The food had smelled inviting -nothing akin to the smell of blood, a smell she longed to remember- and it tasted fine, but it didn't feel right. The amused glance from Alec as he stood off the side, leaning against the grey wall of the kitchen, observing her, made a lip half quirk up. "I believe it is called 'rude' if someone is watching another eat." She murmured before taking another mouthful of the meaty tasting pasta, an answering smirk across the room answering her mumbled retort.
"Is it? Human customs are so foreign to me."
Eyes rolled heavenwards as she continued eating. It was necessary, but it felt wrong. Oh, how she longed to be back to her immortal beauty, to be reassigned to her duties. The glare of the sunlight off the tube that seemed to be permanently stuck in her hand caught her eye, her eyes narrowing down at it. Apparently, being 'dead' for over fifty years had its disadvantages, one being she wasn't apparently receiving the nutrients she needed, even when she ate like a normal human. It was frustrating, having all the unnecessary drugs pumped into her body, but it was needed apparently.
A sigh slipped from her lips are she pushed the stained bowl from her, turning her eyes upwards to stare at the full-lipped boy across from her. "Satisfied now?" She mumbled, pulling the sleeve of the sweater over the tube in her hand. A hummed noise under the vampire's breath was the resounding sound that followed as he pushed off the wall, coming to stand behind her as she sat perched upon the chair, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders.
It was as though time was slow, echoing by like a thunderstorm, silent but deadly in its lifespan. Gently placing one of her hands over the cold ones that gently clasped her shoulder, she leant back into his body. There was nothing to be said. Words were few and far between these last few weeks, the nights in which she found solace of the darkness of slumber being spent entwined in cold arms. Actions spoke louder than words did these last few weeks; it was both comforting yet lonely.
The boy above her spoke. "Master wishes you to undergo more tests in order to determine the effect of the blade", his words were soft, yet firm. A quiver shook in her belly at the thought of more tests and examinations. Olivia glanced down. "How much more blood must be pulled from my veins, or skin from my limbs?" She squirmed as the hands on her shoulders gave a firm but silent squeeze. "Soon, there shall be nothing of me left."
Alec gave a soft chuckle under his breath. "A little dramatic, Olivia." The hands left her shoulders as he took a seat beside her, coldness gently grasping her chin and turning it towards him. Piercing red eyes met her blue ones. "Master simply wishes you to return to our ranks, in your rightful form, and you cannot until he knows it is safe for you to do so. News of your miraculous awakening has already began spreading. Soon, others will try to replace your position within our guard, love. We have already had applications." The thought of being replaced caused the most grippling, sickening feeling to spread through her limbs as she looked away from him. "I do not want to see this happen."
A shudder slipped from her lips as she glanced down at her knotted hands. "But you would never replace me," her eyes, seemingly shaken by this revelation, looked into his red ones, seeing him reel back at her words. "Would you?"
He abruptly stood, walking away from her to lean against the kitchen island. A huffed noise wrenched from him before he rounded on her, red eyes piercing through her very soul. "How could you even ask me that?" He demanded. Pain spiked through her limbs as she stood, placing her bowl onto the countertop beside the sink -the secretary would sort it later as she always did. "That isn't a no," she murmured softly, turning towards the kitchen door as she began to make her way towards it.
Air rushed around her as he came to a halt before her, having used his immortal speed to stop her escape from the room. Red eyes shone. "Of course, I could never replace you," he uttered. Olivia didn't meet his eyes. "I'm human," she gave a weak mumble. "You despise humans. What if I cannot be changed back?" The words tumbled from her lips, her panic and utmost fears shining through them. "You would watch me grow old, wither away and die! I would be repulsive to you. You loved me as an immortal, not a human. Are you truly going to stand by me, be content with me, as I remain the very thing you and your sister so despise? Jane cannot even look at me without being repulsed, which, even as a vampire, she did not do. So please, tell me again you would stand by me, love me, not be repulsed by me, as I age and wither away if I am cursed to remain mortal for the rest of my pathetic existence?"
Her outburst, building for weeks, shook him to his bones, his hands dropping from where they'd found themselves on her shoulders. The words stung, but they were the truth, and they both knew it. She gave a soft hum under her breath. "I thought so. No need to escort me to Charmion, I can walk myself."
