Chapter 23
Secrets
I know I'm going to die. I've known it since the strangers got onto the boat. Not strangers – vampires. I thought I had years but now my life is measured in hours; maybe minutes. Volturi. The very word brings terror to me, and not because of my own experiences, but because of Stefan. I listened and committed to memory every detail about the elite, vampire enforcers. Worse than being in their captivity is that Vladmir has claimed me. Stefan kept silent and let him and I think there's some kind of plan at work here but no one can tell me.
I look for opportunities to get free, but they don't allow me more than a few steps distance from them. I watch Stefan assess the two older ones, but it's the younger ones he fears – the newborns. They're faster and stronger than any others, with voracious appetites and eyes that look at me with ravenous hunger. I know he could command them, in fact I'm waiting for his command, but he won't risk it as long as they're within striking distance of me.
All the way to Volterra I wait for just one opportunity. I've even considered making my own attempt at escape, knowing that it would mean my death, but at least Stefan would be free. I can't stand the thought of what they will do to him, but I can't let him watch my murder either. And Vladmir continues to pretend he loves me. Dying has been on my mind since I met Stefan, but I always thought I would die in his arms – not Vladmir's.
Italy is beautiful. I've dreamed of visiting, but my dream has become a nightmare as we get closer to the remote Volturi city. We sing all the way; songs of peace and love, and unity. He can't command them, but I see they are calmer, and even the newborns don't look like they want to tear me apart. The walls of the city steal the song from our lips. I wish I were simply a tourist so I could admire the beauty of the architecture and the simplicity of cobblestone roads that are not built for cars. But the minutes are ticking on my life.
Demetri takes hold of me and his iron grip propels me through the building. Stefan follows close enough to blunt the pull of my magnetism, as it's him I want and long for, not the beautiful creature holding my arm with enough power to tear it off if I slow him down. He pulls me into a room, and it's just as Stefan described – they are just as he described. I could name them before any introductions are made; Aro, Caius, and Marcus.
I am introduced and it's then their plan becomes clear. Vladmir is poised to intervene for me and Stefan. Aro doesn't read our thoughts, and doesn't know that I won't let him change me. He won't find out all the secrets Stefan told me, because Vladmir has lied even in his thinking. But Sulpicia knows. I see her almost immediately, and the way she looks at him – it is a woman obsessed. Her eyes devour him, even as he holds me and kisses me. It's not love I see though, but possessiveness. The hatred in her eyes directed at me is more threatening than the newborns – how dare I mess with what is hers.
Vladmir tries to cover for me when Aro asks if I'm ready to be changed. But my answer is honest; it's just that the he I speak of isn't Vladmir. I start to feel maybe we will escape with our lives, but Felix conveys some kind of information that has us put into prison cells. I sit confined with Vladmir and I just want Stefan. When she comes in I do my best to play my part, but it's not working. Vladmir can lie to the world, but he can't lie to her, and he clearly still feels something for her. He kisses me and I know he is thinking of her. He holds me and I know he is holding her – so tight I can barely breathe.
I hear Stefan calling to him; I hear the panic in his voice as I look over at him before Vladmir makes it impossible to draw a breath. When he commands him to stop we all freeze, even Sulpicia. I still can't get free and I can only breathe a little bit better. "Let go of her Vladmir!" His voice amazes me. I've heard him command me to stay away from him when he was trying to keep me safe, but this time I'm on the outside of his command and I can see its power. Vladmir releases me so abruptly I stumble. I rush to the bars of the cell and gaze at him. I mouth the words "I love you" for him to see.
At first I don't realize that if I'm free of the first command, then so are they. She moves faster than I expect, opening the door and pulling me out before closing it again.
"Careful Stefan, you know I'll kill her." Her hand on my throat is pale and delicate, and strong as steel. She stands behind me, pinning my arms and holding my throat. "Stefan, would you like to tell me why you care so much if Vladmir squeezes the life out of his fiance'? Wouldn't that make things easier for you? You could go back home and keep company with your books and your writing."
She looks toward the other cell. "And V., why would you come so close to killing the poor dear if you love her so much?" Her voice is saccharine sweetness, and both men watch her every move.
"It's not his fault." I barely dare to whisper the words.
"Summer don't!" Stefan cuts his warning short as her hand squeezes my throat, closing off my air. She glares her warning at him before she relaxes her grip.
"Explain yourself!" She doesn't ask, but demands.
"All men act that way with me. They both want me. Even Felix and Demetri want me. Any man who comes near me feels that way. And your kind... they want me even more because of their thirsts. I can't explain it, but it's true. And it's not their fault; the more nervous and afraid I get, the more it draws them to me."
