OUTSIDE OF THE COUPLES HOTEL room is Demetri perched on a tree, listening to their current conversation.
"I'm just saying, sweetie, why did they have to keep asking you those questions? I'm the one they're working with!" Dan complains, tugging his tie off — for some reason, he feels greatly jealous over the dinner that has just happened; the way the Volturi brothers kept looking at Amara as they discussed things angered him, only because the kings are richer and more attractive than him and he doesn't want them to sweep Amara up off of her feet or something. Finding a wife on his own sounds like too much work.
Amara side eyes him and kicks one of her heels off. "They were just being polite, Dan."
"Please!" Dan scoffs. "The blonde one kept looking at you like you were a meal."
Amara shakes her head but doesn't say anything, she takes her other shoe off.
"And you did the same — to all three of them." Dan says, now with an accusatory tone.
Amara fully turns her head to glare at him now. "I did not!" She argues back, knowing that what hes saying isn't the truth. Would she have liked to admire them and stare at them the whole time? Yes, but she didn't because she knew Dan would react like this, so she kept her gaze fixated on her hands, food or drink for most of the evening, except when they spoke to her. She hardly looked at them and she knows Dan just needs something or someone to be angry at. "Stop accusing me of things. I'm your wife, shouldn't you trust me?"
"Sometimes I don't, no." Dan says, shaking his head.
Amara gapes at him and his audacity. Its not like she wants his trust, but the fact that he, a man whom has cheated on her multiple times, doesn't trust her, a woman whom has been with Dan and only Dan (unfortunately) for five years. It pisses her off that he just throws accusations around for no true reason.
She stands up, tossing the shoe in her hand onto the floor. "I've been with you since I was eighteen and you act like I'm the one who can't be trusted? I comply with everything you say and yet you still ridicule me? If it weren't for my father, I'd run and you'd be left all alone." Amara has thought about leaving and attempted once three years ago — it didn't end well, thanks to her father.
It was three in the morning and Amara was wide awake, staring up at the ceiling of she and Daniels room. Her breathing was quick and her heart raced rapidly in her chest. Dan snored noisily beside her while hogging most of the covers.
Amara had a plan, one she had been conjuring up for nearly three weeks now, and to her, it was perfect — she planned on crawling out of the bed as Dan slept, she pre-packed a bag that she could easily grab, she'd steal Dans phone and call a cab or some car service, she'd also steal as much money as she could, and then she would disappear off of the face of the earth, maybe lead a new life in another country. She thought it was foolproof and had much confidence that she could escape.
She slowly inched her way towards the edge of the bed and then slipped out of it. She tiptoed around the bed and next to Dan where she searched for his phone, taking a few minutes to find it through the dark. She shakily handled it, adrenaline and the thrill of the escape was running through her system. Unfortunately, the phone was locked, so she attempted a bunch of combinations; Dans birthday, her birthday, and then his birth year, which worked, 1981.
She glanced back to the sleeping Dan before lightly stepping away from him and out of the room. She closed herself in one of the guest bathrooms and searched for a car service, after finding one that operated at that time of night, she called them and set everything up successfully. A rare smile covered her face.
She had taken a deep breath and ventured out of the bathroom, quietly out into the hallway and then back into the bedroom. She placed Dans phone in the spot she had snatched it from and started to back away, but then it began to ring.
Unbeknownst to her, it was the car company calling to confirm the correct address.
A gasp escaped from her lips and her eyes darted to look at Dan, who had begun to stir in his sleep. She didn't know what to do — she could get back into bed and let Dan answer the phone, but how was she to know that the car service would not unintentionally spoil her plans by telling them to her unknowing husband? Or she could hide and possibly wait out Dans anger, perhaps prepare an alibi.
The latter appealed more to her than the former, so she quickly, yet quietly, dashed out of the room and down the large flight of stairs into the foyer. She noticed a closet in the corner near the front door, so she ran for it and threw herself into it, she pulled the door shut gently and then it was all dark.
Five minutes passed and then Dan was downstairs, speaking on the phone. Amara could hear his voice through the closet door.
"A car service called me, told me someone named Amara ordered for a car but gave an invalid address." He paused for a moment, listening to the voice on the other end. "No, Carl, she wasn't upstairs." Carl, Amaras fathers name. Her stomach twisted at his name. "I don't think she's left yet, thankfully."
Carl Murphy is a horrible man. He raised Amara on his own after his wife and her mother died when Amara was only two years old, Amara believes he has a lot of anger pent up from her death, she used to feel sorry for him. Growing up, Carl would emotionally demean and tear down Amara, and sometimes, when he'd been drinking, he would push her or throw her against a wall so rough a dent would be left behind, or he'd slap her or kick her, that was simply for being a child — she couldn't imagine his anger when he found this out. She was scared.
