— 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎 —
𝐑𝐢𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐨, 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥

    People screamed and hollered with glee as the countdown finally hit midnight. It was officially New Year's Day of the new century.

Low cut was IN.

Low-cut shorts, pants, skirts, and hella-tight crop tops. Like most fashions of the past, Sandy was a fan.

Her shorts nearly showed her ass cheeks and the cut was lower than hell. Her top was basically a bra — golden and sparkly, shimmering as she shook ass. A headband held her hair back, the big curls falling only to her upper back but frizzing out in every direction.

Her shoes were nowhere to be seen as she twerked in a line of girls on the beach by her apartment. The warm sand between her toes felt nice.

Rio De Janeiro was a party every day, and Sandy certainly loved the beachy vibes she had been exposed to for the past three years.

New Year's was no exception: the holiday only caused for an even bigger celebration than usual. The fact that it was in a new century made it an even bigger deal. People all across the world were celebrating and partying hard as fuck.

Y2K was all about fast hip-hop and pop. Sparkly outfits and short bottoms — skin upon skin upon skin should be exposed. Golden tans and drunken nights. A party every day.

Brazil was also incredibly diverse, with many people sharing similar ethnicities and shades of skin tone as her. Others were darker and some lighter.

But like everywhere on the planet, not one person looked the same.

Sandy partied whenever she could, but the majority of her time was spent in the studio learning proper ballet techniques. By mortal standards she was moving incredibly quickly, she looked as though she had been studying the art for over a decade when really it had only been three years.

Her dance instructor was happy as the adult classes were usually only for fun, but Sandy came intending to be a professional. Her teacher doubted this when she first came, but three years later and she actually thought that Sandy might make it to the stage with how fast she was learning.

Sandy herself was not sure if she wanted to be on stage right away. She knew that at some point she did, but at the moment, she was tempted to learn as much as she could and move to Australia.

She had lived on the beach for a second now, and she was interested in learning how to surf. She figured she might move to Australia and learn how to surf before using everything she knew in ballet to go on stage.

But this was a decision for another day, for now, Sandy only wanted to down even more shots.

She stumbled to the bar along with her new mortal friends, all of them ordering another round of shots in smooth Portuguese.

Sand was spread along her tan legs, her eyes slightly bloodshot.

Overall, she looked like the definition of a hot mess — a girl of the early 2000s.

Men shamelessly checked her and her friends out as they laughed: Sandy and her group downing another shot before going back to dancing.

Living in New York had been a more calm life. Well, not necessarily calm, but hectic in a much different manner. Hectic in terms of shows and auditions.

Her life in Brazil was chaotic because she liked to go out and mingle. Meet many people and party at night while studying the rigid art of ballet in the afternoons. It was incredibly fun, and while the hole in her heart from missing New York and her friend Christian was still there, it was far lessened now that she was used to Brazil.

She barely ever spoke English anymore. Only when she spoke on the phone to Alice or Rosalie every few months. While they were still good friends, they spoke just a tad less frequently than they used to.

It made Cassandra all the more determined to visit them soon — it had been far too long since she'd last seen them. Since Christian and Avan's wedding.

After another few hours and many more drinks — Sandy was stumbling by herself down the dark streets of Rio de Janeiro back to her apartment. She was heavily intoxicated (she may be a fae, but she was certainly not immune to alcohol) but she was still much stronger than a mortal.

She would need to be heavily drugged for a mortal to ever manage to get the better of her. Therefore, she was not scared in the slightest.

Not even when a suspicious man attempted to follow her back and call out to her.

She was immediately hit with feelings of his bad intentions.

Sandy flicked her head and smiled as she watched the man go flying away at the crash of wind that suddenly hit him. Not hard enough to kill or even hurt him, but hard enough to knock him over and scare him off.

As she opened the door to her apartment, locking it behind her, Sandy did not even make it to her bed before she was crashing on her couch.

This apartment was nowhere near as luxurious as her last condo in New York, more similar to the one she had before when she was living in California.

But it was something nonetheless, small and cute and beachy.

She was still living off her savings from Broadway. Eventually, she would need to get a job, but for now and the foreseeable future, she was more than good.

As she crashed onto the couch, she murmured tiredly, her eyes closing on their own accord before her mind crashed into the depths of drunken unconsciousness. And only after she sank into the waves of sleep was she opening her eyes to the castle of Volterra.

—————————

It had been a while since she last dreamwalked, not since 1994 to be exact. Over six years ago.

She would never admit that she slightly enjoyed dreamwalking, but she also was not complaining about having not experienced it. The longer she could stay away from her supposed mates, the better.