"Is this true?" She glances at both of them and they both look away ashamed. "So tell me Summer, where do you belong?"
"I love them both." Both heads snap up to look at me. "They are both my family. They're all the family I have left in the world, and I love them."
"That doesn't answer my question. After all the time I spent with an accomplished liar I can tell an evasion when I hear it. Which one do you adore? Which one makes your heart beat faster? Which one do you long for at night?" She turns me to face her, and her red eyes lock onto mine. "Tell me Summer..." she coos her questions to me face to face. "...which one of them shares your bed? Or have they found a woman they can share the way they share everything else?" Her sneering voice mocks the relationship between the two friends
"Stop it!" I can feel the tears on my face over her callousness. "How can you be so cruel? He loved you. Do you have any idea what that means? You walked away because you couldn't be his everything, when just a fraction of that is enough for me." She has relaxed her hold on me, and I place my hand on her cold, hard cheek. "Agape. You had that. It means everything to me and you walked away."
"Summer, be careful..." I look at Vladmir and he's watching us both. "Don't taunt her, she isn't like you. Sulpicia, let her go. She's nothing compared to you."
"Il dio mio – you do love her!" She looks at me, her red eyes wide with shock and obsessive jealousy. "I will kill you!"
I hear them both in stereo screaming "NO!" But it's too late as her fingernail slits a deep gash in my wrist. She holds my arm up and catches the first drops of my blood in her mouth, and all I can do was watch in fascination as the drops become a trickle then a stream she eagerly swallows. There is noise; yelling, screaming and crying, as she fastens her lips onto my wrist and sucks with more force than I ever imagined, pulling against the beating of my heart.
I fall to my knees, and just before I die I look at his panicked face and whisper, "I love you Stefan." Then there is blackness.
I'm startled to see fuzzy white shapes. I can hear voices speaking in buzzing whispers. I feel heavy and I can't move. For a few minutes I even wonder if I'm dead. But I know I'm not because he is with me – Stefan. I can smell him, and feel his arms around me, and his soft voice is whispering endearments to me even though I can't understand the languages. My eyelids are almost too heavy to open, but I force them apart so I can see his face. I feel the corners of my mouth turn up weakly as his face comes into focus, inches from mine. It takes me a few minutes to take in everything. I'm in his arms, but I'm lying on some kind of chaise. My wrist is bandaged in a wide bracelet of white gauze. There's pain in my other arm, and it slowly registers that I have an I.V. in my arm refilling me with donated blood. I almost laugh at the ridiculous turn of events.
"Stefan, what's happening?" I can barely form words and he cradles me to him and kisses my face.
"Hush love, I've got you now. I am not letting you go again." I try to pull myself up to see where I am and whose voices I'm hearing. I'm back in the throne room, and the three are sitting like royalty watching us. I can see her too, Sulpicia, ghosting along behind Aro as if it's perfectly fine that she tried to kill me. Maybe it is fine, as her eyes flare at me with the fresh red pigment of my blood. I struggle to sit up and he helps me until I am sitting on his lap in my familiar way. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder.
"Is it okay to say I love you now?" I can't take my eyes off of his beautiful face, even with the worry evident in his features.
"Oh how touching." Aro stands and commands attention. "So are we all in agreement that she is going to live and Sulpicia has not broken any laws?" He looks around dramatically and no one says a word, though Caius harrumphs. "Now perhaps we can discover what exactly happened here today and why we were deliberately being mislead. Vladmir, old friend; would you like to explain why you deliberately lied to us?"
"No I don't think I want to." He speaks up from behind us. Aro looks stunned, and Caius snarls in anger. "Oh, are you requesting that I tell you? I was only being honest; I know how important honesty is to you all." He's mocking them; playing word games and teasing them as if they are spoiled children. "Do you really want the truth?" He eyes the three on the dais, then glances around the room at the others who are pretending not to listen. "The truth about how no one can trust the mighty Volturi, or the truth about how we were brought here against our will? Does anyone care about the truth, that even though we are hundreds, if not thousands of years old, our activities are being monitored as if we are reckless newborns? Or perhaps we should explore the truth, that not one of us has ever given you the right to govern or control us!
"Enough of this!" Caius jumps to his feet. "You're clouding the issue, which is that you deliberately tried to deceive us!"
