Twilight doesn't belong to me. Or does it? …. Nope. Guess not.
Thanks for the reviews everyone. As repayment for being such a terrible updater the past few chapters, here is chapter 21- LESS THAN A WEEK AND A HALF since the last one.
Show me some love?
-Chapter 21-
Renesmee POV
My stomach was now well and truly empty.
I'd been stuck in Volterra for six days and I could feel myself gradually losing my mind. I hadn't been allowed out to see my family again, and none of them had been allowed to visit me. My only visitor had been Jack. And then there had been my fleeting conversations with Alec, who sometimes talked to me through the gap in the door when he was particularly bored.
I found that I actually didn't mind him, but I knew that there was a very high probability that his outward kindness was just an act. In another life, maybe we could have been friends. But I doubted it.
Jack hadn't been so crude to me as he had been a few days before and had kept away from the topic of sex. Instead, he'd been trying to convince me to try some human blood. At one point I'd nearly agreed with him, anything to just stop feeling so hungry. But that weak moment had passed quickly. I didn't even feel hunger pains anymore, so it hardly mattered if I listened to Jack or not.
I didn't feel anything at all anymore.
I'd been summoned before Aro once, but he'd only briefly wanted to touch my hand. I guessed it had been to see if I had any plans of joining him or co-operating. My other guess was that he wanted to make sure I hadn't made any decent escape plans. I'd thought of some, but all of them involved an accomplice or being left unattended for at least an hour so I could make a break for it.
But no, I didn't think there was any easy way that I was getting out of there.
I'd become very well acquainted with the ceiling, having spent most of my days staring at it in boredom. I slept a lot, too. At least 15 hours a day, which I knew was far too much. Somehow, though I was doing absolutely nothing, I just needed the rest more.
It was almost dark on the sixth day before something finally happened to break the monotony of my life. I was doing my thing, lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, eyes wide and glassy, when I heard a soft knock on the door.
I didn't bother replying, I never did. I expected it to be Jack, but was surprised when Alec's now-familiar presence was the one I sensed entering the room. I attempted to sit up and recline on my elbows but failed dismally so instead I just flopped back down, knowing that if Alec wanted to talk, he would have to come to me. He knew I couldn't exactly move easily anymore and had no strength left so he didn't press me about it. I appreciated it.
"How are you today?" he asked somewhat pleasantly, leaning against one of the bedposts and frowning down at me. My eyes flickered to him once as I half shrugged in response. "So that would be… hungry, angry and sad?" he guessed with a rueful smile.
"I've got the tri-factor, that's for sure," I muttered weakly. My voice had faded quickly down to a subdued rasp, which annoyed me. I hated not being able to express myself. Every time I tried to tell Jack to go to Hell he just laughed at me.
"Are you planning on getting up today?" Alec asked.
"Nope. All those things I planned to do today will just have to wait. I'm very busy doing absolutely nothing," I mumbled under my breath, feeling slightly delirious.
"Did you want to go for a walk?" he asked, his eyes uncertain as he assessed my defeated, exhausted posture.
I thought about it for a moment before I decided that I might as well.
A few minutes later I was being led by Alec down the corridor outside my room. We came across a wide, stone archway and passed under it. I could practically hear Alec groaning at my slow pace but he didn't say anything, which was good of him. He probably knew I'd snap at him. None of it was exactly my fault.
We came across a small courtyard bordered with hedges and then a stone wall that ran around the top. There was a small park bench on one side underneath a large tree and I made a beeline for it, feeling my overtired body already ready to sit down again. Alec chuckled but followed me to the chair. He swung his lean body easily up onto the first branch, just to the left of my head.
"So… why are we out here?" I asked, genuinely curious. I got the strange suspicion that he wasn't exactly meant to have let me out of my room, but had anyway.
"Does there need to be some top secret reason? I thought you might enjoy a change of scenery," he replied.
"Yeah. Right," I said, sarcasm dripping from my words.