Dan isn't as scary as her father, so she went to push the door open after she knew he'd hung up the phone. He looked at her, anger evident on his tired face.
"I'm sorry." She spoke, though she really was not, more sorry she got caught. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry, honey." She assumed becoming apologetic would lessen Dans ire.
But he still looked just as upset. "I give you everything!" He shouted, Amara flinched and his voice echoed through the large home. "And you - you just run? What more could you want?"
She shook her head and reached out for him, trying to appear desperate, regretful, maybe. "I don't want to leave, I don't." She assured vehemently. "Maybe I'm just tired, huh? I've been gardening a lot more." She tried desperately to come off as convincing. "That could be why."
Still, his anger was there. "Your father is on his way." Amaras heart dropped at his words "Should be here in ten minutes."
She had hoped to calm Dan down before it escalated into him bringing her father out to their home, but it seemed she was too late.
Tears full of fear appear in her eyes. Her father used to get irrationally angry at her for getting a poor score on a test, what is he going to do if she had just ruined his newfound source of income?
Dan stares at her, a calculated smile now on his lips. "This is what happens when you try to leave me, Amara. You'll get punished."
The tears had spilled by then and streamed thickly down Amaras cheeks. Through gritted teeth, she spoke darkly to Dan. "I hate you." And it was more than clear that she meant what she said, Dan could feel it in the air and her voice.
Dan nodded once. "And still, you'll never be able to leave."
Amara would have clawed his eyes out their sockets then and there, but she held herself back, knowing letting her anger get past its boiling point wouldn't be good, as much as she wanted it to.
Her father arrived shortly after and, just as she had anticipated, he was angry, fear riddlingly so. Amara wound up with a black eye and other bruises all over her body for weeks afterwards.
And so, that morning as she had lied on the foyer floor with blood coming from her nose, she began planning the deaths of her husband and father, ire fueling her every move from then on.
Amara reels back in from the memory, knowing the only person she truly fears is her father, and if there was no him, she'd never be in this situation in the first place. She doesn't know if she despises Carl or Dan more.
"Speaking of your father, would you like me to call him? Let him know that his daughter is being an insufferable whore?" Dan spits the words at Amara, growing more aggressive. And, outside in the tree, Demetri gasps at the audacity of this disgusting human man. He knows the kings will have a field day torturing him one day. He begins dialing a number into his phone.
Just like all those years ago, the urge to snap and attack Dan hits Amara like a ton of bricks. Its so strong this time that she nearly lunges for him, but before she does, the rational part in her mind informs her that murdering somebody in a foreign country is not the best idea, so she calms herself.
She shakes her head. "Whatever." She sighs, not wanting to continue the argument because she knows that if she does, she'll end up too angry to reel herself back and she doesn't want Dan to get angrier, knowing he could also act irrationally. She goes to walk past him towards the bathroom, but he grabs her wrist tightly and pulls her towards himself forcefully.
"Let go—" Amara is stopped mid sentence when Dans hand makes contact with her skin, the sound ricochets off of the hotel rooms walls, the sound is followed by silence and deep throbbing on Amaras cheek.
Dan releases her wrist and pushes her away, he turns to head for the balcony, but hes stopped in his tracks when he bumps into somebody and he gasps as he realizes who it is.
"Aro?"
Aro sneers at Daniel and grabs him by the collar of his suit shirt, he spins around and slams him into a wall which Dans head roughly bounces against. Dans wide eyes stare into Aro and a gasp rips through the air when he notices his bright red eyes.
Amara watches everything from the floor — she had tripped over her own feet when Dan pushed her away, making her land straight on her ass. Her head feels fuzzy due to the shock of the slap, but she isn't fuzzy enough to not question why Aro is holding her husband up against a wall, or how Aro got into their hotel room in the first place.
"Are you okay, Amara?" A voice asks next to her asks, she spins her head away from Aro and her eyes land on Caius, he kneels next to her with a worried look on his face, and next to him is Marcus, sharing the same worriment.
Amara begins to feel dizzy, completely confused at their sudden presences. "Um," She mumbles, "Why are you here?"
"That wasn't my question." Caius teases with a small smirk.
Marcus shakes his head. "Caius, do not tease her at the moment." He chastises, earning an annoyed glare.
"I'm fine." Amara answers his question. Then she notices that behind Caius and Marcus are two more strangers, one being a short boy with red eyes and the other being a large man with the same eyes. She looks back at the brothers and too notices that their eyes are also red. "Whats happening?" She asks with a sharp sigh.
