CHAPTER TWENTY TWO-DARK ANGEL

Hey there, this chapter is to Night, once again, thanks so much for the ideas! Okay, so I'll stop talking because I really want you to read this chapter because I love it, so here it is…

My mouth literally dropped open only a fraction but I closed it and my jaw locked into place. I saw that Etienne was glaring at Alexander with pure hatred and disgust; I wondered why but brushed the thought off.

I turned to bow to Alexander. "I beg your leave, Guardian Contrive, I trust that you will be able to find me if you need to." I turned on my heal and took a deep breath as I faced my friends.

"Let's go outside then, yeah?" Etienne said tightly and I nodded sharply once. I led them outside, leaving Mikhail inside the meeting room with Alexander. No one said anything until we were outside, which was when Lissa spoke.

"Rose, we came to surprise you," she said nervously.

"Well, I'm surprised; this was your idea, was it not?" I said as I clenched my fists and turned on Etienne. He looked so worried and shocked, like a little kid who was so lost and didn't know what had happened. "It was your idea wasn't it…you were the only one who knew where I was," as soon as I said the words, I got a very guilty and apologetic feeling coming from Lissa; I was immediately sucked into her head.

She walked up to Etienne as he watched my plane fly away. "Would you like to walk with me?" she asked politely. Etienne was flustered to see her and surprised that she was talking to him.

"Yes, ma'am," he bowed politely and Lissa was annoyed at him for doing so.

"Come on," she snapped and turned on her heel, leading Etienne into the tree cover. He followed obediently and quietly, not saying a word. Lissa suddenly spun around to face him and you could tell that Etienne was afraid because of the expression on his face. Lissa moved closer to him and made eye contact.

"Now…what is your name?" she said smoothly.

"Etienne Spencer," he answered, his face going slack, eyes glazed…like he was in a trance.

"Etienne Spencer, tell me everything you know about Rose Hathaway." Lissa demanded in a quiet but commanding voice.

"I just met Rose Hathaway, her mother is a bitch and hasn't treated her well at all, she's very funny, and she has the same hair colour as mine –"

"ENOUGH!" Lissa ordered. Etienne was so surprised and fearful that he stopped dead and looked at her with wide eyes. "Do you know where Rose is going?"

"To the Siberian Academy," Etienne answered quickly.

Lissa nodded. "Good, you are going to come with me and my friends to find Rose, the next plane to Siberia is when?"

"Half and hour," Etienne answered hastily.

"Right, see you then, Etienne Spencer," then Lissa turned on her heel and walked away…

Oh my God. Lissa had used COMPULSION on Etienne to get to me. That was low…no, that was lower than low. I ripped myself away from her feelings viciously and glared at her with pure disgust. "How could you do that, Lissa?" there was so much venom in my words it shocked her, but not me; with the way things had been going, I was relatively calm.

The expression on her face said that she knew exactly what I knew. "Rose…I had to! I had to see you, to be with you…you aren't strong enough to be on your own right now…"

My jaw clenched along with my fists and my nostrils flared. "I'm not strong enough to be on my own? That's what you think? That I'm not STRONG ENOUGH?" I half growled half shouted.

Lissa knew those were the wrong words to say but she couldn't take them back, they were said and they were lying still in the air between us.

"Lissa, I am perfected FINE. Did you ever think that I didn't want to be found for a certain amount of time? Did you ever think that I would come back to you, like I promised?" I glanced at Adrian when I said that. He was looking back and forth between Lissa and me, but when his eyes met mine, they stayed on me. They seemed to be wondering around and on me. He must be seeing my aura, I thought but instead of acknowledging that, I turned away from them.

"You had no right to do that to him, Lissa, and I won't talk to you until you've made up for it somehow." I said cold-heartedly.

"Rose," she sobbed. "Rose, you don't understand how it feels I can't lose you, you don't know how that feels!" She tried to grab my hand or arm with shaky hands.