"You know we're not all bad, don't you?" he said suddenly, his tone sounding almost frustrated.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"Us, the guard. We're not all bad. Sure, we serve Aro and we do our duty, but we're not nearly as bad as some make us seem…" he trailed off angrily.
"Yeah, well… Remains to be seen," I replied. He glanced down at me with one eyebrow raised and I had to laugh weakly. "Okay, maybe you've been almost nice…. a few times. But I never know anymore. Whether people really mean what they say, or mean how they act… I don't even know what's real anymore," I told him honestly.
"I'm not acting," Alec snapped suddenly.
"Okay, fine, you're not," I agreed hurriedly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just… I've been in your position before. It's not much fun," he explained.
"Oh my God, I should have known. You've been held prisoner by the Volturi, too?" I asked sarcastically. I didn't really believe him.
"Yes. Over three hundred years ago, when I first joined the guard, actually. Well, before I joined them. When I didn't want to."
Wait, he was serious? Alec had been reluctant to join the Volturi? They'd imprisoned him like this, too?
"Are you kidding me? Why? I thought… Well, I guess I never really thought about it, but I thought you and Jane were Aro's greatest followers. You're his favourites," I pointed out, still not sure if he was telling the truth.
"I'm not lying to you. You don't know much about me, do you? How I came to be a vampire?" Alec asked. I shook my head, trying to recall if Carlisle had ever mentioned, but I was positive I would have remembered hearing something like that.
"It was the seventeenth century. Jane and I were twins, living, ironically enough, in Transylvania," he began. "I don't suppose you're able to recall to the last time we visited your home in Washington?"
"Parts of it I remember," I told him.
"Do you remember two vampires names Stefan and Vladimir?" Alec asked, his expression turning stormy as he spat out their names.
"Yes. They're the ones with the vendetta against you, aren't they?" I asked, remembering the two strange vampires who had appeared out of nowhere to side with us against the Volturi. Everyone else had been there because they wanted to help protect me and my family, Stefan and Vladimir had only been looking for an excuse to fight, to overthrow the Italian family that had stolen their power from them hundreds of years ago.
"A vendetta. How appropriate," Alec half smiled, jumping easily down from his perch in the tree to sit beside me on the bench as he became more involved in the story. "Well, there was a reason they called us the witch twins. During my human life, I lived in their 'territory.' Aro, Caius and Marcus controlled most of Europe, but there were parts that still remained out of their grasp. I know it's hard to imagine a time where they weren't so all-powerful, but three hundred years ago there was little more room to breathe, shall we say," he continued.
"Now, Stefan and Vladimir weren't the most discrete rulers. They left bloody messes wherever they went, and Transylvania was the worst. They killed in broad daylight, left evidence. I suppose that's where a lot of the myths started. It was those two original brothers and their carelessness that led to all of the vampire myths and legends that plague our kind today.
"To get everyone off their trail, Stefan and Vladimir came up with a scapegoat to take the blame for their mess. And that was what started the seventeenth century witch trials. My sister Jane, as you know, has a gift for inflicting pain and I for removing it. It's been that way ever since we were born, even as humans. But it was much less pronounced. She could only cause headaches back then, and I could only relieve them." I nodded, wondering what a pain Jane would have been as she grew up.
"No matter how subtle, our 'gifts' were enough to get us noticed. See, the humans had been burning other, innocent, humans for a few months before someone finally clued in about what Jane and I could do. Before either of us could so much as embrace our parents in farewell, we were tied to that stake." Alec's voice broke off abruptly and I saw his gaze flicker to the archway we'd entered through.
Jane appeared a moment later, her hood pulled back to reveal her demonic eyes. Strange, Alec's red eyes never seemed quite as threatening…
"Brother, what are you doing out here with the filthy half breed?" she sneered, eyeing me up and down in pure disgust and loathing. I swallowed loudly, extremely uncomfortable. Any second now she was going to do it, going to hurt me again. I cringed, my eyes snapping shut in fearful anticipation.
