The Collector

by jinnibelle

A darkish Christmas tale set in a world in which the Cullens were not the first vampires who crossed paths with Bella, instead, she met the collector of gifted immortals and his lovely companion.

18. Home Sweet Home

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

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Warnings: Violence; sick humour; implied/referenced rape; suicidal thoughts.

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19:19 p.m., Saturday, October 31, 1903, The Castle of Volterra, Volterra, Italy

"What happened to your face, love?"

Aro was sitting on Didyme's empty gold casket. Down in the crypt. One thousand feet below the ground. Nobody ever came down this far anymore. Not even Jane. They could not see anything in such depth, where absolute darkness lived, without the aid of a torch. Or a handy energy ball to illuminate the serpentine path into the bowels of the Castle.

Athenodora let the green ball fall from her palm and roll over the crypt's stone floor. It came to a stop when it reached the wall but continued to pulse and spin around in place.

Her Brother's bare feet was up on the carved casket, his arms wrapped around his legs which were pulled close to his chest, chin resting on his knees; his eyes were closed, but the left side of his beautiful face was completely shattered.

It was near impossible to discern due to the damage done, but this kind of injury meant one should always look for the faintest residue outline on the surface area where blunt force had made impact. It was near impossible to spot, if one did not know how to look, where to look, but Athenodora knew where to look very well. The web of cracks, which were slowly but steadily oozing venom over her Brother's face and down his neck, disappearing under his white pirate shirt, all originated from a pulverised dent in a vague shape of a woman's hand. A handprint Athenodora had no difficulty to identify. The rage she felt at seeing this sight momentarily tinted the room in red.

Aro's eyes had popped open upon hearing her voice, only one of them sky black, the left appeared to be dusted over but in reality had thousands of microcracks running through the entire eyeball. He stared straight at her for barely a moment before he turned (hid) his face all the way to the left so that his right profile was all she could see now.

"…Ora? What are you doing down here." His right, good eye was warily watching her.

"You missed All Saints' feast. Renata had even saved you a nun with passion fruit flavour, hoping you would show up." Athenodora answered. It was a very approximate explanation.

Her Brother's gaze slowly fell to the stone floor.

"I wasn't hungry." Aro quietly replied. The red haze of rage had washed away from her vision, leaving only a soft rose sheen to the surroundings. She let her gaze travel around the indigo room, which, frankly, possessed the impression of being well lived in despite the fact it belonged to a dead person. Athenodora cautiously stepped inside Didyme's crypt, taking her time as she slowly walked all the way to where her sister's grave stood in the middle of the room, stopping right in front of her other dearest person in the whole world, the one who was looking at her with such empty yet needlessly apprehensive, mismatched eyes…

Athenodora vowed she will kill her sister for this.

"No. You never are anymore, are you, love?" Athenodora mused aloud, leaning forward, and lifted her hand – not missing the minute flinch before her Brother steeled himself – to gingerly brush away a strand of blue hair which had plastered itself to his ruined cheek. Thankfully, the second flinch was purely from pain. "…You're not healing."

"It just takes a little bit longer now, Ora." Aro tonelessly reminded her. True. However. At least an hour must have gone by since she saw her sister chatting with Corin and Heidi after the feast-

Right now Athenodora would be ecstatic if Aro had any sort of meal, even the kind Carlisle approved of. It must have been months since his last blood if venom continued to fail heal an injury in more than an hour's time-

Athenodora climbed onto Didyme's casket and settled down behind Aro.

"Come here, love." She drew him to her as tightly as she could and carefully guided his blue head to rest against her shoulder.

Aro's head beneath her fingers felt like cool silk. It had been too long since the last time she got to pet his hair. …More than a decade.

He didn't even bother to breathe.

"Why did Sully do this?" Her sister had never before lost it like this… as far as Athenodora was aware.

They were old. Aro and Athenodora. They could not endure such treatment. Athenodora made a quick guess that the force behind this particular slap would have barely left a smudge on someone like Jacques who'd been a vampire for less than a hundred years.

Such was the risk of taking a considerably younger lover or spouse, Fate forbid someone brand new.

An hour slowly ticked by.

This was the precise reason why Aro had Renata with him, when meeting other vampires.

Aro's and Athenodora's magic made up for their age a thousand times over. But only when they chose to use it. The sad thing was - they didn't, most of the time. In battle, most certainly. When facing dire situations, most definitely, yes. When flying, to ward off radiation and exposure to extreme temperatures and pressures. Not when they were at home. In a safe (supposedly safe) space. …With their loved ones, in which Aro and Athenodora had placed their absolute trust… to do them no harm.

Because Aro and Athenodora dared not endanger their loved ones by a single moment of inattention, which could cost them their spouse or their child or a dear friend, they did not dare call forth more magic than was needed for small, silly things like magicking up glowing balls, dabbling in telekinesis or enchanting their Castle.

…A risk they had no choice but to undertake because these younger vampires were so much stronger physically, than someone like Athenodora or someone like Aro.

After another silent hour Aro drew in a deep breath: "She wants me to find another one."

Her hand stilled mid stroke, but only for a brief moment.

"I see. Did you tell her what we discussed?"

"I did. I said… I said Valeria was the last one. I told her there won't be anyone else after- after Valeria."

"Good." Athenodora pressed a kiss to the crown of his head.

"…She caught me off-guard, Ora. I didn't expect- I should have- I should have seen it coming. It was my fau-"

"Shush! Don't you dare think that."

"Ora… I can't do this anymore." Aro whispered a long while later.

"You don't have to, love. Ever again." Caius and Athenodora had let this madness continue for far longer than was excusable. They shared a large part of the blame for the mess Aro's life had turned into. And they were sorry. Athenodora was sorry. Guilty for the part she'd played-

"I don't think you understand. My darlings... All of them are gone. I had forgotten how it felt to have the love of a pure soul. They were such good people, Ora. I miss them so. And Didi. I miss her too. Every day." …'Didi'. Their very own domestic psychopath. It was as of yet an unravelled mystery as to how it had come to pass that Didyme had not finished every single one of them off during her frequent periods of lethal boredom. It was another wonder entirely that she had not killed Aro. Or Marcus.

"Aro-"

"I can't stop thinking about seeing her again. Hearing her voice after centuries- Do you reckon she'll be happy to see me? She was always so happy to see me, when I would visit her at our parents' home. Before someone threw me into the sea. I stopped visiting after. …You should have known her then, Ora. You would have fallen in love with her as well. Everyone did."

"Aro-"

"She was so happy to see me, Ora. When I turned up at our parents' home half a decade after my death. On the night before her wedding day. She was so happy to see me, she did not let go of me from the moment she laid her eyes on me. She would have agreed to anything I asked of her. Did agree to follow me into the night as I led her away from home, did agree to be bitten without a shadow of a doubt the very same moment I had asked because she feared she would never see me again. I can't tell anymore if she even knew I was real and not a dream-"

"Aro! Didi's dead. But you're not-"

"I want to be where she is. I want to be with my children again. It's been forever and a day-"

"Love-"

"I want to go home to them, Ora." Why did it sound as if he was trying to persuade her? He sounded so decided. As if he had given ample thought to this. And pleading for death on Didyme's grave-

No.

Athenodora pressed her hand over Aro's heart, unintentionally smearing venom over it, for it slipped because his chest was wet. She moved in front of him on her knees, carefully turned his head, so that he had no choice but to look straight in her eyes, because she needed to see whether her words would be fully heard. And fully believed.

"You are home. This is still your home, Aro. Your twins and Charmion are here. Cai and I are here. Marc. He cares, Aro. Very much. Even despite-" A frustrated huff left her lips, "Renata is here. She'd die of grief. Did you think of her? You have us. Always. And we love you. So much, love. We. Love. You. Do you know that?"

He heard her. But his mismatched eyes did not believe her. This was the truth and he did not believe it. Did not believe a single word coming out of Athenodora's mouth.

And his face was still bleeding venom.

She drew him into a smothering hug.

Cai and Marc and she had known things were far from perfect between Aro and Sully, had known it had been this bad and still they had done nothing-

(Didyme would have set a Roman pyre in the middle of Piazza dei Priori a decade ago, in front of the whole Castle and the whole of Volterra, and then dragged Sulpicia on it over the cobblestone ground by her hair, before setting a slow flame under Sully's stake-)

"It is not yet your time, Aro. …It is someone else's." Athenodora leaned back, allowing magic to speak through her. For her. For right now, Magic was, perhaps, the only being Aro would still believe. Apart from Fate, of course.

She pressed their foreheads together.

However hard she wished, she still loathed the fact there had been a time Athenodora had been guilty of taking advantage of her Brother's unstable mind and his sweet nature. When his first marriage had fallen apart so abruptly and he'd been so very lost… Cai had never been opposed to Athenodora getting anything she desired. …Or anyone.

"I forgave you, Ora. I forgave you a long time ago. I've told you this. You must know-"

"I know, love." Athenodora kissed his good cheek. His bad cheek needed fixing. So she opened his shirt and licked away the venom from his chest, gradually moving up his neck, giving him time to brace himself for the blinding pain. She tried to be as quick and careful as possible.

For Aro's credit, he did not make a single peep.

He still tasted just as wonderful as he did in Athenodora's memories.

Very soon, Aro's beautiful face was almost back. His eyes were still mismatched and his lips were glistening due to a cracked upper lip-

"It cannot be me." Aro whispered. "Not after Didi. And it cannot be you, Ora. Any of you." Was this why her sister was still wasting the Castle's air? Because Aro could not afford to have the murder of another queen tied to him? Because the Volturi could not afford to be caught eliminating one of their own, even when the necessity called for such an action?

"Shhh. We'll think of something." For there was always a way out of any situation. For Athenodora was yet to meet a problem she could not wiggle her way out of.

"Alec-"

"Alec won't find out. No one will."

His eyes kept searching her own, focusing from one to the other. "…Do you promise?"

She kissed his sweet mouth-

"I swear on my life."

-And smiled the Cheshire grin she'd learned from their hellish sister. The one smile Aro loved above all others. Athenodora believed he'd most likely been the one from whom Didyme had learned it in the first place.

She licked the venom from Aro's lips and coated them in her own to seal the wound on his broken lip-

"I was thinking…" Aro started to say, but his voice broke.

"Go on, love." She'd missed the taste of liquorice on her tongue-

"…Stella had always dreamt of making our world a cleaner place. It was the one wish she never got to fulfil." Aro spoke against her parted lips, his softly spoken words belied their meaning, almost, and shocked her into speechlessness, halting her spinning thoughts. …Both his eyes had reverted to black pools. He slid his hands under her thighs and tugged her on his lap. Her red corset was ripped open, pearl buttons flying through air and imbedding in the stone walls of the crypt, and flicked the corset somewhere- somewhere on the floor while he made her Victorian dress and petticoat vanish into thin air; her neck and chest and breasts were peppered with kisses -

When pure evil fell from Aro's sweet liquorice lips…

Heated desire shot through her like lightning, lust charging her every cell.

