The test of a vampire : A Beauty and the Beast re-telling
Marcus dei Volturi x female OC
Caterina makes a deal with the Volturi master Marcus as to her duties while she hopes the length of her servitude will be short.
Because it would be difficult for a human to harm a vampire, I switched this to have Marcus help Caterina with her wounds, unlike the film where Belle helps the Beast with his.
Chapter Four
The Escape
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Caterina quickly walked the streets of Volterra after leaving the castle she was being forced to work in. Escape had seemed impossible, so she'd accepted her fate, hoping Marcus would appreciate her hard work and let her go home soon. But an opportunity appeared and she took it. It was illogical since he could find her, and possibly do something terrible to her or her father. But one doesn't think logic in such situations.
Once she reached the main street, Caterina searched for her father. Hopefully, he would be at the market selling his produce, but after looking at every stall for almost half an hour, she knew he was not here. Either he had come earlier and left, or never came. It may have been a harvesting day, she couldn't remember. Now her only option was to find someone who would let her use their phone.
She stopped at a nearby store, and asked the cashier if she could make a call with their phone. The cashier was friendly enough, but explained it was store policy not to allow anyone to use the phone. She tried to ask at other shops, but after having been burned by that request by others, policy was no one was allowed to use the phone. Perhaps if she went to the police, they might help her. What would she even tell them? And what if Marcus, being a wealthy man, had influence in town. Who was she to override that. She was just a farmer's daughter and no one of importance.
Tired, Caterina sat on the edge of a fountain and sighed. Why had she left? This was so stupid. She would be found and sent back, and perhaps end up under the control of a man now very unhappy with her. Tears flowed, her thoughts on her father. Papa, I made such a mistake.
The sun was beginning to set, dusk arriving without her noticing. Many of the vendors's stall had closed, the sellers having gone home. Stupid girl, she berated herself. It would be dark soon. Walking home would be out of the question now. She should admit defeat, and go back to the castle. Maybe if she asked nicely enough, she might implore Marcus to forgive her and let her come back. She wondered what kind of punishment she would receive. His temper had scared her into fleeing after all, so it was just as much his fault as hers.
Before Caterina had executed her escape, Marcus had realized he had not seen her all day. He had to sit in on several trials earlier, so he'd assumed she had cleaned his rooms first, and when he had returned there, he saw she had. He left for his office, where Marcus was expecting to find her, but she had already cleaned there as well. He checked the kitchen, where the chef told the Volturi leader he had seen her there for lunch with all the other staff.
Deciding to return to his rooms, Marcus passed through a side corridor and noticed the door to Didyme's room open. He entered the room to find Caterina inspecting his beloved wife's marble bust and the single pink rose from her garden. When he had lost his temper at the unwanted intrusion, Caterina did what he had hoped she would never do, look at him with abject horror and fear. When she ran from the room, he instantly regretted his harsh words.
It had been far too long since Didyme's death. His curse meant nothing to him from the first day he had met his future mate. An eternity with her was not hell. It was a heaven he never dreamed of. Now she was gone. And Caterina was missing as well.
When it was discovered she had not returned to her room, he decided she must have taken his outburst to heart, and was hiding somewhere in the castle. He had to find her. It was far too dangerous here for one lone mortal.
When Marcus left the kitchen, he went in search of Felix. The guard had oddly become the human female's friend. He might have seen her and knew where she'd gone off to. Marcus was slightly jealous at the ease with which Felix had cultivated a friendship with the girl. How did he do that?
Finding the guard, Marcus asked if he knew of the whereabouts of Caterina.
"No, Master Marcus, I haven't seen her since early this morning. Perhaps Demetri knows."
Marcus checked with the coven's tracker, who also had not seen Caterina.
"Master Marcus, should I see if she is here? She might have gone outside." Checking for the tenor of the human, Demetri detected a lead out the back doors into the drive. Then she had gone outside. He and Marcus sped to the back of the castle, exiting through the rear doors, but she was nowhere in the garden or in the gazebo.
"She's left the castle grounds," Demetri said grimly. He and Marcus left through the back gates, going into the village. Demetri easily followed the trail the human had left.
