Chapter 6: Strengthening
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns anything familiar.
"Wonderful! Brilliant!!" Aro cried as he freed her from the table. Elta was astonished. She could see everything so much clearer. She could hear better, too. A fly buzzed by her ear, and she caught it. "Would you like to see the new you, Elta?" he asked her, motioning to a full length mirror upon the wall. Elta walked slowly toward it, gasping when she saw her reflection. She ran a hand through her curls, which now seemed shinier, more lustrous. And her skin! It was perfectly smooth, her dark complexion still visible under the porcelain of her features. She ran her hands down the length of her body, amazed. I'm beautiful, Elta thought with shock. She was not flawed in any way, shape, or form. She brought her gaze back towards her face and saw something that scared her to death.
"My eyes…" she said, her hands going up to them. They were the same perfect crimson as her dress. Aro nodded and smiled.
"Yes, aren't they wonderful? I must say, as lovely as you were a human, being a vampire suits you, young Elta! Come now, we must show you off and test the strengths of your talent!" Aro said excitedly, racing down the stairs at lightening speed, Elta keeping perfect pace. They soon reached the room, where the same crowd of vampires was waiting.
"My fellow, immortals, I present to you the new Elta De Luca!" Aro said, sweeping aside, revealing her. There was a collective gasp.
"Nice pick, Aro," one of the males commented.
"Ah, yes. Felix, would you be as kind as to let us demonstrate the strengthening of Miss Elta's talent on you? You are exceptionally strong willed," Aro asked the male who had spoken earlier. Felix nodded.
"Of course," Felix said, walking in front of Elta. She focused all her energy on Felix and began to sing the same song. She kept her eyes on Felix throughout the entire song. By the first chorus, she could tell he was struggling. By the second chorus, Felix had the vacant eyes and calm face. By the end of the song, he was lying on the floor as Gianna had. Elta smiled as Aro applauded.
"Bravo, Elta! Bravo!" he shouted euphorically. Elta beamed as the other vampires looked upon her with amazement. Elta could see their thoughts on their faces. We shouldn't get on her bad side, they were thinking, because it could cost us our lives. Their thoughts were absolutely right. As soon as she had rendered them helpless, Elta could do whatever. Then, a thought struck her.
"Aro," she asked, "How are we going to explain this to my family?" Aro's happiness faded for just a second as he thought about this.
"That is a good question, Elta. I must think on that a little while longer. Of course, we will not actually explain your vampirism to your family, but simply mask it so you can be away from them," he babbled.
"Why must I be away from them?" Elta countered.
"Because you will kill them! Elta, you are a newborn vampire. If you go that close to a human, they will die, you will drink, and we will have some serious problems on our hands! We have to mask it!" he explained in a condescending voice, as if she were a 2 year old. Elta wanted to smack herself. Why had she not thought of that before? But how, she wondered, was Aro supposed to mask her sudden disappearance?