Disorientated, I woke up and looked to see where I was. Hmmm... Still in my room where I had fallen asleep. But I wondered...
No. It wasn't real. It was just a dream.
The moment I stepped into the bathroom, everything I looked at was sharper; even the white tiles and grey grout looked vividly coloured.
Thank you, Liss, I thought to myself.
And then, I glanced into the mirror.
And I gasped at my somewhat unsightly appearance.
My hair was matted and damp and my clothes were completely drenched. The makeup I had forgotten to take off was smudged around my eyes and I looked like a freaking zombie. My cheekbones jutted out and the dark circles under my eyes sank in. I looked myself over in the mirror again and saw that my skin clinged to my bones. I inspected my hands to see that my fingernails were dirty with a sand-like material. The same stuff was stuck to the ends of my hair. I found cuts and bruises along my arms and shoulders. What happened*?
I brushed my long locks and hastily dressed to be presentable for Lissa. When I got to her room, I gave one quick and loud knock and soon after the door opened revealing a scantily clad Lissa. I peeked in and saw Christian hopping around on one foot clinging to the bed sheet in an attempt to cover himself. "Well, well, what have we here?" I drawled in my best appalled teacher voice. Lissa jut giggled while Christian slowly turned a shade of red that rivaled beetroot. I couldn't help but laugh at their almost comical expressions. "I'm just gonna..." Christian trailed off, pointing to the door. Lissa and I just nodded, hiding a smirk. Once Christian was gone, I turned to Lissa. "Liss, I-"
"Why the hell are you wet, Rose?" she interrupted.
"I-uhhh...Well, that's why I came here."
She motioned me to continue.
"I had a nightmare, well, I dream, I think, because he* was there. And he* wasn't a Strigoi, or insane, or evil...He* was just...himself*," I blurted.
Her brow furrowed. "What are you trying to tell me, Rose?"
I inhaled a deep breath and sat down on one of the chairs. "I had a dream about, or rather, with, him*. Liss, it was mind-boggling. I mean, I wasn't able to control some things, and, and well, *he* ended up saving me. I think I was drowning and he rescued me, Liss. And then, he, he, well, he kissed me," I told her.
Her eyebrows shot up and she scrutinised me for a few moments. She might have been trying to see my aura, but I saw the two glasses of wine on the table. She was slightly drunk. "So, you're trying to tell me that," she began. "You had a dream with Dimitri-" I winced "-and he saved you and then you guys kissed? I don't understand, Rose. What does this have to do with you being wet?" She scrutinised me some more and then it dawned on her. "Wait, you mean you fell in water, and became wet in your dream, and then when you woke up, you were soaked from the same water?!"
I nodded and her jaw hit the ground in a very un-royalty-like way. "I need to get Adrian," she mumbled.
Without warning, Adrian Ivashcov himself came barging through the door. "How did you know..."Rose muttered.
"Lissa, how come I couldn't dream walk with Rose tonight? I thought you said-" he stopped abruptly when he saw me standing next to Lissa. "Rose," he said and kissed my knuckles. I blushed helplessly and he gave a faint smile. And then, "Rose, pray tell me, why are you drenched?" "Ask Liss," I replied, suddenly exhausted. "Rose, you should get to sleep," Lissa said after prodding throught the bond.
"Yeah, ahhh, okay, I'm gonna do that," I responded groggily.
While Lissa spoke to Adrian about god-knows-what, I fell into a dreamless slumber for the first time in so long. "Dimitri," I murmured as I woke up. "Dimitri..." I bolted upright in my bed. Saying his name no longer hurt. "Dimitri."
No, it did not cause me pain any longer.
"Dimitri."
It felt...
"Dimitri. Dimitri. Dimitri."
Joy. Suffering. Angst. Worry.
"Dimitri."
Confusion.
"Dimitri"
Nervousness.
"Dimitri."
Hope.
"Dimitri, Dimitri, Dimitri, Dimitri."
Longing. Determination. Want. Need.
"Dimitri"
Trust.
"Dimitri."
Life.
"Dimitri Belicov."
Love.
Every asterisk (*) indicates that the word should be in italics!