SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

P R O L O G O

The only thing she could see was all kinds of shapes and forms in different shades of red. Once, in the midst of the pain, she thought she saw her mother's face, but her smile was upside down and from her eyes, crimson tears were pouring. Cecilia could hear screaming as well, her own voice mixed with that of thousands of others.

Suddenly, she could understand why Edward sometimes thought they were doomed and souls meant for hell and if this was the same place she would go to if she was killed, then she would make sure that for the coming centuries, no one would touch her. If this was hell, which she guessed it was, then she wanted to steer clear of it. Forever.

Her whole body felt like it was set on fire and she could hear her own gnashing teeth, or at least, she thought she did. The venom was still spreading through her system and she knew, even though she had no idea how long she'd been lying there, that it would soon reach her heart and make her transformation complete.

But she wasn't there quite yet. She blinked, staring at the person standing in front of her. He looked so much like Demetri, that she almost threw herself in his strong arms. It was a feeling deep inside of her, a slight tug at her stomach, that kept her from doing so. Cecilia frowned as she stared at the person in front of her with more detail, for as much as her concentration allowed her to do so, and then it came to her. It was his eyes, dark and sinister and twisted and so unlike her soulmate.

She let out a gasp and tried to turn around to run away, but her feet seemed to be stuck in the earth and the person neared her, reaching out with his hands and wrapping them around her neck. Cecilia squealed and tried to push his face away, feeling breathless and hearing her own heart hammering frantically against her chest.

"Die, darling," the person said, squeezing her throat even further close. "Die if you want to wake up."

Where his looks might have deceived her, the voice sounded absolutely nothing like Demetri's. It sounded like fire crackling from a deep and faraway pit. It sounded like hell.

Her vision became blurry and she felt her legs go numb. A tingling sensation spread from her the tips of her toes to the crane of her head and she let out a last sob, before letting go completely and allowing everything to become perfectly dark and quiet.

➻

Demetri watched quietly as the venom spread through the body of his soulmate. He had been sitting in the same position for three days, not having once left her side. He observed the tiny changed, like the way the skin above her right evened out and made the squiggly scar disappear and how her back and shoulders straightened themselves. Even her hair seemed to glow as the venom spread further.

Though in his mind, Cecilia had been perfect already, Demetri was still in awe to watch the venom make more tiny corrections. The only thing he already knew he was going to miss was her eyes, as the pale grey colour which reminded him of the sea after a storm would be gone forever.

She had been lying perfectly still for the last three days, aside from an occasional soft grunt that escaped her mouth, but he knew she was troubled. Though he had been turned ages ago, literally, he still remembered a little of his transformation. The pain mostly, and the screaming no one heard.

He concentrated on the sound of her heart, which was beating so frantically that it worried him. It would only be a matter of seconds now. Grabbing her hand in between his, he squeezed it softly and brought it to his lips. As she let out a soft gasp, he pressed a small kiss on the back of her hand.

Then, just as furious as her heart had been beating before, it was suddenly awful quiet. He let go of her hand, placing it on her stomach again and watched her face in wonder. Not a split second later, a pair of crimson eyes stared back at him.