Red Moon ~ Chapter 14 ~ Meeting the Someones

Chapter 14: Meeting the “Someone’s”

We didn’t go very far from “our room”. Actually, we just went to the end of the round, pipe-like corridor and up some stairs. We ended up in a huge garden. It was filled with trees and flowers in every color you could imagine, it looked so amazing. I could sit and look at it for hours! My mom would really love it. Everything looked like it was tended by a gardener occasionally, making my grandma’s garden in Texas look really small and unimportant. Ivy was climbing all the walls that surrounded the garden. There was a stone path which allowed you to wander around and take in all its beauty. It was very beautiful and peaceful but not very light. The tall trees were hiding most of the sunlight even if it was noon and the only light that reached the path and the grass was what had managed to get through the thick leaves, making the whole place have a greenish almost foreign atmosphere. Here and there sporadically placed were some stone benches. Sitting on one of them was what appeared to be a little girl, around five years old, who was sitting playing with a flower she had cut. Next to her was another girl much older, about thirteen or fourteen years old. As I continued to look around, I noticed a boy. He looked bored and he was walking lazily around.

The little girl jumped off the bench and skipped gracefully in our direction. She was pale with black straight, long hair and vivid green eyes. She smelled like sweet grass and cinnamon. Her face reminded me very much of someone I knew, but I couldn’t quite place it. She smiled at us and turned to Gianna.

“You brought us more company, Gianna?” she asked in a melodic, soft voice. I understood then what she was!

She was like us! Not a human child! She was half vampire! Were all these kids here like her, like us?

“Yes, Melanie, the girls are Renesmee and Eshe. They came to live here with us,” Gianna replied sweetly.

Yeah, sure. That’s how you explain our being here, as if we voluntarily came for a visit. We came to live here… yeah right! 

Melanie took my hand. “Come here, follow me. Dawn! Look! More company!” she said cheerfully to the other girl. She had chocolate brown skin and curly dark brown hair in a ponytail. Her eyes were hazel and she looked a little like that Nahuel guy in Nessie's memory. She smiled but it was obvious she wasn’t happy here.

“Hi,” she said. Her voice was deep and low, almost hypnotizing. “I am Dawn, nice to meet you.”

“Well, I will leave you now to get to know each other. If you need anything you know where to find me,” Gianna said and left the garden.

Renesmee and I sat on the bench next to Dawn and Melanie sat on my lap.

“You didn’t come here to live with us right? They brought you,” Dawn asked already knowing the answer.

“They did the same with you too?” I inquired, also knowing the obvious answer.

“Yeah. I bet my brother will be furious when he finds out who took me…” Dawn continued.

“Wait. You have a brother?” Nessie asked shocked.

“Half brother. His name is Nahuel,” she replied with a smile as she was remembering her brother.

Ness touched her arm and showed her Nahuel, or I assumed that’s what she did gauging Dawn’s sudden gasp.

“Yes, that’s him. How do you know him?” Dawn asked not at all shocked with Nessie’s power but that she knew her brother.

“Six years ago, your brother came to tell the Volturi how my development will be in the future and saved me and my family from a battle with them by proving I was not an immortal child but a half vampire hybrid,” Ness explained out loud.

“He had never told me about that,” Dawn whispered surprised.

“Hm… So you lived in the Amazon with him?” I asked her, trying to insert myself in the discussion too.

“Not exactly. I had been living with my foster father, Aku, for two years. He lived alone in the jungle. He ignored my quick growth, but then Nahuel found me and I went with him and another vampire named Huilen for the next year to learn more of what I was but I missed Aku and went back. When the Volturi came, they wanted to kill him, but I said I would go with them without a fight if they didn’t hurt him. They allowed him to live, but I have been here since then…” Dawn’s voice broke as she remembered how she had come to live with the Volturi.

“I’m so sorry,” Nessie and I said in unison.

“The important thing is that he is alive,” she said sincerely.

“And what about Melanie?”  I asked as the little girl turned toward me and looked straight into my eyes.

“Melanie is Irish. She lived alone. I still wonder how she even survived. She came here about one month after me,” Dawn explained. Suddenly, little Melanie looked at us, blinked and then disappeared. I mean really disappeared! Right in front of my eyes!

“Hey! Over here!” I heard her sweet voice say. I turned and saw her coming from behind an apple tree. We all were looking with our eyes wide opened and she giggled. She blinked again and she was back on my lap.

“Did you just teleport?” Dawn asked, even more shocked than we were. “Why hadn’t you told me that?”