I stepped out of reach from her and glared. "You think I don't know what that feels like? You think I don't know! Damn it, Lissa! I know the feeling a thousand times worse than you do! Think about this fucking bond," I said 'bond' like it was a dirty word.
"I can feel what you feel, I can see what you see, and I can think what you think! I know exactly how you feel and because of that, I can say that your pain is nowhere near mine! You have no clue!" I was breathing hard now, with rage and agony. My voice quieted, but was still so dangerous. "Don't say that I don't understand…you don't understand." I spat and turned, stuffing my hands into my pockets so I wouldn't punch anyone. I walked away from them with my back turned and as I passed the guardian wall I kicked it with as much strength as I could.

A piece of the wall seemed to crumble…but not as it was old and falling, as if it was supposed to do that. I narrowed my eyes, anger temporarily forgotten as I looked into the dark space. It looked like there were stairs. Do it, the impulsive part of me whispered. And I did.

I dove into the whole and walked down the stairs.

"Rose!" I heard them all yell at the same time but I ignored them and kept descending down the dank staircase. I heard them coming down the stairs behind me. "You don't have to follow me everywhere," I muttered under my breath. I looked around and it was pitch black, I vaguely saw the outline of a torch and suddenly it was blazing with a bright flame. I turned and nodded once to Christian's cocky face. I felt someone grab a hold of my hand and looked up to see Adrian looking down on me.

"I didn't know," he whispered beseechingly in my ear. I knew he meant about Lissa using compulsion on Etienne, I nodded and let my hand stay in his. I found a door at the end of the hallway and as I grabbed the knob, Adrian squeezed my hand.

"I'm here," he whispered lovingly.

"I know,"

I pushed open the door and walked forward into complete darkness. I would be terrified if Adrian wasn't holding my hand, letting me know I had someone. I pulled gently on his hand to guide him forward.

"Hey, Christian, make yourself useful and light your hands on fire," I whispered.

But before he could, a voice spoke out. "Rosemarie Hathaway…at last."

I froze, just as everyone else did.

"Who's there?" I demanded as my voice rang out loud and strong echoing against the darkness. I got a bad feeling, not a Strigoi feeling, just a bad feeling.

"I've been waiting ever since you arrived…your presence is very strong." The voice was raspy and sounded old and withered. And very, very close. I felt a breeze against my face, and it wasn't a good breeze...it was like a breath; I braced myself for someone to reach out and grab or attack me in some way.

"Really, I'm so glad to be VIP," I said sarcastically, covering up my fear and unease.

Then Christian finally got around to lighting up his hands and I really wished he hadn't.

There was an old woman standing in front of me, looking like a mummy with wispy strands of gray for hair, but she was wearing a graceful white dress that was floor length and had long sleeves, on the dress were silvery stands of material that shimmered around her, making it seem like she could disappear into nothing but thin air within mere moments.

I screamed and jumped back because this old hag was only centimetres away from me. I felt Adrian's arms encircle my waist reassuringly but I could feel that he was afraid too. He wants to be brave for me, I thought. Just that one simple action made him brave and honourable in my eyes, more so than he already was.

"Not so mighty now, with a fright, are you?" the ancient lady rasped. "Where has that quick mouth of yours gotten you?"

I steadied my breath, but was gripping Adrian's hands tightly and was leaning into him. I shook out my hair slightly. "Apparently a place not too good," I retorted.

She laughed an ugly laugh. It sounded like a rusty piece of metal being scrapped against another, it hurt my ears. "Ah, Rosemarie Hathaway…you must come on, you seem stable enough..."

I didn't know what she was talking about, but I followed her, still pressed tightly to Adrian's comforting body. Now that the lady's back was turned on me, I took the chance to observe my surroundings. It seemed as if we were in some type of library…there was so many shelves full of books any size and colour. There were books stacked on the ground around us, cloths draped on piles, desks scattered around everywhere, cluttered with strange and unique items. There was layers of dust on everything, I swear, there was even dust on the freaking mummy lady.

