A/N: -shields self from rotten fruit- I AM SO SORRY. I can't believe how long this has been abandoned. ): -offers everyone ice-cream and cookies- I've just had really bad writer's block, and I thought I'd take a really long break to refresh my words. My writing's improved, though. See, while I was on hiatus, I started writing this other non-Twilight FF and got introduced to the concept of slash by my online friends. And I also got around to finally reading all the grown-up novels lying around my room. :D

So, I got inspired by this music I just downloaded last night and wrote this anime one-shot (La Corda D'Oro, if you're interested), and then when I posted it up on Fanfiction, I remembered I still had to finish this. Working off my temporary inspiration, I created chapter 13. :)

There are about two more chapters, after this. I'd write them if I had time (I'm actually procrastinating studying for my O Level exams next week...) tomorrow, but I've got to study. I'll update maybe in June? (Or on my one-year anniversary at the end of May - yep, I'll have been on this site for a year!) But, I'm not going to abandon it again, so do not worry (sorry if I sound like a hypocritical liar since I've done it twice T-T).

"You know you cannot have her. Why do you still toy with the human?"

The stunningly cruel features of the male vampire who'd spoken, twisted into a grimace. He was cloaked in scarlet red, and his pale skin made the color even more frightening. "If Caius were to know…"

"Is that a threat, Sebastien?" The other vampire to whom the former had been speaking to, asked, his voice bitter. "I know what I can have, and what I cannot."

"Then… why the sudden hostility?" Sebastien smirked, knowing the truth instantly. "This human… she is more than just a plaything, isn't she?" He swooped over to the other, and eyed his companion's defiant face. "Did the frozen heart decide to beat again, Carlisle?"

Sebastien narrowly avoided having his face battered by Carlisle's fist. He backed away, but the smirk didn't leave his face. "Not just beat. It's pumping hard."

The blonde vampire known as Carlisle to everyone but the human girl he loved, turned to Sebastien and fixed him with a glare. "I can't stay here. I don't even know why I bothered to come back."

Sebastien chuckled. "Of, course you do. The girl. You know who she is. You knew, then too. Still, you didn't stop yourself, did you? Where's the Carlisle I know? The one with such perfect self-control?" He stopped, and licked his lips; an action that would have struck terror in any human, but merely annoyed a vampire who didn't enjoy feasting on humans.

Carlisle didn't answer. He disappeared for a second, and then reappeared, his expression still angry, but slightly defeated. Sebastien rolled his eyes. "Emilia's going to throw a fit at the hole in the wall now."

He flitted over to Carlisle, sighing and becoming serious. "We've been friends a long, long time, Carlisle… and I still want us to be friends. I don't want you in a million pieces and burned to ash. Just forget her. Leave and come back in another 200 years. She'll have forgotten you, by then."

"The pain will still be there." His friend's voice broke.

"We don't feel pain. All the pain leaves the moment the heart stops. Remember that. Now, go."

"I'll be back." Carlisle hugged Sebastien, and vanished. He didn't show his friend the note – the poem she'd written for him. The only piece of her which he could take with him.

I woke up, faint and dizzy. My room's window-less walls were made of cut stone slabs, and the floor was made of wooden parquet, but I knew there was a layer of stone beneath, because it didn't sound hollow the way wood should be. Sad, bleary paintings served to attempt to make the room less depressing, but failed.

This is what I'll live in for the rest of my eternity?

Not a happy thought. None of my thoughts could ever be happy again. I needed to be in his arms again. I longed to feel his embrace, no matter if it was cold and hard. He made it warm. I wrapped my arms around myself, and closed my eyes, trying to imagine that it was him.

I was careful not to whisper his name, though. My father had told me that vampires had more acute senses and sharper observations about their environment than humans did. What I thought nobody else could hear if I whispered, might as well have been shouted through every hall in this underground castle.

And then… a breeze of wind came from nowhere and tickled my skin. I opened my eyes.

