Disclaimer: Twilight not mine.

By the way, when I reference their rooms, I mean them to be parts of the underground castle, sort of budding off of the main area.

And I had a long idea-generating session; this chapter is RIDICULOUS long! Enjoy!

Demetri wasn't sent on patrol duty again. In fact, he wasn't sent anywhere. For about two weeks he lounged in his room, reading books and playing his various instruments.

His favorite was the violin. Intense and beautiful, the music soothed his frayed soul and helped him fight the oncoming panic. For days he sat upon his sofa, composing songs and playing to himself. The notes rose and sank and rose again to glorious heights, and it sounded as if ten violinists were playing. The volume kept his neighbors, Felix and Alec, distracted, but they never interfered. From the sound of the hitches in their breaths, they were transfixed.

He'd just been playing a rather rad melody he had composed himself when a tiny knock on his door interrupted his one-man concerto. He opened the heavy oak door, and was surprised to see his masters, Aro, Caius, and Marcus enter his humble dwelling. He quickly ducked his head in a respectful bow.

"Masters! I wasn't expecting such an honor," breathed Demetri, hope simmering in his starved spirit. Perhaps they were here to explain their strange alienation towards him recently, and to welcome him back as a brother and friend. He wanted nothing more. But the strange glimmer in Aro's eyes and the unusual piercing gaze from Marcus threw him off. Caius was frazzled, as usual, his scarlet eyes wild with whatever emotion he could possibly be experiencing. Caius had always been rather hot-tempered.

"Demetri, my dear friend, what beautiful music! I couldn't help but to seek out the source of those heavenly sounds!" exclaimed Aro, and Demetri smiled. But Caius interrupted the much appreciated compliment with an aggravated snarl. His throat flexed with the intensity of his anger, but Demetri didn't flinch. Caius didn't stand a chance in battle against Demetri, and his rage was little threat. Caius was often enraged. But now he pointed at Demetri, his snarl turning to words.

"You! You traitor! Don't just stand there like a stupid child, you trash! How dare you disobey us! How dare you fraternize with a human girl, neglecting your duties to Volterra! How dare you place her on a higher pedestal than your sacred masters!" he roared, his hard muscles trembling against the urge to attack the leaner, stronger vampire. Demetri's vision flashed scarlet and he snarled back, only his respect for his masters keeping him in place. Aro put a hand on Caius's shoulder, trying to calm him.

"Now, now, dear Caius, you've overstepped your accusations," he said softly, and turned back to Demetri. "You've done nothing yet, Demetri. Marcus is just a little worried about the direction your bloodlust for this girl has taken. And, if I do say so myself, you do remind me a bit of the situation with the newest Cullen couple. The only problem is, Caius suspects that it is too much like the direction their lives took. He's afraid that you are beginning to appreciate this girl more than your coven."

With this stated, Aro leaned back, his ancient, filmy eyes calculating the statuesque figure before him. Demetri trembled with hate. That idiotic girl! The fragrance of her skin, the wonderful flavor of her mind...she was getting him into more shit than she could imagine. He growled low under his breath. He knew the treatment for weakness in devotion. And he knew what would come next.

"Now, Demetri, if you would just touch my hand and show me that it's never been more than a great thirst, then we may welcome you back with open arms and earnest apologies."

Demetri bowed his head. It only took him half a second to run through his memories and realize the truth. It had never simply been bloodlust.

Aro smiled sadly and shook his head. He clapped his hands, and two hooded figures entered the room.

"Jane. Take Demetri to the cellar for discipline. Felix. Take care of the human."

Demetri's head shot up and, before he knew it, he was flying at Felix, his body as hard and fast as a bullet. Then, just as he realized he was in the air, something pulled him down. It was pain, daggers and swords and hot irons of pain, stabbing at him from all sides and all surfaces, gouging and scraping down his skin. He screamed, his limbs unable to move for the agony. His back arched, and his screams were almost too loud for him to realize he was making them.

