It rained for days. Thunder and lightning danced in the open sky, owning all of it and leaving nothing untouched. The sky cleansed everything in a bath of soft pure droplets. Death, decay, hatred, and despair were washed away. When the skies finally cleared, the city was pure again.
Rose, who had woken up only days before, was snoring softly into her pillow. Dimitri sat beside her, his face pressed into her soft curls and remembering a time much easier than this. Christian and Lissa were free to be seen together without much comment and Janine wasn't as frosty as she was now. Their friends were all once blissful and cheery, but the current times and problems had consumed the light within them.
Inside the Diamond Castle, Christian and Lissa met with Adrian, Sydney, Janine, and Abe. There was a discussion, argument, about Rose's safety. Janine, in her motherly state, demanded that her daughter be shipped off far away and be kept out of Anastasia's reach until Anastasia was dealt with properly.
"Have you forgotten Janine? We've already tried to hide Rose! She just found her again; Anastasia as a lojack on Rose. One we can't just get rid of. She has forced a spirit bond on our daughter and there is nowhere on God's green earth we can hide our daughter without Anastasia finding her again." Janine slumped down into her chair, defeated.
"I think a more pressing case is that of the King of Spades and Queen of Hearts. Victor Dashkov is dead, and we don't know who will be taking his place."
"And Natasha has been missing for quite some time." It was true. Tasha hadn't been seen or heard from since Dimitri's last encounter with her. Natasha had vanished straight off the face of the planet.
Christian tensed at the mention of his missing aunt. And it wasn't only the six who had noticed her sudden absence. The news of Natasha was spreading like wildfire. Every televised new station had reported her absence in a twenty-four hour period.
Luckily, they were also covering the loss of Victor Dashkov, King of Spades, and the heir to the Dashkov line. There weren't many people who could take Victor's place; Natalie was a Strigoi and Robert Doru wasn't fully related to Victor. In fact, most of the Dashkov family had either perished or disappeared, much like the Ozera line.
-o.o-
It's so hard letting go, I'm finally at peace, but it feels wrong, slow I'm getting up, my hands and feet are weaker than before. And you are folded on the bed where I rest my head, there's nothing I can see, Darkness becomes me…
Her head felt heavy, eyelids stuck, limbs numb, heart tired; in short, Rose felt on the verge of death. Since her awakening, she could hear only one voice pounding in her head like a drum, repeating itself like a broken record, a large banner that never came down.
Welcome back Rosemarie…
The steady message stayed with her, until she fell asleep. Then Rose was finally free to do as she wished. She was free to run around killing fake monsters and dream of peaceful summers and calming oceans. Nothing tied her back from the dream world. Rose even began to notice that she wasn't just Rose anymore. She was something much greater. The annoying voice that welcomed her back, also told her of the greater things she could be doing. Ending the fight between Lissa and the rogue spirit users? Easy.
Despite all of this knowledge, Rose found it easier to just drown in the Darkness of slumber and dreams than to face the all too bright lights of reality. And when she was forced awake for food, Dimitri was there to greet her.
She forced her eyes open to her very own fairy tale prince. Dimitri hadn't bothered to tie back his hair again, so it was a rumpled mess. His warm smile welcomed her into the morning.
Welcome back Rosemarie
It was beginning to become a habit to ignore the voice.
"Good morning Roza," Dimitri lifted her up into his arms and carried her out into the hall of their home. His bare feet padded across the wood floors, down the stairs, and straight into the kitchen, where Dimitri plopped Rose down on the chilled tops of the counter.
This man cares deeply for you.
Finally! The voice had said something other than the overplayed 'Welcome back'. Obviously… we might as well be soul mates. We have a funny habit of finding each other no matter what.
A loyal fellow? That will make his death that much sweeter.
Rose cringed back. What the hell? The voice continued, unrelenting, detailing Dimitri's death to the very last detail. Thankfully, Dimitri had come back along with a carton of eggs, a jug of iced orange juice, a slab of frozen bacon, and a sweet kiss for her cheek.
He will not die.
So you say…
Rose shut the voice out completely. She didn't want to listen or go back to sleep. She just wanted to enjoy Dimitri's presence.
"Rose, do you want your eggs over-easy or scrambled?"
"Over-easy, please!" They ate breakfast peacefully. It was nice to be up with Dimitri again. Once they finished their breakfast, Rose went back upstairs to get cleaned up while Dimitri did the dishes.