This night has been horribly eventful and the random appearances and people with red eyes just confuses her... It also doesn't help that she had a glass of wine not too long ago so she may feel a little buzzed from that.
"We will explain that later, though for now, let us help you." Caius says softly. "If you come with us, your husband will no longer be an issue, and we will take care of you. You will be treated as a queen."
Amara blinks — the more he says, the less she feels like shes understanding. "Come with you? Where?"
"Our home." Marcus answers. "There you will be safe and like Caius said, taken care of. You will not need to worry about Daniel any longer."
The whole 'no more Dan' sounds perfect to Amara, absolutely perfect, but she feels a little creeped out by their red eyes and their cryptic promises. Plus, moving in with a group of people she doesn't know is dangerous, even if its an escape from her life.
"I can't just trust you," She affirms. "how do I know you're not going to hurt me?"
Caius looks almost offended at her question. "Never would we do such a thing. This is a lot to take in, but if you trust us, your life will be perfect."
Amara raises an eyebrow at him. "Thats a hefty promise to fulfill." She says and then turns her head away from him and back to Dan, she holds back a smile once she sees him struggling against Aros grip, he looks so scared and... helpless — she likes seeing that, but she'd rather him squirm like that under her hold, she wants him to fear her.
Aro stares at Dan with such fury it makes Amara shiver deeply. She begins to rise to her feet and steps closer to Aro, Caius and Marcus follow closely behind her.
"Don't kill him." Amara softly speaks to Aro. "Please."
Aro turns his head to look at her, his eyes immediately soften upon landing on her. "Why?" He asks with a frown; does she wish to save this man?
"I want to be the one to do it." She quietly answers and her eyes flicker past Aro to focus on Dan. "I'll go with you, just let me be the one to kill him." At this point, she doubts she'll be let go after seeing everything she has, so why not make it easier on herself?
Dans eyes meet with hers and he swears to himself that her eyes briefly flashed a shade of black the moment she glanced into his.
A smile creeps onto Aros lips, replacing his previous worry filled frown. He drops Dan with a mellow thud, the human scurries to press his back against the bed and huddles into himself with fear.
"Felix, Demetri." Aro calls out and Felix steps forward, Demetri quickly enters into the room through the balcony doors, Amara blinks at his sudden appearance. "Take this fool away." Aro orders and the two guard members comply, they hoist him up and drag him out of the door.
Amara watches them leave with her mouth gaped open. "Where are they taking him?" She hopes its somewhere dreadful.
"Our home. We will keep him locked away somewhere until further preparations are made." Aro answers and Amara slightly smiles at the nonchalant way he speaks about pretty much kidnapping someone.
She slowly nods. "Perfect."
"When would you like to leave?" Marcus asks, now standing next to Aro.
Amara looks around the room, making sure hes asking her when she'd like to do something because her opinion normally isn't asked for, and then she shrugs once she realizes hes speaking to her. "I don't care. But am I able to change first?" She asks, gesturing at her dress.
"Of course. Do whatever you need." Marcus nods with a kind smile.
Amara softly smiles back before heading for the large closet, she makes sure to lock the door. As she undresses, everything that just quickly took place begins to settle in and she starts to feel a little panicked.
Dan being locked away and her being promised the luxury of ending him is, of course, a wonderful thing, the best thing to probably ever happen to her, but still, this is all so weird.
She met these men not many hours ago, which, in itself was also strange, and then they suddenly appear in her hotel room in the middle of a fight with her husband claiming to rid her of him and promising to care for her. Not to mention their unfathomable beauty and weird red eyes. Everything has just been so shocking and she feels like its going to give her whiplash or something.
With a shaky breath, she exits the closet but shortly begins to feel clammy and dizzy under the bright lights of the room.
The kings watch her and can clearly see that she isn't doing well, not only is she multiple shades paler than she was minutes ago, her heart also thuds rapidly in her chest and her breathing has paced up, obvious and telltale signs of anxiety.
Marcus slowly approaches her. "Amara, are you well?" His voice sounds muffled through her ears now.
"Um," She attempts to take a deep breath, "I don't know." She should be, shes been freed from the shackles of her marriage finally, but instead shes found herself a panicked mess.
"Do you wish for some help?" Marcus asks gently.
Amaras eyes dart around his face and then she nods because anything is better than being under an anxious haze for hours.
"Alec, please." Marcus says and steps back before Alec appears, he stands in front of the kings and holds his palms out towards Amara, the numbing mist slowly begins to seep from his hands.
Amara watches the mist emit from his palms with confusion and fascination until everything becomes black.