Renfield

by Haxong

"Dracula searching for Renfield. Ghulish services include coffin-watching, dealing with mortals and scouting prospective prey. 100 /day." That had to be a metaphor for something, right? But Ria really needed the money so she decided to take the job offer. Little did she know that she would be drawn into a dance of blood, seduction and immortal love. Complete!

6. The Volturi

Chapter 6 - The Volturi

Ria didn't think she'd ever been as nervous as she was when the date arrived that she was to fly to Italy. Her Master had been less happy about the invitation to the ball than she'd expected, almost like he dreaded going there but couldn't refuse. Considering Ria relied on him entirely when it came to protection from other vampires, that scared her. It was a Dance of the Vampires - that was so fucking cool - but it was mainly vampires she was unfamiliar with and she wasn't 100% sure she wouldn't end up as lunch. So, excited plus scared = nervous.

"Isn't it a great honour to be invited to an event like that? The Volturi are pretty important, aren't they?" Ria had asked her Master after he'd grumbled under his beard for about ten minutes, pacing as he read and re-read the letter.

"Of course it's an honour", he confirmed. "It's just that I haven't seen Aro and the others in quite a while and I haven't kept as much in contact as is probably polite."

"Aro is one of the vampire kings?" She remembered Demetri mentioning that name.

"Well yes but more importantly, he's my sire, he's the one that turned me."

"Oh", Ria made as she understood. It would be like being invited home for family dinner after having forgotten to call for a year or so. Awkward. Wait, Balthazar was over 750 years old. How old must the vampire be that turned him!?

"Well it can't be helped. We have to go, of course, it's a bit irregular but there's nothing to worry about. Yet."

Ria didn't like the bit about the yet.

Balthazar did call his sire later that night to confirm that he'd attend and he did seem a bit more relaxed afterwards. When the date was drawing closer, he sat Ria down and gave her a two hour long safety briefing on how to behave herself as well as a number of important information she would need to know.

Apparently, her Master's real name was not Balthazar but Bartholomew, which was what everyone in Volterra called him and how she was to refer to him while in their presence. She got briefed about the Volturi hierarchy, much of which she already knew from Demetri's letters as well as given a list of names on who to especially avoid in order to not get eaten. Ria was a bit concerned to find two Demetri's four team members on that list.

The Volturi were not in the habit of peacefully gathering blood donors. Their meals didn't survive. Which was also something Ria had already learned from Demetri but the talk really drove it home just how many people had to die to keep a coven that big sated. Ria had to keep telling herself that she was a Renfield, she was not on the menu. She was on the side of the vampires, even if she wasn't one herself, not the humans, not the prey.

"Master?", Ria had asked quietly after the briefing was over. "I... I'm still getting letters from Demetri. He still wants to turn me, I think, and join his coven. Will I really be safe if I go there?"

Her Master sighed deeply and answered her unusually seriously: "To be offered the gift of immortality is generally considered a great honour in my circles. There is no doubt that nobody in Volterra will be pleased that you rejected it. If I'm perfectly honest, Renfield, it surprised me that Demetri left without trying to take you with him, by force if necessary. The fact that he did can only mean that either, he didn't care enough or he cared too much. If it's the former, you have nothing to worry about and my reputation will keep you safe. If it's the latter, there is a chance his coven will push for you to be changed. Considering they would only do so because of Demetri's interest in you though, and considering he already accepted your rejection, I dare say it is unlikely they'd force you. I cannot make you any promises though and Volterra is about the only place in the world where I cannot protect you. The truth is, I don't know. If you are absolutely determined to remain human, you might want to consider not going."

"I... I have to think about that", Ria muttered.

And think about it she did. Her Master gave her a couple of days do decide if she would accompany him or not. She doubted she got a wink of sleep in that time. Ria kept re-watching old vampire movies and shows and going over everything she knew about the creatures of the night. She also asked questions, more questions than she'd ever dared or bothered to ask before. What was life as a vampire like? How did it feel to be immortal? How did one really perceive the passage of time? What would happen to Ria if she got changed against her will?

Most of the questions her Master couldn't or wouldn't answer, telling her there were some secrets that he would not divulge unless she'd already made a decision to turn. He did however answer that last question.

"If you do get turned, you will become like a child, in need of guidance", he explained to her. "Vampiric life does take quiet some time to get used to. It will be completely unlike the life you have now. Newborns are also extremely vulnerable, emotionally speaking and very much prone to manipulation. That is why most vampires stay with their sires for a couple of decades at a minimum and often retain a lifelong bond with them."

"Like a dog imprinting on their owner?" she guessed.

"Don't ever compare vampires to anything canine if you want to live", he warned her, "but essentially, yes. Normally your sire would take responsibility over you and you would therefore become a member of the Volturi. That is what our law demands, for a newborn vampire without a guide provides a great risk of exposure. A newborn vampire who rejects any guidance at all will be given the final death. However, in your case, if you reject your sire as a guide because you were turned against your will or do not want to be part of this specific coven, my reputation and standing would allow me to step in and take on that role for you. Now I do not want or need any children and it would actually be a major hassle if I had to take care of you. Since I do carry some responsibility for introducing you to this world, I would be willing to do so to save your life. But you are of little use to me as a vampire, Renfield. I can only promise to teach you the basics and I would have to kick you out within a year or two, at maximum. After that, you'd be on your own."

She'd be on her own. She'd be legally dead, without a penny to her person, no home, no shelter from the sun, probably banished from her Master's territory, which meant having to fight with other vampires for feeding grounds - ugh. She was getting a headache just thinking about it. But her Master was at least someone she knew and trusted. Being part of the vampire Illuminati could potentially be worse. Ria didn't like the idea of being manipulated like a puppy craving praise. She didn't like the idea of being part of a massive human-murdering group who lived much more uncivilized than her Master here in Sacramento either.

But what about Demetri, a voice in her head whispered. What if he were to turn her?

Well that would be the worst case scenario, wouldn't it? Demetri wanted her to be his bride. If she became hugely emotionally vulnerable after turning, she might even end up saying yes to that. It couldn't get more manipulative than that. Ria was not that kind of woman. She didn't want to be with a man she didn't love. She hadn't given her body to anyone, not after that disastrous evening in her youth that had destroyed her life. If she had to turn, she thought she might've preferred it to be him, if only he didn't want her in that way. Even if she were to believe Demetri's oaths of eternal love that he still send her on a regular basis, it wouldn't matter. If Ria got turned against her will on that party and Demetri used her resulting mental state to make her fall for him, as vampires were prone to do in any and all movies depicting them courting women, that love wouldn't be real. That vampire wouldn't be Ria anymore. She could never be sure if he truly loved her or not and she could never be sure if her own feelings were true or if she only felt that way towards him because he happened to be the one to take care of her as a newborn. And the worst part of it was that vampire Ria probably wouldn't even care. But human Ria cared. She cared very much and she didn't want to lose that part of herself.

She didn't want to turn. She no longer dismissed the possibility out of hand - as callous as her Master had declared he'd kick her out, that still meant she would be an independent, immortal vampire woman. That was loads better than a vampire bride locked up in some castle. It even sounded a bit exciting and maybe she could possibly want that one day - if it weren't for the whole 'no money no shelter' thing. If she ever was to give up her human life, at least she wanted a guarantee that she'd actually get eternity and not go up in a blaze at the next sunrise.

So the only thing left to decide was did she not want to turn badly enough to pass up on the Dance of the vampires? The obvious answer should be yes but... The danger of turning was kind of part of the whole allure of the Dance. Meeting the handsome vampire who wrote her love letters was part of the temptation because she knew he wanted her. She didn't want to be kidnapped and locked up and used as a sex toy but she was a woman, she did have needs and Demetri was hot and he was exciting and bad and adorable and if he hadn't been undead she would've definitely dated him ages ago. She liked him, she just didn't love him.

Ria threw herself on her bed and screamed into her pillow. She knew it was a bad idea to go, she knew it. But she still really, really wanted to. She felt like a fan who was presented with a backstage VIP ticket to their idol's greatest show, thinking: I'd die for a chance like that. If I could go there, shake his hand, have him smile at me, I could die happy.

If Ria went to the Dance, she might actually die. But she would also get to dance on a vampire ball.

