Chapter four:

Eccentric

It was soon the next day, which Alec knew he would have one last time to try to have Bethany come back to Italy with him but he also knew deep down that once Aro got sight of her, she would be given an ultimatum. Nobody was above the vampire law, not even the Volturi when it came to exposure to humans. Alec had wanted to go back into town but Jane and the others were serious on staying put on the outskirts of the city, keeping a keen eye on the newborn army battle that was going to be taking place. All four of the Volturi members kept their distance so that the Cullens wouldn't pick up on their whereabouts, having split up - Jane and Alec going to one side of the forest, Felix and Demetri on the other, taking in the scene to report back to Aro Caius and Marcus back in Volterra.

"The battle is about to begin." Felix warned, retrieving back to Jane and Alec with Demetri. Jane turned her red eyes to focus on the battle from a good one thousand feet in the woods. Minutes went by as the sound of fighting occurred, listening to the crushing of the frozen flesh and yelling, everything a minor battle would sound. Alec found himself tuning out the sounds of the battle, keeping silent and his expression vacant while he attempted to put together what to say to Bethany, he was confused about how he felt about her, never coming across this feeling before which he wanted to sort out - and how to slip passed his sister and peers to meet her.

It had been twenty minutes since the start of the battle, which kept the Volturi on standby. "How much longer, sister?" Alec asked, slightly impatient. Jane listened onto the battle further, then side glanced at her brother. "Not much longer. It seems to be quieting down...the Cullens seem to be in tact..." Jane stated. Of course Alec, Felix and Demetri could listen on as well to determine the outcome, but Jane had say of when they act. "Come, it's time to warn the Cullen coven before we go home " Jane ordered. Alec followed after his sister, walking beside her instantly while Demetri and Felix followed behind them towards the open field.

"Few minutes, maybe ten!"

The Volturi members overheard from the distance, the voice of Alice Cullen warning her family of their arrival - which happened to be something Alec and Jane were quite used to when confronting clans. They took their time walking through the woods, knowing they were intimidating to every clan until they had reached the last few trees of the woods to the field.

"They're here."

Jane smirked at the words, knowing that the Cullen that Aro had sought was counting down to their arrival. Once they arrived, they stopped steps away from the Cullens and pulled down their black hoods. Jane inspected the coven members, mentally counting them to make sure if there were any fatalities. "It appears you've done our work for us." Jane stated, pausing only for a mere moment, examining the field before returning her eyes onto the Cullens. "Impressive. I've never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact." Jane added. Alec knew that his sister found it interesting but also had suspicion, which he had also scanned the field before returning his red eyes onto the coven in front of them. "We were lucky." Carlisle Cullen explained, standing firm beside his family. Alec took a step forward a moment before Jane spoke again, causing him to stop in his tracks. "I doubt that." Jane replied.

Forming an amused but light, brief smile on his face, Alec decided to speak. "It appears we missed an entertaining fight." Alec stated, his thought of Bethany had left his mind for the mere moment, focusing on the issue with the Cullens on the newborn vampires. There was a brief pause before Jane decided to speak after speculating each face of the Cullen clan. "Yes. It's not often we're rendered unnecessary." Jane stated with a light, arrogant smile on her lips. Alec could tell that a temper was flaring from one particular Auburn haired Cullen which caused him to focus merely on Edward although he attempted to keep his worries in the back of his mind for now. "If you'd arrived a half hour ago, you would've fulfilled your purpose." Edward pointed out bitterly. Jane has focused her red eyes on Edward, attempting to hold back her own impatience, remaining professional as much as possible. "Pity." Jane simply said out of spite.

Jane immediately spotted an unfamiliar face among the Cullens, one that had red eyes just like hers - someone not correctly turned into a vampire according to the Volturi. "You missed one." Jane pointed out the unfamiliar face. Alec knew what was going to happen to the misfit vampire that his sister had spotted, Jane stuck to the rules of the Volturi very closely. "We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender." Carlisle, the leader of the Cullen clan, pointed out. "Why did you come?" Jane asked, placing her unflinching gaze on Bree, causing her to drop to the ground, screaming in pain. "Who created you?" Jane asked further, keeping her gaze.

