Volturi. If there was one thing I didn't want to be I knew it was that. "Why can't it be enough that we are together?" I asked pulling away. "What Vand, come on. They are like royalty and now you are one of them." Gilbert said making a face. "Stop calling me Vand. I don't care what they are I don't want to be here." I said angrily. "Why? We owe them." He said. "No, I don't owe them anything but death. They took me away." I said my brow furrowing. "I owe them my life, and they saved you from the wolves you should be grateful." He said just as angrily.
"I don't know what to believe. I mean I can't believe the Cullens were using me, I can't believe that Jacob would ever do anything bad. I just want to go home." I said pushing myself up struggling not to flash anything. "You were brainwashed, for eight years that is why you have a hard time believing it. You have no home but here. With me Vander, I thought that is what you wanted." He said standing gracefully taking my hand. "I did want that…" I stopped my angry statement and looked down. "Before what? Before you let yourself be taken in by a wolf? Before you fucked him?" Gilbert asked angrily.
I yanked my hand from his grip and turned my back padding heavily on the stone floor. I was not having this argument naked. "I didn't mean that Vander stop please. Mi Amour stop." I could hear him walking closely behind me. "I want clothes on clean clothes. I have no idea how long I was filthy. I want clothes, ok?" I asked. I sounded hostile even to me. "Fine! You never used to be like this before…" I stopped and spun to face him. "Before what? Go ahead say it. Blame this all on Jacob. You know what? You didn't used to be like this before you let vampire royalty mind fuck you." I yelled. "Vander just stop ok. Let's not fight, we have changed these things happen but we still love each other don't we? You still love me right. Please don't let him to have taken that from me too." He pleaded. "No I do love you, Jacob never asked me to stop loving you. I would appreciate if you stopped bad mouthing him." I flung open the door and went to the closet and pulled out my new uniform. Black jeans and a black scoop neck shirt.
"How can I not hate him, he stole you." he said following me out and then laying across the bed. "What do you call what you did to him?" I asked pulling the jeans on not worrying about panties or bra. "I simply took back what was mine." He grinned at me. It was the wrong thing to say. "I am not yours, I belong to no one. I am not a thing." I snapped. "Vander your heart will always be mine." He grinned again. He was simply wearing black jeans and he stretched his muscled frame as if show casing it. I pulled on my shirt and threw the towel at him. "Still an animal in the bedroom I see." He joked. "Are we going to eat or what?" I said leaving the comment alone.
He sighed and pushed himself off the bed. "You want blood, ok we are going to have to hunt then out of town of course because of your special needs." he rose and came to stand behind me. He cupped my breast and bent to speak softly in my ear. "To bad you can't do human, it is very erotic to share." I grabbed his wrist and like lightning side stepped him and pulled his arm behind his back forcing him to his knees. Ok so I missed the fringe benefits of being a vampire. "You are not to touch me like that until I get my head clear ok got it? It might have been brainwashing but it felt real. You said you can wait you better wait until I give the go ahead or you will not see me ever. I might be a prisoner here but if you do that again I will march my ass back to that cage."
He nodded and I let him up. "You are fast and strong. Really fast and strong Vander that was amazing and sort of hot." he grinned rubbing his wrist. "Fine, I will go get some blood on my own." I shrugged. He scrambled after me shaking his head. "I don't think they will let you leave on your own yet." I shrugged. "Then keep up and keep your hands to yourself." I commented. He made longer strides to keep up. "Do we need to check out or something?' I asked. He shook his head. "You aren't a prisoner here." he said taking my hand then quickly letting it drop. "Then why do I need an escort?" I asked. "So you don't get lost." Too late for that one. "Come on it will be fun. I bet you are beautiful when you hunt." "Yeah, I am real perfection in motion." I said sarcastically letting him lead now. "Agreed." He smiled and lead me out.
Funny how being locked up for an undetermined amount of time makes you loose all sense of time. But of course this was the Volturi, they would only let us out at night. Figures. I blinked letting my eyes adjust and my body follow Gilbert's form. A warm wind blew across my face and I jerked my head. I smelt a familiar smell, it smelt like home. Before my brain could catch up with my body I was following the smell. "EDWARD! ALICE!" I screamed my body moving as if it had always known the streets they were traveling on. It was carrying me further and further from the wilderness Gilbert was trying to lead me to, but closer and closer to home.
My body went down, my kneels buckling from a tackle behind. "Vander what are you doing?" Gilbert asked. "Let me go!" I screamed. "You said I could leave now let me go." I wiggled and twisted but he had the drop on me. "Vander stop it, you will cause a panic stop it." he rebuked. I continued to scream until his hand covered my mouth. 'EDWARD! Please hear me please be here.' I screamed with my mind. I felt Edward's conscious slipping toward me like a comfortable pair of shoes you have always loved. 'Vand! You are alive.' he responded. 'Please, Edward don't leave me here.' I cried out still struggling with Gilbert. I bit into his hand and he let my mouth go. "Let me go." I screamed. "Vander stop, you are delusional you need blood."
