AN: Major apologies for the long wait for an update, writers block is the most annoying thing ever.

Can we try and get some more reviews for this story? It'll be a christmas gift from you to me :)

Disclaimer: I still do not own twilight


I remained silent as Felix and Demetri continued to pull me along by my arms, their grips were strong, restraining. Aro walked swiftly ahead with another guard, the girl who constantly hovered by his side.

After a few moments I wretched my arms out of their grip to put them down at my sides, once they saw my intension they didn't protest but remained close, shockingly close. Aro walked quickly, proberly as anxious to get this over with as I was; I doubt he'd ever say it, too rude of him.

Ever since I arrived I had been led through what seemed to be the grandest maze in the world, each corridor winded endlessly, I doubt I had barely walked down the same route twice since being here. Surely the castle couldn't be this big. Could it?

Aro finally reached a door and threw it open; it revealed a steep staircase made completely from stone that wound tightly upwards. It would have been pitch black for a human; no light was visible from where we stood, not even a wooden torch giving off the faint glow of firelight was present.

Aro disappeared up it, I followed suit after the female and found it was extremely narrow as well. As we ascended we had to do so in single file, it surprised me that Felix or Demetri even managed to fit between the seeping walls with their broad shoulders.

I could tell the stone was ancient, the rest of the castle was in better shape so it was obvious Aro's expensive upgrades hadn't reached this far yet, I was worried the stone might crumble beneath my feet. My musing was cut off when I suddenly stepped into a dim room.

I was standing in a large room, a library to be exact. The walls were hidden behind deep mahogany bookcases, they dominated most of the space and thick leather bound volumes were spilled everywhere.

The floor was covered in oriental rugs detailed right down to the last thread, medieval tapestries hung off the wall that wasn't covered by bookcases. In the middle of the room was a cluster of tables piled high with books and documents, to my left were several glass cases filled with crumbling parchments.

This had to be Aro's personal library.

Aro walked over to a stone fireplace nestled in among his astonishing amount of books and threw on a few wood logs from a small pile beside it, the fire crackled, I watched as the flames started to lick at the wood.

Aro nodded to his bulked up bodyguards who swiftly left, he then nodded to the girl beside him yet she didn't move. She stared at me, her glare was cold but lacked the controlled hate, fury and malice all her fellow guard held. I could tell in that moment that she was not a fighter nor deadly.

"Renata." Aro whispered softly to her, she immediately cut her eyes to him, he nodded towards the door. Her face distorted to one of pain and she let out a small whimper but headed for the exit, I wanted to roll my eyes at her obvious dependency on him.

Once the door clicked closed Aro turned to me, his expression was softer now that it was just me and him, he motioned for me to sit down by the fire which was crackling loudly now. I made no attempt to move; he studied me for a moment then sat down by himself.

For a moment it was silent, Aro watched the flames flicker back and forth; I never took my eyes off him. He was faced away from me, in this position he was vulnerable but there was no sense in me attacking him, he'd proberly crush my skull in his hand, I wouldn't underestimate Aro, although he looked fragile he was proberly more deadly than several of his guards combined.

"What do you want?" I demanded, I meant it to come out as loud, maybe even harsh but it floated across as a whisper, my tone sounded pathetic and I mentally scolded myself for it.

"Irina I only wish to talk, nothing more." He stated innocently without looking at me. Slowly I approached the empty chair opposite him and sat tense on its edge. Aro's eyes slid to look at me, the flames reflection danced in his eyes.

"As you can see this is my personal library. Your welcome to use it as much as you want." He gestured to the numerous volumes on the wall.

"I've never been much for history or literature." I said coldly eyeing a title about ancient Rome and even spying a copy of Shakespeare's Macbeth, no doubt a priceless original.

Aro chuckled as he glanced at where I was looking. "Is that so? I've always had a fondness for history."

"Yeah well, I never liked it." I put simply, my patience was wearing thin, I wanted Aro to get on with it and hopefully, let me go.

Aro sighed, pressing his fingertips together before heaving himself from his chair and floating to his bookcase. He stretched his hand out, trailing a finger along several of the books before looking at me, his raven hair falling into his eyes.

