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Chapter One – Do You Not Understand Quiet?
I couldn't help it. I screamed. “Oh my God!” I shouted, jumping up and down. “I can't believe it!”
My older sister Bethany laughed. “Neither can I,” she agreed, watching my celebration dance. Bethany was twenty-eight, and when Dad died, she was old enough to take care of me. She and her husband Eric watch over me, and in return, I babysit their daughter, Lizzie.
“I got the part,” I breathed. I had always loved acting, and I had just auditioned for my biggest role yet in a vampire movie called New Moon. I went for snippy little Jane, and I'd just found out I'd gotten the part.
The sound of the garage door opening startled us both. But it was just Eric coming in. Bethany kissed him briefly, than said, “Sasha's got some good news.”
Eric turned to me, brows raised. “Oh?” he asked with token interest.
“I got the part!” I screamed. “I'm Jane in New Moon!” I smiled hugely as Eric clapped my shoulder in what was for Eric a pretty big display of emotion.
“Well, congrats, kid!” Eric congratulated, smiling proudly. Then all of us heard a wail from upstairs.
“Oops.” I bit my lip. My screaming had waken Lizzie up. “I'll get her,” I offered and climbed the stairs to Lizzie's room.
She was crying, of course, I picked her up out of her crib and rocked her until she fell asleep again. I placed her gently back in her crib and flew back down the stairs to Bethany and Eric. “Can I call Jennifer?” I asked breathlessly.
“Of course,” Bethany told me earnestly, and I ran to my cell. Jennifer was speed dial 1, of course; a best friend has privileges.
“Hello?” Jennifer said when she picked up.
“JEN!” I screeched.
“Sash!” Bethany warned. “Lizzie's asleep!”
“WHAT?” Jen screamed back.
“Hold on a sec, I have to go outside so I don't wake up Lizzie.” I dashed out the back door and onto the deck. When I was safely away, I yelled at the top of my lungs, “I got the part! I'm Jane in New Moon!”
“Oh my GOD!” Jennifer screamed, as excited as me. “That is ah-frickin-mazing!”
“I know, right?” I responded. “I am so excited! I can hardly believe it!”
“Omigod, Sash, you'll get to meet Rob Pattinson!” We both shared a swoon moment. “And Kellan Lutz, and all the other hotties on set! Oh, wow, I am so jealous. If I could only get one glance at RPattz, my life would be complete...” She sighed contentedly.
“Dude, come visit me on set, and you can meet Rob,” I shrugged. I definitely would get to meet Rob, because Jane and Edward have a face-off type deal, but I didn't know if Jennifer would get to meet him too. Then I realized something. “Oh, Jen, guess what?”
“What?” Jennifer demanded.
“I get to burn Rob with my mind!” I squealed, remembering what Jane could do—and did do—to Edward. “Oh my God, if a year ago today someone told me I would be burning Rob Pattinson with my mind in the near future, I would have told them to lay off the marijuana. But now—oh wow!”
“Do you know when shooting starts?” Jen asked.
“March,” I told her.
“Good, we'll be back from Italy then,” Jennifer said, sounding satisfied.
“Oh yeah, that's right, you guys are going to Italy.” Jennifer's dad had been promising to take Jen, her brothers Nick and Evan, and her mom to Italy for at least two years, and now they were finally going on a three-week Italian tour. I was going to miss her, sure, but I had March to look forward to, and lines to memorize.
“JENNIFER!” I heard Nick-or-Evan scream in the background. “GET OFF THE FREAKIN' PHONE!”
“I guess that's your cue, huh?” I laughed teasingly. “Talk to you later, Jen.”
“Later, Sasha.” She hung up, and I flipped my phone shut.
I reentered the house, significantly quieter than before. “I think I have it all out of my system,” I told Bethany and Eric when I reached them. Bethany laughed.
“Good,” she declared. “Though I hope you're not too quiet for celebratory shopping and movie night...” She trailed off and raised her dark eyebrows at me.
“Girl stuff,” Eric muttered, and made his escape. I laughed.
“Never too quiet for shopping,” I agreed.
We spent the rest of the day in Delia's trying on jeans, Aéropostale trying on t-shirts, and Sephora trying on crazy purple glitter eyeliner. I had so much fun, but was totally exhausted by the time Bethany and I reached the white house. I crawled right into bed, my purchases around me, and fell asleep instantly.
Chapter 2 – A Very Delicate Situation
“Jane, Jane, dear one,” came an unfamiliar voice.