For just a fraction of a second, I did feel it, the horribly familiar stabbing pain, but then nothing. It stopped so suddenly I was almost sure I'd imagined it for a moment. I opened my eyes, trying to see what had happened, but all I saw was blackness. And then I noticed the deathly silence, the distant sounds of birds chirping had disappeared. I tried to stand in panic but my limbs were…. Gone?
And then after a terrifying, uncertain moment, it clicked.
Alec was using his power on me at the same time as Jane, cancelling out her ability. As soon as I realised that, I calmed down just a fraction, but not enough to be put completely at ease. Why was he doing it?
I tried to time how long I was gone for but lost count after a few minutes.
Then, just as suddenly as my world had been shut off, it was suddenly switched back on. Light blinded me for just a second and I blinked a few times in shock. We were back in my room, me sitting in the center of my bed and Alec perched on one end, staring at me.
"What just happened?" I asked, my words coming out strangely.
"Jane," Alec muttered, rolling his eyes.
"I-I… what?" I stammered, looking around us anxiously, worried that she was here now, too.
"Don't worry, she's gone," Alec assured me. "And I'm sorry about her. She's always been…. Like that."
"Oh. Did you… did you both use your power on me at the same time?" I asked, now quite curious to know what had happened.
Alec nodded. "Yes. One would think that we would cancel each other out, but no. I'm stronger, always have been," he explained in a tired voice.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"I'm the elder twin, that's my guess. My extra three minutes of time on this Earth give me just enough of an edge to be able to stop her," he said.
"Oh…. Thank you," I said, meaning it.
I'd always been so terrified of Jane's power that it hadn't even occurred to me that there might be another way of blocking her power, other than with my Mom's mental shield.
"You're welcome," Alec smiled, the first genuine smile I'd seen from him since I'd met him. I grinned back before something caught up with me.
"How'd I get back here?" I asked.
"Oh… I, er, carried you. I hope I didn't offend you, I just needed to get you out of there before Jane had another of her tantrums," he explained, looking at the floor.
"Oh, that's fine. Don't worry about it," I said, wondering why Alec looked so awkward. "So… are you going to finish your story?" I asked hesitantly, worried about pushing him too far after he'd just basically rescued me from Jane. I didn't want to go asking too much of him and ruin what little semblance of friendship I imagined we had developed.
"Of course. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. My sister and I had just been tied to the stake. I can still remember that day, you know. I can smell the smoke, hear the angry cries of the crowd, feel the ropes cutting into my skin. Jane was cussing and screaming for all she was worth but I remained silent. I knew there was no reasoning with this people, and part of me thought that maybe they were right. Maybe we were unnatural and God wanted us to die." He shrugged.
"Either way, just before the flames reached us, something came flying at me. It snapped the ropes and stake in one quick movement and then Jane and I were being carried away. So fast. I thought we were flying. It was Aro. Back in his younger days, he did a lot of… 'recruiting' by himself. Now he less prefers to get his hands dirty. Anyway, he set us down once we were far away from the town and stared at the two of us. He took one of our hands each and closed his eyes. Now I know he was reading our thoughts, probably checking to see if the rumours he'd heard of supernaturally gifted witches was true. He knew there was no such thing and was interested in recruiting us for his guard and after he realised the stories were true, he took us to Italy," Alec explained, ending his story.
"But wait, that doesn't explain how you were held prisoner here?" I pointed out.
"Ah, I forgot. At first, I was… reluctant. Jane took to vampirism like a duck to water. She flourished and bloomed under Aro's watch. I… took a little more convincing. We were both turned as soon as we reached this castle, but for some reason, my new nature didn't exactly stay with me right away. You see, I didn't want to become like the humans who would so easily murder two young children. I didn't want to be a killer," Alec explained, his eyes far away.
"What changed your mind?" I asked quietly.
"Time. It took almost a month for me to break my little self-induced fast. But then I started to enjoy that side of being a vampire. The bloodshed didn't make me happy, but the satisfaction of sating my thirst did. I guess I just gave in," he explained, getting to his feet and smiling sadly down at me. He turned and strode toward the door, but I called out his name to stop him before he left.
