Aro's POV

Despite the hot, soapy water I pressed over his wounds, Patches made little noise but never once tried to squirm away from me as I cleaned him. Tonight, I would formally introduce him to the rest of the guard and my brothers. Tonight, after he has eaten, I would turn him into one of us. His history, I decided, I would share with no one. That is his secret and I shall leave it with him. After his bath, I gave him some of Alec's older clothes to wear; they were roughly the same height and stature. Heidi came later with two armfuls of food for the boy, which he ate hungrily like a dog tearing into a bone. His eating habits were far from acceptable but in light that it was his last human meal, I let him devour to his heart's content. When he couldn't stuff himself any more, he wiped his mouth and smiled up at me. "Shall we go downstairs to meet the others?" His smile dropped as did his expressive eyes.

"What if they don't l-like m-me?" I took his hand and helped him stand.

"Then they don't like you; I cannot make them feel any different. But you can," I added encouragingly. "At the very least, they will respect you. If you do as you're told, they'll have no reason not to." I walked him back down the stairs and into the throne room where most of our feedings took place. Every member of the guard was present, expecting their evening meal. They did not receive news of an introductory meeting or that I instructed Heidi to stall the tour group as long as possible. The only two missing were my brothers, Caius and Marcus. All eyes were on us as we entered.

"Listen well, my dear ones," I began cheerfully. "Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing a new addition to our coven. His name, as you can read inscribed about his neck, is Patches. I trust you all to treat him with respect as a fellow guard from this moment on." I paused, scanning the room once more for the missing two. "Does anyone here know the whereabouts of Marcus and Caius?"

"They were uninformed of this meeting, Master," intoned the familiar voice of Jane near my right.

"Go and bring them here, won't you Jane?" She gave a curt nod and disappeared from the room. I glanced down at my foundling whose eyes were fixated on all the others watching him. Taking him by the shoulder, I turned him toward the high seats perched atop a stage-like base at the end of the room. "Sit with me," I offered, already heading toward my throne in the center. As I rested comfortably, every other pair of eyes stared dumbfounded to my left. Patches was already pulling himself up on the ancient chair, just as its owner came sauntering through the doors with a loud boom.

"What is that in my throne?!" Caius demanded, the flames in his eyes flashing murderously. I rose at once as he advanced.

"Peace, Brother. He doesn't know any better—a…lone survivor of a hunting raid." I gestured to him with a finger to come closer and watched with a smile as he ran up to me, clinging to my arm for protection.

"And does he have a name?"

"Of course," I answered evenly. "Caius, this is Patches, who is going to stay with us."

"For now," growled my fellow coven brother. He stared condescendingly down at the boy and scoffed. "Patches, a pet name. How appropriate."

"I advise you not to speak of what you do not understand, Caius. I plan to turn him and train him myself." Behind him, some of our observing audience were exchanging amused glances. Normally, I'd leave the majority of training newborns to Felix and Renata, but I felt a personal responsibility for this one. He didn't seem like a natural fighter and I couldn't imagine him gleaning much from Felix.

"A wise decision, Aro," said a calm voice appearing on my right. Marcus strode up to us, smiling fondly at the child still at my sleeve. "You seem to be his only strong connection so far." I briefly nodded in agreement. "He's certainly taken a liking to you."

"Then it's all settled," I declared, motioning for everyone to step back while I led Patches to the middle of the room. "Alec?" My guard in question stepped forward and at my signal released his power over the two of us. I guided Patches down on his knees and wrapped one arm around his waist to keep him from squirming. He whimpered in fear as I pressed his head down, leaving his neck exposed for my bite. Alec's smoke washed him completely in vertigo before I pushed up his collar and injected my venom into the tender skin beneath. I gave it a minute or so to sink in. No doubt he would be thirsty as an immediate result of his new change. The smoke cleared at last and his small form lay unconscious for the last time in his existence.

