Masquerade (EVELYN)

[Marcus Volturi]

Take your turn.
Take a ride.
On a merry - go - round
In an inhuman race.

Darkness had long since fallen on the city of Seattle, Washington, causing all the myriad of lights to come alive, sparkling through the light rain that seemed to always fall upon it. This was no less true of the grande Seattle Theatre, which bustled about with men, women, children of all shapes, sizes, and races imaginable. There was a large production tonight of the musical The Phantom of the Opera and it was drawing in a huge crowd who were eager to see the sounds and hear the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber's masterpiece. Most of the people had on their finery, women in beautiful evening gowns, diamons, and pearls, men in suits of silk or wool, children in their best clothing. All dressed up for a night at the theatre. It was a splendid sight to behold indeed.

It was no different from the statuesque man dressed like he was going to an opera in Italy in the 19th century, albeit in a slightly more modern style. Marcus Volturi managed to weave his way through the crowds with minimal attention drawn to himself. There were people who stared. It was only natural, he, like the rest of his kind, was a magnificent and beautiful sight to gaze on by males and females alike disregarding sexual orientation. He watched the girl at the ticket booth stuttering as she asked for his ID and proof of purchase when he requested his ticket. A group of older females behind him tittered, the Italian accent, which had replaced the Greek one he'd had for so long, made nearly everyone swoon.

He could remember evenings like this, a night at the Opera di Roma to see Rossini or Mozart's newest production. It was no different from today as he entered the building, looking very much the distant aristocrat. All he needed was a walking stick, top hat, cape, and Didyme on his arm as he made his way through the crowds up to where the entrances to the boxes were. He missed his Didyme with an aching passion. She would have been so excited, she would bounce on the balls of her small feet, looking around at everyone and everything, sweeping this way and that in such an elegant fashion, every man in the room would have his attention focused solely on her, Marcus included. He allowed himself a ghost of a sad, pained smile. It was times like these when he missed Didyme the most.

[Evelyn Winters]

Evelyn was so very, very nervouse, her father had almost pulled her out of the preduction, but she was determind to pursue her dream, as she readied herself in her dressing room, she gazed upon her slender body in the moirror as she went to step into her costume, her dainty little hand traced gently over the bruises upon her ribcage and stomach, she only hoped noone would notice the wounds under her ballett tutu, swallowing hard Evelyn pulled the leatard up with the tutu attached and went to fix her hair and her make up, unlike the other girls, Eveyln did not need a wig, for her hair was alrady rather long, and naturally curly, she placed her small dainty feet into her red ballett shoes and tied the ribboned laces around her ankle and up her leg a little before she practiced a little to stretch the shoes.

hearing the 15minute call Evelyn swallowed hard, sclosing her eyes for a moment and inhaling deeply, composing herself before she exitted her dressing room and walked down the small corridor toward the stage in order to get herself ready for the beginning of the performance, as the music began to play she felt a tug upon the back of her tutu, and something else wrapped around her

"forgoodness sake Evelyn....will you ever learn your costume cue"

the wordrobe lady said rather harshly, Evelyn looked down to see a different skirt wrapped around her lower torso before she was pushed out onto the stage, the other girls were already dancing, and Evelyn had to act as if her lateness was part of the show as she fitted herself in and began to join in with the dance, despite who clumsy, and useless she could be, she was actually a rather spectacular little dancer, as she moved around that stage with such grace, such elegance.

[Marcus Volturi]

He slid into his seat, as stiff and cold as ever as the house lights dimmed and the curtain opened to the prologue. He'd seen the show before, so he knew what was going to happen without actually having to wait and see for himself. Deep in his cold, dead heart, he sympathized with the Phantom who was forced to remain in hiding, trapped behind a mask that concealed who and what he really was. It was for this that Marcus could associate himself with the role of the Phantom, except the Phantom had much more passion and more desire to pursue what he wanted, even if it was out of his reach.

What Marcus wanted, was to be with Didyme, to be beside her like he'd sworn to her centuries ago when they had been married. He'd failed her and now it was too late to change anything.

He'd died with her that night.

