Part Two

"What... what are you going to do with that?" I asked cautiously. It was increasingly hard to speak with her compulsion on me. I some how managed, though.

Tasha smiled. "Pay back, you blood whore," the phrase was all too familiar. In fact, it hardly fazed me anymore. I knew that I wasn't one, so there was nothing to worry about. She held the stake out to me, and it felt reasonable to take it. So I did. I held it firmly in my hand, though didn't look away from Tasha's gaze. "You're going to slowly ease that stake into your heart."

I gasped. Tasha smiled manically. She was taking pleasure in this. I was internally fighting myself. Tasha's influence in my body was telling me to stab myself, whereas the real part of me was saying get the fuck out of here!

I took a deep breath. Somehow I needed to distract Tasha. Distraction... distraction.

"Dimitri?" I asked, looking past Tasha. Tasha gasped and turned around. Perfect. I got out of Tasha's compulsion and as her head was turn, I raced up to her and punched her on the back of her head. She went face first onto the flat boulder, and I heard another crack. If I was lucky it was probably her nose breaking or better yet, her jaw.

She got up, a murderous look on her face. I ignored it, and made sure I didn't look into her eyes. This situation vaguely reminded me of Medusa; I wasn't allowed to look in her eyes or I would be turned to stone, or in this case, killed by myself.

"You fucking-" I cut her off by giving her the biggest smack I could muster. This would have made my mother proud of me. Her face turned a completely one hundred and eighty degrees. She slowly turned her face around and a little bit of blood was pouring out of her nose.

"How do you like that? Tash? Do you get some kind of sick pleasure out of tormenting and nearly killing children? Maybe you have a twisted erotic orgasm off of that?" I asked, and Tasha was speechless. I wasn't looking into her eyes, so I had no idea what was going on. I heard a rustle and then a grunt from underneath me.

Tasha stabbed me with the stake. I let out a blood curdling scream as she dug the stake into my shoulder. I back handed her, rendering her nearly unconscious. Tasha used all her strength pushing me off of her, and because I had barely any upper body strength (thanks to the lack of blood in the right side of my body) she got the better of me. I stumbled back and tripped over a rock.

"Rose!" someone called. Dimitri?

"DIMITRI!" I shouted, alerting him that I was here. I glanced over at Tasha, all I could see was her back. She was making a beeline to get the hell out of here. By the time Dimitri showed up she was already gone from sight. He had heard her, however and was looking in the direction. "It was Tasha!" I shouted. He looked at me, and I mean really looked at me. He immediately noticed the gash on my shoulder and sprinted over to me. I was in his arms in mere seconds.

"What happened? Tell me everything!" he said urgently. I began to speak, but everything was fumbled together like a bunch of baby-talk. Then my tears began streaming down my face and I couldn't do anything, but moan and cry in pain. "It's going to be okay, Roza. Baby? We'll go to the clinic," he assured me, and sure enough a couple minutes later, we were out of the woods and running towards the clinic.

I caught sight of Tasha. She was going the same way, her arm twisted incorrectly. I wanted so badly to smirk right now, but my emotions got the better of me and all I could seem to do was cry.

We entered the clinic only seconds after Tasha had, though she had already told half of her story to Dr. Olendzki who happened to be right there. Fuck! I mentally cursed. Who is she going to believe? The Royal, or the problematic dhampir? I became weak with insecurity in the situation.

"She broke my arm and then ran to Dimitri!" Tasha hollered.

"Shh, shh... Please lower your voice, Ms. Ozera," Dr. Olendzki said calmly, putting a hand on Tasha's shoulder. "What happened, tell me from the beginning," she said as she leaned down to whisper to the secretary to call Kirova and Alberta.

"Well, I was walking in the woods, trying to clear my mind when Rose came out of no where and said that she wanted to fight me!" Tasha said, her voice slowly rising.

"You lying bitch!" I shouted, pointing my finger at her accusingly. Tasha jumped back and squeaked.

"Don't touch me!"

"Roza..." Dimitri held me closer, as if to whisper that he believed me and that it would all be okay. Tasha saw this little gesture and glared daggers at me.

"Anyway, Rose took advantage of me and began hurting me," she waved a hand at her face, and only then did I realize all the little cuts and bruises on her face. Well I really fucked her up pretty damn well, didn't I? I mentally smirked and fist pumped. "I was so glad that I had brought my stake with me, and in an act of self defense, I stabbed her in the arm. I didn't mean to! I was so frightened and it was in the spur of the moment and I didn't want to get hurt any more and-"

"Please, stop rambling. It bothers me when people do that," Kirova said, suddenly stepping onto the scene. She sat down on a chair across from the one Tasha was sitting at. I was still in Dimitri's arms bridal style. I did not mind one bit. "I heard your story as I came here. It sounds..." he lips formed a tight line. "Unrealistic."

Tasha scoffed, her 'poor me' demeanor slipping. She put her façade back together quickly. "I'm telling the truth! It all happened!"