And so, he remained, almost as if in shock at her words. Her limbs shook as she walked to the infirmary, ready to be prodded, poked, torn apart, and whatever else was deemed as tests. They were never ending. Ruby eyes watched her as she walked, the whispers echoing, following her. A woman who must have been recruited during her slumber sneered at her beneath the light grey of her cloak hood. Yet another enemy within her own safe haven. Although was it really a safe haven anymore? Every step she took and every breath she exhaled and inhaled seemed like a step closer to death. How long until someone slipped up, until the temptation to drink the abnormally sweet blood within her veins, became too much? It had happened with secretaries throughout the decades before her sleep, and the centuries before she became Volturi.
What was to stop it happening again, but to herself this time?
Nothing, absolutely nothing.
Charmion, or Chelsea as she had changed her name to, gave her a small smile as she entered the grey walled infirmary. The smile quickly turned into a small frown as she saw she was alone. "No Alec?"
A sullen look remained on the blonde's face. "No, he's having a dose of truth and reality right now. I'd rather you just do what's needed so I can retire for the day."
The mahogany haired woman gave a soft sigh, before motioning her over to the linen covered bed that awaited her at the end of the hall. She didn't flinch as the needle entered her veins, used to the familiar scratch sensation by now. It had become almost kin to her.
Speaking of kin.
Penelope had visited her many a time, but the temptation was too great. Her blood was too sweet, her sister's control something that was not mastered. It was difficult. After the last near loss of control, Penelope had been forbidden to come near her unless she was supervised, or when her sister had been returned to the clutches of immortality. Neither seemed near in the future. It was hollow, depriving her of the contact she so wished with the last blood relative she had upon this earth that meant something to her. It was sorrowful, leaving her alone more often than not. Twas a lonely existence indeed.
A soft hiss slipped back her lips as the needle was withdrawn from her skin, a ball of cotton wool being pressed over the fresh wound. The woman above her gave a soft sigh. "I plan to investigate if you can be exposed to small doses of venom, see what the tolerance in your blood is doing. This is the reason for so many bloods withdrawals. I want to be able to gather enough in order to replicate what would happen if venom entered your bloodstream."
Olivia hummed, not looking up at her as she rolled down her sleeve, standing. "Sounds interesting, let me know what happens." Her head spun as she stood, the blood loss making her woozy. Chelsea gave a soft sigh, gently pushing her back down. "Wait for five minutes, Olivia. You know the rules."
Five minutes, and not a second less, she was walking briskly out, hearing the sighs of the older woman behind her, saddened and exhausted.
A destination in mind, she set off, determined. The secretary gave a cry of protest as she made her way into the elevator, pushing the button to lead her up to the surface. The dark walls of the castle were suffocating. Sunlight was needed. The doors slid shut, just as she saw the secretary go rushing around the corner, no doubt to find someone and let them know about her daring escape up to the surface. A wry smile slipped to her lips as she thought of Alec's reaction. He would no doubt be furious, as always when she disobeyed him, or an order from the masters, something that never happened, more so Alec's orders instead.
Crisp, clean air stung her lungs as she climbed the top of the clocktower, standing outside in the cold, December air. It was chilly, even in Italy, her lungs stinging as she inhaled the freezing cold air, but it was oh so worth it. Sunlight, albeit weak, shone upon her skin, providing her with exactly what she wanted. The bittersweet taste of freedom. It was intoxicating, and for the first time in weeks, she could think clearly. It was as though being out in the open, listening to the bustle of the town below, provided an antidote for her troubled mind.
Five minutes turned into an hour, and one turned into four. The sun, long since set, brought about the cold, frigid night, and it was then, her peace and quiet was shattered. A dull thump beside her alerted her to that she was not alone anymore. "My brother is frantic with worry."
A soft hum slipped past her frozen lips as she didn't bother to turn to face the smaller blonde beside her. "Good."
The angry scoff that answered her warned her that her response was not well received. "You stupid girl. Do you truly believe he would throw you aside so carelessly? You know our kind mates for eternity."
Olivia did then turn, her blue lips moving angrily. "Your kind, Jane. Do I currently look like one of everyone else? If I cannot be turned back, I am going to wither away and die. So yes, I do believe that. It absolutely crushes my soul and my very being to think this, and yet I cannot help it. I will die if I cannot be turned back, let us not sidestep the issue. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it."
