Chapter 4
I reached the piazza before the sixth chime of the clock and found Zafrina waiting for me. She may have been the only one there for all the blending in she did. She towered over the little Italians that bustled around her. She had assimilated very well to this culture but she hadn't changed as much as I had. They weren't able to break her but she wasn't able to protect me either. She was the only person I could trust though, and that meant something.
"So where have you been? Wandering about in the amphitheater? If you aren't careful, Aro might take notice of you again…you know how that turns out." She said this in a motherly tone. She has never pretended to be my mother; she just tends to act like it sometimes.
"I know. I'll be more careful next time."
We started walking toward the underground entrance. I wanted more than anything to tell her what had happened to me today but I knew then it would be only a matter of time before Aro found out. I trusted her to keep my secret to herself, but she couldn't close her mind to Aro's touch, and I couldn't blame her for that.
We walked in silence, as we usually did, though I was preoccupied in my thoughts of Jacob. I had no idea what to say to him tomorrow. Twelve years spent under the oppressive thumb of the Volturri clan had taught me many things. No matter how many times I tried to run away, they found me and brought me back. Over a ten year span, I ran away one hundred times and every single time, they found me and dragged me back. Ever since the massacre of my family, there wasn't a single vampire or coven on the planet that would protect me or fight with me. Eventually I stopped running and accepted my fate.
You see, I was Aro's pet, an oddity for him to showcase, a one-of-a-kind piece of art. He gave me the best clothes, and jewelry money could buy and in return, I was to sit prettily and grow older so he could watch.
That night, twelve years ago, the Volturri found me and my family, expecting to find a hunger crazed child vampire. Instead they found a child, born from a human mother and vampire father. Never before had there been a child born from a vampire and Aro wanted complete control over me. Caius had wanted me dead, but keeping me under a very tight lock and key was sufficient enough for him. He knew Aro well enough to know the lengths he would go to in order to keep me. Marcus just wanted my parents dead, he could see the bond between them and the jealousy that raged inside him couldn't be contained. Marcus was known for his apathy ever since the death of Didyme, his wife, but the moment he saw my parents, he couldn't control his rage.
Aro continues to retell that story to me every chance he gets. How he watched Marcus rip both of my parents apart. The worst started when I was six and my ability became two-way, not only could I project my thoughts on others but they could project their thoughts on me by a simple touch. At which point I was given a first hand look at what Marcus had done, repeated to me over and over again out of some sick sense of pleasure that Aro got from it. That's when I started to run away at every chance I could get.
The Volturri policed the vampire world, they had been doing so for centuries, but there was no one strong enough or willing enough, to police the Volturri. So this is my life, in a glass box, on display for the vampire world.
"Ness?" Zafrina dragged me from my dismal thoughts as we exited the elevator.
"Hmm?" I mumbled in reply.
"It's time."
"Oh..." I said, turning to look at her. She had compassion in her eyes, which only made me angry. I didn't want her pity; I wanted her to accept things, just as I had accepted things. I was only able to retain one aspect of my parents' life, one thing that even Aro wasn't able to break me of. I wouldn't drink human blood.
Entering the main room, I was always forced to watch as the rest of the Coven partook of the tourists, in hopes that it would be just tempting enough to break me of my habit. It never did and it never would. I found my seat on a sofa, farthest from the main door, and waited. Aro, Marcus and Caius entered the room, and shortly after a group of tourists were brought in. Aro dropped a brief glance on my face but nothing more. It seemed he was growing tired of me.
"Welcome…" Was the last thing I heard, before I closed my eyes and replayed every memory of Jacob in my mind. I had never been able to block out the screams before but the memory of Jacob, carrying me on his back and running through the woods, it somehow got me through. I opened my eyes and it was over. As the Coven left the room, I followed Zafrina and headed to my bedroom. I was the only one with a room besides the human staff. I changed my clothes and lay on the bed.
This is my life, nothing more. There will be centuries to endure and I could not have anymore guilt on my conscience.
Why did Jacob have to return, just to find me here? Why did my eyes burn at the realization that I would have to make him leave me again? Closing my eyes, I drifted off in wait of sunrise.