"Ariadne?" Bella was the one who greeted me. Surprise in her voice.
I gazed swiftly at Alice. Hadn't she told them I would come? Perhaps she couldn't, because she didn't know me before. To her it'd probably seemed like a normal party of the guard would come.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came with the Volturi."
The answer confused the lovely girl whom I still had difficulty seeing as a mother. I figured Edward would enlighten her and indeed, not two seconds later, he announced: "She married Demetri."
I narrowed my eyes. I was pretty sure my command made it impossible for him to read any more, but you never knew.
"What?" Bella now looked at me like I had gone crazy.
Irritated, I began walking to the door, saying: "Look, if you don't want me here, I'll go wait outside for his return."
Esmee's always friendly plea for me to stay and Emmet's not so subtle comment on why I wasn't with him anyway, came at the same time. It made me sigh, but I halted my steps.
"If you must know, I haven't had that much training and have just seen a rather unpleasant carnage in Romania. I didn't want to be far away from him, but I also don't care to see more terror."
No one knew what to say to that. After a few silent minutes I dropped down on the floor near the front door and stared at the carpet. I would wait here.
Not long after, however, someone sat down beside me. It was the thin fairy ballerina, Alice.
"It's nice to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you. I wish I had known it was you I'd seen."
"What did you see?" I asked, curious despite my reservations.
"Don't worry, I don't see many details. It's not like knowing everything that happens to everyone. I simply saw a vision of us standing there, meeting you. I knew the others, but not you. Why did you marry Demetri?"
A quick glance around the room showed me Alice was not the only one wanting to know.
Should I tell them? I guessed it couldn't hurt. After all, they were kind enough to let me stay, the least I could do was be honest.
"Marcus told me, when I arrived in Volterra. He saw a bond between us, Demetri and me. We both felt it. I guess we figured there was no use in delaying the inevitable."
That might have sounded a bit too negative. So when Alice looked at me with a frown, I hastily added: "I love him. I know you all don't like him, but he's wonderful."
A few snorts came from various locations in the house, but Alice giggled. "Well, I'm glad at least you didn't choose Felix."
At that, I barked a short laugh. "My thoughts exactly."
The tension lessened somewhat after our little talk. Everyone went about their business, which mostly meant they sat down to read. Edward and Bella were buried in books. Were those schoolbooks?
When Alice didn't leave her spot next to me, I asked: "Can you see anything?"
She knew what I meant, because her smile became apologetic. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep tabs on everything that will happen around this house. With my family. It's difficult to see beyond that. And the future always changes. Every time someone makes a decision, it alters. I could see the phone ringing a minute back, but I'm not sure when."
I tensed. What did that mean? That Demetri was in trouble? Did they need me? I should be out there with him, not here, being nothing but a nervous wreck.
Alice scrunched her face.
"What do you see now?"
She looked at me, worry written on her face. "I see you. But it's not clear. It keeps changing. Are you thinking about going there?"
"Should I?" I wanted to rattle the girl for being so vague.
"No", she replied, her voice distant now. All eyes were upon her again. How could they live like this?
"Not until he calls. If you go now, he ..." She cut herself of, her eyes wide open.
"What? What happens, tell me."
She blinked once and then replied: "He dies."
I was halfway through the door, Alice yelling behind me, when a strong arm stopped me.
"Let me go", I wailed. The hand let me go at once, but Edward's voice kept me from bolting down the lane.
"I can no longer read your mind, but I can still read Alice's. If you go now, he will die. Demetri will die."
"No, you lie. You hate him, you want him to die." My feet steered me a few inches forward, but doubts held me back.
"You have to trust me. Wait for the call."
"I don't believe you." I turned and looked at him with piercing eyes. "Tell me the truth."
"I am." Edward's breathing was labored, like he was in pain. He took a small step closer, held out his hand and urged: "If you go now, he will die. Wait for the call."
Finally understanding what they were saying, I sank down. The snow came up to my middle, soaking my leggings and boots.
Nobody said a word, waiting for me to make a move.
When at last the phone rang, a loud, obnoxious sound, I was the only one who jumped up. I nearly crushed the device.
"Demetri?"
"Ariadne", his voice was strained. "I need you to come."
The phone line died before either of us could say another word. It was so obviously a trap that for a moment even I hesitated.
"You need to go, now", Alice broke the silence.
"But-"
"I know, but you have no choice."
I looked at her agonized expression and wondered what it was that she had seen.
"Will he live?" I hardly dared to ask and my voice was barely audible.
"Go, now", she repeated. "And take the third."
I didn't need any more encouragement. I dropped the phone on the soft carpet, where it fell without a sound, and ran for the woods. His scent lingered and showed me the way. It only took me about half an hour, but then I ran straight into someone.
At first I thought it was Demetri, but the size was all wrong. Arms pulled mine back and a raspy voice near my ear scared the hell out of me as it said: "Fight me and your dear tracker dies."
Instantly I stopped squirming. "Where is he, what have you done with him?"
"Tsjk tsjk child. All we need is a little cooperation. Start walking."
I wanted to turn, to scream and kick, but the fear that I would be the cause of Demetri's death because of a wrong command, stilled me. Was this what Alice had seen? Would they come and rescue us if things went wrong? I didn't dare to hope. And where were the others? Felix and the twins. They couldn't have all been captured, they were much too powerful.
"What have you done with the others?"
A hand wrapped around my throat, blocking my speech.
"They had a run in with some rather lovely boulders. Don't worry, they won't get in our way."
I wanted them to get in our way. Were they dead? Or trapped? Demetri's cinnamon smell got stronger as we moved through the thick forest. Pines blocked my view all around us and right in front of us, a mountain loomed.
All of a sudden, two figures appeared to our left. Their bright red eyes shook my confidence even more. So they had created new vampires. How many? What would they do? They looked at me with rage, crazy with thirst. There probably weren't many humans around for them to feed on. How did the Romanians control them?
Control.
That was it. The hand that hindered my windpipe was in the way, I had to move fast. What could I do that gave me the edge I needed? I only had one chance and I took it.
I threw my hips back, forcing the vampire behind me to release my throat. A flurry of ash blond hair caught my eye. So this was Vladimir. I locked eyes with the nearest newborn and yelled: "Get him of me!"
He instantly obeyed. As soon as I was free, I ran in the direction of the mountain. Demetri was there. However the second newborn was way faster and pulled me down to the ground. I gasped, petrified, but then I yelled: "Stop!" right before he could punch me in the face. The fist froze, mere inches from my nose. Should I order him to come with me? No, I had a better idea. "Go find your enemies and help them."
He got off me and I quickly jumped away. I needed to stay ahead of Vladimir. This was my chance to get to Demetri before he did.
I gave it my all. Ran like I had never run before. The mountainside came closer and closer and all of a sudden I was there. There was a cave. I didn't even stop. The dark narrow passage was no problem for my vampire eyes.
My sprint ended when I got to a clearing. The sound of water trickling down distracted me for an instant. But what threw me off were the three entrances in front of me. Which one should I take?
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as sounds in the distance threatened to take away my head start. I tried to smell which way I had to go, but I would not have enough time to enter all three passages to check. A second passed and my mind had already gone over a thousand possibilities. Two seconds and I was ready to scream.
Then, all of a sudden, something Alice had said jumped in my mind. 'Take the third.' At he moment I'd ignored it, but now I could kiss her.
Before Vladimir was upon me, I hurried through the third narrow entrance. The passage became smaller and smaller, and it slowed me down. It was long, but Demetri's smell got stronger and that gave me wings.