Chapter 24
I hadn't been to Sandy Point beach in years and I knew why. It would bring up memories of Sara. The last I had heard about Sara was that she had decided she was a lesbian and that she wanted to be a groupie for a goth rock band. This from the girl who had such a passion for the study of marine biology and wore nothing but tank tops and shell bead necklaces.
When I met her, she seemed so happy. It had been in Saint Croix for a school trip. We hung out the entire field trip and stayed friends long afterwards. She brought me here, to this very beach, so we could collect shark's teeth. Between my love of paleontology and archeology and her love of marine science, this was the perfect place for us to come play.
I can't remember if it was before or after our trip to this beach that she told me about her life. All I remember is that we were on our way to New Jersey when she told me about her Dad. The reason she couldn't believe in God anymore was because what kind of God would let her be raped by her own father in the back of the church, repeatedly, while she was supposed to be at Sunday School? I knew it wasn't God that allowed it but the Devil that would allow such a thing to happen. She was only four, she told me.
Over the year after she told me, I thought she was starting to heal. She got to a point where she believed in a God but she came crashing down hard and quick. I have no idea what caused it. I doubt I ever will. One day, she is working at a museum, helping to set up the marine exhibits, and the next she's in the asylum. She called me a week later, telling me she didn't even remember who she was until that morning. It would be another week when I realized how much her personality had changed in that short time. I'd never see her again.
Sara is what I thought of as I watched the dark waves lap up against the sand. It wasn't until Gabriel gently squeezed my shoulders, holding me almost behind him, that I saw the two cloaked figures coming towards us. The Volturi Guard, or what was left of them, were here.
Immediately, I switched my brain from feeling sad about long lost memories to being prepared to fight. I clutched the soldering torch in my hand. I wouldn't be quick enough to stop them from biting me but I would be able to flame them when they did. I really didn't want to be a vampire tonight though. I at least wanted to wait until I got to Washington State.
I watched as the two cloaked figures moved within maybe five yards of us. Gabriel started to growl at seven yards which made one of the two figures chuckle. "That's enough," I said softly. Even I wasn't sure if it was to the guard or to Gabriel.
Both figures stopped at the five yard mark and pulled back their hoods. Their shapes alone told me who was who. Felix was physically bigger but Demetri looked more cunning. It was those features that I first noticed. It took me another second in the fading light to notice that Demetri had only used one arm to pull back his hood.
"Aro sent you to meet with us," I said, trying to step out in front of Gabriel. I wasn't going to go towards the Guard, just move out from behind my kidnapping vampire. However, the drop dead gorgeous sparkling leech had other ideas and growled lightly as I tried to move out of his grasp. He held me back. I turned my head to glare up at him.
"Indeed, he did," I heard one of the guards say. I wasn't sure which one because Gabriel had chosen to look down at me with worried eyes at that second. His grip lessoned only slightly as he saw my glare.
I turned my attention back to the Guard and managed to move to maybe a foot and a half in front of Gabriel. Still holding my soldering torch, I looked at the two vampires before me. I could almost feel the one behind me wanting to grab my arm and run. He did not want to be here –his honor demanded that he do as the Cullens' had asked- and he was making that painfully clear.
