Chapter 7

1707 – Italy

Over the course of a few decades, Carlisle had completely come to terms with who he was. He traveled around Europe and found different universities to keep his knowledge fresh in the subjects he admired the most.

As Alistair had informed him, there were others of his kind, many in fact. He made his share of acquaintances along the way, some more friendly than others, though many took a liking to him.

Carlisle was eager to have conversations with other vampires, and like all other aspects of his life, he was eager to become more educated in regards to their culture. He looked for any openings he could and felt strongly about the friendships that he was developing with others.

His nights remained the same as they had since leaving the initial university he had attended. He found that the information he needed to know, regarding medical care, had grown and developed over time. His earlier notes from the late 1660's were far less detailed than what he had come to learn in his more recent years of study.

The growth of medical field was something he admired a great deal, and deemed to be amazing. Carlisle felt fortunate, in an educational sense, that he had been blessed with so many years to gain an arsenal of knowledge that otherwise would have been impossible.

Carlisle felt overly accomplished in terms of his educational and professional life, though loneliness had begun to take its toll on him.

The constant downtime he had caused his thoughts to wander, and he, at times, began to feel like companionships were impossible in the vampire's world.

Many of his friends, though kind, never truly extended the invitation to travel and migrate around with them. He wasn't sure if he would even take an offer, should it arise, though the truth was that there was no one he held close to him; human or vampire.

The classes he'd taken were filed with many friendly people. There were a few young women along the way who flashed their attention in his direction, some of which he found to be beautiful, though he knew getting too close to any of them would be a great risk.

He had come across many humans over the years, and taken many long traveled roads, without being exposed for his true identity. It was mainly because he remained so quiet and reserved when it came to interacting with people. There were a few he let in a little closer than others, though he always had to keep his conversations shorter than he would have liked.

As far as a romantic relationship, there was no one who particularly caught his attention past a skin deep sense of beauty.

Carlisle knew the thought would have come across as arrogant to some, though it wasn't his intention. It wasn't that the women he encountered weren't good enough for him. The reasoning behind his constant rejections lied in the fact that he didn't feel right bringing someone into the vampire world that he didn't love.

On the contrary, if he ever did find a woman that he couldn't bear to live without, Carlisle knew he would never have the heart to change her into what he was, despite his own successes. He didn't know what it felt like to be in loved, or to be loved in such a way.

Maybe there's a woman out there who's already been changed, he thought.

Daydreams of romance drifted from Carlisle's mind as he was confronted by a stranger on one Italy's lonely alleyways.

He typically chose to walk the particular route after his nightly classes because it was quiet and easily led him out of the center of town to disappear into the night without a glance from human eyes. It was almost like an escape path that no one else seemed to know about.

"Night walker," a man's voice called.

Carlisle turned around, sure enough before he did that the person who'd called to him was a vampire. He'd learned the different types of scents in human beings versus those of their kind, and had engraved in his mind the specific scents of certain acquaintances. The one he sensed now was new and unfamiliar.

"I've been sent to call you in," the man went on.

"Call me in?" Carlisle asked, "I don't understand."

"There are some members of the coven I stay with who would like to meet you. They are highly intrigued by the way you live."

He was confused, but nodded, "How did you find me?"

The man scoffed at the question, appearing slightly offended, "It was hardly a difficult task."

"Are you a tracker?" Carlisle asked him, using the dialogue he'd picked up from Alistair.

The man's face hardened, though he seemed to appreciate the fact that Carlisle knew of his ability, "I am. I followed your thoughts from the library."

"My thoughts?" Carilsle asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Demetri," he explained.

Carlisle looked at the man's regal attire that suited his bold, confident personality. He expected the redness that lingered in his eyes before he nodded again, "I'm Carlisle."

"I do suggest we hurry to the mansion. Aro will become impatient." Again, his voice was hard, though not rude.

Carlisle followed the man through the city, feeling slightly uneasy, yet extremely intrigued.

