Haha, I know, I am being extra proficient: another chapter! Would you believe me if I told you that chapter 5 is already written, and chapter 6 is the one I'm currently working on? I am just so motivated by your enthusiasm in this fiction: it has barely begun, and so many of you added it to your favorite already, it's literally fueling me.

OoOoO

Chapter 4: Memory Lane

She didn't even hear Renée ask her about how her first therapy appointment as she stumbled into the house, just vaguely mumbled something to serve as answer before closing the yoga room door behind her. That's when she crumbled on the wooden floor.

The blond vampire's face was still on her mind. It hadn't left her since she first saw it superimposed on the young student's face. An angular face, with a flawless fair skin sparkling in the sun, blond curls hanging on his shoulder like that of a Greek God, and bright red eyes gleaming with mirth.

It wasn't his beauty that had shocked her, but rather the overwhelming feeling that had taken over her as the image at struck her mind. She had felt the warmest attraction, a strong urge to embrace the stranger in front of her, to curl up on his lap and cry on his shoulder. The strength of the pull had swallowed the void in her chest, and for a short instant she had not felt as uneasy as usual. How could she be feeling this way toward a human blood drinking vampire that she had never seen before? Unless she had indeed met him in the past, like Susan had suggested. The Deja-vu had been stronger than anything she had ever felt, and she couldn't ignore it. It was obsessing her, telling her to look further.

"Also, why did I dream of him?" she whispered to herself.

That was the most important question. It wasn't just that she had had a deja vu impression when seeing the young man in the bus, no. She had seen that man...that vampire, in a black cloak over and over almost every night since that day. That day just after her 18th birthday, in the forest. Among the nightmare, that flash of dream - or recollection, as it might be - was the brightest, almost a peaceful break in the horror, though mixed with puzzling feelings she didn't really have time to process, as the image rarely lasted longer than a few seconds. Surely, Bella thought, if she were to dream of any vampire, surely that would be him. But then instead, why did she always see this strange Apollo, this fascinating mystery, holding her tiny hand as if she was a young child guided along corridors and gardens? Was it really just a dream? Or did she actually meet that vampire as a child?

Bella shuddered, not certain that she wanted to know how she could have wound up as a child in the hands of a red eyed vampire...and survive to tell the tale.

And yet, she had to know.

She searched through one of the boxes with her name on it, looking for something to draw with, when she found an old sketchbook. Most pages where dawn on, she could tell by the buckling edges, so she opened directly at the last page without looking and started sketching. She first drew the dark cloaked figure, and then focused on the face. That part was much harder, as if the moment she would try to recollect the image in her mind, it would vanish. She sketched up a face that looked young, possibly early twenties, though there was of course no way to tell the actual age. She found colored pencil to draw out the curls of his hair, wavering behind his head as if he often slid a hand in it to clear the strands off his brow, purplish circles under his eyes, just a few pale strokes really, and the vibrant red eyes. She was almost done making out the playful smile when she hears someone clear their throat.

"I haven't seen you draw like that in ages." Renée said, leaning against the doorframe. "You always doodle of course, but I haven't seen you actually try to really draw something since you were...I don't know, maybe twelve?"

"Really?" Bella said, genuinely surprised. She hadn't noticed she had lost the habit, but now that she was thinking about it, it was true that she was once extremely invested in sketching and painting. She wondered where that had gone.

"Did you paint back in Forks?" Renée asked.

"No, not really." She ran a hand in her hair "Like you said, doodling, nothing much."

"Hum…" Renée sat down on the floor next to her, and Bella folded her knees closer to her chest. Her mother peeked over her shoulder and said with a little laugh "I see you went back to your old character."

"What do you mean?"

Her mother looked at her with a nostalgic look "Don't you remember when you were a child, you always kept drawing that same blond man with red eyes, exactly like this one. Yes, you see," she pointed toward the sketch "with the black cloak."

Bella gaped at her. "You mean I've been drawing this before?"

