Author's note: I don't think I've done this yet even though I've been listening to it since the beginning of writing this story, but if you want to listen to the unofficial "soundtrack" of this fic check out the link in my profile description! :)

After he left, I had just enough energy to make it back into my own cell and collapse on the floor from sheer exhaustion. I hadn't eaten well – and the lack of real sunlight was taking its toll on my body, making me weak.

I had lost some blood as well, enough to make me faint. I hated how weak this body was, how frail. As I lie down on my side, barely managing to keep my eyes open, my thoughts stray to him. Always back to him.

Perhaps that is why he did it. Perhaps that's why he became that thing. To avoid this weakness.

It doesn't matter why he did it. That's what so funny – he thinks he has more power like this, strong and immortal. He is so wrong. He's still the same.

But is he though? Is that why there was tears in his eyes when he thought you had died in the pool? Would a cruel man cry like that?

The thought made me uncomfortable. Aro, Nero – both of them were men who would rather perish than show weakness in front of someone else. I had seen that first hand, and how he punished anyone that dared intrude or speak up around him. No remorse for the things he had done, none at all. Even though he had punished me, both knowingly and unknowingly in the past, even now – it was not the same. I knew that. For some reason, he had this fixation with me. An obsession he apparently hadn't let go of ever since I died outside his summer palace, hundreds of years ago.

Was that love? I don't know. Perhaps he was just scared of being alone. Alone to face his own demons in the dark.

I fell asleep to the muffled sounds of air filtering through the walls, and my own erratic breathing.

There was a terrible noise around me next time I woke up several hours later. I didn't know what time it was, but the floor was no longer as cool as it usually was during the night.

But that didn't matter much – when I opened my eyes I saw that Nathaniels escape had been discovered. The two creatures that had guarded our cells and brought me food were standing next to my cell, yelling at each other in quick italian – too quick for me to translate. But one of them seemed to blame the other for what had happened – pointing at him and hissing.

I moved slightly on the floor and they both quieted instantly, their heads turning in my direction at the same time. Their eyes flickered between me and my bloodied arms for a long moment. Too long for comfort.

I walked on all fours over to the bars, leaning my head casually against them as I stared back, defiantly. Hair fell across my face, flat and matted with dirt – its usual auburn color now almost a dark brown. My hands clutched at the bars, and I smiled.

"I think I did something bad."

Before Nathaniel had left me, before I broke him out of his cell, he had said some things that I kept holding onto. He confessed a lot to me in that time, unknowingly or not.

"The only way you're getting out of here is by doing something unforgivable." He had said, which had made me pause.

"So, what's the catch?" I asked.

He had laughed, that strange gurgling sound. "Certain death, for one. But that is not even the worst of it. If you do manage to upset the Volturi, the chances are that it will leak. Other covens will hear about it, and maybe even question how they run things. That is the real danger."

"Why?"

"You think that the Volturi are all evil. But they are saints compared to some. Other covens will require tribute, atonement for past mistakes. Volturi may be the most respected coven in the world, but even they bend when people talk. It is actually a festive event – offering a tribute. An act of charity, a show of goodwill."

Nathaniel may not ever come back for me. But if he does, he is not going to be able to get me out of here in one piece, no matter how many friends he brings. You do not attack someone on their hometurf – because you are destined to lose.

However, you have a much better fighting chance out in the open. When an attack can come from any direction, at any given time.

The only way I could make my escape out of Volterra would be to leave it by doing something unforgivable. And from the looks on the guards faces when they found me, I guessed I just had.