Yello! Well this time I didn't receive too much love (ouch...right in the feels) but I'm gonna update this anyway (because I know there are people reading this)!

I'm really sorry I'm updating one chapter by month but I'm really busy (school, homework, projects, exams...)

Anyway! Here's chapter 3! Read & Review!

Oh! Enjoy, too!

Yoshida Hotaru! :)

Walking down the dimed-lit hallway, leaded by Corin, the silence felt heavy and palpable, and the hallway felt longer and timeless. Stupid nerves.

Sulspicia and Athenodora were at my left and right respectively. The two guards, Jael and Toris – still didn't know who was who – were walking behind us, like, obviously, normal bodyguards, but with this hint that they were trying to prevent your escape. Escape? Why would I? This place is a paradise, I thought sarcastically and rolled my eyes annoyed just by the thought of this place been a paradise. I snorted mentally. It was just stupid to think I would escape 'cause they would obviously find me with the help of the tracker, Demetri, anyway.

I looked over my shoulder to look where we came from and I started to notice the olive-skinned woman guard – I assumed it was Jael – was lowing her track. Why? I wondered but then I noticed he reason when I turned my gaze to the front again. Forward, just some meters away, was entrance to our destination. To whatever it was the surprise they had prepared for me. I looked over my shoulder one last time and tried to concentrate on her features but the only thing I could look directly were her eyes. Those red eyes gleaming in the blue, blankly, emotionlessly. I gulped unconsciously.

Corin cracked the doors open and I held my breath, even if I knew I didn't need air at all.

It took me a millisecond to adjust my sight to the bright light that illuminated the room.

Then I saw something I wish never to have seen.

Standing in the center of the room was… a person, a man to be exactly. He was tall and young, and he seemed scared, frightened. He was looking everywhere with dark eyes wide open full of fear. He kept looking until our gazes locked. I moved the pity I felt for him away and gave him an emotionless look.

I knew he was the surprise they had for me. And I disliked it.

I couldn't keep looking at him in the eyes. It didn't feel right. It made me feel cynical…

I looked around at everyone and I noticed that there were missing some red-eyed and that every red-eyed in the room have this expectation plastered in every faction of their faces.

"I…have to…?" I asked them nervously, but it was more a question for me.

You are one of them, too? the man mouthed with fright eyes. I looked straight at him again and nodded slowly.

"Please, Raen" Aro said with a smirk on his lips and he gestured me to proceed in the thing I needed to do. Drink the man's blood "You need blood"

I didn't want to kill the poor man. Just looking at him made me sad. He was so afraid he was shaking like a Chihuahua, he was sweaty and he looked like a cornered mouse. But inside of me I just wanted to attack. And he smelt really, really good.

I approached to him, leaving my spot between Sulspicia and Athenodora behind, and took his arm. As a reflex, he closed his eyes. Fast, I told myself Do it fast. With the corner of my eye I saw a tear making its path down his cheek. I hesitated a little bit, but when I glanced up to face them – the three of them waiting for me to kill the man – I couldn't back off. You can do this, you can do this, you can…

My hand pulled up his wrist to my mouth before I could even think. My fangs pierced his skin, making him scream in pain. His blood made its path down my throat, ceasing the burning. It was smooth like silk and it had a sweet flavor. He didn't stop screaming and I noticed his other hand was placed over his arm like if he was trying to apply a tourniquet to stop the pain, to stop the blood from running through his veins.

His yells shut down. I have drained his blood out and it refreshed me. His lifeless body collapsed in the marble floor. I didn't feel weak anymore.

I looked at Aro in the eyes. He was smirking as always, but he was not the only one.

"More" I 'whispered'. I couldn't believe I was saying that.

"You will have more, but later" Caius was the one to respond.

"Meanwhile, you will stay here with us" Aro said with some poison in his voice.

"No, my beloved Aro" Sulspicia blurted, appearing at my left. Beloved? She? Him? What?

