Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Twilight.

Reviews: Thank you so much for the really nice reviews I got after the last chapter. Also a big thanks to all those of you who put me on story alert and/or under favorites. A special thanks goes this week out to 'Oy Angelina' who mentioned my story on the last update of one of her amazing stories. If you don't know her stories yet, check them out, because if you like my story, you will definitely love hers.

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Canal Rat

The next day I was sitting alone in the patio garden and enjoying the sunshine on my skin. After my little epiphany last night Alec and I had spent the time until morning simply snuggled up to each other. When Alec had left in the morning to see Aro about some Volturi business he was still looking incredibly smug. I hadn't said anything, though, because truthfully? He had earned every bit of his smugness for at least today.

I sighed and thought about my new relationship. My relationship with the infamous witch twin Alec. I couldn't really wrap my head around that one. I tried it differently: 'Alec, self confessed hobby torturer and mass murderer is my boyfriend.' Nope, somehow that didn't sound any better.

Another unpleasant thought popped up in my head: Jane.

Until now Jane had completely ignored me, but I had the bad feeling that her behavior towards me would change quickly once Jane heard about her brother's changed single status. I buried my face in my hands and groaned. This was going to get ugly.

An unwelcome female voice interrupted my inner cursing. Fortunately it wasn't Jane, but I wasn't much happier about the alternative: nomad Carmen.

Why was she even still here? Wasn't there some other place she could haunt? I returned her greeting with a short nod in her direction. Maybe, if I was curt enough, she would just leave and grace someone else with her presence.

No such luck. She sat down next to me, a catty smile on her lips. "So, Anna, word among the Volturi is that you and Alec had sex on the bathroom floor and Santiago walked in on you."

I shook my head in disbelief. So that was why people had given Santiago, Alec and me these weird looks when they had seen us coming out of the bathroom together. "I am sorry to have to disappoint you yet again, Carmen, but I still haven't had sex with Alec. But since my sex life seems to be of such importance to you, let me inform you that Alec and I are in a relationship now. So there's a definite possibility for sex in the future. I can send you a postcard, if you want to, since you probably want to leave soon. After all it's not polite to overstay one's welcome."

Carmen laughed at me. "I don't know how you came to the conclusion that you and Alec are in a relationship, but I can assure you that you are deluding yourself. Alec doesn't do relationships. And if he ever chose to change his opinion on that matter it certainly wouldn't be because of someone like you."

A movement in my peripheral vision made me look to the side. "Well, I guess we can just ask him."

Alec reached us shortly afterwards and sat down beside me, ignoring Carmen completely. "Anna, I need to talk to you for a second."

Carmen snorted. "You sure do, Alec. Your little protégé here seems to be under the impression that you are her boyfriend."

Alec grinned at me. "You called me your boyfriend?"

"Ahm, actually I said that we are in a relationship," I answered a little flustered.

Alec leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. "You can call me your boyfriend, lover, partner, whatever you want. I don't mind."

I grinned. "Whatever I want?"

Alec shook his head and chuckled. "Whatever you want as long as it's something nice."

"You can't be serious, Alec!" Carmen burst out.

"Carmen, you are still here?" Alec replied coldly.

"I will leave you two lovebirds alone then," Carmen said and stood up, obviously offended.

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Just so that we are clear: I am not only talking about the patio right now. I want you to leave the castle completely. If you aren't gone by tomorrow I will see to it personally that you will be gone forever."

Carmen didn't say anything to that, just fled. I had no doubts that she would start packing immediately. Alec looked at me, a mischievous smile on his face. "What, no chastising me for my death threat against Carmen?"

I just gave him a soft kiss like he had given me. "What did you want to talk with me about?"

Alec frowned. "I have to leave on some Volturi business. The nomad that needs to be dealt with is in Italy at the moment, so it shouldn't take long. I'll probably be back by tomorrow. It will be a fast kill, since -"

I put a finger against Alec's mouth to stop him from talking. I really didn't want to know about the details of his assignment. For a short moment some emotion flashed in Alec's eyes, but it was too fast gone to identify. He kissed me again, forceful, as if to reassure himself.

