We made it to Heidi's room in record time after she 'liberated me', as she put it, from Felix and Demetri. Unfortunately, an early arrival on our part only provided more time for a contractually obligated fashion scene.
Not much work had been done on her mural since my last visit, and it still remained half coloured and half empty of any drawings whatsoever. A true work in progress. The rest of the room, however, looked like the backstage of a fashion show running three hours behind. Every surface possible had been hijacked, including an easel in the corner, and put to use for shoes, clothing, jewellery, cosmetics, and the necessary undergarments.
Unlike my room, there was no bed, rather a half moon couch as the main focus of the room. The length of the couch had been put to use to separate and spread out different sections of clothes, mainly a slew of dresses and several fashion-not-warmth geared jackets. It was organized chaos, but I bit my tongue to keep from jokingly asking whether it took more time for the two of them to make the mess or to get ready in it.
I'd like to consider myself a team player, but something about the setup made me feel a little ill. It's not that I wasn't into clothing or dressing up. My father was part American and no matter what country we were in, we always celebrated his favourite holiday: Halloween. And when I was a little girl, I had this doll that I liked to pretend was a part time princess/part time time traveling spy that got to wear both royal ballgowns and historically interesting outfits.
Although, the fact that I just named Halloween and a childhood doll as my connections to fashion, certainly gives an idea of my level of interest in the task at hand. The task being finding me the perfect clubbing outfit.
Upon our arrival, my current outfit had been given a shameful head shake by Heidi just in time for Chelsea to emerge from the bathroom. The shorter woman was already dressed in a spaghetti strap, short, cheetah print dress and heels that made her legs go on for miles. "Oh good, you procured the human. Those," she pointed to a pile of dresses hanging over one section of the couch, "should fit her."
I'd only been around Chelsea a handful of times so far. I definitely wasn't her favourite person in the entire world. And I think my blood bothered her since she was one of the younger of the Volturi. Though she was an extremely high ranking member and perhaps that's why her control was still well managed with me. If she had the choice, however, I don't think it would be to spend time around me.
She never addressed me directly, but she wasn't cruel about it. Heidi assured me it wasn't personal, rather it was the matter of my humanity. And once that was fixed she was positive that Chelsea would want to spend more time with me.
"Elizabeth's coming as well." Hands on her hips, she smiled at me. "You've met, haven't you?"
Elizabeth was the lower guard member who had given me the wrong date on Felix's fake homework assignment. I hadn't exactly spoken to or seen the woman since. "I suppose."
"Actually, Bess sends her regrets."
The other woman's jaw dropped at the news. "But why! She never misses girl night."
Chelsea shrugged, her eyes flashing over to me before returning to the larger mirror in the bathroom, throwing over her shoulder, "She said to 'have fun with your pet'." The cattiness was unnecessary, though not purposeful on Chelsea's end. Still, I rolled my eyes; I should've stayed with Demetri and Felix.
Where Chelsea tolerated me, Elizabeth apparently had no patience for my existence. This wasn't the first time I'd heard of a snide comment aimed at my expense from Elizabeth's desk. The guys, gossips that they were, had mentioned one or two offhand comments about how she needed to learn her place. As usual, they refused to go into any further detail but managed to slide in a subtle joke about me needing to get back on her good side.
Like with Chelsea, I tried not to take it personally. I couldn't help but think that her reasons for disliking me spanned beyond my humanity. But, I had only theories on what those reasons could be, and so I didn't let it bother me much.
"Saffiya — pay attention." I snapped up from my slouched position on her couch as Heidi held up yet another dress. She refused to let me sit, as she raised each new hanger up to my body from five feet away with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. I shook my head yet again as she held up new dresses in each hand. Sighing, Heidi tossed one aside before throwing the other at me. "Try it on." I lifted the piece of fabric to my line of sight and stared at it with distaste.
This was nothing like Halloween.
Not only were they not costumes, but none of the dresses before us were the kind you would wear on any general outing, like a sundress and they were about as far from a church dress as you could go. Aside from colour, they didn't look all that different to me. Each one was short, busty and tight — and I turned them each down like a fashionable Simon Cowell.
Shaking my head profusely, I declared, "there's no way I'm wearing that." Heidi let out an extremely exaggerated groan of contempt and threw the dress onto the growing pile of no's.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she grumbled, "will you work with me here?"
"I don't understand why I can't just wear this." I gestured to my current outfit — jeans and a tank top. I'd never been to a club before, but I'd seen movies. How different could it be? And surely, there would be enough people that no one would care who I was or what I was wearing. It wasn't exactly a red carpet event.
