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Chapter 1

Twelve weeks of solitude

An illusion lasted less than a second – fitted in time between an appearance of light and disappearance of shadow. A cloud passed the moon, gust of wind caught specks of dust and sand into complicated dance, blurring vision.

Aro stopped dead in his track at the nearest window, staring at the small figure hunched in the dark alley. Familiar figure. He held his breath.

It was the same face, same posture… hair a little longer and lighter, but still…

He blinked quickly, light changed and the impression disappeared. The girl was stranger to him. He let out the air in his lungs, though he still observed her intently, trying to see the hidden similarity. Because even with an illusion gone, the echo of shock it caused remained. She was small, seventeen at most, sitting with her back against the wall and hunching forward, so thick waves of long, mahogany hair covered sides of her face. In one hand she held a flashlight, the other twitched regularly over the thick notebook. From here he have heard the scraping of pen against the paper.

Suddenly she shivered, got up and looked around, startled. Then turned her sight at him. Aro raised his brows, looking at her grey-green irises. Her arms moved quickly in her breath, heart fluttered like startled bird, trying to get away from the cage of her ribs.

"Aro?"

Vampire looked at his brother. Caius outdistanced him for three steps, before realizing he was not at his side any more. Aro beckoned him with a gesture.

"A mortal" Caius said, looking in direction indicated.

"She is looking at us" Aro pointed out with first notes of curiosity in his voice.

"Impossible. Not enough light for a human to see anything at such distance."

Aro leaned his head to the side, still observing the girl. At the look on his face Caius winced like he just swallowed a lemon.

"Doesn't she reminding you of someone?"

"No. What is it, Aro?"

"Nothing, my dear brother. Absolutely nothing." He made a fluttering gesture. "Go ahead, I'll join you later."

If it was possible, Caius winced even more. He did say nothing though. The air rippled and the vampire disappeared behind next corner.

Aro narrowed his eyes and smiled friendly. Still looking at the girl, he raised his hand in greeting gesture. She didn't react, like she hasn't noticed anything and his smile faltered a bit. He made a few steps. This time she followed him with his gaze.

Childish glee appeared on Aro's face.

Such… interesting little creature.

Alesya

As I left the school I stopped for a moment at the door. Taking a deep breath, I allowed myself few seconds to enjoy cool shade and shelter of the building. It was a harsh summer, though I haven't spend enough time in Italy to know if it's anomaly or norm. Most people hid in cafés on both sides of the road, drinking ice coffee and observing other passersbys that could not indulge in the same luxury. The air, dry and waving from the heat, filled with smell of dust and warm asphalt, irritated the inside of my nose.

I tried to smile. That's what freedom feels like.

Squinting eyes, I bravely stepped under streams of sunlight. Turning into Via Giacomo Matteotti I made quick mental summary of my current situation. Three months before the beginning of the last year of high school, which at least now seemed like a blessing. Though my attitude was surely about to change once the night falls, I wasn't going to destroy my mood with this perspective. What mattered was that for now I finally felt peace.

I already got rid of Veronica – a colleague from canteen, which just could not give up on inviting me to join her group of friends, no matter how many times I rejected invitation. Morning visits in shop required meeting old Sergio, but he belonged to this kind of people, which were friendly but never nosy. I wasn't working, mostly sleeping through days and going out only at night or early mornings. It made avoiding unwanted contacts much easier. If everything will go according to plan, before me was twelve weeks of solitude.

Powerful wave of bitterness enveloped me for a moment, but I had practice in overcoming it. The thought about how I've ended up in such predicament was much harder to fight. Few memories slipped through the shields in my mind and for that I knew only one method. Clenching my teeth I transferred my pain into anger.

I was good looking and clever, but the truth was even if I wanted to, I couldn't have any friends. I was perceived as a strange. I've had Italian father so I was fluent in language, still everyone seen me as American, moved to Europe barely over a year ago. New face in old city. Half-orphan, which yet added to already awkward situation. And for a month now a runaway, homeless living on the streets of Volterra. All this was more than enough to make me an outcast. And they didn't know about the worst.

Painful stab was so realistic, that I almost reached behind my back in search for blood. I shivered, ripped out from my thoughts, then turned around. Localizing the 'observer' wasn't difficult. Luciano sat at the curb, surrounded by his faithful followers – Carlo, Oscar and Cesare. His brown eyes, hidden in shadow casted by his fringe, followed my every move. When our eyes met, he rose bottle of cold beer, like he made a toast. He took a sip.

To you, la mia bella…

I shivered again and quickly left, still feeling as he followed me with his eyes until I disappeared behind next corner. His gaze burned my skin, wrenched my nerves. I sped up, almost running now.

This was the last reason why I stayed away from people – I couldn't stand it when someone looked at me. I was terrified by my own inexplicable reactions. Supposedly each human experienced the feeling of being watched from time to time, but with me that instinct went far beyond what might be called normal. There was no nervousness, anxiety or even satisfaction, like with some people that liked to be in the centre of attention. I felt pain, like someone hit me with a poisoned blade. And I was never, never wrong.

Next look was fleeting – a passerby talking on the phone glanced at me. It was enough though to destroy the rest of my self-control. As fast as I could without drawing more attention I flitted across the main square, passed the clock tower and dived into the web of side alleys. Finally at my destination with a kick I got rid of the wooden panel covering the broken window just above the pavement. Carefully I looked around. The building was closed for some delayed renovations, so it was empty at the moment. Still I wasn't sure if my residing in it was legal.

