She crumbled to the ground, eyes filling with tears. The voice that had once crushed her into submission was now gone, leaving Rose to deal with the chaotic thoughts that filled her. What once had been a formidable opponent had been reduced to a fading a child; a chilled corpse.

Do not pity her. You have burned the fear into the hearts of your enemies. Stand proud. She did not feel proud. Her overwhelming guilt blocked any influence the voice once held.

There was nothing and no one in her dark world. But there was. Behind the hideous images of Natasha abusing and using Dimitri for her own enjoyment was Ivan. He had Arana pinned against a wall. And then there was her angel, taking her far from Arana and Ivan and all of the evils she had committed.

-o.o-

Rose used her knowledge of the spirit world to guide her in her initial escape. Dimitri was somewhere behind her since she had ditched him behind the Castle's shrubbery.

And when Rose had finally made it to the city without running back into Dimitri, she knew for a fact Ivan had seen her stroll across the walkway. But as she had evaded Dimitri, Rose ducked into a nearby crowd of caffeinated girls effectively losing Ivan; and finding a certain trio of trouble makers. The trio didn't notice Rose, and they wouldn't until it was too late.

Rose watched them weave in and out through the crowded sidewalks. Her eyes refused to leave their retreating forms, especially when they turned right onto a deserted street. Do it Rose. Prove everyone you're not a fragile child. Make them realize your true strength. There was a voice again, this time it sounded strained. Hypnotic power was still there, urging Rose forward.

She caught up to the three Moroi easily. None of them noticed her, lurking just behind them. James held one of the twins, Kendall, against him, whispering something in her ear. Kylie was the one who laughed though, her eyes pinching shut as she stopped behind them. Wrong.

Kendall and James turned to her but they froze in place when their eyes landed on Rose. She stood behind Kylie, her right hand reaching forward and gripping Kylie's blonde mane in her fist.

Everyone sprung to life then. Kylie's hands worked to pry her hair out of Rose's tight grip. Kendall's hands joined in the battle while James launched himself at Rose. She let go of Kylie, bringing her fist to his jaw and listened to the sick snap. He rolled back, grabbed the twins and raced through the street eyes wide with unkempt terror. Rose could hear them gasping for air as they ducked into an abandoned shop.

She followed, the voice quietly reciting words to her. Break them. Destroy them. Make them beg on their knees like the dogs they are before you end them completely. And how could Rose not agree? She'd be doing the world a favor. Sick bastards like them deserve to suffer.

Inside the shop she found James playing hero, standing in front of the girls. He held her eyes with his own and relief poured through her veins. He's compelling you. Don't let him know. Strike him when he gets close enough.

James move toward her, hands held just so in front of him. "Just kill her! She'll only follow us to finish the job." That was Kendall, her eyes wide and wet with unshed tears. James ignored her cries and continued forward. As if cued, and she was, Rose lunged forward and slammed James into the opposite wall. Kylie scrambled towards James. Rose letter go, but continued toward Kendall. Rose? Don't hesitate. Kill her. I can't! This isn't right! I won't do this. You will Rose. Let your anger breathe. Let it out but do not let it go! These fool follow the bidding of Anastasia. Don't you want to make her pay? Do not let this false peace overtake you Rosemarie! The voice lit a white hot burning rage within her. It felt so familiar having her anger control her. It felt so good to have her hands wrapped around Kendall's throat, slowly drawing out her death. Kendall went limp, her eyes rolled back, and her lips parted with a silent sigh.

Relishing in her death, Rose watched Kendall's now lifeless form slump to the ground. "No!" Kylie slammed into Rose's back, ruining the moment. Her nails dug into her shoulders, biting down till blood blossomed; she was desperate to see Rose crumble. James hooked his arms around Kylie's slim waist and tugged her back. Rose knew what he was doing, but escape wouldn't be so easy.

"Stop. Turn around. Sit down and do not move." Compulsion. It wasn't James though; he wasn't strong enough to put that much force into the command. Rose sat down lightly eyes searching for her. Arana.

