AN:/ Hey guys, just want to throw out a thanks to the following reviewers that consecutively review this story:

Deliciouse

LexiSoulsister

Olivia williams

Twilighternproud

Gopherluv

There are some others, but I only nine reviews for the last chapter.

Previously

There was an excited smile on my face as I walked off in a random direction. I was concentrating on where Dimitri would look first to try and find me.

I heard a little noise behind me, and it sounded vaguely like footsteps. I turned around; there was no one. I shrugged my shoulders, and continued walking. My mind kept going to naughty little things that Dimitri and I could do together, and possibly try, if you know what I mean.

But then, I heard those footsteps in the snow once again. This time, I turned around, as fast as the wind to try and catch my stalker.

I nearly laughed aloud when I saw who it was. I had been wishing it would be Dimitri. I had been wondering if it could have been Lissa, Eddie or Christian just pranking me, but who it actually was hadn't even crossed my mind.

Well Christ. It was Tasha, leaning against a tree with a sadistic smile on her face, as if she were the predator and I the prey.

Currently

I swallowed hard, staring at her, not even able to blink. My heart was hammering against my chest as Tasha's icy blue eyes pierced through me like a dagger. My eyes widened in shock at her dark, disturbing appearance. She was wearing a long, black trench coat with her hands stuffed in the pockets of it. There was an evil air about her that just screamed at me to 'Get the fuck away from her,' and I didn't need to be a spirit user to notice it!

I hesitated; nervously, I bit my lip and contemplated my best move in this situation. I could leave, or I could confront her-those seemed to be the only two choices I could think of. Right now I was siding with confronting the stupid bitch. Maybe give her a little piece of my mind, but then something in my mind flashed.

"She's not worth it." Dimitri's words burned in my head.

I ground my teeth together, fighting myself for control. I should go with his wise words, I mean, he's usually right about these things and I need to listen to him for a change! I chastised myself.

So after my intense internal debate, I turned around. It was so hard to do, but it was better than killing someone out of pure rage. Because, believe me, I would do that.

"Hey!" she called out to me as I began to turn around and walk away. I rolled my eyes, just hearing her nagging voice pushed me back toward the dark side. I knew better than to play with fire. Or did I? It would feel good to hurt her right now.

"I know you can hear me, Rose," Tasha called a second time. I felt my eye twitch as I heard her voice. It's just every little thing about her called out to me to hurt her. But the next time she talked, I stopped right in my tracks.

"I want to apologize."

At this, I turned in a swift one hundred eighty degrees to face her. I couldn't believe what I just heard. I raised an eyebrow, trying to identify if she were telling the truth or not. My mind was screaming at me that she is a lying bitch. Tasha stalked towards me, but by the time that I decided I needed to get away from her, she was only ten feet away. I held my hands out in front of me.

"Stop," I said in a shaky voice. I was trying really hard to keep my emotions under control. "Tasha, don't come any closer," I said, gritting my teeth. This woman... I can't help but loose my temper every time I see her.

Tasha didn't obey me, surprise-surprise. Not! She continued advancing until she was about two feet in front of me. It was way too close for my comfort, but I didn't want to back away, I held my ground. To Tasha that would be a sure sign that I am frightened or weak. I was not going to let that happen.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you want, but frankly, I don't need your shit, I'm not going to let you use compulsion on me again," I said, looking down at the ground. I was taking deep breaths; I could barely contain my disgust for her.

Tasha let out a devilish chuckle, and a sickening shiver went down my spine. "It's actually quite the opposite," she said in a soft voice. If it had been any other situation, or she was actually a decent person, it would have been nice to hear her voice like that, but this is Tasha I'm dealing with, I should know better.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What's the opposite?" I asked, making a crucial error in judgment and looking up at her finally. She smiled down at me like a mother would to a child, and I felt oddly comforted.

"You hate me," she said in a different, almost demonic, voice now. I stared at her knowing I need to fight this, but then, I realized I did hate her. "You want to hurt me." I did want to hurt her. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew she had control of me and I fought. I struggled trying to hold myself back, but I just couldn't.

As if my fist had a mind of its own, it sailed smack to Tasha's cheek. I nearly gaped at my actions, but then that same hatred feeling for her returned with vengeance. I threw an undercut at her ugly face, and she flew up in the air, landing on her butt a few feet away. Damn, I can really pack a punch! I thought to myself. For a brief moment I felt like I might shake the trance, but she sucked me back in again.