He had always been the lightest and the darkest of them all.

"Yes… Of course she had…" Athenodora replied when she had properly recovered from her surprise. "Cai had always wanted to help her. But we never let them."

Aro's pirate shirt was beyond saving – half burned by venom – so Athenodora did not hesitate before slicing it into thin strips with her nails.

"We never let them, for they could not be trusted to not turn everything to ash-"

She placed her palm in the middle of his chest and pushed him down to lie on his back on Didyme's grave-

"Ora-"

"Keep your hands on the gold, love."

While his gift worked by any skin to skin contact, using his hands nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand had trained and dulled them in equal measure.

She leaned down, her platinum blond hair falling in wide curls over Aro's dark locks and deeply kissed him- "We have more class and self-control than those two, love," -just as sweet as she remembered.

"You and I," the pads of her fingers were sliding down the sides of Aro's neck, over his chest while her tongue licked down from the hollow of his neck all the way to the belly button-

"Ora-" -hands carded through her hair, on the back of her head-

"Keep them down or I will tie them to the casket." The hands instantly disappeared from her hair. She took off Aro's belt and let if fall down on the ground-

"You look like an angel, Ora-" … his black pirate trousers following right after.

"Has anyone told you you have developed a bit of an angel fetish, Aro?"

"Not a single soul-"

"I will gag you if you lie again," her tongue dipped into his belly button-

She loved feeling him twitch underneath her… the sound of his breath catching in his throat. Her fingertips lightly stroked his inner thighs, up and down-

"But then you won't hear me scream," Aro breathlessly quipped.

She hid a smile, resting her cheek on his chiselled belly, "Be good and I'll let you scream as loud as you want." Oh, it had been a millennia since she last heard him try and fail to hold back his moans. And his screams-

Athenodora felt a grin attempting to split her face in half- "The world has forgotten, but it shall once more be reminded of why it must fear the wrath of the Volturi."

"We will simply paint it red again. How does that sound, love?"

.

03:07 a.m., Sunday, December 26, 2004, Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport, Genoa, Italy

Demetri was staring outside the front windshield of Master Aro's black Rolls Royce Phantom, on which raindrops were loudly banging like bullets from a shotgun, at the sight of the company's jet smoothly and painfully loudly landing on the wet runway through the heavy downpour. The sky had fully opened an hour ago on E80 and the water just kept coming down. Didn't look like it would stop anytime soon.

It had been drizzling ever since Demetri, Alec, Queen Athenodora and Heidi got back from London late on Christmas Eve despite the forecast which had promised clear and sunny weather in Tuscany for the entire Christmas holidays and in the whole country for the next fortnight. Without any kind of precipitation. Evidently, the meteorologists had been spouting shameless lies, as usual, because the drizzle had turned into steady rain. But the water just kept coming. It had been raining the whole day yesterday. And today looked to promise no improvement.

Demetri had always marvelled at the Cullens' resilience- or was it actually deep love? for this kind of disgustingly wet and gloomily depressing weather conditions. All year round. For decades. Demetri would have offed himself a long time ago, if he had to live in such dreadful climate for all his immortal existence.

The jet finally came to a slow yet decisive stop very close to where he had been waiting for the last fifteen minutes.

He could not wait to see Renata.

Almost a week had gone by since he last saw her.

Almost a full week which Renata had spent alone with- …with Master Aro.

Demetri tried telling himself over and over and over again that there was nothing going on between Master Aro and Renata, but Demetri just could not keep lying to himself.

It was bad enough knowing they practically lived together (their rooms were so close, right next to each other in that thrice damned North Wing) and spent Gods only knew how much time behind closed doors together, but to indisputably know the two of them had actually spent a week alone somewhere thousands of miles away from the Castle, in some romantic cottage by a scenic lake (yes, Demetri had looked Renata and Master Aro up, more than once) likely sharing a room or even a be-

Vampires don't sleep, you fool

-Heidi's musical alto exhaustedly reminded him.

Of course we don't, Demetri replied, rolling his eyes at the annoying voice. He knew that, but-

They certainly don't need a bed to… 'sleep together'.

You fool

Shut UP!

With pleasure

Heidi had always insisted on Demetri being a damn fool. As had Renata. With harsher words, mind you.

But they spent so much time together! Every night and day. Master Aro and Renata. Finished each other's sentences! Went on fucking dates together!

It felt like an ice axe to his fragile glass heart. Every. Damn. Time.

Was Demetri too old? Not as good-looking? …Or was he too young? Was that it? Did Renata like much older men? Demetri doubted there were many older than Master Aro, if there even were any.

But Renata had a thing about old age. Freaked her out every time someone mentioned they were older than a thousand.

The mere thought of the two of them together made his skin crawl, made him want to scream, to pull his hair out, …to huddle under a blanket and leak out all the venom he had in him-

The jet door snapped open and slowly lowered until it hit the damp concrete runway.

And then Renata was there in the open doorway. She raised her lovely little face to the black sky, her beautiful features soon scrunching up in distaste, and she opened her perfect, red mouth to matter of factly state-

"Prepare to get thoroughly drenched, lovebirds."

Lovebirds? Demetri squinted. …Was the rain messing with his hearing?

Renata's dark red eyes finally! fell on the car and she didn't bother to hide her grimace when she saw it was him behind the wheel. Nevertheless, she quickly ran down the stairs with two suitcases in tow-

Demetri got out of the car in the pelting rain without conscious thought and opened the Phantom's boot just in time for Renata to place her suitcases in it and greeted her in a perfectly casual, suave drawl and with an irresistible smile women loved-

"Hey, Renat-"

Renata sneezed and without sparing a single glance his way quickly walked back up the stairs of the jet and disappeared inside. A moment later she emerged once again with two more suitcases, one of which most certainly did not belong to Renata or Master Aro, because it was light blue.

"Isn't Italy supposed to be sunny?" A very young human girl's voice miserably whined from the jet in English with an American accent and made Demetri's head whip in its direction.

And indeed, there was a heartbeat there. A much faster heartbeat than the pilot's and the co-pilot's steady ones, which quietly drummed from the cockpit. As far as Demetri had been informed, they had taken the Valerian Inc. jet from Seattle, and, because Emil was in the Bahamas with the rest of the coven, they had simply utilised the human pilots on site. He found it slightly odd. Demetri was so used to flying everywhere with Emil, but he could not fault the logic behind this decision, if he gave it enough thought. Especially if Master wanted to get back before Phillippa's last waking-

"It is night time, angel. It is not sunny during the night in Italy." Master Aro explained.

"But it's raining."

"Yes."

"I don't wanna. Aro. I'll get all wet. I hate rain."

"Angel. Get up. We don't have all night." Master Aro patiently urged. Kindly but in a way which warned against being difficult.

Why did Master Aro and Renata have a human with them? Had he missed the memo?

The human drew in a shaky breath and a few seconds later Master Aro unhurriedly walked down the airplane's stairs, one of his hands slowly but insistently pulling the mystery human down the stairs after him, not paying any acknowledgement to the wet monsoon that had befallen Liguria. And Tuscany. And most of Central Italy. Nor did Master Aro pay any real mind to being drenched in the cold water which ran down his black suit and long hair-

The back door of the Rolls Royce – the one diagonal from the driver's seat – opened and immediately closed when Renata got into the car-

"I'm already all wet, Aro! How is this possible!" The dark haired human girl in a light green hoodie and white jeans and who had oddly cute, smudged cat eyes (which also looked to be slightly red and puffy) shouted over the loud rain, "Fuck me… Aro, this can't be normal rain!"

Christ. Didn't the child know she could not curse in Master's presence?!

"It is not." Master Aro replied and led the girl to the other rear door Demetri was standing next to-

"Master." Demetri bowed his head before instantly looking up at Master Aro through the rain.

"Demetri." Master Aro lightly greeted back. …There was something different about him. Some kind of figurative lightness which Demetri had not witnessed about Master Aro for such a long time. Gone was the customary chaotic energy that constantly danced around him. In its place Demetri was met with cool, merciless clarity. That merciless light… it reminded Demetri of Queen Didyme and this thought chilled him to his bones. What on Earth had happened in the past week-

"Angel, this is our very good friend Demetri," Master Aro gently pulled the girl from where she had been hiding behind his back to stand right next to Master's right side-

While the girl was almost as tall as Master, it was apparent even to Demetri's age dyslexia that the girl was on the younger side. Perhaps not as young as the twins appeared visually (she had some curves on her after all) but young nonetheless. And she was shyly and uncomfortably peering at Demetri. Looking right at him even if there was practically no light for her eyes to be able to see him clearly. But despite the supposed impossibility, she was carefully studying him with her widened chocolate eyes. …Which really were quite red and puffy under the smudged mascara and eyeliner. It looked like she had been sleeping on the plane after having spent a good amount of the flight crying prior to falling asleep.

"Demetri, this is Isabella. She will be joining our family." Demetri's eyes snapped from the child to Aro's crimson ones. Which were full of silent warning and made Demetri triple aware that from now on he should tread with caution.

"Hello, Isabella." Demetri gave the human a charming and welcoming smile. "It is very nice to meet you."

"…Hi, Demetri." The child shyly mumbled and a lovely pink blush rose on her cheeks. Demetri saw her hand squeezing Master's hand in what looked to be a very strong grip, for a human, because her knuckles had turned bone white.

Regardless of the continuous waterfall, Demetri could tell the girl smelled extremely well (and judging by Master's teeth marks which were barely noticeable but they were noticeable on her neck past the pulled up hood of her hoodie, she also tasted extremely well). Plus, her tangerine flavoured blood smelled a tiny bit like Master Aro. Which meant she had Master's venom in her veins already. Something which might possibly explain her being able to see him clearly despite the darkness and the solid wall of rain. At least in theory.

…It had been a while since Master had played with humans like this.

Never after Queen Didyme's death.

Until now.

(And once again he was reminded of their Dead Queen. Demetri had been convinced Master Aro had participated in such questionable deeds as experimenting with their food only because it had been one of his sister's hobbies and because Master Aro had worshiped the ground his sister had walked on. Demetri and everyone else to this night were still deeply mystified as to why Aro had killed her because he had loved her more than life itself.

For example, Demetri had never seen him lay a hand on Queen Didyme. Not once in the four hundred years Demetri had been with the Volturi until her sudden and unexpected death.

