Chapter 3: New Memory
In her stupor, Calandra could feel her own abhorrence in herself. She had done many things to survive but acting like the little naïve child she used to be was low. The only relief she felt was that she could still live to see another day.
Now her only task was to make it to the room, where she could cough up a lung, and any other vital organ for that matter, in peace. Showing any type of weakness would send her to her death on the fine line she walked here.
Calandra looked up at her guide, hoping to see signs of them reaching their destination. All she saw was his back. Since they left, what she presumed was the throne room; he had not looked back at her. It was just a fleeting moment of compassion. From the reaction of the others, she could guess that Alec and the blonde hair woman were not known for their caring natures.
Alec. His name felt like she had called it so many times before. It was so familiar to her. She tried to think of all the people she could remember. There were no Alecs. Calandra felt her mind stop every time when she tried to think of the time in between the grave yard and her death.
Suddenly, she felt the world blur and fade. The sound of forest birds and the trees swaying with the breeze resounded in her ears. The stone floors of the castle turned to grass and dirt. His red eyes appeared full of concern, but then she found herself back in the stone stairwell. During her small episode, she had sunken against the wall clinging to it to keep her balance. His concerned eyes were replaced with ones that showed no concern or hate. Deciding that she was fine, he got up and continued on. Calandra stumbled after him.
"It isn't much farther. Please die there. It'll be easier to clean up the mess on flat ground." He said with much disinterest
Finally, what felt like eternity for her, ended as they entered a capacious room that was dominated by a fireplace across from them. A few vampires sat in the chairs neatly organized in the center of the room and the window sills of the tall arched windows. All the eyes locked on her with looks of wonderment and disgust that showed clearly upon their faces.
Mostly disgust though.
Alec pressed on, not acknowledging them. They turned left down a smaller hallway that branched off from the main room. At the very end, he stopped and pushed opened a door.
The room was neither large nor small. It was modest in size. A bed with plain sheets and two chairs were the first things Calandra saw. She walked tentatively into the room, ready for Alec or someone else to jump out and rip her head off. Nothing came, and Alec brushed past her, disappearing through another doorway. He came back with a small bundle and plopped it down in her arms.
"Try to make yourself presentable." He walked out of the room without even looking at her.
With the door closed, Calandra was able to take a closer look at her new surroundings. A small bookshelf and dresser stood out of sight from the doorway. She wandered over to the bookshelf, leafing through the scant amount of books that resided on it. The sudden movement of the white curtains next to the bookshelf revealed that the two arched windows they concealed were really doors. Curiosity over took her and dragged her closer. She slid behind the white curtains and leaned against the glass doors softly so not to break it. Her atramentous hair contrasted against the white curtains making it easy for someone to see her.
Outside the small balcony was a circular atrium. Below, there were flowers and small trees and other flora. A small fountain and statues stood in the middle. At the very top of its domed ceiling was a circular cut that let in a small amount of light. A yearning welled up in her heart to go see this atrium from the ground, but she would have to earn her keep here if she so much as wished to see anything. She continued to gaze out until voices floating up from below scared her back in. She rushed to the wall furthest away from the doors. She slid down, gripping her bundle tightly.
When the voices finally disappeared and she turned her head she was startled yet again by a little girl covered with fresh lacerations and obviously sick staring back at her.
Calandra had not realized how bad her wounds had really looked. Discomfiture took her at the thought of her appearance in front of all those people. She looked down at the bundle. "Make yourself presentable..."
()()()()()()()()()
After many hours, Calandra was finally greeted with silence. It had to be nighttime for everyone to be away from their rooms. With already a small time frame for light to shine in the atrium, it was difficult to keep track of time. During those hours, she had been calculating and orienting herself-ultimately concluding that she had three days max to heal before even Marcus deemed her useless. Aro had probably already decided she was in the first hour.
She sat up on her bed and listened carefully. Her neighbor was most definitely gone by now. A few seconds ago, she had heard them give a muffled a cough and their door open. Now there wasn't any presence to be felt. She felt safer moving around when there was nobody to hear her and slid off her bed.
Hoping that her wounds had healed, she inspected herself in the mirror. She at least didn't look like she had been dragged in the dirt and fight with wild dogs. The minor scratches no longer bled, and the scabs were smaller. Even with five days to heal, the large scar on her back was still fresh with pain. It throbbed just as she remembered it when the cut was inflicted. Fighting Felix had reopened it in places. The reactions from the other vampires told her that she was not imagining the severity of it. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, their sharp sight would see it. An angst ridden sigh escaped from her mouth.
"NO… you will not mope. You are not a pathetic sniveling little child. If you moped every time something bad happened to you would be dead." Calandra castigated herself silently.