Alec had just left when I got another visitor. Felix. "Hey Anna, what's that I heard about you, Santiago and Alec having some sort of tacky threesome in the bathtub? And why wasn't I invited?" He greeted me.

I groaned. "That's even worse than nomad Carmen's story. According to her I had sex with Alec on the bathroom floor and Santiago interrupted us."

Felix guffawed. "If you think the threesome is bad, then I guess you really don't want to hear about the especially kinky versions with Jane it."

I gaped at him. "Jane? She's Alec's sister, for crying out loud. How sick is that?"

Felix rubbed his chin. "Well, Alec isn't in those stories. At least not like that. Quite a few of the Volturi have noticed how Jane demonstratively ignores you in public, but has never hurt you even once. So some people have developed the idea that Alec acting interested in you is just a decoy to distract from the fact that there is a secret, epic love between you and his sister."

I just stared at Felix. "Are you serious?"

He nodded.

I shook my head in despair. "You Volturi gossip worse than a bunch of fishwives. If Jane ever hears about this stupid theory she is going to kill me for sure. As if being in a relationship with her brother wasn't reason enough."

This time it was Felix who gaped at me. "You and Alec are in a relationship now? When did that happen?" He grinned. "Did it happen in a bathroom by any chance?"

I started hitting him, but was distracted by another three vampires approaching us. Corin, Eleazar and Carmen. "Alright, what rumor did you three hear?" I asked them. "Did my alien abducted twin brother come back from the future after a gender reassignment and have sex with me in the bathroom?"

Corin, Eleazar and Carmen stared at me as if I had gone insane. I cleared my throat, more than a little embarrassed. "Ahem, judging from your somewhat puzzled expressions I guess you guys didn't hear any rumors."

Felix was laughing so hard by now, he was barely able to sit upright anymore. Eleazar gave him an amused look and then turned to me again. "Carmen and I just wanted to say goodbuy. We didn't really get a chance to talk during our short stay, and we wanted to invite you to come and visit us for a few weeks in Alaska. Garrett, a member of our coven, was friends with Makenna and Charles. I'm sure he would like to meet you."

I smiled at Eleazar and Carmen. I liked them, even though I didn't know them very well. But they seemed to be genuinely nice and compassionate people. "I would love to come for a visit. I'm afraid I will have to clear it with the Volturi first, though."

Eleazar nodded. "We know. Just tell them that we will look after you, so the exposure risk will be minimal." He gave me his address and telephone number, and after a hug from Carmen the three of them left again.

"Do you really want to visit them?" Felix asked me earnestly after they were gone.

I was surprised by his question. "Yes, of course. I've never been to Alaska and I like Eleazar and Carmen. I think it would be fun."

Felix looked at me quietly. "I don't think that Alec will let you go," he said finally.

I frowned at him. "Why wouldn't he? We are only talking about two weeks or so and Eleazar said that they will look after me. He even used to be on the guard himself."

Felix shook his head. "Ask Alec, but I don't think that you will like his answer."

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Felix and I spent the whole day in the patio garden, it was already dark when we went back inside. We were walking at a leisurely pace towards his room, when we encountered the person I had hoped to avoid for as long as possible: Jane.

Her face contorted when she saw me, and the next second the most unbearable pain I had ever felt racked my body. I had thought that the seering pain of my transformation had been bad, but this was even worse. It felt as if every single cell of my body was burning in white hot agony. I would go mad from it if it lasted much longer.

A small part of my brain that was still functioning heard Felix screaming 'run', and then the pain suddenly disappeared. I didn't waste any time looking what had happened and fled like a hunted deer. I could imagine what had happened anyway. Felix had without a doubt attacked Jane to stop her from torturing me. I only hoped that he wasn't getting tortured instead of me now. But Jane was probably more interested in chasing after me than hurting Felix. Which reminded me that I needed to think of something to throw her off my scent.

