Just a quick note. I wrote something in much earlier chapters that I will be going back to fix since I would rather not deal with it in this story to the extent that I would need to should I keep it the way it is now. This is the fact that Aro accidentally dislocates Lia's wrist. I will change it soon, but for now, just know that her wrist was not dislocated. It was only bruised and a splint was used for a short time period because it would hurt to move it around. Therefore, at this point, it is no longer applicable to the story.

Days passed on, and I realized that after talking to Corin and Chelsea, I had been given a different perspective on things. While I would not say I was overjoyed with the situation as it was, I understood Aro's need better to keep me protected. However, we still rarely spoke.

At night, he would watch me go off to bed with a frown and longing eyes. I understood what he wanted, but I stood my ground that I needed some space and that it would be difficult to sleep knowing that he was there. Whether he ever came in before I awoke or not was a question I could not answer, but every morning, I would either find him at his desk working or I would see Demetri over on the sofa, nose in a book.

When Aro was around, we kept our distance. I went back to reading or even writing as he had offered me pen and paper when I mentioned that he could not expect me to sit in the room all day reading like Demetri seemed inclined to do. I was surprised when I received the pen from him seeing as I never saw him use one himself, but I made no comment and simply thanked him.

Occasionally, I would listen to music on a very old radio Chelsea had brought in for me. It had been a long time since I had to scan through stations rather than press a button to a number. Aro also seemed to take a liking to the thing and found a station he enjoyed which played classical and baroque period style music all day. He introduced me to some of the composers by mentioning them when pieces would play and how he had often been at some of their premieres. But these times were rare. Aro was gone more often than not, and I was usually left to the mercy of Demetri or Renata.

Renata and I got along well. She was quiet, but I had found out she had been changed by her uncle at only a year older than I was. She adored Aro with every part of her being. It was not quite love but a mixture of admiration and captivation. The whole eagerness of wanting and needing to be near Aro at all times was a little unnerving though she said she did not mind being around me either. It was her duty to protect us both.

I was curious to know more about her as she was about me, so one day I asked her about her shield. If this particular gift was supposed to be what kept us safe, then I wanted to know exactly how it worked. What I did not expect was for her to stand up and tell me to follow her which I gladly did to get out of that room.

We made our way down the hall and up a flight of stairs at the end before we continued down another corridor and into another room. Inside the room sat Demetri and the large male vampire I had seen with him the day I met Aro. They both looked up and Demetri asked if something was wrong. Renata replied that there wasn't, but that I wanted to see how her shield worked.

The large vampire, whom I later learned was called Felix, laughed at her statement. Demetri then replied that he could be the one she shows it on then if he thought it was so funny. At this point, I was still confused as to what was going on, so Renata explained.

"Felix is going to attack you, but don't worry. I won't allow him to harm you."

Felix pouted. "Why do I always get stuck with the dirty work?"

"That is because you are the muscles of the operation while I am the brains," Demetri answered in kind which caused Renata to giggle and Felix to scowl.

I watched him as he took a sort of stance on the side of the room he was on. When he rushed over, I stepped back, but it did not matter. He immediately stopped and left the room muttering about how he had to be somewhere. I followed him with my eyes as he walked down the hall, and Demetri shook his head.

"That's how Renata's gift works. It repels physical attacks by causing the attacker confusion. The attacker wonders what they were doing there in the first place and will often leave to attend to something else that was implanted in their mind."

Turning to Demetri I asked, "But her gift doesn't work against your tracking ability, does it? She wouldn't be able to shield me from you ever tracking me down."

"I see you've been told about what I can do then. No, it would not block my ability to track as that is a mental ability, not physical."

"How far exactly can you track a person?"

Renata glanced over at me with a frown while Demetri replied, "Over a great distance."

"How great of a distance?"

"Why do you ask? Are you still planning on trying to leave even knowing that you wouldn't stand a chance?" I watched Renata as she walked over to Demetri and slapped him on the arm. "What was that for?"

"Don't threaten her," she answered.

"It wasn't a threat. It was a fact. You know as well as I that she's not allowed to leave while she's still human. It's safer for her here."

"Wait, Demetri, you mean, when I'm like you, Aro would let me leave?"

"I didn't say that exactly. You have to understand that your old life can no longer be. You are one of us now because you are important to Aro, more important than any of us here. It is something we, as vampires, understand better than humans do."

It was at that moment that Felix came back into the room and sat back down in the chair he had been sitting previously when Renata and I had walked in. "Are we going to finish this game or not?"

Demetri looked back over at him with a smile before returning to a seated position himself. "If you think you still have a chance of winning."

Renata and I parted from the room and walked back down the corridor to the stairs. Both of us were silent for the longest time except my footsteps which sounded loud compared to her feet that practically glided across the floor. However, when we reached the bottom of the stairwell, she stopped. "Why do you want to leave? Why would you ever want to leave him? Don't you understand that he's in love with you? How could that not make you happy?"

There was so much pain on her face that my heart sunk. How was I supposed to answer her? To be honest, hearing her say it out loud, that Aro loved me, took me back. While it was a fact that I already knew, I did not accept it. Hearing his endearments did nothing for me, but when Renata spoke it, it was different.

"Renata," I sighed. "How can I love someone I've only barely met? How can I be happy when so much has been taken away from me? All of you, Corin, Chelsea, even Demetri, keep telling me that I should be happy, that there's a reason for everything he has to do. I understand that. It's not as if I hate him. I feel like, I have grown slightly more attached to him since I've been here, but that's not love. I don't want to hurt him though I feel conflicted. For some reason, I want him to be happy, too, but I can't be happy with all that's happened."

