I flung the door open and sat on my bed. Jesse's words rang in my head. I felt embarrassed and in an instant my cheeks flushed, something that was becoming way too common for my liking. The bedroom door quietly closed and I could sense Dimitri approaching.
He sat down on the bed next to me, our knees touching but I refused to look at him. My leg tingled from his touch, I was shocked at the effect he had on me but I shrugged it off as embarrassment.
"Are you alright, Roza?" He asked, concern filling his voice. A soft whimper escaped my lips as I nodded, biting back tears.
"It's alright, you can trust me." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it comfortingly, an action that just made me want to cry more. He made me so emotional and I was feeling so vulnerable.
"I'm…embarrassed." I kept my head down, still not meeting his eyes. I felt insecure, having my emotions on display and it was not something that I was used to.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Jesse's a jerk, I can't tell you how much I wanted to beat the crap out of him, still do in fact, but I know that it'll just cause problems for you, with the headmistress." I finally looked at him and gave him a weary smile.
I began to fidget with my fingers as I attempted to tell him how I felt.
"What he said…I'm not like that… I just don't want you to change the way you think about me based on the things he says." I looked away, a solitary tear falling down my face.
He reached his arms up and twisted a lock of my hair between his fingers.
"I could never change how I think about you, especially based on what some guy says." My breath hitched and I found myself nodding, somehow, he knew exactly what I needed to hear.
We shifted positions and we were both resting on my headboard, our feet stretched out on the bed. After basking in comfortable silence for a few minutes, I decided to break it.
"I can't believe your leaving in two weeks. It's hard to imagine how I managed before you came. It's been two weeks and you have already changed my life so much. I mean look at my room, you can actually see the floor." I grinned and got a chuckle in response. Dimitri's laughs were so rare, especially since the news of Ivan. I craved getting those responses as his laugh filled up the room and made it unbearable not to smile in return.
"I wish I could just stay here to be honest, I have forgotten what it's like to be happy, waking up everyday doing normal things, going to bed not fearing any threat." His eyes grew sad. "And then there's my family…I can't keep doing this to them, my mother is worried sick, my sisters too. I have a nephew I haven't seen since he was a newborn and a niece that I haven't ever seen."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I took the opportunity to study his face, his strong jawline, soft brown hair, and olive skin. The more I looked, the more I saw what the war had done to him. He had bags under his eyes; albeit they had reduced considerably since he arrived, faint frown lines, even a tiny scar, no bigger than a fingernail, right before his ear.
I looked at my hands that were fidgeting in my lap. I was dying to ask him something but I was terrified of the answer. Taking a deep breath, I turned to him. As if he could sense this, his brown eyes opened, looking straight at me.
"After you leave, am I ever going to see you again?"
Time stopped, I wasn't moving and neither was he. As soon as I uttered the words I wished that I could take them back. Everything was frozen, including my heartbeat. I longed for him to turn around and hug me and say 'Of course Roza, I will visit all the time.' But silence ensued and my stomach dropped.
"Forget it" I said shaking my head. "I'm going for a walk, if any teachers come looking for me, tell them… I'll be back later."
I half walked, half sprinted to the door, aware that he was calling my name. I felt broken; all I wanted to do was sink into the floor. Maybe then would the mortification I felt sink away with me.
As I left the room, I grabbed my iPod and shut the door, taking off before he, or anyone else not in class would see me.
I headed straight for the forest like part of the school, the cross-country course, where I could run without exposure, where I could run and nobody would see.
Once I was on the edge of the cross-country course, I stopped for a second and put my earphones in. I needed to clear my head and get my emotions back intact. I didn't want to feel like this; I wanted to be the strong Rose that I was a few weeks ago, before the past few events had taken place. A Rose that is strong; physically and emotionally, a Rose that was confident around all men and never second guessed herself, one that always left them feeling the way she was now.
I could faintly hear Dimitri yelling my name, I stood frozen for a few seconds and the sound become louder and louder. Panicking, I turned the music on and ran on the track for a minute or so before hearing him again, but even louder than before.
I turned off the track and began running through the trees. I turned my head around as I ran to see if he was near me and my feet collided with something big and solid, a rock.
I tumbled over it, scrapping my legs and my body rolled down a small hill before hitting a tree and stopping.
I groaned and tried to sit up, it took a few attempts before I managed as my head was spinning. Looking at my body, it was covered in blood and dirt.
I cursed and let out a frustrated yell before attempting to rub some of the dirt off of my body.