"Why not, my loved Sulspicia?" he demanded kindly.

"We want her to stay with us" Athenodora spoke out, suddenly at my right.

"My beloved Aro, we never demand you anything, but we really want her with us" Sulspicia said seriously.

"And we can teach her about our kind and our coven while she is with us" Athenodora added. Caius glared at her with piercing red eyes, but she was adamant.

The silence hit the room. I knew Aro was thinking, considering their request.

"Do you want to stay with them?" Aro finally asked me.

I nodded timidly. I really wanted to stay with them. Even if I just have met them like some hours ago, they've been kind and friendly with me, and I had the feeling they would make me feel like at home, in some sort of weird way.

"Well then, you can leave" Aro said with a bittersweet tone. He disliked my decision, I was sure of it. "Oh, Raen" he spoke again with a thoughtful tone this time, his voice echoing my name in the room. He has must forgot something. I- we turned around after he mentioned me "It is almost night and, as you can see, Felix is not here…" he pointed out and as I heard this I turned my gaze to look at the spot where he was supposed to be. He really wasn't there, neither was Demetri. So they are the one missing "So, you are going to train with…" he paused to think. He seemed to make this up at the very last minute "Alec! Thank you very much!" he exclaimed with a smirk. I turned my gaze again, this time to where Jane and her… brother or whatever… were supposed to be, but he was standing there alone, she had left, maybe with Felix and Demetri, he was astonish and his red eyes screamed consternation. At first he was looking straight at Aro but then his red eyes locked with mine and I felt something weird inside me, something I had never felt before, something new, something alive... and by how his expression softened, I could tell he felt the same thing "Alec…" he broke apart and looked again to Aro when he called his name. I did the same "You will help her. You will train her physically and mentally. You will her use and control her strength, her speed, her instincts and her gift correctly. Especially her gift. She needs to use it and control it consciously" Caius's eyes lit up mischievously as Aro explained every order to Alec. Alec only nodded when Aro finished "You will meet at the woods. Corin, please show Raen the path to the woods. And I think it is all clear, so you can really leave now"

"They are replacing her" Marcus commented after they left. His voice full of pain as always.

Aro flinched in his seat. He knew who Marcus was talking about. He didn't regret anything. He did not. He never did. And he would not start today. "They are not replacing Didyme, my friend" he comforted Marcus after a thoughtful second.

Marcus frowned. He liked the kid, he could not lie about that, but he still thought Sulspicia and Athenodora were trying to fill that empty hole his beloved Didyme left when she died.

After we left, we split. While Sulspicia and Athenodora went forward through the corridor with the two guards, Corin pulled me into another hallway I hadn't seen before.

We sped through the path she had to show me, and I tried to memorize it. Left, left, right, left, right, right, left… And after some more turns – the place was like a huge indoor labyrinth – we stopped into an intersection of two hallways. The right corridor wasn't so long and it hand a bronze door at the end. The left one seemed to have no end.

"I assume that's the doorway to the woods" I pointed out with my index the bronze door at the end of the right hallway.

"Yes" she answered simply.

"And, this hallway leads to…?" I asked her, pointing the left hallway.

"It leads to the wives' room if you keep straight forward" she indicated. Wives? They are… their wives… really…?

"This is like a labyrinth" I thought out loud.

"At the beginning, you feel it that way" she replied in a friendly way. I turned to look at her with disbelief and I saw I small but warm smile plastered on her lips. I smiled. She looked at me with the corner of her eye "What are you smiling at?" she shot back bitterly.

"Nothing" I looked to the door. I was taken aback but at least she was her bitter self again. "Corin…" I began nervously "can I go out now?" I asked and before she said a word I continued "I know it's not night yet, but… can I?"

She was thoughtful for two seconds, and after those two seconds she shrugged "Yes…" I smiled toothily and widely, like a 5-year-old child "It will be great to have time without you around again…" I rolled my eyes playfully and minimized my smile "Just do not expose yourself" she imposed.

