Pandora

Chapter XVII:

low blow

Edited by YanaTG

I've decided to put original version of Pandora (chapter 1-18) on Dropbox (as PDF). Dropbox has two options you can choose from: with reviews replies or without.

Dropbox links are in my TUMBLR ACCOUNT: sunset-wishes-upon-hill

Thank you to those who have read, reviewed and favourited my story:

Alis-volat-propriis97, AurorQuill17, BlackZion- Hope you enjoy this chapter – a bit heavy, a bit emotional and a bit hectic.

Flo- Thank you for reading and I'm glad my story could give a bit of distraction from the current situation that we are in. We will get through together but for now, hope you and your loved ones are safe and well.

WillNeigh- Thank you! I'm much happier with this version than the original – not to say that I don't like it but the complexity and slow progress of plots is what I've wanted.

Guest#1- The question, will she ever end up with just one of them? Their entangled, multiplex ties are too far gone to turn back and neither of them wants to let go.

A few days have passed since she last spoke or saw Demetri, if she doesn't count the fleeting flash of him then and there. The majority of her time was spent divided between Gianna – if she wasn't so busy with work and Jane who begrudgingly allowed her to stay in the garden as long as she didn't act so 'irritating'. Whatever that means. And didn't make any mentions of her brother. Not that I want to.

"This is Franklina Alatamaha, a rare flowering plant that hasn't been seen in the wild since 1800." Jessica noted, holding up the encyclopedia of plants and flowers she had borrowed from the castle's library. The book, published in 1890, its condition were reasonably well kept but also loved from the spine that were cracked and dog-eared yellow pages.

Their interaction would often go like this; Jessica would speak, fill the silence and Jane listened – or ignored – while working the soils, watering, mulching and other garden labor. Jessica didn't know what use they were for. Gosh, who knew gardening was so much work?! No wonder my grandmother spends the whole day in the backyard.

She offered to help but Jane had shot it down immediately after Jessica's previous passing comment about her past history with plants. Angela had gotten her a cactus from a gardening centre in Seattle; Jessica, even with her disinterest in flowers or plants, were excited at the prospect of nurturing a living thing, lovingly watered it and put it on her windowsill where most sunlight came into the house for the night. The next morning, it had died. She had never seen a dead cactus before; its limb were shrunken and dropped over the pot – it couldn't be any more frank that it was no longer alive. Angela's cactus was still thriving and growing. To this day, she had no idea what she had done wrong.

While Jane was busy with the hyacinth to which Jessica couldn't help spotting a large smile, she had unwittingly wandered deeper into the castle with her encyclopedia, playing a little game to match how many flowers and plants Jane had against the book. She failed to notice the faraway tower was becoming visible. The actual floor of the tower was shrouded with hawthorn bushes which grew thickly at the centre.

A chilled wind nipped her neck, billowing through her long, curly hair. The moist wind carried the particle of her scent toward the tower until it rested upon the tongue of two female vampires, seeking refuge from the lavish four walls of their rooms. The third vampire sniffed and blinked in surprise, recognizing the smell of this individual human.

The more confident and leader of the ladies, with the darkest hair and deep crimson eyes, were the first to seek out the source. The second female, slightly fairer but with equally gleaming red eyes followed then the third right behind them.

Jane had been in motion of burying back the disturbed soil when her hands grind to a halt, neck snapping over her shoulder toward the path hidden by vertical hedges. The garden trowel landed on the floor with an audible clack. Jane was gone.

Jessica wondered who these vampires were. Having never seen them before and she thought she had seen most of the guards, all whom wore inconspicuous, variegating styles and colors of human clothing. Sometimes, few wore cloaks on top of their clothing ranging lightest grays to black so dark her human eye couldn't discern the details of their clothing.

She mused if colors they wore meant some significant importance unbeknownst to her or Gianna. Gianna speculated it was an unusual ranking system of colour epaulette, with black perhaps holding seniority over the light shades. She was probably right.

