The Disappearing Act (Vampire Academy Fan Fiction Book 2)

Chapter 23: Normal

Chapter 23: Normal

                They let me go home four days after I'd woken up. It'd been torture listening to the doctors, Dimitri, and Cassie all worrying over me; I knew I needed it though. I was so sick of running off alone and it felt nice to know I had at least two people who cared about me, but I really couldn't stand their fussing anymore.

                I didn't let Annessa near me until I felt normal – well, more normal than a patient in the psych ward. It was another four days of cleaning the house, having Cassie dye my hair back to its normal color, and avoiding talking. Every time I met Dimitri's gaze, I could feel him digging into the dark corners of my mind; he knew I was hiding something from it, and it was killing both of us. We were avoiding discussing everything; my ditching him and Annessa in a hotel room, the part where I'd lost my mind for a few weeks, and what had really happened in that strip club.

                I hadn't told anyone what I'd seen.

                I couldn't believe it myself; how was I supposed to explain it to the entire world? None of them would believe it; they thought he'd just run off after having his heart shattered to pieces. But I knew, and so did Jill. She'd always had such a crush on that damn boy.

               

I had woken up with the sun, still on the human schedule I enjoyed more than the vampire one. Dimitri was asleep upstairs in our huge bed that I hadn't been comfortable in since coming home. Then again, I hadn't slept since returning, either. The doctors gave me pills for it and the "heightened anxiety" I was supposedly suffering from but I hadn't touched them since Cassie had dropped them off. I needed my head clear; it had been messed with enough lately.

I sat in my favorite armchair, a cup of coffee in one hand with a blanket wrapped tightly around myself. This was my favorite place these days; I got to watch the sunlight stream through the windows, awakening the house and all its glittering decorations. It bounced off picture frames and glass vases with fake flowers; played on the hardwood floors and polished coffee table. I'd never understand how Strigoi could willingly give up witnessing the beauty of the sun.

"Rose?"

                Dimitri's heavy, sleep-ridden voice echoed down into my silent paradise. I heard his footsteps on the stairs, dutifully coming to check on his crazy little wife.

"Living room, comrade," I answered and pulled my blanket tighter around myself. For some reason, I'd been cold since the hospital; maybe it was just the drugs leaving my system, but I was always shivering now.

                He appeared moments later, his tanned chest gleaming in the sun as he pulled his black pajama bottoms higher on his hips. His hair was messy, sticking up from his head in what could only be called a forest; I was happy he was letting it grow out again. Coming to my side, he bent down and placed a quiet kiss to my forehead.

"Did you sleep at all, my Roza?" he questioned, obvious concern in his tone as he studied the purple bags hanging beneath my eyes.

                I gave him a small smirk and held up my coffee cup. "I'll be okay, really."

                He shook his head and sat on the arm of my chair, looking around the quiet house for a moment. "Do you remember when we first moved in here?"

                A laugh broke through my throat. "It seems like forever ago."

                So much had happened since the Queen had surprised me with the keys to this house; she'd turned into a dictator worse than the one before her, I'd spent a good portion of the last ten years tracking a monster I'd finally met, Dimitri and I had somehow found a child. We weren't the same people who'd argued over decorating our bedroom, or who'd spent three weeks bickering over which color mats to put in our gym. I didn't know if I liked those people better or not, but I knew I certainly wasn't enjoying the complete disaster we'd become.

"I proposed to you on the doorstep," he continued, ignoring my comment.

                I rose an eyebrow at him and sipped my coffee. "That was the sixth time I said 'no.'"

                Now, he chuckled and shook his head as he leaned down to kiss my nose. "We promised to build a life here, Roza. All those years ago, we swore we'd use this house for good and let it be our home, no matter how far we travelled."

                A fond smile played on my lips as I remembered a long-haired Dimitri on his knees in front of me with the ring I'd seen so many times before; instead of letting him slide the band into its eventual place on my hand, I'd made that speech to him, claiming I moving in was a big enough step for now. He'd laughed then; we both had.

                I missed laughing with him.

"We did," I whispered sadly, "for a while."

                One of his gentle, calloused fingers tucked under my chin, turning my face up to his brown eyes. They held all those promises of forgotten days, and the desire to finally fulfill the life we had been planning since my graduation from the Academy. But those were childish dreams; reality didn't fit those now. How had he not broken under the weight of our world and all its monsters? He would always be so much stronger than me, full of hope while I could barely see past the end of the week.

                I pulled my face out of his grasp, leaning into his side while his fingers moved to stroke through my unruly hair.

"Let's try again, Roza," he answered, voice low but full of determination. "No more running, no more monsters; we can file papers with Cassie and raise Annessa like proper parents. We can stay here and be normal."

                I tilted my head up to study him again, the laugh bubbling off of my lips. "We'll never be normal, comrade. We're too good to be just 'normal.'"

                The sadness entered his eyes and I saw him struggle to push it back as he came to peck my lips again. "Then let's stay and be extraordinary – but we can't run anymore, Rose."

                He gave me one more kiss before straightening up and strolling silently into the kitchen.