At the moment; however, she did not exactly have a choice. Not when she stood directly outside of Aro's chambers. Her lips pursed and she clenched her fists at her sides before crossing her arms stubbornly.

The fae stomped her foot — her face a pout. She knew she probably looked the opposite of threatening.

She looked down the drafty corridors noticing right away that there were no other vampires in the vicinity. With a breath, Sandy dropped her arms.

Her curiosity as to what her mates had been up to for the past six years won and she drifted forward, quite literally ghosting through the heavy door. The knockers on the door were large golden A's, that was how she knew this was no doubt Aro's chambers.

As she ghosted in, she immediately noticed the lack of light.

The room was only lit up by dim candles that were placed in various spots around the large room.

Before Sandy could admire any other part of the ancient-looking room — she was struck with carnal sounds that echoed around the chamber. Her eyes widened as she snapped to the source of the noise, shrieking and covering her mouth.

Aro lay in the center of a large bed in the middle of the room — sheer curtains hung from the high ceilings drafting around the bed enchantingly. But even this cannot obscure the lust in his gaze, his hands clenched tightly on the low hips of a female on top of him.

Cassandra does not doubt in her mind that this woman on top of Aro (o̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶c̶k̶!) is Sulpicia, his wife.

She is pale, nearly, paler than Aro — her crimson eyes closed with pleasure as she rocked atop the vampire leader.

Her hair is incredibly long, falling just past her lower back in waves of chestnut brown. Sulpicia is pretty — even as she sat, Sandy could tell that her body was on the taller side and lean. Her face held such a simple beauty that she was gorgeous.

Sandy knew about the Volturi wives, although seeing as she had never seen them in her dreamwalking prior, the thought of them slipped her mind. T̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶a̶r̶r̶i̶e̶d̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶d̶m̶i̶t̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶l̶o̶u̶d̶.̶

Marcus's old wife was long dead. But not Caius or Aro's.

According to Lithiovai: Aro attempted to make his own mate.

Aro had a certain type of woman in mind and he found what he was looking for in Sulpicia. He successfully courted her and she came to fall in love with him.

A sour sting ripped at her heart at the thought — who the fuck attempts to MAKE their own mate? Everyone knows it is simply not possible.

You can fall in love; yes, passionate unbridled love at that. But it still does not make them your mate. There was nothing wrong with seeking love in other forms, plenty of people did it all the time as truthfully it could be hard for the supernatural to find their mates.

One could be waiting for hundreds of years — or, in Aro, Caius, and Marcus's situation — thousands of years.

Still, Cassandra could not imagine trying to make her own mate.

Caius and his wife, Athenodora, were a bit different. They had apparently found each other when they were newborns and have been together ever since.

That thought perhaps hurt even more seeing as it was obvious they were heavily in love and had been together through thick and thin.

Sandy easily reminded herself that she wanted nothing to do with them anyway.

And yet, she could not pull her gaze away from the coupling pair.

Her mate, as he flipped his wife suddenly, turning their positions. Sulpicia let out a loud whimper as Aro loomed over her, buried deep within her before absolutely railing the hell out of her.

Sandy's hands slowly dropped from her mouth before the fae simply rose an almost unimpressed brow at the display.

She was aware that she was committing perhaps one of the biggest invasions of privacy ever, and she knew had the situation been flipped — she would no doubt be upset.

Oh, well... if Aro and she ever actually meet (which she hopes NEVER happens) then he could be upset with her all he wants. She does not care now and she will not care much then.

She swallowed heavily — vampire sex was... intense... to say the least.

It looked like they were having fun at least, well... as fun as sex with a vampire overlord and his wife can be. It was certainly passionate, Aro was no doubt a passionate man. And it showed in his lovemaking skills.

The way that he kissed down her neck to her breasts, sucking a nipple as he continued to thrust deeply — constantly changing his tempo.

Sandy could not help but notice that Sulpicia's tits did not really move... okay hear her out!

She didn't purposely mean to start staring at her mate's wife's titties, but like... they did not move.

At all.

What was fun and hot about tits (in Sandy's totally mature 200-something-year-old opinion) was the jiggle and bounce they gave upon movement.

It's what made missionary so fun for a lot of men—bouncing tits was sexy.

But when one is turned to a vampire, their skin also hardens... AKA that means cold vampire tits that don't move.

While Sulpicia's breasts didn't appear unnatural, they still moved even less than implants.

Cassandra accidentally let out a snort at the sight, covering her mouth as she giggled.

In the next second, she forced her gaze away from the vampire's non-moving breasts.

It was hardly mature, appropriate, or even decent of her to sit here judging her mate's wife.

