#gifted reader

(image found on google.  Poor Marcus, not enough love. :D)

@empress-of-hidden-stars

(I used a translation thing at this website here.  So if something doesn’t add up, sorry.  But it does other languages, not just English to Italian.  So use it to your hearts content.  It’s free.)

Chapter Nine

I found myself at a loss for words when Marcus and I finally stepped into the place he wanted to take me and I mean I literally had no words to express the sight before me.  It was truly a marvel in and of itself.  And seriously, the Volturi had the best in the world by my standards.

It was the library of the Volturi.  The walls were covered in books from floor to ceiling and even had separate standalone book shelves that littered the large open space.  There was also a second story to the library, ladders in strategic places, to the point that not a single book could be missed.  Grant it, if I had a choice, I would stay in here forever trying to read every last tome in existence.

“I take it you’re an avid reader,” Marcus spoke to me as my head turned in every direction.

“I love to read.  It’s one of the few things I do when at home,” I missed the saddened look on Marcus face as I took a few steps from him, glancing around the library and debating which way I wanted to go first.  Instead, I was taken from my thoughts when the vampire moved to a couch near a fireplace, picking up a book from its resting place.  I found myself curious to what he was reading, watching him sit on the cushions.  He only glanced at me, a smirk hitting his lips before going back to the open pages.

“What are you reading?” my head tilted as I stepped closer to him, noting how he patted the spot next to him.

“Would you like me to read it to you?” Marcus returned with his own question.  And as I pondered on it, I realized that really I wasn’t in the mood to read.  I actually had more questions regarding this bond between the kings and me.  And it still wasn’t settling well, even if I did just kiss Aro without another thought.

My god.  I did just kiss Aro.  I kissed the Aro of the Volturi without a moment’s hesitation.  What the hell caused that?  Why did I find it unfair that the others kissed me and he didn’t?  

“Il mio amore, qual è il problema?” (My love, what is the matter?)

I blinked, realizing that I was still standing next to the couch.  Marcus was fully focused on me, concerned etched into his features.  His ruby eyes waited patiently for me to speak, his book lay forgotten in his lap.  I wasn’t sure really how to broach the subject but if anyone was to know about the bond fully, Marcus was the one.  His gift was to see the bonds between others.  So he would definitely know.

“Marcus?”

“Yes, mia cara.”

“I’m… still unsure about this,” I finally spoke, sitting next to him.  Marcus gave me a gentle smile.

“What is it you wish to know?” the way he said it gave me some hope.  He sounded so patient and willing to help me that I felt connected to him more than the others.  Aro was dramatic, I knew that much and Caius was more short tempered.  So I wasn’t really sure how to talk to them about anything. And even then, this was odd. Seriously.

“Well, the biggest one is that there are three of you,” I started.  Marcus nodded in understanding, closing his book and setting it off to the side.  

“And that bothers you.”

“Well, yes,” I answered before adding, “actually, not really.  No.”

“Then what is the problem?” Marcus questioned slowly.  He took my hand gently in his, feeling the tremble from his cold grip travel up my arm. However, I didn’t pull away, instead enjoying the feel of his cool skin on mine.

“Why am I being so accepting?  Why is the idea of being with all three of you so… natural to me?”

“Those are questions I cannot answer, mio amore.  Those are only questions you can answer when you are ready to answer them,” Marcus brought my hand up to his lips, caressing the skin softly as his red eyes stayed locked with mine.  I felt my heart melt with how caring he was being, making my next question come out in a stuttering mess.

“And y-you each d-d-don’t mind shar-sharing?” I felt my cheeks darken from the question, knowing what way it could possibly lead.  But Marcus remained the perfect gentleman, merely keeping hold of my hand and nothing further.

“No.  We feel no ill will toward the other.  Normally, if a mated pair were to see their partner kiss another, the culprit would be killed on sight.  However, Caius and I felt nothing when you kissed Aro.  Only excitement at you possibly accepting the bond,” Marcus answered truthfully.  “Though of course we both felt left out.”

“Left out?”

“You were unconscious when we had kissed you, mio cuore,” Marcus reminded me with a chuckle.  I blushed brightly in response, ducking my head as I tried to hide my overworked face.  Sometimes I couldn’t wait to be a vampire.  I wouldn’t blush as often even if my cousin had made it clear that I shouldn’t be turned at all once.  

“Okay,” I cleared my throat, avoiding looking at him.  “The pain thing.  I just… it hurts so much if I think of… those things.  And that is just… so odd.”