The woman, whom she presumed to be the leader of the group, with lovely oval face; straight, high Greek nose, deep-set almond eyes topped by long, soft curls were draped in a modest long gown in black tulle, embroidered with flowers and adorned with ruffles ruched around the neckline and at the waist, as well as on the sleeves and the underskirt.

The second female behind her wore a slight sheer ribbon blouse edged with shirred, puff sleeves with wide cuffs tucked into conservative below the knee length skirt. The third woman wore something similar to the second except she wore slim black trousers.

The first woman approached closer with a familiar smile she saw in other vampires who wanted to eat her. Jessica stepped back, the sinister of the woman's smile so far exceeded the bounds of her universe that the latter found herself once again become small, diminished to the point of being nothing, not even an ant.

Jane materialized in front of her, the young vampire's petite body being the only shield from the three vampires.

"Mistress." Jane greeted with a slight nod. Jessica let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Jane." The mistress spoke softly with apparent adoration one would direct for their child.

What she said next brought shivers down Jessica's spine, finding her feet rooted in the soil from fear as she clenched the book in her hand tightly to her chest.

"You brought us food."

"She is a guest." Jane said then accentuated, "Of Master Aro."

"The Cullens' human?" She blinked as she regarded the human with subdued predatory gaze in favour of newly founded intrigue. The second female raised a brow in surprise. The third, a vampire beauty with voluminous blonde hair, quietly scanned the unfolding scene from the background.

Jane nodded.

Then delighted smile bloomed across her full lips, "So you are that famous human girl my husband finds amusing."

Husband. Jessica gasped, She is Aro's wife!

She wasn't sure how to pay her respect to the woman who was Aro's wife, after a panicking minute settled for bowing, "Nice to meet you..um.."

"Sulpicia."

"Sul-picia." Jessica hoped she pronounced that correctly.

"Finally we meet at last. I have wondered when we will be introduced." Sulpicia remarked as her arm stretched to lovingly stroke the younger vampire's cheek. "Well done, my dear."

"Thank you, mistress." The subtle twist of her head suggested Jane leaning into her touch. Perturbed by this..eerie display of affection Jessica toiled to keep her expression taut, nails digging into her palm as she observed this–perversion of mother-daughter bond.

The second woman seemed to have noticed her disconcert, gently pressing a hand on Sulpicia's shoulder with an abashed smile, "Sulpicia, you're scaring the poor human."

Jessica bit inside her cheek. Shit, I have to step up on this resting bitch face of mine.

Sulpicia withdrew her hand, turning her focus on Jessica with a smile, "I hope you are..faring well."

"I am." Jessica said quickly, "I'm still alive and human thanks to master Aro." As if it was the most grateful thing anyone could.

Her smile took on a different tone, the one that was all-knowing and almost mocking. "That is good. My husband has odd attachment to humans that are peculiar." Like some amusing pet. Or a favourite clown. The saying went unsaid.

Forcing a smile and feigning unconvincing apologetic look, Jessica hurriedly said, "I'm really sorry but I've got to go."

Without waiting for their reply, Jessica darted out of that place. Not daring to glance behind and refusing to stop until the door locked behind her and she was back in the 'safety' of her room before letting out a relieved breath, falling onto the large, unkempt bed.

She needed to be alone.

Buzz

Buzz

Jessica came to by the sound of loud, frantic knocking on her door. Muffled shouts alternating between pleading and sobbing, in her sleepy haze, blinking, she staggered to the door wearily.

Buzz. The silenced phone, unknowing to her, frantically vibrated underneath her pillow.

Flattening herself against the wall and laying her ear against the door in effort to make clear of mayhem, it took her several seconds to realize someone was trying to get in, desperately banging their fists and screaming out in terror 'BŁAGAM POMÓŻ MI! O PANIE BOŻE, POMÓŻ MI! HELP!'

That shook Jessica out of whatever holds the sleep had on her, unsealing the rim lock, the door narrowly missed hitting her in the face by the sheer strength of the woman lurching it inward to the room. The woman fell into Jessica's arm, incoherently rambling with panic and horror, their eyes met. Her dark blue eyes met her own, the same colour reflecting her dazed, confused face.