And now there was this chaos with Aro and Sulpicia. He didn't know if Sulpicia was purposefully trying to force him to replace Didyme, but she would never succeed. He just didn't care for the woman... well... she was more a sister than anything else and that was all he'd ever see her as. He resented what she was trying to do, she'd just barged right on into his chambers with her wardrobe and proceeded to take over, trying to replace all of Didyme's things with her own. Marcus had nearly killed her right then if it hadn't been for Felix and Caius restraining him. In the end, Caius had pulled Sulpicia aside and warned her against trifling with Didyme's memories. The ferocity with which Marcus had lunged at her had frightened her enough into doing as the white-haired male asked and she left everything alone.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that the beginning of the overture startled him as the great chandelier rose above the stage, triggering a "restoration" of the set to its former glory and the cast came out, beginning the first number. The dancers pranced out, beginning their graceful twirled and he smirked to himself as one lone little girl-child stumbled out after them, seamlessly managing to transition into the line with more grace than was normal for most humans. She was obviously an expert if she could pull that off. Enough so that most of the crowd didn't notice that what had happened was anything but purely intentional.

[Evelyn Winters]

Evelyn tried to cover her tracks, she danced like an angel, a very pretty, but rather troubled angel, as she cotninued to grace the stage with her movements, before she was pushed to the floor by one of the other cast members, she winced silently as she went crashing against the hard woodern floor, once again, she made this look as though it was part of the play, a cracking sound came from her ribcage, but of course this was not loud enough for the human ear, not any other human but ?Evelyn that was, as she remained upon the floor, waiting for the number to finish, thankfully it came soon, and the rest of the ballet dancers where now in a bowing persition upon the floor, so Evelyn didnt look out of place, as soon as that scene was over Evelyn picked herself up from the floor and hurried off the stage, she had to try and hide her pain, for she didnt want others asking questions, she knew that if they did ask wuestions, they would find out her secret, and she didnt want that at all, she knew her father would be furious if anyone found out.

as the frirst act came to an end and the curtain fell, there was an anouncment in the auditorium

"there will now be a 15minute interval"

the booming voice sounded out of the speakers, Evelyn attempted to move tot he dressing room, but the pain in her chest being far too much for her to cope with, she needed to get outside and get some fresh air, as she snuck out of one of the emergancies exits, leading out into a small alleyway, as she stood there resting back against the wall as she inhaled deeply trying to ease her chest.

[Marcus Volturi]

The show was actually quite enjoyable, he though passively. The dancers were good and the leads all had excellent voices and could act decently enough for his tastes. All in all, he was vaguely happy. He closed his eyes for a moment, just listening to the music and each heartbeat as the people on stage performed, heard the indivdual movements and each breath that was taken, so good was his hearing. Then there was a sound which should not have been heard: a soft "thump" and a crack. Humans wouldn't have been able to hear it, but he could with his superhuman hearing. He opened his eyes. The little girl-child who'd been late getting on stage had somehow fallen over and was now lying on the stage itself. There was something wrong, he was too far to tell but she might have fractured or broken a rib or something and might be bleeding internally.

The intermission was announced and he watched her shakily climb to her feet and totter offstage. He checked his pocket-watch. There was time yet. He stood up and exited the box, dodging the crowds until he had managed to find his way outside behind the theatre. Various offensive odors assualted his nose, but he ignored them, locating the child until he'd found her not far away. Then he paused. What the hell was he doing?

He was a vampire, Marcus of the Volturi for the gods' sakes! The Volturi did not under any circumstances fraternize with humans unless said humans were going to be turned into food for them later. Everyone knew that. To expand on the matter, this was Marcus Volturi, he didn't care about anyone or anything, human, shape-shifter, or vampire. Nothing mattered to him, so what was he doing?

Yet for some reason, a compassionate side took over and he walked towards where she was. He didn't know why until it hit him:

This was what Didyme would have done. This was the type of woman she was, much like Dr. Carlisle's wife Esme, Didyme would have gone out of her way to help the child.