With new found gusto, she put on the clothes given to her and peeked out her bedroom door. The hallway was empty. She really didn't want to encounter anybody while she was familiarizing herself with the castle.
The coast clear, Calandra walked back to the fireplace room. No one was there, giving her some relief. She walked into the stairwell and looked up and then down, trying to decide where she would go. Going up would mean that she would stumble back closer to the throne room. Her safest bet was to go down.
She stepped down, but at the same time, someone else started walking up from below. Fearful, she dashed up the stairs until she saw an open archway, which brought her into another maze of hallways and doors.
She pressed herself behind a couch waiting to see if they had followed her. The person's light footsteps continued walking up until they had passed her, and she sighed, brushing the dust and cobwebs that had resided behind the couch off of her dress.
Trying to memorize every single part of this castle was a daunting task, but she could never know when she would have to escape quickly. She started walking down one of the halls. Ornate steel chandeliers hung from the ceiling and lit up the halls with a bright candle light glow. Art collected throughout the centuries hung along walls.
She recognized some paintings of the French country side painted during her human life. She looked at the artist skillful strokes that were able to capture the lush countryside. The next hall was covered with windows on one side. They were like the ones in the fireplace room, long and receded into the wall. At the top and the bottom the window were stain glass patterns. All of it followed a pale color scheme. In human eyes it would seem colorless but with better sight the pale pigments were evident.
Calandra looked out one of the windows to see the sleeping city of Volterra. Cozy was a word that came to mind when one saw it. All the buildings squeezed together, and trees dotted the town. A clock tower rose above all the other buildings. It was not as dark as before and she could tell that it would only be maybe an hour or two before the sun would rise.
Deciding not to waste any more time she whipped around only to run into someone's leg. Stumbling back, she saw two female vampires. Her eyes refocused and were immediately caught by one of them.
She was at loss of words to describe the woman she ran into. Even the most talented artist would not be able to capture her beauty. She was the type of beautiful that even the gods pined to look like her. The way how her brown hair framed her face and crimson eyes like rubies entranced Calandra. Lips a beautiful vermillion, she could turn even vampires ugly when compared to her in comparison. Perfect, and splendid did no justice to describe her beauty. Calandra felt entranced by this woman. Calandra let her slender fingers cup her face. The woman brushed her hands attentively over Calandra's face like she was inspecting a gem for any imperfections.
"What a shame," she said with a charming voice that sounded like wind chimes. "You aren't very pretty like Felix said, Then again, why do I listen to a tasteless bundle of muscles?"
"I don't know, Heidi. Those eyes are very unique. They seem like they could be very pretty." The other brunette said. She was also very beautiful, but next to the woman named Heidi, it was hard to tell.
Heidi let go of Calandra's face and turned to her companion. "Yes, I guess Chelsea. There was always something enchanting about the immortal children. Can you do anything?"
Calandra nodded her head eagerly yes, but then regretted it. Her singing talent was not the best. Maybe if she had dedicated more time to practice singing she would have been good, but surviving to see the next day had seemed more important.
She cleared her throat and let her voice flow out. She sang and old French folk song that her mother had sung to her when she was a toddler. The words and tone of her voice did not form as well as her mother had done. Her voice was not mature and sounded very childish. She cut the song short only singing a stanza.
Heidi closed her eyes analyzing the performance. "You're okay. At least you have potential, unlike your looks." Even with her sweet bell like voice the criticism cut Calandra like a knife.
"Heidi, please do not make it hard for me to get her to like it here." Chelsea said exasperated. She motioned to Calandra who was still in Heidi's entrancement.
"I'm sorry. I can't help that I'm gorgeous and like pretty things." Heidi said arrogantly. Chelsea rolled her eyes and left, dragging Heidi away.
With Heidi gone, Calandra snapped out of her trance. Her first encounter with another member by herself had not been horrible. All her appendages and digits were accounted for, so she took it as a success
Calandra walked into what looked to be the library. Bookshelves lined the walls and desks and more bookshelves were organized in an orderly fashion. As she walked down the center aisle between the desks, her eyes wandered up to second story where behind the balcony lay more books. A pulchritudinous fresco was painted on the ceiling. Puckish cherubs and omnipotent gods resided between clouds.
"It was very awe-inspiring seeing the artist paint that fresco," a croaky voice said to her.
Calandra whirled around to see Marcus slouching in a chair surrounded by books. His face was still sepulchral as ever. He smiled slightly at her, or maybe his mouth twitched a bit. It was hard to tell the difference.
"Have you met anyone in your wanderings?" he inquired, motioning for her to come over.
"Yes. Heidi and Chelsea." Calandra replied. Marcus rubbed his forehead hearing their names.