"It's your own history you don't like." He replied knowingly, I was taken aback by his response, wasn't it obvious? Who wouldn't hate it if they had a past like mine?

"It's not one I'm proud of." I muttered looking darkly into the fire. Aro nodded and pulled a red leather bound book from the shelf; he opened it about halfway into the pages then threw it to me.

Instantly my hands flew to it, catching it perfectly without ruffling a single page. I settled it into my lap, the book was thick, heavy by human standards and the pages were already yellowing. I focused on the page and immediately dropped it where it fell heavily to the floor.

The page stared up at me, the yellow paper was covered in delicate lines, webs of shading defined the pictures, the dim light threw the book into shadow but I could easily see each small drawing. They were of my family.

"And now, history is repeating its self." came Aro's solemn voice.

Across two pages there were several small detailed drawings done in pencil. The first showed a small group of people, the first was clearly older, motherly with a heart shaped face which displayed a mix of pain and sadness, behind her leg hid a small child. Next to her me, Tanya and Kate had been drawn looking confused.

The next was violent, guards leaping into action, me and my sisters were being held back by others as we looked on in horror. To the side it displayed my mother, holding the boy and screaming as a fire was started beneath her as chucks of flesh were torn from her body, some lying discarded on the floor.

The following drawing showed us on the floor, Aro touching our hands as we numbly watched the screaming figures disintegrate into ash. It was horribly detailed, my mother's mouth was open, screaming no doubt, the boy's face was crumpled in pain.

The last only showed a pile of ash mixed in with the burnt wood and thin wisps of smoke rising into the air, in the distance of the drawing by the trees was a figure watching sadly. I recognised it immediately as me.

"What is this?" I choked out in a barely hidden sob. I looked up at Aro who was watching me carefully. "What is this?!" I screamed.

"A first hand account of what happened that day, a record of history." He told me, I felt the anger rise up inside me; it overpowered me before I could stop it.

"Why are you showing me this? Do you and your slaves get sick kicks out of torturing me?!" I yelled at him, Aro tensed, his face scrunched in anger and shock before smoothing out into an apologetic smile.

"Of course not Irina. That was never my intent." He sounded sincere but I instantly didn't trust it.

"Then why?" I sobbed; falling to my knees infront of the book I grazed my fingers over the picture of my mother. Burning. I didn't understand, I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

"I must admit it's suspicious, this is your second involvement with immortal children. I haven't failed to notice how upset you are, I want to remind you of that time, distance yourself from the pain, the guilt now." He responded harshly as he stepped forward.

"Why do you care?" I demanded curiously.

"Self discipline Irina, people will start to note your behaviour, ask questions. I know you're perfectly innocent in this whole affair but others have no proof apart from my word. Immortal children have left so much destruction and if some find out your involved… well they won't care much for my word." He chuckled darkly.

"As if my safely is that important to you." I snorted closing the book, I couldn't stand to see the detailed sketches any longer but I couldn't resist letting my finger linger on the old paper.

"Irina, I'm insulted that you think I don't care, you are very important to my cause." He exclaimed pressing his hands together while he towered over me.

"Cause?" I squeaked out confused, what cause? World domination?

"To eradicate immortal children and those associated with them." He replied easily as if it was nothing.

"You will kill the Cullen's with or without my witness anyway." I glared as I picked myself up from the floor and stepping back slightly, putting some distance between me and Aro who had drifted closer.

"I always take a witness Irina, it is a greater insult that you accuse me of killing without cause." He snapped annoyed, I had never seen Aro so riled before, but I still didn't believe him.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?" I forced through gritted teeth, the sooner he made his demand the quicker I could get out of this god awful room.

"Blend in Irina, don't draw attention to yourself." He scolded me, it felt more like an order but I knew if I didn't follow it I would end up getting in deeper trouble I was already in.

I nodded and turned to the door, making it clear that I was done with this conversation.

"Oh and Irina." He called to me; I stopped in tracks and slowly counted for five in my head before I finally turned to face him. He was stood by the fire facing me, a gentle smile replacing all traces of anger.

"Remember, you're always welcome to use this library, anytime you desire." He repeated from earlier a coy smile stretching across his thin lips. I felt my own mouth twist into a grimace and bolted straight out the door and down the dark steps.