[Evelyn Winters]

Evelyn feared there was something seriously wrong, for she was finding it rather hard to breath, struggling terribly as she stood leaning back against the wall, still in her costume, a white leatard and tutu, still with her ballett shoes on, she held a hand to her chest as she inhaled deeply, wincing as she did so, closing her piercing blue eyes she brought her hand up to her lips and coughed rather harshly, as she pulled her hand away from her lips there was blood upon her palm, as she wiped it down the front of her leatard, not even thinking as she remained where she was,

It was clear there was something terribly wrong with her, she shouldnt have been coughing up blood like that, and she shouldnt be in this much pain, it would seem that perhaps the beating she had recieved earlier that day from her father, was worse then first epected, with the blows she took to her rib cage, damaging more then just her flesh, a small sob escaped Evelyn's lips as she stood there, slowly sinking down the wall before she leant forward slightly and took in some deep and useless breaths, nothing she tried worked, her breathing was still harsh, heavy and rather strained, she began to feel some what dizzy, faint, as if she may pass out at any moment.

[Marcus Volturi]

The smell of the blood hit him like a sledgehammer to a wall and he staggered a bit, suprised. He was able to regain control and cleared his head. He had over three millennia of life and experience, he knew how to control the lust. Feeding just before entering the theatre had helped a bit too. Instead, he summoned Didyme to his mind, instantly regaining his purpose. His mate's sweet voice echoed in his head. She was hurt very seriously, and more than many should realize. It took more than a simple fall on the floor to do such serious damage.

"You require medical attention, Signorina," he said, clearing his throat and making his presence known to her for the first time. He wouldn't be surprised if he managed to startle her. After all, he hadn't exactly made a noisy entrance, he wasn't human, so effortless, gliding motion was second nature to him. At the same time, he wished that he had been able to give her a little more warning than he had. He surveyed her quickly, in a manner similar to a man of medicine like Carlisle Cullen. All her injuries seemed internal, which was both a good thing and a very bad thing. Good because it wouldn't effect the performance or give him unecessary temptation to just grab the child and drain her dry instead of helping her, very bad because internal injuries were much worse and dangerous than external ones and most doctors had difficulty fixing them once they'd progressed past a certain point.

"I have some medical training, would it be too much to ask if I could take a look?" thank the gods for Carlisle, he'd shown Marcus a little bit about his work, enough so that the elder vampire could make rudimentary diagnoses if the need ever arose. "I'd like to ask you to remain still, you might have broken or fractured a rib or punctured a lung, if that is the case, we will need to call Emegency..."

[Evelyn Winters]

not hearing any footsteps, the man did indeed startle Evelyn, as her head shot up to look in his direction, a gasp og fright escaped he rlips as her hand cmae to her chest and she cotninue to struggle to breath, hearing the mans words she simple shook her head, yes she may have needed medical attention, but she had a show to finish, and she couldnt let anyone see the bruisies, she would be in so much trouble if someone found out the truth
"you...you shouldnt be here Sir"
she told him before she began to cough once more, and once again with her hand to her mouth her blood spluttered upon her pale palm.
"oh god.."
she whispered ever so ever so faintly, to the point that it was almost inaudible, to human ears atleast, swallowing hard as she tasted the vial irony taste of blood in her mouth she tilted her head back against the wall behind her to which she was propped up against.

As this man continued to talk, and tell her the seriousness of her injuries, or atleast what could be wrong with her, the fear of dying got the better ofher and she allowed the man to check her over, glancing to his eyes with her own piercing blue ones, her own full of fear, grief and desperation
"please.....please dot hurt me"
she whispered as she remained were she was, wiping the blood from her pal upon the back of her tutu, she would let him look her over, to see if he could help, but she wasnt going to move from where she was, her chest still rose and sunk frantically, and her breathing sounded laboured.

[Marcus Volturi]

He approached her, keeping his stance relaxed and casual, trying to signify that he wasn't going to hurt her. With long, pale fingers, he reached out, brushing up and down her ribcage in order to gauge where the injury was. He was light, barely touching her, though if there was any external bruising, even the light contact would be a little painful. He reached up a little higher, still under her breasts when he could feel an abnormality under the skin. The smell of her blood was stronger now, and he ascertained that the rib was indeed broken and that it had more than likely punctured her lung. "Your injury is very bad, worse than I originally thought, I have to call EMS," he told her, pulling out his cellphone and switching it on.