She made to reply, but it was in that moment that I had another flash of something across my vision. She watched me curiously as I paused in thought and watched it take place. It was like a daydream, but a very strong feeling that very soon, something was going to change. Whether that something was for the better or for the worse was not implied.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," I answered while beginning to walk again back to Aro's quarters. Renata followed beside me, quiet as I am sure she pondered what had just occurred, so I continued. "However, I really am curious about all these gifts and abilities. It's not all about me trying to escape as Demetri put it. I know that's not possible. The thing is, if I am going to join you one day, as a vampire, I want to know exactly what I'm getting myself into so hopefully I can understand my own gift better as well. Aro says that my gift will be stronger than it is now, so exactly how strong can that be? The reason I am curious about Demetri's gift is because Aro said he was the best tracker in the world. That must mean he can track someone almost anywhere."

We had reached Aro's door at this point, and she nodded. "Yes, just about."

"But how far exactly does it extend? I mean, is it so strong that he could track someone from here that was say in the US?"

"He could," Renata replied. "It is difficult to say the exact distance of his ability as many places we have had no need to track a vampire to before."

"Like where?"

"There has never been any need for us to go to Australia for example or even much of South America. He could perhaps track that far, but more than likely, he would need to travel some ways in those directions to pick up on a person's trail."

"So he's not all powerful then," I smiled. "As long as I know there's not a chance my gift might make my head explode once I'm like you then I think it will be okay."

"If that were possible, Aro's would have done so centuries ago."

Now I was even more curious as to what his ability was. He had yet to tell me and the more I thought about it, the more I worried if he was using it on me. If he was, would I be able to tell? Would I be able to tell if any of them were using their gifts on me? Aro had said that most of them were extremely gifted. In fact, I only knew about Demetri's gift and Renata's, no one else's. Why was that?

"Renata, what exactly can Aro do?"

With a small hum she shook her head. "You should ask him. It's one thing to speak of Demetri's gift, but I would not dare speak of the master's without consent. He will want to tell you himself when the time is right."

"Do you know if he's using it on me now?"

"No, he's not using it on you now. It doesn't work that way. Listen, Lia, about before, give him a chance, okay? He's new to this as well, Sulpicia aside."

I rolled my eyes. "Right, let's not forget about his wife."

"Corin says that she wants to meet you."

"His wife?"

"Yes. Maybe the two of you can figure him out together."

"Or she would have the chance to kill me for stealing him from her."

Renata laughed at this, and the sound was music. Every time my ears heard it, I could not believe it was real coming from her. "There could never be any hatred in her. There is more than one kind of love."

Days continued to pass, and Aro began looking in on me more often, but things stayed the same. We talked little with each other, not for lack of what to say, but every time I would ask a question about him or about the gifts of the others in the guard, he would shut it down saying that it was not important for me to know at that current moment. After, he would seem slightly irate and often step out of the room leaving me alone to ponder what exactly it was he did not want me knowing and why.

I knew that if anything was going to work for me to contact my family or Emilio or to step out of that building, I was going to have to do something about it myself. I was going to have to get Aro to trust me completely. That night, I apologized.

Aro came back in after some time of being away and glanced over at me on the sofa where I was resting, preparing myself for what I was about to do. "If you are tired, my dear, why do you not go to bed?"

I frowned and sat up. "I'm not tired. Well, maybe I am a little. But I was thinking. I really haven't been the greatest person since I got here. Everyone has been trying to tell me this in their own way, but I haven't listened. I'm not meaning to upset you. I only want to know more where I'm living and the people I'm communicating and living around. Wouldn't you want to know these things if you were brought into a strange environment with people you had only met?"

"Liliana, it is not this that upsets me so. I want you to want what I have to give you of your free will. I know this will come, but I have waited so long to find you that I admit I am impatient. It is not an easy task."

"I know, so maybe, we can form some sort of compromise for now."

"A compromise?"

"Yes," I nodded. "I want to meet the guard. One of the reasons I can't walk around here alone is because it's dangerous in case something accidentally happens. They know who I am, but I've only ever met a few. If I got to know them, and they became more used to the smell of my blood, I would be able to go around the building by myself, right? I don't like being dependent on others and this room gets stifling."

The room was quiet as he thought and I awaited his answer. He walked over to sit next to me on the sofa, but the last thing I wanted in that moment was to be touched, so I moved back away from him. "And yet you are still uncomfortable with my affections."

"I really do need time with that. We both know, as you just said, love doesn't happen overnight."

"Of course. I will give thought to what you have proposed. I have been wanting to introduce you to the rest of the guard but did not want to push you too soon. If you are comfortable now with the thought, you may meet them tomorrow."

"You mentioned someone else a few days ago. Someone you called Caius."

"Yes, you may meet him tomorrow as well. Though I will warn you, he is not as generous as Marcus or myself. Try not to let him intimidate you. He is often vehement and loves to play his games."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means, my love, that he does not take well to argument. While he will not harm you, he has pushed greatly for you to be changed sooner rather than later. He is not happy that you are still human. It would be in your best interest, and mine, to not provoke him. Getting him to calm is not child's play."

"He has a nasty temper then, huh?"

Aro laughed. "Yes, he most certainly does."

For the next hour or so, we sat there, Aro never taking his eyes off of me. He began humming a little tune, and I curled back up on the sofa in the position I had been in when he entered. Over time, my eyes softened and closed, and the last thing I felt was a heavy blanket being laid over me as I drifted off into my dreams.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please keep sending me reviews. I love getting to discuss things with my readers and getting to know you all! I am very excited about the next chapter to come.

I have had many of you PM and ask me about my book. If you are interested, please let me know in a review, and I will send you the details to check it out. For those who have gone and purchased it already, thank you so much! I appreciate your support more than you know. :)