Author's note: Sorry for the shorter chapter, next one will be longer! Really appreciate all the kind things said in reviews (okay the critical ones are good too but ya know) I really needed that little extra boost this week.

it took me some time to be able to move. It always did when this happened, before I was able to put everything together again.

I was only half-aware that Aro was still standing in the doorway, blocking anyone from looking inside, from seeing me like this. But he didn't come near me and he didn't touch me. As long as nobody touched me, I could face anything after.

After a few minutes, I had managed to find something to hold onto in my mind. Something that would stop me from shaking. My eyes shot up towards the door, again afraid – maybe that he wouldn't let me leave this room and lock me inside. There was no reason for this worry, but I had learned my lesson many times that fear was rational, always.

But as I looked, he slowly stepped aside, his eyes on the stone floor. He must have known how uncanny they were – his eyes. That they frightened me, especially now. I walked past him and out into the hallway.

"Helen is coming, she'll take you home." he said. He had probably called her up, but I hadn't heard it. My shoulders hunched and tears drying on my face – and my boss having been witness to it all. This was suppose to be a fresh start. I was supposed to have been free from it, at last.

Just wishful thinking, it turns out.

I nodded quickly, "That's good."

We stood there in silence for a moment –and I could tell that he seemed torn, as he looked up and down the hallway, a thoughtful frown on his face. He finally fixed his eyes on me, and I shivered. He removed his suit jacket and handed it over to me to take, but I did not put it on, instead I held it close to my chest, letting my hands clench the soft material.

"In the meantime I will wait with you, until she gets here. Is that acceptable to you?"

It wasn't. But it was better than being alone.

"Yes."

It didn't take long for Helen to come running up the stairs – and if I wasn't so strange inside at the time, I would have been surprised to see her look so worried, her tan skin pale and her eyes wide. Her hair was a little less neater than usual, and when she saw me she looked shocked – I tried to avoid her gaze, looking anywhere else. I knew I looked a mess, the dress was torn and I was covered in dust. She grabbed my arms and shook me lightly. But my arms were made of cotton, so I felt nothing.

"Rebecca? What happened? Why are you so quiet?" she asked me, and I didn't know what to say. Aro, who had stood at an arms length away from me, was now close enough so that his voice reverberated through me. But it was comforting, as if he knew that I had to borrow his voice to speak.

"Someone from our party found her. He will be dealt with by the proper authorities as soon as possible."

Helen looked up at Aro in silence, nodding thoughtfully once he was finished. Then Aro turned to me once more, his eyes directly gazing into mine. The pupils in his eyes were small and dark, but not black – they were the color of dried blood. This close, I saw that there was a wild emotion in those eyes, as if violence was not far from his thoughts. The rest of his face was a mask, carefully hiding what was inside.

I do not know what he saw in mine, but when he spoke, his voice was the same as it always had been towards me – careful and kind.

"And tomorrow, you can decide about your future here with us." he said, which made me truly take notice of what he was actually saying. I blinked several times and stared at him.

"What? I dont understand..." Had I done something wrong? Were they sending me away? Aro sighed with regret.

"I am are deeply sorry about what happened here tonight, and it is understandable if you decide not to stay in Volterra any longer. We will arrange and pay for your travel arrangements of course."

"No." I said, loud and clear as I shook my head. There was a slight pause.

"No?" He asked, and it was hard to tell if he was surprised or not. I swallowed, clearing my throat. His eyes was fixed on his coat, which I for some reason refused to let go of.

"I want to be here. I want to continue working for you, as was agreed upon." I told him, because it was the truth. Something about being here made me different, and it was for once not a bad thing. Aro turned to Helen, all business now.

"Very well. Helen, make sure that she gets home safely. I need to rejoin the party and make sure that the guilty party is dealt with. " he said, and she inclined her head.

"As you wish, Master."

Before Helen and I left, I turned to look over my shoulder. Instead of disappearing downstairs right away, like I thought he would, Aro was still standing in the hallway where we just were. Watching us leave, his hands clasped in front of him.

Helen stayed with me at the apartment for a few hours, watching a dubbed action movie on tv until it was very late, after which she only left after I insisted that I was okay. But before she did, she had asked me several times about what had happened – wanted to know things.

"Wouldn't you feel better if you talked about it?" she asked me, her high heeled pumps discarded and feet tucked in as we both sat on the large couch in the living room. I was holding a cup of hot tea, and had to put it down on the coffee table, because my hands were shaking.

They usually did that too, afterwards.

I knew what it was she needed, what I needed. But I could not give that to her, the demon that lives in my dreams. It would kill me, I know that for a fact. It is the only facet of my life that I cannot ever look at too closely, or I'll burn.

So I told her what I've heard others say before me, because it is so much easier. I shrugged and nodded a lot, like I didn't really care.

"It's okay Helen, really. He never even got that far before Aro showed up." I said, and she stopped staring at me questionably, eyes going over to the tv screen once more. Then she put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

"I still can't believe that it happened. But I'm glad that you're safe and sound. "

"Yeah, me too."

To my surprise, sleep came easily that night. Perhaps because everything that had happened had made me so exhausted.

But I did have strange dreams. I saw that little room, full of seemingly abandoned things and the music box – but the room was flooded with water, and I couldn't reach the door. I knew I was trapped, and I couldn't breathe. Something black was attacking me from within my chest, and it hurt.

I was only half-awake when the dream changed, and I think I heard the sound of soft footsteps, the bed covers shifting like water. A deep sigh and a cold hand on my forehead, and then smoothing down my hair. It was like what my mother used to do, a long time ago.

"I'm not sick, I promise." I answered the dream, which was still there, because it made a sound of amusement. But the dream did not seem to understand what I was saying.

"Do you want me to stay?" it asked, and I think I nodded, everything in the dream pitch black, but I knew that I wasn't alone. The dream made a bit of noise, someone humming contently before I fell into a deeper, undisturbed sleep.