A human.

The brown-haired woman was covered in blood that was not hers', a shoe was missing, earrings have been torn out, marked by smear of blood across her ears and her shirt was slightly torn from a struggle ensued.

Jessica gasped, their expressions mirroring as the woman gripped her arms, painfully, "ZADZWOŃ PO POLICJĘ! POTWORY!" The woman kept looking back over her shoulder to the dimly lit corridor, locking the door with trembling hands. It took several attempts until it clicked securely. Jessica motionlessly stood as the woman dragged the large, marble table to block the entrance.

The woman shook her once again, this time in English urging "POLICJĘ ! POLICJĘ! MONSTERS!"

Jessica glanced at the phone lying on her bed, hastily thrown across to the edge of it hidden partially by the pillow on the left side she favoured, then back to the trembling woman. She seemed so young, no younger than her but maybe slightly older in her early 20s…and Jessica froze and dumbly stared at the woman like an ugly fish out of water.

The woman shouted something back at her; it sounded angry, frustrated and wretched. Her whole body quivered and reeled and lurched under the duress as though words weren't enough to contain this violent fits of emotions. Then just as sudden, the woman flinched back, expression twisting into something that made Jessica feel sick and unable to swallow the lump in her throat, praying to God, to anyone that would listen, to hope this was nothing but a nightmare.

The woman scanned the room; clothes strewn over a chair like most people do when it's clean enough not to go in the laundry, but not enough to go back in the wardrobe: it exists because they planned to wear those clothes again in the near future, so it needs to be easily accessible, half eaten snacks saved for later, few books from the library, laptop charging, few pairs of shoes littered on the floor, a cup and bottle of water, make up products...and then the still messy, unkempt bed where half of the duvet were turned inside out where residue of recent bodily warmth still remained and all the pillows were cornered to a side that was common for people favoring one side.

The woman shook her head in disbelief, staggering back as though physically repulsed by the certainty of this situation. She had thought she found a fellow victim and perhaps a saviour; instead she was one of them.

The enemy.

The monster.

And the worst kind – the ones that betrayed its own.

"You-you!" The woman accused with foreign lilt, tone sharp and biting. Jessica wasn't sure what hurt more, that she was considered a traitor or the utter hopeless in the woman's eyes that she would never leave this place alive.

"I-" Jessica opened her mouth despite there was nothing to be said and knowing even then it wasn't enough to comfort this woman. Her tongue cowardly wiggled inside, irresolutely searching for words between her teeth and the roof of her mouth, exhaling nothing but air and silence.

You don't know them..not like I do. She wanted to say, You have no idea what they are capable of.

"Help me, please." The woman begged, clawing her chest in despair.

Knock.

.

The sound jolted them into defense, shoulders tensed and heart hammering brutal marks against their chests. The woman mouthed 'please' in a soundless scream so ironically despairing than one that would have sounded with a voice.

Knock.

.

Jessica pulled the woman into the bathroom. It was the safest place she could think of. It was the quickest and the safest place they can find in such a short time to hide. Like how a child thinks with its childish brain under the bed was a safe haven from monsters.

The windows were too high and too small for an adult to climb out, but a child could fit through.

She should call the police.

Jessica looked back to her bed, to her charged phone. The signal wasn't as good in the castle; it struggled to penetrate the thick walls and Gianna hinted that that was intentional in that part.

Knock.

.

The door was still blocked by the table.

She should get the phone.

Should call for help.

She should help the woman.

Fingers curled into fists, nails digging into the delicate skin of her palm threatening to spill.

The lever rolled downward, door unhinged from its latch and the table screeched across the cold, polished tiles as it's repelled back, powerless against the inhuman strength of a vampire parrying against their feeble attempt to ward them off.

The half of vampire's face came into view. Her breath hitched in her throat. She recognized that sharp, piercing features anywhere.

In the dim light of her room, his eyes were just like cat eyes in the night, bleeding neon red that she swore it was glowing ringed with vibrant hues.

She instinctively prayed Oh God, help me.

