Chapter 13 – Consequences
(Inspired by: Can't Sleep, Can't Breathe – Digital Daggers)
With that thought, the descent begins. As we land, I work on keeping my heartbeat steady. I need to breathe. I go through the motions of the final briefing, not a single word passing my lips unless I'm addressed. Kylie has me change in to a pair of jeans and lighter boots, commenting that agents had said I looked suspicious in my agent getup. Then everyone breaks off. Quinn walks with me, escorting me to the outer edge of the castle and ensuring the Volturi's guard will see me. It won't take long… they've been waiting and they think they have the edge, but they don't. We know their plan about as well as we know our own.
"How do you feel?"
I hardly hear him speak to me, his voice brushing my ears through the chatter of the humans roaming the cobblestone streets. Its late in the evening, the sun turning red as is seeps in to the horizon. I don't look at Quinn; we're not supposed to appear as if we're together. It could tip the Volturi off and it's easy to pass him off as another person among the commotion. I brush my hand through my hair, pulling the rubber band out and letting the waves spill over my shoulders, a gesture as if to say 'I'm good, I'm fine'. He catches on and I see a grin from the corner of my eye, but I have a feeling he doesn't believe me.
We approach the large, stone fountains a little ways from the massive building that is the castle. It's gorgeous, crafted to the epitome of beauty. I'm in awe for a moment, but I gather myself again. I let out a breath, nerves starting to split. Quinn nods to me, offering a final look of support before disappearing in the crowd. He's not gone, just hidden and that's good. I'm not completely alone. Yet.
I take in a shaky breath and step forward, moving around the fountain. I approach the castle, making an about face to fool anyone else from thinking I'm freaking out on the outside. I'm hardly past the fountain when I feel a presence behind me, knowing the air has shifted. I keep calm, refraining from tensing my body. I take in a subtle breath of air, appearing as if I'm looking around. I recognize it, vaguely. He was a big vampire, one with a face of stone and build of a bear; Felix, his name was.
I swallow as another black coat flitters out of the corner of my eye. This is all going as planned; they're surrounding me and making sure I'm alone. Then, I'll be cornered. I need to know who though, that was my first order: figure out who you're dealing with and organize a plan on how you can take them down. I continue to walk on, preparing for the ultimate end to this push-and-pull. By the time I'm nearly two yards from the entrance, a single vampire has flanked Felix. I place his aroma after a moment, Demetri. He held Alice when they emerged from the trees on that snowy day all those years ago. I let out a steady breath and keep on. An icy hand grips each of my biceps.
Perfect.
I gasp, as rehearsed, in shock and glance at the duo. They say nothing, merely dragging me through the threshold of the doors and down a hallway. I'm not sure what to do; I peek in each of their minds, looking for gifts to be hyper-aware of, but I come up short. They're clean. I can do this. I can. I'm ready.
We enter an elevator, strangely cheerful music streaming from the speakers. I blink, taking in each of their faces with a look of unease. I'm not scared of them, I could take them down if I wanted to; physically and mentally. They don't even spare me a glance, they don't know. The doors slide open and we exit in to a main hall, a human standing from her desk. She bows at them, but returns to her work after they've passed. I realize where we are, having seen it in my father's memories. I mentally prepare the life Aro will see, hoping it isn't as transparent as it feels. I'm dragged down another long hallway and finally in to the throne room. Wow; this place is huge.
The room has a towering ceiling, marble floors, and every inch glimmers in the setting sun's evening glow that streams through the skylight. I recognize the scene from Alec's memory, but there, it was masked in darkness. It looks beautiful before me. The three rulers sit lazily in their chairs, appearing as wax figures placed there for show, but Aro seems to fill with life at the sight of me. He beams, clapping his hands together.
"Felix, Demetri, gentle with her; she's fragile."
