The only thing she could remember was the very thing she wanted to forget. It haunted her every night as soon as the silence settled in. It haunted her now.
An aching sensation broiled up in her arms as the cloud of confusion burst away. A rough pillar-like structure was pressing uncomfortably against her spinal column. In vain she tried to tug her bound wrists free.
"Jane. . ." a sorrowful voice called out. Her jewel blue eyes quickly found the source, and what air she managed to suck in went right back out as a cry of surprise, fear, and longing.
"Alec!"
Murmurs broke through the crowd that had gathered, a crowd with faces so familiar, Jane could name everyone one of them and their children. As she swept the crowd with her eyes for an answer, a pious voice rang over the square. Jane looked to the man and instantly felt white hot rage rush through her.
"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!!" he recited. A chorus of garbled agreement answered him. Jane felt as if she could be sick at any moment. To the stake next to her was her brother, bound and bruised. His head was bent low, his dark ash locks obscuring her view of his face. The preacher continued.
"These heathens' lives have been an abomination of God! Their very existence has been tainted by the Devil's magic!" he cried. Raised fists and shouts of agreement swallowed the square.
Jane could feel the panic rise in her chest, an alarming ache in her chest. 'Alec. . .' she thought. 'Lift your head. . . ' Her eyes stared hard at her brother's bound form, willing with all her might that he would raise his head.
Jane could feel her breath coming and going in small, short gasps. Delicate cornsilk locks plastered themselves to the slender column of her neck, darkening slightly from a thin sheen of sweat.
Alec lifted his head up, groaning softly. All of his energy, it seemed, was gone. He used it all up to wake Jane. 'Jane. . .' Panic flashed across his beautiful eyes, the feeling swelling inside his chest.
"Jane!" he cried, relieved to see his sister at least alive. Unscathed, however, was another story. His eyes glared at the preacher with so much hate, the man stopped his sermon.
"What did you do to my sister!" he demanded. His eyes never left the preachers pudgy face. "Answer me!" he screamed.
Jane gasped softly, whimpering. Her arms ached. Her lungs felt heave. She just wanted
Alec to hold her again. Her heart broke at the sight of his split lip, black eye, and dried blood that was caking on his left temple.
"Alec. . ." Jane whimpered, bowing her body in his direction.
Her twin turned his gaze onto Jane, his eyes softening only for a second. He winced slightly as he smiled, the skin around his cracked lip, reopening.
"Jane, thank goodness. . " he breathed.
"Burn them!" someone shouted, raising their fist in the air. "Burn the witches!"
The mantra soon became a cacophony of shouts and yells. The preacher raised his Bible, his voice loud and righteous.
"Repent from the life of wickedness! Ask for forgiveness!" he demanded.
'Witches? How absurd.' Jane thought. Her heart thrummed harder. Her breathing started to become laboured, watching some townsfolk gather wood beneath her stake. The hollow clunking from her left told her that the same was happening to Alec.
"Witches? What nonsense!" Jane cried, fear making her voice quiver. "We're not witches! Let us go!"
Alec swore, writhing against the stake. His mind raced, filling his head with images of what was to come. None of his concerns were for his own well being. All he could think about was Jane.
"Repent, children, this is your last chance." the Father murmured, his tone sad and soft. Alec supposed he was trying to be pleading. Why should he repent if he's done nothing wrong?
"We've done nothing wrong!" Alec yelled, fear in his voice. "Please!" he cried.
"This is your last chance, son. . ." the preacher murmured.
Jane growled, thrashing against the stake. Her arms were numb and her lungs felt too heavy for her small chest. The rope securing her wrists rubbed her tender skin raw, little blood beads forming on her pale flesh.
"May God have mercy on you." the Father whispered. He motioned for the fire to start and Alec his neck towards Jane. His eyes were sorrowful, and yet he still sent her a message. 'Im right here…' they seemed to say and Jane wished she could calm the sickening fear that was creeping up her spine. Her heart told her to believe Alec, but her mind was screaming the truth. They were going to die.
