"Alec, I am disappointed with you."

"Alec." The name tasted foreign on my tongue, like when you've gone to a new country and eaten the food they're famous for after only eating knock-off versions in chain restaurants for years. It was like honey, in its evolution from the jar to the taste in your tea. It sent shivers down my spine and I didn't realise I'd said the name out loud until the ancient man in the right throne lifted his head, watching me intensely. But he still looked sad. He looked sad in the way a homeless man not asking for change looked. I had the urge to sit beside him in contemplation for hours, as if the company of one in silence would make him feel a little bit better.

The man in front of me had a growing grin on his face at my previous words and he was eyeing the boy behind me. Alec spoke clearly, "parce mihi pater." He moved away from me and offered the man his hand. The man took it eagerly, closing his eyes as if Alec's hand was a new piece of music and he wanted to focus on it.

After a moment, he tittered with excitement and released the boy's hand. Without a glance at me, Alec joined the small girl off to the side of the room. Though, now that we were closer I could see she wasn't much different in size than me. She was young, but probably around the same age as the boy — Alec. He didn't so much as look at me, but he was seemed a little more than upset with the situation.

The girl, however, was watching me with almost as much focus as the ancient man. She was wearing a completely blank face, with her eyes betraying an almost bewildered state of curiosity. When she noticed me watching her, her eyes flickered back to the man in front of me and the emotion disappeared. Perhaps it was never there.

The third throne guy spoke up, as if annoyed by my very existence, "Aro." Aro seemed to ignore him and he raised his hand as if asking for mine.

When I didn't comply, he spoke, "You have nothing to fear right now, dear one. I only want to see if your experience was similar to our beloved Alec." Right now. Did he think that would convince me?

I could see that I didn't particularly have a choice. I held my hand out and he met me halfway, the same look appearing on his face as it had with Alec. He took his time making friends with my hand before releasing it and I pulled it to my chest, as if to protect it.

"Et petram, ex saxum." Except it wasn't Aro who spoke. It was the relic in the left corner.

They were both looking to Alec, whose face hardened at the meaning the Latin words must have held. "It appears so, brother." They all stood in contemplation, switching their gazes between me and the boy, who definitely wanted me to disappear.

I tended to agree. "Look, err...thank you for saving me, lovely to make your acquaintance, but I've got things to do, so if someone could show me the way out—" I began to turn around but once I did, two men moved from the wall to block my path. And I say moved as in they made teleportation look like technology of the past. "Right, what are you?"

The blond one hissed, "is she slow as well, then?"

"Actually, yes. And that's rude," I shot back at him and the shock on their faces allowed me to continue. "But I want confirmation."

Aro let out a stuttering laugh. "She is a breath of fresh air, is she not?" He was as giddy as a child with a new toy. "They make a lovely match, don't you think Caius?" Caius rolled his eyes, turning away as if now bored and placing his head gracefully on his propped up hand.

"So long as he doesn't eat her first." Someone muttered behind me. I was completely and one hundred percent lost as to the purpose of their banter. The topic and all of its implications flying right over my head.

Aro ignored them and answered me, "vampires, my dear. All further questions will be answered, but first..." He took my hand again, closing his eyes. He almost looked peaceful for a moment. When he opened them again, he continued talking, which must have been a hobby of his. "There is something intriguing in you, dear one." He was addressing me as if I were a child and to him, I guess I may as well have been. "I wonder if we might try...a test of sorts." He didn't wait for my permission, instead taking a few steps back from me.

"Jane," he said, turning to the girl in the corner, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking straight at Alec.
Nevertheless, she fixed her gaze on me, just as concentrated as before but void of emotion.

Nothing happened. Although it felt like something should be happening. She was definitely expecting something to be happening. Maybe there was a delay. Maybe it was some kind of code — should I be responding to her?

Then, I felt it...a slight pressure that began to envelop my body but still, nothing too bothersome. Except, the pressure grew into a light prickling all over my body, like what I assumed it was supposed to feel like when doctors jabbed a needle in your thumb.

