Chapter 23: The Door to Freedom
Hey y'all I am so unbelievably touched by the amount of positive feedback I received after posting my last chapter. As a long awaited treat, I wrote out a very long piece that begins to wind down the first installment of the series. You guys are the reason I kept this going, so this one if for all of you. Stop when your eyes start to hurt, please.
Warning: this chapter contains content that may trigger individuals with PTSD and Depression. Reader Discretion advised.
I dance to the beat of a different drummer - RuPaul
Helen's life was on a very strict schedule since her change. Another mechanism of Aro's doing, to try and rein in his wild, newborn daughter as he put it. She fed three times a week, always far enough away that she broke no laws but not so far that she might accidentally wander off and escape. If she wasn't feeding in the day, she joined the Wives in the sitting room or the family in the Family Room. At night she joined the entire Volturi in studying books and other works, unless something was planned. The rest of her time was spent either on her window perch trying not to lose her mind, or training her talent with Aro.
Her gifts fascinated him to no end, and he scheduled many hours in his study to try and hone her gifts before testing them out against the guard, to see how she might be of value to his cause, and not just his ornamental doll.
"Try and project it onto the apple, dear heart." He encouraged like a stereotypical domestic soccer Dad. "Visualize what it looks like, what color it might be." This week was focusing on trying to see if her talent, imperceptibility, as Aro called it could be performed on another object and by extension a guard member. They had already spent weeks seeing how long she could hold her talent and if she could reverse the process and make herself simply extra perceptible.
"If it wasn't beneath a member of the family you could be a fisher, like Heidi." He explained as a sort of errant thought, "exciting to have an extra purpose in my empire, isn't it my dear?"
The moment she managed to find a way to make herself more interesting to him, she didn't know when, but she instantly regretted it. She didn't want this, she didn't want to have something that gave him more desire to control her and keep her even closer to him.
At the same time, Helen didn't want to keep any part of her power unchecked. She chalked it up to the dancer part of her personality, she knew that talent had to be molded and cultivated properly. She believed in a healthy amount of control and precision. It was partly why she would practice in her own spare time as well, documenting every other new or consistent thing she could find.
February 11th:
- Able to hold hiding for three solid hours before spots appeared in my vision, goal for next week is three and a half.
- Almost got the aura on the apple in my session, Aro says I need to stop thinking about to much. Frankly, I think he needs to adjust the stick up his butt.
- Could have sworn I managed to hold off my thirst during feeding, as if I had the ability to ignore it because I wanted to.
Taking these notes, combined with everything else just constantly made her feel overwhelmed and disorientated. One day, several weeks later, Sulpicia came to fetch her for company and she begged her to be left alone. "I just need some space for a while," she explained while clinging to the cushion on the window perch, something she almost considered her new life force. "Please, if it's all the same I'd like to be left alone for a bit."
Sulpicia, always the gracious maternal figure, obliged without complaint. Helen knew she would pay it back later, that something would require her to demonstrate her love for both of them. But how on earth could she pass up this moment of solitude? Curling her knees into her chest, her dark blue dress chiffon blooming around her knees. The sun was in full form today, shining brightly for all who dared to grace the city of Volterra. It was nearing tour time soon, and Helen was still grateful that she was not requested to feed with the coven.
Not yet, anyway. Aro said it could easily be two years before her thirst was under enough control that she could be with other vampires and not get too territorial, not be unleashed into a frenzy. It was why he always led her to one or at least a small cluster of isolated victims, he didn't want a blood bath, but he took delight in knowing that with each passing day he was wearing down her resolve on the worth of human life.
She pressed her hand on the glass window, under the screen, the sunlight making her marble skill sparkle and shine like pure gemstones. Walking away from the perch, Helen opened the antique armoire and dug through the stacks of undergarments until she found what she was looking for, an old sweatshirt that she had insisted on keeping, the same maroon one she had worn on the journey to the Volterra. It wasn't a dress, so it hadn't been thrown out, a simple mistake.
A mistake that she was grateful to have.
Digging into the pocket of her jacket, she found the family photo she had stolen away for when she needed it next. It was her and her brothers at the 4th of July picnic. Helen looked so carefree and happy, so unaware of what her life would become. She couldn't believe how different she looked as a human, how warm and inviting and non predatory her smile had been. Her Dad took the photo on his old Polaroid, and she kept it on the clothesline photo set that hung above her old bed in St. Louis. Helen slipped on her old and worn out hoodie, unzipped and curled onto her bed with Mr. Peanut comforting her.
She couldn't cry anymore, the venom mixture that kept her eyes moist prevented anything from physically impairing her vision. She had so many things taken away by the change: eating, sleeping, crying and taking a shit.
She didn't even have the pleasure of taking a shit anymore.
Helen ran a finger over Henry's face. Henry's dumb, dopey and annoying little brat of a face that she'd give any power she might possess to see again. It was March 5, 2012; Henry was eleven years old and it was the first birthday she missed in her family, next would be Richard's in June followed by Wesley's in August.
"Happy Birthday Henry." She called out softly, welcoming the urge to disappear for a little while, but only for a little while.
