Chapter 24 - Requiem on Water
And though your arms and legs are under
Love will be the echo in your ears
When all is lost and plundered
My love will be there still
"I swear," Caius hissed through grinding teeth, "I'm going to slaughter every bastard named Edward if I hear that girl scream his damn name one more time. Is there nowhere to hide from that endless screeching and howling?"
"Ah, my brother." Aro turned to address Caius with a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "It is all in the way you chose to experience it. All that writhing and strained vocalization...so reminiscent of orgasm, don't you think?"
Caius shifted on his throne chair and Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, much improved, is it not?" Aro purred. "Take heart. It should not last beyond a mere twenty-four hours. She has progressed most swiftly in the last thirty-six hours. Soon she will give her final human scream, and then her training can begin. I must say, I am so looking forward to it."
Caius adjusted himself. "Now that you've mentioned it, I daresay some entertainment may be in order to distract our minds ... and ears?"
"Ah, yes! What a grand idea, my old friend. We feasted when Isabella arrived; it only seems appropriate we should feast as she joins us. After all, it is not every day we welcome new talent into the fold." Aro drummed his fingers on the armrest of his throne chair in thought. "We have tended sufficient business here. It is time to indulge."
With a nod, Caius summoned Heidi. Isabella should enjoy nothing but the best humanity had to offer upon her much awaited arrival and Heidi could provide a fresh catch.
While the leaders of the vampire world made future plans, below their feet, Bella was lost. For her there was no sense of time or reality. In tortured confusion, her mind sought a way to create a grounding reality by piecing together what her straining senses were able to take in. In the hazy realm of her frayed mind, she was a prisoner in the highest of towers as a firestorm raged uncontrolled beneath her. It scaled the exterior walls and stalked up the interior. It was coming for her, hideously quiet but vengefully angry, searching her out while cunningly cutting off any chance of escape. In the darkness, she cowered from the flames that threatened to devour her flesh and bones, layer by agonizing layer. The sound of her screams echoed around her in a morbid symphony of anguish, but she didn't recognize them as coming from her own raw and ragged throat.
Though she could go no higher in her metaphorical tower, self-preservation bellowed undeniable commands to seek escape by any means, at any price. At the same time, her mind struggled to find peace and acceptance in the knowledge it would all soon end – the pain, the fear, her life…
The dichotomy of the two warring factions befuddled her as they fought for supremacy and ultimate control over her body.
Self-preservation developed a voice, and it scolded her for her willingness to give in – just as she had in everything Edward had ever asked ... and look where it had gotten her. The new voice communicated by way of Edward's harsh words, thundering down from the past, lashing her anew as she huddled naked on the bare floor, subjugated by the suffocating heat of the tower. It ruthlessly reminded her over and over again of her ever-present, human frailty.
I've never tried to keep a specific person alive before, and it's much more troublesome than I would have believed – but that's probably just because it's you... Your number was up the first time I met you... You were right — I'm definitely fighting fate trying to keep you alive... To me, it was like you were some kind of demon, summoned straight from my own personal hell to ruin me...
"No! Edward! I can be good enough – Stronger, I promise," Bella cried out as she struggled in the sweat-soaked sheets of her funeral-pyre bed. But the hallucinations continued to toy with her beleaguered head.
Edward's voice soon dimmed to be replaced by his mute image, slightly blurred but still breathtakingly beautiful, standing before her as the desire to give in and rest took to the forefront of her exhausted, disoriented mind. He silently held out a hand to her, and his soft golden eyes pleaded for her to take it. Hesitantly, Bella reached up, wishing with all her remaining soul he would sweep her away from the agony, and once again be her knight in shining armor, rescuing the princess from the burning tower...
As their hands touched, Bella's eyes widened as the images burst forth: the serene meadow with Edward sparkling next to her, neither of them able to take their eyes away from the other ... A first kiss – hesitant and fearful, soft yet intense ... Edward in Volterra embracing her as she had ached for in the months after his disappearance ... Down on one knee before her holding his mother's diamond ring...
But as she stood to accompany him, his image faded, replaced by disembodied, cruel words resurrect from their past: I'm a good liar, Bella. I have to be... Must I always be the responsible one?... My kind, we're easily distracted… You're not good for me, Bella.
"Edward, no! Don't leave me! Not again! Come back, come back," Bella sobbed, lost between a past life, visions of the heart, and a current reality too horrific to grasp.
Alone. No control over her fate.
Flames assaulted her body with renewed vigor, and Bella cried out again to the absent man who served as both her savior and persecutor in her personal hell: "Edward!"
