Disclaimer: We are so not, like, Stephenie Meyer, and we like, have nothing to, like, do with her except we totally, like, love her work! ;D
A/N: Here it is, presented by yours truly, this is the third installment of our humble fanfic!
II
Mrs. Dracula's Little Princess
July 29th 2008
"Irene, darling, please pay attention." This morning I looked up from my start-of-the-year review notes, almost getting a mouthful of pink organdy. "Dear, please be careful!"
The gauzy pink fabric was actually attached to dress, which was worn by a woman, a certain woman named Athenodora – wife of Caius. She stood before me, her black hair piled onto her head in a mess of ringlets and her voice (one that reminded me of a glamorous film star) scolding me for being so careless with the Parisian gown. Her burgundy eyes reproached me.
Rather stupidly so, Athenodora made me feel as if I was about to cry.
Athenodora sat down beside me, a slim woman of thirty one – or so it appeared. One of her soft powdery arms made its way around me and my body reacted naturally, my skin prickled at her cold embrace. "Irene, look at me." She used one of her slender fingers to turn my face towards her, so I could look clearly into her unclouded wine-red eyes, so very different from Caius' milky ones.
"Stop studying. Try on the dresses, look at shoes. I want for everything to be perfect during the Cullen's," The doctor's family name was pronounced harshly. "Stay. I don't want them to think of you as a frumpy little girl, I'm sure you must want to make a good impression." Athenodora kissed my cheek as a motherly gesture.
"Heidi! Please show me that sea blue gown, it'd make Irene look striking, don't you think so?" Tall, beautiful Heidi made her way over to me. Whatever gown I wore, I wouldn't look as good as her. I really was sick of these get-togethers. Would Jane help me sabotage this one? I was sure she despised the Cullens.
As Heidi helped me up and then held the exquisite gown against my frame, I glanced over to angelic little Jane, who preened and giggled as Sulpicia (Aro's wife) complimented her. Ugh, she was definitely not going to help.
The boudoir – styled after Marie Antoinette's own quarters, was filled to the brim with dresses and shoes and skirts and blouses and dress pants and I'm dizzy…. To wrap it all up, there was a lot of clothing.
I don't know what was chosen for me to wear; I didn't pay a lot of attention to what the women pressed me to try on. In the end, they would be the ones to choose.
After Athenodora held a mini fashion show so that the women could complement and pet to their hearts delight, the young ones (including myself) were sent to take up and finish their previous activities.
Of course, as the only human in the Volturri court, I went to make myself a sandwich.
I stood in the gleaming (and very unnecessary) kitchen, choosing different types of cheese and wondering at the amount of ham. As I sifted through the refrigerator, it was hard to ignore the red blood packets that were stored in the very back. It seemed that Aro had been having midnight snacks – Sulpicia was going to be so pissed.
For unknown reasons, the guard filed into the kitchen (or at least a good five of them) and took up the very interesting sport of "Watching Irene Eat." I now know what it feels like to be one of those poor animals on display in zoos.
I never finished the sandwich of course, as eating under observation is uncomfortable. I chucked it into the trash and walked out, heading to my room.
It's a very bland room. Decorated to Sulpicia's taste – something Athenodora never quite forgave – it's pretty much oatmeal, eggshell and ivory colored. I don't understand the difference either.
It's got a door that connects to
July 29th 2008. Later.
That little midget! Jane, oh-so-precious-I-never-do-anything-wrong Jane, tore my journal out of my hands! She even read it as I tried (horribly) to yank it back. I hate that my bedroom connects to hers.
Dmitri came along soon after that, he wasn't surprised to se me – the pitiful human – flailing my arms awkwardly as I tried to grab my journal. He laughed and actually hugged Jane!
Dmitri has never liked me; he thinks I'm a nuisance who should have been killed after my seventh birthday when "all her cuteness wore out". Athenodora outright refused and I was kept out of his presence for a good six months. Even after Dmitri not so subtly offered to murder me in cold blood, he has been given the task of escorting me to the dance studio two afternoons a week, sometimes on Saturday mornings, which is when he grumbles and scowls the most.
The studio is small tidy and neat, but very loud. You can hear the music blasting from the windows a block down.
After class, Dmitri is to escort me back to the Dracula lair so I can have dinner. Life with the Volturri is very routine.
--Irene
August 1st 2008
Athenodora wants matching napkins. Sulpicia wants her Vera Wang gown to be finished. Calliope wants imported toothpicks. Jane wants for Alec to be done with the computer. Aro wants a Queen Vinyl record. Caius wants it to be lunchtime. Dmitri wants Felix to be a punching bag. I just want everybody to SHUT UP!
