TW for blood, and a little bit of gore. It's not very detailed.

Enjoy!

Rose POV

"Are you taking your meds? That was the deal," Janine continued to push with no reprieve or chance for me to defend myself. She sighed as if it was a waste of time speaking to her only daughter.

The effects of the alcohol faded. Mason and Ivan stood in the kitchen with us, but they were blurred and sounded muffled. It gave me more of a headache than when I would just block them. I spent the night in blissful silence, but I should have gone to Caleb's to hide like I originally planned.

I only chose the car because I realised I was too drunk to climb back up the side of the house, and I didn't have the key to the main building. I almost barged into Dimitri's room, ready with a speech to tell him where to shove it, but changed my mind once in the garage and curled up in the backseat. It was nice, in a drunken stupor that allowed me to forget my problems for a night.

Of course, they all came rushing back.

"Why are you even here?" I asked again, desperate to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible. I didn't look at Dimitri, dreading that he might choose to tell my parents that I'd been drinking. With Janine there, it would be harder for Abe to brush it aside.

Janine placed a blue brochure on the kitchen island between us. "I've been in contact with the director and can have you admitted this week."

I looked at the cover and scowled, "Rehab? Seriously?" I turned to Abe, expecting him to have my back, but he had the same brochure in his hands. "You knew she was going to do this?"

My father had the decency to look ashamed. "Janine mentioned it, but I didn't think she was serious. Rose has been better, Janine. There's no need for this anymore."

I dropped my eyes; my fists curled at my sides. I could feel the weight of a gaze on me, and I shrunk back.

"You're drunk right now, aren't you?" Janine accused harshly; it threw off whatever defence Abe had for me. "You are!"

"It's not…" I tried but couldn't think of an excuse.

"Are you trying to destroy your life? Mixing alcohol with your medication is dangerous," my mother warned, but there wasn't any true concern in her voice. She was just pissed the medication wasn't making me docile. "How are you meant to get better if you–"

"Stop treating me like I'm insane!" I shouted, "I just want to live my life!"

"You are ill. This is for your own good." She punctuated the words by tapping the brochure, "I'm calling them now."

Fear squeezed my heart. "You don't care what's good for me," I spat as I beelined for the door, "You only care if you have to deal with it!"

Janine followed, her hand latched onto my wrist and pulled me to a halt, "Rosemarie–"

"Let me go!"

"Not until you listen!"

Suddenly, another body was between us; Janine's hand was removed from mine. I stared at the board shoulders and felt safe. Dimitri blocked Janine from reaching for me again, backing us both away from her. "Rose asked you to release her," he stated calmly, but with a firm undertone that made it obvious he wasn't backing down.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I work for Mr Mazur."

"He's Rose's bodyguard," Abe added, "Leave Rose alone, Janine, we can talk about this."

Janine gasped, "I'm her mother. I know what's best for her."

I shook my head, stepping further from them all. I had no say in anything, I knew once Janine set her mind on something, she would push until she gained it. I didn't want to live in a facility, and I sure as fuck wasn't going to just stand around and wait to be dragged in. I was out the back door before anyone noticed, I ran as fast as I could to get as far from the house as I could. I didn't have a location in mind, so I kept running.

My legs burned and I gasped for air, leaning heavily on a fence as everything spun. Sprinting while hungover was not a great idea. Running away in general might not have been a great idea. It gave Janine the perfect excuse to claim I was still immature—drunk and running away from my problems. She didn't care that I was an adult; other people my age were living their own lives, while I was still under the thumb of my parents.

They were going to force me to go to rehab where they would make me take my medication. My stomach rolled violently, and I spun to throw up.

Footsteps approached, slowing down when they reached me; I could already guess who it was before they sighed. "Rose," Dimitri breathed, gathering my hair back as I continued to throw up everything that was in my stomach, which wasn't much.

My stomach cramped and tears rolled down my cheeks; I stayed bent over after I stopped heaving. I didn't want to face him yet. "Are you going to drag me back there?"

There was a beat of silence.

"No. I'll let Pavel know you're safe, but I won't take you back until you want to go."

"What if I don't want to go back?" I sobbed, "The moment I step foot in there, she'll put me in that place."

"I don't think your father will let her."

Slowly, I stood back up, wiping my cheeks. "You don't know what she's like. Abe already stopped her before; I don't know if he will again."

Dimitri studied me with pinched eyes; he pitied me and it made me feel worse. "Come on, you need to eat something."

It was ironic that the person that I was trying to escape earlier was the one person that I wanted to be around. I still couldn't believe he stood between Janine and me—he protected me. A warmth grew in my chest, but it twisted and became cold when I reminded myself he didn't believe me. Dimitri didn't protect me because he cared, he did it because it was his job.

I'm just a job.

I could flip him off and walk away, I doubted he would push, but I had nowhere to go. Not to mention, I had no money or a phone. Dimitri wasn't the preference, but it was the best I had.

"Fine," I relented, tucking my hands in my coat and forcing some distance between us.

We weren't alone. Mason remained silent and kept a few steps between us; Ivan joined him when Dimitri arrived. They both looked like puppies that had been kicked; I couldn't look at them.

It wasn't their fault I could see them, but I had no one else to blame.

The ghosts on the street were crisp—a sign that I had sobered up enough. It left me with a pounding headache and an exhaustion I felt in my bones. I felt dejected; after a year and a half of doing what they demanded of me—it still wasn't enough.

"Janine wanted to commit me before," I stated. Dimitri's eyes snapped to mine with surprise. I don't know why I felt the sudden need to tell him everything. Maybe it was because there might not be a chance to later.