"Ah yes those two…" He said. "Be nice to Chelsea. She is able to build relationship and loyalties. She usually will be able to get her way most of the time. If you're able to get on Heidi's good side she'll make sure you'll have a good meal." The conversation stopped awkwardly. He looked at Calandra not sure what to think of her.
"What are you reading?" Calandra asked nervously.
"Have you ever heard of a man named Aristotle?"
Calandra shook her head no.
"He was a brilliant man, born about a thousand years after I was. Aro and I were able to save some of his works." Marcus opened up a scroll and began reading to her.
She spent most of that day leaning her elbows on the armrest looking at the scrolls Marcus read. They were interrupted by Alec who appeared later, telling Marcus his presence was requested by Aro.
Marcus picked up Calandra and placed her into Alec's arm. They both watched him go, and then turned to each other. A long silence passed before Calandra started pushing away from Alec. She finally escaped from his grip and dropped to the ground like a cat. She brushed herself off and gave a defiant glare in return to Alec's usual apathetic pout. They walked side by side down the hallways until they met two other vampires.
"Oh,Alec, there you are!" said Demetri. Alec walked over to them and silently joined them.
Calandra, grateful for her exclusion, daydreamed away. She felt herself relax until a sprig of dark brown hair peeked out of a column.
She cocked her head to the side in curiosity and crept forward toward the column. When she was on the other side, of the column Calandra peeked around it, coming face to face with a girl who had to be at least six or seven years older.
The girl reminded Calandra how short she was. The girl had a saccharine face and crimson eyes. Her skin was much like her hair but a few shades lighter and the vampires' usual chalky pallor showed very little upon her. Otherwise she was unblemished.
They both stared at each other not knowing what to say. Like the younger vampires, the older ones ignored the other's conversation.
"Do you think…?" Demetri trailed off at the smell of blood. Everyone's eyes followed the smell to the source of the smell.
Calandra stood frozen as Adede was still clamped onto her shoulder. It was plain to see the horror on her face. Calandra realizing she had gone into her old habit of becoming human changed back to her normal form.
Adede reeled in disgust at the change in the blood to venom
"Adede, why did you do that?" Demetri asked.
"I thought she was dinner," she tittered innocently.
The horror on Calandra's face was replaced with open mouth disbelief. She looked back and forth with discomfiture.
"D…Did you just b…Bite me?"
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Calandra's eyes fluttered as she woke up in her room. After the events of yesterday, she found it would be better to retire early. Her room was filled with soft morning light, telling her to get up. She groaned quietly and rubbed her eyes. A quick inspection of the room told her everything was still where it was and nothing was disturbed. It was not a dream.
She buried her head between her knees. The sheets felt so comfortable she didn't want to leave. It had been a week since she had last eaten, and she was feeling lethargic. At least she was healed now. Well… mostly.
A silver crescent had formed overnight on her neck. After she was bitten the skin turned red in irritation from the foreign poison. It had only itched lightly, but it was enough to annoy her.
She changed and walked into the fireplace room, only to jump back in surprise immediately. Many of the vampires she had met yesterday were sitting or standing in the room. She kept close to the outer walls and her head down in order to not attract attention.
Calandra almost made it to the stairwell but suddenly she felt a blow hit her back sending her forward. Mid fall, she felt her heart begin to beat as her body naturally protected her vampire identity by changing her human. It was useless here since they were all vampires, but like her adapting ability it was what her body felt was fit for the situation, not what she actually wanted.
Calandra clenched her teeth as her hands and knees scraped along the stone floor. Her palms were red where her skin was scraped, and her knees were probably the same. Turning to look at her attacker, she was met with the tall and strong build of Felix. She had not forgotten him at all.
"Now, we're even," He said, crossing his arms with the same cocky grin on his face. All the others in the room and turned to look at them. Calandra tried to keep calm and show control, proving that she was not dangerous like the other immortal children, but another taunting look from Felix sent her over the deep end.
She lunged at Felix, clawing at his face. He wrenched her from his body and threw her to the ground. As soon she hit the ground, she swung out her leg with enough force to knock him over. Not wasting a moment, she jumped on him, only to be blocked by his arm. His hand that had curled in a fist made contact with her side.
She gasped for a breath as the air was knocked out of her. Unlike the last time they fought, it was fairer. Felix had learned his lesson from last time and did not underestimate her. His strength was overwhelming; the only advantage she had was her speed and size. Of course, she could just concentrate and focus on him turning human, but it would be unfair. Though at this point she was close to forgetting morals if it meant she would lose.
Calandra whipped her hand out, blocking another of Felix's punches. Each time they made contact, a low rumble sounded through the room. Felix was about to push her down to the ground when Jane walked in. This time, Jane seemed more unamused by seeing Calandra and Felix fighting. They both stopped and looked at Jane.