It so annoying when everybody runs their mouths off complaining about how So-and-so won't do this and Mrs. Whoever doesn't want that, and they don't understand that I just want to freaking study! Is it so hard to see that I don't want to fail this year!? I usually never study and now that I make the effort to do so, it all has to go wrong!
….
I'm calm; I can think somewhat rationally, I just had to breathe.
….
I shouldn't have flushed those notes down the toilet, should I?
--Irene
August 1st 2008. Evening.
I wish I could talk to Athenodora. It's not that I can't, but I wish we could really talk. If you haven't noticed, Athenodora has been my mother figure for all these years. She braided my hair, she read me storybooks, she taught me how to read, and she encouraged me to dance. But she isn't my mother.
Athenodora has been playing dolls all these years. Juliet and I are her favorites – her pretend daughters, both of were chosen because of one simple reason: we have curly hair.
Juliet's hair is fire-engine red and curls beautifully, my own hair is coffee brown and curly, yet it is wilder than Juliet's.
Athenodora had a baby girl all those years ago, when she was a lady's maid to Queen Marie Antoinette. When the girl was born, she had a halo of beautiful curly hair, says Athenodora. "As black as a raven's wing," is something Athenodora always tacks on. That is the very reason why I have been with the Volturri since I was three.
But really, I don't mind it much. Unless we're talking about the future. I really want to stay human, but Athenodora wants to change me.
--Irene
August 3rd 2008
Everyone is talking about the Cullens. They are the talk of the court and yet the Volturri can't stand them. I wonder why they need to come here; it's ridiculous that we have to hold a party in honor of the newborns Carlisle adopted.
To move forward, I can say that besides party preparations, the Dracula lair is very boring. Dmitri and Felix closed the gym they use to train, everybody is brushing up on their language skills, and vampires are actually trying to minimize the blood consumption so that they won't be uncomfortable when the Cullens arrive. In short, everyone is bad tempered and stressed.
--Irene
August 5th 2008
Calliope is the name of a talkative goddess, and therefore it is only right that her namesake should be as gossipy. However, this doesn't give Calliope an excuse to chatter like a radio.
Of the Volturri, Calliope – a stout, bold vampiress – is the one that drives everyone else insane. She's a busybody who sticks her nose into everyone's business, and believes that she is an omniscient goddess.
Curiosity: Calliope is Marcus's sister-in-law. Calliope and Didyme used to be sisters, but according to Athenodora, Didyme was more discreet than Calliope. Now we put up with Calliope in respect of Didyme's memory. She died long before my arrival at the Volturri court.
Athenodora particularly hates her but nothing can be done but sigh and hope that Calliope will choke on her own spit.
For the last week she has been itching to walk above ground during this unusual rainy week in Volterra and has been pleading for any of us to stretch our legs and stroll around the town with her. As if anyone would actually go with her.
--Irene
August 6th 2008
Fine. I went with her, happy? Now I'm stuck in this useless coffeehouse as she bumbles about like a bee who doesn't want a map.
--Irene
August 7th 2008
Irene's in pain, how funny.
--Alec
August 8th 2008
You should hear her scream, it's a riot!
--Jane
August 9th 2008
She's still unconscious.
--Jane
August 10th 2008
Athenodora's worried. Irene doesn't wake up.
--Jane
August 17th 2008
I woke up on August 11th for the last time in my life. Of all the things to be sad about, I miss sleeping.
--Irene
August 18th 2008
I locked myself in this room for a purpose. This way, I can't see how much I've changed, I can't feel the difference nor can I compare it with my previous human existence. They robbed me of my humanity.
I want to write it down, just in case I forget:
On August 6th of 2008, for the second time in my life, I was being followed.
It was a man and a woman, both polar opposites. The woman was large and muscular, all of it exposed in her exercise gear. The man was small and rat-like, downright ugly and sly. They didn't sit beside each other; they sat on parallel ends of the coffee shop and glanced in the other's direction not very subtlety. I noticed them pointing at me and then at the finely dressed Heidi and Calliope. I was obviously the weaker link, the easier target.
I drank the bitter coffee quickly, not even complaining that it wasn't as sweet as I would have liked, and then dragged Heidi and Calliope out the door. I can remember thinking that my heart was thumping – though I have no clue how that felt. When your heart thumps, does it pain you? I may have to ask a human. It's so easy to forget human feelings, even such little ones as your heart thumping.
