Enjoy, I risked my brain cells and maybe even my life for this! Just kidding! R&R!

~Macyn Cullen~

You know there ain't no rest for the wicked,

Money don't grow on trees,

We got bills to pay

We got mouths to feed

Ain't nothing in this world for free.

We can't slow down,

We can't hold back

Though you know we wish we could.

You know there ain't no rest for the wicked,

Until we close our eyes for good.

Chapter 9: Ain't No Rest For The Wicked (December)

The Volturi threat Alexander yelled at me resounded within my heart deeply. How did one prepare in a few months to kill possible future friends or lovers? Yes, they were Human Drinkers but even if they regretted it, even when they didn't want to kill anymore, they weren't going to get a chance to had said that very soon I would have to train to kill masses of people with my lightning fire.

I was in the big room with the huge red velvet chairs and televisions sipping a nice hot cup of lion, watching (or half watching) Violet's favorite show, The Vampire Diaries. The storyline was great but humans not knowing about the vampires, that part was stupid and completely false. Overall it was pretty good.

My feet were propped up and my black and blue vans were off my feet at the moment. All in all, if you looked at me on the outside you would see a very relaxed vegetarian vampire.

But in the inside, my feelings were at war. Fear and anxiousness were at the top of my emotion pileup. Numbness was a close second.

Ayden sat to the right of me, holding my hand. I didn't know what to make of me and Ayden but he was a light, a warmth in this world of darkness. So I didn't push it or take it for granted.

Violet was to the left. Bella and Edward Cullen, and bronze haired girl that looked similarly like the both of them was sitting right in between them. Huh.

I downed the blood in a second, pulled on my shoes and went into the large kitchen to put the cup in the sink for the servant maids to clean. I shuddered to think what they did to deserve such a job as to clean up after animalistic newborn vampires.

Outside was chilly, but the winter sun shone weakly even though it had no one to warm. Well, inside the school anyway. The grass was white with frost and there was hardly anyone outside. Except for Alexander and I anyway.

I didn't hear him come up behind me.

I hissed and was about to punch the guy who had somehow snaked his arm around me.

"Calm down, Morgan. God, what's your problem?" He smirked. His black hair, the same exact shade as mine, was gelled back to look like a handsome hairstyle. I thought he looked like a mobster.

"What do you want? Don't you have some poor vampire to kill?" I sniffed. His eyes darkened but he held his grin.

"That's why I came to talk to you. The Ball is tomorrow and the Volturi suspect that a vampire on the wrong side knows the plan. They have them right now, actually. Today will be your first lesson." I looked at him in terrible surprise at the meaning under his words. They were already making me kill vampires? My mind felt sick.

"Your making me train today?" I asked. He nodded and pulled me along the icy path, my feet purposefully dragging to slow time down.

"First some of the guards will teach you the best way to fend off an attack and then you'll get to practice. Then we'll work with your ability."

"You sound like one of them. Are you in the guard or an employee for the Volturi right now?" The difference from being an employee and a guard is that an employee doesn't have to work forever under Aro, the leader of the world.

"I'm just an employee for now." He stated, unemotional. I opened my mouth then closed it.

"We're here."

I looked at the industrial tan building. It didn't look any different from the other buildings. He pulled my inside with just a little force and his strained smile warned me to be good or suffer the consequences.

"Good day, how are you Mr. Price? This must be Morgan. How nice to meet you. I'm Corin. Please sit and wait until a Volturi guard comes and gets you."

Corin was a straightforward vampire with light auburn hair and a charming smile. She looked about twenty, but I couldn't tell for sure. I sat delicately in the gold chairs of the waiting room.

Eventually, a teenage boy no older than me came and retrieved us. He informed us that his name was Alec and if I tried anything funny, they would kill me. My heart grew colder in my chest. We walked down a dimly lit hallway and into a huge room with all kinds of bars and appliances. The room had a vibe that said kill or be killed. They had fluorescents that cast out harsh light on the ceilings and machines that looked eerily similar to harsh obstacle courses. Alec led us in a room in the back. The stone floors were shiny and slick.

