Aurelia's beauty was breathtaking. It was the first thing Cecilia noticed as she stepped into the small home of the vampire, exactly on the tenth chime. The woman must have been turned in her mid-twenties, somewhere in the Mereditarian area. Her skin was the perfect mix of an olive undertone with the chalky pallor all vampires seemed to have, her brown hair flowing down her back in loose curls. Her eyes were big and bright and her smile seemed to light up the room, even it was only a polite smile. She was almost as beautiful as Rose.
"A human?" Aurelia asked, her voice smooth and angelic. "You didn't mention that, Jane."
"I didn't know I was required to do so?" Jane said back, pushing back the hood of her cloak. Her voice, icy and full of false politeness, sent a shiver crawling Cecilia's back. It was exactly that voice that would haunt her, much like her twin brother's eyes and smile. Never mind the way she was staring at Aurelia, as if she could end the woman simply with her gaze.
"No, of course not," Aurelia said hastily. Her red eyes, which had darkened slightly since she'd open the door of her home to them, shifted from Jane to Cecilia, trailing the girl's body with the ever so slight traces of disgust on her face. "Follow me, please."
Feeling oddly insecure, Cecilia followed Jane to the other side of the small house, which had been turned into an atelier. The most mesmerizing dresses were pinned on mannequins, some apparently finished, others only halfway done. The entire room was filled with pieces of fabric, pins and needles.
"You can stand over there, so I can take your measurements," Aurelia said, motioning with her hand to a lifted plateau in front of two mirrors.
She went to stand on the plateau, once again feeling peculiarly exposed. Aurelia followed her not a second later, forcing Cecilia's body in several different positions and taking all kinds of measurements. Her movements were too fast to pass off as human and feeling slightly nauseous, she watched the vampire zoom around her.
"So why does a human need fitted clothes?" Aurelia asked as she put on a piece of white fabric on one of Cecilia's shoulders and a light blue one on the other. Though she tried to sound as if she was simply conversating, it was obvious she was prying. Cecilia couldn't help but wonder the exact same thing, why did she need fitted clothes?
"You're paid to do your work," Jane said, her eyes sending daggers in Aurelia's direction. Cecilia's eyes shifted to the reflection of the petite vampire standing in the corner of her room, her hands folded behind her back. "Which doesn't include asking questions, or does it now?"
Aurelia didn't reply, which was probably the wiser choice, and put two new fabrics on Cecilia's shoulder.
Cecilia's eyes travelled to the woman working on her, only then noticing her eyes had turned completely dark. A slight shiver travelled down her spine and a nasty gut feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, especially when she heard the vampire breathe in obnoxiously loud. She willed her heart to stop beating so hard, knowing it only made matters worse.
But when Aurelia accidentally, or seemingly so, stuck a safety pin in her skin instead of the destinated fabric, a small drop of blood welling up on the surface of her arm, everything turned very badly in a very short amount of time.
At the same time Cecilia let out a soft hiss of pain, Aurelia grabbed, or rather crushed her shoulder in an effort to turn her around. Her eyes were darker than the night without a moon, the expression on her face animalistic.
"Pain," Jane said, causing Aurelia to let go of Cecilia, who let out a gasp of surprise and cradled her shoulder with her other hand, and drop to her knees in pain. Jane moved in front of Aurelia, staring the woman down in a disapproving manner, a low 'tss tss' rolling over her lips. "That really was a stupid decision for a woman who's lived for so long, Aurelia. I would be on my guard, if I were you, because I'm absolutely positive someone's going to teach you a lesson about touching stuff that isn't yours."
Jane grabbed Cecilia's wrist, not nearly as roughly as Aurelia had, but stern enough, and lead her out of the atelier. Only then did the moans of pain cease.
"Oh, and I expect these clothes to be finished within three weeks," Jane called over her shoulder as they moved through the front room. "Actually, make that two."
➻
Dear Cecilia,
We all hope that this letter finds you well. We all miss you so much and we can't wait to visit you in three weeks. Just a heads up, not all of us will be at the Volturi at the same time. Rose, Emmett, Bella, Edward and Renesmee will visit you first, and Jasper, Alice, Carlisle and Esmee will come along later. For obvious reasons Jake can't come to Volterra, but he wishes you 'good luck with all those backstabbing leeches'.
