AN: Why hello again everyone! ;) Thought I'd see who was left still reading this little work of art of mine and would like to say how happy I am to present you guys with this interesting chapter. For those of you just joining us, as I will mention below, I do recommend starting on chapter one if you are not too familiar. However for the rest you whom all may be wondering, and as I've heard from close friends reading along with you guys, "what in the world do the Volturi have in store for our heroes?" I would love to tell you guys, (oh how I wish I really could! It kills me and Seren for you guys not to know.) but like all good stories, great things come to those who wait.*sigh... Y'all know what comes next! ;D*
"Disclaimer": (The world of Twilight belongs to the main author Stephanie Meyer. However the story so far, are my thoughts of Bella and Edward if they were to have had twins.)
Nessie's POV:
(By the time that we walked through the halls and exited through the opening, I noticed that it was quite dark out, the stars blanketing the night sky as they blinked softly down at us. As I walked through the gardens, my breath seemed to leave me as Alec brought me over to a fountain of a girl dancing in the middle of the cool pool, water cascading from her hands as she twirled. "she's beautiful," I whispered softly as I gazed up at her, knowing the girl in the fountain couldn't have been real, and yet wishing in the back of my mind that Serenity was here with me to take in the scenery before me. "she was. At least from what I had heard," Alec murmured as he led me from the fountain to the rose hedges some distance away. I looked up at him, my eyes wide and childlike as an understanding dawned on me, my eyes then going back to the direction that we came from as I wondered again about that same girl. "I bet she must have been something then. I could only imagine who she could have been as a child," I mused, my legs trying to keep up with his strides. "it's possible she was. Then again, I wonder what you must have been like as well," he agreed as we reach an opening of the hedges.
Dark, midnight red petals stared back at us as I coughed gently, not too sure how I'd answer him. "I thought I'd show you something though. I'm sure you'd love it," Alec added a bit excited now, amusement and warmth wrapping around his words as he led me through the maze. Sighing briefly in relief, I couldn't help but wonder what it was that he had in mind. Every corner we turned, roses upon roses had us surrounded and I began to worry whether being with him here was a good idea. The thought of him rushing through the maze, only to end up being pricked or stabbed by the flowers' thorns had my heart pitter-pattering in my chest and made me recall of when I was younger. Made me think of times when grandpa Carlisle would check my height and when I would reach out after with my small hands to take the gooey red packages of O negative, from him with delight. It was a 'once in a blue-moon' kind of treat, one that my family had often discouraged me and Serenity from. It had been quite some time since I'd thought about those memories, so why did I think of them now? My heart gave a quick skip when I lost Alec from my field of sight, his scent mixing in gently with the roses that it was a bit difficult picking it up from the other aromas.
As I continued forward, I came to a fork in the shrubs that led in three different directions. I thought I was never going to find him, and as I made my way down the middle path, it began to veer over to the right side before coming to a dead-end. I doubled back to the fork, my feet swiftly rushing in long strides to make up for lost time before suddenly, I stood face-to-face with my mysterious tour-guide. Muddy eyes stared back at me as he then gave a gentle smile, his boyish grin making my voice stay caught in my throat. "I thought I'd lost you," he murmured softly as he extended his hand out to me. I shook my head, my cheeks burning slightly as I reached for his out-stretched arm. "I guess I should pay attention next time. I didn't think it'd be that difficult to find you in here," I said, looking up as I took in the stars again. "maybe we should tie a bell to your wrist next time? This way I know you won't be that far behind again," he joked lightly with a chuckle. I gasped with mock surprise, "where are we going anyway?" I probed, wondering if he'd tell me. "follow me and find out?" he added as he rose his brows at me in question. I sighed in reluctance and motioned for him to lead the way.
Making our way back to the fork, Alec led me down the left path, turning right and then another left, he then followed it straight as it opened to a small arbor. A few candle flames danced softly against the stone columns, the roof barley grazing the tops of hedges. From the bottom of the steps, moss seemed to creep up towards the pillars, twisting and turning as they planed the next step they should take in their plan of conquest. It was very beautiful, and I dared not to breathe so I couldn't shatter its peacefulness. Alec then moved my hands softly as he guided them over my eyes, my heart jumping little flips as I closed my eyes, waiting for the surprise. Something soft and velvety brushed along my temple, jaw, and cheek, small goosebumps making the hair on my arms rise as I struggled to keep my eyes shut. "almost done," he exhaled as he moved my hands away from my face, my eyes still shut as I waited for what came next. His hand tugged me forward softly, my feet grazing along the grass as he stopped and guided me up the steps I'd seen earlier. "you know, you can open them now if you'd like." Alec said in reference to my closed eyes as I felt something brush against my cheeks again.
