I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and normal, well, somewhat normal.
Last night had almost felt like a dream, something that only my mind could have conjured up during a long hard sleep.
When my eyes opened, Duke was gone, which was a surprise. It was odd for him to not be there.
I dragged myself out of bed and studied my hair with my hands, it was tacky and oily at the roots, so I headed straight to the shower.
The shower was as equally as refreshing as my nights sleep. I leaned my arms on the wall of the shower while the warm water washed over my body. It felt beyond repairing and I was sure I had been there for over an hour.
I ran over what had happened last night in my head, reliving the images before turning the water off and hopping out.
I wanted to find out what had happened, and something told me Duke knew.
I threw on a pair of skinny blue jeans and a grey T-shirt and then began downstairs.
I could smell the bacon and eggs cooking instantly.
When I reached the bottom, Riley was there, cooking as I heard Duke and an unknown man talking in the living room.
"Morning pretty, you've arisen just in time, breakfast is ready" He offered as I walked towards him
"Thanks" I weakly smiled, taking a seat along the bench as he dished me the food.
"Who's in there with Duke?" I asked as I chewed a piece of bacon
Riley shrugged "One of Duke and Darius' friends, he's an elder"
"An elder? Why is he here?"
It had to of had something to do with what had happened last night.
"Because you my friend are amazing, but scary all at the same time" He overdramatised a shiver, leaning forward on the bench with his arms.
I stopped chewing and stared at him.
"Relax" He gestured waving a hand "You're extremely rare and extremely interesting"
"I think its weird, and it hurt" I replied
"Once you learn how to control it, it won't hurt as much, at the moment its kind of like an out of control remote control car, you just gotta learn how to use the controller" He explained
"So you know what happened to me? You know what I am?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him
He shrugged "Once you're done here, you're wanted in there. They have the answers you seek" He smiled smugly
"Should I be worried?"
"Not at all, Aldo is a good guy, super smart, super kind, super old" He assured me with a wink "Old people know everything"
I rolled my eyes "Could I be anymore of a freak than I already am? I mean, maybe I should just end my life right here right now"
"I can help, push you off the bridge, it would be a pretty thrilling yet beautiful way to go, although, I'm sure Callum and his homies would stop me, they're sort of obsessed with you" He joked, easing my tension
I scoffed "What I do with my life is none of their business"
"Try telling them that" He snickered back standing upright.
I finished my meal and made my way cautiously towards the voices of Duke and Aldo.
When I entered the room, the men stopped talking, both looking at me, standing.
"This must be our beautiful Rosalie" Aldo greeted, his voice gruff and aged.
He was tall, but hunched. He had a small grey beard and moustache, the hair on his head thinning and white. His eyes were a caramel brown as he watched me carefully.
Within seconds I had noticed.
Aldo was human.
"You must be Aldo" I smiled as I held my hand out to the frail looking man.
He took it with his skeleton like fingers gently squeezing before letting go.
I sat beside Duke opposite to Aldo as he sat in front of us.
"I hear you are quite the extraordinary young girl" Aldo started as he smiled
"If that's what you like to call it" I scoffed, unsure as I weakly smiled
His crazy eyebrows knotted together in the middle as he looked at me "Well, I suppose it is in order that I should tell you what you are" He started, clasping his frail pale fingers in front of himself.
Duke was quiet beside me as I listened intently.
"I was once a vampire" My eyes widened slightly "I had lived that way for over two hundred years. It has been about eighty years ago now that I have been cured of my Vampirism"
"Cured?" I asked, it sounded somewhat connected to what I was - a Cure.
Aldo nodded.
"I had met a young girl, who like you, had a gift. She was exquisite and quickly became very well respected for her selflessness when it came to, our condition" He explained carefully "She was very well protected and had the respect of many, including that of Royalty. Her gift was seemingly the exact same as yours. The gift of the mind, where she too, was able to project her mind elsewhere while her body remained motionless"
"Where is she now?" I asked.
Whatever fate this woman had endured, I was sure to endure too.
Aldo's eyes turned soft, and I knew right there and then she was long gone.
"There were a wide group of Rogue Vampires that weren't happy about her curing of others. The Rogue's thought that a Vampire wanting to become human was an opportunity for other pathways. They wished to turn vulnerable weak Vampires into soldiers. They saw what she was doing as a waste of a possible army of uprising" Aldo explained thoroughly
"They killed her?" I assumed
Aldo slowly nodded
"It took them many years, and it was a bloody war to get to her, but they managed"
"Do they plan the same fate for me? Even though I'm not curing anyone? Do they even know that I exist?" As far as Dodge knew, I was dead, but he now appeared to be a minority. "Why haven't the Rogue Vampires killed Dodge? He plans on using my plan to turn others human.."
