Strike me like a match and watch as I burn [Vladimir]

It had been several weeks since Lika's encounter with Tolya. She had sent him an owl letting him know that she had found the potion and taken it. She of course, couldn't go down to her local pharmacy. Lika didn't want her father to find out that she had intimate relations with another boy that wasn't Vlad, let alone that she might have been carry that boy's child. So the potion she had gotten was from the black market. It was the only way she could keep it a secret. And what harm could it do right? Someone sold it to her pretty cheap and she had taken the potion that very same afternoon. She had been about a week 'late' and didn't want to risk waiting any longer. Of course the guilt had of killing the small baby that grew inside her, tore her apart. She started to get really sick and she blamed the guilt at first. That was until the bleeding, the vomiting and the fever set in. Her father started to to panic, his little girl was very ill and he didn't know what was causing it or how to treat it. She had been fairly sick for a couple of days before Sergei decided to contact Vlad and his father. He wrote and owl to them telling them of his daughters illness and how worried he was that she might not pull through it. If they wanted to come and see her, which might be for the best, that they could stop by anytime. It was about time that Vlad started taking care of his future wife, why not start early? He had called all kinds of healers to treat her, but none of them seemed to know what was causing her pain and suffering. If Lika didn't tell them what she took they couldn't help treat her.

Lika laid in the bed, a small damp cloth over her head and she was covered in blankets. Her temperature was still spiked but she at least now she was awake and lucid. Her father brought her some soup and had been spoon feeding it to her when the there was a knock at the door. He set the food down on the table next to her bed and and told her that he'd be right back. When he reached the door, her forced a smile to his face. Opening it he saw young Vlad and his father. The smile faded and he nodded to them. Come, come in. He stepped aside to let them in and after they were inside he shut the door. He told them that she was pretty bad, and not really get much better. he walked them down the hall and to Lika's bedroom. Lika opened her eyes and looked up to see her father, Vlad and his father. VLAD? What was he doing here...? Had her father really told them to come? Well that was a bit embarrassing. "Fat-Father." Her voice sounded raw, like it hadn't been used in years. "Please...can I talk to Vladimir alone?" Her father nodded and ushered the other man out of the room before closing the door behind the two of them.

Lika's eyes were trained on the boy and she frowned. She felt horrible for what she'd done and now she was being punished for her sins. She wouldn't blame anyone if she died here, in this bed. Life for a life right? "Yo-you can sit if you want?" She was still a little wheezy in her voice. She pushed herself into a more upright position before looking back over at him. "I'm sorry if my father asked you here. You see, it's my own fault, for I caused my own misery." She sighed and closed her eyes hoping he wouldn't be cruel. She wasn't sure she could handle that right now. She just wanted to either die or feel less sick. She opened her eyes again and looked at Vladimir once more. "I did something stupid and since we are 'supposed' to marry, I thought you should know." She bit down her lip trying to figure out just how to say it. "I took a potion....to prevent or kill, a fetus that was growing inside me." She sobbed a little and bit down on her lip again. "I had....with a boy. Now I am paying the price. But hey, look at this way...If I die you'll be free, you won't have to marry me." She hung her head. "Please don't tell papa, he would be so upset...and I'm not sure he'd let me stay here if he found out what I've done."

Vladimir was sleeping, dreaming about nice things, when his father burst into his room and told him to start getting ready. He wouldn't tell Vladimir for what, but he said that they needed to leave right away. The boy didn't know why he was going anywhere, and simply for that reason, he didn't want to go. Aleksey Dostoyevsky didn't just take his children out for dinner, so Vladimir was sure the trip wouldn't be fun at all. In fact, he was sure it would be exactly the opposite, but he didn't want to risk his father getting mad and yelling. So the dark haired boy got up and started pulling on a pair of slacks that were laying around his room, and a black t-shirt to match.

The pair apparated to a very familiar spot. Vladimir couldn't quite place it, but he was positive he'd seen it before. It wasn't until the door had opened and Mr. Zhuvov was standing in front of them, looking very grim. Vladimir let out a long groan, glaring at his father to show him that he really didn't want to be anywhere near this house. His father responded by whacking him across the back of the head and walking inside of the house, with Vova in tow. He sighed every once in a while, showing his father how bored he was. He didn't pay attention to the conversation at all either, but only followed when they started walking through the house, groaning and sighing. He was sure his father was going to be very mad at him later, but at the current moment, he really didn't care.

