Hello once again! May I present to you another chapter? Good, here we go then. Beth has a chat with Alastair (so Demetri will be VERY happy, won't he?), and finds out something rather interesting...

Enjoy!

LookAliveSunshine03

Chapter 10:

Just a name

I'm not sulking, I'm not sulking…She hadn't run far. Now she was perched on the edge of the brook, texting Anna.

Met Alastair. Tallest man I've ever SEEN. Very nice ;) Bloodhound's being a dick. Please hurry!

She often used to come here whenever she visited the park. It always exuded calm, despite the play area being nearby. Today, however Beth could only hear the wind and water bubbling beneath her dangling fingers.

Still, that did not mean she was alone.

"I don't like being watched," She muttered to the air.

Suspicious was his default setting towards anyone; he liked to think himself as having a good judge of character…but he didn't know where to begin with this one.

"Do all nomads do this?" Yellow irises snapped up at him, annoyed. He hadn't seen eyes like that in over five years. "I can see you, you know, so you might as well come down."

He did not move. "Not joining the hunting party?"

Beth grunted. Fine. Be like that. "Demetri prefers it when I'm out of the way."

"Aren't you member of the Guard?"

She swung her legs round, shaking the water from her hands. "Not exactly. I'm not like them."

"So I saw."

She smiled, grimly. "Do you want to know –?"

"I know why," he grumbled. "You drink animal blood."

"How do you -?" Suddenly it was obvious. An excited thrill went through her. "So you've met others like me before."

"So what if I have?"

She laughed. His defensive attitude was really starting to grate on her nerves. "Well, I've never met anyone else like me before! How many are there?"

"Ask your tracker." Ignoring her, he began to leap away through the trees like a gibbon. He had done his part and now he was eager to put as much distance between himself and the Volturi as possible.

Unfortunately this one wasn't so easily jilted. "Oy! Don't leave me hanging!" She climbed fast in her anger, her scarlet hair flying wild in the wind. Clinging to the tree trunk, she gasped as her phone vibrated in her front pocket. "I'd be happy with just a name. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

"Why?" Alastair gave her a long, scrutinising look. She's so young…what is she doing getting involved with the Volturi? "Why should I?"

She sighed. "I'm just curious."

Alastair chuckled. It was a dark sound that made her skin do weird things. "A very effective argument."

"Hey, I'm not telling you if you're not gonna bother giving me anything back." She wished she hadn't bothered asking now, but the thought of there being other vampires like her intrigued her too much to let it go. "They're friends of yours, right?"

"I don't need friends."

Beth breathed agitatedly through her nose. Of course you don't. "Alright, so they're acquaintances. The fact is you're protecting them. That's fine. I would do the same if someone I thought was chummy with the Volturi was asking questions."

"You travel with them. You're helping them."

She narrowed her eyes spitefully. "So are you! Just – let me finish. You don't know me, but by now you've decided that I don't like being with the Volturi that much."

"So why stay?"

A very excellent question. "That's not important. A name. That's all I want."

"Aro will know I've told you this."

"Yup. I am fully aware of that. He'll be glad to see me go."

The branches bent and swayed as he shifted his weight in his tree, considering. For a furious moment, she was sure he wasn't even going to reply. Yet when he spoke again, his voice was almost lost in the commotion of the wind.

"The name is Cullen."

"Cullen. Okay." It tasted soft and good in her mouth, though the name held little familiarity to her. Had she heard it before? "Thank you –"

"Don't thank me." He glared at her, stopping her short. "Don't even tell them I told you about them."

"Okay, okay. I won't." She made a show of zipping her mouth up and throwing away the invisible key. Why? Do they hate you or something? Because I can see why if they do.

He nodded, and turned to leave again. This time she didn't stop him. It was starting to rain again. She watched him climb down, the effortless strength in those lithe limbs, and felt a sudden sadness twist around her heart, like a vine. This was the first man she had met who wasn't a member of the Volturi, and didn't seem to hate her.

"Bye, Alastair. Maybe we'll see each other again in the future."

He looked up at her one last time, his eyes piercingly red beneath his water-proof hood – was he going to reply? No. He vanished from her sight, into the forest, gone to who knew where.

Cullen…Cullen. Beth clutched the name, as precious as a pearl in her mind. She sighed, and thought about what to do next. Time was getting on, and she hadn't heard anything from Demetri yet.