Several of the black clothed guards came out and seized my body with the help of Gilbert. "Someone bring her something to drink. It was too soon to take her out." Gilbert huffed nursing his hand. 'Edward!' I cried out in my mind trying desperately not to loose him. Once I was through the threshold of the Volturi complex I felt the connection sever. I knew then that Edward's presence in my mind had not been a delusion. I knew that Edward and Alice were near. "Let me up… You said I could go when I want. I want to go." I struggled. "Vander please there is nothing out there for you." "My brother and sister are out there let me go!" I struggled fighting against the guards holding me.
"No Mike and Steph are in America with their families. Stop please, you are going to hurt yourself." Gilbert urged. "No I am going to hurt you." I growled letting my lighting charge my body. Instantly I was free. I moved towards the door stepping over the bodies. "Edward, Alice where are you?" I called stepping away from the building. I spun slowly in a circle looking for them taking in all the air I could as if to get their scent. There was nothing to find. I reached out for my mind trying to find Edward. I could not find him. I felt my body start to run in the direction I had first felt them. In my mind I kept screaming for Edward to please not leave me.
Every time I turned my head I would catch their scent and my body would fly off in that direction. Each time I felt as if they were close I would catch the smell in a different direction. It was like playing metaphysical hide and go seek and I was losing. I stopped looking long enough to realize that daylight was quickly looming on the horizon. How long had I been searching? It felt like only moments since I had left the guards stunned but in reality it must have been hours. I growled in frustration and closed my eyes trying to seek out Edward's mind but it was not there for me to find. Had Gilbert been right? Had it really been a delusion, then why had the "safety" of the Volturi chased it away? But if it had been real where were they and why had they not sought me out already?
I opened my eyes to realize I was lost. I had no idea where I was, running around for hours can do that for you. I wasn't even sure if I was still in Volterra even? What was worse was I had no resources. No cell phone, no money, no car. The only plus I counted myself with was my own self. "I am Vander Black damn it!" I said aloud. I was a vampire, and a witch, the witch I could do this. Fire started to burn in my veins, not good. Newborns need more blood and I had used a lot of energy. I looked down at the street. I was still in a tow with sewers. Sewers meant rats, not the best eating but better then nothing.
It wasn't long before I found a sewer grate. I bent the bars wide enough to drop into the murky darkness and then bent them back. In the sewers it was dark but nothing my vampire vision couldn't make quick work of. As a vampire I had made it a rule to hunt rather then to use magic to capture my prey. Desperate times make rules go out the window. I used my strong thick nails to draw blood from my wrist and drew a large circle that would bind the rats and not let them leave and in the middle a summoning charm. I spoke a few words and closed the circle.
My closed my eyes and let my body melt against the wall to laying in wait. It was a few minutes before I head the scraping of clawed feet. I could feel a familiar dark smile cross my face and let my eyes slid open. I watched are the rats draw themselves into the circle and fought to break the ward to no avail. My hand snaked into the circle and grabbed one. I broke it's neck and it stopped fighting my iron grip. I ripped into the soft underbelly and let the warm thick blood slid down my throat. Still the rats came smelling blood and death but the charm's pull was too irresistible. Rat after rat were thrown into the stream. Hundreds of their little corpses so that the stream couldn't wash them away.
I had my fill as the oldest most cunning rats began to come to my call and I erased the binding circle. The rats inside fled in terror. I scoped up some water and washed the mark away completely. I climbed out of the sewer it was lighter now dawn quickly approaching. I wondered if I could make my way to the American Embassy and convince them I was some wayward fashion model. I certainly was beautiful enough. Could I really convince them I had partied so hard I lost everything? Was that to far fetched? Would they believe I was a mild mannered house wife kidnapped be real life vampires? Nah, maybe a mix of the truth? A designer on a buying trip losing her id's after a night on the town?
No plot I could think of was plausible enough to get me back to the states. What I needed was Euro to buy a fake passport and airplane ticket. I sighed. I needed to find a job to get Euro. I needed an id to get a legitimate job. Then again I couldn't make enough money working a legitimate job. That left illegal jobs, I wouldn't pimp myself, I didn't have drug connections, or any connections at all. People didn't exactly ask for hitters off the streets. Hard to believe that I counted myself as an asset.
