It all came down to politics, in the end.
Her shower did little to relax her and she hadn't managed to sleep before Carlisle arrived. In clean clothes she would never have picked for herself, Bella quietly watched as he exchanged string after string of pleasantries with the three kings, their voices warm and friendly but their words hiding dangerous subliminal meanings. She couldn't blink. She hadn't expected it to go like this, but of course it would. Stupidly, she thought Carlisle would strut right into the castle and heroically rescue her. Maybe Edward would start a fight, and the three vegetarians would have to throw a few punches before running off with her on their shoulders. Seeing her "rescue" actually happen put everything into perspective for her. No, that's not how things are done.
It was all very diplomatic.
Carlisle did strut right into the castle; that part was just as she had pictured while she anxiously waited for him. He walked in with his usual confidence, holding his head up and smiling his doctor smile - the gentle one you could barely see, accompanied by a slight frown. He could be walking around a hospital looking for a patient, worried about blood test results. She half expected him to breathe out and ask her what happened and how she was feeling while listening to her rapid heartbeats with an unnecessary stethoscope.
He looked at her with the familiar frown, but there was no smile. His thin lips were uncharacteristically turned downwards, making him look more severe than gentle. Her stomach somersaulted at the sight as her mind raced with its possible meaning. It couldn't be good, it did not look good at all.
"Bella will be perfectly safe in here, dear friend. We assure you." Aro was looking down from his throne at his so-called American friend, dismissing his worries and refuting his arguments with ease. "She will be cared for and instructed, and of course, when she is ready, she will be free to leave if she so wishes."
Like her, Alice and Edward watched the exchange in tense silence, looking straight ahead and avoiding glancing at each other. Should she say something? What would happen if she backtracked on her decision? It didn't feel right to let Carlisle do all the talking when he was trying to fix her mess. At the same time, she trusted him to know what to say and to do and feared that her interference would only cause more trouble. Still, she had to take responsibility for her own mistakes, didn't she?
As soon as she decided to interfere, Alice's head snapped in her direction, followed closely by Edward's, and they both stared at her with wide eyes. Edward shook his head as subtly as he could while Alice mouthed a single word, barely separating her lips.
"Don't."
Bella closed her eyes and took a deep, painful breath.
"Of course," she heard Carlisle's polite answer from afar like it was drowned out by water, feeling dizzier and dizzier with each word. "There is no doubt about that. We're only concerned with her comfort. We believe that Bella would feel more comfortable if she went through the transformation with us by her side."
Aro's eyes flashed dangerously.
"I see," he smiled his Cheshire cat smile and gracefully crossed his legs. "In that case, I would suggest one of you stay here with her, or perhaps two of you."
His eyes then wandered to Edward, falling on Alice. Edward clenched his fists and his jaw in undisguised indignation. Alice, however, bit her lip and fidgeted with her leather gloves. Edward growled.
"Alice."
She shook her head, continuing to avoid his gaze. Her eyes met the floor, but Bella was sure they were full of doubt.
"No one is staying," Edward declared. It sounded final, but Alice was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her entire frame shaking with anguish.
"I…"
"Alice, please."
She finally looked at her brother. While he gave her a stern, warning look, she retributed it with a sorrowful one.
"How can I leave her again?"
She didn't say it, but everyone heard it.
How can you?
Bella could tell they were walking on thin ice. She could see the Volturi did not want to let her go now that she had accepted their offer, and pushing them too much could change the tone of the conversation. Caius would only keep up with the friendly facade for so long and put up with so much insistence.
Carlisle sighed loudly.
"I hoped we could have a more informal, intimate discussion."
The oldest-looking king raised one snowy eyebrow. Somewhere in the room, a guard scoffed. Aro ignored them both and took a moment to analyse Carlisle, tilting his head like a curious dog. His glinting eyes lost part of their calculating severity, their iciness melting away as he considered the request. For excruciating seconds, the large room was in complete silence. Bella thought she was losing her grip on reality again, her dizziness making her feel like time had stopped.
But Aro shifted his position in his adorned chair and spoke.
"Very well."
Bella felt he would have denied anyone but Carlisle.
Descending from his throne with regal elegance, Aro glided towards the Cullen patriarch and took his hand. Half the room moved with him in eerie synchrony, dark clothes billowing around quiet feet. The king lowered his head in concentration, letting his raven hair obscure his pale face.
