I was woken up by the sunlight streaming through my window the next morning. My memory of the night before was still a little hazy, but I noticed that I was still in my gym clothes, my hoodie and shoes neatly placed on the floor. I'd had the most peaceful sleep I could remember, without a single nightmare, which was new for me. With this level of motivation, I practically jumped out of bed, my socks causing me to skid across the polished floor and land flat on my ass.
"Remind me not to do that again" I murmured to myself under my breath, using the edge of my bed to climb back to my feet.
I paced over to my wardrobe and after almost an hour of endless rummaging, I settled on a plain white t-shirt tucked into a pair of ripped jeans. A knock sounded on the door just as I was brushing my teeth at the sink.
"Who is it?" I attempted to yell, my voice muffled by the white toothpaste that ran down my chin.
"Sir Afton of the Volturi, milady" an embarrassing English accent replied.
I hastily placed my toothbrush back into its cup by the sink and hurried over to the door to fling it open.
"What?" I drew my eyebrows together as Afton snickered at me.
"Toothpaste is a good look for you, you should consider wearing it more often" he snarked, before I wiped it away with my index finger and flicked the remaining droplets at him.
"May I come in then?" he asked, rubbing at the white toothpaste marks left on his cloak.
"I don't see why not," I sighed, throwing the door open and gesturing my arm, "after you ditched me during the Masters' meeting last night"
"Chill, they're your mates…did you not enjoy yourself?" he raised an eyebrow.
"I did, but that's not my point" I snapped.
"What's your point then?"
"My point is, you ditched me in an awkward situation!"
"You made it awkward!"
As if with perfect timing, my phone which lay discarded on my bed began to buzz as I dived across my mattress for it.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Eliana, my beautiful, precious, wonderful baby! How are you?" an overenthusiastic voice exclaimed.
Mum.
"Great thanks, yeah" I waved off Afton who was silently rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter.
"So, tell me, how's Forks treating you?"
Of course, she still thought I was back in the US with the Cullens.
"Forks is great thanks, rainy like always. You know…same old, same old" Afton tilted his head to the side and I responded with a shrug.
"Brilliant, my wonderful, smart, gorgeous pudding. Oh, did you want to talk to Dad?" Before I even had the chance to reply, I heard the muffled silence as the phone was passed over to my Dad.
"Hey pumpkin, how are you?"
All I could think about was just how many of these nicknames Afton would decide to adopt to piss me off further.
"I'm good, I'm good, yeah…" I replied vaguely.
"You seem busy, I'll let you go…your mother says she-"
He was quickly cut off by my mother who'd stolen the phone back from him. At that same time, Chelsea wandered in to join Afton, confused about what the hell was going on.
"I love you baby! Stay safe, and don't take drinks from strangers, and remember to floss, I've told you time and time again!"
I looked over to see that Chelsea was now laughing harder than Afton was, leaning on him in an attempt to get a grip of herself.
"Love you too, mum"
I grimaced and hung up the phone, causing the pair of them to erupt with laughter. Rolling my eyes, I swerved past them and into the bathroom to clean the remaining toothpaste dried around my lips.
"Isn't she lovely?" Chelsea managed to get out, before keeling over onto the floor, Afton hovering over her and both of them struggling to contain themselves.
"A delight," I murmured, sitting back on the edge of my bed, "so, why are you two here then?"
"Oh yes, I almost forgot; I was actually told to escort you down to Masters Caius and Marcus, 'my wonderful, smart, gorgeous pudding'" Afton teased, still chuckling lightly.
"They sent me up to see what was taking so long" Chelsea added, grinning at Afton.
"And we're still here because…" I raised an eyebrow, just as Heidi appeared in the doorway.
"The Masters expected Eliana in the garden a whole fifteen minutes ago, and you're here having a friendly catch up" she sighed.
"Great, you've taken so long that I now have three guards who all seem to be failing at their task, their one simple task" I snarked.
Heidi took my arm and led me out of the room, allowing me to only just grab my shoes on the way out.
"I'm not messing up this time" she strode ahead, still gripping onto my arm as I was dragged along like a dog owner with their overly-energetic dog in the park.
"Careful" I hissed as her grip became a little too tight for comfort.
"Oh of course, you're still a human, my mistake!" Still a human? What's she implying?
She loosened her grip and instead took my hand, leading me to the same set of wooden doors that Jane and Alec had brought me to a few days ago. Pushing it open with ease, I was lead down a narrow path before we cut across a small field area, stopping under a large oak tree. I removed my hand from my eyes which I'd been using to avoid being blinded by the beating sunlight, and my gaze landed on Caius and Marcus, both of them sat comfortably on the ground, their backs leant against the trunk of the tree.
"Good morning, carissima, I see you are still displeased with the thought of wearing shoes" he stared pointedly at my feet, my shoes held in my left hand.
"Thank Heidi for that," I swept my arm over, expecting her to be standing beside me still, "and she's gone" I muttered disappointedly.
"Do come and join us" Marcus gestured to a patch of grass in front of them and I carefully sat down, now clumsily attempting to put on my shoes.
"Did you sleep well?" Caius asked.
"Pretty well, yes, thank you" I smiled, adjusting the laces on my right shoe.
"Allow me, my dear" he leaned over, and my shoe was on and tied in an instant.
"Thank you," I smiled sheepishly, crossing my legs and placing my hands in my lap, "the weather's wonderful" I sighed.
"I agree, the weather conditions are quite admirable at this time of year" Marcus responded.
