AN: I am so extremely sorry about the fact that I haven't updated in such a long time! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive this writer who is exceptionally gifted at procrastinating and putting things off to a later date when she should have done them months ago.

Disclaimer: You know the drill...

Antonia

I have had dreams about going into this Castle.

Walking through the doors and finding a handsome Prince, sitting on a throne waiting for me to become his Princess. That was my dream at age 8.

Discovering hundreds and thousands of chests full of gold and jewels. That was my dream at age 12.

I had never thought that the Castle might be the place of my death. However, as I stand frozen inside the huge ball room of Volterra Castle, I can't but wonder if I'll be able to wake up tomorrow morning. I cautiously tilt my head to the side to catch a glimpse of my grandma, subconsciously hoping that she would smile and banish my fears by pulling me into a hug and telling me that nothing was wrong. The sight before me did not help one bit.

My grandma's eyes were wide with fear and she was physically trembling. She was gripping her rosary beads in her left hand as if they were her source of life and her skin was pale with fear. Slowly, I wound my hand around her shaking one. She visibly jumped at the contact and looked around to see who had grabbed her. I gave her a reassuring squeeze to let her know it was me and not to be afraid. She managed a shaky smile in my direction before grabbing onto my hand in a vice like grip.

The tourists didn't notice a thing as they began to spread out taking photos of the ball room, but we stayed together near the door not moving at all.

I noticed, a man walking around and peering ever so often towards bunches of tourists which had gathered around in different corners of the room. Suddenly his eyes landed on us. His face contorted into a wide grin before he began to walk over towards my grandmother and I.

"Antonia!" he said in an exuberant voice. He gave a small wave towards me.

As if sensing my confusion as to how he knew my name, he continued. "Heidi has told me so much about you!"

So much? What was there to tell? I had rejected her offer of a tour and that was about the end of our correspondence. How could she have told him 'so much'?

"And who is this? Your grandmother?" he asked before reaching out the grab her hand. However, my grandmother quickly slapped his hand away and gasped at where they had come into contact.

As rude as the slap had been, the man didn't seem to mind before focusing his attention back on me.

"How would you like to see a special part of the castle?"

I blinked owlishly up at him. I wanted, so desperately to tell him no, but my throat had closed up refusing me to speak. What I would give to be out of this castle.

His eyes glazed over for a moment before he broke out into another grin.

"Ah, Alec, how would you like to show this little one on a tour of a castle?"

Anything I decided. I would give anything to be out of this castle.

"Of course master," a masculine voice whispered from the shadows. It sounded quite forced as if he would rather stay here. Slowly, I turned my head to see where the voice came from.

It was a boy, around my age I estimated, his skin was so pale as if he had never seen a day of sun in his life. His hair was a rich shade of brown which painfully reminded me of my sister's long, curly locks. But his eyes. They were coal black and showed his true thoughts. They showed bitterness and hatred towards me and he stared down at me as if I was a bug he was going to squash. However, it truly pained me to think that he was, without a doubt... beautiful.

I shut my eyes trying to banish the horrendous thoughts from my head. I could not let my teenage mind distract me from the fact that I wasn't sure if I would even be able to make it out alive. As I opened my eyes, I used all the strength I had left in my body to not jump, scream or show any visible shock and fear as I saw the mans eyes boring into mine curiously. I could tell he was bending over, trying to see me at my eye level. But no matter how hard I tried to seem stoic, my teenage body refused as I felt blood rush to my cheeks at having been standing at such close proximity with a man I didn't even know.

"You are a strange child." he chuckled lightly before wandering off towards the 3 thrones in the room.

"My name is Aro by the way," he called lightly with his back turned to me. "Alec, you may begin the tour."

The boy sucked in a large gulp of air before nudging his head at the direction of the door and beckoning me to follow him. I stared into the eyes of my grandma asking for approval and wondering if I should go or not. She shook her had and grabbed on to my arm tighter, silently telling me to not go. I heard a quiet cough come from the door which made me drag my eyes from my grandma.

If I wasn't in such an intense situation, I would've laughed at the sigh before me. The boy was standing at the door with his arms folded and his foot tapping impatiently on the ground like a cartoon character.

Slowly, my grandma's grip weakened and I could tell how hard she was gripping onto me before, because of the white finger marks she left on my skin which slowly faded away.

"Dio sia con voi, Antonia." she whispered to me.

God be with you, Antonia.

She made the cross with her fingers before letting go. We looked at each other for a long time and... what I fear may be the last time, before I swivelled around on my feet and walked towards the boy.

Dio sia con voi. For my sake, I hope God is.

Carefully the boy, Alec, I believe his name was, shut the door behind us.

I took this moment to look over him quickly. He was taller than me by a few inches and he was wearing all black as if he was going to a funeral.

He turned his head up and looked at me with those cold eyes before walking forward. Momentarily frozen by his glare, I scampered to catch up to his brisk pace.

"So..." I began as conversationally as I could. "Where are we going."

Alec suddenly stopped walking and I almost bumped into him. He turned around and stared at me menacingly.

He roughly grabbed my arm. My eyes widened at the touch and I gasped loudly. It wasn't the pain that made me gasp, but it was the fact that his skin was ice cold. It felt like a dead person.

What is he?

"Run," he said to me, still gripping my arm with his freezing hand.

"W-what?" I stuttered in shock. The words were barely audible.

"Run," he repeated simply. I stared up at him, my eyes wide and confused. He gave a frustrated growl before looking back at me. "We are about to kill everybody in that room, so run. Unless you like hearing screaming."

His words tumbled over me like a waterfall numbing my body head to toe.

Kill, everybody, screaming.

Shakily I nodded my head and began to walk slowly in a daze, away from the room.

