Rose's Point of View
"Get back here you little bitch!"
I could hear Robert gaining on us, which was pretty pathetic given that he was an old man. I told Mason that giving me his blood was a stupid idea.
"Just keep going Rose, we're almost there. Christian called for help and Dimitri and the other should be here any minute."
We were sprinting across the sprawling lawn of the estate leading up to the main road. But one quick glance backwards told me we probably wouldn't make it. He was gaining on us, and in our weakened state, we'd be defenseless.
I was so distracted by glancing backwards that I didn't see the tree root in front of me and my body went hurling forward towards the ground. I cringed in pain when the rough surface tore at my exposed skin.
"Rose!" Mason shouted, turning around to come back for me.
"Keep going!" I shouted back, trying to pull myself up off the ground. My ankle immediately protested in response.
"No, I won't leave you!" He told me once he was by my side helping me up. I was too weak to support myself and had to lean heavily on him to remain upright. The pain in my ankle was crippling and I whimpered whenever I put any weight on it.
"It's ok, you're okay." Mason told me over and over as we hobbled towards the main road.
I could see it now, the sleek black pavement, the dark forest the lined it on either side. The sun should be coming up any minute; it was the reason Robert was the only Strigoi crazy enough to risk it to catch us. Freedom was a mere sunrise away; I could almost taste it.
Of course fate is a cruel mistress and the second we reached the blacktop Robert yanked me backwards and harshly towards the ground.
"Did you honestly think you could escape me?" he hissed, yanking me back across the lawn by my hair. It was agonizing and I screamed out in pain. "Shut your mouth bitch." He screamed, stopping to silence me with a hard slap across the cheek. I could tell he'd broken the cheekbone.
"Let her go!" Mason shouted, stupidly lunging at Robert without any weapon.
What was he thinking?!
I watched in horror as he flung Mason off of his back effortlessly before scooping him back off the ground by the throat and easily snapping his neck. I heard the sickening crack and cried out in pain.
"No!" I sobbed as I watched Mason's lifeless body fall to the ground. His bright blue eyes were still wide with shock and for half a second, all I could do was stare at my dead best friend.
"Fool." Robert muttered before he went back to yanking me by the hair.
Just hearing the sound of his voice was enough to break me out of my trance. I heard the sick sound of Roberts voice and all my previous hatred for the Strigoi came barreling back into my body with a vengeance. I remembered the way he had tortured Eddie, drinking him nearly dry and within an inch of his life. I remembered the way he had smacked us all around, and the blistering pain I felt while I'd been forced to burn the plastic cuffs off my wrist. I remembered the disturbing pleasure with which he told me I'd be forced to become some sort of Strigoi breeding machine. But mostly I remembered the way I felt my heart break the moment I heard Mason's neck snap.
I could hear the sound of a car coming up the road in the distance, and with all the energy I could muster, I jerked myself out of Roberts startled grip and launched the fire in my hands directly at him. It struck with such a force that his whole body was immediately engulfed in flames. It took less than 10 seconds before he was nothing more than a charred pile of ash. I watched him burn just as I'd wanted to from the moment I'd met him, but even hearing his painful screams didn't appease me. My friend was dead, and no amount of torture would ever bring him back.
When it was over, I let my body collapse to the ground and crawled over to where Mason's body was laying.
"I'm so sorry Mase." I whispered, resting my head against his silent chest. The lack of a heartbeat only further drove home when I already knew.
Mason was gone.
"Roza….wake up Milaya."
"He's gone." I whimpered, shaking my head from side to side. I was vaguely aware that tears were streaming down my face.
"Roza please!" Dimitri pleaded and I could hear a frantic edge to his voice.
When I opened my eyes, his beautiful chocolate brown ones were staring back at me with concern, and apparently he wasn't the only one. Olena was standing behind her son, a similar look of concern on her face. I blinked a few times trying to come to terms with reality.
"Is she alright?" Olena asked Dimitri since clearly I was too stupefied to answer.
"She's okay Mama, it's just a nightmare. But maybe you could get her a glass of water." He suggested. She nodded and quickly took off down the stairs, eager to do something to help.
Dimitri was next to me in the bed, and he pulled me onto his lap and cradled me against his body.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, brushing back the sweaty wet pieces of hair that were covering my face. A small voice in the back of my head told me I should tell Dimitri about it, but the dream was too fresh and I wasn't ready.
"Not yet." I whispered, laying my head in the crook of his neck.
