Alec and Jane lived in the 13th or 14th centuries (I'm pretty sure), but my feeble mind can't possibly comprehend how they spoke, lived, and other such things, so this is my attempt at telling a small part of their story. Bear with me; this is a tad more contemporarily-styled, but I decided to make it easier to read than historically accurate. This is a small scene I've had in my head about the two of them. Criticism welcome. *smirks*

Please read and review; I do depend on feedback greatly as I continue to better myself as a writer.

Alec and Jane

I sat alone in my sad excuse of a bedroom, on my pathetic excuse for a bed, and in my horrendous excuse for clothes. Nothing was adequate for us. Nothing at all. It could be, though…but he does not wish for it to be.

Our father.

The monster.

Our mother tries to calm his rages, but she just gets hurt too. Mother is smart; she is learning to avoid his wrath. She stands to the side and cries quietly while he beats us mercilessly.

My beloved sister and I.

Jane.

Jane lay in the corner silently; curled up in a ball of slumber. I reach out and touch her cold hand, stroking it softly, as if to say, 'everything's all right; I'm here…'

Jane moans quietly in her sleep, turning her head and opening her eyes slowly to look at me. Beneath her pristine eyes were dark and horrible bags; made from no sleep and nights filled with terror.

"Alec…?" she whispers.

"I'm here, sister," I reply quietly, touching her cool cheek with the back of my equally-cool hand.

"Is he gone?" she says hoarsely as she tries to raise the volume of her voice.

"For now,"

She rolls her lips inwards and coughs quietly. "I'm so thirsty…" she rasps, blinking quickly as her eyes welled with a sudden wave of tears.

"Don't cry, Jane…please…" I beg, feeling tears well in my own eyes. It was absolute torture for me to see her in pain.

A shriek breaks us from our moment. "Henry, please-!"

I turn my head as I hear my mother scream loudly from just outside of the door. Jane's eyes widen as the tears escape her eyes. She begins to cry quietly; perfectly aware of what is about to come. I leap to my feet, standing in front of Jane, and prepared to protect her. It is my duty.

"No, Alec!" she sobs, "He'll kill you this time…!"

I say nothing, and prepare myself to face the monster's wrath.

The door bangs open, a sudden rush of air sending hay scattering across the dirt floor. The monster stands there, with a bottle of mead in his hand, and a furious expression on his face.

"I thought I told you to shovel out the stables," he growls, taking a step forward towards me.

"I…I did…" I mumble back, suddenly being filled with fear as he walks towards me menacingly. Jane whimpers once, sliding away from me and pressing herself up against the wall. Her body, one that should be one of a healthy twelve-year-old, was withered, and fragile. Covered in bruises, and starved to the point of death.

Seeing her like this destroys me.

"Then why is there still shit in the floor of my stable?" he sneered, clutching the neck of the bottle so hard that his knuckles were going white.

"Father, I am sorry…I…I thought that I had—"

A blow to the side of my head silences me immediately. Jane lets out a shriek as I crumple to the ground, clutching the side of my face with both hands.

I squeeze my eyes shut as I tried not to concentrate on the pain, but on getting back to my feet.

"NO!"

My blood runs cold as Jane's blood-curdling plea rings in my ears.

"Silence!" the monster screams, grabbing Jane by the front of her burlap dress and hoisting her into the air.

"Please…!" she sobs, tears streaming down her small, horror-stricken face.

My anger begins to well, and my legs shake as I stand slowly.

"Leave…her…ALONE!" I roar, outstretching my arms and giving the monster a firm shove.

To my shock and horror, the monster does not budge a single iota. He merely drops Jane to the floor, and turns around to face me with blood-shot eyes.

"What kind of demon are you?" he whispers, taking a quick swig from his bottle. "Thinking that you can come in here and disrespect your parents?"

I only see a blur as he raises his arm, and brings the glass bottle down hard upon my head. I hear another ear-piercing scream before I fall into darkness…

I listened quietly from a small hut settled just beyond the edge of the trees to the screams and sobs of the little girl as she begged her twin brother to wake up. I'd only met with the two briefly, but in the moment I touched their skin, I saw such potential.

Oh, such wonderful potential…

I did want them in my guard—there was no doubt—but I also saw it as a chance to save these two children from an unnecessary hell. No child should ever have to be struck violently.

Ever.

I clutched the window-sill tightly, hearing the feeble wood crack under my grip.

"Horrible," Marcus mumbled from his seat in the corner of our shack, "simply horrible…"

I pursed my lips slowly, staring out the window into the dark night around us and at the two-roomed hut down the hill from me, where my two promising guard members were being beaten nearly to death.

"I cannot stand idly by and watch this monstrosity," I growled, shoving away from the window-sill and reaching for my cloak.

