After spending the next hour as normally as possible with my mates, I decided to head over to the library to clear my head. Alice's warning had really put me on edge, and it wasn't just what she said, but also the sheer panic in her tone. All I could do now was get on with my day and pretend it never happened.
But I couldn't really. Not with the thought of an apparently deadly imminent threat against not only me, but my mates as well. The protective side of me was screaming to stay with them, but I knew that on any other day I wouldn't be by their side constantly. This is what led to me strolling through the echoing stone corridors to the library.
In fairness, it did take a lot to persuade the other three to let me leave them. Somehow, I'd managed to wriggle out of their strong iron grips and insist on clearing my head alone before I had a panic attack and spontaneously combusted on the spot. Seriously, that crazy pixie child really needed to work on her delivery of bad news to make me less paranoid constantly.
It was eerily quiet around, to the point where I began to question if everything she spoke about was happening at that instant. Surely not, probably not, well, maybe.
"You're fine, it's fine. And I'm talking to myself. Oh shit, Alice is messing with my head."
I continued to blabber to myself as I strolled through shakily to the library. Something felt off, something in the air just didn't seem right. Maybe I was developing foresight too. Damn, that would be cool.
"You're not going to die. Die? Of course you're not going to die. You're fine, Aro's fine, Caius is fine, Marcus is bored but fine. Everyone is fine. Everything is fine. There's no need to worry about-"
A high-pitched, feminine scream rung through the corridor I was walking through. My eyes widened in fear and shock, and I quickly leapt into a corner by one of the marble benches to avoid being spotted by anyone. Stupid paranoia.
"Just let me go, please," the female voice begged.
I was just about to pace over there and free her from whoever the hell was…not letting her go, but the next voice to talk made my unbeating heart sink to the bottom of my chest.
"Not until you tell us where your pathetic excuse of a queen is," the booming male voice hissed in a strong Romanian accent.
Cautiously, I managed to just about peek around the corner to see a massive guy holding up one of the lower guards by her throat. He must've been about Felix's height, yet even chunkier built than even Emmett if that was possible.
I definitely didn't stand a chance and, as much as I could use my ability, I knew I still didn't have enough control to ensure I saved her and destroyed him successfully. No, all I could do was watch.
He began to turn his head towards me but I managed to quickly duck away before I was spotted. My head was held between my knees and I bit my lip in an attempt to contain myself.
"No, I won't tell you, never. Just let me down," she protested and I could hear the venom tears beginning to well in her eyes.
"Do you want me to kill you, scum? Do you want me to kill you?!"
"No," she cried weakly.
It took every fibre of my being not to hurl myself at him, but I knew that even if I did somehow manage to free her from that bastard's grip, there was a very good chance that I'd die in the process, and that would be it for the Volturi. If I was gone, the kings would wither away in turn. This was for the coven's safety; I had to stay in secret.
"You little dirty bitch! We have 20 of our guards patrolling these corridors in hunt for your so much adored disgusting whore of a queen and her despicable, coward mates. There is nothing left for you, filth. You will tell me where the fuck she's hiding before I destroy your petty, weak female ass. Is that understood?" Nothing. "I SAID, IS THAT FUCKING UNDERSTOOD?!"
She suppressed a faint sob. "I will never betray my queen, not for a piece of shit like you."
Suddenly, I seriously adored that girl. Way to go with the comeback, but I think we both knew this wasn't going to end well.
Her blood-curdling scream echoed in the corridor once more, which abruptly shut off into absolute silence. I could hear only one pair of footsteps now pacing further away from me, and I managed to peer around the corner to see her head and body, now detached from one another, being hauled away to be burnt into ashes.
So this was what Alice was warning me about. Seriously, I think she definitely could've done a much better job in warning me that the very coven that sexually assaulted me and left me for dead was making a comeback and somehow infiltrating our heavily-guarded castle.
