Bound By Chains

They made me put Maggie in the boot when we found Demetri's car. Every fibre of me fought against it, but I was helpless. I'd never been this weak. I'd never felt so over of control. Arwen jerked me around like a puppet with her voice, and I had no choice but to be pulled along by my invisible strings.

Maggie grabbed my arm before I could close the boot door, "Please Alec," she pleaded, "This isn't you. I don't care what Hanbei said. Remember? You're strong. Lies are weak. You don't lie."

Inside, I screamed and pounded at the shell Arwen controlled. Outside, I told her in a monotone voice, "Get your hands out of the way."

She didn't, so I started to close it. She moved them at last minute, and I slammed the boot door down on her.

I walked robotically to the drivers side and got in. Arwen was smiling at me charmingly, "Sorry about that, Alec. We just can't have her interfering. You understand, don't you?"

I nodded mechanically.

"God, you're pathetic," she said in her normal voice, and spat out the window, then said harmoniously "Start driving."

I did.

There was thumping in the trunk of the car as Maggie banged on the roof. My hands clenched so hard on the steering wheel that they mangled the plastic into indents of my hands. Arwen watched this with curious amusement.

"Hanbei, I think Alec Volturi has a crush," she chimed.

Hanbei said nothing, but I could feel his eyes burning holes into the back of my skull.

"I'll kill you," it hurt to fight her control, but I managed to stammer three words.

Arwen clapped sarcastically, "Cute. She gives you strength, does she?"

"I'll kill you."

"I'd like to see you try," Arwen yawned, "I thought your sister was the only woman for you."

I felt the plastic of the steering wheel crack underneath my tight grasp. Arwen giggled to herself and clicked on the radio. Some heavy computerised remix was playing and the Red Lady closed her eyes and bounced up and down to the beat, "Do you want to know what I'm going to do to you once you've outdone you're usefulness? Say you do."

My tongue twisted and spasmed as I bit down on it, shaking my head jerkily and making the car bunny hop.

"Say yes, Alec."

I let out a mute scream, my body jerking and my head hitting the ceiling- I bit down so hard on my tongue I felt it crack inside my head.

"Arwen…" Hanbei put a hand on her thin shoulder. She pushed it off.

"Don't you dare pussy out, Hanbei," she growled, and made her voice as smooth as silk, "Alec, say you want to hear how you will die."

"I wan-ttt to he-ar h-h-how i-i-i…" I bashed my head against the window, and the screamed, "DIE!"

"Good. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to make you're girlfriend watch as I tear off your arms and rip your face open. Then I'm going to cut you're tongue out of your head for the lies you told that poor little girl."

"I-I don't lie," I choked out.

Arwen ignored my, "Then I'm going to rip out your heart and make your devil sister eat it, and then kill her in front of your face before I rip off your goddamn head and burn you, you disgusting spawn of Satan."

The steering wheel plastic shattered under my grip. Arwen burst into peels of laughter. Her mate sank back into his seat with a sigh. The Red Lady turned up the music and thrashed her hair from side to side, "You know, I keep thinking, if Aro had killed me, he could have saved a lot of lives. But if he'd killed me I never would have heard a David Guetta song. So do I regret it? No."

"I'll kill you," I wheezed, splintered of the plastic sticking through me hands as I drove it by the wires.

"You can try," Arwen clicked the cigarette lighter in a few times, "Jump the car, Alec."

I did as she commanded. I heard the thump of Maggie bounce around in the boot and a cry and clenched my teeth so hard I thought they would shatter.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Arwen's voice was dark, I could kill you in an instant, without even touching you. Wanna see what I can do? Take the cigarette lighter and stick it in your eye."

My hands trembling, I reached for the lighter. My fingers clenched it, the tension cracking the plastic. I held it out and saw the red hot coil steaming an inch from my eye. Arwen had no amusement in her eyes- they gleamed instead with hate, red hot pure hate alone.

I bought the lighter closed and closer…

"Arwen, stop," Hanbei's voice was strong and I immediately dropped the lighter, where it immediately hit the carpeting and burnt a hole through the cotton. Arwen shot her mate a look.

"We did not do this to torture him," Hanbei's voice was low, "Remember the task at hand, tình yêu của tôi."

Arwen sighed, "Don't get Vietnamese on me, you know it turns me on. And come on, I can't help it."

"Alec is bound by Chelsea. Remember it is not him we want."

"We want all of them," Arwen argued.

Hanbei breathed out a sigh and closed his eyes, "Just stop playing. This is serious."

Arwen actually looked upset, "Sorry, Hanbei."

The Asian nomad smiled and nuzzled his face affectionately into her hair, "It'll all be over soon."

She pushed her lips onto his and made a happy noise, "And then we all live happily ever after."

The making out must have distracted her, because I was able speak through my clenched teeth, "How does it feel to be in love with a monster?"

The calm Asian nomads eyes went cold- I had hit a nerve I probably shouldn't have touched. He was the only reason my eye was still functional, after all, "I do not know, Alexander. Should we ask ask Magedelene?"

The tone in his voice made my mouth dry alone. The words he used shook me to the core. I tensed, "She does not love me. She could not."

"People do not choose who they fall in love with," Hanbei's voice was dark, "And sometimes they love they feel overweighs the past."

I felt my whole body shudder, "Perhaps for you. Never for me."

"Perhaps," Hanbei mused, and sat back in the seat, silencing once more. Arwen glanced between us with a resting bitch face, her tongue running over her lips slowly, almost tauntingly.

There was a thump from the trunk of the car again, but it sounded more like Maggie's fist hitting the side. Arwen giggled like a small child, hollow and haunting.

I'll rip her goddamn head off.

"Alec!" Maggie's voice was muffled from the trunk, "You're not weak. You have secrets! You can stop this!"

"God, she's annoying," Arwen muttered, "Jump the car again, Alec."

I clenched my fingers on what was left of the steering wheel and shook my head tightly, feeling like the pressure was going to break my neck and shatter my skull.

Arwen raised her eyebrow, "Uh oh. Someone's angry. We better get you home sweetie before you blow a fuse. Forget her, and drive faster."

And at that, somehow, all thoughts of Maggie left me, and didn't return until we were at the gates of Volterra. And that terrified me more than anything. If Arwen could so easily take my memories of Maggie, then she could likely take anything.

For the first time in my immortal life, I feared for the Volturi.