Pandora
Chapter XVI:
Since You're Selfish
Edited by YanaTG and updated on 11/05/2020
I've decided to put original version of Pandora (chapter 1-18) on Dropbox (as PDF). Dropbox has two options you can choose from: with reviews replies or without.
Dropbox links are in my TUMBLR ACCOUNT: sunset-wishes-upon-hill
Thank you to those who have read, reviewed and favourited my story:
evaivory- Whoo hoo! Hands up for history majors! I'd probably would have taken history if I didn't get in with psychology.
AurorQuill17- Thank you! I've actually elaborated a bit about vampires and moral (and will do about culture as well soon) on Tumblr.
Flo- Thank you so so much for the kind review. There's many aspects of my stories that I find lacking but I'm glad someone sees it in a better light.
She walked with a kind of childish languor, as if it hadn't fully settled in that she was centuries years old. Her speech tended to the monosyllabic: yes and no.
Jessica bravely but tentatively asked if she could be allowed into the garden the next day, gripping another spray of hyacinth in her perspiring palms. Jane frowned, stopped before saying in crisp and cautious tone, "Do not touch anything."
She nodded and followed the girl vampire into the garden, noting some verdure have now emerged into bloom while others have faded, entering a period of dormancy as their season departed.
"Did you grow them all by yourself?"
"Yes."
Jessica spotted the familiar purple foliage in the seas of exotic, colourful herbage, excitedly pointing, "You re-planted them!"
"Yes."
"I thought you'd throw it away.." Jessica muttered, looking down at the one in her hand. "I'm glad you appreciate them. More than I would have. Normally, people just throw them away."
"Hmph." Jane swiped the bouquet from Jessica's hand, striding to plant them back into the soil with the rest. The amount she had given along the course of the weeks had totted to build a miniature hyacinths field, thriving and growing under the caring hand.
"So, um, where did you learn to garden?"
"Why do you want to know?" Immediately Jane regarded her with a very peculiar expression, one so guarded that it had no place on her lovely face. Alert and defensive. As though Jessica were trying to inveigle information for sinister ulterior motive. Like hurt her.
It was like watching her cat, Grampy, puff up to twice its volume, flattening his ears, and arching his back he hissed, spit and bared back his teeth while detaching its claws – it was a frightening sight but it also conveyed how scared he was. He had been a stray when she found him in the wood, distrusting of humans' intention. He wasn't like her dog, who wagged its tails and licked every piece of skin to everyone she saw; he judged the entire situation before approaching and he didn't like you just because you were a human; he's going to like you on his term.
"Oh..I just thought now that we're on a more.. friendly terms, I thought we should get to know each other."
"We are far from being on a speaking term." Jane replied with acidic intonation.
"So let's change that." Jessica smiled, "I'm horribly bad at gardening. Angela, one of my friends, gave me a cactus as a gift because its low maintenance so I put it next to my window and it died overnight! Can you believe that? I'm less nurturing than a desert! Do you know why?"
"As you have stated, you are more useless than a desert."
Jessica gaped, look of hurt crossing her face, "Ouch..that's harsh!"
"Yes, go." She dismissed.
But Jessica wasn't deterred, instead forming a grin, "Oh gosh, I love it! If it was possible, I'd bring you to meet Lauren! She's a bitch that will make anyone cry but seriously, you would crush her soul into pieces."
"Ow!" Jessica jolted as mild jab of pain vibrated through her body. The intensity was similar to the electric shock from the plasma globe; too lenient to be a dour punishment yet not committed in its aim to hurt. Something like..playful? She wondered feasibly.
"So.." Jessica ventured carefully, "Do you always stay in the garden?"
"Where I tend to is no business of yours'.
"..The reason why I'm asking is I was wondering if you'd like to hang out, you know, visit the town with me. Someday, when you have time or not busy."
"No." Jane swiftly refuted, her straight brows upturned reprovingly.
"I didn't mean in front of people. The upside of living in a town surrounded by nature is that there's many quiet places void of humans."
"Why are you insistence of devising friendship between us?" Jane demanded, rankled by her questions.
"I'm living in this castle and it's better to be friends than enemies under the same roof, no? Besides I don't hate you at all."
"I do." She snapped, "I would have tortured you to death."
