*This is just a little idea I had. One Shot. Me and my friend were just talking about how horrible it would be to be one of the tourists that visit the Volturi. Like if you look at it from a real point of view, rather than a vampire romanticised. (Which I to am guilty of lol). It must be terrifying, don't you think? Especially if you have to watch loved ones die around you. This is just a little thought window really. Hope you enjoy.
Lambs To The Slaughter
Friendship is a bond that can burn like fire, it consumes more of a person's life than they realise, but it is the only love that is earned, and not birthed by blood or lust. It is innocent, and when it is shared by two people, they often feel as though, together, they are invincible.
This is not the case. That is a misconception. A cruel tale, devised to lure us into the open, when we think we will be safe in our numbers. We forget about the wild things, about the monsters that lurk in the night. For when we are with friends, there is only light in our lives, a warmth that can keep any cold at bay. We forget ourselves, we forget that the world is not our own invention. It is cruel, it is dark, and it is ruled by the monsters...
Deep beneath Tuscany soil, the line of ignorants ran long. The scuffs of their shoes sounding loudly down each ancient, stone corridor. Two girls were amongst them, their smiles equal, as they giggled amongst themselves. Their excitement over their first trip together was barely contained, as they whispered quick compliments, and stifled immature jokes behind identical dark bangs. The girls were not sisters, but they might as well have been. They were so alike, you see. Both were tiny for their age, and far too pale, their noses sprinkled with faint freckles, that outlined matching dimples. The only differences they shared, were their deep chocolate locks. Where Nicola's were long, Katherine's were cropped, both straightened to perfection, and combed into an unstable place. They framed Nicola's sapphire orbs; and headed Katherine's deep emerald wells, hazardously, a trait unapproved by both the girl's parents. It made them look even younger. Though they were nineteen, they were never taken to be as such. A truth that rankled young Katherine to no end.
The girls stopped that chatter suddenly, their eyes glueing unexpectedly to a set of large ornate doors.
Nicola linked her arm through Katherine's, the sight sending unwarranted chills spiralling down her spine.
"Where did that Heidi woman say she was taking us, again?"
Katherine shook her head, a heavy frown bending her thoughtful features.
"Didn't she just say to follow?"
"Follow her where?"
"I don't know." Katherine shrugged, confused by her friend's agitation. "Just wait and see, Cole."
Nicola nodded, but she inched closer to Katherine's side, disturbed by the silence that resounded from the circular room they were entering. The girls looked around them, their interests held by the perfect beings that lined the walls. Are they real? They both thought, beguiled by the creatures beauty.
Nicola found her awe faded far too quickly. Fear crept into her young bones, as she allowed her friend to pull her further into the now unmoving crowd. Their feet clanged loudly as they stumbled accidentally onto a large metal grate, and the chatter of tourists died down to breaths.
Nicola shook her head, her fear only rising as she spied more creatures slowly moving out of the shadows.
"This isn't right." She breathed, her words an airy rush. Now panicking, she shook Katherine's arm. "We shouldn't be here, we need to go."
A dull thud sounded behind them, and the girls turned, the noise of the doors shutting, sending an unwanted rush of adrenaline pounding thickly through their veins.
Katherine looked at Nicola.
"Maybe their doing a show..." She murmured quietly, sounding far from convinced. "Heidi did say that the castle had a dark history. Maybe it's one of those interactive tours, or something? You know, like when we went to the 'London Dungeons?'"
Nicola didn't answer, she didn't need to, her eyes told her friend all she needed to say. This wasn't part of the tour. They were in danger. They needed to run.
Her sapphires prickled uncomfortably. "Katie..."
"Welcome, guests! Welcome to Volterra!"
That voice. It wasn't of this world. So soft, yet it would easily be heard over the busiest crowd. It, like its owner, was beautiful. Nicola could see him, pale and perfect. Long raven hair, flowing daringly pass dark suited shoulders. His smile would be child-like if it wasn't so terrifying.
Nicola felt heated digits grasp desperately at her palm, and she subtly encased Katherine's hand tightly in her own.
"Don't let go." She warned.
And then the slaughter began.
