Happy 4th of July! Updating early because I'm going to be out of town on Saturday. Hope you enjoy!
"Miss, please wake up!"
"Jane?"
Dean's eyes shot open. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and it was entirely too bright in the room. She had to squint her eyes to make out Jane's worried gaze as the vampire stood over her, one cold hand curled gently around Dean's shoulder. Her breathing was erratic, and as soon as Jane noticed that she was coming too, she schooled her features to be indifferent. Her curiosity was hard to hide even through such discipline, showing in the furrowing of her eyebrows and the tightness at the corners of her mouth.
"You were...glowing," says the blonde.
Dean shook her head, not fully comprehending what the other woman had said. "No...I was dreaming," she whispered, mostly to herself. Glowing wasn't something that her brain could make sense of right now. She felt like she was sitting in an angry ocean with a thick fog overhead. She couldn't breathe, and the walls felt like they were pressing in on her.
Jane watched as her shoulders began to heave up and down in an almost violent fashion as Dean tried to catch her breath. Her face was white as a sheet, her top teeth pressed so hard into the flesh of her lower lip that Jane could smell the blood that was about to be released. It was a sweet aroma, much more appealing than some of the other human scum that sulked around the castle. Of course, she hadn't eaten since she'd been sent off to Romania when Dean had just arrived, so that may be why the scent captivated her so much.
"Stand up," Jane ordered once it became clear that the girl was not regaining her composure.
"What?" Dean asked, taken aback by the barking order.
"Stand up, I said. Jumping Jacks. Do twenty of them and count out loud."
Dean climbed to her feet, giving a weary look to the blonde, but spread her arms and legs and began to do as she was told. "One, two, th-three, f-four, five, s-s-six," she called out each number as her palms met in a decreasingly audible slap. "Seven, eight, nine, t-ten." By the time she got to twenty she was breathing deeply again, but had calmed down significantly. "How did you know how to do that?"
"I...am not sure," Jane confessed. The advice had come as naturally as it ever had, and Jane watched on sadly as her once friend nodded and turned to her dresser to get dressed for the day. "I will return shortly." The information was given tersely, as if it really wasn't any of Dean's business where she was going.
Dean supposed that it was true. She was a guest here. She had no rights to know the comings and goings of others, and if she was being really honest with herself, she wanted the time alone to process the dream she'd had. After shrugging on a light summer dress that pooled around her ankles and covered her arms, she poked her head out to ask Demetri or Felix to take her to the chapel. To her surprise...she was alone.
Excitement gripped her as she shut the door tight again and dug underneath her bed for her travel bag. Her bible was stuffed inside, along with the garments she'd arrived in. There was also some bread she'd wrapped in cloth napkins, and she hoped they weren't stale by now. She pulled the worn brown leather strap over her shoulder and cautiously peaked out before stepping into the hall and gently closing the door behind her. She tried to move as silently as possible as she made her way to the chapel on her own.
Deans mind was naturally suspicious. As she made her way through the castle, she didn't run into anyone she recognized, and those who she did see stayed out of her way. They gave her wide berths and left her to her own devices. She wondered if they'd stop her if she were headed back to the throne room, or perhaps in the direction of an exit. Did this castle have more than one exit?
She felt her shoulders drop in relief when she finally made it inside the chapel, alone once again. She had timed her guards when they left her, but hadn't accounted for this golden opportunity. People had seen her coming through, she had no idea how long she had until one of the kings or the guard came to retrieve her. She shuddered at the idea of a reprimand, but stuck to her guns and walked up to the long stained glass windows.
The panes were made so that the windows could be opened. There was a tiny bronze latch between the glass and the wood pane that she flicked upwards. Pushing the window open, it gave way to a gentle breeze and an area wide enough for her to suck in her belly and turn her head to the side in order to squeeze through. Unlike her trip out the window in the tower, the chapels windows were much lower to the ground level. She only had a short drop that jarred her still bruised tail bone, but no major damage.
She took in the feeling of freedom. Italy had always been a beautiful place, but it was all that much sweeter when you'd been locked up for a week. She took in lungfuls of air, listening to the sounds of the city that was already bustling about. She was safe out here, in the sunlight. Even still, she did not want to hang around the castle walls and find out how fast she could be snatched right back up.
With no feelings of guilt, she ran. The bag bounced against her hip, throwing off her balance, but she moved into the streets nearly flawlessly. It took no time at all before she was integrated with the pedestrians of Volterra. If she could make her way to a bust stop, she could get a ride to the convent. From there, she could get in contact with Father Karras. And maybe give them all a piece of her mind.
Dean passed by a juice shop, and had to stop and do a double take. One moment, there was the woman from her dream. She stood behind the stand outside her shop offering healthy smoothies and juices, and they locked eyes. Her dark hair and darker eyes bore into Dean as she lifted her arm and once again showed her a vial full of dark liquid. A tourist bumps into her, jostling her and knocking the bag from her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry!" Says the man as he steadies her with both hands on her shoulders. Dean regains her footing and offers a kind smile to him, but is looking over his shoulder to see the witch. To her disappointment, the woman is gone without a trace of ever having been there. In her place is a slender blonde Italian woman, wearing pretty shades of tan and green.
