The days passed in a blur. We trained some more self-defense, but Alec never grabbed my waist or held me in his arms like he’d done the first time. At first I thought that it was just a coincidence, but then I noticed that there were times when he let me get away, just so he didn’t have to grab me. I couldn’t help but to feel offended, was there something wrong with me? Why did he let me win? But then a small, careful thought sneaked in to my head and confused me. What if he had felt something as well, that first day of training? What if that was the reason why he never touched me anymore? The thought of it made me scared, but I never showed it. I tried to focus on other things, like reading or trying on clothes. But Alec was always in the back of my mind. Something else that always lingered around me was my thirst. I still refused to drink any human blood, which led to that I was left with no blood at all. Luckily, I could survive on human food as well. It didn’t taste as good as blood, but it kept my stomach satisfied and Alec annoyed. But after a week the change was starting to show. Without drinking blood on regular bases my body started to become more and more human. My skin was still hard as marble, but my speed and strength weakened and it didn’t take much for Alec to beat me when we trained - not that it had in the first place. I supposed that Aro found out about it after a while because suddenly Felix came and got me from my room.

“Aro sends for you”, he said and held out one hand to escort me to the Volturi tower. I swallowed loudly and rose from the chair next to the beautiful mahogany desk. It took longer for us to walk to the Volturi tower this time than what it had done the last time. If Felix thought that I was slow, he didn’t show it. He just walked beside me with a glassy look on his face. Just like before, we took an elevator up to the main floor and walked from there. As we rounded the corner that led to the tower my fluttering heart skipped a beat. What did Aro want from me? I million thoughts ran through my head in the blink of an eye. Did he have news about my family, or had I done something wrong? Was he not pleased with my training? I stopped thinking as we came in to sight. The three brothers were seated as usual in the velvet thrones in the middle of the circular room. This time Aro didn’t rise when he saw me, he just tilted his head and gave me a concerning look.

“Dear, dear Renesmee”, Aro sighed and shook his head slowly. “A little bird whispered in my ear and gave me some news about you. He says that you refuse to drink human blood.”  The guards in the room gave me a questioning look when they heard their Masters words. The only one who didn’t even turn his head was Alec. I hadn’t noticed him until now, but when I saw him, the butterflies returned one by one. When I dared to glance at him, he met my gaze and held it for what seemed like hours. The sound of someone clearing his throat made me look away.

“That’s correct”, I said and turned to Aro. “It’s the way I was raised and I don’t find it right to kill innocent people.” Aro pursed his lips and wrinkled his eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. I held my breath and waited for his response. But there was none. Caius started to become impatient and looked at his brother before he spoke.

“Where are your thoughts, Aro?” He said and put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Aro patted Caius hand and rose from his throne.

“My thoughts, dear brother, my thoughts surround our beloved Renesmee. She’s getting weaker, can’t you see?” Aro pointed at me to clarify his point. I felt pretty uncomfortable when everybody followed Aro’s hand and looked at me with their fiery red eyes. To take the attention of my face, I stroked my arm and looked down. Without looking, I could sense – and hear – Aro walking across the room until he stood right in front of me. His cold fingers lifted my chin gently and I was suddenly looking in to the milky lenses of the old vampire.

“How about a compromise?” he said in his tenor voice. My eyes widened in surprise. A compromise, what did he mean? Aro must have seen my expression because he laughed a little before he explained.

“You won’t drink human blood, because you don’t want to kill innocent people…”

“Any people”, I interrupted and received some disliking looks, but Aro didn’t mind.

“Of course”, He said and nodded. “But no Volturi member is allowed to drink animal blood. So my suggestion dear Renesmee is that you drink human blood from blood bags – donated of course. That way you will have the strength and speed that you need, and you won’t go against you’re principals. How does that sound?” At first I didn’t know what to say. Did I really want to drink human blood at all? I’d drunk it when I was a baby, but that had only been for a few weeks. For a second it was completely quiet, the only thing you could hear were the even breaths from the guards and my fluttering heart. Aro looked eagerly at me, waiting for me to speak. And when I did, his expression got satisfied.

“Well, I suppose it’s okay if no one dies.” Aro clapped his hands in delight and waved at one of the guards. In the blink of an eye the guard was at his side.

“Yes, Master?” the woman said and bowed her head.

“Dear Ophelia, would you be so kind and go to the nearest hospital and get us some blood?” Aro put a hand on Ophelia’s shoulder and smiled at her. I was once more disgusted by the guard’s affection for their Masters. Couldn’t they at least try to hide it?

“Of course, Master”, Ophelia said and curtsied a little before she disapeared. I imagined myself standing there, in front of the three Volturi brothers, clothed in a dark coat, curtsying and bowing my head to them. The thought made me wrinkle my nose and feel a bit nauseous.

