When Rose is shot by Tasha Ozera in Last Sacrifice, both Lissa and Adrian use all of the Spirit they can wield to try and bring her back. In a shocking turn of events, Rose is not only healed, but somehow ends up somewhere she never could have imagined. Canon up until Time-Travel. Rated T for language. First multi-chapter fic.
"HEAL YOU?"
Heal him? My thoughts echoed hers.
"You're the only way," he said patiently."The only way to cure this disease. I've be watching you for years, waiting until I was certain."
Lissa shook her head. "I can't…no. I can't do anything like that."
"Your healing powers are incredible. No one has any idea just how powerful."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Come now, VasiLissa. I know about the raven—Natalie seen you do it. She'd been following you. And I know how you healed Rose."
Vampire Academy
-Richelle Mead
Bonds Of Time
Chapter Eight
Howl
The pain overwhelmed me and I groaned, being shifted into a position that made my eyes water. My eyes refused to open, no matter how hard I tried, and I just knew they were swelled shut. The panic started to set in when I found that I couldn't move. I was pinned in place. The broken bones ground together underneath my skin sending sharp slices of pain that wracked my body while I was carted out of the rubble. Hot liquid ran down my arms and poured off of my fingertips. Cold fall air assaulted my skin, giving me at least a little relief from the burning agony. I felt too much.
"She's seizing!" The nurse gasped and I could feel their hands on my shoulders and thighs, trying to hold me down while my body thrashed wildly out of my control.
Dimitri was beside me whispering in my ear to hold on, but the unbearable torment took it's hold and I lost consciousness.
Massive snow covered mountains sat in the distance, below them was a still and peaceful lake that reflected the rocky cliffs and boulders onto it's smooth surface. The moon was full, casting a blue glow onto the snow, and the twinkling stars were mirrored in the still water. It was like something out of a fairytale.
The room I was in was magnificent. There was a couch that circled around the center of the room that could have seated twenty people. The smell of chocolate wafted through the air and made my mouth water. But it was the person there that made it all the better.
"Little dhampir!" Adrian pulled me into a hug.
He pushed me back and held onto my shoulders, staring at me intently. "Are you okay? I've been trying to call you for hours."
"I don't know." I shook my head. "There was an accident at the school. Well, I guess you can't really call it an accident. The person who was trying to kill me might have succeeded."
"I need details, Rose." Adrian said seriously, pulling me toward the couch.
"Did you go to St. Vladimirs?" I asked, letting him hold me close to his side.
"Yes," He chuckled quietly, "I was there for almost a year before they kicked me out. Or as the record states, my parents pulled me out to be tutored at home."
"Do you remember the bleachers out by the track?" I turned to look at him.
"Yes," He looked at me with concern in his eyes.
"The whole fucking thing collapsed on top of me thanks to a chipper little earth user who didn't have the balls to face me head on." I took a deep breath and let it out. "Now I'm probably halfway to my grave."
"Come on now." Adrian turned so that he faced me. "It can't be that bad."
"Let's just say that I have more broken bones than not and the last thing the nurse said before I blacked the fuck out was 'She's seizing!' in her high pitched annoying voice. So yeah, I'm pretty sure that my body is up shit's creek without a paddle at the moment."
"Rose, I have to go." Adrian pulled himself away from me. "This couldn't have happened at a worse time."
"I'm sorry," I said in astonishment, "Should I reschedule my death? How about Tuesday? I haven't died on a Tuesday yet."
"I'm serious, Rose!" Adrian pulled me in for another hug. "I'm with Aunty and probably about to miss my flight."
"You're seriously leaving me?" My disbelief was maxed out. "Right now?"
More than anything, I didn't want to go back to that pain and torture. There was no way I would ever leave Adrian if he needed me, so it hurt when he couldn't even take a few hours out of his schedule to stay with me.
"I'm sorry, Rose." Adrian sighed. "Call me as soon as you can. I'll try to visit you too. Take care of yourself."
"No, wait!" I yelled out, but the scenery was starting to fade and the darkness was taking over.
The pain was waiting for me when I returned to consciousness. Only now my mind felt sluggish and even though I knew I was hurt, I didn't care. They must have had me on more of the really good drugs. Because when I was finally able to open my left eye, the world exploded in a spectrum of colors. Like a rainbow had thrown up in the clinic.
Stan, Dimitri, Alberta, and Dr. Olendzki all stood around my bed. "Are you ready?"
Ready? Ready for what? I opened my mouth to say no, but then I felt pressure on my leg and heard the sound of the bones shifting within the muscle. It was a nauseating squelching sound and I fought the urge to either scream or puke. Something had to give. So I screamed out every foul word I could think of, most of them were in Russian.
"My word!" Alberta hissed. "She's awake."