Especially when she just appeared here and neither of them had any idea of her presence during their intimate moment.

This was mean girl stuff and Sandy liked to think that she was above such actions.

But still—the thought of one of her mate's wives brought out a nasty side in her that she did not like.

With that, she forced herself to stop thinking about it.

Nevertheless, Sulpicia's eyes were practically crossing from how good he was making her feel.

Cassandra assumed it had to do with the fact that with every touch, he could rummage through a person's head. He could no doubt feel everything that he was doing to her: he knew everything, her desires, her feelings, her aches. And he fulfilled it immediately, and it felt good for him as well seeing as he could feel it through her mind.

She found herself biting her lip wishing that she was Sulpicia in that moment in time.

How would Aro's technique change for her? How would he treat her? How much more passionate would their lovemaking be?

He may have loved Sulpicia and Sulpicia may have loved him, and no matter how good their sex was, it would never match what it could be if they were mates. And they were not mates: Cassandra was Aro's mate, and she had no doubt that he would find more pleasure than he ever thought possible with her in Sulpicia's place.

Aro sucked her right nipple as though milking her before lazily releasing it. Sulpicia sighed in response.

It took everything in Sandy not to let out a small laugh at the sight of the breast still not moving—there was no way it was satisfying to suck on.

Aro then moved into her neck, leaving harsh love bites.

"My love..." Sulpicia hissed in between pants of ecstasy, "Please — I am so close... 'm gonna cum..."

Aro chuckled into her neck, biting down. "I know..." was all he responded before once again changing his tempo and Sulpicia was suddenly shrieking as Aro let out a groan of his own.

Sandy covered her eyes, not wanting to watch them reach the peak of their pleasure. She wondered how long they had been going at it. Hours, no doubt.

She truly did not know why she did not just walk away, but instead stood there as though irritated and wishing they would hurry the fuck up.

Jealousy was an odd emotion, especially for a fae whose very nature went against making her feel the green-eyed beast. But when it came to her mate who was currently wrapped passionately with his wife... well, you could say she was slightly jealous.

But Cassandra was aware she had no right — not when she had been bashing them and hiding from them. Hell, she figured out they were her mates 13 years ago at this point, and instead of seeking them out: she hid away from them and prayed they never found out for themselves.

Not only that, but they had been around for a very long time. They probably did not believe that there was even a chance of them finding a mate at this point in their existence, of course, they would be married!

"Are you guys done now?" Sandy spoke sarcastically removing her hand from covering her eyes.

Aro nor Sulpicia responded, of course, seeing as neither could see nor sense her. They only lay together, Sulpicia wrapped in Aro's arms as he ran a hand down her arm. While they could not sleep and were not the least bit winded from their activities, they lay silently simply basking in each other's presence.

Sandy took that moment to snoop about the room, walking around the large wing. It was ancient, with a large writing desk in the corner and many bookshelves pushed against the walls. The furniture was scarce as though not much time was spent in here.

She doubted Aro spent much time in his room.

The bed was surely just there for this exact purpose, and his desk was very clean meaning he rarely used it.

If he was not in his room for passionate moments with his wife, then he probably only came in here on the rare occasion that he wanted to be left in his privacy.

The privacy that Sandy was breaking at this exact moment. Not that he'd ever know that.

Cassandra sighed and waltzed over to his couch before lazily sprawling across it on her stomach. She held her head up with her hands, her full lips drawn down into a pout. Another opposite between herself and Sulpicia: her lips were very full while Sulpicia's were thin.

The couch was not far from the bed: it was close enough that she could easily hear the two whispering to each other.

Surprisingly, they were speaking in English, not Italian or any other ancient language she found the leaders often babbled to each other in.

"My love..." Sulpicia trailed off and Aro grasped her hand whilst kissing it gently.

"Yes, my Queen?"

Sandy gagged at the nickname. She hated the term Queen, and for it to be used as a term of endearment was pathetic in her opinion. Especially seeing as Aro was no King — nor were Caius and Marcus.

Sure, some of the vampiric race might consider them the closest thing to royalty, but that was all. They were not actual royalty nor did most covens think of the Volturi this way.

No, they were judge, jury, and executioner: that was all.

And Sulpicia was certainly no Queen: not when Aro locked her away with Athenodora.

Cassandra was not exactly sure why she hated the term 'Queen' and the thought of it so much, but the word simply made her sick. The same could be said about the word 'King', but even 'King' did not make her as appalled as 'Queen' did.

"I think the love between Caius and Athenodora has officially dissipated..." Sulpicia said sadly.

Now this had Sandy's attention, the girl perked up from her position of lounging on Aro's couch.