Would she die for a chance to do that? Dammit, call her crazy but yes, maybe she would.

Would she be fine with not dying forever for a chance like that?

...Definitely not as an emotionally manipulated vampire bride, no. But maybe she would be fine with being an independent, if homeless vampire for a chance like that. After all, if that life was too hard she was just a sunrise away from option one.

Her thoughts continued to circle round and round for many hours more but it was those last ones that she always came back to.

In the end, she did agree to go to the Dance and she did sent her letter to Demetri. Ria still had no intention to turn but she was too in love with the concept of vampires to pass over a chance like that. She made her Master pinky-swear to bust her out if she got turned against her will and finally, she allowed her excitement to truly blossom.

Ria started to plan, booking flights for her Master and herself (first class), which was actually quite hard to do: They had to start at night, make sure they landed at night and make sure any stops in between would either also be at night or allow them to stay in the plane. In the plane itself they could get away with her Master taking a nap buried under a bunch of blankets but she had to make sure the model of plane they went on had those kinds of windows that had shutters that she could close to prevent any sunlight from coming in.

Ria spend about a week freaking out over what to wear until her Master put a stop to it and forbid her from buying anything until they were in Volterra proper. They would arrive four days early so that she had time to get familiar enough with the facilities to help with the preparation of 'refreshments'.

That was another thing that gave her the jitters. If the Volturi usually just killed their victims, then what would she even have to work with? On the day of the flight her Master hunted down a bunch of different animals to refill her spice reserves, which she had to fake medical forms for and ended up still having to bribe five custom's officers to get through the airport.

Ria got another two letters from Demetri in between her reply and her departure. He was less elated about her upcoming visit than she'd expected, instead telling her over and over again that she didn't have to come if she didn't want to, that he'd much prefer to meet her literally anywhere else but that, if she was sure, he would personally make sure that she remained safe during her stay.

The letters did absolutely nothing to take away from her worries.

Finally the day came. The journey by plane was nerve-wracking, with Ria being constantly worried about being stopped because of all the blood she was smuggling as well as any possible accidents that would make her Master go up in flames in the middle of the flight, possibly causing the whole plane to crash and drag them all with him to death. She'd never had to fly this long a distance or duration with him.

But the plane didn't crash, they both survived the journey un-burned and un-arrested and when they arrived at the airport in Rome - Demetri was waiting for them.

Ria's heart beat faster the moment she saw him standing there between all the other tour and hotel guides holding up signs with their group's name. His eyes zeroed in on her immediately. He was wearing black pants and a dress shirt, his red eyes hidden behind contacts that made them a strange purple-brown. She could faintly make them out when he rushed over to meet them. She thought for a moment he might hug her but he ended up just standing in front of her, looking awkward.

"You're really here", he whispered breathlessly, his gaze wandering up and down her form as if he couldn't quite believe it. He completely ignored her Master, who gave him a derisive glare and told them he'd go ahead to grab their luggage.

"Hi Demetri", Ria made shyly. "You... You look good." He was looking like a freaking super model and the fact that he was looking at only her with such intensity made her feel all warm inside.

"You... You look good too. Beautiful", Demetri replied and Ria wondered incredulously if he was as nervous as she was. "You changed your hair."

"Oh... that", she made, brushing away her bangs which she had grown out and cut diagonally so there was always a bit of hair to be brushed behind her ear.

"Uhm, are you here to pick us up? You didn't have to, I already organized a rental car to take us the rest of the way." Then she remembered something. "Wait, how did you even know when we would be here? I know my Master only told your boss we'd be in Volterra before sunrise."

"Claire, I always know where you are", he told her gently. "And I don't want you to have to squeeze into a small rental. We can take the limo." He took her hand into his own gloved one and she was too flustered to do anything but let him lead the way.

"Wait, do you mean a limousine?"

He did mean a limousine. Apparently Demetri was the main driver on the rare occasions that any of the kings or queens wanted to go someplace. His coven had half a dozen limos, this one being his favourite. It was black, of course, with black tinted windows, of course, and spacious enough inside to spend a week living there if need be. The seats were the softest of leather and Demetri had even filled an ice bucket with a couple of soft drinks for her.

Her Master seemed to find absolutely nothing unusual about it all, which helped to keep Ria grounded. That she sat in the back with him while Demetri was driving, so he couldn't keep staring at her, also eased some of the tension from her.

When they arrived in Volterra Ria got to marvel at the beautiful architecture. European towns were just so different from American ones. They were older, build mainly from stone rather than wood or steel. Then the vampire castle came into sight and Ria gasped, her face practically glued to the window. It was breathtakingly beautiful and exactly what she'd always imagined a vampire castle to look like.

The castle had five towers and a suspiciously small number of windows. The walls looked sturdy, build to withstand a siege rather than possess the Gothic beauty of cathedrals of a similar time period. The castle had modern underground parking though and as Demetri took them down there, they passed a whole lot of not just limos but sports cars, vans, motor bikes and a small number of less conspicuous vehicles. They also passed a door labelled 'hangar'.

"That's where we keep the jet", Demetri told her with a wink when he found her staring.

"Complete with a secret elevator that'll get it up into the courtyard?" she asked amazed, praying that he would say yes.

"Of course. Would you like to see it?"

Ria decided that coming here had been the best decision of her life. "I would love to!"

Demetri grinned at her. He opened his mouth to reply when-

"Oh get a room you two!" her Master snapped.

Ria blushed scarlet and forcefully reminded herself of all her resolutions.

"I'll get the luggage", she mumbled but Demetri stepped into her path. "Under no circumstances. You are a guest here - I'll take care of it", he insisted with a scowl.

Demetri showed them through the castle, through long stone corridors and many staircases (no elevators). When they passed a reception area he said:

"This is where you can usually find our receptionist, Gianna, one of the few humans working for us. She's only here during the day though. Parts of the castle are open for tourists. This is were they come through. You'll get to know her in the morning."

"How many of those tourists make it out alive again?" Ria asked morbidly fascinated.

"Unless there's a special event going on, the majority of them", Demetri replied, watching her carefully. "We do not attack citizens of Volterra. If anyone sees someone they like, they have to go to Gianna and check their status with her, to see if they're local or not. If they are, the're off limits. For most of us, that's too much of a hassle to go through. We have regularly scheduled hunting trips to the surrounding cities."

"Still, that's a lot of vampires going out group-hunting. Don't people notice?" she wondered.

"You have heard how much power the mafia has in Italy, haven't you?"

Ria stumbled, her eyes bugging out. "You work with the mafia!?"

"Work with", her Master scoffed. "Renfield, they are the mafia."

"We leave the whole drug business to the humans", Demetri said with a scowl. "We're really only involved in anything to do with letting people vanish."

"That and human trafficking. Don't forget about that", her Master threw in.

"Would you shut up?" Demetri snarled.

Ria went a little green. Somehow knowing that Demetri was a vampire who had to kill humans to survive was different from knowing he was also a mafiosi. She imagined entering a kitchen to start her preparation for the catering and being presented with a bunch of harried looking immigrants and street urchins.

Ria started to regret ever coming here. Why had she thought it would be a good idea again?

"Are you alright?" Demetri asked concerned.

Oh yeah, that's why.

"Not really", she answered quietly. "Uhm, you have told your boss that I'm a cook, not a butcher, haven't you?"

"You're not going to have to kill anyone", he reassured her.

Yet.

Ria exchanged a knowing glance with her Master. She wasn't stupid. She knew she wasn't being asked to contribute solely because of her skills. She was being tested. The Volturi wanted to know how she dealt with the gritty details of being a vampire. Well, she would puke all over them. They would get to see her best chicken impression.

Demetri showed them to the rooms they'd be staying in next. It wasn't surprising but also not reassuring that they dropped off Balthazar at one end of the castle and while he took Ria to the other. If Demetri didn't have the room right next to hers, she'd eat her shoes.

At least it was a nice room though. There were dark red rugs on the naturally light brown stone floor, a grand bed with soft curtains, a huge wardrobe, vanity and desk in dark brown wood. A second door lead to a big bathroom with white and dark turquoise tiles, a shower and a bathtub.

