SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

S E I

Cecilia found that the wind was even more cutting than it normally was, or maybe it was the prospect of her more than likely nearing death that made everything seem more cruel. At least the snow had stuck, which meant the wind didn't carry much of it and allowed her to see more than a couple of feet.

Her heart was hammering against her chest like a hummingbird flapping its wings and her throat felt like an invisible hand was squeezing it shut. She tried to find support in her family's presence, but the thought of the Volturi made her world spin and her stomach churn. She'd never had a panic attack before, but she could imagine it as something like this.

Her father squeezed her hand softly, and with that simple gesture, her panic reached a new level. It meant that the Old Ones and the Elite Guard had arrived. She bit on her lip, thought twice of it and turned to Jasper. Their eyes met  and a false sense of security settled over her. She let out a shaky sigh and turned back around.

She was standing in the middle, in between her mother and father. Edward, Bella, Nessie and Jake stood next to Esmee and Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie next to Carlisle. Quite the coven they made, Cecilia thought to herself, vampires, humans and wolves. Sweet irony.

After a couple of seconds she saw them as well, a black dot nearing them at a dangerous speed. It was a painful reminder of her human limits.

"Carlisle, my friend," the man in the middle said  in a cheerful tone as soon as the two covens stood in front of each other. He'd combed his long black hair back over his shoulders and his milky red eyes immediately fell on Cecilia's frame. He let out a surprised gasp, as if he hadn't heard three live heartbeats instead of two miles away. "Another human."

Uh-oh, was all Cecilia could think, that sounded a lot less cheerful already. She recognised the three Old Ones immediately. The spokesman was Aro, the vampire looking at her like he wanted to snap neck right this moment was Caius and Marcus was the one acting out the living embodiment of boredom. She took an educated guess on the boy and the girl with similar childish faces being Jane and Alec, or the evil twins, as Rose called them. The man matching Emmett's bear like posture must be Felix, which only left the worlds best tracker, Demetri.

As soon as their eyes met, burgundy red contrasting sharply with sea blue, Cecilia felt a jolt pulse through her body. Like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes snapped back to Aro, a small gasp of air caught in the back of her throat.

"This is Cecilia Roseanne Cullen," her father introduced her. "Esmee and I found her seventeen years ago, abandoned in the middle of the forest."

"And instead of dropping her at the nearest orphanage, you decided to raise her," Caius spat. Cecilia had never heard a voice so angry and hateful and she had to suppress the urge to flinch. "You exposed yourself to yet another human. An unpredictable child at that!"

"Calm yourself, brother," Aro said. It surprised Cecilia how easily the man switched roles, but then again, he was the oldest vampire roaming this planet. He'd had centuries to master this. "I am absolutely positive the Cullens would not dare to do something that would put us all in danger. Now, may I, Carlisle?"

Cecilia watched her father nod and place his hand into Aro's. Much like Alice did when she had a vision, the man zoned out, lost in Carlisle's memories.

"Very interesting indeed," Aro said. His eyes snapped from Carlisle to Cecilia, and she felt a shiver crawl down her spine. "May I?"

She pulled off her glove and stuck her hand outside her cloak, pale, nails freshly painted in a cream pink colour and a single ring on her ring finger, a present for her fourteenth birthday. The Alaskan cold instantly took a liking to her skin, but Aro's hands were worse, almost biting her skin. The ancient vampire zoned out again.