I'm not very sure what Calliope and Heidi were doing as we hurried down the street, I can suppose that the former chattered incessantly while the latter focused on ignoring her.
The two women picked up the pace and I lagged behind, my rubber boots made it difficult for me to walk in the rain flooded city.
What happened then is quite ridiculous. I still can't believe that Heidi and Calliope didn't hear as a large hand wrapped around my wrist and swung me inside a dusty old boutique. They were both vampires, did they need freaking hearing aids!? Anyways, I don't want to remember much from what happened after that, I can only remember feeling my rib crack under my flesh, I can remember the mottled and bruised skin on my arms and the feeling of skin being carved away from my back.
It was Calliope and Felix who found me, a broken corpse – or as near to one as I could be. They say that the pair took my iPod, my cellphone, gold earrings that were ripped from ears and any other valuable item I may have worn.
Smart people can guess how they cured me.
--Irene
Alec.
Last week – was it really just last week? – Calliope and Felix brought in what appeared to be an elongated white bundle of blankets. We could smell the stench of human blood even from across the huge hall.
As Felix carefully carried the bundle in his arms, Calliope hurried towards Athenodora, looking quite a sight: her hat was lopsided, the neatly pinned curls were all over the place and the skirt of her dress was splattered with crimson. She went on tiptoes (as she was so small and stout and Athenodora is very tall and stately) to whisper something inaudible even to vampire ears.
A grin of delight stretched across Athenodora's face. She clapped her hands excitedly and cleared her throat while Calliope and Felix left the room with Chelsea and Aro following their tails. "My dear family," proclaimed Athenodora dramatically. "It pleases me to announce to you that we will shortly have a new addition to our home. My sweet pet, Irene, has been bitten!" She smiled ecstatically and looked expectantly towards the gathering. A few vampires lazily clapped their hands. Even if nobody really cared, the fact that Irene's transformation hadn't been planned was somewhat interesting.
Heidi.
Before Irene, Heidi had never seen a human become one of them. Let's just say it was…. interesting.
Heidi wasn't that fond of the reclusive teenager, so the harsh screams and sore wailing didn't affect her in the slightest. In fact, it was almost funny to watch the girl writhe in the bed, desperate for relief.
The first change that observant Aro registered was the change of coloring. The pale olive skin tone that Irene had possessed whitened into ivory, her previously unidentified dark hair changed into smooth tendrils, each of them shining in the different shades of coffee. Some strands of hair were pure ebony black, others shone in varying shades of rich brown, and surprisingly there were a few strands of gold and ochre dancing in the light.
The next day passed uneventfully (at least for Heidi) and she had the privilege of hearing Athenodora coo over her pet's more fluid movements – as in that she was thrashing more rapidly and sinuously.
During the third day, Heidi was allowed back inside the room.
Irene had stopped thrashing like a ravaged animal, and she stopped her wild movements almost abruptly, settling into a state of discomforting peace. Heidi came close to her and leaned down, so that she could observe her housemate's changed appearance. The mouth was pinker and shapely, the nose seemed to have more character, her chin was more prominent, her lashes and eyebrows darker, everything had changed so subtlety but in reality, the transformation was vampiric.
It was then that the worrying started.
As Heidi, Athenodora and Calliope stood watch beside Irene's "sickbed", they saw her transformation slowing, the skin hardening into marble was supposed to be the fastest part. Quick and painful – like ripping off a band-aid.
Instead, Irene's face contorted into one of discomfort and she would stretch her limbs slightly, almost as if ridding herself of an unpleasant sensation. The skin was at first smooth and silky, slowly turning into the flawless marble that every vampire had as its shield. Heidi ran her fingers over her own inbuilt armor, smiling at the thought of being nearly indestructible.
Heidi sat in one of the impeccable white couches in Irene's room and watched Athenodora fly around and play "Mother" for a bit, before retiring to her quarters to rest. Calliope, however, was tenacious and aided the girl's discomfort in whatever way she could. The small stout woman flew about the room, using cold, wet cloths to press against Irene's forehead and wrapping her tightly in cotton sheets. Though these trivial things did nothing to help, Calliope did sit by Irene and read poetry to her – something that even in her near comatose state, managed to make her smile.
The hours passed slowly and soon Aro deemed it was time. After the slow, dragging transformation, it really was time.
A/N: There you go, we hope that will keep you happy until we edit the fourth chapter, which is already written by Ms. E! By the way, please review, we love to hear from our adoring fans. ;P No, seriously, we'd love to hear/read what you think!
Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good-bye till it be morrow,
FLUORESCENTdisaster