Chapter 10: Harder
Elta let laughter rip through her chest as she, Demetri, and Felix ran through the sprawling Italian countryside. The only thought that was going through her mind was blood. She needed it. She ran closer to Demetri as she felt his pace quicken. Elta bore into Demetri with questioning eyes.
"There's a small farm 20 miles ahead. Mother, father, and I think 2 kids!" he said excitedly. Elta's nose then caught a whiff of her soon to be prey. She crowed with joy and ran faster still, surpassing Demetri and Felix. In a few minutes, she came upon the farmhouse. Elta jumped atop the roof, landing silently. She inhaled the scent under her and grinned. Demetri and Felix appeared next to her and they nodded. Elta ripped out a section of the roof and dropped silently into a corner. The startled couple looked up at the sudden gaping hole in their roof, not noticing the vampire that was rounding their room in the shadows, getting closer and closer to their bed.
"What in the world? The night is perfectly clear!" the farmer exclaimed as he wandered under the hole. The massacre began. Felix dropped onto the man, instantly breaking his neck. Then the screaming started up. Elta quickly crushed the woman's windpipe in her hands; but not before she had awoken her kids. One of the little boys had risen at the sound of his mother's screaming to see Demetri feeding on his older brother. A small snap assured Elta and Felix that Demetri's job was done.
Elta grinned down upon her lifeless prey, a drop of blood oozing from a cut on her neck from Elta's nail. That was all it took. Elta's microscopic amount of self control broke completely and the woman was as good as gone within 5 minutes. But Elta needed more and she didn't want to go far for it. She hurled herself gracefully out the window, crashing into the barn. Startled cows mooed and stomped as Elta landed. She smelled the air. Not as great, but better than nothing, she thought, eagerly attacking a large bull. He would've put up a great fight against anything normal. Cows dropped right and left as Demetri and Felix joined her in the barn, supping on the beef. And as soon as they had started feeding on the livestock, they were done. 3 dozen cows lay in ruins upon the floor of hay.
"You, Elta, are a little pig! First you take the wife and then you take down 2 dozen cows all by yourself!" Felix scolded her playfully as they started running back to Volterra. Elta giggled.
"Yeah, I am a pig," she agreed, skipping around trees in a forest. Demetri let out a chuckle.
"Such a huge pig, yet still a skinny little body," he said, pinching Elta's side lightly. Elta giggled.
"Stop it! Just run! I want to get back before sunrise. Hell if I want to wait out somewhere!" Elta exclaimed into the night, doing a random somersault in the air. The vampiric trio raced lightheartedly across the country until they happened upon a small village somewhere around 3 am. Elta went crazy. All she listened to was her thirst screaming inside her head to murder them all. Demetri and Felix immediately went into bodyguard mode.
"STOP! You can't do this! Not so many in one night! Not a whole village!" Felix screamed at Elta as she savagely tried to break free of their grasp.
"Take what you can, give nothing back!" Elta retorted through gritted teeth, writhing in vain. Demetri chuckled and nodded to Felix. Lifting Elta off her feet, they ran. They ran with an iron hold on her until they arrived upon Volterra. The held her all the way up to the turret where Aro greeted them with open arms.
"Demetri! Felix! Elta, my dear! Have you all had a fun night?" Aro asked joyously, seeming completely oblivious to the struggling Elta. Demetri and Felix knew they need not explain. Aro had dealt with enough newborns to know. The two men nodded, setting Elta down. She panted, glaring up at them. Aro chuckled.
"Elta, you must practice self control! As for Demetri and Felix, let them alone. They won't bother you unless need be!" he explained to the still glaring Elta, who immediately shot her eyes down. Aro smiled at her. "Much better," he said, patting her shoulder. Elta got up swiftly.
"I'm going up to my room," she said quietly, racing up a flight of stairs that hugged the wall. Elta ran up to the very top where she stopped in a small circular room with a sloping ceiling. The top of the turret. She sighed and plopped down on the bed there, blowing her bangs out of her face. Elta's head snapped up when she heard light feet on the stairs. Soon, Jane appeared in her room. Her eyes were merciless.
"Listen here newbie. I am one of Aro's best guards. If you even try to surpass my position by a little bit, I will kill you. And it'll look like some kind of mistake. Mark my words, De Luca. I don't play around when it comes to ranks, got it? Good!" Jane said in a harsh whisper a centimeter from Elta's face. A snarl broke free form Elta's vocal chords and pain shot through her. "Watch it, little one! You might get hurt!" Jane cackled gleefully as she released Elta and pranced lightly down the stairs. Elta screamed into her pillow. She had thought this would have been glorious! But she was dead wrong. This was harder then Elta had expected. She sniffled into her pillow, laying her face sideways.
"I want my mommy," she said to the empty room. She automatically lifted her hand to her face to wipe away a tear that would never appear there again.