Chapter 15 – The Search

"My sister?" I ask, unable to meet his eyes. He crosses his arms expectantly across the table from me. Obviously playing dumb isn't going to work. He knows what happened last night, and he knows I was a part of it. I gulp, unsure of how to start. Maybe keeping things positive will help them see that despite her current state, she is still a part of my family. "She's spirited and strong-willed. She loves drawing, painting, and anything that has to do with art. She doesn't put up with anyone's crap, especially not mine," I remember with a smile. "But she even though she's young, she always understood that I was going through a tough time. She encouraged me to keep going just as much as I helped her. She is the only one who ever saw things from my perspective despite not knowing the whole story of what was actually happening to me, and I would give anything to have her back." Caius shuts his eyes, his serious demeanor replaced with one that looks more like empathy.

"Can I confirm that by your use of the present tense in your descriptions, that you are aware of our current situation?" he asks.

"I understand, and I know that 'immortal children' are a big deal in the vampire world, but is there really nothing that can be done to help her? She may not be herself right now, but she is still the only family I have left."

"She is not the sister you remember her as, Anna. She is a danger to humans and vampires alike. We have tried seeing if these children can be tamed in the past, but despite centuries of teaching, they failed. Children show no restraint during times of hunger; they are unable to control their thirst," Caius explains. I look at him in surprise.

"You said you tried training immortal children before?" I ask.

"We wanted to make sure that they were really unteachable. Once they proved to be, enforcing the law against them, and those who create them, has been absolute."

"Then, what will you do when you find her?" I ask. I need to hear the truth, no matter how hard it is.

"Well, we aren't just going to assume that her actions are that of an immortal child as opposed to a newborn or untrained vampire. She is a few years older than the immortal children we are used to seeing. This distinction usually makes no difference when a vampire puts us at risk for discovery, but..." he sighs, trailing off. But I get it. They are thinking of possibly bending the rules because she's my sister. That must be a huge risk, especially if word spreads to other vampires.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I ask. The heaviness of the situation grows on my conscience. I can't help but think this whole situation is my fault, yet here Caius is, trying to diffuse things with my perspective in mind.

"Aro, Marcus, and I have been discussing the situation since last night. We have decided to only tell those who have gotten to know you that our plan is simply to capture her for now. We are sending the rest of the guard members off to do the clean up. They will be erasing memories of survivors and law enforcement, making sure that rumors don't and haven't already left the boarders of Volterra. Once she is in our custody, we will figure out the next step."

"Does everyone already know she's my sister?" I can't help but think that one more leniency on the rules will start an internal conflict within the guard. I am more than aware that many are already upset that I'm still here as a human. At least I have the excuse of being an unkillable human who knows about the existence of vampires, not only that, but one with a power that will obviously be of use to the Volturi once changed. My sister on the other hand, will have no excuses in their minds. She is the definition of illegal, with nothing redeeming about her continued existence. Keeping her alive would be nothing but a favor to me, which surely won't score me any points with those guard members who already are against my own existence.

"For your sake, luckily not. Only those of us who will be looking for her, including Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix, and Lavitto are aware. However, they are still unaware what our plans with her will be upon capture. Do not bring up this conversation with anyone outside of Aro, Marcus, or I," he warns.

"Sure," I start, thinking, "You know, we sure have a lot of secrets between the two of us."

"Hmm." Caius studies my expression for a moment before getting up to leave. I hear the door shut behind him and slouch down into my seat. How did things come to this? Emily didn't do anything to deserve this life. She didn't do anything to deserve being killed. I should have done more to protect her and my parents. I wonder what she's thinking now that she killed all those people last night. Surely she won't be hungry for a while after all that, but does she regret it? Does she know what's going on? I don't even know where she is all day and night. She must be so scared being in a new country, especially after everything Derek must have done to her.

Suddenly it hits me; I need to be the one to find her. She will run from everyone else, but she knows to follow my scent. Maybe there's still a part of her that will recognize me as her sister? After all, the children the Volturi trained had no positive relationship to them beforehand, no foundation of trust. Is it really surprising that those kids didn't respond? Maybe I can get Emily to realize who she is and understand what she is now. Maybe I can be the one to stop this. Also, what if Daniel finds Emily before the Volturi? He already admitted that he plans to kill her.

With my new plan in mind, I head straight to my room to gather anything I might need for my search. Once I'm ready to go, I head out the nearest doors and power-walk out of sight as quick as possible. It's tough trying to predict where Emily would be in a foreign country, especially since she's so young. I decide to head in the direction of the forest behind the Volturi castle. It might be better to let her come to me in a place where there are no other people around.

Finally I find a small clearing deep in the woods where I'm sure no one could possibly hear, find, or see me. Dropping my backpack, I decide to rest in the soft grass, which is dotted with small purple wildflowers. It is such a peaceful area, but there really isn't much to do. The brightness of the noonday sun hides behind the branches of the trees above me. I feel like Alice in Wonderland, if Wonderland were filled with vampires instead of white rabbits. My mind fills of thoughts about Emily. She would be just starting the 3rd grade. The only things on my mind as a third grader were crushes on boys and drama with friends. Emily will never grow up to graduate high school, to find her first boyfriend; she will never learn about the wonders of the world and of life. Even as an eighteen year-old, there's still so much I want to learn and achieve.

