Volturi (The Three Kings L.S)

15- Unexpected Ending

My head was fuzzy, pain surrounded my entire brain, it felt as though someone and ripped my brain out and shoved it in a vice, tightening it with every second that passed. I could feel the blood rushing in my veins, attempting to flow along the dry tubes within me, I had been emptied and filled once more with foreign blood. The red that they had given me was not my own. I felt stiff mattresses, sticky covers and scratchy blankets. 

As the seconds passed, I only found myself feeling more and more discomfort, my eyes forced to open but my arm would more, I felt around, I moved my hand to my neck where the pain was concentrated and my fingers brushed what should be soft skin and was now covered in a fabric gauze that made my skin crawl, like running your fingernails along a dry wet wipe and feeling your body cringe.

I felt the edge of the bandage and went to rip it off, I utterly hated the uncomfortable texture upon my skin but before I could pull it only slightly, an icy hand grabbed my own. Finally, my eyes were permitted to open and I found Caius before me. He had a solemn expression upon his features and I couldn't help the frown that came upon mind.

"Caius?" my voice was cracked and dry, as though it hadn't been allowed to touch water for a long time.

"Attarah" he responded in a near whisper as tears filled his eyes. He floundered for a moment before pulling me into a hug, and as he did all the memories flashed through me. As much as I didn't want to believe I had been hurt by a vampire, I had been and they were vampires but I couldn't blame Caius. The love that held me had done no wrong. He was perfection. They all were.

My darkened shadowy perfections.

"I'm okay," I told him in the strongest voice I could muster, somehow knowing that that was what he needed to hear, he needed to know that I was okay to mend his heart. He held me closer and I did not mind, no pain I felt could take away from the love I had in my head during that moment. He was here, he still loved me despite the words I'd hollered in the library.

"I love you Attarah" he whispered.

"I love you more Caius"

"That is not possible."

"I think it is"

Just as we bickered over our mutual love for one another, the door opened and I hoped to see Aro before me but found Marcus instead. Of course, I loved his presence and was so happy to see him in front of me but it was crucial that I spoke to Aro. I knew he'd be giving himself a hard time about what happened.

"Marcus" I tried to squeeze with excitement but sounded wheezy and dry, like a desert as I spoke. It irritated me that I couldn't make sounds that usually came so easily to me. "Join us?" I decided to whisper, that way I sounded somewhat normal to my own ears.

"Attarah, we must all go away soon. We shouldn't be more than two days but It's important that you know." Marcus informed her.

"And you think now is the best time to tell me that? What business are you going away on and which guards remain here?" she asked, Marcus did not wish to distress her but had no option but the truth in the current situation.

"Calm my love, all is fine."

"you shall remain here with a few guards. They will be low ranking but if you wish, Felix or Demetri could stay also?" his voice indicated that he did not at all want that, "we shall leave and when we return, we shall bring you back to Italy but at the present it is unsafe"

"What business is it? For all the guards to be leaving and for me to be banished from Italy on safety grounds."

"You aren't banished" Caius chuckled. "it's merely a precaution. The business is urgent"

"What is the case?"

"well-" Marcus began.

"I hardly think it necessary to discuss this at the present moment brother. Not within Attarahs situation." Caius cut across in a stern voice.

"no, tell me. I don't care what predicament you think I'm in, I think I should know what is occurring."

"a very powerful coven has created an immortal child" Marcus informed me and I frowned for a moment.

"An immortal child?" they nodded "A coven turned a baby into a vampire?" I was shocked when they nodded a second time. "How... Cruel, surely that means the child cannot grow?"

"indeed. The child becomes frozen at the stage of development which it is in which makes it impossible to be taught. There are tales of immortal children slaughtering entire villages. They are dangerous as they cannot be taught" Caius gives me a brief history lesson.

"But...what are you going to do to the child? And the coven?" I questioned in worry.

"the child and the creator have to die, the child cannot be allowed to live as it will cause immense harm and the creator must be punished and stopped from repeating their actions"

"But vampires can't have children. I understand why someone could do such a thing. You're going to kill a child? At what age do they stop becoming a threat?"

"it is hard business Attarah but it has to be done. It's our job to protect our race against humans. There are enough of them to destroy us. I hope in time you grow to accept the laws we put in place. They're all for safety. And to answer your question, we usually allow them to live if they are older than ten, allowing they have control. Though usually, they are about twelve or thirteen. Jane and Alex were turned at fourteen yet you do not notice. "

---

Attarah wondered around the house, the Volturi were all in a meeting together to discuss final plans and she had never felt so alone. She had returned from the hospital not long ago and Aro had noticeably been avoiding her. She had seen nothing of him since she returned, only a streak as he left rooms.

The Swan girl felt a pain in her chest at the absence of one of her loves. But Marcus and Caius were making it their mission to spend all their time with her which made her oddly suspicious. They'd sit with her for every second of every minute, twenty-four hours a day. They stayed whilst she was sleeping and as much as she lived the company, it was not like them. They usually took time for themselves for hunting and other activities. The current moment was the only time they were away from her since she got home.

She headed for the entrance hall of the villa, where the Volturi members were waiting to say goodbye. After much thought, Felix would be remaining with her as the twins and Demetri were far too valuable to their cause. Said vampire had already said his goodbyes and two Kings stood amongst their guards waiting to leave.

