SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

O T T O

The Volterra castle was beautiful. Cecilia might not like the Volturi, not even in the slightest, but she had to admit they had a feeling for style. Her eyes fell on the sculpture in the middle of the entrance hall, recognizing the piece immediately as Heracles fighting the Nemean lion. The strained muscles of Heracles, the way the lion's mouth was forced open as if both could continue their struggle live any moment.

"Nerd," she heard Felix mutter. That simple word made a wave of homesickness crash over her and when she looked over her shoulder, only to see the giant smirk in a way that reminded her painfully of Emmett, she bit her lip hard to prevent her from bursting out in tears again.

Her goodbyes at home had been painful, especially with the knowledge that she would be turned sooner than they all had expected, in Volterra surrounded by strange vampires instead of in the comforts of her own home with the people she loved. But at least, she was still alive. She knew it was better for her family for her to be in Volterra, than six feet under, but she wasn't too sure yet.

They walked through corridors only lit by the torches that hung on the wall, the only audible sound coming from the heels over her boots. The vampires surrounding her made no sound as they moved, as if they wanted to make her aware of just how human she was once again. Cecilia concluded they were doing a great job at that.

Her eyes moved over a painting of a young woman sprawled over her bed, the devil sitting on top of her chest and sucking the life from her. It sent a shiver down her spine and quickly she diverted her eyes. They sure keep an odd collection of art, she thought to herself.

The corridors seemed to stretch for miles, one ending in another. They took so many lefts and rights, that Cecilia didn't even know in which part of the castle she was now. They could be walking in endless circles and she wouldn't even know. For all her talents and abilities, she had absolutely no feeling for direction.

She watched Alec and Jane turn into white blurs as they all of a sudden disappeared. When she blinked, Felix had left as well. Demetri was walking next to her, an appropriate distance between them.

Demetri cleared his throat, though she had absolutely no idea why he would do such a human thing. "Their presence is required," he said after a moment of silence. She felt his red eyes burning on the side of her face. "And I am sorry for the way Alec woke you."

She shrugged, only then realising she had never seen the Old Ones leave the jet. They must have before she'd woken. After all, she was only human and they were the royalty of this world. She was positive they had more pressing matters. "It wasn't exactly your fault."

Demetri only hummed, the sound causing her skin to erupt in goosebumps. "I will show you around the castle in the morning," he said. "I am sure you want to sleep first, so I will show you to my room."

"Your room?" she repeated, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. This time she did crane and turned her neck, trying not to feel intimidated by the way Demetri looked at her. She was once again taken aback by his beauty and with an awkward cough, she redirected her eyes to the pair of doors they were walking to.

"My room, yes," Demetri said, confirming that she'd heard him just right. From the sound of his voice she just knew he was smirking, making her heart flutter nervously. "Unless you prefer the dungeons, of course."

"Uh, no," she said, absolutely despising herself for not even being able to say a single word without stuttering. She didn't understand where her sudden uncomfortableness and awkwardness was coming from. She'd met countless vampires, some more creepy than others, but she was even able to strike a nice conversation with Vladimir and Stefan. Why couldn't she think of something decent to say to the tracker next to her? She wondered if she should call Bella and ask the girl if she felt oddly social since her departure. Maybe their social abilities had been swapped in some sort of magical way. It sure felt like it.