I blushed as my hand went to my cheek to check for the object. I then felt something firm, a bit pointy and solid as I swept my fingers over my ear as I began to open my eyes. Feeling the length of it, I realized that it was a stem and that attached to the end was a blooming rose. Pulling it away without crushing the petals, I was able to see it better in the candlelight and could tell that it was different from the other ones that had us surrounded. Before I could ask, Alec pointed upward to the planter that was suspended above us, my eyes catching the rest of the white petals that were flecked with crimson. "thank you," I exhaled softly, my eyes a bit misty from the gesture as he replied with a "you're welcome." I was close to saying more, but at that moment, my stomach couldn't help but say that it was present and ready to be fed. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he let lose a low chuckle. "I think we can take care of that," he added when he was done. I ducked my head, wishing that there was a better time for it to happen, but thinking about it, it had been a while since we did have anything that I felt bad for ignoring it as long as I had. 'sorry,' I thought quietly with a nod as my hand moved to my abdomen.)
"Welcome dear little one! It is such an absolute honor to meet you again. Please! Please, come, sit and join us. I'm sure that there is no need for introductions, yes?" his wide eyes beckoned, as he motioned to the table before us. I stood in shock, petrified as my sister glared at Alec beside me from her seat. 'what the…? Nessie, where the hell have you been? I've been so worried about you! I can't believe you're here, and with him of all people! Oh, dear lord, please, please let me wake up! Please, this can't be happening!' Serenity cried through our skintenna, her thoughts cascading in on me as I struggled to move, my brain trying to desperately process the three that had haunted my dreams as a child, their once ghostly figures now haunting my reality. It was too much to bear and couldn't help but give a low gasp as fear ran cold in my veins. "NO! NO! Serenity, we have to get out of here. They're dangerous. How could this happen?" I thought to my sister, my thoughts clamoring in a harsh roar as they pounded hard against my head. A snow-covered meadow flashed before my eyes as I felt the bite of the early morning winter air, soft fur laced warmly through my fingers as I looked on at those dressed in black and red. My family was about to be no more, forever torn apart by the specters that haunted us in the shadows. My only rock in all of this mess, a russet wolf who cared for me more than I thought I could ever know.
Like waking from a nightmare, the sound of chairs scraping softly against the ground, brought me back to the present and I took those three figures back in, only now, filling in the blanks of their faces that my memories ached to forget. Hunger was the last thing I could bare to think of, the aching burn subdued by the impending doom I felt from the eyes of the man with a charming and welcoming smile. The blond one muttered, his eyes cast down in disgust…? The other man who seemed to have sighed, looked up briefly as recognition flared for a second before it was completely gone. Aro, looked more like the cat the caught the canary, and I shuddered knowing that Serenity and I, were 'it'.
Demetri's POV:
The doors opened, and I felt my breath catch and waited for the crashing surprise that I knew would fall over Serenity's face. Instead, an unnatural calm washed over her features as Aro greeted our new visitors. Alec's cheerful expression had glazed over as I then felt a sudden winter chill rise in the air as well as the scent of pine and crisp autumn wind. Renesmee recognized them completely, her eyes briefly picking up her sister and then going straight back to them, her mouth hanging slightly open as she struggled to reply. Serenity moved gently in her seat, her chair moving against the floor as I moved my hand under the table towards her. She looked over at me, her eyes in pain as I gave her a silent warning glance, her lips pulling into a pout as she directed her attention back to Alec, a fierce glare sparking into place as she watched my adopted brother. Aro, not missing a beat, beckoned for Alec to come forward as Alec shook his head briefly, almost as if to clear his thoughts. He then withdrew from Renesmee's side and reached out for Aro's hand. I shuddered briefly wondering what thoughts our master would see, and if he would share them. I didn't have to wait long, his face seemed to glow with newfound information as Serenity dug her nails into my hand, making me wince slightly.
"My! My! Isn't this quite the development? I don't think our kind has ever had this combination of power before. In all my years, never had we had such brilliant communication amongst some very well gifted siblings!" Aro declared suddenly, his voice pitched sickly sweet with excitement. Serenity froze as did Renesmee, their faces draining of color as Felix then moved from his place along the wall to guide Renesmee to a seat. Without Alec to hold her up, the poor girl looked like she was about to collapse. "quite indeed," Caius snipped quietly, too disgusted to even look at them. I eyed him briefly, my thoughts turning dark as I had wished to rip him apart for his dense condensation. At least there was hope for Marcus as he seemed to approve of them. I wonder what he saw, he had a different reaction to them from his normal behavior, that I could have sworn I saw a faint smile. His gaze met mine with a knowing look, and it caught me quite off guard as I wondered about what it meant. As Alec bowed, he then turned abruptly and made his way over to a chair next to Renesmee, his eyes still slightly glazed over from earlier.
