Author's Note

Another chapter uploaded!  YES!  Well, I notice that there are no comments on my story yet, I don't want to be one of THOSE people, but I want at least ONE comment on any chapter before I upload again.  Just one comment!  It can be a question, a compliment, constructive criticism, suggestions, anything!  Plus you will get a dedication, so it's a win-win.  Thanks for the votes and just reading my story in general.  It's amazing that I have more than 50 reads when I haven't done any advertising on this story yet!  There's a funny interview of Jamie Campbell Bower (Caius) and Edi Gathegi (Laurent) on the side, watch it!  I based a certain part of this chapter on what Jamie wore in the video.  Enjoy!

Chapter 5 - The Return

I wake up the next morning to the bright rays of sun filling every inch of my bedroom.  Without opening my eyes, I let the warmth soak into my skin.  I silently hope that the extra vitamin D gives me enough courage to find one of the "Masters" today.  Ugh, that sounds weird.

Using the trick Felix taught me, I proudly reach the kitchen on my own this morning.  Antonio greets me with a flashy Italian smile and I chow down on the delicious pancakes he prepared.

"How was your first day of training?" he asks when I get started on the scrambled eggs.  I shake my head.

"It was rough," I tell him, "When I finish breakfast I'm actually going to see if I can train before dinner.  Food and physical activity don't mix."  I pat my stomach a few times for effect.

"Oh, I don't blame you!  Although I've never done much exercising at all in my human years, if you couldn't already tell," he chuckles.  I laugh along with him and we keep the light-hearted conversation going until my plate is clean and my juice is drunk. 

"So where can I find Aro, Caius or Marcus?" I ask after washing my dishes.

"Eh," he starts, "At this time they are usually in their studies catching up on the classics or writing."

"Sounds boring," I comment.  Antonio laughs.

"Well, they are old fashioned in their ways," he replies, "but I would try the west hallway if I were you.  Take a right out of the kitchen, at the end of the hall turn right again and they will probably be somewhere down there."  I lift an eyebrow at him.

"How am I supposed to know what door to knock on?" I ask.  The last thing I want to do is interrupt the entire hallway.  Antonio just shrugs.  "Alright," I sigh, "See you for lunch Antonio."  I wave him goodbye and set off on my intimidating new adventure to find the guys in charge.

I take the two rights like Antonio told me, but when I reach the hallway I think he was talking about; I'm overwhelmed at the number of doors.  There must be about ten in the one hallway, evenly spaced.  The odds of finding where I need to be are three in ten.  Not good.  Not good especially if there are unfamiliar and unfriendly vampires in the other seven rooms, because let's face it; there's no way everyone in this castle is happy about me being here, heck I'm pretty sure even the 3 who forced me to stay don't want me here either.  Sighing, I decide to play it safe.  I'll just sit out in the hallway and wait for one of them to come out.  I mean, there's no way that they'll stay in there all day, right? 

I walk up to the first door and figuring it's human-proof, I slide down and lean against it, but right when the weight of my head hits the blackened wood, I realize not only is the door already open a crack, but that it is definitely NOT human-proof.  The door swings open and I find myself stumbling back onto the floor, looking up at a very familiar Volturi member.  He's sprawled out across a fluffy red armchair; book in hand, staring at me with a look of both surprise and anger.  He looks nothing like the way I have ever seen him in my two days here.  I make an audible gulp when I realize that not only am I in huge trouble, but that he - looks - hot.

*

Before I can blink, Caius is at my side slamming the door shut behind me.  "What," he asks, firm and deadly, "are you doing here?"

With my mind as scrambled as the eggs I just ate, I can't seem to get my voice to work properly.  As my mouth gapes open and my gaze fixates on him, all I can think of is what Antonio said about them being old fashioned vampires.  Old fashioned my ass, I think as I take in his very modern look.  He's wearing black skinny jeans with holes ripped at the knee, black sneakers and a dark t-shirt with a logo I don't recognize.  Then there's his hair.  His blonde, naturally highlighted hair is pulled back loosely and it holds a very slight curl.  Jeez, does he powder it to make it look so pale and dull?  If I were him I would want to show it off to everyone.