A stay of execution came in the form of two cold, firm hands cupping her cheeks, caressing her neck, and moving slowly down her bare shoulders and breasts before coming to rest at the heart of the inferno centered in the pit of her hollow belly.
"Edward," she sighed, if only for a moment, with relief from the heat and insanity.
"Speak my name with those trembling lips," a voice responded.
"Edward?"
The coolness disappeared, and the fires consumed her again. Bella cried out, "I'll say it!"
Her eyes searched wildly, but she couldn't recognize which world was genuine. All lines had distorted in the insufferable pain and torture.
"Felix," he instructed.
"No!" Bella yelled back as her burning eyelids fluttered rapidly to bring into focus the face attached to the hands that defiled her yet brought reprieve from the unbearable, sweltering pain and grounded her to reality.
"Felix," he repeated. "Say it."
Bella screamed in emotional and physical anguish. "Help me! Please!"
Cool breath blew across her face. "Say it."
She sobbed in frustration clenching the damp satin below her blistering body.
"He has abandoned you. I am here. Call to me," Felix's voice wrapped icily around her.
"It hurts! Make it stop!"
"Ask me. Say my name, Isabella. Who do you want?" he taunted.
The betrayal was too deep. Edward had promised ... In the end, Aro was the only one who had been truthful to her. She couldn't afford to cling to hopeful illusions anymore.
Flames exploded through the tower floor, dancing closer and closer, forcing her back until she pressed against the rock-solid tower wall. "I can't… I can't," she whimpered. "I can't fight it!" The flames embraced her as reason fled. "I want to fight, but I can't. I'm not strong enough." Desperate sobs wrung from her already wretched form.
"Not yet, but I can help you. Edward may have abandoned you, but I will not. I am here. I will remain," Felix stated evenly before continuing, unrelenting in his pursuit of her surrender. "Say it. Say my name. Tell me: who can save you now, Isabella?"
Her jaw trembled. Her arms searched. What was real?
Her resolve broke as the floor crumbled to ash around her, threatening to give way to the pit of flames consuming the weakened tower.
"Felix?" she called softly at first. "Are you really here this time?"
Cold fingertips pressed into her hips. Reality!
"Felix!" she called out louder.
Strong, icy hands gripped her tighter.
"Yes! More," she beseeched.
"More? Say my name, Isabella... What do you want from me?"
"Felix! Felix!" Bella chanted his name as his large hands resumed encompassing her body, so petite that he easily covered her in coolness, pulling her out of the visions that terrified her. "Touch me!"
In his strong hands, Bella's delusions dispersed. The nausea and confusion left her – but not the pain, not the terrible, searing, excruciating pain.
"Make it stop, Felix. Finish me, end this," Bella pleaded as she clung to him, pressing her body shamelessly against his coolness as she sought reprieve from the hellish fires punishing her incessantly for sins she couldn't remember ever committing. Desperation had placed her fully at the mercy of the devil's emissary.
In that moment, Bella knew she had crossed some unseen threshold, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what that was as she securely held on to Felix…
On the other side of the wall, Dominic listened helplessly with his cheek pressed against the wall his cell shared with Bella's. Around him untouched food lay in waste on the floor. At least the smell of rotting food helped cover the sickening stench of their presence around him.
For almost two days, he sat endlessly spinning Bella's wedding ring around and around the tip of his index finger. Regretfully, it was all he could save of her humanity during his doomed struggle with Logan and Felix almost two days ago.
In that time he, too, had begun to hate the name Edward. If he had truly cared for her, why didn't he come to confront his own kind? How could he live with himself knowing his wife's fate? How could he allow them to inflict such pain upon her? Livid outrage filled his heart with hatred.
Bella's screams had pummeled his heart, leaving it bruised and numb. Repeatedly he had asserted his apologies, crying out to her, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" until his voice left him and sadness flowed from his sunken eyes. Wrapping his arms around his weakening body, Dominic rocked back and forth until the friction against the rough stone frayed his shirt, leaving the exposed skin on his back scratched and raw.
The physical discomfort pleased him, even in his distress, because Dominic had made two choices. First, his pain would serve both as his punishment for his part in Bella's suffering in addition to his homage to Bella's fleeting human life. Second, whether it be through starvation or by the lure and sacrifice of his blood to the demons, he would not add any more hash marks to the wall. He was done playing their game, done wondering what it was they wanted from him. He would pray for death.
Maybe his death would be enough to atone for his role in Bella's destruction. But would his sacrifice be enough for her to bestow forgiveness upon him? Without her humanity, would she even be capable of such clemency?
