The ice melted slowly, bleeding freezing water through the lines in her palm, burning where the solid ice remained frozen to her skin. Lillian felt like she should drop the little cube from the pain, but she was almost numb to it. She registered the stinging as the cube ripped off little pieces of skin as she unclenched her fist, like a cuboid snow globe – but the snow was on the outside, and dotted with red.
"What are you doing?"
Lillian slowly set the ice on the mahogany bedside table, and strained to turn around, her bones feeling ancient and every breath forced and full of dust. "Nothing important." She didn't want to raise her eyes, but she feared getting herself into more trouble so badly.
Aro met her gaze where he stood by the door, his face crossed with genuine concern. "You made yourself bleed, sweetling."
She raised her sore palm and looked at it, yet not fully registering what had happened. "Oh." She took a step towards him and hit the table with her hip, knocking the pitcher of iced water to the floor, but not before Chelsea caught it in a flash. Lillian's heart stopped, and she jumped back. She hadn't seen her enter the room. "Thanks," she whispered as Chelsea placed the pitcher back in its original position.
The two girls made eye contact for a brief moment, then Chelsea looked back at Aro for a whole second, then back to Lillian with a sweet smile. Was something wrong? "No problem," the beautiful vampire replied to Lillian.
Lillian looked back at Aro, who had taken a couple of steps into the middle of the room. It was the same room as she'd been living in when she was expecting. "How are you feeling?" His soft, whispery voice asked. She relaxed. He will never hurt me.
"I'm okay." She curled her hand back into a fist, blinked her eyes and ground her teeth, emerging from her depersonalised state. "I'm sorry for what I said. I wasn't in the right mind. I'm sorry."
"I know, my love, I understand."
She held up her hand again. "This is okay for you? I thought the blood . . ."
Aro flitted to her side and took both her hands in his. The scarlet blood on her right hand imprinted the delicate pattern of lines from her palm onto his ashen skin. "I am used to your scent and your heartbeat. I can smell the blood, but it doesn't make me any thirstier."
"And Chelsea? She's fine with my blood too?" Lillian asked, confused, her light blue eyes searching the cherry room for the other vampire, who seemed to have vanished just as magically as she had entered.
"Chelsea – and also Heidi – has common interactions with humans so she is less affected by the scent of their blood than most. But," he countered and kissed her wrist in a way that made her feel just as excited as it would have when they had first met, "you must not do this again. You are very precious to me Lillian, and I would be extraordinarily upset if you were to be killed because you bled too much around the wrong person. Accidents do happen."
"I know. I'm sorry." She felt ashamed. Now that she was coming to terms with the past month since that traumatic incident, it was dawning on her that Aro had done nothing wrong. He hadn't meant to hurt her by letting her heal alone, he hadn't been manipulating her or lying to her. She had been just too shaken to think properly; too shaken to try to understand. "I'm sorry that I failed too."
His hands released hers and gently gripped her upper arms by the soft white velvet sleeves of her dress. "Lillian, you did not fail." He frowned. "How much do you know about the human body?"
She didn't like how he was talking in more simple terms to her today, but nonetheless she let it go. I won't do any more arguing. And he's probably doing that so I don't have to think too hard.
Keep telling yourself that.
"I don't know much. Is there something I should know?"
"Yes. Perhaps I should have told you this before," he mused, his cerise eyes thoughtful. "Most human pregnancies end in miscarriage."
Her eyes widened. "M-most? Most of them?" Am I going to have to go through that again?
"Not often this late." He kissed her forehead sensitively. "I take responsibility for it. I should have left you to recover from your torment for much longer than I had." He stepped away from her, his handsome face brightening with sudden remembrance of something unknown. "Come, I have something to show you."
"Oh, okay." She smiled. A mirror in the corner of the room caught her attention, captivating her with her own smile that transformed magically into a grin as she saw her mouth full of teeth. What could Aro be thinking of showing her? He had done so much for her already – the private dentist that had visited her a week ago must have cost a fortune. He's so full of surprises.
She slipped on a pair of casual white sneakers by the foot of the bed and jogged for a moment to catch up with Aro, now stood tall and smart in the doorway, in his version of a casual suit that made her wonder if he ever dressed down.
"What is it?" She asked curiously as he closed the door behind them with a click.
"Something new we have just finished installing my love," he sang. "Time moves slower for us than for mortals; while we are the ruling coven we are often bored, or deprived, shall we say, of interests in which to partake or that we have not yet tried. Thus," he giggled as he threw open a set of heavy double doors with such a flourish that they may as well have been made of feathers and not oak, "I am trying something new."