"You don't need to do that. She'll tell you anything you want to know." Esme explained, concerned for Bree. Alec knew his sister had done this our of pleasure, which he had witnessed her do continuously for centuries but would never dare to stand up to her about it. "I know." Jane said simply, stopping the pain and letting Bree explain the event. "I don't know...Riley wouldn't tell us. He said our thoughts weren't safe." Bree explained. Alec remembered seeing Riley in Seattle with a bunch of newborns, this was most likely one of them. "Her name was Victoria. Perhaps you knew her." Edward accused forwardly, giving a daring innocent smile towards the Volturi, Alec had given him a piecing stare. Carlisle steps in to intercede the scene, not wanting Edward to provoke the Volturi. "Edward. If the Volturi had knowledge of Victoria, they would've stopped her. Isn't that right, Jane?" Carlisle clarified, trying to make peace.

The four of the Volturi that were present knew about the newborn army ahead of time and even witnessed it, though no matter how noble Alec may be, he would protect his clan, the Volturi. Jane looked at Carlisle with a fake look of innocence before parting her lips. "Of course." Jane said softly before speaking once more. "Felix." Jane ordered, causing Felix to walk towards Bree to execute. Esme went to block access to Bree, causing Jane to place her hand in front of Felix to stop momentarily. "She didn't know what she was doing. We'll take responsibility for her. Give her a chance." Esme begged. Jane gave a serious stare at the Cullens before making her decision involving Esme's plea. Alec knew that his sister wouldn't give any second chances, she was the most serious if the Volturi besides the three leaders. "The Volturi don't give second chances..." Jane stated.

Jane then turned her red eyes, focusing solely onto Bella, noting that Bella was still human and not turned into a vampire like they had planned the previous year. "Keep that in mind. Caius will be interested to know that she's still human." Jane pointed out, making her order clear. Alec remained standing next to Jane, even though he had wished he was elsewhere than where they were doing. "The date is set." Bella refuted. Jane found herself slightly taken back by such confidence coming from a mere human such as Bella but turned her focus from the human and onto Felix, who was standing an inch or two behind her. "Take care of that, Felix. I'd like to go home." Jane ordered. Alec couldn't be even more relieved to leave, hoping to catch Bethany at the library for one last time.

Felix had taken care of the issue, unfortunately having to take a life of a newborn vampire, having it been created illegally. This action normally caused Alec to cringe inside, though he would never let his Volturi family know. Alec remained cold on the outside, like the temperature of his skin to hide the sensitivity that he had within - it would make him seem vulnerable if he would express it outwardly. "Thank you, Felix. Until next time." Jane stated before turning to leave with Demetri and Felix. Alec followed closely as well, coming to a halt near the sign that shown the distance to Seattle from Forks.

'Seattle - 138 miles

Olympia - 61 miles

Tacoma - 33 miles'

Jane spotted her brother looking at the road sign, curious as to what was going on with him ever since they arrived to Seattle. "Is everything okay, brother?" Jane asked in slight concern, concern she would only show her brother and Aro. Alec turned his red eyes from the sign and looked over to his sister, attempting to find an excuse to depart to Seattle and keep the situation with Bethany a secret, worried about risking her life if any of his Volturi family found out before she would make a firm decision to turn. "There's a particular vampire that I had been evaluating in Seattle. I want to check them one more time for any information about the Cullens that I feel Aro would appreciate to be informed of." Alec explained, of course lying but it would be the best he could come up with in order to throw his sister into a loop.