As suddenly as it began, it stopped. He leapt back to his feet, red eyes wild and teeth locked. Jane stared back, her expression a blend of apologetic and obedient. Of course Jane would never disobey Aro or let Felix get hurt, but her affection for Demetri made this painful all the same.

Felix dashed away, not willing to admit that he was scared of Demetri but frightened all the same. Not many in the Volturi could pose a challenge for Demetri in pure skill. Jane and Alec, though, could handle him with relative ease through their incredible mental forces.

"Follow me, Demetri," whispered Jane, walking slowly to the cellar. Demetri, also, did not look forward to discipline; he'd only ever been through it once, and did not plan on ever doing it again. That time he had accidentally revealed his true nature to a small gathering of people who had been on a hiking trip; they had watched him drain a human lifeless, and it took many years before he could leave the castle again. The treatment had been terrible, because revealing the secret should have held the death penalty, but Aro couldn't bear to kill such a specimen.

But Caius had wanted punishment exacted, and so Demetri had been handed over to Jane.

And now he walked with her again, following her down the dreaded path to the floor beneath the main rooms. The cold stone cellar, separated from all other rooms by feet of rock to keep the screaming from seeping to the other floors. They were there all too soon.

Jane had a mournful but also resigned look in her face. She hated what she was going to do, but she planned on doing it. Demetri also knew what he had to do, and it made it all the easier that Jane would be safe in her innocent obedience.

And also much, much harder.

Demetri was flying at her as soon as the door had shut. He knew if he could disconnect her head, then she would be unable to perform her torture.

But Jane was too fast; he was mere inches away when the pain struck, and he dropped like lead. Curled inwards, he clutched at the invisible wounds and screamed hoarsely. Jane backed away, shaking her head and breathing hard.

"No, Demetri. Just endure, it'll be over soon," she murmured, and Demetri nearly succumbed to the punishment. He nearly accepted the pain, made it a part of him, imagined a better and more obedient future.

Then, her face exploded into his mind. Her creamy skin, her thick, dark red hair, her beautiful gray eyes; even her odd disgust towards him only made him desire her more. He saw her fall before Felix. He saw her blood splatter the ground.

He saw Jane's face, coming towards him rather quickly.

He hadn't realized that he had lunged at her until he was in the air. The pain was excruciating, and it wasn't hard for her to land him on the floor again. He groaned, his teeth sinking into the icy rock beneath his broken nose. He felt the cartilage repair itself, even under the indescribable agony. Jane was backing away much faster now, terrified of the new danger. Demetri hated to do this to her, but Jane could be put back together; Autumn couldn't.

At the thought of her name he launched himself at Jane a third time, and this time his aim landed true. His hands were on her face before she could comprehend his motion, and with a flex of his arms he tore her head from her neck.

Her body fell limp onto the floor, and he cast her head aside; the pain gone from his limbs, he dashed up the stairs and out of the cellar. No one had even noticed that he had escaped, and probably wouldn't for at least a few hours.

The darkness of the night enveloped him as he ran.

His mind churned quickly as he raced through the night, invisible in his speed. He dodged cars and trees easily, knowing exactly where to go. He had caught a glimpse of Autumn's calender earlier in her apartment, and had seen that she would be working late. Felix wouldn't be able to come near her in a crowded restaurant, unless he had walked in and kidnapped her. But Demetri also knew that Felix was lazy, and would prefer to just kill her as she left.

Hope shot through him, but didn't overtake him; he cleverly used his tracking sense to determine Felix's exact location. Felix was hanging around the front of the restaurant, hiding out in the parking lot. Demetri approached from behind the building, his step as silent as the brush of a feather. Felix didn't notice a thing. Demetri was willing to bet that the strong smell of human food covered his scent, too.

It wasn't hard for him to slip into the kitchen. He stood out immediately from the grungy, disheveled cooks and the awkward bussers, but he was too intimidating a figure for anyone to approach. His vicious red glare helped out a bit, too.