A flicker of orange caught Jane's eyes, and her face contorted into a look of pure helplessness and fear. They weren't lighting them at the same time. Alec was going to be the first, for the orange and red flames licked up the dry wood and crackled the underbrush and dry grasses . Alec's eyes widen a fraction as he felt the warm tingle reach his socked feet. They had taken his shoes in order to beat him. He squirmed, growling and grunting all the while.
"Don't! Don't you dare do this to us! We've done absolutely nothing wrong!" Jane cried, tears springing to her eyes.
Jane tossed her head to the left, a quiet, pitiful whimper. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes and streamed down her cheeks onto her pillow. Pale fingers curled into a fist that gripped the comforter in a tight fist, veins showing under the alabaster flesh of her hands.
"No please.." she whispered brokenly. Her chest caved slightly as she let out a small cry, her lips parting in anguish.
An anguished scream left Alec's lips, his head bent back against the stake. The flames seemed to finish him slowly, while they simply ate up Jane. He was screaming from the pain, yes, but a different kind of pain. A pain that the fire wasn't causing. The pain was deep within his heart, a terrible searing ache. Tears blurred his vision and he did nothing to stop them from flowing.
"Alec!!" Jane's shrill shriek of pain rang through the air, breaking as she screamed louder. The flames took a liking to her dresses and leg ware, gobbling her slender legs up in their angry gluttonous wake. Her skin had started to bubble, melting almost off the bone. Jane screeched in pain, tears running down her face. Her pain stricken face was tilted towards Alec, black and gray smoke billowing up, obscuring their views of one another.
Alec coughed, a harsh body racking cough that seemed to shake the very pillar he was tied against. He wouldn't give up! Not when Jane was so close. . . His mind started to become foggy, the smoke swirling and clouding up inside his throat with every feeble attempt to swallow down some source of clean oxygen.
Screams of panic and confusion tore through the townsfolk, their figures blurring as they ran from whatever seemed to be terrorizing them. Alec squinted, tears running down his soot covered face as he did so, trying desperately to seek out whatever entity that seemed to be causing them so much chaos.
A harsh tug to his already numb wrists made him cry out, making his mind painfully aware of the fire that was slowly eating him alive. The pain seemed to be too much for Jane, for he didn't hear her heart wrenching screams. Blood rushed through his arms, a sick tingling feeling pricking through the skin. His pant legs were wet, sticking and forming to the blistering and blackening skin. Alec groaned softly, feeling a strong pair of arms lift him down from the stake.
The black smoke parted as the mysterious stranger glided past the falled townsfolk, carefully cradling Alec to their chest. Wispy black hair, as fine as silk, blew back from the quick movements he was making, curtly turning and laying the child down on the blood splattered ground. Crimson irises stared into the two cerulean eyes of the boy, obviously clouded with confusion, rage, and thankfulness.
"My sister!" he choked out, his voice groggy from the smoke inhalation. "Jane!" he yelled hoarsely, panic swelling in his chest as he coughed harshly. Wildly, his blue eyes looked around, being met with nothing but dust, ash, smoke and battered bodies scattered about.
"Your sister is safe, dear one. . " Aro murmured, pushing the boy back into the dirt. "Caius is watching over her." he whispered swiftly, brushing back Alec's fine ash hair. Gently tugging down the collar of his shirt collar, Aro bent, sinking his teeth into the tender flesh of the boy.
Jane was crying like a broken record, and Caius would not, nor should he, blamer her. Such a young and beautiful doll having to be broken and tortured like that. Her legs, if they could be called that anymore, were black and melting, the skin bubbled and smelling awfully. Her body shook with sobs and Caius did his best to try and sooth this little angel.
Jane didn't even want to open her eyes. She had no use. She couldn't hear Alec anymore, so she assumed the worse. Her beloved brother was dead, and she could do nothing to help him. Her mind was slowing caving in on itself, and she was hardly aware of the stranger who had spring her from the stake. No, she didn't acknowledge that the sever burning sensation had been numbed by something cold. She was falling into oblivion and she didn't mind. Soon she would be with Alec.