Patches' POV

I was dead. I had to be. And yet I wasn't, for I had the knowledge to tell the difference. It was pitch black and eerily silent when I woke up; no pounding heartbeat, no pulse, not even a breathing sound could fill the absolute emptiness all around me. I groped around for any sense of location: walls, furniture, a door. No sooner when I began to move, a light metallic rattle echoed behind me. I instinctively reached behind me and sure enough, a thicker chain protruded from somewhere on my neck. My immediate thought was that of punishment. Did I do something wrong? The blonde one, "Caius", didn't seem to like me at all. From somewhere distant, I heard the barely audible click of small shoes that sounded a lot like that petite girl Master Aro called "Jane". "I think he's awake," I heard her say. Then the footsteps became quieter and quieter until I could hear them no more.

My mind began to race as I searched frantically for a reason why I was here. I recalled the events from last night…or was it day? I couldn't tell anymore; in fact, I had no sense of time anymore. What did they do to me? All I knew was that I met a room full of very silent people with matching clothes and then I saw a big black cloud swallow me up like fog. Then everything went dark. Am I still in that cloud? Most likely not, or else I wouldn't be able to feel or hear anything. Mind-numbing gas, I assume. A sedative anesthesiologists employ on their patients before the surgeon performs the operation. The small footsteps returned, as did a heavier set I knew was Master Aro's and another of whom I couldn't recognize. In the corner of the dark room, a door opened and light came flooding in with a brilliance so intense that I had to shield my eyes. A dimmer light switched on in the room and the door was swiftly locked shut.

"Hello, my dear Patches," Master Aro called to me in a cheery voice I was glad to hear. "So glad to see your turning has been successful." What "turning"? What's wrong with me?! My expression must have said it all, for he said, "There now, such reactions are expected. We are here to help you adapt to your new life here with us." I looked up after my eyes adjusted and saw he had two women with him: Jane, and a young brunette. "Patches, this is Renata. She is my personal guard and my protection for today." Renata smiled and looked me over the way most girls look at puppies in a window. I turned away embarrassed, the chain tailing behind me. Then she did something that got my attention on levels I didn't understand. She uncorked something behind my back, and a delectable aroma of something sweet, like cherry syrup, hit my senses like a wrecking ball on a brick wall. I felt my vision sharpen and my tongue tingle—as if my entire body was set on me obtaining and draining that bottle of whatever it was. "What you smell is blood," he continued calmly as if it was perfectly natural. No, not true. Blood doesn't smell like that—not nearly as appealing as that! "Have you heard of…vampires before?"

Of course, I have. From where I was from, everyone was raised on rumors of vampires prowling around, sucking the life out of naughty children in their sleep. When you're from Transylvania in the heart of Romania, you pick up on these types of things. "Yes." Master Aro just kept smiling like nothing was wrong.

"Believe me when I confess we vampires exist." We?! As in him, and the others I saw earlier? Renata let me see the bottle she opened, brandishing it before my eyes. Sure enough, the sloshing liquid inside couldn't have looked more like human blood. I glanced at all three of them, trying to find some further explanation to assure myself I really wasn't among legendary bloodthirsty creatures of the night. But in their eyes, all I saw was an identical reddish, demonic tint. Another feature of a vampire, I recalled.

"You have r-red eyes…" They all slowly nodded in unison. Master Aro took a round mirror from the blazer he wore and stuck it in my face. It was my face, and the green eyes I once knew were a freaky dark red, practically black! "N-No, no…no, no, NO!" I slapped the mirror away and screamed into the wall, the last place I could turn to. "Why did you do this to me? What did I do?!" I sobbed, feeling weak and dreadfully sick. My throat felt painfully sore, but I noticed I hadn't shed a tear. This confusion made me cry harder, and still nothing came as expected.

"You did nothing wrong, child," Master Aro smoothly replied behind me. "I turned you into a vampire because I chose to. The choice was either to change your species or have you killed." That news didn't make me feel any better. "Do you remember the humans we destroyed in the wood?" I grudgingly nodded. It was all so quick, I thought at first they were ninjas. "When we kill, our law prohibits any human witnesses. I am sorry, but there's no going back now." This was all too much for me, and yet so opportune. I had no family that wanted me, no caretaker of any kind once the lot was thoroughly dismembered. Therefore, I could easily have died there without detection or worry—a silent, lonely death. Renata gently touched me on the shoulder and held out the bottle of blood. Before I could even think about what to make of this, my hand shot out, grasped the bottle by the neck, and held it firmly to my lips while I drank it down. It tasted as good as it smelled, just like a Shirley Temple's cherry syrup with a hint of cinnamon and mint. So sweet, so delicious, so…addicting. I had to have more; nothing else mattered. The pain in my throat quickly disappeared when I quenched it, but returned with an awful aftershock once I couldn't appease it anymore. Renata took her bottle back and retreated back to the other two. I turned around to follow her until she stepped out of my reach. She seemed to understand exactly how I felt. They all did.