"James, get Kylie out of here. Now! I don't know how long I can hold her." A lie. Arana was strong enough to keep Rose down for weeks. The deafening silence that followed left Rose quiet. In the presence of Arana, the voice was silent. Well, she knew the voice was barking commands, she couldn't hear it. It posed no threat. It held no power. And it was liberating.

With Kylie struggling and protesting, James nodded and escaped. Minutes passed. Arana sat on her knees with Kendall's doll-like form pulled close to her. Rose could see the fierce concentration on Arana. Her face was contorted with frustration, lips pulled in, eyes pinched tight, hands trembling, and body rigid.

"It won't work." Rose was surprised at the words that tumbled from between her lips. Arana's sharp eyes speared Rose's. It was meant to bait Arana, but it held the opposite effect. Her hand shot out and slapped Rose hard.

"You think you're safe, but you're not. Anastasia wants to torture you with the shortcomings in life, but the rest of us just want you dead. There's a target on your back, one so big that not even Dimitri can protect you from." Hearing his name was a punch in the gut. Rose was putting Dimitri in danger by recklessly running about.

Seeing her obvious discomfort, Arana continued. "And you don't even know the hell he's been through. His days with Tasha? Absolutely tragic. It was so unbelievably difficult to keep compelling him into pleasure with that woman. But you wouldn't really know if I didn't show you." With force on show, Arana scooted closer to Rose, her hands brushing her temples lightly. "You don't know how much they have sacrificed for you; how much they have given up for you! I would murder you, splatter your blood across these walls and show your lifeless corpse to the world. I would end you, but by doing that I lose. And to win, I'd do so much worse."

The anger that had burned inside Arana flowed through her fingertips, scorching Rose completely. Rose exploded. Her body became numb. Everything was destroyed inside her, only to be rebuilt and destroyed again. Images began flowing into her. Dimitri tied down to a chair, hair clinging to his face from sweat. More images, faster now, him being held down and whipped by Tasha. Another, Tasha was now slamming herself on Dimitri with wild passion. Again, Tasha was using him as a toy. Faster. He was bleeding, yelling out in pain as Tasha bit into his tender abused flesh. More. Another. Again. Faster. Quicker. It was a never ending flood of vivid images, sounds, cries. Rose felt herself die. Dimitri had tortured himself to get to her. When the images died down, Rose could still feel them chaotically buzzing about within her. Arana had won. Rose had been defeated.

"Roza, Roza!" He was chanting in her name as desperately as she gasped for breath. He found me… She half expected the voice to respond until she remembered. Arana. Ivan flashed past Dimitri and Rose, lifting Arana up and slamming her into the closest wall. He was shouting something, but the only thing that really registered was the crazed smile spreading her lips wide.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Arana? Rose is to be left alone!" His fangs gleamed at her, threatening her silently of his unkempt power. Arana let her lips lift and spread until a wicked smile took up her face.

"She's no better than we are! She killed Kendall like it was nothing. How can you even begin to imagine she isn't exactly like one of us?" Ivan didn't answer her, he just watched Arana with mild curiosity. His eyes shifted to see Kendall curled in awkwardly, as she was a doll flung across the room during a tantrum. It didn't bother Ivan though, why should it?

We all die eventually. Some sooner than others. Oh… Rose felt Dimitri pull her even farther from Arana. Without her steadying presence, the voice had come back completely. Do not pity her. She is responsible for her own death. Had she truly wanted to live, she would have fought harder for it. That didn't help ease the uncertainty within Rose. Her stomach was in knots. Arana was right. Rose was just like those monsters. And she could still feel Kendall's throat against her hands.

Dimitri buckled Rose into the shiny black SUV. Instead of watching Dimitri, Rose glared at her hands, eyeing the scratch marks angrily. Kendall had fought. She had clawed desperately at Rose; her legs had swung wildly hoping to kick Rose hard enough to release her. Kendall did fight. She just didn't fight hard enough. Did that mean she deserved to die because her average Moroi strength couldn't compare to Rose's trained Dhampir genes? No. Yes. Shut the hell up! You don't know how hard it is! How incredibly degrading and miserable it is to have someone show you how weak you are! This is why you will eventually die as well.

