SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

D U E

She was reading the Hymn to Aphrodite, her ancient Greek-English dictionary close to her. It had been a while since she'd read anything in Greek, but Edward had taught her the language when she'd been eleven, so it was more like dusting off her knowledge than really learning it anew. She'd been homeschooled by her mother, which gave her plenty of time for extracurriculars, like these ancient languages. 

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she let her head rest against the headboard of her bed, her eyes wandering to the rest of the room. One of the walls was entirely covered with shelves, which were stocked from top to bottom with books. She'd categorised them per meter, one dedicated to ancient books, one for young adult fiction, two for her schoolbooks and other educational books and one meter that was a mix of everything not fitting in the other categories. Her double bed took up most of the space, along with her desk. Esmee had decorated her room when her family had moved from Forks to Alaska, and apart from the occasional additional shelf or bigger bed, nothing had really changed. Cecilia still loved it. 

She heard a knock on her door and not a second later, her father appeared in the doorway. He was still wearing his doctor's uniform, a calm smile on his pale face. "Did you finish it already?"

She looked from her father to the book and back, a guilty smile on her lips. "Almost."

His honey-golden eyes shifted from her form to the shelves. "I guess it's almost time to ask Emmett to add a new shelf."

"I think so too," she replied cheekily. 

During the first five years of their stay in Alaska, the family had remained completely isolated from the outside world. Only when she had gotten to the pretty age of seven, when Nessie had reached maturity as well, did her father pick up on his work as a doctor again, acting as if he and his family had only just gotten here. The other vampires went to high school and college, and her mom taught her at home. But in the meanwhile, ten years had passed, which meant that soon, they would have to move again. Cecilia just knew that moving all of her books would be the biggest pain in the ass. 

"I just wanted to say that dinner's ready," her father said, before leaving her room and closing the door behind him.

At the prospect of food, Cecilia closed the book gently and sprung up from her bed, following her father downstairs. Benjamin and Tia had left late last night, though she was sure the two of them would travel Alaska for a bit before returning to Egypt again. Ever since the big standoff with the Volturi, Benjamin and Tia kept visiting every year, watching both Nessie and Cecilia grow up and keeping the latter a secret from the Volturi. 

Cecilia found her way to the dining table easily enough, smiling brightly at the plate with spaghetti and meatballs that her mother placed in front of her. "Thank you," she said, before digging in. Secretly, she'd hoped that Nessie and Jake would have stuck around for at least another day, but they had a place of their own not too far away from here, but at least far enough from prying family members and specific blondes. 

"I still don't get how you can eat that stuff," Jasper said as he took a seat opposite of her. He did that often, watching her eat with a fascinating glint in his eyes. 

Cecilia simply enjoyed his company during her meal, telling him all about the things she'd done and discovered that day. "I mean, you used to as well."

"Quite some time ago," he replied. "I can barely remember it."

If there was one thing she was afraid of, it was of losing memories when her father turned her. She was planning on having a long life as a vampire, but the idea of forgetting her early years with her one and true family, like the way Rose had washed her hairs when she was younger, or the feeling of her mother's soothing cold hands on her back when she cried, made her stomach churn.