I stumbled along the pathway to the house. My key, I'd forgotten my god damn key! The window wasn't locked, upstairs, round the back of the house. Who was I kidding? I was human, I couldn't climb that.

I sat on the step, it was 3:00am and I was sitting on my doorstep cold and shivering, leaning against a door I couldn't open. Great.

My head hit the wooden floor of the cottage. Someone had opened the door. Who?

I looked up to see a pair of red eyes surrounded by blond hair. What? I quickly scrambled up. "W-what are you doing in my house?"

"I'm here to apologise and find out what's happening." What was Jane doing?

"Apologise for what?" I asked.

"I hurt you."

I stumbled past her, a little lightheaded.

"Are you okay?" She asked, a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. "This way." I needed a drink.

Jane sat down while I poured out some water before going to sit down next to her on the sofa.

"Your wrist," she pointed.

I looked to my right wrist to see a bite mark scar a crimson red against my skin. "Oh."

"What happened?" She asked. "Demetri wasn't himself when he came back."

I looked down guiltily. "I was attacked, he saved me."

"He said something about Edward Cullen."

I looked at Jane. "Who's he?"

"A vampire that fell in love with a human," Jane sighed. "He refused to change her, something about her soul."

I bit my lip remembering his words at the tower: "I am not an angel, an angel would have a soul." I took a sip of my drink, he had a soul, he'd saved me.

"She was his la tua cantante. Edward made love to the human and they had a halfbreed child." Jane laughed, a single nervous sound. "The whole Volturi went to kill them but the Cullens proved that the child was harmless."

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked, my head now spinning.

"Demetri's scared."

"What?" I set the glass down with a bang on the coffee table.

"He's found his mate," Jane took my hand, which had now begun to shake. "And she's a human."

I sat silent unable to produce a single sound.

Jane laughed at my expression. "You are a strange human."

"I prefer eccentric," I muttered.

Jane smiled, something I'd never seen before. Besides where was her twin? "I respect you human, you were able to withstand my pain. However Demetri refuses to speak to me now."

I looked at her confused. "I still don't-"

"It's you, you're his mate!" She laughed.

I let my mouth hang open as I lightly traced my new scar. No, that was impossible. "But I broke..." I trailed off unable to admit what I had done.

"I listened in to what he told Felix, he was trying to scare you away, to save you. To make you never come back," Jane lightly squeezed my hand. "He didn't expect you to bite back."

I sighed. "I was angry, I didn't mean it."

"He was angry too," Jane glanced to the window then looked back at me. "He was angry that you had to be his mate, he believes he doesn't deserve anyone."

"I told him he was a monster," I whispered. "I didn't mean it."

"I don't think he meant to insult you," Jane looked back at the window.

"Someone's there aren't they?" It was becoming obvious.

Jane nodded. "Demetri."

I sighed, my watch beeped: 4:00am.

"You should sleep," Jane let go of my hand standing. "Besides I think he's just checking on you."

"Okay," I yawned.

Jane smiled before silently leaving the room.

I couldn't sleep, my head was too busy trying to make sense of everything that had happened. I went over to the bookcase picking up my copy of Romeo and Juliet. I didn't approve of the three days to live, to love and to die but I did like the romance in it. I snuggled onto the sofa, starting to read.

I woke up to find Romeo and Juliet lying abandoned on my chest, an old woollen blanket thrown over me. The fire crackling softly in the now bright light. It was 11:00am. I'd slept for seven hours, no nightmares, no nothing.

I set the book down on the coffee table next to an envelope with my name written gracefully on it. An envelope? I picked it up hurriedly ripping it open.

Dear Hannah,

We are writing to acknowledge your place in the Volturi. We believe you will make an exquisite immortal with many talented qualities. We are also aware that you have a certain admiration for one of our guards. However before we grant you immortality we believe that your mortal form can provide us with a prize. We shall request your presence when we see fit.

We are looking forward to your acquaintance,

The Volturi masters.

The letter floated to the floor. What? I didn't get a choice? I didn't get to decide whether or not I wanted to become... A vampire?

I shook my head heading up the stairs, I needed a shower. I needed time to think. Mortal form, what did they mean? The warm water cascaded off of my skin, the shampoo in my hair. They spoke of vampirism as if it were something to be cherished, a prize. What happened if I didn't want it? The conditioner slipped in my hand as I shivered. They were using me a a puppet, an object. I finished washing and grabbed the towel. I felt cold and it wasn't because the sun wasn't out.

I pulled on my band t-shirt heading out of the bathroom, padding across the room in my black knickers.

"The Volturi request your presence."

I turned and saw Felix sitting on my bed. Wow. "Ummmm..." I stood there as he smirked, his eyes drinking me in.

"You should probably dress yourself before I take you," he laughed.

I walked over to my draws, grabbing some ripped jeans. "Why do they want to see me?"

