled down the pale, thin scar that slashed across my cheek, just beside my eye to the corner of my jaw below my ear. Lissa had tried and failed to heal it completely. She could bring me back from the dead but she couldn't get rid of a week old cut that was slightly infected. That fact blew my mind. But I guess Victor tearing the skin around it hadn't helped… I had a few other scars along my body but only the ones I got from the first day or the really deep ones. There would have been more, but having Spirit working friends pays off.

I pressed my forehead against the cool glass, my warm breath fogging it up so I couldn't see the dark outside world. Fog had rolled in, obscuring even the sidewalk and making the light from the lampposts scatter. This night could either be taken as peaceful or as a bad omen. Yeva would take it as a bad omen. She'd probably be trying to call me up to say 'Watch out, you might die tonight if your driver doesn't see that mailbox that he thinks is part of the road.'

I smiled to myself and took a quick peak at Abe to make sure he wasn't staring at me like I was nutso. His head was lolling back against the headrest with his eyes closed, asleep. Figures. I unstuck my forehead and pressed my warm hand against the cold spot, taking a stance identical to Abe's, closing my eyes and trying to drift off for the remainder of the ride. Even though I'd spent most of the past week sleeping, I was pretty tired myself.

I feel into a fitful sleep, filled with images of bloody whips turning into pokers that burned straight through my body when it came in contact with me. I tried to fight back, but I was paralysed, unable to scream or thrash away. I called for Dimitri, but he never came. Never came. At one point I think he may have shown up but he just as quickly faded away to be replaced by a man that looked like him but had red eyes. He walked up to me, tilted my head to the side and whispered my name, "Roza" before biting my neck to drain out whatever was left of my blood. Somehow, he continued to murmur my name, even with his mouth pressed up against my neck, his nails digging into my cheek, causing it to burn. "Rose." Blood dribbled down my shoulder, making me shake with fear and disgust. "Rose." The ceiling suddenly had a big hole in it, letting in light that burned my eyes after so much darkness.

"Rose! Wake up!" I squinted the eye that was currently being held open by my loving father.

Dimitri stood just behind him, glaring at Abe behind his back. "I could have carried her to her bed."

"Nonsense. She's been sleeping long as it is and needs to eat. Doctor's orders. She's thinned out too much." He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I groaned and brought up a head to shield my eyes from the blazing sun. I quickly looked at Dimitri to double check that he wasn't bursting into ash in the sunlight. I sighed a breath of relief. My dream that had been recurring, though always varying, always shook me up.

I rolled my eyes at Abe. "There'll be no issue on getting me fattened up again. Give me a couple dozen donuts and I'll be set."

"It's true, you know. I bet you five bucks she'll have them down in less than five minutes," Dimitri said behind me.

I smirked. "Only five? That little faith in me, Comrade?"

Abe shook his to the sky, as if begging for mercy. "Well, I've got to go. Plenty to do, so little time. Rose, be grateful I'm not making you do all of this, since it is all for you, and letting to bum around. It really is too much for an old man like me."

"Har, har. Get out, old man, before you shrivel up in the sun and lose consciousness. Then I'd have to do the paperwork."

He waved, got in his limo, and drove off. Dimitri and I stood on the green lawn, soaking in the sun. Once I was officially innocent, this would be a rarity. I took in my surroundings. Forest covered all the visible land space and high mountains peaked up behind them. Clouds dotted here and there in the blue sky. It felt peaceful here and I understood why Abe had picked this place as a getaway. But of course, he had to stick a bigass house in the middle of it all. It rose at least three stories and covered a considerable amount of the trimmed lawn. Painted a light blue the same as the sky, it almost fit in the peaceful theme of the place. Very few windows covered the place, signifying a moroi or a human scared of sunlight. Through one of the windows though, I could see a swimming pool. This would be nice. Eventually, I turned to Dimitri. I wanted to ask some more questions but decided I might as well start off this little stay on a good note. "So, what was that you were saying about a couple dozen donuts with my name on them?"

"I believe that was you saying something about that. I've got you eggs and a gigantic portion of bacon." I shook my head in mock disappointment and went to walk inside. Dimitri put a hand on my shoulder and I stopped as a jolt of electricity jumped between us. He dropped his hand. "We're not staying here." I gave him a confused look. He pointed into the forest where I could just make out the outline of a small wood cabin. I never would have saw it if I wasn't looking specifically for something. "We live over there."

Now for some shout outs:

cookiemonster-rawr I love you :D

And guess what? I have a cheerleader: museatseventeen "Oh Darla, you're so fine! You're so fine! You blow my mind!"

Deliciouse, thanks for the uber amount of suggestions (you can thank her for an extra chapter or two. Extensions, extensions!)

And, since we are getting close(r?) to the end, I want to thank ., Dimka's Chick and Twilighternproud especially because you guys have reviewed in, practically, every chapter from the beginning.

I love allllllll of you, new and old readers. Just had to say that.