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Jo had known that she was sharing her body with the woman called Rosalyn since she was old enough to form thoughts. Rosa had always been a companion. She had always been there. As clear as her knowledge on what the woman Jo had never seen looked like.
Rosalyn looked like a woman probably in her twenties. She had long blonde curly hair that had probably been a pain to look after always braided in one intricate braid or the other and piercing green eyes. There was a straightness in her posture Jo couldn't recreate no matter how much she had tried in her youth and her mouth seemed to always smile a little bit arrogantly. Jo knew from within her heart that Rosalyn had been some kind of royalty during the 1800. Sometimes she could smell the roses from the garden Rose had had to promenade in, she could feel the pain of the heeled shoes the woman had worn and the weight of the intricate dresses her family had stuffed her in. Jo remembered the hands of men that grasped Rosalyn's softly and the accompanied panic in the woman's chest as if it was Jo herself who was panicking.
So yes. Jo had always known the woman called Rosalyn. Could see her everyday she looked into the mirror and during her puberty, where she had tried to imitate Rosalyn's elegance she had been a cause of jealousy.
Back when Jo had still been young enough to make the mistake of talking about the woman living within she had been the cause of amusement for her parents. An imaginary friend was a normalcy until a certain age after all and somehow she knew in her heart that it had been Rosalyn's voice in her head warning her away from talking about her after she had passed that age.
It had also been Rosalyn's voice in her head that had helped her in her English lit exams as they were discussing 'love in excess'. Jo had found it dreadfully boring at the time but it was clear that at least Rosalyn had a very soft spot in her heart for it. In fact it had been clear to Jo that Rosa had had a love for literature in the same way that she had hated geography and Italy.
The hate for Italy Jo had never understood.
To de-tangle her own likes and dislikes from Rosa's had been another cause of grief during puberty. Rosalyn had been a commanding woman and sometimes Jo felt like she even commanded her own thoughts.
In a rebellious phase Jo had therefore started taking interest in everything Rosalyn despised. She had started learning Chinese to spite the woman's disinterest in languages, for some reason Rosa spoke perfect French and Italian but hated both all the same only to later give in and admit that at least pottery wouldn't ever be something she would honestly enjoy.
Jo did find herself liking sports though.
Rosalyn, whose feelings on the matter were clear - a lady shouldn't have to “run around”, Jo imagined that would be what she would say if she could still speak, was quickly ignored and Jo had started jogging with this nagging feeling of annoyance.
As worrying as Rosa's existence probably would have sounded to any shrink, she had always just been a matter of truth in Jo's heart and mind.
Rosalyn had always been there, would always be there and frankly her guidance when it came to people to avoid had always and would always be appreciated.
Rosalyn had met plenty of people in her life and while there was either a like or dislike geared towards them, Rosalyn didn't hate people. She just didn't seem to be capable of it.
Usually that was.
There was one man, Jo knew of. In Rosa's memories he was a gorgeous man. His hair seemed a silky black, the clothes of the finest material and the way he held himself spoke of knowledge and money. Jo knew that Rosa had loved him at some point.
But now, there were only two things Rosa felt in regards to him.
Fear and pure unadulterated hatred.
Jo had never been able to find out more about him. It seemed that Rosa never intended to allow her a glimpse more of him than that first time in that garden while the moon had shown.
It had taken Jo a lot of rumination to finally realise that the underlying reason for that was shame.
Rosa was ashamed of herself. To get a woman who was as proud of herself to be so deeply ashamed about a connection she made had in turn made Jo angry towards the man. It was clear that there was something wrong with him. Jo never intended to find out.
It was the one thing she had decided quickly to let Rosa rest with. Rosa intended to take knowledge of that man to her grave and Jo would allow her that grace even beyond it.
Even if his red eyes had frightened her deeply and even if she felt the predatory glance he had given Rosalyn in that garden into Jo's very own bones.
He couldn't hurt her after all. He was long dead, since he had lived during the same time that Rosa had. Even his bones would have decomposed completely by now. There probably wasn't even ashes left over. And while there was an inherent wrongness to that thought coming from deep within it was also the only time Jo had ever disregarded Rosa's feelings.
There was no other possibility but his death after all. Rosa was safe and if Rosa was safe, Jo was safe. That was all that mattered.
And that was how Jo lived her life. For the most part just as a normal woman in the sleepy town of Forks. Now nearing her twenties herself Jo knew that Forks wouldn't be the place she wanted to live. She wanted to study and learn and experience life outside of the protective hands of her mother and expecting voice of her father. She wanted to meet new people instead of helping the sheriff with his newly depressed daughter.
Bella had moved to Forks not too long ago, had quickly gotten into a relationship with Edward Cullen, who honestly gave her as much of a sense of wrongness as the rest of his creepy family, Rosa told her to keep her distance, and since her family was friends with Mr. Swan, Bella and Jo had started meeting each other more often.