"No, Aro; we cannot intervene." Marcus said calmly, grabbing my arm.

"But I must; that monster will murder those children if we do nothing."

"It is no detrimental loss, Aro." Caius hissed from the other side of the room, eyeing me coldly. "They are foolish children; besides, I don't trust that gift of yours. What you saw could be interpreted many different ways. Their 'potentials' could be useless."

I growled warningly. "I have been right numerous times, Caius. You would do well to respect that."

Caius turned his nose into the air and looked away, folding his arms in a childish pout.

"Or, their potentials could be beyond our wildest thoughts…" Marcus said evenly, releasing my arm as I stopped resisting.

"Perhaps…what do you suppose we do?" I asked, looking my composed and rational brother in the eye.

"Wait until morning, and then see to their health. We can hear their heartbeats from here. If something goes amiss, we can intervene quickly." He replied, looking completely calm.

"All right, brother; I can see your logic." I said quietly, taking a seat at our swollen-wood table and tapping my fingers slowly on its surface.

This was going to be an agonizing wait.

Hold on, dear ones…

The sunlight trickled through the cracks of the thatch above my head. The brightness blurred my vision as I opened my eyes slowly. One of my eyes opened immediately, but the other one refused to.

I rolled over lethargically, and peered into a puddle of water in the corner of the room, seeing that my one eye had completely swollen shut. I touched it gingerly, and lowered my hand as it sent waves of pain through my entire face. I winced and stared down at my alarming appearance.

My cheek was covered in black and blue bruising, and a small trickle of blood had run down my temple to my jaw-line, drying and sticking to the hair behind my ear. I touched the line of blood carefully, looking down at the flakes of dry blood on my fingertips as I pulled them away.

I'm pretty bad, but what about…?

Jane!

I'd lost track of her as I fell unconscious after the monster's final blow. In a complete panic, I spun around, and eyed the room for her desperately.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

A rock fell into my stomach as my heart skipped a beat.

"Jane-!" I gasped, shuffling through a pile of hay to my left. I dug all the way to the ground; nothing. "Jane!"

A small moan sounded from across the room and under a pile of dirty hay. I stumbled over to the pile of hay and swished my hands across it, uncovering Jane slowly as she lay in the middle of the stack. As I uncovered more and more of her, I was filled with intense sorrow.

She had been beaten worse than I had been. Her entire face was covered in red blotches, scratch-marks, and fist-imprints. Her shoulders and arms had finger-markings as if he had gripped her violently. She held one arm against her body, and the limb was much paler than the rest of her body. Her lip was split, and dry blood was caked down her chin and neck.

My heart sobbed as I looked down at her.

"Jane…?" I whispered, touching her gently.

She moaned again and opened her eyes slowly.

"I'm…so…cold…" she whimpered.

"I know," I whispered, looking down at her bared shoulders and legs; the burlap sack she'd had to transfer into clothing only went down to her mid-thigh, exposing her knees and legs to beatings and the cold.

Slowly and carefully, I lowered myself down to her and lied next to her, wrapping my arms around her in an effort to warm her. She snuggled into my arms and began to cry quietly, still clutching her arm to her body.

"What happened after I…?" I asked, trailing off as she knew what I was referring to.

She sniffled loudly, nestling her head underneath my chin. "You fell down, and your head started bleeding. He left; the bottle cut his hand too. I tried to help you, but you wouldn't wake up. He came back and tried to hit you again, but I jumped in the way. I thought you had…"

She began to cry louder, grasping the flimsy material of my five-year-old Sabbath shirt our mother had given to me. I kissed her head with my chapped lips quietly, and held her close.

"I'm here now; you needn't worry." I said quietly, rubbing up and down her bruised arm gently. "What happened to your arm?" I asked.

She shook her head insistently. "I don't know…when I tried to go over and catch you, he grabbed my arm and I heard a small…snick."

I rolled my lips inward in anger as I listened to her. I'd been planning for years how to escape this godforsaken place, but no feasible thoughts came to mind. I thought the world had lost all good men. There was no one who cared enough to give us a second look. I was sure of this.

Until I met one gentleman in particular, who refuted my belief.

Mother sent Jane and me out on an errand about a week ago while father was sick from too much mead, and on our way back, we were stopped by a gentleman that Jane had bumped into earlier that day.

Afraid he was going to beat us for her recklessness, I hid her behind me. The man merely smiled and extended his hand. The man was obviously of higher class; his clothing reflected wealth and finery. His speech was also very smooth and intelligent. The fact that he was willing to touch scum such as us sent a very clear message as to what kind of man he was.