It looked way too nice actually but Ria doubted that a castle like that even had rooms that weren't nice. Everyone who actually lived and slept here was a vampire and thus had a high standing.

"I know you must be tired", Demetri said as he put down Ria's luggage next to the bed. "But there are two people you have to meet before you can turn in. Do you feel up to it?"

"Who will that be?" she asked worried.

"Aro and Sulpicia." Ria's eyes widened, recognizing the name and Demetri added hurriedly: "It's just about the preparations for the ball. Sulpicia is taking care of the decorations, including dress code. She just wants to give you your timetable for the next few days, I think."

"I see. And Aro?" she asked unconvinced.

"Aro is her husband. He's just being noisy." Demetri shrugged, though his nonchalance seemed fake. "He's one of those that need to know everyone and everything that's going on."

"Okay... You'll come with me though, won't you?"

Demetri's eyes softened as he smiled at her. "Of course. I'm no leaving your side."

Ria was pretty darn tired already but she was plenty used to having her sleep cycle all jumbled up by now. She would manage. Ria would've preferred to have her Master at her side when she went to meet a vampire king but - wait a moment. If Aro was Balthazar's sire, did that make her Master a vampire prince?!

"Uh, how do I address them?" Ria asked nervously as she followed Demetri through the halls. They passed other vampires on their way, all gorgeous looking, greeting and nodding towards Demetri and giving her curious glances. Some even greeted her, which she replied to with a hesitant smile and a muttered 'Hello'.

"For our leaders, my Lord and my Lady will do", he told her. "They haven't insisted on etiquette ever since we went into hiding and people stopped treating them like gods. Everyone else you can just address with their names, once introduced."

"You're terrible at this, do you know that?" There they were again, the jitters.

"What do you mean?" he asked uncertainly.

Ria felt torn between laughing and crying. "It's normal for you, Demetri, but it's really damn special for me, okay? You can't just casually mention that the vampires I'm about to meet used to be revered as gods!"

Demetri stopped and grabbed her shoulders, making her look at him.

"Ria, I swear it's going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen. They just look scary but they're actually not. Just an elderly couple that's excited to see all of their old friends again and being introduced to new ones. You should've seen them a few weeks ago when they tried to decide on the colouring for the ball. Sulpicia was chasing Aro up and down the walls, hanging up curtains and candles and telling him Now you're too far up on the right again, honey!" He imitated the high voice of a woman for the last bit and Ria burst out laughing at the mental image, her nerves getting the better of her.

"See?", Demetri said with a soft smile, brushing Ria's wayward strand of hair behind her ear lovingly. "It's just a bit more of my special normal. I'll be there beside you the whole time."

"Okay." Ria took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. It was easier than expected with Demetri's handsome face right in front of her, being so distractedly attractive. "Okay. I'm ready."

They walked through another corridor and Demetri opened a grand set of doors onto the most amazing dance floor Ria had ever seen. Windows and walls were covered by thick dark blue curtains held together with golden cords. Four giant crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the walls were lined with dark iron chandeliers and braziers with real coal in them. The space in the middle was empty but there was a number of small round tables arranged at the edges of the room. In the back there was a raised platform with one great white piano in the middle and several chairs and music racks arranged around them.

Near where they entered Ria spotted her Master who was in conversation with the palest vampire she'd ever seen. His skin was nearly translucent, his long straight black hair and vibrantly red eyes providing a stark contrast. Next to him stood a woman with thin, dark hair, similarly pale. She had a slim figure and was on the smaller size, looking so very fragile as if one strong gust of wind could knock her over.

As Ria and Demetri came closer she caught parts of the ongoing conversation.

"That wasn't a very nice thing you did there, Bartholomew", the vampire who must be Aro told her Master, his eyes wide and his brows raised. He didn't look old, in fact he looked like he was still under thirty but there was something about this composure and attitude that reminded Ria of a kindly old grandpa scolding their grandchild.

"I know, I know! I just couldn't resist", her Master said with a grin and a shrug, looking younger than ever next to his sire. "In my defense though, I thought I shut it down in time."

"No you didn't. And now we have to clean up your mess", he accused him.

The female meanwhile turned to greet Ria and Demetri.

"There you are! This must be your special guest, Demetri. It's so nice that you could make it, dear." Sulpicia walked over to her in her long dress so gracefully it was as if she was floating.

"Uhm, hello my Lady", Ria said and hesitantly began to offer her hand to shake, only for Sulpicia to grasp it and pull her towards her, putting one hand around her shoulders as she was squeezed against her.

"Call me Sulpicia, dear, we're all friends here. Demetri won't stop talking about you."

Demetri was torn between denying such a thing and snickering at Ria's dumbfounded expression.

"Now my child, I know you'll be busy in the kitchen for most of the early evening. Demetri and Gianna will get you everything you need. But once the ball actually starts I want you on the dance floor and for that you need a proper dress", she told Ria in a no-nonsense voice. "Most of the young girls have already chosen their attire but they have their appointments for the last fitting tomorrow evening. You'll be going with them. Do you know how to dance?"

"I took some lessons but I'm not very good", she admitted.

"Well you have a few more days to practice. This is your dance card", she handed her a beautiful fan-shaped card with dried flowers on it and a number of music pieces listed. There was a little silver pencil attached at the side with a blue ribbon.

"Traditionally single women like you will reserve either the first or the last dance for their sire or other relative they have a familiar relationship with. You should have more than four dances with the same partner if you're actively courting and less if you're not. The fifth dance has no line for a partner because it's a group dance where partners change. The waltz are written in green ink, the polka in blue. You do not ask anyone to dance with you, you let the men come to you but if they do, you must not refuse unless you already accepted another partner."

Ria paled, not having expected a sudden lesson in etiquette of all things. "I have no idea how to dance a polka, much less any group dances", she admitted.

"I've already organized for you to take some lessons during the day, don't you worry", the queen told her.

Behind her Aro was turning away from Ria's Master.

"We'll talk about this later", Aro told Balthazar with one last stern look, before he brightened up when he turned towards Ria.

"Excuse my delay! This must be the lovely Claire. Welcome to Volterra." Aro grasped her hand to shake and like his wife, he pulled her unexpectedly close, though he thankfully didn't hug her. He did however fix an intense gaze on her for a couple of seconds, as if he was searching for something in her face. Slowly, his polite smile widened to a grin.

"Ah, yes I see. Yes, I think I know what has our poor Demetri so fascinated."

Ria was still a bit too blindsided by the unexpected friendliness to form a reply. She had a sudden horrific thought: Her Master had described a coven as the closest thing vampires had to a family. If Aro and Sulpicia were the representatives of the older generation in this family, then was this introduction Demetri's equivalent of meeting the parents!?

Aro laughed aloud as he let go of her and wrapped an arm around his wife, turning to her with a smile.

"I like her", he proclaimed. "She would make a wonderful addition to your court, my dear."

"Is that so?" the queen asked, returning his smile.

Ria felt Demetri stiffen at her back, which didn't fill her with confidence.

"Oh yes - remind me to tell you a couple of embarrassing stories about Demetri later on", he said to Ria.

"Y-You really don't have to", Ria stammered, her face going red.

Aro leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially: "I'll trade them for pictures from when you fulfil your life's purpose." And then he winked at her.

Ria furiously tried to decipher what he could possibly mean by that. Then her mind came up with a sudden memory, of introducing Demetri to My Little Pony and wondering if she could make him cosplay as Sunburst on a convention.

She gaped at Aro. "Can you read my mind!?"

Aro's grin widened impossibly further, showing a pair of very sharp teeth. "As many pictures as you can get, little mouse."

"That's quite enough", Demetri decided, pushing himself in front of the flustered Ria. "Claire is tired from her journey. We should let her rest."

Ria's thoughts were whirling around rapidly. Thoughts that were apparently not as private as she'd always thought. Could all vampires read minds? It was part of some of the myths but neither Balthazar nor Demetri had ever made it so obvious that they knew what was going on in Ria's head.

She didn't think that Demetri could do it, at the very least. There had been too many occasions where he'd been hopelessly lost around her. Maybe her Master could but if he did, he obviously didn't care very much about prying or teasing her about any of her thoughts.