"It appears that Ryde had opened up to a few Rogue's about you before he was killed. And as for Dodge, they have been on the search for him over the last few years for his plans for you and your blood"
"Will they kill Dodge once they find him? That could be a good thing right?"
"They could, or they could convince him to join their ranks. Dodge wants power, becoming a part of the Rogue superiors would be all too tempting for him, he could be of great value for his knowledge to the Rogue's"
I leaned back shaking my head "I'm as good as dead"
"If they do start looking for you, I'll know about it. Duke has also informed me that you have case of Angel fever" Aldo continued "With the Vampires that you already know and the Angels you already know, this could turn out to be a good thing" He pointed out
"If and when the Rogues decide to act, we'll have double the power, double the protection, double the chance of stopping them" Duke finally spoke up
"Do we realistically have a chance of beating this?"
Aldo and Duke nodded.
I nodded slowly back.
A war between good and bad in the Vampire world was erupting, and here I was right in the middle of it.
It was then that I realised that for this to work, Duke and Callum needed to get on, they had to work together, for me.
"So, with this head thing that happens, does it just happen whenever it feels like it, or is there a way I can control it?" I asked, wanting as many answers as I could get
"You can control it of course. But there will be moments when your brain will want to take you somewhere you're unaware of because it wishes for you to see something you need to see. If there is somewhere you wish to be without being noticed, all you have to do is concentrate, breathe, and it should come naturally"
"Is it supposed to hurt so bad?" I asked, remembering the amount of pain that had surged through my brain
"The pain will stop when you learn how to control it. Its just a matter of concentration, the more you do it, the more experienced you will become at it" Aldo spoke, his moustache dancing
"I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that I can listen in on conversations that are probably being kept from me for a reason"
Aldo smiled almost "Yes, I suppose you are right. But with a clever mind, it can be cleverly used" He continued exactly like the old wise man I had expected.
Unfortunately, my power wasn't something I could physically use, not to fight, not to defend. It would need to be used more strategically, more planned and thought out. I was more a mental weapon than anything else. I was an old, out-dated model of Seth.
It was easy to send that Duke didn't like the thought of me being able to intrude on places he didn't know about it.
He was trying to protect me from Vampires and the deep dark secrets within, but now, I could know them all with the squeeze of my mind.
"Thanks for all your help" Duke smiled as he shook the mans hand.
I mimicked his movement, smiling warmly at him.
"No problem at all. I'll call you if anything develops" He spoke towards Duke before turning and leaving.
I sighed, and walked off, hardly acknowledging Duke as he stood by the door, motionless.
I had been dealt another overwhelming blow, it felt as though things would never end.
I was going to be killed sooner or later, no matter what, vampires wouldn't stop trying to kill me, I was never going to be safe.
I walked towards the back door standing in front of it, leaning my forehead on the cold glass. I closed my eyes and gave a deep sigh.
"Its a lot to take in, I know, but things are going to be fine" Duke spoke from behind me while I kept my eyes closed
"Sure" I sarcastically answered
"Rosie, you have me and a hell of a lot of others willing to take care of you, to make sure nothing happens to you"
"I don't want to be looked after. I want to be able to walk outside without being followed and watched. I don't want to be babysat" I mumbled as I kept my face on the door
Duke sighed behind me before I felt his hands on my hips.
I still didn't move.
"One day, it will be like that, you will be able to do things by yourself, without a care in the world" He whispered, his mouth near my ear
"Right now, it doesn't seem like that'll ever happen"
"Alright, that's it. No more sulking about, I'm taking you out like planned, grab your camera, lets go" Duke rushed, kissing my ear before he spun me around, lightly pushing me upwards towards the stairs.
I rolled my eyes and shoo'ed his hands away, jogging up the stairs to do as he told.
When I returned downstairs, Duke was waiting by the front door. He took me by the hand and began leading me outside.
The air was fresh, crisp and I felt the sun beat down on my skin, the warmth giving me goosebumps.
Duke was fumbling beside me with my new camera, attaching a thick soft strap into its loops, ready to hang over my neck.
I smiled excitingly as we stood on the bridge
"Here" Duke spoke, pulling me from my thoughts as my mind ran over what had happened during my trance like state the day before.
