A/N: I'm failing my Geography exam on Friday for this, but never mind. :) There's a bit of PG-18 stuff (well, not really, if you read adult novels) in the first few paragraphs. Just a heads up. And I'm a serious stalker with my stats page, so when I see hits go up, and get no reviews, I feel very sad/pissed off. :( Please just say a few words! Mean, or anything, or what, just say it. (I've changed my settings so now you can leave all your nice anonymous reviews too.) An advanced thank you to anyone who does review! :)
When I awoke, Marcus had gone, and I was underneath the bedspread. My dress, corset and camisole were on the floor. I remembered last night, and suddenly, I felt his cool touch all over me once more. I had cried, because at first, there had been a searing pain, and then, it'd faded… and I'd started moaning instead.
An intense blush overcame me, and I realized, however reluctantly, that not only did I no longer have my virginity, I'd enjoyed losing it. Marcus had been so gentle – there wasn't a single bruise on me. I was only sore where it couldn't be helped, if it was your first time.
I wrapped the bedsheets around me, and went to pick up my clothes. Pulling the sheets aside, I saw a very red blood-stain on the mattress, and felt a sudden chill go through me. How could he still control himself when I'd already bled like that?
Feeling light-headed, I slipped my dress back on, and braided my hair back. I needed to take a bath, but I was afraid to leave the room. So I went looking for my poem again. With everything that had happened, I'd almost forgotten I'd ever written it. No, that's not true…the poem's still with me. It's here, inside my heart.
I couldn't find it, still. Then, a knock on my door made me jump, since the room had been so deathly silent. It was Jiha. She took one look at my messy state, and though I'd covered the stain with the bedsheets, it seemed she already knew. "I'll clean it later. For now, miss, I'll draw you a bath first."
She closed the door, but came back within ten minutes. I followed her out, and she brought me back to the bathroom I'd used when I first arrived. The bathtub was filled to the brim with warm, steaming water and she'd laid a new dress out for me – freshly pressed too – and new underclothes. I was grateful for that.
She left me alone, and I undressed and dipped into the water. Later, feeling calmer and cleaner, I put on the dress. It was pink as rosebud and had sleeves which fell over my wrists so lightly, it felt like air. I had to braid my hair once more, because I'd used some of the olive oil in a jar nearby, and rubbed it into my hair.
Eventually, Jiha came back, and I saw her genuinely smile when she saw how I looked. "He will be pleased. They will all be pleased." She simply said, and beckoned me to follow her, like she always did.
When Marcus kissed the top of my hand, I had to look away from his eyes. And my tiny action, made the whole room of vampires, though they were still silent, erupt into laughter. I could see it in their eyes. I felt very sure that everyone knew what happened between us, and it made me embarrassed.
Aro sighed, and dismissed most of them, annoyed at their behaviour. Only he, Marcus, Caius, and another vampire named Sebastien, who hadn't laughed but had looked a bit curious instead, remained. My father had been sent on an assignment, to Venice. Knowing this made me anxious, but Marcus' kind kiss had reassured me.
Aro snapped his fingers, and Sebastien came forwards with a small vial of clear liquid, and poured it into a goblet. He mixed it with some water and a bit of salt, stirring until Aro nodded in satisfaction. Marcus picked it up and gave it to a slightly puzzled me.
"What's this for?"
"It will make you sleep for three days." Caius answered.
"But…" I was interrupted by Aro. "Today is your last day as a human."
The words hit me like stones, and I suddenly felt my knees weaken. "Oh."
"Drink it. It will take effect within the hour." Marcus said, and I felt myself split in a million places. His voice was cold and emotionless. The goblet slipped from my hands, but Sebastien caught it before it could even spill a drop.
He handed it back to me, and I drank it, but my hands were trembling; because after all the love I'd been given by Marcus, and then hearing his voice be so empty and void like that… it wasn't natural at all. I downed every last bit of the solution. It was very taste-less, despite the salt.
Satisfied, Caius and Aro left immediately, and Sebastien bowed before leaving too. I was alone with Marcus, once again. He turned my chin upwards to him, but I shook his fingers off. I was still upset from the way he'd sounded, just now. He sighed, and pulled me into his embrace, though I futilely resisted.
"Suzette."
"Why did you talk like that? It's not you."
"It's not the Marcus you know. It's the Marcus I've been for the past four hundred years."
"Cold and stiff."
"Yes."
"But… last night…"
"That is the Marcus I am now, yes, Suzette. Your presence is the sweetest joy I've had to live without for so long. I see hope when I see your face."