"Of course I did! We should all be trying to deceive you! We should all be joining the resistance against the corruption of the Volturi!" He walks around us, stepping closer to the three. He points and his voice rises. "You have absolutely no right to judge me! I was old before you were born, and I will be here long after you have gone to the flames!" Another woman drifts to the three and puts her hands on Aro and Caius. "Oh Renata, do be a darling and lend your shield to them; we wouldn't want any of my words to penetrate their thick skulls." He smiles at her and Caius snarls, clearly losing his calm. "I don't have to lie to prove this is nothing but a sham! There is no reason we should be here except that you have been spying on us. So what if we brought a pretty girl on a trip? So what if we sang a few songs in some resort lounges? Why should that warrant a trip to Italy against our will?" He is on a roll and everyone is watching him.
"Oh, let me guess. Is it the precious secrets? Is that what everyone here is afraid of? Terrified of this little girl?" He gestures grandly my way. "Look how scared she is. She knows everything! She knows about the murdering, lying, conniving, megalomaniacs known as the Volturi! But please, cower if you will, that she knows those precious secrets. Surely she is only one step away from bringing us down!" He laughs as if he's made a joke. I draw my knees up and hold tighter to Stefan.
"You want the truth? She's pure and innocent, and the very idea that she's here with us and in danger of losing her life sickens me! Her only crime is coming to see our house. And the only reason we are all here is because my best friend has fallen in love with her; much as Edward Cullen fell for his singer. If you want to claim laws are broken, then take it further and admit you're looking for an excuse to bring us down." He spins and looks at the others in the room. "Make no mistake, if we are not safe, then neither are any of you."
He turns and sits on the chaise with us. I reach out and pat his cheek and he takes my bandaged hand and kisses it. "Thank you." I whisper with as much of a smile as I can give.
Aro comes closer. "I take it we're finished with the posturing and grandstanding?" He looks at us with his piercing, cold red eyes. "I will have the truth – all of it – from her." Stefan's arms tighten around me as he approaches.
"Please don't do this!" I beg him, still with my hands around Stefan's neck. "What we've shared is intimate and personal, and he trusts me. I'll answer any of your questions, just don't steal what he shared with only me." I feel a sense of unreasonable panic blossom in me and I can't shake it as he steps closer.
"I'm afraid the time for questions is over. You won't feel a thing, I promise." He reaches for me and it's as if my nightmare has come for me.
I pull away from him, backpedaling and flailing. "Oh god Stefan don't let him touch me!" And still his hand is reaching for me. I scream, and it's as if a dam has broken and all of my fears and terrors come pouring out in a rush, and I can't stop screaming. Stefan moves to get between us but I've reached the end of the chaise and I'm still not far enough away. I feel myself falling, slipping over the edge and trying to grab onto something. I feel the I.V. pull out of my arm just before my head hits the stone floor.
I know there is blood; more blood than safety allows. It drips from the I.V. line, it trickles from my needle-less arm, and it is pooling under my head and making me too weak to move. I see his face above me, and I smile; Stefan. But there is chaos, and I can feel I am surrounded on all sides. He is in a defensive crouch over me and his voice commands them not to touch me. "Vladmir, can you help me?" I can hear the plea in his voice, and then they are both working over me. Stefan effortlessly tears his shirt into bandages for my arm and my head, and my elbow which has also been scraped. When he moves me to get to my head wound his hands quickly become covered in my blood and I realize I'm bleeding more than I first thought. I fight to stay with him, but the world spins away from me.
I am surprised when I wake up again. I'm in a room; a small one by the sounds of the voices. I feel like I'm in a bed this time. I'm so cold even though I can feel blankets, and my head is throbbing with the mere movement of my eyes under my lids. I must be alive because I'm in a lot of pain. When I can finally open my eyes, his is the face I see – Stefan. "I love you." My voice sounds raspy and weak, and he guides the straw to me so I can drink from the water glass.
He kisses my cheek. "I almost lost you – again. Do you know how close you've come to waking up on the other side of the supernatural/human divide? I've heard your protests, now you need to hear me my love; I won't lose you. If it comes that close again, I'm going to change you."
"No!" My voice is still weak. "Stefan, if you change me, you'll find out just how resourceful I can be about ending it. I won't kill to survive."
"I'm afraid that's just a chance I'll have to take my love. I'm going to do everything I can to save you. I love you. No, it's more than love, it's agape – you know the word; it's what you mean to me. Everything! If you end yourself you end me too."