-o.o-

"Arana, pay attention; what happened to Rose after Kylie and James left?" Anastasia towered over Arana, her glare cutting the young girl. She smiled when Arana began to fidget ever so slightly under the gaze of her peers. Though he didn't agree with the impromptu interrogation, Robert remained silent. Galina, Edger, and Nathan watched her with hungry eyes while Ivan had avoided eye contact since the beginning of this fiasco.

"I tortured her. She killed Kendall. I only gave Rose what she deserved. Dimitri found her soon after that and dragged her away from me. I wasn't strong enough to fight them both off, and I figured you'd rather finish her off personally. I passed out due to exertion and woke up here."

Bullshit. Ivan was grateful that Arana had left him out of her story though. After Dimitri took Rose away, Ivan had burned down the shop, Kendall still inside, and carried Arana back to the Clubhouse. Arana hadn't passed out though. As soon as the flames had engulfed the entire building, she had choked and began to tear.

"Is that so?" Arana nodded and everyone was excused. Riley grabbed Heidi and they ducked out of the room. Anastasia had disappeared amongst the chattering spirit users with Robert vanishing right behind her. Seth and Jett had lost interest and had left as soon as Arana nodded. Though everyone was quick to leave, James and Kylie lingered back with Arana. Ivan couldn't bring himself to sneak out with his Strigoi 'friends'. He knew how bad Arana was; he knew what Arana had done to Dimitri. Still. In her moment of weakness, he had caught a glimpse of someone worth it.

"What's wrong with Rose?" Ivan's head snapped up. Her grey eyes held his bloody ones.

"What do you mean?"

"She's gone, but not really gone. She's here, but then she's not really with us. It's like she's somewhere else completely. I felt something different in her, when I had connected our thoughts. It was different…" Her gaze had dropped to the floor, but now she was looking straight at Ivan, "She isn't being compelled, but she is being influenced by something… someone."

What she said made sense. Dimitri had told him how Rose was zoning out before refocusing. It was leaving her exhausted and stressed. "And how can you be so sure?" He found his voice again, but only because of his unwavering curiosity to know. What was the extent to Arana's spirit magic?

"When I connected us briefly, there was a flash of something else. Well… actually it was more like a whisper. I heard a voice. There was something else in there with Rose… and it was… it was pretty damn violent." Arana, feeling unsettled at just the thought of that voice scratching its whispers into Rose, shivered. "I've never heard something so viscous…"

I van sat Arana down, then took the place beside her. Despite her hard exterior, it was obvious Arana had been shaken by the encounter; it had scared her. The voice that thundered in Rose's head scared Arana. What the hell does that mean for Rose?

Author's Note:

What even is this life?! Did I actually write this chapter down and finally post it for all to see? I think so… Thank you to everyone who was patient and waited for this chapter. I know I have been seriously slacking, but let me tell you. I've got a list of excuses and none of them will sound remotely okay, but that's because I'm guessing half of you are brain surgeons. I was sick, I was running late with all of my homework, my Girl Scout troop has been needing me, I cannot find a job, my babysitting job doesn't count according to my mom, I have a car that needs to be constantly filled up with gas (and not the natural kind), I got sick again, my senior project has taken over my life, and then I decided that instead of writing I would clean my room. Oh and the stress of Prom is on. YUCK!

Tell me about your woes please?

A big thank you to RozaRocks and Emoroza98 for reviewing! Thank you to Do'B, Emoroza98 (again), I Adore DONUTS, Unpure Dreams, Zammie4ever, miti1, theothersideoftherainbow, truelove1816, and vee78 for favoriting! And thanks a bundle to Do'B (again), Emoroza98 (again), VA97, Zammie4ever (again), asuna69, booksanddisney, miti1 (again), rozasbloodykiss, theothersideoftherainbow (again), and vee78 (again) for following! You guys are all ppreciated! And for those who just read, thank you as well. I hope you find this story to be pleasing :)

Okay… so I realize there has not been a 'scene' yet where Rose and Dimitri get it on. It will happen. My love for them is stronger than you think!

-Lolita