16. MYTH
Corin felt the ground beneath his running feet get harder as it became more frozen the further north they went. Eleazar and Carmen had originally planned to take the carriage across Europe and into the furthermost eastern part of Russia but Corin insisted that they run instead, it would be faster this way. The sooner they got to Denali, the sooner Corin could finish his assignment and return to Volterra, return to Abby.
The need to hurry was a new feeling for Corin. If Corin ever had anything on his hands, it was time. He always had all the time in the world. But not with Abby, she was mortal and every second that passed in her life could never be retrieved again. Corin saw it now that he was separated from her; he saw how foolish he had been. He should have told her how he felt about her when he had the chance but he just thought that he had all the time in the world for that. He thought that there was no rush because nothing in his life prior to this needed to be rushed.
When they reached the small town of Provideniya, Russia that was located on the coast of the Bering Sea, Corin felt a thrill of excitement. They were almost there. Eleazar and Carmen followed his lead as he dove into the icy waters. Demetri and Felix had been this way before when they tracked Sasha and her immortal child. Demetri had given Corin the directions to Denali.
When they reached the opposite shore, they began running southward. All in all, the journey only took them a few days but it still wasn't fast enough for Corin. Finally the majestic mountain, that the Athabaskan's called Denali, loomed in front of them. From there, Corin was able to pick up the scent of the three female vampires who had created the legends of the succubus.
The Denali coven also picked up the breeze that carried their scent up the mountain so when the cabin came into view for the Volturi members, the three sisters were already on full alert ready to meet them outside.
The girls were in crouched positions, ready to spring if necessary. The last time they had come across the Volturi, their mother had been killed so it was not unreasonable for them to be upset.
Eleazar put his hands in the air as if surrendering. "Ladies, we mean you no harm. We only ask that you hear us out."
"What law have we broken now?" Kate spit out the words. "Is it now a crime to feed on animals?"
Carmen's face lit up with hope when she heard what Kate said. "You can survive on the blood of beasts?"
The question caught Tanya off guard. "Yes, why do you care?"
Eleazar spoke again. "My mate and I have left the Volturi. Carmen here does not enjoy the regular diet of vampires so we have come to you to seek out alternatives. We heard word that you had discovered another way to survive."
Tanya nodded hesitantly. "Yes, we have. What about Corin? Why is he here?"
Kate hissed in his direction. Their last encounter had not been so friendly. He had bitten Kate to paralyze her to keep her from shocking the Volturi when they killed Sasha. "Yes Corin, why are you here? Did you want to go for another round?" She clenched and unclenched her fists, letting the voltage pump in her hands.
"I don't want to start any trouble. Aro commanded me to come and observe your lifestyle so that I can return and report my findings. I promise to stay out of your way." Corin was sincere.
Tanya and her sisters quietly conversed with each other before they made their decision. Then Tanya turned back to them and said "Fine, you can stay here with us for now. If any of you do anything that we don't like then you're out. That includes killing any of the natives down below. All of you will strictly live on a vegetarian diet."
Eleazar and Carmen smiled but Corin cringed. He had no desire to change his eating habits but agreed to the terms to get the process moving along. The Denali's invited them into their cabin.
"Excuse me, but do you have some paper and ink?" Corin asked.
"I thought you weren't going to be any trouble?" Kate said sarcastically.
"Never mind my sister." Tanya said. She reached into a drawer and pulled out the supplies that Corin asked for. "Here you go."
Corin graciously took the supplies and leaned over their kitchen counter to start writing. Eleazar, Carmen, and the others settled into the living room and began to discuss the new diet. Corin should have been listening and taking notes but instead he wrote a letter to Abby.
Dear Abby,
It has only been days since I left you but even this short time has been too long. I miss your smile and your bright blue eyes. I miss the way you make me feel warm whenever you're around. I miss your friendship. I miss you.
I should have told you this before I left but perhaps I was too much of a coward so now I have to tell you in a letter. Abby, from the first time I saw you in the general store in Salem- I knew that there was something special about you. I knew that I wanted to know you better. I tried to fight it at first. Who ever heard of a vampire having feelings for a mortal? But you were so sad, after all the things that you had been through and yet you remained strong for the twins. I have never met anyone as courageous as you. It's inspiring.
What I'm trying to say is that I really have strong feelings for you, more than just a friend. I think about you all the time, even when I'm not with you. I care for you more than you can know. I hope you feel the same. I know I've given you a lot to consider so hopefully when I return you'll have made a decision. I truly do care for you Abby and I count the seconds until we are reunited.
Love Always,
Corin
Corin folded the letter and slid it into an envelope. There was obviously no mail service from here but he committed to swim back to Provideniya to have a messenger bring the letter the rest of the way back to Volterra. Finally, he would let Abby know how he felt about her before it was too late.
