Chapter 8

Okay, so maybe life in Italy wasn't all it's cracked up to be. I know everyone has their differences and all, but I'm even more different than the rest. I mean, am I the only one who has the guts to say no to Aro? He wanted me to work with Heidi, since my eye color was natural, but I didn't want to trick humans to their deaths. Which led to another difference: my diet. Every time the humans came in for feeding time, I held back. They smelled delicious, but a tiny voice in the back of my head said 'this is wrong.' Aro had discouraged this from the very beginning, but he couldn't talk me out of it, so I went up to the local market every few weeks to get my own food. And that just increased his reasoning for me to work with Heidi.

I ended up earning a cloak as dark as Jane's. My new job was to go with her on those special 'keep the secret' missions. My very first assignment was to find a coven just outside the city that was too close for comfort. When we got to the little house on top of the hill, however, the three were long gone, leaving no clue as to where they went. The cottage itself was familiar, though.

So, my occupation was a bit slow right now, but that meant I got a lot of free time. When I was feeling social, I would usually hang out with Kate, Tanya, and Chelsea, who had latched onto our little group almost immediately. They were the only ones who could convince me not to go off on my own.

Of course, a lot of the time I didn't feel very social, so I just hung out around my quarters, looking through my clothes and flipping through books. I couldn't explain it, but I felt as if I were hollow, like my heart was missing. I craved that other part of me even more than the human blood I resisted every week. Kate felt it too; we both just wanted to be alone in our rooms, but she seemed depressed, in every sense of the word. If only I could help her.

I was laying on my back, thinking about this, when there was a knock at my door.

"Aro wants to see you," Chelsea said from outside. I groaned. No doubt he had heard of my latest escape plan. Seeing him for a lecture was the last thing I wanted to do.

I leaned against my elbows, basking in my last seconds of alone time, before getting up and heading for the door. As I walked, I passed my full-length mirror. Then I did a double take. My reflection was gone again! While it had just been my skin before, now there was nothing but an empty room looking back at me. I appreciated the allusion, but I would have to be seen if I wanted to live through the day unharmed- master didn't like it when we disobeyed orders. As soon as this thought crossed my mind, I reappeared in the glass, and I smiled half-heartedly before leaving for the throne room.

When I got there, Aro and his body guards were the only ones in the open space. Caius and Marcus were nowhere to be found, and neither were Jane and Alec.

"Yes master?" I asked politely, looking around the room from the corners of my eyes. Where was everybody?

"Cassandra," he said, standing up. "We have had a few uninvited guests in Volterra these past few days, and they claim to know you. I was wondering if you could return the sentiment?" Before I could ask who he was talking about, the door burst open as Felix, Demetri, and two others dragged four vampires into the room, quickly followed by Jane. One of them was a woman, who seemed to be terrified, and the others were men, all jerking around violently in an attempt to get free.

Their eyes confused me; they weren't blue like mine, but they weren't red, either. Three of them had bright golden eyes, and the color was eerily familiar. One of them had dark orange irises, as if he had been on the normal diet but decided to switch to the other's. He looked up at me as if sensing my gaze.

"Cassy," he breathed, going limp in Demetri's grasp. I took an unconscious step forward. Only Tanya and Kate called me that; how could this stranger already know my nickname?

The cowering girl looked up and smiled weakly when our gazes met. Even the other men stopped struggling momentarily to look at me. They all seemed to know me, and I had a sense of déjà vû, but I didn't know their names, and I didn't think I'd ever met them before. Who were these strange people?

"Well?" Aro asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "Are they familiar to you?" I hesitated.

"Yes," I replied slowly. "They are familiar, but I don't think I actually know them." A strange sound ripped from the orange-eyed's throat and he wrenched free of Demetri in a sudden frenzy.

"You have to remember me Cassy!" he pleaded, stepping towards me. "You know all of us! Edward, Bella, Garret, me, you know us!" He was hardly a foot away from me now. I was comforted by his presence, yet it was unnerving to be standing next to someone so strange. He reached his hand out as if to grab my shoulder, but then crumpled to the floor, a look of sheer terror on his face; Jane.

"No!" I shouted, startling even myself. I knew everyone was probably staring at me now, but for once I didn't care. I had to help this stranger.

I knelt down next to him and purposefully moved my body to block him from my co-worker's gaze. He shuddered and opened his eyes.

"You have to believe me," he whispered. "You know me."

"What is your name?" I asked doubtfully.

"Jack." And the memories overwhelmed me.