Heidi shrieked in distress and the sudden sound had me jumping up from the couch once again. For half a second, I thought that maybe there was some kind of a substantial threat that I hadn't noticed before I realized it was only Heidi's reaction to my request. "It doesn't even have sequins!"
"I don't think I've worn sequins since I was six."
"Heidi, leave the child alone." Chelsea walked out of the bathroom once more, pining the final touches on her hair. The shorter woman frequently glanced between the mirrors in the room again before seeming to finally decide that her hair was satisfactory.
Vampires were likely the most beautiful beings in existence, which is perhaps why their automatic slips of vanity amused me greatly. A fact that, one would think, would lessen their insecurities rather than heightening them. Instead, the opposite seemed to reign true. It moved across gender lines, I'd noticed, though Demetri was more regularly beholden to it than Felix. I'd even caught Caius folding a piece of his hair under another as he'd passed by the library one day, oblivious to my presence. The various mirrors throughout the castle saw so many visitors they may as well have been moving portraits like in the Harry Potter world. Perhaps there was a Freudian fear within the vamps that urged them to treasure it in place of what they could not recover from their humanity. I wondered if I, too, would fall victim to such an ideal once they'd changed me.
Chelsea gave the most recent dress option a more thorough glance over, then made her own face. "I agree with her...it will be much too short."
The other woman tossed the dress off to the side with a disdainful look. "Well, I refuse to let her dress like she's attending a sports match."
"Of course not, but I do not believe that Alec would appreciate your promoting of her assets to a crowd of rowdy, inebriated men." Chelsea asserted sternly and recognizing the validity of her friend's perspective, Heidi backed down. She muttered something unintelligible in response just as the door to the room swung open with a measured pace.
"What is this about my brother?" A slightly more mature looking Jane let herself in to the room. I'd never been so relieved to see anyone in my entire life. If anyone would be able to help get Heidi off my case, Jane had to be at the top. However, as the three of us took in her appearance, my hope for a bail out lowered.
The better half of the twins had managed to hit an ideal classy/slutty mark in her outfit tonight that Heidi was having difficulty finding for me. Not that this was her goal, after all, because from what I'd observed, Heidi's style never needed to be classy. She was able to pull off a combination of slutty and mature by simply existing and it worked wonders for her. I, however, never had to dress for any particular style before. Though looking between the three women now, I did know which one I'd gravitate towards if I got a vote.
Chelsea smirked as her eyes ran over Jane's body, from going out heels to a hairstyle designed by an overnight braid that left her hair flowing past her shoulders in messy waves. "Speaking of pissing Alec off."
"Spot on, Jane." I admired her, and she gave me a small smile. "I like your jeans." I turned my head pointedly to Heidi.
The woman barely lifted her head. She gave me only one short and mocking laugh, "ha!"as if to tell me that there was no way she was backing down.
I crossed my arms against my chest again and threw myself back dramatically into the fluff of the couch. Jane made her way to sit beside me, flowing elegantly onto the cushion and sending me a little more genuine of a grin now that the others weren't looking.
Just like the rest of my main circle, she'd been missing from my daily activities while I mourned. I hadn't realized how I had grown to rely on her visits in the beginning to stabilise myself in the new environment. I was constantly reminding myself how fortunate I was to have gained her as a friend, especially considering that her twin and I couldn't so much as be in the same room as each other at the time.
Though I spent no one-on-one time with guard members outside of my body guard circle, I continued to test myself on their names. In doing so, I also uncovered more and more about their individual routines and personalities. Overall, one could claim that while on duty the guard was more serious and when off, most of them lost that stern quality in favour of their natural personalities and quirks.
After casual observation and a few pointed questions, I came to understand that the members of the Volturi had a unique balance of who they were on the front lines as opposed to how they interacted when the masks came off. It certainly wasn't a big, happy, sitcom family, though there were clusters of the guard that hung out more often than not. These clusters were often made up of the lower and middle guard members that were single and as a result, their activities were much looser. Typically, they confined their hangouts to the training (and games) room or other facilities in the castle. There was once a standing Monopoly Monday that the entire castle was invited to, until one night some things were said, money was thrown, and the hat was stolen. The next day, Caius and Marcus had announced a ban on Monopoly to the guard, a meeting that Aro was suspiciously absent for.
