Chapter 16 - Fuck this shit, I'm out of here!

The sun was high in the sky when our little plane landed just outside of Volterra. Although I hadn't missed Volterra, I had missed the sun. I sighed and took in the rolling hills in the golden light and sat back against the chair.

The pilot landed and Jane and Alec wasted no time in killing both the pilot and the stewardess, snapping their necks easily and painlessly. I suppressed a shudder. at least it was a quick death for them.

Felix grabbed my arm tightly and hauled me down the steps of the plane. A car was waiting for us and he shoved me in the back quickly. I sat down and crossed my arms over my chest. The car sped off not waiting for either Jane or Alec, who were probably dealing with the bodies. We sped down the tarmac and headed down a dusty road, although the speed didn't change. The car bumped and shook as we hobbled over the road. i quickly buckled myself in and clutched at the seat as Felix chuckled from the driver's seat.

'You could slow down, you know.' I muttered. 'It's not like they won't still be there in five minutes.'

'Shut up.' Felix growled, though his lips did twitch as if he was fighting a smile.

It took only five minutes at the speed Felix was going to reach the castle. He drove up the imposing brick driveway and stopped the car underneath a carriage canopy, so we would be covered by shadow.

Felix got out first then walked around and opened my door. 'Behave, now Isabella.' He muttered, though the warning was clear in his voice. 'You're home now.'
Meaning, my newfound bravery and sharp tongue were not going to be appreciated here and I should tread carefully from now on.

We turned around and the grand wooden doors were opened with a flourish. Two servants stepped back as Aro, Marcus and Caius stepped into the opening, making sure to keep just inside of the treshold.

My stomach dropped and sank. All my previous bravado and confidence disappeared as I stared in the faces of my tormentors. Their gazes were furious as they settled on me. Not only furious but absolutely full of loathing.

'Isabella.' Aro's voice cut through me. I winced. 'You've let us down.'

'Escaping your new owners?' Marcus seethed. 'How dare you?'

'Yes..' Caius said in a rather bored tone. 'Quite disappointing really.'

'Disappointing?' Aro tutted. 'Not disappointing, it's downright subordinatation. you've jeopardized our entire peace treaty.' Aro growled as he took a step towards me.

I bared my teeth and growled as I glared up at them. 'Fuck you. You sold me to that madman! You had hoped he would kill me. Why do you care what I did?'

Aro nodded once to Felix and his hand shot out and struck me across the cheek, before I could brace myself. I fell down to the floor with a loud thud. I groaned and tried to pull myself to my feet again, but Felix's boot was on my side, holding me down.

'You'll do well to remember who you're talking to, Isabella.' Aro said angrily.

'It seems that Cullen taught you nothing.' Marcus drawled.

'He taught me enough.' I spat back at them.

Aro raised his eyebrows at that. I had never talked back to them. I'd always been a meek little girl who went along with everything she was told. I endured everything they had put me through in silence. But not anymore.

'Throw her in the dungeon.' Caius ordered Felix. 'I've no desire to hear that filthy mouth of hers spew again for the next few years.'

'Yes. We'll see how she does after a few years of solitude and starvation.' Marcus grinned nastily.

But Aro was still looking at me, slightly pensive. Then he finaly nodded. 'Yes. Put her in there. I'll see you in a few days Isabella.' He added with a meaningful look.

I swallowed hard. Damn I had forgotten about Aro's obsession with me. At the start when he'd just turned me he'd sometimes taken his obsession into the physical realm. I had endured it before, sometimes even been pleased that I could give him pleasure, and if that wasn't fucked up I didn't know what was.

But I knew better now. That man was absolutely twisted and sick. I was not letting him anywhere near me ever again.

Felix dragged me up from the floor and hauled me into the castle. The entry hall was not the central hall, but still just as opulent. the marble floors and intricate wooden doors were beautifully kept in shape. there was a chandalier hanging from the ceiling, casting an prange tinted yellow glow in the room. I didn't have time to appreciate the room further, because Felix was roughly pulling me along to a small wooden door to our right. He opened the door and pushed me in first.