Aro looked at Sulpicia with a quirked brow.

"I take it you have been rustling through our sister's thoughts then?"

Sulpicia was quick to snark back. "Just as you always go through our brother's head?"

Sulpicia and Aro shared a talent — they were both the only vampires on the planet with the ability to know someone inside and out with just a simple touch. Aro was the first vampire with this gift, and he remained the only vampire until he turned Sulpicia over a thousand years ago.

He suspected that was why he was drawn to her even when she was a human.

Aro chuckled, "I suppose we are simply too alike..." he stroked her arm softly.

Sulpicia laughed lightly as well, and it took everything in Sandy to not cringe and look away from the private display of affection.

"But, Aro, it's true... over the past century, each time I look into Athenodora's mind, I see the love she once harbored for Caius dwindle. And now only a friendly love remains... she and he loved each other so passionately for over three thousand years, how has it washed away within three centuries?" She sounded sad and worried.

"As I have seen in Caius's mind, but why does this worry you? Caius and Athenodora have been on this Earth for a very long time — together far longer than they were ever without each other. I suspect they are simply ready to go their separate ways..."

It was quite common for this to happen with couples who were not fated mates. It was not a bad thing, just the natural cycle of interest.

It was the same with human couples, you might be in love with someone for a very long time: get married, and have children, but sometimes it simply does not work out. And that is okay.

Vampires were much the same — just with a longer cycle of interest.

Caius and Athenodora outlasted many couples who were together but not mates.

"Because, Aro, I believe that Dora will be ready to leave soon... I give it a decade or two before she finally recognizes this desire. She is curious about the new world — she has been stuck in the tower for a long time — and she is curious if she has a mate out there..."

Aro's eyes glazed over. He already knew this, of course, seeing as every thought of Sulpicia's became his own with only one touch, but they still enjoyed vocalizing themselves to each other.

Cassandra hated that the thought of Caius and his wife separating brought her immense joy. She hated it very much.

"When the time comes, Caius will support her..." Aro reassured her, not wanting to speak what he knew she was truly worried about.

But they both knew it had to be said — even if they both knew it internally. Sulpicia was the one brave enough to speak.

"As will I, and I will join her in her adventures... you and I may not be at the same point as them... and while I will always love you... I know you have felt it as well... our love is not as it once was..."

Aro sighed sadly clutching his wife closer to him.

Cassandra's heart hurt — not in jealousy — but truly feeling bad for them. They loved each other so much, and to watch what was no doubt the end of a marriage was saddening.

"When the time comes, I will let you go... and know that I will always love you..." he nuzzled his face into her neck.

This had nothing to do with fated mates, this had to do with the love and respect between two people.

Love did not always need to be romantic — even if he was not in love with her, Aro and Sulpicia would always love each other. Just as Caius and Athenodora would. And how Marcus would always love Didyme.

Now Cassandra truly felt bad about imposing on such a moment: while she had no control over dreamwalking, she had control as to where she went. She easily could have left when she realized where she appeared, but she chose to stay.

For what reason, she had no clue, but she chose to stay and that was on her.

However, she once again tried to justify herself by saying that she would never encounter Aro. But deep down she knew she was only fooling herself. Even if that was the case though, it still did not make it right.

Cassandra stood up when she realized that Aro and Sulpicia were kissing once again, kissing passionately as though trying to convey every last ounce of their love to each other. One last night of true lovemaking.

It was sensual and it was incredibly private to both of them.

Cassandra knew that if by some miracle Aro would not be angry about her imposing on what she had already seen, he would certainly be upset if he knew that she was right there during this moment.

She would leave them be, she may have been his mate, but that did not give her the right to spy on him and his wife during such an intimate moment.

However, just as she stood to leave — the world spun away from her.

—————————

A still-drunk Cassandra suddenly woke up from where she had passed out on the couch. The girl jumped up, clumsily stumbling as fast as she could to the bathroom, knocking many things over as she went.

When she arrived in her bathroom just in the knick of time, she was on her knees over the toilet as she gagged and spilled her guts. She swore in that moment she lost her breakfast, lunch, and dinner all in one.

She continued to violently vomit before falling into her bathtub and curling into a ball. Violent shivers ran throughout her frame.

At that moment, she tried to remember just how many drinks she'd had that evening. She and her friends had been on a bender all day — they'd started around one in the afternoon. She lost count after drink 14.

Cassandra had never hated herself more than in this moment, the girl's mind slipping back into unconsciousness among her violent tremors.

—————————

When she opened her eyes, the fae was back in Volterra. Except this time, she was under the stars as the early morning sun slowly began to rise into the sky.

