Two days earlier

I smiled as I waved goodbye to my friends before bundling my coat around me tightly as I headed out into the cool night. The dim lights lighting my path reminded me of that first encounter I'd had with Demetri and I smiled despite myself.

I had run into Demetri in the hotel garden every night since that first night we had sat and talked. And every night, we did the exact same thing - just sat and talked about everything from art to philosophy, laughing occasionally... or, well, more like frequently. It could be argued that I was waiting for him after dinner every day because I knew he would, or at least I wanted him to, come by. But that wasn't entirely true. Tonight for example, a Friday night, I had gone out with my classmates and curiously tried my first ever alcoholic drink. It still boggled me a little to know it was perfectly legal for me to do so in Europe and I was even a little amused at my own guilty conscience for drinking 'underage'. Not that two sips of beer really counted as drinking much. I'd stayed late, enjoying the company but when it started becoming a little too raucous and loud, I decided to head back early.

Daisy had offered to go with me, but I knew she wanted to stay, knew she was hoping for a little more time with Cornelius, the British boy in our class whom I knew she had a small crush on. Not that I blamed her - with his dark hair, blue-green eyes and quiet manners, he was definitely a catch. So I waved her away, urging her to stay. Our hotel really wasn't that far and it wasn't so late that I would be in much danger going back alone. She nodded, somewhat reluctantly, and forced me to promise to text her as soon as I got back to my room. I had laughingly agreed before leaving what was slowly turning into a drunken karaoke session at the pub we'd crowded into.

As I'd predicted, I had no trouble getting back to the hotel. But I paused on my way up to my room. Something, call it pitiful hope, drew me to the garden and I told myself I was just making sure he wasn't there. Because I knew he wouldn't be. Right. I hadn't managed to convince myself and I couldn't deny my heart leapt when I saw the familiar dark figure sitting in the seat where we normally chatted the night away. His eyes were fixed on the cloudy sky where just the hint of the moon was peeking through the dark shadows. But as I came closer, it appeared he heard me as he slowly tilted his head back down to stare right at me.

"Hi." I said awkwardly and his lips curved up into his customary smirk.

"Hello."

I tried not to melt at his smooth voice. I think I partially succeeded.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, glad that my voice gave nothing away. He still seemed to sense the effect he had on me as his grin took on an entertained quality but I ignored that in favour of listening to his reply.

"Why would I not be here? It is a beautiful night and now I have lovely company to complete my evening."

I scoffed at his light flattery but I couldn't deny I was a little bit pleased. Demetri had turned out to be quite an intelligent man with unending knowledge about all the subjects we delved into. I wasn't about to snub his attentions when I was very aware I had been lucky to be able to meet Demetri during my trip to Italy. Besides, Niki would get a total kick out of it when I told her about the handsome foreigner I met even if I had no intention of turning this into a holiday fling. I wasn't that bold even if Demetri ever made an attempt at it; not that he had so far.

"So, you have been here for nearly a week already, Mia." Demetri began as I settled into the seat beside him like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Have you enjoyed your stay in Italy so far?"

"You already know I have."

He smiled at my response before he tilted his head curiously. "But I also know you have not explored the city and all its riches very much during your stay."

"Yeah." I sighed regretfully. "But I did come here with the goal of studying so I guess it just is what it is. Daisy and I have made plans to try and take a look around the local attractions this weekend if we can, although with the homework we've been assigned we'll have to see if we can get around to it."

Demetri grinned, likely enjoying the fact that I had to suffer through homework. I wrinkled my nose at him - he wasn't that old for him to be making fun of me about school. I doubted he'd been out of college that long so really, he should be more sympathetic to my pain. I said as much to him, making him laugh that tinkling laugh I was getting a bit too attached to.

"You have my deepest sympathies for your trials, Mia." He chuckled after he had his laughter under control. I pouted and he smiled at me indulgently.

"So, what do you plan to do this weekend if you are able to?"

"Not sure yet." I admitted thoughtfully, leaning back in my chair to look up at the sky. "Although I heard that Sunday is St. Marcus Day so we'll probably try to go out at least in the evening."

Demetri seemed to tense just a little bit at my words but when I looked over at him properly he was completely relaxed. I shrugged it off and continued, "So we'll likely go out for that. Is it true people dress up in red cloaks and dress like vampires?"

"Yes." Demetri responded slowly, as though weighing every word. "Although the dressing up is mostly in the evening when the celebrations reach their peak."

"Have you ever joined in?" I asked curiously, wanting more details on the event before I went. Daisy was so looking forward to it but to be honest, I'd become a little bit sick of vampires and wasn't certain the reminder of their existence was worth whatever fun we might have.