"Is that what Aro wants from me? He wants me to give in?" I asked, for the first time considering that maybe I would have to. Maybe I would have to give in, or I would really die.
"No, Aro wants more from you than he wanted from me. He wants your whole family, he wants your allegiance. He wants to make an example out of you that anyone who crosses the Volturi will either follow them or die."
"Die… So I'm really going to die if I don't give in?" I asked, my voice strangely hollow.
"I'm afraid so."
"Why me?" I asked rhetorically after a long moment of silence. "It'd be different if I'd done something wrong, if I'd threatened to expose everyone… But I didn't… I haven't done anything. I'm being punished for existing the way I do. We all are," I mumbled to myself.
"Do you really want to get out of this room?" Alec spoke up quietly. I jumped slightly, having thought he'd already left the room.
"Yes," I replied tentatively.
"Then you need to… you need to be with Jack and start drinking human blood." His words were regretful, like he wished he didn't have to say them, like he'd rather I didn't do either thing.
I sighed sadly. Some part of me had expected him to say that, but just one part of me, one tiny part had wondered if maybe he would help me escape in a different way. I couldn't stop the tiny flash of disappointment that swept over me as I realised there really was no way out.
"If you want, I can… I can do my thing when Jack… you know. I can make it not hurt. I'll make sure you don't see or feel a thing," Alec offered softly.
I looked up at him, wondering if he was being honest with me. Would he really?
"Please," I whispered, wiping at the corner of my eye where one traitorous tear threatened to slip down my cheek.
Alec nodded once more before turning his back on me and leaving the room.
Cameron POV
"Okay, Zach, you first. Why are you here?" I asked as we all stood in a tense half circle. The werewolf/shape shifter, the two half blooded vampires and then Carolina, the full vampire. Maybe we should all walk into a bar?
"To get your ass out of trouble. Just like old times," replied the closest thing to Father figure I'd ever had.
"Of course you are," I half laughed. Carolina tugged on my sleeve, her eyes demanding to know what was going on. I simply shrugged and took her tiny hand in mine. "Where are the others?" I asked, knowing that my old brothers wouldn't be far away.
"Slovenia. They're a day's journey away if I need them. If we need them, I should say. I thought I'd do a little recon before I got everyone involved in your mess," Zach replied. His words were harsh but his tone was half joking, letting me know he was somewhat glad to see me. I watched as his eyes swept over Carolina, curious, and if I wasn't mistaken, a tad indulgent.
I nodded, half smiling at the fact that I now wasn't alone. Then, I turned to Jacob, feeling my face fall in preparation for what I was sure would not be a pleasant exchange.
"I'm here because some asshole saw fit to take advantage of my best friend's kind nature and lure her into a fucking trap!" Jacob snarled, his eyes angry. His frame trembled slightly and I took a cautionary step backwards, pushing Carolina behind me.
"Okay then…" I replied.
If I told Jacob the truth… he probably wouldn't believe me.
If I continued with the lie... there was a good chance I would end up dead. Zach was strong and so was I, but I didn't believe for a second we were strong enough to take on a mature werewolf and live to talk about it. And there was no way I was letting Carolina fight. Over my dead body. Hell, not even then.
"You, explain. Right now," Zach ordered, his eyes narrowing as he took in my hesitant expression. He hated lies. That had been one of his cardinal rules when I'd been a part of his coven. No bullshit. I sighed, knowing I was going to have to go with the truth. Well, parts of it…
I took about five minutes to explain the story, how Carolina and I had been captured by the Volturi and how I'd been forced to co-operate to save her life. I told them both everything, except my real feelings for Renesmee. I wasn't exactly prepared to share those in front of Jacob. I explained everything up to the now, Carolina's transition, and my desire to now try and free Renesmee and the Cullens.
"So you want to help now… You, what, feel guilty? Bit fucking late, kid," Jacob snapped, not looking at all phased by my explanation.
"Something like that," I muttered, not catching anyone's eye.
"She's the pretty one, isn't she?" Carolina's tiny voice interjected into the conversation, causing all of us to drop our eyes to her small form.
