Midnight Solstice

Chapter 25

Photo: Alec Volturi, Katerina Morgynstein, Lorne Morgynstein, the Masters, and Michael Morgynstein (my edit)
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  After I finished talking with Katerina, I headed back to my chambers. I couldn't help but feel giddy at the fact that I get to have my mate all to myself for a whole week. I felt guilty that I would be leaving all of my work into the hands of Felix and Demetri, but I know that they can handle it and I am glad that they will do it so willingly.
  Honestly, they have been the only real friends that I had other than Jane in my whole existence. I never really knew what friends were until I met them. I've been pretty lonely all of my life. The villagers were too afraid of us to want to be anywhere near us and they never really liked us to begin with.
  But enough of my depressing past. I now have a future to look forward to, even though it is filled with hard decisions and problems at every twist and turn. It is very probable that my whole future will be a labyrinth full of dead ends and wrong turns but as long as I have Katerina close by, I will persevere through it, because my prize in the end will be greater than all the treasures that the world could give me.
I took my time walking through the halls. I only heard the sound of my footsteps against the stone floor and the light sound of my breathing. The lit torches attached the the walls dimly lit my way as I walked. It was late now, so the guard members were either on duty in the throne room with the masters or doing their own late night activities. The awful thoughts of Aro flooded my mind again and I immediately felt more guilt.
I can't wrap my head around the fact that he would've killed his own sister. I cannot picture him murdering his own flesh and blood but at the same time, I can see why he would. Although I have my own twist on that which puts my mind slightly at ease. I don't think that he killed Didyme to keep Marcus in the Volturi, I think he did it because he got scared that his family was falling apart and he didn't know what to do.
Of course, I can understand why that would be plausible better than anyone. I feared for the lives of my family, and in that fit of passion, killed my own father and let my mother and sister hide the body. I haven't always been like I have been since I met Katerina. The man I am now, is similar to the man I was before the incident with my father. I was much worse after I was turned. But that isn't something I should think about now.
When I entered my room, I turned on the light and flopped on my bed. I felt mentally exhausted. If I could sleep, I would have as soon as I hit the bed. This whole thing is very complicated. Never have I felt the stress that I am feeling now.
I wrapped the red and black blankets on my bed around myself up to the back of my neck and closed my eyes. I stayed like that for a while.
I got bored of that quickly and got up. I walked over to my desk and sat down on the stool in front of it. I picked up the sketch pad and an extra pencil on the desk and began drawing. For the next hour I just kept drawing whatever popped into my head. I became one with the pencil I drew with and it was as if the pencil was just an extension of my hand, moving effortlessly across the paper.
I made three drawings within that one hour. The first drawing was of the fountain that stood outside of the castle. On the ground in front of it sat a black cat staring curiously back at me with its head tilted to the side. I envisioned the cat to be Houdini; with his funky colored eyes staring back at me. I've gotten very attached to that cat. I used to not like any sort of animal very much at all, but once Katerina came along with her cat, things changed. But a lot has changed since she has came along. And I don't care. I think it's for the best anyway.
  The second drawing was of the outside of the castle from the point of view of someone standing on the edge of the fountain looking up at it. This drawing was pretty basic, and was very similar to some of my earlier drawings that I drew as a newborn. Those days are the days that I never want to revisit, but unfortunately my mind always wanders back to the past.
Back then, everything was also so new to me; the bloodlust, the heightened abilities, not to mention my gift which may have been the creepiest thing I had to come to terms with. The thought of taking away someone's senses frightened me, but still intrigued me as the years flew by.
But my drawings, though basic images that formed in my mind, were considered to be masterpieces. As I moved forward in life I changed my drawings as quick as the styles changed and soon enough, I had almost made a name for myself. I was very proud of my accomplishments but Aro was worried that I was too good. As in if I didn't stop making my artwork public soon, the humans would know vampires existed because of my exquisite talent and my looks that never aged. So I stopped and have been drawing for myself ever since.
I flipped to the next page in my sketch book to revel my third drawing. I smiled to myself as my eyes wandered around the piece, taking in every intricate detail that was placed perfectly on the page. My third drawing was of Katerina. She was gazing off into the distance at something far away. Whatever it was pleased her because I could see that I drew a small smile forming on her face.
Even though it was only a drawing, I could see the subtle blush in her cheeks and the joy in her eyes that held such wonder and mystery that it was almost impossible to not be interested in her from the start. Her long red locks were portrayed by thin grey lines on the paper that framed her face in a way that defined her looks even more.
   Satisfied with my drawings, I closed the sketch book and placed it down on the desk before standing up and going into the bathroom to wash the grey marks off my hands left from shading the drawings. Grey areas covered my hands in an almost metallic way when I moved my hands in the light. The soap turned a light grey color as I rubbed my hands together to get the grime off. I dried my hands and exited the bathroom.
