Inner Demons

(Edward's POV)

"Dr. Cullen," Chandra called as I arrived at the door to Santiago's room. "Thank goodness you're here," It was apparent that she was concerned and a bit on edge.

"What's happened?" I questioned putting a hand upon on her shoulder briefly in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"An orderly along with the day nurse went to put cuffs on him so that he didn't further injure himself and while they were placing the restraint on his ankles, he had another episode. He is currently holding the nurse hostage. The orderly very likely has some cracked ribs from the confrontation. He has been very combative since the first episode."

I gave a nod, "Chandra, go to the main desk and await Carlisle. When he arrives send him here immediately." I ordered looking through the small window in the cell door. "Have Jackson bring me a straightjacket."

"Yes doctor," She answered turning to carry out my orders without any hesitation. I had only been standing at the door a matter of minutes when Jackson arrived with the straightjacket and my lab coat.

"Stand here, keep the intercom on in case I need your assistance," I shrugged on my coat and, taking the straightjacket in hand, entered Santiago's room. I found him with the nurse pinned in the opposite corner, his hands firmly interlaced around her throat. "Let her go Santiago, she's not here to harm you."

He chuckled wildly, his mannerisms nervous and his posture threatening. "They want to hurt me…I must destroy them all…" His hands quivered as he put pressure against her throat. Of course, the fear and panic that was radiating from her was palpable to the point that even Santiago whom had been, at one point, the least gifted of the Volturi, could have sensed it.

"No one wants to harm you," I reiterated very slowly moving toward him, keeping my posture relaxed and the straightjacket hidden behind my back. "Marlenna, just stay calm, I'm not going to allow him to harm you, okay?"

She nodded, keeping still so that she didn't further incite Santiago's sudden psychosis. "I…" Her voice, a strained whisper, was choked off by the pressure of Santiago's hands. As he tightened his grip she began to struggle to breathe.

"Santiago," I called attempting to focus his tormented mind away from the prospect of killing her and onto me instead. "Has she harmed you?" I questioned knowing the answer but wanting to keep his full attention so that he would relax the death grip he had on her throat.

He shook his head, at once giving an affirmative and then a negative response to the same question. I smiled, "Now how is it possible for there to be two opposing answers to that question?" I pressed slowly closing the distance between us.

His eyes shifted to center on me. I realized then that his medication had dissipated from the aggravation and adrenaline overload caused by the back-to-back episodes. "There are no correct answers, only obedience." He shivered reflexively relaxing enough that she was able to breathe a bit easier.

"Let her go, Santiago, and let's talk about your confusion," I could feel then Carlisle's presence without needing to see him. He moved up behind me and took the straightjacket. I knew without asking that he would have his medical case and Santiago's medications as well.

"Only talk to purebloods, never talk to abominations," He insisted spinning her around and pushing her face against the wall of the cell. He took a deep breath, taking in her scent before licking the back of her neck like his Vampire nature when preparing to feed.

"Easy Marlenna, you're safe," I soothed knowing that she was in no danger. His mind had been so badly fractured that it no longer registered the fact that he was Vampire.

Santiago had once been Volturi, and if given the chance then he would have not hesitated to drain her life force thereby taking her life. He had broken from Volterra and once in America, he'd allowed an Elder member of the Shonnu' to reverse the bite that Aro Volturi had used to create him. Due to what turned out to be a botched reversal process that had been rushed in its completion, his mind had been fractured. Now he was a mere shadow of the Santiago that once was, as the grip of insanity slowly shattered his mental faculties forcing him into permanent residence inside a padded, padlocked cell.

His actions only succeeded in terrifying Marlenna to the point that she screamed. Without warning, she pushed back, flailing her elbows and catching him firmly in the abdomen. The blow was enough to put space between them and she didn't waste time breaking his grip upon her lab jacket and moving away from him.

"Calm down, you're free now. Are you okay?" Carlisle questioned as she took a position behind him, her eyes full of tears. She was visibly shaken and it was obvious that she had no intention of returning to this room or dealing with Santiago as a patient ever again.

She rubbed the back of her neck, the dampness left by his saliva enough to turn her pale. "I'm…I -I'm okay…" She answered softly, her vision doubled then and her knees buckled. She jerked back, her muscles tensing briefly in response to the fact that Santiago had moved away from the wall to face me.

"Here," He helped her to sit down near the door before returning to his place behind me, "You'll be safe there, just stay seated."

Santiago clutched his stomach, "Bitch!" He cursed; white spittle dripping from the corner of his mouth as he scratched against the wall with his free hand. "Abomination, you…she belongs to me!"

"No Santiago, no one belongs to you any longer," I held my ground knowing by his shifting demeanor that he was on the verge of another violent episode. As much I had wanted to refrain from restraining him with the straightjacket, it was quite apparent that it was going to be the only way to get him into a controlled state once more.

"But they will," He muttered coldly. It was in that moment that he launched himself at me, his hands going immediately for my throat. His eyes darkened and his gaze turned feral, "You abomination…you will belong to me."

"No," I caught his hands and spun him, pulling his arms behind him as Carlisle readied the jacket. It took some effort and he fought it but finally after half an hour of struggling with him, between Carlisle and I and we were able to get the jacket on him and semi-secured.

"Here Edward," Carlisle handed me two loaded syringes, both of which contained specific doses of anti-psychotic and tranquilizing medications.

I took them and injected their contents into the vein at Santiago's neck, watching as the medications had an almost immediate effect. His muscles relaxed as he let himself sink into a sitting position against the wall of the cell. His eyes glazed over as the raging in his mind quieted once more. "Santiago, are you okay now?" I questioned as Carlisle examined and treated his self-inflicted wounds. Even though he was still Vampire, his body's rapid healing processes had been destroyed in the reversal process, making him semi-mortal in the fact that he was now very susceptible to wound infections that if left untreated would end his existence.