Which reminded her: Anna had replied to her text.

What is he like? Don't worry; Aro and I are now on the plane! Be polite.

Be polite! Beth rolled her eyes.

Thank you Mother! Alastair just left :( Demetri still looking for beastie. It's pissing it down here. Does the name CULLEN mean anythin' to you?

She hit SEND with a rough exhale, feeling strangely giddy.

Making her way back, she found Jane, alone.

"Thought you could run away, did you?"

The grass squished beneath her wet soles. "Jane, I'm appalled that you would think like that. I wasn't running away. Look, this is me. Not running away."

The girl ignored that, bored. "Demetri is asking for you."

"Is he? Since when have you been the messenger?" The sudden pain, like a pinprick to the sensitive spot behind her ear made her squeak. "Calm down! It was just a question!"

The glare Jane gave her could have melted steel – but the pain went away, so that was all that mattered. They walked together in utter silence, and for once, Beth didn't mind. She was happy to be alone with her thoughts, now that there was so much for her to chew over.

Cullen... It wasn't much, but it was a damn good start. Her mind feasted on questions: how many there were with that name. One, maybe two, maybe more. She almost squealed aloud with excitement.

Alec and Demetri were hidden up another tree, close to the tall gate of gilded metal painted an ugly tar-black. Beth gazed up at it, remembering. One of her old friends, Harry, had tried to climb up it once. It hadn't gone well, as everyone had suspected. Everyone but Harry, it seemed.

To her vampire eyes it looked smaller, and very bendy. Not dangerous at all.

"Did you enjoy your little tête-à-tête with Alastair?" Demetri asked, coolly. Of course he would know what she had been doing.

"Nope. It was like getting blood out of a stone." That was true enough. Change the subject, quick. "You've found the creature, have you?"

Demetri had tracked him a comfortable distance away from her family house, so she would not be too tempted. At his request, Beth was to check it out with him.

"Don't I get a say in this? Why not take Alec?"

He growled at her, actually growled at her! "You said you had a job to do, Elizabeth. You know the area. The sooner we see what the boy looks like, the sooner we can kill him."

"Ah, so you were listening before!" She smiled despite herself "That's so reassuring."

It went without saying that Darius had been a vicious animal, but a growl would have been too much of a chance for her to defend herself. As it was, Demetri didn't scare her, though his sudden dark turn had come as quite a surprise.

She inwardly mourned leaving the quiet safety of the park, feeling exposed in the streets, even with her glamour firmly covering her. She dared not to meet any of the eyes of the people that happened to cross Demetri's path, fearing she would recognise someone.

Luckily, the Man upstairs had evidently decided to ease up on her a little. When they finally found the house of the boy they were going to kill, she was guilty of feeling relieved that she did not know his face. Demetri lingered only for a moment to avoid any kind of suspicion. He looked around her age, perhaps eighteen. He was watching the telly, huddled up on a comfortable cream sofa.

There was purple bruising on his cheek, the giveaway sign of his unfortunate time in Tokyo - that, and the faraway look in his eye. Whatever he was watching, he certainly wasn't paying any attention. He was sat with a girl who had to be his sister. They shared the same smudge of a nose and small chin. Beth tried not to look at them too long, feeling her chest constrict.

I'm sorry. Oh God, I am so sorry. A shuddering sob escaped her.

Beneath his hood, Demetri's eyes flickered to where her neck met her shoulders before he began to walk away. "Do not think of him as a human," he said under his breath. She was struck by his tone; it was almost...gentle. Hers wasn't.

"How can I when he was sat right there? And what about his family? They've just got their poor boy back, and we're just going to - to snatch him away and -"

"Keep your voice down."

"Shut up!" She hissed. She wanted to kick him, hating how indifferent he was. She missed Anna. She would understand.

They returned to the Volturi's holiday home. Beth refused to speak, too angry and upset to say anything, so naturally her companions were in a better mood, unlike her. The Tudor house was surprisingly airy for such an old building, and her feet clomped satisfactorily up the stairs. She found the bedroom with the biggest window, looking out onto the runway, and waited for Anna to arrive.

Thoughts? Will the Cullens be making an appearance? Not quite yet! *laughs evilly*