I'll be home for Christmas

Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - I'll be home for Christmas

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

The Volturi ruled the world of vampires after they won control from the Romanians in the hundred year war of 400-500AD. Three male leaders, Aro, Caius and Marcus, and their two remaining wives formed the core. Nine permanent members made up the Guard and a number of more transitory guards. Each wore a cloak, whose color was an indication of their status or ranking; the darker the shade, the more valuable that vampire was considered. The leaders of the Volturi wore pure black. The Volturi made the laws and they enforced them with a brutal hand. They had done so for thousands of years, arising first in Greece and then moving to Italy.

Demetri was one of the ranking members of the Volturi Guard. He was also said to be the greatest vampire tracker that had ever lived.

Demetri flitted through the streets to Dave's Bar. He sat alone at the counter. His originally olive complexion had gone chalky over the years and his long black hair hung to his shoulders. His maroon colored eyes were hidden under dark glasses. He had taken off his velvet cape, exposing his hard and lean body but he still looked a lot like an escapee from a sci-fi convention. His clothes were too old, too dated. No one really took much notice of him so perhaps there was a comic-con on somewhere in the city that night. He got an admiring glance from the barmaid and a few other women in the bar. It was busy and the sunglasses earned a few looks from other customers. He knew he was supposed to maintain a low profile but he had been hunting the profoundly irritating Bella Swan for years and he was getting frustrated.

She had been in the heart of Volterra with that pixie freak and the oh so emotional Edward Cullen. Exposing the vampire secret at midday of the festival of St Marcus. Insanity. They should have just granted his wish for death, but Aro, the collector wanted them.

He had held Alice at the neck while Felix had beaten Edward down and Jane had tortured him, making him scream in pain while Aro looked on with delight. Jane's glee at the chance to inflict pain had turned to disbelief when she found her gifts didn't affect the pathetic little human girl. They all had a laugh about that later, severely out of Jane and Alec's earshot.

It was only later that he understood the pathetic human blocked his skills, too. He was the best tracker the Volturi had ever had. He didn't track your scent or your footprints on the ground; he tracked the essence of your mind. His gift worked across continents and oceans. He could also track you through your contact with others. He had laid his hands on that girl and he could not track her. It was no comfort to him that Aro's gifts didn't work on her either.

Then, they had met a second time, when he had been sent to this very city, Seattle to "deal" with the newborn army with Jane, Alec and Felix. They had realized what Victoria was doing and left her to it, after meeting with her and giving her four days grace. If it damaged the Cullens, Aro would not be pleased; Carlisle always was a favorite of his, but if it damaged them enough to make the remnants join the Volturi? That was a different game. Lose some of the less gifted members of the Cullen family like that pointless mother figure, or the blond bitch who thought she had a gift of beauty. He snorted to himself; there were a dozen females in Volterra more beautiful than her. Or that big dumb lunk, and Aro would thank them for bringing him the more gifted ones. And he really wanted Isabella Swan. The guard had not seen him so interested in a human in centuries. The one person who could deflect Aro's gifts? It was like playing with poison. Felix had voted to just kill her before she was turned and became more powerful.