Demetri simply couldn't imagine Master Aro actually killing Queen Didyme. Wouldn't, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Demetri had also witnessed on a few occasions over the centuries, unrelated incidents which he had accidentally chanced upon, Queen Didyme and Master Aro being in the middle of explosive rows, ones which had turned violent, but Master Aro had never hit her back. Not once, even when he should have-

Which did not mean Master did not hit women. Demetri had also seen a few of Master Aro and Queen Athenodora's catfights. They were equal parts frightening as they were hilarious. Because Athenodora was only a few centuries younger than Aro and because they both had insane amounts of magic at their immediate disposal, their physical strength (Aro and Athenodora were the two weakest coven members, physically) and magical power matched one another's (Aro and Athenodora had mind-blowing amounts of raw magical power which made them the strongest coven members, physically, – now that Queen Didyme was dead – when they chose to dip into those bottomless wells of magic).

In this case, Master Aro gave as good as he got. …And vice versa.

Demetri knew Master Caius, Queen Athenodora, Master Aro and Queen Didyme went back a long way. And Master Marcus. Gods only knew what kind of history the five of them had accumulated between themselves during those thousands of years before Demetri was even born.

Admittedly, it had come close, a few times. When it had appeared as if Master Caius or Master Marcus or Queen Didyme had intervened at the utmost last moment before Aro or Athenodora killed the other. Or each other. Because while Master Aro was not always the ray of sunshine he pretended to be, Queen Athenodora could be a wretchedly evil witch sometimes.)

The sound of the back door being opened by Master Aro had the effect of snapping Demetri out of his brief moment of contemplation.

"Angel. Get in." The girl let go of Master's hand and quickly and gladly snuck into the car's dry interior.

Master Aro shut the door after the girl.

The rain was still pouring steadily on them but Master Aro was not moving. He was looking at Demetri with unreadable, crimson eyes. It was so good to see Master with his eyes glowing red again-

"How is Phillippa?" His Master finally asked.

"Good. She's doing really well, Master Aro." Master Aro's expression didn't change, but Demetri sensed his words had pleased him. "I haven't been allowed to see her, of course, but Queen Athenodora has assured us that she fully believes the change will be successful."

"But?" Master Aro quietly demanded.

Fuck. How could Master always tell he was not being told the whole truth even without touching them!

"…It's just. ...Taking a bit longer than usual."

Seeing Master's quickly darkening gaze Demetri rushed to explain-

"We don't know why. The change is progressing steadily, only slower. I assure you. Currently she appears to have gone through about twenty-four hours instead of the actual thirty-nine which have passed. Queen Athenodora said it will take about five days this time.

…

…Perhaps six."

His Master's lips thinned but he nodded in thanks and turned to get in the front passenger seat-

-when he stopped mid step and turned back around and stretched his bare hand for Demetri to take.

…Fuck.

Demetri mentally apologised to Master for the things he had been speculating about and recalling moments ago and for spying on him and on Renata, or rather, on his and Renata's precise whereabouts every second of every day this past week and placed his hand into Master's waiting one.

Aro's expression did not change when his eyes turned slightly unseeing (but Demetri knew full well Master still saw and processed everything that happened around him just as sharply while his formidable gift was at work) until he let go of Demetri's hand, blinked once and focused his red stare on Demetri, a pleasant smile blooming on his thin red lips and Demetri only had a fraction of a second at his disposal to realise what that pleasant smile meant for him and to prepare himself for what was to come before Master's cold hand was in Demetri's wet hair and he was harshly yanked by his hair to the wet ground, Master's razor sharp nails digging in his scalp and spreading agony through his head as Demetri's knees hit the water on the concrete ground and a blunt ache spread through his knees-

He desperately tried to think of anything he had done wrong while grimly registering that he had lost all control over his limbs-

Demetri knew he had not fucked up-

He had known nothing about Felix's plan, about any of Felix's flawed plans or the sabotaged Valerian cars-

He'd done nothing to warrant this kind of-

"Is that right. You think giving drugs to my human is nothing, do you?" Aro silkily asked in a deceptively casual voice.

…

…

THIS WAS ABOUT THE FUCKING WEED?!

Of all the things-

"Yes. This is about the one kilogram of 'the fucking weed' you left under Phillippa's Christmas tree for her to find." Aro indulgently confirmed as he yanked Demetri's head face up so that Demetri had a clear view of the furious expression on Master Aro's face. Demetri heard Renata gasp and quickly stifle the incredulous laugh that escaped from her lips. Shit-

"Master Aro-"

"Tell me. What went on in that stupid head of yours when you decided giving drugs to my baby girl was a fantastic idea."

Baby girl? …fuck. They had wondered-

Gods…

"It's just weed, Master Aro! Humans smoke it all the time! It makes them happy!" Demetri pleaded and felt the nails dig past the outer layer of the flesh and breach his skull- "M-Master-"

"It makes them addicted, mentally unstable… damages their fragile lungs… their delicate hearts… their soft brains… and their delicious blood."

Fuck, fuck, fuck… they had wondered-

"I'm sorry-"

"Isabella will remain human for a while longer. So that she can grow up as much as she can manage in the coming year-" Demetri was actively stopping himself from screaming from the pain in his head which only worsened with every word Master Aro voiced as long, sharp nails and pads of fingertips worked their way into Demetri's head- "Will you give drugs to her as well?"

"No! No. I wasn't thinking. I won't give her any drugs. I swear. Master, pl-" the nails retracted from his skull and his hair was released. Demetri's palms hit the wet ground in front of him and he slowly regained full control over his body.

"See that you don't." Master Aro's light, ice-cold voice descended on him amid Demetri's loud and laborious breathing.

He saw Master Aro's blood red loafers backtrack and create light splashes of puddle water as they patted away past the driver's side door and the front of the Phantom until his ears picked up the sound of the front passenger side door opening and closing.

Demetri let out a shaky, deeply relieved breath. It could have gone so much worse. So, so much worse…

Demetri picked himself up from the puddle, straightened and gingerly reached up to touch his abused scalp- …Ouch. It stung.But the flesh was already mending. His hair was still there despite it having felt as if all of it had been violently pulled out- Which meant there won't be any semi-permanent damage.

It could have gone way worse.

If Master Aro got his claws into you, for whichever reason, dismemberment was the least anyone could hope for. At least this had been the norm for the past year and a half.

It could have gone way, way worse.

The girl was staring at him with wide, scared chocolate eyes until her heart skipped a couple of beats and she heavily swallowed, and quickly cast down her eyes when she noticed she had been caught looking.

Poor kid. The Castle was no place for children.

Demetri shrug off his soaking wet leather jacket and stuffed it inside the trunk.

Then, without further delay, he approached the driver's door and got behind the wheel, turned on the ignition and, engine purring, sped away from the jet. Soon the airport was left well behind them.

And they were all listening to graveyard silence in the car. All the way through Genoa.

Demetri turned onto Autostrada E80; it was still pouring non-stop. Demetri actually had to drive under the hundred and ten kilometres per hour speed limit which was set in place for exactly such extreme weather conditions because he feared the car will start to hydroplane otherwise.

…Although. This was one of Master Aro's personal cars. They all knew he liked to upgrade his cars, even if he practically never used them. Which meant all those cryptic runes etched on the inside (and on the outside, out of sight, mind you) did something.

"Will it stay on the road?" Demetri dared to break the silence.

From the corner of his eyes, Demetri saw a small, quick smile flash on Aro's face. "It will," Master Aro answered.

Demetri suppressed a grin. Alright then. And pressed the accelerator pedal into the floor.

OH, yes. This was a much needed improvement-

"Oh, thank you, Jesus." Renata exhaled, relieved. Demetri hid another smile.

The longer they drove, Demetri couldn't help but notice this Isabella kid would have been a wonderful meal for she smelled very nice indeed and blood did not lie. But her blood blessedly did not make his mind buzz with that ever-present desire to suck her dry, not like it was or rather had been with Phillippa, but Isabella's scent was equally lovely.

(None of them had actually gotten used to their current- former? secretary. They had just learned to act better to hide the constant craving and to dismiss that impulse better. What wouldn't they have given to have a taste… and if Demetri was interpreting Master Aro's words correctly, Master had actually drunk from Phillippa. Her behaviour had never indicated to anything of the sort having happened. She was cool as cucumber, always. Except those times when Phillippa let her temper flare. Demetri smirked. He loved that girl. …Which meant either Master Aro was lying (very probable) or he had talked Phillippa into willingly letting him have a taste (more than probable).

…Damn.

None of them actually knew what went on during their bi-monthly wine parties. Aro was such a fucking hypocrite. He got their Phillippa drunk senseless every fortnight. He had heard Renata complaining to Heidi about finding both of them passed out on Master's floor surrounded by a sea of empty bottles on more than one occasion. Demetri couldn't comprehend how smoking a bit of weed was worse than poisoning themselves and especially Phillippa with barrels of wine so damn often.

But feeding from a willing human? Went on for minutes. Ten. Sometimes up to twenty. …Sometimes even more. That kind of feeding for some vampires felt almost as intimate as making love did. Demetri doubted Phillippa knew this. But perhaps Demetri was speculating about things which had never even taken place-

-but for the life of him, he could not remember seeing Phillippa's lovely bare neck since September's family dinner. As hard as he tried. And he tried. Really hard.

The one dinner from which Master Aro had stormed out without as much as an appetiser. The one after which Demetri hadn't seen their secretary for three days. Also after which Master Aro had been high as a kite for two of those three days Phillippa had been absent, supposedly celebrating her brother's birthday. Aro's neon red eyes. Why hadn't Demetri found it strange at the time? How was it possible that none of them had realised before now…

…Baby girl.

Demetri bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted venom. Regardless of how he looked at it, Phillippa was- had been Aro's human; it mattered not if it had never been officially stated. None of them actually knew what exactly went on behind the closed doors of Master Aro's soundproofed chambers during Phillippa and Master Aro's drinking parties-

"Bella's right. This rain can't be natural." Renata mused from the backseat… the furthest spot from Demetri she could geographically locate herself at, while staying inside the same car (discounting the boot, obviously).

"It is not." Master Aro repeated himself. "…Natural."

"You said that. Your point, Master?" Renata probed, slightly curious.

"These clouds…" Master Aro looked outside his window to the dense cloud cover, "they are moving and forming patterns against what is customary for this geo-climate. Or which align with the wind currents for the season. They are… atypically drawn to this particular region. Or… something in this region."

"Can't you do something about it?" Renata crabbily asked.

"I… could. Yes. But I cannot see why I should." Master Aro airily dismissed Renata's hopes for the floods to end. Aro touched one of the rivulets running down the glass window to his right and fondly murmured, "Bambi loves rain."

Demetri could hear crickets playing. He glanced into the rear view mirror and locked his eyes with Renata's equally disturbed wine coloured ones which were staring right back at him and perfectly mirrored his 'whatintheactualfuck' expression.

