10. Visitor
The engine of the car stopped and I heard four car doors slam shut.
Dad obviously knew who it was by now, but whoever it was – if they were an immortal, which was most likely – would hear him.
We heard four pairs of feet walk up to the door, and I recognized the scent, I wasn't sure who it was though.
The others seemed to recognize it too, and they were smiling, which I took as a goo sign
Carlisle went to open the door, and greet whomever it was.
When I saw who it was, I was engulfed in both joy and relief, but also great sadness.
Tanya stepped into the house, and I was stunned by how much she had changed.
Her once buoyant face and cheerful expression was now solemn and blank. The fire in her golden eyes had burned out, and they were pitch black.
There were huge circles under her eyes, she must be really thirsty.
Her previously bouncy strawberry curls now lay flat and dark.
She wore a long dress that was pitch black, and she had a silver locket around her neck.
"Carlisle," She said and her voice was hoarse, and barely a whisper.
Garrett followed looking somber.
I could not believe how much he had changed!
His once crouching position had changed to an upright stance, and his once jerky movements had changed to a graceful dancer's step.
His once ruby red eyes were a soft gold, and his once wild long sandy-blonde hair was now cropped short and sleek.
Overall, he looked much more human.
But he showed grief beyond everything that his adopted sisters showed.
I could literally feel his pain. What could have happened to him, to make him show this sort of suffering.
I saw Jasper frowning, so obviously he didn't know why he was so desperate.
It was like he was in mourning, but not in the way his sisters were. Like he was waiting for his beloved to die.
In came Carmen, who also wearing black, and wore a sort of black scarf-veil that went over her sleek dark brown hair.
There was still a light in her eyes, unlike her sisters. But rather than being put out, it looked like it was slowly dying.
Eleazer wore an odd long black cloak-coat, and black trousers.
He also positioned himself almost protectively around Carmen and looked like he was ready to take her and run.
I don't' know why, but I felt like there was something missing
"Tanya, it is good to see you," said Carlisle softly.
"We heard you were in trouble with," Tanya hesitated, "them," her voice dropped to a whisper on the last word.
"we have a lot to explain," said Carlisle, "sit down, I'll tell you."
Somehow, we all managed to fit into the living room. I did have to be squeezed between Mum and Dad quite tightly.
"Where is Kate?" asked Carlisle. That was when I realized that the third Denali sister was not with us.
Tanya and Carmen looked very upset at the mention of their sister, and Tanya looked like if she could be crying she would be.
"I'm sorry," said Carlisle quickly, looking anxious at their reactions.
"She joined them," said Tanya, between shakes caused by sobs that didn't exist.
She joined them? Who was them?
I gasped, along with the rest of the room when I realized what had happened.
Kate had joined the Volturi.
No! how could she do this to us! To her sisters!
Why on earth had she joined the people who had killed her sister, her mother and her young brother!
None of it made sense. Had she adopted their hunting abilities as well? Had Chelsea tied her to the Volturi, and made her want to leave her family?
But, Eleazer had said that because we refrained from human blood, our bonds were stronger, that we couldn't have been manipulated.
I felt immediately so sorry for Kate, Carmen, Garrett and Eleazer.
How was it fair that so shortly after losing one sister, they had lost another.
I think that was why they still wore black.
It wasn't that they were morning just for one sister, they were mourning for two.
Because that was exactly what it must have been like, when she left. No longer herself, and lifeless. The Volturi will have changed her so much, unless…
What if she hadn't wanted to go? Maybe she had been forced her to join them!
That was not a comfort exactly, but more like an improvement to the situation.
It meant that she still loved her family, and that she might not have been morphed into the sort of person Jane was.
Whenever I saw her, it was like seeing a cold uncaring façade. I remembered the lyrics to that song…
There's a face that we wear
In the cold light of day -
It's society's mask,
It's society's way,
And the truth is
That it's all a façade!
There's a face that we hide
Till the nighttime appears,
And what's hiding inside,
Behind all of our fears,
Is our true self,
Locked inside the façade!
I found it hard to believes that Jane, or any member of the guard would have any fears, or anything inside them except cold, hard hate.
We couldn't allow Kate to stay with the Volturi.
I couldn't.
I suddenly realized that while I had been thinking deeply, the others had started a conversation.
"Why?" asked Carlisle, concern on his face.
"They they," said Tanya, but she appeared too upset to get out the words.
Esme walked over and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
Eleazer continued for her, "They sent us a letter," he brought out a small piece of paper from his cloak.
It read:
Dear Friends,
Initially I believed you to be innocent on your involvement of creating an immortal child, however, as of late, new information has come to light. So I now regret to inform you that you have here been found guilty, you need to report to Volterra within three days, and no later.
I assume you understand the consequences to follow if this summon is not taken seriously.
Warmest Regards,
Aro
So suddenly they were guilty? After four hundred years? Really?
"We were scared," said Eleazer "so," he paused "we stayed here, and acted like we hadn't received the letter. Of course we knew it would never work but she refused to go." It was obvious he was talking about Kate.
"So… they came to us." He said, looking almost ashamed at their stubbornness.
There were gasps of "no" from all around the room.
"They planned to execute us right then!" he said looking quite intense.
"But she said that she would exchange," he said and there was a sad note to his voice and his eyes.
Garrett gave a low moan.
"Exchange?" asked Carlisle, who seemed very eager for more information.
But he merely looked down at the floor and shook his head.
Oh.
She exchanged herself for her family's safety?
No. Surely not. She couldn't have.
But then I remembered Aro's words before he left.
He had asked if Zafrina, Kate, Alice and Dad– for the thousandth time.
So that was why… he wanted her talent, and he would save lives just to have one more mindless guard.
I have to say, I was shocked.
Not only at what had happened, but the fact that she would sacrifice herself for her family. Of course, I imagine any of us would do the same, I certainly would. But I never really pictured Kate as a warm person.
Of course, none of us were really warm, but in the friendly sense.
She was lovely, and all that, but she didn't really seem as open to me as the rest of her family. And whatever caution I felt to her was only increased when she tried to use her powers against me. I had said that I wanted to help, and I did, but I still was nervous. I had seen the effect that she had had on other immortals, and since I wasn't a proper vampire because I grew, I took that to mean that I wasn't as strong as them either.
I don't really know why I'm "special ' as Mummy put it, but I definitely wasn't a full vampire.
"She exchanged her self," whispered Esme, looking shocked and Tanya began to shake violently.
"Yes," whispered Eleazer, burying his head in Carmen's hair, "They agreed, well, Caius didn't and Marcus appeared to be indifferent. But eventually he 'agreed'." He said, and I could here the air quotes as he said the last word.
But of course, there was no way Caius would agree to anything to do with preserving lives, especially not when Aro, when he had let my family go away unharmed.
Apparently, when he was staying in Volterra, Caius had wanted him to leave, because of his giving of mercy and respect for human life, also for his… how did they say it? Oh, his "Aversion To His Natural Food Source".
"I'm so sorry," said Carlisle, looking truly compassionate.
"Yeah," he said looking sad.
"Why did you come," said Emmett slightly insensitively, he was shot a reproving glance from Esme.
"We came to help you," said Eleazer, looking slightly puzzled, as if this was obvious.
"But-" said Carlisle, but Carmen, who was speaking for the first time, interrupted him. She shocked me by adding a warm smile to her words.
"What are families for?"
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