InsaneJournal

Rose had been having kind of a hard time in Lawrence lately. She knew she was lucky to still have people here, but she'd also lost a lot of friends and someone who was maybe starting to be more. Guilt twisted her stomach into a horrible knot when she admitted it to herself, but the fact was that she had been stuck here for over 6 months now without Dimitri. As much as she missed him, she was starting to accept that he wasn't ever going to show up and Grantaire had been, well, he could never have taken Dimitri's place, but it had started to feel like there could be something. At any rate, she'd felt a little less lonely with him around. Losing him, especially on the heels of Caroline, Katherine and countless others had hurt.

Being the only guardian to four Moroi didn't exactly help matters very much. It wasn't really possible to watch all four of them around the clock, but Rose did her best. It meant not getting a lot of sleep sometimes, but at least the apartments were warded. Nothing with evil intent could get inside. Her thoughts still kept her awake more often than not, but she worried less about their safety when they were home.

It was the wards and knowing the Moroi were all safely tucked into their beds that allowed Rose to seek a little more solitude than her apartment could provide tonight. She'd wished for the cabin on impulse when the baubles showed up, after the damn thing refused to give her what she really wanted - Dimitri, her mom, Eddie, even her father. Dimitri's scent had faded from the sheets a long time ago, but sometimes just being there, in that place where they'd both shared something so amazing, was a comfort to her. She needed that tonight.

Rose had been curled up on that bed, having a glorious dream about and and Dimitri on some gorgeous tropical beach, when something pulled her from her slumber. It took her a moment to realize what it was. The air around her was quiet. Too quiet, she thought, and there was a cold breeze coming from the front door. The door she was positive she had shut behind her. Slowly, silently, she sat up and climbed off of the bed. At first when she saw him, Rose's face lit up. Dimitri! He was here! As her quick eyes really took his in, though, her joy turned to panic. "No, no," she breathed, unable to stop her self. It was stupid. Even if he could smell her or sense her, making any kind of noise was stupid. But as she looked at Dimitri, she could hardly think rationally. Gone were his normally tanned skin and his warm brown eyes. This wasn't the man she loved. This was the face from her nightmares.

The Seal had finally delivered Dimitri to her, but it was having the last laugh, because this wasn't Dimitri, the formidable dhampir who she loved so deeply. This was Dimitri the Strigoi who'd nearly killed her in Russia. She might have wished for Dimitri a hundred times in the last six months, but this? This was the last thing she wanted.

***

Dimitri wasn’t sure how he’d gotten here. He’d just left Rose in her room, after once again visiting her. She’d been so out of it from his bite. He wasn’t getting any sense out of her. Which was quite boring at times. Although she sometimes seemed close to seeing things his way afterwards. This time, he thought she’d succumbed to a stronger dose of the endorphins in his bite than normal. But, as he closed the door securely behind him. Even in a drugged state, she was dangerous, and he wasn’t risking her escaping. Not before she agreed to be reawakened. He, stepped onto the ground just outside of a graveyard, and managed to catch himself before he’d stepped into the hallowed ground. Which would not have gone well at all.

The vampire turned to look around him, casting his senses out to sense danger. Where, he caught a familiar scent. Rose. But, not the Rose he’d just left under the effects of an endorphin high. Which had to be wrong. What he was smelling made no sense. But, he followed the scent anyway. Keeping an eye out for an ambush of Guardians. Or something similar.

But, instead he found something even more bizarre. If he was capable of love, the sight he found would very likely have caused his breath to catch in his throat. But, the cabin where he and Rose had made love did nothing for him. Didn’t affect him at all, apart from make his situation seem even stranger.

He pushed the door open, he wasn’t even cautious about it. His keen eyes took in the sight of Rose asleep on the bed. And, his mouth curled up in a cruel grin, his red eyes cold with the lust for power that he knew he and Rose could have together. Not that this explained where the hell he was.

“Rose.” He said, before he swiftly and in seconds stepped across the room, pinning her to the bed. Taking advantage of the surprise and panic he’d seen flash across her features. “What is this, Rose?” He hissed with menace.

