Control

Chapter 13

"Papa!" Andy was at the door with her arms flung around a tall man with a slouchy witch hat on and dressed in a mix of modern gothic Victorian-style clothing. "Is Auntie coming?"

He hugged her tightly in his arms before letting her go to look down at his daughter. "Yes. She should be here soon."

She let him in the house and showed him into the living room that we were all gathered in. His brown eyes darkened over when they saw Aro and the rest of us in the Volturi. She pulled him over to Demetri to introduce the two of them. Demetri looked the witch over nervously. "Papa, this is Demetri. Demetri, this is my dad." Andy kept an excited smile on her face and ignored the tension between the two.

"Sir." Demetri held out his hand for him to take. "It is nice to finally meet you. Andy speaks very highly of you."

Her father narrowed his eyes at Demetri's hand. He didn't take it. He only crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at him. "Please tell me you're not dating this demon."

Demetri lowered his hand and took a step back.

"Papa. Be nice." Andy scolds. "He isn't a demon. None of them are. These are the good guys. The only way we can stop the ones causing the mess going on all over the globe is by us working together with them and the wolves."

He snarled and shook his head. "Doesn't mean my daughter should be dating that abomination." He pointed at Demetri that held his tongue.

"Might I interject?" Aro got to his feet and offered a polite smile. "We should focus more on the issue at hand rather than their love life. Trust me. I am against mortals and vampires being together, but right now we have more pressing matters."

"Aro Volturi. If you're expecting me to bow to you it isn't happening." 

Aro chuckled. "No. Now can I get your name, sir? It is only proper."

The taller male looked down at Aro with a look that said it all. He hated us. "Leo. Leo Hardin. You can all call me Mr. Hardin." He eyed the rest of us. His eyes landed on me and he looked me over. "I thought Sophia finally got rid of you? This house was clean of thrash for a little while. What a shame."

I sucked on the front of my teeth and let out a dry laugh. I went to respond but Aro held up his hand to silence me. "Mr. Hardin, if I may, belittling my guard is not going to help us solve any of what is going on. If you do not wish to help, I understand but we could greatly use your help. What is going on is far worse than I believe you realize. These attacks are not normal vampire attacks. They are far worse and have a mutation. It is not a bite turning them. They are lab experiments. Alec and Sophia can better explain what we are facing, but if you want to stop any more people being killed and going missing I would suggest listening to them and being open to all of this."

Leo looked me over one more time before adverting his attention back to Aro. "Fine. I want to stop what is going on. I hate the idea of working with something as revolting as vampires... mostly the Volturi, but seeing as my daughter is mixed in with this I will help. Only to keep her and Sophia safe." He removed the witch hat and ran a hand over his shiny dark brown bald head and tucked the hat in the saddle bag he had been wearing.

The front door opened and a woman who was close to Andy's height let herself in. Her bright green eyes lit up at seeing Andy. "Come give your favorite auntie a hug." She had on a tight-fitted black dress with cape sleeves. Her brown hair was pulled partly back out of her face.

"Mamie!" Andy rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"Now where is that boyfriend of yours? I heard he was back in town." Mamie teased. "And brought trouble with him."

"Mamie, we just started dating," Andy whispered.

"The way you went on about him you might as well have been dating him. Oh, there he is." She pulled away from Andy and went over to Demetri. "Come hug me. Welcome to the family." Without giving him a chance to object to pulled him into her arms. "Hello, Sophia dear."

Sophia tried to hide her laugh at Demetir's discomfort and confusion. "Good to see you again, Mamie."

Mamie let Demetri go and stepped back giving him a look over. "You are just as handsome in person."

"Thank you..." He replied in slight embarrassment.

"Mamie, why are you encouraging this? You know Andy should not be with someone like him." Leo spoke up.

"Oh shut up, Leo. He's a good boy from all I have heard. He and that young man both are. They have been nothing but gentlemen to our girls. Now get your damn head out of your ass and stop being a prude before I kick it." Mamie walked over to Sophia and hugged her. "Did Andy remember to give you the bath salt I made for you?"

"Yes. I love it. Thank you so much." Sophia hugged her back.

"You cannot be..."

Mamie held up her hand to cut Leo off. "You are Alec, right?" 

"Yes ma'am." I gave her a slight bow. "Are you the aunt that works for the historical society?"

Her eyes looked me over in amusement. "Aren't you a serious one? He's very handsome, Sophia." A playful smile rested on her lips. Her personality reminded me of Andy's in many ways. "I am." She studied me. "You have an interesting past... and an even more interesting future that will unfold."

I raised my brows at her. "Is that so?"

"Hmm yes." She looked back at Sophia and rested her hand on her stomach. "A very interesting one."

I froze. My words caught in my throat.

"W-what?" Sophia looked at Mamie confused.

My eyes locked on to Aro. He was glaring at me in silent rage.

"Another one like me?" Renesmee questioned in a whisper.

"It seems so," Jasper whispered back to her.

"Don't seem so surprised." Mamie smiled warmly at Sophia. "Don't worry. You will be just fine and so will it." She kissed her forehead. "And you. Get that shocked look off your face. You're a vampire. Not dead. What do you think will happen when you have unprotected sex?"

"I..." I was at a loss for words. What could I say?

"Now then. The Variant vampires running around. You want to know where the tunnels are in the town. Right?" She moved away from Sophia and me and went over to Aro. "The cemetery. There is a mausoleum that was used to access underground tunnels. There is also one in the basement of what used to be a home. It is now a storefront. The third one I say they would most likely be using is the one out of that old gothic-style home that is near Bourbon Street. The black and white one."