Caius's Mate

Twenty Eight

Izzy POV

I sat in the cold curled up in a ball, my head tucked into my knees. I've never been this cold in my entire life. Tears slid down my cheeks, dropping onto my chest. 

"Hello," I heard a man's voice. 

I looked up tense, "H-hi," I wiped my eyes. 

"You cold?" he asked. He looked around my age, he had brown hair, his eyes were hazel. 

I nodded. 

"What's your name?" he asked. 

"I-Izzy," I looked up at him. 

"Why are you sitting out in the cold?" 

"I-I ran away," I whispered. 

He held out his hand for me to take. I grabbed it and he helped me stand. 

"Come on, I have a place we can go," he said. "There's others like you," he said. 

"Are you going to lock  me in some cellar?" I asked. 

He immediately laughed. "No no, we are a group, we all ran away. You're going to die out here, come with me . You'll be safer with us."

I looked down and nodded. 

He put his arm around me pulling me to his side. 

"I'm cold," I whispered.

"I know, we will be there soon," he said. 

"What's your name?" I asked looking at him. 

"Peter. Peter McKinley," he said.

I nodded. 

We walked a couple of blocks. "We're here," he said. 

I looked up seeing a warehouse. "H-here?" I asked nervous. 

He nodded, "I know what you're thinking, I'm some serial killer taking you to your doom. Am I right?" 

I nodded and looked down. 

"Well I'm not. We live in a group... there are nine of us... well now ten," he said. "We are all misfits who ran away," he said. 

I nodded. 

He led me in through a door, it looked like it was about to fall over. He helped my up a flight of stairs. I looked around, there was a couch, a few beanbags. It was a makeshift living room. There were a few was four people in there, two sitting on the couch, sitting on the bean bag. There was a girl leaning against the wall. 

"Who's this Peter?" he asked. 

"Daniel this is Izzy, I found her on the streets. She would've died if I left her," Peter said. 

He nodded and came over, my body was shivering. 

"Get her warm before she goes into hypothermia," Daniel said. 

He nodded and led me to the couch. I sat. "I'll be right back," he said. 

I nodded and curled up.

Peter came back after a few moments with a blanket. He wrapped it around me. 

"Thank you," I whispered. 

Peter sat down next to me putting his arm around me. 

"So what's your story?" Daniel asked standing in front of me.

I looked down, "I ran away."

"Obviously," he sighed. 

"My mate was going to send me to a group home for fucked up kids," I looked at him. 

"Why?" 

"Because... My mother was murdered and I hd a hard time coping," I looked down. 

"By who?" he asked. 

"Aro," I sighed. 

"Who's Aro?" 

"The leader of this vampire cult," I looked down. 

"Really?" he raised his brow.

I nodded. "I know you don't believe me," I sighed and moved my hair to the side exposing two bite marks on my neck. 

"You weren't kidding," he chuckled. 

"Nope," I paused, "They call themselves the Volturi. The clan is in Volterra, Italy and I left."

He nodded. 

"So what do you like to do for fun?" Daniel asked. 

"I like to cook and knit and write," I said. 

He nodded. 

"Are you fast?" He asked. 

"Fast?" I asked confused. 

"Fast. Can you run fast?" he asked. 

"Uhhhh, I guess so," I shrugged. 

He nodded. 

He noticed the length of my hair looking at it curiously. 

"I had a brain hemorrhage and I needed brain surgery to save my life," I explained. "Aro tried to kill me. I also broke my arm and several ribs were broken. I lost all my memory," I sighed. 

He nodded. 

"I was in a coma for 18 months because I was tortured. Like not on the down low, I mean I was pinned to the wall with a spiked whip... if you don't believe me, I have the scars to prove it." 

He nodded. 

"I was deaf, but when I woke up from the coma I could hear." 

"What a miracle," he said. 

"It was," I looked down. "I watched my friends being murdered. I saw them laying in a pile faced down. Aro and his vampire clan killed them for their blood." 

"Shit man," Daniel said, "I thought you were talking about a cult that believes they were vampire. You mean real life vampires that drink blood and sleep in coffins?" 

I chuckled a bit, "Yes real vampires. But they don't sleep in coffins, they don't sleep at all actually. They are super strong and wicked fast. I mean like your eye cant follow fast." 

He nodded. "I didn't know that vampires existed." 

"Well they do," I sighed, "And I am forced to live there." 

"Well here you have all the freedom you want. You need to contribute to us though. Everyone here has a part, either cooking, scavenging, working, food runs... stuff like that," Daniel said. 

"Yeah, that's fine." 

"Good, now what would you like to do?" he asked. 

"I can cook," I said, "And I could do food runs."

He nodded. 

"Well, I'm Daniel, you met Peter, over there is Lucy, sitting next to you on your right is Lillie, and to your left is Xavier. We have some cots that we sleep on. Some perfer the beanbags. People fight for the couch. We have plenty of blankets," he said. 

I nodded. 

"You'll meet everyone tomorrow. How does that sound?" 

"Fine," I looked down, "Can I lay down?" I asked, "I'm tired and I don't feel good," I sighed. 

He nodded. "You can get the couch tonight," he said. 

"What?! Come on I already claimed it," Lucy said. 

"She's new, let her be at peace tonight, you can have it tomorrow." 

She nodded and sighed storming off. 

"She has a temper," Peter said. "She was taken away from her parents and was placed in a foster home but she ran away from it because they hurt her," Peter said. 

I nodded. Xavier and Lillie went off the couch so I could lay down. 

I laid down on the couch, my eyes drifted shut. 

"Sleep well," Peter said and kissed the top of my head.