"It's okay," she says absently, and reaches down for her bag. But it's gone. Her eyes drop down to her feet where the bag should be, and the man who'd bumped into her has gone as well. She sighs in dismay, closing her eyes in frustration and regaining her sense. She supposed she'd be hitch hiking to the convent instead. Her free ride had counted on her holding her credentials as a nun.
Feeling slightly at a loss, confused, and a little scared that she was losing her mind, she pushes her way through the crowd and towards the outter roads.
~~/~~
The kind gentleman that had taken her all the way to the convent had been a quiet and respectful travel companion. He'd asked very few questions, none of them invasive. He even refused payment for going an hour out of his way.
"Thank you, Daniel," she smiled at him. His face was sagging from age, and were soft to look at. His kind hazel eyes were fixed on the convent gates behind her, a far away look on his face.
"It was no bother, young lady," he said in Italian. "The church has always been very good to me."
"I'm happy to hear that," replied Dean as she unbuckled and stepped out of the door. "May god bless you," she says automatically. Daniel nods, and Dean shuts the door, only to turn to the gates and hesitantly walk up to ring the gong like doorbell. It's loud, and obnoxious, and all of the nuns hated it. They'd rush to answer the call so that they'd not have the sound repeated.
"Sister Dejanna," Mary Clarance called in delight as she came from within. Her dark skin was haloed by her wimple, and her voice still carried it's musical properties from choir practice.
"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, sister," Dean gasped as she threw her arms around the darker woman's shoulders. Mary Clarance gasps, going stiff at first before relaxing into the hug with a laugh and returning the gesture.
"It's good to see you as well! I was wondering how long it would be before I saw your smiling face around here again."
The smile slips off of Dean's face at once, turning sad. "I'm afraid things aren't the same as they once were, sister. May I see Mother Superior?"
"Of course! Come," Mary Clarance pulls away and waves her in, closing and locking the gate behind her.
The walk seemed to take forever. The two continued through the Abbey in silence, as they were accustomed to, but Dean was toiling away with what was safe to share with her maternal figure. She'd gathered a few of the rules of the Vampire world while within Volterra and feared that she was dooming her family to die because of her cowardice. She'd long since forgotten the reason she'd saught them out in the first place, and was now only concerned with her own life.
If she had to spend the rest of her life in seclusion, she just might.
Dean's footsteps slowed to a halt as she thought that over. Could she do that? She'd always longed for adventure. She wanted to make something out of her feeble life. Was she doing a disservice to herself by hiding here?
Mary Clarance offered her a reassuring smile as she turned to rap gently upon the office doors. Dean took a deep breath as she heard the voice of Mother Superior beckoning them inside. She pulled up her big girl panties and opened the door, walking in with her head held high.
"Dejanna," Mother Superior said in surprise, her brows rising up to her head dressings. The older woman stood from her chair and rounded the desk, looking the younger over from head to toe as if making sure there wasn't a scratch on her. Briefly, she turned her gaze to Mary Clarance, who remained in the doorway. "Thank you, sister, you may return to the choir now."
The darker skinned woman smiled and gave a slight curtsey before shutting the door on her way out. Dean's lip began to tremble the moment the latch caught, and Mother Superior enveloped her in a much-needed hug.
"Oh, dear girl, what's happened?"
"Oh Mother, you wouldn't believe me if I told you! I shouldn't have gone! They locked me up in this castle and I just had to run away! I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've caused you, please don't make me go back!"
"Good heavens girl, I don't understand. Father Karras said you were being well looked after."
"He...what?" Dean pulled away, blinking back her tears as confusion settled down over her head like a heavy cloud. Anger simmered just below the surface of her skin, rising and bubbling from her abdomen like a pot of heated water.
"Father Karras assured me that you were where you would be happiest. This mission...whatever it was, was to be your future."
"It's a den of va-" Dean had to cut herself off mid exclamation. Her eyes roved over the office, trying to find her baring's. Something to ground her as she came to terms with the reality that she really had been offered up like a sacrificial lamb. Her and Gabriel both. She thought very briefly and very spitefully of finishing her sentence and watching with the greatest curiosity what would come of it. But then...what would happen to the children here? "Demons," she said instead.
"They sent me into a place crawling with real life demons, mother. I was supposed to find happiness there?"
Mother Superior gazes down at her, blue eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "I wish I knew what to say, Dean. I had no idea...demons...?"
For a moment Dean couldn't process the disbelief and flabbergast on Mother Superiors face. She spent her whole life teaching about angels and demons, but here she stood, skeptical that they walked amongst the living? Doubting her (arguably) favorite orphan? "I swear to you, Mother. There's demons in Volterra, and I fear they may come for me."
"I...I shall call the Vatican right away and get this straightened out. Why don't you..." Mother Superior looks to the ceiling as if looking for guidance and blinks her watery eyes as she takes in a breath of air. "Why don't you retire to your room for now. It's all the same since you left it. You may join us for supper."
"Thank you," Dean breathes gratefully as she bows respectfully and leaves the much older woman to worry by the window.