It seemed that personal bedrooms remained relatively private. A standard that Heidi assigned to a hundred year period where Aro held an innumerable amount of parties. After a number of complaints about room privacy not being respected and the lower guard members, the unspoken policy moved into place. I have chosen to refer to it as the House Party Bunny Conundrum.
The low, middle, high level separations of the guards did keep the groups quite separate. Though this was more out of happenstance than any sort of mean girl system. The lower and middle guards were the only members that rarely, if ever, interacted with the three kings or the wives outside of official duties. The higher guard members were more often the direct guards for any of the five ruling vampires.
While the coven mixed quite a bit, the highest ranking guard members were less involved with the other guard's extra curricular activities. Most notably, the twins. The guys told me that, for the most part, the twins were satisfied with each other's company for most of the beginning of their lives. Eventually and up to the current date, they branched out to the significant members of the coven, if not only the black coats. In general, it sounded like their attendance for anything casual was rare but everyone had a good time whether they were there or not.
I did notice one thing that stood out when the twins were included. In the most casual settings, such as this one right now, in which playful conversations and empty quips were being thrown about whilst they played 'dress the human like a trollop'; all appeared normal. Jane was smiling, happy, but it didn't take much to recognize the vigilance of the other members of the guard.
They, too, were enjoying themselves. But, Jane's presence alone worked as a trigger for every vampire's underlying self-preservation instincts.
History and every day since, had taught all of the guard members that Jane was quick to anger and always more than willing to respond with her gift. As a result, there seemed to be an underlying focus on maintaining Jane's mood whenever she was present; and of Alec's, if they were able to get a read on the more calculating twin. Everything only seemed to reinforce the idea that she was unpredictable, and her brother was no better.
Until I arrived, that is. It had been pointed out to me that my arrival and the nature of my relationships with either twin had resulted in a choose your own adventure book of possible scenarios. Already, members were seeing the effects from Alec's attack on Prosper to Alec being scolded by Aro. (The latter referring to two separate occasions in my first two days that had apparently delighted a middle level guard, who had major beef with Alec, so much that the guard decided he and the boy were even. My bruises and I were happy to help.) Some guards, like Elizabeth, weren't fans. As if I had any say in the future.
The twins proved to be a consistently controversial topic within the coven and it seemed that my fate had been tied into theirs.
"Alec has no say in what I, nor what Saffiya, wear." Jane declared, in a lighthearted tone, "— speaking of, why are you not dressed?"
I pouted, sticking my tongue out at the hold out. "Heidi seems to have forgotten that I was raised by Catholic nuns and anything that hangs above my knee feels like a sin." Chelsea snorted from inside the closet and I gave myself a mental huzzah for the reaction, while Heidi rolled her eyes.
She held up another dress, this one made out of thin black satin or something else silky. "Uh huh, no way. I'm beat." I shook my head as fast as I could from side to side, letting my curls whip around my head with a childish lack of control. "Besides, did you think this through? I'm not even old enough to club yet." It had been my last resort argument and it fell flat, especially when Heidi managed to move past it so smoothly.
"Which is why you need to wear a dress." Heidi stood her ground and I moaned, throwing my head forward on the couch pillows yet another time. About ten seconds after my head was hidden in the cushions, there was a fast-paced mumbling of words before Heidi spoke back up with a new approach. "Fine. Here. If this one doesn't work, we can talk about a skirt." She grabbed one of the last three in the pile and handed it out for me to take. I raised my eyebrows before giving in because I didn't have much of a choice.
However, as I reached out for it, Jane intercepted the fabric. She held it up to examine the front and back before nodding and shoving it at my chest. I made no effort to hide my contempt for the cloth, though I hadn't actually looked at any other detail of the item. "At least try it on," she requested and without waiting for a response, she pushed me off the sofa and the other two women shooed me towards the bathroom.
I instead ducked into the closet, vowing to make quick work of my assignment. I ran the fabric through my fingers, checking for a zipper. Reluctantly, I slipped the dress over my head and tossed my jeans and tank to the side. In my hurry, I didn't consider checking the mirror before stepping back out. I had a feeling that any personal issues I may have with the dress would be overshadowed by the apparel itself.
Flexing the skirt of the dress in the light, the holographic material definitely made a statement. I reconsidered the purpose behind my dress options. Perhaps, it was Halloween after all and they were just assuming I'd take part in the adult version. Maybe they'd already decided we had a group costume to be a bunch of night walkers and this particular dress was the backup costume idea. Maybe Halloween in July was an Italian thing?