Demetri's dialogue and the way he kept himself made him at least appear intelligent. Carlisle suspected he was a part of some type of organized version of vampire civilization. It wasn't long before his thoughts were confirmed.

Carlisle walked into a dark, dimly lit residence with candles flickering in all corners of the room they had entered.

Before him stood three kingly men, each with hair to their shoulders and long, black cloaks. They each maintained a naturally graceful appearance, and had Carlisle not even known their world existed, he would have been easily swayed by the idea that the men were immortal.

Each of them had skin like block of fragile marble and eyes, like the rest of the vampires Carlisle had met, of a red that seemed to glow in the darkness.

To go hand in hand with their beauty, the men were quite frightening. There was an aura that accompanied even their slightest movements that rang with the word 'danger'.

Carlisle, however, felt himself drawn in by their appearances. He would have guessed they'd been alive for thousands and thousands of years by their looks alone. For the first time since being transformed, he felt inferior and small compared to the overwhelming majestic surroundings he'd been drawn to.

Around the room were scattered others of their kind, each with their own unique elements about them. There was an underlying uniform theme, however, that occurred throughout the dwellers of the mansion. They were controlled and civilized.

Carlisle suspected they also carried with them a great deal of knowledge about the past and present that he was longing to hear about. He knew these men had a story.

The one in the middle stood with a smile and his hands together neatly. He seemed to be studying Carlisle with a great amusement. His eyes were wider than his two counterparts and he slowly approached where he and Demetri stood.

"Demetri," the man spoke with an angelic ring in his voice.

Carlisle looked over as the tracker reached his hand out, allowing the man to take it between his own. The two of them stood in silence while the others looked on intently at their unspoken interaction.

The man's head was bowed and Demetri looked on before his hand was finally released.

"Carlisle," the regal stranger said, looking in his direction, "Carlisle is it?"

Confusion and awe must have filled his face and Carlisle nodded, "Yes."

"How wonderful it is to meet you," he said, "My name is Aro, and I know you've already met Demetri."

He nodded and looked over Aro's shoulder at the two men who continued to stare.

"This is Marcus and Caius," he explained, raising a hand in the direction of the two men respectively as he said their names.

"Hello," Carlisle said with a nod, "It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"I've been intrigued by your living habits for some time," Aro admitted, "It's why I've had Demetri bring you back here."

"How did you find me?" he asked.

Aro smiled, eager to fill Carlisle in on his heightened abilities, "I recognized your presence from the moment you set foot in our territory. To be particularly honest, I wasn't overly interested in meeting you until I recognized that you associate yourself with humans, and with a restraint I have never known before."

"It's something I've been practicing since I was changed."

Aro took a step in Carlisle's direction, gracefully skimming his feet over the floor beneath him, "May I?"

Carlisle was confused as Aro held his hands out in the same fashion as he had with Demetri.

"Aro can read every thought you've ever had," Demetri explained, still holding his position to his left.

Again, Carlisle found himself in a state of disbelief and wondered how anything he was experiencing could be possible. The thought of this man being able to see everything that ever crossed his mind, on the other hand, gave him anxious pains and he felt as though it was intrusive, to say the least.

Aro waited patiently with the same smile as he had before, and Carlisle decided to give in to his insecurities and extended his hand.

He waited momentarily as Aro's eyes shut. He looked as if he was watching Carlisle's life flash before him, and he quickly realized that, that was exactly what he was doing.

When Aro opened his eyes, he stared back at Carlisle with astonishment of his own, "Never?"

Carlisle felt his eyebrows raise, as he was initially confused. He then quickly understood what Aro must have meant. "Are you referring to my food source?"

The man to the left of Aro and to Carlisle's right, Caius, stepped forward. His face was twisted in an angry disbelief and he seemed to want all the details from his approach.

Carlisle felt a little uneasy from his expression, though waited for Aro's response.

"You've never killed a human before? Not even once…" His thought started out as a question, though abruptly transformed into a thoughtful statement.

"I couldn't bring myself to murder a human," Carlisle told him.

"Murder?" Caius asked, "It's our natural food source."