"Well you didn't."
"Orders."
"It was mostly my fault."
"There were better ways to deal with it."
"I prefer you deal with it your way. Less hard feelings."
"I do not want you near my brother."
"You don't have to worry; he doesn't want me near him too." Jessica replied despondently, "He hates me."
"You will find earning his hatred is difficult than getting into my good grace." Jane muttered morosely, crimson eyes blank as it tuned into a faraway place beyond the garden, wandering to time and place removed from the current ones. "He rarely expresses anything, even to me…" She trailed away, blinking, face guarded and focused. Jessica wasn't supposed to hear that.
"So you guys are twins. Who's older?"
"You are very inquisitive, aren't you? I suppose it's that bad hobby to pry that got you into this mess."
"Yep." Jessica nodded, "I'm told it's a good quality to have to those wanting to study philosophy and average fighting skills because group of philosophers can't go five minutes without arguing. So um, who came first?"
Jane stared at her disconcertingly, still for a long time, before quietly muttering, "..I did." Bewildered surprise Jessica was helpless to repress rose to her face followed by another jab of scolding shock; clearly, Jane caught Jessica's presumption that she was the youngest from certain behaviors less expected of an older therefore, supposedly more mature, sibling.
"Look," Jessica began, "To be honest, I thought you were younger seeing how protective Alec is of you and how he calms you down and all. I'm the only child so any references are from people with siblings around me."
"Then you can't ever fathom the bond between us." Jane admonished blatantly in a way that made her feel she didn't had the right to adjudge anything about them, "We were together ever since the beginning. How could you possibly understand?"
"You're right, I can't and won't understand." Jessica agreed with a shrug, "It's nice to see siblings being close. Most, if not all, of people I know who has sisters or brothers fight like cats and dogs."
Jane's eyes darted to her left where it would lead to the deeper and more reclusive part of the garden before turning back to Jessica, "I think it's time for you to go."
"Um, can I come back again?"
"Go." Jane said. Much more softly this time, Jessica noted happily.
Giada was surprised to see Jessica at her door, demurely asking if she had a small time to spare. Her ancient face crinkling with wrinkles as she smiled, welcomed her in with light, warm embrace, "Of course, piccolo. Time is all I have left."
Giada headed to the kitchen, Jessica following to help despite the older woman's insistence she was a guest and should be honored like one. They settled that Giada will be pouring the drink, orange juice for Jessica and coffee for her, and Jessica will carry the tray to the drawing room. Giada headed back to the kitchen, coming back to the room with cup of gelato.
"I've noticed you have a sweet tooth." Giada mentioned, "A friend of mine owns a gelato shop in the town, Il Gelato di Stefano."
Jessica gasped in delight. "Wait, THE Stefano? I know him – I visited him when I first came here! His gelato is the best I've ever tasted."
Giada chuckled, "Tell him you know me next time you visit there, I'm sure he will give you few extras."
"Thank you."
Giada's dark blue eyes searched her face. "How have you been?"
Jessica's expression faltered, reminded of her reason for visiting, "I'm fine. It's a quiet town, not much different from where I live so I'm thinking about visiting Rome next week." The pretext manifested smoothly than she had expected, surprised how seamlessly her tongue delivered the lines.
"You seem to be doing well." Giada alluded with relief.
"Eh, got used to it. I made some friends too."
"I am glad to hear that."
"I wanted to visit you sooner but..I didn't want to inconvenience you."
"Oh you worry too much." Giada dismissed with a wave of her hand, "I probably only have a good ten years or so, you shouldn't concern yourself with this old lady too much."
"Do you have any children?"
"Two. A son and a daughter." Giada revealed, "Luckily, my daughter take after me in intelligence, my son..he's not the brightest button in the box but I'm glad his wife is."
Jessica grinned.
"They are all married with children of their own. I've done my duties and now, I'm living out my life peacefully and thank goodness, alone. Even as families, we struggle with our differences, imagine marrying a stranger and trying to live with him for fifty years."
"My mum says that too." Jessica added, "I think I suit living alone."
"Being old and alone isn't always a sad thing, piccolo." Giada smiled, "Not being able to do what you want in life is sad."
"I want to do philosophy but people say it's a useless degree. Even my parent thinks so since they want me to have a stable, safe job and philosophy degree won't give that to you."