And it hurt more than I think a pin prick was supposed to, but I've never actually felt it before so it was hard to tell. I can tell you that I didn't like whatever it was. I began to scratch my arms, seeing if it would go away with some outside action like when your foot falls asleep and the feeling went away.

"Err...ouch?" She looked just as surprised as I did and I realized that she was the one who had made it stop. Did that mean she could do it again?

She growled - actually growled. Not a low, warning growl, but more of a howl of angst and frustration. Then, she lunged at me.

I had barely shrunk my body away in a poor attempt to protect myself before she was stopped as the boy beside her placed a hand on her arm. "Sister." She met his eyes and reluctantly did as she was told, returning to her stance and fixing me with the darkest glare I've ever seen someone give. Dang, she was scary and yet, I wondered what she was like when she wasn't angry.

"I wonder," Aro muttered and turned expectantly to the boy again. Alec blinked before nodding in the same way a small child would after getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar. As if he were accepting a punishment.

I suddenly became very aware of my feet standing on the marble floor. I could feel the harshness of the material through the worn down soles of my shoes and the way it made me shift from side to side. The end of my jeans tickled my shins and the denim was rough against my skin as the nuns had bought them for me just before I left and they'd still not softened with use. My hipbone was slightly exposed as my t-shirt had been offset no doubt from the recent events and I could feel the cool in the air.

The cool air, which had caused goosebumps on my skin but caused me no mind. The pumping of blood in my ears and the weight of my eyelids. My lips as they brushed against one another. The rise and fall of my chest and its pressure on my ribcage. The only sound in the entire room seemed to be my breathing and the air being used tasted bitter on my tongue.

The last thing I saw were Alec's eyes — returned to an empty noir, before everything vanished.

The floor had fallen out from under me. I tried to ball my hands in a fist, except I couldn't feel my fingertips touching my own skin. I gagged on the air that flooded into my throat as I gasped. Only, I couldn't hear myself choking and I wondered if I was doing it at all. If I existed at all. If I ever had or if I ever would again...

My heart started to pick up speed and almost immediately, my senses returned. I fell to the floor, grasping at my throat and taking in as much air as I could, desperate to feel real again. When I'd settled, I looked up at my captors. Alec's eyes were cast downward and I couldn't really tell behind their capes but his sister was standing closer to him and I think she'd grabbed his hand.

"Truly remarkable." He turned his back on me and announced to his brothers, "we'll keep her. Human, for now, I think."

Caius hissed, "why wait?"

"In time, Brother." Aro threw over his shoulder to satisfy his co-worker. Caius growled, and I had a feeling patience wasn't one of this guy's virtues.

Keep me? I'm not a pet. "I can't stay here. There's someone counting on me —"

Aro looked back at me, nodding thoughtfully, "ahh yes, your father."

Okay, weird because I didn't tell him that but I decided that wasn't as important as the matter in hand. "Yes. Listen, you can do whatever you want with me but I need two, three days max." Nobody moved. "Please."

Aro turned fully to face me again, his hands folded in front of him. And though his voice held sincerity, his face lacked empathy of any kind. "I am afraid that will not be possible. Unfortunately, your time with humans came to an end the moment Alec exposed our kind to you."

"You don't understand —"

"You stay. Or you die." Caius hissed. "Your choice."

The nuns had always told me I was stubborn and impulsive, but I never realized how much until that moment. "Then I die." I didn't really want to die, but maybe they'd prefer preservation of a life and let me go. Then, I remembered where I was standing and with whom I was standing.

Freaking vampires. I mean, get real.

It was Jane who growled at my response.

"I agree with Jane. An ultimatum is hardly fair considering the situation. The child is tired. She should become acquainted before her new life begins."

