[ Chapter Fifteen—a tour with some drama ]

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"So your name is Demetri? The tracker extraordinaire that I have heard so much about?" I questioned while giving jazz hands.

Aro was long gone, and the library appeared to be empty other than Demetri and I. Demetri himself looked taken aback, the vampire tilting his head. However, a smirk crossed his features and an arrogant look came into his eyes.

"So that's what they call me behind my back, huh?"

"No bitch, I was being sarcastic," I rolled my eyes, forcing my mind to leave thoughts on everything Aro just told me about the past of werewolves.

It was a lot to think over and made many different emotions whirl alike to a storm within. They were also emotions that I currently did not feel like dealing and sorting through.

Demetri's smirk was wiped off his face in an instant, a scowl replacing it.

"Quite a vexing female aren't you?" Demetri said with a tight smile causing me to adorn my own look of offense.

Placing a dramatic hand over my chest, I gave the vampire a look a though I could not believe what he said.

"Are you actually assuming my gender?" I decided here and now that I would not make Demetri's day easy. "How dare you?"

Demetri was speechless, his jaw hanging half-open. He blinked after a moment, looking confused himself.

"Pardon?"

"That is seriously like not okay, but I guess I can find it in my heart of hearts to forgive you," I deadpanned, trying my hardest not to allow a smile to break out.

Demetri truly looked at a loss. Picking at my nails, I made it a point to not look at him as though I had far better things to do with my time. I needed to paint them, maybe red.

I shivered as I compared it to the shade of the vampire's eyes in this place. No, maybe blue instead, yes, a nice sky-blue will do indeed.

"Are you messing with me?" Demetri finally asked after a few moments, his strong English accent twirling throughout every word.

With a snicker, I dropped my hand and nodded. "Obviously," Demetri still looked a bit hesitant, but cracked a small grin after a moment, "and here I was thinking vampires are supposed to be smart. God, let's start the tour already, this library is making me hate reading more and more..." Demetri opened his mouth to say something but was unable to as I pushed past him and strolled out the doors.

Demetri trotted after me, continuing to look at me as though I was some foreign specimen. Pausing once we were in the large cold corridor, I rose a brow.

"Well? I don't have all day, sand-head," Demetri sputtered at the name.

"Sand-head?" He rose a brow.

"It's what you get for having sand-colored hair. Dye it and I'll change my nickname—until then it sticks. Now, what about that tour, I need to know where all the exits are so I can break out of this tomb," Demetri looked away from me as though in a daze.

He suddenly shook his head, muttering something that I did not hear before nodding his head. I followed after him, both of us going down the corridor.

"First, you will not be escaping, and secondly, you're rather fearless considering the position you are in, wolf," Demetri sneered the last pat as an obvious attempt at scaring me.

However, it only made me roll my eyes and scoff.

"Dude, if Aro wanted me dead, we all know I would be dead. Plus, even if one of you vamps decides to kill me, you would only be doing me a favor, I would rather die than live in this ugly-ass tomb for the rest of eternity," I stated causing Demetri snicker.

"Ouch, no need to insult the architecture," he chuckled earning a glare from me. "And you are quite smart, we're all on strict orders not to kill you. Jane and Alec certainly aren't happy—"

My eyes lit up. "Oh, can you take me to Alec later?"

Demetri looked taken aback before a suspicious look was plastered over his face. "Why? You don't plan to try and kill him, do you? Because I assure you, he will not even be able to defend himself before Jane's at your throat, they're quite protective of each other."

"No, I'm not trying to kill him," I huffed, "I just want him to do that weird sleep-thing to me again. It's actually really nice—"

"You mean where he deprives you of all your senses?" Demetri was now staring at me as though I was insane. "That is not supposed to be a nice sensation you know!"

"Eh, I like it," I shrugged, "it's like some cool sleep-paralysis. Plus, if I was into Alec, I would think that it's hot—kinky really..."

Demetri was giving me a strange look, opening his mouth before closing it and shaking his head.

"Okay, I am going to pretend that I never heard that nor I will ever repeat that to Caius or anyone else for the matter," Demetri said as though he was talking to himself before quickly changing the subject. "Down this corridor is where the swimming pool is." I snickered but listened as he began actually giving the tour.

Here was the thing. I was officially fucking finished. If I was stuck in this castle for the next whoever knows how long, then I am done giving the slightest flying fuck.

