gift or curse (A Twilight fanfiction)

Chapter 8

Demetri stared at me for a little while and I wondered what he was thinking. The mind of a vampire worked so fast, he had to be thinking a whole lot. My own was remembering every city I had been to since the moment I began my journey. Not just the ones I really visited, but also the ones I merely passed. The memories were faded and I struggled to pull the details back. The few places I walked through on my journey to Europe, I could recall with perfect clarity.

Volterra hadn't been on my list, but I liked the addition. I also thought about the places in Greece where I had been as a child and the little I knew about the history of my home country. He had lived through all that. My eyes widened a bit and I saw Demetri lift an eyebrow.

"You have lived the history I only learned about in school", I explained with awe in my voice.

"Ah, yes, bit's of it, I'm sure. I reckon they don't teach vampire history in class."

At that I chuckled. I liked this relaxed version of the guard. Not the one of whom I saw a glimpse in the tower room. The one seemingly without a will of his own. Stiff and obedient and unable to oppose those in power. This Demetri laughed more, was charming and acted human. Or human-ish, at least.

"Why were you turned?" I was curious. I was created because Riley and the faceless Victoria needed an army. It had been my understanding that most vampires simply killed a human when they met them, why would anyone willingly turn one? Would he tell me?

Demetri leaned back, pondered for a moment and then nodded, as if he decided that he could trust me with a secret. As his body moved, so did mine, only my upper body shifted forward. He didn't seem to mind and I was too eager to hear his story so I shoved this tiny detail out of the way.

His voice was soft as he spoke. "When I was young, I met an Egyptian man. He was in hiding, but I saw him one day and followed him. After the third time I found his hideout, he left the country and I didn't see him again until my twenty-first year. I recognized him from across the marketplace and he looked at me, as if he was challenging me to find him again. I did and he told me about this forever life I could have if I was willing to join him." He paused a fraction of a second and then continued. "I was the youngest son and there was always a threat of war. I relished in the opportunity presented to me and took it. He turned me, taught me, helped me to better myself, but then a new opportunity arose and I left."

"The Volturi?"

"Yes, they offered me this prominent place in the guard. I have never looked back, since."

My eyes narrowed infinitesimally about this lack of loyalty towards the man who had turned him. Until I realized I myself felt no loyalty whatsoever to my own creator, then I relaxed.

There was one thing I couldn't yet figure out. From what I learned about the Volturi, they were hellbent on power and had many vampires with gifts in their midst. Was Demetri one of them? Why else would he be invited to join them? But was it a question I could ask? Would he tell me?

I guessed there was only one way to find out, so I asked: "Do you have a superpower?"

I quickly explained myself, thankful for the fact that I no longer fumbled my sentences. "The Cullens told me the Volturi had many powers. Aro can read minds with a touch. Can you do something special? Is that why they asked you to join?"

His brow had furrowed when I mentioned the Cullens. So, the love lost there was mutual. Part of my brain wondered what had happened four years ago. But he already smoothed his face and nodded once. I held my breath, what would it be? Was he the strong one? Somehow that seemed to be more the department of the large Felix, but appearances could be deceiving.