Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries

Unhappily

Unhappily - un·hap·pi·ly - /ˌənˈhapəlē/

1. in an unhappy manner

2. unfortunately

Odessa stared at the marble floor of the throne room with a vacant look in her eyes. She looked despondent, but judging by the way her head bobbed harshly every now and then, she was paying attention to Aro's and Caius's words. Her arm hung limply against her side and her fingers twitched occasionally in response to certain words and tonal cues in their voices. Her hair curtained around her face, hiding her from the prying eyes in the room, hiding her from one set of eyes in particular. She ignored his presence and focused on counting the number of small black specs ingrained in the floor. She was hungry, thirsty, and more than annoyed at every little sound and source of light. She was jittery and had to move her fingers to keep herself from lunging at someone and getting herself in trouble. She was at 1,243 black specs when she heard a loud thud and jolted in her spot. She looked up slowly and saw Aro tightly gripping his seat. She stared at him as he glared at her, annoyed with her lack of attention.

"As I was saying," he continued, "I hope you spent your time reflecting on your actions and on your inappropriate behavior. While it was not my intention to leave you there for so long, I felt it was needed to remedy the problem we had."

He paused to allow her to say something - to affirm that she had reflected on her behavior before he continued his spiel. He was slightly disappointed she didn't show a lick of emotion and worried the isolation had affected her too much. He knew the punishment was a bit harsh, but Caius had insisted it would do her some good. Aro had some concerns, but he didn't want to step on his brother's toes, especially given how much they argued over the hybrid already. The last thing he needed was for Caius to have a fit over something trivial. He frowned inwardly and made a mental note to address her mental needs later. The last thing he needed was an unemotional member of his elite guard.

"I see that you are quite quiet today," he remarked. "No matter. There is a task I want you to complete. If you complete it successfully, I will give you your arm back and I will take you off the temporary probation I have put you on. If you fail to complete it successfully, you will be demoted to a castle guard and will not receive your arm back. We have no room for failure within our elite guard, and we do not reward failure. Do you understand, Odessa?"

She nodded her head quietly.

"I need a vocal affirmation," Aro said.

"I understand," Odessa whispered.

"Good," Aro said shortly.

"You would do well to remember your place in this coven," Caius snarked. "Another disobedient outburst such as the one you had will result in termination. Are we clear?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"You are dismissed for now. Jane will debrief you on your task," Aro told her. "Jane, be a dear and take Odessa to the kitchen first before taking her to your room."

"Yes, Master," Jane said. She walked away from Aro's side and walked toward Odessa. She told Odessa to follow her and proceeded out of the room. She walked toward the kitchen, not even thinking to wait for Odessa to trudge forward and follow her. Jane reached the kitchen first and was glad to see one of the disposable humans eating a bowl of fettuccine. The man smiled uneasily at her and tried to ignore her overpowering presence. Odessa entered the kitchen a minute later and froze at the sight of the man. Her mouth salivated at the sight of his tanned skin slicked with nervous droplets of sweat and watched as his Adam's apple bobbed from an anxious swallow. A growl ripped out of her throat, and she lunged for him. He screamed as she grabbed him in a vice grip and sunk her teeth into his neck, sucking the blood out of his veins and basking in the sweet and iron taste. A groan of pleasure bubbled out of her mouth as the thick liquid ran down her esophagus and a groan of irritation bubbled out of her mouth as the blood bag ran dry. She threw the body to the side and made to run out of the kitchen and find another blood source when a hand latched onto her arm. Odessa turned towards the perpetrator and growled warningly. Jane stared at her unimpressed and slapped her across the face. Odessa's head sharply turned to the side and the cloudy haze of thirst cleared from her mind.