When I finally burst through the thick door to the staircase I smashed straight into Santiago, the force of the impact sent me sprawling across the floor while he stood seemly unaffected.

"Watch where your going." He hissed at me, I frowned and bit back the urge to hiss back, it was the first time he had been rude to me, I shouldn't have been so shocked, he was a member of the volturi after all.

He glanced at me on the floor where I still was and his furious face softened considerably. He walked over and offered me his hand; I ignored it and flipped off the floor, landing neatly beside him.

"So back to the glided cage right?" I spat bitterly and turned in the direction of my room, I took a few steps forward before I felt a hand on my shoulder pulling me back.

"You don't have to." He said turning me to face him, I felt my eyebrows rise.

"Oh and where shall I go?" I replied glancing around at the different routes from where we stood.

"I don't know but I don't feel like standing outside your door for days on end." He growled quietly glaring at the floor.

"And why would you be standing outside my door?" I asked raising my eyebrows again. He sighed and rolled his eyes before answering.

"I'm your assigned babysitter, I have to keep an eye on you." He forced out before glancing at the door I had emerged from.

I felt a swell of anger, I knew who the orders had come from and in a rush of fierce fury I stormed quickly back to the door and was about to fling it open when I felt strong arms lock my arms down at my sides.

"Don't even think about it." Came Santiago's rushed warning in my ear, I struggled against his arms but his response was to start hauling me down the corridor.

"Let me go." I hissed at him, he ignored it and soon I stopped struggling, it was obvious I wasn't going to put down until I had fully calmed down. I worked hard on trying to calm down but Aro appointing me a babysitter was downright insulting.

I breathed deeply, allowing my anger to melt, I felt Santiago's arm relax around me and cautiously he let me go, I could tell he was ready to grab me again if I turned and tried to get back to Aro.

Once he had established that I wasn't going to run he removed the hand he still had placed on my arm to prevent me from running, silently he walked ahead of me, trusting me to stay behind him. I didn't recognise where he was taking me, I had never come down this corridor before even though it was almost identical to all the others.

We reached a door which Santiago pulled back, it revealed another spiral staircase, much like the one that lead to Aro's private library but the stairs here weren't made from crumbling stone but solid oak steps and small oil lamps lined the walls.

Clearly the decorator had been down this way.

"Where does this go?" I asked cautiously when he stood back to allow me in first. I didn't move, if it was another library I was going to freak out.

"Just go in." he sighed impatiently; I squared my shoulders at his rudeness but began ascending the steps. As we climbed higher I recognised several scents, they meshed together creating almost a thick invisible fog of smells.

Pine, lavender, cut grass, honey, roses, vanilla. Different combinations of scents and heavily concentrated. I realised all these scents belonged to members of the guard.

Where was he taking me?

I cautiously pushed open the wooden door at the top of the stairs and found myself in a small lounge area. The room was perfectly rounded, a castle tower no doubt. The walls were made of stone but tapestries and numerous paintings hung on it, the floor was covered in decorative rugs. On one wall there was a bookcase with a few books but several couches took up most of the space.

I looked up and noticed there wasn't a normal flat ceiling; instead I could see the rafters to the curved rooftop. I glanced around the room again which thankfully, was deserted.

"Ok, what is this?" I demanded turning to face Santiago; he smiled slightly before closing the door behind him.

"A common room for the guards." He smirked, I raised an eyebrow. I would rather be locked up in my room than be spending time with the sadistic guards. I doubted I would enjoy playing a game of chess with Jane or whatever they did in here.

"And I'm here because…" I trailed off waiting for some miraculous reason as to why I would be present. I hoped this wasn't a secret rouse by Aro to slowly induce me into the guard.

"Follow me, you'll like this." He stated before crouching low.

Instinctively I tensed for what I thought was an attack but after crouching for a sixteenth of a second he rolled on to his heels before he launched his body upwards.

I watched the angle at which his calves flew through the air before he suddenly disappeared into the rafters which were much higher and thicker than I thought. I quickly followed, propelling my body up until I swung onto the thick wood.

