Demetri stood there by the door still as a statue. It was so quiet, and I did not know what to say. He did not seem one quick to converse either, so I sat there in silence thinking over it all. My grandfather knew everything, and my grandmother did before my grandfather was killed as well. Nonno set everything up for them, for me to be here right now. He made the transition as easy as he possibly could without giving anything away.

I thought back to fifteen years ago when I had happened upon Aro the very first time. The memory was not there really, I was too young to remember so vividly, but some part of me did. I knew now what had happened, at least I was fairly sure I did, what was said at that time to tie me to this coven, to him.

Standing up, I walked over to the desk still littered with books and antique writing utensils. Demetri's eyes followed my form in curiousity. I found the book that had been lying there before on parapsychology. It greatly interested me in more ways than one. What was it that Aro was looking for?

"You probably shouldn't mess with what is on the desk."

My eyes met Demetri's, and I replied, "It's just this book. Why would Aro be studying something like this?"

"What is it?"

"An Introduction to Parapsychology. It seems like an odd thing to want to research."

"I do not find it odd at all. It's a matter of understanding all that goes on in the world including that of gifted humans. Aro has a profound interest in such things."

Biting my lip, I opened the book slowly and found the table of contents. I glanced through them before opening the book to pages that had been marked with yellow sticky notes, Aro's own notes written neatly in once again, a language I did not understand. The first page I opened to immediately spoke about extrasensory perception. I had heard of ESP before, all humans have the ability to some extent.

I drew my finger down the page quickly reading discovering terms such as telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience, precognition, and retrocognition, then further down from that, psychokinesis. It seemed otherworldly, but at the same time, was I not also gifted in a certain way such as these?

"I suppose I can see the curiosity in all of it." I sighed before asking, "What language is this?"

Demetri made his way over to the desk and peered down. "That's Greek. At least some of it." He pointed to a couple of words below it. "This here is Latin. You can see the difference in the lettering."

"Do you read either?"

"I do, but it is not our place to be looking through the master's notes." Demetri promptly took the book from me and closed it before placing it back where it was on the desk. "Such things will only bring castigation."

"Castigation? Really?"

"It's originally from the Latin 'castigatus.' Your first lesson." He smiled as he spoke, and I sent him one back as I rolled my eyes.

It was quiet again for a moment before I finally spoke. "Do you know how much longer he'll be? At least an estimate?"

"It could be a while. The situation is not an easily decided one. Why?"

"He says I'm not trapped here," I replied looking at the floor, "that I'm not locked up here, but I feel like I am. I can't leave this building. I'm probably not even allowed to leave this room without him, am I?"

"That there is really for your own safety," Demetri answered.

"Well, what about my parents? If they don't hear from me…"

"I'm sure Aro will make arrangements."

"You do realize that my parents, at least my Dad knew something was wrong. That was why we left, or at least I'm beginning to presume that more and more the more I learn about all of this. If I end up missing, what do you think he'll do? I had to call to tell them that Nonna passed away just over a week after my grandfather. Don't you think that will raise some suspicion especially if I just disappear off the face of the planet?"

"As I said, Aro will make arrangements. We do know what we're doing after all."

"Don't tell me it's not the first time you've done this?"

"It's been awhile since anyone new has joined the coven, but we do have centuries of practice in coming up with excuses." Demetri stated it as if it were nothing.

"Like my grandfather for instance, not performing an autopsy when one absolutely should have been performed," I replied a little more harshly than I had meant to, but at the same time, maybe I did mean it.

"Why perform an autopsy when we're aware of how he died. Autopsies are done to ascertain cause of death. His cause of death was known."

"Because you killed him." I turned away from Demetri as an angry tear threatened to fall. Angry, or maybe scared. I did not know anymore which was which. Both emotions seemed to collide in the moment. I could not stay here, but I had no choice. I needed to leave. I had to leave. Somehow, I had to get out of here.

Demetri sighed. "We're back to that again?"

I stepped away from him and made my way back into the bedroom, slamming the door and falling onto the bed. How the hell was I going to get out of here? There had to be some way. Emilio. Maybe he could… but he was in Siena. If I could contact him…

A tear slipped out, and I brushed it away immediately. Looking down at my wrist, now in a splint, I wondered how long exactly it would take to heal. They were strong, and Aro was not above threatening me. I had no doubt in my mind that he had not been joking when he talked about truly "locking me up" earlier just to prove a point. There was no way I was going down however without a fight. I would make it work. I would have a say in this whether he liked it or not.

Sitting back up, I took another look at my suitcase. I would not unpack completely. My clothes needed to stay right there just in case. Easy access after all. Maybe I could play along for a while, play his little game of house.

I hissed as a pain shot through my chest. It hurt to even think about running, but what choice did I have? I did not have any feelings for or about him except hate. I would not allow myself to feel anything different. He was a murderer. Even if he had not killed my grandparents himself, he was apart of it indirectly. They were his orders, his decision. I could not forgive him for that.

Demetri said he was thinking of me the whole time. No, he was thinking only of himself and his wants and desires, and none of that had to do with what I wanted or desired. I just wanted everything to be normal, I wanted to be normal, and this was the furthest thing from normal that there was. The stories were fun as a child, and perhaps, yes, they did still pique my curiosity but only because they reminded me of my grandfather, but to actually be apart of them, absolutely not.

As spacious as the room was, I began to feel claustrophobic and closed my eyes, bending my head as nausea set in. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. And a part of me wanted him to come back. "Aro…"

A/N: I live for reviews. :)