Chapter Two
Zondrea went back to the Volturi later than night. It was well after she had traveled out of country and fed, and kept feeding till she couldn't feel anything else, but the excitement of the hunt. She didn't stop till she completely forgot about Caius. About everything she had ever done.
She had only returned when she realized the sun was going to rise soon and she couldn't be in public eye. That was against the law to show yourself to humans in the light of the sun. It would give away what they were. Unnatural.
She entered through the same entrance she had used numerous times, landing lightly on her feet and continuing onward at a lazed pace, in no rush.
Zondrea looked around the almost empty place, the receptionist desk was occupied by Gianna, a human. Zondrea was still confused as to why the Volturi, of all people, would hire a human as a secretary.
The stench of Gianna's blood filled the room, and she had half a mind just to kill Gianna to be rebelious and make things harder for them. But, she decided against it when she realized the human girl was looking at her.
"I hope everything was alright on your trip, Miss Daae." Gianna said in a polite tone, her eyes overly happy.
Zondrea had no incline to want to take part in small talk or tell the human anything about either of her trips. "Tell me, Gianna, what is it that you want? Working here and what not?" The girl pushed, leaning forward with her elbows on the desk.
The human girl seemed taken aback and her green eyes filled with surprise. "Well, I-I-" She tried to explain and Zondrea was in no need to rush her, she simply stared waiting for a response.
Finally, Gianna seemed to find her voice and came up with a pathetic response. "I hope to be like all of you someday, Miss Daae." She said and Zondrea narrowed her eyes.
She leaned forward even more, till her lips were hovering near the other girl's ear. She could smell and sense her fear and it caused a rush of pleasure throughout Zondrea. She felt in charge and alive.
Without hesitating, Zondrea jumped to using her power. A click from her head to Gianna's. She felt everything the other was thinking and now she could control and manipulate everything Gianna would do, say, and feel.
In a very light whisper she said, "You do not want to be like us. You hate it here. You want to go home and have a real family, and a real job, and die naturally. You wish to grow old and waste like a normal being. You will quit this job and move far, far away, overseas. You will leave tonight, without notice." She finished, seeing that the other girl's eyes were glazed over as Zondrea gave her the orders, rearranging everything Gianna had planned to do with her life.
She unclicked herself from the other girl's head and took a step back, a look of satisfaction pasted on her face. Gianna looked different, almost scared. She gave Zondrea a confused look, as if she had no clue as to why she was here.
"I must leave, I have to leave, now." Gianna spoke in her normal voice, her eyes becoming focused.
"Yes, you should probably go." Zondrea advised taking another step back, but her back collided with something hard. For a second, she didn't turn around, because she knew she was in trouble and had a very suspicious feeling about who was standing behind her.
"Causing more distress and havoc, I see." Cauis spoke, his voice full of power and control.
Zondrea kept her calm, taking a step forward and turning around to face him. She mustn't have heard him when he approached because her mind was in someone else's.
"No, only saving someone else." She said back, giving him a look of ease and calm. She could play this game, and she could play it well.
He made a tsking noise, and stepped toward her, brushing her cheekbone with his thumb. "Oh, sometimes you're so ignorant." He smiled in a suspicious sort of way and she didn't see that little glint in his eager eyes till it was too late.
With amazing speed, Caius leapt past Zondrea, over the desk, and in front of Gianna. Before Zondrea could speak up or stop him, he had his teeth on her throat, cutting off any life from the human.
It was over quickly, no more than five seconds. Caius let the dead human girl drop to the floor with a thick clunk. Zondrea didn't move, she stood still her eyes on the spot that Gianna had once been, talking in a polite and pleasing tone.
Caius casually wiped the blood from his lips, a smile playing at them. "Now, do you see that you only caused more harm than good?" He questioned and she didn't say anything, or indicate she had even heard him.
"I can see that you seem to need a guard around you at all times, hmm? We don't need more trouble at the moment, Zondrea, and you seem to be becoming a problem." He went on, looking down at her with blazing red eyes.
"That will be unnecessary." She argued, her tone blank and her eyes still looking away from him.
"Oh, I don't think so. Why don't we try and find Demetri." He didn't say it as a question, more of an order. Then again, would he really care if she tried to argue. Here, in this building, he was of higher power than her. He was guarded constantly by a Shield. Her powers were useless on him as of now.