The thing that brought her mind back to reality was the dull ringing of Volterra's clocktower. Eleven chimes, two hours before the tour would arrive like pigs for the slaughter. She peered out of her window and saw a multitude of red cloaks parading the town center. Giorno di San Marco as Aro had explained it, the Day of St. Marcus. It was a huge inside joke for the Volturi as the historic day that the glorious Saint Marcus, yes that Marcus, drove vampires from the city and expelled them forever. So much humor and mocking on their part, all of the human citizens wearing red to mark them as a food source for vampires, but 'safe'. It had some real history behind it, as some several hundred years ago when hunting became outlawed there had to be a massive deportation of all the non-Volturi vampires dwelling in the region. Those who dared to not take the polite request were met with the merciless response lead by Marcus, or so it had been told.
Still, the festivities looked quite pleasant and had it not been so sunny and she not aching to gorge on the buffet of desirable plasma carriers flooding the square, she would ask to join the fun like the simple little human she had once been.
Sulpicia and Athenodora did not feed with the tour either, instead having humans personally selected and brought to them like room service. Sulpicia preferred to soothe little children who had just had the trauma of watching their parents die, fulfilling whatever motherly desires Helen herself could not. Athenodora in contrast either wanted a young woman or man, someone for her to mock and toy with.
Helen, as much as she loved the taste of blood now, didn't like the idea of having someone brought to her. The only thing she liked about feeding was that it was random, that there wasn't any human waiting in anticipation, uncertain of their fate.
Not that it justified murder, but she wanted to hold on to as much of her compassion from her old life as she could, knowing full well that with each passing day she lost more and more of her humanity.
After feeding, Helen and the Wives adjourned to the Family Room. She was relaxing on the chaise lounge, the only thing covering her marble toes being sheer knee high brown stockings. It was a habit she picked up with the two other women, rarely wearing shoes. She didn't need any external protection anymore.
It wasn't long before the Volturi Brothers entered the room, Sulpicia and Athenodora thrilled to see their husbands. Helen received a kiss on the forehead as a greeting from Aro, a glance from Caius and a curt nod from Marcus. Aro's body language looked very serene, but his eyes were so tense. Bright red, weathered down eyes that were the only window to the madness in his mind.
"What troubles you, dearest?" Sulpicia asked as he wrapped himself around her. Aro sighed as he nuzzled his face into Sulpicia's hair. "We had quite an interesting day at court, my love."
"Hardly an interesting day." Caius said with gritted teeth, his own wife trying to console him with affectionate touches and love bites. "The Cullen's are finding ways to infuriate me more."
That very statement caused the Wives, and even Helen to perk up with attention. It had been almost five months since she last saw the Cullen family, and she had not forgotten the disdain they brought in the minds of the Volturi.
"What did those degenerates do now?" Athenodora replied with a snarl on her beautiful face, tense but still consoling her own husband. Aro sighed with great annoyance before replying.
"The boy Carlisle changed first, Edward Cullen, the distance mind reader." Aro's eyes had a dreamy wantedness to them, Helen perked up even more at finding out someone else had the power to tell what someone was thinking. "He came here asking for death, it seems as though his intended mate committed suicide."
"Dreadful." Sulpicia nuzzled her husbands face.
"Jumping off of a cliff, as pretentious as it sounds." Aro waved dismissively but continued. "After careful deliberation we decided it was too great a waste to end young Edward's life. He would have taken matters in his own hands to ensure his destruction, had his mate not arrived alive after all. It appears that the Cullen's have acquired something of a human pet who is aware of our existence." He rubbed his temples in frustration, as though dealing with a defiant toddler. Sulpicia continued to soothe him with affectionate touches and small love bites.
Helen, on the other side of the couch, was holding back the urge to laugh rather cruelly at his irritation. After all, she had basically been a human pet until her transformation for the members of the family to entertain themselves with. She would have started laughing, too, if it were not for the snarl that erupted from Athenodora's mouth, a murderous sneer grazing her features.
"So the plaything was dealt with?" She snapped, while Caius tried now to console her anger.
"Not in that sense, dear sister." Aro replied with a cold and slimy smile. "Isabella Swan, Bella, as Edward kept repeating to himself quite stupidly. She possesses what could the potential of a shield, I could not read her thoughts nor Jane set her ablaze and I would hate to destroy what could end up being so valuable."
The idea of Aro being fallible, even if it was just one person, comforted Helen in a way she didn't think possible. Just the idea, the sheer unabashed idea that should she ever need to truly escape this place, there was someone who could prevent even his invasive touch that existed. "It was intriguing to experience such a failure in myself." He mused rather happily, "but I do not wish to be so unprepared again. Anywho, it was not just dear Bella's gifts that prevented us from ending her existence, oh no it appears Carlisle has acquired a vampire who can see the future, Alice Cullen."
At that single statement, the entire room went painfully silent. Everyone, Helen included grew very nervous as they saw the raw look of desire, anger and jealousy fill Aro's eyes. Having a seer, it was the one thing he wanted most in this world, the one thing he absolutely would slaughter half the planet in order to get. Sulpicia's comfort was hardly working to calm down his radiating anger. Helen could tell he was experience a great mental debate in his mind, and she had no idea when it was going to end.