There was a streak of impish, vicious glint in his eyes and ruthlessness in his smile.

His eyes casually peeked toward the direction of the bathroom before back at her with a tilt of his head, one hand grasping the door and other over the frame so that she won't be able to shut them without a wring of his fingers.

Damn.

This must be how it felt to be backed into a corner.

Then he spoke, so elegantly and so sultry, "A rat escaped..you wouldn't have happened to see it, have you?"

Rat? Is that what a human is to you?

"No." The word tore its way out of her mouth before she could register it. It was pathetic really, and so ridiculously comical and moronic when she knew about his gift.

"I see you are still weary of us." He nodded toward the table that had been cast aside.

"You can never be too relaxed." She retorted, "Someone might find I'm worth more as a snack than a bait."

He stepped in. She backed away.

He initiated to close the distance. She strove to maintain to be far away from him as possible.

"I mean you no harm." He said. Promised. Honest. Kind.

She almost.. "I don't believe you." You're a liar. Just like the rest of them.

Jessica darted toward the bed, jumping across to the left side and grabbed the phone. Missed calls from Bella and Alice. 112 on the dial screen. Tight in her grasp, it creaked under the pressure.

Demetri tensed, slowly shaking his head with a warning look, "Jessica-"

"If I press this button, what happens?" She knew what happened, the answer was so obvious and clear, yet she wanted to hear it from his lips.

His face soothed back into that of an inscrutable, empty statue. She wondered how one could go from an almost concerned affect to a stranger so quickly and readily as he had.

"I will kill you." He said, dogged and direct and absolute – there was neither doubt nor diffidence in his stance. The void of hesitance in his voice showed his readiness to kill..and more.

He neared closer with a gentle front although his eyes yet to lose all the sharpness but enough to give a sense of ease into his approach, "Jessica, you don't want to do this. Don't force my hands."

But that woman. That poor, innocent woman,

The thought of exchanging that woman's life for hers' pricked a gush of tears, salty and slightly relieving the pressure that felt as if her chest and head were filled with saltier water. She hadn't realized the tears trailing down her cheeks until his fingers delicately wiped them away while another tickled down her arm to her hand and gripping down on the phone she was holding.

"Please." It was barely a note above a whisper.

"She has family-friends, people that will miss her." Jessica urged under her shaky breath full of despair.

"An orphan." He reasoned to her, "We choose those that will less likely to be missed or noticed A nobody."

The phone hovered between them, their eyes totally absorbed in each other just as she aimed to press the call button; Jessica was on her back, his knee between her legs, her wrists captured and forced against the mattress on either side of her head. The phone clattered to the floor at the other side of the bed.

He gave her a disappointed, almost exasperated sigh; dismayed frown flawing his smooth skin, "Is this your decision then? You would give up your life for a nobody"

"Yes." She replied, unwavering and certain.

"Are you always so sacrificing?" He asked with ghost of a smile.

No. Not really. I'm not like the angel Angela.

Her refusal to answer spoke for itself, earning a smirk, "Then we have something in common."

His weight, his presence, his stare engulfed her with an intensity that forced her senses into overdrive. Too many emotions were simmering under the surface of her new found ocean of fracas.

Terror slowly raised its head like a sea monster. Wanting to avoid his stare, she chose to stare at the slat headboard, inadvertently exposing her bare neck to him. She felt his hold tighten and muscles in his body becoming taut like a predator about to lunge for its prey.

"I prefer you alive, Jessica."

She snapped her head back toward him with hardened stare. "I'll fight you to death."

Huff of laughter escaped him. She'd laugh at herself too. A lone human fighting against a vampire, an ancient one at that.

A blue eye espied from a sliver of the bathroom door with stifled breath, sweaty trembling palm against her mouth and nose as the male vampire lowered his head with an almost tender intimacy than for a kill.