***

Rose was fast, but she wasn’t fast enough and that split second hesitation cost her. It was the shock of seeing Dimitri like this again when it shouldn’t have been possible. At home in their own world it wouldn’t have been. Once restored, a person couldn’t become Strigoi again. Not against their will or on purpose. They’d discovered that after a restored Moroi had tried desperately to become undead again and failed over and over. He hadn’t been able to transform himself and even when he’d gotten a Strigoi to try and turn if, she hadn’t been able to. He was just dead.

Those rules didn’t really apply here, though, because the seal could bring someone from any where, any time. It could turn people into pirates or ninjas overnight, flood them with memories in their sleep, do any number of things that shouldn’t have been possible. And of course, of course it would bring her this version of DImitri rather than the one she knew, the one she loved. Fucking biblical piece of shit.

A hard, determined look replaced the panic in her eyes. She had to get out and warn the others, but before she could do that, he was standing in front of her. God, she’d forgotten how fast he was. As a Dhampir, Dimitri was nearly unmatched in speed and strength. As a Strigoi, he was so much more so. Rose was better, faster, than she had been the last time she’d seen him like this, but it didn’t matter. He had her pinned back on the bed before she could move more than a foot away from it. Adrenaline pumped through her as she fought in vain to get away, but she knew from experience that it was futile. Dimitri could hold her here effortlessly, for as long as he wanted to. Struggling would do her no good. She would need to catch him by surprise. And then she’d have to find a way to get free of him without actually killing him. As much as she didn’t want to endanger Lissa or Adrian, if they could manage to restrain him, Lissa could restore him again. Or Adrian could.

Determined not to show her fear or the furious mental calculations as she tried to come up with a plan, Rose just smirked up at him. “I know you don’t sleep anymore, comrade,” she told him with much more levity than she felt, “but don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what a bed looks like.”

***

A cruel smile spread across his face at her struggles. It was futile, and they both knew he could hold her there for as long as he wanted. But, he also knew he had no idea of how they’d both gotten here. Or why Rose was no longer under an endorphin high. It should have been impossible. How, she or her friends had done this, he didn’t know. But, he knew she would tell him. In one swift movement, he hit her. With exactly enough force to make her head ring, but not enough to knock her out.

“Be smart, Rose. I wanted you to join me. But, I will kill you if I have to.” He growled, anger and disdain evident in his voice. “How did I get here? This was at the school, but that’s not where we are.”

***

That was going to leave a mark. Rose gritted her teeth, determined not to cry out or let him see how much the blow had hurt. She didn't think he would actually kill her, not if he was still talking about wanting her to join him. It was still hard to say when exactly he was from, but she knew that once she escaped him in Russia, once she left him for dead in the Ob, his plans to awaken her changed. He wasn't there yet. Still, she was smart enough not to try and call his bluff, if only because she knew she had to get out of this so she could warn the others.

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she shrugged, which wasn't easy when he was holding her down. "I don't really get how it works. Some kind of biblical seal thing, it likes to kidnap people from their realities and bring them here to Kansas. Sometimes it brings buildings and other stuff, too."

She really should have had the witches ward this place. That was pretty stupid. Hell of a time to think of it now. She would get away, though. She'd escaped him before, she could do it again.

***

Dimitri had no idea what Rose was talking about. Biblical seal sounded like something he’d have believed back when he was still a dhampir. And, different realities sounded like a science fiction show. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. None of what she was saying made sense. It sounded more like a bad movie, than anything that could happen in reality. Not even in their reality of vampires and magic.

Still, he was acutely aware that if what she said was true. He had no idea of when the sun would come up. And, he knew this cabin was not as light tight as he’d prefer it to be when that did occur. He made his decision. He needed to move now. Before he lost anymore darkness. And, he needed to take Rose with him. But, she wouldn’t be compliant about it, he knew that. Instead he needed to make her compliant. But, he didn’t have time to feed from her right now. Not until he’d found somewhere for them to shelter from the sun.

“Time to go, Roza.” He said, voice cold as he smiled, and backhanded her again. Knocking her cold.