That thought shocks my eyes open again. I still need to learn Italian, to learn how to fly a plane. My time with the Volturi has opened my eyes to a world of possibility and adventure. I want to travel and make a difference somehow, even if I do become a vampire. Maybe I can find a way to survive without killing others. This desire to live, learn, and make a difference has never been a part of my life before. I went through all these years despising my gift, and blaming myself for how and why my family got killed. I despised myself because of it. I never pictured a good future for myself until I met everyone in the castle. Now I have an excitement about life that I never had before, and to think, I would have died four years ago if I wasn't the way I am. Maybe Daniel was right; I just need to accept what life deals me, because nothing I do can change the past, so I might as well focus on creating a good future.

As those thoughts settle, I begin to hear soft footsteps coming in my direction. I slowly sit up and try to stay quiet as I scan my surroundings. It might be an animal... but in all the scary movies, when is it ever actually an animal? It's not long until a young, golden-haired girl emerges from the edge of the clearing, only twenty feet away. My eyes widen. It's actually Emily. My eyes start to water, and I can't look away from her face. She looks so beautiful as a vampire; a false air of innocence surrounds her presence. She greets my gaze with a blank stare. Her eyes look glossed over. Her eyes are still too bright to be hungry, but something about her looks off.

"Emily," I call, "Emily, it's your sister Anna. Do you remember me?" I keep still and watch for a reaction.

"I found you," she smiles innocently. She actually looks relieved.

"I'm so happy to see you Emily; you probably have a lot of questions, right?" I ask, "Come here and I can help you understand what's happening." I reach my arm out for her.

She looks hesitant at first, but walks toward me after a moment. Her walk is graceful past her age. Her flowy maxi-dress hugs her ankles with every step. It's one I've never seen before, white with a pattern of small purple flowers. She sits down in the grass in front of me. "Anna, I've been trying to find you for so long!" She exclaims, jumping up to me for a hug. I hug her back, but can feel the familiar numbness associated with strength exceeding any human. She obviously doesn't realize her strength. "You smell like food, Anna!" she laughs. Hearing her laugh again is all I ever wanted, I can't even help the tears escaping my eyes at that point.

"Are you okay, Emily? I didn't know that you were looking for me; I'm so sorry. I promise if I would have known, I would have went to find you."

"Don't worry about me!" she exclaims, "You're the one I'm worried about! Derek told me that a bunch of bad vampires made you their prisoner!"

"Em, what did Derek do to you? What else did he tell you?" I was worried about bringing it up at first; I didn't want to resurface any triggering memories. Her attitude toward him doesn't seem negative at all though.

"He was so nice! He let me go shopping and bought me anything I wanted. I was scared when he took me from our house, but he said somebody tried killing mom, dad, and you. I think I saw blood..." she trails off, looking down. "He told me that if I want, he can be my new brother and adopt me so I don't have to go to an orphanage. I thought he just kidnapped me until he took me to bring flowers for Mom and Dad's grave."

"When did he make you a vampire?" I ask.

"He told me that the bad vampires who took you are going after him and me too, so he asked me if I want to be a vampire too so they can't find me anymore. It hurt a lot, but I'm okay now. A few weeks after that he told me to run away and find you so we can be safe together!"

"So he didn't do anything mean to you?" I ask astonished. Why would Derek keep her as a human, take care of her, and then change her at the last minute? "We can live safely now, right Anna? I can protect you from the bad vampires, okay?" I gulp, realizing that this was all part of Derek's plan. Teasing me with the idea that my sister is alive after all this time, but knowing that she will get herself in trouble on her way to find me. Knowing that she will be killed right in front of me. As if mourning her death the first time wasn't hard enough. This plan has Rudy written all over it, his grand finale of inflicting psychological torment on me even after his death.

"I hope so, sis," I smile, "but Derek must have been confused. The vampires in the castle are very nice to me, okay? I have a really good friend who can help. Can I call him so he can help us both be safe in the castle?"

"Him?" Emily smirked, "Is he your boyfriend?"

I laugh at her expression. "He's not my boyfriend, you goof."

"I'll be the judge of that," she says winking.

"Alright," I say, sticking my tongue out at her. Reaching into my backpack, I grab my phone and enter in Caius' number. Aro, Caius, Marcus, Jane, Alec, Felix, Demetri, and Chef Lavitto all gave me their numbers when I first got to the castle in case something happens.

"This is Caius," answers a monotone voice.

"Umm, it's Anna," I don't even know how to tell him where I am. All of a sudden the fear that someone will hurt Emily hits me. There's nothing else I can do though, I would never get off the hook if I run away with her or do anything dumb like that. The Volturi would find me, and the trust we now have would be broken and irreparable. Most importantly, I know that Emily might still be a danger to others. No one said the right thing to do was always the easiest. "I... found my sister."