I opened my mouth, as if to argue or question again but before I could, Aro was directly in front of me. "For now, dear one." Ruby eyes met mine once more and I stared as defiantly as I could right back into them. "Vetus et Somniabunt." He nodded to my right, and the pale hand of Alec gripped my arm. It was no longer gentle and timid as it had been before. This time it was rough, unkind and I no longer felt any kind of safety. I immediately flinched away from him, but his grip never left me.

This was all his fault. "Don't touch me."

He ignored me, basically dragging me out of the room. The large stone door slammed shut behind us and I stumbled trying to keep up with the boy. "You're hurting me," I threw in lamely. It was a lie. For all I knew he was cutting off the circulation in my arm but he didn't seem to care as he pulled me through the corridors of the castle.

There were old paintings of ballerinas and random people in intricate canvases lining the walls, but we didn't stop for a tour. I continued to throw complaints and insults at him, though they slowly lost their passion as we continued on.

"Let me go, you tart!"

He refused to acknowledge me and a new burst of annoyance allowed my profanities to grow worse and worse in nature the further we went until I was just throwing them around for the heck of it, "devil spawn". So, maybe my version of profanity was a little old fashioned but could you blame me?

Still, it seemed to be the only one that caught his attention. He stopped abruptly and pulled my arm closer to him as if he wanted to rip it out of its socket and my body followed. I looked up at him.

He was quite handsome. Aside from what I assumed was a vampiric makeover, I imagine he would still have the same high cheekbones and classic jawline. Like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, the ghost of boyhood would forever stain his cheeks. Purposefully tousled hair, black as his eyes, made you want to run your fingers through it. A thought that immediately clouded me with shame before I was distracted by the length of his eyelashes. He was lovely, and even though his eyes belonged in a horror film, they were no different than any other human's. I could see into them and I swear there was a touch of humanity. In them, I could see the potential for emotion, of anger and concern, of fear and care. Humorous or snarky, peaceful…

But right now, he looked mad. Like, really really mad. The kind of mad that only appeared as a defence mechanism and was followed with irrational actions. For someone who had had blood dripping from his mouth only an hour or so ago, I decided that he was way too close for my liking. So, I continued to struggle until a growl ripped through his throat.

"Stop that."

I stuck my bottom lip out like a petulant child, "no."

He leaned closer to me and his eyes locked with mine. I felt as if we'd returned to that alley, because I couldn't move and I think I forgot how to breathe. Yet, none of that mattered and for a moment, I thought he was lost in the same trance that I was. That is, until he spoke. His voice as slow and dark as I imagined his soul to be.

"Do you feel your heartbeat, human?" I did. It was pounding against my chest and I wondered if this was enough stress to induce a heart attack in my fifteen year old self.

He leaned over me and wrenched open a door, pushing me carelessly inside. I landed on the floor, rolling twice as if I were going down a hill, before pushing myself to my knees.

I met his eyes once more as he glared down at me in superiority. "Challenge me one more time and I'll make sure it never beats again." All the fear that should've been driving my instincts for the last hour hit me with his words. I exhaled what sounded like a single choked up sob and he smirked in satisfaction at my reaction, pulling the door shut as he left me. Wow, he really sucked.

As soon as I was alone, I expected the tears to come. But my eyes were so dry they almost itched. I slowly curled myself into a ball on the carpet, bringing my arms to wrap around my knees.

I took in the room around me. Elegant, extravagant, and dramatic as hell-o. The bed had four posts and a canopy, the style you only really saw when you toured one of those French castles. Or so I assumed. All I really remembered from my father and I's day trip to Versailles was convincing the daughter of our current mark that if her daddy bought the castle she'd be considered a real princess. Yes, my father tried to sell Versailles. Twice. Whether one or both of those business men currently believed they owned the 17th century palace or not isn't the point.

What is the point, is that the room I was in had a walk in closet and a bookshelf the length and height of an entire wall. A window split the bookshelf in the middle of that wall, a gracious window seat attached to it. Directly across the room was a vanity table and chair that could've come from a Victorian IKEA.