“You feel the bond between us and you subconsciously want to be with us.  I believe since there are three mates that the bond is stronger. Most humans cannot feel the bond and can reject it without a second thought.  However,” Marcus cupped my cheek, turning my head so that he could see my face, “you felt ours immediately.  I saw the way your body flinched when you looked at each of us. It surprised me.”

“Surprised you?”

“The intensity of our bonds,” Marcus whispered, his thumb tracing the contour of my cheek.  “It wasn’t until I saw the golden hue of our bonds that I decided to chance a glance toward the cause.  And I am glad that I got to see the beauty behind it.”

“I’m no beauty,” I whispered, his thumb running along my lower lip.  He hummed, his red eyes focused on my lips.  I wasn’t at all use to this affection and a sane part of my brain wanted me to turn away and keep a measure of distance.  But there was that small part, that insane part, that wasn’t at all bothered by the attention and even craved more of it.

And it was stronger.

“Not by what I see, mia anima,” his eyes snapped to mine, the intensity of his gaze forcing all the air from my lungs.  “You shine. Even the sun cannot compare to the radiance you project.”

His words.  His touch.  The way he was so gentle nearly made my heart burst in my chest.  I wasn’t sure how to really react to him but Marcus was successfully jamming up my brain.  It had to be the only reason why I was allowing him to be this close.  Why the kiss to Aro, the acceptance… they were predators of humans.  Vampires were made to attract us and lure us in.  They could easily ruin all reason.

Right?

I blinked rapidly, trying desperately to clear my head.  I needed to get these things out of my head and really understand what was happening here before I got to lost in the moment.  And all he did was touch my cheek and my lips!  This man was going to be the death of me.  I just know it.

“One more thing,” I finally spoke, shocked by how raspy my voice sounded.  Marcus chuckled at my wide eyed stared before allowing his hand to drop back to his side.  

“Yes?”

“I know this will be a hard question for you to answer,” I started, noticing the way his smile dropped from his face.  “But, um, what will happen if I decided to reject the bond?”

Marcus remained silent, his eyes closing as he turned away from me.  I felt the feeling immediately, the hurt that traveled through my veins. I wanted to cry out and apologize but I remained strong, only whimpering slightly at the agony that took over my chest.

“Alessandra, please,” Marcus used his hand to cover his eyes, resting his elbow on the arm.

“Marcus, I have to know everything.  Be honest with me.”

“I am being honest. Every endearment, every word.”

“Marcus,” I reached for him, not really understanding what I was doing.  I just felt the urge to comfort him but needing to be firm.  I allowed my fingers to caress up his cheek, turning his face toward my own.  “Please? I need to understand why rejecting you all would be the worst thing in my life.”

His hand rested over my own, his lips finding my wrist to hover over the pulse beating through it. If he wasn’t what he was, I may have found it to be a loving gesture.  Hell, even with a vampire it was a loving gesture.  But I also knew he could easily bite through my skin to get to my blood.  But his eyes... god, his eyes spoke volumes.

“Very well,” his voice rumbled, breaking the ideas floating through my brain.  “But you will not like what it could do to you.”

“I need to know,” I was firm, waiting patiently for him to continue.  Marcus gave a sigh before looking at me seriously.

“It could kill you,” he started, ignoring my gasp.  “You will feel grief you have never felt before, broken irrevocably.  And most of all incomplete.  Without us near you, you will feel an unending pain and you will never be able to love anyone.  Your heart will always crave us.”

“And you?” I couldn’t stop the question, couldn’t prevent myself from feeling the fear of how they would feel.

“We will not live without you, Alessandra.  We will die. But we will search the ends of the Earth for you before we succumb to such a fate.”

Silence enveloped us as I pondered on the new information.  So no matter what, I would always want them.  The three kings of the entire vampire world.  But… I wasn’t anything special.  I wasn’t a vampire.  I was a mere human with a fragile human heart.  I just couldn’t fathom going through what he said. Unending pain?  Heartache?  I couldn’t love anyone but them.  But could I love them?  Could I look past all the wrong they have done?  That my family accused them off?

“Alessandra, here. Let me read to you,” Marcus reached for the book again, opening to the first page as I looked at it.  I knew what he was doing.  He was trying to distract me from my thoughts.  And I made the decision to talk to my family about this later, not wanting Marcus to worry about what I was truly thinking about.

