IT FELT LIKE A VIOLATION THAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN, THIS PHONE CALL, AND CHRISSY FELT THE SEEDS OF GUILT EATING AT HER STOMACH.

So much needed to be said about what had been going on the past few days. How River felt distant as ever, evading every question about what her bosses were like - aside from Caius, who seemed to Chrissy to be a pretentious asshole.

Now there was a cold spot at the pit of Chrissy's throat that threatened to break off and blister and split her fucking head open.

There had to be something now, some words that could come out now that Carlisle was on the other line. But her voice felt trapped, the seeds of paranoia eating at her voice box and leaving her momentarily mute.

"Chrissy, is everything alright?" Carlisle said, that honey sweet voice of his helping the young woman calm down. "Did something happen? To you? To River-"

"I think River has feelings for the guys she's working for over here, Carlisle." Chrissy's breathing was heavy and she could barely keep herself upright. "Carlisle, the guys have weird eyes and skin. They're like statues. They look like..."

She couldn't - wouldn't - say his name. That name should be dead and gone, lost with time and memory. Not brought back to life with the latest chapter of River being in over her head.

"Chrissy, what are the names of River's new employers?" Carlisle asked with an edge that Chrissy hadn't heard in a long time. Not since when they first met six months ago, when the two of them were still trapped. "I know Volterra. I know the people in Volterra."

Right, right. He knows all the people here. He lived here for some of his younger years. He probably knows these assholes, Chrissy breathed a sigh of relief as she thought about his past. If anyone could put a stop to this, it was Carlisle.

"Chrissy, the names," Carlisle insisted. "I know you're in the heart of the city, but there's dozens of places River could be working right now."

"Their names are Aro, Caius, and Marcus. They're brothers who work together in the clocktower. That's where River and I have been staying," she felt as if her voice would break at any moment.

Genuine fear plastered itself all over her young features. Anxiety is something Chrissy has had to battle since the beginning of her nightmare, and she doesn't know if she'll ever defeat it.

"The ones I'm most worried about are Aro and Caius. The blonde asshat has been nothing but rude. But Aro, he gave her something - it was fucking expensive too, Carlisle. A tiara, as if he were making her a princess..." Chrissy didn't even know how to feel about that  crested item worth more than her net worth. "I've seen the look in River's eyes. When she came back with the tiara, it was as if her whole world had suddenly come together."

More so than it had ever been before coming to Volterra. When River denied it, it seemed so innocent, like a child getting affection for the first time. But it wasn't innocent, it was dangerous, and Chrissy had to keep reminding herself that.

"Chrissy, listen, I can easily call all of them." Carlisle let out an awkward laugh. "Remember when I told you I had some rich roommates back in Volterra? Back when I lived with-"

The cogs began to turn inside the young woman's head, and she cut the doctor off.

"When you lived with your boyfriend. You told me about that." He'd told River about that love affair as well, long before Carlisle met Esme. "Which one of them was it? You never did tell me his name. Please tell me you weren't shacking up with Caius."

The doctor laughed a bit louder this time around. "No, no, it wasn't Caius. It was Aro. He does love to give extravagant gifts to those he fancies. It doesn't surprise me that he gave River a tiara. Which one was it?"

Suddenly Chrissy was filled with a rage she couldn't let out. Why the hell did it matter which tiara Aro had given River? Did each diamond in it represent something, did he have different lines of tiaras for different occasions. Chrissy didn't put it past the man, who could easily do such a thing if he pleased. He could do anything, which terrified the girl.

When you've been drained of your resolve, a powerful force is the monster in your closet.

"It doesn't fucking matter at all, but the one he gave her was different. I know you're a doctor and all that, but this thing has an aura. Onyx and diamonds. And the symbol at the top..." Chrissy couldn't finish her sentence. How many times had she seen that diamond incrested tiara on River's night stand? It haunted the room, leaving little indents on the area.

The phone line went completely silent for a minute. Chrissy assumed that Carlisle, like herself, was trying to figure out what to do in this situation.

"Don't tell her you called me. I'm calling Aro right now."

---

CARLISLE'S BODY TENSED AS HE GRIPPED THE EDGE OF HIS DARK OAK DESK. Esme was still out with Rose and Alice, they'd decided they would do some shopping to try and take their minds off of things. Emmett had gone out with Jasper so Jasper could calm down; he isn't great with tension. The move back to Forks wasn't something the doctor had brought up with River or Chrissy, and now he wished he had.

It just moved so fast. One minute he was worried his son was going to kill himself and the next he was back in his old room, by his old desk, getting a call from a friend. Because that's what he knew Chrissy and River were to him now; friends he couldn't let go.