Sandy gulped, looking to her left and right and being greeted by many different shrubs, trees, and flowers. The Volturi garden might confuse people for a small forest with how lovely it appeared — and because it had so much green — it no doubt appeared bigger than it was.

But Sandy could see the towering brick walls that enclosed the space, even as they appeared to be hidden behind a thicket of bushy flowers.

Her eyesight was far better than any mortals' in the dark, not nearly as good as a vampire's, but somewhere in between.

She took a step forward, and she assumed that if she was physically there, the grass would have crunched under her feet. Alas, her steps produced no noise.

She jumped as there was movement from her left, the girl looking over only to be greeted by Marcus standing and staring at a simple daisy. His shoulders were slouched unceremoniously, and he released a sad sigh, gazing at the daisy with such heartbreak it almost had her walking over to comfort him.

She stopped herself just in time.

Even if her hand would do nothing more than pass through him, Sandy was the most cautious around Marcus when she dreamwalked.

While he definitely could not see nor hear her, she realized that he was sometimes able to sense her presence to a certain degree.

She was positive that he had no clue who nor what she was, only that her presence made him feel lighter.

He would sometimes look directly at where she was standing, she assumed he could sense her energy.

He would stand closer to her when this happened.

Aro and Caius did this as well, but they did it more subconsciously than Marcus did.

Sandy still chose to move closer, as her curiosity about the daisy overcame her.

What was so sad about this daisy?

Perhaps it was because he plucked it from the Earth and that sentenced it to death.

"Death makes me sad too..." she spoke quietly, her voice while not whispering was soft.

She walked in front of Marcus, the vampire not so much as moving from his place in staring at the flower. He almost looked like a statue, a very sad but beautiful statue.

"I prefer the thought of life... but there can be beauty in death as well...." she said it so quietly, reaching as though to take his hand.

To her utter shock, her hand did not go through him as she was expecting, rather she was able to grab his hand as though she was solid. The flower in Marcus's hand suddenly seemed to glow, as though absorbing some extra life force that stopped death from touching it.

The faint glow was golden, and even Sandy was enchanted as she stared at it — the flower exuding life.

It lifted itself from Marcus's hand, levitating. The fae could not take her eyes off it, that was why she did not notice the vampire next to her had ripped his eyes away from the daisy in disbelief and was now staring at his hand.

Sandy looked from the daisy to where she was holding onto Marcus's hand.

She swallowed, as she looked up at Marcus watching as his gaze seemed to move up and meet her own. Marcus could not see her, and she very well knew that. He was staring more through her than actually looking at her, but he could certainly sense her there.

Marcus was able to sense some sort of power or presence next to him. He had no clue what it was nor from whence it came, all he knew was that this presence gave him a peace of mind and joy that he had not felt since his beloved Didyme.

It had been a very long time since he had felt this way.

There were no bonds near whatever presence was standing next to him: and so he had no clue what this was.

However, the next words seemed to tumble out of his mouth without any control. Something rare for the leader.

"Didyme?" His voice was breathless, raspy but precise.

It had to be her, he was sure of it, for no other being could ever make him feel such a way. Especially seeing as he was holding her favorite flower in his grasp.

Cassandra swallowed heavily as she gazed into her mate's red eyes. It took everything in her to pull away — Marcus was certainly the one she was the least terrified of. It's why she touched him, it was why he was the one she would get the closest to when she dreamwalked.

Even if she did need to be more cautious seeing as he could sense her to some degree.

However, it did not change the fact that she was not Didyme. Not in the slightest.

She took her hand off his, and to her astonishment, the daisy lost its glow and stopped elevating. It fell to the ground as though there was no life in it to begin with.

Marcus watched it fall, his eyes blank. But suddenly, a fire of determination that had not been there since his first thousand years alive burned in his gaze.

Sandy pulled away, successfully. Sensing that the presence was pulling away from him, no longer touching him, Marcus surged forward attempting to grab whatever it was. Alas, his hands only found dead air.

Sandy watched her mate sadly as Marcus became desperate, muttering about Didyme and how he would not lose her again. She swallowed and took a step back — Marcus seemed to sense this and took a step forward, in her direction.

"Come back, please..." he said desperately, his normal hollow voice filled with despair.

Sandy couldn't stop herself, she surged forward intending to hug him. She managed to wrap her arms around him, the top of her head coming no higher than his chest. Marcus gasped as he sensed the warm presence wrapping around him: it was warm and filled him with nothing but joy.

In the next second, it was gone and Marcus was left frantically turning left and right. But unlike before, it was gone entirely as though never there to begin with.

