Oh my gosh guys! I'M SO STUPID! I said they went to France then to Italy, but thats stupid because Volterra is in Italy! I don't know if any of you picked up on that, but I feel like an idiot! I've already written this though, so just go along with it, kay?(:
Italy was magnificent. Sasha's stories could do this amazing land no justice. The people of Venice were friendly and open, and didn't mind speaking English for my sake. Of course Alec had taught me a bit of Italian, but that was mostly the sweet nothings he whispered in my ear.
Thinking of those sweet little sayings, I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of a crowded market, swept into a flashback.
"You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen," Alec whispered to me one night, stroking a particularly rough patch of crescent scars on my collarbone. I shied away from his hand, suddenly self-conscious.
"Why do you say that while looking at such a hideous place," I asked, bringing my hands up in a feeble attempt to conceal the jagged scars.
"I vostri difetti lo rendono perfetto." His voice was a soothing lullaby, the foreign words flowing like silk. I stared at him in confusion. He grinned and said, "Your flaws make you perfect."
If I had been human I'm sure a few tears would have spilled over. I looked down at my torn up shoulders. Gesturing to them, I asked, "These horrid, hideous things bring me as far from perfection as I can get. They are proof of what a vile monster I was. They are an instant warning sign to any that get close of what kind of person I am. Unpredictable, murderous, blood-thirsty." I couldn't stop the pity-party that raged on inside of me. Alec could, though.
"They are proof of what you have overcome. They show that you are determined and brave. Your scars are beautiful. Drop-dead sexy to me, actually," He said, his inky black hair falling into his eyes, and he nipped at my neck playfully.
I was brought back to reality by a gentle shaking. Dragon looked down at me with concern.
"Are you alright?" His eyes darted in front of me, looking for the source of what he thought was fright.
"I was just thinking. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you, I - " My words caught in my throat. For there, standing less than twenty feet in front of me, was an extremely tall man with wavy dark hair and light brown eyes. And trailing beside him was a boy who looked about three or four years old. His face held the most beautiful traces of my savior, my best friend, the person I miss more than anything, Sasha.
"David, so good to see you!" A bulky Italian man crooned with a heavy accent from a fish stand.
"And Andres, you get bigger and bigger everyday!"
David. Andres. Sasha.
Oh my gosh.
The boy, seemingly scared of the large man with the bloody butchers knife in his hand, turned and ran. Right smack dab into me.
If I hadn't seen it coming and set my arms out to brace him, his fragile head would have clunked right into the hardest stone in the world. My hands were a pretty brutal impact as well though, and he nearly fell to the ground. I caught him though, and picked him up, jutting my left hip out to situate him there.
"Sowwy," He said, unable to pronounce his R's right while looking up at me with eyes the color of dark-chocolate that seemed to have golden-brown swirled in. More beautiful than I had ever pictured Sasha's eyes.
"Its okay," I said, smiling. "What's your name?" I said asked kindly.
"Andres," He gave me a full fledged square-toothed pearly white smile. And I wanted him. I wanted this insanely cute little boy to be my son. The urge to run away from here, back to Volterra, suddenly gripped me.
"Andres!" His father called, breaking me out of me monstrous trance, with such panic in his voice just because he lost sight of his son for a second. Poor guy. This child is all he has left of his love.
David spotted me in an instant. He looked at my snow-white skin, golden eyes, and blond hair with extreme curiosity.
"Oh, thank you so much," He said, rushing towards me. He took the child out of my arms, much to my disappointment.
"David Gordelli," He said, nodding in greeting.
"Amber Stewart," I gave him a false name because of what I'm about to do next.
"You were Sasha's husband, weren't you?" I asked. His eyes were immediately covered in a layer of moisture that threatened to brim over.
"How do you know that?" His voice quavered.
"We need to talk." I glanced at Andres, hinting that he shouldn't hear this. David glanced around, then spotted a young girl, maybe a few years older than me, and waved to her.
"Addolorata!" He hollered. The girl turned, smiled brightly, and rushed forward, wrapping him in a friendly hug.
"Is something wrong, David?" The pretty girl looked at me wearily.
"Do you mind taking Andres for a moment?" David begged the girl with his eyes to just do as asked and not ask any questions right now.
"Of course." Addolorata took David, cooing and crooning at him, and walked away.
I followed David to a nearby fountain that, for some reason, had nearly no one near it.
"Who are you? How do you know Sasha?" David got right to the point.
"First of all, may I ask how you think- Er I mean why you think Sasha left?" I asked, unsure if he knew she had been kidnapped or thought she left on her own accord.
"She no longer wanted to be here,"- He paused then sighed and whispered quietly, – "E caduto da amore." My quick mind pieced the somewhat familiar words together, and came up with "She fell out of love."
"You think she left you and Andres because she no longer loved you?" I asked with disbelief.
"There is no other explanation One night we went to sleep, the next morning her and all her belongings were gone. I never heard a single noise during the night, either." His face was tortured.
"You are sadly mistaken, David. I can't tell you so many things, and for that I am very, very sorry. But you must know as much of the truth as possible.. I met Sasha a while after you lost her. I can't tell you exactly where we were, but just know that she was forced there and hated it. She, well we, were miserable. We were all turned into monsters, yet she was one of the few that was able to keep hold of her humanity, so sweet yet brave and fierce in the best ways. Sasha became my best friend, and saved me from losing my sanity many times. She talked of you and Andres often, missed you both terribly, and loved you both deeply. We tried to escape, but it was useless. She was...killed several years after her arrival. Her last words were "I love you David," My whole body quaked with tremors of despair.
"She...still..loved us?" He asked incredulously. I nodded, making an attempt at a small, sad smile. His head fell into the cradle of his hands and he sobbed. My newly aroused human instincts rushed forward, and I wrapped my arms around him. He immediatley flinched out of my kind embrace.
"What are you?" He asked in a disgusted tone, looking with revolt at my cold, granite arms.
I simply smiled at him.
"You will figure it out someday." I said vaguely, then stood gracefully and sauntered off. He called after me, and I heard his footsteps thud against the asphalt as he ran to catch up.
Dragon awaited me in a shady forest about eighty feet away. David wouldn't be able to see him, but I could make out his features perfectly. His eyes flashed up to the sky and back to my face, a warning. I glanced up too, and saw the gray clouds beginning to part. Soon, the sun would slide out, and my skin would become a diamond.
I hurried my pace, leaving David far behind. I made it into the forest just moments before light broke onto the land.
David had abandoned the market, still in search of me. His weak human eyes wouldn't be able to see even a foot into the dark foliage.
Overhead, a small breakage in the leaves allowed a bit of light to pour through. It hit me head-on, crystalizing my upper-torso. Dragon and I were ignited in a sea of sparkles for a moment, until I sent us flying backwards at a speed a million times faster than humans.
David had seen though.
His eyes widened, and he began heading towards us.
Just as we were about to flee, Addolorata, with Andres by her side, yelled, "David! What on earth are you doing down there?"
David shook his head, rubbed his eyes, squinted into the darkness for one more second, then turned around and headed up, giving her some lame excuse for his odd behavior.
Dragon looked at me weirdly, but asked no questions.
I shivered, thinking of the split second I had almost taken Andres's mortality. Sasha would never have forgiven me for damning her pride and joy to the same fate as her.
Other than that though, I felt good.. I know Sasha would have wanted David to know as much of the truth as possible. And there is no way she would want Andres to grow up thinking his mother had abandoned him for her own selfish reasons. Now he would know she died a brave savior.