Finally, finally, he saw her. Her medium-length, lustrous hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, and her expression was anxious, though not nearly as anxious as she should be. He approached her quickly, knowing that their time for talk was limited. Somehow, he had to get her to go with him without too much complaint. But the closer he got to her, the more his throat burned. Would she really be safer with him?

He caught the edge of her sleeve, not wanting to startle her with his cold touch. She huffed in frustration and turned, ready to yell. He watched her face pale as she looked up, and her jaw drop. Fear flooded her eyes, and she tried to pull away automatically, but he had a good grip on her blouse. He had to talk fast.

"Look, Autumn-" he started, but she began to scream. He saw the intent form in her expression and the sound made it just past her throat before he had a hand firmly over her mouth. She shuddered at his cold touch, but couldn't fight him off of her. He grasped her arm more tightly and leaned closer, fully aware of the suspicious glances he was receiving.

"Listen to me," he hissed through clenched teeth, "You're in danger. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, but you're in terrible danger and you need to get out of here. Now." He felt a strand of mind move through the underground castle, towards the cellar. It wouldn't be long until his escape was discovered, and he needed to be gone by then. He released her mouth once she seemed calm enough to handle it.

"How can I trust you?" she seethed, "I barely know you! You're more of a stalker than anything else, how can I believe a word you say? How do I know you're not planning on kidnapping me?" Her sweet breath struck him like a punch to the gut. He fought to control his urge to kill.

Demetri laughed without humor.

"Oh, I'm definitely kidnapping you. But you have to believe me; it's for your own good. Right now you're in more danger than you realize, and if you don't come with me you'll be dealing with a lot worse than a kidnap. Like, say, death. Who's going to pay for your funeral? Your boss?" he asked brutally, watching her distrust grow. What could he say that would make her come with him?

He suddenly grabbed her by the throat, then drew her frightened face closer to him. Even if she was furious and terrified, it was better than dead. The warmth of her throat, the pulse of the blood running under it, sent his mouth desert-dry. He made his voice as menacing as possible.

"Damn straight I'm kidnapping you. I have your little sister, too. If you want to see her again, you'll come with me," he growled, hoping it wasn't too late to pull the bad-guy card. It wasn't. He was creepy enough that she ate it faster than his attempts to save her life. Wonderful.

Though to be fair, how else would he know she had a sister?

"Please...please, don't hurt her," she whispered, terror choking her. Great. "I'll do anything you want. Anything." He felt terrible at her last reverent word. He had never heard anything spoken with more sincerity, and the incredible bond between her and her sister disturbed him. He didn't have to be Marcus to sense a bond like this. He shook it off quickly.

"Tell your boss you're sick. Make yourself vomit if you have to. Then, leave through the back door. I'll be waiting."

He left, praying that she would follow his orders. He hung around the back door, searching the Volturi for any sign of realization of his escape. The wandering goon had veered through another door, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief; but not quiet enough.

"Going somewhere?"

Demetri was crouched and twenty feet away before he could comprehend the motion. His automatic vampire defense system had moved for him, as he attached the voice to a face. Felix, of course.

Neither of them moved for a full second. Felix calculated his best attacks, and Demetri prayed that Autumn's boss was being particularly stubborn. Felix took a slow step to the left, but Demetri wasn't to be played with. He kept his feet firmly planted, refusing to be intimidated. Felix knew better, though, than to try to intimidate Demetri with sheer mass. It would take some serious moves to take down someone of Demetri's raw speed and strength.

"You shouldn't be here, friend," said Felix, taking another slow step. Demetri bared his teeth. Felix didn't want to kill his friend, but Demetri was ready to murder. He would set Felix on fire if he had to. He didn't fully understand this strange urge to protect the source, but it was a call he couldn't turn his back on.

"Go away, Felix. I don't have to kill you," growled Demetri, his entire body braced for motion. Lean and hard, he knew he could tear and burn Felix in a heartbeat. Felix knew it, too.