I briefly examined the damage and concluded that the dirt made everything look much worse than it actually was. There were a few small cuts on my lower legs and I had grazed my arm. I had definitely had worse but was still mortified that I met my downfall in the form of a rock. No doubt Mason and Eddie will never let me live this one down.
I stood up and began to take out my earphones, my right earphone first and as I went to take out the left, I heard the crumpling of trees underneath feet. There was something eerie about it and I felt sick almost straight away, knowing something was off.
The sound came from behind me, almost frozen with fear I started to turn around.
An arm grabbed my waist from behind and another covered my mouth. A muffled scream escaped my lips. My captor pushed me up against a tree as I fought against them, trying to break free.
They grabbed my head and slammed it against the tree, effectively stopping my feeble attempt of escape. I was still light headed from before and I felt incoherent after that.
"Listen here, girl. I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth, if you scream, whimper, or make any noise at all, if you even cough, you die. Simple as that, got it?" I nodded. I quickly took in the stranger's features, greying hair, jade green eyes, pale skin, lanky build and he had almost a foot on my five-five height.
My body was trembling in fear and I ached to fight back but seeing a silvery blade, in the man's pocket made me think twice.
"I need you to deliver a message for me" the man gave a cynical laugh as I felt a tear run down my cheek.
"Not so tough when your boyfriend isn't around, are you Rose?" He leaned in and chuckled.
Repulsed, I spoke without thinking. "What boyfriend? And how do you know my name?" Quickly realizing my mistake, my eyes widened and my breath caught into my throat.
"What did I tell you about making any sound!" He growled. Feeling my usual bravado, I pushed my fear away and replied with a smirk.
"Yeah but then you said you needed me to deliver a message. Can't do that if you kill me." I felt hope surge through me as I realized that what I said was true and I would make it out of this. Whatever this is.
"You foolish girl, a dead body is about as good and clear as a message gets." The smirk dropped from my face and fear crept its way back into my body. My mouth went dry and I was having difficulty swallowing.
"But I won't kill you, not yet anyway. You need to be alive for this to be a really fun game." He trailed off.
"Tell Belikov, I will avenge my brother's death and it will be ten times more painful. Tell him that I am going to kill his whole family and everyone he loves. Tell him that I am going to start with you."
"What do you mean, he wouldn't murder somebody." I asked, my heart rate picking up.
"But is he not a soldier fighting in a war, child? He led the raid that killed my brother. I have contacts in the war that already took care of Ivan Zeklos in retaliation but I fear that that is not enough. I am still without a brother while he takes a vacation and finds love."
Taking everything in, I didn't point out that he wasn't in love with me, nor was I his girlfriend. I didn't think it would matter much anyway.
"So first things first, I was just going to leave you unharmed and shaken up, however, you have a bit of an attitude and you must be taught a lesson. So, shall we started with some art?"
I pushed back into the tree, trying to escape this surreal nightmare but he kept advancing. Taking hold of my hand, he grabbed the knife out of his pocket. A whimper escaped my lips.
"Uh, uh, uh, Rosemarie. Remember what I said about being quiet?" He said in a soft voice, a voice that one would use to placate an animal, not threaten a young adult.
He began carving the knife into the back of my palm, the pain was so much that I closed my eyes tightly, trying not to focus on the pain. I kneed the man in the stomach but he shoved me into the tree once more. He finished with the knife and then took hold of my thumb. Snapping my thumb, he laughed.
"One broken, four left to go." He smiled. "That is, until we start with the other hand. I guess there are always the toes as well. That could be very interesting."
"Roza? Rose!" Dimitri's voice started getting closer. I'd never been so grateful to hear Dimitri's voice.
The man swore and then turned to me.
"Deliver that message."
"And if I don't?" I replied, breathing heavily and black spots dancing in my vision.
"Then Vasilisa dies." He responded before disappearing in the trees, leaving me alone with a bloodied hand, broken finger and a message.
"Rose?" Dimitri's voice sounded so close, I quickly yelled out his name, dying to be safe in his arms.
I slid down the tree and sat there, my head dizzy from the blood loss. Dimitri came into view and he looked horrified.
Rushing over to my side he asked "Oh my God, Roza! What happened?"
"There was a man…he said I needed to deliver… a message… he said that… he said… um, revenge… he said…" My voice faded out as did my vision and I found myself falling into unconsciousness.
I woke up to almost blinding white lights and a familiar voice.
"What… where am I?" I asked as I took in my surroundings. Dimitri's head was the first thing my brain registered, doctor Olendski's was the second.
"Your in the hospital sweetheart. Can you tell me what you remember about yesterday's incident?" The doctor's sweet voice calmed my body and my brain ticked back to the events that took place only hours ago.