STOP!

I beg you not to read this, pretty please. Lol. There is so much wrong with this fiction and I can only apologize, really, for the mess of mistakes, especially in the beginning. And, I suppose if you must read, please note that there will be a re-write in the future. Some things will be completely missing altogether because they are useless to the overall plot and just... yeah. Sooo, excuse me while I go bury my head in the sand and pretend that this doesn't exist. Oh dear.

And if you still feel compelled to read this, just remember that you have been warned of the atrocities that are about to follow...

*facepalm*

Chapter One

"The Fight"

Dimitri.

After all this time looking for him, he was there, right in front of me, unaware. It was the perfect opportunity to attack. He'd never suspect a thing.

I bit my lip, hating myself for hesitating. I'd waited for this moment for so long. So damn long. I owed it to him to kill him. He didn't want this life. Or lack thereof.

As I stood there, not making a sound, I reflected on the last six or seven months. I gave up everything for him. I gave up becoming a guardian; I gave up protecting Lissa. I abandoned her. Sure, I could still feel her through my bond with her, even all these miles away with me in Siberia, but it wasn't the same. I missed her.

One stake to the heart was all it would take. This would all finally be over and I could move on with my life. Or attempt to. I just had to find the courage to actually do it.

I made a move towards him, after finally coaching myself and repeating over and over that it was the right thing. Only he did something I wasn't expecting; he turned around. And what I saw made my heart convulse in pain. Those red eyes were boring into mine and it made me think of him the way he was. Before he became this creature standing in front of me. Why? Why did this happen to him? He was supposed to be a god, right? People like him were supposed to be indestructible.

I stood there, frozen and unable to move. He, on the other hand, had no problems moving.

He walked towards me and stood right in front me. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, motionless. A few moments passed with us just looking at each other and then he sighed, as though he were bored.

"Why did you come here?"

Somehow, I found my voice. It was amazing, even to me, that I remembered how to form words. "You know why," I whispered.

"I wish you wouldn't have."

I tightened my grip on the stake and shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. It was almost like he was studying me with the way he was looking at me.

"I don't have a choice. I'm sorry," I said quietly, but determinedly.

"Me too, Roza. Me too."

Then his face morphed into this cruel, un-Dimitri type of creature. He became evil.

His lip sneered upward as he backhanded me, catching me off guard and I staggered backward. Wasting no time at all, he then grabbed me by the shoulders, lifted me off the ground, and threw me across the room; I grunted in pain—it was excruciating. I hit the wall of the cabin we were in and I could have sworn I saw stars. If I thought he was strong when he was still a dhampir, I should have expected this. I should have expected him to be a powerhouse as a Strigoi.

I gingerly touched the back of my head and winced at the slight pressure. I saw him moving towards me rather slowly, almost nonchalantly. I looked around me and then I panicked when I realized that the stake slipped out of my grip. It was closer to Dimitri. Shit.

He smirked evilly and picked the device up by the point, let it slide down his hand, and then caught it and gripped it tight by the hilt.

His eyes roamed the piece of metal almost fondly. He looked as though he were lost in his own kind of revere.

"What a pain in the ass these things are."

I trembled as he started walking closer towards me. It was the only time in my life I'd ever feared Dimitri and as I looked up at him, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to die. I would never beat him and make it out alive.

But just because I knew I was going to die, didn't mean I was going down without a fight.

"Please. Don't do this," I said softly.

He stopped his advance momentarily and I quickly sat up and retreated towards the wall. I hugged my knees tightly and braced myself when he closed in the distance. He crouched down in front of me as though I were a small child and he sighed.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Roza. My Roza," he said as he brushed a piece of hair out of my face.

Wary, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? Come with me. This life—it's not as bad as we imagined it to be. We could be together. We wouldn't have to worry about guardian politics anymore; we wouldn't have to give up our lives to protect those insufferable Moroi. We could be together," he repeated. He leaned forward and brought his lips to my ear, causing shivers to run down my spine. Even as a Strigoi, his body still had the same effect on me. "Forever."

The offer was far too alluring for my liking. All this time I'd spent looking for him, coming up with ways to kill him, didn't take away the fact that I missed him; that I still loved him. I loved him so much it hurt. Some nights, it would get so bad that I would end up crying myself to sleep.