He jumped across the desk again, landing lightly beside her and gesturing for her to walk forward. She felt the need to be stubborn, to not listen, to run away. But, of course she didn't.
Apparently, she wasn't moving fast enough for Caius because he put his hand on the small of her back, pushing her forward and turning her to the left and up a staircase. Zondrea stayed silent, still angry and frustrated with everything that had happened downstairs.
They entered a room at the end of the hallway and to their right, a big wooden door with a metal handle. It was slightly open and voices were drifting towards them in quiet whispers.
He pushed the door open more, and in the room stood Felix and Demetri. You could hardly see one without the other. Felix stood tall and bulky compared to Demetri, who was smaller and lethal looking.
Both their heads turned when they realized it was Caius who was entering the room. "Is something wrong?" Demetri asked, immediately tensing up with suspicions already running through his head.
She fought the urge to roll her eyes, everyone here was always on edge. "No, nothing that could be potentially dangerous. But, I need a favor of you." Caius spoke, his eyes directly on Demetri.
He then gestured to Zondrea, who was staring at Demetri, trying to see and place an emotion. "You do not let her out of your sight. If you must leave to feed, she goes with, but bring a Shield with you."
Demetri nodded, not questioning anything, just agreeing to do whatever Caius told him to. Zondrea bit the inside of her lip, annoyance coming over her in a wave. As Caius smiled slightly, then turned to go, but not before leaning down and dropping his voice so only she would be able to catch it.
"Behave yourself," And then he was gone, closing the wooden door behind them. Once he was far gone, she crossed the room and sat on the windowsill, the sun slightly drifting in and causing her skin to send of sparkles everywhere.
"What in the world could you have done?" Felix asked, settling down at a chair by a table desk pushed against the brick wall.
Zondrea just shrugged, not exactly wanting to talk about it. "He's just overreacting, as usual." She said with ease, pretending it didn't bother her at all.
Demetri crossed his arms, leaning against the windowsill by her. "Caius doesn't usually overreact. It doesn't really sound like him." He slightly argued.
She scoffed lightly and propped her legs up. "No, you're definitely wrong there, Demetri." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Felix nodded slightly.
"Don't you remember that time with the Cullens and the child?" He asked Demetri and he nodded.
"Of course I do, how could I have forgotten?" He asked, not expecting an answer. But, Zondrea's head shot up in confusion.
"Wait, who are the Cullens?" She asked and they both gave her a look as if she were crazy.
"You don't know who they are?" Demetri asked in an incredulous voice, his eyes wide as he looked at her in surprise.
"I've only been here for five years." She said in a defensive tone and they both nodded in understanding now.
"The Cullens are a clan of vampires. They live in the states, Washington to be exact. But, they're something wrong with all of them." Felix started to explain and then Demetri took over.
"Yes, there is something wrong with them. You see, they don't drink human blood." Zondrea gave him a weird look, confused as to what else they could possibly drink. "They drink the blood of animals. Instead of turning their eyes red, the blood they drink makes their eyes an odd, golden color." He explained, and Zondrea narrowed her eyes, trying to wrap her mind around the thought of drinking animal blood.
"We had an issue back six years ago when we thought they had created an undead child. Turns out the father was a vampire and the mother was a human when the child was created and born." This new fact caused Zondrea to become even more confused.
"The child is half human and half vampire. She should be finished growing by now. But, almost all of the Cullens are very gifted. Bella, the mother, is a shield. While the father is a mind reader. Not to mention they have one who can see the future and all of them are fairly good fighters." Demetri finished explaining. "But none of them are as good as us." He said defensively.
Zondrea absently nodded her head in false agreement. Her mind was turning with the possibilities. Vampires, vampires who didn't murder humans, only animals. Ones who wanted to be good. It sounded interesting, almost inviting.
She tuned out Demetri and Felix as they continued talking. The wheels in her head were spinning with new ideas and no one, not even Caius, could stop her.
(A/N: So, I'm really happy with the response I got with the first chapter, so I thought I'd update right away today. Remember to review and tell me what you think. Next chapter will be up either by tomorrow or Tuesday!)