Aro raised a hand calmly to keep him from continuing. From the action, Carlisle suspected he was the leader of their group as Caius did as he asked and remained silent.

"How can you stand it?" the leader asked him, "Just the thought of a succulent vein in the human neck is enough to drive me into a frenzy."

"It wasn't easy in the beginning," Carlisle explained, "I went for months without feeding when I was first changed. I didn't know there was another way until I came across a family of deer in the field nearby where I was staying."

Everyone's attention was now on him and he felt even more uncomfortable than before.

"Months?" the other man to Aro's side asked in a raspy voice, "You didn't feed for months? Even as a newborn vampire?"

"That's right," Carlisle answered.

Everyone in the room seemed to be reliving their first moments in the vampire world. They looked at Carlisle as if he was unnatural. Their expressions showed that they didn't understand and couldn't personally relate.

"Our thirst is nearly uncontrollable in our earliest years," Aro explained, "I find it highly amazing that you were able to restrain yourself for so long, even from blood in general. To never know the taste of a human's blood, oh it is such a… tragedy."

A hunger lingered in his expression and his eyes seemed to be looking beyond the walls of their lair. He was visualizing the hunt; living it in his mind. It was thrilling, exciting and filled a void inside of him.

Carlisle recognized the hunger in Aro's face. He knew what it felt like; though he had the advantage of never tasting a drop of human's blood. It kept him from having the fantasy that was written all over the Italian leader's face.

For a second, he thought it was almost not fair. Had Carlisle, even once, given in to the taste of human blood, he would surely have a more difficult time harnessing the thirst for it.

"I admire you self-control," Aro went on, "It's an ability I've never seen someone possess in all of my years." He paused and tried to take in Carlisle's reaction, "I understand you're an educated man."

"I've studied at a number of universities."

"As I've seen from your thoughts. I've also been watching you, myself. I know that you spend quite a bit of time in the library not far from here."

"That's right."

"Let it be known that we, too, have our own version of the modern day library maintained by humans," Aro told him, "It will be at your accessibility at any time. Feel free to read any and all books you find there."

Carlisle was intrigued. He could sense the men held respect for the modern day subjects and hoped Aro was sincere in his word to allow him access to the library.

"Marcus," Aro said, without turning his head.

The man to his right stepped forward.

"Could you escort Carlisle to the library? I'd like him to see if the books we store would be of interest to him."

"With pleasure," Marcus responded. He waved for Carlisle to join him, as he made his way toward an opening in the back of the room.

"Please, take your time," Aro told him, "Spend as much time here as you'd like. You're welcome to stay with our coven if you wish. I've seen you've been traveling alone and are in search of some company."

"Thank you," Carlisle said, "Thank you very much. I appreciate your hospitality."

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Carlisle." He turned to Marcus and gave a nod.

Carlisle let the man lead him out of the room, down a long corridor made of stone, eventually reaching their destination.

From the floor to the ceiling, books lined the walls. Carlisle looked around the massive room that served as their own personal library. His mouth hung open and he openly admired the collection their coven had.

Each section was labeled, making his reading preferences easy to find.

"Read anything you'd like," Marcus said, "As Aro explained, they're all at your disposal. Just make sure you return each book to its appropriate position on the wall when you're finished.

Carlisle turned to thank Marcus, but he was gone. He found himself to be slightly astonished by his abrupt departure, though didn't think much of it. There were too many possibilities at his fingertips, and he intended to utilize what his new found friends had offered.

He thought that Aro's overly enthusiastic welcome was probably an exaggerated kindness, and suspected that the members of their coven would surely make fun of level of morality.

Their company and conversations, though, were more than welcomed by Carlisle. He was already overly impressed by their library and quickly came to realize that his vampire counterparts held respect for at least the academic end of human culture.

Carlisle also kept in mind that they had been ones to initiate contact with him. On that note, he decided to do as Aro suggested and make himself at home, at least for the time being. It was quite nice to be welcomed so generously by other civilized members of his kind.