(17) "The Way Everyone Looked At Me Made Me Uncomfortable."

"It has come to our attention that there is something brewing within our community," Aro said as he addressed the entirety of the guard. Felix, Jane, Alec, Odessa, Demetri, Heidi, Chelsea, Afton, Santiago, and Corin stood sporadically around the room. Jane, Alec, and Odessa stood together closer to the leaders of the coven; Chelsea and Afton stood together with Corin near one of the corners of the room; Demetri, Felix, Heidi, and Santiago stood front and center. Caius's eyes surveyed the room critically, looking for any indication of emotion. His eyes continued to trail back to Odessa, and every time they did, he sneered at her in distaste. Odessa caught him doing it twice before she realized she was better off avoiding his gaze. Whatever was ruining his mood must be bad. Marcus was a bit more alert than usual, but he was still as stone-faced as always.

"Yes," Caius spoke. "While there are always those opposing us, it seems someone has finally put a plan into motion."

"After speaking to Michail of the Russian coven, it is clear that the existence of the Volturi and the existence of vampires are under attack," Aro furthered. "It is imperative we take action now rather than let it stew for longer than necessary."

"I have heard quite a few whispers on my missions," Demetri said after a beat of silence.

"As have I," Felix echoed. "The others are more restless than usual."

"Which is why we will have to deal with the perpetrators," Aro spoke. "The last thing we need is an uprising of sorts. With what happened with the Cullens still fresh in the minds of all, I doubt we will have many supporters." He frowned. "Of course, we have been trying to win back our favor within our community with the help of Corin, Heidi, and a few of our lower members. However, I think it will take time before we gain back the respect we had before the hybrid ordeal."

"I imagine our community would have been better off without the presence of hybrids," Caius said, sitting out the word as if it was poison. Odessa shifted uncomfortably and Alec bumped her hand in response to let her know she wasn't alone. She smiled at him appreciatively before it was wiped from her face. She knew his hatred for the hybrid species was due to her actions and behavior coupled with the Cullens' actions and behaviors. Still, it hurt.

"Now, now, Caius," Aro said placatingly. "Our dear Odessa here is a marvelous example of how hybrids are a terrific addition to our community. Interestingly enough, our dear Odessa here has a connection to someone within our opposers and will be a great asset to our plans of retaliation."

Odessa cringed as several heads swiveled in her direction. Michail's words echoed in her mind as she intuitively knew who the connection was. It seemed like Vera was still trying to stoke the embers of her revenge. She couldn't help but tense as she wondered if the leaders knew she had broken the most sacred law in the vampire community. Was that why Caius was staring her down so badly? Aro had the gift of hearing every thought you've ever had, meaning he must already know about that illegal activity. But if he already knew about the situation, why hadn't he prosecuted her or punished her? Surely, he wouldn't have been so lenient with anyone else.

"What is the plan, master?" Jane asked.

"We will need to figure out their next move, but to do that we need more information. For now, I want you all to talk to one another. Find out if there are any connections between the things you've heard and seen. Odessa, we need to talk. The rest of you are dismissed," Aro answered. Odessa watched them go with fearful eyes. When she turned back towards the leaders, Caius beckoned her forward with a finger and a smirk. Odessa gulped unnecessarily and walked forward until she was standing directly in front of them. She wished a hole would swallow her up without delay.

"You're scared. Good," Caius said shortly.

"Odessa, it has come to our attention that you have a close connection to this uprising," Aro started. "Do you oppose this statement?"

"Yes and no," Odessa answered. "While I did know that there were others within the community that wanted to overthrow the Volturi, I did not know it was in connection to the current one until recently. I am assuming the connection you are speaking of is Vera, and I have not spoken to Vera in years. I would not call our relationship close."

"I understand, my dear. However, anything you know of her or anything you remember her saying will be helpful."

"Vera was spiteful when she was angry. She used to say things that I did not agree with whenever she was upset. She spouted nonsense - talked about how unfair the world was and how someone had to change it. She used to say she would be a great leader for our community - that she would do more for the community than the Volturi ever could. I used to shrug her ramblings off. Vera thought she could do everything better than everyone, so it was not too unusual for her to say such a thing," Odessa described her.

"You shrugged off someone speaking ill of the Volturi?" Caius questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"At the time, I was not fond of the Volturi either. While I still respected you and did my absolute best to abide by the laws, I did not hold you in high regards."