I ran out of the castle, looking frantically around. I almost dry sobbed in relief when I saw a gully cover nearby. I jumped down into the the sewer tunnel diving completely under the murky sludge whose level was at least four feet high. I swam as fast as I could through the maze of tunnels, changing my way every so often to follow no clear path. Finally I stopped and dragged myself out of the stinking muck into a little alcove on the side. I felt like a slimy, drowned rat and I definitely smelled like one. Miserable I comforted myself that the smell would at least keep Jane away. She couldn't possibly follow my scent through this stench, especially since I had stayed under the water the whole time. She would know that I went into the sewers, but down here she wouldn't be able to tell which way I had taken.

Now the only thing I could do was wait. Once Alec was back he would send out Demetri to find me, he was the only one that still could. Until then I would just have to be patient. Patience wasn't exactly my biggest virtue, but it beat getting tortured by light years.

I hated Volterra. On the plus side there were Felix, Corin, Heidi and well… Alec, but on the negative side there were Aro, Caius, Marcus and Jane, the deaths of my coven mates, torture and hiding in sewers. Right now the negative side won easily. I needed a break from this place. Visiting the Denalis sounded more and more tempting by the minute. It would also be perfect to get away from that miniature harpy, Jane, until she had her temper under control.

I would have to get Alec's approval first before going to Alaska for a few weeks, but despite Felix words I didn't think that that would be a problem. I failed to see why it could be. I knew that the relationship between the Denalis and the Volturi had been tense since the Renesmee debacle, but Eleazar and Carmen felt obviously comfortable enough with the Volturi to visit some old friends among the guards like Corin. Since I wasn't even a Volturi I was pretty sure that I would be safe in Alaska. There would also be no risk of exposure to humans with the Denalis looking after me. Alec didn't have any reasons to prevent me from going.

I spent hours thinking about my forced stay with the Volturi and dreaming about a few weeks of freedom with the Denalis. It was not until noon the next day when light ripples in the water to my feet alerted me to the approach of someone. I hid myself deeper in the small alcove, not willing to take any risks.

I relaxed when I heard Demetri's calm and neutral voice, telling me that Alec sent him. The walk back to the castle was quiet. I tried to apologize for the inconvenience I had caused for Demetri, but he didn't want to hear anything about it.

"You didn't have many choices about how to handle Jane with Alec away. You could only run away and hide or ask Aro for help. He is the only person besides her brother to whom Jane listens."

It hadn't even occurred to me to go to Aro for help. But it wouldn't have changed anything if I had thought of it. Confronted with a choice between Aro and the sewers I would take the sewers any day.

In the reception area of the Volturi castle a nervously pacing Alec was awaiting my return. The human receptionist looked scared to death, she probably had never seen Alec without his steely composure.

As soon as Alec saw me with Demetri he darted over to us, examining me from head to toe to make sure nothing was missing. "Are you alright?"

I snorted at his question. "You mean aside from the fact that I was tortured and had to hide in the sewers all night?"

Alec winced visibly. "I'm really sorry, Anna." His eyes narrowed and his full lips thinned into a straight line. "I had a little talk with my sister. She will not bother you again, but to make sure that she doesn't I will not take any assignments for the next few weeks. That should give her enough time to come to terms with our relationship."

"I have an even better idea," I retorted. "I will simply leave for a few weeks. The Denalis invited me for a visit."

Alec did not look pleased at all. "You don't have the self-control to stay somewhere unsupervised."

"Says the guy with the sister who completely lost it and attacked me last night out of sheer jealousy. And Eleazar said that the Denalis will look after me, by the way."

Alec's facial expression was unyielding. "No, I will not allow it. The risk is too high. Every time Heidi brings in the humans I ask you not to bite anyone until I allow you to, and you have never managed to hold back even once."

I was fuming by now. "The Denalis can make sure that nothing will happen. Eleazar even used to be a Volturi guard himself. I need a break from Volterra, Alec. My coven mates got killed here, I was tortured, had to hide in sewers, I'm just sick of this place."

Alec contemplated my reasoning for a short while. "I can understand that. Maybe we should go on a little vacation together, just the two of us."

I sighed. "Alec, you told me your version of a dream vacation, remember? A war zone is not really what I need right now."