"The wounds are superficial but will still need treatment to heal and prevent infection," Carlisle admitted covering the worst of the cuts with medicated dressings before I settled the straightjacket and fully secured it, making sure that the straps were snug and that he was no longer in danger of injuring himself or the staff.

Santiago's glassy gaze came to focus upon me then, "They're coming for me, please you have to protect me," His words were slurred and his eyes were droopy from the sedating effect of the anti-psychotic drugs but inside he remained utterly terrified.

I helped him up from the floor, "Let's get you into bed," He didn't struggle as we led him over to the bed and helped him to lie down. Carlisle finished securing the cuffs on his ankles as I sat down on the edge of the bed, "Santiago, who is coming for you?" I questioned calmly as he began to lose the battle with sleep.

"Old red eyes," He mumbled shivering reflexively as the demon's visage flashed across his mind, "He's coming, he'll kill me, you have to…" His words faded as sleep overwhelmed him.

Carlisle and I both knew who Santiago feared and even though I doubted that Aro would send the Volturi guard to look for and or retrieve him after almost six months, the fact that the possibility existed was enough to set the hair on the back of my neck on edge.

"Old red eyes," Carlisle shook his head, "We need to remain on alert. I believe his delirium is slowly getting worse even if his fear is relevant." He moved and carefully helped Marlenna up from the floor, putting a hand between her shoulder-blades to guide her as she was still shaken from her ordeal.

I nodded, "It sure seems that way," We exited the cell, leaving Santiago to sleep off the temporary sedating effect of the medications. I turned to Jackson, "He's to remain in the straightjacket and the ankle cuffs until further notice as his medication will need further adjustment in order to gain control of the psychosis. Otherwise he is free to roam the cell."

"Yes doctor," Jackson answered as we moved back down the hall toward the medication desk, Santiago's words replaying like a bad horror movie in my mind.

(Natalya's POV)

Breathe out…

"Yelena Natalya, what have you done?" A hand grabbed my tattered shirt and jerked me away from the cot where my little brother lay gasping for breath.

"I did nothing," I answered as mother shoved me back into the door—into my father's steel grip. The shaking paused only when my eyes closed and blood dripped from my forehead.

"You little wench," Father hissed covering my face again with the dirty rag and dragging me off to the shed. He bound my arms with twine before pitching me into the closet-sized room only to slam and lock the door.

Breathe in, breathe out…

Tears streamed from my cheeks-the overwhelming feeling of death—the death of my brother—so many deaths, so much torment. The blackness, as I lay on the floor, blood mixed with tears soaking the rag over my face, I felt dead—dead children don't have lives. I was nothing but a rag to be tossed into the garbage when no longer useful…

Breathe in…

The stinging pop of a firm hand against my face startled me out of the delirium of pain induced unconsciousness and back to the pain of reality. My muscles twitched briefly as the paralysis lifted and my awareness returned. I moved as much as confinement would allow, listening for the sound of a voice that I knew would follow the hand.

"It has been made known to me that you and Jane cannot be trusted to work together," The voice came and I could hear the steel gears being set into motion as the panels that held Jane and I confined were lowered to the floor.

'Aro…' I thought, my insides instantly beginning to boil at just the sound of his voice. I didn't dare move for even the slightest motion set the still healing lacerations on my back and legs on fire. There was light then as he roughly removed the blindfold from my face, cupping his hand under my chin and gripping my cheeks to force the rubber gag further back in my mouth. 'You won't break me, I won't allow it! And that little blonde wench will get hers in the end, mark my words.'

He chuckled at my inability to give up and acquiesce to the fact that I was now Volturi and no longer free to live my own life. "50 lashes later and you still insist on testing my patience with your outright rebellion. To be free in Volterra, you must learn to coexist and obey the orders given to you by members of this coven that are of higher rank." He clenched my face to the point that I nearly choked on the gag. "I have no patience nor do I care what the issues are between you and Jane. You two will coexist or your existences will be terminated permanently."

"What are your orders, Master Aro?" Felix questioned as he and Marcus entered the room, apparently they had been called there by Aro at some point during his scolding of Jane and I.

Aro rubbed his chin as his mind processed the best course of action. Finally, after a few minutes of being brutally annoying in his usual psychotic child like manner, he spun to face the two members of his guard. "Separate them. Once Jane is secure in a solitary room, where she is to remain confined for another full week; then bring me Natalya as I wish to speak with her privately. Do be sure that both remain in chains and manacles with gags in place."

I realized then that Jane's haughty glare was not only focused upon me but also upon Aro, as Felix and Marcus went to carry out his orders. She struggled violently as they released her from the panel and secured her once more for transport. Inside, I smiled as Felix grabbed her face and gave it a good, solid backhand before roughly pulling the hood over her head to try and counter her combativeness.

"Jane my dear," Aro crooned moving to take hold of her face, "If you cannot control your temper then you will continue to be confined." He pulled the hood up to stare into her eyes, "You would be wise not to test my patience as you have already rebelled quite enough for now." He smiled eerily, squeezing her cheeks and finding pleasure in the slight expression of discomfort that appeared upon her face before pulling the hood down once more. "Take her to her room, confine her, and leave the hood on as well, we shall see how long she wishes to continue this cycle of rebellion. I will see Natalya in my study, Marcus."

"Yes Master Aro," Felix answered roughly escorting Jane from the room. I watched as they exited and Marcus moved to release me from the panel and carry out Aro's orders.

'Whatever it is that you want Aro, you'll get it. You just may not like the taste of it when you do.'