However weakened and in despair, there was still one strand left tying him to this world, serving as the anchor to his sinking ship. Gianna. As much as he had tried to distance himself from thoughts of her, he couldn't do it. In the brief time they had been together, she had become part of him. He had tried to deny it, not wanting to play the fool, but now, it didn't matter. The feelings he had for her were the only positive thing in this dark dwelling of death.
Since he hadn't heard Gianna's voice in days, it condemned him to the belief that she was already dead. Or worse - she had become one of them.
More than the certainty of his death at the hands of the Volturi, Dominic had fallen into hopelessness for failing to protect Gianna, to be who she needed him to be. From the moment they met, she had seemed so lost he immediately had a pressing need to protect her from the outside world that treated such an unfortunate lamb with such unrelenting harshness.
Strangely, he found himself clinging to the hope that wherever she was, she had found what she was looking for. This thought was all that kept him from flying apart at the seams, even as it tore at his being to be separated from her. As much as he longed for the reassuring sound of her voice, the comfort of her touch, and the smell of her skin, he felt he could leave this earth a content man if he just knew she was happy – with or without him.
It led him to wonder idly if his heart would still respond to her if she gazed upon him with the devil's crimson eyes. How much of the Gianna he loved would remain in the cold shell of her reanimated dead body? Did she call out his name in the throes of agony as Bella had called for her Edward? Once transformed, were they even capable of love?
Dominic's thoughts ebbed and flowed disjointedly around Gianna in the flickering darkness of his cell. Bella's cries had prevented him from sleeping; exhausted, dehydrated, and beyond hungry, he almost thought he was hallucinating when seductive laughter filled his ears in the silence pauses between Bella's pleas for death.
Who could be laughing at a time like this?
He lifted his head, his curiosity piqued, and focused on the voices outside his door that could barely be heard over Bella's cries.
"…it will only take a moment," a ringing female voice cajoled.
"I've been told not to leave this post," Logan responded.
"Shh. Felix is with her," the voice hushed. "What could happen? I heard the creature is rendered helpless by a collar. Can I look at it?"
Dominic looked away as a pair of bright, red eyes peered curiously through the door bars.
"Oh, he doesn't look very scary. I'm sure someone as strong and clever as you could take him with one arm tied behind your back," she hummed before turning toward Logan. "So maybe … you just aren't interested in my offer."
"Maybe," Logan hissed, "I just haven't been tempted enough."
More deep laughter followed. Outside his door, a fair-haired beauty bared her scantily-clad body to the novice guard. "Seriously? Can't you hear what is going on above your head? Has it not affected you? Don't you want some of that too?"
"Keep talking," Logan said as Dominic's stomach turned sour.
"Why talk when I can show you?"
Dropping her garment to the floor, she beckoned Logan to follow. "I've hidden a chalice for us to share … No one will ever be the wiser. Don't you deserve a little fun too?"
Her saunter and the sway of her hips promised him untold delights, and a drink of fresh blood would be the icing on the proverbial cake. Even though Aro had seen to it that Logan had been kept well-fed as he watched over Isabella, why should he be denied a little carnal pleasure? After all, Logan thought, for days had he not been stuck listening to the moans of lust above him as well as the wails of despair around him! Had he not earned a justified reprieve?
The temptress's laughter echoed her successful seduction, and the sound of their voices distanced. Dominic returned his attention to Bella's ring just before the grinding sound of a key in his cell door. Quickly, Dominic shoved the ring in his front jeans' pocket. However, he didn't spring to his feet in defense.
From the corner of his eye, he witnessed a cloaked figure moving stealthily inside the door, then closing it silently. It stood motionless, back against the door. Dominic waited, hoping the final blow would come swiftly. Then his senses told him something was amiss…
He could hear it was rapidly breathing.
His head jerked up and turned in the direction of his mysterious visitor. He heard a quiet gasp followed by a whisper: "Domenico."
Gianna rushed to his side, falling on her knees beside him. Her glorious scent filled his nose – she was still human.
Though Dominic was relieved, the sight of him crushed Gianna. Disheveled, gaunt, dirty. Most damaging of all: the light in his eyes was gone. She had broken the strongest man she had ever met with her deception.
"I'm so sorry. Forgive me," she pleaded softly hiding her face in her hood and hands as she wept.
"What are you –?"
"Shh." She held a finger to his parched lips. "Whisper. I know I am probably the last person you want to see, but I couldn't leave this world without you knowing how much I love you. I understand, after what I did, if you hate me and wish me dead, but I never lied when I said I loved you."
She had hoped for a comforting reply, however, his silence conveyed his judgment. All had been lost.
Gianna drew the cloak tightly around her body and rose to leave without another word.