This time Renée's puzzled gaze bordered on concern "You really don't remember?" She took the sketchbook off her hand and flipped it on the other side, opening it to the first page and starting the browse through old sketches, when she finally stopped. "Here, you see." and handing it back to her, she watches her react as Bella's mouth falls open.

There he was, in a rough sketch drawn with untrained hands. That same vampire. Blond, red eyed. Black cloak. Over and over and over. His portraits and poses were all over the sketchbook. And she had no recollection of ever drawing them. "When did I do this?"

"Hum...I think you had this one at 11. But there are more in the boxes. You used to draw so much as a kid, and I always kept all your notebooks."

Bella glanced at the pile of boxes in the corner of the room, and wondered if one of them contained the explanation to her dreams...her memories.

"Phil and I are going out to see the last Christopher Nolan." Renée said "You're welcome to join us if you'd like."

It was obvious she would prefer some alone time. "No, you two go on your date, mom. I think I'm going to stay here tonight." She said with a small voice, not tearing her eyes away from the sketches.

"Thanks sweetie." Renée kissed her hair before skipping out the yoga room to go and tell Phil they were good to go.

The door wasn't even fully closed that Bella was already digging up through the various boxed, exhuming ever since notebooks and sketchbook she could find. Gosh, Renée didn't lie when she said she had been an art nerd a kid. And she thought her passion in life was reading, but why didn't she remember all of these art supplies? You could open a small shop.

On each page, alongside other doodles, that same blond man with red eyes, drawn with various degree of proficiency. Standing up, sitting down, wearing either his black cloak or a black suit. The more she would browse through her sketches, the more detail she could catch. The eyes were either black or red, he would be wearing a golden chain with a V shaped pendant, holding each edges of his cloak together. Other figures were sometimes drawn next to him, and - exactly like her dreams would show - their cloak would be all shades of grey.

One attracted her attention. In this one, the blond vampire was sitting on a sturdy armchair, that looked almost like a throne and next to him were two other sitting on thrones similar to his. One looked much older, it her childhood drawing gave him any justice, and had long black hair falling to his shoulders, while the other looked like a young man with short curls hiding his ears. All three of them had bright red eyes, and golden chains with V shaped pendant around their neck.

"Bella, put that book down"

Bella's heart seemed to skip a beat. A cold steel hand clutched her stomach as she recognizes the velvet voice that she knew much too well. A voice she thought she'd never hear before. But even as she was swirling her head around and out the window, she knew that this was impossible for him to actually be here, next to her. She knew it, and yet, her heart had leapt when she heard his voice. Somehow the silence that had followed was worse. She clenched her chest and lied down on the bed, closing her eyes and trying to count to ten with each breath. In... Out... 10...In…

They were in the garden. The sun was bright, but that wasn't what was dazzling her. Her eyes were marveling at the crystalline reflection on his skin. He laughed and ran a hand through his golden hair "A cosa stai pensando, piccola?" he said with the musical voice of a young man, and maybe it was because it was all a dream, for she never had any Italian classes, but she just knew it meant "What are you thinking about, little one?"

She heard herself answer with the high voice of a little girl "Caius, you have glitter on your face" and he threw his head back to let out a laugh so magical it shouldn't even exist, the sky shone brightest, and light surrounded her and she woke up.

She laid there, staring at the ceiling, as sudden realization dawned on her. She knew why those three vampires had seemed so familiar earlier. She had seen them, painted by an artist she couldn't remember, in Carlisle's office. A few months back, Edward had mentioned them. They lived in Italy, and now Bella knew exactly what the V on their neck stook for.

Aro, Marcus and...Caius.

The Volturi.

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There it is: the cat is out of the bag.

As you've seen in the prologue, I don't intend to Google Translate every dialogue into Greek or Italian, instead it will all be mostly English. But I thought, as Bella is slowly remembering stuff, it would be interesting to hear her recognize the language.

I'm dying to see what you'll think of this chapter. Please write your feedback in the comment section below, and don't forget to come back tomorrow: Chapter 5 is already done and ready!