After shaking my hand, he paused—his eyes fazing out for a moment—before returning to normal and releasing me. He spoke with us pleasantly for a few moments, luring Jane gently out of her hiding place, and even getting her to speak a few words.

The man introduced himself as Aro.

He bowed his hair-rich head and departed. His walk was unnaturally graceful. He was by far the strangest creature I had ever come in contact with.

Jane and I returned home to a conscious father. I wish not to remember the horror of that night. Mother was punished as well for letting us out.

There was a quiet thump from outside of our sty. I froze, tightening my grip around Jane instinctively.

"Ah…!" she gasped as I jostled her arm.

"Shh," I whispered quietly, listening to anything that would indicate the monster's return.

I heard footsteps…but there were too many scuffling sounds to be just a single person…they were also too quiet…

Jane's eyes widened as she burrowed further into my side.

The swollen, wooden door opened slowly, and three figures loomed in the doorway. The light behind them projecting three silhouettes and shadowing their faces.

"There you two are…" a hushed, but familiar voice said.

I dug in my memory for that voice.

Aro…

Jane's head popped off the damp hay as she looked around the darkened room, barely lit by the sunlight trickling through above our heads.

"I smell fresh blood," an unfamiliar, yet dusty and broken voice noted. One of the figures took a step into the room, standing close enough to the light that I could see him.

It was Aro, but he was flanked by two others I did not know.

Aro's face tightened at the sight of us. He looked angry, but yet…something in his eyes was sheer pity.

"Hold still, dear ones; we have come to help." Aro said soothingly, approaching us slowly. His footsteps were so graceful, he appeared to be floating.

For a brief moment, I thought they were the angels of Death; come to usher Jane and I away to hell. Even if they were, I would be grateful; hell would be an improvement from the conditions here. Why have they come? They knew we were in trouble? How did they know where we lived? Where are my mother and the monster?

Aro reached his hand out slowly and touched my face.

His fingers were ice cold.

The moment I touched his skin, I could see the tidal wave of questions reeling through his mind. I smiled softly.

"Hush, dear one. Be still; we are here to help you and your sister. Your parents have both gone out to fetch a doctor for your father's hand. But we will have you out of here before they can return."
I carefully ran my finger over Alec's eye, feeling the hard lump of skin as it had swollen shut. "Marcus, we'll need a wet cloth." I ordered, going back to observe the boy's face. The dried blood down the side of his face was flaking off and spreading over the rest of his face. I looked to the smaller girl, Jane, who was eyeing me fearfully and holding her arm close to her body.

"Let me see your arm," I said quietly. Jane's frightened eyes stared at me, holding to Alec and not moving.

"Jane…we can trust him…it's all right…" Alec murmured. I was very surprised that Alec suddenly was able to trust me. I'd only spoken to him once, but I believe that these two possessed unimaginably wonderful gifts, and that somehow he could feel that I understood him.

That I needed him; both of them.

Alec sat up from the hay and pulled Jane upwards slowly into a sitting position. He slid up behind her, protecting her and watching me carefully. I smiled reassuringly and held out my hand patiently as she slowly relaxed her restraining arm, and allowed me to touch her.

I must say, I was very excited. I'd seen into young Alec's mind, but I had not the pleasure of looking into little Jane's. Her skin was much cooler than a normal human's, and clammy from her night filled with horror.

As I touched her skin, I explored her thoughts, and saw everything. What she was capable of was absolutely amazing…though I could not see the extent of her potential in that moment, I knew it would only grow in brilliance if she was changed.

When she was changed.

I pulled out of her thoughts and took hold of her upper and forearm, holding it firmly in my hands. "Alec, I need you to hold her." I ordered. Alec wrapped his arms around Jane, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Jane, dear," I looked into her frightened, innocent eyes, "this is going to be very painful, but I need you to hold still as much as you are able, all right?"

Jane nodded quickly, looking very afraid, but stiffened immediately. I heard Marcus return behind me, and gestured for him to come over to Jane and Alec.

I instructed him to assist in holding Jane as I would attempt to replace her arm. Marcus obeyed, taking hold of Jane along with Alec, hushing and reassuring her quietly. She sniffled once, her lower lip trembling as the familiar fear and discomfort of pain would make its cruel reappearance.

Caius stood in the back of the room, still observing silently. I would not force him to help; that might cause more harm than anything else.

I turned back to Jane. "Are you ready?"

She sniffled louder, already beginning to cry again as she nodded three times. I took a slow breath, and with a sudden jerk, lifted her arm and rolled it back into its place. Jane let out a scream and arched her back. Marcus held her completely steady as I had instructed; Alec's lower lip trembled as she whimpered from the aftershocks of the sharp pain. I took her entire small shoulder in my arm, and rubbed it with my other hand to restore circulation.