"Oh this just gets better and better!" It's the voice I'm starting to recognize. Aro. He steps into my field of vision and looks down on me. "I can see why you wanted to keep her testimony a secret. Not only does she know too much; she refuses to become one of us. Oh Stefan, you do know how to pick them." He's laughing and Stefan hovers protectively over me. "Relax, no one else can hear us in here. How are you Summer? Are you finished trying to kill yourself, or do I need to give you another chance and see if Stefan can keep his word?"
"Don't touch me!" He still terrifies me, but I'm not strong enough to get away.
"Shh, it's okay il mio caro, he's not going to touch you."
"Of course not, I already learned all I needed to know the first time." His voice is taunting and I look at Stefan horrified. "Oh don't look so shocked. You're not the only one with secrets to keep; and yours just might save your life." He touches a button on the bed and my head raises.
I have no idea how or why they have a hospital bed, but my head is pounding as it raises me to a sitting position. It's only then that I see why I hurt so bad. I have the I.V. back in my arm, my elbow is bandaged as is my head. My wrist is still bandaged, but I also see ugly bruises on my arms and legs, and the marks are clearly hand prints, as if I have been the rope in some kind of tug-of-war. There are only the three of us in the room, and I look to Stefan in a panic. "Is Vladmir alright?"
"He's fine." Aro answers me. "I didn't permit him admittance here so that we could have a talk. He's likely off somewhere reconnecting with my wife. I know that's what she wants anyway." I'm surprised at how calm he is considering what he's revealed. "I can see that shocks you. But I know my wife better than anyone, and I know exactly what kind of woman she is, and I know that when Vladmir leaves here he will be leaving without her. He may have had her first, but she will always be mine. And if she can keep him... distracted while we speak, I will forgive her indiscretion."
"That's so sad." I can't imagine staying with someone whose loyalty and love was so divided.
"I'm sure you believe that. I've seen enough of your thoughts to know that Stefan has indeed made a rare find. In another lifetime I might be jealous, but I fear that I wouldn't be able to deal with such love and devotion even if it were offered to me."
He turns and looks at Stefan. "You do realize you three have broken several of our laws, and by rights we should be mourning your deaths after a time of voting. But what I've seen shows me that it would be a mistake. The animosity and hatred you have for us is well deserved. I had no idea what our justice looked like on the other side. I've only had half of many stories for centuries, and this young woman has given me answers you would never give.
"On the surface you seemed like a rebel, which is why your family was eliminated – I had no idea it was our way of life you hated. Similarly when you and Vladmir began your "empire, " we worried about the challenge to our own. Your goals have never been made clear to us until now. And more importantly if what you've told her is true, you have been following our laws faultlessly as far back as your own creation. Not that you realized they were laws, but they were your own choices; most notably Daniel and his mother. Stefan, you may be surprised to find we want the same things."
He pulls a chair up and sits beside my bed, looking at Stefan's guarded form. "There is a TV show in America called Survivor. They take a group of random people and put them someplace remote to see who will be the last one standing. It would seen that the one with the most strength and skill would be the one to survive, but then they add in voting. Every few days there is a vote and someone has to leave; either the weakest player or the strongest, depending on how different alliances form. There are also two teams, and they compete and live near each other but totally separate. Near the end, the two tiny teams are merged and in this end game there are often two or three who depend on one another. The survivor is often not the one with the best skills, but the one who forms the best alliances.
"Stefan, I know you think the Volturi are cowards who are struggling to create a strong empire and subjugate all others of our kind. You believe our laws are cumbersome and serve no purpose. Maybe in some ways that is all true. But there is a reason behind our machinations, and what I'm going to share with you will remain a secret, or I will have your life. We, all of us, are on one team in a game of survival. We are assembling the Volturi to be here for the end game. There will come a time when humanity becomes aware of us, no matter how many laws we make. In this age like no other they have the power to destroy us. The myths we've spread about wooden stakes, holy water, sunlight, and various other harmless methodologies will no longer work in our favor, and they will come at us with rending and flame; incineration, explosions, and nuclear weaponry. They've already used these weapons on their own kind, and when they ally against us we will be vulnerable in a way we've never been before.
"When that time comes it will be critical that we are ready and that we have gifts they won't know how to counter. We'll need to have our own alliances and know our own strength. Marcus, Caius and myself know this is coming. I know that I will be here for the end game, but I don't know in what capacity. Marcus will not make it that long, and he knows this. It's why he seems so bored, since he has no stake in the outcome. And Caius... I know everyone wonders about Caius; the only one of us without an obvious power or gift. Tell no one what I am sharing. Caius will be here for the end game. The best way I can describe his gift is to say he is a prophet. Caius has his hand on the pulse of our kind, and he can sense the vibrations of our upcoming conflict with humanity, and in his own way he is guiding us to a position of strength. His gift has been confirmed, but never announced.