She remembered Alice Cullen as well, the short and almost fae like member. Their only interaction had Helen paint her as a chipper little thing, not some great and ominous seer. Nonetheless, Aro's quiet rage was enough to confirm it.
Being as brave and stupid as she was, she interjected meekly. "Then what?"
Her voice was enough to drag him out of his internal monologue and his eyes grew quite soft when they glanced her face, he sighed. "She showed me a vision of darling Bella being transformed and assured us it would happen soon. Prevented what could have been an annoying brouhaha with the guard. No, it was enough evidence for myself, Caius and Marcus to agree to let them leave at midnight."
Helen saw that Athenodora was being so obviously restrained and consoled by Caius so as not to upset an already fuming Aro. They were such children, the two of them, each believing themselves the more intelligent. Helen guessed that he saw her as a willful weed that had been forced to root in his carefully maintained garden. It was a stupid belief he held on to that vampires should sire their mates. On the other hand, Athenodora didn't like the idea of someone having power over her or at the very least Caius. Regardless of their personal feelings, Aro was the master at masking civility and Athenodora knew how to restrain herself.
'Freakin' miracle he hasn't killed someone in this family with his control issues.'
"I take it then that this is not the end for the Cullen's?" Sulpicia asked playfully, leading Aro to laugh lightly and capture her mouth with his. Helen looked around for anything she might be able to comically vomit in, cringing as hard as vampires could cringe.
"No, my dearest it is far from the end, but it will require some further attention from us." He explained sweetly. The room had finally settled down as the Wives and their husbands relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. Marcus gave Helen a bored look and she responded with a shrug, rising from her spot and over to his adjoining chair. He sped to the nearest bookcase and took out a leather bin containing various board games and a deck of cards, using a minimal amount of effort.
"Scrabble or Jenga?" She said dully, "it's your pick."
"Scrabble, and I will not tell you again that the words, 'selfie', 'freakin' or 'ratchet' do not exist regardless of your vernacular." He breathed annoyingly, remembering how she protested their last game. Helen rolled her eyes and smirked playfully as they started taking their pieces. "One day, Marcus, one day."
That day, like all other days, passed. Several more weeks went by with the excitement of Edward Cullen's visit not having the lasting effect on the Volturi that Helen was worried about. Her life continued as usual with training, feeding and being summoned to entertain Aro and Sulpicia. In fact, having such a steady routine forced her to notice little things. Like how Santiago traded off with another guard twice a day, once before feeding and another before his assigned nightly reading time at midnight. It created a two minute window for one guard to leave and another to trade off, well ninety seconds to ensure no one could hear her leaving.
That is, if she dared to escape.
At one point Helen would have waited patiently and struck as soon as she thought she was in the clear. But she knew that was a fruitless ambition, as long as she did what Aro required of her then nothing would befall her family. It was nearing midnight in mid April, the flowers were beginning to rebloom and blanket the Volturi gardens with shades of loveliness that would keep Helen slightly more content. Slipping into a plain white dress, Helen proceeded to begin getting ready for joining the core coven in their private study and was surprised when she heard a sudden knock on her door.
Aro strolled in, dressed in his elegant obsidian cloak, cheery as usual. "Hello, darling, how is your evening thus far?"
He had never done this before, so Helen gulped and politely responded. "Very pleasant, thank you." Aro continued his chipper disposition while Helen watched him rather warily.
"I must apologize, but nightly studies are cancelled due to an emergency council meeting with the whole coven. I hope you aren't too disappointed." He smiled quite serenely, as though hoping she might be upset and he would go and comfort her. In truth, she was a little disappointed. Aro and Sulpicia wouldn't move her TV into the new room so reading books, even the older ones the Volturi always insisted on reading, helped provide stimulation.
She shrugged and remained at ease. "It's okay." Aro seemed to ease up at that as well, probably wondering if she might have a newborn tantrum. "Do you need me to go to that?"
"No." He dismissed jovially but very quickly. "You've been such a good girl, so you can stay here. I'll bring you some books, later." Helen nodded and he left while adjusting his hood, his jet black hair fading into the fabric. The entire conversation seemed incredibly odd, usually Aro was one to love giving details and listen to to the sound of his own voice.
Finishing tidying up her armoire, Helen once again snuck back to the confines of her used hoodie, the smell of her family fading with each passing day. Except this time that she put it on was strange, there was a heavier weight in the right side pocket. Examining it, she found a crumpled up newspaper from the sports section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Unfolding it inside was another crumpled up note and a beautiful long gold necklace. In the center was a large blue topaz stone cut into a marquise shape and nestled on a thin gold circle. Helen found that the stone would move lightly so that it spun around the circumference of the shape.
Unfolding the note, Helen found messy chicken scratch trying to pass off as cursive.
Snuck this in today
You were gone
No time to explain
Get back to St. Louis now
Change of plans
Need to get out of Volterra city limits to work
Magic Barrier
Spin three times and think of any place
HURRY!
-R
This note, Ruby's handwriting, it unnerved her. What did she mean? What was so important that she had to leave now? Ruby had tried to convince her before, but never with this type of urgency. Was Ruby that serious? Helen couldn't tell if she actually needed her or if this was an attempt to get her to be free from Aro's thumb. If the the former was true, then she supposed she could risk Aro's wrath to help her or even possibly her own family. By why would her family be in danger? And if they were why would Helen have to be the one to come help? She was so dangerously curious, but she knew that even with her hiding abilities that Aro would notice her disappearance when he came back in a few hours. Even still, she was too worked up right now to possibly do nothing.