“Okay,” I murmured.  I leaned against him, my head resting on his shoulder as he started to read the words.  I noticed that the book wasn’t in English so I was grateful that he decided to read it to where I could understand it.  But I was drifting off on other things, my gaze flicking up to his. Marcus was focused on the words, going slowly that I could get the full feel of the story.  Even though I was thinking of what he said, something that was surprising to me and I was one to play fair…

I shifted in my seat, stopping him from continuing as I turned his face to mine.  Marcus didn’t fight it, looking at me in utter confusion until I pulled him down to my level, allowing my lips to gently touch his.  I felt my heart do a somersault in my chest at the connection, not pulling away when his hand found the back of my neck. He was gentle beyond words and when he pulled away, I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me.

@empress-of-hidden-stars

Chapter Four

Two years passed without so much of an incident and I had quickly become a part of the family. Rosalie still held a grudge against me, pulling me aside one day to explain why she was really so upset.  She never wanted to be turned but Carlisle had found her after she had been… raped and left for dead.  I felt sad for her, listening to how she wanted to have a baby and the white picket fence dream.  Though I did cheer for her when she said she killed her attackers.  She thought it was odd but I told her that those assholes got what they deserved.  And that she saved another girl who would have suffered the same fate.

“I mean; just think of what they could have done.  They could’ve gotten away with it and attacked another poor girl.  So really, you saved someone’s life.”

Rosalie never thought of it like that and to say that we got closer, well, it didn’t work that way. She was still upset with me but she tried to be nicer at least.  So we came to a friendly truce and she became the annoying older sister I never really wanted but got stuck with.  She liked my description since she considered me that annoying sister.

Emmett was able to get Jasper to warm up to me, both having the mind to torment the living hell out of me constantly.  It wasn’t something I wanted and more than once they forced me to disappear when they decided to jump scare me one to many times.  Esme would scold them each time before Bella and her would try to get me to shut off my gift.

It took some practice, but after some time I was managed to have some control over it.  I had disappeared once for nearly a week, no one knowing where I was unless I told them.  They had to move around slowly, making sure they didn’t run into me as they moved about the house.  Alice accidently sat on me once, to where I mercilessly teased her about it.  She was so cute and if they could blush, I knew she would always be red around me.

Of course, I learned more about vampires the longer I stayed with them.  How they could run really fast and had super strength.  Emmett was the strongest of them all and Edward was the fastest, but they all shared some form of that ability.  It wasn’t until I pointed out how I got the feeling that four of them had something extra that I found out the truth.  Bella was a shield.  She could stop mental and physical attacks with an invisible force field like thing.  And it was well developed when she was human.

Edward, well, his was a little freakier.  Edward could read surface thoughts the moment you thought of them.  I asked him if he could read me but he shook his head no. Bella and I had a natural immunity to his ability.  And I was so grateful for that honestly.

Jasper could sense emotions and even control emotions too.  If someone was anxious, then he could easily calm them down and most of the time it became easier to tell if someone was lying based on what they were feeling.  I thought that was pretty cool too but again, for some reason, I was immune to his gift.

Alice, well, I was right about her.  She was a seer and had been before she was turned.  She could see the future based on people’s decisions and it had come in handy a few times for them.  In fact, she was the one who predicted Bella’s turning and other things. Though, as much as I wanted to know what I was going to do in the next few hours, I was disappointed in the fact that she had a hard time seeing mine.  It wasn’t like I was invisible… oh… well…

“I saw you moving in with us,” Alice told me once, getting my attention, “but that’s about it.  Your invisibility extends like a protective shield. It’s very frustrating.”

So yep, I was practically blocking everyone’s gifts when it came to me.  But that wasn’t the icing on the cake.  I ended up meeting my second cousin Reneesme.  That’s right, my lovely second cousin who looked exactly like Bella when she was little.  And of course her lovely protector and old friend, Jacob.  

Jacob was happy to see me though he wasn’t happy about my knowledge of what they were.  He said it was best if I just pretended to forget what I found out, that the only thing I had to really remember was that Reneesme would grow up faster than other kids.  She looked like a normal kid instead of a toddler, but I discovered quickly what she was without asking and knew it wouldn’t last long.  And to prove a point to Jacob, I allowed Emmett to scare me to make me disappear which freaked the hell out of him.

Still, I allowed Jacob the relief of not giving it too much thought, merely hanging around her for a bit before Edward and Bella took off with her.  They spent as much time together as possible, only explaining that she would be full grown after a couple more years.  Which you had to admit, pretty much sucked.

“Ells!  Come and eat before your dinner gets cold!”

