CPOV

The pale figures, which I could now classify as vampires, sank their teeth into every human hungrily.

Blood colored their lips, and the helpless screams and gurgles of the people made my stomach turn.

As bodies dropped to the floor, one by one, I looked to David, who was trying to look for a way out. He was frozen in place just as I was. I looked around again and met the eyes of the boy who tried to attack me two nights ago. I had no doubt he would do it now. He looked surprised and angry. Then, my eyes found the blond girl. Her eyes were locked on him with the most animalistic, starved expression.

Before I could grip David's arm any tighter, his body was flung to the ground by her, and I was knocked to the floor by the boy. My head hit the hard floor, and pain radiated through the back of my head. This was it.

I was too paralyzed with fear to think of any last words, but I managed to send a last mental goodbye to my brother. My heart was beating wildly, my vision began to swim, and my focus was shot. All I could see was the boy hovering over me; his eyes were blazing with anger and he looked absolutely murderous.

"Alec! Jane!" a voice rang out. " Stop! Spare them."

Alec? Was that his name? Before I could wonder anymore, he was gone and I was standing upright again. I felt dizzy, and closed my eyes involuntarily as I tried to keep my balance.

I then looked to my left, and the big brunette guy was holding my arm. His hand was colder than ice, and felt hard like the marble floor. I whipped my head around to find David, hoping he wasn't already dead. Relief washed over me; he was being held by the shorter, leaner guy from earlier. He looked to me, the panic and fear apparent on his face.

"Cheyenne," he said, trying to yank his arm out of the man's grip, but it was no use. The man looked like he wasn't even trying, yet David's biggest attempts were futile. While David was six foot two, the man looked to be only six foot, if not five foot eleven.

I looked to the man with the jet black hair, who looked to be the leader of whatever clan or group this was. The bodies were in a pile, and being taken away. I just about heaved, never before having seen a dead body. Their skin color nearly matched that of these vampires, the emptiness in their eyes horrifying me.

I forcefully tore my eyes away from them, and my eyes fell on the leader again.

He touched his fingertips together, standing from his seat.

"Felix, Demetri," he said, his voice feather light as it echoed across the room. I didn't know who was who, but they both moved David and I forward until we were standing in front of the man. He looked nothing but delighted.

This is even worse. He was going to eat us.

Keep calm, keep calm, I chanted to myself. I looked fully at David. He looked scared straight, but he was trying to keep his composure. I could tell that he was trying to lean more towards me, incase the man did attack me first.

"Ah, yes," the man crooned. "It seems you have arrived earlier than we intended you to. Felix." He held up his hand and my arm was released. I glanced at the boy and the girl. They both had blank faces, but the girl glared at me when I looked at her. I looked back to the man. What did he mean?

"Your name," he crooned, holding his palm out. "It is Cheyenne, if I am correct?" I looked at his hand and something was telling me not to touch it. How did he know my name?

I involuntarily took a step back.

"Don't touch her!" David snarled. "Touch her, you son of a bitch, and I'll..."

Demetri, I gathered, since the man holding me was Felix, tightened his grip on David's arm and he grimaced.

"Demetri," the leader said airily, holding up his other hand. Demetri's grip loosened and David rubbed his arm.

"How the hell do you know her name? Who are you?" David demanded.

"Please, we will not harm you both," the leader said calmly. His eyes moved to me again and then he blinked. He paused before speaking again. "My, my, Alec's experience was truly difficult, wasn't it? I can smell your scent, and it is truly...irresistible. How marvelous!" His eyes grew wide with delight and I was just confused. What the heck was he talking about? I didn't understand at all.

I moved closer to David, not being able to do anything but grasp his hand. Neither vampire stopped me. David grasped my hand tightly, pulling me closer to him. His grip was too tight, but I hardly noticed.

"Just make it stop before I kill her myself!" the snowy blond screeched. His eyes were narrowed, and his nose was wrinkled in disgust. The leader held up his hand briefly.