"A couple of months after Mason died, I couldn't handle hearing… the voices all the time. I was being haunted by my best friend and no one believed me." I wrapped my arms around myself, like a net to hold me together. "I discovered that drinking could numb me, but I didn't think about how it would mix with the stuff they prescribed me. Janine found me and they had to pump my stomach."

I remembered waking up in the hospital with the padded cuffs on my wrists, and the stern expression on my mother's face.

"I just wanted to block everything out for a couple of hours. I wasn't trying–" I stopped walking, and Dimitri halted beside me. Fresh tears fell down my cheeks as I felt the pain of that day. I had told Lissa about Andre, and she declared she never wanted to see me again. Only Eddie visited me in the hospital, and I could tell that things would never be the same.

Nothing was the same after that.

"Abe heard about it and came to see me in the hospital. Apparently, Janine was trying to get a Court order to have me committed. If I was seventeen, she would have just put me in one. He stopped her and convinced her to let me live with him. We made a deal that I would do what Janine wanted and keep my head down, then when I turned twenty-one, they would leave me alone." My bottom lip wobbled, "Guess that deal is fucked now."

I was surprised when I was engulfed in a tight hug; Dimitri felt so warm and solid. "I'm so sorry, Rose. I'm sorry that you had to go through so much."

A sob caught in my throat. "You all think I'm crazy; I know you do. But I'm not." I tugged at his coat, begging him to believe me like a child, "I'm not crazy."

He squeezed tighter and curled around me as if he could shield me from the world, and I wished he could. Dimitri didn't say anything, and I knew it was because he didn't believe me. Why would he? As much as I wanted him to, I rather him not lie to me; it was better that way.

I wish I had known that before I told him about Ivan.

I broke the hug, shifting back as I dragged my sleeve across my face. Dimitri's arms hovered in front of him as if he wasn't ready for the moment to end, but slowly lowered them back to his sides.

"I'm sorry I don't believe in ghosts. I just can't…I wish I could. I truly do," he implored, spoken with a pained look in his eyes, "But Rose, I've never thought you were crazy."

The words were too sweet for me to trust. Still, they soothed some of the pain I felt. "Thanks, comrade," I replied weakly.

I couldn't look right at him, knowing I would break down again if I did. Even Mason would send me over, so I looked around us. It was still early in the day, but people were out in the streets; cars drove by and they went about their days. I watched the kids playing with a ball outside their house, so carefree. I missed that feeling.

"Still want something to eat?" Dimitri offered; a hopeful smile on his face. I found myself returning it.

A crow squawked and I froze.

I searched the street for the bird; black wings stretched out and cast a shadow that was larger than itself. Three of them gathered across the road, the sounds they made like a warning of what was to come.

I heard the same sound moments before the branch under Mason broke.

The shadow covered one of the girls; the ball she played with bounced into the street.

A car approached; they weren't speeding, but fast enough that if it hit her…

I ran. I refused to watch another person die when I could prevent it. Dimitri shouted my name. I think Mason did as well; he could see what the living couldn't and knew what I was doing.

The girl chased the ball, too short for the driver to see her over the parked vehicles she ran between. I reached her seconds before it was too late, and pushed her back to safety.

But I took her place.

A jolt went through my body; I felt the world turn but couldn't make sense of how I was thrown. I either closed my eyes or passed out. Everything just went dark. The last thing I heard was the crow's wings flapping.

xXx

Dimitri POV

It happened too fast. I couldn't even comprehend what Rose was doing until the tires screeched and I heard the impact. I had seen a lot of gruesome sights in my life, but none of them evoked the same terror in my chest as seeing Rose's body thrown by a car. She landed on the asphalt and the world stood still.

It felt like I was shoved forward, and I was broken from my trance. Instincts kicked in, and I moved on auto-pilot, calling for help on my phone as I raced to the side of Rose's still form. I hesitated a second before I searched for a pulse; relief washed over me when I felt the steady beat of her heart. It was short-lived before the terror returned.

There was so much blood.

"911. What's your emergence?"

I spoke through the phone, detached and in control despite how I crumbled inside. Why would she run into the street? Why would she put herself at risk?

People gathered in the street, the driver was ashen, repeating that she came out of nowhere. A mother stood to the side with her daughter clutched close; the girl's hands were scratched and whispered apologies fell from her lips.

I leaned over Rose, hands hovering, unsure where I could touch her. Scrapes and bruises covered her face; a deep gash on her forehead that bled profusely. Her hand laid at an odd angle, and blood stained her torn jeans. The car hadn't been fast enough to kill her, but I had no idea the damage it had done.

"Rose? Roza, open your eyes!" I begged, gently cupping her cheek. An ambulance was on the way—four minutes out according to the woman on the phone. It was lucky—someone was in the area already.

None of it felt lucky.

"Roza," I pleaded again. Her face twitched, eyes cracking open a sliver. She stared up at the sky—at something I couldn't see.

"The crows…are gone," she whispered. Her lips stretched into a bloody smile.

The words didn't make sense, but I was grateful she spoke.

"Stay with me. Help is on the way." Each word a desperate plea. I don't think she heard me, eyes slipping closed. Panic constricted my chest, settling like a vice around my heart. I kept my fingers on her pulse, counting the beats. "Stay with me, Roza."

A lot of the time, my stories are built around one scene that I randomly thought of. For this story, it was the car accident and the chapter following. It's always a great feeling to finally be able to write the scenes I'd been planning for months.