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"Impossible... I can not hear a single thought." He whispered- almost as if talking to himself.
"What do you mean?" Caius burst out angrily.
"Just that. I can not hear her. She is a 'mental mute', so to speak."
Chapter 8:
The room was completely silent now, apart from the woman's regular heartbeat and breathing. In all the years I had known my brother, something like this had never occurred. How curious.
Aro was still holding her hand, a frown on his face. When he spoke again, his tone was disbelieving: "A mental shield? Could it be? But it would have to be impossibly strong, to keep me out. And she is only human..." He paused there for a moment to contemplate, then spoke up again: "Demetri, are you able to get a hold of the tenor of her mind? Marcus, would you mind if he tried? You know it would not harm her. "
I gave my permission, but rather unwillingly.
Our tracker closed his eyes in concentration. When he opened them he looked defeated and shook his head 'no'. "It is as if she is not in the room at all, like she does not exist, Master"
"Never! Jane will not try her 'gift' on this woman! Aro! Do not even think about that!" I exploded. It was clear where his thought had wandered, when he had looked at Jane speculatively.
"It was only a stray train of thought. I would not want my future sister to be treated like that. Of course not, Marcus." His words soothed me.
"Well, we will have to wait for answers until she is lucid, then." Aro did not like this fact, much.
"Aro, my love, is it not common for people these days to have some form of identification on them, especially when they travel? Marcus, did she have a handbag or something?" That was "Cia" engaging in the conversation , now. It was those moments that I knew why Sulpicia was so well mated to Aro. Their minds both were quick in thinking things through and thoroughly at that.
I thought back to the scene in the throne room. There had been some kind of bag. And now I remembered, that something had fallen down, while I had been carrying her. "There was something akin to a bag, but she had it slung over her shoulder. It must have fallen down on the way here."
Aro nodded. "Demetri." Was the only word he said. Within seconds the tracker was back, holding the item in question. I took it. I did not like to look into her personal things without her permission, but I needed to know her name, at the very least, so the curiosity got the better of me.
There were a variety of objects in her bag: Some books, loose papers, toiletries ,two framed pictures, that I would sneak a look at later, and finally a purse.
Inside of it, I found a passport and a driver's licence. The pictures presented me with evidence, that she had been much healthier at the time the picture had been taken. The passport was only two years old.
Her eyes shone with life, curiosity, naivety - to a certain degree - and a wisdom, that did not match her years.
"She is named 'Isabella Marie Swan', only 18 years old and from the United states of America, Washington state to be exact, from a town called Forks."
I could not look a way from the pictures of her face. She was breathtaking, yet she must have been awkward while they were taken, judging by the way she smiled. Her eyes were crystal clear and a deep, warm brown.
That was strange, though. When I had seen them only Minutes ago, there was definitely green around the pupil. I was sure of that. And they were clouded over.
Looking at her picture still, I promised myself, that I would make her smile again. I wanted to see her happy, I needed her eyes to sparkle, like they did on the ID Card. She was so young. Not yet two decades and here she was, ready to end her short life. What had caused her to loose the last thread of hope? What broke her so completely?
"May I see, Marcus?" The soft voice of my sister brought me out of my musings. I did not want to let go of the little piece of plastic, so I only turned it in her direction.
"She is beautiful." There was pity and sympathy in her words and they changed into determination, when her eyes raked over the original, still lying on the bed. "She will get better, Marcus. We will see to it. It will most likely take her a while to recover, but we will all help her."
"We should proceed as planned. Marcus, she will be safe." Aro spoke to the room.
In that moment there was a knock on the door to my chambers, effectively interrupting any action, before the voice of Felix asked permission to enter.
Felix and our human secretary came to the room, Gianna holding different clothes.
"Ah, you are back already. Very well. Gianna you will accompany our wives and Jane. Felix, you will help the others. Marcus, would you please come with me?" My brother looked at me unsure, with a raised eyebrow.
"Can we go to your study instead? I would rather not be too far away from her." I still stared at the girl. After another thought crossed my troubled mind, I added : "If you allow me to enter, I will carry her to your chambers."
We were close as family, but we valued our privacy very much. I just could not bring myself to care about them standing in my chambers, some of them uninvited, when there were already so many other things going haywire in my brains.
"Of course. We can discuss everything there and still be close to her in case she wakes up."
Caius was staring at us with a mixed expression on his normally so aggrasive face: amusement, incredulity, wonder, disbelief. But he dared not to interrupt the spoken exchange, again. Athenodora was watching in a way very similar to her husband.