Bella's rumbling stomach disturbed the silence, and her face warmed up when she noticed a few heads turning her way.
"Ah, it seems that our Bella needs to eat. Let us continue this conversation in my study." Aro smiled and turned to Felix. "To the kitchen with our human guest, hm?"
"Not him." Edward swallowed hard before adding forcefully, "Please."
Felix smirked but said nothing.
"I'll take her," Alec offered. Jane tried to suppress a grimace, possibly anticipating Aro's next sentence.
"Thank you, Alec. Jane should go with you."
"Yes, Master."
Jane looked ready to throw up.
Bella wanted to protest, certain that she could easily ignore her hunger to continue witnessing the discussion of her fate, but remained quiet. The twins passed by her wordlessly and exited the room; their slow pace was the only indication that they expected her to follow. Giving Alice and Edward one last remorseful look, she fell in line after them.
Her hopes for another silent walk through the building were immediately crushed by Jane's angry hiss.
"What business Carlisle Cullen has in coming here is beyond me. Disrespectful, meddling child."
Alec shrugged, but Bella had to refrain from fully breaking into laughter upon hearing the little girl call Carlisle a child. She wondered again just how old they were, for she knew Carlisle had been turned centuries ago.
"This is all quite pointless," he agreed, though not nearly as passionately, "especially because Bella doesn't want to leave. Isn't that so?"
He looked at her then, his eyes flashing with an amusement that seemed oddly misplaced in his still blank face. Caught off guard by the malicious question, she tripped but didn't fall. Biting the inside of her cheek, she mimicked the diplomacy of the immortals to the best of her capability.
"I… I made my decision. Whatever happens next is out of my hands."
Her voice was weak and unsure, and he smirked. Jane rolled her eyes, surprising Bella again with her sudden lack of decorum.
"You should have left with them and spared us from this circus."
"Sister, what are you saying? She is gifted. Like us. To turn down such an amazing offer - a position within the guard - would be so foolish. And we would lose the addition of a gifted member to our coven."
Bella nearly stopped dead in her tracks until she realised he was teasing his sister as well, just like he did earlier when she arrived with Alice. His face was always so serious when he said such things that it took Bella a while to notice that he was joking, but Jane seemed more than used to his antics.
"Like us," she echoed pensively. "I hardly think so."
He finally broke character, laughing and shaking his head.
"Well, maybe your gift will work on her once she becomes immortal."
The prospect lifted Jane's spirits as much as it inflicted sheer dread on Bella's heart. Jane's hopeful smile broadened when she noticed the change in Bella's heartbeats and she continued her walk joyfully.
Bella watched them curiously despite her deteriorating physical and mental state. They both took pleasure in tormenting others, she noted, though Alec preferred to be much more subtle than his sister. She stored away that small piece of information, deciding to keep her distance from them as much as she could.
The kitchen was nothing like she had expected.
It was a large, bright modern room packed with shiny appliances. The walls were cream-coloured and the cabinets were painted white, while the countertops were made of white marble. She squinted her eyes to shield them from the sudden change in brightness and heard her stomach complain again.
Alec leaned against the large island in the centre of the room. "How often do you need to eat?"
"Uhm, every few hours. Like three or four."
He nodded, only marginally interested, and Jane giggled.
"I don't think we will remember to feed you all that often. How many days can you go with no food before dying?"
Bella opened her mouth to answer, feeling her stomach sinking, but no sound came out. Alec laughed again and Jane joined him as Bella stood there with her mouth open like a fish, feeling utterly stupid as she realised they were just teasing her again.
Her skin heated up in embarrassment all the way down to her neck and she kicked herself mentally for being such an easy target.
"You do smell amazing," Alec commented matter-of-factly before pressing a button under the island's countertop. "The type of blood that should be truly enjoyed, not just used to quench the thirst… and we just fed. It's a shame we can't try it."
She crossed her arms tightly around herself, unable to tell if he was just trying to get a reaction out of her, but he paid her no mind. He was facing the ceiling with unfocused eyes, and his voice was a low monotone. His musings still managed to unsettle her and she nervously bit her lip.
Turning to Jane, she noticed the girl staring at her with utmost concentration. As she met Bella's gaze, her face relaxed.
"Very annoying."
Alec chuckled.