"Wait," he commanded as his hand shot out to grab the hem of her retreating cloak, halting her in her tracks. "Will you become like them? Would that make you…happy? I need to know."
"No. Once I fell in love with you, Dominic, I decided I wanted to be like you."
Gianna could see the confusion in his tired eyes. She rushed in a whispered voice to plead her case, "My past tormented me. Shamed me. But when someone endures the transformation into a vampire, many of their human memories are lost. When you've wasted your mortal life on drugs, empty relationships, and hate – well, forgetting sounds like a God-send."
Gianna paused to swallow the lump in her throat and resume her humbling posture, kneeling next to Dominic. "But meeting you … falling in love with you … it was a rebirth of my soul. A new life created by love, and genuine kindness. You cleansed me, washed away the darkness that blinded me, and made me believe in goodness. Dominic, vampires don't know or feel goodness. Through you, I realized: what would an immortal life be without the hope of love? I chose the wrong side, and I am so sorry for the misery I have caused."
Bella's intensifying shrieks punctuated the truth behind Gianna's confession.
"It is not my place to offer you absolution, Gianna," Dominic replied feeling deep empathy for Bella's plight, having her life ripped away in such a painful way.
"They haven't let me leave since we came here. Aro read my mind, Dominic. He knows I tried to save you when I kicked you out of the car in America. I'd hoped to confess everything to you on the airplane and find a way for us to change our course, but we were followed. I was compelled to complete my mission or they would have killed you! I tried to save your life by telling you I didn't love you, but I obviously failed like I've failed at everything else in my life."
Her words acted like a revitalizing tonic, and through them, Dominic could feel his stupor fading and strength returning to his system. Gianna was alive, giving him purpose and reason to fight. Amidst all the treachery, could he dare believe she actually loved him? "You were lying when you said you used me? When you said alcohol was to blame for what happened between us?"
All that mattered to him in this moment was the truth. The full, clear, honest truth. Lies, cover-ups, betrayals were the foundation of their relationship thus far, and too much time and opportunity had been lost on keeping secrets – on both sides. It all had to be torn down now, and if anything was to be rebuilt, it had to be done so on truth, as ugly and shameful as it probably was.
Dominic stood slowly, his joints protested after lingering so long in the same position. Her heart broke as she looked up at the mountain of a man teetering unsteadily on his feet. "I tried to save us both. But I'm not as clever as Aro. To him, I'm a traitor. I will probably receive the same punishment traitors here always received. My life is forfeit."
And there it was. The cold hard reality that neither Gianna nor Dominic was going to escape without a miracle, then again, this seemed to be the place where reality had no root in fact.
Dominic gently removed the hood from Gianna's head to look upon the face he loved.
She turned her head away from him. "I don't deserve your forgiveness. And I was never worthy of your love, Dominic. You need to let me go, please."
Instead, Dominic pulled her to her feet and toward him; she dared to meet his eyes. The anger she saw in them frightened her. Instinctively, she cowered.
"What … what did they do to you?"
Dominic did not release his firm hold on her arm; however, his other hand gently brushed aside the hair concealing her face, revealing the large bruise coloring her cheek and the blackness under her eyes. "They hurt you!"
"It's nothing."
Something hideous in him snapped, and he trembled as he fought for control over his wolf instinct, which seemed to be growing exponentially and becoming harder to contain. It took several long moments of focused, deep breaths to slightly calm the reaction, and allow determination to takes its place. "This is not where this ends," he hissed fiercely. "Stay alive, Gianna. I'm going to get you out of here. And they will pay."
"Save yourself if you can, Domenico. You are not the guilty party here, and you have abilities I don't that can give you an advantage. But believe me, you can't just run out of this cell - the castle is a fortress! I was able to broker a deal with the vampire who distracted Logan. Maybe I can make a few more deals and get you out of here, but you have to give me some time."
"A deal? At what cost?"
Gianna shook her head. "You need to stay calm! Please, just don't concern yourself with that."
"I'm not going anywhere without you. You need to keep yourself safe until I can get out of this collar," Dominic stated in a firm tone. "I understand there may be no future for us. What woman would want a man who is a beast at the heart of his being? But you deserve to be free from these monsters, and start that new life. It's not your fault what happened to me, or to Bella. I see how they poison people's minds and corrupt their hearts! I listened as they ruthlessly tore down Bella. I can only pray for her soul now. But you, you still have a chance. I need to protect you, Gianna. You are all I am."
For the first time since entering his cell, Dominic felt free. Professing the truth, despite the cost, had set him free. He took one more leap of faith... "I love you, Gianna."