I blinked. I had been zoning, and I shook my head to dispel the rest of the fog. I looked around for the voice, and for the Jane he'd been addressing, and then wondered where the hell I was. I was in a big room, one that was nearly cave-like. It was perfectly round, and had at least thirty-foot ceilings. I glanced up at the slits of windows at the top of the sienna brick walls and was reminded of a castle. On the ground, there were three chairs that were very nearly thrones. Only one was occupied, by a man with skin the texture of tissue paper; clouded, pale red eyes; and long, flowing black hair that reached the floor.
Okay, I thought to myself. Weird dream. It's okay, Sasha, just too much shopping.
Then I realized the strange man was looking directly at me. “Jane, dearest, are you quite all right?”
I paused. Was he talking to me? He seemed to be waiting for an answer, and I had to speak. The only thing I could come up with, though, was, “My name's not Jane. It's Sasha.” My voice sounded different. It was higher, less husky than my own, and it rang out clear like sleigh bells.
The man chuckled. The sound was gritty, like sand, but still smooth, and slightly raspy. “Jane, you silly girl, why do you play such games with me?” he asked. “Sasha, indeed. Do you need to look at yourself in a mirror to double check?”
I knew he was teasing me—or Jane—but I took him up on his offer. “Yes, please,” I asked politely. My voice was still the one I'd used before. The man threw me a bemused glance, but found an ornately framed pewter hand mirror and handed it to me. Cautiously, I glanced in it.
Involuntarily, I gasped. I had a round, pale face framed with short, light hair. My lips were a full, perfect double curve. But what really got me was the eyes. They were a frightening shade of crimson, a flaming scarlet with a bit of black in them to dilute their color. It was in the eyes that I put two and two together. In the book New Moon, Bella, Edward, and Alice met the Volturi. In the Volturi was Aro, with his paper-thin skin and flowing hair. And they met Jane, with her full lips and light brown hair.
My stomach dropped to my knees. This man was Aro. And I was Jane. How could this have happened? The Volturi weren't real. None of this was real. I was sure it was all a dream. But when I pinched myself, I could still see the tiny white hands and the uncharacteristic clothes. “Holy crap,” I mumbled under my breath. The sound was so quiet I wouldn't have thought anyone could hear it. But through hours of audition prep poring over New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn taught me to know better. I was sure Aro heard it.
He turned to stare at me with a quizzical expression on his fragile features. “Jane, what is the matter?” he asked tentatively. He reached out, as if to touch me, but at the last second I remembered Aro's power. If he touched me, he could read every single thought I'd had since birth. Consequently, he would realize that he, the rest of the Volturi, and the vampire population were fictional. He couldn't know that I was a real human girl trapped in a fictional world. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I knew it would not be good.
I knew that if I were to keep up the facade, I'd have to act like Jane. In what I recalled from the books, Jane was seemingly angelic and innocent, but menacing underneath. I smiled in my best part-innocent-part-evil way. Hell, I wasn't an actress for nothing. “Where are the others?” I asked casually. I knew Jane-Jane would know, but Sasha-Jane didn't, and I was curious.
“I told you, didn't I?” Aro's question seemed rhetorical. “They're getting some food.”
“Oh.” I let the subject drop. Just at that moment, I heard a gaggle of voices coming from just outside the closed door. Aro smiled widely, showing no teeth.
“Lunchtime,” he declared. “Come in!” he called to the others, more loudly.
The door opened. A human woman, who by her description looked to be the secretary Gianna, led a group of tourists into the room. Behind them were the rest of the Volturi: Caius, Marcus, Heidi, Alec—who was supposed to be my twin, and for good reason; Sasha-Jane looked just like him—Demetri, and Felix.
“Hello, hello!” Aro called enthusiastically to the tourists. Smiling in my new half-and-half way, I scanned the tourists with no glimmer of interest. But then I saw a familiar-looking boy, and I did a double take. This kid looked exactly like Jennifer's brother Evan. I looked around him, and gasped.
No. No, no, no, no, no.
This was the week Jennifer and her family were visiting Italy. And, of course, they were part of the Volturi's lunch plan.
What do you do when you have to suck your best friend and her family completely dry? You do what I did. I bolted.
Chapter 3 – The Truth Gets Out—Sort Of
I kept running, through an abandoned back road. No one would see me there. With my newfound vampire speed, I was invincible. But then, as I was running, I had time to think. Just because I ran away didn't mean that the rest of the Volturi wouldn't kill Jen and her family. I had to go back, and face the others, but how? Aro would be undoubtedly confused by my odd behavior, but that was insignificant. My main task was to save Jennifer.
