The Volterra castle was beautiful. Cecilia might not like the Volturi, not even in the slightest, but she had to admit they had a feeling for style. Her eyes fell on the sculpture in the middle of the entrance hall, recognizing the piece immediately as Heracles fighting the Nemean lion. The strained muscles of Heracles, the way the lion's mouth was forced open as if both could continue their struggle live any moment.
"Nerd," she heard Felix mutter. That simple word made a wave of homesickness crash over her and when she looked over her shoulder, only to see the giant smirk in a way that reminded her painfully of Emmett, she bit her lip hard to prevent her from bursting out in tears again.
Her goodbyes at home had been painful, especially with the knowledge that she would be turned sooner than they all had expected, in Volterra surrounded by strange vampires instead of in the comforts of her own home with the people she loved. But at least, she was still alive. She knew it was better for her family for her to be in Volterra, than six feet under, but she wasn't too sure yet.
They walked through corridors only lit by the torches that hung on the wall, the only audible sound coming from the heels over her boots. The vampires surrounding her made no sound as they moved, as if they wanted to make her aware of just how human she was once again. Cecilia concluded they were doing a great job at that.
Her eyes moved over a painting of a young woman sprawled over her bed, the devil sitting on top of her chest and sucking the life from her. It sent a shiver down her spine and quickly she diverted her eyes. They sure keep an odd collection of art, she thought to herself.
The corridors seemed to stretch for miles, one ending in another. They took so many lefts and rights, that Cecilia didn't even know in which part of the castle she was now. They could be walking in endless circles and she wouldn't even know. For all her talents and abilities, she had absolutely no feeling for direction.
She watched Alec and Jane turn into white blurs as they all of a sudden disappeared. When she blinked, Felix had left as well. Demetri was walking next to her, an appropriate distance between them.
Demetri cleared his throat, though she had absolutely no idea why he would do such a human thing. "Their presence is required," he said after a moment of silence. She felt his red eyes burning on the side of her face. "And I am sorry for the way Alec woke you."
She shrugged, only then realising she had never seen the Old Ones leave the jet. They must have before she'd woken. After all, she was only human and they were the royalty of this world. She was positive they had more pressing matters. "It wasn't exactly your fault."
Demetri only hummed, the sound causing her skin to erupt in goosebumps. "I will show you around the castle in the morning," he said. "I am sure you want to sleep first, so I will show you to my room."
"Your room?" she repeated, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. This time she did crane and turned her neck, trying not to feel intimidated by the way Demetri looked at her. She was once again taken aback by his beauty and with an awkward cough, she redirected her eyes to the pair of doors they were walking to.
"My room, yes," Demetri said, confirming that she'd heard him just right. From the sound of his voice she just knew he was smirking, making her heart flutter nervously. "Unless you prefer the dungeons, of course."
"Uh, no," she said, absolutely despising herself for not even being able to say a single word without stuttering. She didn't understand where her sudden uncomfortableness and awkwardness was coming from. She'd met countless vampires, some more creepy than others, but she was even able to strike a nice conversation with Vladimir and Stefan. Why couldn't she think of something decent to say to the tracker next to her? She wondered if she should call Bella and ask the girl if she felt oddly social since her departure. Maybe their social abilities had been swapped in some sort of magical way. It sure felt like it.
"Alright then," Demetri said. He took the lead as they neared the double doors, throwing both open without any effort. The room they secured was elegant and beautiful, like the rest of the castle. All of it was old, Cecilia, realised, but in a classy way. Against the wall to her left was a King size bed, covered with silk black sheets embroidered with elaborate red patterns. Her bags were already placed on the little bench next to the foot end of the bed. Against the wall in front of her was a wooden desk and chair and next to that was a fireplace with two red settee's facing the flames. To her right side were two doors, one leading to a bathroom and one to a big walk-in closet, barely filled, and when she walked in the room to turn around, she noticed the entire wall was covered with shelves and books, the wooden planks only leaving space for the double set of doors. "It is probably nothing like your room in Alaska, but-"
"It's absolutely beautiful," she said, sounding slightly out of breath. It was as if she'd stepped in a scene from the victorian era and though Demetri was right, it was nothing like home, it was still perfectly lovely. She let her eyes roam over the room again, noticing the window above the desk, which probably offered a pretty view in the daytime. Her eyes ended on Demetri, who was once again already staring at her without shame. Just as she noticed the small smile on his lips, it disappeared.
