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BETA NEEDED!
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A/N: I can not tell you how happy I am to receive such reviews! They make my day!
To see that you actually like what my messed up brain comes up with – while dreaming - is amazing! Thank you all so much!
Guys, I am stuck between a rock and a hard place here: Personally, I don't like it when you get the povs of too many characters. So, originally, I wanted to keep it to Bella's and Marcus' pov, only. However here it is: A rather long chapter from Aro's pov. He is the only one capable to explain some things.
How do you feel about different povs?
Aro POV:
'What a mess' I thought to myself, while my brothers and I were sitting in my study; Just in the room next to my wife's and mine bedroom, where my loving wife and our sister were taking care of this human woman.
She had, without knowing it, complicated our easy life on so many levels.
Marcus and I, much to Caius's dismay, had agreed to not change her right away. She seemed broken and we both deemed it better to let her heal before gifting her with eternal life. At the moment it surely would seem like a cruel joke to her. After all she had come here in search for death.
Yet, I could not help myself but be intrigued by her. She was a mystery to me. I could not read her. Never in my immortal life had I encountered someone like her. It had me on edge.
But there was no way I would want her to be harmed in any way.
For one, she obviously had suffered quite a lot over the course of her short existence. Her eyes, from what I had seen in Marcus' thoughts and memories, were wise. She had seen too much in the few years she had lived. And they held a sadness almost equal to Marcus'.
Secondly, the impact she had had on Marcus, during these few minutes of their interaction, were undeniable.
I had not seen him acting so emotional and simply 'alive' in well over a thousand years. She brought him back to life with her presence alone. Amazing.
The way she had ranted at him was, what had caught my attention back in the throne room. Usually our "food" did not do that.
She acted against instinct, self preservation, against nature itself! She did not cover away, no, she stood her ground, even in her weakened state and demanded death. A human demanding something from us, the Volturi. Hilarious. The thought had me chuckling.
I ignored Caius's raised eyebrow and waved him off.
Now, she would have to stay with us. I was curious to gain knowledge about her. And the fact that I did not already know everything about her, due to her mental muteness, frustrated me to no end. I was not used to wait for something...to being disallowed.
We were discussing some possibilities on how to make her stay with us as comfortable as possible (Which room she ought to stay in/ Who could be trusted around her, after all she had a very appetising scent/ How to get her food every day...)
Caius however, was more focused on the matter how to find out, who had betrayed our secret and subsequently, how to punish the one/s responsible. I was just about to tell him my concerns regarding the consequences of finding out, when I heard my love gasp: "Deus Meus!"
I was in the adjoining room at once.
We did not usually speak Latin anymore. We were used to its modern form, Italian, now, so for her to fall back into her native tongue, something must be up.
My eyes swept over the form of my lovely wife, making sure she was fine. When I met her gaze, her eyes were swimming with tears and they rushed back to the woman on our bed, now only clad in her undergarments. When I saw her, I was frozen in my tracks, as were my brothers.
One of our kind had done that to her.
I know what we are capable of doing. Our strength and speed exceed almost everything else- shifters and werewolves exempted. They were equals on many levels.
But to abuse your power to do something horrible like this, I never understood the cruelty. Yes, I feed of off humans, as it is supposed to be, but I made it quick and painless.
Admittedly, I like to have the power that we, the Volturi, hold;
Essentially, I had been powerful, when I was still human, being a noble man back in the Mycenaean Age. I was simply used to it.
But we live by rules, unwritten laws, that should be abided. We punish the ones, who brake those, but we are not cruel. I would like to call ourselves civilized.
The way the body of my soon to be sister had been mauled, left no doubt that a savage had done that. Hoping, that a slow, painful death would come for her- it had not been done to eliminate a witness. It was committed with emotion. Anger? Retaliation?
Then again, what could a human do to hurt one of us?
It did not matter now. Who ever had done this would pay.
I looked at Marcus.
He was shaking in rage. His eyes clouded with fury, venom seeping out from between his clenched teeth and running down his chin.
He had only been reduced to the demon, that possessed us, once: When that werewolf had murdered his Didyme- our Didyme.
Sulpicia was at his side in an instance, framing his face with her hand, trying to bring him back to us. There was no telling the consequences, if he went on a rampage now, without control, so close to Isabella. He would never forgive himself, should he harm her.
I positioned myself between him and the human.
I watched on warily.
First, he did not seem to respond to my mate's words. I was worried for my wife, but I knew she would be able to get out of the way if needed. She knew Marcus well enough.
Slowly, his eyes cleared, hearing my sister calling his name. He regained his control and I stepped aside to clear the way for him.