Ria decided that she wouldn't let this new information unsettle her. She had no doubt that Aro could be creepy as hell if he wanted to but him and his wife had been nothing but friendly so far. If you were going to tell someone you could read their minds, doing it by connecting via inside jokes was probably the most tactful thing you could do.

She straightened her back and bravely side-stepped Demetri to look Aro in the eyes.

"I had actually already given up on that goal. If I ever do manage to do that, you'll be the first to know, my Lord. But those stories better be good!" She even added a fierce glare on top, which caused Aro to laugh uproariously.

"Oh, I can't wait!"

Him and Sulpicia gave them their goodbyes and left the hall arm in arm. When they were gone Balthazar came over to them.

"That wasn't very smart", her Master told her carefully.

Demetri gave a little growl towards him. He was standing right behind Ria and so close they were almost touching.

"I know", Ria replied with her eyes lowered. If she wanted to stay alive she had to avoid gathering any interest, good or bad from these vampires. "But it was either that or freak out because he was in my head. Why did nobody warn me about that?"

"Abilities like that are... a rarity", Balthazar said carefully. "Their existence is also not usually divulged outside the coven. It is a surprise that Aro allowed you to know. We couldn't have told you in advance without permission, not given his standing."

Ria nodded. "I understand." It did made sense. As did a lot of little references she now remembered. Demetri describing Aro as 'someone who had to know everything about everyone' or telling her that 'his boss had a way to learn the most embarrassing details about a person'. Talk about understatement of the century.

Ria held no illusions that there was anything even remotely interesting in her mind for an ancient vampire to really concern himself with. If being a bit embarrassed was where her problems ended, it wasn't such a big deal. Aro reminded her a bit of her Master actually. She was sure an ability like that would be absolutely terrifying if used against you - but for her, that only meant she got to be glad once again to be on the right side of the fence.

Demetri accompanied her back to her room. He was stiff and didn't say a word. Ria had the impression that her first meeting with the two ancient vampires had gone rather well and it bothered her to receive such different signals from Demetri, who knew them much better than she did.

"Back there..." she said once they reached her room, "you don't think I said anything offensive, do you?"

"No", he replied quickly. "No, not at all. I'm... just concerned that they like you too much."

"I knew it would be dangerous to come here", she whispered. "I knew it and I came anyway. I have no intention to go down without a fight. But it would be nice to know you're on my side, Dem."

Some intense, indecipherable emotion broke out on Demetri's face before he was suddenly standing right in front of her, cupping her face in his hands.

"Oh Claire, my love, I will always be on your side. Never doubt that."

"Are you though?" she asked with a tortured look. "Even when you want the exact same thing they do?"

"Even then. Believe me, I was not happy when they brought you here like this. It is such an obvious ploy and yet I knew your position would not allow you to decline. I want you to chose me. But... I won't deny I am glad that I got to see you again. And though you told me to leave you alone, now that you're here I cannot but try my best to prove to you that I am worthy."

Ria's heart melted a bit hearing his sweet words.

"I... I am sorry for how we parted. I was cruel to you", she admitted quietly. "I can hardly believe that you don't hate me after all the awful things I said."

"I could never hate you. You are my most precious person. My greatest source of light in the dark. I hate to be parted from you but I could never hate you."

Where the hell did he pick up those lines? He sounded so earnest.

"If you do want to make it up to me though", he added with a bit of a mischievous smirk, one hand wandering low in between their bodies, "I'd assure you everything will be forgiven if you'll write down my name for the first dance on that card of yours." He fished Ria's dance card from her hand, holding it up for her to see.

"Well I..." She licked her dry lips. Her heart was beating somewhere in her throat, it felt like it. "I did promise you a dance so... Yes, of course."

She took the card back from him with shaky hands and under his watchful and happily twinkling eyes she wrote down his name for the opening dance.

"Thank you, mia cara."

Demetri left her with a small map of the castle floor she was on and instructions where to find the kitchen as well as Gianna, who she was to meet no earlier than twelve. She'd have to slowly get used to sleeping during the day again if she wanted to dance all night without dropping dead. Demetri bid her a good night and left and only then did the exhaustion of the day really catch up to her. Ria barely managed to change into her nightdress before she hit the pillow and went out like a light.

She dreamed that she was sixteen again and going to the school dance but instead of Darren Ketley it was Demetri she was snogging with in the school parking lot. He brought her home in a fancy sports car and at his house there was a huge teenage party going on, with gorgeous vampire ladies spread all around the pool area. Aro was there too and his wife tried to convince him to wear a flat woollen cap to hide his beginning baldness so the young ones wouldn't know how old he really was.

---

Ria woke up three times before her alarm rang, plagued by nerves, weird dreams and dry air. She drifted off quickly again each time, though once she could've sworn she saw red eyes glowing in the dark, watching her. When she blinked they were gone and she wasn't quite sure if she wasn't still dreaming.

After finishing her morning routine, she started her day wandering the ghostly deserted castle on her way to the kitchen. She checked on her box of frozen spices which Demetri had brought here the night before. The fridge was filled with a number of basics that she used to make herself breakfast. By now it was almost twelve so she followed her map's instructions to where she was supposed to meet Gianna.

Gianna was a mid thirties woman with tanned skin, brown hair and a professional smile, looking like any other secretary in her dark blue pantsuit. Ria thought she would feel am immediate kinship to her, seeing as they were in a similar position working for vampires. But while Gianna was no doubt friendly, offering her whatever help she needed multiple tines, she still remained distant. So Ria too switched to her professional mode and talked business.

They were expecting 97 guests, most of them from the Volturi but a few outsiders as well. They were expecting two busses of tourists to come in on the evening to sate the foreigners and those who didn't have time to hunt yet. Ria was supposed to hand in a list of specifications for humans to be brought in to be used in her special drinks at least 24h before the event. Her contact for that was Heidi, whose phone number she was being given. Gianna also gave her the address of a nearby dance studio where she was supposed to receive lessons from 3-5pm each day. They had a bit of time left until then so Gianna offered to give her a tour of the part of the castle that was open to the public and Ria readily agreed. During the tour Gianna kept talking about the architecture and history of the place. She sounded like she'd swallowed a guide book and Ria couldn't help but feel like the other woman didn't like her. Considering she was the only human being she'd met in this place, that bothered her so when they reached the end of the tour she decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Gianna, have I said or done anything that bothers you? You just seem a bit..." She trailed off, not knowing how to word her concerns without being rude.

The woman went stiff immediately.

"Oh no, absolutely not, whatever gave you that idea?! We're getting along swimmingly, aren't we?"

That sounded definitely nervous and Ria stopped walking as she was hit with an ugly realization.

"Are you afraid of me?!"

Gianna gave a nervous laugh that outed her as a big fat liar before she even opened her mouth. "Of course not! I work with vampires every day, I mean every night, why would I possibly be afraid of you? I'm just not sleeping very well lately, personal reasons, nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Alright", Ria challenged her, "then would you mind helping me out in the kitchen later on? I've already recruited Demetri but he's mostly just a taste-tester. I don't think he's ever used a stove in his life."

Gianna went an interesting shade of green and Ria shamelessly called her out on it.

"You are afraid! What's the problem, do you think they're gonna eat you or something?"

"The thought might've crossed my mind", Gianna muttered without looking at her.

"Alright, fair enough. But why are you afraid of me?" she wanted to know. "I'm not a vampire and I'm definitely not going to eat you."

Gianna relaxed just a bit, looked around and lowered her voice to a whisper as she said:

"Of course I know that but... There are rumours that you and Demetri... Well and that means you're going to be one of them soon, aren't you?"

"There's nothing going on between Demetri and me", Ria denied automatically. Then she thought again and added: "Well okay, there might be chemistry but that doesn't mean anything. And even if those rumours were true, I'd never eat a servant of the Volturi. That would just be rude."

Gianna gave a humourless chuckle. "Even if you wouldn't... I've been working here for years in hopes of getting turned. I'm happy for you of course but if there is going to be a newcomer soon, that doesn't really leave room for me, does it?"

"Oh", Ria made, understanding the implication. If the Volturi were regularly slaughtering tourists by the dozens, they probably didn't have such a nice retirement plan for their Renfields as the one her Master offered.

