Chapter Nineteen

The streets were scarce of any life, though with Zondrea's hearing, she could easily identify the sounds of Italian accents and laughter practically dripping from the walls of the buildings surrounding her.

Being back in Italy was like coming there for the first time all over again. Everything felt somewhat familiar, but new, all at the same time.

She scanned the area around her, taking in the highly set moon, the pebbled stone ground beneath her feet, the street lights dazzling from ahead of the alleyway she was currently standing in.

She hadn't exactly made up her mind. Zondrea wasn't sure how to approach them. Did she simply walk in like she was never gone or did she simply wait for her presence to be noticed? One thing she was sure of, though, : Caius was aware of everything.

Her powers were strong, but they weren't strong enough to confuse the mind for eternity. It was a good thing to use for an 'in the moment' situation, but it had been almost two months and Caius was strong, he would have realized what she had done by now.

"Zondrea Daae, thought we'd never see your face again." A voice whispered from behind her.

She decided in that exact moment that she had to pretend. She had to pretend that she away somewhere else. She had to be the vicious and loathing vampire the Volturi had all come to known. She couldn't be this soft and loving person that the Cullen's had changed her into.

So, she turned around slowly, already have that signature smirk of hers in place. "Demetri, I almost forget about those lovely tracking abilities of yours." Zondrea spoke, making sure her eyes were relaxed and that she held her head high.

The other vampire scoffed slightly, arms crossed tightly over his cloaked chest. "Well, maybe if you hadn't disappeared then you wouldn't have forgotten." There was a slight bitter tone underneath his casual words.

"I'm back now, am I not?" She grinned, walking towards him slowly and tilting her head to the side in innocence.

"Aro would love to see you." Demetri quickly suggested, obviously trying to get the upperhand.

But, Zondrea played along. "Oh, would he? Oh, how I've missed him. May we go now?" She asked excitedly, trying her absolute best to seem genuine. Lucky for Zondrea, she was a brilliant actress.

Demetri seemed a bit hesitant at her obvious optimism, but gestured with his hand to follow. "Of course, Miss Daae." His tone got harsher when he spoke her name and Zondrea realized she had not only angered him, but hurt him with her absence as well.

They didn't speak as they walked the streets, always staying close to the shadows. Apparently, Demetri was in no rush to get to the Volturi, in fact, he seemed almost worried.

But, they continued on anyways, going down the sewer way, each of them jumping down, Zondrea going first and Demetri second.

She still wasn't sure what would happen to her. Caius could have easily told everyone of what she had done and she would be sure to have a death sentence. But, if he hadn't, Aro would never have her killed. She was too valuable.

So, as Demetri led the way to the throne room, Zondrea hurriedly thought of different stories and scenarios that she could use in her defensive.

But, her mind kept blanking and sending her back to the other side of the world, back to Forks.

She knew Emmett would be wondering where she was, and she knew he would be hurting. But, he had Rose, she constantly had to remind herself and flinched internally every single time she thought that.

Demetri opened the huge doors for her and she stepped in.

The room was exactly the same as she had remembered it. The three chairs were still sitting in their exact positions, a blood red cloth was draped over the table and the moonlight filtered in through the glass windows.

But, it was different this time because she was met by the gaze of five hostile vampires.

Jane, Alex, Aro, Marcus, and Caius' eyes all turned to her, all of their eyes varying from ruby red to dull black. But, they all matched in the way they looked at her, all of them curious and all of them angered.

Aro was the first one to regain his composure, putting on a smile, somewhat fake, but still a smile. "Zondrea," He spoke, voice filled with delight.

She nodded at him, still putting on the presence of someone who hadn't broken their law and manipulated one of the leaders minds. "Aro," Her voice was soft and she filled it with the gratitude she always used with the man.

"Jane, Alec, Demetri," He quickly addressed all of them, signaling for them to be dismissed by quickly nodding at the door.

Zondrea felt relief immediately because they didn't know. If they were letting their 'guards' leave meant that they didn't have any plans on killing her.

Her eyes flickered to meet Caius', but his held back any emotion, although they did slightly narrow when they met hers.

The other three left quietly and quickly, Jane stealing a glance at Zondrea, so she could shoot her a deathly glare. Zondrea shrugged it off, though, Jane had never liked her.

Once the door was closed, Aro gestured for Zondrea to step forward and she did, smirking the whole time like she was thrilled to be back.

"Zondrea," Aro started again, his eyes a deep burgundy, it must've been weeks since he fed. "I suppose I should start by questioning why you left us." His eyes were now patient and waiting, yet apprehensive at the same time. "I'm assuming you were doing something useful, hmm?" He pushed.

