Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Twilight
Authors note: As promised this chapter is in Caden's POV! Hopefully you'll now get more insight into his character and his motives for being in Volterra.
Also, I'm really sorry for the delay on this chapter but I just couldn't get it right…
Reasons behind the mask
Previously…
"Perhaps a demonstration?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"A demonstration would be perfect." As always, Aro's curiosity and hunger for power got the better of him.
Caden's POV
As Aro uttered those words a smile spread across my face. Perfect. My eyes swept across the faces around the room, mentally making note of everyone who was there as well as deliberately delaying my demonstration slightly. It was amusing to see Aro, and most of the other guard for that matter, so annoyed just because of a few, insignificant comments.
I slipped my hand into the front pocket of my pants, my finger playing with the metal rectangle inside; a gold-cased lighter that I had recently acquired, taking it from my latest victim as a souvenir. Although, it was much more than that; this lighter was more than just a token but was essential for me…
I slowly pulled it out of my pocket, the gold glinting in the dim light from the torches lit around the large room. The silence in the room was deafening, none of the surrounding vampires were even breathing as they watched, curious about what I was doing.
I flipped the lighter open and lit it so a small orange flame appeared. I watched it intently, a small smile on my lips. Even as a vampire, I had a fascination with fire, probably because of my power but it was still unusual. More than unusual. Fire was the only thing that could destroy our kind and I'm obsessed with it.
A snort of muffled laughter was loud against the silence and my eyes darted towards it, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Is that it, pip squeak? Your great and powerful gift?" Felix smirked, mocking me. My temper flared and the small single flame from the lighter in my hand exploded into a raging fire. A collective gasp sounded around the room but I was oblivious to it as I focused in on Felix, the fear prominent on his face.
My growl echoed throughout the chamber as I threw my arm forward, the blazing fire from my lighter arching high into the air, growing larger as it approached Felix and the couple of vampires surrounding him.
"Don't." I barely heard the whisper; it had been so quiet that even my vampire hearing had trouble picking it up. My eyes instinctively went to the source of that voice, the voice of an angel. Jane's eyes were focused on me, not the stream of fire heading towards one of her fellow, wide and pleading. Just that one look made my decision; the fire arched back into the air, just before it hit the vampires, and floated just inches above the palm of my hand. I clenched my fist and the large ball of fire was extinguished with a loud hiss.
Jane didn't influence my decision, why would she? She was nothing to me; just another pawn in my scheme for revenge, nothing more. I was just raining in my temper before it went too far. After all, if my plan for revenge was to be complete then Alec and Heidi had to be here too. I tried to reason with myself but I knew deep down what the truth was. Jane was here and she was the only one of the Volturi I wanted to spare after what they had done to my family.
I shut that painful memory out of my mind and focused on the matter at hand. I had to try to control my temper more if I were to succeed with this. It was obvious they were all suspicious of me already; I hadn't allowed Aro to touch me because that certainly would have gotten me killed if he knew my real reasons for coming here and now I had almost destroyed one of the guard so all in all I had certainly made…an impression.
The wariness in Aro's eyes was obvious but his curiosity was also prominent. If it wasn't for my knowledge of his thirst for power I don't think I would have even tried to come here; he had seen my power, was intrigued by it and saw how powerful it was so he wanted me as an ally, not an enemy. But it was already too late for that. I had wondered this earth with revenge in my heart for a century and a half and I wasn't going to stop this close to my goal.
"Jane, take Caden to the spare room next to you." Aro said without taking his eyes off me. I bit my lip in an effort to keep the sneer off my face. It disgusted me that I had to try and get his approval at all but it was something that had to be done if I wanted my plan to work. I assumed he wanted me near Jane because she would easily be able to control me as she had demonstrated earlier. I certainly didn't want to go through that kind of pain again if I could help it. I couldn't help but notice the look in her eyes when she released me from her hold, something vaguely resembling regret, and the short amount of time I had been held under her power. Of course, I had known that there were certainly risks when I decided to come to Volterra. Almost all of the guard had interesting gifts, to say the least. I perceived Jane as the most dangerous though. If the time came, I knew I would be unable to harm her and that's what caused the threat. My weakness for her. It was something I couldn't explain. Something that pulled me to her and made me unable to forget the first time I had seen her 150 years ago. True, she hadn't seen me but I had definitely seen her and her face had plagued my thought ever since.