Yes, Aro's story may have made me see the Volturi in a new light, but at the end of the day I am still Jackie damn Harvelle. Jackie Harvelle, the Gen-Z TikTok addicted werewolf who like all teens have my own headstrong beliefs against the older generations.

These crusty old vamps were certainly in for a shock if they thought I of all people was simply going to sit back like some nice little girl. I would make them regret ever bringing me into this tomb.

Demetri showed me through the many corridors of the castle, pointing out the different rooms—each which had their own small history attached. One thing I found interesting was the art room that apparently belonged to Caius as he was quite an artist. Another was the music room which was filled with many types of instruments.

Beyond that was a huge study with three separate desks—huge desks that belonged to the three leaders. The reception area was toward the front of the castle, and I silently memorized the door which was one of the ways out.

The swimming pool, of course, was huge, but no one was using it. The garden was on its own floor at the back of the castle, and I realized that the towering walls which surrounded it easily served as another escape.

Though, Demetri warned me that beyond those walls were miles upon miles of abandoned Tuscany landscape.

On the lowermost level was a huge garage filled to the brim with every type of expensive car possible. There truly were some beautiful cars that I would not mind taking for a spin.

"Okay, so seeing as I destroyed the last room I was in, where do I stay now?" I crossed my arms as Demetri led me to the kitchen. "Let me guess, the dungeons?"

"If you would prefer that, it could be arranged," Demetri rose a condescending brow causing me to scowl.

Nothing more was said as Demetri opened another wooden door that looked identical to the rest of the doors in this castle. That was the most confusing part about everything, every entrance that I had come across looks the same.

Every. Single. Fucking. Door. Was. The. Same.

And it sucked because I knew it would take me a while to figure out which door led where.

However, as I followed Demetri in, my mouth started watering at the sight of a huge immaculate kitchen. My hunger came back full force as without warning I stomped past Demetri and opened the refrigerator.

"That was quite rude, you know," Demetri piped from where he stood, causing me to shrug and roll my eyes.

At this point, I did not care.

Over the course of this tour, I realized that Demetri and I had already formed some strange semi-friendship. Under all the snarky comments we threw at each other was some a type of playfulness that entertained us both.

"What should I make?" I asked Demetri who gave me an odd look, as though wondering why I asked him.

"Uhm..." he trailed off, looking around before grabbing a salt shaker, "this?"

"What the hell?" I placed my hand on my hip, looking to Demetri in a confused manner. "I know you do not eat and crap, but c' mon,"

Demetri placed the salt shaker back in an almost sheepish manner before getting a hold of himself and standing straighter. Folding his arms behind his back poshly, Demetri rose a single brow at me.

"Then I am afraid I won't be of much help,"

"A sandwich it is then," I quickly began walking around the kitchen, getting familiar with where everything was located and preparing a sandwich.

A lot of the ingredients were the Italian version, so I did my best in guessing what was what. As I splayed mayo on the bread, Demetri crinkled his nose at the food.

"I cannot believe that you actually eat that disgusting food," he scoffed.

"I suppose you ate earlier?" I rose a brow, my own nose crinkling at the thought of all the murders they committed.

"Yes,"

I placed the sandwich on a napkin, taking a seat on one of the barstools of the counter. Demetri remained standing a few feet away, watching me eat intently.

"Your diet is really gross," I spoke, feeling awkward by the silence.

I had never been very good at biting my tongue. Thoughts and opinions seemed to fall from my mouth alike to a waterfall sometimes—especially the closer I got to a person. The closer my relationship the better chance of me not lying about anything.

Of course, there were the few relationships I had with people where I was more inclined to bite my tongue than others—but seeing as I truly did not like anyone in this tomb very much—the chances of me actually biting my tongue were low.

Demetri rolled his eyes at my insult, "I am sorry, but do you not eat meat?"

"Excuse me? What does that have to do with anything—?"

"I am just saying, you hold yourself so high, and yet it is no different than humans who slaughter animals for dinner. In this case, we vampires are simply higher up on the food chain," Demetri explained, thinking he had shut me up.

However, I was always up for a good debate. While he made a very good point, I still felt strongly about this.

"That is a fair point," I shrugged, "but at the end of the day, humans slaughtering animals is not right either. Not only that but there is a difference between killing a cow and a person," I know many people would care to disagree with me on that, but that was just how I felt.

In my mind, you just could not compare an animal to a person, it simply was not the same. And, don't get me wrong, I was also guilty of indulging myself with meat—but to me, it was still different than the Volturi bringing in huge groups of people to eat every other week.

