No excuses, I know, though I do admit this chapter was mostly written because I'm procrastinating studying for my exam. Which is tomorrow. Morning.
Enjoy!
The End Is Nigh
The sunlight burned my eyes when Alec opened the boot of the car in Italy. He was wearing Hanbei's black jacket with the hood pulled up to hide his skin from the crowds. Arwen was behind him, also in a jacket with the hood flipped up, and with a sickly-sweet smile on her face. Hanbei was nowhere to be seen, but when I saw Arwen turn and whisper something to the air as Alec threw a rough blanket over my bare arms and jerked me out of the boot, I realised he was among us, just invisible and hidden from my eyes.
"Make her easier to transport please, Alec," Arwen said to Alec in her voice like bells. Alec's face was flat and expressionless, but I could feel his hands shaking on my wrists.
"Yes," he answered, and I felt my legs numb. I staggered and nearly fell, only supported by Alec's arms. He hoisted me up and lent me against his shoulder, my face against his shoulder.
I felt his breath on the side of my face. I was confused as to why, when he didn't need it. It took me a few seconds to process the fact that he was not breathing but speaking, so low that only I could make out his words. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Over and over. A chorus of regret that would have brought tears to my eyes, could I still cry.
"Off we go!" Arwen said cheerily, practically skipping down the street. Alec half dragged me behind her, hiding my face against his collar. Under the harsh sun on the city, I could see my hands gleaming where they hung out of the blanket like a thousand diamonds embedded in my skin.
"Alec," I muttered to him, "Can you hear me?"
Alec's eye twitched, so I took that as a yes, "Alec, we need to get as far away from her as we can. I think her control weakens over a distance. You need to fight it…"
"I'm afraid Alec won't be getting very far from Arwen," the air spoke, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Hanbei flickered visible for a split second and then disappeared again in a snap, probably just to warn me he was standing right behind us and not to try anything stupid.
I considered trying to convince Hanbei to talk his mate down. He seemed like the less sadistic, more reasonable nomad of the pair. He almost seemed to have a soft side. Then I remembered Arwen's words, I guess he didn't expect Hanbei to have the guts to kick off his creeping arms at the shoulder blade. Hanbei may have been reasonable, but he loved Arwen. We didn't stand a chance when it was our lives against hers.
We walked through Volterra with a minimal number of curious stares; a few people asked Alec if I was alright as they passed, and Alec nodded tightly to each of them. He was smart. He knew that getting humans involved would only mean Arwen would killed them for intervening. The Red Lady had no problem with shedding human blood.
When we got to the main square, Arwen beelined for an alley off the side of a building. Alec followed her down it, his expression tightening with every step. She got to the end and peaked down an open drainage pipe, her body tensing a little bit. We all knew the story of what had happened when Arwen had turned herself in to the Volturi in the early eighteenth century. Many innocent civilians had died that day. I tried to imagine Arwen in my position, being dragged down an alleyway, very possible by Alec himself, wondering when exactly that day she would die.
"After you," she gestured toward Alec, her voice back to normal but still patronizing.
"She'll need to go down on her own," he practically choked out, gripping my wrists tighter with every word, "Could I stop?"
"That is a rather philosophical question, Alec," she said with a smile, and her eyes hardened, "Fine. Hanbei, go down first and make sure she doesn't try anything."
Hanbei reappeared and nodded, walking lightly over to the drain. He brushed his lips against her cheek as he passed her, before stepping into the thin air and dropping out of sight soundlessly. Alec clenched his fists and I could feel my legs again, discarding of the scratchy blanket and taking a few experimental steps on my own. Alec's hand was still tight around my wrist.
"Down the hatch, Maggie," Arwen commanded, her hands on her hips. I considered running, but in my head, I pictured all the awful things she would do to Alec if I did. I should have revealed in the thought of Alec Volturi being taken down for good. Rather oppositely, it made me sick to my stomach. I obeyed her instructions and walked over to the drain. Without looking back to Alec, I dropped down. The speed whipped up my hair and air rippled through my clothes. I landed in a crouch in the sewerage tunnel below. Hanbei leant on the wall across from me, brushing grim out of his hair with his hands. I met his eyes but didn't say anything.
Alec followed us with a thud as he landed on the stone floor on his feet, and Arwen slipped down with us silently a few seconds later. The four of us trekked down the tunnel, Hanbei in the lead and Arwen behind, piping in with occasional comments to keep Alec under her spell.
"Do you get joy out of causing others pain?" I demanded, after one particularly vicious remake by Arwen directed towards Jane, which made him flinch visibly. Arwen laughed, and it echoed through the tunnel.
"I get joy out of causing pain to people who deserve it," she remarked in a low voice, and rolled back her shoulders, "Can you honestly say that Alec doesn't deserve this torment?"
I didn't answer.
"Alec," Arwen said sweetly, "Tell Maggie how many people you've killed."
"I stopped counting," Alec answered without hesitation, "Hundreds. Maybe thousands."
I grimaced. Arwen wasn't done.
"And how many people have you ripped away from their families, like you did with Maggie?" she kicked a stone into the river; it hit the opposite wall of the tunnel and dropped into the water with a splash, "How many people have you made cry?"