In the blink of an eye he was at the bed, kneeling down defeated, staring intently at the person that might assure his happiness in the future.
"Marcus, the wound is inflamed. Would you …. I mean should we... Or would you like to... " My wife was clearly very affected by all that was going on.
"Yes, please, help her." If I had not been paying attention, I would not have been able to hear him.
Marcus was still as in a trance. Caius apparently thought so, too, as we both took our brother by his hands and lead him out of the room. His mind was reeling. Very much like what I believed a bee hive looked like on the inside. There were concern, sadness, anger, disbelieve and so many other emotions colouring the stream of his thoughts.
We sat back into our respective seats. For the rest of the night Marcus' attention was on the girl in the room next to us, while Caius and I continued the earlier conversion.
Sulpicia and Athenodara had left the room after making Isabella comfortable and were now in the library. Most definitely discussing this evenings events.
Some time later we realized a rise in heart rate, only moments before the sleeping woman emitted an ear shattering scream. We three were at her side in a moments time. She was having a nightmare, obviously. I wondered what had happened to her.
Our brother stayed with her, until Jane announced the former bedroom of Didyme and Marcus to be done.
He took her with him to their chamber. I was sure Caius' and my decision, to prepare a room close to our wing, was void. He would be where she was. This would be interesting.
In the early morning there was yet another scream and we were all in Marcus' chambers. No one bothering to ask permission.
The brunette was awake now, her heart hammering away in her chest. She was frightened. Finally a natural response. It almost caught me off guard, when she jumped off of the bed and stumbled backwards and right into me. My arms stabilized her reflexively.
I think a little chuckle escaped me.
Faster than I deemed possible she spun around and took us all in.
"Ah, Isabella, it is good to see you awake. I am Aro, and these are Caius, my brother, and his wife Athenodora, my sister; as well as Sulpicia, my wife. Behind you is Marcus, my other brother. I apologise, in case we startled you." I was trying to calm her down.
Her gaze was scrutinizing us. And she nodded to herself as if I had confirmed something.
'Why can't I read her thoughts!' I know it was futile, but I had still hoped I would be able to read her, once she was conscious.
In that moment, Caius took a step forward in her direction, making her stepping back in response. No sooner had she backed away, Dora intervened: "Caius, stop it! You are scaring her! Don't you realize?"
Judging by his grimace, I was pretty sure he knew, but to him this was probably amusing. A game.
Isabella shook her head a little. I assumed to clear her head. "Wait, how do you know, who I am? Why am I here? How did I get here? Where is here to begin with? Why am I not dead?"
Ah, yes, of course she had questions. But the tone she used changed from surprised over confused to irritated. There was no trace of fear left. Remarkable.
When we did not answer immediately, she looked down and then turned slightly pink around her cheeks. She was embarrassed?
Caius snickered, too low for her to hear and Dora send him a look that spoke volumes... If he did not watch his actions, he would get into trouble with her.
Isabella was clearly uncomfortable, fidgeting with her hands. It made her look years younger.
"And uhm, who.. I mean, I am wearing different clothes..." she whispered.
There was another snicker and I was sure he was in for it now. Fool. No one wanted to be on Dora's bad side.
My dear Cia tried to explain: "Ah, yes, Isabella, you see, Gianna, our secretary- she is human- told us that you might be more comfortable in softer clothes, so Athenodora and I changed you... I hope you don't mind...We did not mean to compromise you... We had your best interest at heart."
There was a short pause before she spoke in a harsher tone: "Who hurt you, Isabella?"
Our new sister went rigid and lost all colour. Her eyes were staring at nothing. Completely unfocused. The air left her lungs as if it had been knocked out of her and she was trembling like a leaf.
I only understood half of the words she mumbled. "blood, Victoria, Charlie" being some of those.
My mind was working a hundred miles an hour. Being Attacked, Nightmares, zoning out completely at a question, panic.
Only few seconds had passed, when I had figured out what that was all about and how to counteract: PTSD Post traumatic stress disorder ; Stabilize;
I held her in my arms trying to break through the barrier in her head, calling her name. It did not help. What if she became catatonic?
Her knees gave out under her.
I shook her slightly. Ignoring the frantic voices of my family.
I was hoping that physical stimuli would snap her out of it. She was holding her breath. She needed to breath!
"Isabella, breath! Do you hear me? Focus! take a deep breath! Now!"
By now I was screaming at her.
Then, finally she responded. She took a shuddering breath. I held her in my arms, sitting down on the bed with her on my lap and soothing her, while she was sobbing in what could only be despair and heart brake.