Stefan sneers. "If Caius is going to lead us, I'm joining the other side."
Aro laughs. "I agree. But Caius isn't going to lead us, and I don't believe I am either. The Volturi leadership triumvirate will be different when it becomes clear that there are two opposing teams. Every time I see a new power or gift, I wonder if that one will be the one to take Marcus's place, or mine. We held hopes that you would join us, just as I had hoped to recruit from the Cullen family. I'm sure you can see why a gift like young Alice's would be so useful for us, or a shield like Bella's. There is much that bears watching with that whole group, and they may be destined to lead us into a future where humanity seeks to destroy us."
"Do you really think people will find out and try to wipe you out? Why?" My voice is returning. "I can't imagine that future, except in movies."
He gives me a genuine smile, and I can see how he may have once been considered beautiful. "In every legend about us, we are monsters. Soulless demons who prey on all things sacred. They are indoctrinated to hate and fear us, and we do kill – breaking the one law all humans hold most sacrosanct. Once our presence is confirmed, they will try to exterminate us. Except for those who believe the romanticized version of the stories – they will want to join us. Immortality, strength, youth, and beauty are a powerful lure. Either way we need to be ready, and currently we are not. We created the laws to keep us from being discovered and postpone the conflict until we are ready. But the very laws are creating dissension among us and making us weak. And so it seems that we are manipulating the laws for our own benefit – and we are. Though not for our individual gain – for everyone."
"Maybe you shouldn't win." I can't believe I'm saying it aloud, but all I can foresee is a horribly bloody conflict which could easily push either race to extinction. "Maybe people are not meant to consume one another to survive." I look at Stefan and take his hand. "I love you with everything in me. But if I could change you to be like me instead of the other way around, I would do it. I would measure our years together and I would say goodbye to you at the end. The killing changes you, more than the metamorphosis. It puts you in a position to play God, and to decide who deserves to live and who deserves to die." I look at Aro. "Don't worry, I won't be involved in this conflict, but I hope you lose. Even if you win you will lose, because your existence is based on humanity and fed by humanity. When humans are gone, you will die out. And before they are gone, what will you have? A slave race? Will you keep them like cattle and breed them for your dining pleasure? Will it be worth it to win if that is what you become?"
Aro is staring at me like I'm speaking another language, but Stefan's expression looks more pained. Stefan traces his fingers lightly down my face, and kisses my hand.
Aro looks instead to Stefan. "Stefan, surely you can understand; we cannot close Pandora's box once it's opened, and it is most definitely opened. Part of the reason for the Volturi is to keep us strong, while keeping us unnoticed. This is the very reason we will not be taking your lives today or any other. As I so recently discovered, you and Vladmir have potential we have never understood. You have the kind of gifts that will be useful in the future conflict. That you were able to build a kingdom that rivaled our own – no – one that surpassed our own, is a tribute to your abilities.
"That you walked among them undisguised, and they loved you – this is something we may need to explore further once our existence becomes known. And even more recently you've used the power of music to sway them and make them adore you. Summer, you have to know that the extermination of humanity is not what we seek, and for the very reasons you listed."
I don't know why I'm not afraid to disagree with him, but I answer boldly. "You might honestly believe that. But you keep talking about us like we're the enemy. You talk about manipulating us and finding ways to fool us and strengthening your own side. You've already chosen sides, Aro. For the rest of us there are no sides to worry about. You're preparing for an end game that I hope never comes. And if that end game comes, shouldn't we all try to be on the side of right versus wrong, rather than vampire versus human?" My head is throbbing and I am feeling like I want to go to sleep. "You didn't come in here to talk about some future plan that I won't be alive to see, so what are you here about? What's the big secret?"
"Perceptive. No wonder she has changed you so much Stefan. But she's right, we have to move forward in the present and let the future take care of itself – for now. The Volturi needs to clean up our image. We need to keep a place of trust and respect, and having our brethren running and hiding from us is not what we need. To remedy that we are going to mend fences with two of our biggest adversaries, and remind everyone that Volturi stands for respect, honor, nobility, leadership, power, and decorum." He smiles at us, and I can almost feel the steel jaws of a trap closing.
"We're going to have a major event here at Volterra. It will involve many of our kind as well as many humans. We're going to present a softer side to the world; a forgiving and unifying side that has been missing for much too long. It will be a lavish event that will be talked about for years. We're hosting a wedding here at Volterra. Yours!"