"People won't live your life for you – in the end, it's up to you."
"I haven't told them but the few colleges I'm interested in are really far away and my parents want me near, you know because it's unsafe for a lone woman to live in an unfamiliar city. I'm planning to tell them when I get back." If I can ever go back to Forks alive.
Giada nodded sympathetically, "It is natural for parents to worry for their children, but they will understand seeing how they allowed you to visit here."
"They only let me because..well, I wasn't exactly happy there."
"A boy?" Giada surmised keenly.
Jessica confirmed with a nod, "Uh yeah, I thought he was the 'love of my life' but I knew I wasn't his. He wasn't who I thought he was and I wasn't who he wanted me to be and that made us hurt each other more; I become nosy. I got jealous over little things. It's suffocating and I wanted to cry and it pushed him away more. We stayed together because we were used to each other and we were comfortable but he wasn't ready to commit. It made me realize my best wasn't good enough, that was a huge blow."
"Sometimes we're meant to fall in love with someone we shouldn't love or breakup with someone we can't break up with. That is life." Giada imparted wistfully.
Returning a smile of her own; Jessica finished the last scoop of the gelato and stood, hearing the door rattle and few murmuring voices resonated into the room. "Thank you, Giada for today. I should go now..can-can I–"
"You are welcome back whenever you like." Giada finished for her, "Keep this old lady company, hm?"
A large, silly grin suffused Jessica's face.
He is there again just as she had hoped he would be and this time, she's glad it's not Aro. Jessica noted he was playing by himself, whites and blacks dexterously gliding across the board as though two different set of minds were pitted against each other.
Jessica watched him, patiently waiting for a kind of permitting cue to her intrusion upon him. The White King fell. Caius cast a flashing look toward her with a small pinch between his brows, otherwise choosing to not voice out his reproof stirred by her appearance.
She took it as permission to approach closer, settling onto the empty side of the bench and gazing down at the fallen King, "How many moves did it took?"
He ignored her, turning to the artwork hung in the centre, guarded by velvet rope stanchions to prevent any enthralled admirers getting too close to the piece. Its signage plate was encased in clear glass information stand. She never understood art – at least not in the way it was appreciated by the cultured patronage.
She was just able to make out the label, narrowing and straining her eyes to read:
'Portrait of a Woman'
Volterra, Unknown artist about 1702
Drawn in distinguishing Baroque opulence, extravagant style, her face was hidden by a white veil and she could distinctively make out the woman's soft eyes dark as night. Jessica knew the woman would be a classic beauty, more lovely than Helen or Aphrodite herself. Elegantly sat on gold and white chair, both hands holding purple hyacinth, larnax and coins placed upon a skull by her feet, dressed in most expensive and stunning white silk money could buy, a wreath of flowers was placed upon her flowing brown hair and visible faint smile seemed to pierce the viewer's souls'.
"It's..beautiful." Jessica muttered in awe, breath-taken at the sight. "Too bad, there's no information on who she is or who drew it."
"Do you value your tongue?"
"Very much, Sir."
"Then shut it."
"Okay."
Jessica scanned the painting then referred back to the label that didn't held much information about the woman other than it was found within the possession of Francesco Solimena, the curator citing out possible theories on who and what back story this mysterious painting might hold. It seemed to be a gift from a fellow painter to another; excellent preservation and method of keeping suggested significance of its value. Another essential element of baroque painting was allegory; every painting told a story and had a message, often encrypted in symbols and allegorical characters, which an educated viewer was expected to know and read – the woman in the portrait, obviously someone of an importance to the painter, were deceased, perhaps before or by the time the drawing was completed and conveyed the artist's emotion of mourning and perhaps guilt to the audience.
Jessica blinked, noting the purple hyacinth and gravity of its meaning. Please forgive me. I'm sorry. I am ashamed. She wondered what had happened to the woman.
"The painter feels guilty for this woman's death."
From the corner of her eyes, she espied tilting of Caius's head to her in response, "..Right?"
"You have no appreciation for art." The blunt, belittling statement rang true; cheeks flushing red much to her humiliation, lips pursed as she swallowed down churning rebuke.
"Why are you here?"
Jessica turned to him with an arched brow, "Why are you here?"