"It is not my position to tell you," Felix watched me slip on my trousers, he looked... Hungry.

I glared at him doing up my zipper. What an asshole. "Where's Demetri?"

Felix smiled. "Aro is talking with him now."

"What did he do?" I panicked.

"That's the thing," Felix sighed. "It's what he has to do."

I walked to my bedroom door, heading down the stairs. Felix followed me to the front door.

My hand paused at the door handle. "What does he have to do?"

"Have you heard of Bella Swann?" Felix watched me, his form enormous.

"Yes."

"She carried a hybrid, I think Aro wants you to do the same."

I stood shocked, my heart rate increasing. "No." I began to walk back into the house.

"Yes," Felix lifted me up easily and strode out of the door.

I didn't struggle, I mean there was no point was there?

***

Only when we got to Volterra did I struggle in Felix's arms. Screaming, shouting, but no one was around to hear me.

"Silence," he hissed, setting me down on the floor.

I glared up at him, arms crossed.

"Hannah?" Jane stood in front of me her expression worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine," I mumbled, walking past her towards the lift.

We stood silently, the only noise my ragged breathing.

"You'll have to wait in the reception for a bit," Jane nodded towards me.

"Why?"

"Aro is consulting with Demetri," Felix looked sad.

The lift doors opened.

"I will not do that to her!"

I stopped in my tracks. Demetri.

"You have no choice in the matter," someone snapped.

A laugh. Aro. "It appears she has arrived."

My stomach sunk. I felt sick.

"Hannah?" Jane put her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine," I quickly walked forwards towards the two doors which led to the chamber. Here goes...

I pulled them open, walking in. Demetri was being held down by Alec and Chelsea. Becky was no where in sight.

Aro's gaze met mine. "Ahhhh Hannah, we were just talking about you."

Demetri's jaw tensed as he pulled from the grasp of the two vampires, kicking one into the wall and pushing the other onto the steps. He was by my side in an instant. "I will not let you use her."

All humour vanished from Aro's face. "Then I will kill her."

Aro ran towards us. Demetri span me around, growling. "Never."

Someone grabbed my arm, pulling me towards them. Jane, for such a small person she was extremely strong.

Aro grabbed Demetri's throat, looking over to me a small smile on his face. "I will make a deal with you Hannah." He squeezed Demetri's neck tighter.

My stomach sank, my heart raced. Something about Demetri in danger made me feel sick, on edge. It felt unbelievably wrong. "What do you want?" I snapped.

Aro laughed. "She'd do anything for you, and you anything for her." He dropped Demetri, speeding over to me. "I want you to carry a hybrid child and then you may have immortality."

"On one condition," I pulled from Jane's grasp.

"Okay," Aro tilted his head, muscles tensing slightly.

"You don't harm anyone, Becky, Demetri, Jane, Alec, Felix, the baby, for the rest of eternity." My words settled in the silence.

Aro took a deep breath. "You forgot someone."

"Who?" I frowned.

"Yourself."

Demetri stood, mouthing 'no.'

"I don't care about myself, I need others to be safe before I am," I kept Demetri's gaze.

"Demetri has already told me that he will not impregnate you, so I must choose someone else with valuable talents..." Aro looked around the room. "Al-"

"No, I will," Demetri stood by my side. "I will do it."

Aro nodded. "Good, you may leave and come back once the seed has been sown. You have a month."

I shivered, he was most definitely the creepiest person I had ever met.

Demetri took my hand as we walked quickly out of the room to the lift.

He stood completely still, not looking at me.

"Demetri?" I whispered.

Demetri licked his bottom lip, his gaze never once leaving the lift doors. "I'll kill you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, watching as he pulled me along towards the front doors.

"I do not have the same self control Edward Cullen had, I drink human blood," Demetri turned to face me in the corridor. "I could never live with myself if I hurt you Hannah."

"You were going to die," my voice was croaky, strained. "He was going to kill you. I didn't really see any other choice to make. I didn't want you dead."

"And now in turn you have already killed yourself," Demetri shook his head, turning on his heel and pulling me after him to the door. "I will find you at your house. I must make some phone calls."

I stepped outside the door, it closing quickly behind me. The walk home was short and uneventful, I knew I should have had something to eat but I couldn't bring myself to it. I'd just agreed to something crazy and quite possibly life threatening.

I opened the door to the cottage, the fire already lit and a single figure on the sofa. Demetri.

I sat next to him, unable to look at him.

"I am sorry," Demetri whispered.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't lose you," I mumbled. "I don't understand it, and I don't think will but it didn't feel good when he had your life in his hands."

Demetri took my hand in his, the grip tight but not painful.

A few minutes followed, the flames providing the only noise in the room.

Demetri sighed, turning to face me. His eyes luminous in the dark. "My eyes don't scare you?"

"No."

He let go of my hand. "What does scare you?"

"Everything I thought I knew is wrong and the way I feel about you," I took his hand back, edging closer to him. "Does anything scare you?"

