The two drove in silence as Tanya's head was laid back against the headrest of the car, her eyes following the trees that whizzed by as Marcus sped on the roads.
She noticed her phone was ringing, Alice, she didn't want to take chances so she ignored the call, muting her phone before throwing the phone into her tote bag.
Marcus had been oddly silent this time, compared to most, where he'd joke or tell her ridiculous stories from his day to day life after they hadn't met for a while.
She looked at the man briefly before looking back at the road before finally speaking up, "I'm going to nap, I have not slept well in a few weeks," She murmured the last part quietly as she reached into the back seat, pulling a blanket she was all too familiar with before wrapping it around herself and leaning her head to the side.
Marcus just grunted in reply as he continued driving the long and windy road, occasionally passing a car. He wasn't quite sure where would be the best place to go, but he knew he had to disappear fast, there wasn't much choice now that he had her with him.
Her blood was useless, tainted with medication and her habitual smoking. Nothing close to a delicacy, yet there was something about the girl besides him. The Cullens were the vegans, everyone knew that and they had been sort of a laughing stock, a respected laughing stock, if you could say so, within the vampire circles.
The life that they led wasn't very popular, but they managed and he couldn't fault them, everyone did as they pleased.
The drive had been uneventful and finally, after 7 hours, he had arrived at his destination. It was a rather secluded village, but it was a vampire's den. More than half of the residents were vampires that somehow lived in harmony with the human counterparts. These vampires did not feed off of the local humans, rather, they choose this spot due to the proximity of a prison nearby. They had no interest of harming innocent creatures and seeing the massive prison overpopulation issue, it was quite easy for some of the deaths to be blamed on just incidents. They were a rather curious group of vampires, most weren't too old, and some had been far much older. There was a hierarchy of its own that had formed within the different covenants that remained here, peaceful however, is one of the words you could describe it as.
Marcus brushed his fingers through his curls, before looking at the sleeping woman besides him. He always was curious, how she trusted people so easily, it was something rather peculiar. Nonetheless, they should be safe here, for now, the scent of so many different vampires within one place surely would throw the group off.
He nudged the woman's arm, seeing if she would wake, but she just stirred, briefly opening her eyes, not realizing that the car had stopped before closing them again and turned awkwardly to her side.
He was amused, a chuckle leaving his lips before he got out of the car and brought the woman out as well. The house in front of which he had stopped was quite simple, two stories, fairly small, as it had been a row house, but more than enough to help them fit in for the time being.
He knocked on the door with his foot and almost immediately swung open, having come face to face with a woman and a man, Diane and her mate Leo, they were the ones who took him in when he was forcefully turned.
"Diane, you look as lovely as ever," He said, giving the woman a brief smile before turning to Leo, "And you Leo, well you surely look just as chipper as the last time we met, may I come in?"
"Oh! I'm so glad you came to visit, but… with a human?" Diane rose her brow before letting the man inside, hoping he'd explain.
"I've known her for several years, quite the little wise woman she is," He laughed quietly before looking at them, "Anywhere I can put her to sleep? She's been out ever since we started driving up."
"Leo, can you please take her upstairs?" To which the man nodded wordlessly and took her out of the man's hands, moving carrying her up to their 'bedroom'.
"So tell me, what is it about her?" Leo asked as he came downstairs, looking at Diane and Marcus chatting on the couch.
"Stole someone's mate and they didn't even realize it, call it entertainment." He chuckled, leaning back into the couch, to which both of them looked at him warily.
"Why?" Diane asked curiously, not understanding why he would do that.
"Because her mate is a danger to her, one piece of blood and he'd go mental. I'm not sure if you remember him, he was there with us, with the battle Maria led with the newborns."
"Who are you speaking of?" Leo asked quizzically, only knowing so many remaining survivors.
"The Major." Was all the man had to utter before the two looked on shocked at him, Diane narrowing her gaze at the man, "Are you sure this is smart?"