She was saved from Jane's growing aggravation by a middle-aged human man who entered the kitchen through a backdoor. His bald head reflected the bright lights as soon as he set foot inside, and his hairy arms were partially covered by long sleeves he had rolled up to his elbows. Bella thought he looked exotic and foreign with his thick dark eyebrows and pitch-black eyes before remembering that she was the exotic foreigner in that scenario. He hurried inside, bowing twice before looking at Bella questioningly.
Jane spoke to him in an unfamiliar language, quick and permeated by harsh sounds. She seemed to be instructing him but Bella couldn't pick anything from what she said. The man nodded profusely when she was done, rubbing his hands on his dirty apron.
"Someone else will come for you in an hour," Jane told her, loud and clear. "Hopefully someone else…" she amended in whispers, still loud enough that Bella could hear her.
Alec smiled at his sister's annoyed tone and left the room without sparing Bella another glance. Jane was quick to follow him, turning on her heels and vanishing without a sound.
Bella eyed the man whose name she was never told, unsure of what to do. Did he even speak any English?
If he did, he didn't seem willing to use it on her - or to speak to her at all. He gestured for her to sit on one of the stools by the island and proceeded to open the fridge, taking a few items and placing them on another counter. It was awkward and, to Bella, borderline rude to sit there and watch him cook for her, but she had no choice. Her hunger and her tiredness did a good enough job at making her less self-conscious and embarrassed of staring at him and waiting to be served, and so she waited. Her eyelids were heavy and she soon noticed her limbs were weighing her down. The stranger began to cook, expertly cutting meat and vegetables and moving frying pans on what seemed to be pure muscle memory. Bella's eyes snapped open at the display and she felt suddenly awake, enraptured by the one-man spectacle.
The smell of food filled the room and her stomach protested again. The man glanced at her amusedly and raised one hand, his thumb almost touching his index finger. She nodded, looking away as he finished her meal.
She hoped he was not cooking anything that would feel too exotic to her.
He claimed her attention again as he placed a plate on the island counter in front of her.
"Thank you."
He didn't answer her. Patting his hands on his apron, he turned on his heel and left her alone in the kitchen.
It was harder to eat than she anticipated. Though her stomach begged for food, it rejected it at the same time. The spices prickled her tongue and the strong smell that assaulted her nose when she brought a spoonful to her mouth made her cough. She took a moment to get used to it, stopping and smelling it before trying again. After the third bite, her nausea relented and she could tell the food was exquisite, better than anything else she had tasted in her life so far. A morbid thought occurred to her then, and it was like ice washed over her entire body.
It felt like being granted a last meal.
She shook it off and slowly ate it all, taking her time to savour it seeing as no one was around to make her feel pressured to finish - or so she believed. A velvety voice reached her ears as soon as she set the silverware down.
"Are we done?"
She jumped, turning around to meet its owner. Demetri tilted his head.
"My apologies. I thought I made enough noise when I entered the room."
Bella could tell by the way he smiled that he knew he made no noise when he entered the room.
"Uhm, yes. I'm done."
She took the plate and stood up to wash it, but Demetri caught her by the wrist.
"Leave it. We have people for that."
She did as she was told, relieved that he let her go just as quickly as he touched her. The coldness of his skin made her deeply uncomfortable, something she didn't feel when touched by the equally cold hands of any of the Cullens, and the fact that he touched her so frequently with such ease unnerved her. She rolled her shoulders to release some tension and ventured a question.
"How is it going? The talk."
He shrugged. "Well."
Noticing he was unwilling to spare her any details and fill her in, she sighed, prompting him to smile.
"Are you worried? Do you, perhaps, feel you are in trouble?"
She shook her head, though he hit it on the nail. No, she couldn't let on just how scared she was of the consequences of her own actions, especially not after he mentioned how brave she had been.
"I feel I'm being a nuisance."
He smirked, lifting a hand and gesturing her to follow him back into the corridor she came from.
"Aren't we all at some point in life?"
Whatever he meant by that, she didn't know. It certainly didn't soothe her worries. Walking by his side, she frowned and he decided to grace her with an explanation.
"You are young, Isabella. It is perfectly acceptable to need support and guidance. You're not imposing on us."
She fought the urge to correct him about her name.
"Jane might disagree."
He clicked his tongue.
"Ah, Jane. She is upset because you stole the spotlight. It will pass soon enough."
Bella hoped he was right. Even with her childlike appearance and without the aid of her gift, Jane was scary. She was still incredibly stronger than Bella and seemed very easily annoyed.