Every day for the last seven days since Corin left, Adam had met Abby in the Piazza dei Priori when she came to buy her food. Their exchanges had remained brief because Abby always felt like it was her duty to remain at the castle with the twins even though she rarely got to see them.
"Please, just eat lunch with me out here." Adam requested.
Abby looked over her shoulder towards the castle from the town square. Then sighed, "Okay, but not for too long."
Adam smiled brightly as the excitement shone on his face. "Great! Follow me!" He pulled Abby by the hand and led her to the great fountain in the middle of the town square. "Have a seat."
They settled onto the edge of the fountain while facing each other. Adam began to pull food out of a bag. He had already planned this out before Abby showed up. He brought out a baguette of bread and a few bowls of different kinds of pasta.
"What is all of this?" Abby asked in surprise.
"Well you can't just eat apples you know. You've got to eat Italian food when you're in Italy." He smiled at her. He broke off a piece of the bread and handed it to her along with a bowl of pasta.
Abby took a bite of the noodles and sauce. "Wow- this is delicious!"
Adam smiled in satisfaction. "I knew you'd like it."
As they continued to eat, Abby started up some conversation. "So you are from England, but what brings you here to Italy?"
Adam shrugged. "I like to travel."
Abby eyed him suspiciously. "No, there's got to be more to it than that."
Adam laughed. "Well, I own my own import/export company. I have a few ships that travel the world and they bring goods from one place to another."
Abby was astonished. "But you're so young! Did you inherit this business from your family?"
Adam shook his head no. "Absolutely not. I've been on my own since I was fourteen. I started by working on a ship being just a hired hand. I had to clean and cook. It wasn't the prettiest job but I got to see a lot of the world. I worked my way up to captain and became very close to the man who owned the ship. I was his favorite employee. He had no family and treated me like a son. When he became ill and was on his deathbed, he signed everything over to me. I took what he gave me and managed to make more of it. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time."
"No, that's not it at all. Adam, you were the best employee, you earned his trust and his love. You deserve this." Abby smiled at him and marveled at how different he was from Jeffrey back home- the boy who would work in a general store all the days of his life and never give it a second thought.
Adam blushed. "Well, I do have a small confession to make."
"What?" Abby asked.
"My stay in Italy was supposed to be very brief. In fact I was supposed to leave on one of the ships to sail for Asia two days ago."
Abby didn't understand. "Why didn't you go?"
Adam smiled and looked down at the bread he was tearing to pieces in his hands. "Because I met you."
Now it was Abby's turn to blush. Her mouth fell open. "I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted you to know." He looked up at her again with his hazel eyes. "So what do you think about the Mediterranean beaches?"
Abby noticed the change in subject. "I don't know, I've never been."
"What?" Adam acted like he'd just been insulted. "Are you insane? Believe me, I have sailed upon many shores but few are as beautiful and pristine as the Mediterranean. We have to go! Let me take you?"
Abby pulled back. "I don't know… I have my job-"
"I'll talk to them for you! I can get you out of a few days of work-"
"NO!" Abby quickly shouted.
Her response surprised Adam. "I'm sorry; I guess I just get too excited sometimes…"
"No, it isn't that. I'm the one who should be sorry. Really, it sounds lovely." She looked at Adam and it was obvious his feelings had been hurt. She wanted to go with Adam but she was also trying to protect him from the Volturi. He could never meet them. "Tell you what, I'll talk to my employer tonight and see if I can get some time off."
Adam's face quickly lit up again with the hope and enthusiasm that Abby adored about him. "That sounds great." His smile was beaming now.
After their lunch was over, Adam walked Abby back to the castle. They said their goodbyes at the door and Abby went in to sit at the mahogany counter. She was still waiting for Heidi to bring in the "catch of the day". After about an hour she finally heard people coming through the door. She looked up at them and forced a smile. She was getting better at this.
Heidi ushered in after them and guided them towards the staircase again. Again she stopped at the counter and leaned over to talk to Abby. "Not bad, not bad." She nodded. "You don't look terrified any more but could you at least try to not look so bored?"
Abby shrugged. "Sorry, but there really isn't much for me to do around here."
"Well maybe you should check out the library. You do read, don't you?" Heidi asked cynically.
"Yes." Abby defended. But before she could ask where the library was, Heidi had disappeared up the stairs.
Abby didn't know how long it would be until the next person came through the lobby. Then she realized that she didn't have to wait for them. They all had exceptional hearing; couldn't she just call out the name of a person to have them come? She decided to wait for another hour to be sure that they had finished their 'meal'.
When enough time had passed, she thought of the only person that had been somewhat nice to her. "Athenodora?"
