Summary: My story repertoire needed even more weird shit. This story was particularly crappy (I wrote it when I was in high school), so I fixed it.
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.
Contains mpreg and implied rape. Reader discretion is advised. Set in 1973. Chapter titles are song titles, but the actual songs don't really have anything to do with the chapter content. Bonus points if you can guess the artist.
Caius huffed in frustration and stormed into the hallway. He'd just come out of a particularly bad fight with Athenodora over the time he'd been spending in court. He had argued that he was needed in court, while she argued that he was just making an excuse to avoid her. Needless to say, hurtful words were exchanged, household items were thrown, and threats were made.
"Stupid whore." He pulled his jacket on and quickened his pace. He had to get outside, or else he was going to hurt someone. "Let her file for divorce. See if I care."
Aro was having a smoke in his study when he heard Caius' footsteps approaching.
"Come in, brother." He called before pausing to wait for the heavy wooden door to open with a creak of protest.
Silence. Caius was still walking. Aro frowned, put his cigar down, walked to the door, and looked out into the corridor. Caius was stalking across the courtyard, heading for the woods.
"All right. That's fine too." He shrugged and went back what he was doing.
Out in the woods, Caius broke into a sprint.
Stupid bitch, always talking at me, never giving me a moment's peace!
The events of the last hour and a half swirled through his mind as he ran. With each thought, he felt a fresh burst of rage-induced adrenaline.
After about a half hour of sprinting aimlessly around the woods, he slowed to a jog and eventually a walking pace. Within an hour, he reached a clearing near a creek and stopped.
To his left, he could see a tree with a date and two letters scratched into it.
AC 1673
"Our anniversary carving. Of course." Caius scoffed and walked over to the edge of the creek. It figured that he'd find that on a day like this. It was one of his fondest memories of Athenodora. They'd spent the better part of the day in that clearing on some irrelevant anniversary. They'd both lost count of how many decades they'd been together, but it hadn't dulled their happiness.
He began to wonder what happened in those 300 years since that wonderful day.
"Whose fault is it, really?" Caius removed his shoes, rolled up the legs of his trousers, sat down, and dangled his feet in the creek. The water felt refreshingly cool.
Is she the asshole or am I?
He sighed and wiggled his toes under the water. Maybe Athenodora was right. She'd said that he'd changed. He'd become angrier and more unstable. His temper was definitely out of control, and he had been spending a lot of extra time with bookkeeping and whatnot. Maybe he had been making up excuses.
But, to be fair, Athenodora had changed as well. She'd become colder and more emotionally distant. She never asked him if anything interesting had happened in court, nor did she seem to care about anything he had to say otherwise. Her normally sweet nature had given way to an apathetic, easily-irritated personality that was beginning to match his. Even she had developed a bit of a temper.
Did she change on her own, or did she change because of me?
Caius rested his head on his fist and sighed pensively. He still loved her, he really did. No matter how much they fought, he hadn't stopped loving her. Even so, he had no idea what to do. Would they get a divorce? Would he try counseling to get a handle on his anger?
He had a feeling that no matter how long he sat there and pondered, he wouldn't be able to answer those questions. He would have to talk to Athenodora when they'd both had some time to cool down.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to stay out here awhile longer… Perhaps we can figure this out later.
After another 30 minutes or so, Caius became aware of a strange feeling in the back of his mind. He was being watched.
"Shit." He cursed under his breath. He took his feet out of the creek, quickly put his socks and shoes back on, and stood up.
"Whoever is out there, I would advise that you show yourself."
Of course, whoever was there with him remained hidden in the trees.
Wait a minute, woods distort sounds… Curse these woods!
"Show yourself now!" He shouted at the sound of shuffling bushes to his left. He could smell the scent of wolf and hear several heartbeats, but he couldn't pinpoint where they were.
"This is our territory." A voice to his right growled.
"Your kind don't belong out here." A deeper voice straight ahead of him snarled.
"Why should we show ourselves?" Caius could hear cackling to his left.
"You Volturi have no power over us."
Before he could react, he felt something grab him around the chest and cover his mouth. The last thing he sensed before everything went dark was his head being quickly twisted to the side.
So this version is way better than the old one.
Yes, I have a headcanon that Aro enjoys a smoke on occasion. Why? Because he's Aro. Don't judge me.