Author's Note: Hehe, here I am again folks! We are getting SO close to the ending of this thing, I swear. Would you want a sequel to this? Because I had a lot more stuff planned that didn't fit in this story. Anyway, if that is the case, make sure to tell me in the reviews!
I scramble around in my cell, looking for anything sharp – small rocks will do just fine.
"It'll never work." Nathaniel rasps through the walls. I scoff, ignoring him.
"Clearly you've done nothing but drink the stuff, not actually used it for practical purposes."
He's quiet then as I continue my search. But I find nothing that can be used to break the skin. I have to employ a more barbaric approach if I want this to work. But before I do, I inspect the clothes I have been wearing, what they gave me to wear. Thick linen pants and a grey sweater. At least I can use something after as a make-shift bandage.
"What are you going to do?" he asks. A strange jumble of emotions hit me right then, and it almost makes my knees buckle. I struggle for breath then, my breathing almost as bad as his. Such a simple question.
Mirrors and mirrors of the same wounds stare back at me – old memories I suppose. It makes the pain of biting into my wrist more bearable, knowing that it's something that isn't new to me.
But the blood is darker than I remember – probably because I am not looking at it under the hot sunlight. Instead it is black like tar with only a hint of red.
I can't let too much of it spill out - just enough to lightly coat my arms and legs. I'm so thin at this point that I'll slip through the bars easily with the help of the slickness of the blood. It takes a bit of pulling and shoving though, and I can feel that, once I'm out, there will be some major bruising later.
But I don't – can't – focus on that anyway. I lean over and rest my hands on my knees and breathe out. I'm dirty, bloody and probably stink by now. But I am out of the cell. I am free.
When I walk to stand in front of his cell, I finally understand what he meant by "putting me together".
Seeing something like this should have horrified me not too long ago. But now I sputter and laugh, clutching my sides, a hysterical bubble of laughter escapes me before I can stop myself. I don't want to stop.
He looks like a man and yet not at all. Like a marble statue come to life, then torn apart down the middle – his head the only part that remains intact. Part of the punishment, I suppose. His clothes are ripped and torn as well, and might have looked pretty good once upon a time.
There is no blood, which is a small mercy. I already have so much on my hands, both literary and figuratively. I do not hesitate as I walk into his cell, squeezing through the bars now with practiced ease, though it hurts no less than the first time.
Slowly, as if approaching a wounded animal,I approach Nathaniel – or whats left of him. Some sort of clear liquid oozes out of his torso, and he sighs brokenly. There are a few rats at his feet, sniffing and trying to bite into his skin – of course they can't. His eyes roll around, not really focused on me or at anything at all – the pupils of his red eyes uneven and sick looking. I have stopped laughing now, and strangely, even though he almost hurt me once, I can only feel bad for him now.
I touch the pale skin of his wrist and he flinches violently. It is like looking at a ruined masterpiece, a botecelli angel smashed to pieces – you can only glimpse the beauty of what once was, which is no more. I talk to him in hushed tones, and start to look for a way to break the chains that hold him to each wall.
"Hey hey, it's okay. I am going to fix this..." I whisper, tugging carefully at the chains as I try to look for a lock to pick or a place where I can break the chain.
"How?" He croaks, his eyes trying to close, lids fluttering wildly. He closes his eyes fully, surrendering to the pain probably. I would have.
And yes, our situation is pretty hopeless. Even if we manage to escape from our cells, there will probably be plenty more of these...creatures around. I refuse to think of them as what a little girl like Rebecca would – vampires.
I just focus on what they are capable of – their strength, their speed. Their thirst for violence, no remorse. And there are at least a hundred of them in the castle. And we will have to somehow get away from them all. Far, far away.
But I am not Rebecca anymore. I only wear her skin. Her flesh is now mine.
In a way, even though he got what he wanted, Aro made a mistake when he woke me up. He thinks he knows me so well, but that is a mistake too. He knew a woman with a number as her name, who had no choices in her life, who did what she was told.
I no longer bend to anyones whim or mercy.
After trying again and again to break his chains in various ways, I realize that there is only so much that my muscles can handle. I sigh and sag against the stone wall in his cell, considering. They will be coming soon to check up on us again. We don't have much time.
I look up at him and consider the length of the chains, the way his body hangs in the air. Maybe I won't have to break them first to fix him. He will have to do that himself.
