Hey guys! I am so SO sorry for not updating sooner. Please don't hate me. But I tried to make this chapter longer than the rest of them to make up for it. I'm hoping I'll be able to update more often now that ive begun writing again. So as always, please leave a review after reading this chapter. I personally think my writing has improved, but who knows? Let me know what you think!

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I own nothing. That's all Stephanie Meyer

Chapter 8

Alec led the way outside to the most beautiful garden I had ever seen. There was nothing quite like this, not even anything I had seen on tv was quite this amazing. I looked around me in amazement. There were a thousand kinds of flowers around me, and it smelled phenomenal. My eyes drank in all the colors and textures around me. Then I spotted something in my peripheral vision that caught my attention instantly. In the middle of this sea of flowers was a blanket on the ground with a picnic laying there. I looked at Alec for assurance and his only response was a simple nod of the head. I walked over to the blanket and slowly sat down.

As soon as I was seated, Alec moved closer and sat across from me. Instantly, he opened the basket and started passing me the food in the basket. It all looked delicious. There were at least five kinds of sandwiches, three pieces of different kinds of lasagna, a bowl of spaghetti, and some soup. I looked from the food to Alec. He looked back at me sheepishly.

"I didn't know what kind of food you liked so I kind of had the chef make the best American Italian food" was his response to my amused look. I laughed.

"It looks amazing. Thank you for this. Really." I almost thought he would blush. But then again that wouldn't be possible with his vampirism. Stupid girl I thought to myself. Why can't you ever remember things?

"The chef is the one that deserves the thanks, not I." He replied.

"Not true!" I protested. "You're the one that put this together. You deserve just as much thanks as whoever made this food." Speaking of which… I thought as I grabbed the first sandwich.

The first bite was euphoria. "Oh my god!" I said with a full mouth. Then I remembered myself and covered my mouth and smiled while looking at him. He just laughed.

"Is that good?" he asked, smiling crookedly at me.

"incredibly." I said, swallowing the bite that was in my mouth.

The next hour was filled with me eating my fill of everything there, with bits and pieces of conversation. I found out so much more about him that I never got from reading the books in Bella's perspective. He was so much more interesting than the poor girl knew.

I learnt that he was born in the year 800 AD, and about seventeen years after his birth, he was condemned to die with Jane by his village, who accused them of being witches for the good luck that followed those who were friends with them and the incredibly bad luck that followed those who opposed them.

"My own friends turned against me when they declared the two of us witch, and that betrayal stung for many years. Aro saved the two of us. For our gifts, certainly. But he saved us nonetheless. I am eternally grateful to him. My debt will never be paid off." The last bit was said with a sad note to it.

"Do you not want to be part of his guard?" I asked quietly.

"I did not say that." He snapped. "I said my debt will never be paid. Being the rank I am is the highest of honors." His tone startled me. It wasn't the soft tone I had gotten used to in the past few days.

With an empty feeling in my stomach that had nothing to do with the food I had just eaten, I stood up and looked at him.

"I think I should go to my room and read for a while." I said and walked quickly back to the castle, leaving a speechless vampire behind me.

Alec

I sat there watching Vivian walk back to the castle, cursing myself internally. If it were discovered that she was wandering the castle by herself, I would lose an arm. I had her scent so I followed her at a decent distance. Going to your room my ass I thought. She went the complete opposite direction from her rooms. Then again, I had been with her the entire time she was walking around. She might actually get lost. She took a left, then a right, then another right, seeming to be completely lost in thought. She was going to get lost.

After a few moments of debating, I decided to let her wander and get lost. I would have my eye on her either way, so she wouldn't really get lost, right? I smiled as she finally noticed that she was in an unfamiliar corridor and looked around her in despair. I ducked behind a pillar as she turned around and went back the way she came. She made several correct turns and then a few wrong ones. I could sense her frustration at herself building up as she realized that she was even more lost than she originally thought.

"Damnit." She said aloud. "Look what you went and did this time, idiot girl." I grinned. She really talked to herself… I shook my head and silently scolded myself. You're supposed to make sure she's safe. She's important to Aro.

After another ten minutes of her wandering, trying to find where she was again, I decided enough was enough. I made my footsteps louder and walked up behind her.

"Got yourself lost, huh?" I asked aloud. She looked behind her.

"I'm fine." She claimed, straightening her back to look more like she knew what she was doing.

"And that's why you're in Aro's personal quarters?" I asked, amused. The look of horror on her face made me want to smirk again, but I refrained. Didn't need her storming off again.

"OhMyGosh. Am I really?" She asked, panicking.

"Yes. But luckily I know how to get us out of here without someone seeing us. You have to be quiet though. Very quiet." I replied, all humor gone from my voice.

"Done." She said, nodding her head. With that, I led the way to a secret passage only Jane and I knew about.

That's it for this chapter. Let me know what you thought, and where you think it should go from here.

3 Jane-Vivian-Volturi