The guard looked impassive and uninterested. And yet, it was clear they were everything but uninterested.
Ever so careful, I lifted my Bella into my arms (I would call her Bella if she would let me; that name suited her perfectly), cradling her delicate form close to my chest. It was overwhelming to feel her heartbeat so close. She was so soft and light as a feather. But I cursed myself for not placing her under the covers, when I felt her shiver.
When we were in Aro' s private chambers, I lay her down on their bed. Her hair splayed out on the pillows. She looked lost in this huge bed.
I felt a light touch on my shoulder and my sisters were stood behind me. "Do not worry, Marcus, we will take care of her. She is in no danger. We will only change her attire and then you can come in again. We would never hurt her. You can trust us with her."
The sincerity shone in their eyes. Sulpicia already had a bond forming to Bella; It was a good feeling, to finally be able to have a name for her. And I knew that Athenodora would not hurt me or anything that made me happy. She; No, they loved me too much, really.
Begrudgingly, I left the room to meet with my brothers. Whispering: "Be careful with her." On my way out.
I sat with my brothers, discussing how to proceed with Isabella. Colin, another member of the guard, had been send out to Forks, WA, USA, to gain more information on Isabella.
While sitting with them I had taken a look again into her bag, only to find, that the books I had felt earlier, were diaries of hers and some of the works, now considered "Classics". I did not dare look into them. Caius on the other hand was only too eager to take a look into them and Aro and I had to defend Bella's privacy/safety of mind, once again.
While we were deep in conversation- I still had an ear for the heartbeat and breathing pattern in the room next to this one- I heard "Cia" gasp: "Deus meus!" ("My lord!") In the same instant we three were standing in the bedroom, where my Bella lay. She was only dressed in her undergarments by now; And what I saw made my stomach churn: There were four gashes running down her torso. Starting shortly above her right collar bone, going down all her torso, before making a turn to the left and ending on the top of her thigh. One of those was inflamed; a deep red colour framing its entirety.
It was made to look like an animal had attacked her, but they were too small, to match a bear, yet too big for a wolf. They had been made by one of our kind. While thinking this I saw "Dora" lift her left hand to match the wounds. They knew, too.
I stood there, red rage had taking over my senses. Whoever had done this to her would pay, badly. How could anyone do something like that? I realized that venom was running down my chin, but only marginally. I was shaking, yet I could not stop it. I would not rest before I had torn them limp from limp...
"Marcus... Marcus! Brother! Two hands on my face were, what brought me back to my senses. My favourite sister, Cia, was holding me, looking into my eyes with tears, that would never fall, in her eyes. "Marcus, Please calm yourself. She is here, She is safe for now. No one will hurt her here."
Slowly, I came down. I speed walked the little distance to the bed and knelt down beside her. The lacerations were deep. To judge by the state of the others, I would wager they were no older than 4 weeks.
Aro and Caius were by my side. Standing, but a look of anger marring their faces. No one dares to cross the Volturi and what was theirs. The culprit would pay with its life.
"Marcus, the wound is inflamed. Would you …. I mean should we... Or would you like to... " My dear sister was at a loss for words, while she gestured towards Isabella's lesion.
"Yes, please, help her." Was my mumbled answer. Aro And Caius took my hands then and lead me out of the room, while Sulpicia was leaning down to lick Isabella's wound closed.
I was in a stupor for the rest of the night, not really able to contribute anything to our conservation, while 'Bella' was in the other room, sleeping.
Around three o'clock in the morning I heard an ear piercing scream: "No, No! Please, take me!" Aro, Caius and I were standing next to Isabella in the blink of an eye, but she was still asleep. Not soundly though, she was thrashing around and mumbling unintelligible things. Her pain was mine. I could not leave her, so,I stayed.
Quite some time after we had left my quarters, Jane announced my, no, our room was all done.
With a nod to my family, I gently lifted her of the bed again and took her back to my/our chambers. I set her down very, very carefully as not to disturb her rest. Obviously she had slipped from unconsciousness to sleep without waking up.
I lay next to her: not breathing, only watching her, in some distance. Around six she got relentless. She turned and screamed. Then, suddenly, she sat up in the bed, with the words "Don't leave me!" still on her lips.
My heart sank.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her breathing was uneven. When she opened her eyes, our gazes locked. Her eyes were green around the centre.
Her heart went into overdrive, beating a mile a minute. And her eyes widened.
Sorry I had to end it there. I really like that story. I will put my complete devotion to that story. I know it is not perfect, so please tell me how to make it better by reviewing! At that point: Thank you, "Isarma", for telling me, what you think! You do help me so!