"You've seen her?" I asked, my tone halting and suddenly not very sturdy.
"Yup. Janey showed me her room while she was asleep. She's reeaaal pretty," Carolina supplied sweetly.
"She sure is," I agreed, forgetting everyone around me.
I didn't have long to forget, though, before there was a large hand constricting around my throat.
"You don't get to talk about her," Jacob thundered, his form towering over me as he attempted to crush my windpipe.
"Don't hurt my brother. I'll kill you."
Jacob's hand disappeared but I was too busy gaping at Carolina in shock to really notice. Her stare was livid and she had a tiny palm outstretched towards Jacob. Her voice was… chilling, horrifying, all the innocence gone from her face.
"No, Lina, don't," I spoke quietly, sinking down onto one knee to face her. "You're never to talk like that again, do you understand?" I tried to keep my tone gentle but it was difficult with everything that was rushing through me. The power of my gift flowed through me, even more intense in its fervour than it had been earlier, practically begging to be unleashed. She obviously was unaware of her power and didn't seem to notice that she'd triggered it.
I was terrified that if I didn't calm Carolina down then one of us would end up hurting someone.
"Okay. I'll be good," she said, blinking a few times as her tone and face returned to normal. I exhaled loudly, drawing her into my arms for a hug. She returned it and then allowed me to straighten up, holding my hand tightly again.
"Okay…. Care to explain what the Hell just happened?" Jacob asked, staring back and forth between Carolina and I like we'd each grown another head.
"She's new to the whole vampire thing. I'm… sorry she threatened you," I replied.
"Not that. You. What did you just do?" Zach said, his stare almost as confused as Jacob's. He pointed behind me.
I glanced quickly over my shoulder, but then had to stop and double take. Where there had been a tall tree just moments before, there was now a smouldering pile of ashes, still smoking lightly.
"I was helping," Carolina chirped brightly, smiling proudly up at me.
Holy fuck. With Carolina's help, I'd just unknowingly burnt a fifteen-foot tall tree to the ground in seconds.
"You lit up like a fucking supernova. Seriously. And your eyes. It was like you were on fire… but inside. If I'd known you could do that, I sure as Hell wouldn't have let you out of the coven," Zach muttered under his breath, glancing between the ashes and me.
"Wait. So you've got vamp magic, too?" Jacob asked, his eyes growing wide with recognition.
"Yeah, I guess. It's not normally this powerful, but I think… I think Carolina has a power, too. I think she's like a- a… a power pack or something. She intensifies it," I explained in an excited voice.
"If we could control it… Imagine how many of the guard we could take out at once," Zach breathed, and I saw Jacob shoot him an appreciative smile.
Oh no.
"No. She's too young. She doesn't know how to fight, there's no way in Hell she's going back there," I declared adamantly.
"I want to help!" Carolina cried suddenly, frowning at me. I don't think she even knew what we were talking about, but it was clear that she had set her mind on helping me.
"You could stay here. That would help me a lot," I lied, trying to get Zach and Jacob to catch my eye so I could enlist their help in keeping her safe.
"No way. I say, if the kid wants to help, she should get to help," Jacob said, contradicting me in the worst way.
"Stay and guard the tree?" I suggested lamely, mostly talking to myself now. Carolina had already moved from my side to stand with the other two and was smiling at me hopefully.
Jacob smiled suddenly and started striding away into the forest, only stopping for a moment when I called out to ask where he was going.
"I'm going to go phase, tell the pack to move in. With your coven of half bloods and my shifters, we should be able to make some sort of impression. With 'flame boy' here on our side, I don't see how we can lose," Jacob said, smiling triumphantly at his own logic.
"Wait just a second, you," Zach said.
"What is it now? We need to move, while we still have the element of surprise," Jacob protested loudly as he turned back to face us.
"These sparkly bastards have had centuries to sit and plan for any asshat who thought to come at them with the element of surprise. You bet your ass they're going to have a plan in place for it, one we'll no doubt fall right into unless we go about this just so," Zach said.
