"Murder is always a mistake. One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner."

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Chapter 25- The game starts

Rose smiled to herself as she drank the steaming cup of coffee. It was 7 in the morning and even though she hated waking up before 10, she felt refreshed for some reason.

And she also had to go to school even though she was already late. Daemon was getting ready upstairs. He had been pleasant to her and there was no unusual mood swing as of now.

But Rose knew that it was only a matter of time. Daemon would always be Daemon.

"Don't you have to go to school?" Daemon asked as he tied his tie and walked downstairs. Rose gulped down her coffee and said, "I'm anyway late, no point in rushing now."

Daemon snorted as he concentrated on tying the tie. Rose rolled her eyes and walked over to him. Ignoring his eyes on her, she tied his tie for him.

"I think this has been the most wifely think that you have ever done," Daemon said softly. Rose looked up into his eyes and smiled back. She saw him lean forward towards her and she bit her lips.

Before she could react, the bell rang.

"Stupid..." Daemon muttered as he moved back and ran his hand through his hair. Rose looked breathlessly towards the door, cursing in her mind.

The world was against her.

"I'll go check who it is," Rose said clearing her throat. Daemon nodded awkwardly and again ran his hand through his hair.

He was making her go insane.

She walked towards the door, more like floated with her mind in the clouds. She had never felt this high before. She opened the door and was greeted by a parcel.

No one was in sight.

She shrugged and took the parcel.

"DAEMON! THERE IS A PARCEL OUTSIDE. IS IT WORK RELATED?"

"NO! DAEGON SAID THAT HE WOULD SEND A GIFT OR SOMETHING TO US FOR OUR HONEYMOON..."

Rose blushed deeply as she heard Daemon stutter.

"YOU CAN OPEN IT IF YOU WANT!"

Rose smiled and undid the parcel. She opened the parcel dazedly and looked at what is inside.

Her eyes widened and her heart dropped. She felt her pulse race.

"AAAHHHH!!!" Rose yelled in horror as she dropped the box on the floor and cowered behind frightened.

"What is wrong?" Daemon shouted as he ran towards where she was. She had dropped to the floor and she had gone into shock. She felt his arms envelope her and kiss her forehead.

"It's okay....what's wrong, love?" Demon asked soothingly.

"The box... oh god, Daemon... the box..." Rose whimpered as she tried to put maximum distance between her and the box.

"What is in it?" Demon asked as he got and took the box.

Rose watched his eyes widen. After that he froze. His face was stiff as he placed the box on the counter. Ignoring his wife who was still on the floor, he dialed a number, ignoring the blood in his hand.

"Yes, Sam, don't bother checking where Aiden is now. He is dead."

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Rose stood by the side as she watched the police men check the box and try to get finger prints.

Daemon was standing quietly by her. His arms were crossed and it seemed like he wasn't breathing. She turned to him scared but she became even more scared when she saw what his expression was.

There were tears in his eyes.

Rose held his hand comfortingly but he dropped her hand. Without looking at her, he took a deep breath and walked towards the officers.

When she had opened the parcel, she had been terrified. The horror of seeing someone's mutilated head in a box isn't quite that can't be explained.

She would say that she didn't know how Daemon was feeling, but she did. She knew exactly what he was feeling because she had also gone through that pain once.

The tears gathered in her eyes and she sobbed.

The poor man... if Daemon liked him he would have actually been one of the best people in the world. Rose cried softly as she watched the proceedings.

"We have to contact his family, Daemon," an older officer said softly.

"I'll do it," Daemon said.

"I'll come with you," Rose offered.

"No."

"Daemon, please. Let me come, I want to take care of you," she pleaded.

Daemon looked at her and she saw his eyes soften.

"Ok..." he muttered, "...but you have to stay out of my way when I talk, ok?"

Rose shrugged with a smile. For some reason, he smiled back.

"Ok... I never thought this would ever happen..." the older officer said, "...in a way it was Aiden's dream- seeing you love struck."

Daemon's smile wiped off. He sighed and then said, "Sam, tell me if you get any details. I will find this man... I swear on my life..."

Rose wasn't very surprised when he looked at her when he said that.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the house.

To her surprise, he opened the car's door and waited for her to get in. She was vaguely reminded of the time he shut the door on her face.

He started driving slowly.

"Where is his house?" Rose asked softly.

"It will take a couple of hours. It's in the next state."

Rose nodded absentmindedly.

"Are you going to tell me who it is at least now?" Daemon asked abruptly.

Rose looked at him without any expression.

"How did you know?" Rose asked as she looked back to the road.

Daemon snorted.