"He doesn't even realize that they're mates, do you forget my power?" He rose his brow at the woman before averting his gaze upstairs, behind Leo, "She's waking up, we'll talk later, and I'll explain why I did this."
"You better, we are not looking to die." Leo hissed quietly moving towards his mate, wrapping his arm around her possessively as he sat down beside her.
Tanya slowly and groggily woke up, finding herself wrapped in a thicker blanket in a room she wasn't familiar with. She slowly moved down the stairs, curiously yet carefully looking only to be received with watchful eyes of two unfamiliar people and Marcus.
She shyly spoke up, "Hi there" though what she said sounded more like a question to which Marcus barked out in laughter.
"Tanya, meet Leo and Diane, they're dear friends of mine." He introduced, moving Tanya towards the couple as she held out her hand to shake each of theirs, "Lovely meeting you both, sorry for not being awake when we arrived. Sleep deprivation really must've caught up with me, haha." She said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh it's alright dear, don't worry about it, completely understand how you feel, Leo here, once he starts working, will go without sleep and then crash like a log for days, sometimes." She joked at the expense of her mate's habits before they were turned into vampires, she earned a firm butt squeeze from her mate to which she just winked at him.
"Yes well, someone has to be the overly ambitious worker here, no?" He chuckled quietly, to which Tanya joined in, giving both of them a sweet smile.
"We'll let you two youngsters be for now, we have some plans and we hadn't been expecting guests," Diane answered honestly, brushing a stray piece of hair out of her face.
Tanya's mouth opened agape slightly before she furiously started to apologize, to which everyone else in the room just laughed, "It's fine, don't worry about it, Marcus is always welcome and so are his friends," Leo said thoughtfully before waving both of them goodbye as he left through the front door with Diane.
Tanya looked at Marcus curiously before she felt his arms wrap around her, his nose brushing against her cheek as she heard a very familiar growl escape him. It wasn't much later that he was carrying her up the stairs and dropping her body on the bed, his eyes exploring her body before he demanded with small force, "Strip."
The woman complied, albeit very slowly, because she knew it annoyed him. She slowly pulled her shirt over her head which exposed her scarred and bruised body and that was when Marcus told her to stop; he hadn't been aware.
"What are they from?" He questioned, his eyes glaring at each and every bruise, scar and cut.
"It's not that important." She retorted only to hear him growl at her again to which she sighed, "Parents," She pointed to some bruising that was now fading around her ribs, before adding, "The belt buckle." As some of the bruises showed the impression of one.
She pointed towards older scars, some that looked like small burnt dots, "Myself," before her hand moved to another pair of bruises, "I fell," she was lying now, she didn't want to elaborate what she had dealt with when she was living with her foster parents, it seemed too traumatic to relive.
The woman hadn't realized that she was crying until she felt his cold hand brush away the salty, hot tears from her face that were spilling. Soon enough, he helped the woman dress as she just curled up into the man, her sobbing was light, but not so powerful. Marcus felt confused, for the first time. He couldn't tell what to do, whether to get revenge against those who hurt her or not. He felt protective over the woman, she wasn't his mate, but she had been a friend, a far better friend than most vampires had been, so he always felt like he owed her. In a way, he had always used her to relieve his own stress and worries, so whenever he invited her or she came around, he'd help her get high and spill his guts to her.
The days passed quietly in the village, Diane and Leo had taken to liking the little human and took her under their wing. Diane had taken to the girl the most, she had always wanted to have a child of her own and now she had a brief possibility. Tanya was polite, very sweet and kind, she always wondered how, because she had seen what the girl had been through; she had been aware of what happened, her power never let her miss such little things.
She often wondered whether The Major was actually her mate and if he would be any good for her. The girl, albeit sweeter than sugar, was so mentally fragile. It felt like she was just hanging on by the last thread before a meltdown. She hadn't shared her findings with the other two, she wanted to respect the girl's privacy, because life had never been fair for her as is, it would be even more unfair to expose her in such a manner.
