Summary: Rose goes missing. Will they find her in time?
Rose Hathaway
It’s a beautiful day at St. Vladimir’s where vampires live; moroi and dhampirs. There are Guardians, too. Like me and Dimitri. We’re my best friend, Lissa’s guardians. We’re also dhampirs and Lissa is a moroi. We are sworn to protect her the rest of our lives; which is why we always have to be on our guard. We can’t let our love for one another get in the way of protecting her.
I sit in the front row of class getting bored of the teacher, also a guardian, lecturing. So I go inside Lissa’s head to see what she’s doing. I’m Shadow Kissed, which means that she used Spirit to bring me back to life. If I put down my shield, I can see ghosts. The connection only goes one way. I can see her thoughts, see what she’s doing and where she’s at, and I can take some of the dark thoughts from her. Spirit users go insane over time.
I see that Lissa and Adrian are in Lissa’s dorm room practicing with Spirit. He’s showing her some tricks with it that she doesn’t know yet. Lissa’s boyfriend, Christian Ozera, is watching them while snacking on a bag of chips. He and Adrian are both moroi, but Christian is a Fire user.
I come out of her head and class soon ends.
I grab my stuff like all the other students, and leave the room to go to my dorm room. My classes are over with for the rest of the day.
When I leave my room, I don’t get far alone. My boyfriend, Dimitri Belikov, falls in step at my right side.
“How was your day?” he asks me.
“Good. Yours?” I answer him.
“Better than yours probably. Are you going to the dance tonight?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Roza.”
“Yes. I’m going. How about you?”
“Yes. Would you like to go with me?”
“As a date, Dimka? Of course.”
“Good. I’ll see you there at nine. Don’t be late.”
We kiss and then pull away.
Dimitri Belikov
I wait for Roza inside the club for an hour after we were supposed to meet, not far from the exit. Where is she? Something must’ve happened. I’ve been watching the door. She hasn’t come yet.
I go to stand by the food stand to speak with one of the new guardians. Eddie.
“I have to check on something. Will you watch Lissa for me?”
“Sure,” he replies.
I leave the club and start walking, searching for Roza. Roza would never be late. Not even for a date. Something’s wrong.
When I get upstairs inside the academy, I knock on Adrian Ivashkov’s door. I want to know if he knows where she is. If not, he can track her down in her dreams.
Adrian Ivashkov
I’m sitting on my bed drinking from a beer bottle, when there’s a knock on my door. If I’m lucky tonight, it’s Rose or Lissa. I’m quite fond of Lissa and in love with Rose. I’ll probably never win Rose, but a man can dream, can’t he?
I set the half-finished beer on my end table and get up to answer it.
To my bad luck, when I open it, it’s no other than Belikov himself. I lean in the doorway, still sober.
“What do you want, Belikov?”
“I can’t find Rose. Have you seen her?”
“I haven’t seen her since this afternoon. She’s probably in her room or hiding out somewhere.”
“I know her better than anyone, Adrian. She’s never late. If she was going to be late, she would’ve told me.”
“Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, Adrian.”
I watch him walk away before closing the door. I then sit on my bed and finish my beer.
I toss the bottle in the trash can in a nearby corner, before lying down on my bed and closing my eyes. There’s only one thing I can do. If she’s sleeping one way or another, I can go into her dream. She calls it invading her dream, but I call it a friendly visit.
It’s not long before I find her.
When I enter her dream, I use Spirit magic to change it to a beautiful, green, rose garden.
“Rose.”
She sees me.
“Adrian, you have to help me.”
She sounds like she’s trying not to sound scared.
“Where are you?” I ask her. “What’s happening? Belikov is worried. He’s looking for you.”
“I’m being held captive by some strigoi. They’re looking for Dimitri. Hurry.”
“I will. Just be strong.”
I vanish out of her dream and open my eyes. I quickly sit up, get to my feet, and soon find Belikov downstairs in the lobby. He’s pacing. I approach him and tell him what she told me. Then he leaves to fetch some guardians to find her.
A few hours later, they bring her back safe and sound.
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