Hey, another chapter!
Question: Should I start doing Alec POV? Or keep it Anna POV? Please tell me what you think :)
Please REVIEW, I want to know whether I'm writing up to your standards, how I could improve... I'm always eager to learn how to get better d^_^b.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does.
Chelsea grins at me, her red lipstick dark against her pale skin. "Hold out your hands," she instructs, the familiar underlying rasp strong in her voice. I do, nervously. I hope this snit the sort of 'hold out your hands' where she slaps my palms with a dead mackerel.. "Close you eyes," she adds. Oh dear. Well, I don't smell any mackerel, at least...
Why am I thinking about fish?
"Why?" I ask her suspiciously.
She plonks something soft into my hands, not answering. I inspect it carefully. It's a long, black cloak, with the Volturi insignia over the heart. A less extravagant, much simpler version of what Aro, Caius, and the other king who's name I can remember wear. It would feel heavy, if i was human. Designed to keep all light from penetrating. It feels like a fireman's jacket: fireproof. They really pay attention to detail here, don't they... I shake it out curiously and see that it's lined with dark red silk. I look at Chelsea uncertainly.
"Do I have to wear this all the time?" I ask. I hope not. I've kind of started to like wearing knee-length dresses. I can move in them, unlike jeans. Oh, I hope I don't have to start wearing shoes again-
"Just on Volturi business," Chelsea reassures, giving me a pat on the head. I swear she thinks I'm two years old, or something. But it's kind of nice to be babied. My parents weren't really the type. My parents... I swallow hard.
"What do I have to do on Volturi business?" I ask, looking for a way to escape my thoughts. Chelsea shrugs.
"Uphold the law," she says calmly. "Decimate rogues. Although Felix usually does the actual hand-to-hand combat. Vampires with skills like us," she winks, "usually do interrogations and the like."
"You have a skill?" I ask. She freezes.
"I...yes. I can strengthen and weaken the emotional ties between people," she rasps. I look at her, head tilted to one side, and tuck the cloak under one arm.
"So you're here to make sure I stay?" I ask doubtfully. She laughs.
"That's right, kiddo," she smiles. "Aro really doesn't want to lose you. Now," she says swiftly. "Go put that in your room and get back here as quickly as you can manage. I'm timing you."
I turn and run. Corridors flash like distant wisps of reality, and I reach my door, tripping slightly. I dump the cloak on my bed and run and hurl back into the large hall where Chelsea stands, looking at me oddly as I enter.
"You have terrible balance," she says.
"I know," I say, gritting my teeth. She tilts her head, thinking something over.
"I'll get Aro to call Dr Cullen," she says decidedly.
"How do you know he'll come?" I ask. Dr Cullen? Is he a balance specialist? Is he even a vampire?
Chelsea smiles. "One, because Aro doesn't want to make me angry -I'm very valuable, mwahahaha- and two, because I'm sure something's wrong."
"I'm hungry," I state. Chelsea laughs.
"Newborns," she sighs, shaking her head.
"He's coming," Chelsea informs me, plopping onto my bed. I've just fed, and gotten out of the shower. I'm wearing a light, blue dress with long sleeves, with a navy ribbon wound around my right wrist, for when my hair dries.
"Dr Cullen, you mean?" I ask. She nods.
"Tomorrow," she adds. "The Cullens and the Volturi are trying to patch things up between them," she says, as an afterthought.
"Did they fight?" I ask, towelling off my hair.
"Not exactly fight," she says uneasily. "But Aro let his greed get the better of him again. He isn't bad, really. He just needs to learn when to stop. He started something with the Olympic coven, around Washington- some place called...some form of cutlery, I believe. Things have been tense, but... It should be okay, at least for a while." She sounds like she's trying to convince herself, more than me.
"Well, I'm glad it's all been sorted out then," I say conversationally, throwing the towel onto the bathroom floor. I've learned that if I leave it anywhere else, it stays where I put it. If I throw my towel on the ground, I get nice new clean towels. Chelsea grins, any sign of unease erased from her features.
"The Volturi will require your presence in three days," she adds. I look curiously at her as I tie my hair up.
"Why?"
She grins. "It's a secret," she smiles. I shrug.
"So, what are you going to teach me?" I ask. Chelsea stands up off my bed and brushes herself off, throwing her long auburn hair over one shoulder.
"What can you do already- with your talent?" she asks professionally.
I sense a long day ahead.
"Anna," a stiff voice calls from the hallway. I turn to see Alec lounging against my doorframe, fingers deep in his pockets.
"What do you want?" I ask sharply.
"Your body," he counters, and smiles slightly when I glare at him. "However, a Dr Cullen is here," he adds, sounding bored.