"He killed one of the only people I have ever cared about. I waited for you to speak... I hoped... but then I thought, I didn't want to hurt you. But this is..."

"It was in his other letter to you, right?" Rose asked.

Daemon looked at her.

"You are letting him win, Daemon," Rose said softly. She motioned between both of them and said, "This is what he wanted. He wanted to break us apart. He wanted us to fight. He always gets what he wants."

Daemon stopped the car and grabbed her face.

"I will not let him get you. You are mine," he snarled and pressed his lips against hers.

Rose was in shock and before she could process what happened, he stopped kissing her and had already started the car.

Rose swallowed and tried to compose herself.

"What did he say in the letter?" Rose asked softly.

"He said you were his. He told me to stay away from you. I didn't... and I paid for it with my best friend's life. Hmmp..." he said stiffly, "I never even called him my best friend to his face."

"I'm sure he knew," Rose said as she took his hand, "You don't show your emotions...but your eyes do."

Demon smiled sincerely at her.

"Thank you."

Rose smiled back at him and settled back on her seat.

Her smile slowly faded.

"I met Sebastian when I was in college. He was my senior by one year. I still remember the day I met him."

Daemon looked at Rose's face but found only nostalgia.

"He was gorgeous. He was exactly the person I dreamt of being with. He had dark hair... but his eyes... they were so grey. I loved his eyes."

She turned to look at Daemon.

"I never thought I would see someone with such beautiful eyes... until I met you."

She chuckled and Daemon smiled.

"It was such a surprise, you know, when he actually noticed me. It was the typical, cliché bad boy falls for girl story. I hate clichés."

"So do I," Daemon said.

"I was young, immature and inexperienced. Most of my previous relationships were disasters. Mostly because of my tongue."

Daemon snorted.

"Shut up. It isn't my fault that you egoistic men can't handle a feisty woman."

"I can," Daemon smirked. But even Rose could say that he was forcing it.

"Yeah, so well, he came and turned my world upside down. He was everything I wanted. He used to give me flowers, cook for me, take me on beautiful dates... it was perfect."

Daemon watched her expression change to distaste.

"It was too perfect. I should have known something was wrong. I caught him cheating on me after six months of dating."

Daemon looked sympathetically at her. Rose never knew he could show such emotions.

"My friends absolutely hated him. They kept warning me that there was something off about him. But which girl would listen to someone else, even if it was her own friends, when she was too deep into him. He begged and pleaded with me to take him back, he kept telling me it was a mistake. I usually told people to never continue a relationship when a person cheats on them but have I ever taken my own advice?"

"I convinced myself that it would all be okay. The heartbreak was too much. I couldn't handle it. The only way out," she snorted angrily, "the cowardly way out was to accept him again. My relationship with my friends deteriorated. I blamed them for it, obviously. I felt that my friends should support me with my relationship. They should do things that made me happy. I clung onto him."

"He was so possessive that it was borderline insane. I convinced myself that it was because he cared for me. He never cared for me- he was obsessed with me. It was too late when I realized that he was bad..."

"What happened?" Daemon asked softly.

"He killed my best friend."

There was silence. Rose choked down her sobs as the tears rolled down her face.

"It was my fault... if I had only listened to her. She just wanted good for me, but I ignored her. Because of me, he took her away. He killed her, Daemon... he killed her..."

Rose broke down into sobs. Daemon stopped the car and took her in his arms.

"I'm so sorry love," he cooed softly.

She wiped her tears away impatiently.

"I have nightmares of it always... it was bad Daemon. I kept you away from him because he is dangerous. He isn't like what you have seen before- he is mad. The most dangerous criminal is the one who has lost his mind."

Demon patted her back soothingly and nodded.

"I never loved him," she continued, "I loved someone who I imagined him to be. You don't know how I felt when those beautiful eyes of his looked at me with madness and cruelty instead of the usual softness. It broke my heart... he took away everything..."

"I don't know what else he wrote in that letter, but he is the devil. I promise you... I can't let him take you also away from me. You know my parents and I don't have a good relationship. For my mother, it is always the next party and next function that is more important. My father cares for my mother more. I don't have any close friends other that Jace and Alec but they are not close to my heart, Daemon. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me- you can't let him take you away from me... "

"I won't let you go," Daemon said to her, "I will always be with you. I promise."

Rose smiled through her tears.

"You should catch him. But be careful. He is worse than death. He calls himself the Reaper for a reason."

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Daemon parked the car in front of an abandoned alley.

"What the hell happened here?" he asked himself as he got out of the car and opened a gate.

Rose followed him confused. There was no house... no place.

Nothing.

Daemon kneeled down and took a bit of mud from the ground. He pressed it and looked up at me.