My first stop was to dash back into Aro's quarters where I last saw my mates. I knew they'd have probably already left after that scream, but it was worth a check in anyway. Whatever happened, as long as they were safe, my mind would be somewhat at peace.
Checking both sides of the corridor for Romanians, I sassed that the coast was clear and that I could start edging back the way I came. Fortunately, I'd only gone a few corridors away, so it wouldn't take too long for me to make my way back safely.
On the way, I did spot one of the Romanians, yet another male with short straw-like hair. Honestly, it looked like he was in the middle of an explosion in a spaghetti factory. He turned his head to me and our eyes locked for a split second.
Fuck.
Just as he began to run at me with abnormally large strides, I automatically shoved my hand out in front of me, which sent a strong stream of searing white dust flying in his direction. Not a sound came out of him, much to my surprise, and when I glanced up, he was completely gone without a trace.
Breathlessly, I lowered my hand once more and took a few more meditative breaths to keep my head in check. Well, at least I knew I had a plan B if I bumped into any more sexist bastards.
As I continued walking down slowly, the same song kept replaying in my head.
Never gonna give you up,
Never gonna let you down,
Never gonna run around and
Desert you.
Wow, my brain really rickrolled itself. Pretty fitting tune for the general apocalyptic vibe going on though, I had to admit. Even with my outfit of dark blue mom jeans, a white t-shirt, an oversized denim jacket, and chunky black biker boots really just set off the whole zombie-busting mood. I'd be really good in a zombie movie.
Eventually I made it to Aro's quarters, but the door had been left wide open. Oh lord, give me strength.
Not only were my three perfect lunatics completely gone, but the bedroom had been trashed. The desk was utterly splintered and cracked, as if someone's entire weight had gone through it, and a lot of the other items of furniture were in pieces. It would've made sense to run, definitely, but I knew the Romanians wouldn't come to the same spot they'd cleared already.
I spotted a small piece of black fabric stuck to one of the splintered wood planks and managed to pry it off. Quickly sniff-testing it, I had to resist going into full panic mode when I realised it was from Caius' jacket. In fact, the entire desk smelt of Caius, while the large Aro-shaped dent in the wall smelt of…well, Aro, who the fuck else? I couldn't find any trace of Marcus, and I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a bad thing.
Without any lead since their scents seemed to have completely vanished which left no trail for me to follow, my gut was telling me to go to the dungeons. I didn't know why it was that specific, but I just seemed to know.
Just as I began to turn around and head towards their direction, a series of images flashed in my head. It was of inside the dungeons, it was so dark and damp, and an extremely painful high-pitched ringing was sounding from overhead. Three shadowed figures were slumped motionless against the floor.
I was hurled back into reality very quickly, and the first thing I did was rub my eyes, just to check that I wasn't actually losing my head. How did…how did I see that?
Now I didn't have any reason not to head directly over to the dungeons. Aro had explained to me once that the high-pitched ringing can only be heard by vampires and, when exposed to it for long enough, it can turn an immortal crazy. That was the reason they used it as a torture device down there rather than keeping Jane sat using her ability for hours.
This time, the corridors were much clearer than before, probably because spaghetti-hair boy had now been obliterated. A pair of footsteps began to approach from around the corner and I quickly flattened myself against the stone wall, hoping they'd leave and change direction. But wait, there was a strong scent beside me, it smelt of…
"Tina?!" I whispered and gasped as he hid literally a few metres away from me.
Santiago's eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and relief when he spotted me, and he beckoned me over to him with one finger over his lips. I tip-toed over carefully before he grabbed my hand and sprinted with me down the corridor. The first few halls we bolted down were pretty familiar, but soon he began leading me down a maze of sharp turns and I honestly had no idea where we were heading.
We seemed to hit a dead end and I gave him a puzzled look before he managed to push one of the grey stone bricks in the wall and somehow a doorway appeared. He opened the door for me to head in first with him trailing just behind as we ran up the spiralled staircase.
"What is this?" I asked him once we made it to the top.