I try not to glare at him because that's exactly what they need to believe; I'm breakable. I'm weak. I'm a Halfling so I'm no match for them. But I am. Oh, god, am I. Aro circles me, inspecting me. I realize it's good I wasn't issued a weapon, that'd make things difficult. I breathe. In and out, calm. Relax, it'll be okay. I talk myself down, but this is all too real.
"My, my, how you've grown," he says, his voice airy with delight. He comes around to stand in front of me, his welcoming expression darkened by the blood-red of his eyes. He terrifies me for a moment, but I can't be scared. I refuse to be. "We've been expecting you, Renesmee."
I blink at Aro, sure to keep dumb. I prepare myself, practicing in my head just how to pitch my voice, the face to make, how to move my body. Breathe, I tell myself, breathe.
"How could you know I was coming?"
My act passes with flying colors as Aro waves his hand through the air, "Just a guess, dear friend, I'd been hoping for you and your family to visit. The last encounter wasn't so kind."
Swallowing hard, I don't have feign the uncomfortable shiver that chills my blood. I'm reminded of the past, reminded of how feeble I felt, how small and powerless. I center myself before that black void can swallow me up, my arms growing tense at my sides. Aro is observing me, calculating me. He offers his hand and I know what I'm supposed to do, but reluctance freezes me in place. I stare at his hand.
"Now, don't be afraid, my dear," he says. "No one shall harm you here."
His eager eyes burn brighter as I slowly move my hand, preparing myself for what he'll see. I feel my breathing become uneven as he takes my hand insistently, curling his palms over mine. He takes in a heavy breath, but releases it and looks up at me with wide eyes. Fear is immediate; did I screw up already? No, I couldn't have. I placed each image in front of him carefully, sure to make every inch plausible. The plan of Alec has been carefully edited to show that he did as he was instructed; we're close, I trust him, but I hadn't been convinced by he nor Ana to come to Italy. That he knows; that's why they came to Oregon in the first place.
His crimson eyes grow dark as his pupils contract. I see in to his own mind, surprised by the connection that's opened between us. I wonder if he notices too, if that's why he's staring at me with such surprise. His mind is like a light show, flashing so fast it blurs together.
"I see nothing," he whispers. "You truly have grown."
I blink, how could he see nothing? I don't… oh. My mental protection hasn't dropped, I realize. I may be fooling my conscious in to believing I'm ready, but deep down, I'm terrified and I'm on the defense. I can't determine whether that's good or not. I look away from his unnerving gaze, growing more uncomfortable. I hear Aro pace around me, eyes losing their playful gleam.
"Jane." He says.
Shit. Oh, my god. The pain is immediate, not what I'm expecting at all. I can't help the way I tense, my jaw taut. I refuse to make noise, squeezing my eyes shut. Just when I thought my mind was protecting me, I realize it was my body. Is a physical shield even a thing? Guess so. I'm at another crossroad, unsure whether or not to block her out. I look past the pain, peering my eyes open as I follow the source of the connection to the petite blonde I hadn't noticed. She stands, smothered in a black coat with a smug grin on her pretty face. I meet her gaze head-on, deciding to fight back because I can. I throw the wall up and shove it back to her.
The arrogance leaves her face and she crumbles to the floor in agony, a high-pitched shriek leaving her voice. I let her suffer only for a moment before releasing my mind from hers. When she stands, her eyes are savage. She begins to stalk toward me, but Aro raises his palm without a word as he observes me. She grits her teeth, snarling at me. I hold steady, staring her down. I realize too late that I've just revealed a very powerful side of my gift. I break away from that and look to Aro, a look of complexity on his face.
"You truly are incredible… much more than I expected," he pauses. "Are you here alone, Renesmee?"
When I meet his eyes, I realize he knows something. He dangles it before me and I hear a soft hiss from across the room; Jane. I blink, swallowing hard and bowing my head. I don't know what to do. I replay my assignment in my head. Order by order. I come up short; it doesn't make as much sense before. Crap, crap, crap. Okay, I can do this. No, I can't. Oh my god.