"Er...Heidi? What kind of club is this?" I asked the women, beginning to mess with the straps of the dress, already prepared to take it off. I was interrupted as Heidi grabbed my hand and pulled me further into the middle of the room before I could take it off.
Her eagerness backfired as she had already started to exclaim in fabricated excitement, "it's perfect!" Just before she saw the dress in its full glory. She faltered, taking a step back and scanning her eyes up and down the tight uniform. The positivity she'd tried to spark around the dress was left in a free-fall as she struggled to find a word to benefit her goals.
Chelsea and Jane were also lost for words, watching as I awkwardly shifted my arms around, trying to pull the fabric that barely covered my boob to cover more of my skin.
Jane began to giggle as soon as she caught sight of me. "You look like a jellyfish."
"Oh," I commented thoughtfully, looking down at the dress. I was forced to blink rapidly the instant my eyes caught the reflection of the ceiling light in the fabric. "I was thinking of an alien."
Jane had scrunched up her nose, now taking a swipe at the fabric. "What's that noise?"
"Factory plastic?" I shrugged. "Chelsea?"
Her name was repeated by the other girls twice more before she pulled her focus from the dress to us. She fiddled with her words for a second as if searching for something useful to contribute. "Alien jellyfish?"
All three of us turned to Heidi. The woman took one circle trip around me and finally, she sighed. "I thought you'd like this one."
I bit my lip. "I do!" I did. As a Halloween costume. For a friend...a really eccentric friend. "Just, more for a child's birthday party." Even Chelsea seemed to take pity on me and they let me retreat to change back into my normal clothes.
It seemed that Chelsea had also grown tired of the relentless back and forth of dramatics because she exited the closet just as I did the bathroom, just in time to see her throw something at Heidi. "Compromise." Heidi frowned, letting the fabric drop in the air between her fingers. "Black jeans, booties, that top. Red lipstick et voilà. It will age her four years." It was clear that Chelsea was the brains behind the fashion and I took a mental note, wondering how I'd never noticed.
The top she'd chosen was actually the perfect compromise. It was still the most revealing thing I'd ever worn, but I liked the way it made me feel. Confident. Attractive. It was a backless black top that tied together in the back with a thin lace. Short strings of tiny beads dangled from the bottom and tickled my stomach right below my belly button, giving it a taste of youthful class.
It was an automatic crowdpleaser, immediately receiving approval and praise from Jane and Chelsea. Heidi was still pouting and I bit my lip. "Heidi, I promise one day I'll wear any dress you want me to. But, for now, I think we should just work up to something so…revealing."
This seemed to satisfy her and that was when it hit me. The first step of the plan that would get my life back. A first step that would be easier said than done, but which was so glaringly obvious that it was a wonder I was only just thinking of it.
I'd taken my time to mourn. I'd tried to escape and I'd fought back in whatever ways I could. But vampires had become my new normal despite it all. It was time to give in and play the part I'd been assigned until something changed. I was adjusting to saying the phrase 'when I'm a vampire', but I still had no intent to see it through. So, if I got the chance, I would take it.
Only by playing this role, could I ever hope to escape the Volturi. It wasn't over until my heart stopped beating.
I turned to look in the mirror, as Heidi gave me a genuine smile and confirmed her approval, "you look fierce, Fiya."
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling more subconscious than I had only seconds ago. "Is that a good thing?"
A smug smile appeared on her lips and she winked. "Let's go find out."
~•~•~•~
Hello friends, I've missed you and I hope you are all enjoying life! I am definitely aware that this may be an odd chapter for many reasons. It was very much unavoidable - trust me, I tried. But, I hope it gives ya a giggle anyways. Special shoutout to Kait French for her reaction comments and feedback, which is very much appreciated and extremely helpful pour moi! Thank you as well to everyone who followed and favourited this story!
The next chapter is shaping up to be quite long so I may split it into two to get it out to y'all sooner. Honestly, I've been struggling with it because I keep forgetting how conversations work because my social interaction has been very limited recently. And also, there's a character in the chapter that is supposed to be not nice but I fell in love with him for a hot minute and we're all better now but he had to go.
Also, I don't know about y'all, but I miss Alec. I wonder what he'll do after this happens in the next chapter:
Travis pulled me back in against his chest and our dancing slowed to a near stop. I could smell the bourbon on him as he leaned in closer to my face. He paused.
"May I kiss you, Saffiya?"
Yikes. Until then, Readers ;) All my love, Ro