Caius walks around me and slams his book down onto the small table next to the chair, bringing me back to reality.  Upon seeing his venomous - no pun intended - gaze, I remember that he's still waiting for an answer.

"Um," I start, clearing my throat, "I was just hoping I could change my schedule to training before dinner."  Feeling my heart slamming in my chest, I risk glancing back up at his face.  This time it's still a mixture of shock and anger, but there's a twinge of disbelief sprinkled in, and it's not making me feel any better whatsoever.

"Get out," he finally demands, getting straight to the point, "and you had better not tell anyone about this."  I nod and hastily exit the room.  I'm too jittery to even focus on the floor tiles guiding me to my room, but somehow I make it back quickly.  Once I enter my room, I walk straight to my bed and drown myself in the covers, wondering if it's truly possible to die from embarrassment.  If so, I'm sure my death would be slow and antagonizing, because that's how I felt in there with Caius.  There hasn't been a time where I wanted to be able to just close my door.  I honestly don't care if I get trapped in here for the rest of my existence, I just want to be as cut off from the outside world as possible.

*

"Anna!" I hear a high pitched voice yelling close to my ear.  I let my hair shield my face and squeeze my eyes tighter, hoping that whoever it is will just let me be alone to wallow in my embarrassment still present from earlier.  "Anna, get up!" the voice says again.  I hear a sharp exhale and suddenly feel like I'm falling and jerk awake before my head bangs against the ground.

"What's your problem Jane!" I exclaim, grasping my blanket, pulling it down from the bed and around my now crumpled position.  Immediately she steals my blanket and throws it across the room, crouching down to my level.

"What?" I ask again. 

"Demetri is back!" she exclaims, shaking my shoulder.

"What!" I exclaim, popping up to my feet.  "Where is he?!" I ask, momentarily forgetting my encounter with Caius.

"Follow me!  Everyone's gathering in the throne room as we speak, so get up and stop wasting time!" she urges, but there's no need to tell me twice.  My stomach is doing nervous flips just thinking about what he actually did these past few days.  Are Derek, Justin, and Rudy dead?  I ask myself, or did they somehow get away?  Rudy may be smart, but I can't imagine them being able to escape from Demetri, but I also don't think I could believe it if they were actually dead.  I mean, after knowing them for five years, it just wouldn't feel real.

Jane practically drags me all the way to the throne room.  I can tell she's slightly impatient at my human speed, but she keeps her bright red eyes focused down the halls as she pulls me into the huge white columned room that I remember being not-so-almost killed in.  Upon entering I see Aro, Marcus and Caius in their seats right away.  Glancing at Caius, I notice he has his hair fixed in the same dull, pale blonde way I saw when I first saw him.  He's also wearing his black robes, signature to the Volturi.  He either doesn't notice me come in, or he just doesn't care, because he doesn't even glance in our direction as Jane moves me next to where Alec is standing.

"Where's Demetri?" I whisper to Jane.

"He just made it into Volterra when I went to get you.  He should be arriving at the castle any second," she explains. 

As if on cue, the huge wooden doors to the throne room swing open and Demetri walks in.  His face looks wiped of all emotion as he steadily approaches Aro.  I try to find some hint in his expression to whether he succeeded in killing Derek, Justin, and Rudy or not, but being the professional he is, not even his slightly darkened eyes betray any information.

The room watches as Demetri places his hand into Aro's outstretched one.  My heart is beating heavily in my chest and I can't even manage any lucid thoughts I'm so anxious.  Finally in what feels like hours, Aro lets go of Demetri and shows absolutely no emotion as he turns to face me.  I try to swallow my nerves, but my throat is too dry. 

"Demetri, if you could deliver the news to Anna and the rest of the guard?" Aro suggests.

"Yes, Master," he says monotone.  He turns to look straight at me and I watch the transition as a smile spreads across his face.  "Derek, Justin, and Rudy are dead."