I nod as I stride past him. "Excellent," I breathe. Maybe I won't be the only clumsy vampire around anymore! I won't trip and get stared at and laughed at!
Alec walks in front of me, leading me down an unfamiliar route. I look at the silhouette of his broad shoulders, framed perfectly by the hallway. I try to force my eyes away. And fail. I hate him, don't I? Shouldn't I be able to look away?
He stops suddenly and I walk into his back. He whips around, his hands suddenly grabbing mine and splaying them out against the wall, his face closed, his body backing my back against the hard stone of the wall. My hands tingle where he touches me. I feel the cuffs of his sleeves brush against my wrists, and the cufflinks are like shards of ice brushing delicately across my skin, making my nerves hyper-active. My face feels strangely hot.
"Why did you do that?" he hisses at me. My mind is blank for a second before I realise what he's talking about. When I was settling things with Aro about holidays...
"The little stunt about the begging, you mean?" I ask. He nods sharply, his grip tightening on me. I feel too naked and exposed to him, splayed out like this. Vulnerable.
"It was unnecessary," he says, sounding deceptively calm. A direct contradiction of the glints of anger flashing in his eyes. I try to make myself smaller.
"You walked in and looked at me in the shower," I say, my voice tiny. His expression changes then, the anger receding slightly, to be replaced with disbelief.
"You're so...innocent," he breathes, almost sounding like 'innocent' is a swear word. He smirks then, triumphantly as if he's just won something, and lets me go, stepping back. We stare at each other, eyes locked. I feel like a mouse trapped in a lion's den. It doesn't help when Alec brushes my throat with his fingertips, sending electric volts through my system.
I don't know why I don't stop him. My breathing hitches, and Alec leans forward slightly, dark eyes intense, never looking away from my face, and all I can do is gaze back, hypnotized-
"Anna?"
The moment is pulverised. I look to my left to see a man with slicked back blonde hair and classically handsome features, wearing a long white coat looking at me expectantly. He turns and looks at Alec cautiously. I can't help but stare at his yellow eyes. Is he ill? Or do yellow eyes mean he's really, really old or something...?
Alec growls with frustration for a second and gives the blonde man a strained, fake smile.
"How is your sister?" Dr Cullen asks Alec, who shrugs, casting a long look at me. He smiles slightly at my rumpled state and turns to leave.
"Innocent," he throws over his shoulder carelessly. A stab at me. I glare hotly at his retreating back. Damn it, he got me! Without even using his talent! I swear never to let that happen again. I can't believe I let him get that close without doing anything, he's such a-
I notice through my internal raging that Dr Cullen looks troubled as Alec saunters off, whistling gaily, before turning and smiling at me, all charm. But the charm doesn't feel forced, like Alec or Aro. It feels like he genuinley cares if I'm okay. Man, he must be a fantastic doctor at the complaints department- do hospitals have a complaints department? Wait, it's called a law court, isn't it...
"Chelsea informed me that you seem to be having trouble with your balance. Would you mind step inside, please?" he says, gesturing into a brightly lit room.
I nod at him and step past him into a white room, which looks exactly like a room in a hospital. Impressive. Dr Cullen sees my reaction and chuckles self-consciously.
"Aro always was extravagant," he says, almost like an apology. He motions for me to sit on the hospital bed, and I do. It even smells like hospital in here. I want to ask about his yellow eyes, but I'm not sure if it's a sore subject, or taboo, or something like that. I don't want to risk upsetting the good doctor before he figures out what's wrong with me.
My hands still burn strangely from Alec's touch. Not to self: must beat him up later when I don't feel so jellyfish-like...
Dr Cullen smiles at me professionally. "I'm Dr Cullen, as I'm sure you're aware, but please call me Carlisle."
"Anna Riddle," I reply. He carefully looks into my ears first. And pauses.
"What?" I ask.
"Well, I'll need to take an X Ray, but-" he stops. "Most unusual." He turns to me. "In what circumstances were you turned?" he asks curiously. He looks sort of disbelieving, as if my ears are growing mini elephants in them. Aro would like that- he seems to think abnormalities are blessings.
"I was attacked," I say, the words catching slightly. "Um, two vampires- they both bit me, one after the other, and it really hurt... You know about my talent, right?"
He nods, looking extremely thoughtful. "I'll take an X Ray and call you back when I have more solid a theory, alright?"
I nod, taken aback. He's really efficient, anyways. Doesn't he need to do anything else? "Thanks, uh, Carlisle."
He nods. As I get up he frowns. "Are you and Alec in a relationship? ...He seems very- possessive," his voice implies that he assumes the answer is an affirmative.
I blanch. "What? No! He's a-" I pause. "Anyway. No. No way."
Carlisle seems amused by my outburst. I stand up awkwardly. "I'll go now," I say.
Carlisle nods, still looking amused.
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