"No." Demetri answered rather shortly and I peered at him in confusion. As though sensing that, he looked at me a little bit apologetically. "My apologies, I did not mean to sound so rude. My work typically keeps me inside during St. Marcus Day."

"Oh. Why?" I ask blankly, not understanding. He smiles a little bit but for once it doesn't feel quite genuine.

"I am part of the organizing party. I cannot enjoy the festivities as my primary responsibility is to help maintain the peace." He answered.

I nodded slowly. It was an odd way to phrase it but I guessed he was probably working behind the scenes and couldn't take the time to join the festival while he ensured all the guests who crowded the city were able to enjoy his hard work. I was a bit disappointed as I'd intended to invite him to join us, but I shrugged it off.

"Well, that's unfortunate but I guess I'll appreciate it all the more knowing you worked hard on the preparations." I smiled and Demetri's lips curved slightly. "Is that why you're in Volterra?"

"Hm, partly." He didn't answer me directly, which puzzles me, but he deftly changes the subject before I could ask. "I could give you a tour of the city while you're here, if you'd like."

"Really?" I asked, surprised, and Demetri nodded.

"It would have to wait for when I am not so... busy, but I would be honoured to show you the best of Volterra." He grinned as a wide, excited smile spread across my face. A tour by a (kind of) local was definitely sure to be better than just wandering aimlessly. And he would surely know the best spots and sights to see in the city if he really was as familiar with the city as he hinted he was.

"If you're just trying to be nice, you'd better backtrack your words now, Demetri." I told him seriously, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice. "Because I am definitely going to hold you to your word!"

Demetri laughed again, making me join in giddily.

"I do not make empty promises, Mia. You have my word."

*********

Present

I start shaking as we walk through the hallway for a second time. It gets progressively worse with every step we take back the way I had come with Daisy, and by the time Alec has shown us to the door, I'm trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"We ask that you don't linger in the city." Alec informs us as he stops by the door. His tone is warm and friendly, and I cringe at being treated like an old friend by someone who just murdered a group of innocents.

Edward is thankfully honest as he answers in a voice devoid of any false pleasantry, "That won't be a problem."

Alec smiles. With one last cursory look in my and Alice's direction, the boyish vampire turns and disappears back into the castle. The pretty green-eyed woman at the reception desk calls after us sweetly, "The lobby is two floors down, and exits to the street. Goodbye, now."

Edward and Alice barely acknowledge the woman's words as they lead Bella and I away from the castle. I meanwhile have to mentally block the woman out because I'm on the verge of passing out and if I have any say in it, I refuse to do so inside the Volturis' home.

The festival is in full swing in the streets as the sun finally set. I hadn't realized we were gone that long but people are bringing out lamps just as we re-enter the throng of human crowds. It should have been reassuring to be back amongst my own kind - or, at least, away from the monsters. But everyone is dressed up for the festival, with so many people wearing long dark cloaks that Edward doesn't stand out in the slightest with his trailing grey cloak. But it's the sight of plastic fangs in people's mouths that really does it for me.

We've only reached the side street of the palazzo when I crumple, hugging the wall as I fall to my knees to Bella's alarm.

"Mia?!" Bella cries, reaching for me in concern. I push her away harshly - but not before she sees I'm in tears.

"Oh, Mia." She flutters her hands helplessly. "Mia, it's okay... it's-"

"If you say it's okay one more time, I will punch you in the face, Bells." I gasp out harshly, wiping at my eyes but that only seems to encourage my tears to stream down faster.

"Mia."

Edward's tone is a tad disapproving although he's mostly pitying as he remains standing behind Bella. He's the only one who knows exactly how hard seeing the festivities is, having seen all my memories in Aro's head. It's also why he keeps back, I know. Meanwhile my clueless twin falls to her knees in front of me and tries to take me into her arms. I push her away again.

"Mia, we made it out." Bella tries to reassure me, not fully understanding.

She wouldn't, I thought bitterly; it wasn't like Bella had ever contacted me after I arrived in Italy. Once upon a time, there had been no secrets between me and my twin. But now, Bella had no idea just how close Daisy and I had grown in the past week. She had no clue what Demetri's involvement in what we had just witnessed meant to me. Heck, she clearly hadn't even remembered I was in Volterra.

"Just go away." I growl at her but Bella's persistent in her attempts to hug me or soothe me.

"Mia, we're safe now. You don't have to worry-"

"Just go away, and leave me alone!" I scream at her. "I respected your space , so respect mine!"

Bella pulls back, hurt, and I see Edward bristle from behind her.