"Run!" Alec yelled from behind me.

I almost tripped over my own feet as began to run. I couldn't hear anything except from the endless patter of my sneakers against the floor. I whipped my head back to see if Alec was standing there but he was gone. Most likely gone back to the room to do...
Suddenly, I heard a piercing scream break the silence and I knew that they had begun. I hadn't gone far enough.

I pushed my hands against my ears trying to block out the screams which came together to form a sinister chord of sound. Slowly I saw a door and pushed my way through it.

Then I stopped. It was the reception. But the sound was gone. The screams were gone.

Finally, I collapsed into a heap on the ground and began panting as I realized I had been holding my breath since I ran into this room. I let my emotions assault me as I thought of my grandma trapped in there and dead. Finally, I let myself cry, barely noticing the receptionist kneeling down next to me, trying to soothe me.

Dio sia con voi

Aro

It is good feeling full.

I let out a sigh of pleasure as I stepped over the bodies that littered the floor. Just then, I saw something small and round near my foot.

A rosary bead.

They were scattered all over the floor, red as the blood that has just been spilled. They came from the grandmother that knew too much. The bead lay on the floor as if it was mocking me. Reminding me of the grandmother and the fact that she still lives on through the beads. Quickly, I pushed the thought away.

"Sheer madness," I whispered quietly to myself, earning a few odd glances from Caius and Marcus.

Suddenly I noticed Alec in the room leaning against the wall of the Castle. The girl?

"Alec," I called out. I noticed him spring up and everyone focused their attention on him. "Where is the girl?"

I heard him scoff a bit before responding. "I told her to run."

Before I could reply, Caius cut through.

"Why would you do that? She could've run away! Foolish child." he said disapprovingly.

I could see Alec's anger flare up enormously by the way he glared at Caius. Although I trust that he would never attack him.

"Demetri." I called out, "Find the girl and bring her back. I would like to ask her some questions."

He nodded curtly at me before rushing out the door. I glanced around the room and took in the sight of dead bodies on the floor, surrounded by pools of blood. A sight that would most surely make the girl feint.

"Heidi, Felix," Another order, "Clean this room up before the girl comes and take the bodies into the garden to be burnt."

Slowly, the bodies started disappearing off the floor as Felix gathered them up and Heidi began to wipe up the blood on the floor.

"Master, are we changing her today?" asked Renata timidly from my side.

"Yes," I replied, "We have no choice."

The girl's fate was now decided. We had to change her. She already knows too much from the suspicions her grandmother has and from what she has seen and felt from her experience in Volterra castle. She has no other option of escape.

Suddenly, the door opened and Demetri walked in carrying the girl over his shoulder before setting her down on the floor and telling her that there was nothing to worry about reassuringly. I held out my palm and beckoned for him to come towards me. Demetri, noticing my outstretched palm, walked towards me and placed his fingers on my skin.

The girl, Antonia, in a heap in the reception, sobbing with Gianna quietly shushing her and rubbing her back. Demetri then walked in and knelt down next to the girl telling her that she was needed back in the room. She refused to move and Demetri let out an exasperated sigh and hoisted her over his back. She began to cry out in protest and started to kick but eventually she accepted her fate and stopped.

It was enough, I let go.

Antonia was quietly sobbing in front of me but I could see that she was trying to regain her composure. She was wobbling ever so slightly and looked as if she was about to collapse onto the floor at any second. Slowly, she stopped staring at the floor and looked up at me in fear.

"A-are you going to k-kill me?" she asked quietly.

"No child, I am not." I responded, although I knew I was lying, but only partially.

She seemed to regain some confidence at that thought and she stood up a bit straighter.

"Please let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone a-about this." Her eyes looked up at mine hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry, I cannot." I responded. Slowly, the hopeful look on her face melted and she began sobbing again. "Hush child." I told her soothingly.

I opened my arms invitingly as a hug and I knew she would not accept it, but her body gave way and she collapsed into my arms crying. At the sudden contact, her thoughts came rushing into my head.

"You have no family left," I thought out loud.

I heard her thoughts and her despair as she was informed that her family had died in a car crash. She used to go to Italy every Summer to visit her Grandmother but this time, she had moved here to live with her.

This was good. She had no family that needed informing about her "sudden death". There wouldn't be any family to come and mourn for their loss and there would be no news story about how a young girl mysteriously disappeared in Italy. No strings attached.

It was then that I realized that I had to change her now.

Slowly, I rested my chin against the crook of her neck and held her tightly. I was savoring the moment as I let the venom pool in my mouth. Then I bit into her flesh releasing the poison into her.

I felt her tense against mine before a piercing scream broke the silence. She sprang from me immediately and clutched her neck in pain.

"What did you do to me?" she shouted out hysterically. I knew she couldn't last much longer until the heat became overwhelming.

"I'm sorry Antonia," I replied, however it was hidden behind her cries as her body fell against the floor, writhing in pain as the venom burnt her inside out.

"Alec," I called, "subdue her."

Then her screams died down and her body relaxed. Her still form lay sprawled across the marble tiling.

"Take her to one of the rooms and when she is complete, inform me immediately."

Alec nodded and picked her up and ran through the door. The guards quickly followed behind him.

Wearily, I slumped into my throne. Right now, I was as close to tired as a vampire could be. Suddenly, I noticed a small red bead on the floor. I picked it up and gently allowed it to rest in my palm.

Dio sia con voi

I hope this extra long chapter makes up for my absence. Now, I will try to update regularly because I'm on holidays now, but unfortunetly, no promises.

Dio sia con voi - God be with you.

I got that Italian phrase from Google translate, so apologies if it is wrong.

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think!