  At that point it was about eleven o'clock at night, so I decided to change my clothes for the next day. Often enough, I end up running around my room around this time of night finding clothing to wear because Aro, or someone else will call me about the Morgynstein case when I'm least expecting it. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to change my clothes now while I have a free minute.
I didn't pick out my usual attire that I would wear around here since I would be traveling to Rio with Katerina. Instead, I grabbed a dark red tee shirt, and a pair of denim pants. I was told those are called "jeans" but correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not comfortable with the modern slang used in today's languages. I went into the bathroom and quickly changed.
  I then pulled my suitcase out of the closet and began packing. I packed a couple of shirts, some pairs of pants and shorts, and my swim trunks before putting in my sketch pad, pencils, and any other little things that I may need.  I took the suitcase by the handle and carried it to the door, placing it against the wall.
  The minute I got to the door, a set of panicked knocks rapped loudly from the other side of it. I turned the door knob slowly, confused as to why someone would be coming to my room at this time of night in a state of panic, and I automatically assumed the worst of whoever was on the opposite side of the door. I didn't realize it was Katerina until after she flung herself into my arms and I got a face full of red curls. She began to sob quietly into my chest.
   "Shh...Shh...what's upsetting you love?" I asked her as I brushed her hair out of my face and pushed the door closed with my foot. She just sobbed louder. I sighed.
   "I can't help you to feel better if you don't tell me why you are so upset." Katerina picked her head up off of my chest so she could look at me. She tried to stop crying, but her attempt to calm down failed when she began to hyperventilate. After what seemed like a very long time, her sobs began to subside and her breathing went back to normal.
"I had a really awful dream and...a lot of bad things happened..." She sniffed.
"What kind of bad things?" I asked her, stroking the back of her head. She picked her head up slightly.
"I dreamt that I was back with my father somewhere, strapped on one of the old hospital beds that he sometimes had. I had just woken up there, and it was dark and I didn't know what was going on. All of a sudden this spotlight turned on right above the bed. Then I saw my father walking towards me with a needle. He said that it wouldn't hurt for long, and it would be over before I knew it."
"I knew that I couldn't handle that again, not after being able to escape from him and knowing what life is really like as opposed to what happened there. I tried to break free from the restraints that were wrapped around me, but I couldn't. I screamed for you, and Lorne, and anyone else who could have helped me...but no one came.
"It was only when the needle broke into a vein that I realized that you, and everyone I had ever cared about were burning in a great big pile on the opposite side of the room. The pain that went through me wasn't anything compared to the pain of that. And the pain felt so real. I scared my cat half to death when I woke up screaming and flailing everywhere." Katerina pulled my body closer to her and started to cry once more.
"It was just a dream pet...it wasn't real. None of it was. I'm still here, your uncle is still here, and your father is someplace far away where he can't hurt you. And I will not let him get his hands on you like that ever again, I can promise you that."
"It felt so real though..." She cried.
"I know, but you have to calm down so you can go to sleep. We have a very long day tomorrow and you need your rest." She sighed in defeat.
  "You're right, but I feel too scared to sleep."
   "Do you want to stay with me?" I asked her before I could talk myself out of it. Stupid, stupid, stupid Alec! I cursed at myself. She nodded quickly, much to my pleasure which took my embarrassment away. I scooped her up in my arms and carried her over to the bed. She laughed quietly.
  "I can walk you know."
  "I know, but where's the fun in that? You shouldn't have to walk if you don't have to."
  "I wish Uncle Lorne lived by that philosophy. He used to make me walk everywhere all of the time. Even to the bus stop when I lived in America!" I reached the bed and pulled back the covers before setting Katerina down. I pulled the sheets around her, then zoomed to the other side of the bed and crawled in, positioning myself next to her.
  "How far was your bus stop?"
  "Um...it wasn't that far...but for someone as small as I was, it was a lot." I chuckled softly.
  "I'm sure it was." She smiled as she positioned herself comfortably on my chest. My fingers found their way to her hair and began twisting her burgundy locks. The way I see it, if I distract her, she won't think about that awful dream she had and will be able to sleep.
   "Thank you Alec."
    "For what?"
    "Letting me stay with you."
    "You don't have to thank me for that..."
    "Well I am. I'm not really used to people treating me how you do. You're so kind, you know...and I just love you so much and you love me and it's great..." I could tell she was falling asleep by the way her words slurred together and the fact that she was just rambling on.
  "I love you too, pet...Go to sleep now."
  "Yes sir..." She teased. Her heart beat slowed and her breathing evened, signaling that she was asleep.
In this moment, I could feel the peace she felt radiating around her in a thick aura of tranquility. It was in times like this when I was thankful for the bond that I had with her. Katerina has a way of being able to calm my mind by just breathing alone, and that in itself is amazing.