It was hard when I was around the Cullens all summer and they were so virtuous about their nature. Every one of them—yes, even Rosalie—had shown me an immense amount of kindness and they were some of the most genuine people I had ever met. At the end of the day, if the Cullens could refrain from drinking blood than any vampire could—it was simply a matter of will and morals.

"Again, you speak so highly and yet are you not eating a turkey sandwich currently?" Demetri spoke as I chewed on my sandwich. "For us vampires, humans are the animals."

"Touché," I grinned.

Demetri hummed, watching as I took another bite of the sandwich. Suddenly, a large looming figure entered the kitchen.

I had just finished my sandwich when the scent of vampires got that much stronger. Before Felix opened his mouth to say anything, I released a loud dramatic gag, turning away from them. Felix looked taken aback as Demetri furrowed his brows.

"What is the matter? Was your revolting human food bad?" Of course, he managed to wrap an insult in there.

However, I had a slap-back burning on the tip of my tongue. Pinching my nose, I gave both vampires a foul look.

"No, you both smell horrible. Honestly, vampires smell like a corpse wrapped in seven layers of chocolate or something, it's so sweet that it's actually disgusting..." I gave another dramatic gag, "God, I think I am going to be sick!"

Felix looked as though I had slapped him in the face and Demetri only narrowed his eyes.

"Says the person who smells a wild dog who just got out of a lake,"

"Trust me, you smell much worse." I reluctantly let go of my nose before tilting my head at Felix. "What do you want, mountain vamp?"

Felix looked even more confused at how I addressed him, as though he could not believe it. He turned to Demetri questionably, Demetri only sighing.

"Ignore it, she's the most audacious thing to ever step foot in this castle. What do you need?"

"Are you guys a couple?" I asked, Felix's eyes widening while Demetri who—at this point had grown used to it—did not even blink.

"No," Demetri sneered before turning to Felix, "Felix?"

Felix shook his head before saying in a low rumbling tone, "the masters have requested our presence in court, two nomads are about to be executed for hunting in the area."

"The younger generations are becoming riskier and riskier these days," Demetri spoke thoughtfully, "but I am surprised the masters are choosing to execute them right off that bat, have we warned these nomads before?"

"No, Caius is just in a terrible mood today, I am sure you can assume why," Felix said before looking to me with Demetri.

I shrugged with a patronizing smile, "whatever you ancient corpses,"

"You have some mouth on you—" Felix started before I cut him off.

"Kill me then," I shrugged seeing Felix raise a brow.

"Mental," I heard him mutter under his breath causing Demetri to chuckle and me to glare. However, he continued before I could say anything about it. "Demetri, what are we to do with her?"

"We should take her, I do not trust her to wander around the corridors on her own accord without making an escape attempt," I smirked at that.

"Very well," Felix nodded while I jumped from the barstool and flipped my hair over my shoulder.

"Come on Bert and Ernie, let's go give my apparent mate and his non-related brothers a visit," I shoved past Felix causing him to scoff in disbelief.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Demetri stand next to him, both of them watching me stroll off in disbelief. I was vaguely sure I was on the right path to the throne room, so I did not bother to change my direction. Demetri and Felix shared a look before shaking their head, both flashing next to me.

"I thought I was sand-head?" Demetri questioned causing Felix to guffaw.

"That is when it's only you—when you and he are together, you're Bert and Ernie," I did not look at Demetri as I spoke. "And when you're alone, you're mountain vamp," I said to Felix who nodded.

"Nice to know,"

The walk to the throne was not long. We were rounding the corner which led to the room in question when it happened. The large doors were open so there was a perfectly clear view of what was happening inside.

Santiago and Alec were holding down a raging male vampire while Jane was using her abilities on a female vampire. It was obvious the male vampire was fighting to get to the girl who was being tortured.

However, his cries of rage went unheard.

I scowled at the smirk painted on Caius's face.

What caught my attention next was the beautiful woman standing a few feet in front of Aro's throne. She had long whispy brown hair which was pinned back with a few flowery hair jewels. Her eyes alike to all the other vampires in this place were blood red, and her skin was pale—though not quite as pale as everyone else.

It occurred to me that she must have had an olive skin shade in her human years as she was slight darker than the average vampire.

Also, alike to every vampire I had come across—she was undeniably beautiful. Though, there was something different about her beauty from most other vampires. She was short and her features were not quite so angular and sharp, but rather soft and pretty.