My anger and pain flares in reaction to the judgement I see in his eyes, and I hurl my memories at him of all the god-awful months that had followed the Cullens' disappearance. I dredge up every minute detail of the weeks Bella had sat around like an empty shell, barely eating and not even crying as she just remained in a catatonic state. Edward cringes away and he turns quickly, wanting to escape the pain I'm scalding him with in my own desperate attempt to just be alone. I don't want him, or even sweet Alice, or my well-meaning but ignorant sister. They didn't know Daisy, they don't know what it feels like to stand by helplessly while knowing their friend is being mauled. Knowing that the two Cullens might understand how it feels to be the one doing the mauling is absolutely no consolation to me. Especially since I doubt the Volturi feel even the slightest bit guilty for it the way I know the Cullens would have once the bloodlust left them. The fact that I've just signed my own death certificate is just the icing on the cake.

I hear Edward speaking quietly to Alice and Bella, encouraging them to leave as I want so desperately for them to do. I can hear Alice isn't happy at all with Edward's suggestion while Bella is uncertain, but Edward finally convinces them and they depart while I continue to sob on the edge of the street.

The moment they're out of sight, disappearing between many cloaked individuals, I break down completely without any regard for the people around me. The pain of Daisy's death cuts into me all over again as I finally, really address it instead of just repeating the horrifying picture over and over again in my head. The knowledge that she's truly gone sets in, drags down my stomach and cracks my heart. But the worst part is the realization that it's not even Daisy's death that's killing me. It's the fact that Demetri was there, that he hadn't batted an eye when she walked away from me to the slaughter room, that he had gone off to eat someone like my friend was eaten, that has me crying hysterically.

It seems a little ridiculous, but I realize I feel betrayed. I'm fully aware of just how ridiculous that is given he is still basically a stranger, but as I sob my heart out, I know that the logic isn't going to ease the emotional distress. If anything, it's making it worse. And I realize that if knowing I had just condemned myself to death within the next year is the icing on the cake, then his betrayal is the blood-red cherry on top. Because, despite the fact that I barely knew him, I had trusted him. Despite knowing little about him, I had grown to trust the man I had spent every evening with. I had trusted the deep conversations we'd had about anything from art to philosophy, I had trusted his genuine interest in my life, I had trusted his smile, I had trusted his offer of comfort and I had trusted him, unknowingly, with part of my heart. I had come to see the mysterious stranger who made me laugh and could warm me inside like few people in the world could as a friend, maybe even seen a potential for more.

I've had my heart broken before; it's nothing compared to this. Because finding out that Demetri is little more than a monster... it hurt. It hurt more than I ever thought it could. My stomach rolls with disgust for myself and I'm scared I'm going to be sick as the screams from before ring in my ears all over again. I squeeze my eyes shut, hands over my ears in vain, and try my hardest to hold it together. I don't think I'm that successful and cold sweat has broken out all over my body as I try not to hurl.

Something ice cold suddenly touches my forehead, and I freeze.

'I thought I told them to leave!'

I push myself away from the cold hand that, admittedly, felt pretty good and succeeded at stabilizing my stomach. Wiping my eyes, I turn to glare at who I assume to be Edward, back after being convinced by Bella that I shouldn't be alone. Nothing could have prepared me for who I saw.

I suck in a sharp breath, almost falling back on my butt in my haste to put some distance between me and Demetri. He just watches me with a completely unreadable expression, so still as he remains kneeling down in front of me that he could have been carved from marble. All the signs I had dismissed before are now so obvious it's painful but all I want to do is punch him. I would have, if I didn't know that I was going to be the one with broken bones.

"Get away from me." I hiss and his eyes narrow at me. I see a flash of anger and that pushes me over the line I had been barely keeping myself inside. Who does he think he is to be angry?

"I said, get AWAY FROM-!"

Demetri cuts me off with a hand over my mouth quickly.

"If you know what's good for all the people in this courtyard, you will not scream and you will control what you say." He hisses at me, his tone cold and his gaze icy as he stared right into my eyes.

I wish more than anything that I had the ability to kill with my eyes; as it is, my glare does intensify but I don't dare risk Demetri making good on his promise. There's a part of me that doubts he would kill so openly... but I'm not about to gamble with innocent people's lives. I push him off, and he lets me go although he watches closely to make sure I don't start screaming again.

I don't, but I also turn away from him as I push myself shakily to my feet and try to move away from him. He stops me by stepping right in my path and I give him another death glare that doesn't faze him. He just continues to stare at me with those cold eyes and I don't recognize the man I spent the last week with in the creature standing in front of me. I curl my lips into a sneer. I shouldn't be surprised: of course once his gig was up, his mask would fall.

Demetri's eyes narrow slightly in response to my sneer but I ignore him as I turn, intending to walk away from him. His arm appears out of nowhere, blocking me and within seconds I realize he's caged me between his marble body and the stone wall. I glare up at him fiercely; it's a good thing he's now a complete stranger to me, I realize. If he looked anything like the man I had befriended, I know I wouldn't be able to hold onto my anger and would probably start crying all over again. But this red-eyed, cold monster is so different that all I feel is rage as I stare up into the blood-red eyes that even his dark contacts can't completely hide. Just another symbol of who he really is.