'Ruby, you really need to quit it with the deus ex machinas.'
Using her newly superior senses, she discovered no trace of Athenodora, Sulpicia or any of their personal guards in this wing of the castle. Glancing at the mantle clock in her room, Helen found the hands at 11:57. Her curiosity really was getting the better of her and she knew if she timed this right she could test her theory after all. She slipped on another pair of the sheer brown stockings that filled her undergarment drawer. She counted another thirty seconds and waited until she was sure Santiago had enough distance from her room. Now was her only chance, turning the knob and the resulting click filling the echoes of the hallway.
Helen quickly projected her gift and shut the door. She had exactly one minute before another guard member came for his shift. Her escape really was quite easy so far, as the guards were so used to her practicing her disappearing gift in her room that none of them grew concerned if they couldn't hear or smell her for a little while.
Like a thief in the night, Helen roamed the halls of the ancient castle, the only light emitting from the torches in the corridors. Not that it mattered, her vision was so improved now that she needed no light to see in the dark. Helen recalled Aro joking that as a human she, like all of them, had occhi di fango or mud eyes. He mentioned how one night he was copying documents in Richard's study and saw her stumbling in the kitchen looking for a light switch, a personal funny memory of his.
The thought of him being in the house and unnoticed made her shutter. How many nights did she go downstairs for a glass of water and clutch the wall looking for a light? Too many to remember and he could have been right in front of her undetected.
Helen knew that her only two options were to either go out through the garage or down to the throne room and escape through the main entrance. The garage seemed stupid as the cameras would pick up the door opening and it would be very obvious that either Helen was escaping or the Volturi had ghosts.
The latter was probably true given the amount of people who were killed here daily on basis , but not the answer they would jump to.
No, the only solution was the main entrance. The problem was that the closer Helen got to the throne room, the more guards she found. She shuffled behind several of the dark cloaks and tried staying as far back as possible. Regardless of how imperceptible she could make herself, should her gift falter she wanted some kind of buffer zone. The throne room was now filled with several large tables with the bulk of the guard encircling them, almost as if waiting for something.
Up on the dais, the three Volturi Brothers were seated on their magnificent thrones, lazily examining the guard. Helen saw Sulpicia and Athenodora seated on satin cushions that supported their knees on the right side of their respective husbands. Both kneeling with such elegance and poise as their cloaks surrounded them. Helen saw another satin cushion on Aro's left and the thought of having to partake in such a submissive position next to him in front of the guard made her want to gag.
Suddenly Aro made a small motion with his hands and the entire guard obediently and mechanically pulled out their chairs and took their seats. There was a pause as the only sound in the throne room was the echo of wooden chairs scraping the marble floor. Then there was absolute dead silence, no one coughed or made a peep. Helen was now hiding behind a pillar in the back, the large doors were so close but she would have to wait until either the room was empty or someone left in that direction before she could get through the first of many, many barriers.
"Now that we've settled down." Aro said like a stern grandfather. "This council of our coven is called to session. The first few items of our agenda consist of a few situations concerning our attention in the Northern part of America and Eastern Asia. Thomas, what intelligence have you gathered for us?" He motioned to one of the tables in the middle that comprised most of the silver crested guard. A guard appearing to be close to his fifties stood, he was actually quite tall but stocky and spoke with an crips Scottish accent.
"Master, I have conducted thorough research and spoke with many of my sources in the Americas about the recent mass attacks and disappearances of humans in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, specifically in Seattle, Washington. There have been reports as early as six months ago and have increased tremendously in the past several weeks."
"What is the current death count as of the past two weeks?" Caius asked, almost as if he knew the answer but needed reassurance.
"Seventy-five, Master Caius. It started in the tens and twenties and then increased in frequency and magnitude quite rapidly." Thomas replied obediently. Caius gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows. Aro motioned for him to sit back down
"You have confirmed my suspicions, someone is creating a newborn army." Caius' snarl caused a small but still very present concerned murmur among the seated guard. It only lasted for a moment before Aro raised his hands and made another motion.
"Now, now, dears." He said sternly as the guard lulled to a hush. "We will have silence, like little mice."
Aro then waited with a pleased look, always delighted to see the sycophantic response from his followers. "We will deal with this issue promptly before it draws too much attention to our kind. I believe there may be some reasoning behind these attacks, something that includes our dear friend Carlisle's coven. It appears that in the previous year when Edward Cullen first acquired his human pet Isabella Swan, a nomad attempted to kill her and Edward's own preventative destruction resulted in his mate becoming quite vengeful. There also must be some caution on our part, as when dear Alice Cullen was here last I saw that she appeared determined to watch my decisions in the event we decide to send a hunting party to check up on Miss Swan."
"Treasonous fools." Caius snarled while his finger encased his wife's hair, her face nuzzling him in comfort.
"Quite." Aro sighed. "We will make a decision after our council on who will be selected to carry out our task. Now, you all know that I do my very best to protect you, but there comes a time when your Master who asks for so little in return demands that you do your duty. Do you find this an unreasonable request, dears?"
