The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 32

Everything had been quiet until that night. Nichole was tossing and turning in bed, trying to sleep, when she heard the sound of multiple howls. She gasped, shooting up out of bed and meeting the others in the hallway.

"It's starting," Jacob told the others. "Sam and the others are doing the best that they can to hold the vamps back, but their numbers have grown even more."

Jared suddenly swore under his breath. "They can't find Seth."

"Seth?!" Nichole exclaimed. "What the hell was he doing out there?!"

"He wasn't supposed to be in the fight, and no one can sense his mind link, either."

That meant one of two things. It meant that Seth was either knocked out, or that he was dead. Nichole prayed with everything that she had that it was the former of the two. "This needs to end." She said. "And it needs to end now. I know that you guys didn't want me to intervene, but we have no choice. We don't know what's happened to Seth. He could be severely hurt, or even dead. I have a feeling that this isn't going to end until those vampires get what they want."

Jacob shook his head adamantly. "No, Nichole. There has to be another way."

"There is no other way, Jacob, and you know that. You can try and convince yourself otherwise, but you know what the truth is, you all do. I wish that things could end differently."

"So that's it?" Emmett demanded. "You're just going to give up?"

"I have no other choice." Nichole kissed Emmett on the cheek. "I want you to do something for me. Tell Carlisle that I love him, and tell him that no matter what the Volturi do to me, tell him to not give in to their demands."

Nichole then looked at Jacob. "And you...I wish that things could have ended differently between the two of us, you know? And maybe in a different life, things could have. But Jacob, if you cared about me at all, ever, then you're not going to give up on life, you understand me?" Nichole smiled at him before walking outside. "You want me?!" She screamed. "Well come and get me!"

"And here I was thinking that we would have to twist your arm with some kind of leverage." A black-haired man with blood-red eyes appeared in front of Nichole, staring her down.

"Where's Seth?" Nichole demanded, and the man chuckled before he snapped his fingers. Another vampire brought forth Seth in his wolf form, throwing him at Nichole's feet. Seth's fur was matted with blood, and he whimpered in pain.

Nichole fell to her knees as tears filled up her eyes. "Seth..." She whispered before she looked up at the man. "I'll do what you want, just don't hurt anyone else." She helped Seth onto his feet before walking over to the man, who grabbed her wrist, and Nichole shuddered at how cold his touch was, it was colder than the touch of any of her family members, even though they were all vampires.

The vampire smiled at Nichole. "I am Aro, and you, my dear, are a very curious individual indeed. Even though you are only a mere human, it would seem that you have unique powers all your own. Is it true that your blood is poisonous?"

"It is. My blood killed a vampire in Cairo."

"A traveler, I see. Good, because you have a long journey ahead of you. Come, child." He placed his hand on Nichole's back, and she glanced back at the others before allowing Aro to lead her away.

"Now, so long as you do what we tell you to do, then no harm will come to you," Aro said as he walked with her towards a luxury car.

"You don't have to worry about me misbehaving. I know what's at stake here."

"Good girl. No harm will come to your family or your little pet dog if you do what we tell you to do. And really, what we're asking you to do isn't that hard. We just need to keep your blood on hand."

Nichole tried to keep her curiosity at bay, but she couldn't help herself. "What do you need my blood for?"

"There are certain vampires that don't believe in following the rules that the Volturi have set in place for our community. There are more painful ways of dealing with them, of course, but those ways have grown quite old for me."

"So that's what you want me for? Is that all that this is to you? Just some game?"

"Oh, my dear." Aro let out a laugh that chilled Nichole to her core. "All of life is a game, like chess. Make the right moves, and you've got your opponent in your pocket, checkmate."

"And who might your opponent be?"

"SOmehow, I always forget how nosy you humans are." Aro pushed her into the back of the car. "The entirety of the supernatural community is my opponent, one that the Volturi is going to conquer, and you are going to help."

They drove to the airport, where they boarded an airplane that was bound for Italy.

"You are not to make a single peep." Aro muttered in her ear. "If you even give an aura of being in distress, then every single human on this aircraft is going to die."

"I told you before that you don't have to worry."

A blonde woman sat behind them on the plane, and Nichole guessed from her red eyes that she was with Aro.

"Jane has been a loyal follower for many years." Aro said to Nichole as the plane got ready for takeoff, confirming the teenager's suspicions. "I wouldn't stare at her for too long if I were you, people have found that her gaze can be quite piercing."

Jane smirked, and almost immediately, Nichole could feel a sharp pain in her stomach, something resembling cramps, only ten times worse.

"Jane, enough," Aro ordered. "I told you to only give her a sample."

"Oh come on, Aro. Can't a girl have any fun?"

"You can have playtime with her later, if she doesn't cooperate."

At first, Nichole had thought that the place she was going to was hell, but she quickly realized that she was headed somewhere much, much worse. Nichole wasn't headed to hell, but straight into the middle of Purgatory.