"Then why did you…?"
"The Volturi have ruled under the mask of being without emotion for so long, Suzette. We have enemies, despite our power, who still challenge us. I must act that way, in court, if we are to remain feared."
He started to stroke my cheek.
"To keep you safe, no one can know the extent of my love for you so publicly. The whole room of the Volturi Guard saw the way you couldn't meet my eyes. That can never happen again. I must be cold to you, should our paths cross in public."
I pulled his hand away from my cheek, and slid out of his grasp.
"But, privately…?"
I surprised him, and I saw it cross his face. Then he smiled, and he looked like a glowing angel, to me. He pulled me back to him, and kissed me on the lips, as if he never wanted to let go. It felt like magic, and it was just different from the way James and I had kissed.
When I had shared my first kiss with James, I'd been a girl with fantasy notions of romance. Now, as Marcus kissed me, I was a woman who'd been loved before. And, after awhile, I started to feel faint. His kisses were making me breathless.
"Marcus." I whispered. He stopped as soon as I said his name, and then my eyes closed, as I realized the drink was starting to affect me. I remember being in his arms, as he carried me back to a bedroom, and falling into the darkness, just as a sharp pain began flowing through my neck.
The medicine would spare her the gruesome pain which came with the transformation. He wouldn't have been able to stand her screams and cries, otherwise. It was good he had taken her when she was still warm; it was different to feel warmth against him, after being so frozen for so long. He had been very careful with her.
But there had been so many times when he had come close to just wanting to bite and break her skin, draining her life and her warmth. It was the memory of his dear Anastacia, which made him strong enough to resist the temptation.
She's colder than she should be. Her eyes don't see. Her life has been taken. No, no, no, NO! She cannot be dead. Ana, please. Open your eyes! Look at me! Say you won't go. I'm sorry I didn't bring you the flowers you wanted, yesterday! Please, Ana. Please forgive me.
Anastacia Ergham. Her murderers did not stop with only her death. They had been soothsayers; they cursed her family, and made it such that the second daughter born to the third daughter in each generation, for that had been Anastacia's original family position, die upon the day she reached her twenty-first birthday.
The Volturi did not know about this curse, and as such, the family suffered for the past four hundred years, a daughter lost, everytime the stipulation was fulfiled. And then, one day, a young man had asked around Volterra, asking how he could meet the Volturi, to all the humans in the city. He'd been roughly taken aside by the guards, asking him how he knew such things.
He'd heard of them, stories mostly, but that they had special abilities, and could do supernatural things. The guards had meant to kill him, but Alec had ordered them to bring him for an audience with the Volturi, first.
And that was when the news of the curse finally reached them.
They had the means to thwart the curse, but they couldn't let this human know the connection they had to the family, and furthermore, nothing was ever free with the Volturi. The man offered money and riches, but they already had their spoil of the best. But… a wife for Marcus, or a new addition to the guard would be more profitable. So they asked of his firstborn child, instead.
"When the daughter reaches her twenty-first birthday, and is spared, you must send your eldest child, no matter the age, to us."
The man had hesitated. "Is there anything I can offer besides that? I'd offer my life in exchange for my child's."
They had exchanged looks. The Volturi may have been cruel to humans, but they respected sacrifice.
"Very well. When the daughter turns twenty-one, you must return here and start your lifetime service in our guard."
The man had signed the contract drawn up, and left, glad to have good news for the love of his life, but remembering that one day, when the little girl, who was now only two years old, turned twenty-one, he would have to give up everything he'd ever known.
Still, he would have done anything for the woman he loved.
Sebastien had been sent to monitor the man, and one night, a bloody love affair had come to light, and left him dying, adding another term to the deal. Sebastien had offered to save his life, for an extra price. In truth, the Volturi would not have let him die, but the woman had not thought clearly, in her desperation, and agreed to anything.
This was how Suzette became theirs.
And despite having been tainted by Carlisle's touch before she reached Volterra, she had readily taken to Marcus, in a most unexpected way. It seemed she really had affection for him.
Marcus had been ready to stay away from her for as long as she needed, before she was ready to love him, and although she still had love for Carlisle, she also had love for Marcus now.
He had wanted to test her, before. That was why he had pretended to be detached and icy when he spoke. If she truly cared for him, hearing his voice so dead would shock her. And it did. She had dropped the goblet. She had been upset with him.
Now, as he watched her doze, so peacefully, as the venom spread in her veins and arteries, slowly replacing the blood running within her, and turning her solid, and cold, he cupped her cheek and kissed her again, before her warmth was lost forever.