Which was why she had experienced Bella's mental regression after Edward had left. And that was when the depression began, and especially the weird seeking of dangerous situations.
Jo would have called her suicidal.
But Rosa somehow made her think otherwise.
Rosa had a lot of weird feelings about the situation and those amplified into panic when Bella told her that she would leave Forks with Alice to save Edward in Italy.
Rosa really really really hated Italy.
And Jo didn't feel comfortable letting Bella leave on her own which is how she found herself in her current situation. Squished on the plane next to the window, with Bella acting as her buffer to Alice.
Now Rosa's feelings about the Cullen family spilled of blood. And pain. And anguish. And sharpness. If Jo would trust Rosa's feelings surrounding the matter she would definitely think Vampire.
But that was impossible.
So she chalked it up to superstition. Because a woman from the 1800 surely had a lot of those. Never mind that Rosa had never even shuddered at the sight of a black cat, but Jo ignored that conveniently. The same way that she ignored the unsettling look Alice Cullen threw her that reminded her too much of a Cat who had caught the mouse.
Alice drove in a disgusting matter. She drove like she was immortal and while Jo at least partially understood the sense of urgency it wouldn't do anyone any good to have to scrap all three young women off the street if Alice crashed it.
Jo had to realise with growing concern how Bella seemed to trust Alice blindly. Jo on the other hand decided to never get into a car that wasn't driven by her damn self.
As the girls crossed the sign that read Volterra, Jo started feeling sick to her stomach and she needed a moment to understand that it wasn't Alice' driving but Rosa who was fighting tooth and nail, at least as much as she could, to not go into the little city. It made Jo very queasy in turn. Something was very wrong and she could feel it like cold seeping into her bones.
When Jo saw Bella and Edward reunite Jo was ready to take turn and run from the city. Every bone in her screamed at her to leave the castle place they were at currently. There was a presence in that castle Jo knew she didn't want to meet. It was as clear as the pull she felt coming from it and Rosa's panic reaching a fever pitch. She had to leave!
But just as Jo was ready to turn around, not even a snarky remark for Edward on her lips their little group was led further into the castle.
Jo wanted to vomit.
The hallways they were led through were dark and the woman slowly came to turns with the fact that maybe Rosa hadn't been so superstitious after all. There was no way people could see there but Bella and her seemed to be the only ones to struggle.
Fuck. She was going to die.
Was this some kind of Mafia thing? The ache in her chest told her it was something worse.
When they reached the massive doors Jo knew that she was done for. Rosa told her she wouldn't be able to leave. There was a lump in her throat and sweat building on her body. If Rosa had the ability to take control of her body Jo knew she would have done so a long time ago.
As the doors opened and the three guards, two men and a very young looking woman Jo felt like she would collapse any second now. Her heart was beating faster than ever and reminded her of a rabbit in front of a tiger.
“What a nice surprise! Bella is alive after all!”
The voice set off a ringing in Jo's head.
She had to leave.
She had to go.
This man couldn't be in her presence!
“Isn't that wonderful.”
He was coming closer.
She took a breath in.
She needed to be calm.
This weren't her feelings.
Those were Rosa's. Whoever that man was, Rosa was scared for her life, well death, but semantics. Jo had to calm down. And if only to allow Rosa to calm down. Being scared in death just seemed too cruel.
“I love a happy ending.”
Jo allowed herself another breath and then looked up from the tiles of the floor.
And there he was standing right in front of them.
The man Rosa had allowed her to see once. And only once. He had long black hair and wore a suit Jo didn't even want to know how much money it had cost. His red eyes were piercing.
He couldn't stand in front of her.
He was supposed to be dead!
God damn it, people were supposed to die after at most 100 years. Probably around seventy back in Rosa's time. But here he stood and Jo couldn't ignore Rosa's facts for what they were anymore.
Vampires existed.
And one stood right before her.
And Rosa had loved him.
And then hated him.
So much that it still haunted her in her death.
And just as she saw Aro reach out for Edwards hand, something made him halt.
And Jo knew her fate was sealed.
The man, Aro – Rosa supplied her, turned to her and her heart skipped a beat. Something inside her wanted to be with him.
And Jo was once again thankful to have Rosa. Because had Rosa not been there, Jo was sure she would have succumbed to that feeling. She probably would have gone to Italy far earlier as well and had doomed herself even earlier.
Aro stood in front of her very suddenly, speed was then indeed a thing and escape impossible for now, his eyes were dramatically wide.
He looked shocked for just a split second.
“Rosa?” If he hadn't been so close she wouldn't have understood him.
She needed to protect Rosa. She couldn't let this man touch her again. Touch Jo subsequently.
“How can that be?” His voice was curious and only the movement of his hand finally made her come back to her senses and take a step back.