"Caius," he said simply, keeping his eyes on me. He moved his hand toward me again. "If I may take your hand, dear."

"Why?" I asked, feeling my legs begin to quake. "I don't know who you are or what you want."

"Why, you worthless little-!" the man called Caius started again, but the man stopped him again.

"Brother. It is only in best interest that we not rush our guests." he crooned, moving his blood red eyes to David. "I can see that we have frightened them."

"Aro, you cannot possibly be considering-" Caius tried again, but the man, Aro, interrupted once again.

"I am," he said calmly, his eyes never leaving mine. "Now, my dear. Your name, I ask again. Your name is Cheyenne?"

I forced myself to nod, not liking the way my name sounded coming from him. It sent chills down my spine, as if it wasn't terrifying enough that he knew my name.

"What the fuck do you want? Don't do anything to her, take me!" David ordered. I looked at him incredulously. No! Absolutely not!

"N-" I started, but Aro cut me off.

"And your friend," Aro crooned. "He is...quite protective of you. Like a brother? Oh, how wonderful!" he clapped his hands together, grinning.

What was this guy on?

"What do you want?" I asked again. "How do you know my name?"

"It seems our dear Alec has discovered your gift," he replied in his feathery voice, looking at Alec adoringly. "And his singer." His what?

I was too afraid to look at Alec, assuming that his expression would remain unchanged.

Aro looked back to me, and David leaned away from Demetri, ready for an attempt to break free. I heard a hissing sound come from the blond girl.

"My dear, is it not true that you sing for entertainment with your dear friend here?" he inquired. I had a bad feeling about this.

"Yes," I ground out.

"Marvelous! May I see a demonstration of this? It will only take a moment," he said.

"No!" David roared. "Let us go! Or let her go, and take me! I'll do whatever you want, just don't touch her!"

Aro looked to Demetri and nodded. David's hand was yanked out of mine as Demetri easily had him on his knees. His hands were positioned on his neck, and Aro slowly stepped toward us.

"No!" I shouted, standing inbetween Aro and David's body. "Okay, okay! I'll do it! Just stay away from him!"

I looked at the two men seated behind Aro. The older brunette man was studying us, his posture bored, but his eyes held interest. Aro looked between me and David.

"Ah, how wonderful," Aro sang. "Such a strong friendship, is it not, Marcus?" He looked back towards the brunette whose name I now knew as Marcus.

"Yes, indeed," he slowly croaked, sounding like he hasn't spoken in hundreds of years. "They hold a deep, significant relationship."

"Yes," Aro said slowly. "Demetri." He nodded and let go of David, hauling him up as if he weighed nothing. I whipped around, anchoring myself onto his arm.

"Why do you want me to sing? What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"It is your gift, my dear. We only want to see what Alec has seen," Aro said. "You will not be able to go back, you see. You now know of our existence. It cannot go without fault. You have a choice, to become one of us or to be sentenced to death. It is only fair for the secret of our kind. I do, however, not want to waste such a gift of yours."

"And your kind...vampires?" I asked, trying my hardest to remain calm. Speaking the word out loud felt so unreal.

"Yes," he replied. "But please, do not fear. We do not plan to feed on you. That is, if you agree to what we ask of you."

"Over my dead body," David spat, jerking forward. "The cops will come looking for us, you bastard! I don't believe one bit of this shit! I will literally kill you if you touch her! Try and stop me!"

"Stop," I whispered under my breath urgently. If we were going to be trapped here, I figured the best thing to do was stay calm. And just go with it.

"I'm sorry. It's just..." I said to Aro. "If we have no choice...then we'll stay. He won't cause any trouble." I hated the words coming out of my mouth, but I currently saw no way out. There was no physically possible way to escape.

There was no going back. I would never see my brother again. Or my mom. Or my uncles. Or my friends.

"What? What the hell are you thinking?" he whispered sharply to me, whipping his head toward me. I looked at him, then Aro. I'd explain later; I only tightened my grip on his arm, hoping he understood.

