Chapter 14
December 2020
Odette stood on top of Mount Fuji. She was 12, 388 feet above sea level and god knew how many feet she was away from him. Odette felt a bitter chill run down her spine, thinking of her husband. How could he? How could she have been so blind, so stupid. Odette ushered the though away as she looked over, what seemed like, the world.
She knew he was probably looking for her, searching high and low while having guards look down every hallway of the Volturi. The Volturi. Her home had become a prison of her own sins, trapped in her personal Hell. This was eternal damnation that the books spoke of, that her Carlisle feared so much. Odette had her grave duh out from under and she was expected to lie in it.
Fire burned in her eyes and for the first time since she was turned, she was heated. However, Odette knew, there was no way she could help herself out. No way they all could come out in one piece anyway.
Why had she come here? To this mountain? This was phase one of the plan, the plan to her salvation. Odette swore she would never become like most of her vampire peers. Odette had sworn she would never stoop so low. Now she understood.
Eternity is a long time to be so pristine and precious.
Odette took her leave, racing her way down the mountain and through the ocean to her home. Not the Volturi. Home. The home with Esme and Carlisle. Where her real family stayed. Odette was painfully aware he would be there, but that was part of it. Are had become so predictable, so easy to figure out.
Her family had welcomed her with open arms, of course. Odette knew they would, she had not a single doubt in her mind.
"What happened?" The room was still except for the footsteps of Odette's approaching brother. Odette ran her fingers across the wood of the window sill.
"What are you so afraid of, mon amour?"
The memory left a sheet on her lip and a sting in her fingertips. That Aro was gone, long gone. Her Aro had been replaced by a monster. "Can't I just visit my family?" Odette asked, her tone as cool as the cold Washington night air. Odette watched as her brother crossed the room and sat across from her. Odette knew he had read her mind, his gift was extraordinary. He knew her plan, but she knew he wouldn't say a word. "It's not as if you don't already know, Edward."
Cold.
"I can help." He placed a hand on hers. Odette's eyes flickered to his face and a smile laced her ruby red stained lips. Edward, of course, wouldn't pass up a chance to ruin Aro's immortal life. This was part of the plan. All according to plan.
"He will come. Tonight. This spot." Odette looked at the clearing under the window. "He always comes back to me." Her eyes blankly stared into the night, waiting for her husband to return. Edward nodded to his sister and patted her shoulder.
"If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." Odette nodded as he stalked out of the room. The door shut with a click and as if it was timed, there he was below her.
"Odette!" He hissed up at her. Odette knew it wasn't a good idea to jump down. She knew that Aro had Garuda down there, hidden, waiting to capture her. "Why did you run from home." Home? Those cold stone walls were not home. It took everything in Odette to not scoff at and mock the black haired vampire.
"I got scared, my love." Odette whispered in the air. When the third of his body hit the window sill, Odette almost smirked. It was working. His hand touched her cheek gently and his gaze bore into her. He was not trying to read her memories, which she had worked on altering, meaning that he still trusted her.
"Scared? Of what?" His hand moved to her hair that rested on her shoulders in waves. Odette looked to the ground and feigned sadness, she had always been a good actor. It used to be hard to lie to him. Painful even. Now it was as natural as breathing.
"I was scared you would hate me after the week was I showed with Caius." Odette whispered. Caius. Two syllables held so much pain to them. Odette could still feel his unmoving head in her heads. His stench of death lingered on her perfect skin in a sickening cloud that no perfume could ever mask. The name casted a film over her tongue and tasted like a harsh vodka.
"No no, My sunshine. I could never hate you." Both of his hands feasted on her face pulling her eyes level to his. The red that clouded them made a heat radiate from her stomach. Anger. So much anger. Odette continued to play the part, unwavering and unmoving, her true emotions masked behind a concrete wall of fake.
Aro moves in to kiss her but instead, Odette collapsed into him in a heap of dry sobs. Her held her head close to him and soother her fake cries, leaving her to a small shaking mass in his arms. The hands that Odette used to love so much now felt like concrete bricks on her back. His whispers that she used to adore sounded like the hissing of a serpent about to strike its pray.
What the snake didn't know was that the pray had also become a snake. A snake with much more malice and anger in her eyes. It's venom much stronger and it's speed much quicker. "You can never leave me, Odette. Never." His hand gripped her back of her neck tightly. If she weren't immortal, she would surely have bruises where his grip tightened.
"I know, my love." Odette whispered coldly. "I know." The thought of Caius dancing burned in the back of her mind and she shut her eyes. Soon.