Tasha smiled smugly at me and spat out a wad of blood from her mouth. "You want to make me feel so much pain," she continued to speak in that creepy entrancing way. And as soon as she said it, I felt it manipulating me. It was as if I was the marionette puppet and she was the puppeteer. She pulled my strings and I responded.

I crouched down on my knees over her and began to pummel the shit out of her nasty ass, ugly fucking face! It felt great. Hell, it was exhilarating like floating on cloud nine. A sense of pleasure burned through me as I watched my fist pound into her disgusting image.

Dimitri POV

After finding out that Alberta did not, in fact, need me, I was cast off trying to find Rose once again. I found it quite peculiar that Lissa had lied to me, but thought decided to let it go, for now. I checked out Rose's room first, finding neither Rose nor Lissa there, and then headed over to the Moroi building.

I walked down the halls, watching as Moroi teenagers watched me in confusion. I made my way to the girls' wing and soon enough found Lissa's room.

I twisted the knob, and to my dismay it was locked. I heard a muffled noise from inside, and I became instantly worried. I mentally cursed. Taking a step back, I took a deep breath. On the count of three, I plowed into the door, breaking it off its hinges. What can I say? I love dramatic entrances.

To my surprise, well... not really-Rose did mention that they go at it like rabbits, and there laid Christian on top of Lissa on her bed. They were kissing heavily, but both jumped up when they saw me. Lissa screamed at the top of her lungs whereas Christian just looked meagerly alarmed, as if this wasn't the first time this had happened.

I felt smug. Can you say pay back? I merely smirked at the two, mimicking Lissa's words from earlier.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, though there was an evident sarcasm in my voice. "But did I walk in on something?" I asked, laughing my ass off internally.

Lissa growled, bearing her fangs. I rolled my eyes, still smug as hell and walked out the door... that was on the floor.

Wait till Rose hears about this, I thought to myself, actually chuckling at my little cock blocking act. Rose really is rubbing off on me...

I left the building, though not without millions of stares from all the Moroi. Dhampirs frequented the the Moroi dormitory. Doing what? I don't know, nor is that any of my business, but I didn't know why they were staring at me so weirdly.

As I walked through the snow, I saw a familiar face. "Mikhail!" I greeted him. He smiled back and shook my hand.

"Hey, Dimitri," he said happily. "It's cold out," he said, striking up a conversation. "Though I suppose it's that time of the year," he said, winking.

I furrowed my eyebrows, but smiled awkwardly. "W-what do you mean?"

"It's almost Christmas! Looks like you've found someone to share it with, am I wrong?" he asked, eyeing my neck. I unconsciously lifted my fingers to brush over the skin. "It's not like you could have given that to yourself," he said, chucking.

Realization hit me like a baseball bat. I blushed immensely. Rose must've given me a hickey... or rather a love bite. I, completely embarrassed that people had seen me like this, lifted up the collar of my shirt so that it covered me better. I grunted out a 'no' before I rushed past him, not even bothering to apologize.

"Alright, well I'll see you around!" he called after me, and I didn't have the decency to reply because I could hear him chuckling as I hurried away. I can't belive I hadn't noticed this before I left! Wow, what are people going to think of me now? The Dimitri Belikov, with a large purple love bite on my neck. Fuck my life.

I ran a hand through my hair. Now, where to find Rose? I asked myself. By now she could be anywhere!

I started headed out towards the fields. That's where she had been previously, but I paused mid-stride when I heard a faint, muffled noise. It was a grunt, one made by a female. I raised an eyebrow at the curious sound and turned my head in the direction. Thanks to my enhanced hearing, I could hear quite a distance away. I began to walk in the direction of the noise, but something inside pushed me to hurry, it became a run.

I was closer and closer to the sound now, maybe right around the corner. I came into a clearing full of white, puffy snow. I slowed down to take in the surroundings and analyze the situation. Two girls fighting? Oh great, this'll be fun to break apart.

Only... it wasn't just two girls, it was an older woman, maybe around her thirties. The other one, the one mounting her, throwing punches, was probably a teenager. Dhampir no doubt.

I hauled ass over to them, getting a better look at them. I gasped at what I saw. It was Rose and Tasha. I wrapped a firm arm around Rose's midsection and pulled her into the air. "Roza!" I barked at her. She stopped what she was doing immediately and glanced over at me, as if she just realized that I had arrived.