"Nathaniel? Are you listening to me? I think I know what needs to be done, but you must be prepared. This is going to hurt."
He only gurgles and huffs in reply, and that will have to do. I walk around him until I am standing right behind him. Carefully, I move as to hug him from behind – grabbing each side of his torso and with much effort, I manage to put them together. At first nothing fits, not like the pieces of a puzzle – some time passes in this way when nothing at all happens. It feels horrible, the feel of rough and broken bones jutting out, sharp and painful looking.
But then I hear something loud snap, and I can feel it in his back, a continuous popping. I realize that it must be his bones, knitting back together. Nathaniel makes no sound at first, but then a strange low howl escapes his mouth – but he bites his lip trying to keep quiet.
"I know it hurts, I know. " I murmur, trying to be soothing as I continue lower, doing the same thing with his legs, which make a loud fizzing noises as the ripped parts connect once more. Its almost like listening to a tree falling in reverse. It makes so much more noise than I expected, and for a moment I am afraid that someone will hear this and come investigate.
The only miracle I have experienced so far in Volterra : nobody comes, nobody hears.
He heals fast. Scary fast.
After ten minutes, his body is whole but he looks like somebody who has just been cut in half, pink and purple scars covering his whole body. After another ten minutes, the scars fade to white lines. And he moves, he blinks and his eyes focus and find me staring at him in the corner.
He looks more alive now than ever, even though he is technically dead. I felt him, he was cold. And his eyes are wide, blinking rapidly. He looks traumatized and scared. Still chained up but body healed, I urge him to try.
"You should be able to break free now right?" I ask. But he blinks at me, looks afraid.
"Would you rather stay here, endure more of this?"
"They could have done worse. I have seen them do worse." he speaks, shuddering as he does. The abuse has taken its toll on him. Afraid to move, afraid to do anything to anger his tormentors.
"I know – but I won't let that happen." And I believe it. He shakes his head at me, still shivering.
"You speak with a lot of confidence for a mortal."
I smile at him and raise my hands, still covered with blood.
"I wear the badges on my skin. You can doubt me if you want, or you can choose to have revenge. "
There are no mirrors down here, but in that moment I don't need one to know that I look insane. But I don't feel like it. Nathaniel looks at the blood on my hands with hunger, overpowering and raw.
"We must get you something nice to eat, as soon as we escape." I hear myself say as I lean back against the wall and watch him, waiting.
Sooner or later, he will give in.
After he is free from his bonds, we decide on the plan. We sit down on the floor of his cell, close together – to think that just a couple of months ago, he was the enemy.
We already know that it will be futile to try and trick the guards with words. This has to be done as a surprise. But there aren't many scenarios that will get us both out of here alive. Not at the same time, at least. Nathaniel realizes it before I do. I know that he is going to suggest something that I won't like when he hesitates suddenly before he speaks.
"I will have to come back for you. I will bring a friend. Someone who is fast." he says. I say nothing at first, clawing at the stone floor with my nails.
"So you will leave me here then?" I say without looking at him. Prepared to be disappointed, prepared to be abandoned once more. Hesitantly, he touches my shoulder and I don't flinch. Funny, how that always happened with Aro. He lifts up my chin with his other hand, making me look at him.
Now that he is healed, he looks better. Even handsome, maybe. But his right eye looks wrong, too red – perhaps it will always look like that now. He is looking at me for so long that I wonder what he sees, wonder what he is thinking.
"Know this, I will never forget what you have done for me. A mortal, no less." he says, smiling to himself. I shrug and smile myself, but it feels less convincing.
"I never feel like one."
His eyes are dark and intense then suddenly, another truth coming that I don't want to hear.
"That is because he has made you as mad as himself. A crown amongst these stones, among the dirt. But here you are, alive still."
He leans forward and kisses the top of my head. To my surprise, tears well up in my eyes. Even such a small kindness hurts me. He rubs my back gently, like a father – a real father might. He gets up on his feet and flexes his limbs, looking towards the cell door with hope, with meaning.
Before he wrenches the door open and escapes into the night, he looks back.
"Don't be sad, Diana. I will come back for you – I swear it."
"Diana?"
"You said that you don't have a name. But I think you do. A goddess of wild things, that is what you are."