"Yes," I said through gritted teeth, "Yes she is. And that fucking hurt!"
"Rose," Dr. Olendzki said kindly, ignoring my cursing, "we're going to have to straighten the rest of the bones. There is a possibility that you might need surgery. Since we can't get a hold of your mother. Is there anyone you can think of for us to call? Is there anyone you want with you?"
"I don't have any family other than Lissa and my mom." I growled out through gritted teeth. "But I don't want either of them to see me like this."
I groped around until I could find Dimitri's hand. "Don't let Lissa come anywhere near me. Please, I'm begging you."
"I promise, Rose," Dimitri nodded his head.
It made me feel a whole lot better to know that he would keep Lissa away. The last thing either of us needed right now was for her gift to be discovered, especially by Victor and Natalie. My mind went through the different ways that they could try to get to Lissa now that I was out of the picture, and none of them were good.
"Protect her, comrade." I whispered to him. "She's not safe here."
Then they popped my elbow back into socket and I screamed. It went on and on like this for close to three hours. My bones were straightened, splinters removed, cuts and gashes were stitched. Lots and lots of gauze was used. I feared that by the time they were finished I would look like a mummy. I was right. I looked like a freaking cartoon character after it had fallen off a cliff. My arms were suspended in the air by a pulley system. Both of my arms and legs were in casts. My torso was so heavily bandaged that I didn't even have a gown on. Although it was form fitting and showed off my assets, I wasn't very happy with how my body looked at that moment.
The surgery had gone off without a hitch. My right arm and hand had been the worst off and the bones had to be placed just right so that when my super healing kicked in, I wouldn't have bones sticking out in places they shouldn't. I almost laughed at the thought. Dr. Olendzki and the surgeon both assured me that I would be perfectly fine in a week or two, but it did nothing to ease my nerves.
Dimitri had stayed with me throughout the entire thing, holding my hand and whispering to me that it was going to be okay. I hated feeling so weak and needy, but I loved just being able to hold his hand without having to worry about what anyone else said.
"How are you feeling?" Dimitri asked as soon as the others were gone.
"Like ass." I sniffed the air in disgust. "I smell like it too."
"You will be up and about in no time." Dimitri smiled at me.
"Thank you for staying with me." I told him while I was being bandaged up.
"You wouldn't find me anywhere else, Roza," His hand held mine in a gentle grip.
True to his word, Dimitri stayed with me for the rest of the night. He told me stories about his home in Baia and about his family and it made me miss the sweet people that I had met in my dream. Even his crazy ass grandmother.
A week and a half went by before I was able to leave the clinic on my own two feet. Although it was a relief not to be in there anymore. It also brought a lot of questions and difficulty for me. My instructors didn't bother with adding more homework. So I was good on that front. It was Lissa that bothered me. She hadn't even attempted to visit me one time while I was trapped in that tiny cold room. She'd been blocking me out the entire time and due to the brain addling drugs I was under, I didn't have any other way to check on her other than asking Dimitri to check on her for me.
It was actually Christian who visited at least once a day, and all he could tell me was that Lissa wasn't herself and that she'd been spending more and more time with the other royals. The day I was released from the clinic, it was Christian that offered to escort me to my room.
"I just don't get her!" Christian said in aggravation as he walked me back to my dorm. "All of the sudden she has to go around acting like queen bee and doesn't have the time to even say 'hi'."
"Who has she been hanging out with?" I asked, cringing because I already knew the answer.
"Mainly the royal chicks and Natalie." Christian growled. "Fucking Natalie never leaves her side for a second."
"Has Natalie been acting odd too?" I hoped that he wouldn't confirm my fears.
"Yeah, ever since she brought that injured dog back with her." Christian sighed. "She claimed that she was heartbroken that it was hit by a car and she had to beg her 'daddy' to bring it back with her. Bad part is the dog is perfectly fine. It's a menace, but there is nothing physically wrong with it."
"Shit!" I growled out. "Thanks for walking me back, Christian. I'll see what I can do about Lissa. Please don't take it personally. She has a lot of shit going down right now. I'm not trying to make excuses for her. Just give her some space. It won't be long before she snaps out of it."
My room was a wreck when I walked in. It looked like a hurricane had come through. There were two cardboard shipping boxes on my bed and a single postcard.
I picked up the postcard and flipped it over. 'I'm glad you're better. -mom.' I laughed out loud as I placed the letter on my desk. Then I opened the largest box. It held a beautiful pair of black combat boots that would fit me perfectly. The note read; 'A size seven to use on me if I ever do something that stupid again. - A' .
The smaller box held a simple pair of diamond earrings and a note that read; 'Get well soon.'
The boots fit like they were custom made for my feet and I wore them around my room trying to get used to their weight. After tidying up and putting the earrings in the top drawer of my desk, I tried to get to Lissa through the bond. Only this time it worked.