Marcus wondered what made her take the extreme solution to run off. He realized the way he had exploded at her must have frightened her. She did not belong in Didyme's room, but he never should have shouted at her. It was getting dark out now, and he worried for her safety.
By now, Caterina had begun the walk back to the castle, feeling utterly dejected. As she headed down an alley of closed shops, she noticed a small group of young men standing at the end of the alleyway. Caterina turned around to go back the way she came, but hearing footsteps behind her, she knew they were now following her.
She went from a fast walk to running, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling hard enough to tear her shirt. Then someone blocked her way.
"Where are you going, pretty thing?" He reached up to play with her ponytail, then tugged on her earrings. "Are these worth anything, sweetheart?"
"Have you a purse?" another man asked. "Maybe you have some money you could share with us."
Caterina spun around, trying to find a gap she could run through. She started to scream, but a hand covered her mouth.
With a sudden jerk, Caterina was tossed to the ground, her face scraping against the cobblestones.
Above her, Marcus and Demetri had pulled her attackers away from her. Bodies were tossed against the walls of the alley. Blood splashed onto the stone street as sharp teeth pierced soft flesh, tearing into the throats of every one of the molesters. In minutes, all five men were dead.
Marcus flashed to Caterina, who had fainted. He bent down and gently gathered her in his arms. "Demetri, clean up this mess."
The tracker nodded. "I'll return as soon as I'm finished. I'm glad we found her, Master Marcus. I hope she's all right."
Marcus sped back to the castle, returning the girl to her bedroom. Laying her down on the bed, he went into her bathroom and wet a wash cloth with warm soapy water. He pulled the desk chair to the side of the bed, and carefully moved locks of her hair off her face. She has so pretty, even when unconscious. He had been furious when he saw what the young men were doing to her, and the possibility of what they might have done, made him want to rip them apart.
He gently washed the grit from her skin, noticing the scrape marks. Peering down at her face, he wondered what she would say to him when she came to.
While he continued dotting the wash cloth over the abrasions, Caterina's eyes opened. She looked up into Marcus' face, seeing an expression of worry. "Am I still alive?"
Marcus smiled and nodded his head. "Luckily, we found you in time, and as for your attackers, they...ran off."
"We?" she asked, wincing when he touched a sore spot on her face.
"Demetri helped me look for you as soon as we noticed you were gone. I will let you rest for now, Caterina, then we will talk about you running away. Perhaps you'd like to shower and change clothing. Those mongrels tore your shirt, but I will replace it." He bit back his fury once more, but smiled down at her. "And before you protest, it will be my pleasure."
Caterina winced again, but this time it was not pain that had caused it. She was ready for her punishment, however. "Yes, sir." When she saw him rise from the bed, and start to leave, she said to him, "Thank you, Marcus."
He graced her with another smile. "You're very welcome." Then he left her alone.
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After Caterina had showered and dressed, she sat at the desk, waiting for Felix to take her to Marcus' rooms. What was he going to do to her? What would he say? What would she say about her ridiculous hope to go home.
It wasn't long before Caterina heard the expected knock. She ran to the door, yanking it open to find her tall friend standing there. "Oh, Felix, what have I done? Is Marcus very annoyed with me?"
Felix looked down at Caterina, feeling actual sympathy for her, but only he knew running away was a hopeless effort for the human, now that Demetri had her in his mind. She would not ever be able to escape him and his tracking abilities in future. But Felix hoped she never tried. Master Marcus may forgive her once, but would he again?
Caterina grabbed Felix's hand. "I'm scared. Do you think if I apologised and promised never to leave without permission, he might let me try again. I will work very hard to please him."
Felix admired the human's courage, but couldn't help teasing her. "How will you try to please Master Marcus, Caterina?" He raised an eyebrow at her, his meaning clear.
Her eyes went wide and she slapped his chest. "Don't you start!"
Felix pulled back and laughed aloud. "Master Marcus is not that kind of man, Caterina. You can trust him. Now we'd better go." He raised a pointed finger at her. "Remember, be contrite."
Caterina held her hands together, walking beside Felix until they reached Marcus' rooms. He let her in and waited outside the closed doors.
Once inside the ante-room, Caterina saw Marcus sitting at his desk. She stood, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.