"Aro, there isn't much time left." a musical voice said, the breath washing over Jane. It smelled like mint and summer rain.
"Move, Caius.. Thank you so much for your help." Aro pronounced, shifting Jane very carefully so as not to hurt her even more.
Her head lay limp against his shoulder, her tears still falling like a faucet that refused to stop dripping. Now that the cold had left her burnt legs, there was nothing to keep the pain away. Even as her body shifted, the pain ran through her like a thousand volts of electricity, and she was the lightning rod. Throat to sore and swollen to cry, Jane held it all inside.
"Fear not, young one. Your brother is fine." Aro murmured, instantly getting bombarded with images of Alec and Jane. He never knew how close two siblings could be. It was as if they were practically made for one another. He bent his head low, brushing away Jane's silky blonde hair, exposing the lean column of her neck.
"You both shall be together, very soon." he assured, before biting deep into the young teens neck.
Jane sat up quick, gasping as she did so. Her hand flew to her neck, the faint uprising of the scar pressing back into her slender digits. Her body sprung from bed quickly, her body acting before her mind could. In the mirror she saw the weak human she once was. A scared looking girl, whose blonde hair was darkened from the nightmarish sweat that made her skin seem polished. Damn her weak human memories. A frown creased her lips, in a fury she turned from the mirror and grabbed the gray cloak that was draped over the Victorian chair. Snapping the hood into place around her shoulders, she allowed her golden locks to spill down her back as Jane opened her door.
"Alec!?" she gasped, her hand flying to where her beating heart would've been, had she still been human. "What on Earth are you doing outside of my bedroom!" she demanded, though her tone was light and curious, almost suggesting something.
Alec caught on, a blush forming on his frosted cheeks. "Nothing inappropriate, dear Jane. How uncouth of you." he chided, a worried look in his scarlet eyes. "I heard you crying." he said simply.
Jane frowned, a dark look crossing her beautiful face. If Alec had heard it, how many other members of the Volturi did? The powerful Jane, cowering and simpering in her bed like a pathetic human. The thought made her growl. "Im fine, Alec." she said, her tone clipped. Alec crossed his arms, a stubborn look crossing his equally stunning face.
"Do not lie to me, Sister. I'd hate to find that you are lying." he said softly, but firmly. "You know you can't lie to me." he added gently.
Jane sighed, her eyes looking to her left. It was true, she couldn't lie to Alec, for her blood sang to him, and his to her. Her hostile position faded and she relaxed, moving back for Alec to enter her room. It had just came to her attention that the conversation was being spoken out in the hallway.
"I . . . was dreaming about the day Aro and our family came to recruit us." she explained, her voice even and quiet within the quarters of her room. Even though she couldn't feel the cold in her room, a shiver slithered down her spine.
Alec's eyes softened immediately, his arms wrapping around his sister. He knew it had to been something like that to have her crying. Jane was the strongest in the Volturi, seeing as how Heidi only used her beauty to lure in their food. She hardly fought, so it seemed to stand reason that Jane was the strongest. Alec sighed softly, his lips pressing into Jane's golden hair, inhaling the smell of lavender and sandalwood. His favourite scent in the entire world.
"It's alright sister. They're way past dead. . .We're safe and sound inside these walls. And we have each other. There is no need to worry now." he assured her softly.
Jane nodded, her eyes softening before she closed them. Her head was cradled against Alec's chest, her breathing, not a necessity yet a habit, was in sync with her mates.
"The Lord giveth. ." she started, hatred in her voice.
Alec grinned. "Yet we taketh away." he finished, rocking his little sister. Jane allowed her body to relax, and slowly the silence over took her. Jane welcomed it with pleasure.
So..there it was. I dont own anything accept for the idea. R&R. Ja ne.