Blood Oath (Ruby Rose/Ares fan fic)

Thirty-two

Andreja insisted on it and we stayed last night in Velika Gorica instead of going back to the capital. Using my skills to google things and her knowledge of Croatian language we found a brand new shopping mall where we bought some toiletries, a change of underwear, a couple of jeans, sneakers, T-shirts and two hoodies. They don't look quite fancy but they're exactly what we needed. I found a modern hotel on the outskirts then, it's nowhere near as luxurious as the Esplanade but it'll do for one night. I've slept in worse places, to be honest: the beds are a bit small but decoration is beautiful in shades of whites and greys with orange touches like the rugs and the white tiled bathroom is impeccably clean. There's a view of the city on the wall that looks like a sketch and was painted with clean black strokes by a local artist according to the receptionist. We arrived in time to get some dinner at the hotel's restaurant last night; the floor, tables and bar counter are made of wood but the chairs are of different colours: white, grey and orange. It's pretty clear that someone has worked hard in order to give it a modern and funny atmosphere but spending as little money as possible; staff is lovely and food was delicious.

Breakfast was good too: tea and coffee of acceptable quality and the sandwich's bread was fresh... and what's more, the free WIFI internet connection was also good so I was able to get in touch with Winston and send him a couple of reports that he needed, check some alerts in my phone and find out that Aidan Finn is back in New York again although I don't know what he's up to. At least, he doesn't seem to know that we're here.

Andreja drives slowly to the city's cemetery. She collapsed on her bed last night and slept soundly despite the nap she had before lunch. It took a little longer for me to fall asleep waiting for my painkiller to take effect, I'm feeling much better and I don't need medication through the day, but I need one pill every night so I don't flinch in pain when I turn in bed. And in addition to this, I was worried because I didn't know if her memories were going to bring nightmares: I had a restless night waking up from time to time to check if she was sleeping, thus I'm the one flashing horrible 'panda bear' dark circles under my eyes today while she looks fresh and ready to face the day ahead of us... and it'll be a tough one. We're going to visit Nika.

The cemetery is a great surprise for me: it's big, fringed by tall trees and some lawn areas but the white and black marble tombs are piling up closer than I'm used to see in America's cemeteries. There's a lively atmosphere, women come and go with cleaning supplies, empty flower vases and tons of candles that actually look like little red crystal lanterns. This place is supposed to be quiet and secluded but here women walk in groups, great her neighbours and have a nice talk with them near the graves. I look around totally baffled and a bit taken aback by all those laughs, I don't know what's happening here... Ares hand sneaking my phone from my jeans back pocket startles me, when I turn around I see her typing... wait a minute... how the hell does she know my password? Did she memorize it after seeing me typing it a hundred of times before handing her my phone? I should be more careful with these things, I have highly sensitive information in that device... but the truth is that I trust her. The Assassin hands me my phone back.

Halloween is just a few days away so they're cleaning and getting the tombs ready. While in your country children dress up and go trick or treating, during All Saints' Eve Croatian families come to the cemetery at dusk, they bring flowers and candles, thousands of those lanterns. All the available space on the tombs is covered by candles and they light them all at once to honour the family members that are no longer with us.

"Wow... it must look beautiful," I answer socked.

"Magical..." Andreja whispers before getting closer to a little flower stand. "Ruže..." *Roses. I hear her say and she comes back some minutes later carrying a lovely bouquet of beautiful light pink roses, exactly the ones a 15-year-old girl would love.