"I understand your hesitance to be in agreement with the things we do, but may I ask why?" Marcus asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Along with many others, my past was harsh. I thought the Volturi could not be that great if they allowed a being such as Joham to run freely and cause as much harm as he did. It was purely selfish and childish."

"I understand the hurt you must have felt," Aro said. "If we knew of his activities, we would have rid of him earlier. Please do continue about Vera."

"As I said, Vera was spiteful. She presented herself as a bubbly person, but she was full of anger and revenge. It was not until we had a final argument and separated that I finally understood her true motives. She was upset with the Volturi, although I still do not know why. She tried to recruit me, which is why she approached me in the first place. She thought I was powerful enough to overthrow the entirety of the Volturi. She was searching for powerful allies to help with her cause. She did mention she was only with two others at the time. I do not know if Michail was one of them."

"He was not," Aro said.

"Then my guess is the two Romanian coven members: Stefan and Vladimir. They approached me during my stay with the Cullens. They asked me my feelings about the Volturi and tried to recruit me. At the time, I thought it was meaningless and their attempt at trying to rekindle something due to the accumulative dislike towards the Volturi. But the way they worded things was eerily like the way Vera spoke so long ago," Odessa said with a purse of her lips.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about her? Anything important?" Caius asked impatiently.

"She has a gift," Odessa stated after a moment. "She is a tracker like Demetri except she has a limit. She can only keep track of a person for up to a week after she ingrains their scent into her mind. After that, she has to smell the scent again and re-ingrain it into her mind."

"Thank you for input, Odessa," Marcus said with a small smile.

"Of course," Odessa said with an uncertain smile. "Is there anything else you wish to know or speak about?"

"There are a few things we do need to talk about, yes," Aro said. "Firstly, as I am sure you are aware due to Michails loose lips, Vera is still very much alive and working on the uprising. You described her as spiteful and full of revenge, so I fear she may retaliate against you. If you come across Vera, I need you to inform us about it. In any case, you need to be careful. We would hate to lose someone such as yourself."

"I have not seen or heard of Vera in so long. If she wanted to retaliate against me, I am sure she would have done it already," Odessa protested.

"It is still best to be careful, yes?" Aro asked.

"Yes," Odessa agreed.

"I ask that any time you leave this castle you take someone competent along with you."

"Anything else?" Odessa asked.

Aro chuckled at her impatience while Caius sneered before he smiled malevolently.

"There is one last thing we should talk about, brother," Caius said. "We are aware that you broke a law years before, Odessa."

"Yes, I saw it in your memories when I first used my gift on you. I understand your caution surrounding the situation, but I am here to ease your worries and assure you that no harm will come to you for your actions," Aro reassured her.

"You cannot be serious, Aro!" Caius shouted.

"Silence, Caius!" Aro shouted back. "Odessa is an important part of our coven now. If I wanted to punish her, I would have done so when we first met. It was a simple mistake. She never meant to break the law."

"We cannot start allowing others to break the law without consequence. What will they say when they find out?" Caius questioned.

"We can simply pin the blame on Vera," Aro supplied easily. "Besides, I am sure Odessa has suffered enough."

Odessa could attest to that. After successfully fleeing Volterra after realizing she did, in fact, want to live, she had lived in palpable fear. She did not know if it would be the Volturi or if it would be Joham to come after her. Sometimes she'd skip out on her vacations after paranoia-plagued nightmares.

"Anyway, there is nothing further we would like to speak to you about, my dear," Aro said. "Do ask Demetri, Felix, Jane, and Alec to come back."

Odessa nodded her head and did as she was told. Once the four were gone, she sat in one of the empty chairs in the guard common room and sighed, slumping down into her chair. Santiago, Chelsea, Afton, and Heidi remained in the room and eyed Odessa warily. She rolled her eyes, knowing why they were and sat forward in her chair.

"Are you really going to act that way towards me, Santiago?" she asked.

He eyed her a few seconds more before his serious expression washed away and was replaced by an easy smile. He laughed and said, "I had to make you sweat just a little, Odessa."

"Any idea why those four got called into the throne room?" Odessa asked.

"A mission, no doubt," Heidi said. "I assume the masters want them to take care of something Master Aro saw in Michail's memories."

"They are the best at what they do," Afton said.

"I do wonder why they didn't let you go with them," Heidi said as she eyed Odessa. "Perhaps something to do with your connection."

"Aro does not want me to encounter trouble," Odessa told her. "My connection is nothing more than a past with someone I do not consider a friend anymore. She is someone who thrives on revenge, and with the new development they are worried she may target me."

