Through Heaven and Hell
Disclaimer: All characters and ideas either belong to me or Stephenie Meyer
My breath was coming out in small puffs, as I walked down the streets. It was a hard work day in the fields. I had been working there all my life, still the winters were dreadful. The swirling snow, bit at your raw skin, like it was scraping the bark off a tree. I was strong and tough, and had maintained that reputation throughout the village. It would be a shame to lose it, walking through this blizzard, with only torn overalls, undergarments and worn sandals.
My house came into view through, the blinding snow. It was a small cabin at the edge of the village. Many people were very wealthy, except for us, but in my mind, I thought we were. My dad was the town's pastor, so he didn't make money, and my mother died when my second sister was born. I was the fourth child, before my second sister, the fifth child, and never really got to know this woman, that my father daydreamed about. He always said she was a gift from God. Because of this, my dad had left his heart in the hands of the almighty. Now, she was dead, the only thing he actually conversed with was the Divine, wasn't that happy fellow at the dinner table anymore or the life of the party. It was all lost.
My sisters and I all worked for minimum wage, which was only used for medicine, food, shelter, and clothing. I had made the most out in the cornfield, while my sisters worked together in the clothing shop. My sisters, Hailee, Marie, and Allison, were some of the most beautiful girls, in my mind. They all had brigh, blue eyes, that shone through any darkness, straight, blonde hair, like my dad, and that smooth, pale complexion, from all those days, they spent inside. I, on the other hand, had short, dark hair that was shaved off to only little stubs left, with darkening green eyes and an olive-colored skin tone, like my mother. My hair was also uneven in some spots, giving off that unclean profile. I would've liked to have grown it out, but would never, working in the fields.
I continued to trudge through the snow, when something invisible knocked me over. It caught me by surprise, and I laid in the cold, as shock came over me. I finally got up and trudged on. My thoughts still wandered back to that strange event, when I opened the door to our house, seeing my sisters sitting with my dad, in front of the fire. I was now 22, almost 23, meaning that my older sisters, were in their early thirties, and my dad was getting into old age. He had not shown much strength and we were worried he might die any day. I shuddered to think the thought.
My little sister, Allison, who was in front of my father was the first to notice my presence. "Demetri!" She yelled, and ran into my arms.
I grinned at her. She grinned back. I still thought that even though she was full grown, her soul never grew away from that young, happy girl she was. I loved her the most. She was the youngest to be thrown into the shenanigans that followed our father's depression. She started working at only age four with my teenaged sisters, normal, but still unfair.
My other sisters had now turned. They looked at me with darkened eyes. Hailee, the eldest, was the first to turn away, then Marie. The genuine older sisters in this world. Hailee was the Alpha and Marie was the Beta. They fit together perfectly.
"Oh, Demetri, please..." My father's aging voice, came from behind the chair, his hand hanging over his right, beckoning forward.
Allison's smiling face, now turned into a frown, as she had me lean down to whisper into my ear. "We had the doctor come and check on him, today. It wasn't..." I pushed past her, understanding what was going on.
I kneeled down in front of the small, burning fire, looking into my father's gray eyes. "Yes, father."
He looked down upon, in the way, a king would long upon its night. "Demetri, the doctor came today. He said, my time is up. I can't carry on, very much longer. As my only son, I need you take care of the family, and this village. I can tell you things will be different without me." I looked down, shaking, as I held back the tears, waiting to come.
"Demetri..." Allison began.
"Son..." Before my father could say anymore, I exploded into a fit of tears.
"Die, you want to die, just to get rid of this, to see mom," I began.
"Son, I never would want to leave..." I interrupted again. "Oh, yeah sure, just take out all the guilt on your last days, get over with it early. Fine! I don't care! You'll be better off gone, while we suffer and you just chuckle with mom, at how bad this family has become," I continued, as the tears streamed down more fiercely.
Hailee ran up to me, punching me in the face, knocking me to the ground.
I looked up, my eyes streaming. "Shut up, Demetri! We saw this coming, we all knew. You don't have to make a big fuss of it. Now, go to your room, young man!"
"Hailee..." My father started.
"I said, go to your room, mister!" She shrieked, pointing towards the little room, on the right, where my siblings and I slept.
