Matching the Cards Up

I followed behind me husband quietly, hoping he'd ignore me for the rest of the day since his attention was fixed on our gorgeous tour guide, Ms. Heidi. The crowd around me shoved slightly, trying to get closer to her. I, on the other hand, inched to the back of the crowd.

Derek, my husband, peeled his eager eyes off of Heidi and glanced back at me. His eyes held disgust for me like always. I flinched away from him. I could still feel the throbbing bruise on the side of my neck and my shoulder still ached from his fist.

"Where do you think you're going?" he sneered in his nasal voice. I keep my head bowed slightly to make him feel unthreatened by my already tiny form.

"I was going to the bathroom," I whispered, dodging a flying elbow from an eager middle aged man on his way to the front of the group. He thought about my request then glanced over at Ms. Heidi. Derek let me go without another thought about me.

I hurried and scampered away back down the hallway that our tour that had just traveled down a few seconds ago. I glanced back over my shoulder. Around 15 people of all ages were eagerly taking pictures of the old portraits as Ms. Heidi hurried and lead them into a room.

I ducked around the corner and then jogged until I found a bathroom. It was very clean but I could tell not a lot of people used it. I hid in the stall, hoping my husband would just forget about me for once and leave me alone. I let a few tears fall down my cheeks before whipping them away with my tiny hand. I cleared my throat and left my stall.

I stood in front of the giant mirror, looking at myself. I stared at my 5'3 height and my wavy, light brown hair. I stared back at my hazel eyes and glanced over my creamy toned skin, ignoring my bruises. I felt disgusted with myself. I couldn't even leave my husband that my parents set me up with years ago.

I took a deep breath and gathered my courage to go back to my abusive husband. I hurried and left the bathroom, trying not to make any noise on my way back. I didn't make it back to the room we were in though. Screams reached my ears before I entered. I took a shake breath and ran back down the hallway, looking for someone to help me. I didn't bother with screaming myself since that might draw unwanted attention.

It felt like hours since I had first heard the screams. I was hiding behind a statue of some little angle children somewhere in the castle. I slowed my breathing and curled up into a ball. I rested there until I heard beautiful voices floating down the corridor towards me.

"Heidi brought in a good selection today," someone said, slowly walking by my hiding place. I held my breath, hoping and praying they wouldn't notice me. An elegant white haired man and a moody looking dark haired man walked towards me. They almost made it past my hiding place before the white haired man stopped.

"Do you smell that? It smells faintly of human," he exclaimed, looking around him. The dark haired man's brow furrowed as he also looked around. I closed my eyes but listened closely for them to approach me.

"Oh my, what a tiny human," one of them exclaimed with a hint of amusement in his voice. I peeked open one of my eyes and seen the two men looking at me. The white haired man had a curious look on his face while the other almost looked angry.

"Looks like our food gave us the slip," the dark haired one murmured to his companion, fixing me with a glare. The white haired one chuckled and came towards me with incredible speed. I gaped at him and scooted back into a corner.

"Come on, give me your hand," the man whispered to me, reaching his hand out for me to take. I hesitated before grabbed it with a shaky hand. Instead of pulling me up from the floor, he just closed his eyes and held my hand. "How interesting," he whispered after a moment or two.

He pulled me up finally and led my over to the other man. "This one has some potential for us," he exclaimed with excitement clear in his voice. "She is a very good hider. I believe she hid from her husband for three days in their own home!" he gushed.

I didn't understand what he was talking about but I allowed him to pull me away from my hiding place and down many corridors. The two men barely stopped when they came to a pair of grand doors. It was a huge library with books that was probably older than the castle itself.

"Sit down, sit down. Now, where is Marcus? He needs to be here for this," the white haired one said, running here and there, blurring in my vision. I sat in an old armchair and looked around. Shelves went to the ceiling and there was even a second floor to the library. If I wasn't so confused by all this, I probably would have been fascinated by the library.

The white haired man ran around, yelling out orders to the few other beautiful people in the library. They scattered, obeying his wishes immediately. I sat quietly, hoping I wouldn't be the one screaming next. Everyone ignored me until three beautiful, powerful looking men stood in front of me.

"Now this one, somehow, got away from Heidi's group and snuck into the bathroom. Then she remained hidden for two hours afterwards. She has a quite interesting history of hiding, don't you?" the white haired one said excitedly to his collogues. Neither of them expressed their emotions about me.

"You think this woman is gifted enough to join our guard?" the angry one from earlier asked, eyeing me doubtfully. I shifted nervously in my seat. He reminded me of my husband, whom was probably dead by now from what I've gotten from what they've said. A great thing to happen in such a bad time.

The three of them talked about the pros and cons of me joining their guard thingy. I curled up into a ball in the chair and willed my stomach not to growl from hunger. It must have been over eight hours since I last ate.

"What is her name?" the quiet one asked in such a light and calm voice that I wanted him to speak again. It had been such a long time since I'd heard a calm tone of voice. I mostly heard yelling and screaming.

