The next place I found myself in was one of the last places I expected to be. I was in my jail cell. I was in the same cage that kept me trapped with the same ice-cold bars that made me shiver. I was standing in the same place that made me so claustrophobic that by the time they broke me out I was close to loosing my mind. Yes everything was the same apart from one thing. The door was opened. I stepped out of the cell into the dark hallway and started walking. I didn't care what this test was I was going to pass and I won't let anything get in my way. As I walked down the hall, I felt like there was no end. I began to pick up speed until I was running. I ran and ran until suddenly I hit something and fell back. I groaned as I sat up. My head was aching and I felt dizzy, but I ignored that. I stood up and put my hands out in front of me expecting to feel an invisible wall or something like that. Instead there was nothing. There was totally nothing there. It was just like passing through a ghost. I let go of the tension in my shoulders and began walking again, just walking. It seemed to be a good idea. I walked down the corridor until suddenly I was out. I was standing in the middle of the courtyard at the royal court. I looked behind me but there was nothing there. The hall was gone. I looked around for whom my next visitor was but there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was still the exact same as when I last saw it. It wasn't until I heard a voice that I knew I wasn't alone.
"Looking for someone?" I gasped. I knew that voice, but it was impossible.
"Tatiana?" I asked not truly knowing if this was real or not. I turned around and there she was dressed in a long cream and gold dress. I guess I was right. There was a ghost.
"Lost are we?" she asked. She appeared to be glowing in the bright light of the sun.
"No. I'm just confused. How are you here? I thought ghosts couldn't come. Mason-" I started but she cut me off.
"Mason has moved on. I haven't. "
"You have unfinished business?" I asked though it came out as more of a statement.
"Yes" she nodded.
"Tasha. You need to see your killer actually gets charged for killing you. " I said.
"No" she said.
"No?" I asked.
"No. I need to see Lissa become queen. I need to see the coronation with my own eyes knowing that she will do well and will change the age law that was unfairly enforced. You did well. You got her sister and now she and become queen. She is ready." She said. It made perfect sense. I knew Lissa would be an amazing queen. Maybe she could actually win.
"I don't think I did. Sure I brought her sister in. She's not alone anymore, but they didn't like each other before they knew they were sisters. It's only going to get worse. I could feel Lissa she felt so sad when she learned the truth. Now Jill is always going to be seen as her fathers mistake." I said. It was true. I felt Lissa. Right before the shot I heard every though every feeling louder than the screaming audience in the room. I knew what she felt and I knew why.
"True, but they'll learn. Come on we have to hurry." Before I could say anything else she started walking through the courtyard to the back.
"Where are we going?" I asked but, got cut off with a shush. Tatiana was staring off into the distance. I moved next to her and looked off to see what she was looking at. I had to squint a little (With her Moroi eyesight she could see clearly) and off in the distance I saw a blonde figure dressed in black walking off to a crowd of people. The hair and dress looked so familiar, I continued watching her until I finally realised it was Lissa.
"Hey that's Lissa." I stated.
"Indeed, it is. "
"What's she doing here is she my visitor?" I asked suddenly feeling excited. I missed Lissa and wanted o badly to see her.
"No I'm your only visitor, " said Tatiana. "Come on let's go see her. " She said and started walking off again. I followed closely behind my eyes never leaving the crowd of people we were slowly approaching
"I can see Lissa?" I asked while still staring at the crowd.
"Yes we can see her but she can't see us. No one can. "
"Oh", I said kind of disappointed. We walked over to the group of people and I saw the last thing I expected to see. Everyone here all had their eyes on the same thing that I couldn't take my eyes off. It was a grave. My grave. There were white roses everywhere and everyone was in black. This was my funeral. I started to panic as the my coffin was being lowered into the ground. I was too stunned to move all I could do is watch. I never pictured what my funeral would be- I doubted I would get one after being on trial for killing the queen. I looked away only to meet Tatiana's eyes.
"What is this? "
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked sarcastically.
"No. That's not possible. You said I'm still alive" I could feel my pulse racing rapidly.
"You are, but you wont forever. You need to focus Rose. Why are we here? What are we looking at? What's going on around us?" she asked suddenly getting very serious. I turned and looked back to where I lay so still it made Goosebumps appear on my arms. I shivered but focused back emptying my mind of all the bad thoughts going around my brain.
"I they all look so sad. All these people who yelled and screamed demanding my death. All these people who were so scared at me and in the end they had the wrong person. They locked me up, sure I understand why. There was plenty of evidence to make me look guilty, but I thought they would at least listen. They all saw me as a murderer. My whole life I have put them first, but still it was like no one was on my side. I understand that all the evidence pointed to me and I know if I were in their shoes I would have thought I were guilty too. And yet I felt betrayed...I think they are all here today because they feel bad. They know the truth now. Tasha was guilty, they blamed the wrong person, but it's too late to apologise so this is the best thing they can do. They blame themselves for not believing me." As I continued on it felt as if everything was frozen giving me a chance to talk. The image of my lowering casket was still fresh in my mind and made me feel empty knowing that if I fail that is exactly what's going to happen to me. These tests were trying to get me to lose but I couldn't let them.
"I should be pissed but I'm not they had legitimate reasons to think I was capable of murder after all I am. Victor…Victor was an accident and I have gotten over it, but that doesn't undo what I did. He's dead and I killed him. I guess I'm not because I know exactly what I'm capable. I guess what I'm saying is I forgive them." As soon as those last three words left my mouth everything began to turn black. Tatiana was gone and I was alone. Hands started reaching out for me from all angles. I struggled out of their grasp but was unsuccessful. I fell backwards into a pool of thick black sludge. The hands kept reaching and I kept falling it was so thick I was struggling for breath. The sludge was just starting to cover my face when I figured out a plan. I had no idea if it could possibly work but I decided to try it anyway. I took the deepest breath I could and turned into the thick sludge. I pushed myself through it eventually getting to the bottom. I moved my hand around and found something solid and round. I had no idea what it was, but I decided to take my chances. I used all my strength and pulled it towards me. I could feel it opening and pulled even harder. It was so heavy I was beginning to question my strength. I mustered all the strength from all the years of training and fighting. Eventually I opened it and instantly got sucked in.