Santiago was grinning as he crouched on the thick beams, his head was grazing the ceiling so he had to tilt his head so it wouldn't go through the roof, I also had to crouch low in the small space. Then realised what was behind him.

It was a small window which I hadn't noticed before; thick curtains were pulled over it. No light peeked through it, giving me no indication of wheather it was day or night. Santiago moved onto another beam to the side of the small window.

Santiago placed a hand on a small cord next to the window and looked to me for confirmation, I nodded eagerly. I so badly wanted to see outside, I had been cooped up for days now.

Suddenly the curtains pulled back and I was hit with the full force of the sun, instantly my skin shone like diamonds, small spectrums of light bounced from my smooth skin onto the walls below and I withheld a snort when I realised I was acting as an oversized disco ball.

I repositioned myself opposite Santiago so I was next to the window. The sun shone down into the room but couldn't reach the awkward position me and Santiago were in, stopping my skin resembling a glittering ball.

I smiled a genuine smile as I stared out at the Italian countryside; the tower was very high up giving an amazing few of miles around the castle. Volterra was surrounded by beautiful green hills and valleys, it was a very different sight from the snow covered landscape I was used to.

"I thought you might enjoy looking outside." He sighed glancing out the window.

I looked at him in shock.

Why would he care what I want or enjoy? He was a guard, of the volturi. Why was he being so nice? I looked out the window longingly; I'd rather be outside than looking at it.

"Thank you, but… it's only looking." I muttered solemnly.

"It's not too bad being in here, of course I do get to go outside on errands." He chuckled. I didn't respond, it wasn't the same; he was a captor, not a prisoner.

"What I wouldn't give to be outside." I said imaging running across the hills, letting the wind whip my short hair around me, allowing the scents to overwhelm me. I imagined being at home and running with my sisters through the forests, enjoying the smells.

Smells. Scents. Trails. Thirst. Animals. Blood.

My throat began burning, I hadn't thought about hunting, what would I do? I didn't know how long I would be here for. I could handle a few weeks without blood but I knew my eyes must already be darkening and more than about three weeks without feeding would drive me crazy, not to mention the danger I'll be to humans in Volterra.

"What am I going to do about hunting?" I suddenly blurted out to Santiago; he looked at me in confusion.

"You'll feed here of course." He told me as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I recoiled in horror; I refused to feed on humans.

I hadn't tasted human blood in centuries, if I did than being with a human male would be extremely difficult, it wasn't until I met Carlisle that I gained another reason to be a 'vegetarian'. I wanted to help preserve human life.

Santiago's red eyes regarded me with anger at my recoil to his words. He had always fed on humans, he didn't understand.

"Never, I'd rather die of starvation." I hissed at him, I could sense the chuckle he was withholding, I don't think there's been a recorded case of starvation in vampires, the extreme thirst would eventually drive them to feed on anything with a heartbeat.

"Your so strange, don't you understand the benefits of drinking human blood?" he asked shaking his head in frustration, I almost snorted.

"Don't you understand the benefits of animal blood?" I returned instantly, he gagged at the thought. It seemed an extreme reaction; I knew it wasn't the most appealing option but certainly the better.

He didn't answer, we could sit here all day weighing the benefits of our diets, I knew I wouldn't give in to his way of thinking and it was just as likely that he wouldn't give into mine either.

"Must it be animal blood?"

"Yes." I replied instantly, I would personally throttle him if he dares to shove a bleeding human infront of me. He stared out the window for a minute before he spoke again

"I'll try and work something out then." He said slowly.

I felt the hope soar within me, the thought of hunting excited me and I was dying to be let out of this prison, of course I wouldn't tell him I wasn't planning on returning. As long as Aro didn't touch me I could have a chance at escape.

"Really?" I pressed further, I hadn't felt this happy since before I'd encountered Bella and her child. The thought of seeing my sisters made me giddy.

"Yes." He replied simply before returning his gaze to the window, I followed his lead and as I stared at the green hills beyond the walls of Volterra I laid my plans for escape.


AN: How was it? Can I hear your thoughts on it?

Please review, like I said earlier, we'll consider it a christmas present ;) Merry Christmas people, i'll try and update at least one story of mine before the new year, Happy holidays!