I may be late but this chapter is on fire.
I think we'll have two more chapters before the final phase begins.
Listen to 'Criminal' by Taemin.
[Twilight characters belongs to Stephenie Meyer]
[English isn't my first language, so please be kind]
31
Criminal
Elia was watching the flower-shaped Tiffany lamp in Jane's room one last time, its curved shapes and blue and green details. Her space was still there, on the floor, nice and comfortable on the rug and next to the radio, but the books had been moved to the new room. As time passed, Elia no longer cared about the daggers on the walls.
- Aren't you taking the radio? - Jane asked, she had a package in her hands, stopping next to Elia.
- I'll leave it for you - Elia replied, and quickly touched the device twice - Alec and I can share the mp3, and when I want to listen to more music, I can bring CDs so we can listen together.
Jane held back a smile, Elia noticed. She lightly squeezed Jane's left cheekbone in an attempt to make her smile for real, but the girl made a strange expression. It was Elia who laughed.
- I want to ask Gianna for new clothes - Elia said, staring at the dress with the high waistline and columnar skirt in black with silver embroidery that Jane was wearing. Together with the bun in her blond hair, she looked like she had stepped out of an 18th century painting - I'll ask new clothes for you too.
- I'm fine with the clothes I have... - Jane's answer was too sharp, she sighed - Maybe one or two, no more than that, no need to exaggerate.
- I won't exaggerate - Elia assured.
- And this doesn't have to be a goodbye - Jane sighed - you'll be in the next room.
- I know.
A silence formed between the girls, then Jane opened the package she was holding, revealing the new frame encrusted with blue sapphires that she would use to hang the new dagger Caius brought from Romania.
- Does Demetri know? - Jane asked, she looked at the newborn cautiously - That you chose my brother?
- He'll know when I tell him.
- Many people already know before him - Jane continued, but Elia looked back at the flower-shaped lamp - I would be really angry if I was the last to know.
Alec's room was next to Jane's, separated by a thick stone wall that still wasn't enough to muffle all the noise. The gray walls still gave Elia a feeling of claustrophobia, which was made worse by the lack of windows. The vampire had been avoiding staying in that room for longer than necessary, using Minos' sessions , Marcus and the cat as an excuse, but now that a choice had been made, she couldn't avoid it anymore. That was also her room now, so she took the belongings she still kept with Jane.
Elia walked over to the dark, polished wooden desk, observing the fountain pens methodically lined up on the surface, the leather sofa she used to lean on when she answered Alec's calls during the mission, and stopped in front of the bookshelf, trying to understand the titles written on those old, worn covers.
Everything was dark and oppressive, and Elia felt like the ceiling was falling down on her head.
- You can paint the ceiling if you want.
Alec was standing in the doorway.
- The walls, even the door, if that makes you more comfortable.
- I would like that very much - Elia replied, wondering if her discomfort was so obvious. She could no longer hear Jane's footsteps in the next room.
- She went upstairs, said she would look after Marcus for today in your place, so you could focus on us - Alec's answer was as if he had guessed her thoughts. He was dressed quite differently than usual, the opposite of Jane, in a very modern outfit that made him look less grim.
- There was plenty of space in the closet - Elia pointed to the space at the back of the room - why did you throw your clothes away?
- Because you didn't like them.
- I never said I didn't like them, I always give Jane clothes, not you.
Alec laughed, closing the door behind him. He couldn't hide his yearning, Elia could easily identify it now.
- The last time you were in this room with me for more than five minutes you made me wear a shirt like this - he pointed to his new clothes - they must be more familiar to you.
Elia nodded, she looked at the ceiling again.
- After I painted for Sulpicia I realized that I can see colors better, maybe more than before. - the girl smiled slightly as she remembered details from the memory. She was even more relieved that she hadn't seen anything else like that anymore. - There were roses in her window, pure white roses. Would you mind if I painted flowers here?
- You can do whatever you want, paint whatever you want - Alec was already inches away from her when Elia looked straight ahead again - this is your room too, our room.
Alec held her face so she wouldn't look away, but Elia still couldn't look at him. Alec had become too much of an authoritarian figure as she became more independent, and she wanted the old Alec back, but it was the boy who didn't seem to understand this. He kept making the wrong choices.
Alec stepped closer to Elia, his eyes fixed on hers, trying to find a crack in the wall of resistance she had built between them. With a delicate gesture, he pulled her close and, without a word, sealed his lips with hers. The kiss was soft at first, a touch of shy intimacy, but it soon grew into something more intense, as if Alec were trying, with every movement, to regain what they had lost. However, as he pulled her even closer, his touch seemed to weigh too much on Elia. Suddenly, she felt a shock of memories crash into her mind, like a wave crashing against a rock. Jane's face, still human, a young girl, burned in the flames, the pain and despair in her eyes. The heat of the memory was like fire, burning her soul.
Startled, Elia pulled away, breathing heavily, trying to push away the torturous memories. Alec had told her about that moment, about the prejudice and the fire, about the faces of the people from their old village, but seeing it, experiencing it, was despairing
- No! - she whispered, her voice shaking, her eyes full of panic. Alec, frowning, reached out his hand, but she took a step back, the distance between them now unbearable.
Elia's hands were shaking, she hadn't seen anything since Sulpicia. What had happened and how could she make it stop?
- I can't... I can't - she whispered, still feeling the heat of the flames, the immense fear. But he didn't know what had happened, Alec didn't know what she had seen, therefore interpreted in the worst possible way.
- Are you rejecting me? - there was pain in his voice, a wounded and dangerous pride - Even after I forgave you after sleeping with Demetri?
If the girl thought about defending herself, those words left her speechless. She still kept her hands on her chest as if she was suffocating from the smoke.