"No Master." The guard's singular, united hush response made Helen feel as though her skin was crawling. "We are to do our duty."
"Do any of you feel as though you cannot stomach such a simple request?" Aro asked with a blinding grin.
"No Master." That obedient simple cry. This was the closest Helen ever wanted to feel like she was living in hive mind. "We are not afraid."
"Do we tolerate those who break our laws? The very foundations of our pleasant and peaceful way of life?" He was practically gleeful at this point. It was like watching an old stock footage film of Hitler speaking to a crowd in fascist Germany. The way the audience was so captivated and responsive to a complete and total psychopath. Peace aside, this was a part of Aro that reminded her why she was to be obedient and dutiful, for any one of them would gladly kill her or her family before he could ask twice.
"No Master, we must keep the peace."
'Maybe I should just sneak back now.' Helen thought to herself fearfully. 'Redeem myself before any real harm is done. The best thing to do when he gets upset is just apologize and look humble. Yea, I'll just head back through the opening and vampire-sprint my ass out of here.'
Aro continued with a sigh, collecting himself from his splendor. "Wonderful, that takes care of the first item of business. Caius, you now have the floor as you requested."
The blonde vampire nodded and sat up straighter in his throne, relaxed but smiling quite meanly now. "Indeed, brother. This issue has been present for some time now, and I believe we can hear final arguments before taking a voice vote. The issue in question I am referring to occurred on October twenty fourth of the previous year regarding the human family previously belonging to Lady Helen."
That entire sentence froze Helen in her tracks. Wait, what? What did Caius care about her family? Why was talking about? The arrangement with her and Aro was upheld, so her family was safe.
"On the night in question, the human family in question not only learned of our existence but humiliated the honor and respect of the Volturi with the aid of the witch Ruby White and two human girls who were previously companions to Lady Helen. I propose that the humans in question be executed despite having their memories altered."
For a moment, all Helen could see was red. The only thing that kept her from revealing herself was all of her self control and the last vestiges of her sanity that the Volturi had not claimed. The thought of sprinting towards Caius and ripping his throat out was now dangerously crossing her mind. Helen was now clutching onto the pillar, the tiniest of cracks forming in the marble.
"Interesting." Aro mused lightly, as if contemplating what color shoes to wear. "Despite the fact that these humans currently have no knowledge of our kind? Not to mention that Lady Helen and I have an agreement of sorts?"
Caius waved dismissively. "The only reason they have no memory is thanks to the witch. Should Lucius reattain his wife, he believes that all of her current wordly enchantments would fade when he strips her of her devices. That now gives us five more humans who are aware of our existence and know our location. This appears to be the best solution for tying up any possible loose ends."
Aro nodded encouragingly, almost as if he himself considered this argument. Helen was shaking with rage and worry, her wits still about her but she was on the verge of a complete meltdown. This couldn't be happening, this shouldn't be happening.
"As to your agreement to Lady Helen, I believe you no longer need a pretext to keep her as loyal and well-behaved as you have. She would have nowhere else to venture to and it isn't as if she'd find out anytime soon. Surely, given a few weeks time and you can fabricate some sort of grand story to inform the child of the human passings to comfort her with. Your workings yielded a successful result for once, we should eliminate anything that might make her problematic."
Helen looked straight at Sulpicia, waiting for her to interject something or intercede on her behalf. Nothing, she was straight faced and listening intently to Caius' words.
"Why now Caius? What great concern is this now?" Aro laced his fingers together as he waited for his brother's response.
"Simple, because it is convenient to us." Caius continued with a shrug. "We will send a hunting party to Seattle tonight and either at the beginning or end of their pilgrimage would allow them ample time to take care of the issue. Before we risked Lady Helen's knowledge and subsequent interference and now you have her on tighter leash on which information you feed her."
"You make compelling points, dear brother." Aro briefly flicked his eyes to Marcus. "However, I would prefer not to have a desolate child for all of eternity, spending her days encased in grief and sorrow."
Caius expected this and also glanced at Marcus, who exhaled with great effort before addressing the room with a raspy whisper. "Her bonds, while still existent, have changed in her time here. I do not believe that their deaths would be enough to render her as you think, but Caius is correct in that her comfort in you would help."
'Marcus, no. Please, no, no, no.'
"You share his sentiment, then?" Aro raised an eyebrow with a sly smile.
"I believe." Marcus breathed with great effort, "that now is the best time for such action to take place. I also believe that such ties being removed would only benefit Lady Helen's well-being."
"Quite." Aro paused for a moment. "I see the opportunity. My only main concern of doing this while she was human was that it might result in myself or Sulpicia find her swinging from a chandelier or some other horrible event."
Marcus continued, "I would still advise that the situation be dealt with delicately. A human with nothing left to lose is a liability, a newborn vampire in the same position is a danger."
"What excellent points you make dear brothers!" Aro said gleefully. Helen was wondering how on earth he could possibly be so fucking happy about murdering everyone she cared about. He was a coward, a dirty rotten coward who just didn't like the idea of her loving anyone else. This entire thing was a sham. He would never allow Marcus and Caius to be the voice of reason for this, but he was setting blame up in the event she found out it was their doing or if Alec mentioned something.