Volturi guards were standing there, their arms clasped tightly around some vampires in my dorm's uniform. Sacks of dark cloth covered their faces. The dark clad form of Aro Volturi stepped into my vision.

"Miss Price! How fantastic it is to meet you!" He walked up and gripped my hand tightly. The first thoughts running through my head were how colder he was than other vampires.

I wanted to gasp as my memories flew past my eyelids, rushing, like a stream of water.

I wanted to growl at this man and pull my hand back, but I forced myself to freeze. And just like that he let go and smiled at me. His scarlet eyes were alight with false joy.

"It seems that you have the ability to be a great emissary also. You knew we were going to ask you to do something for us, yet did not act upon it or try to stop it. You don't meddle in others businesses. You can be very useful to us, Miss Price." Aro did a slight nod of his head, as if dipping his head checked off a list.

"Sir, may I ask a question?" Aro nodded and let me continue.

"How did you know I was there? Just by touching my hand?" I inquired. Aro smiled at me, and waved his hand over at the expressionless guards standing with the five animal drinkers.

"All these guards, my dear, have unique and amazing talents that the vampire world needs and uses to keep everything and…everybody in order. I have the gift to see every thought that ran through a person's head. You also have a gift I believe, Miss Price. Your physical education teacher had to bring a student with burn marks on her throat into the infirmary section of this building.

"When she was filling out an incident report, she claimed that you, Miss Price, were the one who made those marks on her neck with 'blue fire'. I only have only dreamed for someone to have the talent burn vampire kind physically."

A tiny dark cloak in the back flinched as if his comment was deflected towards it. Aro smiled at the tiny vampire despite the fact that his ruby eyes had narrowed in displeasure.

"Now, now, Jane don't be too disappointed at my new treasure," My dead blood ran cold at the word treasure but I didn't let my face show any emotion, "You have always been a favorite of mine."

Aro sighed and strode over to Jane. Or strode to the vampire Jane was holding.

"Miss Price," Aro started, his cold voice was making me think twice about how civilized these vampires really were.

"Through some of my more… attentive staff, I have found that there was some suspicion among the students at our wonderful school." He paused and smiled chillingly at me,

"And we all know we can't have them talking. They might say something that is so crazy no one will believe a word they say."

I felt my vampire skin pale even further. His not so subtle threats frightened me. I couldn't tell anybody about this. No worries, you already considered that, I thought.

"Today you will be delving into the art of influential interrogation. We will bring a volunteer to you and I will ask the questions. If they don't answer...well, I think you know what to do." Aro explained. I nodded and they brought a vampire, clearly female, in front of me. Her body was tense and she was growling lowly. If you don't want to be treated like an animal, don't act like one.

Aro began, "Since you refused to let me touch your hand, which would have saved you a lot of pain, I'll ask the questions and Miss Price here will burn you if you don't answer."

Caius came over to us and spoke in a controlled voice, "What is your name? What do you call yourselves?"

The girl answered, "My name is Oren, and we call ourselves Humanity." Caius contemplated how to go on further.

"How do you distinguish yourselves?" Aro demanded. The girl didn't answer for a brief pause.

"We… don't. As of right now, we don't have anything to really differentiate ourselves, to my knowledge." The girl was being reasonable and calm, which was good for her but aggravated the Volturi. They needed to have someone to torment.

"Thank you dear one. Bring the next one." Aro nodded the guard and the girl left the room.

The next one's guard, Jane, glowered at me and brought the next victim up.

Suddenly, a boy, no older than me walked into the room and smiled mischievously. He was handsome, more so than other vampires in this place. Even though I had long past gotten over external beauty, this boy- no man had my skin burning. His dark hair, glossy and smooth, was amazing enough to make any normal vampire male squirm. I averted my eyes for a second and tried to rearrange my face into an emotionless expression.

"Sorry I'm late, it was feeding day and they had a great batch." The human drinker explained, his voice making me flutter, his boyish mouth grinning. I stood still as stone. Aro turned to me and grinned ecstatically.

"Miss Price, meet your new partner Matthew Cane."

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~Macyn Cullen~