Unbreakable

Chapter 11 - Secrets in the Night

Chapter 11 – Secrets in the Night

The night gets colder and colder as I stand outside the castle waiting for Raphael to come.  My phone tells me it's just five minutes until eight, and the longer I wait, the more my curiosity grows.  I wasn't even sure if these were the right doors I was supposed to meet him outside of, but I figure he will find me anyways.  I went out the doors that Demetri and I came through before, partly because they were closest, but mostly because I wanted to see if all evidence had been erased that I had my little accident there.  Sure enough, the painter was able to fix the mural and it looks as perfect as what I'm sure the original did.  I check my phone again out of both nervousness and impatience to see the digital numbers flashing 7:59.  I gulp, wondering why we had to meet so late in the day.  To be honest, the darkness was kind of creeping me out.  Who knows what could be lurking...

"Anna!" Raphael greets from behind me.  I turn around to see him jogging up to me with a smile on his face.  He's wearing a sweat suit, and it looks like he was in the middle of going on a run.  It isn't until he stops next to me that I realize that he hasn't even broken a sweat.

"Hey," I greet back awkwardly, barely meeting his eye contact.  It may have been getting dark out, but I am still able to see that his eyes are much darker than they were at the restaurant, which causes my stomach to flip.

"You seem nervous around me," he notices, whipping off his sweatband and freeing his thick, blonde hair.  All of a sudden, something inside of me changes.  It's almost as if every ounce of nerves had melted off my body, giving me a sense of security.  I'm almost positive that Raphael did something to me to make my mood change so suddenly, but for some reason that knowledge doesn't faze me in the slightest.

"So what is the purpose of this meeting?" I finally ask after realizing he was waiting for me to say something.  He sighs.

"I'll make it short, and get straight to the point," he starts, "As you probably already know, the Volturi has been working extremely hard in order to find a way that will change you into one of them.  They even went as far as to find me and ask for help, which means that this is something they are very serious about, and that this is something that they will not give up on."

Ahh, so that's what the others were talking with him about back at the restaurant?  "So Jane, Alec and Heidi were upset that you didn't know how to turn me either?" I ask.

"No," Raphael starts.  I look at him in confusion.  "I know how you can be turned; they were furious that I wouldn't tell them."

"What?!" I gasp, shocked at this new revelation, "There's actually a way to turn me into a vampire?"

"Of course," he says dismissively, "but that is not the topic I'm here to talk to you about.  Nor will it be a topic that I ever reveal to the guard as I do not think vampirism is a way of life that you are ready for."

"What do you mean?" I ask.  He looks pointedly at me. 

"It might seem like a fun idea at first on an impulse," he starts, "having super-strength, super-speed, great reflexes, immortality..." he trails off, shaking his head.  "But having these abilities takes the value and challenge out of living, and the value out of life itself so much so, that immortality will feel more like a burden than a super power over time.  Now I want you to tell my why you came to Italy in the first place."  I stand in silence for a minute before answering.

"I wanted to die," I admit to him, remembering every detail of my arrival day.

"And why is that?" he asks.  My eyes sting with my memories of the family I will never see again, remembering how my mother looked with her own blood soaked into her clothes.  "You may have made friends here," Raphael tells me, gently wiping a tear from my face, "but that doesn't change the problems you will have in the future as a result of becoming one of them, the possible guilt.  You've seen it yourself, Anna.  They have killed thousands of people, thousands of innocent people who had friends and family of their own, friends and family who have felt the same feelings of despair that you felt coming to Italy all those weeks ago.  You must know that some of these people were lead to have the same dark thoughts as you had, but they had nothing preventing them from doing what you wanted to do."  Raphael hands me a handkerchief and patiently waits for me to compose myself before continuing.