"If it helps, I have no intention to be turned", she offered quietly. "I'm not sure how much that counts if one of the guests decides to take a bite out of me... But I'm not here to steal your spot, I swear."

"I know", Gianna replied quietly. "You... You seem like a nice person. May I ask why you don't want to turn?"

"You mean aside from the whole killing people thing?" Ria returned.

"Is that a thing? I mean, of course it's a thing but... You seem... at ease... talking about helping to prepare their meals."

"I usually draw the blood from paid donors with the help of a medical kit", Ria explained. "I do realize they do it differently here in Italy and when in Rome, do as the Romans do or get to taste their sword. But its still very much a thing for me, yeah. There are other reasons too though. There's a bunch of things I want to do that I can only do as a human. There's the issue of stability, of having to change your identity every couple of decades. There's the sun and cute animals being scared shitless of you and never getting to eat chocolate again. Then there's the coven thing. As a vampire you're either perpetually lonely or subject to weird vampire social instincts that I don't even fully understand yet. I mean, how come all these vampires are fine with killing humans? Are they just natural born psychopaths? Do all the new vampires who can't deal with it just kill themselves? Or is there something about being a vampire that magically makes you okay with it? I suspect the latter and if that's the case, then once you're a vampire, you're not really you anymore. Then it wouldn't really be turning into something else. It would just be dying."

"I never really thought about it like that", Gianna mused. "I figured if I got turned, I'd just stay here long enough to acclimate and then I'd try picking my meals from criminals and such."

"Do you have any experience in criminal investigation ?" Ria asked sceptically. "I'm sure every skill can be learned if you have centuries to do it but how many innocents would you kill until you've reached that point? 10? 100? Once you're at that point, will you even care anymore?"

"Maybe not", she agreed. "But aren't you already doing something similar? The Volturi will bring in dozens of people for the event. That's for those that are thirsty. But your special meals? That'll be what, five additional people who will die, or maybe ten, just because you are here. You're going to pick them out, not based on whether or not they deserve to die but how they taste. Doesn't that make you responsible for their deaths even if you're not the one killing them?"

She got her there.

"Yeah, it does", Ria admitted quietly. "And that's already part of the problem, isn't it? If I can make a decision like that as a human, condemning innocent people I've never met to death, then I would be just as much a monster as a vampire as the rest of them. I know I'm not a particularly good person. But that doesn't mean I'll be fine with becoming a worse one. At least the amount of lives I can destroy as a human is limited."

Gianna shook her head." Becoming a vampire will never be the morally right thing to do. I think we can agree on that. The question is, how much do your morals really matter to you? Is there something in your life you treasure more than them? For everyone but Mother Theresa, there's something like that. Else we would all donate all of our money to the needy. Most humans only help others if there's something to gain for themselves or the ones they care about or if what they have to give up is of considerably less value to them as what they will give is to the one who receives it."

"Not helping others is not the same as actively harming them", Ria argued. Despite the sombre subject, she was starting to enjoy the philosophical discussion.

"True. But if you did find a way to only feed on criminals, you might be harming them but also helping theoretical future victims by taking them out. Even if you kill 100 innocents before you figure out an effective way to hunt criminals, statistically you'd still help more people than you harmed when you look at eternity", Gianna said.

"That's assuming the kills balance out the saved lives. Saving one person doesn't resurrect the one you killed. It's also assuming you only kill murderers, which is a much larger threshold than just criminal. Good luck keeping that up consistently."

"Again, you're arguing for a saint's morals, which we already established is unreasonable to expect. The point is, killing criminals is better than killing innocents. Agreed?" Gianna asked.

"Agreed", Ria replied with a mod.

"You think the normal justification of 'I'm thirsty' or 'It's tasty' or 'I need to do it to survive' is not enough to justify killing innocent humans, even tough it's enough to justify you as a human eating animals. Yes, animals are a different species but we know there are animals with a high amount of intelligence, sentience and emotional capacity and we still kill them or take advantage of systematic structures that kill them without thinking twice. Vampires are arguably a different species from humans. They might come from humans but you're not spending day and night protesting for chimpanzee rights in front of animal testing centres either."

"I don't know Gianna, that sounds like an argument against chimpanzee testing and not for human killing", Ria replied sceptically.

Gianna sighed. "You're not getting my point. Are you going to turn into a chimpanzee activist now?"

"No..."

"If you had to chose between killing chimpanzees and selecting humans for death row, what would you chose?"

"I guess I'd kill the chimpanzees", Ria said.

"Okay, now consider all the advantages of vampirism. If you had to chose between killing yourself and being a vampire who killed only chimpanzees, what would you chose?"

"The chimpanzees."

Gianna nodded. "See, I think that's how most vampires start out. You have to remember that its rare for humans to be in the known and want to turn and then really do turn. You don't think they all gave written informed consent when they were turned a few centuries ago? They suddenly find themselves vampires, rationalize that they're a different species now and then it's kill or be killed."

Ria shuddered. "That's horrible."

"Of course. But you know what else it is? It's human. It means they're not suddenly magically compelled to think it's okay. The ability to rationalize and dehumanize and ignore your morals for your own survival or convenience is a human characteristic. We can do that too and do it all the time. And that means you don't become a different person when you turn. You're still you. "

Ria was baffled. "That... Kind of makes sense. Jeez, humans are pretty terrible now that I think about it."

Gianna nodded. "The question is, do you think they're terrible enough that your guilt over killing them is outweighed by the advantages of vampirism? Because when you've reached that point, you've made the jump from 'I guess I wouldn't kill myself if I ended up as one' to 'Maybe that's actually something I want'."

"No, I'm still not jumping through that hoop", Ria decided. "The difference between an innocent tourist and, oh I don't know, a Mafiosi drug dealer is about as large as the difference between an innocent human and a chimpanzee. So it would actually be two hoops I'd have to jump through if I joined their club."

"Then you could take one hoop but not two? We're not arguing the jumping anymore then, just the lifestyle that comes after", Gianna said triumphantly.

"You're like a verbal kung fu master, you know that?" Ria laughed. "In the end it doesn't matter because the hoops are stuck together, thanks to the superglue called peer pressure. My Master might be fine with me going after criminals all batman style but he doesn't want to turn me. The Volturi might but they eat tourists and work with criminals. You see the dilemma? "

"What if it wasn't about you? What if we talked about a beloved person, like your parents? " Gianna asked.

"The love between my parents and myself is highly debatable", Ria replied coldly.

"Someone else then, a best friend, a sibling or even just someone you have chemistry with", Gianna said, wisely deciding not to step in the minefield Ria had pointed out.

"Would you prefer them dying over eating tourists?"

"No but I would prefer them eating criminals over eating tourists", Ria replied decisively.

"Have you told him that?"

That left Ria speechless. It took her a moment to get any words out and when she did she only managed a lame excuse. "I... It's not really my place and he wouldn't listen to me anyway."

Gianna shrugged. "Probably not. But my point is, you haven't even tried. That means you can't truly care all that much whether someone jumps through one or two hoops."

"You're making me feel like a horrible person", Ria muttered.

"It's called a reality check, Claire."

"You know what, maybe I will tell him. And when he tells me to my face he doesn't care it'll put a damper on the chemistry and I'll have one less moral dilemma to think about."

"I wish you luck", Gianna said with a smile.

Ria sighed. "Thank you for the talk. I think it was great. I... I can't really talk to anyone about this, especially not Demetri. He's got ulterior motives."

Gianna took her hands and met her eyes with a sad smile.

"I enjoyed the talk too. But, Claire... I'm being paid to sell the Volturi to you."

Ria patted her shoulder, returning the smile. "I know. You were trying way too hard for someone who's concerned I'll steal their spot. It means a lot that you admit it though. I truly wish you'll get what you want out of this."

"You too, Claire. You gave me a couple of things to think about as well. I hope you live to solve your dilemma."

Ria didn't offer to try and keep Gianna from getting eaten and Gianna didn't ask her to. They got along well but they'd only just met and they knew neither of them would risk her life for the other. They weren't that good or moral persons. If they were, they wouldn't have come to Volterra.