The vampire fell to his knees — his bottom lip trembling.

Were he human, tears would silently be falling from his eyes.

But he was not human, and he had not been for a very long time, and so only his lip trembled as tears that could never fall filled his eyes.

He wanted nothing more for it to end — this miserable existence that his brothers forced him to continue to live through.

Sandy had long since been gone, for as soon as she hugged Marcus, and basked in the feeling of somehow not going through him, the world spun away.

———————

The fae gagged as she woke up in the tub, barely able to crawl out before she was vomiting bile. Her head was pounding, and her entire body hurt.

She swore that she would never get this drunk again — it was only fun while she partied, but this part of it sucked balls. Especially when she had no one to hold her hair back and baby her.

Not that she ever had: Sandy was destined to live a life that was mostly just solitude. Not unless she wanted to go back to Lithiovai, and she most certainly did not.

She remained in an odd state of semi-consciousness that was interrupted every few minutes by the need to gag. After thirty minutes of this, she curled into a small ball on her bathroom floor rug, closing her eyes and falling into a restless sleep.

———————

She was put at ease when she appeared back in Volterra. At least this way her feeling like absolute shit was gone.

The only thing that saved her internally was knowing the day that awaited her was the New Year's holiday. She could stay in bed resting all day and order takeout. It was truly a wonderful thought that put her at ease.

Cassandra jumped when the loud noise suddenly hit her, it was as though a radio that was previously off was turned up to the maximum.

She turned to face a beautiful blonde woman — her hair was an ashy tone and pin-straight. She held the usual vampiric beauty and perfection, but it was obvious that even as a human this woman had been pretty.

She was not tall but she was taller than Cassandra by at least two or three inches. Her figure was incredibly feminine with a bust and hourglass shape to back her.

Her beauty almost reminded Sandy of Marilyn Monroe — she even had the trademark beauty mark located just to the right of her lip.

She was screaming a language that Sandy did not recognize although it sounded eerily like some form of Latin.

Cassandra yelped as Caius suddenly appeared, storming right through her being.

She shrank away from the angry blonde leader.

He was just as beautiful as he always was—not looking unlike a fallen angel—but he also appeared angrier than Sandy had ever seen him. His lip was upturned into a snarl as he roared in the same ancient language, but the woman did not back down in the slightest.

In fact, she only looked mildly annoyed, standing with her hands on her hips and clicking her tongue.

Her dress was long, colored a sky blue with golden seams woven throughout. While its condition was flawless, it appeared as though it was straight out of the past.

From a time that was before even when Cassandra was born over three-hundred years ago. Thousands of years old, if the fae had to guess.

It was then that Cassandra realized this beautiful woman must be Caius's wife: Athenodora.

Caius barely paused in his ranting before Athenodora took his momentary pause to her advantage and began telling him off. She was wagging a finger in his face, her words in the unfamiliar language fast-paced and upset.

Her nails was not polished, but rather it was natural and long enough to be considered attractive but not so long that they looked like claws.

Caius had crossed his arms over his chest as he took unneeded huffs of breath.

Cassandra crouched down, bringing her hands over her mouth in amusement. Never would she have thought she would get to see such an ancient vampire leader being told off by his wife of all people, and she wished for nothing more than to understand them at this very moment.

As though her wishes were granted, Athenodora began speaking in English.

"And you always wear a black suit with a red undershirt! Why do you not wear a blue undershirt?!"

Caius roared back. "You don't control my fashion, woman! And a blue undershirt would look terrible!"

"But it would match me! But I guess that doesn't matter seeing as we have not seen nor spoken to each other for MONTHS!"

"This is ludicrous! Speak your truth, Athenodora, are you truly furious about my exemplary choice in fashion or are you upset by our lack of regard for each other?" Caius said calmer this time, though there was still an undertone of anger hiding under his words.

Athenodora paused, the vampiric woman seeming to stand down as she looked to the side. She huffed a few breaths.

"A bit of both really..." she said sourly, her tone nothing but ice. "And I would not describe your fashion as exemplary..."

Cassandra was dying of laughter on the side. Although, she did agree Caius, she thought that his fashion was exemplary.

She knew without a doubt that if either vampire ever knew she had spied on this ridiculous argument she would not live to see the next day.

Caius tapped his foot against the stone ground. "Yet, every time I visit the tower, you are conveniently not there..."

Athenodora quipped right back. "You are a vampire... one of the leaders at that... it is not that hard to find me in the castle we have inhabited for centuries I am sure..."

Caius growled and turned his back to her while holding up a hand.

"I am done with this conversation..." he spoke.

