Hey guys another. Hope ya like! Thanks Kenosha Chick!
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I had been in Romania for about a week and a half, and while it wasn't the most supernaturally exciting place I had visited on my trip, it was beautiful and not without its fair share of secrets to uncover. Every day since arriving, Sasha and I wandered the grounds of the great and imposing castle while Ántonia sorted through her trinkets and dozens of new books. That's what she told us she was doing, anyway. Why it took her over a week to do such a simple chore, I couldn't say.
The grounds were covered with a dense and breathtaking forest that consumed every acre of earth right up to the walls of the castle. I learned that we were somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, wedged in Retezat National Park, a protected biosphere reserve. The only humans who were likely to end up near Ántonia's castle would be wayward hikers, but it was against the rules to go off the trails so it rarely happened. Also, because it was a reserve, the wolves, bears, lynxes, and deer Ántonia and I would hunt every so often were protected, from humans anyway.
The beauty of our surroundings was staggering. There were endless jaw-dropping peaks, dozens of clear glacial lakes, and waterfall after waterfall. The only thing that was unfortunate about the climate was that this portion of the mountains was as infamous for rain as Forks. Luckily, we were coming close to the drier part of the year.
Even if it did happen to rain, Sasha made sure to show me everything. I would sit in awe and gape at the incredible wonders of the Earth. He would usually sit and watch me - always with an amused smirk on his face. We kept the pace monstrously slow compared to the walks Jacob and I would take through Forks. Sasha did everything slowly compared to Jacob. However, he also took in every detail. Sometimes his observations made me a little nervous because, although he often had a smirk on his face, he rarely explained why. This always left me wondering what he was really thinking. All in all, I truly enjoyed his company. Perhaps the quality I enjoyed most was his objective perspective of my personality and the decisions I had made thus far. Finally, there was someone I could talk with who did not have a weighted expectation of me.
"Tell me about your home, Nessie. How does a group of vampires become a family?" he asked with a great deal of excited curiosity.
It was a beautiful morning, thankfully dry and even a little warm. Sasha had taken note of my apparel and was wearing a couple of layered t-shirts instead of his usual sweaters - not that there was anyone to see us anyway. We were taking another walk throughout the castle's vast backyard. He loved filling our time by asking me about my...well, everything. Every aspect of my life fascinated him, even the parts I thought to be completely dull. As anti-social as Sasha claimed to be, he certainly seemed to enjoy speaking with me. I couldn't help but wonder what we would do when I ran out things to say about myself. I'd only been around a little under seven years; there was only so much to talk about.
"I have only heard of vampires destroying one another when together in one place too long, aside from Ántonia and myself, of course," he added.
"I think it's all about will power. My family wants to be a family more than anything else - more than thirst, more than power, more than the will to survive. We love each other." Listen to me, talking about the importance of family, when I had run away from mine. I couldn't help but grimace at my own words, feeling like a hypocrite. Sasha didn't question me on it. Perhaps Ántonia had never informed him of the events surrounding my great escape.
"And this peace is brought about amicably?" he asked.
"Not always. We've had to explain our lifestyle several times. We've even had to fight for it, although we would prefer not to." Some of us would prefer not to, some didn't care one way or the other. However, nonviolence was the family's "official" position. "And we are prone to temptation. But that's not unlike any family. We just happen to have a lethal vice between all of us."