---

That evening, after Ria brushed up on the meagre waltz lessons she'd had at school and got an introduction to the polka, it was girls night out. As soon as the sun was down the castle woke up. Demetri stopped by to ask how she was but they didn't have much time to talk. Soon Ria was surrounded by a group of no less than four vampire women. She recognized them all from Demetri's letters. There was Corin, a small blonde who greeted her neutrally. Renata, a black haired slim female smiled at her as she quietly introduced herself. The other two were much more outgoing: Chelsea, a tall brunette with a large grin, actually kissed her on both cheeks and started talking very quickly, telling her about everything they planned to do that evening and how much they were all looking forward to getting to know her. The last one, Heidi, Ria just stared at for a few moments. She was distractedly beautiful, with soft hair the colour of gold, unblemished glowing skin like alabaster, legs that were endlessly going on, perfect bust size, perfectly thin waist, just... She was putting every damn goddess of beauty to shame. Ria felt like a cockroach next to her.

She really only heard half of what anyone was saying as she was dragged along. She could only look at Heidi.

It got a little better after they got into the limousine (Demetri was their driver but they couldn't see him behind the divider). Heidi wrapped herself in a long black cloak, pulled down her hood and donned a pair of sunglasses. Only then could Ria even focus on anything anyone was saying.

"I... I'm sorry, could you repeat that?", Ria asked, feeling terribly embarrassed.

Heidi sighed. "I said we only have three hours to do the fitting. Depending on how quickly you can decide on a dress, you can help us with the final decision on our assessoires or we may go ahead to give you more time."

"Oh, yes, I... I'll try to be fast", Ria stammered. Demetri had told her that whatever she would chose, the shop had been informed to bill him so there wasn't even any point in asking about prices. Normally she would've been hesitant accepting such generosity. But considering Demetri had ulterior and nefarious motives, she felt zero guilt in taking advantage of it. It was all part of the Dance - him trying to impress and seduce her, Ria enjoying the thrill and the risk of the temptation.

"I'm sorry I'm staring so much", Ria told Heidi quietly and nervously. "You, you are very beautiful."

"I know", she replied with a small, pitying smile. The other women snickered.

"Some of our characteristics got enhanced when we turned", Renata explained. "Heidi was gorgeous even as a human and now hardly anyone can look at her and not worship her."

"Oh. That's... That's too bad..."

Heidi looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Chelsea asked: "What do you mean?"

"Nothing", she mumbled, blushed and looked away.

"Aww come on, tell us!" the brunette demanded and elbowed her lightly - for a vampire. Ouch.

"I just thought... Beauty like that takes a lot of work. It's something to be proud of. But once you've hit a certain threshold, if people think you're gorgeous even wearing rags, then doesn't that take all the fun out of dressing up and trying different styles and such? "

The three women turned towards Heidi. The vampire slowly took off her sunglasses. Ria was immediately mesmerized by her eyes again (like two burning suns!) but she was at least capable of listening as she said: " Most of the time I do enjoy the attention. It's less bothersome than you'd think, even with the men - I am a vision, not an object. I still do dress up for the hunt, that's part of the game. Like a role that I'm playing. But I do admit it makes talking to people on the same level difficult without dressing down. People never really acknowledge if I do something new with my hair or nails or anything."

"You just look gorgeous all the time", Renata shrugged.

"Exactly!" Heidi huffed. "Afton notices every detail on Chelsea, even if she only wears a different necklace. I'm only ever gorgeous or beautiful."

Chelsea puffed up her chest in pride. "My Afton is just very observant."

"Afton hardly counts, he's your mate", Corin threw in.

"I'm just saying, it would be nice if more people could look past my spell", Heidi continued. "I mean, my mate will probably be able to, hopefully, but come on, it's ridiculous that I have to dress down even among you girls or ugh, whenever I have to meet the Lords."

"Your don't get along with them?" Ria asked.

Heidi shrugged. "Marcus is alright and I never dress down around Aro so he can never concentrate on anything but my looks when he's trying to read me. But Caius has a bit of a temper and Athenodora is on the jealous side - if he looks at me and she gets mad, then he will get mad at me, except he ends up just staring again, which makes everything worse. He tried to kick me out of the coven three times already and that's despite all the work I do to feed everyone!"

"And you are doing a wonderful job at that", Chelsea reassured her, patting her knee.

"Thank you", Heidi sniffed. "It is an effort, you know?" She turned to Ria to elaborate. "I'm not just baiting the tourists off the street. I'm maintaining the website and invent all those riddles and crosswords and whatnot that'll win you a tour and these days a lot of the talking is done via telephone - you only really start to see what people really think of you when they don't have to look you in the eye when they tell you."

"Uhm, just out of curiosity", Ria wondered, "why do you use one-time-tourists if it's so much effort to gather them from all around? Why not just advertise blood donations for the red cross and have a regular supply of returnees? If it's you, you wouldn't even have to offer payment."

"I did that once, for a while", Heidi answered. "There were two problems; the bagged blood tasted terrible and well, hunting is fun. It's thrilling and sometimes it's the only thing keeping the boredom away."

"But doesn't it make the hunt even more exciting if you make a somewhat rare event out of it? Especially if the daily alternative is convenient ready-made food? From the feedback I've gotten, bagged blood is only terrible if it's not stored, heated or spiced correctly, else it's actually better. Which reminds me, I still need female taste-tester before I decide on the event's menu. Would any of you care to try?"

Corin and Chelsea where immediately interested. Ria wanted to test the three main categories she was most practiced in during to her Master's preferences - heady, sweet and spicy. For that she needed one healthy man, one healthy woman and one overweight man.

"Overweight?" Chelsea asked surprised. "Why's that important?"

"The females are generally sweeter. The males are like a baseline good that can be improved in many different ways using spices. The added blood sugar of an overweight person though makes the blood taste richer. If I then add about 30 percent more red blood cells, it becomes way more satisfying in terms of thirst ", Ria explained. "That's why I usually use it as a main course. But of course, that's going off on my Master's preferences. Demetri's taste descriptions mostly match but a woman might have a whole other experience. I'm still learning something new all the time. I actually only found out about the red cell's effect a few months ago. Blood without any red cells doesn't quench thirst at all. I think that has to do with their function as an oxygen carrier. That's why the thirst feels like a burning in the throat. You're not really craving nutrition - you're craving air, like you're suffocating. Maybe you don't need it to survive but it might still be necessary for certain processes, even if to an lesser extend than it is for humans. You don't take up any oxygen from the air so you feel like you don't need to breathe. You can only take up oxygen via blood. But you still lose some of it every time you breathe out. Most vampires imitate humans by breathing and of course you need to breathe to talk. But I wonder if you'd get thirsty less often if you really stopped breathing for longer. "

The vampires stared at Ria and each other for a few moments.

"I once spend four months in the ocean", Renata said quietly. "I only fed twice in that time on some passing sailors."

Ria's eyes lit up. "I bet that's where the siren rumours come from!"

"Claire, dearie", Chelsea said with a small chuckle. "Whatever are you doing, still traipsing around as a human? It's like you were made for this life."

Ria decided to answer that with humour. "I know, right? Unfortunately I'm allergic to murder."

"Not every vampire enjoys killing people", Corin said with a scowl. "In fact, I hate it. If there was a way to realistically go without, I'd take it."

"Your could try the Olympic method", Chelsea teased her and wagged her eyebrows.

Corin rolled her eyes. "I said realistically." The vampires all laughed at that, with Ria just looking confused between them.

Chelsea put an arm around Ria's shoulders and pulled her close. "Who knows, maybe our dear Claire will end up liking it so much here that she'll swap those dreadful New Englanders for our beautiful Volterra. You could be our castle chef, Heidi could cut back on her work if she took over a blood donation foundation or something and Corin wouldn't have to dirty her hands anymore."

Ria didn't like where the conversation was heading but Corin seemed excited.

"Oh, we could have something like a canteen in the castle, like they have in the universities."

"Don't get ahead of yourself ", Chelsea warned her.

Corin gave her a calculating grin. "You could have room service and breakfast in bed. You know, for those weeks in which you and Afton never leave your room-"

Chelsea threw a bunched up woollen jacket at her, the only projectile she could find inside the limousine and now everyone was laughing.

The car slowed to a stop and a moment later Demetri opened their door with a flourish.