I had been reluctant to come here for fear that my weakness to her would prove treacherous to my plot for revenge but I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I came. I had put this little mission off for years until I had the idea I could use Jane for my advantage. Befriend her, a valuable member of the Volturi and gain immunity. If I managed that she would be reluctant to use her power on me but also possibly defend me from the fact I was unwilling to let anyone know anything about me.
The first part of that seemed to be working better than I had hoped by how hesitant she had been to use her power on me earlier. All I had to do was to try and erase the suspicions of the other members and than I would have a chance at getting my revenge.
Jane's eyes darted to me then back to Aro and nodded her head. "Follow me." She demanded before she turned on her heel towards the door, waiting for me there. A small smile crept onto my face as I watched her, unable to suppress it, and did as I was told as I walked over to her to stand beside her.
She opened the door and motioned for me to go through, obviously still not over her caution towards me. Although, I really wouldn't blame her after my little demonstration which got a little out of hand. I stepped through the door and walked silently along the corridors as she directed me to the right room. I slyly sneaked glances at her occasionally to see a small frown on her perfect features and she seemed as if she was deep in thought.
We stopped in front of a door which I assumed to be my room and I let myself in as Jane just watched my suspiciously. I had a hunch that her suspicions were not only because I was a new comer but because of my obvious reactions between her and the other guards. Once again, I had to remind myself to get a hold on my temper before I revealed myself.
I did a quick sweep of the room; a small closet in the corner, a desk and table on one side of the room and a large, unnecessary bed taking up most of the room. I took my hat off and threw it on top of the bed, my bright orange hair standing up in small wavy spikes.
I turned back to the door to see Jane regarding me thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes as they bore into mine and her brow furrowed slightly. "I'm curious, are you an animal drinker?" She asked somewhat bluntly saying it with disgust at the mere thought of it.
I chuckled slightly and shook my head, scrunching my nose at the memory. "No, I was hungry before I reached Volterra and thought it best not to hunt within the walls." I smirked at her. "I wasn't sure how long I would have to wait before you came and got me so I thought it was best that I had something." I shrugged slightly. Honestly, I enjoyed annoying her. She was adorable in the way her mouth turned down at the corners and her eyes flared with defiance.
The taste of human blood was too appealing for me to ever want to give it up so there was no way I would willingly become a 'vegetarian'. The whole idea of it was ridiculous to me. Why refuse your natural food source? It wasn't as if animal blood was even as nice as human. My eyes were a sickly orange colour because of the animal blood I had consumed before coming here. That was the first, and last, time I would ever do that, that was for sure.
"Good." Jane said, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips but not quite forming. "Heidi should be back in an hour so they're will be a feast in the main chamber."
"Alright, thank you." I grinned at her, thankful I would be able to have a proper meal.
"Your welcome." She said softly and retreated out the room. I barely caught sight of a smile on her face as she closed the door. Finally, a smile. She was warming to me to it was all going according to plan.
I turned back to survey my new room and walked over to the closet, peering inside. There were a few dark cloaks inside to which I turned by nose up at in disgust. Do they think I would really wear one of them and be classed as one of the guard? I flicked through the rest of the clothes which consisted mainly of black shirts and pants. That was fine with me. Black, the colour of mourning. I had been wearing it for 150 years and I wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Bonds between human-blood drinkers may not be that strong but the ones between me and my siblings had been and the pain I felt from them being destroyed would haunt me for eternity.
I sighed and turned from the closet, rolling up the long sleeves of my black shirt. My pale skin was a stark contrast to the black of my clothes and the small amount of light in the room glinted of the couple of crescent moon shaped scars on both my forearms.
I flopped onto my back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling as my mind went over the plan in my head. Phase one; being accepted into the Volturi head quarters, was complete. All I had to do now was try and get closer to Jane, get more information from her than I already possessed. I had spent most of the last century travelling and speaking with various vampires about the Volturi to see what they knew, using my gift if necessary. But Jane's perspective would certainly be useful in my planning and would enable me to be accepted by the rest of the guard.
Once that happened it would only be a matter of time until I would have the chance to gain my revenge. The hardest problem for me would be avoiding touching Aro which would certainly give away my plans.
I close my eyes, a smile creeping onto my face as I revelled in that thought. It would only be a matter of time before the Volturi's demise and I would be the one to take them down.
A/N: I hope you liked it! I finally had some inspiration to write it. Can anybody guess his reasons for revenge?
I'll give a sneak peek of the next chapter to anyone who reviews! The more you review, the quicker I'll update!