"Why didn't you inform me of this before, brother? We both know Aro and Caius want all the details to every case we go to resolve." Jane replied, quite stern and almost a scold. Alec glanced over at Demetri and Felix, who both seemed to take an interest in the conversation, before turning back to Jane. Jane turned around to give the two a serious look to back off before turning back to her brother. "Yes, I know, sister. You see, I lost track of them and as you know, I do not accumulate the skill to track. I know their whereabouts daily. This information I seek is not about the newborn army." Alec explained, his tone was flat and serious as it normally was. Jane tilted her head slightly, studying her brother's body language to pick up any signs of threat before parting her lips to speak.

"I see, brother. Go ahead, we will remain in the city for protection." Jane tested. Alec wasn't particularly fond of the idea they would be nearby, causing the chance of them interrupting at any given time. Alec have a firm, short nod before rushing off from the woods and towards Seattle. Arriving in the city, Alec could feel the ambience of those who followed from afar, keeping a keen eye out for any that followed him before he took a short cut through an alley and passed by the Frye Art museum, heading over the freeway with no problem and quickly made his way into the library. Alec had hoped that Bethany would be there at the library, otherwise, he wouldn't think that he would ever return after having lied to his sister and coven.

After two minutes of scanning the aisles of the library, Alec found Bethany sitting at one of the empty tables in the computer room. Bethany had done some research on the differences she has spotted about Alec, particularly on his appearance, how fast he left and on whether all Italians have accents. She found a couple of ideas relating to the paleness of his skin and red eyes, the only two results she had came down to where albino or vampire. Bethany had doubted the latter but it would also explain his swiftness of leaving the prior day. Did vampires even exist? Bethany had questioned this over and over ever since she had stumbled upon that result.

Alec approached the table that Bethany had been sitting at and though his body remained frozen at his age of thirteen, his heart felt like it was beating heavily. "Bethany?" Alec questioned, stopping by the table. Bethany had immediately turned her head to spot Alec and placed a thin smile onto her lips, smile of uncertainty. "Hi Alec. Um, how are you?" Bethany asked. Alec could sense the awkward tension between them, having thought perhaps she was nervous on the topic they left off with on accompanying him to Italy but it had also crossed his mind that she possibly did research about him being cold or his red eyes if she was as smart as he had sensed she was.

"I was wondering if we could speak privately?" Alec asked politely. Bethany was nervous if he was, in fact, a vampire and being alone with him would make her vulnerable. She nodded gently before getting up from the table, stashing her rented book into her bag and followed Alec to the back of the library. When they reached the last aisle, near the back wall, Alec listened on to any swift movements that could hint that there were other vampires in the library, obvious to Bethany that Alec was focusing deeply on listening to something before he turned his focus onto her. Alec had no idea how to start off the convention, he didn't particularly want to beg her to come with him, sounding cold and controlling but he knew he had to ask her once more, otherwise he may regret it when he was back in Italy.

Bethany gave a look of suspicion towards Alec's action before she noticed his red eyes were laid back on her. "What did you want to talk about?" Bethany asked. Of course she had a feeling it had to do with visiting his home country, Italy, but she wanted to give him a chance to explain before making a firm assumption. "I was wondering, if you had given it some thought about accompanying me back to Italy?" Alec asked politely. This was a hard decision for Bethany as she didn't know him very well and also having found out a few things on her own research, but she felt drawn to him. Bethany hesitated for a moment, crossing her arms as her thumb played with the fabric of her sleeve on her long sleeved shirt before letting out a sigh. "I have thought about it and...I also did some research last night..." Bethany stated. Alec rose one of his thick, dark eyebrows in curiosity, wondering what exactly she had been researching.

"May I ask what you were researching?" Alec asked, calming his nerves and holding his temper that stayed at the bottom of his throat, having the slightest idea what it may be. "Your eyes... they're crimson red...your skin is cold and pale...how fast you left last time...it got me curious and I only have one guess." Bethany explained. Yes, it was leaning towards the subject that Alec feared to discuss outside of his coven - with a human was most dangerous. "Which is?" Alec asked, his tone was placid. Bethany was nervous to confront the facts head on, in front of the person who she assumed was a vampire but it was too late now to avoid it. "...a vampire." Bethany replied in a hushed tone.