The smile on her little face got even wider. “You never asked, she answered playfully.

The boy walked in front of us but ignored us completely, like we weren’t there. “Who is he?” I asked.

“The blond one you mean?” I nodded. “He’s Phillip. He comes from Germany I think. I don’t know much about him, he doesn’t talk a lot.  He was with his family and I think Demetri killed them before they brought him here,” she explained with sadness in her voice.

“Oh…” Was all I could get to come out of my mouth.

Why are the Volturi so cruel? And what the hell do they want with all of us?

I really wanted to ask Dawn more about this but I kept my mouth shut. Melanie was in front of us twirling around like a little ballerina. “I think I want to take a walk around to clear my head and I’ll be back.” I sighed as I turned to walk away.

Phillip walked in front of me again, turned to look at me and stared with his light brown eyes and then looked away again. I walked to the other side of the garden, where it was full of trees and bushes and not many flowers, but it was great to spend some time alone. I headed there and was about to sit on a bench when I saw him. He had his back turned to me and all I could see was his light brown hair. When he heard me; he turned around. His face was perfect. He had high cheekbones and a perfect straight nose. His look was indescribable and he had these haunting light, ice blue eyes and the way he looked when he turned around… my breath hitched and my heart raced as I tried to form words.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I didn’t know someone else was here,” I apologized as I tried to slow my heart rate hoping he had not noticed.

He stood up and smiled the most incredible, heart melting smile and said, “No, no, it’s okay. You were not disturbing me. I am Cole by the way.” He reached out his hand towards mine.

“I am Eshe.” We shook hands and I could feel how warm he was. His touch sent chills up and down my spine, something I had never experienced before. 

“I was just sitting here, to think, where it’s quiet. And Melanie stayed to play with Dawn so… What are you doing here?” he asked almost a little too harshly, but then his smile warmed the reaction.

“I’d come to sit here to think for a while too. So much has happened today, I want to sit and think about it a little,” I told him as I lowered my head and drew circles in the dirt with my toes to distract myself and not seem so uncomfortable.

“Oh, they brought you here now?” he asked, like it was something that happened every day.

I shot my head up and looked at him to gauge his reaction as I told him, “Yeah. And another girl too, Renesmee. Have you been here for a long time?”

“Less than Phillip but yes, more or less half a year.” He told me with such a sad sigh. He looked away as if he was thinking of something or someone.

“And you are here all this time? What do they want?” I questioned hoping he would have some sort of answer. 

“I am not exactly sure. Aro kind of collects us. There are not many of our kind, but he has seemed to found most of us nonetheless and he noticed most of us are gifted. More often than normal vamps, these gifts are of greater magnitude, so he just grabs us and keeps us for his own entertainment for now, until he finds another use for us,” Cole explained with a disgusted look on his face.

Poor Cole, he seems so sad. And Aro is becoming less and less someone I can respect. He is just pure evil incarnate in my opinion. And how is he finding all of us, and why? And do we all have special abilities??  Amazing. I thought before I asked Cole another question.

“What do you mean? Isn’t Melanie the only one over here with a special ability?” I asked almost shocked at how many hybrid vampires were here and wondered if we all had some type of special ability. Almost like his own little hybrid army.

“No. All of us do have at least one, some more than one, but let’s leave this for another time.” He gave me such a dazzling smile I didn’t want to ask anymore questions, so I just looked at him like a moron.

“Okay,” was all I could spit out. Idiot! He probably thinks there is something wrong with me. Why am I having such a hard time forming thoughts or words while he just looks at me with that smile, grrr…

There was silence, except from Nessie’s and Dawn’s laughs, for a couple of minutes.

“Well I will go see what the others are doing. See ya later,” I said finally and was about to leave turning in the direction of the others.

“I’ll come with you too. I promised Melanie I wouldn’t be away for too long,” Cole answered and walked up beside me. He was so close I could feel his warmth and he smelled so good. 

Snap out of it Eshe… could you possibly act more like a love struck teenage girl? It’s not like he is Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner.  I chuckled at the thought.  Nope…he is actually way cuter!

“Ah. Okay then.” I was really feeling nervous around him. Like I didn’t know what to say and all I could do was just smile and gawk at him like a moron.

We walked to the other side of the garden again in silence, I was afraid to say anything for fear of putting my foot in my mouth. Melanie hopped in our direction with her silky black hair flowing behind her and jumped right into Cole’s arms.