'You bastard! You goddamn motherfucking bastard! You promised! You betrayed me! Fucking liars all of you!' Helen felt venom start trying to prick her eyes in what should have been angry tears but nothing was emerging, if anything her vision was getting clearer. Her vampire body sensing physical stress and fixing it. She hated it, she wanted to sob like a child. She threw her life away, stayed even when she knew she could leave, she obeyed him and trusted him because she thought it would be worth it if it meant that no one died. He planned this all along, he had to. He wouldn't decide something like this on a whim, but it had been building everytime he read her mind and saw that she still loved her old family and missed her old life.
"I do believe this would be the best course of action, as well." Aro admitted unsurprisingly, no longer containing himself. "I confess my intentions to be self-serving, I have wanted to dispose of them or even bring them here every single time I have experienced ingratitude or poor behavior from Lady Helen. However, there is no room for meaningless waste in our cause."
"The little brat can be insufferable." Caius pointed out with a dark laugh.
"Indeed." Aro chuckled lightly in return, "but she is my little brat nonetheless. Mine to rear, mine to love and mine to protect. Now I must do what all parents are demanded to do from time to time, I must protect her from herself."
"There will be pain." Marcus reminded in a warning breath.
"So be it." Aro sighed, "it is in her best interests. The bargain she and I had no longer appears feasible, so it will henceforth be terminated. We shall now take a voice vote on the execution of the humans previously associated with Lady Helen."
"Yes." Caius said with a horribly sadistic smile. Gleeful at the thought of not only hurting Helen but those she loved most. Aro nodded approvingly before tilting his face in Marcus' direction. The brunette looked away into space with heavy eyes before finally sighing and nodding, almost reluctant to sentence humans to die. It didn't matter, Helen would absolutely never forgive him for this, never. She stared with such intensity hoping that maybe he would sense her anger and fear and change his mind.
"Yes." He said with great effort. How dare he tell her he once felt sorry for what she was dealing with, how dare he make her think that she could trust him or even remotely care for him. Any sympathy she had for him, the only gentle brother, was gone completely.
'What fucking shit did he do that made you betray me, Marcus? What hold does he have on you? Doesn't matter, the three of you and your wives are going to burn in motherfucking Hell for this.'
"Yes." Aro said with intoxicated happiness, ephoric from his power. "How splendid that we all agree, after a decision is made on who will comprise the fold we will Now, unto the next order of business..."
He droned on, his voice being overshadowed by her own radiating anger and sorrow consuming her like a virus. She wanted to stop feeling, to make the earth around her disappear. Her vision became bright white, almost as if she was sending herself away from this place. She perceived nothing other than her own pain, everything else fading to white for as long as she wished it so. The world before her no longer existed, whoever had been talking was now drained into the white noise of her own misery. She had never felt more like a scared little girl, so helpless and useless. She would have no one but these monsters, the same as the very monster she was becoming...
The last piece of Helen Hendricks, something she thought had been snuffed out by Aro's doing, appeared before her in her hallucination. She clearly was finally going insane, as the once human girl appeared before her now and narrowed her baby blue eyes.
"You disgust me." She snarled in the old imperfect roughness of her voice. "All of this power and strength and you're going to sit here sobbing like a fucking baby while he butchers them."
"What can I do?" she responded back. "He has all of the power in the world and I can't even make it through the doors."
"You're so pathetic, I don't even know who you are." Human-Helen responded, her voice breaking up with pain but still angry. "You kept your fucking promise and now he's decided it doesn't matter. You should be raising all kinds of Hell for this."
"And what would that solve?" She called softly back, "this isn't fair. I behaved and did as I was told and now everyone's going to die. I'm not strong enough to go against him."
"Helen Hendricks was and Aro knew that." the human responded with frustration, "he killed her and you let him. The real Helen Hendricks wouldn't stand for this shit, wouldn't sit quietly like some damsel-in-distress-girl-in-the-tower bullshit. He broke you into a million pieces and put you back together how he saw fit. You breathed this toxic Volterra air for six months, drank the kool-aid and now look at yourself. No, you aren't half Helen Hendricks, not now at least."
Helen buried her face in her hands, trembling. "I don't want them to die!"
Human-Helen snapped her fingers rather annoyingly towards her vampire counterpart. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Then do something about it! You have what you need to get out of Italy, you just need an exit. Stop being a fucking coward and grow a damn pair. You want to help them? Then you keep your fucking shit together, you fight! You do what you came here always prepared to do until they got their hooks in."
"I have to get out without being caught." Helen stood up in her hallucination, rather wobbly and faced her old counterpart at eye level. "It won't be easy."
"No shit." Human-Helen snorted but smiled knowingly, "but there are things you found here that may help you."
"Hey, just asking but did I finally go bat-shit?" She asked more naively than she meant to, "or is this actually happening?"
The human she projected in her mind rolled her eyes and shrugged. "You probably have lost your freaking mind, I dunno, doesn't mean this isn't actually happening. You perceived an image of your human self because you think you needed me, but I ain't no therapist, hon."
