So? what do you think so far.
This is a more mature and very different version of what I started writing in Red Moon.
I hope you enjoy it.
The story will remain in third person but will jump from Bella's point of view to the guys's POV. I hope you like multiple POV stories :)
Enjoy!
The Locket
Chapter 2.
It has been one week since she arrived at the castle. It's been a week of adjustments. Not only she had the worst case of jetlag ever and slept for what felt like days, but she had had to learn to navigate the halls. It was easier to get out of hell than to go from point A to point B in this place.
However, she managed to go to any desired place quite quickly. She was surprised and proud of herself for accomplishing it.
She didn't see her three vampires at all in her first week at the castle, which made her anxious. She wanted to meet them, to know more about them. She wanted to understand why they looked at her with such yearning in their eyes, why the tingly feeling in her mind hadn't gone away, and why it got more intense the longer she went without seeing them.
She had met Renata, one of the girls she had seen standing behind Aro that day in the throne room. She was very friendly, had a sunshiny personality, loved to talk about everything, and promised Bella to help her develop her own gift. Bella immediately liked her.
Renata didn't have many duties inside the castle. Her position was more or less restricted to protecting Aro. But that was on days when they had to leave or when someone was coming to visit. Other than that, she had to train with Demetri and Felix on personal combat.
Bella learned then that two of her vampires were called Demetri and Felix, that they were part of the Volturi guard, were super powerful (Renata's words), and kicked ass (again, her words).
This meant that sooner or later, Bella would meet them officially. Caius, the blond king, had one rule: Never become dependent on your gift. If the vampires at the castle wanted to remain there, they needed to be the best at mastering their gifts and personal combat.
It made sense. If she could elude Aro's and Edward's mind-reading abilities, who knew what else she could avoid.
She was excited to discover more about herself and her gift. Her hands itched to get dirty. She hadn't discussed a timeframe with Aro for her transformation, but she knew she wanted it to be soon. Was there any way to persuade him to make it happen in her timeframe? Did he have any plans for her?
Aro, Marcus, and Caius pretty much left her to her own devices to do as she pleased and go where she pleased as long as she came back. Bella had still to venture outside the premises of the castle's gardens. She still felt uncomfortable leaving familiar places on her own.
After what James did to her, she dreaded going anywhere. It's not as if he had kidnapped her, and she'd been unsuspecting. She had gone to the lion's den very well informed about it. Still, the trauma remained.
Shaking her head to come back to reality, Bella focused on her lunch and decided to speak with Aro as soon as possible. She was getting bored, and the sooner she spoke with him about a timeframe, the better.
With a satisfied smile, she sat on the kitchen's small table and got lost in her mind again.
She was startled out of her fantasies by the slamming of a book in front of her.
"What is this?" Bella asked, trying to make her heart beat at its usual rhythm.
"A book." Bella rolled her eyes. Jane was friendly-ish. She didn't beat around the bush, which made her brunt and sometimes rude. Bella liked her a lot. Jane liked that Bella wasn't afraid of her. She had introduced the human to her gift when Bella mastered her orientation challenge. Bella only said 'cool' and continued with what she was doing.
"No shit, Sherlock. Why are you giving me a book?"
"Because this is a family book. Marcus keeps a tab on every vampire's family tree. Half his library is filled with these."
Bella finished her sandwich under Jane's intense scrutiny. Few of the vampires in the castle spoke to her. Jane was the first to do it. She suspected only a few vampires spoke with her because she was friends with Jane, and they feared her.
"All right, I'll bite the bait. What do you want me to do with this book? My parents are only children. I am as well. My mom's husband doesn't have any kids. It's a normal, boring family line, to be honest." She shrugged.
Jane rolled her eyes and silently opened the book, turning a few pages until she found what she sought.
"You have the same locket." Jane pointed to the book and Bella's neck with her index finger.
"So? I'm sure many people have a locket like this." Did she have to explain to Jane about capitalism and mass production? How long had she been living in this castle?
Jane huffed impatiently. "Come with me."
Bella put her plate in the sink and followed Jane to the library, where Marcus was working. "I'm sorry, Marcus. May we come in?" Jane asked from the door.
"Sure. Come in." He was less formal and theatrical than Aro and Caius. "What do you have there?"