My head snapped up at Esme’s call, closing the book in my hand before rushing off to the kitchen. I had been lucky to gain a family honestly, Esme being the mom I never had.  She always made sure I ate and was well cared for.  Bella had finally told them all what my mother did to me while I was sleeping, which prompted in a checkup from Carlisle.  He noted everything and quickly put me on a strict diet to gain my weight back and over the years, I quickly filled out.  I wasn’t just skin and bones anymore.  I had more of a shape and I definitely felt the color return to my cheeks.  They even helped me to finish my schooling since I confessed to dropping out when my gift became too much, pulling a few strings to allow me to gain a diploma instead of a GED.

“What are we having, mom?” I asked, noticing the smile she gave me.  It was a slip once, when I called her my mom, but it stuck when she hugged me, letting me know it was alright.  And it didn’t take long before I started calling Carlisle dad too.

“Your favorite.”

“Oh, Italiano!  Grazie, mama!” I laughed, kissing her cheek before sitting down.  I had begun to learn Italian while living here, wanting to speak a different language. And for some reason, this one just seemed to stick with me better than other languages.  Carlisle didn’t really say anything about it, but I could tell that it bothered him immensely.  Which made me wonder why.

“Hey!  Back off the Italian!” someone called, making me turn in my seat after I had taken a bite of my meal.

“Mi dispiace che il tuo cervello non è in grado di gestire la potenza del mio intelletto,” I said, smiling cheekily when Emmett came through the doorway into the kitchen.  I saw him frown, rolling his eyes at my snarky tone.  (I am sorry your brain cannot handle the power of my intellect.)

“Alessandra, da Nizza a tuo fratello. Non è colpa sua che non riesce a parlare italiano,” Esme responded, making me giggle.  I sighed before looking at him, trying to smile as sweetly as possible. (Alessandra, be nice to your brother.  Not his fault he can't speak Italian.)

“Sorry, Emmett.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get all sappy on me,” he ruffled my hair before adding, “Anyone seen Carlisle. Got a letter for him from the mail.”

“Wonder who it could be from,” I muttered before going back to my meal.  It didn’t take long for me to find out though when Carlisle walked into the kitchen, kissing his mate before taking the letter from Emmett.  I heard the disgruntled choke at what Emmett saw before he took off, yelling ew like a toddler.  So I turned, calling after him in Italian.

“È grande bambino! Era solo un bacio! Non il sesso!” (You big baby!  It was just a kiss!  Not sex!)

“Alessandra, you watch your words,” Esme scolded me though she had a smile on her face.  I shrugged, eating what was left before taking my plate to the sink for washing.  It was when I began to dry it that I turned toward my adoptive parents and saw the worried expressions on their faces.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, putting the plate away.

“It’s a letter from Aro,” he sighed, looking at me with concern.  

“Who?”

“Aro, one of the leaders of the Volturi.”

I froze, my eyes widening at the news.  A letter from the Volturi.  Did they know I existed?  Did someone snitch on us?  Or were they coming here?  What the hell was I supposed to do?

“They are requesting our presence in Volterra, Italy, to discuss a recent report that our Coven needs to hear,” Carlisle went over the letter before placing it down.  Alice hopped in then, worry written on her face.  Jasper was beside her, awkwardly standing guard.

“What did you see Alice?” Esme asked, her arms wrapping around me.  I didn’t realize I had started shaking until she did.

“Nothing substantial. Only the castle burning and the Romanians, they were trying to attack,” Alice muttered, an unnecessary shiver hitting her.  “I… saw us fighting the Romanians.  They built an army of newborns.”

“And what of Alessa?”

“I don’t know.  She’s not very clear.  But she’s… being protected.  Caius is guarding her,” she answered.  Jasper looked at me, going over my fear filled face before looking at Alice.

“Why would Caius protect her?  He hates humans more than anything,” Jasper asked the question.  I had heard of Caius, really I heard about all of the Volturi. The ones to look out for and the ones to avoid for your life.  And Caius was sure as hell one of them.  He wouldn’t hesitate to rip off your head if he could.

“Should I stay?” I questioned, noticing the grim look on their faces.

“No.  Aro would find out about you and would have you hunted immediately.  It would be best if you joined us, Alessa,” Carlisle said in a tone that left no argument. He told us we would be leaving once he passed the message on to the others, stating that Reneesme and Jacob would stay behind for her safety since she had already met the Volturi.  I whimpered unwilling, trying to keep my heart rate steady along with my breathing but the fear became too much as I felt my body disappear… again.