"You will do well to remember impertinence toward me will not be tolerated." Caius reminded her, tone harsh and low.
Blowing out the breath she unconsciously held down through her nose, she admitted, "..To beat you at chess."
"What a ridiculous thought." Caius muttered like an adult chastising a child.
"Fine, yeah, insult me! You're right I have no appreciation for art or their meaning and I wouldn't recognize a priceless Van Gough painting even if someone gave it to me for free. So sorry for being a stupid, idiotic human I am and not as educated and enlightened as you are but I can at least beat you at chess!"
Half way through the game, she sensed a losing streak accompanied by self-deprecating humour. Her gut feeling rarely failed her but it wasn't until her King fell onto the board with doleful 'clack' that reality forced her to resign.
Jessica refused to cry or shout and give him the satisfaction of being right, while she managed to fend him off up to fiftieth moves by using Aro's bishop tactic, he still managed to capture her King after dexterously manoeuvring around her pieces in counter-attack she hadn't expected.
Puffing out a defeated sigh, the nagging voice in the back of her mind told her Caius's assertion that he was unbeatable was beginning to ring as a truthful statement. There was a competitive streak within her, much of it was born under the nurturing of her grandmother's teaching to strive for the best and the fact that her love of knowledge made her one of the best students in the school and was pretty much the best counter to anti-outsider sentiment that there was. Some might say she was driven to overcompensate for insecurities over her background, striving for perfection the way she does because resettling into Forks and new school as a complete outsider was intimating. Just like her grandmother was in the past – who wanted nothing more than to win. Her grandmother wanted to defeat the all-male brats. Most of all, she wanted to prove her gender or age was not a constraint.
She looked at him with a mix of jealousy and self-blame exploding inside, 'What the heck just happened?' She had been giving it her all while he seemed to treat it as a mere warm up.
"You win." Jessica admitted. "It was a bit stupid of me to use Aro's tactic on you since you'd probably played against him for like thousands of years."
"I assumed you had other plans in mind – I overestimated your intelligence."
Jessica opened her mouth to snap back before a sudden moment of reconsidering allowed her to understand it wasn't as insulting as it might have seemed, "Actually, I'll take that as a compliment."
Shooting a glare, Caius stood up to leave. Jessica followed him, refusing to be left alone in the dead museum with an eerily beautiful, deceased woman staring back at her.
"Can you slow down?" Jessica asked, almost pleading. She was jogging just to keep up with his walking pace.
He ignored her, heading outside the wall on a path she was ignorant of. Jessica frowned, "Um, isn't the entrance to the palace supposed to be like the opposite way? Are you lost because I got maps on my phone. Um, hello? Cai–"
She never finished her sentence. Words caught in her throat as he swiveled around in one flowing movement to seize her neck by his large, cold hand. His deceptively slender fingers were wringing her delicate extremity with crushing pressure, the muscles standing out in her neck as she fought against the hold. Her heart tattooed against her ribs frantically, screaming for survival as Jessica struggled to keep panic surfacing in her expression despite the drumming heartbeat he could obviously hear that suggested otherwise.
He leaned down; their eyes meeting in proximity that felt almost intimate were it not laced with menace. Cold, drift of night wind travelled against her, bringing along with it that tell-tale sickly sweet scent that reminded a poisonous budding flower – beautiful to admire but deadly to touch.
"My warnings don't mean anything when said nicely, is that it?" His voice was a low guttural growl, constricting her airway like a serpent coiling around its prey, intensifying its strength the more they grappled against it.
He let go and air rushed into her lungs, allowing her to regain the use of her voice.
"I was saying you are going the wrong way!"
Caius scoffed at her fatuous reply, "That garden door is not the only entrance – there are several connected to the castle."
Jessica blinked, feeling the sting of embarrassment over her misguided mission of 'finding a way home' for Caius. "I didn't know that – I thought the garden is where the entrance was."
"Most castles have various exits and entrances to enable escape from an enemy siege." Although the explanation were pleasantly worded, the patronizing tone of his voice and the light in his eyes were clearly condescending, something which she found irked her quite badly.
"Yeah, well I don't live in some medieval castle." She lived in a simple, small, three bedrooms, one bathroom two storey-house with an entrance and back exit through the kitchen. Maybe few more if she counted jump-able windows.