I did a 180 and started running back to Volterra, and to the castle I'd left behind. The image of the place the Volturi called home was burned into my memory, both vampire and human, and I had no trouble finding my way again.
“Jane, you've returned!” Aro cried.
“Yes, Master,” I replied, slipping into Jane's character again.
“I'm so glad you've joined us.” Then he told me in a low voice that the humans discussing amongst themselves wouldn't detect, “We waited for you to come back before we fed. Once they are gone, I would like to know what just happened.”
“Yes, Master,” I repeated submissively. Then, a plan hatched itself in my head, and I shot at the chance. “Master, would you mind very much if I took a few and fed somewhere private? I'm not feeling quite sociable today.” I hoped that performance would be enough to convince Aro.
“Of course, dear one. I understand,” Aro told me earnestly. I smiled, and looked toward Jennifer and her family.
“Hey, Jane, dibs on that meaty American,” Felix added, still speaking too quietly for humans to detect, and gesturing toward a heavyset, balding, textbook-touristy man. I nodded in acknowledgment, then stood up and walked to the group. The buzzing conversation came to an abrupt stop, and an aisle parted for me to walk down.
“I need you, you, you, you, and...and you.” I pointed to Jennifer's parents, brothers, and reluctantly to Jennifer herself. “Come with me,” I told them brusquely. They followed without so much as an argument. I took them out of the castle-room, out of the posh reception room and past Gianna, out to a secluded hall that would be out of the earshot of Aro and the others.
“What is it?” Jen asked boldly. I resisted the urge to smile, trying to channel my inner Jane and not be her crazy best friend Sasha.
“Jennifer, not now,” Jennifer's dad hissed. “I'm sorry ma'am. What do you need?”
“You have to get out of here. Now.” My dangerous tone contrasted with my soprano voice. “Never get into a situation like that again. You all were in very serious danger back there. How did you get there?”
“That hot girl, Heidi, was our tour guide, and she led us there,” piped up Nick in typical eighth-grade-boy fashion. I tried not to roll my eyes. Luckily, Jennifer did it for me.
“Don't be such a boy, Nick,” she said impatiently. Then she turned to me. “How do we know you're telling the truth? You could be the one putting us in danger.”
“Look, honey, if you were in danger of me, I wouldn't be telling you to run now,” I pointed out, fed up. This was so Jennifer. Why couldn't she be submissive and meek? Did she have to be so Jen-ish? Whatever the reason, it was so typical of Jennifer to be so stubborn.
“Jennifer, that's quite enough,” Jennifer's mom scolded.
“Enough chitchat,” I told them. “Go. Now. Before you all get hurt.” None of the five of them moved. Instead, they stayed frozen on the ground. I pulled back my lips and snarled menacingly. I hated to be mean, but they weren't going to listen to me any other way. “Go!” I urged, and without a word, Jennifer's family was gone.
Chapter Four – But I'm Just an Actress!
I returned to the cave-castle place. The humans were gone, and the members of the Volturi were scattered around, talking amongst themselves. Caius and Marcus were now sitting in the empty thrones, and I took a seat next to Alec.
“How was your meal?” he asked politely with a frighteningly even smile.
“Good,” I lied. Alec looked at me long and hard, but shrugged and turned away, releasing me from his scrutinizing eyes that might have known the truth.
Aro turned to me, and I cringed. I was going to have to make something up, and fast. “Jane, dear one, would you care to tell me what's troubling you?”
I paused to buy myself some time. I stared around at the faces that were looking at me expectantly. Then I decided that this was between Aro and me, and that I needed to speak with him in private. “Master, may we take this to a more private setting?” I implored. Aro stood. I recalled reading about Renata and how she was always so close to Aro. She stood with Aro.
“Renata, darling, this is between Jane and me,” Aro insisted firmly. Renata dropped her hand and stepped back from Aro almost reverently. Aro offered his arm to me, but I knew better than to take it. Instead, I mumbled something incomprehensible even to my ears, and Aro placed his arm back at his side.
We walked to a dark, echoing hallway. “Jane, I don't know what's with you. You tell me your name is Sasha, and you refuse to touch me. Then you run at the sight of our meal, come back, and then take a few away. I know you didn't feed on those humans, Jane. Your eyes are partially black.” He glanced at me smugly. Damn the eyes. “So are you going to tell me what's going on or not?”