Olena returned shortly after with a glass of water that I gratefully drank down in an instant. She didn't stick around to probe for information and I appreciated that. Judging by Dimitri's calm demeanor I think she understood this was something of a routine for us and she quietly left me in Dimitri's capable hands.
Dimitri's Point of View
For the longest time, I just held Roza in my arm, silently cursing any God who could cause such a wonderful person so much suffering.
I knew she was having nightmares about Mason, thanks to the fact that she sometimes spoke in her sleep. It was also the reason why I knew that tonight's nightmare was different. For weeks they had been about the event's leading up to Mason's death, but as she cried out in her sleep tonight, I knew she was remembering the moment he actually died.
"Do you remember that night?" she asked quietly. I was so certain she'd fallen back asleep that the sound of her voice startled me.
"How could I forget? I don't think I've ever been so devastated and relieved at the same time."
She turned to look at me curiously, and I wiped away the silent tear that was leaking down her beautiful cheek.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Roza, I spent the better part of two days thinking the woman I loved was dead, so imagine my relief when I saw you alive on that lawn." She seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding.
"Okay I get that. But why were you devastated?"
"It was the look on your face." I told her, recalling the way she looked that dawn.
*Flashback*
"Turn here!" Christian shouted from the front seat beside me.
After receiving that call from a nearby payphone, the guardians hadn't wasted anytime in getting back to Mason and Rose. Eddie was back at the hotel we'd made our headquarters being treated by a physician for the blood loss.
We had known for a fact that the Strigoi nest was in Spokane, but finding it had been like finding a needle in a haystack. At least it was until Christian showed up. Taking a sharp turn, we swerved onto the road that housed the estate and went barreling towards the driveway.
"It's right up here!" he shouted, pulling open the door and jumping out before I even had the car stopped. I was only a couple heartbeats behind him.
When we reached the edge of the lawn, the sight we found stopped us dead in our tracks.
Thank God, she was alive!
Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for Mason.
Even from this distance I could see the unnatural angle in which he was laying, and Rose was sobbing uncontrollably into his lifeless chest.
"Roza…" I whispered, trying not to startle her. I could tell she was in a fragile state and I needed to approach her with caution. She looked up at the sound of my voice and what I saw broke my heart.
Her face was battered and bloody, and her cheekbone was swollen to twice it's normal size. Her neck was trickling blood from an open flesh wound, but it was her eyes that had stopped me where I stood. She was looking up at me, but it was like she wasn't really seeing me. She had the most haunted look in her eyes, and behind the pools of tears in her eyes, I knew she was completely broken.
"Roza." I called out tentatively again, crouching down to kneel beside Mason's body.
"He's gone." She whispered, over and over again. I tried to put a hand on her shoulder to help her up but she shrugged it away.
By now the lawn was swarming with guardians, all who were preparing to storm the house and attack the nest of Strigoi. I desperately wanted to get Roza away from this place before she heard the fighting. The last thing she needed was a reminder that the danger wasn't entirely past.
"Roza Milaya, we have to go." I told her, trying again to pull her from the ground.
"I can't leave him" she shouted. "I can't!"
It was the strongest reaction we'd gotten out of her since we arrived and a small part of me was grateful to know she still had a little life left in her.
"Rose, he's gone." Christian told her, crouching down to close Mason's still open eyes.
Why hadn't I thought to do that?
"Don't you think I know that!" She screeched, lifting her head off of his chest to glare at Christian. But the moment she met his tear filled eyes, her anger dissipated back into unending grief.
"Oh God!" She cried, letting out a choked sob. "He's gone!"
I couldn't take it anymore. I knew what she needed and laying here next to a corpse wasn't it. Without any more discussion I scooped her up off the ground bridal style and started carrying her to the car.
"We can't leave him!" she cried, but made no move to climb out of my arms.
"I know Rose…I've got him." Christian said picking Mason up off the ground.
She made no more protests as we got into the car. Instead she sat silently in my arms, crying until her tears ran dry.
*End Flashback*
"I keep thinking I should have done something more…" She whispered, pulling me back to the present.
"Oh Milaya, you did everything you could." I reassured her, stroking her hair. It was a fear that had plagued her ever since that day, despite how many time's we all told her there was nothing more to be done.
"He saved my life, and now Victor's threatening me again, and if something were to happen to me, Mason will have died for nothing." Her voice broke as she said that last part and I pulled her tighter to my chest.
"Nothing is going to happen to you Milaya, I promise. Mason's death will not be in vain."
Whether she believed me or was content to be told what she wanted to hear, I didn't know. But she said no more on the subject and I held her in my arms the rest of the night, listening as her breathing leveled out and lulled her back to sleep.