"Ladies, we have arrived", he announced with a large grin of his own. He looked quite pleased with himself and Ria wondered what the chances were that he hadn't heard every word through the limousine's divider. Probably approaching zero.

Chelsea ushered them all into a huge store that was completely empty except for three shop assistants. They insisted Demetri must wait outside. Heidi offered to help Ria to pick something out from the aisles while the others changed into their pre-ordered dresses to see if any further changes needed to be made. Ria was changed into about a dozen dresses until they found something she liked that also had the others approval. The ball was not a costume party so there weren't any Victorian dresses. But the vampires tastes still were on the classical side, with gowns in vibrant colours and skirts big enough to hide a second person underneath. Ria refused anything black or red as she wanted to look neither like a funereal attendee nor like a snack on legs.

As the vampires started to show off their attire and suggestions for shoes and jewellery were thrown around, the conversation turned towards men.

"I'm just saying, dating in the workplace is a bad idea", Renata said. "It just leads to complications later on when you find the one you truly want to be with."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Heidi asked exasperated. "I hardly ever get out of Volterra. Humans are right out for me for obvious reasons and I've already exhausted the pool of regular visitors. I don't want to stay alone forever. At least Santiago knows where to keep his eyes and he's not half-bad looking himself."

"You should've at least looked in the lower ranks if a shag is all you're after", Chelsea said. "Santiago and you have way too much overlap at work. You will crash and burn like you always do and then everyone will feel awkward around the two of you and be forced to chose sides in arguments and ugh! We've been through all this with with Corin and Eleazar. And then he fucking left the Volturi, it was that bad."

"Oh come on, that had nothing to do with me!" Corin protested. "You know he left for that Olympic whore."

"My point exactly", Chelsea returned.

"But aren't you together with someone you work with too?" Ria wondered confused. "Afton is a part of the Volturi, isn't he?"

"Afton is different. He's my soulmate", she said dreamily.

"Not that that doesn't bring its own set of problems with it", Heidi snickered.

"Yeah, Chelsea hogs him like a dragon guards his jewels", Corin told Ria. "The poor guy is completely isolated in a permanently crowed place."

"Excuse me", Chelsea exclaimed affronted. "He gets along perfectly well with the twins and our Lords."

Heidi shook her head. "Chelsea, dear, the other day I passed him in the corridor and he forgot my name. He's been living with us for how long? There's being protective and there's being just plain rude."

"He's always had a hard time making friends and I don't want to force him into anything if it's not necessary", Chelsea defended herself. "Afton is fine with the friends he has, he's told me so many times!"

"He forgot my name!" Heidi repeated incredulously.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll be more careful."

"What do you think about dating in the workplace, Claire?" Renata wanted to know.

Ria smiled at the other woman. She might not get every reference of what the others were talking about but the vampires included her naturally like she was one of their own and she felt very comfortable around them. It had been a while since she had a girl's night out and she was surprised how easy it was to slip into the familiar routine with a bunch of vampires she was meeting for the first time. It felt like she'd known them for ages already and like the difference between them didn't matter at all.

"I think it's fine", she answered Renata's question. "There's no guarantee that the relationship will end badly. Even if you think he's not the one, if you don't gather any experience at all, how will you even know what you like in a man? And if you don't know what you like, how would you even recognize a good match? If you don't get any opportunities to look outside of Volterra, I'd say go for it. Just... be careful where you hang your heart and have a plan B for when it doesn't work out."

"Do you have any guy you have your eye on?" Chelsea asked Ria with a mischievous smile. "Some good looking human boyfriend back home perhaps? I mean, there has to be a reason you passed up on Demetri."

"Aside from the fact that he's got zero social skills", Corin added. "And he's old."

"And a loner", Heidi added. "With no fashion sense at all."

The three women all laughed but Renata said:

"Oh come on, he's not that bad. At least he's not whistling at every female that comes along like Felix. The quieter ones usually have more depth, you know."

"So what about that boyfriend?" Chelsea returned to the original subject.

"No boyfriend", Ria replied, her ears turning red. "I had one, years ago but... How did you say it? We crashed and burned. I've become way more careful since then."

"And Demetri doesn't tick your boxes?" Heidi asked.

Ria grimaced. She didn't really want to talk about Demetri with his colleagues, especially since she didn't know how good his hearing was and if he couldn't listen in. But the others were being so open to her, she felt the need to share.

"It's more complicated than that. The truth is, I don't know him well enough to tell. It's the package deal that sets me off. There's the person and there's the baggage, you know what I mean?"

"Not really", Chelsea said. "When you find the One it doesn't matter how much baggage there is. You just love them as they are."

"We don't really do relationships like your kind does", Heidi explained, being the first to recognize the underlying issue. "We're not looking for someone decent enough who we will shape into something we can love eventually. That's because we... Well, we don't really change anymore, or at least we do it so slowly it's not worth to put in the effort for most. You either fit right away or you'll never fit. With your kind it's different. You change all the time. If you don't fit today you might fit tomorrow but if you do fit, better change quickly before you don't fit anymore."

Ria started to feel really queasy inside. These female vampires were nothing like she had imagined. They were strong and opinionated and didn't talk about their male colleagues as if they were superior, despite being raised in time periods that should've made them much more submissive. This evening with these woman was thoroughly smashing her mental picture of vampire brides to pieces. Which, given the Volturi's 'let's set up Demetri and Ria' crew had a mind reader among them, had probably been the intention all along. Could it be that she had completely misread Demetri's intentions? She'd said some truly awful things to him. After reading all those letters she'd started to suspect that he was more serious in his feelings than she initially thought. But if vampires as a species were looking out for their true mates...

"So...", she made slowly, nervously licking her lips, "if a... One of your kind says they love you...", she corrected herself with a glance towards the busy and very much human shop assistants.

"We don't say that kind of thing lightly", Heidi confirmed sympathetically. "I've never said it to anyone and I have been in my fair share of relationships, short and long term."

Ria shook her head. She stopped pretending they weren't talking about a specific person.

"But even assuming I fit, what, almost a year ago, it's like you said, I change all the time. So logically I shouldn't fit anymore."

"Maybe", Corin said with a shrug. "I don't know, if I found a human and I thought they didn't fit, I think that first impression would ruin it for me, even if I met him years later and he got rid of the flaws. I'm not sure how it would be the other way around."

"Not every characteristic is decisive when choosing a mate", Heidi said. "I wouldn't care if my partner was some brave fighter or a more passive person, for example. I would find it annoying though if I found we don't have the same sense of humour. You can change a bit to the left or right so long as you don't change back and forth and still fit, you know?"

"If you truly don't want to join us", Renata added quietly, "it would be a relief if you changed back or forth. That's about the only way I can imagine Demetri not ending up like Marcus."

"What's wrong with Marcus?" Ria wanted to know.

"His mate died near the beginning", Corin said sombrely. "That was ages ago, long before any of us came along. She's still everything he can think about. Dead-mate-syndrome is about the most deliberating condition one of us can have."

Great, now she was feeling even more terrible.

"We don't want to tell you what to do, of course", Chelsea said sweetly, "but it would be a huge relief to everyone who has to work with him if you could keep him around, even if just as a human. Maybe he'll grow sick of you when you're old and wrinkly and we can all move on. But the way you've been ignoring him... That's not helping."

"I... I see", Ria made. Her throat felt very dry. She felt like she was balancing at the edge of some great abyss and if her brain made one bad turn she'd plummet right into it.

Thankfully the girls were there to distract her. Heidi had found the most amazing pair of pumps to go with her scarlet dream of a gown, embroidered with golden thread. Ria was properly oh'ing and ah'ing with everyone else as she showed off her complete outfit. They left the shop with their dresses and drove on to visit two different jewellery stores. Conversation was kept lighter the rest of the night, focused on the actual preparation for the ball. At the end Ria agreed to meet with Heidi and Demetri for the hunt the next evening and that they'd call Corin when they were done so she could join in the testing. Ria exchanged contact information with all four vampires and returned to the castle feeling like she'd made a couple of new friends. She also had an awful lot to think about regarding Demetri.

