Amnesia // Dimitri Belikov

XIII

"When you feel my heat,
look into my eyes.
It's where my demons hide."
***

The little girl looked up at the sign on the bar, "Rousseau's" it said. She was too young to know whom that was, but she figured it would be the owner. Holding her mother's hand, she walked inside.

The entire place was empty, except for her family, whom had been waiting for her. The table was stacked with all kinds of delicious foods, but Rose's eyes landed first on her father. She leaped at him and jumped onto his lap, making him laugh.

Her gaze now lingered on the food, 'I feel like a princess.'

'Oh but you are,' her father told her.

She frowned. 'No, I'm not.'

'Yes,' he told her sternly, 'you see, I run New Orleans. Some would even call me the king of this city. Which makes you, my little Rose, a princess.'

Sparks of excitement were evident in her eyes, giggled escaped her lips, 'Princess of New Orleans?'

'Princess Rosemarie Andrea Mikaelson, of New Orleans and all the supernatural creatures that live on the face of the earth,' he announced as he raised his glass.

And the entire family followed.

Rose's eyes were wide open, she was panting and sweating. Her hands clawed at the sheets and to her horror she saw Dimitri laying in bed next to her. Her eyes raked over her nearly naked body and she felt as if all the walls were coming at her.

Dimtiri was still sleepy as he sat up, 'Rose? What's going on?'

'How drunk was I last night? What did we do?' she exclaimed as she desperately tried to recall the night before.

'Nothing,' Dimitri answered, his eyes suddenly alert as his hand reached out to her face, 'Rose, what's wrong? You didn't even have a sip of alcohol.'

'Then why are you in my bed?! Since when do you acknowledge my existence?!'

'What is the last thing you remember?'

Rose groaned as she tried to recall the last days, 'My head hurts, a hangover, I'm certain. I guess... the Queen's meeting?' Her eyes widened, 'Oh my god! I have to apologise to Lissa, I was so out of line. I shouldn't have undercut her like that-'

'You already have,' he told her, making her pause.

'No I didn't.'

'Yes,' he told her softly, 'you did. Then, Lissa said it wasn't your fault and pushed you to far on the James matter.'

Rose flinched, 'How do you know about that?'

'You told me,' he whispered, desperation and sadness clinging on to his voice, 'You broke down and I told you that I lied when I said my love had faded. I told you, I loved you.'

Her heart felt like it was shattered and glued at the same time, but bitterness beat both heartache and happiness. 'I think I would've remembered you telling me that, no matter how drunk I was.'

'You weren't drunk, Roza. And that didn't happen yesterday, but the day before that. Yesterday you called Sydney about some Mikaelson files or something. And in the evening we had dinner with my family, you told everyone about the nightmares.'

Rose's throat was dry, 'I did?'

'Yes.'

'Wait...' her cheeks were soon stained with tears, her voice hoarse, 'You love me?'

She registered the pain in Dimitri's eyes, as he pulled her closer, 'I love you so much, Roza, it hurts me somtimes.'

Sobs left her mouth and after a couple minutes of relentless tears, she recovered with a weak smile, 'I should be to young to have Dementia.'

'I don't think Dementia works like that, Rose, I'm afraid it's something else.'

'Like what?'

But before he could answer, there was a knock on the door, Rose frowned and grabbed a bathrobe. Opening the door, only to see a Guardian.

'I had to deliver these for you,' he told her.

He stepped aside, showing the boxes he'd brought with him. Rose took them hesitantly and thanked him, before hauling the boxes inside. She tore off the tape that sealed them close and looked inside. A big file with a name written across it. Mikaelson.

***

'I may not remember us getting back together, but I really like having you here,' Rose whispered as they sat on the floor of her apartment and dig through several files.

'I like it too, even though I would prefer if you'd just agree to going to the nurse with me.'

Rose rolled her eyes and stiffened as she opened one of the files, pictures falling out. Her breath caught in her throat. 'Oh god.'

'What's wrong, are you okay?' Dimitri asked worriedly as his eyes examined her.

'The pictures,' she muttered, the haunted look she wore after her nightmares back on her face, 'they're exactly like my dreams.' She picked one of the pictures up and showed it to Dimitri, 'the straight brown hair, thin eyebrows, full lips. That's Hayley, she's the mother of the little girl.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes!' Rose exclaimed as she grabbed the next pictures, 'Niklaus, the father. Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Freya, Finn, they're all exactly the same.'

Dimitri handed her the file, with the name Hayley on it, 'Maybe this says something about the little girl.'

She snatched it out of his hands and her eyes scanned the paper, her breath hitching in her throat as she saw a familiar name. Her finger pointing it out to Dimitri, 'Rosemarie Andrea Mikaelson, born on July third, 2000. That's my birthday, Comrade.'

'I don't understand, I-'

He couldn't finish his sentence, an alarm rang through Court. An awful beeping noise, sure to wake anyone, or more importantly: everyone.

Rose glanced at Dimitri, panic filling her eyes, 'How'd they get in?'

A guardian masked slipped in, he pulled her closer and grabbed his stake, 'I don't know, check in on Vasilisa, we need to get all of us somewhere safe.'

She nodded and grabbed her stake as well, her hand clamping onto Dimitri, as she closed her eyes. And she was terrified of what she might see, because god forbid, that Lissa would be in danger of a Strigoi.