"You should sleep for a while," Demetri interrupted her train of thought, "I'll take you back to your bedroom."
"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep right now. I couldn't before."
He eyed her curiously, catching her by the elbow and immediately letting go when she tripped.
"It doesn't matter how much you fret over it, the outcome of their discussion won't be affected."
He was right, but it didn't matter.
"I just… I wish there was more I could do. It's awful to stand by and watch everyone get busy because of me while I rest."
Demetri was quiet for a moment. He resolutely guided her through the various corridors with a steady pace, looking straight ahead, and stopping at the door of her assigned chamber.
"Have you ever baked bread?"
Bella frowned in confusion.
"Uhm, no. Not really."
"Most of the process of baking good bread is just waiting."
He opened the door for her and stood aside. She hesitantly stepped into the room, scanning it while still paying some attention to the sneaky vampire behind her. To her surprise, the bag she brought to Italy was by the bed.
"How…?"
"Alice Cullen brought it over."
She nodded, making her way to the bed and kneeling on the floor to open it. Everything she packed was in there, much to her surprise, including all of her documentation.
Realising she would be left alone in that room for some time, she wished she had packed a few books and instantly felt silly.
"Is anything missing?"
Demetri was still by the door, staring down at her inquisitively. His hands were clasped together in front of his body and his upright posture made Bella feel inadequate in comparison.
She stood up, throwing the bag on the bed.
"No, it's all there. Thank you."
He didn't leave and didn't answer, lifting one eyebrow and slowly entering the room instead.
"What's the matter?"
Bella looked down and ran a hand through her hair to dissipate some nervousness before deciding to speak.
"I just… wish I had something to read if I'm going to be waiting alone in here."
"Oh."
They watched each other for an awkward moment before Demetri smiled again.
"I'll see what I can do."
She tried to say no and thank you, mortified to impose even more on him, but he was gone before she could blink. The door closed by itself, moving smoothly and clicking shut long after he touched it.
Sighing heavily, she jumped on the soft mattress and kicked the covers away. The bed was nearly too comfortable to be used, she decided, which could have contributed to her inability to sleep there the first time around.
The whole situation with the Cullens didn't help, of course.
She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing, imagining Carlisle and Aro in the same room filled with books where she talked with the kings. In her head, Aro allowed Carlisle to be alone with him in the little study except for maybe one or two guards. Their conversation was amiable at first, but her racing mind didn't take long to turn the pleasant picture she painted into a violent nightmare. Eventually, Aro's smile became feline and dangerous rather than warm and friendly, and his guards carefully positioned themselves behind the Cullen patriarch, crouching like lions ready to attack. Bella tried to scream, tried to warn him, but her throat closed up and she choked, furiously gasping as Carlisle was subdued.
Approaching the restrained vampire in his eerie, gliding manner, Aro put his papery hands on his face, grinning like a madman before pulling hard, and Carlisle's head was torn from his body with a metallic clash.
The entire scene collapsed when she sat up on the bed, covered in cold sweat. Her hair clung to her wet face and her whole body shook, making her teeth clatter. She put her arms around herself to stop the shaking and locked her jaw, hearing it clack, but soon opened her mouth in search of air. She stayed there for several minutes, arms firmly closed around her body and mouth wide open, gulping down the air like it was water. When she calmed down, she pushed her hair away from her face and looked around the room trying to find a clock or anything that could tell her much time had passed, but found nothing of the sort. The room was dark, though not completely, and she guessed a few hours must have passed. It made her feel detached and dislocated; her nightmare seemed to last for a few minutes.
The only thing she found upon closer inspection was a tattered copy of Wuthering Heights on the desk. On top of it, a small piece of paper carried a short message, written by hand in stunning penmanship.
"A favourite of yours, I've heard."
Trying not to think of exactly how he got that information, she opened the book, grateful for the distraction.
a/n: ok, it took forever, I know and I'm sorry. Adulting is so demanding lol
Thank you to those who reviewed! Someone asked about this being a soulmate AU and I would like to clarify: though in the Twilight universe, the vampires fall in love and call their partners "mates", they fall in love in a regular way and only stay in love forever if the connection is very deep. In this story, I want to explore a different type of bond, which is that "connected by the strings of Fate, predestined to each other, finding each other eventually even if it takes reincarnation" type haha
Thank you for reading, I will try to update more regularly, I swear
