elegance | victoria sutherland

vingt-trois

very slight aspects of depression and suicide are mentioned within this chapter.

"i can't believe you left, just like that. what about us, what about charlie. how do you think he feels that you just vanished. and to go with her, i'm astounded! how was bella supposed to enjoy her wedding after you've run off with a human-eating vampire that wanted to kill her? now she's at her honeymoon - in brazil - somewhere i'm sure someone like victoria would never let you experience. we still need to change her, and remember, her senses will be heightened for the first few months, and i know no one will stop her if she comes after you. anyways, isn't the volturi after victoria? after all, she did create a newborn army, or did you forget?"

the sound of alice's voice being cut of was a joy to the witch's ears. to think she could say that after everything she had done to the girl? it left sequoia almost speechless.

"sequoia!" a voice chirped, the figure came through the door, "i bought some food on the way back."

the blonde gave victoria a questioning look, "you bought groceries?"

"no."

the witch chuckled at the blunt response, thanking the vampire as she placed - or threw - the bags full of food on the kitchen counter "victoria?" she asked, receiving a small hum in response, "edward told the volturi it was you who started the newborn army, do you think-"

"i don't think so," the woman cut her off, "you would hopefully see something if it did happen, or i'd sense danger approaching."

"i did see something," sequoia started, "it wasn't too bad, it was just the volturi bringing the situation up."

"do tell."

-

"who is this victoria?" questioned a brunette man, one of the older looking kings of the volturi.

"we have no description of her," the raven-haired vampire commented, "those cullens are no help, didn't even fix the situation."

"has the girl been turned yet?"

"caius! this is not the time to be talking about that human."

"isn't the witch her sister?"

the trio went dead silent at the sentence, looking at each other, seeming to share their thoughts.

"shame her mother had to pass, miss vespera was a nice lady - could've introduced her daughter sooner."

"then she wouldn't be affiliated with the swan girl," growled the blonde one, "we could use our relationship with her mother to tell us of this 'victoria'"

"then cullens would have fed her their thoughts about us to her, it'd take a lot of convincing to gain her trust."

"or maybe she doesn't enjoy the cullen's company. we need to find her, send some guards to forks. once we do, marcus," the vampire in the middle turned to the brown-haired one, "i need you to go over there, see her relationship with the cullens and the human."

"what if she's not there."

a wicked smirk appeared on his face, "threaten to the boy that we'll kill his mate if they don't tell us."

-

"they won't find us here," victoria stated, "the cullens don't know of our whereabouts."

"what about alice, could she have seen where you were, without me around?"

"i didn't stray too far off while hunting, i'm sure your shield was still in place."

sequoia sighed, conflicted with her emotions about the possible future. she already told herself to refuse anything putting victoria in danger - the woman had done too much to help her, there was no way the witch would betray her like that. but then again, how strong was she against vampires? could she protect victoria if needed?

-

it was always her.

bella.

bella.

bella.

always the favourited sister. why never me?

sequoia could see her, her red eyes staring directly at her. they looked menacing, not the usual golden-coloured eyes she was used to.

there was a mirror beside them, contrasting the differences between the sisters. the witch's aura was golden, her half of the mirror was enhanced with light. it contrasted the darkness of bella's, a gloomy, demeaning tone split the mirror in half.

"i've lost my daughter, my only daughter," the girls heard a voice cry. it was charlie, just receiving the news that bella didn't make it.

it pained the blonde girl that he didn't consider her as his daughter. maybe it was for the better, the disappearance of her wouldn't affect him.

the room went dark, the mirror's split was moving over to sequoia's half. the darkness was taking over her. it pained her, muscles twitched from their tightness, bruises appeared on her body.

bella's eyes gazed down at her, full of hatred and disgust. those burgundy irises, so similar to the one who loved her. her body continued to ache, she pounded on the cold floor, wanting anything to relieve the pain.

she looked up at her sister, whose hair was growing curlier, longer. it was appearing lighter as her skin projected more warm tones. it was victoria, staring at her with the same look bella would always give her.

"no, no, no."

"alice was right, wasn't she? they treated you bad, i used that to my advantage. little, naïve, sequoia."

"stop!"

"sequoia," she spat, leaning down to her level. "could never wake up from her nightmare."

-

the blonde girl gasped, opening her eyes to see the same bed she woke up in previously. she sat up, rather abruptly as her face met with a very hard shoulder.

"ow," she mumbled, rubbing her nose from the impact.

"darling?" victoria questioned, a slight english accent peeking through. she noticed sequoia's watery eyes, wondering if it was from the dream or her shoulder.

"vic?" the witch sobbed, wiping the tears that were now falling. the vampire pulled her in a tight embrace, as tight as possible without crushing the girl.

she placed her chin on the blonde's head, rubbing her back to calm her down. "i can't do this, i cant do this," she heard the younger girl mumble under her breath, she repeated the four words over, and over again.

victoria didn't want to overwhelm the girl, so they stayed in that position until her sobs quieted down.

"i'm not his daughter, he said i'm not his daughter," sequoia whispered, so quietly even then vampire could barely hear.

the redhead refrained from making a snarky remark towards her father, such as 'do you want to be on the same level as bella?' or 'if bella is the standard, i wouldn't want to be his daughter anyways'. she feared it'd make the situation worse, she didn't know sequoia's relationship with charlie, and how she viewed it herself. "it was just a dream, my love."

the witch loved the feeling of victoria's cool body temperature against her flushed cheeks. she wrapped her arms around the vampire's waist even tighter, enjoying the feeling it brought her.

"it's still night, you need rest while it's dark."

"stay with me?" sequoia asked, her voice muffled against the redhead's chest.

"of course." victoria laid the girl down, grabbing a few books for entertainment during the night. it was unknown if she was going to stay with the blonde girl all night, but for the time being, the witch's face was hidden in the crook of the vampire's neck, wrapping a loose arm around her waist. sequoia felt safe with victoria, smiling widely before drifting off to sleep.

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