The Story Of Sarelle: The Immortal Years »

Chapter 33

28th April 2048

Dates are important. As humans we had all measured our lives through dates. Birthdays, dentist appointments, engagement parties, when to sow certain seeds. Yet as soon as we changed we somehow forgot the importance of noting where in time we are.

Today was the 28th April 2048. It was just a day to many. Maybe in the world somewhere it would be a day that changed someone's life but to many it would just be another day that passes by and goes unnoticed. That distinction is even less for vampires. For us a day can pass in a second, a blip in time, or it can feel like an entire year. For me the 28th April 2048 was like the latter.

Only yesterday we had found Alfie dead and yet already he was forgotten in favour of more pressing things. But for all the plans I knew I should be making I couldn't tear my mind away from the lifeless hue of his skin. The way his body lay limp and heavy amongst the moss and earth. I had killed my fair share of humans while I struggled with my thirst, and they faces still haunted me, but there was something about Alfie's death that tormented. Was it because I hadn't been able to save him? Or was it simply because I felt he had deserved better? The questions bounced around in my head as the others talked of allies and hiding places.

"You're quiet," Aslo nudged me gently as he joined me leaning against the wall.

"Just being sentimental, I suppose," I murmured. He had always teased me for letting my emotions overcome me but he surprised me when his arm slipped around my shoulder.

"These are trying times, kvetina, some sentimentality may stop us all from losing our minds." His words were soft against my skin. We hadn't spoken like this in so long I had thought I'd lost him to our fight over Edward.

"You haven't called me Kvetina, in a long time."

"I thought perhaps we had outgrown it."

"I don't think that could ever happen." I snuggled closer into the nook of his shoulder, inhaling the fresh scent I had always associated with Aslo and home.

"No, I suppose not. Too much time has passed between us to allow that."

I looked over the people in front of me and I thought perhaps we measured our lives, not through time, but through the moments we share with the people we love. And I loved these people in front of me more than I could bare. I had found the family I had always wanted, and I was watching as danger creeped from every side.

Rose and Jasper stood studying the timeline Carlisle and I had put together now he had brought it down from the office. Her porcelain face puckered as she traced the links between the points, discussing how we could use our knowledge to our advantage. She sounded so sure we could win, perhaps because the thought of anything else was too painful to consider. But I knew Jasper had considered it, even now I could see by the way he glanced at Alice he was thinking how far he would go to save this family. Would he put her at risk for the chance to save us all?

As I watched them pour over the brief glimpses of time we'd been given, I felt an itch tickle the back of my mind. That timeline wasn't the only one we had of what was coming. There was another pinned to a west wall of an office, far from here. In time and location.

"I'm going to head back to the house." I said to Aslo as I leant away from my shelter in his arms.

"I'll come with you."

"You should stay. You know about the Volturi, almost as much as Carlisle. They could do with some of that insight." I responded as I touched his arm in reassurance.

He nodded with a grave smile, "be careful. We still don't know who's out there."

"I always am."