I wanted to be with him. Oh, I wanted to be with him more than anything. But this wasn't him. His soul was gone. This wasn't Dimitri. It was just his body.

"I'd rather kill you," I said defiantly.

He sighed, sounding somewhat defeated as he hung his head. "Shame," he said. He then lifted his head as he quickly raised the stake, getting ready to plunge the point into me.

But I was ready for that.

I waited until his body was in the perfect position; the stake had just barely grazed my skin when I heaved every ounce of strength I had and kicked him in the stomach. The stake went flying out of his arms and he landed flat on his back.

I quickly stood up and readied myself, knowing that wouldn't keep him down for long.

Sure enough, he got up and a low chuckle escaped his throat. "Do you think this to be wise? How often did you beat me when I was alive?"

We began dancing in a kind of circle, each of us waiting for the other to make the first move. "There's a first time for everything," I said through my teeth.

He laughed outright and clapped his hands together. "I taught you everything you know, Roza! Come now, this is rather foolish, don't you think? I'll beat you," he said cockily. "You'll die." He sounded almost sad as he informed me of my near-future death.

"I know," I said.

He looked equal parts shocked and confused at my statement, which was just the opening I needed. I threw my first punch and he stumbled, surprised by the sudden contact. I used the opportunity to throw my second, which hit him square in the jaw, and managed to get a kick in there, too.

Dimitri clutched his stomach as he stood up. He spit out a tooth and I watched in amazement as blood followed. "Impressive," he said truthfully. "The question is, how long can you keep it up?"

"Long enough."

He nodded as if he were humoring me and did that eyebrow thing he used to do when he was still alive. "And you've been conditioning? I highly doubt that. You've spent the last seven months chasing after me. That hardly leaves time for training," he said as he crossed his arms.

I shrugged, unwilling to give it away that I had been training. Every minute that I wasn't looking at clues, trying to decipher just where exactly he was, I was running. I was at a gym, utilizing every skill he ever taught me. I wasn't about to let it go to waste.

"Guess we'll found out, huh?" He glanced at me curiously and hesitated, suddenly unsure of himself. "Come on, Dimka," I said and fought back a laugh at the face he made. I never called him that. I actually kind of hated that nickname for him. "Give me your best shot," I taunted.

He smirked and despite the fact that he was my enemy now, it still made my heart flutter the tiniest bit. Damn his body. Inwardly, I chastised myself and pulled it together. Now was not the time to be thinking about how perfect his body still was. So instead, I got ready for any blow he was about to deliver to me. I knew we would fight—he wouldn't pass this opportunity up.

As expected, he delivered in spades. He swung, but I ducked, and he only hit air. I hit him square in the nose. This seemed to piss him off and make him angry, which couldn't mean anything good for me. He growled and went for my stomach, which sent me reeling. It knocked the wind out of me and had me staring at the ceiling.

Get up, Rose, I said to myself. Finish this fight. You can't go down in one swing.

Grimacing, I pulled myself to my feet, ignoring the searing pain that was consuming my body. That earlier meeting with wall and this punch to the stomach was not doing the best of things for my health.

I was weak, but I still attempted to swing anyway. Bad move. Definitely, bad move. He deflected the punch easily and grabbed my left arm, twisting it behind my back. I cried out in pain, hating myself for it. I should be stronger than this. "You can't beat me!" He then kicked me in the back, which propelled me forward and I hit the ground again. My arm was throbbing; I was sure he dislocated it somehow.

I was getting ready to give up and give in to the pain when I saw it: the stake. It wasn't that far away from me.

I willed myself to get up and once I was on my feet, I started running for the stake, which had landed over by the fireplace. I was almost there; it was within maybe two arms' length reach. But I wasn't quick enough. He dove for my ankles and I went down hard.

He twisted me around so I was on my back, once again. I struggled and tried kicking him, but he was expecting that. He had my knees pinned. Damn him.

"You can't kill me, Roza. You're not strong enough."

I glanced sideways and tried reaching for the stake with my good arm. But he obviously saw what I was trying to do and he beat me to it and threw the weapon across the length of the room.