“I'm Jordan,” she answered, “I don't know a Rosa.” She was proud of being able to even string a sentence together even if it came out frightened
Aro looked perplexed for a second before he leaned his head to the side as if in thought. His eyes never left hers as he clapped his hands, the sound reverberating in – holy shit was that a throne room? Yup and there were two other men there as well.
Great.
“Well it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young Jordan. I'm sure we'll have some remarkably interesting conversations.”
No. Definitely not. She would not allow this man to have even the tiniest glance at her. That he now knew of her existence was bad enough.
“Thank you, Sir, but I'm good.” She squeaked out simply not able to help herself. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
Aro stared at her for a little second as if surprised by her voice. His eye contact with her didn't even break when one of the other men, he looked to be the oldest with long brown hair and a long suffering look in his eyes, appeared next to Aro touching his hand.
If at all possible Aro's gaze on her intensified ten fold as he made a near hurried step into her direction.
Jo nearly flew back in fright.
Aro nodded as if in thought.
“Dimitri, bring our friend to my office, please. Make sure she stays exactly where you put her. We wouldn't want another accident.”
What the fuck was this man talking about?
She hadn't figured out as one of the cloaked men from before stepped in front of her and started steering her outside of the room, unperturbed at her unwillingness to follow.
The two of them ended up in another big room, did they have small rooms, Jo wondered as she looked around. The office alone was probably the size of her living room and kitchen at home. The walls were lined with bookshelves. Dimitri had put her right into the middle of the room in front of the big mahogany desk. She could look out the window that way and had to realise that they were quite a bit further up than she had hoped.
To try and calm herself before putting herself into another frenzy Jo looked around the room. The doors seemed heavy and Dimitri still hadn't stopped holding her at her shoulder.
Gulping she rolled it, trying to make the man – the vampire – understand that he didn't need to do that.
“The master told me not to let you leave this spot. You seem like a crafty little thing and I rather like my head attached to my shoulders.” He explained his grip tightening around her.
“I don't like you.” She decided to say out loud. She would die here wouldn't she? Might as well be honest.
Oh God. What was happening to Bella in the throne room right now? Would she be fine? Fuck, why had she let herself be dragged into a mess that shouldn't have been hers in the first place.
“Well then we'll both be glad to know that I do not care if you do.” Dimitri answered but she could feel him concentrating on something else entirely.
That's how little of a chance she had. Her captor didn't even deem to give her his full attention and she couldn't see a way out nonetheless.
Looking around the room she contemplated the window again. Jo didn't want to be in Aro's presence again. Rosa was scared and that in turn scared Jo. Something in Jo's gut told her that if she didn't die here she'd be miserable for the rest of her life.
“So, Dimitri, right?” She tried conversing with him again.
He simply looked down on her, waiting for her to continue.
“Any idea what your 'master' has planned with me?”
Jo could have kicked herself instantly. She had actually talked with quotation marks. Fuck would Dimitri let Aro know? And if so, would Aro see it as an affront and make her death particularly gruesome?
Dimitri shrugged. Then his attention was again pulled away from her.
Harsh much?
Again her gaze found the window. On the windowsill outside she could see a pigeon.
Wings would be pretty nifty right now, wouldn't they?
Nifty. What a funny word.
Even Rosa was silent in her mind.
Rosa was never silent. She always had an opinion on everything.
And now she was silent and Jo could only feel the ever increasing fear.
It took about fifteen minutes of fretting, at least that was what Jo imagined not having a clock to actually check the time, until the doors opened and Aro strolled into the room.
His gaze found hers upon entering and Jo wanted to cry. His attention felt suffocating. She had never felt this dissected in her life and she shared her body and mind with another woman altogether.
The closer Aro came to the middle of the room the more she wanted to move away from him. His eyes were piercing through her and she felt seen in a way that made her want to throw herself out the window.
And so she moved. Just the one step towards the window. And apparently it was everything Aro needed.
She hadn't been able to see it until he stood in front of her. His arm reached out and stopping just short of touching her for a little under a second.
But as his hand wrapped around her shoulder steering her closer to him, Jo learned three things.
Rosa had ended her life herself.
And she had ended it to get away from him.
The same pull Rosa had felt back when she was alive, Jo felt now.
The realisation made her shudder.
She wouldn't be able to leave this man called Aro. Rosa had tried once and now Jo had made her fail.
“You'll be staying with me.” Aro whispered and Jo couldn't help herself.
“Fuck no.”
She hadn't expected the bite in her voice or the hate that she couldn't suppress.
Aro looked surprised at her outburst as if he wasn't able to assemble what she was saying with Jo herself.
Jo gulped. He was seeing Rosa in her then. She couldn't imagine the woman using those kinds of words even once.