"Aro… This is bloody natural disaster levels of rain-" Renata carefully pointed out behind Master Aro.

"The rain stays." Aro sharply snapped at them. If Renata could not get through to Master when he became unreasonable, no one could. …They were totally doomed to suffer an untimely end by drowning. Yes, they were.

Demetri mentally sighed.

Perhaps this was the right time to sate his curiosity-

"So… What's the deal with Jailbait in the backseat?"

Master Aro let out one of his ridiculously adorable snorts, which sounded very close to a cat's sneeze, and which Demetri strongly believed should be prohibited by law. Vampire Law. Any law. …Every law. Renata started giggling. And a moment later so did Master Aro.

"You are both such despicable bastards." The girl hatefully hissed, which did nothing to quell the quiet, demented giggles. Judging by the way their giggles transformed into loud cackles, her comment had only poured oil into the flames. It pained Demetri's soul to listen to their deranged joy.

"What joke am I missing?"

Nobody answered him. Renata and Aro kept on laughing, if that sound could even be call as such. Demetri didn't think they were physically capable of stopping. The girl behind him exhaled a loud, angry lungful of air-

"They told the Forks Chief of Police who's my dad by the way that I'm Renata's seventeen-and-a-half-year-old half-sister and Aro's other niece who has been abandoned by my whore of a mother and my disinterested absentee father and then heavily implied that Aro has been raping me for God knows how long while my caring, older sister Renata knows all about it but thinks it's perfectly okay because our dear Uncle Aro is sweet on me. Of course, at the time, Charlie didn't know they were talking about me - his daughter Isabella - and not Renata's fake sister Isabella, 'cause he didn't actually see me and had no idea he was interrogating my kidnappers. I suppose he probably thought they were a couple of Italian gangsters because fucking Eleazar! That fucking son of a bitch had made an anonymous tip to the police, to the fucking police! Demetri, a tip which linked Renata to a missing person Renata had eaten the previous night! And my dad will figure out very soon, if he hasn't already, that they were fucking talking about ME the whole fucking time when he realises I've gone missing!" The girl had to shout at the end of her desperate rant to be heard over Master Aro and Renata's loud, insane laughter.

…

…

…

The crickets had made a vicious reappearance but could hardly be heard in the car over the noise Master Aro and Renata were making.

It did not matter because… Demetri knew the crickets were there.

"…Sorry I asked." Demetri apologised to the visibly upset kid who had started to sniffle and dry her puffy eyes with the sleeves of her wet hoodie.

"Bella! You… should… should have… have… seen! Charlie's face. God! His face, Bella! HIS FACE. When. When Aro said… that he'd… t-t-tucked… you... in! At… at mid-night… God… I can't…"

"I saw his face alright. Fucking appalled is what he looked like to me." Isabella angrily spat at Renata, giving her an evil look.

After about five minutes during which they were driving past Carrara, Renata and Master Aro had finally calmed down and Master Aro partially turned around in his seat to look at the deeply miserable human with disturbingly warm eyes and with a small smile still playing on his inappropriately distracting mouth-

"Angel-"

"I don't wanna hear it." Isabella tearfully interrupted and turned her head away and began to pointedly stare outside her window.

His Master sighed, blinked a slow blink and returned to the watching of the tragic sight of the rain rapidly over-flooding the motorway.

"Sooo… Eleazar was in Forks with the Cullens?" And indeed. Eleazar was currently in Forks. Together with most of the Cullens, at their house. But not with Esme.

"Oh, yes. And Carmen. We had loads and loads of fun." Renata happily sang, a huge grin still sticking to her blissed out face. Carmen was not at the Cullens' Forks residence either. Both Esme and Carmen were in Portland.

"Renata outed Eleazar in front of Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and us three for the fucking cheating son of a bitch he is." Isabella helpfully explained, still looking out the window, before adding in a small voice, "…And Carmen. She was there too."

Jesus. "Tell me you didn't."

"I most certainly did." Renata said with a disgustingly satisfied smirk.

Well, damn.

Everyone in Volterra knew what Eleazar was like. As did Carmen. At least she should have heavy suspicious, if not definite proof sixty times over. But Demetri was quite certain the Denali sisters and especially the Cullens hadn't held any knowledge of Eleazar's many conquests. Perhaps the gifted ones had known or had had their own suspicions (possibly after having been propositioned by Eleazar themselves), or perhaps they all had had their suspicions, but Demetri was fairly certain they hadn't known for sure. Everyone knew to think utter nonsense and most unpleasant sorts of things when in the range of Edward Cullen. Demetri had his suspicions that Eleazar's own gift picked up more than the nature of the gifts of others but also how they ticked, on some level. Thus it was not outside the realm of possibility that Eleazar could have some insider information of how to successfully slip through the cracks of most gifts.

Up until Renata enlightened them, of course.

"What have the Cullens been up to? I haven't run into them for almost a decade." …Well. That was not entirely true. He saw one Cullen fairly regularly. The most recent time he'd met with Esme was at Blair's birthday party in her Seattle Waterfront Villa this October. They'd had a wonderful birthday dinner together. Blair's friends, her colleagues from Valerian Inc., the twins of course, Emil, Demetri and Esme. The food had been excellent-

"The children are getting straight A's in their high school classes." Aro proudly announced but then his lips pinched together, "And very alarming D minuses in Physical Education." Soon enough, however, Aro's expression cleared and brightened, "They have accumulated a small fortune by cheating the investment system for the last five decades. Since 1950." Until his beautiful face clouded in distress, "And they've accidentally run out of black bears in the Olympic Peninsula. It's been tough, Demetri." Aro pierced Demetri with an intense, red stare.

The crickets had returned with a vengeance.

After a couple of beats, a crooked, mean smirk slowly stretched on Master's red lips. Demetri's loose hold on the Phantom's wheel tightened.

"Edward tried to eat Bella." Renata chirped up, excited. "In front of everyone! And I mean EVERYONE."

What the… "Saint Martyr Edward?" Demetri clarified, his voice rising to a high pitched, incredulous tone. That couldn't possibly be true. Anyone but Saint Edward-

"I know, right?!" Renata exclaimed. While the topic of the conversation was quite intriguing, even if it was at the Cullens' expense, it felt so nice to have Renata actually talking with him, holding a conversation with him, answering Demetri's questions- "Master, tell him. I knew no one would believe me!"

Demetri threw a questioning side-glance at Aro who for once looked genuinely displeased. No dramatics. No nothing. Only pure distaste. "It is indeed what came to pass, my dear Demetri. Young Edward would be smart to ensure our paths never cross again." Master Aro said. His voice as cold as dry ice.

"Just because he tried to eat me?" Bella doubtfully asked.

"Yes." Aro immediately, truthfully (as far as Demetri could tell) replied. "But not only because of his lack of self-control. Young Edward… he has a deeply ingrained problem with authority. He is one of those idealistic fools which eventually causes grief for all our fellow brethren, sooner or later, and which always need to be dealt with when they present themselves as a real threat to the rest of our people. Preferably before then. Sometimes, angel… there is nothing anyone can do. A… lost cause."

"I cannot help but wonder whether young Edward's Fate had not been to die as a human from the influenza in that dreary hospital in Chicago." Master Aro mused. "…Carly would have been better off," his Master added, a touch melancholy.

They were fast approaching Pisa, the Phantom sailing through the water as it cut under the veil of rain without the smallest effort. If it were at all possible at this point, Demetri would swear the rain was getting worse. And… was that a distant thunder his ears just picked up?

"Such magnificent power…" Master Aro whispered, quiet awe in his voice. Demetri almost missed it over the sound of the rain outside.

"Master… you really think it's her doing?" Renata cautiously asked in a subdued voice.

"I know so, Renata. Bambi loves water."

…

…

…

Did they seriously imply what Demetri thought they implied?

"I have not borne witness to such welcome before an awakening for a… very long time." That totally genuine awe he heard in Master's voice could not bode well for Phillippa. Or lessen Demetri's impending distress- "Sister had not been lying. …This time." Aro remarked, pleasantly surprised.

Demetri shuddered.

The only thing more frightening than Aro and Athenodora's explosive catfights were those even rarer times when they got along. Disturbing to think about and he had no doubts his musings wouldn't escape Master's notice, because they never had before, but try as he might, Demetri could not silence his hyperactive intuition which kept whispering all manner of venom chilling things to him in Heidi's low, hypnotising voice, such as… that sometimes… sometimes-

They got on a little too well. Aro and Athenodora-

Demetri shook his head to clear it of that sweet, all-knowing presence which haunted his mind and taunted him with daunting innuendos, none of which Demetri wanted to turn out to be true-

"You have another sister, Aro?" Isabella curiously asked right by his ear, almost making his shoulders twitch. Almost.

Demetri mentally cursed.

Venomed-up humans… they were dangerous. Especially, if they walked around the Castle on soundless feet and with soundlessly beating hearts in their chests while carrying lighters or lucifers in their pockets…

There had been close calls.

That same hypnotising voice kept whispering that it had been so only because Queen Didyme and Master Aro had found it greatly amusing to… wind them up and watch them go-

"I do. However. Athenodora is not my," the corners of Master Aro's lips quirked up, "…blood sister. Or my venom sister, for that matter. Rather, we have lived together for most of our lives and it is how I have come to see her. And she, in turn, sees me as her brother." Someone was in an unusually sharing mood.

"The same holds true for my brothers Marcus and Caius, angel."

They flew past Pisa in silence.

Demetri decided to change his intended route and get off E80 and continue on SGC Firenze-Pisa-Livorno.

A quick stop at the toll station, an unpleasant lowering of the driver's side window, a quick presentation of the ticket he got when entering the E80, an even quicker settling of the toll for the motorway during which his left sleeve became soaking wet in under three seconds, and then they were back to merrily nearing ever closer to Volterra.

But they never answered Demetri's question, did they? Perhaps he shouldn't press-

"So… How did you manage to get yourself kidnapped from Forks, kid?" Demetri asked regardless. Because that was bound to be an interesting story-

"Seattle. They kidnapped me from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Not Forks." Isabella reluctantly clarified.

"Technically, we kidnapped you from San Francisco Airport, angel." Aro corrected in a sickly sweet voice.

"…right." Isabella quietly said. "I should have heeded all those endless warnings about not talking to strangers from my parents and my teachers."

"That would not have saved you, angel." Aro patiently corrected. "Try again."

After a moment of contemplation Isabella whispered, "…I forgot my headphones."

Her answer seemed to have caught Master's attention, "Oh?"

"I couldn't find the car keys so I almost missed my flight from Phoenix to San Francisco. I forgot to put them- to put my headphones in my carry-on bag. Never thought something so insignificant would result in getting kidnapped by vampires."