Lillian's eyes gazed curiously at his skip as he continued down the corridor faster than her. There were so many corridors and passages in this underground castle and each one so different her eyes would struggle to adjust. On this route, her small feet half sank into the chocolate carpet framed by gorgeous forest green walls. A small dark table sat by the far door by which Aro paused, supporting a small scent diffuser. Lillian froze as she stared at the ceiling, as black as coal, as oppressive as the weight of the hill above it, as enveloping and as fearsome as the claustrophobia she had been close to beating yet swallowed her breath; choked her with the dainty scent of pine needles from the vial.
She wrenched her eyes away and ran to Aro's side. He pulled her to his side, his arm around her waist. She took his hand and pressed her thumb to his palm.
"Close your eyes," he instructed her. She did as she was told, and suddenly she was flying. The air rushed past her body and through her hair like a soft, quick breeze, but she could still smell Aro close to her, holding her sturdily. As she felt him slow, and the rustle of a plastic sheet prickle in her ears, she thought about opening her eyes. "Not yet," he chuckled.
"What's funny?" She asked. Where were they now?
"I wonder . . ." He sniggered again.
Just as she was about to ask again, she was airborne.
Something smacked hard into her as she opened her eyes which she immediately shut tighter as her left one began to sting and she was sinking. She tried to take a deep breath but was met with water instead. Panicked she splashed and a moment later her head broke the surface, her lungs gasping for breath after the shock.
Her eyes searched near frantically around her. She was in a swimming pool. She'd seen some on the television. She spotted Aro standing by the pool's edge. He was laughing, an infectious high-pitched laugh that made her giggle too. She tried to swim over to him but suddenly he was gone, a flicker to her right. Her head darted in the same direction but her human reaction was too slow.
"How do you like it?" Aro questioned as he surfaced behind her and with a splash pulled her to his chest. She relaxed – swimming when she didn't know how was effort, not to mention terrifying.
"Why did you do that?"
"To see how you would react," he answered cheerily.
"Very funny," she replied sarcastically.
"Do you think I would let water hurt you?"
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around him. The water was a pleasant warm, not uncomfortable despite her being fully clothed. "I guess you're going to teach me how to swim?"
"I have no need." He stroked the back of her head. "You'll be able to do it instinctively as a vampire."
If I ever become a vampire.
"Of course you will! Do not be disheartened; it will happen soon, when you are ready."
"I . . . I want to help. You asked me to do something for you, to have that baby, and I . . . I want to do that before you turn me. I don't want to be useless anymore." The sadness in her voice unnerved her. She hated feeling so weak. And she wouldn't feel weak as a vampire – nor would she if Aro was pleased with her. It was not only that, however – Lillian felt warm inside at the thought of the child, as if having one of her own would heal the hole in her life that had been left wide open since she had been born – the hole where her parents' love would have been. If she couldn't fix her own family, why not start a new one? A new family, with all her new friends by her side?
Her feet kicked shakily in the water. She couldn't touch the bottom.
Aro heard her thoughts and smiled warmly. "Such a touching image," he sighed happily, water dripping down his black hair, "I would be most happy to support you. You were never useless to me – you are far too gifted, too special to be considered so."
She looked into his eyes as he spoke, the colour not reminding her of the blood he drank, but the colour of his heart she was sure was in his chest. She saw heaven in them. A beauty that no one compared to; the kind she would never see twice. He had won her trust, and she was falling for him as if there had never been a point when she hadn't loved him. After all – his voice was a song, his walk was a dance; she'd never really had a chance.
In the next moment she knew their lips were touching. His were as hard as granite but neither rough nor damaging; hers as soft as cotton candy, and docile, malleable. She tasted his breath in her mouth, sweet and subtle – but with the sour edge of a nervous pang in her gut when she wondered how she may smell to him. You smell like dinner.
It felt like it would last forever. This wasn't the first time he had kissed her like this, but it may well have been for the joyous reaction her heart was pumping out. Her emotions and her feelings towards him had changed today so rapidly that she didn't know if she still hated or loved him, but every time his lips touched hers it ruined her mind at the speed of light. This moment wasn't to be interrupted even if it was wrong. There was a labyrinth trapping her in her own head, and maybe finally accepting Aro was the window of light at the end.
Maybe it was the way he spellbound her, so alluring she couldn't get enough.
She could never get enough of Aro.
Oh my God. He makes me feel like I'm pretty.
She gazed up at the golden vent on the ceiling of her bedroom as Heidi brushed her hair. It was insufferably knotted; she and Aro had had things on their minds when they left the pool other than drying their hair.
She was so excited she giggled aloud.
"What's up?" Heidi asked, smoothing down Lillian's hair and picking up one lock in her left hand, and a strange looking metal pole in the other.
"Aro and I are going to try again."
"To do what?" Heidi wrapped the hair around the pole, and released it after a few seconds, and Lillian's eyes widened in surprise at the new curls bordering the right side of her face.
"To prove that Renesmee should live. Have another baby. I know more about what I'm doing now, and I don't feel . . . I don't know . . . out of my depth?"