I gasped involuntarily, my arms dropping to the sheets like dead weight.

"Did I startle you?"

Speechlessly, I nodded.He wasn't James. He was Marcus.

He looks nothing like what I expected.

His dark hair looked soft, in the dim light of the orange flame, inside the only lamp in the room. His eyes were ruby, red like every other vampire here, but strangely they didn't scare me at all. He had a pained expression, and I felt my chest twist into a knot for no reason.

"You're so young."

His gaze became amazingly tender, sending a shiver down my spine.

"I'm only eighteen."

He came closer, and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. "Why are you here?"

My question made him frown. "You don't know who I am?"

I shook my head. "You're Marcus."

"Yes, I'm Marcus."

"Why are you here, Marcus?"

My inner calm surprised me. Indeed, I should have felt horrified, alone in this bedroom, with a tall, blood-thirsty vampire in front of me. But, all I felt was curiosity instead. Somehow, I knew he wouldn't hurt me.

"I want to talk to you."

"Oh."

I'd been sitting up, still under the covers, so I scooted off the centre of the bed, tossing aside the blankets and the spread, to the left side and touched my bare feet to the soundless floor. He slowly came and sat beside me, moving like a shadow did – cutting through the air without a noise, or as much as a ruffle of a sleeve.

"Did your father talk to you already?"

It was a cursory question. Obviously, he should know. He just wanted to make me feel less tense.

"Yes, he did."

He nodded, and came even closer to me, sniffing my neck. I didn't flinch; it was like I was in a dream, and none of this could really hurt me or was real. He was apparently breathing in my scent.

"You smell exactly like her. Ginger with red roses."

"Who do I…?"

"My wife."

His answer made my eyes widen, and much, much worse, made me blush. I glanced away at an empty corner. This was getting more and more surreal.

"Don't be ashamed, Suzette."

His voice made me shiver again. I suddenly felt an ocean of guilt engulf me. Why did I have these peculiar feelings? Why was I receiving them just from being in his presence? How could I forget about James so easily?

Without thinking, I replied, "I should be."

As soon as the words left my mouth, did I realize my mistake. His tender gaze evaporated into a cold, furious one.

"No, you shouldn't. He doesn't love you. He took advantage of you!"

The glass protecting me broke, and suddenly I felt fear replacing my guilt. Fear for James' life. My father had told me about how powerful the Volturi were. And how easy it was for them to destroy whoever crossed their path in the wrong way. Even a fellow vampire.

I could see the rage in Marcus' eyes. "How do you know about that?" I asked in a weak voice. I wanted to tell him it wasn't true. James loved me, he still did. That kiss was real. But I didn't know how he would react if I denied it.

"Aro knows everything the moment he touches you. I saw for myself, anyway."

My father's words came back to me, once more: "All Aro has to do is shake your hand, and he'll know all your memories, even the forgotten ones."

"What about Marcus?"

"Marcus sees relationships."

He knew. He knew about James from the start. They all did. Marcus knew about James, and still he showed me affection. Perhaps he cares more for me than I thought…

"Don't hurt him. Please." I begged desperately. Maybe I could convince him… "If anything were to happen to him…"

And then, I burst into tears. So sudden, that I knew Marcus was taken aback immediately. The pained expression he'd had before returned.

And then, I was in his arms, still sobbing into his chest. His hand was stroking my hair, and his other hand was wiping away my tears. "Don't cry anymore. He will be safe."

I put my own hand on his hand which was wiping my tears, not feeling the coldness. "Promise me."

"I promise you, my Suzette."

I knew what I had to do. I had to seal the deal, and guarantee James' safety. Slipping his hand around my waist, the same way James had done, I put my own hand on his pale neck, and lay my lips on the hollow beneath his Adam's apple.

I felt his grasp on me tighten. He lay me back down on the bed, and I closed my eyes, knowing what was coming.

REVIEW! :) (yes, I know I'm so mean for not giving more details...)