Master was smiling to himself.

Isabella sniffled. She wasn't crying but her voice had a wet, bittersweet quality to it, "It was really late and the flight had been delayed for hours. Because of one of San Francisco's notorious fogs. It's December. There shouldn't have been one… And there was also a baby who shouldn't have been there. Crying in the waiting hall. Practically right next to where I was sitting. I was so tired… And then… suddenly I couldn't stand listening to the loud screeching anymore and I. …I got up. People were sitting and sleeping on the floor, it was that packed there. No free seats in the whole hall. …Except for five perfectly unoccupied ones around Aro and Renata."

Okay. That still did not explain-

"Isabella walked right through Renata's shield." Aro smugly revealed.

…

WHAT

…

That had to be some serious talent.

…

Circe.

If that was true-

And Master Aro would not lie about this-

…The poor kid had never stood a chance. "I had thought that was impossible."

"…Not for me, apparently." Isabella let out a heavy, unhappy lungful of air, the strong tangerine scent in the car increasing for a brief moment. With blood like that… there was not a chance of Master ever letting her go. Everyone in the Castle knew citrus flavoured blood was even rarer than that of singers. They all knew to not touch such humans but leave them for Master Aro. The kid was very lucky her gift had already manifested to some degree. Exceptionally lucky.

"Angel, you are selling yourself short," Aro softly chided.

"Our gifts seem to fail to work on Isabella for some reason." Aro enthusiastically explained. "Eleazar could not get a read on her. Couldn't tell anything about her gift at all."

"The pixie accused her- accused all three of us- of messing with her visions." Renata said as if recalling a sweet memory. "Edward couldn't hear her as well."

"No kidding."

"Nope." Aro popped the 'p' and shook his head all the while grinning. It was so nice to see him like this. So happy-

"And the Major?"

"Mister Whitlock claimed he could sense Isabella's distress when young Edward tried to take a bite out of her-"

"What!" Isabella cried from the back seat. The girl's reaction was a little amusing. She had actually tensed up and leaned forward.

Aro grinned. "Why yes. Most interesting. I cannot tell for sure, of course, but Renata and I, we did not… what was the current popular expression- bash young Jasper nearly as much as the other two when briefing you about the Cullen children's unique talents."

The kid in the backseat grumbled something intelligible and fell back against the seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Demetri tried to use his gift on the human, tune in to her unique mind-print. He tried. Really hard.

…Without success.

A …first.

This revelation made him a little uneasy.

Because this meant that from now on there will be yet another venomed-up human living in the Castle, one which Demetri could not sense, nor hear if she so wished…

"And yourself, Master?"

From the corner of his eye, a slow, pleased smile stretched across Master's face.

"Nothing."

…A first for Master Aro as well. He seemed to be quite excited about the phenomenon.

"Well, Demetri? Can you get a read on our little Anomaly?"

"Hey! I resent that name! DO NOT start to call me that!" Isabella protested in indignation and dread. Demetri grinned at that and took his right hand off the wheel and offered it, palm up, for Master Aro to take.

Master Aro looked at it and rolled his eyes, but it was a playful rolling of eyes. Aro took a moment to reposition himself until he had his legs up on the seat and so that he was facing Demetri. Next he leaned his side against the passenger seat and slipped his hand in Demetri's, interlocking their fingers.

All …right?

Master Aro huffed an amused laugh, barely noticeable crows' feet appearing around his eyes, but he did not let go of Demetri's hand.

Alright.

Instead, Master Aro lowered their joint hands on the centre armrest and let the side of his head fall against the headrest. And then he closed his eyes.

This was not weird at all. Nope. And it was not as if Demetri needed both hands to drive, correct?

Demetri heard Master's lips stretch into a smile-

"Pay attention to the road, Demetri." Aro told him, his eyes still firmly closed.

Demetri snapped his eyes back to the river-road they were currently sailing on. A quick glance at the speedometer revealed they were going 165 kilometres per hour. They will reach Pontedera in no time.

Demetri focused on driving. His hand was getting rather cold. Demetri was positive Master Aro had never touched Demetri for this long. Or like this. What was it exactly that Master Aro was doing? Because this was not his usual, near instantaneous collection of information.

His hand was getting really cold now. But at the same time it was not an unpleasant coldness.

Okay, this was beyond strange.

In the rear mirror he saw that Isabella was still immersed in quietly staring outside the window, her eyes tracking the rapidly blurring surroundings despite the intense rainfall.

And Renata… Renata was lazily reclining in her own seat, reading something on her phone, seemingly not at all surprised or bothered by-

"The road, Demetri," Master Aro repeated, sounding half asleep; Demetri's eyes jumped to the road again.

He slowed down and got off FI-PI-LI to Via di Gello and then onto SP23 and set the course to Ponsaco.

It must have been over a hundred years since he had witnessed Master Aro touch someone longer than a minute-

"I used to do this all the time. Ages ago." Aro sleepily answered, his eyes still closed. "With Caius." The corners of Aro's lips rose up a bit, "And Dora. My children. With my friends. My lovers. …With my wife."

…

With Phillippa?

"Yes."

…With Renata?

"Yes." Master Aro easily agreed and soothingly brushed the back of Demetri's hand with his thumb when jealousy and despair stabbed through his whole body. Then Master Aro switched from Italian to Old Egyptian Amun had taught him shortly into his new life and which honestly threw him for a moment because he hadn't heard it spoken aloud by anyone for close to a millennium.

"She is my best friend, Demetri. Yes, we do go out on dates sometimes." He did not want to hear this- Master Aro's grip on Demetri's hand tightened before the thought of wanting to take it back- to yank it out of Aro's had even formed in his mind- "Hear me out. …We dance together sometimes. She and I."

Demetri kept staring straight ahead to the wet road with annoyingly wet eyes.

"Sometimes we spend the day just lying in bed together- Calm down. …Doing nothing. Just talking, like you and I are doing now. Or on a sofa. Or the floor. But Demetri. She has never been my lover. Not in the sense you fear. She could not care less who I bring to my bed. She is not interested in me in such a way. Or in you, friend, for that matter." …What? No. None of this could be true. No-

"This is the truth. If I ever pretended to fall victim to one of your desperate schemes to make her jealous and took you there, all it would result in would be a fun night for the two of us and merciless teasing for me by Renata for a week. At most. And by Caius. That is all. She won't get angry and she won't get jealous."

Demetri blinked and tried to will the venom away from his eyes. Renata was texting and smiling down at her Blackberry, completely submerged in her own world. Demetri doubted she was pretending to not be listening. It was as if she truly did not give a damn-

"I'm sorry, dear. Angel, however, might mind." Aro remarked with a small smile and Demetri became aware of the weight of a heavy chocolate stare on their clasped hands.

Why would she mind, Master Aro? Seriously, why would the kid mind-

"She likes me very much. I've no real clue why. Perhaps she will grow out of it. Perhaps she won't."

Would you want her to?

"Yes and no. She is very young." Aro sighed unhappily. "Too young. But never before have I met someone whose soul I could not see. Her gift is like a puzzle I cannot solve. Yet."

Yet.

"While it appears as a passive gift at first, it is not entirely so. She has some control already. Unconscious it may be at the present moment but she will be able to manipulate it in time."

Ah.

And when that time comes? What then?

"It's never been a problem before. It's all I've known. It will be a wonderful day when she finally lets me in."

.

They were driving through Tuscany.

After a while they reached La Sterza. Demetri sensed the minds of Phillippa's family sleeping in their home on his left without trying. It was always like this when he neared familiar minds – they got flagged by his gift at once.

"Keep an eye on them. I want to know if they ever come close to Volterra searching for her."

"Of course, Master."

"Show Heidi their photographs. It would not do for her parents or her little brother to accidentally join a tour group, don't you think?" Master Aro brightly asked but his words lacked any genuine humour.

Demetri had never considered such an eventuality.

"Master. Of course. You have my word."

His hand was given a pleasant squeeze, "Thank you, dear."

Master Aro. …What about Felix?

"What about him?" Master Aro sleepily asked.

He really messed up, didn't he?

"He did."

What's going to happen to him? Demetri tried to not let fear and despair take hold of him, especially when Master was… doing whatever it was that he was doing right now.

"Nnnnnn." Aro deeply frowned. "Don't suppress your emotions. Never ends well. Feel what you want to feel. You cannot hide anything from me anyway. I know you better than you know yourself."

And wasn't that the most frightening thing anyone had ever told him. Made icy shudders ran down his spine-

"Don't be afraid. I've known you since I met you. I possess no desire to use this knowledge to inflict harm upon you. This is me basking in the light of your soul. And in the shadows cast by that brightness."

But how? How could he not be afraid?

.

"My granddaughter seems happy."

"She is. I believe Blair was secretly hoping you would come to her one hundred and twenty-fifth birthday party. Or the ninety-ninth. Depending on how you want to look at it."

"I would have been unpleasant company on that day. I did not wish to ruin her night."

Oh. Well. Then she's definitely glad you weren't there, Master.

Aro chuckled. "I know."

Master... Demetri knew he sounded like a broken record but- What about Felix?

"He broke the law. He attacked my human. My friend. Almost killed my- my friend."

"Master-"

"He broke the law."

He's crazy about her. You must know that-

"He is not a unique snowflake in this regard." Aro replied in a clipped tone, his eyes flashing. "Sometimes they do not love us back like we want them to. You should know this better than anyone."

Even Master Aro's words could cut through bones.

…I had no idea.

"She didn't want to be a vampire. Not once had she imagined this life for herself. She was dreading the day I would kill her. Every day. Ever since she learned of the new law. Which happened months ago. Have you any idea how that feels… when loved ones believe without a shadow of a doubt that you will be the death of them – in the most direct sense?

"I had cause to believe the venom might kill her. As far as I could tell – it could have gone either way. I didn't know for certain and hoped I was wrong but it was a real possibility. I could not promise her immortality. Which she didn't want to begin with. Her greedy nature would have tempted her to accept, initially, but she would have declined if given time to consider all the ramifications of immortality in full. I would have tried regardless, when her time ran short." Aro passionately swore, from the deepest pits of his soul. At least that's what it sounded like. Then his words turned to barely more than a whisper, "…Even if she refused."

His grip on Aro's hand tightened. They all knew to not bite the unwilling. More often than not everyone involved were doomed to suffering which often resulted in broken hearts and very dead children.

"She's so very young, Demetri. Still such a child in many ways. …She could feel her death nearing. Constantly. Could hear grains of sand flowing out of an hourglass in her dreams as well as in her waking hours. So she was saying farewell to her short life. Finding love was the last thing on her mind."

…I'm sorry.

.

Saline.

Demetri drove through the small town and turned left on SR68. Only six kilometres until they reached Volterra.