“The blood will be placed in the refrigerator in your room. I hope you’ll get stronger soon, dear Renesmee”, Aro said before he walked back to his chair. As soon as Aro was seated, Felix walked over to my side and escorted me out of the tower. Back on the main floor, Alec caught up to us. With only a look he got Felix to nod a goodbye to me and then disappear in the blink of an eye. As soon as Felix was gone, the butterflies came back. I wanted to ask Alec what he was doing here, why Felix couldn’t escort me to my room? But I didn’t dare to speak, afraid that I would say something stupid. When we reached the tunnels Alec broke the silence.

“I’m glad you’re agreed to drink the blood”, he said without looking at me. I almost stopped at the surprise of his words.

“You are?” I asked and glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

“Yes”, he said – still without looking at me. “You’ll get stronger and faster, which you’ll need when you’re out on missions.”

“Missions?”

“Well, of course. What do you think your position in the Volturi guard is? You’re placed with me, Jane, Felix, Demetri and Santiago. We’re the ones who’s often send out when someone has broken a law.” Alec’s words made me numb and speechless. But at the same time, a small piece of me was happy over the fact that I was going to work with Alec. I quickly pushed the thought away and focused on the important things. Like the fact that I was going to be on missions.

“Why? I’m not strong or have any special powers. I can only let people read my thoughts and show them pictures.” I didn’t get any of this. What use was I as a fighter when any untrained vampire could beat me without even trying? Alec looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re almost human; you can investigate humans without scaring them to death.” Alec looked at me like I was a total retard before he opened the door to my room. I hadn’t realized that we’d gone so far, so fast. Talking to Alec made time go so much faster. I didn’t answer him; I just nodded and stepped inside my room. At first I didn’t know what to do, but then I saw the midnight blue cover of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I quickly ran to the bookcase and took the book from its place on the shelf. The golden letters glowed a little in the light from the lamp. I’d expected Alec to be gone, but when I sat down on the bed to read my book, I saw him standing in the door, leaned against its frame. When he saw that I was watching him, he took a step forward and closed the door.

“Are you staying?” I asked him and rested my head against the wall near the head of the bed. Alec nodded and the shadow of a smile played on his lips.

“I have nowhere else to go”, he said and sat down on the chair next to my desk. In my opinion, he was way too close for me to concentrate on the book, but he didn’t look like he was about to move any time soon. 

I tried to read for about thirty minutes before I closed the book and put it on my nightstand. Alec had studied me the whole time – the main reason that I couldn’t concentrate on my reading – and didn’t stop when I met his gaze. I wished that I could force him to leave, but I didn’t even dare to speak. For a while, we just sat there; three feet from each other, looking deep into the other persons eyes. When my heart started to beat faster I looked away. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t supposed to get butterflies every time he was near and my heart wasn’t supposed to beat faster when he looked at me.  What about Jacob, my dear, sweet Jacob? What about the fact that Alec was a cruel killer who drank human blood and killed anyone as long as his Master said it was okay? That’s not the guy I wanted to fall in love with. I wanted to fall in love with someone like Jacob. But Jacob had left, just like the rest of my family. Maybe this was my family now, a bunch of power crazy lunatics.  

“Is something bothering you?” Alec said and broke my concentration. I hadn’t realized that I’d been looking – or staring – at him while I’d been lost in my own thoughts.

“No, I’m just sleepy”, I said and faked a yawn. Alec nodded leaned forward. At first I thought that he was going to kiss me, but of course he didn’t. He just grabbed my book from the nightstand and then leaned back again.

“Maybe you should sleep then.” Alec smiled a crooked smile at me before he opened the book and started to read it. Still chocked from the thought of him kissing me, I managed to nod lightly and stumble towards the bathroom. I thought that I could hear Alec cluck from his chair, but I wasn’t sure. When I heard the bathroom door close behind me, I sighed in relief and leaned my head against the sink.

“What’s wrong with you?” I mouthed to myself and banged my head in the sink a few times before started to make myself ready for bed. It took longer than usual for me to change into PJs and braid my hair, mostly because I wanted to clear my head – which was absolutely impossible when Alec was around and in sight. Sadly, I could only drag my feet behind for so long. After almost an hour in the bathroom, I slowly opened the door and walked over to my bed. I deeply regretted that I’d chosen shorts instead of sweatpants to the bottom of my PJs. Luckily, Alec didn’t seem to notice me until I was safe and sound in my bed.

“Are you going to stay here?” I asked and hoped that his answered would be a no. Alec looked like he found me amusing somehow and raised one eyebrow.

“Do you want me to leave?” My jaw dropped about a feet when I heard his answer to my question. What did you answer to that? Yes, please do? Even though his presents made me uncomfortable, I didn’t want to be rude. I slowly shook my head and looked down at my hands.

“You can stay if you want to”, I whispered and realized how pathetic I sounded. Alec seemed to agree with me, ‘cause he choked a laughter a cough.

“Good night, Alec”, I said and turned my back to him. Once I lay in a comfortable position, I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the hope of that he’d be gone in the morning.