"How lovely!" Aro cheered. God, he was creepy. "And your gift. We will need a demonstration."

"What gift?" David said exasperatedly, looking at Aro. "What the fuck is going on here? You're a fucking creep, you know that?"

I dug my nails into his palm as a sign to be quiet. I was trying to save us, and he wasn't helping.

I kept my eyes on Aro, who didn't look one bit fazed by my friend's threats.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "Forgive him. But...he's right, what...gift? What do you mean by that?"

"Of course, dear," he said slowly. "All is forgiven. However, your gift...is something we have never seen before. You seem to possess the ability to call people near to you...a siren, if you will. Your voice holds such power that is beyond words. Of course, I have not yet seen this, and I intend to."

My voice, holding power? What is this? What?

What?

I didn't understand this at all. How could my voice hold power, much less call people...?

It all clicked, then. It flashed back to me; just two nights ago.

That's why Alec, the boy, was looking at me like that. It's why the blonde girl hated me so much.

I still didn't understand, but I had to comply.

I looked at David. I wanted him to see that I didn't want to do this either, but I didn't want us getting hurt. He looked none too happy.

"You can't be serious," he said incredulously. "You're gonna put on a show for this psychopath? He's lying!"

"He's not a psychopath," I said between my teeth, pleading with my eyes. "He just wants to know what we sound like."

I desperately searched his eyes, letting him see how afraid I was. Of course I thought Aro was a pyschopath. The man's voice alone was psychotic.

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, work with me, David, I thought. His face softened at my expression, before hardening again and looking at Aro.

"Fine," David ground out.

"Wonderful! I have a piano arranged for you," Aro answered, gesturing behind us.

Demetri, keeping his grip on David, led us both to said piano, which I didn't notice was there before.

I mean, of course I wouldn't have noticed, not with all the violence I just witnessed.

"Please, sing whatever you like," Aro crooned again, putting his fingertips together.

When I sat down, I scanned over all the vampires' faces. Felix and Demetri looked indifferent, Aro looked delighted, Marcus looked bored, Caius looked like he wanted to end me, and Alec and Jane had blank looks. Alec, though, looked particularly stiff, like he was preparing for something. I looked up at David.

"I'll follow you. Just play," he said quietly, clenching his jaw. He nodded at me when I hesitated, standing close to me. He kept his eyes forward, watching our audience.

Exhaling, I let my fingers move on their own accord, allowing muscle memory to do my work. I tried to treat this like any normal performance, tried to pretend that we weren't singing for our lives.

David easily picked up on the melody, and started first.

I wanted you to know that I love the way you laugh
I want to hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph, and I know it serves me well
I want to hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

You've gone away

You don't feel me here anymore

I shut my eyes, preparing for the worst, but allowed David's voice to guide me once again. I tried to block out the presence of the vampires mere feet away from us. I felt David's hand on my shoulder, grasping it in reassurance as I sang my part.

The worst is over now, and we can breathe again
I want to hold you high and steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight

I want to hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

When I glanced at my audience, all of the male vampires were slowly edging toward us, like an invisible force was moving them. Each of them fell to their knees, seemingly at my mercy, their eyes locked on me and me alone. My eyes widened in horror as they moved closer, desperate to reach me.

What in the...

I flicked my eyes to Alec for a split second. He looked like he was trying to stop himself, but his body wasn't listening. Was this what Aro meant by a gift?

The blonde girl, however, was the only one who wasn't moving. She was staring at David, her hard eyes concentrated on him. She looked expectant, then livid.

I refused to go any further, yanking my hands away from the keys. I felt David grab my arm, pulling me off of the bench.

"We're getting the fuck out of here," he muttered as he dragged me toward the giant doors.

I realized this, and quickly picked up my feet. David held my hand tightly as we ran, only to be stopped by the girl, her petite form appearing out of nowhere.

"I don't think so," she said dully, her eyes never leaving David.