"Her name is Mia Cameo. Age 20, has been married for a year, any other questions, brothers?" Aro exclaimed. I was glad he had switched out my husband's last name and replaced with my maiden name.

I had learned the three's names after listening to them talk to each other and learned some of their personality traits as well. Aro would be my best bet if I wanted to get out of here or to stay alive.

"Excuse me, do you have something to eat or a vending machine here?" I asked finally when my stomach finally gave a loud growl. All three just looked at me like I was stupid or something.

"Why would we have human food here?" Caius sneered, rolling his eyes at me. I frowned and waited for one of them to explain what he meant by that.

"Perhaps we should send Felix or Santiago into the city to get our little human some food," Aro murmured thoughtfully, like he didn't know normal a person had to eat regularly. I watched him order someone to get me food. "Do you need anything else?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," I replied, staring at his feet. I was used to someone taking care of me or being concerned about my wellbeing.

Someone stepped forward immediately, slung me over their back and took off running. Everything kind of blurred around me but the person holding me up didn't seem to have a problem with seeing where they were going.

They dropped me into the bathroom I had been in hours ago and stood there, waiting for me to do my business. "Um, can you go outside or something?" I mumbled, embarrassed that I had to have someone with me to go to the bathroom. The person glared at me but ran back out to wait for me.

I hurried and got my business done so they wouldn't have to wait on me. The person ran back into the library with me on their back like before and sat me down on the couch this time.

A huge platter of food was on the coffee table for me to eat like chicken, potatoes, green beans, pizza, fish soup, spaghetti, spinach manicotti and much, much more. My mouth watered at the sight of it all. I had never seen so much delicious food that I could eat.

I ate as much as I could without getting sick. Aro looked please that I enjoyed my food while Caius looked disgusted that I had ate in the first place.

"Let's see, we need to get you a room to stay in now," Aro exclaimed as he watched my eyes get heavy. I followed him the best I could down the corridors until we got to a plain looking door. A small woman like me opened the door for Aro before he had even knocked.

"The rumors are true. We going to keep this human and turn her into one of us then," she said, eyeing me. I couldn't tell what she thought of me.

"Yes, it is true. Jane, do you mind if Mia stays in your room while we sort everything out?" Aro suggested but I could tell he wasn't asking for her permission but was telling her. I had heard that voice many times from my husband and father.

Jane didn't seem happy to be letting me stay in her room but she let me in anyway. She didn't stay with me but followed Aro out. I looked around the round room. It was rather bare with only a closet and a couch in front of an unused fireplace. I sat on the couch and thought about what had happened so far in Volterra.

My husband was killed. That wasn't such a horrible loss. I was going to be used as some sort of guard for Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Everyone else here was really fast and beautiful. And I might get turned into whatever everyone else is.

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Something was poking my side sharply. I jerked up and looked around me. I had been curled up on my side on a couch. I was still in Jane's room.

A huge figure was towering over me with his arms crossed. I stumbled off of the couch and stood in front of them and looked them over. It was a huge man with short dark hair and blood red eyes just like everyone else's here. What really got my attention was that he looked like a body builder that never left his basement since he was so pale.

"Aro wants to see you in the throne room," the man boomed out. I jumped and nodded. He led me back in the corridor and glanced down at my tiny figure compared to his. "This will go a lot faster if you let me carry you, little human," he stated. I nodded again and let him take me into his cold arms.

We were at the throne room in no time, just a few seconds I'm guessing. Aro was already standing, waiting for me.

"Felix, you shouldn't be that close to our guest. You just don't have the control for resisting blood," Aro scolded the man as he stood me on my feet. I ignored what he said what blood, I wasn't afraid to die if that is what this will come too. "We thought you'd like to be here while we vote on what to do with you," he said, turning back to me.

"I vote to keep her," Aro stated.

"So do I," Marcus murmured, barely glancing up at the rest of us.

"I don't see why I bother voting against the two of you," Caius said, glaring over at his brothers. I almost smiled at his pouty attitude.

"Who will turn her? None of us have the control not to kill her," the man at my side exclaimed. I glanced over at him from the corner of my eye.

"Mmmm, I'm not sure. Felix, take her back outside so we can discuss this new problem," Aro said. The man beside me nodded, grabbed my arm and steered me back out of the room.

We stood in silence outside of the throne room, waiting for someone to let us back inside.

"What exactly are you people?" I asked Felix, watching him stare at the doors. Felix looked back over at me and grinned.

"We're vampires. You're in a very dangerous position right now," he chuckled, his grin getting even bigger. I thought over what he said in my mind for a few minutes. I suppose nothing is impossible after what I've seen here.

"Am I going to die?"

"Probably," Felix laughed.

"Mia, please come in here," I heard Aro call out from inside the room.

Author's Note: Hi! I thought I'd try to write a story about vampires for once. This is about Mia and Felix becoming friends and such. See you in the next chapter! :)