gift or curse (A Twilight fanfiction)

Chapter 30

Demetri shoved me behind him and crouched down, ready to jump at anyone who was our enemy. I remembered every move he'd taught me and knew exactly how to perform them, yet all I could do was watch.

The door swung open, leaving the hinges behind as it flew right passed us. The vampire that stood before us missed a piece of his chin, which made my nose curl up.

His blood red eyes shot to the body of the dead man in the corner and he practically ignored us as he coiled for a jump. Demetri hesitated not one second. He sprang, locked his legs around the newborn's back, took the marble head in his arms and with one, fierce pull, tore it straight off. Before the body even hit the ground, he pulled at the arms, like an angry child who ripped of the limbs of a Barbie doll.

The fight was over before I had the chance to take a step in his direction. In a strange way it awed me to see Demetri like this. The sort of death of the evil vampire didn't affect me half as much as the death of the caretaker had done. It could have something to do with the lack of blood this time.

Demetri pulled something from one of his pockets. A lighter. He took my hand, brought me out of the house and lit the pieces of vampire on fire. They burned like dry grass.

Around us, more shacks were burning and everywhere guards in their gray and black outfits dashed around, gathering parts of broken newborns. I caught a glimpse of Aro, standing in the midst of all the chaos. Renata behind him and Jane at his side. One corner of his mouth was slightly turned up, as if he was enjoying himself, but didn't want anyone to know.

I wanted to go to them, but my gaze fell on the castle and I remembered the children inside. At least four of them at all times. They were most likely dead, but I had to make sure. So, when Demetri took a step forward, I pulled him back and pointed up to where the dark walls casted even darker shadows.

"They're not there."

"I know, but the children might be." Some remote part of my brain even wondered if the dog still lived.

"There could be more vampires waiting for us."

"We'll be careful. Please, I have to know."

He sighed, but changed direction. We ran, but stayed alert. The sweet smell of blood was less here, which gave me hope. Both of the heavy, wooden doors stood wide open, one even a little mangled. Iron casting bore the imprints of fist marks, as if it was mere clay.

Inside we slowed to a halt and listened. Everything was torn apart. The door to the small sitting room we had been in, not so long ago, lay a few feet away. No light came from that direction, but my eyes could see the damage done there. It looked like Vladimir and Stefan had simply locked their army inside the castle. Telling them to stay there until they were freed to wreak havoc. It surprised me they had listened to the small, ancient Romanians. They hadn't seemed to have gifts when I'd met them.

Constantly smelling the air, we slowly walked up the stairs to the second floor. There was no one there. Back downstairs I suddenly halted. Somewhere near the back, my ears had picked up a whining. Not human.

I raced to where the sound originated, Demetri on my heals. As we came closer, my nose picked up the scent we had been looking for all along. It came from below the castle. A bolted door led to a cellar, where the scent of human fear was masked by that of dried meat that hung from the ceiling and the dog that yelped as we stepped into the open room.

I wondered why there was so much food inside, until I realized it must have been for the children. They were indeed children. Teenagers, just like the girl I had seen, the girl that had been offered to us as sustenance. I shuddered.

One boy and two girls eyed us with terror leaking through every pore. My perfected smell told me they must have been here for days. It tore at my hart to have to tell them they were probably the sole survivors of the entire village. There was irony for you.

"Don't be afraid." I held up my hands, but my thoughtless command immediately lessened their distress.

I glanced sideways. "We have to take them away from here and erase their minds."

Demetri looked at me and sighed. To him, these humans meant nothing, I could see it in his eyes. They were less than pets to him. Yet, for me, he nodded.

"Don't scream", I urged the three, just to make sure, then I took the youngest girl in my strong arms, watched as Demetri threw the two others over his shoulders and took off.

We brought them to the edge of a neighboring village. Their bodies shook as we put them down, but my command still worked. There was no real fear in their eyes.

"Now listen closely", I said, looking at each of them to make sure they would obey. "You will forget all the horror you have seen, you will forget vampires even exist. You got lost in the woods, you have no family and need a new place to live." I took a moment to see the daze in their eyes, that showed my command had worked.

They blinked, but in that time Demetri and I ran back into the forest. From a distance I watched how the three looked at each other. Unsure of what just happened. In the end, the boy shrugged and took the lead. The last thing I saw was how they disappeared between the houses.

---

The sky was beginning to lighten, announcing the beginning of a sunrise.

We hurried back to the village that was completely annihilated. All the running had seized, and the group we'd arrived with, now stood around a fire that was far too big to be nice. Not only the newborn vampires lay there, turning to dust, also the human bodies, ripped to pieces, were burning, leaving no evidence behind of the carnage. As my eyes raked the silent witnesses, I unconsciously counted them.

There were a few missing.

I looked at Aro's profile, as he stared into the flames. His suit was no longer impeccable, one arm showed a huge tear in the black fabric.

Who was missing?

Taking a shaky step forward, I started searching. The large frame of Felix eyed us from across the fire. Jane and her brother stood hand in hand next to their master, but one shadow was lacking.

"Renata ..."

Next to me, Demetri softly added: "Santiago, Miles, Victor."

I didn't know those names. I felt guilty for the relief I felt when I saw Chelsea and Afton standing side by side.

Had the lost ones been Demetri's friends? I looked at his face, but saw no great sorrow there. I followed his gaze and saw a flash of a nod Nick gave him, before he looked back into the fire.

Again I was confronted with the slashes of remorse. When we left for the castle, Renata was still alive. Could we have prevented her death if we hadn't gone after the human children? Would they blame us, blame me, for saving them?

I wanted to leave, get away from this place. The last few days had permanently scarred my soul, if I even had one left. This was not what I had signed up for when I came to Italy.

"Please", I didn't care who overheard my plea, "let me go home."

Aro turned around, scrunched his eyes, but nodded. Demetri didn't need any more encouragement, he lifted me up in his arms and ran.

---

As the wind flew passed us, I buried my head in his neck. He never stopped, not even when the sun came up. Under the cover of trees and in the shadow of mountains, he ran until we could no longer hide from the rays of light. By then we were at a garage with a keypad to which he knew the code. Inside were cars with dark windows and he gently helped me inside.

I wanted to cry, but I couldn't and hated it. I wanted to hit something, but controlled the urge. I would only wreck another Maserati.

Demetri drove us straight to his house, our house. Had we only been married for two short weeks? The blissfully ignorant wedding seemed a lifetime ago.

There was a garage build in the back of the house, where the surrounding wall began. It opened when Demetri pushed the buttons of a control panel. The sun never touched our skin, keeping us hidden from the curious human inhabitants of Volterra.