A/N: Yay, reviews! Thanks, it warms my heart. Dog's doing a bit better. Maybe this can all be in the past soon... Here's your chapter, my wonderful people!

Chapter 5

The walls are stone. I know this from running my hands slowly over them. They're damp, water clinging to my fingers when I pull them away. The floor is cold and smooth, probably packed dirt. There's no light, no windows, nothing. I'm sitting on the floor, shivering, feeling my strength slowly slip out of me. I whimper and dig my fingers deep in the earth, finding it is, indeed, dirt.

Suddenly, light fills the room, making me momentarily blind. Cold, smooth hands roughly jerk me to my feet and drag me out of my room, making me stumble along after whoever it is. We stop, me bumping into something rock hard. Slowly, I realize that's the person, thing, whatever, that's been hauling me where we were going.

"Spostare, idiota ragazza!" a rough voice tells me, pushing me demandingly.

"Dove sono? Che cosa รจ questo posto?" I ask frantically, startling myself. I can speak Italian?

Harsh laughter follows. "Sei in un inferno," whoever responds. Another push and I'm in another room, the light dimmer and allowing me to see a little better. Behind a table sits a woman. Her hair is long, almost touching the floor, and the color of coal only with shine. Her eyes are the color of steel, glinting dangerously in the candlelight.

"Tu sei il cacciatore?" she asks calmly, motioning with her head for the other person to leave. She takes in my ragged appearance, her eyes pausing at my neck, where a large pendant on a sliver chain hangs.

"Si," I respond in a uneven voice, staring at her in distaste.

"Do you speak English?" she asks, staring at the pendant curiously.

"I do."

"Would you care for a glass of water?" she asks, looking back at the closed door. At my nod, she tilts her head, not looking at me. One cold hand touches my shoulder lightly while the other holds out a cup of water.

I down it then set it on her desk. "May I sit?" I ask, looking at one of the plush red chairs in front of her desk. The other with the cold hands coughs and shifts around. I smirk, remember it to be bad etiquette to ask to sit and not be invited to.

The woman laughs. It's a hearty sound, full of emotion. "You are a strong-willed, not to mention rude, individual. Have a seat, Christina de Amour. I have heard that you have a family in the neighboring city. Is this true?"

I feel my chest tighten in fear. How had she known? "I neither confirm nor deny," I answer blandly. A small smile plays on her lips at my reply.

"An interesting answer. Almost as interesting as your necklace. What is the meaning of the symbol?" she asks, leaning with her elbows on the desk, her hands tucked under her chin, as she stares.

I nibble on my lip a little then sigh dejectedly. "It is the symbol of the Auriati. That is the family of my best friend, Aliana Auriati. She lives in northern Rome. Where is this? This one," I jerk my head back at the other, "said it is hell. Is it really? Have I died and gone to hell?" I've not changed from my flat voice throughout this.

The woman slowly shakes her head and tilts back in her seat. "Forgive him, for he is demented. Well, as demented as he allows. This Aliana. How old is she? What does she look like?"

I groan and look down, not wanting to betray my friend of fifteen years. "Wait. How do I know you won't go hunt her down as well?" I ask suspiciously, narrowing my eyes.

"Mia caro, I have better things to do with my time. Tell me what she looks like. Tell me how old she is. Tell me of any family she has. This is not a request. This is a demand. Do you understand?"

I gulp and look back up into her cold eyes. "She's around 5 foot ten inches with long flame red hair. Her eyes are the strangest color of purple I've ever seen. She slender, with enough muscle to challenge the best heavy lifter. She doesn't work out; it comes to her naturally. Desmond and Aliana are dating."

"Desmond?" the woman asks, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Damn," I mutter, "Yes. Desmond is my older brother. They hope to get married. She . . . she's pregnant with twins. They met through me. You ignored my question." I narrow my eyes and lean back in my chair, my chin raised defiantly.

"Was it love at first sight?" she asks in a sigh. She grins when I grind my teeth. "Yes, I know, Christina. I've neglected to answer your question." She stands and walks to a nearby candle. "I love fire. The way the flame jumps around on the wick. Any colors or scents. Like this one. This one is purple and smells like violets. Do you like violets?" She turns around, holding the slender purple candle. Slowly, she wafts smoke toward me, making me inhale violet-smelling smoke. It becomes too much and makes me cough. "Oh, sorry. Tell me, does this hurt?" She pours wax down on my arm, making me scream in pain. "Oh it must. Trattenerla. Rapidamente, adesso." The other's cold hands wrap around my wrists, holding them to the chair arms.

I cringe and try to wiggle out of his grasp. She pours more wax on me, making me scream louder, longer. A small smile plays on her lips as she sets down the candle and opens a drawer.

She draws out a long silver knife and a flip-open lighter. My eyes are going wide and I feel despair settle heavily in my chest.