"Yes, of course, Aro. Do I seem like the type of person to go off without reason?" She answered with a slight raise to her eyebrows.

"Of course not," He chuckled, but the room was still full of tense air. "Though, I am curious to know exactly where you went." He then held out his hand expectantly.

Zondrea's whole mind blanked for a moment. She had completely forgotten about Aro's ability. It wasn't something he used often and he'd only used it once with her, so it was easy to forget.

'Manipulate your own mind.'

She didn't know if it would work, but she didn't hesitate to do so, quickly imaging a wire doubling over and attaching itself back to her mind. She thought of a scenario quickly, wiping away the Cullen's existence for the moment and replacing it with her traveling to Brighton to see her families graves and discovering one of her great-great-great nephews to be a vampire like her. She pictured the nephew looking exactly like the boy she had come across in Forks.

To be a bit dramatic, she added herself murdering the boy for unknown reasons.

The whole process hardly took up a second and as she reached out her hand to Aro, she kept the wire attached, hoping with every fiber of her being that it worked.

Aro's ability only took a moment and she watched his facial expressions carefully, making sure he hadn't seen anything he wasn't supposed to.

"My dear, Zondrea," He let go of her hand and she released the wire as well, letting all her original memories flood safely back into her own mind.

"Why murder the boy, though?" Aro questioned curiously, frowning slightly, but his eyes said he was more excited than mournful.

Zondrea easily smirked mischievously, "Just to be spiteful. I had always hated my brother and I thought it to be right to kill his kin."

Aro seemed pleased with this answer, nodding his head in delight. "I hope he wasn't as special as you, because that'd be a waste." He warned, but chuckled.

Zondrea smile was easy now, "Of course not, the child was as useless as any dead soul."

"Right, well, Marcus, Caius," Aro addressed his 'brothers' and Zondrea finally let her eyes flicker back to Caius', but he was still passive, looking at Aro. "I would assume we are in agreement with letting Miss Daae in without issue?" He said it like a question.

Marcus nodded, seeming emotionless as he always did, and Caius smiled lightly, saying "Of course,"

Caius' voice held an edge to it though, and Zondrea found herself looking back towards him, trying to keep her eyes from narrowing when she noticed the evil glint in his eyes as he looked at her now.

"Zondrea, you are free to go." Aro smiled friendly now.

She snapped out of her haze and nodded at Aro before dismissing herself, walking right back out of the room like nothing had happened.

It wasn't until she was out of there that she noticed her throat felt like it was on fire. The burning was seeming to worsen with each passing second. She hadn't been this underfed since before she had gone to the Cullen's.

"Need to feed?" A voice like silk questioned and she didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

"Thank you, Caius, for your concern, but I'm fine, thank you." She knew her voice wasn't as confident as it had been before and it was tight from the burning.

"You don't look fine, Zondrea. Join me." It wasn't a question and Zondrea knew not to argue anymore.

She followed Caius back to the outside world, making sure to keep at least a foot of distance between the two of them.

The outside hadn't changed at all, still dark and still. But, Zondrea could only pay attention to the figure walking slightly ahead of her as she followed silently, patiently waiting for the punch line.

And it came soon enough.

When they were a good mile away from the Volturi's palace is when he whipped around and grabbed Zondrea by her arm, pushing it into the stone building beside them.

"I know everything." He spoke slowly, making each syllable count. His teeth were bared as he pushed his body against hers, holding it tightly against the wall. "I know about your little adventure across the ocean and to the lovely Cullen's territory." Zondrea could feel her eyes widening.

"But, how-"

"Silence," He growled, "They may have tried to turn you into some loving and compassionate being," He spat the words out like they tasted bad in his mouth. "But, you do not fool me. I know you would never stay like that forever. Your whole existence is blood hungry, and not just to quench your thirst. I've seen you hunt before and you will do it just for the thrill of knowing you can." Each word was like a stab in the gut.

"So, here is my deal to you, Zondrea Daae. You are to never leave here again, not even outside the city walls. You will never be in contact with that coven ever again. And you will never use that little power of yours to crawl inside my mind again. Understood?" He finally finished, glaring down at her with blackened eyes.

"Or else what?" She decided to ask, but immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"Or else I will tear that family apart, piece by piece." He smirked, knowing that this is what would hurt her the most. "Now am I clear?" He asked again and she only nodded numbly, avoiding his gaze.

"Wonderful," And then his weight was gone, but his hand still held tightly to her forearm. "Now, come along, I believe we have some hunting to do."

(A/N : I am so so so sorry it took me this long to update. I've been so busy with this new semester starting and school work and job interviews and blah blah blah. But, I'll hopefully update tomorrow. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and leave me a review!)