Like the night before he brought her back to her room and like before, the silence between them was awkward at first. Ria remembered Corin mentioning Demetri had no social skills and while she found that to be an exaggeration, there were no doubt communication issues between them. She saw him in a new light now though. If the girls had been telling the truth (and admittedly seeing which team they played for, that was not at all an assumption she could make lightly) then Demetri had really fallen in love with her. That meant she hadn't imagined all those moments where he was actually nervous around her, maybe even more so than she was nervous around him. Despite his promises, Ria had never really felt safe around Demetri ever since he told her he had romantic feelings for her. Demetri was a vampire and he was dangerous and had killed people and would kill loads more and he was with the mafia and... It was just a lot. But now for the first time she allowed herself to look and see a different side to him. She saw a man with a huge crush on her, eager to gain her approval but very aware that he was walking on thin ice. She knew he wanted to talk to her, she caught him opening his mouth several times before he thought better of it and looked away again.

"I had a lot of fun today", Ria offered when they were almost at her door. "The girls are great, much different from what I was expecting."

For some reason, that only caused Demetri to give her a tortured look.

"They're good at making new people feel welcome", he muttered. "Some would say unnaturally good."

"What do you mean?" Ria asked confused.

Demetri gave a shaky sigh. "I... I don't know if I can tell you."

They'd stopped at her door. The vampire drew his hand through his hair, looking anywhere but at her.

"You know those vampire myths about turning into bats and controlling animals and what not?" he said at last. Ria nodded. "Well, that's like an exaggerated version of the real thing. Some vampires can do some of those things and not others."

"Like Aro's mind reading", she guessed.

He nodded. "Almost everyone in the guard is gifted in some way. Including the four you met today."

"...oh", Ria made. That was why she felt so at ease with the vampires so quickly. She'd though it weird that they were being so nice, including her so effortlessly. Of course they were only interested in her because of Demetri, she knew that, they hadn't even made a secret out of it. But she'd felt like she was being adopted into a sisterhood.

"So... they don't actually like me?" she asked. Damn, the thought of that actually hurt.

"No, they do!", Demetri hurried to say. "You're amazing, how could anyone not like you? That... particular effect... goes both ways. It's put over the whole group to help make the evening go smoother, not just you." He sighed again. "I'm sorry, I should've told you beforehand. We're not supposed to talk about the gifts but you already know about Aro's and Heidi's is hard to miss..."

Heidi. The beauty goddess incarnate who had turned Ria into a babbling fool with her mere presence. She went red even just at the memory of it.

Then she had a suddenly thought.

"Wait, do you have a gift like that too?"

Demetri hesitated before he admitted quietly: "I do."

"What is it?" she wanted to know.

He smiled sadly at her. "I always know where you are."

She remembered him saying that before but it hardly explained anything.

"That's nothing special, Dem. You know my address", she returned.

He shrugged. "It's special to me." The vampire studied her face carefully. "Are you mad about being pushed to like the girls?"

Ria thought about that. She wasn't mad, no, but was she not mad because she had been supernaturally reprogrammed not to be? Would the Ria from yesterday have been mad if she'd known?

She had come to Volterra fully knowing that the vampires there would make every attempt to try and lure her to their side. She'd known she would be manipulated and influenced (she was still waiting for the seduction part). She had decided to come despite of that... Or maybe, if she was being honest, even because of that. A part of her loved the thrill, the attention, the risk of it all. A part of her was flattered that Demetri had chosen her out of all the women he'd met in his 1000 years of life and wanted to jump right in it with him. A part of her longed to kiss that frown away.

It was that part of her that was more than pleasantly surprised to see many of her prejudices against vampires proven wrong. That part was glad none of those four were interested in Demetri. It was glad that she got along so well with them and with Demetri's boss too. It would make it easy to live with him.

Ria hadn't decided to do that, she still thought (perhaps) she didn't want to become a vampire herself. But it was nice to know that if she ever changed her mind, she would be most welcome here. Even if it was just because of Demetri, everyone wanted her to be here. Could she really be mad at them for trying everything they could to convince her to stay? Especially if Demetri's nature meant he'd never get over her?

"No I'm not mad. It's a bit like with the mind reading, I guess. I'm sure it would be absolutely terrifying if I were the prey or an enemy. But I'm not. I'm a Renfield, so it's fine."

Demetri let out the breath he'd been holding and Ria smiled at his obvious relief.

"Come in for a moment", she invited him as she opened the door. "There's still something I wanted to ask about, about tomorrow." He followed her inside and Ria sat down on her bed, patting the space next to her till he joined her there.

"Have you been listening in when I talked to the girls?" she wanted to know.

"That couldn't really be avoided", Demetri replied carefully. He looked like a school boy who expected to be scolded.

Ria chuckled. "Jeez Dem, I don't bite. I know you have good hearing and you did promise to stay near and protect me while I'm here. It's okay. If you heard then you know I'm a bit queasy about the whole killing humans part. The time we have left till the ball is hardly enough to organize a midnight blood donation event big enough to collect what I need for this many guests. There are going to be lives lost. I knew that beforehand. But I wanted to ask if we could a least not use tourists for my portion. It feels wrong to me."

"What are you looking for?" Demetri asked neutrally.

"I estimate I need at least seven people, more like ten really, of different gender, age and blood type. But if these people have to die because I came here, I'd prefer it if they were people I wouldn't lose any sleep over condemning. You know, like murderers, rapists, drug dealers, human traffickers... Pretty much the exact opposite of what's usually on the menu. The kind your organization usually works with. I know it's a tall order and an inconvenience but... "

"No Claire, I can find you people like that, it's no problem at all. You have to be more specific though."

Ria blinked in surprise. "You would do that?"

"Of course. I want you to be comfortable here. Can you draw me up a list with the physical characteristics you're looking for?" Demetri asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure." That was easy.

Now Ria was the one studying Demetri closely, wondering if she dared ask the obvious next question.

"What is it?" Demetri asked nervously.

She dared to take the leap.

"If I told you that it bothers me that you kill innocents for blood, would you stop doing it?"

The two stared at each other so intensely you could almost see the sparks fly.

"If I said yes, would you agree to be with me?", Demetri asked. At some point he'd moved closer. His face was right in front of her now. The contacts he'd donned earlier in the evening had already dissolved, revealing the vibrant red underneath.

"No", Ria replied. Her heart was racing and she was acutely aware that Demetri smelled amazing. "But the thought of being with you would certainly bother me a lot less."

Demetri reached for her, pushing that strand of hair behind her ear but leaving his hand there, cupping her cheek. His skin was so cold against hers.

"I'll do it if you put me down for another dance on your card", he whispered huskily.

Ria was so lost in his eyes she was close to ready to give him whatever he wanted. She had no idea how she found the power to say no to him. Living with a vampire for the last five years had hardened her against their natural charm but damn, Demetri was making it extra hard. She didn't like the thought of her morals being brought though, not even for as small a price as that.

"No Dem, that would be wrong", she told him. She saw the disappointment in his eyes and he started to draw away. Before he could do so though, Ria raised her hand to put it over the one Demetri held against her cheek, holding it there and leaning into his touch.

"If you do that one for free though, I'll put you down for two more dances if you get me flowers."

Demetri's eyes gleamed as he caught on. "Flowers, huh?"

"Hm. Red roses. Lots of them."

"I'll make sure you wake up in a bed of them", he whispered against her lips. Ria was so sure he going to kiss her and in that moment, she wouldn't have minded at all if he did.

But he didn't kiss her, at least not on the mouth. His hand wandered down her arm, gently grasped her hand and he put a kiss on the back of it, his eyes never leaving hers. Ria was melting under his stare like butter in the sun. He seemed to notice it for he gave her a smug little smirk.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow, my heart. Dream of me."

Those were the words he left her with. Ria tried to calm her racing heart as she got ready for bed but she wasn't tired at all. She got up again, wrote up her list of victims and texted it to Heidi and Demetri. The former answered right away that she'd take Demetri to start scouting. The latter admonished her that she should be sleeping and not to worry about a thing. Even so Ria stayed up for two more hours, texting back and forth with Demetri. Demetri told her he had some leads on a couple of people wanted by the police and kept her updated on their progress. She felt like the guy in the chair, following the superhero on her screen.

When she did eventually fall asleep, it was to dreams of cold kisses.