The twin gave a low, monotonal hum, observing her with sharp eyes that screamed danger. "You would do well to abandon this train of thinking that you will not become one of us again." She warned, Olivia's bottom lip curling down in a sneer. "Until I am a vampire again, I shall not, and you cannot make me. You may try, but you will never change my line of thought. If Alec cared so much about proving me wrong, he would be up here right now, not sending his sister like some coward does. I'm not stupid," she spat.
It was only then the blonde gave a small smirk, observing her shivering form and blue tinted lips. "You seem plenty stupid right now, coming out at the coldest time of the year without any clothing to keep yourself warm."
A hum slipped past her lips as she turned back to the twinkling lights of the city below her. "I left in a hurry, didn't really think about it to be honest."
A slight laugh, albeit this time amused, slipped past the blonde's lips. "That much is evident." A softer sigh, this time as if talking to a child, she held a gloved hand out. "Come back inside, before you freeze to death. You are already beginning to look quite unwell."
Unable to find the strength to argue with her anymore, Olivia placed her hand, albeit loosely, in her grasp, allowing her to lead her back inside. The hallways blurred into one, the familiar surroundings of the room she shared with Alec beckoning her into their clutches as Jane led her inside. A pair of angry red eyes met hers, albeit softening as they took in her appearance. She imagined she must look a right sight, blue lipped, pale skinned, shaking like a leaf in the wind from the cold. Jane mumbled something she couldn't hear above the roaring in her ears, heat filling the room and rushing towards her frozen limbs as flames began to jump from the hearth of the fireplace.
Must've been telling him about the fireplace and to light it.
A light touch to her cheek pulled her from her thoughts, the ground disappearing from her feet as she was swept up into cold arms, gently being placed in front of the fireplace. In the back of her mind, the sound of a door closing echoed, probably Jane leaving to give them some privacy. The flames crackled and spat at her, as if mocking her foolishness as they thawed her limbs.
It was sometime later when he spoke. "You confound me, bedazzle me, and infuriate me in one," he murmured the words to her ears, the soft tone awakening her body. "I swear it to you, that you will be make immortal once more, if I have to move heaven, hell and earth in order to make it happen, it will. You are not going to grow old and wither away, I swear it to you. I'll be dammed before that happens, just like I'll be dammed before I let you push me away in an attempt to save yourself from the pain you're feeling."
Her head gently rested upon the soft rug as he laid her before the fireplace, ruby irises staring down at her. A soft touch to her chin, tilting it up, a gentle pressure on her cheek as he pressed his lips there before pulling back. "I cannot so easily get rid of my disgust for humans, but for you, there is none. You are the same Olivia, albeit more fragile. That will not change, so begone with this foolish notion that I shall not want you and let us look to getting you back as an immortal once more."
Her eyes dropped. "You won't even kiss me like you used to." She murmured, averting her eyes and turning her head from him to stare into the dancing flames, mocking her as they leapt about in their millennia old dance of fire and ashes. A single tear, glowing in the light of the amber embers, trickled down her cheek, showcasing her sorrow for the world to see, finally, for the first time in weeks since her awakening.
The answer was immediate, lips seizing upon hers. A shocked gasp shook her limbs as he pulled her up, limbs still weak from their exposure to the cold. He was unrelenting, lips pushing against hers with the anger and passion he was holding back from her. A sharp inhale of air shook her lungs, the sweet-smelling scent of the boy holding her enough to rouse the fire within her limbs and soul once more. He poured his emotion, not often showed outside the depths of their chambers, or of that of the company of his sister, into their lipped embrace. It was sorrowful, feeling his rage, his desire, and his anguish in one, jumbled up ball of emotion, and it tore at the depths of her own soul, wrenching her stomach painfully.
He seemed to remember her need for air, for he pulled his lips away, breathing with unnecessary heavy breaths as he rested a cold cheek against her slowly warming one. Soft hums vibrated against her cooling skin once more. "Perhaps that will suffice, no?" The quiet murmur, albeit teasingly, spoke true. A soft sigh slipped past her lips as she leant into his embrace. It would do, for now.
Very late update! Life has been crazy hectic these last years, with doing my degree, working, and of course, good ol'Rona! Looking to get this completed and updated soon, fingers crossed!