- How did you...
- I didn't need to see, and no one told me - Alec took another step forward, but Elia couldn't risk touching him again, pulling away once more, making the situation worse - I know you slept with him, breaking my trust!
Elia closed her eyes, but the green and the flowers of Sulpicia's vision were gone forever, leaving only the screams and the flames. She didn't know how to restore the trust that had just been broken.
- Is this all because of the human boy? Is it because I made you kill him slowly?
Alec's question was like a knife in Elia's heart.
- I don't regret it - Alec continued, his doll-like face not matching his harsh words - you couldn't have him anyway, he would die of old age before you could control your thirst and Demetri...
Alec laughed, as if he was amused, but his eyes looked sad and hurt.
- He's no good for you, and when you finally have the courage to say you chose me over him he'll run to the first woman that...
Elia slapped Alec, dislocating his jaw, which he snapped back into place with an unpleasant crunch.
- You just sealed his fate - the vampire said, before rushing off - this ends today.
XXXXX
- Strange - Demetri said, he and Santiago were outside.
It was sunset, they could see the walls of Volterra in the distance, through the hills.
- What's strange? - the member of the Guard said. It had been a while since Demetri and Santiago went on a mission together, although this wasn't exactly a mission, just patrol.
- I could have sworn there was someone we knew here.
- Friend or enemy? - Santiago arranged his dreadlocks in a ponytail. He and Demetri had a similar style of dressing, with a good balance between modern and old.
- I thought we were all enemies now - Demetri shrugged. It was much more pleasant to go on a mission with Santiago and Felix, but the other one was now busy on the border of the walls - go to Roncolla just to be sure.
- Understood - Santiago nodded, but turned around before leaving - when will Heidi be back? I'm starving.
- And how would I know? - Demetri replied - Aro must have ordered a big batch this time.
Santiago looked disappointed, but followed Demetri's orders anyway.
Unlike the other members of the Guard, Demetri wasn't too focused on blood right now. He'd heard the rumors, the side conversations between Aro, Caius, and the strange, pale vampire who now roamed the halls, and the pitying glances from Marcus.
"Everyone thinks Elia chose Alec, but that can't be it," the tracker thought. "She wouldn't do that without talking to me first."
Demetri knew he needed to be patient and understanding, now more than ever, after all Elia was going through a complicated process with Minos' experiments, and he knew that a vampire's first year was too emotional.
"If she really has a gift," Demetri thought, "she must be in pain and confused, at least that's how I felt."
Still, Demetri had to restrain his urge to drag Elia out of the twins' hallways every night.
Even with his head full of conflicting feelings, Demetri stopped walking aimlessly when he noticed the silence around him. It was as if there were no more sounds or movements, not even from small insects. And so he understood.
He was being hunted.
Demetri leapt into the trees before Alec's black mist could hit him full on. Blending into the shadows of the trees, Alec seemed to have used his gift from a good distance so that his presence would not be quickly noticed.
- What are you doing? - Demetri shouted at him.
Alec stepped out of the shadows with a determined look, he was spreading the mist as fast as he could, as high as he could, but Demetri was faster and there would always be a higher branch.
The vampire roared as he gave up on using his gift, running after Demetri, who returned to the ground in an area where the mist had not yet accumulated, keeping his senses when Alec jumped on him, going for his head.
If Demetri had any doubts that it was his death that Alec wanted, he no longer had them. But he had something that the Volturi's enemies did not have when dealing with Alec: knowledge, and the fact that it's a one-on-one fight.
Demetri broke free from Alec's hands in time, before he could use his gift as a poison that would numb him. Being taller, he defended himself successfully, but even attempts to immobilize Alec were risky. Each blow made the ground beneath their feet tremble, and when one or the other was thrown towards a tree, its trunk split in half.
Demetri had enough fighting experience to finish one, but he needed to stop Alec's gift first. At every opportunity, the mist would come back into the air, and Demetri had to be stronger to regain the advantage, or the other would rip his head off.
There was only one way to end this.
Alec left an opening when he intended to activate his gift, Demetri knew that, he just needed to focus on one hand first, the shock would create the opportunity for the other. He let Alec hit him in the face first, giving him the feeling of winning, and when the boy was about to activate the mist, Demetri ripped off his right hand, ignoring Alec's screams to rip off his left hand.
The sound was not pleasant, as their bodies were hard as statues, so it was like breaking marble, and Demetri needed to use all the strength he had to accomplish those feats.
Alec's despair and screams only proved that the vampire trusted his abilities too much to even consider losing a fight.
"That's why Aro never sends him on missions alone," Demetri thought, confident that he had won, for the twins were more powerful together.
The vampire still tried to hit Demetri's face, but he knocked him down again, wrapping his hands around his neck, with a very dangerous idea in mind.
"If I finish him here, there will be no more doubts, no more problems for the girl I love."
- The cause of all my problems - Demetri said out loud, squeezing Alec's neck, feeling his skin crack under his fingers.
But then, he stopped.
Demetri didn't know why, he simply couldn't go any further despite knowing that his life would be much easier without Alec existing. There would be no obstacles between Elia and him.
Demetri stepped away from the fallen vampire, staring at his own trembling hands and frightened at himself, as if an invisible thread was preventing him from making the decision for himself.
Lying on the ground, Alec laughed, and the sound was more than disturbing, it was like he knew something Demetri didn't.
- I would have gone to the end - Alec sounded like a maniac, besides the severed hands, there were cracks on his face - but you can't!
The tracker looked to the side, he saw Santiago running back to the city, to warn Aro.
There was no more Elia, there was no more future.
He knew he would be executed by dawn.