I shut my eyes and felt defeat course through my body. I lost. I couldn't save him; I failed him. Fighting back tears, I let my head fall back against the floor. This was it. There was no possible way I could get out of this alive.

He placed his hands around my neck and slowly started applying pressure. Oh God. He was going to choke me to death.

I wiggled underneath him, trying to get loose, but I knew it was no use. He was so much stronger than me. I wouldn't beat him.

I felt my air supply being cut off and a million thoughts began swarming through my head. I thought of my mother and realized that I was actually sad that I would never see her again. We had just started to attempt to patch up our relationship and I had left everything behind me, leaving practically no chance of reconciliation.

I remembered all of my friends back at the academy, including Christian. Oddly enough, I would miss him and his sarcastic sense of humor. We probably would have been good friends if I had given him a fair shot.

Surprisingly, I even thought of Adrian and his suave demeanor. It looked like I wouldn't be returning to give him a fair shot.

And Lissa. My heart constricted as I thought of Lissa and everything we had been through together. We were each others' rocks and we were always there for each other. At least it had been that way until I left her behind. I would never get the chance to tell her that I was sorry for abandoning her, or that I loved her.

Finally, I thought of Dimitri. I thought about how much I loved his smiles that he seemed to save just for me, his laughter that was so rare and that twinkle in his eyes that would accompany it. I thought about our time at the cabin and how that was the only moment we ever gave in to our feelings for each other.

I willed myself to open my eyes, even though his red eyes were not the last thing that I wanted to see before I died. I gripped his hands and tried to pry them off my neck, but his grip was ironclad. There would be no budging.

"Dimitri, please," I wheezed. "You promised to protect me, remember? You promised."

But he didn't listen to my pleas. I felt the last of my air slipping and off in the corner of the room, I saw Mason standing there. He had already moved on, but apparently, he was back. Back for me. While his presence was of some comfort to me, I realized that I didn't want to die. I wasn't ready.

Just when I thought I was done for, suddenly, I could breathe again.

I gasped for breath and started coughing as I looked up at Dimitri, who was now standing. He was looking at both of his hands and he actually looked shaken. His red eyes were confused and for a second, while I sat up and rubbed at my neck, I saw his eyes bore into mine.

When I could finally breathe again without wheezing, I stood up and walked over to him warily.

He glanced at me with uncertainty in his eyes. They were no longer cold and empty. Despite the redness, they almost reminded me of Dimitri before he became a Strigoi. "Dimitri?" Had he heard my pleas after all? Did he save me? I dared to walk closer, but he dashed out of the cabin before I could even make a move.

"Wait!" I screamed, but he was gone.

I went to the front door and saw him running off into the night. There was no way I'd be able to catch him. He was too fast.

Feeling overwhelmed, I dropped to the floor and started sobbing.

I had failed him. I knew he didn't want this life and I hadn't been strong enough to put him out of his misery. I hesitated, just like he knew I would.

Suddenly, I felt a throbbing, blinding pain overtake me. My head was dizzy and my arm felt like it had been ripped out of its socket.

I attempted to make it out the door of the cabin to get to the safety of my motel, but I was too weak. I reached out with my good arm to try and steady myself, but it was no use. For the fourth time since I had been in this wretched cabin, I collapsed into a heap on the floor. But this time, I wasn't getting up. All I saw was blackness.

Hey there!

First, I wanted to say thanks to those who took the time to comment. It's because of you that I'm uploading this new chapter. I really appreciate the feedback, so thanks!

Second, this next chapter skips her journey of looking for him and goes right to the point that she finds him. I wasn't going to include this fight scene, but I decided to give it a shot. Plus, this will kind of give some hints for future chapters. I hope you all enjoy it!

So far, I've had a ton of fun writing for this. It's different from anything I've tried before and it's a breath of fresh air for me. I just hope I can keep readers' interest.

Oh, and someone asked if Rose and Adrian are married. Their relationship is complicated. I won't say now whether or not they're married, but it will be revealed later on in the story what the status of their relationship is.

Anyway, on to the chapter. Please keep the comments coming! I love all of them!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters.