Rodrigo's eyes couldn't leave the ones of his flesh and blood reflection, the echo of his screams tooted against the walls of the room even as the one holding him down told him not to scream. One small line on Rodrigo's arm glistened crimson with the flowing of fresh blood; and he could see, in the deep dark scarlet eyes of the man on top of him, that to which he could truly only refer to as bloodlust. The moonlight shone brightly outside the window, illuminating the corners of the small house nearly as if the day were still young; even with such brightness Rodrigo knew that no one would come to his rescue, for he'd heard of the murders in the island, there'd been six so far, all the same, bodies drained of blood and set somewhere in the island to see like an artistic bloodless tableau; and the island was truly so small that everyone knew the names and lives of those departed.
Yet he never thought it would happen to him; isn't that how every murder victim thought? Walking along the streets of the places they once thought safe, not even that carefully because how could such ever happen to him? Well, he'd been wrong; it was happening to him now, and he knew no one would stop it. Everyone around the island knew to look the other way when a house echoed with the screams of another; he was alone to die. "Estoy loco!" He yelled, eyes terrified, limbs trembling as he tried to move away from the grasp of the man on top of him. What other explanation could there be but him being absolutely insane? He was looking at a man that was nothing more than the very mirroring image of himself holding him down; only the eyes of the other Rodrigo were bright red.
"Stop moving, you abominable bastard!" The creature with the red eyes said, and that only made Rodrigo scream louder; not only did the creature look like him but it sounded like him; with such perfect English that he knew he could have never been able to speak; accented in such a way that he would have never managed.
"DEMONIO!" Rodrigo yelled at the creature holding him down, but it only laughed a low breathed echo, making the hairs at the back of Rodrigo's hair stand completely on end.
"A demon, you say?" It asked incredulously with a wide evil smile that scared Rodrigo to see in a clear mirror of his own features. "No, I am much better." It said just before leaning closer to his face; its hands continued to hold Rodrigo's both arms down as the light rustling sound of the palm trees dancing with the midnight breeze tooted from the outside. When the creature was finally low enough to have its lips less than an inch away from Rodrigo's ear, it whispered. "I'm the devil himself." And then Rodrigo screamed even louder; when he did, the creature's back straightened and the most chilling wave of laughter left its lips. Rodrigo's eyes couldn't part from it, and suddenly, as its laughter continued, the features that had so incredibly mirrored Rodrigo's only a moment ago started shifting, twisting slowly until the image of the person holding him down was that of a woman; her hair was the deepest shade of dark that only became darker with the shadows of the night, her skin shining pale against the moonlight, her slim body continued to hold him down, and all Rodrigo could do was scream.
Her laugher and his screaming mixed like music against the soft sounds of the night, yet she knew that she'd played enough with her food. Her laughter subsided and her glistening red optics danced until she was sure that Rodrigo's own brown ones we looking directly at her, and with a movement that seemed to be faster than any other, she sank her teeth deeply into his throat; Rodrigo felt as his body weakened, his will to continue screaming disappeared almost immediately, he knew his life was ending, This is how they've all died... he thought, eaten by a monster... He didn't even realise when his screams stopped, but everything around him slowly disappeared; even with his eyes wide open, everything all went black.
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
They day had lit up with life once the sun appeared, the sound of the waves of the ocean were truly the only sound surrounding the island; even as everyone awakened within a beauteous scenery, they were quiet. Carolina, the town historian, walked scared along the streets of a home town she had once upon a time strolled through happy, as per usual on an early morning, nearly racing to reach her small bookshop in the middle of the town; she was always the first in that place, yet now she wished she'd waited a little longer to leave. The thought of her baby boy and teenage daughter living in a place where the screams of dying people were ignored by everyone made her uneasy, yet how could they not? They were all scared of dying; even the sheriff. Carolina's hands trembled for a couple of seconds when she dared look toward Rodrigo's house, she'd known him very well, and she couldn't even grasp the fact that he was... She looked away quickly and walked faster. She couldn't dare let herself think about it; walk along, live, she thought and continued her small journey to the town square.
Carolina knew she had a book to finish, a story to continue, and above all, two children to take care of. She had to go on, fight until she could leave and pray that Ariana's cry for help to the world once she'd left the island on her little boat would be heard in the name of this place; she knew they needed it, the help. Carolina searched for her keys in her bag, moving along the last corner for the town square just the way she always did every morning; finally her eyes shifted and dared look up.