Jacob frowned and then strode back towards us.
"Okay then, you're right," he admitted grudgingly. "What's the plan then?" he asked Zach.
My old mentor grinned, suddenly back in his element.
"Step one, we need to figure out who we can lose in this. Who's willing to die for this," Zach clarified.
That sobered us up pretty quickly.
"I am," Jacob and I both answered at the same time. We shot each other a look but returned to the plan when Zach coughed loudly.
"I'll help," Carolina offered, smiling obliviously. I eyed the other two men seriously, speaking for Carolina in saying that she would not be dying in this operation. They both nodded.
"I know the Cullens would all die for Renesmee, without a second thought," Jacob supplied.
"And I don't plan on dying, but I'm already out here, safe. So, this Rusumae-"
"Renesmee," Jacob and I both corrected Zach. At the same time.
"Okay, Renesmee it is. So, Renesmee is living, but just about everyone else is all in on this," Zach summarised, eyeing both Jacob and I to make sure we were both serious about this. I was. I knew there was a good chance I'd die, but if it was for Renesmee, then it would mean something.
"Great," Zach continued, "then that brings us to step two. Remove the vulnerable. And right now, that would be Renesmee. We need to get her out before we start any sort of attack plan."
I nodded. This went along with what I had originally planned out. But I was willing to bet it would make a world of difference having so many others on my side.
"I'll go and get her, right now," Jacob offered, glancing once at Zach as if to check it that was okay. Apparently it wasn't, because Zach shook his head sternly.
"Boy, I'm only a half blooded vampire but I could smell you two miles away. There's no way you could get in and out undetected. We need someone who's scent has already been there, who can get in and out undetected. And someone who's willing to die for this."
"That leaves me. I'll do it. I'll go get her," I said, not altogether unhappy about that development in the plan.
Zach nodded once, a smile on his face that told me he'd been planning for that all along and had just been waiting for me to put the pieces together.
"Well… what are you waiting for? We'll stay back here and organise the next step. You have two hours before we assume you're dead," Zach said, his smile fading as he motioned impatiently towards Volterra.
"Right," I said, affectionately patting Carolina once on the head before turning and sprinting off in the direction of the Italian city where they were keeping her.
It's okay, baby. I'm coming for you.
Renesmee POV
I awoke with a start, my frame jolting into awareness. I looked around me in fear, trying and failing miserably to get to my feet. I was too weak. The room was dark as pitch, but I could still see fairly well. My gaze flitted over to the door and I stared at it, waiting to see if that was where the noise had come from.
I'd abandoned the bed earlier that day, choosing the corner on the floor instead. I'd thought perhaps the change of scenery would alleviate some of the tedium I felt, but I'd been wrong. Up until then, apparently.
I jumped when I heard the noise again, a distant, echoic banging sound. Before I could recover, the door was thrown open and light spilled across the marble floor. I flinched, recoiling as far back into the cold, stone wall as I could. My eyes shut, my heart hammering loudly in my chest as I waited for whoever they were to kill me. It had been nearly a week, Aro wouldn't keep me alive much longer if I wasn't going to co-operate. This was it, this was Demetri or Felix come to end my life.
Or it was Jack come to take me against my wishes. I hugged my knees to my chest, feeling myself break out in a cold sweat.
"Renesmee," an all too familiar voice breathed from nearby. I squinted through my eyelashes, though I didn't need to see Cameron's form to know that it was him. I opened my eyes fully once I was sure it was him, taking in his appearance briefly. I hated the involuntary relief that surged through me when I realised he wasn't hurt. He didn't have a scratch on him.
Yeah, he's just fine. Meanwhile, you rot in a cell, starving to death and facing either a future of Aro's sick tests or an early death.
I tried to focus on my anger, but felt it slip as I took in the familiar golden blonde hair, the blue oceans of his eyes with their foamy grey peaks. His very gaze penetrated me to the core and I squirmed further into the wall, wishing I could simply melt through the rock so I didn't have to feel his eyes on me. It hurt so much just having him near, but I knew the second he left the pain would increase tenfold.
