The room was filled with people when we entered, all of them clearly Vampires. If their red eyes hadn't given them away, their staggering beauty would have; at least to me. It made me wonder if I would suddenly become beautiful too, if each imperfection I saw in myself would just fade away, along with my human life. Or perhaps Vampires were just stunning to humans; perhaps they saw imperfections in each other that humans never could. Either way I was to find out very shortly.
Felix hadn't spoken to me during our journey to the hall, though I hadn't tried to initiate a conversation either. As soon as we had entered he immediately broke away from my side to join a crowd of Vampires, who all greeted him with pleased expressions.
And so I stood there, in the centre of the room feeling ridiculously out of place amongst the beauty that surrounded me. A hushed silence fell very quickly and I whipped my head back around to the front, where suddenly all three thrones were occupied where before they had been empty. Aro stood and extended his arms for a moment, before bringing them together so his hands clasped before his chest.
"My friends, I've asked you to gather so that you can be witness to the turning of our newest coven mate. Isabella." His eyes, still black from hunger, landed on me and every head in the room turned to follow his gaze.
"Many of you expressed an interest in being the creator of our latest friend, but I have come to a decision, aided by Caius and Marcus; that I think best for all."
I held my breath as Aro continued to hold my gaze. His eyes would flick around the room as he spoke, but he would always return to me, piercing my very soul with his eyes.
"As a reward for continued loyalty and unquestionable service, I have decided to gift Isabella's turning to Demetri." Aro tilted his head as his gaze swept from mine and across the room to a Vampire I vaguely recognised from my last visit. My scrambled brain provided the information about my would-be maker for me. Demetri, the tracker, he was unrivalled in his skill and held a high rank in the Volturi guard.
A smirk curved the brown haired Vampire's mouth as he stepped forward and bowed to Aro, who seemed pleased, before turning to me. My entire body froze in terror at the prospect of an unknown Vampire biting me, black spots floated before my eyes as I struggled to breathe. I was sure every Vampire in the room was enjoying my panic, hearing and seeing it.
My eyes immediately moved back to Aro's when I realised he was watching me, my fists clenched and I honestly didn't think I could have moved if the building had been crumbling around me. Suddenly Demetri was behind me, pushing my chocolate coloured hair to the side and over my shoulder as he bent towards my neck and inhaled.
I bit my lip, hard to stop myself from crying out and squeezed my eyes shut tightly, waiting for the pain. Except that it didn't come, Demetri was savouring the moment, my terror, and the sound of my heart fluttering beneath my chest. It seemed like an age had passed before suddenly he gripped my shoulder and growled, forcing me to my knees. This time I did cry out, the pain of the hard marble flooring against my kneecaps jarred me from my fear as my eyes snapped open, again meeting the black depths of Aro's, only now his expression had changed. Before it had been pleased, now he was frowning. It was such an unusual expression to see on his strikingly beautiful face that I almost smiled. That was until Demetri took a large amount of my hair in his fist and pulled sharply to the side, breaking my eye contact with Aro and making me hiss as my head was forcibly tilted; and again Demetri bent to my neck, his teeth grazing my skin and making my pulse jump.
"Wait."
I felt the Vampire tense behind me and raise his head; his grip was bruising on my arm.
"Master?"
I heard, rather than saw Aro step towards us, his finely shined, expensive shoes approached my limited field of vision, then so too did his finely tailored trousers.
"Give me your hand, Demetri."
I whimpered as the grip on my arm tightened more in apparent hesitation, before releasing me completely. I was now able to watch as Demetri stood and placed his hand in Aro's, their gazes were locked and I glanced around the room for Alec, feeling confused. He stood off to the right side of the thrones with his sister Jane, and I could tell from the expression on his face that this was not a normal occurrence, and that did little to reassure me.
Movement from Aro and Demetri drew my gaze as both hands dropped back down to their respective sides. Aro sighed and shook his head, his sleek black hair brushing over his shoulder as he clucked his tongue against his teeth in a tut, seemingly disappointed.
"That will not do. You've displeased me Demetri, when I offered you such a beautiful gift; and you planned on sullying such beauty. How disrespectful of you."
I watched as the tracker immediately dropped to his knees amidst the crushing silence of the room, he bowed his head low, the white expanse of the back of his neck clearly visible.
"Forgive me, Master."
My eyes moved to Aro's as he regarded me thoughtfully. "I believe you need to be shown how one properly treats such a precious gift, wouldn't you agree Demetri?"
"Yes Master." He replied immediately, barely even letting Aro finish before he answered.
Aro extended his large pale hand to me, his eyes soft as he helped me to my feet. "Come my dear, it seems that I have changed my mind. I can hardly let such a moment be wasted on one who could not appreciate it."
He kept hold of my hand as he led me to the steps before his throne; both Marcus and Caius looked intrigued by this new development; though neither said anything. Gentle hands on my upper arms turned me back to face the gathering of Vampires in the large hall, before they trailed up my arms and over my shoulders to rest at my neck, against my pulse point.
"All of you barring the personal guard and Demetri may leave now, thank you for your attention."
Suddenly in with the blink of my human eye the room was all but empty again, now only containing a handful of people. This included me, Aro, Marcus, Caius, Alec, Jane and Demetri; all of which were watching raptly with various expressions on their faces.
I was then very aware that Aro was stood behind me as he moved closer, moving my hair much as Demetri had, except with a more gentle touch. His fingers lightly caressed the back of my neck as he placed my hair over the opposite shoulder, I could feel his breath against my cheek as he breathed in my scent, his nose caressing my jaw.
"Isabella…" The familiar way he whispered my name, a name I usually despised hearing was changed forever in my mind in that moment. The way he extended each syllable, speaking it in a soft Italian accent right into my ear… I couldn't help but let a shiver roll through me, my heart skipped a beat as I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding.
It was an achingly intimate moment, one I was aware was being witnessed by five other Vampires, who all held varying degrees of dislike for me.
All thoughts were wiped from my mind though as cold lips grazed my skin, before the sharp pain of teeth pierced my neck. I was hardly aware of Aro's hand as it came up to cradle my head or the grip of his arm around my waist as he pulled my body to fit tightly against his. I realised through the haze of white hot pain that he wasn't simply turning me, he was also drinking from me and I felt panic surge through my body. The room was beginning to spin before me and even through my panic I managed to feel a sort of smug pride at the look of fury on Jane's young and otherwise innocent looking face.
The last thing I was aware of before blacking out was a low, possessive growl and the soothing whisper of my name, before strong arms enveloped me and my cheek pressed against a finely tailored suit jacket.
Do let me know what you think, I love reading your reviews!
