Requested by: Eli (princessjilldragomir on tumblr)
Prompt: Leave a "Get Me" in my ask, and I will write a drabble about my character saving yours.
Word Count:2,450
Hope you enjoy it.
I didn't hear the phone when it rang; I was asleep, and it takes a hell of a lot more than a faint chiming to wake me. In fact, it took Dimitri a few minutes before I even responded to his gentle shaking of my shoulder. Even then I didn't comprehend what he was saying. It wasn't until he held the phone up to my ear and I head the panicked sobs coming from the other end that I understood something was seriously wrong. Taking the phone from him I got up and immediately began pulling on the clothes I'd discarded a few hours earlier.
"Liss? Is that you?" I couldn't make out the tearful response so I glanced at the display on the phone, my eyes widening in surprise when I saw the number. "Jill? What's wrong?"
Again, the response was a mixture of mumbled words and sobs that I couldn't decipher. I glanced over at Dimitri, not surprised to see him already dressed and pulling on his boots, his handsome face reflecting his worry. "JILL! You have to calm down—I can't understand you. Are you okay?"
The sharpness of my tone seemed to help her regain a little control; this time when she spoke, I could faintly make out part of what she whispered—and it immediately sent chills racing down my spine.
"H-help me…. Darkness…"
"Tell me where you are Jilly—I'm on my way." I knew she was in the general vicinity—she'd flown in the day before for a visit with Lissa, but court was a big place, covering acres and acres of sprawling ground. She could be anywhere, so I needed to pinpoint her location. Opening up the top drawer of our dresser, I pulled out the small silk pouch that held the spirit charmed rings I kept on hand for Lissa. "Are you in your room?"
"Yes..." Her voice was thin and frail, and something about the way it sounded scared me even more.
"I'm coming, just hang on for a few more minutes. I'm gonna stay on the line until—Jill? Are you there?"
The connection had gone dead.
"Fuck!" Turning to Dimitri, I spoke without consciously thinking, knowing instinctively what had to be done. "Get Lissa and meet me at Jill's room. The darkness has got her."
"Roza—"
"No! Just get Liss! We'll need her there in case…" I trailed off, not wanting to voice what I was thinking. "Just hurry, Comrade, please." Standing on tiptoe I brushed my lips against his and then was out the door and running for Jill's suite at full speed, not waiting for a response. With each slap of my feet on the ground I prayed to anyone who might be listening, begging them to make sure I got there in time.
The darkness affected everyone differently; it had made me homicidal whereas with Lissa it had awoken the tendency to harm herself for relief. But it wasn't Lissa's reaction or mine that made me race through the corridors as fast as I could go. It was because something in Jill's voice—so desolate sounding and full of despair—made me think of Shadow Kissed Anna and how the heavy burden of the darkness had made her take her own life.
I arrived within minutes of the call, panting a little as I pounded furiously on the door, calling out for her. Ten seconds later when no answer came, I backed up to the far wall and launched myself, throwing the full weight of my body against the heavy wooden double doors. It took three tries before they finally gave, crashing inward and slamming into the walls with a loud bang that resonated down the quiet hallway. It was pitch black inside, but I could hear her sobbing broken heartedly from somewhere in the depths of the room.
"Jill?" I advanced slowly, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the absence of light, feeling my way along until my hands came in contact with a small table lamp. Flicking it on, I took advantage of the dim light it provided to survey the room, trying to locate her. "Jill? I know you're here."
As soon as I spoke the sobbing stopped, sounding like it had been forcefully choked off mid-cry. It was replaced a moment later by a low growl that made the tiny hairs at the back of my neck prickle with unease. "Jilly… Sweetie… Let me help you. I know what you're—"
A figure slammed into me, and in that moment, I realized why she hadn't answered—she was too busy planning her attack. She'd appeared from the darkness in an instant, catching me completely by surprise and slamming me to the ground, her long, slender hands clasped around my neck, slowly choking me.
"Slut," she hissed out, "this is all your fault!"
It took a minute for the shock of her attack to wear off, and unfortunately, that was a minute too long. The force I'd hit the ground with combined with the press of her weight on my chest had knocked the air from my lungs, and I was gasping, struggling to get a breath. I knew I was well on my way to blacking out and if that happened, she would end up killing me—and that was something that Jill would never be able to get past.
There was only one course of action I could take, so I latched onto it, hauling off and punching the Queen's sister with all the force I could muster from my prone position. I'm pleased to say, it was a good, solid blow, throwing her off me and earning a pain filled scream. Sucking in air I rolled over, tackling her and wrestling her down, trying to hold her in place with the weight of my body.
"Get the hell off me you blood whore!" She was shrieking and thrashing around, trying to throw me off of her.
"Not until you calm the fuck down." I was hesitant to hit her again, knowing far too well the kind of damage I was capable of inflicting. Yes, she was out of control and fueled by spirit's darkness, but I was a promised guardian with years of training.
My hesitancy cost me—just like it had the last time I was confronted with hurting someone I cared about. Jill jerked her wrist free of my grasp, clawing at my face, making me instantly tuck my head to my chest in an attempt to protect my eyes—and in that moment, she made her move. Her hand dropped, jerking the gun that I always wore out of its holster and pressing it to my temple.
"I said get the hell off me, Hathaway."
Biting down on my lip, I struggled to make my limbs obey her command. Every part of me was tense, focused on the hard press of the muzzle against my skin. If her finger slipped… well, let's just say there's be no coming back for me this time around. I slowly released her, backing up until she could move freely. "Jill, please...listen to me—"
"No, for once you're going to listen! I wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for you!"