“Hey you. I told you I would be back soon,” he told her with a huge smile and a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah, I know. You always keep your word,” she whispered and giggled as she touched her cheek where Cole had just gently touched his lips.

Hmmm….I wonder what it would feel like to have his lips on my cheek, or better yet, my mouth. Get a grip girl! 

“So you all met each other! Excellent!” Aro cooed as he silently and creepily entered the garden and approached us.

 “Cole, can you please follow me? We have a visitor I’d like you to meet,” Aro asked. My eyes widened, suddenly I was afraid for the brown-haired boy next to me, I am sure the Volturi are capable of much worse stuff than I could imagine.

“Yes, of course,” he said calmly and followed him but his eyes didn’t look like it was the most pleasant thing to do even if his face gave nothing away.

“Aro, could I go get some sleep? I suddenly feel very tired,” I asked him trying to distract myself from my thoughts and suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion taking over me.

“Go, child, Gianna will be around if you need anything,” he said with a wave of his hand and continued out of the garden with Cole. 

I noticed that Cole looked back at me and smiled, but was there worry in his smile. Was he worried about me? Huh, surely not. I must be tired and imagining things.

I waved to the others and after Aro disappeared with Cole, I went back to “my room”. I didn’t even take off the dress I was wearing; I just collapsed on the bed and fell almost right away asleep.

At first, the dream was all about the twins again, especially Jane. Aro was there too. He was watching and congratulating Jane. Then Cole appeared and he was furious with them. He picked me up and took me away. They didn’t follow us, but he kept going farther and farther until we were back in the garden. After that, I couldn’t remember much, only his mesmerizing, angelic ice blue eyes...

I heard someone was saying my name. “Eshe? Eshe?” his voice was sweet and deep, like an angel’s. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see who it was. The eyes I was just dreaming of were looking at me and with them Cole himself! “Wake up, sleepy head!” he joked as he got up from the chair and sit on the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” I said, lazily half opening my eyes afraid that the dream would end.

“Hey,” he repeated as he edged a little closer to me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked shyly as I kept my eyes locked on his for fear he might disappear.

“Do you have any idea how long you have been sleeping?” He chuckled and then placed his hand over mine.

I shook my head.

Wow, his hand is so warm and he smells so good. Like a Spring day in a meadow or something. It is so hard to concentrate with him so close and those eyes… Snap out of it Eshe! What the heck is going on with me and my lack of concentration and my mind going to mush? 

“Three days. Everyone thought you were sick or something. Nessie and the others tried to wake you up many times, but it didn’t work and they asked me to try too. So, here I am!” He laughed again. 

Three days?! Seriously? How did I sleep for three days?! I have never slept that long in my life!

“Hm… three days you said?” I questioned, not sure that I had heard him right.

Maybe I heard wrong… could be the brain to mush issue… Eshe… get a grip girl!

“Yeah.” He smiled. “You were very tired, apparently.”

Actually, I prayed that a long nap may take me out of here or realize that it was all a nightmare, but the real nightmare is that I am still here in Volterra with the Volturi for who knows what reason. At least on the up side, I have this beautiful angel staring at me like I am what… crazy? Haha! Better say something before he gets tired of my not answering and leaves. Snap. Out. Of. It. Girl!

“I guess so… What did Aro want you for?” I asked  trying to keep the conversation going so he would stay a little longer and asked him the first thing that came to my mind.

Really, that is the best I could come up with? He really must think I am a blonde underneath these dark roots. 

He hesitated. “You know, Aro likes collecting stories… when we have a visitor, he calls me, to use my gift…” he stopped. I knew he didn’t want to continue, so I didn’t ask more.

“Are you hungry? Or thirsty?” he asked, obviously wanting to change the subject. 

Suddenly, I realized that my throat felt like it was on fire and my stomach was growling too. Yep, I was definitely starving after sleeping for 3 days and not eating much before since the only thing they offered was human blood, which I was NOT drinking.

“Um… Yeah. But I don’t want to drink human blood,” I said as I looked away, afraid of what his reaction might be.

The intoxicating scent that came from the silver cups three days ago came back to my mind and it was as if it was still sitting on the table next to me, enticing me, challenging me.

Maybe I didn’t really want to resist… What if I wanted human blood? If you think about it, I didn’t kill anyone to get the blood, so technically, I could drink it. Gianna brought it to me a cup last time, no harm no foul… No! Eshe!

I mentally slapped myself and ashamed at my own thoughts.

Are you CRAZY?! Oh my! What the hell am I thinking?! I could never drink human blood! Just because I did not kill them, someone did….