Renata's POV

"Today we are going to teach you how to control the thirst so that you will not act rashly upon immediate satisfaction," Aro said to the newborn. He looked broken, confused, and scared without a clue as to what was going to happen to him. I wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, that he was safe here, but that was against protocol. Newborns were dangerous. The first few months define a vampire's peak of strength and power where it is at its most ruthless and bloodthirsty. Most couldn't stand being chained so their first move is to rip it right out of the wall…but this one was different, as if he was used to it. He didn't play with it or tug at it; he just took one good look at it and let it be. Strange. "You will back up against the wall and attempt to stand in place while I approach you with a glass of blood. If you drop your composure at any time, we shall start over. Do you understand?" The boy nodded and a stiff pause followed. "Patches, from now on, I expect you to answer me fully. It's polite courtesy to answer."

"Y-Yes," he choked out in a voice barely above a whisper. His throat was strangling him now, and I could tell he was fighting it with all of his might. There was another pregnant pause.

"Yes, what?" I pitied the boy. Social etiquette was probably the last thing in his mind.

"Y-Yes, M-Master Aro."

"Good. Let us begin." Patches stood up and leaned against the wall. Jane briefly left the room and returned with another flask of blood, pouring some of it into a tall glass and handed it to Aro. I caught the sadistic smirk on her face; she knew what was coming next and anticipated the moment. I honestly could not comprehend what sort of twisted pleasure she got out of torturing others, especially those so ignorant and helpless. The blood caught the newborn's attention immediately, though he knew he couldn't have it until Aro let him. Aro slowly began to walk toward him, his calculating eyes already predicting when he was going to crack. He made sure the liquid was moving enough to keep his focus but not so much so that it wouldn't spill. When he was almost five feet away, he took an unexpected step to the side and flashed a warning look at Patches, whose head was barely inclined towards him. The boy shook like a leaf in the autumn wind, straining not to pounce for the glass. He pressed himself harder into the wall with such a force that the stones began to give way. Aro grinned, taking one more step to move the blood another two feet closer. The tantalizing smell reached an unbearable level, and he finally cracked, lunging for the glass in desperation. Aro swiftly pulled it out of reach and let Jane take it from there.

It was a pitiful sight, watching this child try his best only to suffer because it wasn't good enough. He was so close, closer than any newborn on the first try. He writhed on the floor, clutching his head in his hands and screaming like a severely wounded coyote. Aro let it go on for another few seconds before waving Jane's power away. When Patches came to, he took one look of abject terror at Aro and quickly crawled back to the wall, looking like he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. That made two of us. To make matters worse, Aro passed the glass to Jane who raised it to her lips and drained the blood right in front of him. She opened the larger flask again to replenish the smaller container with a fresher scent. But when the blood tipped into the glass, it vanished. Soon, both were empty and all three of us passed confused glances, never seeing anything like this before. A light smacking sound from the wall turned our heads. Patches was happily licking the blood off his lips until he caught us staring. Jane was about to give him another dosage of her pain for cheating out of his training when Aro cut her off. He was impressed.

"It seems you have an extraordinary talent after all. Have you any idea what you just did?" Patches shook his head, the chain clinking with his movements.

"No, Master Aro."

"I wonder," Aro began, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I'd like you to meet a dear friend of mine who should be able to tell us a little about you and your special ability. Our session is concluded for the day." He turned to me halfway, catching my gaze out of the corner of his eye. "Renata, do send a letter to Eleazar of the Denali coven, won't you? Invite him here and include his ticket and itinerary as well."

Author's Note: Hello, my lovely readers! I hope you are enjoying this story so far as much as I enjoy writing it! Reviews are love and inspiration, and I'm interested about what you think. If you could give me a few seconds of your time to jot down some thoughts, it would be much appreciated. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you next chapter!

-CityCat