Ethan's POV
It was near the late afternoon, and Patches still hadn't come home from his work. I paced the hotel living room, searching for possible alibis as to what was keeping my mate. Maybe he's in a staff meeting. Maybe he's looking for a book for himself. But every thought that surfaced to mind had a counter-thought that stared me down with doubt. Do libraries even have staff meetings? Does Patches even own a library card? Finally, I made my decision to walk down there myself to see what was going on. I just hoped that he wasn't lost.
"Going out, Ethan?" Angel called behind me as my fingers locked around the door handle.
"Yeah, I'm just going to walk Patches home. He should've been back by now." Rose checked the clock on the conventional cooking device that the humans called a "stove."
"You're right. He's definitely late." She looked at Angel with concern. "We should come too. Something's telling me that he's being held up on purpose."
That did it for me. I was out that door before anyone could get another word in. Angel and Rose called for me to wait, but I couldn't stop running until I reached the building. "Patches?!" I called outside the entrance, taking a good look around the building before going inside. The police of the town was there, and one of the officers was interviewing one of the librarians. On his clipboard, there was a "Missing Person Report" for my mate. Another officer was on his computer and radio equipment doing some research.
"Ma'am," he called to the librarian. "There's no match for the legal name you gave me. Either he gave you a fake identity, or he doesn't exist." Dang, these guys are efficient! I assumed Patches would have some explaining to do when he came back, or better yet, not come back at all to this place. The last thing any vampire wanted was for the human government to get nosy and investigate. I slipped out undetected and took in a deep breath. I was going to have to rescue him myself from whoever decided to kidnap him by some unfortunate mistake.
"Ethan!" Angel called, catching up to me with Rose by his side. "Where is he?"
My lips struggled to form a single word. "Gone," I barely whispered, frowning with a combination of disappointment and a growing rage. "I'm coming after him; I think he was kidnapped."
"Then we're coming too, obviously," Rose asserted. I wasn't going to try and stop them. The more company, the better. "Any idea of where he might be going?" I first drew up a mental list of anyone who could have taken him and narrowed the suspects down to one place in particular. I shuddered with disgust.
"Volterra. The Volturi must have found him." I didn't want to draw any conclusions, but that was our best bet.
"But why Patches?" Angel objected with confusion and fear in his eyes. For the first time in my presence, Angel's fatherly, straightforward voice was weakened with emotion. "He hasn't done anything wrong."
"He ran away with you," I muttered, looking away in an attempt to hide my own fear—my greatest fear of what would happen to him once he was in Aro's greedy clutches. "Aro wants to take him back and make him a prisoner again."
"Will they hurt him?" Rose asked with trembling lips, her stare locked on me, imploring for an honest answer.
"If he resists, yes." I didn't want to scare her by any means, but that was the truth. "But not if we hurry. We might be able to stop them in time," I added to give them—and myself—some hope. I lead them behind a building between some trees where no passing humans would see us all cloaked in broad daylight. "I'll turn into a bird and fly ahead while you two follow me," I explained. Technically, a vampire at top speed was faster than any animal I could be, but my bird's eye view with my keen vampire sight would be a great advantage.
"Alright, Ethan. We'll be right behind you," Angel promised. Rose nodded in agreement. I lifted my chin and turned to the open skies as leapt into the air. I felt myself shrink into a small body and heard the whoosh of feathers that grew from my arms as they turned into wings. In less than a second, I transformed into a graceful white dove. Flapping my wings as fast as I could, I launched myself high into the air as the determination to find Patches as soon as possible flooded through my brain. To Volterra, I growled internally at the mere thought of the old, dark, cold prison of a castle. Once Aro got who he wanted, he'd never let him go. I hoped with my entire existence that I wasn't too late.
Patches' POV
I whimpered anxiously at the sight of the castle on the edge of Volterra. The town was only a mere mile away now, and the reality that my freedom would come to an abrupt close made me struggle against the cold hands that held me forward. Edward and Emmett Cullen never took the handcuffs off, nor did they ever leave my sides. On the walk here, they let me play with my power on every rock we came across. Some rocks shined, and—due to the abundance of pressure I exerted into it—one actually cracked in half! I was getting increasingly better at it, and the diamond I formed out of coal still rested snugly in my pocket. I thanked the brothers for not taking it from me when they knew it was valuable. But in my distress, I was more than ready to give it up if they would be kind enough to let me go. But I knew they wouldn't. I trembled and flinched away, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried in vain to quell the cries the resonated in my cheeks and mouth behind my closed lips.
"Edward, he's crying," Emmett murmured his observation, the protest against continuing the journey underneath his tone. Edward didn't respond, keeping his eyes forward to his goal.
Inside Volterra, I knew punishment awaited me there. First Aro would ask why I ran away. Then, he would point out to me that I broke a rule and deserved to be punished. Finally, he would make a choice in my sentence and see to it that I was sorry and would promise to never fail him again. No! A strong conscience within me awoke with resolution. You are not sorry. Running away was the best thing that ever happened to you. Do not let that monster tell you otherwise. Do not give in. Fight him, in any way you can!