*

My jaw drops.  Derek, Justin, and Rudy are dead.  The words keep hitting my mind, but they can't seem to make an impression.  They're dead.  They're actually dead.  I can finally sleep at night knowing they're not going to find me.  They're never going to come after me, or the people I care about, ever again.

"Really?" I squeak out, feeling a heavy weight lifted from my life.

"Really Anna, I set the fires myself," Demetri grins as he walks over to me and places his hands on my shoulders and shakes them a little.  "Now stop worrying, I could hear your heart pounding from three stories down," he laughs.

Despite his words, I'm still in shock.  These three have been making my life miserable for five long years.  Because of them, my parents and sister are dead.  Because of them, I had to live with my grandma until graduation.  I couldn't allow myself to fall asleep unless I was at her side.  She thought it was because I needed the comfort after my parents' death, but really it was because I was constantly worried that she too would be murdered in the same grotesque way that my Mom was if I wasn't around to protect her.  I gave up my friends because I didn't want to put their lives at risk for one thing, the other reason being the need to stay with Grandma as much as possible.  I couldn't handle being responsible for the death of somebody else I cared about.

Without thinking, I wrap my arms around Demetri and press my forehead into his chest.  The feeling of relief finally starts washing over me as his arms wrap around me and after a short delay, he starts rubbing my back.  The last time I cried was when I saw what they did to my mother that morning, now I just feel relieved that the nightmarish chapter of my life is over.

"Thank you," I mumble into his shirt.  Suddenly somebody clears their throat.  Knowing that vampires don't actually need to clear their throats, I pull myself away from Demetri and lightly chuckle as I wipe a few stray tears from my cheek.

"If that's all, I think everyone can get back to their responsibilities," Caius says from the front, glaring at Demetri and I.

"Yes, Master," everyone mumbles as they head out the doors. 

"Come on Anna," Jane says, nodding her head towards the door, waiting for me to follow, "I'll take you back to your room."

"I'll do it," Demetri suggests, putting an arm around my shoulders, "It's been a while since I've seen my favorite human."  He gives me a dramatic wink and I burst out laughing.  "What?" he asks, surprised by my outburst.

"Nothing," I tell him while trying to control my laughter, "That was just the creepiest wink I have ever seen."  He drops his jaw and looks humorously appalled.

"What?!" he exclaims, "There isn't a single woman in Italy who wouldn't find that wink charming." he says confidently as we head out of the throne room.

"I'm in Italy," I remind him, "and I disagree."

"You've only been here for a few days.  Give it another week or so and you will be swooning at the sound of my name," he says matter-of-factly.

"Nah, I think I owe it to the unfortunate souls of Italy to keep your ego down," I tell him, waving him off.

"Well!" he begins, but before he can say anything else, I make a run for my room, which I can now see after this last turn.  I stop in the entryway and look back to see that Demetri is no longer in the hallway.  I lift an eyebrow, wondering where he could have gone when I feel someone directly behind me.

"Demetri," a voice whispers into my ear.  I whip around to see Demetri smirking.

"I will never swoon; forget about it," I say, rolling my eyes with a smile.

"We'll see," he smirks, "but I'd better go, see you later Anna."

"Bye," I say as he turns to go.  "Thanks again, for..." I start, before he cuts me off.

"Don't mention it," Demetri says, turning around and flashing me one last smile before speeding off somewhere. 

I head into my room and wash my face, thankful that it doesn't look too red and blotchy.  I mean, it's not like I broke down in heavy sobs or anything out there, but still, you can never tell.  After I walk out of the bathroom, I see Felix standing in my doorway, leaning against the frame, arms crossed.

"Felix," I greet, "What are you doing here?"

"It's time to start your training," he tells me.  I glance at the clock, which only reads 5:00 PM.

"I thought I had my training at six?" I tell him.

"Nope, I just got word from Master Caius that you are now scheduled to eat dinner at six, which means training is at five," he explains.  My eyes widen, I can't believe that Caius actually granted my request after the events of this morning.

"Okay," I nod, following Felix to the training room for what can only be another... interesting training session.