The hours passed quickly as she slept. The rhythmic beating of her heart was the only sound besides her breathing that filled the silence. Soon, Katerina would awaken and my week alone with her would begin. As much as I'd hate to admit it, I've longed for time alone with her like this for a while. We've been alone together before, like right now, but not alone as in no one else around to bug us or pull us apart.
   My excitement grew as the sun began to rise and I started to become anxious. I just wanted her to wake up so we could leave. The clock on the wall had seemed to slow down as I watched the second hand tick by the Roman numerals.
   My anxiety grew larger. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to leave this place and the troubles that it brought her and I and forget it all. I wanted Michael Morgynstein to be forgotten and left behind to rot, along with his accomplices. Lorne, Gracie, and Katerina don't deserve to have to live in fear that their own family will come at some hour to kill them, or to inject them with some kind of serum to change them. They shouldn't have to run and hide because of a man drenched in insanity; a man who thinks that there are no consequences to physically changing a person.
   Katerina stirred once more, causing me to break out of my anguished mind. The peacefulness around her filled me up again, and I closed my eyes and leaned my head against hers in an attempt to relax.
   I hope everyone can handle everything while I'm gone. I feel awful to leave at such an abrupt time, but I do believe that Katerina needs it. Someone who has gone through this much pain can only take so much of it. Especially since she will keep how she feels locked inside of her until she can't bear anymore. She paints a smile on her face, but adds another lock and chain around her heart. Most of the time she doesn't think that I notice this; but I do.
  Anyway, I'm not one to leave in the middle of a mission. I'm not used to leaving my job in the hands of others, but I know that Felix and Demetri will be able to handle it. Jane will be here too, and the other newborns will behave for them and help with whatever they can. Every time I think of this, a strange sense of deja vu washes over me but I can't help it. I'm worried, but I know the newborns have all showed dedication to the Morgynstein case since we started with this whole Rebel H.Q. nonsense and will be able to handle my absence for a week.
    Speaking of which, that's another thing we have yet to discuss. We haven't gotten the chance to move Rebel H.Q. yet since Marcus's warning. I can't believe that was just a few short days ago...it feels like an eternity passed since then. I'm going to have to talk to them before I leave. If they can move it while I'm gone, it would take a load off of my shoulders.
And with that memory comes the one about Katerina presenting the new experimentation law to the masters. I can't help but think that she will have to do a lot of bending and stretching to get Marcus's law passed. It's a smart idea to have her present it though, much like her uncle she can certainly sell an idea if she has to.
My mind wandered to how Fred and George are good at that as well. They could tell anyone just about anything and get away with it, as long as they put the right details in. I remember I was training George one time and we were coming home from Venice after one of the many times we fell into the water there. He told me a story about how Fred smacked his head into a tree and spilt his head open. He talked about all the blood everywhere and how long it took the ambulance to get to their location.
At the end of his story, I said that was a lot of information for such an incident. He smiled and replied "Yeah, but it was all a lie." That whole time I fell for it, not even once did my mind falter at my assurance that this was the truth. But that just goes to show that the details in life are very important.
I continued to let my mind wander to the other newborns. Brynn was the next one to come into my head. Although they try to hide it, her and Demetri are always sneaking around here. At least half the castle knows that they are in a relationship, but they continue to try to hide it. I know Brynn is the type of girl who craves excitement, even if she won't admit that to herself. She's a very sweet person though.
Andi is just like that. She can be a sweet person as well (according to Katerina) but has a hard exterior due to what she went through as a child. I can relate; I know that I am the same way. She's been a good friend to Katerina throughout this whole time we've had them here.
Caleb has been too. Between Katerina and Caleb, they have a lot in common. Often times I'll find them choreographing dances together in the dead ends of the halls on the emptier side of the castle. It pleases me to see them doing something that they are passionate about. He is a trustworthy man; and not that I would tell him, but I wouldn't trust anyone else with Katerina or my sister.
   I've found Adeline to be a very trustworthy person as well. She may be a little bit of a handful sometimes, especially when she openly speaks her mind and doesn't care who's around to hear it, but she's proven to be someone who I can put some trust in. A couple of times I've asked her to tell the group about when we are going to do it, and she gets it done as soon as possible without any interference from an outside force. I now know I can trust her with the valuable information that our group possesses with no issues. If you asked me if I would have trusted her when the newborn's training first started out, I would have said hell no.
   At the beginning, there was a good amount of drama between everyone, especially the girls. But I think after we started working on things with the flash drive, everyone straightened out. Not one of us imagined that we would be doing something as big and secretive as this.
   I let my thoughts wander some more as Katerina continued to sleep. The last thought I can remember having before she woke up was "Here's to hoping we all make it out of this Morgynstein mess alive..." And that is definitely the truth. No matter how tough this gets, we need to all come out of this alive. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if we don't.