"I was showing Bella the history of her locket." Jane put the book in front of Marcus, and he hummed in response. "It looked familiar, and I knew you would have the answer in one of your books."
"Who gave this to you?" Marcus asked Bella gently.
"It's a family heirloom." She answered, still confused about what was the big deal about a locket. "My grandmother gave it to me. She said it was her mother's, but seeing as she had a son, she didn't want to give it to my mom. She wanted it to remain strictly in the family. Why?"
"This is a very ancient locket. The original owner died very young." Bella shuddered. Her grandmother was dead, and so was her great-grandmother. In theory, Bella knew she was wearing a dead woman's jewelry, but hearing it from someone as old as Marcus was another matter entirely.
Bella looked more closely at the picture that Jane had pointed at earlier. It was the same locket, but a few changes had been made. A new clasp, a different chain. But mostly, it was the same.
"What happened to her?" Bella lifted her eyes and met Marcus' curious gaze and Jane's smug expression.
"She and her mother died. She was only ten. The necklace had been a gift from her brother before he died."
"That's tragic." Bella whispered.
Jane gave Marcus a meaningful nod and left the room. Marcus stood up from his seat and patted Bella on the shoulder. "Read the story, Bella. Read everything you can find on that family tree. It might lead you to other books. I referenced them well. You'll have no trouble cross-referencing. Come look for me when you're ready."
'Well, that's ominous.' She thought before sitting on the ancient desk.
Marcus spared her one last glance before he left her to the privacy of the library. No one would bother her there. He had a feeling that she would find more than her family's history in the books he had there. And he wanted her to feel comfortable in this place. He had seen the way she studied Demetri, Alec, and Felix. He'd noticed the yearning in the boys' expressions. He also noticed the bond between them.
He'd been surprised to see that whatever bond Bella had with Edward was broken, shattered. Only a weak bond would break that easily. But the bonds she had with the other three men were equally delicate. These bonds would grow to be something beautiful. He'd seen it enough times. Bella looked like a nice girl. She seemed like she deserved all the happiness in the world.
…
…
…
The locket belonged to Garret's family. This is as far as she got with Jane's book. It hadn't been easy. There was a lot of missing information and some crazy jumps in time. It was as if whoever had mapped this tree had done it based on the locket alone and no other source of information.
She still had no idea who Garrett was. The book Jane had given her contained some of the history of the locket, but it didn't say much.
"A young girl was given a locket with a secret message inside. The girl never knew of the secret, but her mother lived long enough to bare another daughter.
Suffering from birth complications, the woman promised to pass on her only tangible memory of her only son to the rest of her descendants. However long her family would live. She placed the locket on the baby's neck, and after kissing her one last time, she let go of the last tie keeping her in this world."
That was all the entry this book had on the locket. It didn't explain anything at all. Bella was starting to think that it might be a coincidence. With mass production being a thing now, what were the odds of her locket being that unique? These vampires were losing their minds over nothing and making her look at books containing information about people she'd never met. What was the point, really?
Still, seeing as this was the most action she'd had in a week, she stayed put and continued her research.
…
…
…
After hours of looking through books, she managed to find the Garret she was looking for.
Garret, with no last name, was born in the 1700s in New England. He had a sister named Lottie and another one named Nathalie. Lottie died at ten years old, whereas Nathalie grew to adulthood and formed her own family, passing down the locket from daughter to daughter and sometimes to granddaughter. Only once, there had been no women to be born; therefore, the locket had passed to a man, who passed it to his daughter when she was old enough. And so on and on. The tree stopped eventually. The last few generations were not recorded. She wondered why. Marcus seemed like an avid biographer, and judging by the number of books he had, he didn't strike her as one to cower from the challenge of an unknown turn.
No, something had made him stop looking—something pressing enough. But then, he had no reservations about showing Bella her family. So, whatever had made him stop, wasn't demanding enough to hide the truth from her.
She frowned at the last entry. It was her great-grandmother's name. Late nineteenth century, early twentieth. This was definite proof that she did descend from this Garret vampire. Well, one of his sisters, at least.
There was not much more to it, and Bella felt like she hit a dead-end. She found proof of her ancestors and their link with her locket, but the trail ran cold as soon as she started getting excited. The lack of details was disappointing.
