11. THE TIME IS NOW
Marcus explained that all the bonds between the Romanian leaders and their guards were relatively strong except for Demetri. The bonds between the couples were particularly powerful. He did not believe that Chelsea would be able to influence those ones.
Eleazar told them about the inventory he had taken of all the leaders and guards. Luckily, they found out that Beryx can only manipulate electricity, he cannot produce it. So unless there was a thunder storm, his power was quite useless. The only other piece of information was that Nadia had the ability to make others around her feel utterly depressed. It was not a very impressive power but Santiago added it to the scroll. All the others with "No Know Abilities" next to their name were confirmed to have no abilities.
As Santiago evaluated this new information he was overcome with confidence and said "Aro, the time to act is now. We have all the information that we need. The Romanians lie in our grasp, only protected by a few guards. They are on our territory and are significantly outnumbered."
Aro seemed annoyed. "No. We will stick to the plan."
Now Santiago was frustrated. "You asked me to be your General-"
"That's right! My General! In my revolution! You must learn your place and do what I say!" Aro reprimanded him.
Marcus spoke up, "He's right Santiago. Tonight is not the night for attack. We must stick to the plan." He said this more for his own benefit than anything else. He had promised Didyme that they would leave Volterra before things became dangerous.
Santiago submitted to their will even though he did not like it. He felt the perfect opportunity slipping through his fingertips and he did not understand the reason behind it. So as not to be too obvious, the men entered the ball room again one at a time waiting several minutes between them. Aro was the first to reappear. He saw his sister Didyme against a wall and went over to join her.
"Hello sister. You look lovely tonight," he complemented her.
"Thank you, Aro," she answered politely.
"I suppose this is the end of our journey together then?"
Didyme looked at him with a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"Well," Aro continued, "Marcus has served his purpose. He obtained all the information I asked him to so you both are free to leave now."
A large smile broke across Didyme's face. "Thank you Aro! For everything!"
She was about to take off to go find Marcus but Aro held onto her wrist. "Not so fast, sister! Here, he wanted me to give you this." Aro handed her a small folded note. In her fiancé's handwriting she read:
My Sweet Didyme,
The time has come for us to begin our journey together. Find our stream and follow it until it leads you to the river. I will have a boat ready for us.
I love you always,
Marcus
She carefully folded the note again and kissed her brother goodbye. "I love you Aro."
He smiled at her. "I love you too."
She took off running into the direction of the clearing. She wondered why he hadn't just waited for her. She ran through the starlit trees with so much excitement. The moon was full tonight so the path in front of her was well lit. She would miss Athenodora and the others and imagined inviting them to the wedding when the war was over. It would be a time for celebration. The stream grew wider and wider until she finally found the mouth of it flowing into a large river. There were poles coming out of the water with small boats tied to them but she did not see her Marcus. Nevertheless, she was not alone.
A vampire stood waiting for her. His long dark hair flowed in the breeze. It was Demetri. He looked at her with stern conviction and menacingly walked over to her. She began to back up but he caught her by the wrist first. He forced her to the ground and bared his glistening white teeth. Didyme screamed and struggled but he was too strong.
As he tossed back his head and readied himself to give the death dealing blow, Didyme defended herself the only way she knew how. She pushed her peaceful aura of happiness out from her and into her attacker. She put out the emotions of pleading for her life and the overpowering love she felt for Marcus. Demetri was surprised by the surge of emotions that now filled him. He looked at his victim and was horrified by the thought of hurting her. He couldn't go through with it and released her.
When she stood up she asked "Why are you doing this?"
A familiar voice from behind her answered the question. "Because I told him to." Didyme spun around to find Aro standing a few feet away. "You see, unlike you, Demetri does as he is told." He looked at Demetri with disappointment. "Well almost. You brought this on yourself, you know. I gave you life, I made you a god, and this is how you decide to repay me? To take away one of my only true allies?"
"Aro," Didyme breathed the name with such sadness. She now realized that the note was not from Marcus and that he would never come to find her here. She could now see her brother for the monster that he was. "Please," she begged. Aro almost thought he saw tears in her eyes.
Without another word Aro walked over to his sister and tried to grab her by the throat but she quickly dodged out of his way. With her newborn speed, she was faster than he was. Her eyes darted toward the stream that could lead her back to the castle but she knew that Aro and Demetri could follow her scent and with two against one they could cut her off and trap her. In the flash of an instant she made the decision to dive into the wide river where the water would cut off her trail. Aro tried to follow after her but she was a much faster swimmer as well.
She moved her limbs swiftly through the current and stayed low to the bottom of the river. Without the need to breathe, she easily avoided the surface. The river was dark in the night but she still found her way without difficulty. Each time she glanced over her shoulder at Aro he became smaller and smaller as she put more distance between them until finally she could see him no more. Not wanting to risk anything, she continued to swim well below the surface until she found several forks in the water way and randomly chose different ones to follow. When she finally felt safe again she climbed out of the water and walked up to the shore. She sat at the river's edge and tried to figure out how she could go back for Marcus without being intercepted by Aro or any of his henchmen. But before she could come up with a plan, her thoughts were interrupted.
"Found you." It was Demetri's smooth voice.
She whipped around to see him completely dry, standing above her. A second later Aro stood beside him, sopping wet.
"Did you think you could run from me, sister?" Aro asked harshly, hatred still burning in his eyes. "Demetri is a talented tracker. He doesn't need a person's scent in order to find them. Don't you see, Didyme? You can never hide from me. There is no where on this earth where you could possibly be safe from me."
Didyme sprung to her feet again but the two of them tackled her down. She clawed and bit at them, trying desperately to fight for her life. All she could think about was Marcus and how he might never know what had become of his bride-to-be. Would he think that she had abandoned him? Left with out him? The thought tore at her heart.
Her eyes widened and she screamed out in agony as Aro ripped off one her arms. She tried to push out her aura of happiness again but there was so much hate in Aro, he seemed almost immune. Demetri stumbled backwards as her aura hit him but Aro continued to rip her apart. He bit into her throat and tore out a chunk of flesh. As Aro continued to dismantle her body, Demetri, trying to be useful, started a small fire nearby. Piece by piece, Aro threw Didyme into the flames and let them turn her into ash. Through the pain and the flames, all she could think about was Marcus.