I gave her a snort and walked off. I slammed the door behind me, my muscles stretching against my skin. Working in the fields really helped out with my masculine shape. I wasn't big, but tall and lean, the perfect mixture. I crawled into my small bed, in the corner. It was very old, and I had it since I was six, before I grew those many feet. I'd gotten used to curling up, but either way, it was never comfortable, for this room, didn't harbor any heat, meaning it was freezing, and the blanket never covered me. I laid my head on the pillow and drifted off to sleep, the thoughts of what had just occured, still swirling in my head.
iThe house was completely dark. The fire didn't burn brightly anymore. I was alone and cold. Death could be smelled from everywhere. This was the end for me, I knew it.
The door creaked open, revealing the silhouette of a towering man. He crept closer to my corner, where I hid, hoping to never be seen again. How could this man see me?It was pitch black and I was blackened by the coal that covered the blood that dripped from my body.
Cold hands slid up and down my back. The end was getting closer and closer. My breathing was getting faster. I couldn't stop it. The intensity was getting higher. The fire blew up and.../i
I woke up in a cold sweat. The slow, heavy breathing of my sisters drifted to my bed. iIt was only a nightmare. It was only a nightmare./i I thought to myself, and dropped back into my damp pillow.
**********
I woke up, again, still sweating, but as the sun beat down hard on my chest. It was morning and my sisters had already left. I knew I was late for work.
My dad was still in bed, but I could tell, he may not wake up. This would be another sad thought for me. This life I was living, was twisted and tortured in horrible ways and now, it was getting worse. I couldn't stand it. I would never let my father die, only, if it was my life that would go to. Thoughts rushed through my head after this last one. I knew what I must do.
I quickly got out of bed, and ran across the room, putting on a new pair of overalls and a white t-shirt. I walked out of the room, to the door, careful not to wake up my ailing father. I opened the door. It was still cold outside, but that sun made it a little more bearable. The cornfields weren't too far away, and it was the perfect place to take action.
I finally arrived at the cornfields, completely out of breath. My employer, John Runingham, was waiting by the gate, supervising the work, when he saw me.
"Mr. Duvrum! Isn't this a surprise?" He said with a smirk.
"I'm sorry, sir. It will never happen again. I promise," I said, leaning over pretending to try and catch all my breath.
"Oh, you bet it won't, and you know the rules. You get the far row," He instructed me, pointing all the way over by the forest. Nobody wanted to work there, for it was the spot farthest away from the water spout. Perfect!
"Now, get to working!" He commanded.
I quickly sprinted down the field, grabbing the last pair of shears. I started working as soon as I got there, not arousing any suspicion on what I was planning to do. Mr. Runingham was still watching me, his eyes squinting in the sunlight, reflected off the ground. I trimmed off the stocks as always, when he walked away. I continued to trim off some more at the beginning of the row, when I took off, way far down, where nobody could see me. I crouched down low, so no one, poking their head through the stocks, would find me.
My head was getting wetter with the sweat, as were my hands clenched over the shears. iI had to do this, I needed to do this. It was the only way I would go on. This life was no longer for me. I had to leave. I had to leave./i I thought to myself.
I swiftly opened up the shears, as tears trickled down my face. I did the sign of the cross over my chest, praying I would arrive in heaven, to see my mother and hopefully my father. I knew that this would affect everyone around me, especially my sisters, Allison, Marie, and Hailee, especially Allison, at that. I could never see them again. Never talk to them, again. It was better this way.
My hands were now shaking, as the tears continued to come down. I reached it up, over my head. Leaning back, so that my neck was underneath the mouth of the open shears. I closed my eyes, awaiting the pain. I plunged it down into my neck, stifling the screams that would come out. I slowly closed the shears, when they were swiftly and carefully removed it from my neck. I was lifted off the ground by an invisible force and was carried away. I tried to heave a sigh, but my breathing was getting shallow. I was moving on, closer and closer.
The light was starting to die down, which appeared odd to me, for my father said, heaven would shine through as a bright light. Maybe I was traveling to hell, now. That one wrong decision changed his, oh, this was awful. The movement of my journey to this new life, stopped, when I hit the ground with a big 'KALUNK!' Why did it stop? I was getting so close, but now, it just stopped.