"Felix and Santiago do speak highly of you," Heidi began, "and I do trust them. But I can't trust you."

"Don't be so hard on her, Heidi," Chelsea said playfully. "You're always so hard on the newbies. Remember when Afton joined?"

"Well, I've hardly spent any time around Odessa. How do I know she is trustworthy when she's barely spoken a word to me?" Heidi asked.

"I do apologize," Odessa said sincerely. "I know it is not an excuse, but I have been busy with some things."

"We understand," Afton said quickly. "It can be hard adapting to the lifestyle of the Volturi."

"You mean the rules," Heidi deadpanned. "We've all heard about the new recruit who couldn't last two months before being punished."

"I admit I had a rough start," Odessa defended herself, "but I have been willing to change. I have not had much reprieve since I first revealed myself to the community."

Learning she was not an only child, killing her father, meeting her sisters, meeting her mate, joining the Volturi, fighting with her sisters and getting one killed, having her arm ripped off, being punished, arguing with her mate, and now finding out her old friend was still alive and still trying to cause chaos was a lot. It was easy speaking to Santiago and Felix as they were the ones who had to teach her how to fight and speaking to Jane and Alec was a given. She had to admit she had been lacking in speaking to the others.

"Maybe we can hang out for a little bit," Odessa suggested. "I have been wanting to get out of the castle, and I do need someone to accompany me."

"Afton and I are spending the day together, so we cannot," Chelsea said apologetically.

"I can accompany you, Odessa," Santiago said.

"No, let me," Heidi interjected. "We can talk while we're out."

Odessa looked up at the tall brunette with curiosity. They were walking around the city, taking in the sights. A few bags were in their hands from their short shopping adventure in the nearby mall. Odessa had picked up a few things for herself, including a chunky necklace with an intricate thistle pendant, a silver barrette adorned with dark flowers and vines, and a black, high-low dress with cloaked sleeves. She even managed to find something for Jane - a small, porcelain trinket box - and Alec - an amaryllis broach to add to his ample collection. Heidi had made it a point to enter the beauty store, stating that her favorite lipstick was running low. Odessa had browsed the store and eyed a mahogany lipstick before buying it.

Odessa wondered what her story was. The vampire was beautiful and knew how to enhance her beauty further with the clothes she wore. She was super confident, and she knew how to play to a crowd. She was the most beautiful vampire Odessa had ever laid eyes on. Honestly, she had no idea what to think about her. She had passed Heidi in the hallways before, but she had never taken the time to talk to her or even smile at her. Quick glances were all she gifted the brunette, and every time Heidi would sneer at her or scoff.

"Is there something wrong?" Heidi asked as they maneuvered around the humans.

"No," Odessa denied. She thought about it for a moment, then said, "I was wondering why my rule breaking affected you so much for you to hate me."

"It's not that I hate you, I just don't like those who break the rules," Heidi answered off-handedly.

"I do not understand why, though," Odessa said with a scrunch of her eyebrows. "Why do the rules matter so much to you?"

"Without rules, people could do whatever they want; vampires could do whatever they want. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," she agreed. "The last thing we need is anarchy."

"Agreed. Rules are in place for a reason. It is our duty to follow them. Should we question them? Yes, it is only natural. Should we break them, though? No."

"Did something happen to make you feel this way?" Odessa asked. "Many people have natural affixations on law and rules, but you do not seem like the type."

"You are perceptive," Heidi complimented her with a smirk. Her eyes clouded over and she frowned before she said, "I was changed by a vampire named Hilda and was welcome into her coven. There were six of us altogether, and for a while we were happy. Noela was a newer addition, and she could not tame her thirst very well. She began attracting too much attention and eventually rumors of a sinister creature began spreading through the neighboring towns. Noela came home one day upset. We were foolish to let her feed alone." Heidi shook her head. "A human accused her of being non-human and attacked her in front of a crowd. She defended herself and drank him dry, exposing herself to the humans. The Volturi were at our door in the wink of an eye. The others ran in fear but were captured and slaughtered for their misdeeds. I watched them all burn, heard them cry for me to help them, but I was too afraid. Aro spared me because of my gift and allowed me to join the Volturi. I was angry with the Volturi and refused to do anything until I learned the laws of our world and understood why they had been killed. If Noela hadn't been so rash, if Hilda had taught us the rules and to be careful, none of them would be dead."

"You must hate me, then," Odessa whispered, thinking about how she had broken the law the same way Heidi's old coven mates had.