“Not,” I decided swiftly. “I can't tell you.”
Aro looked amused. “You can't?” he verified. Something dangerous flashed in his milky red eyes.
“I can't,” I repeated.
“Jane, you will,” Aro said firmly. His stare was hard. And I crumbled under it.
“I'm not Jane,” I said in a low rush. “I'm just an actress playing, um, someone like Jane” —even now, I wasn't stupid enough to tell Aro he was a fictional character— “in a movie, and somehow I went to sleep and woke up and I was Jane! I don't know what the hell happened or anything, but I'm a human girl and I don't drink blood and my name really is Sasha and I'm not Jane!”
I bit my lip as Aro took this in with an awed expression. “A human girl?” Aro finally asked, bemused. “And not Jane? How is that possible? It isn't...”
“I know, I don't know how it happened either. All I know is that I hate being a vampire and I want to go back.” I didn't mean to confess that, it had just slipped out. It probably put another strike against me that I had just told the big daddy of all vamps that I hated being one.
“Well, it was delightful that you would get to take Jane's place for a while, but I think it's time for that silly nonsense to end, Sasha.” Aro smiled evilly. In the seconds that followed, I realized what was about to happen. I desperately scrambled around in my head for an excuse.
“If you kill me, the real Jane, wherever she is, won't have a body to come back to. You like Jane, don't you? You wouldn't want to lose her, would you?” I challenged daringly.
Aro pondered then, and it was almost too much to take, the waiting. I closed my eyes, willing the process to speed up. Then a familiar noise played directly in my ear.
Is that...Evanescence?
I opened my eyes. It was dark, and I couldn't see. I reached blindly for a light, and found the lamp that always sat on my bedside table. Why was that there? I flipped the switch, hope bubbling in my chest at finding the lamp. Light flooded the room, and in the newfound illumination, I saw where I was. I was in my bedroom. The song “The Only One” was the source of the Evanescence music, coming from my iPod that I use to fall asleep. I ripped out the ear buds.
“What the—?” I muttered. Then I spoke louder. “My voice! It's back!” I cheered. Belatedly, I realized it was late at night, and toned down my voice. I was glad to be rid of Jane's girlie soprano and back to my own husky alto. I grabbed a fistful of matted dark brown curls, which were obviously mine. I laughed out loud in complete relief. I was Sasha again.
Somehow, I had stopped being Jane.
Epilogue – Heidi's a Stupid Name Anyway
Jennifer's signature ringtone started jingling away in my bag. I tore through it anxiously, hoping not to miss her call, and got it at the last second. “Hey, Jen!” I exclaimed. “How's packing going?”
“Great! I just called to double-triple-quadruple check that I'd packed everything,” Jennifer told me.
“Well, shoot! What do you have?” I prompted.
“I have a week's worth of clothing that my mom will wash so I can rewear it, that $150 that Grandpa Edward gave me, five bras, seven pairs of underwear, my running shoes, my red satin heels, my black heels, my brown flats, tons of socks, my digital camera and memory card, and that red dress I bought that one time at H&M.”
“Sounds good. But don't wear your running shoes out because you'll look super-touristy and like a nerdy American,” I advised. “Wear the flats out, and the running shoes if necessary. Wear the black heels with the red dress instead of the red heels so you don't look matchy-matchy. And take that cropped leather jacket that your Aunt Alice bought you. It's cute and it'll go with the dress and whatever else you took. Did you bring your dark wash skinnies?”
“Yeah.”
“Wear them with the red heels out to eat or something. Okay, enough with clothes. Kiss a cute Italian boy for me. And don't take too many pictures so you won't look touristy. Honestly, running shoes and cameras constantly clicking are a dead giveaway.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Oh, Jennifer, one more thing.”
“Hmmmm?”
“If you meet a tour guide in Volterra named Heidi, don't follow her. No matter how beautiful she is.”
“Um, why?” Obviously Jen had forgotten that part of New Moon.
“I just had a weird dream about evil beautiful girls named Heidi leading people to their deaths.”
“You're the strangest person I know, Sash.”
“Just don't, 'kay? I'll rest easier.”
“'Kay, then. I'll call you from Florence.”
“Talk to you in Florence. Have fun on the plane. Bye, Jen.”
“See ya, Sash.”
I dropped the phone back into my bag and picked up the New Moon script. “Yes, Master,” I read in a sickly sweet Jane voice. I was really good at becoming Jane.
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