Title: A Marriage Made in Hell

Summary: Didyme and Marcus meet for the first time when she recovers from being bitten and turned by her brother, Aro. Unknown and unseen, Marcus had nursed her through the change.

Pairing: Marcus and Didyme

Rating: T

Word count: 1311

The village smithy set down his bellows and dipped his wooden cup into a bucket of spring water. He drank deeply, then focused on his daughter, who had just set the bucket down carefully at his feet. "Didyme! More wood for the fire!"

Didyme scurried off toward the edge of the forest, where she began picking up small logs and large sticks. She found a fallen tree, well weathered, and tugged at a sizeable branch. Bracing her foot against the trunk, she twirled the stick until it came off in her hand. A slight movement deeper in the woods, a flash of something white, caught her attention. Startled, she looked toward the relative safety of the village - until she heard her name.

"Aro? Is that you?" Didyme dropped the bundle of sticks on the ground and ran toward her brother, but her feet slowed while she was still several paces from him. "What's wrong with your eyes? Are you injured, Aro? Or ill?" A sense of something not quite right kept her from running into his outstretched arms.

The seasons had changed many times since he'd disappeared, but she would recognize him anywhere. She knew she herself had changed, from a scrawny little girl into a tall, slender young woman. It was his eyes that froze her in her tracks. She could see from here that they were red, like blood, and it made her uneasy.

His brilliant smile failed to convince her. "Come, sister, give me a hug." Aro stood patiently waiting as she scuffed slowly along the dirt path through the dense trees. "You can see it is I, your long lost brother." He nodded his encouragement, garnet eyes glittering.

Aro looked around quickly to be sure they were alone. His cold hands were on her before she saw him move, and he pulled her to him, sinking his fangs into her tender throat. Her eyes widened in shock and fear and pain. Too late, she struggled against his iron grip and tried to scream. His hand clamped over her mouth as he drank greedily.

"Enough, Aro! Are you trying to end her?" Marcus stepped out of the shadows and touched Aro's shoulder. He had been waiting impatiently, and he pressed forward for a look at this mysterious dark haired girl. Aro had convinced Marcus that, as a vampire, she would surely possess a gift similar to his tactile telepathy - or possibly something even more useful.

Fresh blood dripped from Aro's chin onto his white shirt as he growled menacingly. Didyme's limp, unconscious body fell to the dusty ground, her pale throat ravaged, weakened heart pumping desperately.

Marcus scooped the girl into his arms as Aro wiped his mouth with the back of a porcelain hand. For just a moment, Marcus froze, gazing at the pale, lovely face. His body reacted as well to the warm, soft, nearly weightless burden, and Aro growled softly. "No time for that! All right then, hurry!"

When Didyme was able to form a coherent thought, briefly, she imagined herself in hell. She was not quite sure how she had died, but it had something to do with her brother. And then the fire consumed her, and the pain blocked out any conscious thought. She screamed, or thought she did, as she burned.

Marcus visited her every day, holding her as she thrashed, whispering soothing words. "It won't be long," he crooned, brushing her dark hair back from her face, "and then you'll have forever." Her tortured body sizzled as the flames licked at her, and the concept of forever was unthinkable.

Didyme opened her scarlet eyes on a sparkling new world. She rose to her feet, and the motion was so smooth, so effortless, she was dizzy for just a beat. She looked around the room. It appeared to be some sort of stone edifice, and the bench she had vacated was covered with cured animal skins of some sort. She blinked, amazed at the sharpness of her vision. Each separate hair on the pelts stood out with crystal clarity.

She moved to the heavy oak door. Well, actually, she simply thought about moving – and she was there. Smiling, she zipped back and forth a few times. The speed was exhilarating. Her hand went to her throat. Something was wrong. The burning – had it been a dream? Where was she, and why was her throat so parched?

A vicious snarl surprised her as the heavy door creaked on its massive hinges. She realized with a shock that the sound had come from her tortured throat. Aro slipped fluidly into the room.

"Brother, what is happening to me?" Didyme blinked. She had expected her voice to be harsh and raspy, considering the dryness of her throat. And yet it was soft, musical, clear - but the painful burning persisted.

Aro frowned in spite of a sudden feeling of well-being. "You have a lot to learn, my dear. Do you not realize what you are?"

Didyme stilled. She could hear a small animal moving nearby, the swish of leaves on the trees in the distance outside her window - but something was missing. No beating hearts. Her question was a whisper. "Am I in hell then? It resembles the world I left."

Impatiently, Aro shook his head. "No, of course not. You're undead, Didyme," he snapped without preamble. "A vampire. And you must be very thirsty." A sly smile played upon his pale lips but did not reach his eyes. He snapped his fingers and the door opened again. A young man, hands bound tightly behind his back, was flung into the room and the door slammed shut. He landed on his knees on the stone floor and looked up with wide terrified eyes.

Aro watched closely as Didyme closed her eyes, inhaling the miasma of alluring scents. There was terror, of course, sweat, and the sharp odor of urine as the teen's bladder let go. But overpowering all the other scents was the ripe, tantalizing aroma of blood, pounding just under the delicate membrane of his skin. And there - yes, finally - a beating heart.

Didyme turned to the youngster and smiled. His shoulders relaxed as Aro observed silently, and he calmly approached the beautiful woman. He stood before her, unaware of the dark wet stain spreading down the leg of his rough woolen breeches. His blissful expression did not falter until her razor sharp fangs penetrated his carotid artery, and of course by then it was too late. Horrified and excited in equal measure, Didyme drank deeply, too quickly draining his slim body as she held him to her breast in a macabre embrace. She licked daintily at an errant drop of the precious red liquid.

Dropping the messy corpse, she backed away in horror. "What have I done?" Her panic-stricken gaze rested on her brother, who was smiling his approval.

"That is what I was trying to tell you, sister dear. But he illustrated it so much more effectively than I could. And yet you managed to calm him in the face of certain death." He gazed at the body crumpled on the floor and chuckled with glee as he opened the door. A massive guard stepped silently into the room, hefted the body in one hand, and disappeared without a word. Didyme took a step backwards and found herself pressed against the stone wall.

The door had no sooner closed than it swung open again, and another man strode in. Like Aro, he had crimson eyes and pale skin. His shoulder length wavy hair was brown, and he seemed familiar somehow. He smiled and took Didyme's hand, pressing it between his own in an unexpectedly intimate gesture. Aro glanced at the newcomer and then spoke to his sister.

"Didyme, may I present my associate, Marcus Volturi."

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