A/N: Surprise! I know I said I'd only update on Mondays and possibly Fridays, but where I live, we just got A TON of snow. So school's closed! *Happy Dance* This is back to RPOV so here's the new chapter in all it's shinning glory...
After the car had traveled a mile away from court, I was let out of the trunk and into the passenger's seat. At first I protested because I wanted to be the one driving, but Ambrose whined saying this was the only fun he's had in awhile. And who was I to ruin his happiness when he had done me this huge favor.
To keep up appearances, we actually did stop by a mall to get a present. I stayed in the car, while Ambrose quickly went into the mall and promised to be back soon. This was both a good thing and bad. It was a great opportunity to steal the car and just ditch him, but I quickly scratched that idea. And unfortunately this left me alone with my thoughts and problems. So I focused on blocking Lissa's bond out.
Ever since our little 'spat', her emotions were all over the place and I kept getting the sensation of being pulled into her head. But I managed to keep her out, I just didn't have the patience for her right now. I went and turned my cellphone off too just in case she realized she could nag me through that as well.
I had started to get a headache from being outside the wards. My mental barriers against the ghosts were firmly in place, but that didn't mean I couldn't escape the migraine I was developing. I closed my eyes and places my hands on my lap and focused on calming my breathing and mind.
But that didn't last too long, I heard Ambrose pop the trunk and my eyes snapped open as I turned around and watched him place a glossy white bag into it. I didn't even want begin to imagine what he had just purchased. "So, where to?", he asked as he climbed back into the driver's seat and started the engine.
"Missoula, there's a bank out there where I can set up an account." I said. "Ah yes for these 'assets' you have, look if you want I have this contact who can give you cash if they're of any value. Plus he's not too far from here." , he said. That was kind of weird, but hey, why the hell not? "Could I get a trade in the next hour?" I asked. "We can try", he said pulling his phone out and dialing a number...
I was astonished at the amount of money I got for a few of the pieces of jewelry. And the cash was even legit! It was still strange to find that Ambrose was in connection with someone like this, but I didn't put too much thought into it. I was still going to a bank to establish an account, but at least now I had more cash on me and it relieved some of my tension...
The car growled in delight as Ambrose maneuvered it through the twists and turns along a country road at blinding speeds. The location of his 'contact' had been far off in the middle of nowhere high in the mountains. Again, I couldn't shake the feeling of suspicion about all of this. I just wanted to get close enough to Missoula and then get rid of Ambrose.
The car reduced in speed as we drove through a small town. "STOP!" I shouted. The Camaro screeched to a halt in the middle of the road. "What?" Ambrose exclaimed, he was frantic.
"I just saw a bakery and they have a donut sign." I hastily explained, all while unbuckling my seat belt and opening the car door. "You've got to be kidding me. Rose!" Ambrose called after me, but I just kept moving. I was on a mission, a tasty and delectable mission at that.
I heard the engine's growl ceased, a swift slam and then foot steps behind me. "It's 6am human time, they're not even open." I heard his voice say as he got closer. I walked up to the bakery and looked through the store's wide windows. Some lights were on and I saw a woman standing in the back with her back facing the windows.
I banged on the door and she snapped around with a frightful look on her face. She was human. "What are you doing?" Ambrose hissed, but I ignored him. The lady slowly walked up to the door she pointed to a sign and said through the glass "We're closed. Come back at eight."
I rolled my eyes, the hell I was waiting another two whole hours. I wanted donuts, and I wanted them now. "Please tell me you have donuts already made. I'll pay double the price for them." I shouted so she'd hear.
Her eyes widened, but she unlocked the door and ushered us it. I squealed in excitement. What the hell's wrong with me? Since when do I squeal? The woman gave me a look like I was insane. But she just didn't understand, donuts were a prerequisite to my meals and if I didn't get any, the devil himself couldn't avoid my wrath.
"I'm sorry to be so intrusive, we just really need a quick breakfast. I appreciate your understanding." For some reason she just smiled, "We don't really get a whole lot of tourist come by, so the town operates on it's own schedule. What can I get you folks?" This woman was seriously becoming my favorite human ever. Well, besides Sydney that is...
Ten minutes later, Ambrose and I were walking out of the bakery with four one-dozen boxes of varying types of donuts. True to my word, I paid double the price, the owner was shocked but greedily took the money, throwing in two free chocolate eclairs and their business card.
As we left they called out saying to come back whenever we wanted. As we walked back to the car, I popped open the lid of one of the boxes I was carrying, it was a dozen chocolate donuts with chocolate chips baked inside and topped off with a chocolate glaze. With one hand, I reached in and grabbed one.
I bit into the warm donut, my eyes rolled back and I moaned in euphoria. Donuts always made the world better, and now I was drowning in them. I was liking this vacation so far.
"I feel like I should be covering my eyes, it looks like I've just walked in on some erotic donut porno", Ambrose said a bit unevenly.
I laughed, "Well then look away, cause we're just getting started", at that moment he bursted in to hysterics, "Hey show the donuts some resect!" I said smirking, and we just laughed harder...
As the car started moving again, I caught a glimpse of something red in the corner of my eye. I turned to get a better look, parked off in a dimly lit alleyway was a Mercedes Benz and it looked like it was fast. Perfect. I told Ambrose we needed to stray away from attracting attention, but we were outside of court now. And that didn't mean I couldn't have a little car fun.
"Ambrose, how good are you at auto theft?" I asked while smiling like a cheshire cat. This was going to be fun...