"Aro wants us in the throne room." Her red eyes locked on Calandra who hung from Felix's arms.
"You too." Everyone hurried out of the room, heading out different ways to the throne room. Felix dropped her roughly on the ground.
"We'll call this a tie this time." He gave her a jocular smile.
Calandra sat there, slightly confused by the sudden joking matter of the scuffle, until a pair of hands grasped her and pulled her up. She looked up to see Demetri.
"Thank you," she said quietly. He smiled at her thanks and motioned her to follow him.
"Don't worry about Felix. He's actually a very pleasant person. It's just that you were the first person to throw him." Demetri stated.
Calandra looked at Demetri skeptically. Why was he being so nice to her? As if he had read her thoughts, he told her, "I hope this does not go to your head, but after trailing after you for so many years, I admire you slightly. You made life here a bit interesting. You should have seen Caius after the seventy-fifth time you sent another team home empty handed." He laughed politely as he remembered the reaction.
Calandra felt her silent and harden exterior slip. She began to laugh softly with him.
"I thought you were going to be...childish. You seem very mature for your age."
"I've lived a long time," she explained, "A lot of it as a pseudo-human."
Demetri nodded his head in understanding.
She hesitated to ask him the question that bothered her. Could he really be trusted? She never did anything without a reason, and they were usually for her own personal gain. His pure friendly face finally coaxed it out of her. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
His polite smile changed to a thoughtful gaze as he thought.
"Because everybody needs a friend. And I think it would be more enjoyable to make them the natural way instead of Chelsea doing it for you."
Calandra was silenced by this statement. It was quite obvious he was telling the truth. She could have an actual friend. Not any of those "friends" who were only there to enforce to the rest of society that she was a human girl.
He continued: "Besides if you and Felix plan to scuffle like that all the time, you'll need someone to save yourself from being killed. I've got your back." He patted her back carefully so not to hurt her reopened wound. "Well, good luck." He left her standing outside the imposing oak doors of the throne room.
The two voices in her head argued back and forth; one adamantly denied the friendship, the other was unperturbed by her having a friend. Her own inner voice tried earnestly to interject, but they ignored her. Ignoring them back seemed the only way to stop their fighting. Putting back up her silent and completely calm wall of protection, she composed herself
As she slipped in silently, Aro looked up from his throne. Pleased at her appearance he motioned to her to come to him. The room echoed with her light footsteps as she walked up the steps till she only stood a foot away from Aro.
"Calandra, how nice it is to see you cleaned up. Are you feeling better?" he asked flamboyantly. In return, she nodded solemnly. This was her first time seeing this side of Aro and she didn't know if he was joking around or not.
"That's good. Anyway Calandra," he addressed, his voice growing serious. "Since you are going to be staying here and as a guard member, you should have this." He handed her a neatly folded black coat. Atop it lay a necklace with a golden and silver V. In between the two lines was the Volturi coat of arms.
She grasped the necklace, not wanting to let it go. This was her ticket to safety, having it meant she was no longer on the run. But with it she was no longer able to go where she pleased. It would be hard to find anybody if she were stuck here. Then again, she had not had much success on her own. A thousand years since she last saw him, and she couldn't find him again. Besides, now it was only a choice of life or death.
She took the necklace and placed it around her neck. The cloak was just a bit too long and large on the sleeves. Other than that one technicality, everything fit her well.
Aro smiled giddily seeing her. "Well you'll grow into it." He fished her hands out of the oversized sleeves and began jumping up and down in joy. Calandra resisted the jumping and was jerked back and forth. This Aro was worse to deal with than cold-hearted and slightly sensible Aro. When he stopped, he looked past her.
"Afton! Demetri! Come here." He beckoned. A man in his late twenties came up and stood next to Calandra. Demetri also appeared on the other side of her. The two were exact opposites in expression. Demetri had the same pleasant face from before, while Afton looked like he was told to dip his foot in a chamber pot and eat it. He was not thrilled to be placed with her.
"I want you to go to Follonica and check up on nomads that are currently near that area."
"Yes, Master," they said.
Afton looked down on Calandra grimly. In response, Calandra rose up onto her toes, shaking slightly trying to keep her balance. Her chest puffed out, and she stuck up her chin defiantly. Her arms were outstretched in a ready to fight manner. A shy smile escaped Demetri, which was the only amused reaction in the room. Everyone else ignored her, but she did solicit some unhappy looks from Chelsea.
Afton continued his grim stare.
"Easy girl. Save your amazing strength for later," Demetri commented. He pulled her along out of the room with Afton following glumly.
"She will be a most interesting addition to our family," Aro mused. His trademark, cunning smile appeared. With so many possibilities how could he not smile?
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