"Dimitri?" she asked, as if puzzled over the situation. She turned and looked down at Tasha. "Tasha? Oh my god what happened to your face?" she asked, horrified. I looked down at Tasha as well. Broken nose, broken cheek bone, both eyes bruised... and the damage continued.

She seemed on the brink of passing out. "Roza! What the hell have you done?"

Tasha POV

I internally smirked. Dimitri was pissed!

"Roza! What the hell have you done?" he demanded. Rose looked like a little dear in head lights. As adorable as she was, I had no sympathy for her. If she gets in the way of Dimitri and me, then I will have to dispose of her.

That's just the way I play.

I made a fake muffled cry of pain, and both their head turned to me.

Of course I wasn't hurt. I had only made it look like I was. That's the beauty of compulsion! Sure Rose had just been punching the shit out of me, but that was just for show. I had compelled her to do so, but making sure every single one of her hits hadn't actually inflicted any pain whatsoever to me.

I looked over at Rose, or rather I glared at her. I was working my magic.

"I want revenge!" Rose screamed, suddenly thrashing around in Dimitri's restraining arms. Ugh, it's disgusting to see anybody but me in those nice, strong arms of his.

"Rose, what's wrong with you? You're never like this!" Dimitri said with a puzzled look on his face. Rose continued twitching and thrashing in his grip, literally unable to control her actions. I mentally laughed at this.

"Maybe," I said, rubbing the corner of my mouth, wiping up what looked like blood to Dimitri and Rose, but was actually nothing. "People change," I said, trying to keep the smugness out of my voice.

Rose started squirming out of Dimitri's authoritative grip, but he made sure to keep her in his arms. I cursed under my breath; he was making this harder for me. My plan was to make Rose uncontrollable and get her out of Dimitri's hands. Get her to run away so I could compel Dimitri to make him want me back, then erase Rose's mind of Dimitri. It seemed easy in my head.

I grunted from a huge migraine I was getting. Rose was trying her best to shut me out, and getting her out of Dimitri's arms was like pulling teeth. I decided to go with a different route.

"Just... Fuck off, Dimitri!" Rose screamed at him. I smiled while the two weren't looking at me.

Dimitri POV

I gripped Rose's wrist as tightly as I could. I was just about to crush her bone when she cried out in agony. I stopped right away, realizing what I was doing. I didn't want to hurt her. Something was seriously wrong here.

"Roza..." I whispered her name. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes... though what I saw I wasn't expecting. Her eyes were dark, darker than the usual hazel brown orbs of life. As I gazed into her eyes longer, her pupils widened, getting larger as if her eyes were adjusting to darkness.

Suddenly, her body became dead weight, and I had to act quickly to catch her. She sagged in my arms like a limp rag doll.

I glared at Tasha. "What the hell is going on, Tasha?" I demanded. She looked at me, a small smug smile forming on her lips.

"Dimitri, I'm shocked," she said with a faux appearance of insult, folding her legs beneath her. "This whole time, I've been sitting here, broken, hurt, maybe even dying, and yet..." she paused, looking at Rose with a devilish smile. Rose twitched in my arms. "All you can do is pay attention to her."

"What the hell are you doing to her?" I asked, getting really annoyed. I was beyond annoyed, I was pissed. Enraged, angered. "Tasha! Tell me this instant!" I said, sounding oddly like a parent.

Rose twitched again in my arms. "She's swimming," Tasha said, shrugging her shoulders. Suddenly, it was like I saw her for the first time. Her skin was pale again; her eyes had that same electric blue, and the long scar from the corner of her eye to the corner of her lips still evident among her features.

The whole thing had been a scam.

"Tasha, what are you talking about, Rose is not swimming. Tell me exactly what are you doing to her!" I shouted at her. She cringed, but that smile never left her lips.

"Just a little compulsion," she said, sighing as if this were something small and casual. I laid Rose carefully on the ground. I got up, my hands clenched at the side. I was seeing red. Everything was red. I wanted so badly to hurt something, to kill.

I marched over to Tasha, and in an instant, she was on her feet as well. I stomped right up to her, maybe two feet away from her, and impulsively punched the tree no more than a foot behind her. The wood cracked and splintered, sending little shards of wood everywhere.

"You're going to let her go, NOW!" I said in an authoritative voice.

"On one condition," Tasha said childishly, a smirk playing on her lips. I waited impatiently for her to finish her dramatic little pause and tell me.

With an evil grin I supposed was supposed to be seductive, she said, "You have to give me a kiss."

Review? This one was faster! Thanks to my amazing beta Dpower!

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