That was what she was. This woman who could not have been older than her early twenties when she was turned was pretty.

She was the type of pretty that turned heads and made her look like some sort of mystical princess. It was the type of pretty that many would prefer over beautiful because her prettiness was something extremely hard to come across.

I was able to tell she was in relation to Aro based on the way she leaned toward him—probably his wife.

From the encounter I had with Aro, and though I had not yet spoken with the woman, I could tell they were quite the pair. In some odd way, they simply looked perfect for each other.

No one from the throne room had noticed mine, Demetri, or Felix's approaching figures as they were too wrapped up in the chaos unfolding before them. The leaders and who I assumed was Aro's wife had their attention on the woman being tortured, that was why none of them saw it until it was too late.

The male vampire being held in Santiago's and Alec's grip managed to somehow twist himself away.

"How about I make your wife pay, Aro!" The male vampire hissed and before anyone could comprehend anything he had launched himself at the woman.

For me, a few things happened in less than a second. I saw the way the woman turned, her eyes widening in fear and shock. Aro was already beginning to get out of his throne while Marcus and Caius started to stand.

Santiago and Alec both reached forward trying to grab him again. Jane had already stopped her torture on the female vampire, ready to use her abilities to stop the attack. However, even her gifts would not be quick enough to snap into place by the time the vampire would have his hands on Aro's wife.

I was not sure how or why it happened but in seconds, time itself seemed to physically stop. Something like this had happened a few weeks ago back home when I was fighting John-Patrick in my parents' kitchen. At the time it did not last long and I did not have time to ponder on it, so I ended up forgetting about it.

But now, it was happening again. I became aware of a feeling in my mid-section, it was tight as though there was some sort of could spring inside.

Shaking my head, I desperately held onto the coil and kept it wrapped while surging forward. I truly did not why I did it—because truthfully I owed these assholes nothing. I should have just sat there and watched the vampire they were holding rip off Aro's wife's head. It was their own fault anyway, maybe if they weren't torturing that female vampire the other guys would not have went for Aro's wife.

There was something inside me screaming at me to help, though, to save Aro's wife. And like the spontaneous individual I am, I followed what my heart was saying and went for the attacking vampire.

He was frozen in mid-air, his fingers inches from Aro's wife's throat. Her own eyes were huge, and she appeared to be seeing her own death as he came at her.

Keeping a tight hold on the coil in my mid-section, I paused standing next to the lunging vampire.

"Sorry, bro," I sighed before grabbing him mid-air and pushing him to the other side of the room.

The man went flying and hit the ground, but his body remained motionless. He truly was frozen in time. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman who was previously being tortured lying on the floor, her face twisted into one of pain.

I knew then and there that after lunging at Aro's wife like this, Aro would not be forgiving. He would no doubt torture these two nomads for days. Deciding to put them out of their misery that had yet to even begin, I wasted no time in turning to the vampire woman.

Grabbing her wrist, I looked into her eyes which were still wide open.

"Sorry," I sighed before biting into her and injecting the essential poison to vampires.

It was a mercy compared to what Aro would do to them should they be left alive.

I grunted as the coiling began to unfold. There were only seconds before everything would go back to normal. I may have not known what was happening, but the feeling was somehow natural. Launching myself across to the room to the other vampire, I leaned down biting into his cold neck and injecting my poison into him as well.

I always was a slightly ironic person. Holding onto the lasting seconds of the coil, I moved quick in dragging the female nomad's body into the arms of the male nomad.

There, now they could die in each other's arms.

Like that, everything snapped back to normal. Aro moved in front of his wife with a deep growl, Marcus and Caius stood, and Jane turned her head to where the male nomad had been lunging.

Aro's wife gasped in shock, grabbing onto Aro's back with a huge breath. Everyone seemed confused and was looking around at each other. I, on the other hand, kept my gaze on Caius.

He was still as hauntingly beautiful as I remembered him.

Disgusting.

A scream caught everyone's attention including mine. Looking down a few feet away, I was met with the sight of the vampire couple dying from my poison in each other's arms.

"Sorry it had to end like that, but I figured it was better than what they had in mind," I explained, not that the dying couple was paying me any attention.

"By the way," I snapped my fingers in the direction of Santiago and Alec, now noticing all of the red eyes which were focused on me, "I just did your job for you. You are welcome! You boomer vamps should like totally put me on the guard,"