"Wow, your skin is incredible" I exclaimed a little too enthusiastically, earning a chuckle from both of them as I hesitantly reached out and touched Marcus' forearm. Maybe it was due to their age, but their skin was absolutely stunning, refracting the sunlight in all directions with a much brighter glow than any of the Cullens' had.
"You really think so?" Caius smiled, finding my fascination quite amusing.
"Yes, look, compare your skin to mine"
I moved my exposed arm into the sunlight alongside Caius' much paler, diamond-like one, and the difference was striking.
"Hmm, strange humans" Marcus mused, glancing over at our arms.
"So, the Cullens never really had the chance to explain much to me, but what else can vampires do that makes them so special?"
"Compared to mere humans, we are more flexible, virtually indestructible, much faster and stronger" Caius apparently had a lot of vampire pride. Good on him, honestly.
"How much stronger?"
Before I even had the chance to realise it, Caius was stood up with me held high above his head effortlessly while I squirmed in a fit of screams and giggles. After a few seconds, I felt his hands underneath my back disappear as I flew through the air, still screaming, landing gently in Marcus' arms.
"Jesus, I thought you were going to drop me!" I yelled, my hand over my chest as Marcus continued to hold me horizontally.
"I would never, tesoro" he replied, lightly chuckling as he removed his arm from under my knees to allow me back onto my feet.
"What's the heaviest thing you've ever lifted?" I quizzed them as we settled back down under the tree, me now sitting close between them.
"We have been around for thousands of years, and in that time there have been many objects with an incredibly large mass," Marcus explained, "however, I have seen some lift items as heavy as trains before"
"Trains? You've got to be kidding."
"And that is what deems humans inferior to us" Caius adds proudly.
"Well, maybe we humans are inferior physically. However, and correct me if I am mistaken, but vampires cannot reproduce with other vampires, correct? So, surely the only way to ever grow the population would be through humans?"
"You are forgetting that we are immortal, il mio amore, expanding the vampire population is not necessary"
"But you wouldn't exist if it wasn't for humans, no? I mean, you were human thousands of years ago"
"And now we are immortal, with much more power and strength than imaginable. What is your point?"
I could see that this was a losing battle, so I decided to cut my losses and give up.
"Fine, you win, vampires are more powerful, humans are inferior and shameful" I sighed sarcastically, dramatically waving my arms.
"Correct" Caius smirked smugly, evidently pleased with himself.
"But surely there are some disadvantages of being immortal, right?" I twisted myself so I was lying on my back, my legs leant up against the oak tree.
"There are none whatsoever" he was quick to defend himself, to which I hummed in disbelief.
"Nothing? I mean, doesn't it get boring?"
"The immortal lifestyle could never bore me" he answered in a serious tone despite the sarcastic manner of his reply.
"What about Marcus?" I asked as his attention snapped to me, "He looks bored. No offence or anything"
"None taken," he chuckled, "but do keep in mind that we have been around for-"
"Thousands of years, I remember," I interrupted, which earned a slight glare from him, "but do you ever wish you were human again?"
"You seem to enjoy asking questions, carissima" Caius remarked.
"I'm just curious, that's all," I paused for a beat, "what's it like not being able to cry?"
Much to my amusement, the pair of them were relatively patient while I interrogated them on pretty much everything to do with vampires, although Caius did wince slightly and seemed reluctant to answer when I asked about other supernatural creatures like werewolves. I was sat comfortably for maybe half an hour or so, until I leapt up onto my feet, hiding behind Marcus.
"What is it?" he asked, concerned about my sudden panic.
"It's a wasp, I don't like wasps, get it away from me!" I whined, ducking further behind him.
"Carissima, it's just a wasp, it will not hurt you" Caius chuckled.
"But they sting, and they- holy shit!"
I ran around to the other side of the tree as the wasp flew closer to me, now grabbing on to Caius' arm for dear life.
"Stop moving, tesoro, just stay still and it will fly away. If not, maybe it will decide to consume you instead" Marcus teased, but now was really not the time, as I pulled myself closer to Caius and whimpered.
I heard a faint buzzing near my ear and panicked embarrassingly again, squealing and burying my head in Caius' jacket until the wasp eventually got bored of harassing me and disappeared.
"It is gone, carissima" he laughed, patting me on the shoulders and sitting me back in my original spot with ease.
"Are you sure?" I looked around me, hyper-alert.
"I am certain," Marcus assured, pulling me closer to him, "why do you have a fear of wasps, Eliana?"
"All insects are terrifying, they're just so weird and creepy, and they have stingers and long legs, ugh," I cringed, "don't get me started"
"If you say so" he laughed, Caius also finding my fear quite amusing.
They both stood to their feet, Marcus taking my hands and pulling me up, before Caius placed a firm hand on the small of my back and walked me towards the castle.
"Where are we going?" I questioned, looking up at each of them. Damn, why do they have to be so tall?
"Indoors" Caius smiled.
"That way, we will all be safe from the wasps" Marcus added, the two of them chuckling amongst each other.
"Hey, at least you don't get stung by them. You're too… invincible" I defended myself.
"Too invincible? You would prefer to be easily stung by insects then?"
"No, just don't tease me about it" I turned my nose up at them and crossed my arms over my chest.
"At least we now have an easy punishment for you in case you decide to cause any problems" he remarked.
"I'm a delight, I don't know what you're on about" I exclaimed, which both of them seemed to find hilarious. Hmm, the nerve.
Author's note: Welcome back snacks! So I wrote another chapter, yay! In all fairness though, I relate to Eli's fear of insects on a spiritual level. Any who, I hope you enjoyed reading this new little bit, be sure to leave a comment/review/whatever, and ily!