I won't tell a soul, Master Aro.

"…I know."

.

05:35 a.m., Sunday, December 26, 2004, The Castle of Volterra, Volterra, Italy

Demetri killed the engine of Aro's insane car. 'Cause such a car could only belong to a similarly insane owner. As far as Bella had pieced together from the conversation when the vampires had extended the courtesy to speak in English, Aro had done something to this car so that it did not become uncontrollable on the highway in this apocalyptic weather. Something that must have involved very dubious sort of magic, for sure.

The same as the Rain of Doom.

At least the rain hadn't yet flooded the underground parking garage they had just entered. But Bella felt it was only a matter of time, before that happened.

"Home Sweet Home." Renata quietly remarked from Bella's right. She sounded sad.

"Heidi and I, we're very glad you're back, Renata. I- we've missed y-" Demetri's desperately heartfelt words were cut off by the harsh slamming of Renata's door; and the three of them, who still remained inside the car silently watched how Renata unhurriedly walked to the vaguely illuminated glass elevator, her back straight but her shoulders slumping a little, her hands stuck into her black coat's deep pockets and her killer heals clicking on the concrete. She did not look back.

None of them said anything as they watched Renata enter the elevator, and be whisked up and away.

"Welcome to the Castle of Volterra, Isabella." Aro spoke from the front seat, the words carrying a hint of smile.

…Right. Bella swallowed past the lump in her throat. Her whole body was strung tight with tension which had filled up the longer they were on the road and the closer they got to Aro and Renata's home.

Both front doors opened and closed almost at the same moment and then her door was pulled open by Aro. One long moment to gather her courage was all Bella allowed herself before she got out of the super-fancy car on nervous legs. The last time she was so stressed (afraid) had been before her ballet performances. …And on Ruby Beach. Shouldn't forget that-

Her hands were taken by Aro's cold ones.

Bella clenched together her teeth to stop them from chattering.

Aro drew her forth by her hands, pulling them around his back and causing her to collide with his chest and look up and be caught in his warm gaze which was such a tremendous contrast to his icy touch and to how bone-chilling those killer eyes actually were-

"Angel. Relax." Aro said as he unblinkingly started down into her eyes. He let out a light breath of air before he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead, letting go of her hands and wrapping her in an unexpectedly comfortable hug, one of his hands tracing circles on her back and the other on the back of her head. "There is no safer place in the whole world for you to find yourself at, child-"

The startled and instantly aborted cough behind Bella did nothing to ease her mind or her newly born panic one bit.

Aro let go of her and smiled a reassuring smile, "Come on, angel," and started to lightly pull her by her hand to the empty elevator that had drifted back down to the garage, "I'll show you the way up to my rooms. No one will bother you there."

"What about my-"

"Demetri will bring you your luggage. And Renata's and my belongings to our respective rooms."

"Master." Demetri replied before his faint footsteps stopped following her and Aro and turned around in the opposite direction, back to the car. It was such a… Bella could not formulate a fitting description which encompassed the immediate compliance with the order. …The unconditional acceptance of the task given-

…Was she expected to call Aro 'Master' too? Bella could not imagine ever addressing Aro like that-

That felt so wrong.

Bella was pulled into the elevator.

The glass doors closed. And then they were moving up-

And her earlier suffocating alarm returned with a vengeance-

An actual vampire. Aro. Aro was taking her into a freaking honest-to-God medieval Castle somewhere in Europe where who only knew how many immortal, bloodthirsty vampires resided (Bella had counted sixty-six cars in this underground garage). Aro, who she had known for less than five days. What were five days anyway?! Five days was no time at all! The one who had kidnapped her from San Francisco and then Seattle and then from Forks. The same Aro who had taken her flying and kissed her on a frozen lake. Taught her how to make double loops. Who had healed her broken arm and her cut-open palm and the same one who had bitten her without warning and who had drunk her blood until she had passed out and made her drunk on wine but also the one who had made waffles for breakfast for her- no one had ever made waffles for breakfast for her before- the one who had sucked the life out of that poor little girl with a single dead look and Bella still couldn't understand WHY he would do that- what made him- how could he justify- the one who had told all those starkly truthful things to Carmen in such a kind and compassionate and strangely empathetic way but also the one who had caught her when she had tried to run away in a moment of utter despair, sensing inevitable, approaching doom as soon as Renata had stopped the bloody red Maserati in that Godforsaken Seattle airport, and then unceremoniously dragged her kicking and screaming and crying and begging all the way back and up into the jet in broad daylight-

Theoretically, Bella had known she hadn't been given any choice. That Aro and Renata wouldn't let her go. Even if she would have asked nicely, trying to appeal to their non-existent humanity. Even if she swore to her grandmother Marie's ashes that she wouldn't say a thing about vampires or Aro and Renata to anyone. Ever.

But in that moment, being manhandled like that, feeling so fucking powerless against him. She never wanted to feel like that again. He'd been so… cold. Unreachable. Indifferent. …Heartless. Bella knew that thought did not hold any weight. Most times Aro was incredibly nice. And kind. Understanding. Because he had seen it all. Lived through it all, Bella supposed, first hand or in others' memories. But then in Seattle. It'd felt as if a switch had been flipped and he'd become this inexorable person who couldn't care less about Bella's plight or… or Bella. She knew that was untrue as well, but-

Bella slipped her hand out of Aro's cool one and took a step to the left as much as the enclosed space of the elevator allowed her, away from this incredibly beautiful being she knew next to nothing about-

Bella forced herself to pull that gaze up from the elevator floor and look at him.

He seemed different somehow. Calmer and colder than he had been before entering the Queen of Angels Church. He was… fully present and staring back at her with his glowing, predatory eyes.

A shudder ran through her.

She couldn't help but wonder what had taken her so fucking long to finally feel fear-

Aro's eyes fluttered closed and then he drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs with as much air as was physically possible.

"Angel?" Aro asked with his eyes closed.

"…Yes?" They popped open, terribly curious and terribly red.

"Why are you so scared of me, child?"

"I don't know." Bella's whisper rang in the quiet elevator and seemed to resonate in the air like the sound of Tibetan bells.

"Child. Don't lie."

"...You're terrifying. It took me some time but I've finally realised that."

Silence. But it sounded so loud. Shouldn't silence be silent?

"Ah."

"I don't understand how I didn't see that sooner." Or caught the moment her life had turned into a horror story.

"And now that you have, you cannot unsee it." Aro pensively commented, looking at her with his blood red eyes which were emitting a neon-like glow in the darkness surrounding them.

"Mhm. Exactly."

"It will pass. Your fear."

Not likely. But Bella really hoped so anyway. He sounded absolutely certain. Aro was yet to be wrong on anything-

"You're different now. Than you were before. When I first met you and Renata. …Or even when we visited the Cullens." Bella said in the dark, her voice not exactly a whisper anymore but very close to it.

For once more, Bella was met with ringing silence. She could not hear anything, anything at all, except her racing heart. He was staring at her with such quiet calm which made her wonder whether anyone would be able to read Aro's thoughts as well, if he were to ever meet anyone with a similar talent to his own - …shit. The last thing Bella wanted was to upset him. Shit-

Her newly awakened sense of self-preservation warned her against making him upset with her. And on a completely unrelated note, upsetting Aro felt like the most heinous crime she or any person could ever do.

"I remembered something I had desperately endeavoured to erase from my memory." Aro's clear voice cut through the enclosed space around them with a metallic quality, rendering the words too cold and perfect to find any solace in them.

"Consciously being aware of the truth I had hidden from myself has removed the strain my mind has been under for far longer than could be healthy for anyone."

Bella felt she should not ask. She could sense it was something horrible and that Aro would not tell her anyway.

"It is a very good thing that I remembered, angel. Ultimately. It is for the best. For me and everyone else."

She really shouldn't ask, but- "Why did you make yourself forget in the first place? If it was something so important?"

"I must confess I had deemed it the best course of action at the time. Perhaps it was the wrong thing to do."

Bella did not ask further. It was… it was not anything that she had any right to know-

"I was in a worst frame of mind when I decided upon denial as a most wonderful solution to my woes, even if I knew all along that it would spell inevitable trouble for me in the future, however distant I wished it would be. But I cared not at the time. I could not stand to be in so much pain. All I had wanted was for the pain to stop, angel." What on Earth had happened to him?

"Sometimes rationale abandons us." Aro concluded and gave her one of his impossibly kind looks.

Bella immediately looked down to the ground, ashamed.

"I'm sorry for running off like that… in Seattle… I don't know what came over me. I didn't want to be difficult, Aro, I promise. I knew running was pointless, and stupid, I just… it's hard to explain." She bit her lip and looked up from the floor to him, her vision blurry.

Aro slowly reached for her, letting her know exactly what he was going to do before he took Bella's hand, looping his cold, hard but incredibly pleasant to the touch fingers through her own.

"Angel. I'm not mad." His other hand reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, chillingly soft pads of his pale fingers lightly ghosting over her cheek and the side of her face, behind her ear. He had somehow gotten so close to her again-

Bella felt betraying heat rising to her cheeks and shifted from one foot to the other.

"Is this elevator taking a really long time to ride up or is your castle actually a skyscraper?"

Aro's eyes gained a twinkle while his mouth twisted into one of his ridiculously happy smiles, "We are still moving up, you are completely correct. However, I dare say no time has passed."

Bella frowned and cocked her head at him.

"What?"

"Time is such a relative, malleable concept, angel. It can be warped to suit our wishes if one only knows how. From time to time." Aro added, the upturned corners of his mouth forming an impish grin.

"I don't understand." He was not making sense again.

"Our lift ride is almost over, Isabella." Aro said in place of a better explanation as he squeezed her hand and pressed a soft, cool kiss to her temple. And indeed, a moment later the elevator rose up to a well-lit level, coming to a smooth, almost unnoticeable halt, and its doors opened to a beautiful lobby and she was lead out of the elevator by Aro.

Well-lit meaning a spectacular crystal chandelier hanging twenty meters above the ground and illuminating every corner of the room completely and casting everything in it under a soft rose hue. By all means, it should be too bright for her eyes, she should be dazzled by the brightness, but Bella supposed the rose tint played a part in transforming the light, somehow, to an intense yet perfectly bearable level.

(Perhaps Aro was right in thinking she will get over her newly awakened fear of him. After all, she had been so scared of him on Ruby Beach, but her fear had disappeared quickly enough. Bella really hoped this time would be no different. She knew she had never felt such contradicting emotions at the same time. To feel terrified in the presence of the person she was falling in love with was rather inconvenient and seriously messed with her head.)

Abruptly, Aro let go of her hand and Bella instinctively took a step back because a flying, person-sized object was rapidly approaching them and collided with Aro the next moment, the impact causing him to slide a few steps backwards on the smooth marble floor-

"Papino!"

