There and Back

Bella and Jacob. Jacob and Bella. I saw them together every time I closed my eyes. I was tossing and turning all night long. I woke up screaming with my blankets tangled all around me.
"You all right, Elizabeth?" Tony was sitting in the rocking chair at the foot of my bed. He's been staying in my room for the past few days. At first I thought it was kind of creepy. I mean it was still really creepy but it kept Jace away from the room. I trusted Tony. Don't ask me why because I don't know.
"Fine," I sniffled. "Just had a bad dream."
"About-?"
"Lizzy, open the door," Jace shouted, banging on the barred door.
"Fuck off," I yelled back. He hissed but stomped off down the corridor all the same.
"Like I was saying, was it about your sister and boyfriend?"
My eyes narrowed. Tony looked at me innocently until my expression softened minutely. I sighed. "Yes," I admitted finally. "I keep seeing what you showed me. Keep seeing them together. I’m glad that they’re happy, but-" I choked back a sob.
He quickly crossed the room and wrapped his arms around me. "Sh. Hush now. Everything's going to be okay. Elizabeth, I am so sorry that I showed that to you."
"No, I'm glad you did. It's good I know the truth."
"Elizabeth." He stopped himself and sighed. "Would you like to hear my story now?"
"Sure, I guess.” I paused, remembering the deal he’d offered in the garden “Wait- do I have to tell you mine?"
He grinned slightly. I noticed that he's been doing that more frequently, but only when he was alone with me. "No, you don't have to tell me your story if you don't want to. I just want to try to make you feel better."
"M'kay. Thank you, Tony. For everything."
"Oh, don't thank me. Just relax and listen up." I leaned back into my pillows. Tony moved the rocking chair up closer to my head. "I was born five hundred years ago. My mother died giving birth to me. I grew up very quickly. Within seven years, I was fully grown and haven't changed since. I spent most of my time travelling the world on my own. Every few decades I would come back to Volterra with my father. He didn't like me travelling but made me believe that my choices were fine.
"About two or three hundred years ago I was living in Zacatecas, Mexico. There was this girl there that was sixteen years old at the time and her name was Alejandra. She had dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, she was absolutely beautiful. Alejandra was very outgoing, unpredictable, and didn't give a shit about anyone. You actually remind me a lot of her in that way." He was smiling again and his gaze was far off.
"You fell in love with her. So then what happened?"
"I told her. Turns out, she already knew. Alejandra was actually- well I guess you could call her- a witch. As much as she wanted to hate me for what I was, she couldn't. But her family did. When my father and the rest of the Volturi found out, they planned to have her killed. I couldn't let that happen so we decided to run away together. On the eve of our departure, her own family turned on her. She was dead by the time I arrived at sunset."
"Oh, Tony, I'm so sorry. That must have been absolutely terrible for you. What did you do then?"
He shrugged nonchalantly but I could see the pain in his eyes. "Nothing. I came back to Volterra and haven't left since. It was at that point that I closed myself off from everyone and everything. I decided that I would just be by myself and not worry about anyone."
"You and I are a lot alike. My mom left my dad when I was still a baby. I waited for them to get back together and when they didn't I started to keep to myself a lot. If you’re alone then no one can hurt you. I wish I would have followed my own advice instead of falling in love with Jacob. Then maybe this mess wouldn't be so terrible."
"Elizabeth... Liz, I'm sorry."
"For what? It's not like you did anything wrong."
For the rest of the day I wandered around the castle with Tony while trying to avoid Jace. Oh, and Jane and Victoria. I went outside to Tony's courtyard for a few hours. He left me alone there with an "I'll be right back." I waited for a while until I got bored. When he didn't come back, I decided to just go back to the room by myself. That was a very bad idea. Just down the hall I ran into, guess who: Jace, Victoria, and Jane. Yep, you guessed it.
"You sure it's a good idea for you to be wandering around alone?" Jane sneered.
"I'm not afraid of you," I said stubbornly.
"You should be," Victoria smirked. "Just think, it's only a matter of time before you become useless. Then we'll all have the pleasure of drinking you dry."
"Just know that I'm going down kicking and screaming. And I plan on taking you bitches with me."
Jane smirked. Uh-oh. In seconds my head felt like it was about to explode. I wished it would so that the pain would go away. I fell to the ground clutching my aching head in my hands. A few more minutes of this and I would probably be dead. Jace didn’t even stop her.
"Jane! That's enough!" The pain stopped and I saw Tony kneeling by me when my vision cleared. "Now if you three would excuse us, Elizabeth and I have some things to discuss."
Tony locked the door when we entered. "Thanks, Tony."
"Don't mention it. But I really do have to talk to you about something."
"Okay, shoot."
"Um, it's about what I showed you in Forks. Lizzy..."