Curiosity Killed The Cat

Chapter 12: Such Rude Guests

"We're going where?"

"To the opera,"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

I gave Aro a suspicious look, which he ignored as he purposefully strode to our closet. The opera? I've never been to an opera before. I've been to a few concerts, but I doubted people at opera's scream their throats raw while simultaneously going deaf from the loud volume of the music.

"What brought this on then?" I asked him as I followed him into the very spacious closet.

"Well," Aro paused, his hands, which had been swiftly flipping through the massive amount of dresses on the rack, stilled as he thought of an answer. "I just thought you could use a night out,"

I blinked at him, then I started laughing, much to his obvious confusion. "You are the king of the vampire race and have been for thousands of years, and you think I deserve a night out? I've been here, what? Two weeks?"

"One week and four days," he corrected.

"Right, and I deserve a night off from following you guys around the castle as you tend to your duties?" I snorted, crossing my arms over my chest.

He sighed, "I was hoping to spend some time alone with you," he admitted, looking at me from under his eyelashes, making my breath catch in my throat as I fell into his bloody red eyes.

I had been here for almost two weeks and I started to notice how often I found myself attracted to them, more than just a physical level, although that was still there too, but more on an emotional level. I... I didn't really know what to think about that.

"Like a date?" I asked in shock. Well to be fair, vampire or not, they're still men, and men only tend to think about one thing.

"Only if you wanted it to be," he rushed out quickly, looking a bit frazzled.

A slow smile stretched across my lips, "You know," I began, really enjoying the look of vulnerability on his face, "If you wanted to take me out on a date... all you had to do was ask." I finished, coughing to hide my laughter when his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas.

"Catalina," I glared at him, they still called me that occasionally. But I'll admit, it was kinda starting to grow on me... just a little. "Cat," he hastily corrected, "Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to the opera tonight?"

Might as well, "Sure," the word was barely out of my mouth before Aro had wrapped his arms around me, pressing my head into his chest. His head ducked down until it was level with my ear.

"Thank you, darling," he cooed, sending his scent wafting into my face. Asshole. He knew what that did to me. Mostly because he was touching my bare arms and could hear my thoughts. Asshole, I repeated for emphases.

He just laughed, his chest, which was still pressed to mine, rumbled. He released me, only to yank a dress off the rack and push it into my arms. "You better get dressed then, my love. The opera begins in a few hours," before striding out.

"A dress? Come on!" I whined, not wanting Aro to see me in a dress. "Can't we just pretend I'm a guy and we're a madly in love gay couple?" I hollered after him. I heard Caius burst out laughing in the bedroom. I wondered how long he had been there.

I sighed, looking at the dress in my hands. It was a beautiful midnight black, the color reminded me of Aro's gorgeously long hair, flared from the waist that went all the way down to the bottom which seemed to end just before my knees. Knowing them, this was the most expensive piece of clothing I had ever touched.

It wasn't that I didn't like dresses, it's just that, I felt very self conscious in front of them. I never cared for what people thought about my appearance, but when I was with them, I just had this urge to look aesthetically pleasing to them. But at the same time I felt very comfortable around them, like I could walk around naked, not that I ever planned to do that, ever, before them, not even batting an eye at the thought. I've mostly just been wearing pairs of skinny jeans and white t-shirts with a flannel button up shirt I would leave unbuttoned I had bought from a clothing store in Volterra. But as I looked at this dress, I felt very intimidated, like I wasn't worthy enough for this.

I mentally slapped myself, I was fucking Catalina Cynthia, cringe, Brandon and I wasn't about to let a stupid dress intimidate me because I might actually feel sexy in it. Fuck it, what is wrong with me? Just put on the stupid dress and look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself how hot you are.

Never had I had this problem before. I've always loved myself and all my little flaws, like the stretch marks across the tops of my thighs, and the soft fat on my hips and belly, and the acne scars I had on my face from my awkward teenage years, full of drama and breakouts. But now I was a self conscious wreck. Damn, it's like being a teenager all over again. Well, I was acting as horny as one when I was around the three of them. I took of my comfortable clothing, cringing when the cold air wrapped around me. Seriously they had to get a heater sometime down the line before I froze to death.