Sure that no one was looking, I jumped through the window to the basement and put the panel back on it's place. The room was large, dark and almost empty. Except for a stack of weathered, wrinkled old newspapers there was only dilapidated cupboard and table top – it's broken legs lied deserted somewhere in the corner. Right after I 'moved in' in a desperate attempt to make the place more presentable I bought some scented candles (both to get some light and to chase away the stink of urine and dampness) and thick blanket that I thrown over the tabletop.

Finally alone. I sighed, feeling extremely tired, and lied down on my pseudo-bed. Staring at the shiny string of light flowing through the hole in wooden panel, cutting through darkness like a golden thread, I slipped into restless sleep.

When I woke up it was already dark. Drifting on the thin line between reality and dream, I listened to the silence. There was quiet scratching sound, but my drowsy mind couldn't connect it with anything. My whole body was numb from lying to long on hard surface. I glanced at my wrist – illuminated with blue light watch showed two thirteen. I closed my eyes, wondering if as sore as I was I could fall asleep again.

And then under my feet something squeaked. Suddenly fully awake I grabbed a flashlight. A rat, startled by the light, looked at me for a second, then turned and hurried away, running from the kick I aimed at him. As he jumped under the cupboard, I grabbed my bag and dig out my second breakfast. I smiled gloomily. Rodent nipped at the foil, but had no time to touch the food.

"Sorry lad, it's not your lucky day" I muttered, tearing the foil.

I chewed the bread and raw carrot with no enthusiasm. I wasn't afraid of rats. When you live on a street in an old city, they become an integral part of life. Sadly I could not afford feeding them.

I looked at the cupboard, where the pest probably had it's lair.

"I would advise you don't do it again, because if I can no longer afford normal food, I'll eat you. Don't think I'll hesitate."

Rat didn't respond.

When I came to Volterra I counted all my savings and assumed, that with no bills for a place to stay, paying for food only absolute minimum, I should have enough until graduation. Now I started to worry if I'll survive the winter.

And how stupid it all was – how I've ended in this situation! Although I managed well – at least in my own eyes – I wasn't used to live like that. In Minneapolis I lived with my sister and mother in house that belonged to us. Except short episode, when my mother's florist shop went bankrupt, financially we did well – we were not rich, but not poor either. In case of problems, we had people we could go to for help. I too had two friend that I could rely on, doesn't matter if it was material help I needed or just to talk out all my worries.

Even my strange ability was different back then. I felt all the looks directed at me, but there was no need to hide from them. They didn't cause pain. If a person who looked was known and loved by me, someone I trusted, I felt warmth. It was good, pleasant feeling.

And then this happened. Gas leak, explosion… I wasn't at home that day.

Few days later for the first time in fourteen years I've met my father. As children me and my sister often felt his absence, but Kayla was dealing with it much better than me. Back then I still dreamed about him coming back.

I should have been more careful what I wished for.

Emilio was far from the model father. He dragged me with him to Italy right after the funeral and since then I lived in a nightmare. He was the reason my abilities changed. After the first beating I started to hide from him, trying to stay out of his sight, avoided everyone who could see the bruises. My gift turned into an alarm.

I've lasted a year – just long enough to become of age. The day of my birthday I packed and run, taking only what was already mine. Emilio wouldn't look for me – he proved in every way possible he doesn't care. Still I didn't want to be slowed down by baggage, nor wanted to risk taking something Emilio would want back.

Perhaps it was a mistake. What will I do, if in the middle of December I'll find myself cold and hungry, with no means to survive?

I shook my head, as amount of emotions and thoughts became too much. I grabbed diary, pen and flashlight, approached window and jumped outside. As I thought, the streets were deserted. The moon – silent guardian, unyielding and bright – effused it's light over the town roofs and castle towers. I sat down on the pavement and started to write, as excess of emotions poured out from me to paper. A solution far from perfect, but I didn't have an alternative except confiding in a rat. With a sigh I pushed that thought away and put the flashlight closer.

That's when I felt it. Short, painful impulse pierced through my chest, ice twisted my stomach. First came surprise, then fear. I stood up in no time.

The look!

I glanced at the end of the alley, at completely deserted square, then the other way, into darkness. There was nobody. Or at least I haven't seen anyone. But I still felt it. Someone was watching me. And it wasn't casual glance, that person was intently staring at me. After so many years of being tormented by those strange sensations I knew it was not wrong. If something was failing here, it was my sight.

I dropped my eyelids and followed the instinct. A little to the left. And higher. Trying hard to control my breath I lift my head a bit, opened eyes and looked at the sky.

No, not the sky. In front of me, standing out from the darkness, was slender, soaring shape.

"What the hell?" I blurted.

The tower was a few hundred yards away. From that distance at night I could barely see if there was any windows or cracks in the stone construction. How on earth was someone out there to see a girl hunched in the shadow of the alley. From human point of view, impossible. And it had to be human. I couldn't feel animal's stares.

Or maybe my gift evolved in that way? Maybe it was really some bird or bat staring at me?

Or I finally went crazy and it was all just my delusion.

Well, was or not, I felt it. Though I couldn't see much, I focused on the source of the stare. After awhile it stopped for a moment, only to come back with double force. Two sights. Lasted for a few seconds, then went back to original state.

Sudden thud surprised me so much I jumped, short yelp escaping my mouth. It took me a moment to realize I dropped the flashlight, which rolled away on the pavement, leaving me in darkness. My heart was pounding in my ears and I didn't want anything more than to run away from this place. But I couldn't. I couldn't move a single muscle. I couldn't tear my gaze from the tower.