"No," I say finally, choosing to improvise. "You have my family."
The grin that slithers across his face is sinister, but he says nothing. He turns his back on me and with a wave of his hand, I feel the large vampire grip my arm and lead me out of the throne room. We continue down a hallway and as we round the corner, I sense in my mind he's been ordered to knock me out; so not going to happen. When his arm moves toward me, venom pulses through me; ready and waiting. The hot energy I felt when Jacob was about to attack me suddenly flows through me like electricity. I turn just in time to catch his wrist and shove him back, the power pulsing through me assisting with casting him in to the marble wall with a loud boom. Before he can react, I jump over to him and press my fingers to his temples.
He was ordered to take my unconscious body to a guest room where I'd be locked in until Aro called for me. That was the extent of his knowledge; how useless. I focus my mind on placing an image of him following his order before I take off down the hall. I feel his mind slip from mine as he comes to again, but he doesn't question anything. Which is good. Perfect even.
I follow the map in Felix's mind to the room I'm supposed to be locked away in. The door is unlocked and I slip inside, taking in the expensive yet ancient décor. It's beautiful and haunting all at once. I search the room, as I was instructed, for anything that could be used to monitor me, but I assume they'll have someone checking on me shortly. I take a seat on the bed and finally breathe.
I'm going stir-crazy. It's been forty-eight hours since I was supposed to be placed in this room. I've been checked on several times by that same vampire; Felix. I've been deprived of nourishment and information, but this isn't the first time I've experienced something like this. I know that this was planned, I remember Kylie going over the possibility of this. It's to scare me, unwind my mind and turn me in to putty. It's not going to work. I'm using the rafters of the ceiling to keep in shape. I'm in the middle of my sit-up rep when I hear footsteps at the exact time they pass down the hall every day, but these are different, lighter, feminine. I land silently on the fall, creeping in the shadows of the corner as a blonde head of hair enters my room; Jane's scent of death follow her. I tense my stance, ready for an attack. She smirks as if she's amused, but does nothing, her burgundy orbs appearing bored.
"Aro requests your presence," she says. "Come along, pet."
Although displeased with the nickname, I follow her. We make the trek in silence and as she brushes past me, I take the mere second to quietly sift through Jane's mind, looking for what her source of power is. It's innate, I realize, she's always had it, but it changed forms as she grew in to an immortal. I wonder what it had been before, but even she doesn't realize what power she had before this life.
As we make our way down the same familiar hallways, we end up at the entrance of the throne room, but the energy is off. Someone else is here… someone familiar. Jane pushes the doors open and I'm greeted by my mother's scent. I feel relief flowing through me and I almost forget the mission entirely, breaking from Jane's side to run to her. Someone grabs me, holding me back. My mother looks at me, her eyes sunken, but seem to glow as she finds me. She tries to run to me as well, but then, out of thin air, Alec appears and holds her back. She tries to fight him, but she's weak; the once golden color of her irises is a burnt out tawny, dark bags forming under her lashes. She's more pale than I've seen her. I look to Alec who watches me with despair in his eyes, an apology on his tongue, but he turns his head before anyone can notice.
"Renesmee! What are you doing here?" she says, her voice grave.
I want to tell her everything, all that I know and everything I became. Most of all, I want to tell her that I'm here to save everyone, but I don't. I look away, squeezing back tears. I just want to hug her. Breathe, I tell myself, breathe. I hear Aro's gleeful chortle and something in me snaps, something that was responsible for throwing Quinn across the room in training, something that has every intention of making him suffer. The vampire inside me, the devil within, is slowly emerging and ready to kill.
"My, what a lovely reunion; dear friends, I've brought a mother and child together again!" Aro says, almost as if he deserves praise. Caius, remaining beside him, grins as he stares me down. I tilt my head up and meet his gaze head-on, feeling a sliver of a connection. I don't need that, I can see him for what he is; a sadistic, yet weak bug. A bug that needs to be squashed.