She rummaged through a few more books in hopes of finding anything more. Why did everything stop at her great-grandmother? What had made Marcus stop looking for Garrett's relatives? Why show her now? What changed in the past hundred years or so?
She reread Garret's information. Born somewhere in the mid-1700s, changed in 1780 by a vampire during the American Revolutionary War. He must be good at fighting, she thought. She briefly remembered Jasper giving instructions on how to kill James. With the pain of the venom cursing through her veins, she vaguely remembered Jasper delivering the fatal blow at the ballet studio. Was Jasper as skillful in fighting as she imagined Garret to be?
The one thing she didn't like about this task was remembering traumatic events. She still had nightmares about James and the venom in her veins. She touched the scar on her wrist and shuddered.
Instead of getting trapped in her trauma, she returned to the book where Garret's information was detailed. There was no physical description of the man nor a picture of him. She only had her imagination. Based on her looks and how her grandmother had looked, she imagined a brown-haired man with blue eyes and a gentle smile. Would he be like that? Of course, changing the blue for red. The standard color of vampires' eyes.
Would she want to meet him?
The answer to that question was easy-yes, she wanted to meet him. But not now. She'd want to be in equal conditions before hunting any relatives.
…
…
…
She put down the book, eyes burning with tiredness. She'd been sitting in Marcus' chair the entire day.
She stood up and walked around, trailing her hands on the books that decorated the library. Marcus was not only an avid biographer. His collection extended beyond his academic work. He had numerous books varying in genre and thickness. She sighed happily. This was a good library. There were even modern sci-fi books. She smiled at the irony of a vampire who lived with other gifted vampires enjoying the plot of a descendant from a mythological Greek God or about hunters who slay anything that does not belong on this earth. She wondered briefly if she should search for a Buffy comic book in one of the sections.
Snorting at her silliness, she leaned against one of the shelves, trying to reach one of the sci-fi books. She nearly faceplanted the floor when the shelves gave way into a secret room.
Excited at the mystery of a secret room in an ancient castle, she darted inside. It was cold and humid and clearly untouched for many years. There were spider webs almost everywhere, and dust collected on a table. There was no electric light in this room. It was isolated from the heat of the adjacent room.
She wandered around, spotting a chair like the ones in the throne room. Only this one had a name. Diddyme. She hadn't met all the vampires in this castle, but it didn't take a genius to know that this Diddyme had died, hence the abandonment of this room.
Given the fact that this room was hidden inside the library where Marcus worked pointed to the possibility that Diddyme had been someone very important to Marcus. That saddened her. Had they been soulmates? Had they loved each other through everything?
She shuddered from the cold and eerie feeling this room gave her. She braced herself and rubbed her upper arms to warm herself. She took her phone from her back pocket and turned on the flashlight.
Like the library, this room was decorated with shelves. Intended to be a hideaway, the room was small. It only had two bookshelves and contained fewer copies than the main library.
On closer inspection, the hidden room had only a few leather-bound books. She grabbed one, coughing at the cloud of dust that lifted with the movement.
Bella opened it at random, reading a passage.
"He gave me a chair with my name on it. He said if he was to be king, I was to be his queen."
She sighed at the romantic notion. She wondered who Diddyme was and who had given her this chair. Was it the theatrical Aro? The academic Marcurs? Or the military Caius?
Based on her previous impression, she was inclined to think it had been Marcus.
She fanned the pages and stopped at random. She read another passage.
"As if the chair wasn't indication enough of his feelings, he proposed to me. I said yes, of course. There is no question in my heart that I have found my one true love. We are to be wed in a few weeks. And if my heart could beat, it would have left my chest after his beautiful words and gentleness."
She stopped reading, blushing at the turn this passage took. She had no intention of violating anyone's privacy more than she already was. She looked around, searching for a clean spot to put down the book. But the task was futile; there was nothing clean in here. She set the book into its original spot and randomly chose another one. This one looked different, sturdier.
She opened the first page and read. "Marcus loves to archive everything and anything that catches his attention. So far, nothing has come of it. He does it out of boredom, but it's like a game for him. Trying to connect dots that are so distant from one another that it's a wonder he manages to connect them at all. Who would have thought that whatever family living in whatever place would be connected to such a striking vampire? I often worry about my brother's obsession with gifted vampires. What if Marcus inadvertently drives him to one? One that doesn't want to join. I know my brother is not ruthless, but he is no saint either."