Rose slipped into a pair of blue jeans and a plaid button up shirt. She grabbed her brown leather jacket, beige knit scarf and then tossed on her ankle boots before heading back down. Rose was going to get some fresh air and escape this house. Dimitri would be more than willing to join her.
-o.o-
On the open road, Dimitri drove toward the Diamond Castle. His eyes, although trained on the road, couldn't help but veer off and stare a while at Rose soaking in the sun's shine.
"We'll be there soon. Lissa will be glad to see you up and about again." He reached over and rubbed Rose's hand reassuringly. Of course. It's just Lissa.
Vasilisa Dragomir, the last Dragomir and the Queen of Diamonds? I wouldn't take her too lightly Rosemarie. It wouldn't be wise of you, especially when she's hiding something from you.
There it was again; the voice. The voice that was constantly warning her, advising her to take certain steps, talking to her when she felt alone. This cannot be normal. But before the voice could comment, Dimitri had stopped the car just inside the gates of Diamond Castle.
"Are you okay? You've been zoned out for the last thirteen minutes…" Rose's eyes widened. Thirteen minutes? It had barely felt like a second had gone by.
Lie. I won't lie to Dimitri. Sure you do. Lie. No!
"Rose? You're spacing out again," She blinked, confused, but nodded anyways.
"I think I'll be alright, just nervous is all." See? Not so hard. I didn't lie! Now you're lying to yourself.
Rose pushed herself to exit the car and take Dimitri's hand. His comforting touch chased away her chills and left Rose free of the voice, who was beginning to sound less and less friendly.
"Rose! You're here!" In a very un-Queen-like manner, Lissa ran down the stairs two steps at a time before jumping off the last step to pull Rose into a bear hug. "I'm glad to see you! And thankfully you aren't compelled or dying!" Rose laughed. I could have that arranged.
"What?" Christian, who was suddenly beside the two embracing girls, questioned oddly. He was looking at her like she suggested boiling live puppies would be a fun idea. Actually, Dimitri and Lissa were also staring at Rose.
"Did you just say you could 'have that arranged'?"
"That's morbid, even for you Rosie"
"Don't even joke about that!"
"I'm sorry. I hadn't even realized I had spoken…" Rose looked between the three of them. She really hadn't even thought she had spoken out loud, let alone even thought that. The voice had merely mentioned it…
Great. When will the universe finally give me my much deserved break? Never.
Rose rolled her eyes and followed Lissa back upstairs.
Everyone was glad to see Rose moving around and full of life. Her mother wasn't there, but Abe assured her that Janine would be back soon.
All was well until Adrian had brought up a very important matter; one that Lissa clearly didn't want to talk about.
"I think Rose has a right to know what's going on. I mean because Dashkov is dead, she'll have to deal with…" Lissa silenced him with a heated glare.
"As do I. But now is not the time…" Her eyes drifted to Rose's face.
Victor Dashkov's death is a call for a new heir to the throne. What? Can't we all just agree Dashkov's are screwed in the head? If only it was that easy.
"Rose? Sweetie, you've just zoned out again. Are you going to be okay?" Rose looked up to see Lissa. Her jade eyes were etched to their depths with worry.
Rosemarie… She's not your friend. Can't you see she's hiding something from you? "What are you hiding?" Rose could feel the venom in her words. Everyone watched as Rose continued, "What has Queen Vasilisa Dragomir been hiding from me this time?"
"I'm not hiding anything Rose. Are you sure you're okay?" Dragomir's have always lied. Can you truly trust her?
Rose felt something ignite in her body. It burned throughout her as much as Lissa's spiritual madness, true darkness, did once upon a time. Anger coursed through her veins and Rose was delighted in the familiar feeling of the sensation. She finally felt good again.
Run.
And so she did.
Author's Note:
Okay. So I have returned. I haven't updated since last year! Lawl! Okay, bad joke aside I am sorry I did not get this up as soon as I could. Some really not so good stuff has happened in my family and its been hard trying to get through it. However, with time, it has died down and I've gotten back into the move of things.
Enough excuses! Thank you to RozaRocks and Do'B for reviewing! You two have been thanked :) And thank you to everyone who has favorite! Do'B, Emoroza98, Unpure Dreams, miti1, and vee78! And another thanks to VA97, asuna69, and max33452! :D Shank chu sho much!
Yeah… so… uh… THANKS A BUNCH GUYS!
Please look forward to the next chapter :) And as always, thank you for reading!
-Lolita