After a few lovely minutes in the sun we reached a huge wooden door. It looked extremely heavy, but Alec opened it with no problem at all. The door led to a fancy elevator that took us to the main floor which was so much nicer than the dark tunnels below. In a big desk a woman was seated. She was really pretty with short blond hair, tanned skin and soft blue eyes. A big smile was placed on her lips and showed of two lines of perfect white teeth. Neither Felix nor Alec paid her any attention; they just walked by without as much as a glance. I remembered my father telling me about these kinds of humans; men and women who knew about the Volturis true nature but still worked for them, hoping that someone would turn them. No one ever got turned though; they just worked for a few years before they got old or unattractive, after that they became dinner. I felt badly for the woman behind the desk, but on the other hand she’d brought it on herself. To be polite I answered the woman’s smile shyly. When she saw my smile her friendly look turned into a malignant gaze. I jumped in surprise and quickly looked away. Alec – who must have seen the woman’s look – hissed low and gave her a gaze even more cold and malignant than the one she’d given me. A part of me felt happy that he’d defended me. As soon as the thought was planted in my head I quickly pushed it away. I wasn’t just happy by the fact that I’d been defended, I was happy because it been him who’d defended me. If it had been Felix I’m sure that I would have been greatful, but not happy. Not like the way I felt right now.

The sound of voices interrupted my deep thinking and made me focus on the present. As we rounded the corner I realized that we’d walked a long way while I pondered over my sudden happiness. We’d gone from the main floor to the famous Volturi tower. Behind the corner a perfect circular room took shape. The only furniture in the room was three giant thrones dressed in deep red velvet. They were placed in the middle of the room on top of a small rising of the floor. In the three chairs Aro, Marcus and Caius sat down. Aro – who was placed in the middle chair – rose at the sight of our arrival. I’d only seen the founders of the Volturi once in my life when I was a baby and the whole guard had come to kill me and my family. They hadn’t changed much. Aros smile was still wide and kind of creepy, Marcus still looked as apathetic as usual and Caius had the same annoyed expression on his face. There were some changes though, their skin was a bit paler and looked a bit more fragile and it was harder to see their red eyes through the milky lens that covered them.

“Ah, welcome, welcome dear Renesmee!” Aro said clapping his hands in delight. The other two brothers didn’t move from their chairs, they didn’t even pay me any attention. I soon realized that Aro was the only one who had any interest in me, and since he was the leader of the Volturi his wish was the others command.  I smiled shyly and nodded in his direction. With an inhuman speed Aro walked to my side. Or walked maybe was the wrong word, floated was better. His eyes looked at me with a curious expression. The gaze didn’t feel unfriendly but somehow I still got goose bumps in his presents. When he reached out his hand to read my thoughts I quickly took a step back. I didn’t want him in my head. When I refused, strong arms grabbed me from behind, making me unable to move.

“Felix”, Aro said and clicked his tongue. The strong arms slowly released me. Once I was free I tried to control my frightened expression.

“Now, dear Renesmee, if you would be so kind”, Aro held out his hand once more, waiting for me to take it. I wondered why he didn’t just grab my hand and read my thoughts against my will, but then I realized that half the pleasure of reading someone’s mind was to make them let you do it by their own free will. Or at least the imagination of that it’s your choice. Without giving him the pleasure of seeing me surrender I took a step forward and put my hand on his cheek, using my gift to let him see my thoughts. I showed him everything of importance, every single detail, the note in my pocket, the emptiness in my heart and my longing for the sun. The last part I showed him in hope of letting me step outside.

“Ah, as fascinating as always”, Aro said when I stopped showing him my memories. I smiled a little and stepped back. Aro returned my smile and then snapped his fingers at two of the guards. They quickly moved to his side, heads down, adoring their master. I made a disgusted face and wrinkled my nose. Seeing the two vampires almost fall on their knees in adoration to their master made me sick. How could they do that? Didn’t they have any self-respect? Aro ignored my face, turning to one of the guards. I hadn’t noticed that one of them held an almost black cloak in his hands. My eyes followed the big piece of fabric as Aro took it and handed it over to me.

“Your cloak, dear”, he said. With uncertain hands I grabbed it, feeling it’s soft inside with my fingers.

