I'm so sorry this took so long, I've had major writer's block. I wrote this chapter over six times but was never satisfied with it. Please, forgive me if you don't like it. There are two things in here that are going to be important to this story later on so it's not necessarily a filler chapter.

I apologise again for the delay. Thanks to those who have stayed loyal to this story despite my lack of updating. :)

Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns the characters in this story unless marked otherwise.

Rose P.O.V.

Nightmares. I couldn't escape them when I was awake or asleep. The only difference was that when I was awake, I wasn't the only one being plagued. My soul mate was too.

Dimitri. He lay in a heap in the corner of the room, too far away for me to reach him. The blood from his back had stopped flowing long ago yet it still soaked his clothes. The smell of his blood wafting through the air made the torture session stay at the forefront of our minds. He had been knocked unconscious by the Strigoi not long after I had blacked out and hadn't woken since. I didn't know exactly whether I should be concerned or not considering didn't know how long ago this took place. I didn't know how long ago we were kidnapped. I didn't know how long ago Dimitri had been tortured. I didn't know how long ago I had passed out from screaming and crying. I didn't know how long I had been lying awake, watching Dimitri's limp form, hoping for him to wake.

The Strigoi didn't seem to know I was awake yet because they hadn't decided to grace me with their lovely presence. Either they didn't know, or it was their plan. Waiting me out and making me think of other ways they could torture Dimitri sounds like as good a plan as any. Maybe I was just paranoid though. Maybe their plan was to let Dimitri heal before coming back for more. They sure as hell wouldn't get any information from me if they killed him that's for sure. Not that they would get any either way.

Nausea welled in my stomach, alerting me to the fact that there were Strigoi close by. I knew this already of course; they were almost always there. For Strigoi, they were very well organized, taking shifts to guard the door. Sometimes I found myself hoping they did this because there was a flaw in the room, a way we could escape, but then I think of how I am chained to a wall and Dimitri lay there, free as a bird, and my hopes diminish as I take into consideration that they are doing this as a mere precaution in case Dimitri gains enough strength to stage an escape.

My eyes squinted at the flourescent lights over my head as I searched the room yet again. Nothing changed. Four walls, no windows, an old, wooden door, chains and hooks on either side of the room to secure multiple people. From looking at the room for so long, I had come to see things I hadn't seen when I had seen the room initially. A hole in the wall that looked to be made from a fist. A camera in the corner furthest from me. My broken Chotki bracelet on the floor near the door.

This room reminded me so much of Spokane, yet it was so different. I didn't have Christian to help from from my bindings. I didn't have Mia to help me kill the Strigoi. I didn't have Mason to sacrifice himself so I would live. I didn't have Dimitri to comfort me and tell me everything would be okay. No, it was different. So, so different. Because, for the first time in my life, I feel so alone. Dimitri was here but he wasn't going to be of much help with the escape. I would have to do this alone. I would have to fight my way through countless Strigoi in terrain I am unfamiliar with. But I didn't feel that this was a burden. Not at all. I was doing this because it was my duty to my charge, my friend, and my love.

My stomach growled and, again, I wondered how long we had been trapped here. I hadn't known just how much I had relied on sunlight - or a lack thereof - to give myself a time range until it was no longer an option. In this little room, in the middle of a building full of my worst enemies, there was only light and dark. It was light now. The harsh fluorescents threatening my sanity as they showed me my confines. Sometimes though, it was dark; the lights get turned off and, with them, the nausea. Both are good and bad. The light allows me to see Dimitri - to make sure he was alright. The dark awards me time to execute an escape plan if one were possible.

I lay my head back against the concrete wall, willing myself not to give into the fatigue, but my body won out. I faded into the darkness for the third time while in captivity.

I stood in a familiar room. One I had only been in on one occasion. The lust charm.

The comforter was peeled back on one side just how it was when I had arrived. The small Western collection in the corner of the room. A small rose necklace lay in the middle of the bed.

My hand rose to my neck and, sure enough, the necklace was gone. I looked down to see the little black dress I had worn on the night of the dance. Memories of what Dimitri and I had done in this room came flooding back into me.

"Wow, Little Dhampir. Nice dress." Someone stepped out of the darkness, revealing a handsome Adrian clad in casual jeans and a T-shirt.

"Adrian, why the hell are we here?" I demanded.

"What do you mean? I let you pick the place." He raised an eyebrow. "Where are we again?"

I looked around the room once more. "Dimitri's room." I said.

He clenched his jaw momentarily. "Nevermind that." He walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I need you to tell me where you are, Rose."

"What do you mean? I already told you. We're in Dimitri's room." I was confused.

He shook his head. "No, Rose. In real life. Where are you?"

I frowned. "I don't know. Asleep somewhere. I-" Events of the attack, the rescue mission, Dimitri and mine's capture came crashing down on me. The memories seemed to bury me with their weight. "Oh my God, Adrian. I don't know. I don't know. We - I - they knocked me out and I woke up and - and they tortured him. They have him Adrian. I don't know what to do! There's no way out! I-"

"Little Dhampir, Rose, you need to think about it. You need to remember. You know where you are. You came to while they were transporting you, but they compelled you to forget. I can see it in your aura - it's there. You just have to make yourself remember."

"But, Adrian, I can't-"

They dream started to fade away and Adrian was yanked out of my grasp. I never gt to finish what i was about to say before he was taken away. I didn't get to tell him he was wrong - that I wasn't awake. I wasn't compelled. That I had no idea where we were and Dimitri was going to die if they couldn't find us in time. No, I never got to tell him before he woke up and left me to my nightmares. Both asleep and awake.