And that's when she saw it.
The fountain in the middle of the square didn't look at all like every morning, it was adorned by the most sadistic form of art she could have ever found, one hand looked as if it were trying to escape the fountain's waters, body parts made a small bloodless isle toward it on the sandy floor, but a head was neatly placed at the very top of the stone structure and it wasn't until she walked a little closer, when she saw the very open eyes and mouth of Rodrigo Mendoza, that she let out the loudest scream the town would ever hear.
From a dark corner in an alley near the town square she smirked. Her work had finally been found.
~Four days later - Volterra~
Alec Greco had been taking a much needed cleansing walk through the castle's gardens when Giovanna had announced that Master Aro wanted a word with him; and as he made his way over to the very large empty marble room, he took a deep, unneeded, breath of air and expelled it out in a sigh. It seemed to him as if once he and his sister Jane were home and finally settled back into a routine, they were sent out on another mission; always together, always with Jane at the head. Sometimes Alec wished he could be as "normal" as Afton was, almost always on the caste's grounds with his companion; or at least somewhere closer to Volterra than, say, Russia or the Americas, but such a thing could seldom be wished from one of Aro's favourites, could it?
When Alec finally made it to the big doors he stepped back, for they were opening slowly, and Heidi had, with a little sway to her hips, started coming out from them; this was not an unusual sight, yet Alec wondered why her features looked upset instead of the regular satisfied look she carried everytime she walked away from the so called throne room. Upon the attention she felt directed at her, she looked at him with a minute shake of her head. "I'll tell you later." She promised swiftly before making her way hurried down that long hallway; something that only made Alec's brows rise before his head finally turned to look inside the giant room. He continued moving forth and only stopped when he was a few inches away from the marble stairs that led up to the three golden thrones; his friend's troubles, the only thing within his mind. "Ah, Alec." Aro said with a strange smile crossing his features; at this Alec bowed.
"Master." He murmured before standing straight and looking at the old man completely. He was alone in the room; Caius and Marcus probably in their quarters or somewhere in the castle, yet that alone made Alec realise that the subject of which they were to speak of was probably not even that important a matter. "I can only assume you have a mission for us." Alec voiced without being able to leave the plural out of his sentence. "How can we be of service?"
It wasn't until Aro offered Alec a folder that he realised he'd been holding something in his hands; the young guard took it and opened it, allowing his eyes to scan the contents: a pair of plane tickets and a map of the Atlantic, a red mark circling the destination that both Jane and himself would be leaving for. "We will be sending you out of the country and to this small island near Mexico." Aro confided. "It would seem one of our kind has taken to indulging more than they should."
It was all Alec could do to keep the internal sigh that wrestled within him; he was never, ever, sent anywhere without his sister; probably Aro's favourite of the duo, unless it was just out of reach of the city or within the castle walls. Alec hated it, but what could he do? "Are we to leave tonight, or tomorrow?" He asked, finally looking up toward his master.
"You must leave at once." Aro announced; his hands holding each other nearly on a praying manner. "I expect you both will not be missing your flights." He gazed down at Alec as if he were wearing the spectacles of an aged man. "The last time we sent you somewhere by air you missed two connecting flights, child."
Alec's lips lifted in the closest version of a smile he dared show Aro. "I am aware." He said, truly for him it was a fond memory; he and Jane had realized it was their birthday weekend and had 'accidentally' missed their flights. When they'd returned Aro had acted as if he didn't know the truth, but of course the twins knew better. "I can assure you that won't happen again." His eyes remained on his master as his hands moved to close the folder; he held it with both hands. "I assume you want this problem dealt with?" He asked, using the word evidently to claim a less harsh way of saying 'killed.'
"Indeed." Aro nodded, "Please do try to do as much damage control as possible, the both of you. We've been exposed enough."
"Of course, Master." Alec said.
"You may leave." And with that Aro turned around, clearly the conversation was over and once again, he was able to return to the matters he'd worried upon from his short contact with Heidi. Alec bowed, none the less and turned to leave towards the door he'd come in from without speaking. He could tell Master Aro wanted to be left alone, and Heidi's strange glance while she left only made Alec wonder what exactly was happening. It didn't matter for him, anyway; he and his sister had a mission now. Alec closed the giant door behind him and made his way to Jane's chambers. It seemed duty called once more.
To Be Continued.