The high, childlike voice belonged to a small, dark-clad, blond-haired person who was most definitely a vampire and had wrapped her thin arms and legs around Aro and, by the looks of it, was attempting to crush Aro to death.

"Jane." Aro affectionately greeted, the side of his head resting on the top of Jane's head.

So this was Aro's infamous daughter. She… didn't look like someone who tortured people for (fun) a living.

"Mi sei mancato così tanto!"

"Anch'io, angioletto mio."

"Felix-"

"-Bambina. Lo so."

Finally, the girl's hold on Aro eased off enough for her to easily lean back, a little, her crimson eyes suddenly trained on Bella. She looked… Aro's daughter looked like a real fucking angel; Bella wouldn't be surprised if Aro's daughter had been captured in one of the Renaissance paintings and had her portrait hanging on the wall in a museum somewhere.

All Jane was missing were wings-

"E questo chi cazzo è?" Jane asked without any emotion whatsoever. In her voice or on her cherubic face. The absence of feeling underlying her words made the little hairs on Bella's arms stand on end. What the f -

"La tua sorellina."

That got a proper reaction because Jane whipped her head at Aro, shock evident on her adorable features, her eyes round as an owl's-

Which suddenly were right in front of Bella and looking up at her, not one foot between them, the action so swift Bella would have taken another step back had she missed Jane jumping out of Aro's arms, but she had caught it-

The deceptively young vampire stared up at her, her eyes narrowed and gaze intense; Bella couldn't help but think Jane was actively attempting to figure out a complex problem-

"I'm Bella." Bella offered Jane her hand. Jane didn't so much as blink, still staring at Bella with unwavering crimson gaze but, nonetheless, Jane shook Bella's hand. Very slowly. Aro's daughter was undoubtedly an intimidating little thing… and looked like those creepy life-sized dolls in horror movies. Bella thought that not many people could withstand her undivided attention for long without succumbing to terror or the impulse to run the opposite direction, even if it would mean jumping off the top of a building-

"She is very young, isn't she? Alec and I had thought you didn't want any more children, Father."

"Sometimes children come into our lives unexpectedly. By Fate's design." Aro explained.

A crooked smile drew up on Jane's angelic features and she turned back to Bella.

"Welcome to the family. Little sister." Jane said in a queasy sweet voice and an even sweeter smile which made Bella think of diabetes. Bella was unsure if Jane was even doing this on purpose. Perhaps she really meant well… Plus it was so weird to be called 'little sister' by such a tiny girl-

"…Thanks."

Jane's eyes glinted with tremendous amusement, for an instant, before she collected herself, clasped her hands together behind her back and glided a couple of steps backwards.

"Father." Jane bowed her head a little before she looked back up, her lips curling skywards when she glanced at Bella one last time, "Little sister," and turned to walk down the hallway, her hands still clasped together on her retreating back.

If Bella had thought Aro unpredictable, he had nothing on Jane-

"HA! HAAA! HAAAAAA- AAAAHAHA-"

If it were possible with Aro's venom in her veins, Bella's heart would have given out; she would have tripped down to the smooth marble floor, if Aro's steady hands had not caught her because-

Without warning, the lobby was filled with psychotic laughter. Insane, ear-splittingly loud cackles that cut into her very bones, making them ache under the pressure of that ultrasoundesque frequency.

"HA HAAA! HAAAAA-AAA HAAAAAHAAAAAAA- HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Jane was still walking away, but her head was thrown back and her arms had wrapped around her middle, convulsions running through her delicate frame-

"AAAAAALLLEEEEEEEC!"

Her high cry diminished in volume as she walked into a hallway to her right, but she kept laughing and calling for her brother-

"Jane was in a good mood." Aro quietly remarked, similarly looking in the direction his crazy daughter had disappeared off to, and let out a small, relieved breath. He turned back to Bella and flashed her a bright, toothy smile, "She liked you, angel. Just as I knew she would."

…

…

Bella just stared at him, too shocked get a sound past her lips.

…Did he really. …How. How. Was Aro honestly this blind when it came to his daughter? Or was Bella simply a bad judge of character?

"Aro…" She. Didn't know how to continue. And Bella didn't want to upset him. But. … Jesus.

Where to even begin?

"Yes, angel?" Aro tilted his head, attentive and mirthful while Jane's hysteric laugh was still heard by Bella even if it became more distant the more walls Jane put between herself and them.

"…Nothing."

Aro's bright smile dimmed.

"Child. I cannot tell what is wrong it you do not confide in me. You can tell me anything." Aro kindly said, leaning in and peering into her eyes as he took her hands in his again. Bella did not flinch. She did not. "Anything."

Aro sighed.

"What am I going to do with you …" he shook his head. "Come on, love."

He started to lead her through the brightly lit lobby- "This is the reception area. This is where Signorina Camilli works- …worked." Aro pointed to a long glass secretary desk and stopped dead in his tracks.

There was a small pile of colourful envelopes on the glass desk. All of them were addressed to 'Phillippa', "Miss Camilli", "Bellezza", "Signora Camilli", "Fragolina", "Belle" and many more which were under the top ones, so Bella could not see what was written on them. Placed in the middle of the transparent desktop and partially covered by the letters was a closed silver laptop. On the other side of the laptop was a mountain of chocolates, cookies, candies, wrapped presents and plush toys, and several blooming Christmas cacti, orchids, spider lilies, amaryllis- all of them blood red.

"Gifts from admirers, I take it?" Bella weakly asked. Judging from Aro's empty, soulless eyes, which had turned from bright red to completely black, Bella had guessed right.

Aro blurred to the desk and started ripping into the letters and letting them drop to the floor one by one after he scanned them. The crimson letter addressed to 'Belle' apparently had a slightly different content than the previous ones as it elicited a furious hiss from Aro and caught fire the moment it fell from Aro's grip. Fast forward another fifteen or so letters with various degrees of hissing and muttering and spluttering, the one at the very bottom of the pile ripped away a deep growl from Aro's throat and was crumbled in his fist so thoroughly, it turned to dust.

Huh. There was no such thing as a right to private correspondence in this place, was there?

Aro was taking levelled breaths while his head slowly turned to the sweets and the rest of the presents.

The sweets and the presents went up in blue flames. As did the flowers. And the opened letters at Aro's feet. They burned without smoke until all evidence of them ever existing was erased.

Aro cleared his throat.

"The food was contaminated," Aro said, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

"The letters?"

"Untoward."

"…And the flowers?"

"It will do you good to learn that it is better to be safe than sorry, angel."

"…Ah-huh."

"Let us not linger here any longer. You must be exhausted, dear." Aro said as he gently steered her down the hallway past a grand, blackened silver door which was carved with incredible detail, 'the throne room', according to Aro; down the corridor then up, then down again to the left and to the right, then up again-

Aro's castle was ginormous. But Bella was confident she could make her way back to the garage, if she wanted. Probably. Even if the hallways all looked the same and had no windows. Yeah… not likely. Aro's hand was lightly resting between her shoulder blades.

"Aro, it's very beautiful here." It really was. "And I'm not saying this just because it's the polite thing to do."

"Thank you, Isabella."

They went up another set of stairs, "The Castle is mostly my sister Didyme's creation. The design of the structure, the colour schemes, the décor, the stained glass. Architectural elements…" Aro turned his eyes up to the ceiling and the walls, "…The one child she loved like no other."

They entered a corridor which had emerald green tapestry and jet black floor which, if Bella had to guess, was made from volcanic glass.

"These are Renata's rooms," Aro nodded to the right to a beautifully engraved ebony door, "and those belong to Signorina Camilli," Aro indicated to a practically identical door to Renata's a few metres ahead but on the opposite side of the hallway to where Renata's rooms were located.

Bella made a guess that Aro's rooms were behind the only remaining double doors at the far end of the green-black corridor.

To Bella the Castle had seemed enormous. But this corridor shrank too fast for that to possibly be the case. Aro's doors came closer. And so did Bella's anxiety because she knew she was looking at the doors of her cage.

She couldn't do it.

She couldn't walk through those doors.

Bella stopped walking.

"Angel?" Bella's panicked eyes shot to Aro's concerned face. She felt all blood leave her face. "Angel, what is the matter?"

Bella opened her mouth, but clicked it shut immediately, all the time stepping back and shaking her head.

"Angel…" Bella hated, hated to put that saddened, that crestfallen expression on his face-

"Aro. I… I can't." She paid one swift, jumpy look to Aro's doors. "I can't go in there."

"Why not?" Aro whispered, wide-eyed, leaning closer to her, curious again.

Bella found Aro's black eyes which were awaiting her answer and she replied in an equally quiet whisper, "You won't let me out."

His expression did not change, he was still as a statue, but Bella's heart started to throb painfully because she knew she was dead right. The answer had come to her with perfect clarity. Out of nowhere. Just like before those stairs in the Cullens' house right before Edward had charged at them. Aro hadn't planned on letting her out of there. He did not look surprised. Nor did he try to deny it-

"Please. Aro." Was this how claustrophobic people felt like? Bella felt as if she'd suffocate if she was made to step inside his rooms… trapped with no way out… Locked inside for hours… alone-

"Please. Please. Don't make me." She knew she was begging. But what else could she do? "Aro…" And then Bella saw how regret and request for forgiveness found home in those beautiful black eyes- No... Please, God, no-

"Isabella," no no no, he was doing that hypnotic-magic thing with his voice, the one she could not do anything against, but listen to- "there is nothing for you to fear behind those d-"

A few meters behind Bella a door cracked open-

"She can stay with me." Renata's voice interrupted Aro's mind magic before it could snare her in properly. Bella doubted she had ever felt greater gratitude towards another person before.

Aro and Renata were staring at each other. Staring unblinkingly. One minute ticked by. Then two minutes. Three-

Aro was the first to blink and shifted his bottomless black eyes to Bella, "Would you rather prefer to stay with Renata?"

Bella frantically nodded. "Yes."

"Alright, angel."

She was so fucking relieved, and so, so thankful to Renata. And to Aro. For agreeing. For not making her his captive behind those heavy-looking doors. But Bella couldn't shake the feeling that she had made him sad. Nobody should make him sad, least of all her-

Bella cleared the short distance between them and wrapped herself around him in a tight hug. His sweet scent was just as lovely as always, "Thank you, Mr Very Evil Vampire."

Bella kissed his cheek before letting go.

"Of course, Little Lamb." Aro replied.

Maybe… Maybe in time she will be able to step past those intimidating doors and inside those dangerous rooms.

Renata was patiently waiting for them to walk back to where she was leaning against the doorframe by her open door.

"Thanks, Renata." Bella quietly thanked from the bottom of her heart when they stopped by the lovely vampiress who had changed into a dark green brocade corset over a white blouse and had put on skinny black jeans.