Bella seems as if she wants to weep, restrained by Alec, she seems to be fighting to stay on her feet. Bleary eyed, she's starving, but refuses to show how weak that's made her.
"Aro, you have me. Let my daughter go, please, she has nothing to do with this."
Aro shakes his head, grinning widely, "Oh, no… Bella, you surely know it's never that easy."
"Enough games," Marcus murmurs, looking on lazily. "Shall we get on with it?"
Like an irritated child, Aro begrudgingly agrees with a stiff nod of his head. "Indeed, my thanks to you, brother,"
He turns to look at my mother, "I have never been a paranoid man, but over the last few decades, I fear someone may try to overthrow me, after everything I've done to protect our world from the savagery of the humans,"
Pausing, he looks to me, looking through me. "It started a several years ago when a beautiful young women turned and yet, still conceived a child, a very powerful child. However, the child is not the problem…" he trails off, leaving the air stale with uncertainty.
"When my brothers and I came to learn about this child, I had believed I was visiting friends when it turned out to be a battalion against me, mocking the Volturi's name and spreading the word that it is alright to rebel against us," He loses himself for a moment, glowering at the floor, but as he looks up, his demented eyes fill with sadness, "And now, I may be forced to end the lives of those who began this uprising to bring order back to our world."
Silence. My mother stared, her eyes racing to figure out how to save her family, but she need not worry. Everything would be okay, I wish I could tell her that, give her peace of mind, but I couldn't. Not without compromising the mission. Instead, I reviewed Aro's words in my mind, trying to figure out what he was getting at. This was a game to him; everything was.
"I have never been one to be unreasonable, as you all know. After all," he slithered over to me, his palm raising to my cheek. I reeled back from him, a hiss passing my lips without my doing. Whoever held me in their grip pulled my arm tighter, a loud pop echoing through the throne room. My mother cried out, begging them not to hurt me, but I tuned her out. I gritted my teeth, the pain of my dislocated shoulder burning through my body, but I steeled my eyes, not revealing the hurt. I glowered at Aro and he seemed unsettled by me, but he shifted his expression to annoyance. "I did spare the life of one not meant to exist."
Spinning on his heel, he moved across the room to my mother, circling her and Alec. I didn't like the look in his eyes, nor the expression on my mother's face. She never did well under pressure, even in her new life. Then it all clicked. He was going to use her to his leverage as well as me, her dear daughter who she would do anything to keep safe. I was a pawn and so was she.
"I'm going to offer you several choices… none will be ideal, but extreme measures must be taken to make a statement to our society," he says to her, he feigns sorrow as he meets her broken gaze. She nods her head slightly, "Anything to protect my family."
He lists off each option, one of three to choose from. Join them, fuck no. Be at their beck and call, that's cute. And finally, kill and collect. My mother seems to wilt under her own mind, seeming torn. She bites her lip to hold back a sob and turns her head to look up at Aro, opening her mouth. She can't do this, she'll choose wrong. I won't let her.
"Wait."
All eyes flicker to me, startled. Aro offers an impatient grin, "Yes, my young friend?"
"I mean no disrespect, but Carlisle is the head of our household… he should be the one making the decision. After all, he is closer to you so perhaps the odds would be in your favor."
A stare-down begins. His blood-red eyes pierce in to mine, searching for how I broke his plan apart so quickly. I see it, the curiosity I sparked within him. He seems to see me now, realizing there's more than meets the eye. I know I've shifted the plan and he could possibly see me as a threat, but I wasn't about to let my mom break under the Volturi. She'd never forgive herself. I'd never forgive her; she's stronger than that. Aro's jaw ticks as he considers me, before he waves a hand through the air.
"Everyone, leave us. Alec and Renesmee; stay."