"Hey, I only have so many options. If I stay here, you might kill be but, then again, you might not. If I go, the boys back home will definitely kill me. Or worse," he hinted, and Demetri shuddered. Jane was not going to be happy when she was revived. But Demetri didn't back down.

"I'm leaving. I'm taking her with me, alive. No matter what you do, this won't change." Demetri straightened, though his focus didn't relax.

"You're with me or against me, friend."

He didn't even finish the sentence. Felix launched himself at Demetri so fast that he was a blur. To the human eye he was invisible; luckily, Demetri wasn't human. He dodged the leap neatly, and tore off an arm at the same time. Howling with pain, Felix attacked again, only to be shredded by Demetri's strong hands. Felix was lying in neat piles by the time Autumn was walking through the door.

The entire encounter had lasted forty-one seconds. Demetri disposed of Felix in a nearby sewer and leaned back against the wall, focusing on the Volturi again. So far, it looked like nobody had found Jane in the cellar. He could only hope to have a few minutes of a head start.

He turned his head automatically as Autumn walked through the back door. Her expression was frightened but set. Demetri's eyes narrowed as the pace of her heart raced. Then they widened with realization.

"You called the police."

Autumn flinched and shook her head slowly, but she couldn't lie to him. Heat rushed to her face, and he detected the faint, salty scent of sweaty palms. Her heartbeat was through the roof. He cursed and grabbed her around the waist.

"Wha-"

She couldn't get another word out. Within the second they were moving so fast that the wind whipped her words away. Demetri ran fast enough to be nearly invisible. He held Autumn cradled against his chest so that the wind didn't tear her skin away. The heat of her proximity burned through her shirt and his, and the smell of her blood nearly brought him to a stop. But he knew he didn't have much time, and the thought forced him to move faster.

They reached her apartment in seconds. He raced up the floors, grabbed the handle of her door, and yanked; it opened with a bang. Demetri looked around, testing the air, and dashed to the little girl's room. She was sleeping. He lifted her slowly, keeping the blanket wrapped around her. He sped back to Autumn.

She was in the kitchen, holding a knife. He saw her hand shaking around the weapon, but her eyes were fierce. She wouldn't hesitate to kill him, if she could. He almost laughed.

"What are you?" she whispered, her voice breaking as she saw her sister asleep in his arms. He had lied to her, she now realized. Demetri felt terrible, but this was his fault and they would not die for his weakness.

"That's really not going to help you," he muttered, then he turned and dashed down the stairs. She followed, of course; he stayed slow enough so that he was visible, and she could race behind him. He approached the fastest car in the parking lot. He wasn't a car person, really, but it was shiny, new, and sporty, so he took his chances.

Hopping into the seat, he had it wired and purring before Autumn made it down the stairs. He turned and laid the sleeping sister into the back seat. Autumn, seeing her imminent defeat, leapt into the passenger side before Demetri could floor it out of there. The tires squealed, and the speedometer jumped to seventy in seconds. Beautiful.

He drove faster and faster, trees whipping by on either side. He crashed through the gates of Volterra, leaving the city behind. But he knew better than to feel safe. It would take seconds for the Volturi to catch up, and less to kill them. He also had another problem to worry about.

Autumn still held the knife, but Demetri was driving so fast that she didn't dare use it. He saw her eyes glance towards the inert form in the back seat. He sighed.

"I'm not going to kill you guys, you know," he said irritably, turning to glare at her. Autumn scowled.

"How am I supposed to know that? How can I believe you? You lied to me before," she snapped, her gray eyes flaming.

"I said what was necessary to get you out of there. It wasn't safe. I'm not the only one of my kind." Great. He was breaking rules again. There was no way they'd let him live after this. Autumn looked horrified.

"There are...more of you?" she whispered, fear freezing her body. Demetri laughed bitterly.