Reality

I wake screaming, clutching my right side. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," I pant when I realize it was only a dream. I run my hands through my hair and wipe a hand over my face. I had been sweating. My hair stuck to my cheeks and forehead. A loud thump tells me that Charlie has rolled out of bed. I hear the floorboards creak as he stands and the sounds of him rushing down the hall. He wrenches open the door to find me still gasping for breath

"Aura? Are you okay?" he asks groggily.

"Io sto bene," I whisper.

He blinks. "What?"

"I'm fine. Nightmare. Go back to bed." I move my eyes from my bedspread to his face. "Seriously. Fine. Here, I'll show you, no body wounds." I start to rise and he backs out.

"No, no, I believe you. Uh . . . probably won't be here in the morning. Gotta be at work early."

"'Night, dad."

"'Night Aura." He slowly closes my door and I listen to him plod back to his room. Its not long until he's snoring like a buzz saw. He's probably not even under the covers.

I roll my eyes and lightly hop to my feet. I walk gingerly to my window and push it, hoping to God it doesn't squeak. It opens silently enough, surprising me. There's a click when it opens all the way and I cringe, remembering the click of the lighter when she had flicked it open. I take a deep breath of the cool air then look down at the ground. Under my window sits a pale figure dressed in black.

I lean some out and try to see the face. The person looks up, startling me. Amber eyes stare into my own purple and I catch the glint of bronze hair. "Edward?" I ask, my face turning into a mask of confusion. Beautiful laughter drifts up on the wind.

"Yes? Oh, Aura. Take a step back from the window. I'm coming in." He gracefully pushes off the ground, leans down and brushes some mud off his shoe, then straightens and turns to look up again. "Come on, move."

I quickly scramble away from the window and fall back onto my bed, watching the window. I hear a few quick thuds against the wall outside then two Converse-clad feet pop in my window, followed by baggy black pants, a MCR shirt, and the most wonderful face in the world. His hair is windswept, showing one ear and covering one eye. He's still got that ear ring in with the lion on it.

I feel my face light up and I reach back and pick up my ring from my bedside table. I quickly put it on my left ring finger and hold my hand out for him to see. He grins his beautiful crooked grin and pulls me into his arms.

"Mine forever now," he mutters in my ear, his cool breath making me shiver. He kisses me right under my ear then slowly trails kisses across to my mouth, just on the corner.

I groan. "Don't tease me," I murmur to him, staring into his golden eyes. A slow smile plays over my lips. "Or I'll tease back." I pull away and he sighs when he loses my heat. "Guess what I did yesterday."

He blinks. "Did your homework?" He sounds sarcastic.

I laugh, giving him a are-you-kidding look. "Afraid not, mia caro. I hung out with Jake. We went out to the diner and ate lunch. Talked about motorcycles." I smirk at his expression which is slowly going darker and darker, anger practically radiating off of him. Then his face goes blank.

"Mia caro? When did you start talking Italian?" he asks, looking at me with strong curiosity.

I cringe and look down at my hands. Then I explained my dream to him as best as I can remember.

Obviously, he's a little angry. Well, more like livid. He's pacing across my floor, hands clasped behind his back. Out of nowhere, he's right next to me, his hands covering mine. "You shouldn't have had to go through that. I'm so sorry, love." He kisses my temple.

I frown at the air in front of me. "Why are you sorry? It was my mind, my subconscious, probably my ancestry. Hell, that could have been my aunt from however long ago. I'll ask mom about it later today. Oh, my. Its four o'clock! I guess I should go ahead and get ready for school."

Now he frowns. "Yeah, I should get back home. Want me to drive you to school? Its going to rain cats and dogs this morning. Wouldn't want you to destroy your bike." He smiles a little when I nod enthusiastically. He stands then bends down and kisses my forehead.

I grimace and stand too. Then I press my lips to his. Oh, delicious! He presses me against the wall next to my window and trails kisses down my neck, his cool breath fanning over my over-heated skin. "You - Edward, you - oh, that feels good . . . wait, you need to -" He cuts me off, pressing his mouth firmly to mine.

He pulls away and puts his forehead on mine. "I'm sorry, I need to what, now?" he breaths.

I blink. What was I saying? Oh yeah. "Remember, you have to go home?" I don't sound very confident.

He huffs and sits on my windowsill, one foot propped up on the sill while the other hangs loosely on the outside on the house, thumping lightly on the siding. "Kiss goodbye?" he asks hopefully, a sexy grin gracing his beautiful features.

I roll my eyes and kiss his cheek. "Now leave before I push you off, idiota." I give him a gentle shove and he rocks, moving with it.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot! I'm just intellectually challenged!" He sticks his tongue out at me and pushes gracefully from my window, landing lightly before he turns, blows me a kiss, and runs off in a blur.

A/N: Alrighty, my dearies. This seems mostly filler, bringing our two goths closer together in the form of nightmares. Sorry its so short. Just haven't got anything else to add to this chapter without making it maybe fourteen pages long by smashing in the next chapter. I ask you,

mia lovely loves, to review. Oh, and if you don't know how to speak or read Italian or whatever, there's a translator on Google. Sorry if its not correct, because Google can be an idiota. You can probably figure out what that means. XD Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE!