This next chapter is in Dimitri's POV. Read on...

There was a sharp knocking at the door. I glanced to my alarm clock and groaned. It was 5:26 AM. I got out of bed and went to open the door.

When I saw who was standing there, I just let out another loud groan.

"Good morning, Dimitri," Christian Ozera's gleeful voice greeted me.

"Quit beating around the bush, Ozera. You've come here for a reason. What do you want?" I asked, peeved that he just happened to knock at my door so early in the morning. Sure, I was going to wake up in four minutes, but still. Did I really need to see Fireball this early?

No.

He invited himself inside and sat on the edge of my bed. I frowned slightly and crossed my arms across my chest as I sank into an empty chair.

"Yes..." I prompted him.

He blinked a couple of times.

"Look, Belikov, I'm not gonna sugar-coat it and wrap it up with a bow for you," he began. "Rose needs you."

I glanced up at the ceiling before turning back to look at him.

"Dimitri, she's absolutely terrible without you. She cries in her sleep and even I've noticed that when she slips into her daydreams, she whispers your name and touches her lips."

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, annoyed at Flame Boy here for bringing this up and worried for Rose and how she was coping.

"There it is," he said softly.

"There what is?" I asked.

"You were just thinking about her," he said simply.

I fix him with a glare, and he looked a bit sad.

"You still love her, Dimitri. It's obvious."

I shook my head no.

"Yes, you do. It's obvious."

I looked pointedly at him again.

"Why are torturing yourself like this, Dimitri?" he asked, concerned. "You know you're only punishing her, too, right?"

I looked at the ground and nodded ever so slightly.

He inhaled sharply, and I glanced up at him.

"You know she's been having nightmares, right? Lissa told me Rose has been screaming in the middle of the night."

And immediately, the guilt hit me.

"And, she only yells one word," he continued. Of course. "Do I need to tell you, or do you already know what it is?" he asked gently.

I looked back up at him, and his ice blue eyes were studying me, waiting for my reaction.

"The one and only word she screams is 'Dimitri'. She's hurting, and only you can heal her."

I sighed and took my face in my hands.

"I know, Ozera. I know," I mutter.

"Then why, Dimitri, are you doing this? Not only to you, but to her, and to all of us? When Rose suffers, you suffer, and so does Lissa, all of us do."

I let out another sigh and get up.

"Look, Ozera. I did horrendous, cruel, filthy things to her when she came after me. She can, and probably already has, forgiven me, but I cannot forgive myself."

He remained silent, so I went on.

"I am lost in this maze of guilt, and I cannot, nor will I, drag Rose into it with me."

He gave me a pitying look and rose to leave. Before he stepped out of the door, I opened my mouth.

"I still love her, Christian. I never stopped loving her," I told him.

He turned around, clearly exasperated.

"Then love her, Dimitri. Just love* her!" he exclaimed and then he was gone.

I dreamed of Roza again. It was the same awful nightmare that plagued me ever since I became a dhampir again.

My Roza would always be in my heart. I just had to escape the guilt that was drowning me. I was slowly dying without her, and she was slowly dying without me.

But no matter what, dead, living, struggling, drowning, sleeping, or awake, I would always love my Roza.

Always.

* the word live is supposed to be in italics.

I'll update soon (hopefully), but until then, readaholics!