"Yep. Actually, they happen to be running the city. I'm a bit on the dark side, right now," he added, trying to lighten the mood. But her heartbeat didn't slow, which didn't exactly help his appetite. Her heat was spreading through the small car, making his mouth water with poison. He had to swallow twice before he could speak again.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault," he murmured, and that was it. He locked his jaw to keep himself from attacking her. The fragrance of her skin was overwhelming. The girl stared at him, a strange expression in her eyes. Then, she blushed deeply and turned away. They didn't speak again for a few hours. Demetri idly tracked his old coven as he drove. He pressed against the gas anxiously, needing to beat them...

A siren wail, a blaring horn, and Demetri cursed loudly. The little girl in the back seat stirred and sat up. She rubbed her eyes, not quite conscious yet.

"Autumn?" she murmured, and her sister turned and hushed her.

"Go back to sleep, Eve."

Demetri jerked the car to a stop and was out of the car before the cop could put his cruiser into park. Demetri yanked open the door to the policeman's car and pulled the startled man from the vehicle with steel strength. The man suddenly started shouting and struggling, but they were deep in the forest before too much commotion was made. Demetri sank his teeth into the policeman's thick neck, savoring the blood that soothed his itching thirst. He hadn't even breathed in the car for fear of losing control, but hopefully if he wasn't thirsty, then he could be a bit more tolerant.

He drained the body dry and dug a deep hole for it in seconds. No one would find it for years, maybe even centuries. He loped back to the sports car, where Autumn and her sister sat obediently still. Apparently Autumn had realized the futility of trying to drive away, since she knew he could run much faster than any car could drive. He shifted into drive again, and they were speeding away. It was silent again, but a much more tense silence. At least he could breathe safely without fear of losing his mind.

"You killed that policeman." It was a statement, not a question, and spoken so quietly that normal ears wouldn't have caught it. To Demetri, she might as well have spoken in a loud, clear voice. He nodded without remark. It was a trivial death, one that happened along at a convenient hour. Well, convenient in that he wasn't riding along the edge of tearing out Autumn's slender throat, and inconvenient in that they were losing precious time. So far, he was safe. No one had realized his absence.

"Why?" It was always with the questions. Demetri turned to face her, his eyes savage and scarlet. He heard her quick intake of breath and felt her automatic recoil. It shamed him.

"Would you rather it was you?" he snarled softly, and his eyes gentled. He reached out as if to stroke her face...but the way her lips trembled, the way her breath ran in quick bursts from her mouth, the way her eyes held his...he felt his control slipping. His lips slid back over his teeth for a moment in a deathly leer, but he caught himself and jerked away.

They were almost in the safe zone. A few minutes, and they'd be free. They'd have a good head start, maybe enough to make it out alive. Then again, maybe not.

"Please, tell me. What is going on?" she asked quietly, watching his expression. Demetri didn't respond for a second or two, weighing his chances. Well, he planned on changing her eventually. And he was going to die anyways, with all the rules he'd broken, so he might as well break a few more.

He turned and faced her again. She glances fearfully towards the unwatched road, but she didn't have to fear; the car never strayed an inch from the winding path. Demetri bared his teeth again, but in a sarcastic smile.

"You want to know the truth? You want the truth? My name is Demetri. I don't know my last name because it's been decades since I've used it, maybe a century. I am a vampire; a cold-blooded murderer, I've killed probably hundreds of people. I drink their blood. I kill human beings and drink their blood, because I can't help it. I drank that policeman dry. I live (or lived, rather) in a secret coven called the Volturi who live underground in Volterra and rule the city physically and politically. I was part of the guard who defended the city from invaders. I've never killed a citizen of Volterra. Right now, I'm running away because for some insane reason, I'm so attached to you that I stalked you for days. Right now the smell of your blood is killing me; it's all I can do to keep myself from ripping you apart. Once the Volturi find out we're gone, they're going to be on us like lions on a fucking carcass."