He was led to a bedroom, and a rather big sized one at that. Sitting in the four poster bed was none other than Anzhelika, who looked like she was about to die. "Whoa, what the hell happened to you?" He asked, his eyes widening, looking over at her as he moved to hide behind his father. She asked to see him alone, and Vladimir looked up at his father with pleading eyes. "No, please no, she's going to get me sick! I'm going to die!" He said, grabbing his father's arm, who pushed him off and walked out of the door. He immediately sighed, keeping his place by the door when she said he could sit down. He didn't say anything to her, but kept his eyes on her in a fixated glare.

She started talking again, and Vladimir listened, crossing his arms across his chest. She told him that she made a mistake, and that she was really sorry. He never responded to her, only raised a brow and continued to listen about how she slept with another guy, and got pregnant. His eyes widened at that, and just when he was about to move to open the door and yell out that she was pregnant, Anzhelika asked him not to tell anyone. Vladimir raised his eyebrows and paused for quite a while before opening his mouth. "Is that why you're sick? Because you're pregnant?" He asked. "Or is it what you took to try and get rid of it?" He moved a little farther away from the door, narrowing his eyes at her. "You slept with someone else and got pregnant?"

"You're having a baby then, is that why you're sick? Like, have you gone to the doctor?" He asked, keeping his arms crossed in front of him. "If you're having a baby, I don't want to be a part of this." He shrugged, thinking that he might be able to get out of marrying this girl. Then he'd live happily ever after with Timofei and they'd move to a different country and be done with Russia and tradition. "If you're pregnant, and you have this baby... I'm not doing anything about it." He raised a brow again, a small smile forming on his face.

Lika sighed as she watched as Vald protested and freaked out. She couldn't say that she blamed him, she was sick and she was sure she looked like hell. She just looked up at him and shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm not contagious Vladimir." She bit down on her dry cracked lips and regretted it almost immediately. She winced and pulled her lip from her teeth and licked them with her tongue but even that was dry. She sighed and shook her head. "Don't sit then...It's your choice....." She leaned back against her metal head board.

She shook her head. "No, It's not because of the pregnancy...I took a potion...I don't want to have a baby. I mean, the guy....He wants to keep the baby and he made it sound like I was murderer. Or at least that's how I feel. I don't know if worked or not. But I'm sure that's what's making me sick." She lend back and closed her eyes. "I don't know....I guess I'm getting what I deserve. I whore like me doesn't deserve happiness." She wasn't pulling a pity party and in fact she was more rambling to herself then talking to Vladimir now. She closed her eyes and tears slipped from her eyes before she remembered that he was standing across the room. She quickly sat up and felt a surge of pain in her stomach. She gripped it tight and moaned in pain. "Yes, I slept with someone else. It wasn't a shinny moment...and I'm not proud of it...I was just upset." She realized this wasn't a good excuse for sleeping with someone else but it was all she had and it was truth.

"I don't know if I'm having a baby. Like I said, I'm not sure the potion worked or not. I got it off this guy...who said it would." She stopped and looked down at her hands. "No, I can't go to a doctor. Daddy would know...I can't do that to him. He would be so devastated." She looked up at him and shook her head. "I wasn't expecting you to have anything to do it...I just, I wanted you to know. I don't know why, maybe because I was supposed to marry you. But I don't want to take away your chance to be happy. So maybe this is a way for you to be free of me. If I die, everyone will be." She groaned and tried to stop a sob from forming. "Again, I'm not expecting you to help me. I go into this mess...And if the potion didn't work, and I do have this baby, I'm sure that everything will be different. You won't have to marry me. I'm sure my dad won't want anything to do with me...So no worries okay. You don't have to help me..." She couldn't stand it anymore, she hadn't really cried since she found out and now she sobbed. The tears fell from her eyes and she covered her face. "Ju-just....Don't....Tell anyone." She sobbed harder and buried her face in a pillow. She didn't want Vlad to have see her cry but she couldn't stop the tears anymore. They were coming whether she wanted them to or not.