"So, you're still here. I expected Felix to report your room being empty," he said, not looking up from his ledger.
"I'm not going anywhere again, Marcus."
"Come over here by me." Marcus set down his pen, waiting for Caterina to stand beside him.
Slowly walking across the floor until she was inches from her employer's side. She took Felix's advice, and stared at her feet, saying nothing.
Marcus looked up at her. "Why did you leave?"
Unable to come up with a good excuse, Caterina told Marcus the truth. "You frightened me when you lost your temper. I'm sorry for intruding in that room. It won't happen again."
"It had better not." he repied a bit harsher than he'd intended. You should not have run away."
"I wouldn't have if you hadn't frightened me!" she said, biting back her annoyance.
"You should have not been wandering around going into rooms you had no place!" Marcus said, raising his voice higher.
"You need to learn not to frighten women!" Caterina retorted. Then she felt bad and lowered her voice. "One other thing. Thank you for saving my life."
Marcus turned to gaze at the human. "You're...welcome." He rose from his chair and taking Caterina's hand, led her to the sofa. When both were seated, he asked her, "If I let you continue your work as you have been doing, will you swear not to run away again?"
She looked up into his warm chocolate-brown eyes, raised her hand, and smiled. "I swear. I will not run away again. I'll do my work as ordered." The smile disappeared. "Until such time you choose to relieve me of my duties...and let me go home."
Marcus drew back. Always, she was thinking about leaving. They had not spent much time together, but he wanted to remedy that. "When you've finished your work tomorrow, I would like to take you back to the room where... I want to explain why I was initially upset at you for being there."
"All right," Caterina replied. 'You don't have to though..."
"I want to explain to you. Just have Felix bring you here when you're finished with your work tomorrow. Now you'd better get some supper while the Chef is still here. Then go to your room, get some sleep."
"Thank you, Marcus." Caterina got up and walked to the door, but then she stopped and turned back to her employer. "Have a good evening."
When she exited the room, Felix gave her a look of mock surprise. "You're still alive! And I assume he did not beat you."
She smacked her tall friend again. "Will you stop? Now take me to the kitchen at once. That's an order."
He gently took her chin in his hand and bent low, whispering in her ear. "An order, is it?
She patted her ear, trying to get rid of the slight tickle that sent goosebumps down her arm. "Please take me to the kitchen, Felix? I'm hungry."
How he wished he could throw her over his shoulder and speed down the corridors. But no, it was up to Master Marcus to reveal their existence, when the time was right. "Well then, let's go." And he led her to the kitchen, all the while asking her about her attempt to flee and what had ensued.
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The next morning, Caterina began her chores, wanting to get done as soon as possible so she could meet with Marcus and see what made that near-empty room so special.
Felix was waiting at the door of Marcus' office. "How did you know I was done?" Caterina asked him.
"Telepathy," Felix said in reply. When he saw Caterina roll her eyes at him. "All right, I heard the vacumn shut off. I know that's the last thing you do when you clean."
"Hmm, smart. Will you help me return my supplies to the supply room? Then let me freshen up before taking me to Marcus' rooms?"
"I'm beginning to feel like your servant," Felix scoffed.
"Ha ha. Please then?" she begged.
"Oh, all right, let's go," he said, picking up her heavier items. When they had done that, he took her to Marcus' doors and again stood guard while waiting. This time, however, Marcus told Felix to go, since he would be showing Caterina around. Felix nodded and left, but not before giving Caterina a wink of reassurance.
Marcus held out his hand to her. Caterina looked at it, debated in her mind, then placed her hand in his. She felt how cold it was, so cold, but she let Marcus lead her down that corridor. They stopped in front of the same doors she'd found open that night.
She turned to Marcus before they entered the room. "In my defense, the doors were not locked or I would not have been able to go in." A stupid excuse, she knew. "I realize I should not have been checking doors to see if they were locked anyway."
"It's in the past. I am bringing you in myself this time." Marcus turned to look at Caterina. How unlike Didyme she was, yet this human might be the key to his current affliction.
A/N : Just an FYI, Felix is taking the place of all the transformed characters like Mrs Potts, Lumière, Cogsworth, etc... He is her friend and confidente, and not her future lover. They just get along really well.