Autumn gaped. Her jaw had dropped at some point during this speech, and she didn't seem to be able to move. Then, abruptly, she turned away. After a second, though, she turned back to him. Her eyes had a reluctant look to them. Demetri guessed that she was only speaking to him in hopes that he would not kill them.

"So...you have, like, special powers? Like running fast?" she said, forcing herself not to cringe away when he laughed coldly.

"Oh, I can run a lot faster than that. I just didn't want to rip your skin off." He reached out again, but thought better of it and pulled his hand back. She didn't flinch away this time, and he tried not to keep his delight from overpowering him; it was clearly a real effort from her.

"I can probably beat a rocket to the moon, if I could fly as fast as I run. I can see every blade of grass as we pass it. I can smell ravioli on your sister's breath, and I'll take a wild guess that she had it for dinner about...four days ago? I can hear your heart louder than anything else. I can almost see it's beat," he murmured, glancing furtively towards her rising and falling chest, its pace quickened by fear. He looked away quickly, grateful that she wore a thick sweater in the cold. She hadn't even noticed, the motion had been so fast. "I can crush this car into a can."

The airport loomed ahead. Then, suddenly, a wild commotion in his head; Jane had been discovered. But he smiled serenely; it was too late. The Volturi would never do a mass killing to catch some fugitives.

The strands of minds were going crazy. He could see them racing around, nearly crashing into each other in their speed. Two members were sent to check on Felix; Heidi and Chelsea. Another, probably Alec, was putting Jane back together. There...her mental thread reappeared, celebrating her revival. He was glad that he picked up Eve, because another was sent to Autumn's apartment. They would follow his scent from there.

The sun was pinking the sky, and he pressed his lips together. He had to get inside before the sun rose. He hadn't thought to bring any kind of cloak. They approached the airport, and he abandoned the car.

It was torture to pace himself with the humans. They walked so slowly, even though he could see that they were hurrying. He leaned towards Autumn, and was overjoyed to see that she didn't lean away. His lips were at her ear, and she shivered at his cool breath.

"Don't say anything. Don't try to get the attention of the cops. If we stop now, we're dead. They've found us out." Autumn nodded faintly, and Demetri was relieved to see that she believed him. But she suddenly stood on her toes, though she didn't have to speak loud for him to hear her.

"You're going to tell me everything on the plane."

He nodded, and she tugged on Eve's hand. Eve wiped her eyes again and stared at Demetri.

"Where are we going? Who's he?" Autumn hushed her little sister, who now stared silently at Demetri. He noticed dimly that she seemed awed by his presence, though her sister wasn't in the least. Rather, Autumn seemed to unconsciously shift away from him. He tried not to let this bother him.

Able to think and behave more rationally after the snack on the road, he easily slipped his way into some tickets. It wasn't hard to seduce the woman selling flight tickets. He had managed to snag a ticket to a full flight to Canada, leaving in fifteen minutes. It had taken him a minute and twenty-three seconds to have her totally under his control. A smile and a few silky words, and she was putty in his hands.

Autumn hadn't even noticed. She had been whispering to Eve while Demetri had talked their way into tickets.

They made it past the airport guards and onto the plane. It was smooth sailing from there.

Autumn buckled herself in next to Demetri, Eve on her other side. Demetri prayed that he'd make it through the flight without killing her; he admired her bravery, though, in sitting anywhere near him when she knew what he was. She could force herself to approach him, but she couldn't hide her fear. He saw it in her eyes, smelled the adrenaline in her blood; she was taking a risk, and they both knew it.

Demetri yearned for her death, but couldn't bear to incite it.

Alright, end of chapter three. Told you it was long (well, long compared to the other two chapters)

I can't promise that all the chapters will be this long, but I'll do my best. Reviews help, please! I like to know how I'm doing and what I'm doing wrong. Anyways, you may have some questions about certain situations, feel free to ask, though I can tell you now that it will all be clear later on.

And can anyone guess where Demetri is headed for? haha