This entire room looked like someone's quarters. The furniture was very basic with two double beds, a desk, two wardrobes, and a large window overlooking Volterra.
"The east quarters. It's the only place the scum can't find us since it's so well hidden," he responded.
I perched myself on the edge of one of the beds. "O-kay, well that didn't answer my question. What is this?"
He sighed. "This was where the ex queens of Volterra were kept for centuries. What this is, isn't important, dude. What is important is how the hell you're still alive."
"I had a few close calls, I did. Although, I did destroy one Romanian who had hair that looked like spaghetti. I should've taken a photo, you would've found it hilarious honestly."
He pinched the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. "Eli, do you have any idea of the severity of the situation? Any at all?"
"Excuse me? I had to watch one of my guards be killed by a guy bigger than Felix and Emmett combined, and I saw a vision of my mates in the dungeons, so yes I fucking know the severity of the situation thank you very much!" I snapped.
"Half of the guards are in the dungeons," he continued, "while half have been killed after refusing to expose your whereabouts. There is a wild manhunt for you currently, yet you were chilling in the corridor, what is wrong with you?!"
"I'll have you know that I was actually about to save my mates! What the hell is wrong with you?! You were hiding behind that wall with me as well! Shouldn't you be in that dungeon too?!"
"I managed to escape before anyone spotted me. Dude, it's crazy down there, seriously. The two leaders are here as well, and they're all here to finish you off once and for all since, once you're gone, the Volturi is gone."
"Well, they're not doing a great job. You saw me mindlessly strolling down the corridor."
"They're overthinking it. They assume you're hiding on one of the many underground floors of the castle, so most of their people are down there hunting for you. As long as you stay up here, you'll be fine," he said as he began making his way towards the door.
"Wait, wait, wait, you're not seriously asking me to stay here?!"
"We don't have any other choice. If you die, it's over," he insisted calmly.
"Santiago, listen to yourself. There are people dying down there, all because the scum want me dead. I'm the only one who can take these people out-"
"And what if that doesn't work, huh? What do we have left? You're our only hope."
"Exactly, I'm your only hope, just let me through."
I attempted to push through him but he simply shoved me backwards. "This is for your own good, please, just stay here dude," he pleaded before vanishing out of the room once more.
Surely he didn't really expect me to stay in that stupid tower like some kind of damsel in distress. No, I had to go. But what if he was right? What if I was supposed to stay there?
'I can't tell you right this second, trust me, but just follow your gut instinct…'
Follow my gut instinct? If Alice was right and this was the only way I would survive, I knew exactly what I had to do.
Inhaling sharply, I yanked the door open and dashed at full speed down the stairs back into the corridor. A faint tugging at my heart was constantly pulling me along to the point where my feet were almost walking themselves. I kept a look out for Santiago on the way, but he was absolutely nowhere to be seen.
"Follow your gut instinct," I repeated to myself.
As I rounded another corner, an all too familiar scent hit my nose but, before I had the chance to process it, a cold hand clasped over my mouth, muffling my screams.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: Another cliffhanger, I just can't help it at this point haha. Ooh, there's just so many people that could me, any guesses? Did anyone actually guess I was bringing the Romanians back in the first place?
Things only get better from here, which you'll see next chapter. This entire plot point is something I've been ridiculously excited for for weeks honestly, so I just hope my writing does it justice.
Also, Santiago in this kinda annoyed me, not gonna lie, but basically he's sort of like a protective older brother to her so he has good intentions, but it was bold of him to assume Eli would actually listen to him and stay in the east quarters. As if she'd hide instead of rescuing her mates and destroying Vladimir and Stefan once and for all.
The rest of this story will have 50 chapters like Infinite Bliss, and soon we get into the rest of the Breaking Dawn arc. I'm actually following it pretty closely, which you'll see soon enough hehe.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading this chapter, be sure to leave some feedback because I love to hear your thoughts, stay safe, and ily lots!