"Technically speaking, you haven't broken any law, so I have no real reason to hate you."

"I have," Odessa admitted. "It was an accidental exposure, one that I had not planned. I wanted to confess to the Volturi at the time, but my companion thought differently. She thought we should attack the Volturi instead."

Heidi was quiet for a moment before she said, "I assume this companion of yours is the connection the masters talked about." Odessa nodded her head. "You must have been upset with her to deny your connection to her. You opposed the law breaking and even separated yourself from someone who wanted to break the law. That makes up for your mistake in my book."

"So, you are not mad?"

"You were in the same predicament I was in. I was able to make up for it by serving the Volturi. You are doing the same. I do not see why I should be mad. Besides, I am sure Aro has forgiven you if he has not had you killed after all you have done so far," Heidi said simply.

"Does this mean you trust me now?" Odessa asked cheekily.

"Not completely," Heidi replied truthfully. "I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt, though."

Odessa smiled and thanked her. She was happy that Heidi was giving her a chance. It felt like she was being accepted despite her opinions and mistakes. Briefly she wondered if Heidi would be open to hanging out with her and Jane. They could even invite Chelsea. She seemed like she wouldn't be against the idea of hanging out with Odessa. They could do each other's hair and talk to each other about the things they were thinking about. They could even watch a movie that was currently popular, although that might just be Odessa wanting to watch a movie. She hadn't seen anything since she saw Purple Rain.

"There is one more place I would like to visit before we go back," Heidi said as she gestured towards a small boutique. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. I think I will stay out here, though, to enjoy the fresh air a bit more," Odessa answered. Heidi shrugged, motioned for her to stay put, and entered the store. Odessa leaned against the corner of the building and crossed her arms over her chest to appear unapproachable. The last thing she wanted was someone to approach her wanting to talk or flirt. The last thing she expected was for someone to tap her on the shoulder. She turned and froze upon meeting the eyes of a hooded stranger. The stranger put a finger up to their smirking lips and motioned for Odessa to follow them quietly. Odessa chewed on her lip as she thought over what to do. She really wasn't supposed to be out of sight of her companion, but she wanted to know what they wanted. Odessa followed them. They took Odessa through a couple of streets and down a dark alley before they took their hoodie off and faced her.

"Odes, long time no see," they said cheerily.

"Vera," Odessa spit out. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to visit an old friend. Is that a crime?" she asked, pouting.

"It is with our history. Why are you here?"

"I have some errands to run, some things to set in motion," Vera answered vaguely.

"What sorts of errands?"

Vera squealed excitedly and jumped on top of the short, stone wall separating the alley from the main road. She balanced herself on it and sat pretzel style. She placed her hands on her knees and leaned forward with a crazy look in her eyes.

"A storm is coming that the Volturi are not ready for," Vera said gleefully, "and it's all thanks to you, Odes!"

"What are you planning? Why can you not let things be?"

"Because they took from me so long ago. They've taken from so many. Now, it's their time to face the music. Tell me: Do you think your precious Alec will be standing once this is all over?"

Odessa stiffened and asked threateningly, "How do you know about Alec?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Vera taunted her. "I have my sources, some closer to you than you think."

"Who?"

"Uh uh," Vera tisked as she wagged a finger back and forth. "I can't give away my cards."

"Then what was the point of finding me?"

"As I said, I just wanted to visit an old friend," Vera said as she smiled a toothy smile. "There is one thing I can tell you, though."

"And that is?" Odessa questioned impatiently.

"We are making our first move sooner than you think. We'll attack for days, and there's nothing you'll be able to do about it."

"You will not be able to defeat us!" Odessa stated.

"Us? What about us? Join us and you'll be spared," Vera offered. "There is room for you on our side."

"I would never join your side!" Odessa shouted. "I said it then and I will say it again: Nothing you are doing is going to be for the better. The Volturi are unavoidable, and I will not allow you to try and dismantle them!"

"Everything is coming to fruition. Soon the Volturi will be nothing but a pile of ash, and there is nothing you can do to stop it," Vera said. She cackled violently, leaning her head back and allowing herself to fall off the wall. Odessa followed her and tried to capture, only to find nothing in her place. She gulped and quickly returned to the boutique she had left Heidi at. She tapped her foot against the sidewalk as she prayed Heidi would hurry up. As soon as Heidi walked through the threshold, Odessa grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the castle.

"What are you doing?" Heidi asked incredulously.

"We need to get back to the castle now!"