Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence and sexual assault. If you're not comfortable with this, feel free to skip to the next chapter.
The first thing that hit me was a sharp high-pitched ringing in my ears, then the potent stench of mould and damp. I groaned and forced my eyelids to lift, hoping that everything I'd just been through had been nothing but a dream, that I'd wake up beside my mates and this would all be over. Far from it, the nightmare had only just begun.
The room I was in was a derelict brick room, surrounded by a few wooden doors which were now crumbling away and walls which were littered with black mould. The only faint source of light was the window above me, which looked long destroyed as tiny glass fragments and debris littered the unkept concrete floor. I didn't think I was even in the same country any more, the weather way too humid for Alaska.
I tried to move, to somehow find an escape route for myself, but my limbs were being physically restrained. Looking down, I'd been strapped to an old hospital bed with black leather straps tightly bound across my arms, legs, and torso. There was no mattress or anything, just a metal frame which dug painfully into my spine.
Not a soul in sight, I began screaming for help, pleading for someone to save me from this mess. No tears fell as I wasn't scared or upset or anything; no, I was furious, furious that I'd been made so helpless by a bunch of dickhead vampires.
After a few minutes of my cries, faint footsteps could be heard from the corridor behind me. The door that lead to it already had a massive hole in the middle so I could see through to the bleak hall which was filled with more hospital beds. Geez, I felt like I was in some kind of horror film. The footsteps got louder and the figure, too dark for me to make out, came closer with a manic grin. Once they finally stepped into the faint stream of light, I recognised the face and my heart sunk to the bottom of my chest.
Rafael.
"Well, well, well," he strode in with his hands behind his back, now wearing an outfit comprised of black leather rather than his Volturi robes, "look who the cat dragged in."
"R-R-Rafael…don't do this, p-please help me," I begged, continuing to pull at my unmoving restraints.
He let out a terrifying laugh which echoed off the peeling walls. "Oh, I'm not doing that, Italian scum," he spat, "I will alert my Masters that you are awake."
He strolled back from the direction he came from slowly, still laughing under his breath while I thrashed aggressively and screamed at him. "YOU MOTHERFUCKING TWO-FACED BACK-STABBING BASTARD!"
In a blur, two figures appeared beside the bed and glared at me. After a moment, I realised it was the same assholes that abducted me in the first place. My eyes were wide and feral, my body still thrashing to get out of these stupid ass restraints.
The dark haired one bent forward closer to me. "Tsk, that language is disgusting."
He slapped me across the face harshly which left my skin burning as if it had been pricked by hundreds of needles. I winced but tried to keep my straight face and stand my ground.
"What do you want from me?" I hissed.
"What do we want?" the blonde repeated the question to himself as if I humoured him, "We want revenge. Your pathetic scum have been ruling our world for millennia, it is time someone challenged them," he spat at me consistently during every sentence.
"So you're such tiny pussies that you're going to try and get to them through me rather than face them yourselves?" I narrowed my eyes at them.
After a quick flash of movement, he had grabbed me by my jaw so that my face was millimetres from his. "You dare disrespect me, little whore?" his grip tightened, painfully so. That's going to bruise.
He finally dropped my head and it made a bang sound as my skull made contact with the cold metal table. No, that's going to bruise. "Just let me go," I growled lowly.
"If only life were that simple," the dark haired one began, "If it was down to my choice, I would burn you, rape you, stab you, torture you right now until there is nothing left. Instead, like any good punishment, we will take things slow."
His palm again made harsh contact with my face and I gasped in pain. The blonde one grabbed my head by my hair and brought himself right up to my face. Rage taking over every response in my mind, I spat at him, to which he let out a gut-wrenching snarl and slammed my skull into the bed.
I continued to thrash and attempt to ignore the excruciating pain at the back of my head, but I could feel their disgusting hands roaming across my body as if they had the right to touch me. Refusing to stop moving, I squirmed on the bed but suddenly my skin felt freezing, exposed.
There was a now large rip down the length of my top, exposing my bare skin and my bra, and I felt one of them dare to slide their hand underneath the fabric and grab my breast forcefully, his other hand moving down between my legs. I did what I could to fight them off while burning tears welled in my eyes, but the throbbing in my head only increased, drowning out anything that was left of my senses. And then there was nothing.
The kings were sat at the long meeting table in the feeding room. Aro handed Marcus another book to study through, while Caius continued drawing up plans for dealing with the werewolf advancements in Mongolia. Suddenly, their new secretary, Valentina, strode in confidently into the room without even knocking as she was expected to. Although, this was excusable, she managed to convince herself. In her hands was a metal tray, on it a crucial message from one of the higher guards, she didn't know his name.