"Thanks… I think" I turned and headed to the door before I heard her voice again.

"And please untie those braids. You look ridiculously human-like" she commanded me poisonously.

I froze. I forgot I had my hair tied in two braids Sulspicia and Athenodora made… And…Aro…saw…me…like that…and all of them… GOD!

"'Kay… sure" I 'murmured' sheepishly. If I could blush, I would have been as red as a tomato at that moment.

I grabbed my hair just to confirm her statement. Maybe she's just messing with me… But no. They were there. It was still tie up into two braids. Damn.

"Wait" I realized something "Are they really-" I turned to face her but she had already left me there "their wives…?" I sighed and continued my way to the door.

It was beautiful. It was made of dark bronze; its details and knob were also made of the same dark bronze.

I grabbed the doorknob softly and opened the door. The bright light of the sunset hit my eyes. The sunlight that passed through the branches and leaves of the trees made my skin sparkle.

I felt like a disco ball. I laughed at that thought. I was a mirror after all.

The forest was gorgeous and orange. It had a magic vibe. Time to climb a tree, I smiled.

I started walking but then I ran, searching for a good and stable tree. There were willow trees, pine trees, maple trees, fir trees, oak trees, sycamore trees, birch trees, walnut trees, alder trees, cypress trees, chestnut trees, elm trees, hickory trees, locust trees…

It was almost winter; the breeze has a delightful scent, the leaves were still in the process of fall off the trees, everything that was green in the summer was now yellow, orange, red, mahogany, brown, reddish-pink... every warm tone you can imagine.

The wind started to blow, announcing the night was coming, playing with the leaves and making some of them fall.

I knew it was a cool wind, but I felt nothing. I sighed and looked down while I walked again. Crack, crack, crack. Every time I stepped in the fallen leaves I heard how my feet made that sound and I saw meticulously how every leaf was broken. Crack, crack, crack…

I kept walking with my eyes on my feet, on those black Converses they obviously didn't like until I hit my head against a tree.

"Damn" I cursed but it didn't hurt one bit.

I looked up. This was the tree. This is the one. It has to be. I was an old, tall, strong, stable and thick sycamore tree. Almost all of its leaves had fallen off, leaving its braches exposed.

I started to climb. Higher, higher, higher, I pushed myself until I reach the very top of the tree. The view was priceless; it left me speechless. I could see the sun setting, the entire forest – and it was huge – and a quarter of Volterra from there.

I stared at the sun. Its last rays of light illuminated everything they could reach, making every color of everything dark and bright at the same time. "Perfect" I said to myself when the wind blew, taking my words with it.

I started to untangle my hair as slow as I could, my eyes locked in the sunset.

The wind blew again and played now with my loosen hair. I took a deep breath. It smelt at everything you could find in a forest.

The sun was disappearing in the horizon now. Its rays leaving a beautiful gamma of purples, blues, oranges, reds, pinks and yellows in the sky. Meanwhile, up in the middle of the sky, the stars were making their bright entrance alongside with the moon. The stars began to glow dimly while the moon made its way to the very top of the sky.

The last gleam of sunlight disappeared, leaving a glorious starry night. The soft moonlight soothed the sparkles in my skin. The stars twinkled by turns and formed the well-known constellations.

I admired the magnificent moon in all its glory. I swung my legs carelessly and saw a still wake hummingbird by a nearby tree.

"Why are you awake?" I asked it in a hush.

It was flying really fast, flapping its wings five times per second.

"I bet I'm faster" I muttered, not even hoping that it would hear me.

But before I could get off the tree with a jump, a strange white mist began to surround me. I lost the grip with the branch and my balance.

I screamed as I fell - just like a normal person would have done. I closed my eyes and waited the impact with the not-so-soft grass.

What do you think? Floppy? (Yeah, I know...)

Leave a review and tell me what you think!

(or tell me if I'm making her a Mary Sue or/and help me unblock this author block I got! please!)