"Losing you." He leant closer, smiling. "You being a fragile human, you always get yourself into trouble. I couldn't avoid you but I couldn't leave you to die, my love, my human. And now look what has happened."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. I looked down at the floor.

"Your blush is beautiful," he murmured.

I looked up admiring the perfect planes of his face.

He raised his free hand and placed it gently on my cheek. I sat frozen, the chill of his touch a natural warning - a warning telling me to be terrified. But I wasn't scared. Yet I couldn't deny the other feelings...

My blood was racing, I wished it would slow down. It probably only made everything so much more difficult - the thudding of my pulse in my veins. Surely Demetri could hear it. My heart practically battering it's way out of my chest as he gently freed his other hand from mine.

Slowly, he brushed my cheek bones with his thumbs, holding my face between his marble hands. "Be still, my love," he whispered, as if I wasn't already trapped in his Crimson gaze. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leant towards me.

The sound of his even breathing filled the room. I watched the sun set in the open window, the wind playing in his blonde hair, more human than any other part of him.

With deliberate slowness, his hands slid down the sides of my neck. I shivered, and I heard him catch his breath. His hands didn't pause as they softly moved to my shoulders, and then stopped.

I don't know how long we sat without moving, gazing into each others eyes as if speaking volumes without so much as a twitch from our lips.  It could have been hours. Eventually the rapid beating of my heart quieted, but he didn't move or speak again as he held my cheeks once more. I knew at any moment it could be too much, and my life could end - so quickly that I might not even notice. But then again I would die in the arms of an angel. My angel. Demetri. I couldn't be afraid. I wasn't afraid. Adrenaline surged through me. The only thought echoing in my head was that he was touching me as we stared into each others eyes. The silence comforting.

I moved even more slowly than he had, careful not to make one unexpected move. I caressed his cheeks, delicately stroking them.

Demetri closed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips.

I traced the shape of his perfect nose, his eyelids and then, so carefully, his flawless lips. His lips parted under my hand, and I could feel his cool breath on my fingertips. I wanted to lean in, to inhale the scent of him.

I dropped my hands and leaned away, not wanting to push him too far. This was already enough.

"No," he whispered, eyes flashing open. "I want to try something."

My face was in his iron grip again, so gentle, so careful. I couldn't breathe. His eyes holding me in place. He wasn't breathing as he hesitated - the movement that of a vampire, than a human. He didn't hesitate the way a man might before he kissed a woman, to see her reaction, to think it through. Perhaps a man would hesitate to prolong the moment, that ideal moment of anticipation, sometimes better than the kiss itself.

I knew Demetri hesitated to test himself, to see if this was safe, to make sure he was still in control of his need. His red eyes watching me, as my green ones watched him.

His cold, marble lips pressed very softly against mine. I closed my eyes as he closed his. The electricity almost overwhelming. His hands moving down to grasp my neck.

Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips. My breath came in a wild gasp. My fingers slowly knotting in his hair, clutching him to me. My lips parted as I breathed in his heady scent. I felt him take a shaky breath as he lightly pulled me closer. His hands now on my shoulders. I gripped his neck as his tongue brushed my bottom lip.

My foot caught on something, the coffee table. We were suddenly on the floor, Demetri lying on top of me. Lips still linked.

Immediately I felt him turn unresponsive, lips still. "Stop."

I opened my eyes and saw his red eyes guarded, a smirk playing at his lips.

"Oops," I breathed, my pulse still racing slightly.

His eyes were wild, jaw clenched. I could feel every muscle tense as he looked down at me. "I do not have the strength to stay away from you anymore."

"Then don't," I whispered, still playing with his hair.

He rolled to the side, taking my hand in his, the wooden floor creaking underneath us. "The stars never change."

I looked over at him, raising his hand to point at the sky out of the window. His sleek jaw bone light under the light of the moon.  "I've only seen them for 21 years."

My favourite sound echoed from his lips as he made our palms touch, the stars a brilliant background to both our pale hands.

"Probably only sixty more years left, I've got a lot to do," I sighed.

He looked at me, red gaze curious. "Such as?"

"A decent job, maybe marriage, adventure, I'm not entirely sure..." I trailed off. Now was not the time.

Demetri started playing with my hair. "I can't-"

"Edward and Bella did," I said taking his hand, sliding my fingers in between his.

"I cannot risk killing you Hannah, losing you." He had now began tracing the lines on my palm.

"Then change me," I whispered, knowing full well he could hear me.

"I cannot corrupt your soul, my love." Demetri propped himself up on an elbow, looking down at me. "Eternal damnation." He gripped my hand again.

"Only I can corrupt my soul by my own actions," I put my hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down, or rather he let me.

"You are a persistent human, my love," he sighed, taking my cheek in his free hand. "I like it." He was gently pulling me towards his lips. Talk about changing the conversation. Then again...