The opulence was nowhere to be seen here. The hallway was small and dingy, there was just enough room for Felix to stand, but that was it. The top of his hair brushed the ceiling. There were stone steps leading down to the lower levels of the castle. A cold wind blew up form the stairs and although I didn't really feel the cold, I still shuddered.

Felix pushed me to get me moving again, I took a deep breath and started down the steps. We descended into the lower levels quickly, the hallway quickly giving way to simple rock that had been crudely hacked away. We were close to the dungeons now. The darness was only interspersed every few hundred meters by a torch hanging on the wall.

After what felt like an endlessly long time, Felix finally pulled me to a stop. There was a small wooden non descript door. Felix opened it and pushed me inside. I stopped short.

I knew caius had said to take me to the dungeons, but I hadn't expected actual... dungeons. There were iron cells along the wall opposite us. the bars were thick and looked old, as in centuries old. Was this from the original castle?

It was damp and there was minimal light coming in from a few small rectangular windows with bars across them. there was straw inside the cells but that didn't hide the blood, stench or the rats that were scurrying around.

He opened the first one and gestured for me to walk in. I stared at him. Did he really expect me to go in there voluntarily?

'Either you walk in, right now, or I pull you in by your hair.' Felix snarled impatiently. I heaved a sigh. I wasn't going to win a one on one fight against Felix, sadly. So I stepped into the cell in defeat. I shuddered.

'No more palaces for you, lady.' Felix sneered.

I scoffed. 'When was the last time I had a palace? Or for that matter any comfort here?'

He looked back at me for a moment, but then kept walking, pulling me along. He pushed me against the stone wall beneath the window and grabbed one of my wrists in his iron grip. He snapped a heavy metal manacle on it, locking it in place.

'Don't even think about trying to break that.' Felix muttered. 'It's reinforced to the point even vampires can't break it.'

I huffed out a breath as Felix did up my other wrist.

'It was good seeing you again, Bella.' He said, with a grin as he stepped back. 'I think I'll be back here in a while, see how you've settled in.'

I shuddered. He grinned down at me before turning away and locking the iron gate behind himself. 'Have fun starving in there.' he said nastily before stepping out the small wooden door and locking that behind him as well.

I scoffed at that. But as the silence filled the room I shuddered. I sank down to the floor and curled myself into a tight ball.

I took a deep breath. Here I was again. Back in hell. How was I going to survive this? I couldn't go through this again.

I wasn't going to go through this again. This time I wasn't going to stay here and let myself be tortured. I knew I couldn't lose the trio of guards during the plane ride, but I was a pro at sneaking out of Volterra. I just needed to get my bearings and I'd be able to escape in no time.

The only thing that could stop me were these manacles. I examined them closely for a moment. I'd though there wasn't any material strong enough to hold us. Was that a lie? Was this metal strong enough? It seemed strong. There was a faint metallic glow to it that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, much like our skin did. But even we could break each other's skin.

I rattled the chains for a moment, getting a feel for them. Still I wasn't about to try and break them right away. I needed a plan before I started trying to break things. The rats scurried around the room and I wryly thought to myself that I at least wouldn't starve this time. I hadn't ever thought of the rats as sustenance before, but now… I could see them keeping me strong enough to get out of here.

Although I had just fed yesterday, so I wasn't in any danger of starvation for another two weeks at least. And I doubted Aro would ignore me for that long. I sat back against the wall of my cell and looked up at the little window. The courtyard was right outside. The sun was streaming in and a lovely warm breeze filtered in as well. The meadow was in bloom and flies and bees were buzzing around merrily. The tree that had stood in the courtyard for at least four centuries was in bloom. It's lovely blossoms were drifting in the wind and I smiled at the sight. The courtyard had always been my favourite part of the castle. It wasn't exactly a punishment therefore to be here.

Sure I was chained up, but I was a vampire. We didn't exactly get uncomfortable by sitting in the same position for hours, the chains wouldn't chafe our skin, the rats wouldn't try and eat us. I had a lovely view and was comfortable enough.

So I sat and I watched. I watched people pass by, I watched the changes in the sun as time went by, I watched the birds and bees and which direction hey came from and which way they went. I watched which way the blossoms fell. I just watched and listened.