I snorted in laughter as I pulled the thing over my head. I was in a vampire's castle and the thing that finally killed me, wasn't the blood thrifty vampires, but the cold air.

"I am so lame," I muttered to myself as I fixed the piece of clothing on me before walking up to the end of the closet to the full body mirror.

See? I don't look so bad. I fixed my hair, running my fingers through the long locks, wincing when I pulled out a few hairs. The dress clung around my bust, emphasizing the size of my breasts, before flaring out at the waist, leaving my legs exposed from the knees down.

Hm, I looked really hot in this. I preened myself in front of the mirror for a few more minutes, occasionally throwing myself a compliment to help boost my confidence. Once I was done, I smiled at my reflection before blowing myself and kiss and grabbing my shoes, shoving my feet into them before striding out of the closet.

"There you are, my love. I was wondering if you had gotten lost-" Aro looked up, his hand fiddling with the cufflink on his wrist, only to freeze, breaking off mid sentence as he looked at me. I smirked at him.

"What?" I asked him innocently as I flounced up to him, fixing his crooked bow tie.

I had to admit, I was having a hard time not staring at him as well. He looked so fucking dapper in that suit of his. Dapper. Dammit, they were rubbing off on me.

"You look..." Aro struggled to find the words as his eyes trailed over my body, over my bust, paying special attention to my breasts, going all the way down to my legs, before climbing back up to my eyes again.

He seemed to have composed himself as he smiled at me, offering me his arm. I slipped mine through his as he guided me out of the room. I threw a quick wave to Caius, and Marcus who had appeared when I was still in the closet.

"Have fun darling," Caius called, as he shamelessly watched my ass as I walked off.

"You look ravishing," Aro crooned into my ear. "But I have to ask... you wearing your converse?"

"What? They're comfy... and they match the dress," I glanced at my black chucks as Aro led me through the hallways.

He just chuckled, patting my hand as we reached the doors. When we stepped outside my skin nearly froze off. It didn't help that the sun was already down. Aro quickly ushered me into the waiting car when he saw me shiver, and as soon as I was settled into the soft, leather seats with my seat belt firmly wrapped around me, we were off. I boldly leaned my head on Aro's shoulder, watching the scenery pass through us from the window as the heat blasted from the air conditioner, brushing against my face like a warm blanket.

"How far away is it?" I mumbled as I closed my eyes, my head still comfortably resting against my date's shoulder.

"Not far," he murmured, before I felt his free hand softly stroke my hair, "Sleep," he encouraged me, "I'll wake you when we arrive," I didn't need to be told twice.

I didn't dream as I fell asleep, instead, I relived what happened a week ago, with the Cullens. I had gotten bored of waiting around, so instead I wandered out of the room in search of the exit; my stomach hadn't stopped rumbling since I ended the phone call with my mother.

I turned the corner and almost smacked into someone. I stumbled back as I took in the three faces before me, the blonde haired guy I had almost just ran into, a brunette looking at me with a pained look on her face, and a... pixie like girl, with short black hair, sticking up in all directions.

"Uh," was the only thing I could think of saying. I could tell by their normal clothes and lack of Volturi pendant swinging from their necks that they were not part of the guard. And their eyes were really weird, instead of seeing red glowing eyes, they had soft honey ones... hang on, were these the Cullen's the kings were talking about?

Suddenly, one of the guard members had suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking my view of them, his arms slightly spread, protecting me from the people in front of me.

"You need to leave," he demanded. I think his name was... Demetri. He was the tracker Jane told me about, yesterday.

"Who's she?" the brunette asked, her eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down, a look of disdain on her face. "Another receptionist?"

"Excuse me?" Who the hell did this chick think she was?

"Bella," the pixie tried to warn her companion tugging her backwards, away from the angry vampire guard. "That's not their receptionist, that's Aro, Caius, and Marcus's mate," she hissed.

Her eyes widened in shock and little disgust, "She's mated to all three of them? That's sick."

A flash of pain stabbed me in the heart when I registered her words. That made me incredibly angry and hurt to hear her disregard my relationship with them like that.

"Hey!" I snapped, royally pissed off, "Do you want to say that to my face lady?!"

"Being in love with three men isn't natural," this bitch fired off at me, while her two companions tried to get her to back off.