"I will leave you to it, then," he said. He turned around, hands already on the doorknobs when he looked at her politely. "Good night, Cecilia."
She wasn't given the time to reply and after the thud of the closing doors, she was left alone in the silence. The only source of light was from the chandelier on the ceiling, which she hadn't even noticed Demetri turning on. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she walked to the little bench near the bed, opening her suitcase. She was happy that Alice had put her sleeping clothes on top, which spared her the time she would have otherwise had to spend digging through all her clothes.
She slid out of her boots, placing them neatly underneath the bench and peeled the dress and tights from her body, folding both and placing them next to her suitcase. She quickly slid on her a nightgown, a cream silken dress that reached her ankles, only leaving everything above her cleavage exposed. She searched for the lightswitch, happily surprised to find within her reach if she laid in bed. She was almost afraid to rumple the covers, carefully ducking underneath them and then turning the lights off.
When she laid there, in a strange bed surrounded by strange people in a strange castle, she almost had to chuckle. Fickle fate indeed, she thought to herself as she turned to her side and closed her eyes.
➻
The next morning, or what she guessed was the next morning, she vaguely heard her name being called, like the person speaking was standing yards away. She turned to lie on her other side, willing the voice to go away. She felt two cold fingers gently brushing a lock behind her ear and though the contact was only a caress, she jolted awake, immediately pushing herself on her elbows. As soon as she noticed Demetri standing near the doors, the distance between them at least ten feet, wearing an impassive look on his face, she let out a sigh and fell back in the soft pillows. She probably had still been dreaming and imagining things, she thought as she pulled the covers over her shoulders and turned on her side, her back to the vampire.
"You have slept for over twelve hours," Demetri said.
As she opened an eye she noticed the abundance of light streaming into the room, she realised it must be late in the morning already. She turned on her stomach, folding her arms under the pillow and burying her face in it. "And I could sleep for twelve more," she muttered to herself, already feeling herself drift off.
"Please don't fall asleep again," Demetri said. She heard his footsteps nearing. "You are extremely difficult to wake."
"Then don't," she countered back, her voice muffled by her pillow. She didn't even want to think about how ridiculous she looked. She'd never been a pretty sleeper, always waking up with a rats nest for hair and sleep still in her eyes.
Demetri said nothing, but she could feel his presence linger near the bed. She remembered his promise about showing her around the castle first thing in the morning and she realised he must have let her sleep way beyond the time he'd first had in mind. Starting to feel slightly guilty, she let out a soft sigh, before turning around and sitting up, pulling the covers over her shoulders. She knew that in his years on earth Demetri had probably seen loads of women in less clothing, but the way he stared at her made her feel slightly uncomfortable. As if he saw something she didn't.
"Give me half an hour," she said. "Please."
"As you wish," Demetri said and off he was.
She pushed the sheets of her body and swung her legs over the bed, stretching her limbs for a sweet moment and letting out a loud yawn. She quickly made up the bed, before grabbing a set of clean clothes and her bag of toiletries and disappearing into the bathroom. It took her a sweet minute to figure out the shower, first almost freezing to death and then almost being burned alive, but as soon as it was the right temperature, it was bliss.
She put on a summer dress that reached her knees and accentuated her waist nicely and brushed out her wet hair next. She knew her beauty was nowhere near the standard of perfection, but at the very least she could try to look nice. Especially if she was supposed to be here for another month.