They knew that the Cullen's would arrive, but they didn't imagine they'd arrive with two more covens at their side. Fitting their entire family into the tiny house was extremely awkward and suspicious. They had come during the night, when Tanya was asleep. They had planned enough to know that they wouldn't want to raise suspicion.
Marcus was sitting, like a child whose favorite toy was taken away and Diane had smacked the back of his head several times, berating him like a child. She hadn't known the full extent of the story and the Cullen's felt extremely awkward for bringing in the Denali's and Jasper felt even more awkward when he had invited Peter and Charlotte to join, only to realize that Diane and Leo were some of their best fighters in the past, however he got to laugh, seeing Marcus' answer to Diane in such a manner, it was oddly hilarious, it all broke very suddenly though, they hadn't noticed, the smell of the vampires in the village had overpowered the human's.
Tanya had waited for everyone to go to sleep, or she had thought they had. Her feet were light on the floor as she opened the bathroom door, leaning her body over the toilet seat before she shoved two fingers down her throat, vomiting up the dinner she had had that day. She didn't deserve the food, they were all too nice to her. Everyone was too nice to her, she deserved none of this.
Edward's eyes shot open and the chatter immediately stopped, Diane and Marcus looked at him curiously before Edward said, "Either of you should check on her, also Diane, I'm aware." He added at the end to which the woman was immediately gone up the stairs, before a soft knock was heard throughout the house.
Marcus furrowed his brows, moving to stand besides Diane, the door didn't open to which Marcus knocked instead, louder. Soon he heard rushed footsteps, opening the door slightly as he watched her eyes, they seemed to be leaking tears and he was quick to usher the woman to open the doors, walking inside of the room and taking in her disheveled appearance and the smell, he finally spoke up, "Did you just purge?" He asked, the disbelief in his voice visible to which Tanya just looked at her own feet, somberly.
Diane was quick to kick Marcus out, she knew he was pissed and that he was. He nearly stomped a hole in every step down the stairs. Initially, people found his mood funny but then they listened in to the sobbing coming from upstairs.
Marcus had buried his head into his hands and Jasper could feel the hatred and anger radiating off of him so strongly, he hadn't felt that in years. Peter looked thoughtfully at Marcus, remembering him when they were younger. He was never fully apart of the army, Maria had only kept him around for his power, but he never participated in the war itself. He had, on many occasions, been punished by Maria for his ways, both with flirting with women and just existing. He was only valuable because he could see the bonds that connect people, he could see what made these people snap if touched.
Diane came down a little while later, Marcus cast her a knowing glance to which she just shook her head. Her emotions were a whirlwind to Jasper, there was so much going through her that he felt overwhelmed briefly before he heard the doors shut and Diane was long gone.
A long sigh escaped Leo as he pinched the bridge of his nose, he knew she was furious and that she needed to feed. The Denali excused themselves, seeing that they hadn't been necessary for what they thought had been kidnapping and soon only the Cullen's were left in Leo's living room.
Leo wasn't talkative, he never had been, he was a rather dull man within large groups of people, he much preferred Diane's and Marcus' company over any other, the human addition had been refreshing, she was always very kind and tried her best to never seem like she was intruding, he appreciated the space she always knew to give him and he had taken a liking to her. His thoughts soon drifted as the Cullen's seemed to be discussing something unrelated to the issue at hand.
He always knew not to follow Diane when she was furious, it was never pretty and he knew that surely they'd read about it in the news over the weekend. He rose his gaze as Charlotte and Peter approached him, a small nod was earned from the man in acknowledgment before he closed his eyes and laid his head back into the chair. It wasn't possible for vampires to sleep, but he had hoped that for once he could. He wasn't sure why he was taking this so hard, he barely even knew the woman but he had grown attached to her. Marcus was right, she was a wise human, but there was something more to her, something that just made you want to protect her. It was very odd.