Cole noticed the confusion that was taking over the ashamed and disgusted look on my face and tried to bring me out of my own self hatred by offering…. “We could eat normal food you know… When Aro realized that I had refused to drink the human blood as well, he gave up and he hasn’t tried to get me to drink it again. It is almost like a game to him to see who he can get to bow down or go against their nature, but he seems to respect us if we choose to not accept it.”

“You – you don’t drink blood? At all?” I asked, shocked.

“I tried some a few years before… I didn’t really like it… It tasted weird, so I stick to only human food since then since I knew of no other alternative. I couldn’t stand all that guilt I felt after that human I killed… I couldn’t do it… Besides, there is no need to do it anyway. Human food tastes fine to me and a lot less guilt.” He smiled sweetly as he winked at me. 

My heart skipped a beat, partly because of what he said and the guilt I now felt and partly because he just had that power over me… brain to mush ratio.

“Yeah… No need to do it…” I repeated. I felt bad now, like I was doing something wrong, even if I drank animal and not human blood, it was still blood.

“Hey will you come with me?” he asked as he gently squeezed my hand before standing then he was on the other side of the room.

“Yeah,” I said as I too quickly jumped out of bed and closed the space between us as fast as I could.  He was already too far away and I felt an ache from the separation that I could not comprehend. 

Get a grip girl. You are acting like a love struck teenager… Oh yeah, that is what I am… Duh!

“Where are we going?” I whispered, trying to sound calm and slow my racing heart.  He just looked at me again and smiled.

He chuckled, like he had heard my mental ramblings and then said, “To see Gianna. She will cook something for you.”  He reached for my hand and started to lead me out the door then said, “Do you want to change into something more comfortable? You have been sleeping in that dress for 3 days.”

I looked down at the wrinkled mess, let go of his hand and ran into the bathroom. I quickly ran a brush through my tangled hair and put it in a messy ponytail, put on the jeans and t-shirt that were lying on the counter with a note from Nessie...

I came out of the bathroom with a new lease on life and then saw him standing there, grinning from ear to ear and again… brain to mush…

He crossed the room and grabbed my hand again and we went out the door, down the hall until he knocked on a door, which was wooden too, and stepped in without waiting for a response.

I hesitantly followed him and we were in a small chamber with a bed made of dark wood and with emerald green bedding and some other piece of furniture in the same colors. Gianna was sitting on a little armchair in the corner of the room quietly reading a book. When we entered she stood up and smiled warmly.

“Hello, Cole, Eshe, so happy to see that you are awake. How are you feeling dear? Do you need anything?” Gianna asked sincerely.

“Yes, could you cook us something to eat? Eshe is hungry,” Cole asked, squeezing my hand as encouragement.

“Of course. I would be more than happy to. Any special requests? She asked as she started towards a little kitchenette and started grabbing pots and pans at vampire speed.

“Ummm… Pancakes with syrup would be really nice if not too much trouble, and maybe some eggs and sausage,” I asked looking down at my feet embarrassed with my sudden demand of large amounts of food. I was really hungry in my own defense. 

Gianna chuckled and started grabbing more things from the cupboards and the refrigerator. “It will be ready in a while, why don’t you take a nice walk.  I am sure that your muscles could use a little stretching after being in bed for so long.”

“Okay, thank you,” he said and led me back out the room.

We got left the room and walked back down to the garden. It was dark outside and no one else was around. I gasped at the beauty of the garden at night.  It was lit up by white twinkling lights in the trees and along the stone path.  It was more beautiful at night I thought.

“Where are the others?” I asked as I continued to take in the garden.

“They are sleeping. Didn’t you see Nessie in your room? It’s one o’clock in the morning.” He laughed.

“Really? Wow. And why are you awake?” I asked, now looking directly at him to see his reaction.

“I… Let’s say I couldn’t sleep,” he said as his cheeks became a nice shade of crimson.

“Okay. And if we didn’t say you couldn’t sleep?” I asked giving him a little smirk.

“I was waiting for you to wake up,” he said shyly.

“Seriously? But I might have not woken up tonight…” I said incredulously.

“Well, I waited anyway,” he said and led me to a small clearing under a tree.

We sat on a bench under a huge tree that was near a Koi pond that was covered in Lily pads and smelled wonderful. Of course, not as wonderful as Cole smelled. 

Eshe, enough. Get a grip on your hormones girl. Your hands are starting to sweat… Yeah, that’s romantic!