I hated that I still loved him. I hated it, abhorred it with every cell of my being.
But stubbornness will only take a person so far before they have to take the out and face up to what they've been avoiding.
It took me a few seconds to realise he hadn't said anything or made any move to approach me further. I wanted desperately to know why he was here, but I could not bring myself to speak or even to ask him with my mind. In silence, I waited at least another ten seconds before I heard him exhale deeply.
"Come with me," he said, his tone unreadable.
I didn't reply, instead, directing my gaze back down at the floor and tracing the patterns that the cracks made with my eyes.
"Look, I know I haven't done a thing to make you trust me. In fact, I've done the opposite. But if you don't come with me now, your family will pay the price for it," he said, his voice quiet and serious.
I glanced back up at him, glaring at him and trying to convey just how much I wanted to hate him in that moment. He knew the only way I was moving voluntarily was if it meant protecting my family. With a sharp, angry nod, I agreed. I was only doing it for my family.
He watched me try and rise to the balls of my feet. I wavered slightly but managed to make it to a somewhat unsteady standing position. I expected him to turn and lead the way, but he merely stepped back, gesturing for me to go first. I took one step forward and promptly collapsed onto my knees. I'd told my leg to move, to take my weight, but I was simply didn't have enough strength to hold myself up.
"Can you walk?" Cameron asked, his voice detached.
"I haven't had a thing to eat in a week. Give me a second," I snapped, my voice coming out raspy and frail instead of defiant like I wished it would.
I heard Cameron's sharp intake of breath just a second before I felt the unforgettable sensation of his hands on me. Before I could pull away, he'd lifted me easily to my feet and was steadying me with his hands on my waist. My eyes snapped to his face, murderously angry, but when I caught his expression, my own faltered. His eyes held worry and concern, his lips twisted downward in a frown, something I hadn't expected.
"They've been starving you," he said, but it wasn't a question.
"Yes," I replied in a breathless monotone. There was absolute silence for a long, drawn out moment. He stared at me and I stared back, entranced.
"Fuck," I heard him curse a moment later, his face whipping around to face the door. I assumed he'd heard someone coming, but I couldn't figure out why he was panicking. He had nothing to fear from the Volturi, he was one of them. "Come on, this way," he exclaimed, his voice once again hushed. I stared pointedly at him, getting more confused by the second.
Without waiting for me to agree, he swept me up in his arms, bridal-style, and began walking. I tried not to feel anything, not happiness at being back in his arms, not anger or sadness or loss. While he held me, the warmth of his familiar body so close to mine, I just tried to be numb.
It must have worked, because the next thing I knew, I was being roughly awoken. I sat up too fast and felt unfamiliar vertigo spin my consciousness out of control for a few short seconds.
"Great, you're awake. Come here, we don't have much time," Cameron's voice murmured from the shadows near me. I glanced up, noting that we were outside and that the moon was dark, almost nonexistent that night. The tiniest sliver of light pierced the sky, shedding just enough moonlight for me to be able to tell that we were above ground again. The slightly dank smell was familiar, and the alleyways were made of the same sandstone that I recognized, so I knew that we must have still been in Volterra.
I remembered Cameron just then and that he had asked me to go to him. I considered ignoring him, after all, I was outside, I was potentially free. If I could just get far enough away from him…
But no, I was too weak. I could still feel how frail my body felt, like all of my energy had been sucked right out of me. There was no way I would be able to run. I considered simply lying still, unresponsive, but something in me was already sitting up before I could really think things through. Gingerly, I got to my feet and moved to where Cameron had told me. I'd resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't escaping, that I would die here. I didn't figure that anything Cameron could be doing now would be terribly much worse than what I was already facing.
"We don't have a lot of time, but we're not going to get very far with you in the state you're in. Drink." Cameron said just as I reached the shadows next to him. We were in a small alleyway inside an alleyway. It was really more of an indent in the stonework than an alleyway, but it was just big enough for the two of us to stand a few feet apart but still remain mostly obscured from sight from anyone watching.