Caius turned back, resuming his inhumane pace as Jessica tagged closely behind him.
"Look, Caius–" The displeasing crease in his eyes expressed she was an unworthy human to speak his given name, tamping down the urge to roll her eyes at the trifling display of arrogant superiority he felt resided over humans, "Mister, then, with all due respect," a code for 'I do not respect you at all, you utter fool' in modern world rather than prefacing statement of disagreement, "I understand your distaste for human and I'm annoying, but would it kill you to be at least civil? You know so many things I don't know about that I'd love to know and it's not every day I come across someone who's been alive since the literal beginning of time."
Caius ignored her and continued along the path that would lead behind the hill, farthest from the city. Jessica switched on the phone's flashlight toward the ground; the screen flashed a 10% power warning. She nearly stumbled on a fallen branch, tripped over exposed roots and twisted her ankle in crooked, steep hill until they arrived to an ancient, stone-built church. The imposing and majestic Romanesque building with medieval bell tower sat precariously on the edge of the balze, four masterful sets of statue, Jessica presumed were saints, guarded the gate. The church gave off an eerie, sinister air at night.
"Oh..I didn't know you're religious..do you pray at night?" Like hell you'd do.
He cast a look at her as though he never met someone as idiotic as her in his entire life, which she shrugged her shoulders to demonstrate her not-so-true ignorance.
He entered inside the church and she quickly followed through, not wanting to linger any longer. The church was almost bare except for neat rows of pews, an altar, stone table, a wooden ciborium and simple interior of a single nave displaying a polyptych of saints. Jessica wondered if the church was still in use or was just simple tourist attraction. Caius walked further down the apse to an entrance to the oratory. Entering behind him, she paused to note interesting sundial beneath it and imagined each day at midday, a ray of sunlight shining through a gnomonic hole and falling on to marble meridian line marked out on the floor of the church. Jessica made a note to visit the church during the day.
Inside the oratory was a trap door leading to the cellar, by now her phone was barely hanging onto the 5% when flashlight disabled from insufficient battery. Her dimmed phone screen was the only source of light and she heard him open another set of door.
Then silent.
Shining her phone to the darkness around her in attempt to find the second door; cold sweat trickled down her neck, heart thumped violently, almost desperately in her chest as her squinted eyes struggled to make out any notable edges in the cold, stone crypt.
"C-Caius?" Her alarmed, panic-stricken voice echoed throughout.
Nothing came back.
Drift of wind from unclear source ruffled her hair and disturbed her loose shirt; goose-bumps tickled her arms from long exposure to the chills and damps of the abbey. Her breath quickened. Suddenly, the phone screen darkened, dreading apple symbol appearing before it submerged into the shadow, taking her with it.
"Caius!" Jessica shouted, arms stretched to feel for something. She shouldn't have followed him. Her mind, now tainted with fear, was imagining an elaborate story. Caius abandoned her in the cellar and no one came to get her. She would die in here. Painfully. Alone. By the time, anyone did find her, a long time would have past and she would be nothing but a decayed mass of bones.
"Caius! Please!"
Hot tears gathering in her eyes as she bumped into what seemed like wooden rack, her throat hiccuped with his name. How long has she been calling him? Her pleas were ignored, usurped by the darkness.
A fucking bitch he was. "You're a piece of shi–"
"I wouldn't finish that sentence." He gripped her by her face, roughly. She swore her jaw clicked under the pressure. Her dry bottom lip brushed his hand, icy and solid like marble.
"I was about to say shining beacon of saving grace."
The grip hardened. Crushingly. He wasn't buying it. She didn't expect him to.
"You left me." She said, muffled by the restraint.
"You stalled." He said to her, as though it was all her fault. He released his hold on her, yanking his hand away from her jaw.
"Maybe if you just went a tad slower..you know since I'm human and all. Perhaps if you could be ever so gracious as to spare a pity for this poor human as a more superior kind."
"Why follow?"
Jessica couldn't see him in the dark, but she knew he was close. She could feel the coldness of his body through her clothes. That intoxicating scent every vampires shared more intense than ever. He was gazing down at her.
"At first, I thought you were lost and couldn't find your way. Then I wanted to know about this second entrance to the castle." Jessica shrugged, "I honestly thought you'd abandoned me here in this cellar to rot."