The words she spoke caused Alec to freeze for only a moment, his expression had made it obvious the assumption had been true. "If...I was one, would it change things?" Alec asked. Alec wasn't dumb, he knew that humans feared vampires, for the most part anyway, and having a human find out about you meant death for them unless Aro was compassionate enough to give an ultimatum of immortality. Bethany had always learned that vampires were a myth, like werewolves, fairies and mermaids were but if she were to get to know one, who knew what would happen? Bethany wasn't scared of most things and usually liked to take risks, she liked challenges and adventure.

"It depends. Are you a good vampire or a evil one?" Bethany teased, though she was curious. Alec formed a rare, small smile onto his lips. "I would like to think I'm a good one, though everyone has their own opinion of my family. My family isn't normal, if you understand what I mean." Alec explained. Bethany nodded lightly as she took a moment to think. If she were to go, she would need an excuse to tell her parents, that was the only issue. "Yes, I get that. Totally. But I don't think my parents would just let me elope to Italy..." Bethany pointed out. Alec wished he could manipulate humans in a way to get what he wanted without making a scene, having mind control or even to convince Chelsea from his coven to help break ties with Bethany's parents but that would be selfish and not to mention, controlling.

"Perhaps, say it's a summer holiday your taking, something." Alec convinced. Bethany wished she had enough friends to use that excuse and knew her parents wouldn't trust some guy that she just met to take her on a vacation. "I don't know what would work. But, I do like you. If I have to be honest... something draws me in to you." Bethany confessed. Alec had the thought that the reason would be his appearance as it's a way to draw in prey but that wouldn't explain why he felt drawn to her. Of all the women he had been surrounded by over the centuries, Bethany was the only one to make him feel different. Alec had heard for centuries about the vampire version of soulmates, that it practically hits them like electricity in their veins when they meet their soulmate, they just know its their mate - Alec felt that the moment he met Bethany.

"I would be fooling myself if I didn't say I felt the same way." Alec replied. Alec edged a little closer to Bethany, causing her to take a small step back in uncertainty due to his vampirism, in which Alec stopped in his steps. "If you accompany me back to Italy, I will treat you like a princess...I will give you everything there is to offer, if you give me a chance..." Alec enticed softly, his voice was smooth and the words danced off like a romantic ballad to her ears. Alec had always secretly romantic but never had anyone to show it to, being that he looked like a thirteen year old didn't give him any help either.

Bethany felt tempted by his words, his clear, formal voice caused tiny butterflies in her stomach. "So, so you are a vamp-" Bethany struggled to get a reassuring answer. Alec sighed. "-yes. You must not tell anyone, we have strict rules, my family is very strict about that rule." Alec pointed out in a hushed, quick stern tone. Bethany paused for a moment, letting the words sink in as she kept her eyes on Alec. "Oh...okay. Well, I need to figure out what to tell my family. " Bethany explained. That was still an issue, how to handle her parents, but she had mentioned before that it was her last year of homeschool and it was ending soon as it was June. She could have a scholarship to a university in Italy, that was surely a brilliant excuse for Alec to use to sway her into leaving.

"Perhaps I could set up an Italian scholarship to an university of your choice. That could convince them to let you visit Italy?" Alec suggested. Bethany seemed to like the idea but before she could reply, there was an interruption by one individual. Alec turned to spot instantly, his sister, Jane, standing in the space between the two back aisle of book cases. "So this is what you've been up to, brother?" Jane questioned, turning her red eyes onto Bethany. "A human." Jane added. Alec had began feeling something he had only felt once in his life, which normally was for his sister but this time it was for Bethany, which was defensive. Alec took a few steps over and blocked Bethany, facing his sister, Jane, which caused her to raise a brow.