Chuckling loudly, Aro twisted towards Caius with a brow raised as he whispered softly to him, his voice so faint that I could barely even hear before facing us again with another and much louder announcement. "as I was saying while we waited for your arrival," he motioned to Alec and Renesmee, "I do hope that you will be able to enjoy the feast that we had prepared." As he was finishing his sentence, a few humans that we had on staff, came out with large trays and silver covers as well as goblets, plates, and silverware. Although there was an abundant amount of food, almost everyone in the room knew it was prepared for our newer guests at the castle. Without lifting the covers off the trays, I could tell that most of these dishes were ones that had reminded me of childhood, hints of rosemary, onion, basil, and beef steaming from under the edges. It was almost no surprise to me that Aro had broken out the different rose-colored bottles of wine for a drink of choice. A lump formed in my throat, the burning ache becoming more pronounced as I anticipated their reaction, and the guilt had built in my stomach like a never-ending pit.
Serenity's POV:
Muscles aching to move and nails biting into my skin, I could barely suppress the rage I felt at seeing Alec here with my sister. From my time spent with Demetri, I was able to accept coming with him to give myself the chance to go somewhere different and do something new. And even learn to protect myself from any new dangers, but to see my sister here, after all that time that she had been away from me and standing next to one of the few people that I had mildly despised, well it left me with an enumerable amount of questions. More than anything, I was hurt and a bit scared as I wondered about how I was going to get her away from this place. As I contemplated these thoughts, Aro had spoken to Alec and my sister about the late dinner, my mind focused on something else as I watched Demetri back away slightly from the table. Others seemed to place trays before us as they then removed the silver covers from the lids, different trays of food in an array Greek cuisine starring us down as they glimmered in the candle light off the plates.
A tray of rice pilaf wafted from its place next to another plate covered in beef with a red sauce, onions, and basil drizzled over the top of the meat. In another dish, little green looking rolls that reminded me of egg-rolls, sat next to flat pieces of pita bread and some type of sour cream specked with some type of greenery or what I could I only assume was tzatziki sauce. I honestly had no clue what to make of the dishes; they were so different from what I was used to seeing, I could barely make heads or tails of it all, but I knew for certain that it smelled delicious. A few other dishes were covered, and I tried to guess what was underneath, but as I tried use my senses for the food before me, I soon became distracted by the empty chalices that the servers brought, followed by the different shades of pink bottles. Some of them actually had labels that covered their bottle, while others were without them as they showcased the sweet contents from within, my mind coming to the conclusion that they were all some sort of rose wine called retsina.
It was hard to ignore, but as I peeked from under my lashes at the rest of our party, I realized that they were waiting for Ness and me to take a bite. 'We should probably do something…' I thought suddenly to her, wondering if she heard my earlier shouts, worried if she'd argue over it. I was definitely able to hear hers, in fact, they were deafening on my ears as I soon saw a scene that left me frozen in my seat. It dawned on me that her thoughts were maybe a little too loud and peeked to see if they had any idea of what my sister could do. Being caught between a rock and a hard place was at best, an understatement of the century as we waited for them to say something. My eyes shifted warily to Demetri as he then reached for one of the crimson bottles, his fingers gracefully lifting it from its place on the table as he moved to fill my glass, my thoughts somewhat torn between our situation and the food. I coughed nervously as I then looked towards Aro, his hands motioning us to dig in, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to keep up with polite table manners as I suddenly pushed my chair back.
"I'm so sorry, but I need air," I managed to squeak out as I took off from the room, my sister's eyes burning holes into my back as I rushed out, my heart pounding wildly as I left. I didn't know where I was going nor, did I really care, I just needed a moment to myself. It was selfish I guess, but I couldn't take the overwhelming headache that throbbed against my skull, pounding with the intensity and force of a jackhammer. Coming into the sights of a large room filled with mechanical equipment that stood out in the overwhelmingly gilded room, I then let out a sigh as I caught my breath. I couldn't navigate this maze on my own, I knew that, and I was okay with it. At least I was able to think and not worry if my actions were being watched. Looking around at my surroundings, I noticed that I was in some kind of gym and I started to laugh at it, suddenly amused by the thought of vampires do physical exercise. However, my giggles were soon cut short as my whole body flew to the floor, my breath leaving me as some heavy object pinned me to the floor, my chest rising and falling against the object that held me as my lungs strained to take in some air.
