Allure (Caius Volturi)

10

False Alarm and A Confession

I woke up to steady beeping, air squeaking through my nostrils, I think. I felt heavy, but I was breathing. The beeping was a heart monitor, right? I was still human?

If my power was important and I was close to dying, they'd have turned me, right? So it must not have been life threatening.

"Hero? Your heart beat picked up, can you hear me? Are you awake?"

"Dad?" My eyelids fluttered. Carlisle Cullen stood next to the bed. I must be imagining things...

"Hello, darling." I moved my arm to the sized, or tried. My hand just flipped. "Give it a few minutes, you burn things off faster than most. Now I do believed you have a few visitors that would like to speak with you." He turned to leave.

"Dad?" My voice must have sounded slightly panicked, because he turned back to look at me.

"Relax, Hero. I'll be here for a while." He gave me a large comforting smile and then left the room. From what I could tell, I was still in my room in Volterra castle. The pain I had experienced felt extremely serious.

"Hero!" A loud shout came from the doorway and I saw a large blur plow into the room. Actually several of them.

"Guys?"

Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Edward, and Esme all surrounded my bed in half a second.

"We missed you, Hero." I found myself smiling, I felt a slight tickle in my throat, coughing slightly.

"I missed you guys too. How did you get here?" Once I had asked, they all glanced at Alice.

"We got here ready to seriously hurt Caius..." Edward trailed off.

"Why?!" I said suddenly trying to move more and only succeeded in flopping my arms.

"My vision was cut off when you passed out from pain three days ago." Alice explained quickly. "All I saw was Caius rushing at you and then it ended. Turns out he was helping you. Apparently the kings tried to call Carlisle for help. They employed a regular doctor to help first and they filled Carlisle in when we got here."

"Your appendix burst." A new voice came from the doorway. I looked past Alice and Jasper to find Jane standing respectfully by the door. I could tell from her expression that she was worried. She was trying to keep herself guarded. I nodded, taking in the information.

"Sometimes menstrual cramps can get really bad and they may make you oblivious to other serious issues." Carlisle said walking in. "Example, an appendix bursting, causing horrendous pain. You could have died if the kings hadn't called a doctor."

"I'm okay now though, right?" I asked with a half scared smile.

"You'll live." Carlisle smirked and I almost sighed in relief.

They stuck around for quite a bit until Carlisle prescribed a good night's sleep. I was slightly disappointed having not seen Bella or Renesme yet, but Carlisle insisted and so I was left alone in my room with my thoughts; for precisely five minutes.

I heard a footstep just inside my doorway and squinted into the dark. A familiar sillhouette was moving toward me.

"How are you feeling?"

"Caius?" I was surprised to say the least.

"Carlisle said you would live..." He kept talking.

"Yeah, apparently you called a doctor at the right time. I could have died and not the right way." I sighed finally having the energy to sit up some.

"There's a right way?" He seemed to ask with a humorous tone, still I knew he wasn't trying to joke around.

"I mean... Supposedly." I said a slight laugh in my voice. There was a pause of silence and I felt like I should say something. "Caius, I-"

"It hurt." He cut me off. "For some reason. You being in pain hurt me."

"Is it that bond thing?"

"That bond thing." He chuckled darkly. "Is everything a joke to you?"

"It's either laughing or crying, Caius. Tears mess up my makeup." I mumbled rubbing my hands together in my lap. I heard him grunt and saw his sillhouette run his hands down his face.

"I expected it to be easily broken." He spoke again. "Maybe if I stayed away from you it'd sever, maybe I could send you back and I could go about my duties without you being constantly on my mind.... and yet you're still ever present even when I avoid you."

"Should I apologise?" I asked confused. "What are you getting at?"

I hadn't noticed that he was so close until he suddenly sat beside me on my bed in the dark. I inhaled sharply and tried to move back. His hands were suddenly on my lower stomach.

"Hero." He was so close that I was afraid to breathe. "I don't think I could handle sending you back with the Olympic coven." Something gathered in my stomach and coiled. It felt like I was doing a sit up, except I was being pulled.

"What if I decide to leave you anyways?" I asked before swallowing.

"No." I felt his hands tighten impressively. I gasped and he released. "I'm sorry." He said quickly.

"I'm all right." I shook my head and lifted my hand to press my palm to his cheek. There was a tense pause. "This is oddly intimate for two people that hate each other...."

"Do you still hate me?" His question made me pause. Did I?

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Here's Chapter 10! Bit of a shorter chapter. I will try to write more often, but things are stressful. I still love Jamie Campbell so unbelievably much. I may spend some time revising the story since it's been so long. I may start making some art for it too depending on how the next few days go.

Anyways, Enjoy! And keep a look out for the next chapter!