Here is a longer chapter since it's been over a week. Sorry! Lots of medical stuff going on again. :(

Aro's answer caused me to take another pause. Everything he said made me question even more. I ripped my hand from his and took a step back, staring hard into his eyes.

"What's so interesting about you? Should I, for some reason, feel honored that a so called very powerful vampire is interested in my gift, this gift that I'm not even so sure I have? That what? You chose me, waited fifteen years for me? That means nothing. You mean nothing to me," I took a breath as his eyes narrowed. "So when I ask what's in it for me, I'm asking you why I should be okay with this? Why I should give up my life to choose to be like you? Will you keep me trapped here forever if I refuse?"

He was silent, contemplating perhaps. I was fuming, and I didn't care that he could kill me easily. Actually, it had not even crossed my mind. Maybe if it had, I would have chosen my words more carefully, maybe been more afraid of his proposition rather than angry. I would have reacted more normally to what happened next.

He moved so fast, I once again could not keep up. His hand grabbed my wrist and held on tightly as he pulled me into him and suddenly he was on top of me, as I was pushed into the mattress on the bed. The pain in my wrist was so real, so blinding that I could not even make a sound. Aro's eyes were dark and dangerous, but still, there was no fear. I kicked out at him until his weight forced me to stop. He held me until I could no longer fight him, my breath coming out in gasps.

"You won't refuse."

"Watch me."

"There is so much that you do not know." His forehead leaned down to touch mine, and it was not until then that I froze, that the fear set in.

A strange feeling washed over me and it was as if I had already said yes. Somehow I knew, he was right. It made no sense, but at some point, I would not refuse him, at all. For some reason, in this position, it felt right, his lips so close to mine, the smell of him divinely sweet and inviting. My heart began to pound. The rightness of it all terrified me.

"You see now, my love, do you not? You are quite marvelous, everything I could ever want."

I swallowed. "Get off of me."

He slowly and immediately sat up, and I sucked in a hiss of air as the pain in my wrist turned hundredfold. I grabbed at it with my left hand as unintentional tears fell down my face. Aro sat there, a sense of hurt on his face before he reached out to look at it himself. "Let me see." I let him. "It is difficult to remember how careful I must be with you. Marcus will know what to do with this. He studied often with Carlisle when he was here."

"Who's Carlisle?" My voice was soft, ragged, but anything to keep my mind off the searing pain I was feeling.

"An old friend."

Aro reached down and picked me up gently into his arms, and before I could say anything about it, my surroundings were rushing past me in a blur. I closed my eyes already feeling sick, and leaned my head into his chest. When we stopped, we were in a bright room where I heard music coming from the other side, a mellow tune being played on a beautiful grand piano by the vampire I had once thought to be human and quite dead.

"Marcus, I need your expertise on a matter."

The melody ceased, and Aro sat me on the silver, antique white chaise close by. I held my wrist to my stomach, protecting it from anymore harm. He kneeled beside me as Marcus appeared in front and held out his hand requesting to see mine.

"It is not broken," Marcus answered, his voice heavier than I would have imagined given his young age but not his demeanor. His freezing hands, which felt extremely good over my wrist, examined it carefully. "But, you can see here, it is dislocated. It is an easy, but slightly painful repair."

"Should I send for Alec?"

"The pain will diminish quickly after, and then it will need to be iced to reduce any swelling that might arise."

"Shouldn't I be seeing an actual doctor for this," I asked, the pain starting to increase only thinking about what he was planning on doing.

"I have practiced once or twice before," Marcus replied looking back up at me. I could not tell if he was being serious or only joking.

He placed his hands in a dutiful position over my wrist before feeling it once more. I held my breath in anticipation too afraid to pull my hand back only to create more pain than was already there. Without warning, there was a pushing and twisting motion all at once, and I saw, quite literally, stars in my vision, and a scream escaped from my mouth without intention.

Aro was behind me suddenly, his hand resting on my left shoulder in what I assumed was meant to be a comforting manner. I only tensed. Marcus left his hands over my wrist and held it until my wrist nearly went numb from the cold. The pain did eventually die down as the shock my nerves received fluttered away. My breathing became more normalized, and that was when I realized Aro had been stroking my hair. My eyes felt heavy, and I wanted sleep. What time was it? My mind wandered as it often did to things other than what was happening in the present.

I was pulled back when Marcus released me and stepped away, walking back to the piano bench he had been seated on before. The melody of previous began again, and I looked up at Aro wondering if he had planned on us retreating back to his quarters now that my wrist had been taken care of.

"I believe Caterina will be able to find a splint to immobilize the wrist until it is fully healed."

I looked back over at Marcus who recited the line as if firmly ending the conversation. Who was Caterina?