Jessica didn't dare to breathe as his lips hovered above hers', their face so close she could feel him and his honey scent nuzzling into her an consuming all of her. It felt as though he was challenging her to fight him off. To struggle. Claw, scratch and bite. A part of her did; she wanted to lash out, punch and kick him, leave her victorious marks on that irritatingly handsome, perfect face. She wondered how lovely it would be to see the angry print of her hand on his cheek, scratches of her nails across his face and the bruises forming on that pale, unblemished skin of his. Another part of her – the dark and selfish, one reddened with shame and guilt, wanted to wait and see what those lips and teeth would do. Would it bring her death or something more pleasant? Would it make her scream out in pain or of something else?

For a moment, they seemed to be too indulged in each other to remember the woman hidden mere few feet away. Jessica was first to remember why they were tangled together in this bewildering, absurd mess. She wished time was stuck like this forever – so that no choice could be made, no blood would be spilled and she won't have to live with guilt drowning her down.

But Demetri's dexterity with mind was powerful: focused, tenacious and relentless; nothing distracted him from his hunt and that was what made him the most powerful tracker in the world, surpassed by no one.

He left her feeling cold and numb, walking over to the bathroom – but not before he picked up the fallen phone from the floor and slipped it into his pocket. There was screams, agonized cries that alternated between Polish and broken English.

Jessica darted toward them, "NO!"

Tripping and landing onto the marble floor, cold lifeless eyes gazed at her pleadingly. Jessica saw herself through them. Her neck was broken. She probably died instantly. Painless. No bloodshed.

She could not save her no matter how much effort she put into it. She was too late. She hesitated. Jessica wanted to scream.

He picked up her limp body as one would carry a heavy sack, an arm around the abdomen as her limbs swayed to the rhythm of his gait, walking out of the room without a glance back.

Alone, she was sobbing at the idea that she was a simple, young woman who had been robbed of a chance at life and bathed in her own tears she brought forward the person of her father, then that of her mother, who smiled at her with her timid mouth for one second before slipping back into her brain. But when she tried to evoke the woman, her interior vision fogged over so completely that she found himself sitting stupidly at the edge of the bed, before the window open on a torrent of moonlight.

Jessica, suddenly conscious of a monstrous error, doubled up and disappeared in the wind of an eye under the blankets, which she wrapped quickly around her body as if to lose herself in the very fibre of things, a frightened little animal.

It was like she was on the roller coaster and as it climbs, falls, twists and turns and towards the end she realizes she felt nothing. She was sitting in a tiny cart being whipped around like a toy, wondering why everyone else was laughing, screaming, and throwing their hands in the air. She was melting and disappearing. The world seemed to make less sense. She looked in the mirror and barely recognized herself, she felt alien and she couldn't imagine being a person ever again.

"Are you okay?" The same question Bella and Alice asked. This time it was from Gianna.

Alice foresaw the woman in her vision from a bystander point of view standing behind Jessica just as the woman burst into her room. In the dream-like reality, the woman was dead but Jessica was too. Jessica wondered just how many times she escaped the hand of Death, recognizing the relief in their voices when Gianna came to retrieve her few minutes after Demetri had gone. She couldn't really recall what their conversation was about other than her lips repeating 'I'm okay, it's fine, I'm okay, don't fret over it, I'll take care of it' over and over and over again.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered with an airy shrug, the same answer she gave them. Her phone was still with Demetri, she's yet to ask for it back.

"I was like that when I first saw them too." Gianna muttered, sipping on her coffee.

"How did you even..come to work for them?"

"Recruiting humans is not my job, that's another secretary's job," Gianna spoke while interspersing with typing up something on the computer, "But in my case, I was a recent law graduate and they were looking for a legal assistant to join this old money family. The interviewer was human at first; they ask you a lot of questions about your education, background, family, your general personality – mostly whether I was willing to travel often, learn different languages, signing NDAs, background checks and limiting my interaction with other people. It was quite intense and intrusive but rich people can be picky when it comes to things like that so I didn't mind and besides the advertised salary and benefits was amazing, way overpaid for a fresh out of college legal assistant. There were several interview stages, each more rigorous than ones before and more demanding. They must have liked me because at the final phase, I met Heidi for the first time and revealed they decided to choose me and who they truly were. I was shocked..I mean I didn't believe her at first; I thought this woman was crazy and even was pranking me but you know..you quickly find out how 'different' they are from you."

