When I opened my eyes I knew I wasn’t in Volterra anymore. I was outside with my back against the sun, looking into the deep forest. It wasn’t hard to figure out where I was. I’d been here so many times before that I knew it like the back of my hand. This was the meadow where my parents had fallen in love. For a second I just stood there, embracing all the beauty that surrounded me. It was midsummer and the flowers grew high. Everything was so beautiful and full of so many happy memories that I forgot to think about the main issues; how I’ve gotten here and why I was here. Did the Volturi not want me anymore? Was this some kind of illusion? I didn’t want to think about it, but my over-smart vampire brain forced me to question the logic in all of this. What was I really doing here?

“Hello?” I said loudly, hoping to find someone who could provide me some answers. When nothing was heard, I shouted out a hello one more. But nothing this time either. Fear was starting to grow inside of me. Had the Volturi left me? Was I abandoned once more? I refused to dig further into that thought and started to walk around the meadow. The scents from the flowers were almost too much and covered any other smell; which was probably why I didn’t smell him. It was not until he took a step forward as I saw him. Alec. A sudden feeling of relief came over me and I had to strictly control myself so I wouldn’t jump into his arms of happiness.

“I thought you’d left me”, I said and couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. They were just as fiery as usual and made the butterflies return to my stomach. Alec took a few steps forward and tilted his head.

“I’d never leave you.” His words caught me off guard and it was a miracle that my jaw didn’t hit the ground. What did he mean? Did he mean that he’d never leave me because it was his duty to keep me safe until I was capable of doing it myself, or did he mean it in another way? Like he’d never leave me because he cared for me? I shook my head and tossed the thoughts aside. Alec was in the same place has he had been just a minute ago, but something had changed. I squinted at him, trying to figure out what.

“You’re not wearing your cloak”, I said when I finally saw what was missing. Alec nodded slightly and a crooked smile started to grow on his lips. The smiled suited his otherwise cold poker face and made the butterflies in my stomach fly faster. Without his cloak on, I could see his regular clothes. There was nothing special about them, just a dark blue pull-over and a matching pair of black jeans. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbow, which made his skin sparkle in the sun. I’d seen vampires in the sun before, but this was something special. His red eyes, the cold face and the apathetic voice, it all lost its meaning when he was standing in the sun. I forgot that he’d tried to kill me many years ago and I forgot that he was a soulless killer who drank human blood and didn’t care about his victims. Right here, in the sun, none of that mattered. I was mesmerized by him and without knowing, I started to walk towards him. His eyes lit up with an emotion I’d never seen in his face before. That emotion made my stomach ache from all the butterflies and my heart started racing so fast that I was sure it would break. When there was about two feet between us, I stopped and just looked at him. Alec did the same, and for what felt like hours we just stood there and looked into each other’s eyes. The sun warmed my skin and from the corner of my eye, I could see the beautiful flowers that surrounded us. Sadly, none of that mattered to me. All I could see was Alec and only Alec. I didn’t care about the flowers, or the sun – that I missed so much – or the smell of pine and the sound of birds in the trees. That stuff was oblivious to me. Right now, everything circled around Alec. His eyes, his hair, his smell and the way he smiled at me. That was the only thing I could think about. It was hard to see what he was thinking, but the emotion was still in his eyes.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, still looking into his eyes. Without dropping my gaze he

took a step forward and reach out his hand. At first I thought that he was going to take my hand but he just took a piece of my hair between his fingers and studied it for a while before he gently put it back behind my ear. At one point his cold fingers touch my warm skin and a shiver quickly ran down my spine. It wasn’t a bad shiver though, it was one of those shivers you get when you’re as happy as you could ever be. With a sigh I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feeling of his fingers gently stroking my cheek. When he stopped I opened my eyes and looked at him. His eyes had lost its fire and were full of concern.

“Does everything need a reason?” he said, answering my earlier question. The logic part of me wanted to say yes, of course everything needed a reason. But the other part of me didn’t want to listen.

“No”, I said and shook my head – still without dropping his gaze. “Everything doesn’t need a reason.” Before I’d even finished my sentence, the flame was back in his eyes and he looked at me with a burning desire. He gestured me to sit down on the meadow and I quickly did as he pleased. There was nothing in my head besides Alec. When he sat down beside me I could feel the wonderful smell of vampire. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting myself be consumed of Alec. His cold fingers traced my jawline as he turned my head against him. I still didn’t open my eyes, I trusted Alec. When his thumb stroked my lips I couldn’t help it, I sighed in delight and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the intense fire in his eyes. The fire was closer than I thought which made me jump. For almost a whole second we sat there, frozen, waiting for the other person to react. When I didn’t do anything, Alec gave me a crooked smile and took my face between both of his hands.

“You’re so beautiful”, he said. The honesty in his eyes made me soften and I leaned my cheek against his palm. A million thoughts and emotions ran through my head, but there was only one thought and one emotion I focused on. Alec and the burning flame of desire to him. Slowly, I raised my hand and ran my fingers through his hair. It was so soft and tickled my palm. Alec looked at me with that burning gaze and my whole spirit trembled. Without knowing, we both drifted towards each other until only a few inched separated us. His wonderful breath surrounded me and I inhaled as much as possible. Those fiery red eyes looked at me and made me feel almost lightheaded.  When he removed one of his hands from my face and put it on my hip, I knew this was it. We were going to kiss. Every cell in my body waited for it, wanted it. And then it finally happened. His cold lips met mine and we both lingered around each other. My breath was uneven and there was no way I got enough air. But I couldn’t stop kissing him, he was everywhere and I was happy to be in the middle of it.

Right in the middle of our kiss, loud and angry voiced interrupted. I wrinkled my forehead and tried to ignore them, but Alec was gone. His arms were no longer around me, and I couldn’t smell him. Quickly, I opened my eyes. I was no longer on the meadow. The jade green cheats was tangled in my legs and I was in my bed in Volterra. The angry voices I heard came from Demetri and Alec. I turned my head to look at them. They hadn’t noticed that I was awake yet, and I took a moment to just look at Alec. Not until now, I realized that it had all been a dream, something from my imagination. It was surprising to feel how disappointed I was. I wasn’t supposed to be disappointed; Alec wasn’t my prince Charming in shining armor. He was a Volturi guard, a soulless killer. That thought made me sadder than it should have, and I focused on the fight between the two vampires instead.

“She is nowhere near ready”, Alec growled. He looked absolutely furious and Demetri had the exact same look on his face.

“I don’t care if she’s ready or not, we need her now.” Demetri’s words made Alec even angrier and I feared that they were going to start hitting each other any minute. They continued to argue for a while, but it wasn’t until Alec pointed at me that I figured out who they were talking about. Their argument was about me. It was strange, why would they argue about me? And what was it that I wasn’t ready for? Carefully, I sat up and looked at the two furious men. They hadn’t noticed that I was awake yet. Both of them were too busy to fight over something that had to do with me, that they didn’t notice the person they were actually arguing about.