Turns out it was a Mercedes Benz SLK350, and man was this thing quick. I became the lead car as we continued my journey. I was apparently having a little too much fun because Ambrose had a difficult time catching up with me. I guess the adrenaline buzz mixed in with my sugar high from polishing off two of the donut boxes made me a tiny bit hyper.
I slowed down as the car zoomed over a bridge nestled on top of a lake, I had just spotted a gas station and Ambrose had mentioned he would have to fill up soon. I pulled into the station and parked. "I'm glad it was the donuts and not me in the passenger seat, you drive like a lunatic!" Ambrose exclaimed walking up to me.
"Hey they're perfectly fine, well at least the ones I haven't eaten yet..." I grabbed the two empty boxes and tossed them into a nearby trashcan. "Figures..." I heard him mutter. "So tell me again why are you ditching the Camaro? I could just tell the guardians it got stolen or something..."
"That does sound like a good plan, except you'll be stranded somewhere, plus they have GPS tracking installed in all their cars. They'd be able to trace the car and subsequently, find me. Sorry, I can't risk that." He just nodded in understanding. "So this is it? We go separate ways from here?" he asked.
"Yup, go fill up, I'll give you the eclairs when you're done". He walked off and I leaned against the door frame. I decided to explore around for awhile to walk-off the sugar rush...
A shiver racked my spine as the wind swirled around my body. Ambrose was still filling up the car, so I walked over to the bridge and looked out at the scenery. The sunrise against the still water of the lake was spectacular.
I could get used to a human schedule. I vowed to be up when the sun was for this little vacation. A life of a guardian meant making sacrifices, one of them being sunlight since it effected Moroi. I didn't want to miss out on anything during this trip, no doubt I would be in huge trouble with Hans when I returned, so I wanted to enjoy my chance of carefree blissfulness while it lasted.
I hadn't checked my cellphone in a few hours so I turned it on. Lissa called A LOT. And there was 12 new voicemail messages. I sighed in exasperation. I didn't really want to hear any of them, but curiosity got the best of me.
The first seven were all Lissa, they ranged in tone, the first few were her bitching me out about the attack in the church. Thankfully she didn't bring him up too much. She was mostly scolding me on being so reckless when I was already in deep shit as it was with the court guardians.
At this point she was in 'mother' mode. The next two made me grimace, she started apologizing about how she overreacted. Uh, you think so! I mentally hissed. She asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner and just talk. Later she called saying she was at the restaurant and that I should come.
She was agitated later when I didn't show so she sent a warning that she was coming to my room. I sucked in a breath. This was where she'd find my note.
To say she was frantic was an understatement. She started pleading saying to come back and this was stupid. The next thing startled me, she said to not run away after what Dimitri had said. Explaining that he didn't reserve the satisfaction of me leaving. That I should of stood my ground and stayed.
I was shocked, did she really mean that or was she just saying that for her own selfishness to tell me anything I wanted to hear just to come back? The next message was from Adrian. I felt guilt wash over me, he hadn't done anything and I shouldn't of left without telling him. He was concerned saying things like, he was sorry for fighting with me, where did I go and why didn't I bring him with me where we could have a romantic getaway... etc.
My heart clenched I knew it was stupid, but I felt I wasn't worthy of having him as a boyfriend when my heart was still pining away for another man. A man that didn't love me back anymore... I was a mess.
I waited for the next message, it was from a number I didn't recognize, and once I heard the voice I knew why. It was a male voice. Deep yet soft with a hint of an accent. It was him. I couldn't bring myself to even think of his name, if I did, the anger and pain would wake back up. I heard "Roza", gently spoken through the speaker and I flinched.
I closed the phone and tossed it over the bridge. After a few seconds I heard the 'plonk' as it entered the cool deep water below. I didn't want to be bothered anymore. I wanted peace and quite and if I kept my cellphone around, I would be tempted like I just was, to check it and this wouldn't help my healing time.
"Why'd you do that?" Ambrose said beside me, I jumped not realizing he had come up beside me. "I don't want any inside contact. This solves that problem, plus they could track my phone like the car, so I needed to ditch it anyway", I said.
"Rose you're being a bit paranoid, don't you think? I'm inside contact, I'll know where you are" he said. I gave him a glare, "You're not telling anybody anything. Plus once I'm done with the bank, you won't know where I am", I said in a stern voice. Whatever he saw in my eyes must of struck fear in him, because he gulped and just gave a nod.
We walked back to the cars, and I gave him a hug. "Thanks for your help. I truly appreciate it". This caught him off guard, he returned the hug and pulled back, "A thank you from Rose Hathaway. I can die a happy man", he said. We both laughed and I gave him a wink, got in my car, reluctantly tossed him the bag with the eclairs and took off.
Well that's what Ambrose thought I did. I followed him back to court and made sure he entered the gates. I kept a good distance, no one would be able to spot me. I led Ambrose to believe I was going to the bank in Missoula. But that wasn't the case, the bank had a branch out in Indiana.
The trip out there would take awhile but once I got there, I'd have the money to take a plane. Where I'd go to Montana. I wasn't going back to the academy, I was going back to Spokane.
The last place anyone would suspect I'd go. I figured strigoi hunting was a good way to vent my physical frustration. And what better way to hunt strigoi, then the place where they kidnapped me? My mouth twisted into a sadistic smile, vengeance was in order...
A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Maybe it's because I'm in the mood for donuts and I can't get any because I'm snowed in, hmm... starts to drool... review!
ps- links for the new car mentioned in this chapter is on my profile!
~Fabulous