Bedtime was the most awkward time at the Cullen house. Everyone, in their own way, settled for the evening. But I was the only one who needed to go to actual sleep.
Usually I had time with Aro before bed, normally talking with him for as long as I could keep my eyes open. Sometimes he would send me upstairs, others he would carry me up after I had fallen asleep mid conversation . But tonight, I was awake watching Bella and Edward talk and Carlisle and Esme read.
Put out, I decided to go to my room where I could be a damper on my own. Nobody had said anything, but I was sure my poor mood was leaking into the room. I plopped myself down on the bed looking up to the ceiling.
I sighed. Jane and Aro who were on their plane headed back to Europe. I could see him in my mind, thinking through what he had to do and how he would do it in the most dignified way possible, a not so secret hatred bubbling under his skin.
I felt like I was helpless in my own issue. Sure, I understood why I was hardly going to be the first line of offense...but I hated not being able to do anything. I rolled over, reaching to my end table where I had kept my copy of Notes from Underground. But it was gone.
I sat up, my eyes scanning the bookshelf across the room for the familiar cover. But it was nowhere to be found. I had been reading it just yesterday afternoon and so I knew it had to be in the house. After an in depth search of the room I decided to check downstairs.
I half jogged down the stairs and immediately headed to the end table closest to the couch I normally sat on.
"What are you looking for?" Carlisle asked from the kitchen, his eyes curious.
He was the only one left in the main area. Bella and Edward must have either gone upstairs or out and Esme was more than likely in her and Carlisle's mast bedroom.
"My book. Have you seen it?" I asked, flipping over a cushion to check underneath it.
"I'm afraid not." He said kindly, walking to the stair case. "But I will call you if I do. Don't stay up too late looking for it. It'll show up, I'm sure."
There were only so many places to look in the sportless Cullen household. I had checked nearly every place I had been three times over at least. Finally, I gave up and decided to go back outside. There was a certain comfort in the woods and added safety given that it was private land. Not to mention the threat we had been concerned about was in Krakow.
I stepped off the deck and onto the grass that surrounded it, moving toward the maze of trees, the sun still giving off an evening light. I took my hair back down, this time putting my hair tie around my wrist as to not lose it again.
I peaked around a tree, spotting a family of deer. They were everywhere in Pennsylvania. So much so it was the main concern when it came to driving. None the less, I loved to look at them, especially up close. The babies were adorable and the large buck, strong.
I took a few steps closer, past a few rows of trees, hoping to get a better view. I was doing a pretty good job until a * crack* came from under my foot and echoed, making the deer family leap gracefully into the woods. I looked down and grabbed the branch I had stepped on, tossing it to the side. My eyes followed the deer until I hold no longer see the bright white of the doe's tail.
But it was quickly replaced with a sickening familiar flash of color. The very same I had seen going inside after Aro left...the same one I saw earlier, twice, that I was convinced was Jane, the same I had spotted from the tree that I thought was Carlisle...and as it darted past again, it looked identical to the stripes of white and black I had spotted in the airport.
Quickly, I turned around, only step on yet another unexpected item. My book. I moved back a few steps and gasped, a cold hard hand slapping itself over my mouth and another spinning me around to be face to face with none other than...
Vladimir.
I could feel my eyes widen and the sickening smile on his face let me know he noticed as well.
"Keep quiet." He hissed, almost so softly I couldn't hear. And with that he wrapped an arm around my waist slinging me up across both of his arms and we were off.
I had never gone so fast in my life. My eyes were watering and burning all at once, my face hurt from the wind, and my hair was flying all around me. I had just managed to get my eyes shut as I felt the first of many stinging cuts from what I could assume were twigs and branches appear on my face, neck, and hands.
I tried to open my mouth to say something. Call him a bastard or demand he take me back. But the wind was too much, making it almost impossible to breath let alone threaten the man carrying me.
How had he gotten here? How long had he been right under our noses? How had we not noticed or caught him? What could he possibly want with me now that Aro, his true target, was headed for Europe? Was Stefan in Krakow? Would they split up like that?
I tried to logic and explain myself into as many conclusions as I could, all the while Vladimir's arms acting as a steel cage locking me against him.
There wasn't any room to gain any leverage or even pretend to struggle; not that I would have been able to get out of his hold if there was. I tried to crack my eyes open every once in a while to get my bearings, but all I saw were endless trees until finally, what felt like hours later, we stopped dead in our tracks.
"Do not move or I'll snap your neck." The heavy accented voice demanded.
I did as ordered and remained still, my arms still wrapped around his neck and my head tucked down.
"I am going to put you down, give you a moment to straighten up, and then you and I are going to get in a car." He explained slowly "If you attempt anything, I will not hesitate to end you here and now. Understood?"
I gave a subtle nod, but I knew he caught it as he swung me down, back onto my feet. A leaf falling from my hair told me exactly what he meant by "straighten up" as did the twigs sticking out of my black sweater.
I began picking them out, tossing them to the ground, brushing debris off of my jeans and finally reaching to clear out my hair. As I did so, I felt something cold and instinctively snapped my arms back to my sides. Hands continued to pluck out leaves and twigs, far faster than I had.
I dared not stop him as he quickly finished and with graceful fingers braided my hair, finally reaching one hand over my shoulder.
I could feel cold lips near my ear before hearing him whisper "Splendid, you brought your hairtie with you. I was frightened I wouldn't see it again."
My body felt limp as my stomach dropped. His lips formed a smile before he pulled his head away, reaching his hand to mine and sliding the hair tie off of my wrist, using it to keep the braid in place.
My mouth was dry and I couldn't find a single word. He had been there the whole time. Right there.
I was like a zombie as he grabbed my wrist and led me out of woods, pulling me around a black car, opening the passenger side door, and putting one hand on my head and the other in my waist, effortlessly lowering me into it, walking swiftly to the other side and getting behind the wheel.
We had only been driving three minutes before he caught me looking at him. I was trying to see what he was thinking. Any kind of hint as to what the next step was.
"Tell me, Annabelle, what is going on in your head?" He asked.
"You first." I shot back.
I was irritated. Beyond so. I had gone from terrified to infuriated and I wasn't going to watch my manners.
"I suppose that is only fair. A thought for a thought." He allowed "I am trying to think of what about you has captured the unwavering attention of Aro Volturi. At first I thought you were another one of his future body guards but after seeing you two...it is even better. I can't understand what it is though that makes you the perfect mate for a man like him."
I looked at him, my brow furrowed.
"I don't know how this stuff all works. We just are." I answered honestly.
"Very well." He chuckled. "A thought from you, then?"
"I'm trying to figure out what the hell you want from me. I haven't done anything to you and I certainly can't do anything for you."
He looked at me with a smirk.
"Unfortunately for you, you are not in control of anything that has happened or will happen. You are just the piece I need in the longest game of chess ever played."
"You are playing against yourself then." I said defiantly "Aro isn't playing."
"He most certainly is. He knew the move he was making the minute he paraded you in front of Stefan and I."
"I am not a game piece to him." I snapped, my anger boiling.
That is when he laughed. Not a small laugh or a casual chuckle. A full laugh.
At that he pulled into a parking lot, the car jilting to a stop and he turned to look at me, his burning red eyes glowing through his pieces of silver blonde hair.
"Listen to me, I have been playing against Aro for thousands of years and that is exactly what you are."