Athenodora roared and sped directly in front of him. "HOW DARE YOU TURN YOUR BACK TO ME!"

And that led to another screaming match which once again shifted into a language that Cassandra could not decipher. Her mouth formed an 'O' as she watched the display.

"They either need to take extreme couple counseling or get a divorce," she said while cringing as they got into each other's faces — both appeared a second away from turning this fight into something physical.

And somehow, Sandy knew that they were not against physically fighting each other.

Before Sandy could watch a vampire husband v. wife throwdown: her world spun away.

———————

When Sandy awoke, she was once again heaving, but sadly nothing came up as she sat in front of the toilet.

Her drunkenness was now gone — and while her body still hurt incredibly, she was able to stand up on shaky legs. There was no hesitation as she ripped her clothing off leaving her in the nude before she stumbled into a warm shower.

Sandy sat on the tub floor as warm water sprayed down at her leaving her curly hair in tangly waves. While everything in her did not want to wash her hair, she knew she would be far more comfortable in the long run if she at least did a quick wash.

She did not want sand in her hair and there was currently a lot of it from her party on the beach all day.

Shaky hands ran through the tangles as she lathered shampoo and conditioner through it. Sand ran the length of her body down the drain as the girl continued to wash herself. The shower felt incredibly good on her borderline alcohol-poisoned form, but she still wanted nothing more than to curl up in her warm bed and fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

She'd run into Aro fucking his wife, Marcus mourning his late wife, and Caius fighting with his wife. She had more than enough time and visions with her mates to last her for the next decade.

After a short but effective shower — Sandy was reaching for her towel and wrapping herself in it. From there, she brushed and blowed dried her hair as quickly as possible, cringing as the noise made her headache worse.

From there, she put on her comfiest pajamas and forced herself to chug two bottles of water. And finally, finally, she crawled into her bed. She passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow, but unfortunately, it was not the dreamless sleep she was craving.

———————

Sandy screamed and stomped her foot angrily as she appeared in the main throne room of the Volturi. However, only Caius sat at the room's table with a scowl etched onto his face. While he had a large book open, it did not appear as though he was actually reading it.

Rather, he appeared to be steaming in his own angry thoughts.

"Caius," Marcus barely acknowledged the angry leader upon appearing.

Cassandra jumped as he suddenly appeared, watching the blank expression on Marcus's face not so much as waver as he sat across from Caius.

Caius quite literally growled as a greeting, and while Sandy raised a brow and scoffed at this, Marcus seemed to not even notice it. Not when he began to read through his own large book.

The fae sighed and remained on the opposite side of the room. It was much more imposing when they were all together, and after the situation with Marcus earlier, she did not so much as want to chance him sensing her.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes before the doors to the room were suddenly flung open once again, but this time it was Aro who strolled through with a happy smile that spoke of everything sinister in the world and his hands clasped.

He rarely wore anything other than a smile, only allowing the outside world to see a pleasant expression. Something that often scared people rather than put them at ease.

His long raven hair was pinned back halfway by a silver clip that looked more expensive than Cassandra's life.

Like the other two, Aro wore a dark suit with a dark cloak hanging over it. It flowed as he walked and Cassandra could not take her eyes off it — Aro seriously looked like a real-life Count Dracula. All that was missing was the thick Romanian accent, but Sandy was glad Aro did not speak with one seeing as that was Lithiovai's accent.

Romanian was Lithiovai's mother tongue — Sandy and the rest of her siblings were fluent in it as that is the language that Lithiovai predominantly spoke with.

"Ah, brothers — it has been too long!"

Caius's head snapped up with a venomous glare, it was obvious that he was already fed up with Aro's theatrics. "It has been less than six hours..." he said blankly.

Marcus did not even move his head from where he read through the large book.

Aro waved Caius, as though brushing his snark off. "This is uncommon for us, brother, in the past few years we typically do not spend more than three hours apart!"

Even Cassandra knew the unspoken words of Aro — as of late, they did not have much else to do except trials and other things that leaders of the vampire world did. Especially seeing as it seemed like Caius was avoiding his wife and Aro was becoming less inclined to visit Sulpicia.

In a way: they were becoming oddly bored.

Caius did not respond, only choosing to shake his head and huff in response.

Aro, on the other hand, paused in his steps. It had been apparent that he was going to his usual spot at the head of the table, but he froze upon passing Marcus. The vampire's eyebrows furrowed as he narrowed his eyes on the book his brother-in-arms and of the soul was reading.

"Correct me if I am mistaken, Marcus, but are you reading a book on... phantoms...?" Aro, for the first time that Sandy had ever heard him, actually sounded taken aback.

