"I'm. So. Bored"
"Welcome to Volterra Eli, this is what every day will be like from now on" Afton chuckled.
We were both flopped back beside each other on the bed, and there was absolutely nothing to do. Nothing. So instead, to pass the time, I'd spent the last half hour whining about how bored I was, and how much I wanted to do something, anything.
A knock came from the door and I sighed.
"What are you doing?" Demetri walked in through the door which had apparently been left open, absolutely lost about what was happening. Neither I nor Afton bothered to get up.
"I'm bored" I groaned, rolling to the side.
"I've been getting this for the last hour or so" Afton sat up leaning his weight on his arms, still watching me with exasperation.
"Half an hour," I snapped, "Geez, how crazy do you think I am?"
He rolled his eyes and stood up off of the bed, pacing lengths across the floor.
"You know, you could always go down to the game room" Demetri suggested with a shrug. I instantly sat up straight and looked at him, a smile forming on my lips.
"Game room?" I squealed, before turning to Afton and slapping him on the arm, which didn't hurt him obviously, but the intent was there.
"What was that for?"
"What the hell, you didn't bother to tell me there was a game room? This whole time?"
"I didn't think you'd be interested!"
I rolled my eyes and threw my arms up at him before putting on the same pair of Converse shoes I'd worn the day before and heading for the door. Demetri instantly stepped in front of me to lead the way, leaving me and Afton trailing along behind as I closed the door behind us.
"We might as well see if anyone wants to join us while we're on our way" Demetri called behind him, turning to a staircase on the left. We followed him up and he opened the door confidently, strolling in with me and Afton close behind. There were about ten or so people in the room, all of them with cloaks and Volturi crests around their necks. Afton seemed to recognise someone and immediately left my side to go and join them.
"Everyone, this is Eliana," Demetri gestured to me and I waved awkwardly, "me and Afton were about to show her to the game room if anyone would like to join"
I spotted Felix in a chair near the back of the room, as he stood up and came over to us, placing down the book he'd been reading.
"I'll come, but there is a trial currently taking place in the throne room, so we may be forced to leave at any time"
"Let's go then, apparently we may not have too long" Demetri stepped aside, allowing me to leave first, followed by him, Felix, Afton, and a brunette woman who had her hand in his. She quickly moved to the front of the group to walk beside me.
"I'm Chelsea" she grinned, extending a hand out.
"Eliana, it's nice to meet you" I smiled back, taking her hand.
"Hey, how come my introduction wasn't as friendly as that?" Afton called from behind me.
"Only you're to blame for that!" I yelled, before realising the extreme echo in these halls.
"So, I see you've already met my mate" she laughed.
"Who? Afton?"
"Yes, Afton" she replied light-heartedly. There was an awkward pause in our conversation.
"Just admit it," she whispered playfully into my ear, "he's insufferable"
"Well, maybe 'insufferable' is a bit extreme, but…couldn't agree more" I muttered under my breath.
"I heard that!"
"Stop listening then!" Chelsea laughed, waiting back to take Afton's hand and walk with him.
"So, the infamously ruthless and unforgiving Volturi have a game room then?" I turned to Felix and Demetri.
"Of course. Mind you, it did take a lot of persuading the Masters to allow us to have it" Felix remarked.
"Hmm, I can imagine" I laughed, as the group turned a corner to a dark, looming door. This whole area of the castle honestly made me feel like I was in some kind of haunted dungeon or something, which was an unnerving thought to say the least.
"Eliana, welcome to th-"
Demetri was cut off by Afton shoving past, pulling a giggling Chelsea along with him and flinging the door open with ease.
"No need to make it so dramatic Demetri!" he called behind him, to which Demetri growled.
"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, welcome to the Volturi guard's game room" he said, standing to the side to let me through. Astonishingly, the contrast to this room and every other room was laughable, the walls painted a bright white colour and sunlight streaming through the large windows. Fresh spring air filled the room, and the entire far wall was made up of shelves containing just about every board game and card game imaginable. A flat screen TV sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by brightly coloured bean bags and a soft red sofa. Afton and Chelsea sat in the corner at a table with a chess board set out, apparently resuming a previous game.
I made my way over to the TV, noticing they had a Wii plugged in with Wii Sports still running in the background. Settling on the sofa and pulling a cushion onto my lap, I picked up a remote.
"Anyone for Wii bowling?"
Felix strolled over, hastily picking up a spare remote that had been left neglected on the carpet and came to join me.
"Easy."
Usually, I didn't have anyone at home to play games with, what with having no siblings and very few friends, so this made for a change. Not only that, but I was still in the process of convincing my parents to get me a Wii or Xbox. I would always play on the Cullens' games console whenever I went round, but that wasn't as often as I would've liked.
It turned out I was better at bowling than Felix, completely thrashing him time and time again. This went on for a while, him constantly insisting on a rematch and providing excuses along the lines of "the sensor on my remote isn't working" and "you tripped me up". What didn't help was Demetri stood leaning against the back of the sofa, cheering me on the entire time, which seemed to really piss off Felix. You have no idea how funny it is to see such a big, tall person so easily beaten down. Quite a few wins later, it did get boring, so I decided to let him win a few times, as Felix really wasn't the kind of person you want on your bad side in any way.