Blood. Everywhere so much blood. Katherine was screaming, Nicola was screaming. People were falling over more people, toppling beneath the unstoppable weights of red-eyed deities. Somehow the girls had been left unharmed for the first few moments, perhaps their placing in the crowd had bought them some luck and some time. That was over now. They were out in the open, and without other flailing humans to keep their young forms from the demon's attentions.
The girls gripped each other tighter, but even the strength of their bond, was nothing compared to the strength of the monster that suddenly ripped Katherine from Nicola's hand.
"No!" Nicola screamed, launching herself onto the giant's back, only to be flung off again. A discarded rag.
Painfully, she hit the floor, but a rush of heartbeats got her standing again, desperate to save her friend. Nicola readied herself for another attack, but she found the giant waiting, and Katherine terrified, but very much alive in his arms, as he gave his full attention to the man upon the dais. Three men, Nicola counted again, and their interest was solely upon her, as they sat silently witnessing the disturbing scene in front of them.
"This one is brave." The man, demon, who had welcomed them, murmured, his bloodied iris' alive with a playful gleam, as he slowly appraised Nicola's small form. He ran his eyes over Katherine. "Your sister?" He questioned, soundlessly gliding down from the steps.
The bodies at his feet didn't seem to bother him.
"My friend." Nicola corrected shakily, risking a fearful glance in Katherine's direction. "Please,...please don't hurt her."
"My dear, I am afraid, I must allow Felix his meal, or else, what is he to do?" He said, his face displaying a sadness, Nicola knew could not possibly be sincere.
She began to panic again, and noticing the precariousness of the apparent Felix's teeth, to her friends jugular, she came to a quick, and morbid decision.
"Then have me instead. Katie wouldn't tell anyone, she wouldn't. Please, just... just let her go."
The man laughed, a disturbing sound that upset the hairs on the back of her neck. Suddenly he was in front of her, and she gasped, cringing at the unexpected contact of his skin, as curious knuckles swept reverently over the rounded arches of her cheek bones.
"Your life, dear one, is no longer yours to bargain." He answered smoothly, gently toying with an idle tendril of her hair. "You were mine, the moment your dainty form danced through my doorway."
Nicola bit back a scream, and he moved away, her gaze falling to the discarded, bloody mess upon the floor. She didn't want to end up like those people, she didn't want that for either herself or Katherine. To share wide gaping gazes – a doorway to nothing, and a window to death.
There had to be another way.
"We'll give you anything." She pleaded pathetically. "Anything you want."
"But your blood is all we want, Nicola." He said simply, offering her an apologetic shrug. "What else could you possibly have to offer?"
"I don't know." She whispered, standing on the precipice of madness, as she wondered silently how the monster knew her name. "But surely you have other options?"
"Perhaps..." He smiled, tilting his head in a curious way, as no doubt evil, and perverted notions swam invitingly through his head.
It was an eerie sight, and brave as she was, Nicola struggled to hold his gaze. His eyes were the mouths of hell, she realised childishly – one trip, and she risked falling. She faltered, noting a little boy with half his neck missing, and gagged on a scream.
Hell... she was already there.
"Brothers?" He was talking to the men behind him now, but he did not allow his attention to stray, he was unblinking, as with clasped fingers, he formed the words that would sign the girls' sentence. "What shall be done with our guests, do you think? Shall we allow little Katherine her freedom, as young Nicola has begged so sweetly?" He said slowly, each word weighed, and tempered before it rolled smoothly off his tongue.
And suddenly Nicola understood – he was enjoying himself.
"Do as you wish, Aro." Fair haired and cruel, the man to Aro's left had spoken, and his voice had been like icy blades. Glaring at their hosts' back, he clicked his tongue impatiently. "But decide quickly, brother. Your delay is making Jane quite restless."
Aro blinked, as though something unforgivable had only just occurred to him, and he turned, giving a child, cold and frozen like her masters, the most apologetic of simpers.
"Forgive me, dearest." He purred, "I had quite forgotten Caius' promise to you; of an evening 's entertainment." He glanced back at Nicola, and then briefly to her friend, before gazing back at the demon girl once more. "Perhaps you would like Katherine, here, to tag along? I'm sure she would be more than happy to keep you amused, my pet."