She led us further into the library and there was no noise except for the shuffling of our feet. She led us to the darkest corner in the back. In the light of Christian's fire, I could see that there was a very large mirror, it was about eight or nine feet tall and it had a silver trim around the edges and sliver clawed feet that were holding up the whole damn thing. For the way things looked around here, this mirror was in very good condition, it looked brand new.

"Go on, look at your real reflections…let's start with…the famous Dragomir Princess," the lady said and she waved a fragile hand out in front of her motioning for Lissa to step forward. Eddie stepped in front of Lissa, blocking her from the sight of the old haggish woman.

"Do I look like I could hurt her?"

Eddie subsided but stayed close as Lissa stumbled to stand in front of the mirror. The mirror shimmered like a ripple in water. The reflection of Lissa changed instantly, she was a queen. No, that's not right, she was the Queen. She had on a graceful dress that flowed around her and pooled on the floor around her feet and it was embroidered with beautiful patterns with a gold trimmed type of material. She had a spectacular crown that sat carefully on her blond hair that was twisted up in an intricate design. She looked strong and confident, ready to lead the world as she would someday do.

Lissa gasped and here eyes widened with pleasure and longing at the sight of it.

"Next shall be…Christian Ozera," the lady hissed.

Christian stepped up to the mirror and the reflection went blank for a fraction of a second before rippling again, but this time changing into a ring of fire with Christian standing in the middle of it with his hands blazing with bright flames. Christian's form was shadowed, but I could tell that he was wearing all black, like a guardian. I instantly knew that he was a protector, that's what he truly was.

"Next…Edward Castile,"

Eddie stepped up and the mirror went blank then transformed again but this time, it was of Eddie, wearing the all black attire of the guardians and he had a shining silver stake in his hand. I knew that his was a warrior. He looked fierce and deadly, like he could take on anything, also looking like he already had.

"Next…Adrian Ivashkov,"

Adrian stepped forward releasing me gently and the mirror switched to a caring and soft version of Adrian, not the Royal that was the great nephew of the Queen, but an individual who loved someone dearly; Adrian was a lover. His eyes were sweet and warm, showing the unmistakable love for someone-that someone would be me. Adrian was my lover. He smiled at me and bowed his head gracefully so his blond hair fell over his emerald green eyes; a sign of true devotion.

"Next…Etienne Spencer,"

Etienne walked towards the mirror and it showed the regular Etienne, smiling and happy, but there was a dark figure beside him, a figure that wasn't so happy, at least not anymore. It was clear that Etienne loved this figure, but not romantically, as a sister, because when light was shed on that darker figure, my face was shown. It was saying that Etienne was my brother and deep down inside, I knew it was true. Etienne was my brother and he was most certainly not Janine Hathaway's son...because she is currently late, I thought bitterly to myself.

"Last but by far the most unique…Rosemarie Hathaway,"

I strode bravely and stood as straight as a needle in front of the mirror and watched as the reflection of me standing in a dark library with my friends surrounding me faded into a dark scenery. There was a full moon shattering beams of soft light through the clouds and there was a girl, the girl was me. She was an angel, I was floating in the sky, suspended by graceful and sleek black wings that flapped smoothly in the night. I was wearing a leather coat that was open with a large collar that came up to just above my ears and a black skirt that came down to the middle of my thighs; the shirt I was wearing was blood red. A great contrast to all the dark things in the reflection. My hair was blowing wildly around my face in a furious wind that was tugging at coat but making me look so dangerous and striking at the same time.

Last, what was preventing me from flying away was a metal shackle around my ankle and a chain that was connected to the coble stoned ground. It was holding me down and keeping me back from being free. That must be the symbol of a Blood Promise, I am bound.

It was all too much for me to take in and I heard all of my friends gasp.

I can't believe it, I can't believe it. Went through my head as everything started to go blacker and blacker...everything was fading away…I am a dark Angel.

So what did you think? A bit unexpected...I hope so! Please review and I'll love you much more than I already do! I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but I've been busy with so many things.

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Love you,

Alice