Perhaps I could just parade into a local occult shop and simply claim I am Vander Astran and demand help. Could I trade on my good name long enough to make some calls? Or could I simple trade on it to get me arrested. Maybe that is what I needed, arresting, then I could use my one call to Carlisle, surely he could help me. Heh, my best plan so far was getting arrested. Brilliant. Well at least walking around aimlessly thinking of impossible schemes seemed an improvement then chasing ghost that weren't there. Maybe I should just hole up somewhere and try to draw attention of Alice's sight on to myself. Great my two best plans including my life in Washington being true and not the product of years of brainwashed bliss.
Brainwashed bliss, is that what my life amounted to. Who knew? I could have been fed lies and isolated for two years and so desperate for any kind of contact I swallowed lies so easily. Come to think of it I had fallen in love with Jacob very easily. The Cullen clan had taken me in like a sponge with almost no effort. People weren't like that, were they? I mean things were much more complicated then that normally right? I screamed in frustration. The people slowly filtering out of their houses to go to their jobs at small cafes and stores looked at me if I were crazy. Trouble was I didn't know if I were crazy or not.
To avoid glances I slipped into an alley and let my body slid down the wall. Was I crazy? Was I? Perhaps my whole life was a delusion. Maybe I was really laying in a bed somewhere blood pooling in the back of my head making me have pretty visions. Perhaps I had been there my whole life since birth and there was no such thing as vampires, witches, and wolves. One could only hope so. Maybe if I reasoned my way out I could make a book out of it all and become a best selling author. Would I know how to write? Would my almost thirty year old body be able to hold a pen, type on the keys.
As I sat there contemplating my sanity and if this was all a dream I failed to notice the black shape forming in the alley. I took a deep breath and sighed. My head rolled to the left and I made a face. "Sorry for blasting you." I grumbled. "It's ok Mi Amour. Blood lust was setting in. It happens to lots of newborns. No one is angry, more thankful that you didn't accidentally kill them. It isn't unheard of and you are well special." Gilbert said moving to rub my arm, I leaned. "You certainly wandered off far. Luckily, you weren't covering your tracks at all." "Yeah well I wasn't thinking to clearly. Still not. I am not sure if this is real or not. If I am real or not. I had a thought maybe that blood is pooling in the back of my head and has been since I was a small child and this is all some chemical fantasy from being bed ridden." I chuckled at voicing the thought aloud. "Well no one can claim you aren't creative. Morbid but creative. Though that is a recycled excuse you know." He chuckled back. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Well when you had to get a job as a waitress you started to get clumsy from the long hours. You said you were worried that when you fell asleep on your back the blood was pooling in the back of your head effecting your cerebellum which effects your motor skills." He gave a full throated life now. "I did didn't I? You know same excuse twice in my life there must be some truth there and therefore must be the reality of the situation."
"Come on Vander that is a cop out. I know this is a hard to swallow but.." "It's not." I replied cutting him off. "What do you mean it's no, what's not?" he asked. "It's not hard to swallow, I mean I just I fell so fast for Jacob the Cullens it was all to easy. Life isn't like that and certainly not my life." I placed my hand on his thigh and gave a shaky smile. "I mean what being hungry and alone for a week two at the most made me attack you, and we had a lot more of a basis of a relationship then Jacob and I had. I can't believe I was taken in like that." Gilbert sighed and moved his hand on mine. "Don't blame yourself. You always wanted to believe the best in people. You did with me and it brought out the best in me. Maybe you were a little to trusting after being so alone and frightened, but you know , maybe you brought out something in them too and made it easier for them to love you." I upturned my palm and grasped his hand like it was the only real thing in this world.
"Vander." he whispered my name his body drawing closer to mine. "Yes?" I asked. "I want to hear you say you want to stay with me. Say you believe me and you are ready to be with me again." I purred softly in the back of my throat. "You always were kinky like that." I paused and wetted my lips. "I want to stay with you, and I am ready to be with you again. Just not in a dirty alley." I grinned. "Fair enough, only if you trade me Wal-mart." he grinned at me. "No way, one Wal-mart even in Italy is low class and for two when would we ever be at Wal-mart, and three kids go to Wal-mart, we can't do it in front of kids." "Hey they gotta learn some time." He laughed. For some reason having our old play fight about sex in Wal-mart made me feel better.
"Ok, enough of this retail store talk. Lets go back, I am tired of being dirty. I suppose I should make some apologies when we get back and whatever." I sighed. "Ok let's go then. Only no apologies, I already made them to the people that matter and they understand. We need to get you set up here though you know? We will start slow and work our way out. Once we do that we can set you up with a guard detail." Gilbert said pushing himself off the ground. He reached down to take the hand he had let fall. "Let's get you home." I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. "Only if you let me play in that huge tub again." I smiled. "Only if you let me join." He returned my smile.