And then he smiled. As if he was happy about whatever connection he had just made. That just couldn't be good.
“Oh the youth of today. What a delight.” Aro murmured and turned to Dimitri.
“Thank you my friend, you can leave us now.”
Dimitri bowed before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
She was alone with Aro now.
“You confuse me, young Jordan.” Aro admitted finally leaning away from her and against the desk. While he wasn't touching her anymore she still felt the suspense in the air as if he would pounce on her any second.
“What confuses you?” She decided to entertain him, if only to buy herself some time. Maybe find some kind of way out of this situation.
“You look like someone I met a long time ago. She was everything I could have ever dreamed to have.” His voice had gone quiet as if in reverence and Jo was disgusted. He was talking about the woman he had driven to her death and he had the nerve to speak about her as if he had loved her?
“You see,” he went on, “finding your true mate is an exceedingly rare occurrence. It happens so rarely. When she died I was distraught. But something told me to keep going. And now here you stand. Fate has decided to grant me another chance.”
He had slowly come closer again. With every step he had taken, Jo had taken one back as well until he had trapped her between him and the wall.
“So no, my dear. I'm afraid you will most definitely stay here. I won't ever let you leave. Not again. Lesser men have been able to learn from their mistakes and do not misunderstand. I am not even a man. I'm something far worse.”
Jo was shaking harshly now. Fuck, she was scared. So so fucking scared. She should have listened to Rosa.
“What's this?” Aro suddenly asked backing up.
His change in mood gave her such a backlash that she needed a second to understand what he was talking about. As she followed her gaze to her hands and to the ring on it an idea built in her mind.
“It's my engagement ring.”
Jo didn't even have a boyfriend but maybe knowing that she had a fiance would be something that kicked him out of his delusion.
True mates sounded like horrendous bullshit.
“Engagement ring?” Aro chuckled, his hands clad in gloves loosening the ring from her hand until it lay in his hand.
She didn't like it.
She wanted her ring back. Now! And if she would look like a child throwing a tantrum then so be it, but the thought alone of a treasured belonging of hers sitting in Aro's palm was too much for her.
“Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that you are around 20 to 25. That seems rather early to get engaged in this day and age. Furthermore, your heart just sped up. Mind you it's been fluttering like a butterfly the whole time but it just got worse. Then of course your eyes just moved very rapidly between me and the ring in my hand. No my dear. You'll have to learn to lie better in the future.”
His eyes were gleaming as if he was amused at her desperate attempt to get away from him, “I would say it is probably a family heirloom. Maybe something your great great grandmother gave her daughter who gave it to her and so on until it ended up with you,” his voice that had started to sound shrill with every new word he said suddenly dropped to a whisper, “Magnificent. To think that after all these years it would still be there. I wonder who I missed back then.”
“Excuse me,” he said while finally taking a measured step away from her, the ring still in her hand, holding it against the light.
“You see, back when I courted her I gave her this very ring. It was a promise ring of some sort. When her father refused to give her to me in marriage I ended up killing the whole family. When Rosalina found out about it she was distraught. I think the poor thing thought me the devil. I could never find it again after she had taken her life. But there must have been a relative I had never known of. A spectacular effort I'm sure, considering my, well. Anyhow. Matter of the fact is, this only makes it all the clearer to me. We were always supposed to meet. Just another sign for me to not let you leave.”
Jo's head was spinning with every new information this man was putting on her and with every new thing he was saying it became all the clearer that he was an absolute psychopath.
“What do you intend to do with me?” She asked fearfully.
Aro who had bee absorbed in the ring, still in his fucking hand, but then again if what he was saying was true then maybe it should remain exactly there, looked up at her.
“I intend to court you of course, cara mia. Now considering the circumstances I do understand that you probably intended something different for your life, but you'll never miss anything with me and I aim to show you that everyday. But seeing as your family is prone to self destruct it might be the best decision to have you in an environment where you could never harm yourself for the first while.”
She didn't like one bit of what he was talking about.
“What about my parents? They'll come looking for me!”
Aro's smile was cruel as he sat down behind his desk. “I'm sure your parents will be heart stricken knowing that their only daughter died in a car crash while young Alice and Bella were able to just escape by a hair. But alas. It will be better for the long run.”
What?
NO.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
He couldn't be serious.
Before she could add another single thing, Aro called for yet another person.
“Alec, is the tower prepared?”
“Yes master.”
Jo wasn't even listening. He intended to kill her. He intended for her parents to not know she was alive anymore. He couldn't be serious. He simply couldn't be!
“Splendid. Please bring dear Jordan to her rooms then. I'm sure the dear is quite exhausted.”
The consequences of what Aro had said only caught up to her when the door slammed shut behind her and Jo found herself in a room with exactly one window. It was right at the top of the roof. It was barred.
And all the while, Rosa had been silent.