So Diddyme was either Caius or Aro's brother and had been Marcus' wife. This room had been her secret. No object indicated that the owner of the large library knows of this room's existence.
Had Diddyme built this room to hoard her secrets?
Had Bella any right to read her private journals?
She put the book back and rummaged through the rest. All the books in this room were the same. Private journals detailing the life of one of the loveliest and happiest women she'd ever read about. Bella didn't read more than a few words of each book, respecting the Lady's wishes to remain hidden.
She felt lucky and in awe that she had been the one to find this. She wasn't much of a believer in magic or fate. But accidentally finding a room that's been hidden for decades, if not longer, felt as if someone wanted her to find it.
"I promise I will take care of your room for you." She whispered to the air.
If vampires existed, why not ghosts? She wanted Lady Diddyme to know she was respectful of her space.
…
…
…
Over the next two weeks, Bella darted to and from the secret room to her chambers to sleep and shower. She would dart to the kitchen to gather food and lock herself back in Diddyme's private study.
She didn't read Diddyme's journals. She had taken to reading Marcus' work instead. It was so interesting reading about random people performing heroic deeds in events she'd only read about in history books.
There had been one vampire who, while human and fighting in World War II, shot a Nazi straight in between his eyes. Bella suspected the Nazi hadn't been a powerful man; otherwise, she might have heard about his death during that theme's lesson in history class at school. Still, Bella supported the choice of shooting a bullet at a bastard who believed in imprisoning innocent people based on what religion they followed or based on their sexuality. She wasn't a violent person by any means, but some people deserved the worst.
Out of respect for the late Lady, Bella cleaned the room from ceiling to floor. It took her an entire day to dust all the journals and understand the Lady's filing system. It was simple enough. She had filed her journals per date.
Curious enough, she found the answer to her forgotten question when she opened one of the sturdiest books to satisfy her curiosity. She felt guilty about the deed, she had promised not to look, but this book had caught her attention so many times.
As she had done with the first journal, she opened it randomly. Gasping at what Lady Diddyme had written there, Bella almost dropped the book in surprise.
Diddyme was the one who figured out the location of the locket. She never told one soul about it, wanting that family to live peacefully.
"Perhaps it is wrong of me as if I am deciding for him. But they're human, and they're happy. I can't allow my brother to interfere with their lives. And he would if he knew that Garret had taken it upon himself to guard his family."
Her stomach growled with hunger. Hesitantly, she put down the journal and went to the kitchen to gather food. She was ravenous now that she paid attention to her body. It was later than she'd thought. She looked at her watch and realized it was already nine p.m.
It was on her way back that Demetri found her.
Demetri, the god with the muscular body. The one who had been restraining Edward. One of her vampires.
Finally.
"Thank God, woman!" He hugged her, taking her by surprise.
She patted his back awkwardly. She didn't know Demetri held her in such high esteem to hug her so tightly. Her stomach erupted in butterflies. It's been three weeks since she first saw him. They hadn't spoken to each other.
Still, however awkward, she felt safe in his arms. Demetri held her tight against his chest, and judging by the vibrations she felt; he was speaking to himself, too low for her to listen.
Much to Bella's disappointment, he let her go after a few minutes. She would have stayed tucked against his chest for the remaining of time. He grabbed her face between his big hands. It was such a sweet and gentle gesture that her heart fluttered, and she leaned toward his touch.
"Are you all right?" He asked eventually, locking his red eyes with hers.
"I am. Why?" He didn't answer. He just pulled out his phone and fired a text message to whoever was interested in her presence.
"Where have you been?" He asked her instead. She could see and feel the panic in his voice, his eyes. She was a prisoner of those eyes, and his hands now holding her shoulders. Despite his obvious panic, he treated her with gentleness. She wanted to erase the worry that was written all over his body. But his hands held her firm.
She didn't want to betray the Lady's secret because it felt as if she had confided in her personally to guard it. But she didn't want to lie to this gentle man looking at her with concern in his expression. She was an outsider in this world. To whom did she owe her loyalty? A dead woman, or to the three brothers? Or to this man whom she was attracted to despite not having talked to at all?
"I've been here." She gestured to the opened door of the library. She was not lying, after all. She had been there.