"Nessie, please, I'm serious, we have to hurry. Please drink," Cameron repeated. I glanced down at his empty hands, looking for a water bottle or something. I came up blank, seeing only his arms, with one sleeve rolled up to the crook of his elbow. Wait…
"No. I won't," I said immediately, stepping as far away from his as I could in the limited space.
"You have to. I need to you to be able to run, this is the only way. There's no time for anything else," Cameron explained, his eyes darting furiously around us.
"You're crazy. No, I'm not doing it," I remarked, trying to ignore how my body was trying to force my feet forward, anything to end my hunger.
"Please, just do it. Trust me. We need to hurry, we've got to get out of here," Cameron replied, his tone turning desperate as he stared me down.
"What? Why? And run where?"
"It doesn't matter. Just hurry, they're going to be looking for you soon."
"I-I.." my voice trailed off as I stared at his arm, my eyes following the blue outlines of his veins right up to where they were concealed beneath his shirt. I found them again, just at the edge of his collar, leading up to his jugular vein. Memories, flashes of the sweet, tangy flavour I'd only once tasted seized me as I stared. His hot pulse smacked in his veins, taunting me, tempting me… God, I was so hungry. When I allowed myself to think about it, I couldn't rid myself of his mouth watering scent.
Before I realised I'd moved, I'd lunged at him. I didn't take the proffered arm, no, my teeth found purchase on the side of his neck.
My vampire side wanted nothing more than to rip, tear and drain every last drop of blood, but something else in me somehow managed to cling to the last shred of sanity I had left. My teeth sank through his skin like it was made of the softest butter and before I could even think about what I was doing, his sweet blood was staining my lips, sating my thirst.
Cameron's hands went to the sides of my face, but he didn't try to pry me off him. Instead, his hands stroked my hair lightly. I could hear his pained gasps, but I couldn't stop myself. As the sweet liquid poured down my throat, I couldn't help the memories that surfaced. Flashes of skin, searching lips, ragged breaths and whispers of 'I love you' filled my head, targeting me directly where I hurt most. Straight to the heart.
I don't know how long I drank from him, it could have been ten seconds, it could have been thirty, but some part of me managed to break out of my head. My rational thinking had been caged, held prisoner by my thirst, but somehow it broke free and stopped me. I pulled away suddenly, wiping my lips on the back of my arm. I looked at Cameron, his eyes screwed up in pain and the bloody teeth marks I'd left on his skin.
"I'm s-," I started to apologize, feeling dread course through me as though it was filling my veins, instead of the blood I had just taken, but he cut me off.
"It's… It's fine," he panted after a moment, cutting across my apology. He reached down and pulled a strip of material from his sleeve, balling it up and pressing it gently against the side of his neck. Being a half vampire, I knew his wound would clot easily and would only take a few minutes to heal, but that didn't stop the part of me inside that was in agony over his pain.
Cameron's eyes fluttered open and he stared at me, his eyes unreadable. I almost smiled in reassurance before I remembered… everything.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, noticing how already my voice was stronger, my limbs less jelly-like.
"We're going to… to… escape," he breathed, straightening up from the wall he had been using as a brace.
"I… I don't understand?" I replied, feeling my heart beating furiously. Escape? Why? He was one of the bad guys.
Why is he helping me?
Cameron blinked rapidly then, seeming to come back to himself.
"You don't need to understand. We just have to hurry, come on," he said, his tone quickening with urgency once more.
He went first, ducking his head outside the alleyway to check if the coast was clear. He looked back and nodded at me, waiting until I moved to follow him before starting to sprint downhill, deeper into the alleyway. I suppressed my doubts because, for whatever reason, I was free, I wasn't hungry, and I was running.
And I was with the one person who could make my world seem right again.
Okayyyy. Finally some action happening. Who's excited? I'm excited.
Yeah, this 'short' chapter got out of control and I couldn't think where to break it without ruining later chapter plans. Oh well, more reads for you guys I guess :)
Review because I love you all.