“Thank you”, I whispered. Honestly, I wanted to throw it away but since that wouldn’t be polite I lay it over my arm and tried not to show my dislike. Aro looked at me for a while, his eyes sparkled with excitement. When he realized that I wasn’t going to put it on he pursed his lips and turned away. With a small hand gesture he waved us off. Felix quickly grabbed my arm and we walked out the same way as we’d come.

After walking me back to my room Felix left, leaving me to entertain myself. With a sigh I sat down on my bed with my head in my hands. The dark cloak lay beside me and I glanced at it from time to time. I felt awfully tired and dirty. My clothes were full of wrinkles and had a musty smell, my makeup was old and I didn’t even want to think about my hair. I’d inherited my grandfather’s thick curls who always manage to get tangled in one another. The only way to separate them was to wash my hair and then carefully brush them out with a comb. Looking at a piece of my hair I decided to take a shower. I didn’t get dirty a lot, thanks to my vampire genes, but I loved the water and since I was pretty sure Aro wouldn’t let me go outside and swim in the nearest lake, the shower would just have to do. I quickly stepped out of my clothes, leaving them on the floor, and then walked straight into the bathroom. The whole bathroom was white and clean. The tiles were so clean and skiny that I could see my reflection in them. Without taking a closer look at my appearance, I stepped in to the giant shower. The walls were transparent except a small line that covered everything between my shoulders and upper thigh. The actual pipe was in stainless steal with a shiny surface. It was easy to turn on the water and it quickly turned warm. Thanks to my high body temperature the water needed to be extremely hot to even feel warm against my skin. Slowly I started to rub myself with a bottle of soap which was placed on one of the shelves in the shower. It had a slight strawberry sent which made me think of my mother. Her marble skin always smelled like strawberries. A silent tear fell from my eye at the thought of my mother, and soon I sat at the shower floor, sobbing loudly and crying my eyes out. I wrapped my arms around my legs and leaned my head against them. Every thought that ran through my head hurt and I really wanted to just scream out loud, letting everyone in Volterra know about my pain.

After what felt like hours I turned off the hot water and dried myself with one of the luxurious towels. I found a hairbrush that looked really expensive and used it to brush out my curls. In the cabinets over the sink I found everything a girl could ever want; makeup with famous brands, body lotions, hair accessories, nail polish and a lot more. My mother or my aunts never used makeup, they didn’t need to. Their vampire beauty made them all look like supermodels, but for me who only were half a vampire, didn’t look as beautiful. Everyone always said that I didn’t need makeup, I were beautiful just the way was, but I liked myself better with some mascara and lip gloss. This time though, I skipped the makeup and picked out a pretty hairband. I gathered my curly hair and braided it in a lop-sided braid and secured it with the hairband. After a few turns in the mirror I walked out to find some clothes. The wardrobe was almost as huge as the bed and filled with clothes in all different sizes and shapes. With one hand holding my towel close to my body I picked out some lingerie and a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I was just about to drop my towel when I smelled it. Vampire. With a quick turn I searched the room for the one who was here. I found him leaned against wall close to the door. He cleared his throat and raised one eyebrow.

“Do I come in an inconvenient time?” Alec said without amusement in his voice. I swallowed loudly and shook my head. But honestly, he couldn’t have come at a more inconvenient time even if he tried.

“Excuse me”, I said and almost ran towards the bathroom. Once I checked that the door was locked tight I quickly put on some clothes. The bare thought of Alec seeing me clothed in only a towel was scary but at the same time it gave be butterflies. I didn’t know why the butterflies haunted my stomach at the thought of him looking at me half naked, Alec hadn’t exactly welcomed me with open arms. He always looked so cold and serious, almost like he tried to look like Marcus. With a deep breath I pushed all the thoughts of Alec and the butterflies away, opened the door and walked out of the bathroom. Alec hadn’t moved an inch since I left him a few minutes ago. His eyes never left me as I walked across the room and sat down on the bed.

“What are you doing here, Alec?” I met his gaze, refusing to be the one who looked away first. But Alec didn’t even blink; he just looked at me with those deep, red eyes.

“Let’s just say that I’m going to be here for a while.” He said and the shadow of a smile appeared on his lips.