Alberta turned to me, who was at Kirova's side and nodded at me. "What's your side of the story, Rose?" she asked. I took a deep breath and then began to speak.

"Well I was on a walk in the woods, just a casual walk," I said, lying a bit, "when Tasha fucking showed up out of nowhere. I was freaked out... Seriously freaked out. She looked like a serial killer stalking up to me," Dimitri chuckled. "And she started using compulsion on me. She started babbling about how Dimitri chose me over her and that I didn't deserve him or something..." I said with a confused gesture. Kirova nodded, surely buying my story much more than Tasha's.

"So then she grabbed my goddamn face, started calling me names and threatening me, so I broke her arm. It's that plain and simple. Now that was an act of self defense," I glared at Tasha who was glaring equally as hard back at me. "She continued to use compulsion, directing me to kill myself with that dammed stake! I diverted her attention and then punched her so that I could get away. But she grabbed me and so I opened up a can of whoop ass and took it out on her face. Then she fucking stabbed me, and that's when Dimitri showed up. That is, after Tasha got away from the scene," I added, annoyance dripping in my voice.

"Guardian Belikov, did you witness anything?" Alberta asked, writing all this down. Kirova put her hands on her hips, and waited for his reply.

"I heard a scream, and then came running," he explained. Everyone looked at us oddly, as if to say something along the lines of why the hell are you still holding her?

Dimitri placed me down on a chair. "Why were you outside? Why were you close enough to hear that?"

"I... I was walking around-"

"They were going to meet each other," Tasha intervened. Everyone turned their attention to her. "Rose told me herself, isn't that right, Rose?" Tasha smirked at me. I seriously saw my life flash before my eyes at that second. Dimitri was going to loose his job if I told them the truth. Alberta, Dr. Olendzki, and Kirova all had their eyebrows risen skeptically wondering what the truth was.

"No," I lied. "Tasha was using compulsion on me and she made me say his name. I couldn't say the real reason."

"What was the real reason?" Alberta questioned.

I shrugged my shoulders giving myself a second to think then it came to me. "I was just walking trying to calm down, after my Mother and I got into it, nothing more. Did all you guys miss my lovely interaction with my Mother during the dinner?" I answered. Tasha glared at me, and Dimitri blew a sigh of relief that nobody but me seemed to notice.

Lissa and Christian rushed into the clinic sitting room then. Lissa gasped and Christian just gaped. "What the heck happened!" Lissa shouted.

"Aunt Tasha?" Christian asked with a confused look on his face. "I didn't know you were here," he said slowly, as if not really sure what was going on, or if she was a figment of his imagination.

"Hi, honey. I arrived a couple days before your molnija ceremony. How are you?" She said sweet as pie.

Christian ignored that question. "What's going on?" he asked.

Rose? Oh my gosh what happened to your shoulder? And Tasha, oh god what happened to her arm? Her face!

I sighed. "Tasha attacked me," I simply explained to Lissa. Christian looked completely baffled. Tasha jumped up, but Alberta was right next to her to push her back down. I looked over at her with an amused expression. "Yeah that's right. She thinks that Dimitri chose me over her, that's why she was mad. It was just jealousy."

Christian's eyebrows furrowed. "Is that true, Aunt Tasha?" he asked, a hurt look on his face. Lissa looked mortified. Tasha looked like she wanted to explain, but her pride was in the way.

"No." Wow. What a lie. That is all I could think. "I was the victim." Lissa walked over to me and sat down next to me, placing her hand over my wound on my shoulder. I felt a variation of hot and cold when she worked her magic on me. In a few seconds, I felt good as new. She examined me further, and found that the back of my head was bleeding-it must have been from when I ran into that tree. She healed that cut too, and found no more, so she stood up. She began to walk over to Tasha, probably to treat her wounds, but I grabbed her arm.

Lissa swung around. What's wrong? She asked through the bond. I just shook my head. I think she got the message. Lissa looked pained, like she wanted to help Tasha... but knew better. Lissa and I just stared into each other's eyes for a few more seconds before she gave up and sat down next to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

I leaned into her. I missed my best friend. After all the shit that's gone down, it felt good to have someone to lean on; someone to confide in. Though I knew I had Dimitri, I needed a girl friend too.

"So... what you're saying is Rose attacked you?" Christian asked a second later, directing it to his aunt. Tasha nodded eagerly, but I noticed a little reluctance. Tasha wasn't all bad, I knew that. I knew that it hurt her to lie to her nephew. "But Rose explained that you were the attacker..." Christian looked beyond confused. "What the fuck is going on here!"

"Tasha is the culprit! She's fucking lying to you!" I shouted at Christian. He sent me an apathetic look. "Your Auntie is a fucking nutjob!"

"Shut up, Rose," Christian said coldly. I furrowed my eyebrows as if to say 'what the fuck, dude?' I saw a flash of regret in his eyes, but he turned away too quickly.