Renata gave a slight nod, and then tonelessly added, "Nobody should feel like a prisoner inside their own home." And the two vampires were back to staring at each other. And again, Aro was the first to look away.

"Angel."

"…Yes?"

"Behave." Aro smirked and pecked Bella's lips. She swore her heart skipped a couple of beats. There was no way this could be healthy-

Bella didn't understand why Aro's smirk bled into something which could only be described as wicked. She didn't have to wait long to figure it out because Aro grabbed a handful of Renata's long hair in his fist right above her head and pinned her to the wall by it, causing Renata to release a startled, painful gasp, which was all Aro needed to press his lips on Renata's parted ones and stick his tongue inside Renata's mouth-

Bella's eyes saw what was happening, but her brain refused to process it. Well, she felt as if she was plunged into an ice-hole.

Despite all their reassurances to the contrary and Renata's apparent initial shock, they had begun kissing like there was no tomorrow-

Up until Aro let out an angry hiss and his right hand which was not in Renata's hair shot to his mouth, because by the looks of if, Renata had bitten his bottom lip so bad that colourless yet shiny liquid seeped through his fingers and down his hand.

"Putain!" Renata hissed and then slapped him. Hard. And made Bella jolt back. She had never heard such a horrible sound before, something alike glass hitting glass but not quite.

Aro's head whipped away from the force of the hit and he barely managed to stay on his feet.

When Aro turned back to face Renata, the left side of his face, which was closer to Bella and coincidentally the one that had suffered the blow, had several deep cracks in it while his cheek was riddled with countless thinner hairline fractures, still spreading further even now, like a spider's web. Or cracking ice-

Jesus Christ.

Sexual assault, followed by good old domestic violence.

Regardless of what it had looked like, Bella knew most of the interaction had flown over her head. Just the same as that Christmas bachata or Aro and Renata's fight after he had made Bella drink that wine-

"The fuck, Aro!" Renata spat as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Meanwhile, venom was seeping through the cracks of Aro's face and slowly trickling down his neck. If it had been blood running through his veins instead of venom, half his face would be blood red.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you didn't hold back at all." Aro dryly murmured something Bella didn't understand as he licked over his bitten lip and wiped off even more venom which had begun to sluggishly leak from his nose. "Enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Immensely. I'm surprised you have to ask. Don't put your tongue down my throat next time you want me to break your face." Renata angrily retorted. To which Aro grinned and let out a bright pearly laugh, so very inappropriate for the current situation. Those two… those two bloody lying vampires.

"Thank you, dearest." Now this bit Bella's limited knowledge of Italian allowed her to understand.

"You're fucking welcome, Master."

Aro snorted. He took a few steps closer to Renata, crowded her against the wall again and leaned down to press a long, tender kiss to Renata's closed mouth. Now this kiss made Bella uncomfortable for a diametrically opposite reason. It was like looking at the positive and negative of the same film. Soon enough, however, Aro stepped back and headed off somewhere into the Castle's depths-

"Bella, come on," Renata's red lips were glistening with Aro's venom. It was impossible to pull her eyes off them- impossible - Renata cleared the venom off by licking it away with her light pink tongue.

Bella couldn't help but think it was a very good thing Demetri didn't witness this. Cause that poor guy was crazy in love with Renata. And so, so jealous of Aro. And also hot as hell-

"Stop daydreaming and get in here!" Renata called. She had retreated inside, but was keeping the door open for Bella.

"Sorry!" Bella muttered, feeling the beginnings of a blush spreading up her neck, and hurried inside Renata's rooms. "Thank you for… for letting me stay with you. And not-" Bella looked to the general direction to where Aro's rooms were. "Just. Thanks."

Renata's living room, as far as Bella could tell, looked to be taken out of a Victorian era movie set. Different shades of green, blue and grey. Candles burning in candelabras on a shiny glass table in the middle of the room, on shelves by the windows, windows which were drawn shut with floor length curtains.

"Master can be a real fucking bastard sometimes." Renata said without a care. As if nothing outside the norm had happened in the hallway just now- "Aro knows it's a very bad thing to put spells on humans, especially the kind which fucks with your psyche."

Renata flopped down on a cushioned sofa so Bella deemed it safe to sit or rather lean against the comfy velvet armrest of one of the green armchairs.

"Then… why did he try to do it anyway?"

"He's worried something might happen to you, Little Lamb. Locking you up diminishes that risk. Somewhat."

Right.

"How long can I stay here with you?"

"Until your turning. After… we'll see when that time comes."

"And when will that be?"

Renata thought for a bit before decidedly announcing: "Next Christmas."

…

…

…

"WHAAAT? Next Christmas?! You're joking!"

Renata grinned, "Not at all."

"Renata… that's… That's a whole year from now!"

"Bella. That year is a gift. Treat it as such."

"But-"

"Your body is still growing, bambina. Still maturing. Trust me, you'll be forever grateful looking a little less like a child than you do right now. Master's twins would have given anything to have been gifted with even one additional human year before they were bitten."

"Had it been at all possible, you would have spent the next ten as a human, before Master would grant you immortality."

"You're… serious."

"Dead serious. As serious as can be," Renata replied with a mysterious smile on her full, red lips. Lips which were not glistening with Aro's venom anymore. "Sooo sooo serious-"

"Both of you were dead serious there was nothing going on between you two."

Renata's deadly teeth sank into her bottom lip but the corners of her mouth still turned up despite that- "A stolen kiss is all he's ever going to get from me."

"Renata…"

Renata's disposition clouded over, a little, like the sun hiding behind a cloud in an otherwise cyan blue sky, but it was still there, the sun, behind this imaginary, floating cloud, "Look." Renata sighed, "Aro and I… you will hear all sorts of rumours travelling around here. Some of those - very unflattering for both of us. Very unflattering. Most of those unflattering rumours are lies, Bella. Lies. Taken out of context, purely fictional or exaggerated beyond what is reasonable. They are not true. Do not make the mistake of believing in them. That kiss out there? It meant nothing. How to better put it…?" Renata let out a frustrated breath and turned her face skyward, trying to find the answer on her lime green ceiling. "We like to play with each other. There is this ongoing game between Master and I. Aro thrives on being unpredictable. I admit, that move was very well played and very much out of left field…"

"Right…" She didn't know what to think. Renata sounded so candid and open. Baring her soul open as if trying to make Bella see. But… the thing was… try as she might, Bella could not see or even grasp the things Renata was trying to put into words. "Okay. But what about…"

"Yes?"

"The second one. What about that second one."

"The second one." Renata slowly parroted.

"Mhm."

Renata's red lips curled into a slow grin. It was still beautiful, but somehow Bella did not like how it looked. "We love each other. Aro's a helpless romantic when it comes to the ones he loves. And he's a drama queen."

That Bella could see. That wasn't overly surprising. …Right? "…Noted."

"I'll give you a bit of a warning and advice, Little Lamb, before we find you something more suited to wear for this place. Are you listening?"

Bella nodded.

"If you go down that hallway -" Renata threw a loaded look to where Aro's rooms were located somewhere behind the wall Renata was nodding at, "it's a one way ticket for you, Bella."

Bella frowned. "What does that mean exactly?"

Renata had a really annoying habit of talking in metaphors, didn't she. Bella guessed she'll simply have to get better at deciphering them.

"Master does not like to share."

Bella squinted. "…Okay?"

"That goes beyond blood. Not sharing."

Bella squinted harder. "Alright?"

"If you decide to stay with him, you stay with him forever."

Bella frowned.

"Aro does not tolerate betrayal."

"Um…"

"Any kind of betrayal."

Evidently, Bella's clueless face was enough for Renata to give up-

"Girl. He'll kill you if you ever cheat on him. And he'll kill you if you ever tried to leave him. This is not a joke, Bella. Your gift won't matter, nor will his love for you. You'll be dead. Period."

…

Bella must have heard wrong. Because this did not make sense, what Renata had just said.

Bella's eyelids were blinking rapidly; somehow, there was a heavy lump in her throat, one which hadn't been there a second ago.

"…what."

"You still have a choice here, Bella. Had I not interrupted the two of you in the Crescent lodge when I did, there wouldn't be any such choice for you left."

Bella knew she was gaping at Renata like a God-damned goldfish, her jaw having loosened in her shock, but that-

That didn't make any sense.

She couldn't believe-

That couldn't be-

"That doesn't sound like something Aro would-"

"Aro has a few screws loose. Some of them have been lost for millennia. Some might have been missing from the very beginning. I'm sure you've noticed by now."

"Why would he-"

"That I don't know. Sorry. I thought you might want to be aware of the fact there is a fine print to that relationship, because Aro won't tell you. Not before it's too late."

Renata kept talking.

Bella doubted she could talk at all right now-

"You won't be able to change your mind later on. Not about this. Be damn sure you want his heart, because he'll give it all to you, bambina, eternity's the limit." Renata whispered with a loving smile which lighted up her face and her wine eyes. But then it fell as her eyes drifted to Bella's, "But if you break it-"

Bella frantically shook her head, "I wouldn't-"

"If you break his heart," Renata talked over Bella, "that's your song, Miss Swan."

Renata cocked her head to the side, "Do you understand?"

God… wha… What even… God. Bella painfully swallowed. "I… Yes. …I understand."

Renata kept shrewdly watching her for a few beats (while Bella was on the edge of Renata's green velvet armchair, on the verge of freaking out from this conversation) but soon enough deemed the topic closed because-

"Good. Now! Jump into the shower while I get you something to wear. That useless bellboy still hasn't shown up with our luggage so I'll lend you something of mine while we get something new for you."

"Renata, I know you know I don't have any-"

"Bella! Chill out, girl… we kidnapped you, it falls on to us to feed and clothe you. Teach you Italian. Show you around the place. Get you one of these nice, black, plastic cards." Renata waved a shiny black credit card which had somehow appeared in Renata's hands out of nowhere and which she was juggling between her knuckles from one side of her hand to the other, an adoring smile on her lips.

Renata dreamily sighed, "I've yet to reach its limit…" Renata looked up and grinned, "I don't think it has any."

.

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Notes:

Papino! (Italian) - Daddy!

Mi sei mancato così tanto! (Italian) - I've missed you so much!

Anch'io, angioletto mio. (Italian) - So have I, my little angel.

Bambina. Lo so. (Italian) - Child. I know.

E questo chi cazzo è? (Italian) – And who the fuck is this?

La tua sorellina. (Italian) – Your little sister.

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Thank you for your reviews! I'm glad you had fun reading this fic!

Sadly, this is it for now. I predict it will be quite a while until the final chapter is here. ...But anyway! Thanks for reading! Hope you have a wonderful day! Cheers! ;)