"I wish you didn't have to leave" she whispered as she walked directly into the arms of Caius. He cuddled her tightly before passing her along to Marcus.

"We'll be back before you know it darling" Marcus promised as he kissed her.

"Please stay safe, I wouldn't survive if anything happened to you" she pled and they smiled before promising sincerely. After a brief goodbye with the guards, they began to exit together and Attarah fell back from the crowd, moving toward Felix. As she went to turn, said muscular guard coughed and she looked up instantly. Standing nervously before her was Aro.

"I just wanted to say goodbye... For now and I wanted to say sorry... Again" he spoke. He couldn't leave without knowing he'd apologised to her, he couldn't leave with potentially no return without a goodbye.

"You have my forgiveness," she spoke to him quietly. She had a fear now and had well and truly been put in her place but she did not blame him for events she blamed herself.

Aro turned at that, he was not sure what he had been expecting, a hug, a kiss. Affection if any kind possibly but at the same time he didn't want it, he wanted punishment, it was the only thing that could make him feel like he'd earned his forgiveness.

"Wait" he stopped and turned. "Please, stay safe. I'm going to miss you. You're very important to me" she nodded and he smiled pained before wondering away out the door with the others.

"Come along Attarah" Felix directed.

"Atty." she corrected.

"Atty? I thought you'd decided upon Attarah, you have not corrected us in a while." he was like a confused child as they walked down the corridor to the sitting room.

"Atty makes me feel safe. It reminds me of home," she whispered and he smiled with a nod.

"do you miss your home? Your family?" he questioned in worry.

"I do, in a way I wish they lived with us, at the castle. But in the same way, they handed me over to their alleged enemies and it makes me dislike them somewhat. I have however grown to believe that they did it with the idea of the greater good in mind. I worry that something bad will happen to them, to my father? To Bella? I wonder if she became a vampire and how my father is taking it. Whether he thinks she died. I do not want him to be alone. "

Felix grew nervous, he knew what the coven had done and what would happen to them but the love that remained within her eyes despite them giving her away seemed undying. They meant the world to her and it was shown. She knew that eventually, she would find out what happened and he knew the pain that would cause.

"Come Atty, maybe we can watch a movie?" he smiled. 

---

Attarah wondered through the baking heat of the Brazilian villa toward the kitchens. It felt bizarre and empty as she walked. Upon reaching her desired location she found chefs and servants bustling away yet they all stopped as she entered and looked at her.

"Hello" she smiled and they all nodded, they stood as if they were waiting for something yet Attarah did not know what. Everyone who was left behind was acting oddly toward her, as though they all knew something which she did not. Luckily Miranda rushed to the rescue like always.

"Get back to work everyone," she stated and they turned away. Attarah smiled and hugged her handmaiden.

"Who is all the food for? Surely I cannot eat that alone." the future queen giggled and Miranda smiled softly.

" Forgive me for not asking permission Atty, but the servants and I wished to eat with you tonight so that you are not alone. Is that what you would like, they are all very excited?"

"oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you, Miranda. Come and walk with me? The weather is far too nice to stay indoors." she smiled and they made their way out of the house onto the hard beach that became softer as they walked. "what will happen to them?"

"What do you mean Attarah?"

"When I become a vampire. What will happen to the human servants, and to you?" she asked in worry.

"They will stay, even if we do not need to feed you, we will still have jobs tidying and making the beds. Even being personal shoppers for the females when the sun is out."

"That seems interesting. What about you?" she queried in worry as they reached the beach and began to walk along the water.

"Well you won't have a use for me anymore and they can't leave me with my knowledge. I will either have to turn or remain working in the castle until I naturally die."

"Which would you prefer Miranda? You've been the first true friend I ever had, you stuck around me here when I really needed you. If you want to be a vampire, I can make that happen. And if not, I can make you stay human in the castle."

"Thank you Attarah, I do not know what I wish for yet. It would be nice to become a vampire though I worry it will be hard."

"I know. I am excited to be one because I'll finally be equal with everyone else, I won't be the frail one." she smiled in longing.

"The Kings will always treat you like glass Atty." she smiled.

"But I'm worried, the idea of not feeling this warmth on my skin, of not being able to walk around amongst the humans and enjoy my life. Normal." she sighed.

"What about children?"

That was the ultimate question for Attarah, it meant a lot for her to answer truthfully for the first time. She'd thought about it a lot over the course of her human days in Volterra .

"Having a child is something that I never knew I wanted, not until it was taken away from me. I was content on my own but the more I think about holding a warm bundle of my flesh and blood, the more I want it. I've been trying to ignore the idea but in my dreams, I see that angelic face and I find myself considering how it could be possible. The King's would never raise a human child, they wouldn't look after one that did not belong to them and they are infertile. "she sighed and looked at the sea.

" if adoption is what you would like Attarah, I'm sure they'll allow you it have it. The king would go to the ends of the earth to please you. It would be hard for the of course. Especially Marcus, the servants informed me that he's always longed to produce a child of his own."

" Marcus would make an absolutely brilliant father. They all would."

"let's talk about something else Atty, I do not want to upset you. In any way."

"What is the secret that everyone is hiding Miranda? The servants whisper but fall silent when I look and Felix is obviously nervous but I do not know why?"

"I do not think I can tell you that mistress Attarah."

"Why not? What's it about Miranda?"

"It's about the King's ... And your family."