While the room was lovely, one look at the bed reminded me of my situation. I mean, I wasn't stupid. Clearly there was something about me that had to do with their 'beloved Alec'. But did it have to be so important to kidnap me? To kill me?

The anger began bubbling up in me. The unfairness of the situation washing over me like a flood. 'Become acquainted before my life begins'. My life — as if I weren't currently living. As if what I had now was the existence of a maggot or of a caterpillar. They clearly wanted me to turn me into a vampire. No, not wanted. They were going to turn me. To make me like them. Forever. Whether I liked it or not. I felt like I was going to explode.

I screamed. A roar that clawed its way from the pit of my stomach and ground into my vocal chords as it was released into the air.

I stood, racing over to the bed and ripping the pillows off of it, followed by the comforter, the sheets and eventually shifting my weight to push the mattress off to the side. The pretty vase of flowers on the bedside table were thrown across the room, water and petals showering the floor as it soared through the air. The table was pushed on its' side and without stopping, I made my way to the rest of the objects in the room. Each item appearing as old as the world itself and each spared no mercy in my rampage.

Until I faced the bookshelf. Out of all the books residing on the shelves, the binding of the book inches from my face caught my attention. My face scrunched up in remorseful distaste. Slowly, my breathing returned to normal as I simply stared at it.

Once I'd calmed down, my wits returned to me and I looked around the room with guilt. I ran my hands down my arms and glanced in a mirror I hadn't shattered, checking myself over for any damage. A practice I had to do religiously in my world, as I wouldn't be able to tell if I'd been hurt without physically seeing the wound. I noticed nothing obvious and no blood.

I shivered, trying not to imagine what could have happened if I had accidentally cut myself on something. Because, well, you know...bloodthirsty vampires and all. I'd have to be even more diligent in my awareness of such things now. What had always been a general life or death possibility, became an almost guarantee for the latter.

I collapsed to the floor and moments later, the door creaked open. Two male vampires stood in the doorway, their physicality almost exact opposites. They moved inside the room cautiously, as if they had been listening in to my little tirade.

The first was quite brutish, large in size and gruff in nature, yet he was hunched over as if trying to make himself appear less intimidating. This was aided by the childish smirk that rested on his face. If it weren't for the grace of his vampiric attributes, he would have resembled Lenny from Of Mice and Men. He snickered, "you sure she's not already a newborn?" I quickly tossed the previous comparison from my mind, his tone and mannerisms far more sophisticated than he originally presented. And yet, he seemed to favour humour in such a situation.

"She's an angry little human." His friend seemed to hold the charm between the two of them, and while he was shorter than his friend he was taller than me. "Exactly what Alec deserves." It didn't sound spiteful, as the two seemed to find amusement in their own words. The comedic timing of this duo, however, did not translate to me. In fact, the meaning behind their words only confused me further. Yet, they didn't seem to mind my lack of appreciation for their routine.

The big one took a step towards me and I shifted backwards onto my bum, scrambling awkwardly in a backwards crab walk until I hit the bookshelf in the corner. He ceased in his approach and exchanged looks with the other one.

"We're not going to hurt you." Despite my fear, I rolled my eyes in sarcastic cynicism at the claim.

The short one took over, pushing the big one behind him. "My name is Demetri. The meathead is Felix. He looks big and scary and...well he can be — but he won't hurt you. Unless he has to, that is."

Felix whined behind him, "you're making it worse."

"Please leave." Their eyes widened at my words, and I felt a brief flash of regret at my harshness. Demetri sighed, giving me a sad look, and led Felix out of the room.

"That was your fault. She was gonna be my new best friend..." Their words cut off with the door and I shivered at the blasé nature of their conversation.

I stood and began to put the room back together as best I could. I walked to the side of the mattress that rested against the floor and attempted to lift it back onto the bed. A simple yet slightly taxing feat when comparing its size against mine. I groaned, dropping it only half way on the bed, grateful that most of its weight was balanced on the bed instead of the floor.

It was then that the tears began to flow freely.

I had to get out of here.