I looked over to Dimitri for help. I sent him a pleading look. "Come on, I don't need this shit!" I shouted.

Kirova then spoke. "Well we have no evidence, besides Natasha's face and arm... and well, Rose is healed now," she sighed. "I didn't want it to come down to this, but I'm going to have to interrogate you two to find out who attacked who."

Tasha went ridged on the other side of Lissa. Nobody seemed to notice but me. I leaned over to her. "Nervous, are we?" I was only stirring things up, but I just couldn't resist. Tasha scoffed.

"Natasha, please come with me," Kirova said warily, as if she would rather do anything other than question us. Tasha got up with a smug look on her face. Once they left, Lissa pulled me to her so that we were looking at each other eye to eye.

"Rose," she held my hands in hers. "And Dimitri," she glanced up at him apologetically. "I'm... I'm really sorry about the way I acted... It's hard to explain. It has to do with the fact that I'm a spirit user, though," she said, her eyes welling up in tears.

"Liss, it's okay. I forgive you. It must just be a sideffect from being a spirit user," I said and Lissa nodded, one tear leaking out of her eye. I quickly brushed it away with the pad of my thumb. Lissa leaned into my hand, and I didn't withdraw it. We stared at each other for a few more seconds before we both cried out and started hugging each other.

"I'm so, so sorry!"

"Lissaaaa I forgive youuu!" I cried.

More hugging.

We broke apart when we heard chuckling. I looked to my left to see Dimitri trying to muffle his laughter with his hands. I sent him a skeptical look.

"You're ruining our epic friendship reunion," I said pouting. Dimitri looked up at me with his big brown eyes, and I then remembered the problem at hand. My mood dropped. "You guys believe me, right?" I questioned.

Lissa nodded her head eagerly. "Of course, Rose. Why would you attack Tasha when you were clearly going to go into the woods to have sexy time with Dimitri?" Lissa asked and laughed. All colour drained from Dimitri's face, and I felt like I was going to be sick.

"What was that?" Alberta asked, she had been standing there the whole time. Lissa's laughing stopped abruptly. Her face dropped as she slowly turned to look at Alberta. She had her hands on her hips and a confused look on her face.

"Uh, nothing," Lissa said quickly. Too quickly.

Alberta turned to Dimitri. "What is this about you and Rose?" Dimitri visibly gulped. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was clearly out of excuses.

"I... I um... Rose and I are..." he threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Doing things other than training?" Alberta rose an eyebrow. I tensed up. We're fucked. Alberta suddenly smiled. "I feel like I should be so much madder at the two of you... but you guys are so adorable together!" she gushed. Dimitri, Lissa, and I all just stared at her like she had grown another head.

We didn't have time to comment on Alberta's odd behavior when suddenly Tasha emerged from the back office with a very dazed looking Kirova.

"So what happened?" Dr. Olendzki said as she walked into the room. She must have been attending to a patient or something, I reasoned. She folded her arms and waited patiently as Kirova seemed to make up her mind. Tasha sent her a look, and it looked to be a cross of annoyance and agitation. Kirova shook her head, she looked like she had just been smoking something totally illegal.

"Natasha did nothing wrong."

My jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me! I was fucking stabbed in the shoulder!" I shouted, gesturing to my shoulder... but then I remembered that Lissa had healed me. "And you think she's innocent?"

"Frankly, yes. Now hurry up and get to your rooms, it nearly past curfew," Kirova said tiredly, as if she were just waking up. Something about that reminded me of when someone casts compulsion on somebody.

"Did you compel her to say that? You fucking guilty-"

"Roza." When Dimitri breathed my Russian name, Tasha looked up at him. There was so much want, so much need. I realized then why she went to such extremes. She wanted me out of the picture. Thank god that Dimitri had showed up at the time he did, or else I would have been totally fucked.

I'll talk to her, Lissa sent through the bond. She got up and scurried behind Alberta and Kirova. Before Alberta could leave, she sent a reassuring wink to me. Tasha was still staring at Dimitri, whereas he was gazing intently at the ground. Christian sat lifelessly in a chair across from me. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was in denial. He looked completely peeved, wondering who he should choose. Me, or his aunt.

Then Tasha did something to help him make his decision. She looked around seeing that it was just us, Kirova, Alberta, and Dr. Olendzki had left. She glared at me and said "You better watch your back, you little blood whore. Mark my words I will get him back!" She turned and walked to the back of the clinic where Dr. Olendzki had just gone.

Lissa gasped, Christian looked stunned, Dimitri wrapped a protective arm around me and glared at her retreating figure. I stood there for a minute trying to take it all in. The only thing I could think was…

It's on! The game is so totally on! Come and get me you fucking bitch!

TBC!

Ooooh juicy! No? Not so much? Eh. Can't blame me for trying.

Disappointed Dimitri didn't come in time?

Please review! don't make me beg now :) HEY just wondering... Do any guys read this story? I thought about it... and everyone I've talked to has been a chick xD