"Oh! I'm so fucking sorry, so killing Bambi is? Being a fucking vampire is natural?!" I shouted, my blood boiling. What was with her?

How was my relationship with them any of her business in the first fucking place? Fuck her, she didn't know jack shit. Yet she was the one that willingly became a vampire for some dude.

"What is going on here?!" A very familiar and angry voice shouted down the corridor as I heard three sets of footsteps hurrying to us. There was no better timing, Caius, thank you.

I smirked when I saw all three of their faces pale, even further than their already snow white skin when they heard the shout of an angry vampire.

I couldn't help but taunt her as my mates grew closer, "Oh, I'm sorry, what was that? Do you want to repeat how sick and unnatural our relationship is to them, or should I do it for you?"

"What do you think you're doing?" Aro hissed as he replaced Demetri's stance of being in front of me as he bared his teeth threateningly at them. "Have you no respect for your own queen?!" he roared. I was not going to lie, I was turned on by this display of power all three of them were emanating.

Caius slowly walked up behind Bella, reaching down and grasping her by the throat, her muffled gasp barely managed to escape as he picked her up a few inches of the ground and turned her to face him; all the while Marcus held the blonde and pixie back from interfering.

"Do you think my love for my mate is unnatural?" he asked in a falsely calm voice.

She frantically shook her head back and forth, well, as much as she could considering Caius's grip on her was extremely tight looking.

"Do you think my relationship with my queen is sick?"

Again, she shook her head.

"Then by all means, tell me what you were trying to say? Hm?"

She grabbed at his hand and tried to pry it off, but it didn't budge an inch.

He forcibly turned her head towards me, my green eyes connected with her honey ones. "Do you see her? That is Catalina Cynthia Brandon, your queen. Whom you will treat with the utmost respect or I will rip your useless little head off and stab it on a pike!" The false calm was gone and now it was all storm.

I saw the pixie frown in the corner of my eye. She was looking right at me, as if my face held a puzzle and she was trying to solve it. My eyes connected with hers and her face froze with shock. What was her problem?

Caius let Bella drop to the ground, "Get out," he snarled.

Marcus released his hold on the other two. Bella ran as soon as she got to her feet, but the other two hesitated, each for different reasons. The pixie was looking at me with the same expression of shock on her face, while the blonde guy tried to talk with Aro.

"Aro, please we didn't mean any harm to her-"

"Carlisle, because of all our years of friendship, I will let you go this once, but if this happens again, I will not be so lenient," he grabbed this Carlisle and Alice and forcefully pushed them away. They took the hint and ran off.

The power that those three just demonstrated me, had me in a slight bit of shock and awe. I always assumed that they had their guard to protect them, because they were royalty and needed the protecting. But I realized then and there that they were more than capable of taking care of themselves... and me. I blinked in shock. They had defended me against those guys, and one of them apparently had been a friend of there's for a really long time. It made my throat close up in emotion, when I realized how much they did actually care to keep me safe. They managed to earn some form of forgiveness for the display that just went on here.

I let out an awkward cough, mainly trying to clear my throat of these stupids emotions, "You know when I said you guys were boring? I was wrong," I admitted, smiling when the kings laughed with me.

Then after we had gone back to our room, Aro had informed me that the girl that was with Carlisle and Bella, this Alice, was my great great grandmother's sister, Mary Alice Brandon. So that girl was my great great aunt. Awesome. I was the fucking niece to a vampire this whole damn time.

Vampires just seemed to gravitate around me for some reason. I didn't appreciate it.

"Catalina," a soft voice cooed in my ear as I frowned, trying to figure out where it was coming from. I suddenly remembered where I was, "We're here," Aro's breath washed over my face, jolting me back into reality as I sat up groggily, frowning as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

Wait, we weren't even in the car anymore. We were sitting in a really nice looking booth on the couch. Was I still dreaming? Aro must have carried me in the opera place when I had still been asleep. I felt his chilly hand gently pet my hair as I came back to my senses.

"The shows starting," he whispered in my ear, as he shifted a little closer to me.

I leaned forward eagerly as the red curtain came up and the actors and singers stepped on stage.

A/N: Well, now Cat knows she's Alice's niece. What did you think of the little conflict I added between the Cullen's and Catalina? Let me know in your amazing reviews!

See any mistakes, point them out and I will see you guys next time!