Here was the thing about the ancient leaders, they rarely ever showed face to the public as anything less than powerful, intelligent, all-knowing, and the absolute law. They were, after all, the second oldest group of vampires in known existence.

Only Stefan and Vladimir best them in age, but that hardly counted for anything seeing as the Volturi had ripped their entire coven to shreds. And they obviously did not know of Lithiovai's survival all those years ago.

"Mmm, your keen eye never allows anything to go unnoticed, brother..." Marcus hummed, his voice barely even a whisper, Cassandra had to push herself to hear him. And dare she say, Marcus even sounded the slightest bit irritated at being called out? "But yes, I am reading a book on phantoms. It was written by Amadeus over a thousand years ago, just after Jane and Alec were turned..."

Caius scoffed and stared at Marcus in disbelief. "That fool who dared call himself a bridge between the living and the dead? We looked into him — Aro confirmed he was no such thing, simply a psychic human able to see some powerful lingering spirits... there are plenty of such psychics out there.. anything written by him is no doubt a waste..."

"Thank you for knowledge that I already knew and an opinion that I did not ask for, brother," Marcus replied calmly, his tone so bored and his gaze not so much as drifting to Caius that it almost made his words unbelievable.

It had Sandy laughing at the unexpected sass.

Caius growled but before he could bite Marcus's head off, Aro was speaking.

"This is most curious, you seem more lively than usual, Marcus. And reading upon phantoms? What has changed?" Aro questioned, his voice feather-light.

Cassandra could not help but compare it to the tone he was using with Sulpicia earlier when they were tangled in bed.

Earlier, when Aro was with Sulpicia he spoke to her much lower—more sultry and darker. Despite that, he had still sounded much more genuine and somehow less evil.

Not that he necessarily sounded evil now, but he certainly did not sound as though he was a representative of all things good in the world.

It truly was interesting how differently they portrayed themselves when in private.

Marcus gave Aro a blank look before outright ignoring him. Or at least, that is what Sandy thought until she noticed Marcus had moved his hand so it was sitting by itself on the table. Aro noticed this as well and eagerly grasped it.

Cassandra wondered what it felt like to be bombarded with every thought and memory that one ever had with a single touch. If it was overwhelming, Aro never let it show. He barely held onto Marcus for a second or two before his eyebrows were furrowing and he was staring into space in disbelief.

Cassandra realized after a few seconds of Aro not letting go, the raven-haired vampire was watching Marcus's thoughts on replay

She had no doubt what it was he was watching, it was surely the glowing daisy from earlier.

Sandy cursed internally: how could she be so stupid? She should not have approached Marcus, she should have just let him mourn in peace. Now she had raised many questions to the most powerful coven in the world.

She could only hope that it would not lead back to her.

Aro seemed to come back to the present, releasing Marcus's hand and staring at him with a tilted head. It appeared as though he was pondering much.

"How absolutely fascinating..." he said the last word quickly.

Marcus said quietly, "I considered it to be more enchanting..."

"That as well, brother!" Aro clapped his hands excitedly.

Caius was tired of being left in the dark. "What is it?" He said in an irritated manner.

It bothered him that his brothers were always seemingly a step ahead. Their powers made it so.

"Well, Caius, I am trying to determine if Marcus truly had a run-in with a phantom earlier or if it was simply another creature of the supernatural...?" Aro said thoughtfully.

Caius also appeared taken aback. "What?!" Then he was angry. "Someone has broken into our home, we must hunt them immediately!"

"Or, perhaps our dear brother has finally allowed time to get to him and has gone mad..." Aro waved it off with a light laugh and Marcus glared at him. "I am jesting, of course, Marcus — I would be able to tell if your thoughts were tinted with madness..."

Cassandra swore that Marcus mumbled something about Aro being the insane one — it had Caius laughing and Aro glaring at the both of them.

Caius with the faintest of smiles and now in a much better and more intrigued mood, leaned closer to the other leaders. "What exactly happened?"

Marcus nodded to Aro to tell the story already knowing the raven-haired leader would love nothing more than to start spouting his tale. Aro was much more of a storyteller than Marcus.

"Well, a few hours ago, Marcus was out in the garden..." Aro's words suddenly became blurred to Sandy's ears and Sandy yelped as the world suddenly spun away.

———————

Sandy groaned as she regained half of her consciousness. She had woken up due to being uncomfortable on her right side, therefore she turned and curled up on her left.

Her head was still pounding so she quickly fell back asleep to sleep off this horrible hangover.

In seconds she was back asleep, but this time she was not pulled into a dreamwalking vision. Rather, to her relief, she was gifted with pure dreamless rest.