Katherine blanched. Her eyes darting wildly in their sockets, a contradictory conclusion, as desperation pulled cruelly at her strings, and fear bridled her tongue. She shook her head fiercely, pleading wordlessly for the comfort of her friend.
Nicola could offer nothing, terrified herself, before the child floated excitedly to it's feet.
"Thank you, master!" Jane beamed, rushing eagerly to his side. Her unsettling gaze fell on each girl in turn, and Nicola worried. "Can I not have the other also? Then it would be fair. One for each of us. Caius and myself." She finished knowingly, giving her fairer master a daughter's smile.
Ruffling her curls, Aro tittered kindly. "I am afraid not, cara. Nicola, will be joining myself for some afternoon discussion, while you and Caius do your best to take care of little Katherine. Isn't that right, Nicola?"
Nicola stilled. She could not think of anything to do, other than agree, and yet the idea of allowing Katie to be left alone with those sadistic monsters, and forced to face the horrors they clearly had planned, was unbearable.
Still, the scales of fate were out of her hands, and briefly meeting her friend's woeful eye, she nodded.
"Excellent!" Aro exclaimed.
Clicking his fingers, a dark hooded being appeared immediately at Nicola's side, gripping her arm in an iron-like vice, and causing her to wince.
"Gentle, Santiago," Aro scolded lightly. "I don't want her broken. Jane, take your new friend and go with Caius. The rest of you see to it that this room is cleared. I don't want our home pungent with the smell of rotting flesh, we are not heathens."
With that the girls were separated. One out of one door, and one out of another. Both with their own demons. Their eyes didn't leave each other until ancient stone forced them apart, and then Nicola's feet dragged.
Unkindly, she was guided down new, and yet older, cobbled corridors. Her face was stained with fearful tears, and yet worry creased her brow. This was not going to end well. Her pleas and cries, had been for nought, and now rather then suffering a quick, and relatively painless death, she had brought even more suffering on herself and her friend.
Katie... I'm so, so sorry.
Nicola was pushed into a room suddenly, and her escort left, leaving her alone with Aro in the most peculiar of settings.
There was no ceiling, at least, none that would serve any real purpose. It was glass, you see, much like one of the walls, and Nicola could see the afternoon's sun low on the Horizon, it made the sky appear as though it's very heart was bleeding.
She frowned, noting various charts and graphs were scattered around, and a generously sized telescope or two, all of which told her that the room was more than likely used for star gazing. Which was odd, she had been certain that her travels had only lead her lower into the depths of the castle. Then again, she was in rather a messy state. Perhaps she had been mistaken?
Icy fingertips brushed her face in passing, and she flinched, cowering rigidly as Aro swept silently across the room.
He chuckled.
"The foundations of my home, reach further back than you realise, my dear. Although the castle discreetly touches the plaza in Volterra, it also travels back into the heavy belly of the mountains. You would have seen some of that yourself, when you and the others landed on our runway by the church."
She nodded, eager for less insidious conversation. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "So where are we now?" She asked shakily, a mouse cornered by it's cat.
Stood idly by the glass wall, Aro beckoned her forward. "Come."
She obliged. Tiptoeing curiously until her palms rested on cool glass. She peered out, surprised to see Tuscan plains below, and silhouetted not too far in the distance, the old cobbled roofs of Aro's ancient city.
"What are you?" She whispered, her courage spilling over, as it washed with the dying sun. "You're not human."
"My kind and I, have many names." He murmured softly, and suddenly the cold he radiated, prickled her spine. He was stood behind her.
"Vampire." She shivered.
"That is one, yes."
"But.. the sun...?"
"Not all legends attached to us are true, Nicola; most in fact. That particular one, is a falsehood I am rather glad of. A wooden stake to the heart is another." He laughed. "I'm afraid, we are quite indestructible."
The amusement is his voice was untethered, as was the unbearable smugness, and barely concealed arrogance. Nicola felt very small, and fragile, and with a slow, horrific realisation, she realised her heartbeats were numbered.