"So..that's it? No training or anything like that?"

Gianna took a deep breath, leaning back into her chair seemingly finished with the current work, "Umm..well turns out they actually didn't need a legal assistance more than they needed a secretary – they mostly have others who are more experts on important things like finance, laws and intelligence. My job is consisting of basic administrative skills like reporting, greeting guests and notifying them of anything important that's been passed onto me by the professionals."

Gianna paused then snapped her finger in remembrance, "And general tolerance for blood and death. Thankfully, I'm not the one they're making to clean up their leftovers after they're done eating."

Jessica flinched, unable to contain her expression of disgust and misery. Gianna seemed to realize the insensitivity of her words, sheepishly muttering, "Oh shit, sorry."

"It's fine." Jessica replied half-heartedly.

They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food.

Her own words repeated in her mind like depraved mantra.

"You're still alive, so you must have passed the test."

They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating food. They live by drinking blood like how I live by eating fo-

"What?" Jessica almost filtered it out, blinking out of her maundering.

"Did you also had the human woman running into your room for help scenario?" Gianna raised a brow skeptically, "I mean, you didn't think it was possible a human could ever escape group of vampires, especially once the feeding frenzy begins, did you?"

She must have looked confused as ever because Gianna reinforced slowly, eyes never leaving hers', "They were testing you. They were seeing how you would react; see if you're 'loyal' to them, see if you'd break the rules by going out of your way to help her and expose them. If you did the wrong thing, you'd be dead right now."

The roller coaster dropped again.

This time, she screamed.

A part of her memory was lost.

The missing memory of her travelling down tunnels that ran three stories beneath the town where most of their living space was located, finding his room and knocking his door. It was as though someone had abducted her and simply dropped her in his room without an explanation.

A deliciously decorated Greco-roman style yet the large, spacious room were bare of personal touch and almost empty. She momentarily wondered if this was actually someone's bedroom. There was no bed, no windows, no chairs, a small table with a simple decoration, a luxurious chaise longue by the wall, several terminal pedestals with various busts and sculpture, rows of stacked books in the wall, canvas of priceless arts hung on the wall…

She could have called him. Like she always did.

She slapped him. His head didn't snap back as she had imagined, like stubborn ancient rock that stayed rooted, motionless; fixed. Her marks didn't appear like she wanted it would – his skin wasn't human nor did it hurt him, but it did her. She bit down on her lip from yelping out in pain, even when her hand was turning red and hot and numb.

She was shouting at him; mostly cursing and swearing. She'd do the same thing to Aro. How dare they? How dare him.

Her phone clanked on the floor again, spinning across the end of the room. It had escaped his hand during their physical struggle.

Then they were on the cold floor, their prone bodies mingling in each other's scents and she below him. Jessica wasn't sure how they ended up kissing, did she made the move or him? She hated him. She could never understand him.

Their tongues continued to do battle, their lips crushing together devouring each other. It was frustrating and exciting all at once – Jessica sensed the tension ratcheting up a notch as his fingers skilfully slid her clothes off her body. The coldness of the marble seeping into her naked back, Jessica couldn't suppress a shiver feeling his cool, steel skin all over hers' and it was just as delightful and dangerous as she have fantasied.

She'd regret it.

Edited by YanaTG

Thank you so much to ColdHeartAngel for helping me out with Polish translation!

Błagam, pomóż mi- I beg you, help me

O Panie Boże, pomóż mi- Oh God help me

Zadzwoń po policję- Call the police

Potwory- Monster

A/N:

It's been a long time since I've updated and a lot of things had happened this year; for many of us it's life-changing, good and bad, but we will get through this together and in this time, where it's so easy to feel alone or unsupported or afraid, I am still here for you guys and always wishing you all to be safe and well. I've got few one shots coming up that I'm excited to write which I will be uploading them on Tumblr and answering questions if you got any.

I'm still working during the epidemic (I wish I was able to work from home but I can't) so my updates will be slow (as usual…).