"47. Unless you're counting the ones I've killed in front of their coven mates," Alec replied, his eyes gleaming, "I don't know how many have cried. Not out of pain. I take away the pain."
"Of course you do, you sadistic prick," Arwen sneered, "Hey Alec! How many children have you killed?"
"Stop it," I told her sharply, turning to face Alec. His jaw was clenched together so hard I thought his teeth might shatter, "How many children have you killed Arwen?"
"56," Arwen said without skipping a beat, "I bring flowers to their graves every year, on their birthday. Each one, no matter how far apart they lie across the world. I don't deny I have murdered innocents, and I certainly don't hide them from the woman I supposedly feel enamoured towards. Tell her the number of children you have killed Alec, and don't lie."
"You don't need to tell him that," I snapped, "He doesn't lie."
"Is that so?" Arwen's nostrils flared in anger, "You're an imbecile, a truly idiotic wide-eyed girl. I wonder, Maggie, I wonder if you ever considered that Alec does not lie because Aro told him that was the easiest way to your heart?"
I froze. If I had blood in my veins, it would have gone icy cold. My eyes locked onto Alec, who I half expected to look furious at the mere thought of betraying me like that. Instead, he looked away, brow furrowed and lips pressed together in a firm line.
Arwen let out one shriek of laughter, "Oh my lord! This will be good. Alec, tell her…"
"No!" I yelled, and Arwen looked taken aback. Hanbei reached for my shoulder as if worried I would leap on his mate, but I jerked violently away. I stalked to Alec, grabbed his face in my hand and pulled him in to meet my eyes.
"Alec," I said through gritted teeth, "Tell me. Do you lie?"
He hesitated, and my stomach churned, "I have never lied to you."
"You avoided the question," I hissed, "Do you lie? Did Aro just tell you not to lie to me?"
Alec's face was unreadable. Arwen folded her arms across her chest, but she did not have that sparkle of enjoyment in her eyes I'd always seen when Alec was in pain.
"Aro told me," Alec's voice was soft, "'Leave the other two alone, they are no use. We don't want their deaths on our hands. Only fight if they resist. And… and do not lie to her'."
Truth.
A scream of fury rose in my throat but it came out as a small heartbroken noise, croaking from the back of my throat. Alec sank to his knees, his head bowed. I staggered away, my mind spinning.
"I lie to my sister when I tell her she doesn't scare me. I lie to the humans I kill when tell them I won't hurt them. I lie to Aro when I tell him I love him," his voice was barely above a whisper, "But I don't lie to you."
Truth.
I felt myself snap. I snarled, flashing my fangs and narrowing my eyes into slits, "But you're still a liar!"
I lunged at him. He made little movement to defend himself, and we crashed onto the stone floor. Hanbei ran to pull me off him, but Arwen moved like a blur and pulled him back, her top lip curled back into a sneer.
I dug my hand into his side, into the cracks I'd nearly completely heal across his torso, and ripped them back open with a dull splitting noise. Alec howled in pain and shoved an arm into my stomach, a defensive reflex, and threw me off him. I hit the floor and skidded, but was back on my feet in a flash and ran into him, pummelling his body with lighting fast punches. I spread one hand across his sternum and slammed him into the wall with as much force as I could muster.
His face pinched up in pain. He opened his eyes and shot me a pleading look, "You don't want to kill me Maggie."
The truth I heard ringing in his voice made me furious at how pathetic I must have previously seemed to make him believe I wouldn't destroy him for betraying me. Maybe he'd never lied directly to me, but that all was a lie in itself; a lie created by Aro and he to convince me he was trustworthy. My unbeating heart ached.
"Maybe that's what you believe," I growled, and slammed him into the wall again. Whether it was the stones behind him or his flesh that cracked, I couldn't tell, but either way he groaned in agony. I heard Hanbei exclaim something in Vietnamese.
And everything came crashing down. My body seized up with a pain I could not describe nor bear. I collapsed on the floor with a shriek and felt my body arch as a wave of pain like fire curled up my body.
"Jane, stop!" I faintly heard Alec yell, and the pain cut off. I rolled into a foetal position on the floor and pressed my right temple across the cold stone floor. In my peripheral vision, I saw three people in black cloaks standing opposite us. Jane, flanked by Santiago and Felix. Jane ran to her brother's side as he slid down the wall, but he pushed her aside almost carelessly and crawled towards me. Felix and Santiago leapt on Hanbei, and I was surprised to not see Arwen rush to rip them both apart for laying a finger on him. Instead, she was pushing back her hood and calmly combing out her hair, an impassive smile setting on her face.
Jane recognised her, and her red eyes widened in panic. Felix and Santiago let go of Hanbei in unison, seemingly out of shock, stepping back with his hands slightly raised. Hanbei picked himself up, muttering about rudeness. Arwen's laugh was soft and almost… friendly.
"Don't panic," she told them, putting up her hands, "I'm certain you recognise me, even after all this time. But just so we're on the same page, my name is Arwen Gloucester, and I am here to fully surrender myself to the justice and mercy of the Volturi."
She did not say it to be 'on the same page' as she claimed. I knew she only said it so I would be able to hear alarm bells go off in my head as soon as the words left her lips.
Lie.
I do not take responsibility for any broken hearts. More to come soon! The plot thickens...