The white noise was beginning to fade and things were becoming less bright, her vampire senses were returning and whatever she had been hallucinating had been fading. The guard nor the brothers took sight of her, something she was exceptionally grateful for. She had most likely actually lost her mind just a moment ago, but she was still safely hidden by her gift. She would wonder why at a later time.
With renewed vigor, Helen slowly stood up from behind the marble pillar, sprouting up like a proper weed in this poisonous garden. "Get up, get your crazy ass up.' She had power inside her, a vestige of her spirit that Aro did not break. The tools that Ruby would given her would help her, but she finally realized why she hadn't ever really been able to leave. She had to save herself, she couldn't wait any longer for someone else to do it for her. She was done waiting around and being lead like an infant or a pet of some sorts, Helen Hendricks was starting to come back and take control of her life.
She belonged to no one, least of all Aro.
Right, she couldn't wait for a vampire or human to come through the main doors. By the time she'd leave the vampires sent to kill her family would already be there and Aro would probably go back to her room as soon as this meeting adjourned.
"...I believe that another raid and help from our dear friends Makoto and Katsuya would wipe out the last vestiges of the werewolf situation that has appeared in the Kanto region." Aro's feathery oration filled her ears and made her want to vomit. She was resisting every newborn urge to just start slaughtering the entire Volturi, no matter how appealing it felt. She would have to go through the stairwell from behind the dais and find either a window or some room not currently being guarded by the leccapiedi. All of the other doors were shut and they would notice any sounds emitted from the beautiful but squeaky ancient doors. The closer she got to Aro, Caius and Marcus the redder her vision seemed to get.
It would be so easy to jump one of them right now, they'd never suspect it. Briefly, she thought about slapping Athenodora or kicking Sulpicia off of her pedestal of a cushion. It would be so satisfying to watch Aro be humiliated in front of the entire guard, or even killed. 'No, no. Keep your shit together and your priorities squared Miss Nellie, or you'll never make it out of here.'
If she had a heartbeat, it would be pounding in her ears right now. The stairwell would take her up one level and then she could try using the balcony of her old room or potentially finding another exit. The lower faction of the guard would be patrolling the garden to a certain extent, but if they caught even a whiff of movement they would raise the alarm. Helen found an open door that started taking her to the kitchens area and her nose twitched when she caught the tempting aroma of blood.
'That smells delicious...I could go for a midnight snack...just a small taste.' Her mouth flooded with venom again and she almost let her instincts take over and proceed with hunting the unsuspecting morsel, but with the slightest bit of luck she caught herself. She needed to get out of here now before the burning in her throat became too much. Holding her breath and covering her mouth she kept going until she saw a familiar face in the kitchen.
Gracie MacClare, the girl who did the linens. Helen knew she could possibly ask her for help but also knew that if she let her blinders down then she might alert vampires to where she was. Letting only Gracie see her would be difficult and made it harder to focus on so many things but she had to give it a shot. "Gracie." She choked out in a perfect cry.
The blonde girl dropped one of the plates she was washing when she heard her name, and turned quite pale when she turned and saw newborn Helen. Her heart was up to seventy eight beats per minute and she smelled adrenaline flood her body. "I'm not going to hurt you, or at least I'll try not to. I need you to help me get out of here."
"Help you?!" Gracie replied in a harsh whisper, "are you mad? They would kill me if they knew I had this conversation with you! The last time I interacted with you I was given five licks on my right hand. Look, I'm sorry that Master Aro is hard to deal with, but you came with voluntarily and that's that."
"No I didn't." Helen said with a darker tone than she meant to, her thirst stinging her throat with increasing fervor. "I didn't choose this. He lied to you and the staff because he wanted to isolate me and depend on him. He threatened to kill my family if I didn't go with him and now he's decided to kill them anyway."
Gracie's eyes grew wide and she shook slightly. "A-Are you sure? Blimey, I'm sorry. Really, I'm sorry, I didn't know that part of the story."
"It's okay." Helen said with an exasperated smile. "Don't be sorry, please don't be sorry just help me." Gracie froze for a second when Helen started clutching her throat in pain. She adjusted her glasses and exhaled, pondering exactly what to do or what to say. Helen knew she was asking so much of someone she had barely interacted with, so if she said no she wouldn't be too angry.
"You appeared before me out of nowhere like you could make yourself disappear and come back?" Gracie asked with solemn eyes.
"It's my gift, I can change how others perceive me." Helen felt the flames poke her once more and was becoming increasingly aware of how much Gracie's carotid was pulsing in her neck, like a gentle and welcoming call.
"I have to take the trash out tonight." Gracie said while tilting her head in the direction of a large trash bin, while the bags were sealed and not leaking the rotting garbage smell made her nose recoil in disgust. One of the main downsides of having super smell. "We take it out several times a day because of cleanliness rules set by the Masters. I'm only allowed one minute to throw the bags in the dumpster before they lock the door again." Gracie gave her a knowing look before walking over and starting to leave while rolling the tin along. Helen smiled with such happiness and gratitude while quickly trailing after her and whispering thank-you before she made herself disappear.