"Don't tempt me – I ought to do so." The subtle change in the direction of coldness and absence of his hand on her indicated he turned away from her to that damn concealed door and Jessica hurled herself to Caius lest she lost him again. An instinctual voice warned her he wouldn't spare her a second chance if she failed to keep up this time.
She managed to grab onto his arm and he batted away as if her touch burned him. Or plain disgust. Jessica blasted inwardly, not daring to voice it out.
"I can't see." Jessica stressed, he probably can't distinguish things in the dark or light when neither of them affected his sight. "I'll lose you again – that I can guarantee you."
He let out a frustrated scoff, most likely considering how his life would be better off leaving her in this place and do away with the consequences of her death.
"I know you're not that cruel." Jessica reminded, hoping to turn that thought around.
"You know nothing of me." Caius snapped, tone scathing.
"Because you threatened to have Jane torture me or rip out my tongue every time I open it!" Jessica reasoned, "Come on, Ca–mister, I just need to grab onto something, I'm practically blind – not that my vision is 20/20 in daylight, I'll settle for the cuff if you're not too keen on contact." And no one – even damn Caius or Aro or anyone isn't going to stop her from getting out of this place.
She coyly pinched the very corner of his cuff, testing the waters to see if he would shake her off and much to her relief (and prayer) he didn't, boldly hooked her fingers into the soft fabric of his shirt.
I bet it's expensive. And custom-tailored. She quietly mumbled to herself.
Her shoes kept knocking onto whatever was on the floor and she kept waving her hands in front of her face wiping away an infestation of gossamer some studious spiders had woven across the ceilings and walls.
There was an unremitting discomfort in having her sight robbed and heavily depending on informal support. She wasn't used to trusting someone to guide her and certainly that someone being Caius did nothing to better the situation. Someone supportive and kind like Angela would have been real nice. Angela was the only person Jessica would do a trust fall with.
Caius pivoted his body to her right, twenty steps forward then two steps left. Another door creaked open and they entered through it. The secret tunnel was void of any light either. For a moment, Jessica wondered if there were any rats in there with them by their feet. Rats, she could tolerate. Spiders..she shuddered at the image.
"So why church?" Jessica asked in an attempt for a distraction. "I mean it's a bit ironic isn't it..entrance to vampires' castle is through a church. Besides I thought vampires couldn't enter any holy places?"
"You answered your own question," A clear, unspoken jab 'idiot' laid in his tone. "Church would be the last place humans would look for us."
Blindness didn't last long. She was pleasantly surprised the journey to the castle only took half as long has she went through the garden door. The garden door almost circled back to the castle while this route seemed to be the most direct short-cut. Her eyes blinked in the harsh light, brief pain ebbing away as her eyes adapted back its sight.
Familiar open office and face greeted her with a generic but hospitable smile. As per rule, she had stood up and acknowledged Caius first with streak of esteem, addressing him as 'Master' before shifting her attention to the second emerging figure. Gianna's expression momentarily faltered and eyes slightly widened before settling with a brief friendly nod.
Jessica mouthed an affectionate 'hey'.
Her shoulders jumped, startled by the jerking of his hand from her grasp. She hadn't realize she was holding onto him all this time. He wordlessly disappeared into the tunnel, not a sound announcing his departure. How the hell do vampires do that? Like they're floating or something.
"Since when did you hang out with Master Caius?!" Her question carried a stunned, baffled flavour, her red lips making an 'o' shape as she gestured her to seat down.
Jessica made a face of adamant repulse, shaking her head furiously, "I'm trying to beat him in a game of chess so that I have at least something to be proud of."
Gianna regarded her suspiciously, "Unlike other vampires here, Master Caius is the least tolerable of humans. Meal or otherwise."
"Well, I'm an honourable guest of Master Aro." Jessica retorted with a sardonic smile, regurgitating Aro's words.
"He let you touch him." Gianna mentioned as though it was a crucial piece of puzzle to their antagonistic yet tolerated relationship, "I'm sure you already know this but he's the cruelest one here, even the guards don't want to incur his wrath."
"I am aware." Very much. Jessica said flatly, "He only tolerates me as long as I don't step out of the line, Gianna. Besides I'm a human, the very being he hates."