"I'm not the one that stabbed you," I said softly, my eyes never straying from hers as my mind raced. I was full of regret for not listening to whatever it was Dimitri had been trying to tell me. Not because I thought it might have helped me with Jill, but simply because I realized it might very well be the last time I ever spoke to him. If I died—here… tonight—it would be without having the chance to tell him how much I loved him.
"No but you're the one who almost drove Adrian off the deep end! Where do you think all that depression and anger went Rose? Into ME. For months I soaked it up like a sponge, without even realizing it. And it's still coming, even though he's happy! Whenever he remembers what you did it hits me all over again."
She pressed the gun more firmly against my head, adjusting her grip and I fought not to wince. "Killing me won't take the darkness away, Jill. It will only make things worse for you."
She studied my face for a moment, and in the silence I could almost swear I heard my heart racing. "You're right. I'll still be getting it, only it will probably be worse. He'll blame himself for this." In the blink of an eye she moved, transferring the gun to her own temple. "But if I kill myself it all goes away. And he won't have anything to feel guilty about."
"Do you honestly think he wouldn't feel guilty over your suicide? Hell—if anything would push him over the brink it would be that!" I was preparing myself to move towards her but she was a lot more observant than I realized, catching the tensing of my muscles and shaking her head. "Don't come any closer, Rose—I mean it."
"If you do this… you'll be killing Adrian too. Is that what you want?" I tried to keep my tone soothing, and it was hard. I knew at any moment Dimitri and Lissa would come walking through the door, and in her current frame of mind, Jill might shoot—either herself or one of them—without meaning to.
"It won't matter. He won't care. No one does."
"That's bullshit and you fucking know it!" My temper reared its head and I took a step forward without meaning to, making her retreat a few steps more to maintain the distance between us. "He risked his own sanity to bring you back from the dead."
"So Lissa could keep her crown! That's all any of you care about!" She hurled the accusations at me, her voice laced with a deep seated pain that made me realize she actually believed every word she'd said.
"No. We all care about you. Lissa. Adrian. Eddie." I reeled off the names, hoping she would see the truth in what I was saying and realize exactly how many people her actions would effect. "Sydney and Christian. Dimitri and me. We care."
"The only people you care about are Dimitri and Lissa. To you I'm just the spare Dragomir." Her voice waivered, making me long to pull her into my arms and whisper promises of how things would be different tomorrow. I swore to myself that if we got through this, things were going to change. No one should feel the way she was feeling, and I'd damn sure make sure she never felt that way again.
"You're absolutely right. I don't give a shit about the spare Dragomir. I care about Jill Mastrano—the girl I met at Saint Vlad's who was full of enthusiasm and questions. That girl had a chance to walk away from all the bullshit associated with being a Royal. She had a chance at a normal life, but gave it up for the good of others. That girl is worth more to me than a thousand fucking Royals, because she made a noble decision that had nothing to do with the Dragomir blood in her veins. She made it because it was the right thing to do. That kind of nobility isn't something that comes from your ancestors—it comes from how you're raised. So there's two more people to add to the list. Your mom and step dad. Just like me—and Christian and Adrian—they love you for who you are inside. Not the princess—but the girl. Remember… Christian and Adrian were your friends long before they knew anything about who your father was."
She stared at me, wide eyed, her bottom lip quivering. "You don't know what it's like… it's always there… always in my head, Rose."
"Oh God Jill—I do know. It's like.. a thick sticky film of oil, sliding over you and seeping into your pores, pressing down on you, getting heavier every day. It makes it hard to think straight… it's even hard to breathe at times. And I'll tell you something else.. something no one knows. I still feel it at times, rolling around in my head. It's almost as if when the bond dissolved, some of it got trapped inside me. It's always there, just like yours is Jill. And it's never, ever gonna go away."
She closed her eyes for a minute, her jaw tensing. "If I hadn't admitted who I was, none of this would have happened. I never would have died… I'd still be free to do whatever I wanted. My life's not my own anymore, so what's the point in living?"
I sighed, shaking my head. "I understand that, believe me, I do. I've lived with it my whole life—all dhampirs do. We live for the Moroi. But Jill—I stood up for what I wanted. You can too—I'll help you. I promise."
We stood staring at each other for the space of a hundred heartbeats, then she dropped the gun and hurled herself across the distance, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face in my neck. "I'm sorry. Oh God… I'm so sorry."
I stroked her hair with one hand, quietly whispering soothing words as I dug in my pocket and pulled out one of the heavy silver rings. "Jilly, you have to swear to me you'll always wear a piece of charmed silver. If you promise me, I won't tell anyone what happened here. It will be our secret." I slid the ring on her finger as she nodded, then hugged her close as she cried, trying to ignore the tears that trailed down my cheeks as well. I cried for the life she'd lost, and the smiling girl I'd met back at school. I cried for the loss of her happy, carefree teenage years, and yes, I'll admit it, I cried for the loss of mine too. I'd never had the life I wanted back then, but I would make sure she didn't miss out on experiencing everything I'd missed.
Glancing up, I saw Dimitri leaning against the door frame, watching me with an expression full of love and pride. At his side stood Lissa, and she wore that expression too, only it wasn't me she was looking at—it was the girl in my arms. And right then, I knew that somehow, everything would be alright. As long as we all had each other—and loved each other—nothing could stand in our way.