"I've caught him, Aro! He was just about dead," Whispered a voice, I never heard.
I heard some shuffling of feet, as two people had now entered this circle. There was a small pause, when nothing was heard, but my shallow breaths.
"Great job, Santiago! You will be rewarded, once we return to Volterra," This man, so called, Aro, told him.
I never understood any of what they were saying. Why did they want me? What was Volterra? Who were they?
"Hello, Sir Demetri, I'm sure you are having trouble understanding this, but you'll understand soon enough. First, to understand more, we must change you," He told me.
Before I could protest, a searing pain, pulsed through my body, as someone's breath, hit my skin. It was beyond anything, I'd ever felt, even more than the shears biting into my skin. It stung every inch of my body. My journey through hell, didn't just stop, it had continued as always. This Aro was the devil, and this Santiago was just for doing his bidding. And whatever this Volterra place was, it was probably the place where he ruled. I tried to open my eyes, now, to see my future hell-mates, when the blackness sucked me in, and I couldn't feel anything, but that pain. I tried to scream out, but was now encased. I was almost to hell, and could feel the darkness, as it came closer...
**********
The pain still seared inside me. It felt like days now. I tried to find an immunity or something to it, but couldn't find one. It was just to painful. Almost, as if I was burning in the fires of hell, as I thought. It was slowing down today, well, whatever day it was. I was still screaming, as my lungs burned fiercely. I was almost there now. I could feel it. The flames were getting farther and farther behind me.
The flames had left and I was alone. Still my throat was burning. I wondered why was that. Probably a side-affect from those terrible flames. I opened my eyes, to find myself in a room, surrounded by people in dark cloaks, only to notice I was in one, too. Where was I? Was this hell or not? Sounds of peoples voices filled my head like a song. I tried to knock it out, but couldn't.
The second to smallest of them all, on my left stepped forward. I suddenly felt a strong pull to this group, like I met them before and had already become friends with them. It was strange. Another person stepped forward, throwing off his hood, revealing one of the most gorgeous faces, I had since to laid eyes on. The skin was of a chalky white, and the eyes were a bright red. This person was beautiful in his own way. My mouth dropped open, looking at him.
"Good evening, Demetri! Welcome to your new humble home! This place is called Volterra. I'm sure you are confused to what is happening right now, now, astounded by our beauty, as I'm sure most call it. We are vampires, the immortal. Well, special vampires, at that, even for our standards." He paused. My family never believed in vampires. They were the children of the devil. I knew this was hell. I looked down upon my hand, which rested on this man, which I accepted to be the leader, based on his stature and the way he talked. Aro. "We aren't or will ever be children of the devil. None of us asked for this, as did you. You are immortal as well. This is no hell you are in, but more of a heaven. We, vampires, still feed off human blood, but have done it in a more proper manner. In secret..." He stopped again. "This has become a law in this vampire world, for we are the mighty Volturi, the rulers. Santiago-" He beckoned forward a tall man off to his right. "-thought of giving you a second chance at life. I let him do that, but we will decide if you will be allowed to stay with us." I was still confused at to what was going on. "The Volturi only recruits those vampires with special talents and since yours is unknown, we have to see, if you possess anything." The song of voices was now getting higher and higher as Aro looked at me. It was his voice I could hear now, or 'tenor' of it. As if I could sense his presence. Maybe this was what he was looking for. It was all coming together now.
His tenor started drifting away, when a new more lower one appeared. It sounded hungry and cold. I just felt drawn to it. My mouth watered as it sounded lost. I suddenly jumped out of the bed, and sprinted at a speed, I never knew I could reach, to find where this thought tenor, I was drawn to.
I arrived back in the village, where I heard the song or tenor. I recognized it now, my father. He was near, I could feel it. I looked across the village, toward my house. I was about to run to him, and kill him for what he was doing to us, now I was a vampire, when I was stopped. I looked behind me, to see Aro looking at me with a sly grin.
"Looks like we got a tracker on our hands..." He suddenly disappeared and in his place, was a blonde haired vampire. She looked into my eyes and I completely forgot about my main reason for being where I was, as I followed her back to Volterra.