Lissa sat in the middle of a huge van with Christian sitting beside her. He had an unnaturally happy smile on his face a sure sign that compulsion had been used. Dimitri sat in the far backseat by himself and had his face turned toward the window. Natalie sat on Christian's other side and she was leaning forward and talking to Victor who sat in the front seat next to the driver.
My heart lurched at the thought of three people I cared about being in a vehicle with those two maniacs. I had every right to be scared. Lissa was lost in thought and hadn't expected it when the van turned off onto a gravel driveway and she winced when her head hit the window on the bumpy road.
"I thought we were going to the mall?" Lissa asked quietly, looking around to see nothing but trees in every direction.
"I just have a short stop to make, dear." Victor turned around and smiled at her.
Lissa's nerves calmed and she sat back in her seat. They had been driving for a while and she hadn't heard Dimitri speak in almost an hour.
It was when she turned around that my heart dropped. Dimitri was slumped over in his seat, two tranquilizer darts stuck in the side of his throat while his neck was cocked at an odd angle. Lissa screamed and turned to the other side to see that Christian fared no better. He had collapsed and was falling out of the seat.
"Don't worry, Vasilisa. " Victor smiled at her. "You and I just need to have a little chat and I assure you that they will both be just fine."
I forced myself back through the bond and into my own mind. Angry didn't begin to describe the way I was feeling. My newly healed legs carried me to Alberta's office slower than I liked, but there was no way to avoid it. I burst through the door gasping for breath and holding my side.
Alberta jumped to her feet. "What in the world is going on, child?"
"Lissa and Christian have been kidnapped." I wheezed, ignoring her insult. "Guardian Belikov is with them. Dimitri and Christian have been injected with tranquilizers."
"Did you see this through your bond?" Alberta asked quickly.
No, I was there and ran back just to tell her. "Yes!"
"It's going to take some time to get a rescue group together." Alberta said, walking around her desk. "I have to make some calls to see if we can find them."
"They're on route eighty three. There is a gravel road on the right just past mile marker twelve. Follow the road to the end. They're in a small cabin there." I stated from memory.
Alberta looked at me in shock and confusion while quickly writing down my directions. She yelled after me when I darted out of her office, but I had taken off running and there was no one on earth that would stop me.
I found a Jeep in the campus garage that had the keys in the ignition and a tank full of gas. It started up and I tore out of the driveway like a bat leaving it's cave at sundown. The wind whipped my hair straight back as I had unfortunately chosen a good off road vehicle that had no top. But it was fast and it was quiet, so that was all that mattered. I'd worry about my hair later.
The gates were closed and I didn't have time to stop, so I honked the horn repeatedly. At the distance I was at, the guard was the size of a gummy bear as he stood there and shook his head with his arms crossed. I didn't slow down. I just pressed on the horn until the stupid fucker moved. I really wished that he would have opened the gate before he jumped into the ditch, but he didn't. So I had to drive through it. Let me just say that it's not very smart to drive into an iron gate in a vehicle that has no roof. That shit hurts. Bad. And the little iron spokes at the top aren't as soft as one would think.
When I recovered from the shock of what I had just done, I took off down the road as fast as the little jeep would let me. It wasn't often that I had the opportunity to drive, but I loved it. I just didn't love having to drive when I was trying to stay out of Lissa's mind. In her current situation she didn't make it easy for me to ignore the bond. So I did the only thing I could do, I pulled all of the fear and anger that she was feeling into myself. I knew for a fact that Victor wouldn't hurt Lissa, but Dimitri and Christian were expendable and I wasn't willing to see any of them get hurt.
Route eighty three passed by in a blur brought on by my dangerously fast driving and I had to slam on the brakes in an effort not to pass the turn off to Victor's cabin. The road was rough and the Jeep's suspension had me bouncing around in my seat, but I couldn't slow down. I drove for another twenty minutes before the Jeep came to a screeching halt. The seat-belt cut into my rib cage and I winced at the feeling. The cabin was less than a half mile away. I would have to walk not to tip off Victor's guardians who, like me, had very sensitive hearing.
The sun would be rising soon and I held out hope that I'd be there by then, needing the cover of darkness. I slipped into the bond after I had parked the Jeep on the side of the road, making sure it was well hidden in the thick underbrush.
Lissa was sitting in a chair in the middle of the living room. Tears poured down her cheeks while she watched one of Victor's men back hand Christian across the face. Blood spurted out of his mouth and his head flopped to the side. He was covered in gashes and burns. Victor's men hadn't held back in torturing him.
The sound of dogs howling and barking in the distance made me run as fast and quietly as I could. The psi-hounds were on my trail.
End Chapter Eight
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