He shook his head. Concern was now replaced with disappointment. "Bella, we've come every day to this room, and your scent was not there. We couldn't follow your scent. There was no trail. I couldn't find you." His words came out rushed, and she could barely make them out. He was more worried than she gave him credit for.
Just then, Aro and Marcus arrived in the company of Jane, her other two vampires, and Renata. She cringed internally. Had she done something wrong?
"Isabella!" Aro exclaimed, genuinely happy to see her. Marcus gave her a small smile and a short nod, indicating his own feelings.
"I don't understand what's wrong. I've been coming and going to my room, the kitchen, and here the whole time. I swear!" She looked from Demetri to her two vampires and back to the two kings.
Now, she was starting to get worried. She might have been inside Diddyme's room, but she still had to leave through the library and halls.
Marcus eyed her speculatively. "I believe her." He gave Aro his hand to read, and Aro's eyes widened.
Bella held her breath. Demetri tucked her tighter to his chest, but she was too tense now to enjoy the gesture or to revel in the fact that her other two vampires had stepped closer and were surrounding her in a protective crowd.
"May we speak with Isabella alone, please?" Marcus' gentle tone was only theater. He was issuing an order.
Demetri hadn't left Bella's side, and neither had her two other vampires. While Jane and Renata immediately made haste to leave, the three men didn't move a muscle. Aro rolled his eyes theatrically. "You, too." Marcus demanded softly.
Bella watched as her three vampires shared a look at nodded at each other. Aro had gone inside the library while Marcus waited patiently at the door.
"Come find us when you're done." Her black-haired vampire whispered to her.
Bella nodded, not wanting to betray their trust. But honestly, was he insane? It was nearly eleven o'clock, and she was exhausted. Who knew how long the meeting with the two kings would last. She was going straight to her room after this. The rest of the world could wait one more day.
"Let's go inside, shall we?" Marcus pointed to the library with an upturned hand. Bella had the urge to courtesy at his words. She didn't courtesy but entered the room.
Marcus sat in his chair behind the desk; Aro stood by his side. Bella suddenly had a flash to the painting hanging in Carlisle's study. It was so eerie that she shuddered.
"We want to know the truth, Isabella." Aro started.
She swallowed. "I am telling you the truth. I have been transiting these halls the past two weeks." She explained what Marcus and Jane had discovered and how she had been rummaging through Marcus' collection of books to find the truth about her family and the dead end she found in the genealogy chart. She did that on the first day left alone in this room. She was telling the truth. They didn't ask for a step-by-step recounting of the last two weeks.
Thank God for loopholes.
Aro tilted his head to the side, observing her. "You remind me of someone." He said and smiled at Marcus. It was such a different smile. This one was void of any theater, pretense, and pomp. This was a genuine, soft, charged-with-meaning smile. Marcus nodded, laughing softly.
Before they could explain who she reminded them of, she diverted the conversation. "I want to be turned, and I want to meet Garret." This is what she had waited three weeks to speak about.
"Very well. Is there anything you wish to do before we settle on a date?" Aro asked.
Bella thought about it for a few minutes. "No. I'm sure Carlisle handled my departure with my dad. I have nothing else to do." She had abandoned her father without a proper goodbye. She had done to him what Edward had done to her. And she would live with the consequence of it.
"Very well. How about two weeks from today?" She thought about it for a few minutes. It was a reasonable timeframe.
Bella nodded wordlessly. Aro gave her another sharp look and left the room.
Marcus stood up as well. But before leaving, he said, "Whatever you found. I hope it gives you the answers you're looking for."
It was such a vague thing to say. As if he knew she'd found his wife's secret lair. As if he knew she'd found buried memories of their time together. She wondered if she should tell Marcus of the room. What if he already knew, but it was too painful to come inside, and therefore, he'd left it?
No, Marcus was too organized, too structured to let something as pain erase the memories of his love. If he knew and the pain was too hard for him to go inside, he would have ordered someone to clean and maintain it. It wouldn't bring back his wife but would keep her memory alive.
"Marcus." She called just as he had stepped outside. He turned around. "I have to show you something."
Marcus stepped back inside, curious. Bella's bonds with the three guards were stronger today. Judging by their protective stance and lack of contact -except Demetri- he could easily guess they hadn't spoken since she arrived.