"Thank you," Alec whispered, holding Jane closer to him as Marcus released her and took a few steps backwards.

"We shall have to treat the rest of their wounds elsewhere; we shall not be alone for much longer." Marcus said lowly, eyes darting around the room.

"Of course; come, dear ones." I said, standing above the two of them and ushering them to their feet.

"How does it feel now, dolce?" Aro asked slowly, removing the cloth from her bared shoulder, exposing a nasty bruise that was bleeding down her side as well as her shoulder.

Jane only stared at the floor, her eyes distant, and her mouth closed tightly. Aro glanced at me before taking a step backwards from her and dipping the rag back into the basin. Jane grabbed the cloak draped around her and cinched it tighter, covering her exposed shoulder and turning away from the rest of the room.

"I cannot thank you gentlemen enough…you've done more for us than anyone has ever-" I began to say, but Aro cut me off with his outstretched hand.

"It is our pleasure." He said simply.

"What can we do to repay the both of you?" I asked quietly, glancing over to Jane, who still had her back turned to us.

Aro inhaled quietly, watching me with cautious eyes. He clasped his hands together slowly and strode towards me.

The next three words he said…I was not expecting to hear at all.

"Come with us," he whispered.

"Remember, grab only what you must. Food, what personal items you have, and be prepared. Marcus, Caius, and I will return shortly to take you both away from here. Before we depart, we must ensure that things are in order. Do you understand me?" Aro relayed instructions to me quickly as he strode briskly with Jane and I back to our hut.

I nodded quickly, holding Jane's hand and tugging her with me. "Only what we must."

Aro smiles softly. "We will help you both. Arrivederci, and remember my instructions."

I was able to return only half of a smile before he turned, and flashed away; disappearing from view. Jane looked at me, and for the first time, I saw excitement and vitality in her eyes.

She knew as well as I that this was finally our chance. Our desperate prayers had been answered. We were going away from here.

Forever.

We arrived at the hut, rushing inside. Jane went straight to the cabinets, removing several items of food, wrapping them in scraps of cloth, and dropping them into a sack. I ran to the other room, attached to the kitchen; retrieving every scrap of clothing I could possibly find, even gathering one or two items that belonged to our parents, deciding that they were necessities.

I rushed back to the kitchen, and smiled at Jane as she tied the top of the sack and threw it over her shoulder. A smile slowly spread across her face; lifting my heart from its depths. Now that is something I have not seen in ages…

She rushed to me and threw her arm around me—still babying her previously injured one—and hugged me to her.

"It's finally happening," she whispered, still grinning from ear-to-ear.

"I know," I replied, kissing the top of her head and snuggling her closer.

"How long until we can go?"

"We're just waiting for Aro and his brothers to return. It will be soon, I promise…"

Jane grinned even wider, closing her eyes. I also closed my eyes, basking in the sudden peace that settled into my heart.

The peace suddenly shattered as I heard a familiar sound. One that scared me out of my wits, and restored the gloom within my heart.

"HENRY!"

My head shot up as the front door slammed open; causing Jane to jump and whimper.

"How the hell are you still alive, you little pest?" The monster screamed as he swept into the room. "I beat you with everything I have in me, and yet, you walk! There is something amiss with you; I've known it since the beginning! You are a demon! A servant of the devil! A witch!"

"No-!" I screamed. The accusation of being a witch is not something taken lightly. Not in the least sense.

Father grabbed me by my arm, throwing me away from Jane and into the wall opposite the wall opposite the front door. Jane sobbed and cried out in protest, falling to the floor.

"I've already alerted the doctor; they're setting up the stakes now." He grabbed me by the front of my worn shirt, and shoved his face into mine. "It is the end for you!"

I closed my eyes with silent defeat. The brothers will never make it in time; we were so close…

From where I was, I could clearly hear their parents return. Jane's little cries sent me into outrage.

A witch? How original.

But the foolish villagers would believe it immediately, and they would be burned at the stake for their crimes.

Not while I am in command.

"Caius, Marcus; come. We shall rid the children of their obstacles." I said, rising to my feet and putting on my cloak, straightening the sleeves as I glanced out the window; seeing the villagers putting the last few stacks of hay at the base of two child-sized stakes.

"Aro…" Marcus began quietly, also rising. "There are other alternatives…."

"No," I replied sharply. "No; we cannot leave a trace."

"Shall we kill them all?" Caius asked, his smile widening by the second, making him look rather frightening as blood-lust overtook his senses.

"Of course; we cannot risk exposure." I replied, matter-of-factly.

"Let us begin!" Caius gushed, rushing to the door and opening it.

I beamed, sucking my teeth excitedly before I followed his lead, and rushed down to the edge of the trees, awaiting the ideal moment…

Victory.