"It isn't mud...its ashes..." he said slowly.

Rose's eyes widened.

"The whole house has been burnt down..."

Daemon looked confused.

"Hey... what d'ya think you two are doin' there?"

Rose turned back and saw an old man stumble into the property. She turned back to Demon who had moved and stood protectively in front of her.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"What d'ya think you're doin' there?"

"Mr. what happened here?" Demon demanded.

"Go to hell."

How polite, Rose thought. Daemon stomped towards the man and removed a card from his pocket. Rose predicted what was going to happen.

He shoved the card in front of the man's face and snarled, "I am from the investigation squad, you mutt. Now tell me now what happened here or I will take you to the station and we can do it the hard way."

Rose shook her head and pulled Daemon back by his arm. Only he would go around threatening strangers.

But Demon's technique seemed to have worked. The man seemed more decent now.

"S'rry sir," the man said, "I thought you were trespassers. Had a couple of them befor'"

Daemon nodded.

"The buildin' was burnt down about a week ago, sir. Very few people live here sir... actually only this family."

"Where are the rest of them?" Daemon asked sounding horrified.

"They were burnt down with the house, sir. The police officers came to check but they didn't believe me when I said that people were also inside there when the buildin' was burnt."

Daemon stumbled back and Rose caught him.

"Oh god..." he muttered.

"Why would he kill the entire family?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"I'm not sure... but there is something else also happening. Something we don't know about."

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"Sir, we are having the funeral today."

Daemon nodded to himself as he heard Deandra sniff through the phone.

"Ok Deandra, is there anything else you need?" Daemon asked kindly.

She didn't even remark on the fact that he had at last called her name.

"No sir..." she said, sniffing again, "I'll arrange the funeral."

"If you want a couple of days off, you can take it," Daemon said.

"Absolutely not," Deandra said angrily, "I'm going to help you find the bastard who did this. I'm going to make sure he pays for this."

"Ok," Daemon said understanding, "I'll see you at the funeral"

He cut the line and looked back at the files in front of him.

There was a knock at the door and Rosalyn entered. He nodded to her and she sat opposite him in the study.

"Aiden's father had passed away a couple of year ago. It was only his mother and his two brothers. That bastard burnt them all down..."

"Daemon, there is some hidden agenda. I don't understand this. What if it isn't him? What if this is something else?"

"What do you mean?" Daemon asked Rose curiously.

"I know him the best, Daemon. He always knows what he is doing- everything he does, there is some reason for it. He is twisted. This could be a distraction tactic. I don't know," Rose said softly.

Daemon looked down and sighed. He put his face in his hands. Rose walked to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for your loss Daemon," she whispered as she hugged him. He hugged her back.

"I should have searched better for him... then maybe..."

"You did all you could, Daemon," Rose said taking his face in her palms, "I'm so proud of you. I have faith in you, I know you will solve this and you will catch him."

Daemon smiled back at her.

"He is good at what he does, but you're better."

"I'm not sure what to think about all this," Daemon said.

"Hey guys!" Dennis said as he entered the room, "the funeral is starting."

"We'll be down, dad," Demon said with a sigh, "who all came?"

"Everyone is there. You better come down fast," Dennis said and then turned to Rose.

"It's good to see you two together."

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"Oh god..." Daemon muttered as the ceremony started.

Rose put her arm around his shoulder comfortingly. The funeral was bringing back very bad memories...memories that she had wished to hide inside her and never remember.

The coffin lowered down while everyone started crying.

"Oh god... Rose... oh my god..."

"I know..." Rose said trying to avoid the tears from falling down.

"She is really gone... oh my god..."

"She is," Rose said blankly. She found it very difficult to choke out her voice.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She turned back to the young woman who was crying into her shoulder.

She couldn't burden her also. She just couldn't.

Rose snapped back and noticed that Daemon was near the coffin.

Let him have his moment.

She didn't have hers... she couldn't go near the coffin that time... she was too ashamed, she didn't have the guts. There was nothing that she regretted in her life more than that.

She turned away and she watched the different people that had come. Aiden sure was popular.

As her eyes drifted past all the unfamiliar people, her eyes stopped at one person.

A person she thought she would never see in her entire life again.

She watched breathlessly as the other person turned and met her eyes. The other person's eyes widened as well, in both shock and to her surprise, happiness.

"Deandra..." Rose whispered.

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AN: Wow, this idea had been almost killing me and I really couldn't wait to upload this.

So what do you think? Seems like Daemon and Rose can never have a moments break.

So, do vote, comment and like.

I'm working on the next few chaps. 

So until next time,

Ashley