“So will you tell me a little about yourself? I see you are vampire-human hybrid, like I am, but I don’t know anything about you,” I asked, trying to continue our conversation and get out of my own head for a minute. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. I am almost six and a half years old and I come from Sweden,” he told me, some sadness apparent in his voice. 

“Seriously? You speak very good English… I thought you were British or something,” I told him slightly confused.

“Nah… I just liked the language and learned it…” he said as he shrugged his shoulders. He leaned a little closer to me on the bench and again… took a minute for me to make a coherent thought.

“More than Swedish?”  Popped out of my mouth before thinking. 

“I like them both the same,” he said with a smile and inched a little closer. Our shoulders were almost touching now. 

I was thinking I wanted to speak to him in Swedish, but I hadn’t spoken the language since I was three and my brain just was not cooperating at all.

“Did you like Sweden when you were living there?” he asked me.

Had I told him I’ve been living in Sweden? Is he a mind reader too?

“How do you know I’ve been there?” I asked him as I pulled away from him slightly too get a better look into his eyes.

Not smart Eshe… those eyes are just too gorgeous and now… brain and mouth… not working together….

“Ah, sorry. I haven’t told you what my gift is, right?” he said as he used our connected hands to pull me back closer to him.

I shook my head since words were not even an option at this point.  He chuckled as if he knew what I was thinking again…grrrr…..

“I have some kind of psychometry,” he said then waited for my response.

Seeing the questioning look on my eyes he continued. “Let me explain what this is. I can relate details about the past of some persons or objects when I am close to them. So I know pretty much a lot about people I have met, including you. Does that bother you?” he asked with a pained look on his face.

“Well, I will have to let you know how I feel once I have had time to process it. I guess I should look at it like you know what you are getting when you get involved with me, right?!” I said without even thinking.

Oh My God…did I just say that out loud? 

“Oh. So you knew Melanie could teleport?” I asked desperately trying to change the subject.

“Yeah. Among other things.”  He laughed and cocked an eyebrow as he looked at me.

What the heck is that supposed to mean? Is he talking about me? Oh No! Surely he cannot know all my mental ramblings since I have met him….

“Since she can teleport, why doesn’t she get out of here?” I asked, again trying to keep the subject off of me and trying to slow my racing heart.

“She’s very young. She had never had a family and here, well she has many people around her giving her attention. She doesn’t want to leave. And she can’t cross such a distance yet to get out of here even if she would consider leaving us, which she won’t. I have never seen her move any further than from the north side of this place by teleporting. She stays within the boundaries of this property, whether by choice or by ability. I am not sure yet,” he explained. 

“Okay. So you know what I can do also?” I questioned, giving him an evil grin.

“Of course. Can you change something on you? I am really curious and just been dying to see what you can really do.” He moved as close as possible to me, then backed up to see what I would do.

“Alright. You asked for it.” I closed my eyes and made my hair blond and my eyes ice blue, just like his.

“Hmmm… I like this eye color on you. But I prefer you with red hair.” I quickly changed my hair again to please him without a moment’s thought. We both laughed and he reached over and ran his finger along my cheek sending chills up and down my spine.

“You should laugh more often Eshe, it is a beautiful sound,” he said, and then pulled away like he had done something wrong.

Don’t stop, that was nice, I thought to myself. I must have frowned because he chuckled and kissed the top of my head.

A little later Gianna brought us two huge plates with pancakes, sausage, bacon and eggs with lots of syrup. I loved the sweet stuff! Sweet, ooey, gooey goodness. I inhaled mine in a matter of minutes.

Cole ate just two bites and gave me the rest. After we had eaten every bite that Gianna had cooked, or I had rather, we went back to his room and sat on the couch. We sat as close as we could and enjoyed the time we spent together. We kept on talking all night long about his country and where I have been although he already knew but he wanted me to tell him anyway. Something about he liked how my eyes lit up when I talked about my family and where we had gone together and when I smiled. 

Yep, he had my complete attention and I had never been as happy as I was sitting and talking with Cole.  He would brush his fingers through my hair every once in a while, or tuck it behind my ear and cause me to tremble, then he would kiss the top of my hand and smile that heart melting angelic smile of his. 

Oh yeah, brain and mouth were still mush, but able to keep up the conversation… most of the time. 

By seven o’clock, he was asleep and I left him there to rest. I went back to my room to see where Nessie was and what she was doing. By now, she should be starting her day and we need to catch up with a lot, since I was sleeping for three days. I stepped quietly inside without knowing what to expect.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click here to get to the next chapter!