"ugh. Get…off…" I coughed out as I squirmed uselessly; my eyes focusing on the object, my brain soon realizing that it was a person that held me down, their knees pressing hard against my ribs while their hands were keeping my shoulders in place. Good grief… vampires are SO annoying! Seriously, would it kill them to be nice? I thought to myself, quite annoyed and tired of always being bothered by both them and gravity. I could hear the chuckle rather than see it as he then spoke, my limbs freezing in place as I heard him speak, his face nothing but a dark silhouette above me. "you really are more of a hassle than it's worth. Maybe that's what Jared's problem was…" he breathed softly as I struggled to see his face. Hearing that name though, I had a very good guess who my attacker was. "it's a shame you couldn't join him. I think he would have loved the company," I spat as I began to struggle again, my anger rising with every passing second. "doubtful." He sniffed, his bright crimson eyes showing despite the shadows on his face as they stared into mine. "You caught the idiot while he was still weak. Me though? I don't go chasing after scraps."
I arched an eyebrow up at him as if questioning what this scenario was. "right, because I don't count as a person, do I…?" I scoffed, my breath fanning his face as his eyes glared down at me. "more like an intruder to me. Besides, under what reason should I let you keep breathing?" he murmured as a throat cleared. He craned his neck to the side as if to take in our new guest, giving me a better glimpse of his features. My breath caught in my throat as I gazed at him, his features strangely familiar as I caught sight of his soft angular jawline, his cheeks hardened as his perfect lips pulled into a silent scowl. I knew for a fact his eyes glowed a deep crimson, but had he been human, I had bet that they would've been deep cool pools of blue. His hair on the other hand, was a bit more difficult to place as it was a cross between a dark blond or chestnut brown and was also swept up into a medium fringe.
"hey 'Highschool Musical', you mind getting off her for a sec? I'm still not done speaking with her." Demetri boomed as he made his way over, my eyes bulging out of my head as I looked between them, almost shocked that they might know each other. A small snarl ripped through the room as I felt the pressure over my ribs slowly ease off of me. "very original, you got anything better?" the boy above me hissed. Demetri nodded as he waited for him to move completely. "I do, but its not worth my time." Anger flared brightly in the boy's eyes before cooling to a low simmer. "she has no right to be here," he answered instead as he glared back down at me. That's it… I couldn't stay quiet for another second as I pulled my hand free from his grasp and swung with all my might, my palm connecting loudly with his cheek as I stared back at him, daring him to do something. "Like hell I don't," I huffed. My hand stung from where I struck him, but all I got was a surprised reaction from him as if I had hit him with a feather at best.
"you might think she doesn't, but odds are and judging from your behavior towards our guests, you're still new to how things work in the Guard. So, allow me to remind you as a higher-ranking official, if you have any complaints, I can assure you that Aro or Caius would enjoy hearing about them," Demetri persisted as he moved closer to me. The boy's eyes narrowed as he moved further away from me and scoffed as he began to march away. "whatever. If you want a new pet, you can keep her. Besides, she sheds too much for my tastes," he said as plucked a strand of my hair from his light cream-colored cloak. As soon as he was gone and much further down the hall, I saw Demetri visibly relax as he'd let out a sigh, his shoulders lightly sagging as he looked back at me. Putting one finger in the air to him, I hushed him before he could say a word. "whatever lecture you have planned for me, I think it can wait. All I want, is some time to think. And I can guarantee you that over the last ninety-two hours, there is a lot for me to think about," I replied, my eyes closing as he quickly nodded.
"sure, but I thought I'd let you know that your sister fainted in the other dining hall, so Alec took her back to their room so that she could rest." My eyes snapped open as I poked my head out into the hall, my mind trying to recall how I ended up in this room in the first place. Demetri, reading my pent-up anxiety over my older sibling, placed a gentle hand over my shoulder as he turned me over to face him. "she's okay Serenity, just a minor belly ache, nothing a little sleep won't cure." He murmured reassuringly, his voice a soft and soothing balm to my frayed nerves. Still, I couldn't help but try to confirm his words by searching through my sister's thoughts. Pulling from the last few images before she drifted off to sleep, I caught sight of the beautiful hall as Aro, Caius, and Marcus rose from their seats to leave down another chamber. Renesmee looking about as Alec gave her a soft smile as she began to eat. Sure enough, the beautiful plates that we had seen earlier, were almost empty as my sister nibbled away at beef dish.
Looking at the setting earlier and given any other scenario, I wouldn't blame her for eating almost everything on her plate. Heck, I knew that was usually a rare occurrence, so it made me happy to see her enjoying the food, but the thought of her being with Alec, scared me just as much as the thought of her still being with that two-timing flea-bag. There was something about him that struck me wrong and I couldn't place my finger on what it was. So as my thoughts drifted further away from our current situation, I began to feel myself relax as I leaned closer to Demetri, his arms softly going to my sides as he led me out of the room and back down the hall. This time, my mind took in where we were going and catalogued our route to the dining room. All the while, I felt safe as we walked together, my thoughts beginning to question whether I belonged here or if I had a future here.
AN: Thanks guys for following! hopefully you'll stay tuned for the next chapter.