As the room cleared, Aro remains a statue under the skylight. The midafternoon sun bled down on him, turning his skin aglow, but it wasn't beautiful on him. It was haunting, like the Devil himself stood before me, prepared to threaten my life and all that mattered to me for calling him out. When everyone had finally disappeared, Felix passed me off to Alec. He was gentle as he took my sore arm, his fingertips gently brushing down my arms. I withheld a sigh, wanting so much to melt in to him. I almost didn't hear Aro as he murmured my name, playing it on the tip of his tongue. He dragged his gaze over me slowly, uncomfortably, "Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful young woman… your mother is quite creative, no?"
He doesn't wait for me to answer, rather continuing on. "You have grown to be most intelligent. Not much gets by you, I see that now. I'd underestimated you, my dear. Perhaps you and I could make a deal."
Aro pauses, seeing if I react, but I don't. I know he's taking a roundabout way of what he pursued with my mother, hoping to use my newfound confidence against me. I survey him, wondering how crazy he must be to think I'd ever sign my soul over to such a monster.
"You have such power growing within you and it can only become stronger. I'm offering this to you, the very thing you've always wanted; immortality." He says it with such mysticism, making it out to be more than it is. Had he offered this to me a few months ago, I'd have been a puppet under his utter command. I'd beg him, plead and grovel on the floor. I was pathetic, I was weak, I was blind.
"I will let your family go free and I give you my word that the Volturi guard, myself, nor my brothers will harm them in exchange for you."
Aro's façade had long faded. His charm had fallen and he had his insanity for power on display, not so much as hiding his glee at playing with innocent lives. I narrow my eyes at him and as he meets my gaze, I see straight in to his mind, past the swirl of colors and the rampant thoughts, but straight to his core. He doesn't plan on leaving my family alone, I knew that already, but see how empty his word is only makes me feel so much better about the plan I have for him. He waits for me to speak, appearing to hang off of every word. I tilt my chin up in defiance.
"Your word means nothing to me."
His eyes darken and any friendliness he once possessed is dismissed, "Very well. Alec, show her back to her room. I'll be seeing you again, Miss Cullen, and I assure you the circumstances won't be so comfortable."
I meet his gaze head on, challenging him in a way I shouldn't. Quinn has rubbed off a bit too much on me.
"Regardless of circumstances, master," I say, my tone dripping with mockery. "I'm taking you down with me."
Alec tugs me out of the room at that. I take one last look back and watch as his disturbed expression turns grim. It wasn't until we were in the confines of my room that he pulled me in to his arms, a place I'd been before and still affected me with an intensity I only ever knew when I was beside him. I knew him now, for who he truly is and nothing had changed in my heart. I still wanted him with every fiber of my being.
"You've changed so much… the girl I met so long ago would never challenge an ancient immortal and you did, even turning your back on him."
I take a deep breath, inhaling his scent before moving away from him. I move toward the bay window on the far side of the room, looking out in to a beautiful day. I push the curtains back, allowing the sun to brighten my room from the dark haze it had settled in. I look back to Alec, nearly brought to my knees by his beauty in the sunlight. His skin is like a galaxy of stars, shimmering at me with untouched perfection. I feel tears gather in my eyes; will we be able to pursue something once this is finished? Will he even want me after all I've become? Will we survive?
"They plan on moving in soon. Now that you've completed your part, they need another day to put the next step in to action," he says. "Aro believed he had your family and you in his grasp, but I think he's doubting himself now. I could see it; he feels threatened by you."
I smile, a bitter laugh passing my lips. I didn't think it'd be possible, but I did everything I was supposed to. My list of orders had been carried out and now all I had left to do was wait till the attack. Something shifted in me as I pondered that. I ran through the incident in the throne room, the last moment before we left and I realized that if we waited any longer, Aro would change his plans. He'd catch on, I saw the wheel in his head turning; even now, we're running out of time.
"No, we don't have another day," I say quietly. "We don't have any more time; Aro is going to execute me."
Alec's eyes flicker over my face, "How do you know?"
"If he can't have me, no one can."
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