Disclaimer: I do not own the twilight characters, they belong to Steph Meyer!

A/N: Yeah…it's been a while since I last updated, and this is a short post, but it felt like the best place to end it. I already have Bella's next post ready to go, but I'm not sure if there will be a Leah or Edward one in between. Thanks for the many reviews and to all my readers. Sorry that school has made my updates slower, I'll try to do better.

Chapter 26 Friends of Old

Demetri POV

My nerves were shot. I'd just watched the love of my existence take off for the Carpathian Mountains and I knew that Virat would be making his grand appearance at some point today. Letting Leah go had to be the single hardest thing I'd ever done in all my many years. I could feel her departure in my heart, in my very soul. Until this morning I did not even believe that I possessed a soul, but now that it had been ripped from me so violently and was now soaring thirty-seven thousand feet in the sky, its presence was undeniable.

I'd just finished hunting. Even that brought me no joy, no relief. But, it certainly had to be done. Alyria and Kattra hunted this morning while I saw Leah off, now I wished that they were with me. Kattra was always fun to be around and when Alyria was behaving herself, she was entertaining, as well.

I turned onto our street. His scent was everywhere. Was he upstairs with the women already? I raced down the street, searching for signs of the Volturi guard along the way, but sensing nothing. Each step I took became heavier, a burden, I didn't have anywhere I needed to be. I just wanted to rest on this park bench and enjoy the foggy morning. I hunched down on the bench and couldn't find the will to even breathe. I yearned for sleep, though it would eternally be denied to me.

Several cars passed, but there wasn't a single human in the vicinity. Surely that was an odd occurrence. I couldn't be bothered to puzzle it out. I leaned my head back and let time pass me by while I listened to the cars, the birds, and a voice whispering soothingly in my head. Rest Demetri. Be still. Everything is all right. You have nothing to fear from us.

"Demetri," Virat's deeply accented, yet familiar voice called to me, though I had not the energy to reply. "It has been much too long since last we met. How goes it, friend?"

His power loosened its grip around me and some of my stamina returned. I'd been a fool to leave without Kattra by my side. She was our only protection against them. If Chelsea showed up now, I was in trouble.

I sat up straight. "Virat, what brings you to Washington?"

"All in good time, my friend, all in good time." He motioned toward the hotel. "Shall we?"

It would seem odd if I did not attack him, though I'd seen him fight many times and did not relish the thought of what he would do to me. His power had completely abated - arrogant fool. I flung myself at him with all the speed and power that I possessed and we ended in the alley between our hotel and the bank. Low snarls echoed off the walls, but still he refrained from using his power against me.

"Do not be a fool, Demetri. You cannot best me. Even without my powers, you have not the strength or battle skills to compete with me," he declared in a hard voice that nearly cut across my skin.

"You will not drag me back to the Volturi, Virat. I would rather be destroyed than to go back there," I sneered.

"So be it," he murmured and we were suddenly airborne, hands tearing at each other, jaws snapping, and venom flowing thickly in our mouths. I tore his arm off and locked my hands around his throat, my fingers embedded deeply within his flesh, as I felt his teeth tear into mine. I crashed into the dumpster at the far end of the alley. It had been mangled beyond recognition. I moved slowly, caught once again in his power. He picked up his arm and faced the opening of the alley. A human woman entered, her eyes fixed on Virat. She was suddenly in his arms, his mouth locked against her neck, her precious blood flowing into him. He released her and she crumpled onto the moist pavement, low moans issuing from her lips. He placed his severed arm back in place then sliced her wrist open; her blood flowing slowly, as he'd drained most of it. He rubbed it around his arm socket and the arm was welded back in place.

He dragged her body to the shadowy area and turned his attention back to me. All I could do was watch him leisurely, yet with complete confidence in his eyes, walk towards me. "Are you through?" He bit out angrily.

I nodded. It was all I could do. He'd blanketed me with feelings of lethargy and defeat.

"Good." He offered me a hand up with his now uninjured arm. "Shall we join the others then?" He smirked.

--

We were prisoners in our own suite, surrounded by Virat and his guards. Virat and Chelsea sat across from us with twin smiles plastered on their faces. The contrast between the two was disturbing. There was a sameness about them, despite their different appearances. Chelsea with her nearly white blond hair, pearl skin, and petit form, and Virat with his chocolate skin, bald head and a jet black goatee. He towered over all of us at six foot seven, but their eyes held the same look, their faces were schooled in the exact same expression, and their movements seemed rehearsed.

I could feel their power beating against me, but Kattra's shield held strong. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that had we not possessed a shield that we would belong to them. Chelsea's power had grown much since the first time I experienced it.

We were doing our best to be good little Volturi bitches, but it hurt my pride to do so and I bet Alyria was thinking similar thoughts. She, who was many years older than the Volturi guards, had to play the victim. Something told me that was something she was quite unaccustomed to, but she hid it well. Her face did not betray anything. She looked upon them with adoration as did Kattra. I, however, was not going to sink quite so low, I settled for indifferent. It was the best I could do.

"You will help us locate the Cullens," Virat's smooth as silk voice trailed through the room.

We nodded in unison, but remained silent. It didn't make much sense. Why had he not simply followed them instead of spying on us if the Cullens were his target?

He tilted his head slightly towards Chelsea and whispered so low and fast that I missed it, before turning his black eyes back to us; back to me, to be precise. "Do you know where they went? We went back to check on them and they had already fled."

I shrugged and shook my head. I feared that despite Kattra's help that he would know I did not speak the truth, so it seemed better to remain silent.

"Aro speaks highly of your talent and how convenient it has been for him. Let us not waste such a gift."

I stared at him questioningly for a moment.

His brows knitted together. "Your tracking powers are up to the challenge, I presume?"

"Of course."

Relief swept through him. "We have little time to accomplish our task now. Things have been set in motion, things that I could not conceive of." He smoothed his hand over his shaved head then repositioned his brown, geometric-patterned tie. He'd always preferred his three piece suits. I don't think in all the years we'd been comrades that he'd ever worn anything other than a suit. No bleak Volturi cloak for him. "Bella running off to the Volturi," he muttered more to himself than anyone else and anger flitted across his face for a brief moment, before it was swallowed up by his blank expression.

He drew himself together and pinned me with his gaze. "We have checked all the flights for Italy already. They have not gone in that direction. They have failed, once again, to react as I anticipated. Why have they not attempted to extract Bella from Volterra? Surely this Edward's love for Bella is not so weak that he can allow her to be tainted by Aro?"

"I know not why Edward does what he does," I replied, my voice betraying no feeling.

"Chelsea," Virat said. She gave him her full attention. "Take the women and help them pack. We have a flight to catch." He pointed at me. "You need to locate their trail so that we can make the appropriate arrangements."

I flung myself out of the chair, relieved to have a reason to escape his watchful eye, to hide from their power.