Chapter Two

Aro

When Felix reported in with the news that The Major was dangerously out of control I knew we would have to act.

"Where is he now?"

"Back at Maria's with his men. They destroyed and burned everything in the other camp except for two human women's bodies."

"Humans?"

"Yes they had been imprisoned in the camp and tried to run. We were ready to act but The Major got there first. He killed them both but didn't destroy the bodies, he left them hanging in a tree, a message perhaps to other humans to stay away from the area? Or a message for Pedro."

"The next time he leaves the camp you kill him Felix then bring the guard home with you. I want it done quietly though, no fuss."

"Very well. You don't want him for the guard?"

"No, he's too much of a liability."

"Very well. He'll disappear."

"Good."

Felix

I had watched the proceedings at the other camp with a certain curiosity, at first things went pretty much as I expected but then The Major chased down the two human women. What he did didn't shock me but what happened afterwards did. For the first time since I'd heard of The Major, Maria's find or creation, perhaps I saw the man he once had been. His regret and self loathing when he looked at the bodies was almost palpable and I recognised there was still a spark of humanity within that monstrous shell. It fought with his vampire nature and lost but only just and I knew if he had stayed longer the bodies would have been cut down and buried. Did he have a death wish? Had being the God of War finally broken him? I instructed two of the guard to bury the women then join us outside Maria's camp.

Her behaviour when she learned he'd killed the newborns she had ordered be brought back to her was amusing to say the least. She screamed and shouted insults at the men only letting them go to their cabin when she had beaten each one to the ground and then it was The Majors turn. He stood up to her arrogant and proud and I thought she would do our job for us but despite her blows and oaths he continued to stand proud, defying her. Only when Nathan with a group of newborns twenty strong ambushed him did he finally hit the ground but even then he fought on until he lay a wreckage of body parts in a pool of venom.

I waited until Maria calmed down and led out a huge hunting party to look for new recruits leaving a skeleton force behind including a slowly healing Major before deciding on my strategy. I told the rest of the guard to follow Maria and see what she did and once they had left I made my way into the almost deserted camp and sat down beside him.

"So Major, how much longer do you think she'll let you live? Or perhaps more importantly how long before you lose the final vestige of the man you once were?"

He looked at me and I saw him figuring out who I was,

"Volturi? Come to kill me?"

"I have orders but like you I have a will of my own. Unlike you I've kept mine and I'd like to exercise it right now. You are within seconds of a death sentence Major but I know there's more to you than this animal. I want to give you the chance that was offered me many millennia ago by someone who saw the same potential as I see in you. Don't go over to the dark side Major, you are better than that and your actions still hurt you at least a little."

"I wont join the Volturi."

"They wouldn't have you, too much of a liability or so I was told. No, I'd like to give you a chance, if you take it or not is for you to decide."

"What is it?"

I could see the interest in his pain dulled eyes as he flexed newly healing biceps,

"Leave now. No one will know you are alive, bury The Major and start over again".

"Why would you take a risk for me? If the Volturi find out you let me go you put yourself in danger."

"Major, my whole existence is dangerous, I'm not afraid of death. So, go now and find a new way to live or die tonight."

"Where would I go?"

I shrugged then had a thought,

"There's a man I know, Carlisle Cullen. He has a coven that lives a little differently and a reputation for helping those in need."

"In need? Is that what I am?"

"I'd say so Major yes. Its your only alternative so what do you say?"

He dragged himself to his feet and looked around,

"Maybe its too late my friend."

"Hey, its never too late until you give up. Has The Major given up or will the man assert himself again? I have to go now but if you're still here when Maria gets back I can't help you any more, you're a dead man."

I went back the way I'd come keeping hunched over so any guards she had left around would mistake me for one of their own in the compound. Once back in the trees I found a vantage point and waited. It wasn't often I felt sorry for another of my kind, I'd been a vampire far too long for such emotions to struggle their way to the surface often but I saw myself in The Major and sometimes when I sat alone in the peace and quiet I wished someone had been there to offer me a choice, a choice other than the Volturi. Life in the guard had been good to me and I had very few rivals, only the gifted ones and even they gave me a wide berth, having a patron was a convenience and Caius was a good patron. Very few saw the man behind the mask, I guess it took one to see one, so when he asked me to speak to The Major I was surprised, he'd never shown an interest in anyone before. But then men like The Major were rare, very rare indeed.

It was only a few minutes before I saw The Major again and this time he was leading his horse out of the stables. It was a magnificent beast and reminded me of one I had owned while still a human warrior, mine had been brown and slightly shorter than his but they both had that sense of majesty, that confident way of moving. As he rode out of the gates the guards stood back, he may be in disgrace with his sire but he was still their commander and the most dangerous man they would ever know. So, he had made his choice, now all that was left to me was to tidy up the loose ends and cover our tracks. It was a shame about the horse but sacrifices had to be made and when I caught up with him he understood, taking the beasts life as quickly and painlessly as he could then turning away and striding into the night while I set about dragging the horse back a way towards the camp then setting a fire, a few dead branches well burned would supply the ashes for my guard to see and after all no one was going to test them. Who would imagine I would fake a death, Felix the most trusted of all the Volturi guard.