ii.

                                    

                                          
4 months after Diana moved to Italy
                          
Demetri's POV
                          
It was late at night, a crescent moon was hanging brightly in the sky. Stars twinkled overhead, the streets were almost completely bare. Only a few people remained, heading home after a long day. 
                          
I had just come back from a mission in England and I felt an unexplainable need to take a stroll through Volterra. It had been building up in my chest all day but it grew stronger the more I walked along the path that I decided to take. 
                          
Suddenly, a loud scream pierced through the silent night. I stilled as my ears perked up to listen. 
                          
"Help! Someone, please help me!" The voice pleaded. It sounded like a woman.
                          
My instincts told me to take a look to see who was screaming. That feeling in my chest was overwhelming, urging me to follow the sound.
                          
I quickened my pace and turned the corner. As I crept deeper into the dark alleyway, I came upon a vampire about to feed on a woman. He had her head tilted back, exposing her neck. The erratic sound of her heart beating filled my ears. I could see the vein in her neck pulsing. Beside her foot was a discarded key chain that held pepper spray on the end of it. 
                          
At first, I was thinking 'I'll let him finish and then take him to the kings' but when I took a look at the woman, suddenly I felt an overwhelming need to protect her. She felt familiar, she felt like home. 
                          
Allowing the feeling to win me over, I flashed up to the two strangers and grabbed the vampire by the neck, and pinned him to the wall.
                          
"You should know better than feed-in Volterra," I spat venomously 
                          
"I'm so s-sorry, p-p-please don't kill me," He begged
                          
"Should have thought about that before you decided to break the law," I said, glaring at him
                          
"What are you going to do to me?" He asked, scared for his life.
                          
"I have to take you to the kings where you will receive your punishment," He nodded solemnly, knowing he couldn't do anything to change it. I turned to him, "Stay put or I will find you and make your death slow and painful," he nodded. I walked over to the girl who was silently crying on the ground. My face softened.
                          
"Hey, it's okay. I won't let anyone hurt you," I said, "what's your name?"
                          
"Diana. Diana Swan," She answered, her heart still hammering in her chest.
                          
"My name's Demetri. I need to take you to my masters to decide what to do with you," She looked frightened.
                          
"Please, can I just go home?" she pleaded softly, sounding tired
                          
"I'm sorry, but you have seen too much. I need you to come with me," she nodded hesitantly, "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you, okay?" 
                          
"okay," she agreed defeatedly 
                          
I held my hand out for her to stand. When her warm hands grasped my ice cold one, she surprisingly didn't flinch from the coldness. Once she was standing, I walked over to the vampire and put my hand on the back of his neck to lead him back to the castle. I turned to Diana and said, "follow me." 
                          
We began walking back to the castle at human pace. The streets were now vacant of life, there was no one to bear witness to the event that just took place. It took us a good 10 minutes to reach the castle doors. As soon as I opened the doors, I was met with the face of Felix.