gift or curse (A Twilight fanfiction)

Chapter 15

Demetri took me to the front desk of the Volturi manor and gave instructions for his house to be made ready for habitation. It was as simple as that. The human woman behind the desk eyed me curiously, but obeyed without question. She was gorgeous and didn't seem to be afraid of her vampire masters, would she know?

"So, what would you like me to show you next?"

I pondered for a while, tamping down annoying flashes of ideas about what Demetri would expect of me, living with him, and then simply pointed in a random direction. "That way."

While we walked and a part of my brain listened to what Demetri told me about the doors that led to places as boring as laundry rooms, stockrooms and human things like bathrooms, another part of me wondered what his house would be like. Would it be as great as this one? Or more like the little houses I had seen when I had first walked into town? Above all I hoped it would be light. Preferably something with a garden. Somewhere I could enjoy the sun without having to be careful not to be noticed by the humans.

"And this is where I spend most of my time. At least, up until now."

I blinked, focusing. We had stopped in front of large double doors and when Demetri pushed one open, we were greeted by half a dozen or so men engaged in various forms of fighting. The speed and ability made my chin drop and for a whole minute I merely stared.

The room was gigantic, not much smaller than the large dome in the center of the manor. The ceiling here, however, was lower and the floor was decorated with lines. Mostly circles. It somehow resembled my old school gym.

When I was finally able to tare my gaze away from Felix almost breaking an other vampire in half, I turned to Demetri. My expression made him laugh.

"You ... you can do that?" I motioned a bit randomly towards the men, who stoically ignored us.

"With the exception of Felix, I can take on everyone in the guard."

It wasn't bragging. He was simply making a statement and I believed him. Hadn't I touched the muscles myself, seen them roll beneath his skin as he'd held me. Vampires were strong, I knew that, but even in the world of superhumans there were differences. Even though muscles could no longer be strengthened, there were still moves that could be learned, speed that could be mastered. And I knew, as I looked at his face, as he calmly observed his fellow guards, that he had not spent a thousand years loitering.

A sudden enthusiasm engulfed me and I almost jumped him, asking: "Can you teach me?"

His charming grin came on full force, as he checked me out, assessing whether it would be worth his time or not. I narrowed my eyes and dared him to brush my question aside.

"Yes", he finally said. His grin turning into a more fond smile. "I will teach you myself."

I jumped up and down a few times, not caring about the huff that sounded from somewhere in the training area. It was probably Felix and I glowered at him.

He threw a wicked smile my way and I stuck out my tongue. Which I immediately regretted. A less immature sign could hardly be found. Oh well, they all knew that, compared to them, I was nothing but a child. However, I had all the time in the world to learn at least as much as they had.

---

"Do you want me to show you the house now?"

I looked through a window in the library, where we had been for the last few hours. Softly chatting about spending days with nothing to do, reading a little and making out, when we were alone.

"Is it ready yet?" I jumped up, returned the boring book about the Spanish Inquisition I had been reading, to it's place on a shelf and waited expectantly for Demetri, who seemed to like doing things at human speed.