She chuckled. It was a bummer Nessie's boyfriend wouldn't come along, but she knew it was for the better.
As for your recommendations to Greece and Spain, we might just consider them. People at your dad's job constantly comment on his good looks and the way he doesn't seem to age, so we'll probably be leaving as soon as you're turned. He's already looking for jobs in Europe.
By the way, how's your school going along? I know Volterra and the castle are way more interesting than the physics problems, but they need some solving as well. I trust you though, I know you'll stay on track.
Volterra sounds wonderful indeed and it's good to hear you're enjoying yourself. Don't spend too much time thinking about us. This is only temporary and we'll have all of eternity to spend as a family soon. You might just be thankful for this get away from your family (:
Alaska has been the same since you left. It's still cold and snowy, nothing you would miss. Those rays of Italian sunshine will do you some good, Celia.
Anyway, know that all of us love you very much and that we can't wait for you to get home.
Be careful and lots of love,
Mom
She lied down the letter on the desk, a shaky sigh escaping her lips. The letter had been on the desk when she and Jane had gotten back to the castle from Aurelia and a soon as she opened it, the same homesickness that had terrorised her late last night, was crashing over her. The letter smelt of her mother's subtle perfume and her handwriting made her heart ache.
She pushed back the chair and walked into the bathroom, staring at her reflection in wonder. Her gaze travelled to her shoulder and softly biting on her lip, she pushed the fabric of her dress down her arm, leaving her skin exposed. The places where Aurelia had dug her fingers in were turning a mixture of blue and purple already, the rest of her shoulder slightly swollen and flaming red.
With her other hand, she traced the outline of the fingers, hissing softly in pain.
"Who did that?" a voice all of a sudden interrupted her train of thoughts.
Letting out a loud shriek from surprise, she pushed the fabric back in place. She turned to Demetri, an expression of disbelief clear on her face. "You know I can't hear you when you sneak up like that," she rambled. She let out an exasperated sigh, putting her hands on her sides. Most of the times when he neared her, he made sure his footsteps were well audible, but every now and then his sudden presence scared the living bricks out of her. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"I don't care," he said. He entered the bathroom, the look in his eyes forecasting hell. His hand reached to her shoulder, but before he could actually touch her, she slapped his hand away, snapping him out of his trace. His eyes travelled from her shoulder to her eyes. "Show me."
"Maybe if you ask nicely, instead of demanding it," she muttered as he walked past him. She bumped into his arm a little harder than was necessary, but she didn't care. "You don't have to be rude about it, you know."
She heard his footsteps follow her out of the bathroom. "Alright, will you show me your shoulder then, Cecilia? I would very much appreciate it if you show me your shoulder."
She ignored the sarcasm in his voice as she turned around, slightly pulling the fabric from her shoulder. With careful eyes, she observed Demetri, the way his face twisted in obvious dismay, how his eyes were simply locked on the bruises of her skin. He reached out, gently this time, his cold fingers skimming down the bruises. A shiver travelled over her spine and his touch seemed to leave a scorching trail. Not wanting to lose herself further, she brushed the fabric back.
"Who did that?" Demetri asked, his red eyes snapping to hers.
"It's nothing," she muttered as she took a seat on the settee. Her eyes travelled to the tiles underneath her feet as she crossed her ankles and folded her hands together, everything to avoid the vampire's angry stare.
"Hey, it is something," he said. From the corners of her eyes, she watched him crouch down, felt his cold fingers pushing her chin up, lingering there as he forced her to look at him. Her heart fluttered against her chest. "Aro promised your family you'd be safe here and apparently something happened that put your safety in danger. You should tell me, I can do something about it."
"My safety was never really in danger," she said as she grabbed Demetri's hand from under her chin, guiding their hands to one of her knees. "Jane took me to the seamstress this morning, but she stuck a pin in my arm and kind of lost control. Jane intervened before something could happen."
Demetri squeezed her hand softly. "I'm sorry that happened."
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, a smile cracking through on her face. She looked down at the vampire in front of her, resisting the strong urge to run her hand through his hair and over the side of his face. "You weren't even there. Accidents happen."