The Calling (Aro x Marcus x Caius)

κεφάλαιο βιβλίου • 8

(Trigger Warning: Blood)

With each step I felt a part of me vanish as if some force was slowly pulling the soul from my body. Every step I took grew lighter and yet felt so heavy that by the time the Cullens house vanished from view I could no longer feel myself moving. The only indication I had that told me I hadn't completely stopped moving was the trees that slowly passed in my view. I should have been sprinting away- not walking like a lost spirit.

But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to run.

I hadn't recognized how long I had walked for. It could have been five minutes, it could have been five hours. All I knew was that one moment I was leaving the Cullens in a daze and the next I was staring at splintered wood. But that wasn't right. I should have been staring at YiaYias tiny little water well that hadn't worked since a flood capsized the bottom. YiaYia grumbled day and night about the loss of her well- said it was pure sky collected water that had been tainted by the earth- but she never took it down. So why was it scattered on the snow trodden ground?

And then it was like someone splashed me with ice water.

Everything around me slammed into focus and a sharp cry escaped my lips as I stumbled back. I couldn't even gasp as my foot hit a piece of old wood, the mass sending me sprawling back into the red stained snow. Grandmothers once beautiful cottage was ravaged, the windows shattered so that the dirt stained glass could sparkle in the snow. Around the well I had stared at so dazed was Matt's of fur and blood, the occasional tendon tucked under a splintered board. Even though the thick crimson liquid was staining the pieces, I could make out the dark black colours and cream coloured tuffs of fur.

Gaia and Leonidas.

A long wail filled my ears and it took me a moment to register that the noise was coming from me. Nothing was registering anymore. The cold that seeped into my bones, the wood that splintered my fingers as I slowly stood up, nor the strong scent of metallic blood that I had never noticed until I saw it scattered through the field as if a child had taken a bucket of red paint and ran around. I wish it had been paint.

And then I was moving forward, my feet taking me past the doorway of the ruined cottage where a door had once stood. I could see it a few feet away on the ground, odd claw marks covering the middle as if something had tried to get in. Whatever it was had clearly succeeded. "YIAYIA!!" I shouted, not caring if whatever had done this was still in the ruined home. Running from room to room, I tried to make out any human shape in the wreckage. It was as if an earthquake had shaken everything to the ground, the occasional feather drifting through the room from one of grandmothers shredded pillows. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see anything. Where the outside was stained red, not a single spot of blood showed in the home.

"Grandmother, please!!" I begged, running up to the bedrooms. It was a strange sight to see. Everything downstairs was ruined but upstairs was... perfect. Eerily still. As if no one had ever been up here. It caused my frantic run to slow to a stop, my heart hammering in my head. The floorboards creaked as I slowly made my way to grandmothers bedroom door, my breath coming out in slow puffs the shattered window allowed to be shown. Reaching out, my fingertips brushed against her door and with a desperate attempt I slowly pushed it open.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

All of her books, her herbs, her bed, her clothes- it was all gone without a trace. "What-?" Confusion filled me as I entered the room, walking to the center to slowly spin in a circle. "I don't understand- where is she..." Nothing was making sense. The house was destroyed but upstairs was perfect, grandmother was gone but Gaia and Leonidas... they.... I could taste something salty and reached up to press a finger against my lips. Hot tears had been streaming down my face without me ever realising it. I don't think I've ever cried so much in one time period. But everything was going down the drain and the tears wouldn't stop flowing.

Slowly leaving the empty room I made my way to my own, slowly pushing the closed door open.

If upstairs had missed the wreckage, my room had certainly gotten it. Downstairs had simply been knocked around and torn up. But my room... something had been hunting something. My gaze flitted around the destroyed room, scanning over everything. Nothing could be salvaged and upon noticing that the spot on my bed where I slept took the most damage, I realised whatever had done this had been hunting not just something but me. Was that why YiaYia was gone? Had she fled? Had she abandoned me?

Or had she been taken?

Something dripped onto my nose, my hand instinctively reaching to wipe away my tears. But what smudged my skin wasn't clear. It was red.

And then suddenly I was aware of how cold the room was and how sticky the spot I was in had gotten. And slowly my head lifted even though everything in my begged it not to. I wish I had listened.

I couldn't tell what was worse. The mangled bodies of Gaia and Leonidas hung from the ceiling rafters or the scream that slipped from my lips to tell me I had found them. I stumbled back before any of their blood could hit my hair and face, my now soiled shoes slipping over the wooden floor to throw me back against the hallway wall.

Movies always portrayed crying in a cute manner but I knew I was anything but cute as sobs wracked my body. I almost couldn't hear the shouts from outside through my own sobs, the sound echoing in my buzzing ears. My eyes were stuck on my doorway where blood dripped from the now hidden ceiling to the red stained floor, the sight of my pets terrified face burning in my mind.

"M-... AL-..."

something stood out upon from my sobs, but I couldn't focus. I was focused on the dripping pattern, so steady and fresh. And then the door slammed shut, a hand grasping my chin to pull my gaze up. Instantly red flooded my vision and a soft whimper escaped my lips.

I hated red.

"Altheia, breathe. Take deep breaths." Marcus spoke softly, but I couldn't. Not when his eyes were burning into mine, a deep crimson red. "You're scaring her." In the blink of an eye Marcus was gone, Dr.Cullen peering at me with worried eyes of liquid gold. They seemed more orange than anything, maybe a sunset colour, but it wasn't red and that's what mattered. "They're dead.." I choked out the best I could, Dr.Cullen pulling me into his arms so quickly I almost thought I had aways been in them. Maybe I had. Everything seemed so fast and yet passed as if time had slowed.

Or maybe it had broken.

"Do you have homework?"

I could hardly see through my tears at this point but I couldn't help but look up to try and stare at Carlisle in confusion as he lifted me from the ground to hold me bridal style. "What?" I almost couldn't hear my voice, but clearly he could. "Do you have homework? Wasn't there an essay for your English class?" What did that have to do with anything? Why would he focus on that when everything was wrong? There was so much blood and he was focusing on a stupid essay? "Y-Yeah but-" "what was it about again?" I could feel myself swaying, my head instinctively tucking into carlisles chest as he walked. Was he walking? I might have just gotten too dizzy. "Huckleberry Finn..." I found myself whispering, my burning eyes closing as I tried to stop the throbbing in my head. "That's a good story." Carlisle commented as if nothing was wrong- as if we had just come from Sunday brunch and he wasn't carrying me out of a ruined home.

"Not really. It's stupid. Huck is immature and the literacy is annoying to read." I found myself grumbling, but no one laughed. That seemed appropriate for the situation. "Some people say it's the greatest piece of writing." He remarked, his voice boring into my head. How could someone talk so loud and yet so soft? It was like his voice was a tidal wave slamming over me so it could push me into a still darkness. Or maybe I was just overwhelmed.

Hadn't I been running from this dude a while ago?

"No it's not....It's dumb. Harry Potter is the greatest piece of writing ever." My breath came out shaky, the last part drowned out by a desperate yawn. I needed that breath. "Oh, it certainly is a wonderful piece of writing. So magical.. how does it go again? I believe it starts- "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.""

And then the world around me faded.

-•-•-•-•-•-•-

A/N: if some things seem confusing, just know it's supposed to! There are some hidden details in the story that you'll start to find out and understand in the next few chapters. Comment what you think ruined the home and what you think happened to YiaYia ;)