Within a few short moments the red headed vampire was standing at the mahogany counter. "Yes Abby?"
Her instant appearance made Abby jump. "Oh. Hi. I was wondering if you could show me where the library is?"
Athenodora smiled. "Of course, follow me."
Abby did just that. She followed Athenodora up the first flight of stairs and down another long hallway that Abby had never seen before. They came to a wooden set of double doors that looked heavy but Athenodora pushed them open with ease. Once through the doors Abby saws rows and rows of shelves, all covered with books. They looked ancient but there was something beautiful about them. Abby walked up to one shelf and traced her fingers against the leather bound books.
"What language are these in?" Abby asked in amazement.
"Every language you can think of." Athenodora smiled. "I'm afraid they are not organized by language though. You'll have to do some searching to find the ones in English. Would you like me to help you?"
"No, that won't be necessary." Abby smiled. She was just so happy to have something to do. "Thank you Athenodora."
"Please, call me Athena."
"Thanks Athena." Abby smiled. "Oh, before you go- could you tell me how to go about asking Aro for some time off? I met a friend who wants to show me the Mediterranean beaches."
"You don't have to ask Aro. Go, have a good time. If anyone asks, just tell them that I gave you permission." She gave one last smile before backing out the double doors and shutting them behind her.
That was easy, Abby thought. She continued to search the shelves. She wasn't sure how they were organized but she didn't care. Finally, she came across a book with the title "Greek Mythology" written in English. She took the brown leather bound book and settled into a soft leather chair. She blew the dust off the cover and brought the pages to her nose. The smell of the aged pages was somehow comforting.
She opened the book and found a genealogy tree in the front cover listing first the titans, then the major gods, then the children of the gods. On the next few pages there were sketches of what the author thought the gods might look like. Abby paused on the drawing of Apollo, the god of the sun. He somehow reminded her of Corin. He had the same ethereal glow in the presence of the sun.
She flipped through the pages to read the stories about Apollo. The first one was about Apollo and Daphne. Daphne was a nymph and the daughter of a river god. Apollo fell madly in love with her; she was the first person he had ever loved. But Daphne did not return the feelings. He kept pursuing her, confessing his feelings for her but it only made her run away faster. He became obsessed and it frightened her. In his chase, she became exhausted and in a desperate attempt to save herself she called out to her father, the River God, to save her. Suddenly, her body was transformed into a laurel tree so that Apollo would stop pursuing her.
Abby recoiled at the story. It was so depressing and she was sure that this version of Apollo was nothing like her Corin. She flipped the page to next story about Apollo and Cassandra. Cassandra was a beautiful mortal. When Apollo met her he bestowed the gift of prophecy on her because he loved her. Cassandra promised to love him in return but she broke her promise along with his heart. As a punishment, Apollo made it so that no one would believe her visions. It became a torture for her, for what good would it do to know something terrible is coming when no one believes your warning? She was eventually killed.
Abby cringed. Apollo didn't come off as a very forgiving lover. She flipped to the next story about Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. Surely this story would be much better. Abby could see Corin as being a sort of brother to her. She really did feel a kinship with him.
In the story Artemis falls in love with a mortal named Orion. He was a handsome hunter and Artemis began to spend all her time with her lover. Apollo became very jealous since his sister no longer paid attention to him. One day he begged her to go hunting with him and she finally gave in. As they spent time together laughing and playing, Apollo spied a log a far ways off floating on the water. He challenged his sister to hit the log with her arrow and mocked her saying that she wouldn't be able to do it. She laughed at his challenge and to prove him wrong she pulled out her bow and arrow and made the shot. Suddenly, the log collapsed beneath the water. Artemis went to investigate further to find that it was no log at all but the body of her beloved Orion. Apollo had known all along and he had tricked his sister into killing him. The grief was more than Artemis could bear. He was so loved and beautiful that she couldn't let him vanish forever so she took his body and hung him in the stars for all to see, admire, and love.
Abby slapped the book shut. She didn't want to hear these depressing stories. Did the Greeks know nothing of happy endings? She suddenly felt very sleepy after all the reading and settled deeper into the leather chair. She closed her eyes and planned on only resting them for a moment but soon fell into a deep sleep, deep enough for dreaming.
She was in the courtyard again. She didn't want to be here. Not when it was dark like this. Not when it was void of life. She was running again. It always seemed like she was running. Then on the path before her she recognized the red jeweled cross. This was the second time she dreamt of it. She leaned over to pick it up. As she brought it closer to her face to inspect it, suddenly spiders crawled out from behind it onto her hands, up her arms. She screamed and threw the cross back on the ground. She turned to run away but ran into a hard frozen chest. She looked up to see the face of Caius, staring back down at her. He didn't say anything but she knew what he wanted. He was going to kill her. Abby screamed.