Heidi's kind red eyes gazed right into Lillian's as she curled another lock of hair. "Yes, you should do that."
"Why do you think that? Aren't the Cullens some sort of threat?" She reached for her glass of water, this time given to her without ice, and took a refreshing sip as she straightened up. Her back hurt a little from hitting the water, but that wasn't the only part of her body that felt sore. It wasn't a bad hurt though – she was glad.
"They could be if they wanted to be, that's the problem the way I see it. Aro knows more about it."
"I want to know what you and everyone else think."
"Well," Heidi paused, accentuating her German accent, "we agree with Aro. But personally, I don't see much harm in the vegetarians – their dangerousness is solely based on whether a member of their family is under threat. I've met Carlisle. He would never stand against us unless he believed he had no choice."
"That being if one of his family committed a crime?"
"Tricky one," Felix but in, unexpectedly by her side. She hadn't seen him in a while.
"Hey Felix," Lillian greeted him happily. "How are you?"
"Thirsty," the giant of a vampire grinned, and winked down at her. She laughed.
"Heidi, when do you go out to get more food for you guys?"
"Tomorrow morning," Heidi replied, taken aback by the human's acceptance of the vampire diet. She pushed Lillian more towards Felix to reach the back of her head with the curling iron.
"You're taking one of the jets, right?"
"Yes, the seven-twenty-seven. Why do you ask?"
"I've only been on a plane two times before, when I was seven. So, I was wondering, could I come with you?"
Heidi and Felix exchanged a perplexed glance. "Why would you want to greet over seventy humans before they die?"
She hadn't thought about that. "I don't care about them. I don't have any connection with any humans anywhere. I just want to fly on a plane again."
Felix chuckled deeply. "That's the spirit!"
"Hm?"
"Human lives mean nothing. You're going to have no problem adjusting when you finally join us. You should go." He smirked menacingly.
"Exactly." Lillian beamed, abruptly overwhelmed with pride. "All human lives mean nothing except mine. I'm better than they are." She gazed at the fading mark on her left wrist where a chain had been two months ago, and her eyes traced up her arm to the faint green bruises on her bicep. I can survive more than they can too. Clearly, she was better than them – stronger, braver, fitter. I was born to be a vampire. And vampires treat me like I should have been treated by humans. The myths and legends are all wrong. It's humans who are evil.
"I've never heard that one before," Felix smirked. "But if it's true that you can't die . . ."
"No," Heidi snapped. "You're not going to test that."
I wish I could hear what they say under their breath though. "Test what?" Lillian asked Felix.
It was Heidi who answered as Felix threw himself on the bed, making Lillian jump. "He wants to know if he could drink your blood without killing you."
Lillian only shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Probably. But it would hurt a lot, I think." She glared Felix in the eyes, half-jokingly. "And Aro wouldn't be pleased with you."
"I am aware," he sneered, "I have as much respect for him as you do. Why do you think I haven't helped myself to a little snack yet?" He winked.
Lillian rolled her eyes. "The only one who gets to drink my blood is my baby."
"The baby?"
"Yeah. Aro says that Renesmee was drinking Bella's blood from inside her, and that's what made Bella so weak. But I wasn't weak before, remember? I must have enough blood for the baby, so maybe enough for you, but I don't want to risk it. It's important."
Felix sat up on the quilt and played with her new curls, much to Heidi's annoyance. "I was only joking," he snickered, "you don't even smell that good."
"Oh really?" Lillian opened her mouth and widened her eyes in mock shock and put her hands to her chest. "Ouch. I'm offended. I smell very good, thank you very much."
Heidi shuffled to Lillian's left side to finish the last set of curls. "You do have to admit Felix, she does smell rather tasty."
"See?" Lillian wittily stuck out her tongue at Felix, now sat where Heidi had been. Their quick changing around of positions confused her for a moment. A slight breeze washed around the room, perking up the hairs on her bare arms. She was in a white tank top now, and jeans. The morning's white velvet dress had been sent somewhere to fix what the pool had done to it. And Aro. She giggled.
"That's not particularly good, meine geliebter Schwester. You live with vampires. You don't want us to eat you." She bared her teeth in a sort of smile, sort of warning. Lillian wondered what she'd said in German. She'd ask Aro later, after she'd had dinner.
She had been learning to cook, and yesterday's memories of the smells of rosemary, thyme and red wine made her lick her lips. She'd made a pasta dish from a recipe book (that she so proudly read by herself!) and had shared it with the receptionist. It was a different girl at the desk near the tower compared to when she'd first arrived, and she could figure out what happened to the first. Empathetic, Lillian decided to share whatever she made tonight with the girl too. She hadn't bothered to learn her name or try to make friends – it was pointless – but she could try to make her have a good time here in Volterra before she died.
Lillian was so glad she wasn't in the girl's shoes.