"What about Demetri then?" Gianna wiggled her brows.
"Debatable." Jessica hummed, "He's..confusing..I don't know what he gets out of this."
"Maybe he likes you."
Jessica scoffed, shaking her head, "Nah, with that face he could bag himself all the supermodels in the world. The best thing to do is just ignore it and hopefully he gets bored."
Gianna hummed in agreement. "He's a bad news, I'll warn you. He's charming and handsome and romantic so secretaries are all over him but..he's not really the type to commit from what I know. Few of the secretaries.." She glanced sideways cautiously to see if she's being overheard before whispering in veiled tone, "..retired after he was done with them."
Jessica blinked. Then nodded. There was no panic or shock at the budding prospect she could become that next meal.
"How about you, any special person in your life?" Jessica steered, unwilling to linger on the uncomfortable subject any longer.
"I wish. My contract states basically no human contact more than necessary. There are several other human secretaries within the castle so I'm not deprived of all human contracts but it's a sacrifice I have to make." Gianna replied smoothly, noting her discomfort. Jessica was thankful for Gianna's sharp sense and profession when it came to treading on a thin line without blindly encroaching beyond one's tolerance. It was why she was the best vampire secretary and held onto this job as long as she had.
"Don't you miss your parents?" Jessica asked. In a rare moment of discussing what their lives used to be before they got involved with the supernatural world and its beings in it, Gianna mentioned her parents and a younger sister whom she no longer keep in contact nor keep track of. To become a human face of Volturi, one had to leave every trace of their former lives behind – their family, friends, lovers. Their home.
All for an eternally beautiful, young face?
Jessica wasn't sure she'd be able to do what Gianna had done. Her parents. Her family. Her dog. Her cat. Bella. Angela.
Melancholy look flickered passed her, expression momentarily flat before shrugging with a care-less demeanour, "Sometimes. But you get used to your own company."
..Do you? Not me.
It was why she ended up this way.
Jessica sighed, her phone in hand as the screen lit up with several messages on the notification board. Some were from Bella and Alice – thank god Edward didn't join; others were from Angela and occasional, sparse check in from Eric.
Jessica: Have you ever been so stressed out to the point where you're actually calm, like you've accepted your fate? That's where I am.
Bella: Why does it feel like this is some kind of death will or something?
Alice: Have you tried yoga? It helps you distress, at least for humans apparently. I try the corpse pose when I want to know what it feels like to sleep.
.
.
.
Angela: Jess, I've emailed you my notes for Mr T's Thursday class. Is this all you need? I've got notes for Mrs. Ford class too if you want. How's Italy? Is it hot there? Holly gave birth to six cubs yesterday, three girls and three boys :D
[IMAGE]
.
.
.
Eric: Yo u alive?
.
.
.
Mum: Are you busy? Met any handsome Italian boys?
Dad: Tell him I got two guns and some cops for friends. Honey, you still carrying that taser?
.
Jessica wished she could reply: does it work for vampires?
She was desperate for vodka and gelato. Something sickly sweet during the time life was just too unbearably bitter. She was just so sick at pretending everything was fine and just fucking happy.
Someone eased down into an empty seat across her table with fluid like movement that couldn't possibly come from a human.
"Something wrong?"
"No, what could possibly go more wrong than it already has?" She didn't look up from her screen, typing a pathetic excuse to her parents, a simple thumbs up emoji to Eric, a genuine thank you and congratulations to Angela, then a sarcastic 'sounds like a great intro no?' to the Bella and Alice group chat.
"You're awfully feisty today."
"If you're bored, go bother someone else." Jessica checked Twitter to see what weird or funny or stupid or inspiring subjects were trending. Nothing interesting so she moved onto Facebook. Oh nice, Lauren is away to Bahamas, Eric's biggest dilemma is whether to get new shoes or a laptop, Angela is happy with birth of the puppies and Tyler won a game, snapping a victorious post-photo with his girlfriend.
Typical. Everyone's happy except me.
Demetri was watching her, feeling his gaze as she lowered her face in effort to bring down her hair to hide her profile. She pretended to type something then scrolled down, liking posts that caught her attention.
"Something is bothering you." This time, his usual trademark playfulness was void.