His words lifted the weight from her heart, but in doing so, her words spoke her real desire, "I want to be together, Dominic! I do! I fell in love with you knowing what you were, remember?"
"Beauty and the beast," Dominic sighed as he gingerly wiped the tears that streaked the discolored skin of her face.
"I've been the beast. I need to fix this," Gianna insisted.
"What about Bella?"
"It's too late for her, Dominic. She is going to be one of them, nothing can stop that now. Between losing her human memories and drinking human blood, the Volturi will have her under their command very quickly. Power corrupts everything here. It's what they all want – why their kind come to Volterra. To seek power."
At the mention of the reason vampires come to Volterra, Dominic's stomach dropped to his knees. "My mother! She hasn't heard from me in days. She'll come here looking for me, or contact the authorities. If she is hurt..."
"She has heard from you, Dominic. Or at least she thinks she has. Alonzo, that culo that sat next to you on the plane out of Pisa, he works for the Volturi. He has your cell phone and has been texting your mother. He told her you and I are on holiday in Austria."
Gianna waited while her words sunk in. Almost immediately, Dominic's fists balled up at his sides.
"So, skiing accident? Mysterious disappearance? Kidnapping?"
"Something like that. But I'm telling you, there is no way the Volturi would allow any possibility of someone snooping around their turf. We will never be heard from again. And no one will come here looking for us."
Dominic's hands pulled at his collar in frustration. "Gianna, you've got to get this off of me. I've had a lot of time to think about this, and I can fight them. I'm sure of it. I think it's my 'wolf' purpose. Can you find a key for this thing?"
"I don't know. I have no idea where to start looking. Besides, if your purpose is to fight them, why would they have brought you here to begin with?"
From down the hall, laughter rang out. Dominic recognized the sound of Logan's female distracter.
"Logan is returning!" Gianna panicked.
"Go!" Dominic urged pushing her toward the cell door.
"No, I want to stay with you!" Gianna pleaded. "If I'm going to die, I want to do it by your side!"
She turned to embrace him, but Dominic placed his hands on her shoulders, holding her at arms' length from him.
"No, you have a new mission. Find a way to get us out. Find that key. Stay alive until I can think of a way!"
"But –"
"We have to try! I have faith in you, Gianna. I know you can do this!"
His unearned belief in her raised her up to a level she had never hoped to reach. She had real purpose. She would save Dominic. She would find a way to prove her love and worth. "I won't let you down, Domenico."
She turned to leave in haste, but again, he grabbed her. Pulling her quickly into his body, Dominic lifted her chin and kissed her lips firmly. It was by far the most meaningful kiss of her whole life, for it was free from all deceit and underlying motives. It was pure. And, at the same time, tragic.
"I know you'll find a way. I believe in you," Dominic reassured her with a renewed fire blazing in his dark eyes.
Gianna nodded and ran to the door, exiting his cell under the shadow of her cloak.
In her absence, Dominic picked through the remains of food and drink on the stone floor. If he was going to fight for his and Gianna's life, he needed to get his strength back, and that meant caring for his body again.
But even with purpose burning in his gut, guilt plagued him as he listened to Bella's pain. Edward had abandoned her, and now was he also going to leave her behind?
When it was over, would she remember her love for Edward? Would she remember him at all?
Dominic found some comfort as hours later her cries spiked and then dwindled to moans, before finally subsiding. Outside his cell, Dominic caught sight of Logan's shadow quickly passing his cell, moving toward Bella's. "Felix?" Logan questioned with urgency.
Felix responded confidently, a smile was almost perceptible in his voice, "Yes, bring Lord Aro. Her heart is all that remains. It is time."
A/N: Eeeep!
Sorry for the confusion if you came to this chapter expecting to read Bella's memorial. I guess in a way it was her death, but not her memorial. I realized last minute this chapter had to come first, so – SURPRISE. Those who are curious (or gnashing their teeth maybe?) over what Tanya's up to will have to wait a bit longer...
This chapter was very difficult to write, and I thank RosaBella75, Ashling92, and RowanMoon for their support and efforts. I hope you like how it came out in the end. *kisses* And thanks to Wolf Lover42 for last minute proofing!
I also have to say I have loved the reviews with attitude! There are definately some Tanya haters out there! And, very intriguingly (is that a word?), some readers who believe Edward, and to a lesser degree, Carlisle, are at fault for Bella's predicament. I do see your point... But really, who do you hate more, Felix or Tanya? Let me know your thoughts, comments, etc. I'll write back!
I love spinning this tale for you! If you like this story, rec it to someone! "See" you in two weeks! (And if you're interested, the English translation of culo is ass. Alonzo definately is an ass...)