"You're going to kill me." She whispered, painfully swallowing down an unexpected sob. "You're going to kill me, and you're going to kill Katie to."
The tears came easily then, and her shoulders shook, the last light of day finally disappearing behind the steady mountain. Darkness fell, and cold shackle-like hands encased her arms.
"Hush, little one. I have tried to make this easier for you, have I not? I have stolen you away from all those horrible monsters; taken pity and shown you kindness. There is no need to be afraid."
Nicola shook her head. The tears coming faster. This was horrible. It was all so, so, horrible.
"Why are you doing this. WHY!?" She shouted finally, spinning hysterically on her heels, and backing up against the glass.
Aro's face was the personification of contentment. He looked like a child beguiled by a very pretty toy, and this only made her worry more; her body riled by the waves of terror that raked it.
"Can I let you in on a little secret, Nicola?" He murmured softly, watching as her hair to fell slowly through his fingers.
He followed the tendril's fall with immense enjoyment, and when she refused to answer, he continued, his voice like feathers against silk, as he eagerly cupped her pulse.
"I find myself far too idle these past few centuries. The world has not changed as much, as you might think, and truthfully, hardly ever do I find myself surprised." He grinned widely at her, then, his teeth taunting her with every gleaming edge, and she shuddered. "That is why I force myself to appreciate the small pleasures in life, Nicola, or else I would surely go mad!" He giggled, manically.
Aro lowered his head, his mouth eagerly brushing her throat, as he carefully inhaled. "And you, my sweet, are a pleasure to behold, indeed. So sweet. So very tempting. I knew, as soon as I saw you, that you werea fine wine, better enjoyed alone."
He pressed himself against her tighter, and she stifled a scream between gnawed lips, as spider-like fingers clawed painfully up into her roots.
"No. No. No. No. No..." She breathed repeatedly to herself, finding that her chest twisted painfully with each inhale. She wanted to shove him away, she wanted to yell, to fight, but she could not find the strength to raise her hands, nor the ire to wield her rebellion.
She had lost, and her only reprieve was that the horror would be over soon. It would all be over soon.
Aro tittered.
"Then again, maybe I'll keep you for a while?" He teased, as if taunting her thoughts. Her chest tightened in despair, as she felt his taught leer soft against her neck. "That is what you do with fine wines, is it not. Allow them to breath."
Laughing, Aro moved away suddenly, and she dropped, hitting the stone painfully. Nicola couldn't find the strength to stand again, she just wanted it to be over, she wanted the fear to stop. She began to sob, tears that to the blind eye, should belong to a child. She moaned.
"Please,... please." She whimpered, begging, pleading. Nicola wasn't even sure what for. Death? Katherine? Her freedom? She didn't know.
"No, Nicola, weakness is not a trait I favour." He warned softly, his mind clearly wandering, as he fingered lightly at a nearby telescope. He sighed thoughtfully. "And I would hate to see you come to any harm, my dear. I should like to have you around for a little while longer, if I can. I do find you so very pleasing, you see, and it has been so long, since I have found any interest in a human."
The darkness was falling. Nicola could feel it pressing in on all sides, the world as she knew it, shattering from her view, and through it all, not even the thought of her family was enough to keep her grounded. Only one wish offered any light.
"Katie..." Nicola breathed brokenly, wrapping herself tightly 'round a nearby table leg. "Katie, Katie..."
The girl cried harder now, her friend's name a sentiment she should have gone without. Aro knealt beside her, his thoughts wicked, and affectionate, as he soothingly stroked the long contour of her spine. He whispered, some words she caught, others she didn't, but none offered any comfort.
Somewhere in the bleak recesses of the castle, another girl screamed, her body alive with pain, both physical and emotional. The last minutes of her life ran crimson in front of her, and the burning never stopped.
A holiday shared by friends, is always a wonderful thing, or so our girl's thought.
We forget that sometimes our choices have consequences, and we believe that the world is ours, that it is light, and that we are protected by a higher benevolent power.
We forget ourselves, we forget that the world is not our own invention. It is cruel, it is dark, and it is ruled by the monsters...
~ Fin
*Hope you liked it. Your thoughts are always welcome, my chickens :) Please, ha. x