Convergence

Chapter Nine

A/N  I was going to make you all wait a bit longer, but all of your lovely comments and votes made me want to give you guys something! I decided to break up her story into two chapters, so here is the first one! I'm not sure it turned out quite how I wanted, but enjoy!

I wipe my sweaty hands nervously on my jeans as I try to avoid everyone's expectant gaze. This is going to be harder than I thought. I clear my throat and begin the story I've kept carefully locked away for the past eight years.

"Alright. So, once upon a time, there was a little nine year old girl who lived a pretty ordinary life. Until the day her sister died, and everything went downhill." I can't help but glance at Bella, who is tightly grasping Edward's hand in both of hers with a slightly sick look on her face.

"The girl was devastated about the loss of her sister, but her parents... her parents completely lost it. They were inconsolable, even the girl's stepdad was distraught. The girl understood their grief, but there was only so much a nine year old could take. After four months of it, four months of being ignored, she grew angry. She wanted her parents realize that they still had a daughter left that was living.

So she acted out; behaved badly. Anything she could do to get her parents' attention. It gained their attention, alright. But instead of opening up to her like she thought they would, they grew sick of her antics, isolating her further. One day she pushed them too far.

And that's the story of how I ended up in a boarding school in Romania."

"What?!" Bella's screech makes me look up from my hands. "Romania? Why the hell would they ship you off to Romania?"

I can't help but glare at her.

"Have you already forgotten everything about your life? Romania is where Mom grew up. I guess she figured it would do me some good to explore my roots or something; maybe try to become more like her." My voice comes out sharper than I intended it too, but honestly, how could Bella have already forgotten stuff like that? I sigh and look back down at my hands. We weren't even to the good part yet.

"Anywho, I ended up in Romania, which wasn't awful at first. I was upset about the situation of course, but I think being away from the constant grief ended up being a good thing.

At least it was, until about five months in, the bullying began. I'm not going to lie and say I handled it like a champ, or stood up for myself. It was terrible and it left me in a dark place. I was desperate for someone to talk to me or even just to like me. I hoped constantly for a companion.

One day I got my wish, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting. He came halfway through the year as our history professor. His name was Mr. Albescu, he was young, handsome, likeable. All of the girls had a crush on him, but he didn't pay attention to them. No, he smiled at me. He talked to me, invited me to eat lunch in his classroom. He helped me with my studies and taught me Romanian."

"I knew you had a bit of an accent, I just couldn't pinpoint it." Kota says suddenly, smiling in relief as if this had bugged him a great deal. I grin gently back at him, thankful for the interruption. I wasn't eager to get to the next parts of my life. I take a moment to drink from the glass of water that was placed in front of me. Clearing my throat, I reluctantly continue.

"He taught at the school for the duration of the year and then disappeared. I was crushed. It was just another person who had abandoned me, and my ten year old self could barely handle it.

I thought about him constantly. So much so that the first couple of times I dreamed about him, I didn't think too much of it. In fact, I welcomed it. The dreams were always vivid. It was like Mr. Albescu was actually there, talking to me. They became somewhat of a safe haven for me; somewhere I could escape to.

He continued to teach me in my dreams, and soon told me to call him Vladimir. I started to realize that something strange was happening, that it couldn't just be my imagination when I started answering things correctly in school that only he had taught me.

As the year went on, I began to question what was happening; I began to question him.

The last day of school, right before summer, someone woke me up in the middle of the night. He was there, in my room. At first I was convinced it was another dream; he convinced me to go with him back to this castle that he called home. Yet as the sun rose, and more days passed, I had to face the reality that it wasn't a dream.

He confirmed to me that my dreams weren't merely just dreams, that he had been there, controlling them. I was fascinated and convinced he was some kind of magician or warlock. The reality was much graver.

When he told me that summer that he was a vampire, part of me was still skeptical. The other part of me was excited and couldn't wait to learn more. He taught me all about his culture and soon enough shared with me his true name: Vladimir Negrescu."

I hear a sharp intake of breath and my eyes land on Carlisle. The questioning yet horrified look on his face leads me to believe he knows exactly who I'm talking about, but doesn't want to believe it. I give a slow nod and his fist clenches.

I hear a low growl and I realize Edward has figured it out as well -- presumably from Carlisle's thoughts. The others look between us, confusion written on their faces.

"I don't understand," Victor speaks softly, "How was he able to manipulate your dreams like that?"

"Just as Edward can read minds, or Alice can see the future." Carlisle answers in a quiet voice. "Many vampires commonly have gifts when they are transformed. Vladimir Negrescu's gift happens to be that of a dream walker -- he is able to enter and manipulate dreams to his desire." His expression hardens. "Though what's happening in the dream isn't happening in reality, I've heard that the dreams he creates are so vivid that they might as well be real."

Everyone turns to look at me and I nod my head in confirmation, barely containing my sigh. That just makes the next part all the more difficult to tell.

"After that summer with Vladimir, things began to change. He visited my dreams more frequently, his teachings began to get more difficult. He moved on to languages such as Latin, Spanish, and yes, Greek." I send a wink towards Silas and North, whom I'm delighted to see is blushing.

"After the second summer at the castle, it's like something shifted with him. He began to get angry easily. He started punishing me when I would answer wrong."

"Punish how?" North growls out. His blush is replaced by an angry flush and his fists are clenched in his lap. I wince. I was hoping that wouldn't come up.

"Ah well, it wasn't bad at first. Just a light slap on the hand. Then it transferred to a light slap to the face. Then to more... creative measures. But that was over the course of the past six years or so." I finish quickly, hoping to move past without any more questions on the matter. There were some things I wasn't quite ready to delve into yet. I hurry on before anyone can ask to clarify.

"This continued for months. My dreams that had once been my safe haven became my nightmare. I became terrified to go to sleep, because when I did he was always waiting. The next summer that he took me back to the castle, I finally asked what had been eating away at me for awhile.

Why? Why was he spending all this time teaching me these things? What was the purpose behind it?"

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. This is where things got a bit interesting. 

A/N  Tada! There is our first peek into Sang's background! I'm not really sure why I chose Romania as her boarding school location, just that it was in the original dream I had, so I'm keeping it! Please share any thoughts and/or questions! What do you think Sang is going to say?