Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Alright I feel really bad again because I sort of abandoned this story, but from now on I will try to update once a week if I don't have too much cheerleading. I hope you like this chapter, I know it's one of my favorites already. The character of Gianna has always been an intriguing one to me, so I couldn't resist putting her in there. This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has favorited me and/or my story, and all of my fabulous reviewers!

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I could smell her before I saw her, the vanilla scent of her blood calling to me, begging me to give in to my primival instincts and give up everything my sisters and I had worked for. I held my breath as she approached me, her heels clicking with every tentitive step.

"I'm supposed to kill you, aren't I?"

Gianna slid against the wall, her shoulders shaking. I could see the tears streaming down her face. She held her knees against her chest, rocking back and forth. I kept my distance, not wanting to frighten her any more. "I'm not going to, though. You know that, right?"

She nodded. "But just because you won't doesn't mean that they won't."

I shuddered. "They finally decided that you'd been around long enough, eh?"

The tears started coming more rapidly. "Marcus...I thought....how could he do this to me? How...how could he leave me?" she choked out between sobs.

So that was it. Marcus was the reason that she had survived for so long. Marcus was keeping her alive.

It was rather sick and twisted, I had to admit. But looking into her bright green eyes, I could sense the same passion that she felt for Marcus was the very same passion that indwelt Garrett and me. There was no difference in the love that flowed through our veins, ours dry and cold, hers warm and full.
And that similarity was what caused me to feel the need to help her somehow. Console her. Something. Anything. The only person she had was gone. She needed someone.

I waited until she had calmed down somewhat. "Gianna? How did you end up here in the first place?" It was a question that had been nagging at me since the first time I saw her, 5 years ago.

Her bright eyes dimmed somewhat, as if she was trying to recall something from deep within her mind, something she had no need to remember. " I was 18," she began, her English clear and perfect, "and out in Venice, touring the area with some friends. It was late at night, and we were walking back to our hotel from a small cafe where we had gone for coffee, when we somehow ended up in some alley, dark and narrow. It looked like something out of a horror movie. I instantly wanted to go home. My friends all made fun of me. Gatto spaventato, scared cat, they called me." She laughed a dark, cold laugh. "Well look at how long it lasted me. They got my best friend first. Then her sister. They were coming for me, when all of a sudden, they stopped. The tallest one, his hair long and dark as night, called to me. 'Dove Х la vostra famiglia? Where is your family?' he asked me. I had none. He could see that I was all alone, with his ability. He offered me safety, a job, and possibly a family. I don't understand why, but I felt somehow drawn to him, like he was supposed to help me." She sighed. "He was my dark angel. Il mio cantante was what he always called me. His singer, just as Bella was for your Edward. He wanted to change me, for me to become immortal like him. You have no idea how much I longed for that as well. But Caius refused to allow me to become part of the guard. So we lived in secret, waiting for the day that we could escape."

I furrowed my brow. "But I don't understand. Why couldn't you just tell the brothers about how your blood sang to Marcus?"

She turned to face me, her eyes piercing mine. "They would kill me," she whispered. "We were going to find you, to go stay with your coven for a while, until it was safe and they would leave us in peace. You heard what happened to his wife, haven't you? That was Aro's own sister! What are the odds that he would let Marcus leave their family because of a stranger?" Her head tilted back against the wall. "We were going to leave three nights ago. But Marcus disappeared without me, and they've tossed me into this. They would be shocked if they knew I was still alive." She drawled off, clearly exhausted by whatever they had put her through before this.

I thought about everything she had said. Was it possible that Marcus had left her on purpose? Yes. Was it likely? No. I had seen the man centuries before when his love lived, and although seeing relationships was his gift, I also thought that he had been granted another. He loved very deeply. More deeply than Esme Cullen, or anyone else I'd ever met. He was not the type of person that would feign love, especially not after the grand depression he had sunken into after the death of Didyme. This love for Gianna was real, destined, and deep. Just as deep as the love I had for Garrett.

That night was the first vision I had of Garrett.

I had been overcome with a heaviness, a tired, sluggish feeling like one I had not encountered for centuries, and can barely remember from my human years.
The cool, damp dungeon became my home. And then I saw him. He was standing by the large window on the second floor of our home, his skin glinting in the faint sunlight. His brow was furrowed, deep in thought, his expression cold and lifeless. Tanya walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm.

"I know my sister," she said. He turned and looked her in the eye. "She will find a way to come back to us, to return to you. No matter what, Kate will fight."

He sighed. "I still hate feeling like this, like there's something I'm supposed to be doing to help."

"Eleazar is doing all that he can to get her free and safe. The last thing we need is an irrational decision made by either of us. That's probably exactly what they want. If Caius really is using Kate to begin this war, then it is better for Eleazar, with his vast knowledge of the Volturi and all that they do,
to be in Italy." She started to walk away, but lingered for a moment. "I hope they don't take another sister from me; Kate is all I have left."

"She's all I have left as well." Garrett, my Garrett, the love of my life, who, as soon as I could find some way to escape from this madness, would swear to love me for the rest of eternity, shrugged away from the window, sinking as a figure came into view outside. He sprang up and down to the door, opening it just as the man sprinted to the door.

"Eleazar, where is he?"

Garrett's eyes widened as he realized who the visitor was. "Um, he just left to go visit your family. Tanya?" he called upstairs. "It looks like we have a guest."

She sauntered down the steps, her eyes brightening, but not by much. "Why, hello, Marcus. What a nice surprise."