I snapped back to Duke as he lifted the camera strap over my head. I held my hands out and took a hold of the camera, feeling it be too much of a risk to let it dangle.
"Ready?" He asked holding a hand out towards me.
I took it with hesitation, still cradling the camera in my other hand as Duke led me over the bridge towards the same direction I had headed in with Jaymi the previous day.
Slowly, we began to stroll the streets.
"I guess Jaymi has shown you that place" Duke guessed, pointing our entwined fingers towards the cafe I had eaten at
I nodded "Yeah, we ate there for lunch, it's beautiful, perfect actually" I was smiling and staring into the restaurant as we passed it.
"It is" Duke agreed, my eyes turned back towards the second bridge we were approaching
I continued along, side by side with Duke as we neared a separate road that I hadn't noticed before while walking with Jaymi. Duke led me towards it, passing more houses and townspeople.
Not everyone stared like they did with Jaymi, but the girls sure did.
Every woman we passed stared at Duke, smiling uncontrollably as we passed, they also stared at me, but with a completely different persona.
My eyes would flicker to them, but quickly moved in case one of them took it as a challenge.
Duke didn't seem to notice, he wouldn't give them the time of day as he passed them, which I supposed he had mastered over time.
I followed Duke, watching the buildings pass as we approached the end of the street.
It widened out into a large open area, the ground patterned in red bricks. The outside of the buildings were lined with small stalls, sales people inside, customers leaning over the tables of objects.
It was busy with people, mainly tourists with brightly coloured shirts and plaid pants.
"What is this place?" I asked, listening to the growing sounds of chattering.
There was a mixture of French and unintelligible languages rushing around me.
"Jaymi didn't take you here?" Duke seemed surprised
I shook my head "No"
"This is one of the markets, they're very popular around small Paris streets" He replied as we pushed past the crowds
I held my hand tighter onto Dukes as we swivelled in between the people.
I kept my eyes on the stalls as we passed them, the sales staff stumbling in terrible English as they tried to make their earnings.
The first stall we passed were selling a variety of dream catchers. They dangled from the top of the wooden stall, clinging to the sides, and lying flat on the bench as they danced and glistened in an assortment of colours. Feathers, beads and stones were intricately built into them with tight wound string creating various patterns.
"I heard they don't work" I mumbled to myself, barely audible.
Duke had heard it.
"I heard they don't either" Duke replied as he smiled down at me
I returned my gaze to the stalls, looking at another as we passed it slowly. Two tourists in bright coloured shirts leaned over, bargaining with the woman behind the stall. She had bright red hair and green eyes.
She was selling paintings, amateur paintings of landscapes and portraits, they were nice, but they didn't look worth their expensive price tags.
"Have you been to the museum yet?" Duke asked, obviously noticing my unimpressed staring in the paintings being offered.
"Yeah, Jaymi took me yesterday" I answered, almost apologetic
"Did you like it?" He asked, unbothered
"I loved it" I replied, smiling up at him as he squeezed my hand
I continued scanning the area, watching passing people and passing stalls.
Loudly, my attention was caught by a seller who was trying to get passerbys to purchase his hand-made jewellery.
It appeared beautiful from a distance, the rope styled bracelets and necklaces catching my eye.
I slowly approached, Duke's grip hesitantly following. When I became closer, I glanced over the items, then to the seller who had abruptly halted his loud sales pitch.
His eye caught mine and I was quickly stunned, shocked, my knees threatening to collapse, almost dropping me.
Duke caught my elbow, fixing me upright
"Are you okay?" He asked roughly
I looked back up towards the man behind the stall. He remained looking at me, his face twisted into a similar look as mine.
I recognised him immediatley, he was the same man Duke had threatened the night before. I could tell it was him, despite the darkness of last nights episode. His neck was covered by blotches of purple and yellow bruises which he had attempted to cover with a loose scarf.
I couldn't help but stare, frozen.
Duke's body had turned rigid, his expression stern. His hand gripped mine with force, I could feel the blood rushing to my fingertips.
Seconds later, I tore my gaze away and looked up at Duke, he looked back at me. He then pulled me swiftly from the stall. I stumbled to keep up at first, but soon continued hastily walking at the same pace.
I took in calm deep breaths, urging myself to relax before speaking.
"What is his name?" I asked, acting casual.
If I wasn't willingly going to get it, I knew I could now find information in other forms. Duke now knew this too.
"Andrè" Duke surprisingly answered
"He's an Angel?" I continued as our strolling turned slow
"Yes" Duke replied, giving in again
"He knows Callum?"