He felt awful.

He still had to call Aro. That's what he promised Chrissy he would do. Getting on a line with his ex-lover wasn't what he planned on doing with his Saturday afternoon, but oh well.

"I didn't know you kept my number, Carlisle. How may I help you?" Aro's steady voice only heightened the tension on the line.

"First off, thank you for not murdering my son when he asked you to." It was better to start on a thankful note and then weed himself into the drama that currently presented itself.

"That isn't why you called me, is it?"

If there's one trait that Carlisle loved to hate when it came to Aro, it was his gut feeling always being correct. For that he has been spared no mercy over the centuries.

"No, it isn't, you're right." Though they were thousands of miles away, Carlisle felt as if he were right in the room with him. That was how it was with vampires, with immortal creatures in general. "My intern has been staying under your roof, according to her friend."

"There have been no additions to the Volturi guard recently."

"Aro, we are beyond this. I know there have been no additions to your guard. My intern - River - she's human. But you know that already." Carlisle could only wish that the king had good intentions. All that was left between them was hope that it would stay civil.

"You gave her Didyme's tiara. Aro, you said you'd never give that to anyone" Carlisle presses further, "That tiara meant more to you than your entire coven. Why did you give that to her?"

Another pause came between them. So many things would remain unsaid, as always. Carlisle knows he may not get a decent answer from his king. He's grown so used to half-hearted answers littered with deceit. Aro says it's to protect him, but from what? There's no vampire he's scared of more than the next. The Romanians have gone underground.

"She's in good hands-"

"Aro, just answer the question," Carlisle began to plead. "Please. She's still working under me, I need to know whether or not this thing is serious between you two. If you're going to turn her..."

There was nothing he could do either way. Aro would do what he wants, as he often does, and Carlisle could only pray that his king didn't have malicious intentions.

The man on the other side of the line took in a deep breath.

"I had her take the job because when she came into the castle, when I looked at her for the first time, the bond snapped. Carlisle, I knew. She must have known too, on some primal level, that we are mates. When Caius came stumbling in late after his break, he'd seen her too," Aro tried to explain, but his voice was getting shakier and shakier as he became excited about such an event. "Marcus is alive again, truly alive. He is back to himself."

Carlisle let out a slow breath and stared at the painting of a Volturi ball in his office. Both Sulpicia and Athenodora had been present at this painted one. Two wives.

There's nothing like a woman scorned.

"You're married," Carlisle stated plainly, "You're married to a woman who thinks that the marraige between you two is forever. Athenodora believes the same with Caius. She may have allowed you to have me, but she won't lose to a human."

Again the line went silent.

"Aro, you need to think about this. She doesn't know you're a vampire. River has no knowledge of me being immortal, or my family." Carlisle knew he would have had tears in his eyes if he were a human. "You don't understand how much she means to me."

"She's my mate, Carlisle," Aro snapped impulsively. "River Acastia is my mate, no wife or woman will be able to harm her. Sulpicia and Athenodora will be hurt, I'm prepared for it, but they will survive."

But what if River doesn't? Carlisle's anxiety sung.

Carlisle didn't believe that anything in this world or another would be able to stop the queens from harming a human who got on their nerves. They were allowed to slaughter any secretary they wanted for the past few centuries...

...What's to say their anger over their husbands leaving them for a much younger human woman?

"Carlisle, I don't know how I can make you feel safe with this, with my bonds. River is cheerful with me," Aro says.

"Everything is changing so fast, Aro."

"As is the times," the other remarks. "River fills my life with joy. The guards have said that they enjoy her presence as well. Even Athenodora had a nice chat with her. She is perfect for this coven."

This had been going on for too long. Esme and the other children would be coming home soon and Carlisle had to figure out how to break the news to them. He had to make sure Sulpicia and Athenodora don't find out about the bond from them.

Carlisle tensed in his chair again. It would be alright. It had to be okay. Mates are sacred.

"There is another prisoner that needs judgement, Carlisle, so I must go. But I need you to know that River is safe with me. She will always be safe within my care."

He too had things he had to work on, along with people he must please. "Alright, Aro. Please, just take care of her. Chrissy, the friend she is with right now, she's worried about her. She has every right to be as a human being who doesn't understand vampires. She called me. Just... just know she has her demons too."

"What the hell does that mean-"

Carlisle hung the line.

---

I don't know, what DOES Carlisle mean? Hope you guys like this chapter, it took me a while to write.

REMINDER: if you comment anything about "please update" or "update" or "update please" or literally anything like that, the update gets pushed further and further back. You're ruining it for everyone and me.