I thought back to my last years as a human and remembered what I did whenever I knew I was in trouble. I begged. In the most degrading way possible—like the puppy-child I knew how to be. In my act of desperation, I stopped struggling and threw my head back, increasing my sounds of misery. I felt Edward's hand clap against my mouth as he dragged me to his side. "Enough of that!" he hissed, quickly looking around to make sure no one overheard me and came to see what the matter was. Emmett let me go and stood back, looking on with worry…for me. I flinched away and moaned helplessly into Edward's hand, his other arm bracing me firmly around my back and shoulders. My chest continued to heave with deep, pulsing breaths, but I managed to reduce my volume enough to where he removed his hand.
"P-Please," I whispered, looking up at him with imploring eyes. "Please don't make me go there." My voice was delicate and vulnerable, but Edward tried his hardest to stay strong.
"I must," he stated coldly, his voice void of emotion. "It is the only way I can save my baby." I frowned as fresh sobs began to pool in my throat. I dropped to my knees and bowed my head submissively before him. With my hands secure behind me, I truly felt like I was before the cruel torturer who scarred my body and my mind forever.
"Please, don't!" I sobbed shakily, leaning forward to rub his leg with the side of my head, half expecting him to kick me away. "H-He'll hurt me…Please, I-I'll do anything you ask!" I rubbed his other leg and hung my head in shame, knowing how utterly pathetic I looked. This was my very last resort. If my efforts were in vain, the only other one I could appeal to was Aro himself—the man who killed his own sister to preserve the great army and hierarchy he created for himself.
Edward cracked his strong façade at last and frowned sadly, looking down at me. He pressed his lips together and turned to Emmett, who crossed his arms and turned away disapprovingly. "What?" Edward asked.
Emmett threw his hands up in resignation. "Edward, I'm out. I'm not doing this anymore." His voice was solid and left no room for argument.
"What do you mean you're "out"?" Edward snapped with a bit of a whine. "We're just now going in."
"I'm going home," the taller vampire declared and began to walk in the direction we came from.
"Emmett, don't be ridiculous," Edward continued, trying to win his brother's appeal back. "Remember: you agreed to help me. We've come all this way to do this. Think of Bella!"
"Screw Bella!" Emmett practically shouted, spinning on his heel to face him. "Bella has a life, Edward. She loves you, and she's happy. She's not the one down on her knees begging you with every piece of her soul to not throw her into the shark tank!"
Edward fell silent for a long pause. I dared not move from my humble position on the ground. I knew he was internally struggling with himself as he glanced between Emmett and I. "But…the baby," he mumbled dumbly, sounding very unsure of himself.
"It's not even alive yet, Edward," his brother gently reminded him. "I know you're making a life decision right now, but believe me when I tell you that it is worse to condemn an innocent boy to Hell on Earth than to let one unborn fetus slide. I'm sure Bella will understand if you let him go."
Edward contemplated his brother's words for a long while, occasionally looking in my direction to make sure I was still there and didn't try to run for it. After what seemed to be half an hour, he sighed and made his decision. He turned towards me and dug one hand under my arm to force me back up. His face was once again empty with expression as he turned me away from him toward the castle. I remained silent and looked forward, accepting my fate. Clink. Clink. I heard locks turn behind me and gasped when I felt the handcuffs slide off my wrists. I slowly turned around at a smiling Edward and embraced him with gratitude. "Thank you," I breathed against his chest, smiling happily as his arms returned my hug and gently rubbed and patted my back.
"Edward and Emmett Cullen," a male voice addressed the brothers from a distance. "How fortunate that you've found him." I clung tighter to Edward and turned around, nearly bursting with fresh terrified sobs at the golden "V" around the speaker's neck from among the chillingly familiar dark outfit. Gliding toward us with a smug grin, Demetri's unblinking crimson eyes looked me over. "Who could've guessed that the soft "vegetarians" would prove to be efficient bounty hunters?"
"Not a step closer," Edward warned, holding me tighter. Emmett's large shadow passed over me as he protectively stepped forward. "We won't let you harm him."
"Don't worry," Demetri smoothly replied with a scoff, staring Emmett down as if he was sizing a fight. "I will merely escort him back to Aro. You will receive your reward as promised. I'm sure he would like me to thank you for your…dedication." He sidestepped the large vampire and reached for any part of me to yank from Edward's grip. What I did not expect was for the Cullens to do nothing—not a fight, not an argument, not a protest other than delaying my transition of hands. I didn't think they had it in them to pick a fight with Demetri. He was incredibly skilled—only second to Felix—and I imagined that the Cullens only took what they could get. Since they couldn't help me escape anymore, they might as well claim their prize to get something out of it.
I whimpered softly as Demetri locked his fingers around my wrist and firmly pulled me from Edward's hug. "Come, Patches," he commanded, his voice laced with the threat that I would be in for something very unpleasant if I chose to give him a hard time. Edward and Emmett did not say goodbye as I was led away. Their eyes said it all—two words that hung heavy in my heart: I'm sorry.
A Note from CityCat: If I can ask you for a small favor, I would like you all to answer this question for me...How do you feel about the characterization choices that I've made for the Cullens? Because this story is Volturi-Centric, I wanted to do something different with the main characters in Twilight-a twist in perspective that makes them anti-villains of sorts up until the end of this chapter. Any thoughts/opinions/criticism would be gladly appreciated!