It was ear piercing. Aro looked at me "Ammalia, please can you show this charming girl to her room." I grimaced. Well hopefully her first impression was wrong. I walked over to wear she sat. She didn't move. I simply placed my hand on her delicate shoulder. She pushed her chair back and the scraping sound resounded in the stone hall. I took her by the hand and silently led her from the room.
"I'm sorry." Was all I said. I wrapped my arm around her slender frame and I sat her down against the wall. The she started to weep. I hugged her trying to comfort her. I sat there for 5 minutes, 12 seconds and 15 milliseconds. Slowly she stopped sobbing and shaking. I stood her back up again and continued to walk down the winding corridor. I decided to try and explain some more: "You will be safe. Soon you won't notice the difference between our kind and yours. I will look after you. I promise. I am Ammalia. You are Giacinta?" I asked. She nodded still staring blankly in front of her. "Everybody calls me Gi" she added quietly.
"Well Gi it is." I smiled kindly. Gi smiled weakly in response, "I know it is hard to understand." I tried to help her.
"Humph. Hard to understand doesn't cover it." She paused. "What is it like?" she asked hesitantly. I wanted to say I hated the diet but I didn't want to make her scream again.
"It's fascinating, different. You remember how Aro said about when he touched people?"
"Yes, can you too?" she sighed.
"No, when we become…"I didn't want to say the word" Well, some of us gain powers. I have a, well, control of the elements. It is hard to explain."
"I don't understand Ammalia." It sounded strange to hear her say my name. I decided to demonstrate. I clicked my fingers creating a flame that lingered on the tip of my thumb before I blew it out. Gi gazed fascinated, not scared.
"Wow."
"Yes, well there are perks. The speed is unbelievable. You feel like you are flying. I will have to show you some time and the strength is handy." We came to the door of her room. "In here" I opened the door revealing a bright room, mostly taken up by a large four poster bed. The walls were painted cream and there was a window on one wall with a beautiful view of the city. Gi sighed heavily beside me.
"I love living here" I smiled. "You will too." I promised. She tried to force a smile but could only manage a grimace. I chuckled and then she did smile.
"Goodnight" I laughed.
"Are you going to bed she asked?"
"No, I can't sleep" I confessed. Her eyes went wide with confusion and shock.
"Oh. Do you mind sitting with me for a while." She looked down embarrassed.
"Sure Gi." I beamed.
WE sat there in silence for hours on end, but no words could explain what passed between us in that time.
She didn't move a single bone in her body, she was a still as a vampire, and I laughed silently and sadly at the thought.
Before she had arrived I hadn't thought about how I could save her from her inevitable fate, and now she was really here I felt guilty, could I really help her?
When the time came, could I stand up against Aro? Could I stand up for what was right?
The answer was I didn't know; since I had become a vampire there were few questions I didn't know the answer to and when one of the few came up I felt unsettled.
I sat there, not uncomfortably; my body wouldn't care if I stood on my head for a , 3 hours, 41 minutes, 16 seconds and 62 milliseconds later, to be precise, Gi stood up.
She stood up slowly, stumbling. She stood up in a human way, and I was jealous.
I had come to this life because I had wanted to die, it was ironic but I wasn't laughing.
I suppose I resented the people around me a little, they were responsible for who and what I had become, what I hated to be.
When Giacinta had got up and brushed the dust from her skirt, she looked down at me and smiled weakly, "I will be o.k." It was meant to be a statement but the way her voice quivered as she uttered those four words made it into a question.
I smiled back, being careful not to expose my teeth, not wanting to make her scared. "Yes, you will be fine, I promise." I paused, I had never broken a promise in my entire existence and in that instant I vowed that I wouldn't break this one.
"You look tired." I observed "Sleep, you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow." She grimaced at the prospect of facing the monsters which she was surrounded by, monsters like me.