"Your turn Demetri" I offered my remote to him but before he had the chance to take it, the door abruptly opened, Corin standing in the doorway. Her hair was tied in a neat low bun, her skin looking even paler from the lighting in the room.
"Oh, hello again Eliana," she tilted her head to the left to look past Felix and waved at me, "Aro has requested us all in the throne room. The others are already there"
"This isn't over" Felix jokingly narrowed his eyes at me and followed Corin out of the room, Afton, Chelsea, and Demetri just behind.
"If you need anything, the throne room is down this corridor and on the right" he called, softly closing the door behind him.
"Have fun and don't die!" I yelled back, earning a chuckle from Afton audible through the thin wood of the door. And then there was one.
I decided to continue mindlessly playing tennis on the Wii, not even bothering to stand up. A few minutes later, I was about to turn off the TV and play chess with myself before someone knocking on the door startled me, causing me to leap up onto my feet.
"Yes?" I asked warily. Everyone was supposedly in the throne room, so I had no idea who the hell this was.
The door opened and Marcus stepped through, carefully closing it behind him and walking over to me once he noticed that I still had my hand over my chest.
"I am sorry if I startled you, il mio amore" he spoke softly.
"Startled? Not at all. Just consider it…keeping me on my toes," I replied half-smiling, my heartbeat finally returning to its normal rate, "I thought you were still in trials?"
"I managed to leave early as there were only a few minor crimes left to be dealt with today, so I thought I would come and join you" he chuckled lightly, gazing into my blue eyes. This moment probably would've been a little more romantic if not for the tennis theme tune playing in the background.
"Care to join me in some tennis then?" I resumed my seat in the corner of the sofa with my legs crossed, placing the cushion back on my lap and offering him the remote Felix had left discarded on the beanbag he'd been sitting on earlier.
"Tennis?" he drew his eyebrows together and sat down on the seat adjacent, his cold hand lightly brushing mine as he took the spare remote from me.
"Yes tennis, unless you wanted to play bowling or golf or something" I laughed.
"Tennis works fine," he smiled as I opened up a game, "So, how do these remote controls work?" he asked, studying all of the buttons.
"All you need to do is motion hitting a tennis ball, like this" I swung my wrist back.
It didn't take nearly as long as I expected for him to get the hang of the game, and by the time we were three or so games in, he was virtually unbeatable. In my defence, I was in fits of laughter the entire time, struggling to believe that Marcus of the Volturi was playing tennis on Wii Sports and was good at it.
"May I ask, why are your denim jeans ripped?" he asked, glancing at my exposed knees.
"They're made like that" I answered timidly, twirling a piece of thread from them around my finger.
"But why would you want to buy them like that?"
"It's fashionable. Trust me, everyone my age wears them like this. Besides," I giggled, looking over at his hair, "I could say the same thing about your hair"
"Don't you like it then?"
"Oh no, I love it," I smiled genuinely, gazing at his brunette locks which fell messily to his shoulders, "it's just that my mother used to always warn me to stay away from men with long hair. Oh, and piercings" I laughed.
He seemed ever so slightly taken aback by my comment, so I smiled at him, hesitantly running my fingertips through a strand of his hair. It was extraordinary how soft it was, considering he was a three thousand year old vampire and it hadn't grown at all since his transformation. I really did need to ask him about his hair care routine at some point.
"The past few days have been insane" I sighed.
He turned to face me, "Hmm?"
"Well put it by this way; this time a week ago, I didn't even know who the Volturi were. I was still packing to leave for Forks to spend two weeks there. My life was, well, relatively normal, the only exception being the fact that I was close with the Cullen family"
"How do you know the Cullens then?" he asked.
"I've been friends with Bella since I was little, our mothers were friends, and she was the one who introduced me to them," I paused, "Do they know, you know, about…?"
"The mating bond?" he finished my sentence for me, "No, we felt that this information should not be shared by us, but instead by you"
I inhaled sharply and bit my lip. Great, so now I was the one who had to break this news to them. Considering the Volturi almost killed both Bella and Edward, they weren't exactly on the Cullens' good side. The last thing I needed was to lose my closest friends over this whole 'true mate' thing.
"Is there something wrong, cara mia?"
"Nothing, it's just," I kept my eyes down, my hands in my lap, "I don't know how the Cullens' will react to all this. What if they… I don't want them to hate me"
Marcus took my small hand and held it in his.
"Eliana, if there is one thing I know about the Cullens, it is that they are good people, and they do care about you a lot. We vampires have great understanding and respect for the mating bond, so the last thing they would ever do is hate you for something that is out of your control" he squeezed my hand lightly.
Maybe he was right; maybe I was worrying over nothing. This whole thing was truly out of my control, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Besides, they would surely find out at some point in anyway, so this wasn't a secret I could keep from them forever.
Instinctively, I reached over to hug him, and I was about to back away embarrassed before he put his arms around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him reassuringly. He stroked the side of my face lightly with his hand before sitting back and picking up his remote which had fallen on the floor.
"Rematch?" he chuckled, handing me my remote which also had fallen on the floor.
Author's note: Obviously Wii Sports theme music is the most rOmAnTiC music out there, and that's just facts. Anyway, I don't really know why this chapter took so long for me to write considering how short it is, but I hope you like it nonetheless. Feel free to leave a review or whatever, and thank you so much for reading, ily!