"Just doing my job." Gracie mumbled with a simple shrug but glint in her eyes. Helen could tell she was trying to remain calm because several of the lowest ranking guard members were roaming the halls. They all looked quite unkempt in appearance and annoyed at having to patrol the human areas of the castle. A few of them eyed Gracie darkly and Helen formulated a mini plan to grab her and run if one of them did something. Escape attempt aside, Helen wasn't going to let these bottom feeders touch her friend. The hallway was getting narrower and the lustrous decor that usually blanketed the interior was turning into beige tile and concrete floors. Helen could smell the fresh air from the other side of the door and knew that she was so close. As soon as she got outside she needed to run until she got outside of Volterra and then she needed to use Ruby's device to be home free. She was finally going to escape this wretched place.
The guard in front of the ugly pale red door eyed Gracie with lazy eyes, his hand outstretched and she mechanically handed him a plastic identification card from her pocket while he checked a clipboard in the other.
"Busy night?" Gracie asked innocently which made him snarl, his eyes hard and dangerous. She tensed up and Helen got ready to pounce on this guy. He rudely handed her card back to her while sneering. "I don't remember giving you permission to talk to me."
Helen would have punched him if he hadn't immediately used his card to open the door and the two girls quickly escaped through the opening. The door slammed behind them and Helen briefly appeared and gave her a kind nod, an act that Gracie returned with a good-luck look before watching her vampire friend sprint off into the distance.
Helen hopped the castle wall with great agility as she soared several feet into the air before landing on the ground and continuing to run for her life. She had never felt more excited, ecstatic and glorious than when she ran through the woods of Italy. This was an immortal moment she lived for, one of the few things that she tolerated about her existence. She was free, she was invincible and she could almost fly. She jumped to higher heights simply because she could, hoping that with some luck she could finally start touching the stars.
Her stockings were increasingly dirty and forming runs in the hosiery. Her hair would likely be big and poofy when she came to halt and she could see the outer wall that surrounded the city of Volterra in a perfect bubble. She would longer rise to the sight of cobbled streets and shale rooftops, she would not be a locked up like a pet or a doll anymore. Her life would be her own again.
She lifted herself so high and did a backflip just because she could before landing with giddiness and joy. She was laughing and smiling, her grin spreading to her ears. Helen rummaged through her hoodie pocket with flimsy, uncoordinated hands. Pulling the long gold chain into her hands, clenching like it was her last life force, she finally took a breath.
'Okay, okay, think of a place. I don't want to show up on my old doorstep this thirsty so I probably need to put some distance for good measure. The lake is pretty far and near the highway. Okay, Lake St. Louis it is.'
Slowly spinning the blue topaz clockwise, Helen felt those three turns take years to complete. She was gonna do it, she was gonna be free and back home. She was going to save her family, something she had hoped she would only ever need to do once. On the third complete spin, everything flashed blue and her whole world and body spinned around and around as fast as it could.
She had no choice but to trust it, she had given herself over to the mercy of something she didn't understand.
The flash ended and Helen felt gravity take hold for several seconds before she found herself submerged in water with a sharp splash. It only took half a second for her to kick to the surface and peer at the world above the fresh and murky water. It was early evening where she was, the sun setting in the distance making the sky a wonderful shade of vanilla and lavender. She dully found that the strange gold necklace was now around her somehow.
Helen let out a mad giggle as she took in everything. She had actually managed to pull it off, she had done it. "Fuck!" She shouted with unbridled, almost manic joy. "Fuck yes! I did it! I did it! Hahahahaha!"
She looked ahead and saw no campers or fisherman near the dock. It was a Tuesday night and no cars appeared in the gravel parking lot in the distance. She wasn't far from shore but quickly began swimming with her vampire speed. She was like an actual mermaid, the currents obeying her speed and strength. It wasn't long before she could feel the rocks and sand on her hands and knees.
Her ridiculously expensive white silk dress was stained and soaking wet, completely ruined. Her hoodie was soaked too, but she couldn't care less. Her entire body was covered with dirt, sand and completely wet. Her stockings were now dirty, ripped and soggy so she ripped them off with ease and tossed them to the side. Helen's marble little toes wiggled in the sand, she pushed her damp hair out of her face, the smell of the lake was one that people, including her, normally hated but now welcomed like an old friend.
Turning around and standing straight up, Helen's smile only grew brighter as she took in her surroundings and kept giggling like a fool. She allowed herself a few minutes to herself before remembering that time was limited. Aro would discover her gone soon and then shit would really hit the fan. Collecting her emotions she exhaled and removed her soaked jacket, wringing it out.
She had finally come home, if only it was under different circumstances. Crying out in a still, small voice, words that she had remembered. "Ruby White, Ruby White, Ruby White." Helen blinked and felt a hand brush on her shoulder, turning to see murky brown eyes and smelling light traces of whiskey. Ruby gave her a small smile and embraced her in a quick hug before her face grew stoic and sullen.
"Hendricks, as happy as I am that you escaped, there's a reason you needed to come back." Helen nodded assuringly, her own face growing hard as her brief moment of joy came to an end.
"I know, I was hiding and watched him give the order." Helen explained, "the guard will be here in a few hours."
"Alright, then let's go, we can't lose anymore time." Ruby said in a quick reply, taking her hand another flash of light consuming both of them. While Helen knows that they have the advantage of time, she couldn't help but worry that something horrible was about to happen.