"Let me go." I say through gritted teeth.

"No."

"Let me go!" I push uselessly against his shoulders - it's like trying to move a wall. He doesn't look the slightest bit impressed and that sets me off.

"Let me go right now, you bastard!" I barely remember to keep my voice hushed but I don't hide the acid in my tone. "Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to hold me? To even talk to me after what you did! You lied and you murdered-"

"You're too emotional about this." He answered shortly and I rear my head back.

"Excuse me?!"

"You knew that girl for, what, a week?" He scoffed disdainfully. "That's nothing even by your mortal standards."

My eyes glint with fury but he just continues dispassionately, "Don't try and pin the blame on me for being what I am. You have only yourself to blame for failing to recognize me for what I am when you clearly knew of my kind."

My mouth falls open in disbelief. "What?"

"You can imagine my surprise yesterday when young Edward came before Master Aro and asked to be killed because his pitiful mortal love was dead."

I flinch, despite myself, at Demetri's harsh words. Not that he particularly cares.

"Isabella Swan from Forks, Washington. It wasn't difficult to connect her to you, and I was astounded you never realized what I was. The only possible explanation was that your sister had never divulged the secret to you. But clearly, you did know."

His eyes pierce me and I can't decide if I'm angrier at him or me. It's pretty even, because he's right: I hate myself for not having seen him for what he was. For not staying away. For not looking at Heidi until it was too late. Daisy is dead because of my own sheer stupidity. But she's also dead because this creature of the night in front of me just let her walk away.

"So what if I knew about va-" I catch myself and rephrase as Demetri's earlier warning rings in my head. His bared teeth are also a nice reminder (not).

"Knew about your kind? I don't go around thinking every guy who bumps into me is a supernatural being. And don't try turn this on me, Demetri. I might have been stupid enough to let Daisy go into that, that hellhole but you and yours are the reason she's dead!"

"We are what we are." Demetri responds without any remorse. My heart is cut deep at that but my anger overtakes my despair again at his next words. "You will do the same."

I'm already flat against the wall but I press even closer into it as I glare up at him and put as much distance between myself and this soulless devil.

"You're wrong." I hiss at him furiously. "I would rather die than be like you."

He frowns slightly at my words and he examines me intently. I don't understand what's bothering him but I'm not left confused for long as some kind of realization seems to dawn on him.

"You've already chosen."

I flinch in surprise at his words, my face betraying me as I pull a small grimace when Demetri continues in an almost accusing tone.

"The bargain you struck with Master Aro - you've already chosen. You chose death." His eyes glinted with fury while I resolutely refused to look at him. "If you were so decided, why make pretenses? I doubt you fooled Master Aro, he knows you have chosen, does he not? So why did you leave? Why lie?"

"I wasn't going to ask to be killed with my sister in the same room!" I snap back sharply. "And you have some nerve for calling me out for lying!"

"You are a coward as well as a fool!" Demetri snarled, his voice almost rising until he forced himself to lower it. "You will not even fight for your own life! You have been gifted with a choice, you can choose an immortal life, you would be welcomed by Master Aro himself-"

"I would rather die a hundred times," my voice is cold as I interrupt Demetri and fix him with a piercing look that makes him recoil just slightly in shock. "than live the life of a monster like you."

That's not one hundred percent true, I know - I'd be less of a monster if I joined the Cullens. But even then, I would be thought dead by my parents and my friends and I would never be able to risk reconnecting with them for fear of the secret getting out. I'd be leaving behind far too much for what I'd gain - an immortal life I never wanted, forever eighteen while my parents and friends grew old and died, unable to escape the burning in my throat that I would kill even my own father to quench. It wasn't worth it and I knew my choice was made because of that. An eternity of suffering versus instant death? If I could, I'd choose neither but with no other option? I wouldn't and hadn't hesitated.

"Now leave me alone!"

I push him with all my might. It doesn't do much but he does seem to register just how desperate I am as I continue viciously. "And if I ever see you again, I will cut my hand, my neck, anything, regardless of how many other people are around me. And you know I'm not bluffing, since I'm a dead woman walking anyway because. Of. You!"

I slip under his arm and make a dash for the crowds swirling about the streets. Demetri lets me go. I don't know if it's because of my threats, my insult or the fact that my voice had become hysterical toward the end and it was very obvious I was seconds away from breaking down. Whatever it is, he doesn't follow me as I shove my way blindly through the innocent people who have no idea that just one wall away lives an entire castle of the vampires they think are dead.