"Thank you, brother. We will leave you now." Aro then turned to me. "Come, Lia. I will introduce you to the other human."

After we left the room, I asked, "There's another human here besides me? On this side?"

"Our secretary, Caterina. She is not the brightest one we have had, but she desires our way of life to a great extent. Why not see what she is capable of?"

"What do you mean by she desires your way of life?"

"I assumed that would be easy enough to understand."

"She wants to be a vampire."

"Yes."

"Is she gifted, too?"

Aro thought for a moment before responding. "They rarely are, but they do serve a purpose in the meantime."

"Why don't you just change her now then?"

"I do not see the need to do so. Her fate is quite already decided."

Whatever her fate was, it was an answer I did not want to know. By the way he answered, the tone of his voice, somehow I already knew it would not be the outcome she hoped for.

We found the stairs and climbed them slowly, Aro's hand on the small of my back to make sure I would not trip. The top of the stairs opened to a hall that I knew easily. We were outside the second lobby area, and I realized that I had already met Caterina earlier that day, or at least seen her. She looked up at our approach and stood hastily to seeing Aro's presence. She stayed very quiet, but I saw the uneasiness in the way she held herself.

"Caterina, Liliana has injured her wrist and is in need of a splint to help it heal. When you have retrieved one, have Chelsea bring it to me in my quarters." He did not wait for a response before he turned and sending me along with him at his side, began walking back the way we had came.

"You could have at least said please," I said almost feeling sorry for the woman.

"I am used to getting what I want by any means necessary. Besides, as I said before, she wants to join us. She is more than delighted to do whatever I or the others order her to do."

"She was shaking."

"Humans are very delicate creatures."

It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. "You do know that I'm human, right?"

"And you are very delicate."

It did not take a genius to know what he was referring to. The pain had gotten stronger, and I wished that he would have asked her to get some pain medication while she was searching for a splint. Vicodin would have been amazing right now, but I would be happy with ibuprofen if it was all that was available.

Aro sighed. "We should find some ice for your wrist. Chelsea can retrieve that while she waits Caterina's return."

It was a long walk back down to his quarters, but it was a walk that I did not mind. We both went silent. He had ceased from physical contact for which I was grateful, and I continued to nurse my wrist in my other hand, touching it slightly to be aware of any inflammation that indeed may arise.

We passed the elevator I had travelled down with Demetri, and I looked at it momentarily before turning back ahead. As we neared the door to Aro's quarters, I realized there was someone standing there, a woman I recognized very well at this point, and she was holding a bag of ice in her bare hands, probably to keep it from melting, with a cloth over her arm.

"Chelsea, thank you for bringing this down. I am sure Lia will be very appreciative of it."

I stuttered for a second. "H-How did you know to bring that?"

Aro's laugh was giddy but full of precious notes that beckoned me closer to him against my will. "I have a shadow."

"A shadow?"

"Renata, why don't you say hello, my love?"

A small girl who could not have been much older if at all than I was immediately appeared beside us, and I jumped. "My apologies, Master. I know you wished to be alone, but I worry when I am not near."

Aro kissed her on her forehead before lovingly touching her cheek. "No need to fret, my love. All is well." He then gestured to me. "Renata this is Liliana. She will be joining us soon. I hope the two of you will become friends. I daresay, your duties will extend to her in time as well."

"Of course, Master." Renata turned to me and with a bow of her head said, "It is a pleasure. Please excuse me for startling you. It was not my intent."

"It's okay. You're not the only one who's done that," I said with a smile. She seemed so frail, distress written across her features, and given her height of no more than five feet, it was hard to imagine she could harm anyone.

Aro took the ice and cloth from Chelsea, and I looked back at her. Her eyes were searching the other female's intensely. I glanced back at Renata who had eyes only for Aro. In a way, it was as if I was watching a private conversation between the three of them as Aro's gaze met up with Chelsea's once more.

It was then I felt a slight touch on my shoulder, and I turned to Renata whom the finger belonged to. She had a soft expression before releasing me.

"Master, must I leave the two of you alone? It would pain me if something would occur in my absence to either of you."

"Renata," Aro answered her, "You may remain outside my quarters if you must. I would not wish you anywhere you did not want to be." He turned back to Chelsea. "Thank you, Chelsea. Caterina will be delivering an item for Lia when she returns. Would you bring it as soon as it arrives?"

With one nod of her head, Chelsea dismissed herself from Aro's presence, and Aro gently ushered me back into his quarters, Renata standing alone right outside the door.

A/N: Please don't forget to review! I need some joy in my life right now, and all the reviews I receive add some brightness to my day. They are always appreciated and loved.