"Not really." Jessica answered, "I got my essay mark back by the way. A+, 98. My highest ever marks. Thought you should know since you helped."
"Well done. Let me know if you need more of my assistance."
"Why are you helping me?" The question held an accusing lilt.
The edges of his mouth curled up in a smile so slight that she would likely have missed it had she not known him, "Who said I'm helping you?"
"What are you playing at, Demetri?" Jessica frowned, pang of anger sparking in her wet eyes, "From the moment you brought me to the castle, what is it that you wanted to gain? Curry your masters' favour? Something to spite Alec with? A toy you like to play with when you're bored? A snack to save for later?"
He remained unusually quiet. That was strange; he always had something to say.
Jessica would have stood up and left if it weren't for what left his lips next:
"They knew."
Her frowns burrowed into engraved lines, turning to face him, "Jane?"
"The Masters. They already knew about you and Alec." He said, betraying a more sinister detail, "I was tasked to investigate and bring you in."
"How?" Alec wouldn't have told them..would he?
"Master Marcus has a gift." He revealed to her surprise, "He can see every relationship a person has with others."
She couldn't imagine how such power worked nor how that was possible, was it tactile like Aro's or sort of projection of mind like Jane's?
That's why he approached her.
To see what sort of person she was and probe out things he could report to his masters.
That makes more sense.
"So why didn't you kill me right there and then?"
"Your relationship with the Cullens' and unwillingness to expose our existence saved you."
He's no different from his masters.
For a piffling second, Jessica allowed herself to venture the prospect this seemingly polite yet glib and facetious vampire's interest in her were that of a genuine, honest nature.
"You know..for someone who acts like a charming gentleman, you're an asshole." She stared at his dark eyes as she stonily enunciated each syllables. He was out for himself. Selfish creatures. Vampires.
You, Alec, Aro, Caius.. Jessica reflected.
She was a plaything, regret, bait and a pest. It was a notion she was too familiar with; an outsider, Lauren's sidekick, Mike's second choice after a new girl's shadow.
His jaw clenched as if vexed. Or perhaps even guilty. She hoped he was. And she hoped she was the first because she would be glad. Jessica felt her nose tickle, tears pricking the back of her throat but she gulped them down.
"Alec warned you, did he not?" He raised a brow, "Nothing good comes out from mingling yourself with vampires."
She directed her attention to the popular gelato shop beyond the town's fountain, "You have money?"
There was a rustle of clothing as he shifted in his chair, hand reaching inside his suit and withdrawing a black bi-fold wallet, gently placing it into her hand. From distance, it seemed like a simple, dark coloured leather men wallet like Mike's or Eric's until she noted its thicker and denser material that had been carefully treated with a distinctive cracked pattern. She wasn't as familiar with fashion as Alice or Rosalie was but she definitely was well versed than Bella. It was an exquisite crocodile skin wallet adorned with signature eagle motif in polished gold-tone hardware – prime example of impeccable craftsmanship and exclusivity to moneyed clientele that could afford their price tag. Jessica wasn't too astonished everything he had were first-rate, it was quite obvious from anyone's glance this soigné man's taste in fashion were just as extravagant and ritzy as the former two.
Wordlessly, she flapped it open and did a double take at the note compartment. Who the hell carried this much cash? Jessica wondered as she took out the second smallest denominated banknote, a €20. She would have taken €10 were it not for him being an extra asshole.
"Take more if you need." He said for the first time, voice monotonous.
"I don't need it." 'I don't want your money' resounded in her biting retort clearly. €20, she thought was a reasonable price.
It brought her two pint of chestnut and chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate chip cookie, Gianna's favourite, which she found out just now when she called the secretary after being told she'd be getting the second pint for free because Giada had already told Stefano about her. Rest of the change went to the tips cup to the part-timers.
A/N:
We get from the guide that Demetri is genuinely charming, polite and formal vampires but being in Volturi and being one of their most powerful fighter and forefront when it comes to taking in charge of dangerous and brutal missions, I got the feeling that he's actually more cruel and darker than he portrays himself to be. Vampires are selfish creatures, so is Demetri and he's just as remorseless and vicious as his masters even if he's a gentleman most of the time.
Edited by YanaTG and updated on 11/05/2020