"Shit," David whispered under his breath, pulling me behind him. "Don't touch her."

"Absolutely magnifico," Aro's voice echoed, and I knew we had lost our chance.

"Okay, we sang for you! Let us go now!" David said harshly, looking across the room at Aro now.

"Ah, ah," Aro tutted, suddenly beside us in a flash. "Do not try to run, my dears. You have agreed to stay here. I do not want to have to take drastic measures." He turned to the blond girl.

"And it seems that Jane has not been aroused by your gift," He pondered. "Jane, dear. Let us see if it is the same with your gift. Shall we? Not too much, now." Jane's eyes landed on me, her mouth a grim line. I squeezed David's hand tight and shut my eyes instinctively, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen. David pulled me tightly to him, trying to shield me, as if he could.

After a handful of seconds, she spoke.

"It does not have an effect on her, Master," she said smoothly, her voice childlike and mature at the same time. She and Alec couldn't have looked older than seventeen or eighteen. "I have tried already."

I opened my eyes, ironically relieved to hear those words coming from her.

Aro's head turned to Jane, then back to me.

"You have already attempted this?" he asked, sounding dumbfounded. He was over at her side in less than three strides. I didn't even see him move. He took her hand in his own and stood still for a minute before turning to face me.

"How marvelous," he whispered, his eyes growing wide. "You are immune to our gifts? I wonder...Alec?"

"No!" David screamed at him. "No more of this experiment shit! We said we'd stay, all right? What more do you want?!"

Demetri suddenly pulled a protesting David away from me, and panic rushed through me. I shot my arm out, crying out at Demetri not to hurt him.

But when he did nothing except stand behind Aro with him, I was a little relieved. Demetri did, however, keep one hand around David's neck loosely. and his other hand behind his back.

"Alec," Aro clipped, not taking his eyes off of me. "Do please test my theory."

I looked at David; he looked scared for me. I looked to Aro; he looked intrigued and calculating.

Then, I looked to Alec, whose palms were open toward me...

While the blackest, darkest, fog silently flowed from his palms, in my direction.

I attempted to move out of the way, to run, to avoid whatever poisonous fog this was, but my feet wouldn't listen, nor would my brain.

I lifted my eyes to his, noticing his emotionless expression. His eyes burned into mine. He hated me because I was his singer, which I had no idea what that was. The mist finally closed in around me, and like I did with Jane, I expected the worst. I waited for myself to choke, for my skin to burn, or perhaps for myself to just drop dead.

But nothing ever happened. I physically felt normal, aside from my erratic pulse.

"Amazing!" Aro breathed. He broke out into a high pitched laughter that echoed off the marble walls. The mist retreated away from me and back into Alec's palms, his face never changing. I sagged with relief once again.

I don't think I even want to know what that was supposed to do.

"I do believe we may have a second Isabella!" Aro said, his laughter cutting off abruptly, and he was suddenly in front of me, cutting off my view of Alec. His eyes were sickeningly elated. "May I see your hand, my dear?"

"Give me my friend back," I commanded, unsure of where my bravery was suddenly coming from. "I've done what you've asked." I wanted to get us as far away from these people as possible, no matter where in this castle that meant. I wanted David safe at all costs.

Aro stood there, still as a statue, his face frozen with his creepy smile, before robotically pulling his hand back.

"Yes, of course," he spoke slowly, something strange in his tone. It made my butt tingle. He turned his back to me, and I accidentally glanced at Marcus, who still had his eyes on me.

"Demetri, would you please do the honors?" Aro asked, all traces of his nice demeanor gone. My eyes widened, and I couldn't stop what came next. My eyes slid over to David.

Demetri pulled David's head back and sunk his teeth into his neck in one simple movement.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. Couldn't think.

David's echoing scream brought me to my knees, my vision swimming before me. The very last thing I saw was my best friend writing on the floor, an impossibly inhuman scream coming from his throat.

But, the last thing I felt were cold, stone arms around me as I finally collapsed.