"It seems Valentina has brought us something," Aro sung joyously, despite being inwardly irritated that she'd interrupted their meeting. Oh yes, Caius would need to replace her pronto.
She strolled up to him and extended the tray with a bow of her head. Aro delicately took the paper into his hands and read it over. His unbeating heart felt like it stopped, his features frozen into place.
"What is it, brother?" Caius asked him, a large hardback book placed across his lap.
Aro gestured for Valentina to be taken away, and Demetri and Felix both instantly appeared beside her. She writhed as they locked their arms around hers and dragged her back out of the large wooden doors. The final thing heard was a faint scream, which was abruptly brought to an end by Demetri.
"Contact has been lost with all ten of the guards sent to Denali," he informed them.
Caius instantly stood to his feet and hurled his book into the wall where it took out a large chunk of the stone. Their conversation was immediately brought to a halt by a call on Aro's mobile phone from Eleazar. He still barely understood these confusing devices, but he knew enough to know when he was being called.
He answered the phone. "Where is Eliana?" he demanded.
There was a pause on the line. "We don't know," Eleazar answered.
"What do you mean, you don't know?! We gave you the simple responsibility to ensure her safety while staying as your guest!" Aro bellowed into the phone.
Marcus now stood up to his feet concerned, digging his fingernails so deep into the wood table that he pulled off a large slab off the end which he quickly tossed behind him.
Eleazar had been dreading this call, and for good reason. "She insisted on going for a short walk, her guards were surrounding her, she should've been safe-"
"Have you searched for her?!" Aro asked them angrily, his calm facade disappearing further by the second.
"Yes, we are searching as we speak, but her scent has vanished. We have successfully retrieved her cloak, but that is all." You could almost hear the tremble in Eleazar's voice.
"Continue searching for her, and when you find her, bring her back to us safely," he hissed, desperation in his tone as he hung up the phone.
"Demetri," Caius called.
The brown haired tracker quickly appeared in front of Caius and bowed, along with his much taller counterpart. He had heard the conversation and had already attempted to search for Eli, but to no avail.
"Find Eliana," Caius commanded.
Demetri inhaled deeply, ready to bear the bad news. "I cannot find her. All traces of her have disappeared. Someone is shielding her."
The now fuming blonde grabbed the guard by the lapels of his coat and pinned him roughly to the wall. He looked like he was about to rip his head off before Marcus cut in.
"Peace, brother, this unnecessary violence and turning against our own people will get us nowhere," Marcus reasoned, yet the aggression was still audible in his tone, "Do you have any information on her whereabouts, Demetri?"
"Unfortunately none whatsoever, Master," he responded.
Marcus instantly had an idea, one that could definitely work if used right. "Felix, bring me the map," he commanded.
"What do you think you are playing at, brother? This one," Caius gestured to Demetri who was now readjusting his coat while edging away from his Masters, "cannot find our Eliana. Were you even present for this discussion?"
A sudden sharp pain took over all three of their unbeating hearts as they stopped and placed their hands over their chests. The three of them all made eye contact, knowing exactly what this sign meant; their perfect mate was in danger.
Felix reappeared with a large faded scroll and handed it to Marcus before disappearing again. Marcus extended the map across the table to Aro's end. This world map wasn't just any world map you could find in a store, oh no. On this was every previous country to have ever existed, formed and then destroyed, mapped out perfectly so that previously established covens could be easier identified.
Marcus stepped over to Aro and turned on his bond sight, placing his hand down so that it was touching Aro's. They now could both see the bonds that extended from their hearts, focusing their sole attention on the brilliant gold tie attached to each of them which was beginning to dim ever so slightly on Eliana's end. The three ties extended away from the castle, all in the same direction, but it was difficult to tell where they lead.
After half an hour of plotting out exact bearings and taking perfect measurements, they were finally able to find the origin of the bond. As Caius drew up the completely straight pencil line from Volterra, it extended precisely to Romania, the location of the Dacian coven.
Marcus' jaw dropped and his eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets. "Holy-"
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Author's note: I told you things would get interesting *cue manic laughter*. Also, Raphael is back and Romanian haha, just when you thought that rat couldn't get rat-ier. I can assure you though that, when the time comes, he'll meet the fate he deserves aha. I feel a little bad for making the Romanians so…disgusting in this, but I felt like it had to be done, especially considering the lengths they're willing to go to in order to destroy the Volturi. Don't worry though, things only get worse for Eli from here, just wait and see...
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love hearing your thoughts, stay safe, and ily lots!