To my surprise Alec embraced me despite my 'eau de sewer' and gave me a soft lingering kiss on my mouth. Apparently love did not only make blind but also killed your sense of smell. "We don't have to go to a war zone, we can even do your uninhabited island thing if you want to." His voice dropped a few degrees. "Or are you sick of me, too?"

I thawed out a little. "Alec, that's very sweet of you, but I really want to visit the Denalis. I like Eleazar and Carmen and one of their coven members was friends with Makenna and Charles. I'd like to meet him."

Alec's arms around me tightened. "You didn't answer my question about wanting to get away from me. I'm really sorry about what my sister did to you, I will even make her apologize if that's what it takes, but I won't let you run away to Alaska."

I stared into his burgundy eyes, flabbergasted. "Alec, I don't want Jane to apologize. That would only put me in the awkward situation to either accept her apology or look incredibly rude. But her torturing me is not something I can just forgive in passing as if she had only stepped accidently on my foot. And I'm not trying to run away to Alaska, I just want to visit some people there. Is all this really about me being too much of a liability without Volturi supervision or is this merely because you have a problem with me being away for a few weeks? Because if the latter is the case that would be ridiculous. What's a few weeks in the lives of two immortals?"

"This is only about the safety aspect, nothing else," Alec told me in a chilly manner. "Although I must admit that I find it rather strange that you are already talking about spending time away from me when we have only been in a relationship for a few days. I'm getting the impression that you are blaming me for my sister's behavior."

"I'm not blaming you for Jane's actions," I said softly. "Although I know that you wouldn't have acted any different in her situation. I just want to visit the Denalis. I would love to go on a vacation with you another time."

"I wouldn't have acted like my sister if our roles had been reversed. If she had found someone I would be jealous, but I wouldn't act on it, because her happiness would mean more to me than my jealousy," he said quietly. "And why not go with me on a vacation now and visit the Denalis later when your self-control is better?"

"My self-control is good enough for a visit in Alaska," I snapped back, feeling insulted.

Alec shook his head. "Do I have to remind you again of your lack of discipline whenever Heidi brings in the humans?"

I glared at him. "Fine. How about a little bet then. Heidi is supposed to bring in another catch of humans later today. If I manage to hold back until you tell me it's okay to feed you let me go to Alaska for two weeks. If I don't hold back we can go for two weeks to a place of your choosing."

Alec's expression brightened immediately. "Sure, why not." He put an arm around me and steered me out of the reception area. "We should get you cleaned up first, though." He grinned. "How about we take a shower together?"

I was slightly miffed at his sudden cheery mood. Someone sure was confident about winning this bet. "Sorry Alec, but torture and sewers didn't exactly put me in a romantic mood. I just want to get rid of the smell and then I need to thank Felix for his help. Without him I wouldn't have had a chance of escaping your sister. I'll see you later at feeding time."

Alec blatantly ignored my dismissal and continued walking me to the showers. We kept getting weird looks from the Volturi we met along the way, and I couldn't help but wonder what sorts of rumors this would start. Probably that we had some kind of strange sewer fetish, the new and improved version of mud wrestling.

At the showers I told Alec again that I would see him later and slammed the door in his face before he could react. Cursing inwardly I started to rid myself of the smell. Me and my big mouth. Alec had good reason to be confident about winning the bet. He knew as well as I did that I didn't have the self-control to hold myself back in a situation where everyone around me was feeding.

The only way to counter your bloodlust was to concentrate on something else hard enough. The only problem with that was that most vampires as young as me completely stopped thinking when they were confronted with spilled or otherwise easily available blood. I was no exception to that rule. I wanted to leave Volterra more than anything and to be able to do that I had to control my bloodlust. You couldn't get a better incentive than that. But as soon as the door closed behind the humans, sealing their fate, my brain completely shut down and I fed before I even knew what I was doing.

I had no chance of winning. You couldn't fight something you weren't consciously doing. Or could you?

I went rigid under the hot water. There was one other thing that had pretty much the same effect on me as blood. Maybe, if my brain had already shut down for another reason, the bloodlust wouldn't be able to take over.

The only question now was: How badly did I want to win this bet?

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My life is a bit hectic at the moment, but I will try to update before next Friday.