In little words and too low for her to hear, I explained to my family, what I thought was going on.
I was so grateful for my gift at this instance. Over the years I had "had my hands" on quite a number of psychologists and psychiatrists and now their knowledge would come in very handy. I would help her get better. If she would let me.
I always had wanted a younger sister. When Didyme was born I was more then happy. I was elated. And when she had been taken from us I was devastated.
I had lost her.
Here I was holding a young woman, about the size my sister had been and although she was human, it felt right.
I felt hope for us.
Didyme's death had changed us all:
Caius had become even more cynic, bitter and ready to fight;
Marcus was emotionless and an empty shell; he had died with her on the inside.
Athenodora and Sulpicia had practically retreated completely from other people and the public;
I was even more vigil on all matters concerning safety and the laws.
A part of our silent hearts had frozen over.
This woman on my lap, sobbing into my shoulder, clinging to me like I was a lifeline- I, death in person- might just be able to reunite us as a family, to melt our hearts, like the spring.
She had already reanimated Marcus and I would be damned, if I let something happen to her. She might be the one we had been waiting for.
Our Salvation.
With time moving by, she became more controlled and then she stopped weeping completely.
A small hoarse voice made me look down at her: "I am so sorry for ruining your shirt. I just..."
She was worried about dirtying my shirt? Above the danger I posed? What a strange creature.
"Never mind, it is quite all right. Are you feeling any better now?" I had to interrupt her. That was ridiculous.
I had to see her eyes to make sure she understood. I carefully lifted her chin, so that she would face me.
Her eyes were red and puffy from her crying but their unusual colour was clearly visible, just as Marcus had pointed out in his thoughts. Green and Brown. The colour did not match the picture on the ID he had seen.
Post traumatic heterochromia? I would have to ask her about that.
She averted her gaze again and continued in a small voice: "I am sorry. Usually that does not happen anymore. It just caught me by surprise... I did not expect it..." With that I saw the diagnosis I had deducted earlier, confirmed.
"Oh Bella, Please forgive my asking! I did not know it would hurt you! I am so sorry. It is all my fault! I should not be so blunt!I just..." My wife was nearly in hysterics, when she apologized.
In reaction Isabella did something no one expected: She got up slowly and went over to my wife, hugging and consoling her.
Selfless.
That was the only word to describe her action. When she had turned to go back I was already up and embracing my wife, comforting her.
Isabella sat down, exuding exhaustion. Marcus threw me a grateful smile and sat down next to her.
"Now, if I remember correctly, you had some questions for us?" He tried to be casual about this.
She was just about to start, when her own belly interrupted her with a growl.
She was mortified of that sound and blushed a very nice pink.
Caius spoke next, something that did surprise me greatly. "Isabella, are you hungry?"
"Heidi, get some breakfast for the human." Trust him to be insulting, when he tries to be nice...
"Caius! How could you!" …
" Oh Bella, he did not mean it like that. But you are hungry, are you not? Please forgive him?" Now Dora was back paddling for Caius.
Though this situation was amusing up to a certain degree on a very surreal,unique way, I was more than glad that vampires could not get headaches.
"Yeah, sure..." She was perplex...
"Master, may I enter?" That was Heidi,speaking from the entrance.
"Yes, you may." Came Marcus' short answer.
The things that happened next, had me worried. Isabella sprang up with her hands clasped tightly over her mouth, her eyes desperate. Next I heard were retching noises and Marcus hissing angrily at Heidi, who stood dumbfounded in the door and tried to defend herself, stuttering.
She got sick at the scent or smell of food? That could not be good. Was she anorectic?
"No, it smells really good... I am just not used to that smell... I know it sounds backwards: It smells good, but at the same time it makes me sick... I do not eat that much anymore..."
Now the human took the side of Heidi, to defend her from Marcus, who was holding her hair back and rubbing soothing patterns on her back. So surreal. If I did not know it to be impossible, I would guess I was dreaming.
"Heidi, get this food out. Get bread and something to go with it for her and a glass of something to drink."
"Marcus, calm down, you will only put more stress on her when she thinks someone gets in trouble because of her."
They both nodded in acknowledgement. Heidi was out and back again in record time.
Isabella ate what Heidi had brought then, silently and without problems.
'I hope Colin will have some information, when he returns.' I sighed to myself and closed my eyes for a second.
We need it. It will not be easy to talk to her... I hope this turns out well.
I was drained. It was not yet noon and I did not need rest; or sleep for that matter!
So, that was some hard work to write. I hope you like it! Let me know.