"Yes"
"Did Callum send him here to watch over me?" I asked, looking up at Duke as he kept his eyes steady on the crowds in front of us
Duke didn't answer, he sighed and squinted as the light peered out from a nearby building
"Duke" I tried, sounding forcefull but calm as I spoke his name
"Would you believe me if I said yes?" He raised his eyebrows down at me
"I don't want to, but I've heard it from others beside you, which makes it easier to believe"
"Who else told you about him?" Duke asked, creasing his eyebrows this time
"Riley mentioned that I was most likely being followed by an Angel because Callum wouldn't trust you guys, plus the Rogue's" I shrugged, making it casual to lessen the blow Riley would receive for giving me information again.
Duke shook his head as we came to the end of the street, crowds dispersing away from us as we left.
"And here you are worried about being attacked by Rogue's? Look at all the people that want to protect you Rosalie" Duke lightly smiled, shaking his head.
I was glad his mood had lightened, but I was still worried about this Angel Andrè.
"Why did you threaten Andrè last night then, if he only wants to protect me?" I asked, looking up at him as we continued walking up the empty street
"He came up to the house asking to see you" Duke started as I watched the houses pass beside me
"Why?" I asked, curious as my eyebrows furrowed
"He wanted to meet the girl he was sent to protect, he said that he wanted to make sure the girl Callum was madly in love with was unharmed" He continued, sounding slightly angry.
His hand was still tight on mine and I could feel my fingertips thump with the pressure of trapped blood.
"Oh" Was all I said.
I looked down at the ground as we walked slowly, reaching a long walkway bridge spread wide, hovering above a large river.
"Has he said that to you himself yet?" Duke poked as a few local joggers passed by
"Not in those words" I mumbled, knowing he could hear me.
He didn't speak, and it suddenly felt awkward, thick with tension. I sighed as Duke stopped at the side of the bridge, leaning his free hand on the conctrete's top, shifting his weight as I freed my hand loose from his. Duke looked down at me as I did, surprised that I had pulled away.
I began rubbing my hand, letting the camera dangle on my neck as I tried to get the blood flowing back normal again.
I looked out towards the water and then turned, leaning my butt on the concrete fence separating us from the long fall down.
"You hurt him pretty bad" I spoke, cutting through the silence
"He shouldn't have approached us like that with such an absurd request" Duke defended
"Its no excuse Duke, you could have killed him, he was only looking out for me" I tried again watching a few more joggers run past
"He was being nosey" Duke continued, trying to excuse what he had done
I sighed and began to walk away back towards the stalls and crowds, but like always, Duke stopped me, grabbing hold of my arm in one swift movement.
"Where are you going?" He asked as I stood still, not looking at him
"To introduce myself to Andrè, and to apologize for what you did to him" I answered back, turning to meet his gaze.
It was bewildered, appalled.
"Don't be stupid Rosie, we are supposed to be having a nice day out, not associating with Angels" Duke spat, keeping his voice low
"Let go of me" I demanded, keeping my gaze strong on his
"Can we just continue having a nice day out together, and not talk about Angels?" He tried, his face softening
I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head, astounded. He was attempting to smooth me over with a charming crooked smile.
It wasn't working.
"Unfortunately, those Angels are a part of my life now, not that I want them to be, but they are. You need to accept whatever ridiculous rivalry you have with them, and move on" I demanded, keeping my own voice low
"I understand that you naturally hate them, and I can understand why you hate Callum, but you need to know that nothing he does is going to change what we have. He can't protect me from Vampires, because I am uncontrollably in love with one" I continued as he watched me, eyes intent and smouldering
He sighed and let go of my arm, returning them to his sides. His lips turned upwards, his eyes on the ground as he spoke
"You do realize that whenever they get the chance they are going to kill me" His smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, his voice back to normal, velvet.
"They won't, Callum told me he wouldn't hurt you, he knows that it would hurt me" I explained "He knows it would drive me further away from him, from them"
"Callum isn't the one in control here. As soon as his parents find out about the entire situation, they will order me dead"
I thought about it for a moment, and I knew he was right. Callums parents wouldn't deny an opportunity to kill a Vampire at any chance, even when it came to a love Callum had.
If anything, it would probably make them even more determined to kill him, that way maybe their son would have a chance.
I shuffled my feet before looking back up at Duke, he was watching me, unsure of what to do or say.
"So, where are you taking me next?" I asked, lightly smiling as I waited for his happy mood to return.
It did.
The corners of his lips turned upwards, holding out his hand towards me.