"Yes, I would like an ambulance please... behind the Seattle Theatre, in an alley of the main road... I have a young lady here with a broken rib and possible lung puncture, she is coughing up blood and having difficulty breathing, my name? Marcus Volturi... yes... thank you," he snapped the phone shut. "EMS is on its way, do you have a purse or any other personal effects inside the theatre? The paramedics will need to see your identification." He figured that if he kept talking to her, he could force her to focus on him and remain concious for as long as possible. "You broke a rib when you fell... how? Usually a fall like that would have very little impact, at the most some bruising, yet... for something like this to have happened to there had to have been already some stress fractures on your ribs."

[Evelyn Winters]

It was clear Evelyn was in a lt of pain, and despite thefact that this mans touch was as light as a feather, it still hurt to be touched by him, a small wince escaped herl ips. Closing her eyes for a few moments as she heard his words, glancing to the man before her, she watched him as he took his cellphone from his pocket and dial the number to make the call, listening to what this man was telling the EMS made her sob lightly as she brought one of her dainty hands to her chest. As she heard him ask if she had anything back in the theatre that held her ID, she gave a small nod of her head "my.....My bag, its.....its in the dressing...room"
she told him, struggling with her words. swallowing hard she tastedthe irony taste of blood once more, it made her feel sik, but she managed to compose herself -just about- trying to keep her attention upon this man that she now kew as Marcus, she heard that last statement of his, biting the inner gum of her lower lip, she couldnt tell him, thinking of a suitable lie one that would make sense, she parted her lips to speak [b]"...I tripped an fell....down the stairs"[/b] [/color]she told him, lying of course, "I...I just thought i had bruised myself....I..I never thought i could have..."[/b] trailing off Evelyn winced once more, looking down she began to sway a little, as f she were about to pass out.

[Marcus Volturi]

Fell down... stairs? She was lying to him, he knew it, but for the sake of appearances, he acted as if he bought her story. "Must have been a very hefty flight of stairs..." he murmured, hearing the sirens wailing distantly, still too far for a human to hear. She looked like she was going to pass out, and as much as he wanted to go get her I.D. a feeling told him to stay put where he was until the proper authorities could get there. There had been a lot of pain on her part... signs of other injuries that he was going to assume were not the product of a simple fall down a flight of stairs.

"Are there any other injuries that I should know about? You might have fractured another couple of ribs during your... accident, and you or I will need to tell the authorities this when they arrive," he explained, hoping that the paramedics would be able to shed some light on the true nature of her injuries, if she was being abused by someone as he was starting to assume, the police were going to need to get involved in the whole messy business. The sirens were louder now, at a point where a human could hear them easily.

Which brought him to something else that picked at his brain: would she beg him to accompany her to the hospital? Even though he was a master of self-control (as he thought of himself) getting him in a hospital emergency room (or hospital in general) would be like dropping several steaks in front of a starving dog. In plain terms, it was a phenomenonly bad idea to stick a vampire who'd already been exposed to blood in a place where there was bound to be lots of it. He didn't want a gigantic massacre on his hands (he was one of The Three, what kind of message did that send when one of them caused the grisly mass murders of dozens of people?) He was debating this, stopping breathing was an option, but an uncomfortable one that made him sound like he had a headcold when he needed to talk to someone. So what then? Refuse to go with her if she asked? He was a gentlemen, he'd told her he would help her, but what was the point of that if he only went halfway?

[Evelyn Winters]

Evelyn shook her head, there was ntohing else she could think of, nothing that she could diagnos herself, she tended to try and blank out, blok the beatens that she was iven, trying to make her body numb so that she couldnt feel the harsh rasps against her, "n...no"
she whispered, thats al she could really say, hearing the irens come closer, get louder Evelyn thanked the gods silently as she stood there
"I....I dont think..."
the words escaped her lips as a whisper as he eyes became dazed, fussy and her bodybegan to sway uncomfortably,
"I cant..."
with that her legs went from under her and she tumbld to the floor, her eyes rolled back a little before her eye lids fluttered cosed and she became an unconsiouce mess right there upon the cold damp and dirty alleyway floor.