Suddenly I See
"It's almost over."
"Oh, really? I want to see them."
"Let's go together; I'm curious, too."
Alec and I went to the small room where Aleida and Chelsea were almost done with their transformation. We found Aro and Marcus waiting, too, but they didn't mind our joining them, after all these were in some way Alec's girls since he'd created them. When the girls opened their eyes, they looked happy.
"Welcome."
They smiled. There had barely been a change in their appearance because they were already pale and beautiful and magical, but now they had a certain aura of serenity that hadn't been there before.
"How do you feel?" asked Marcus. Now that Selene was gone he seemed much warmer and friendlier toward the girls.
"Fine, I think," answered Aleida. "Everything is so clear."
"Yes, it's confusing at the beginning," said Alec.
"And your magic?" intervened Aro.
The girls concentrated for a few seconds and then replied. "Perhaps we should give it a couple of days. Everything in our nature has changed, and we need time to adapt."
In their faces, though, I saw the worry. Had their lost their powers? That had yet to be seen, and if it were the case Aro wouldn't be in the least pleased.
Aleida, Chelsea, Marcus and Aro left together for a tour around the castle and to discuss the girls' position and rank within the Family. During the night, though, I was wandering around the garden when, out in the distance, I saw Chelsea sitting by herself. I decided to go downstairs and join her, maybe we could talk a little. When Alec and I had joined the Volturi, we had felt very welcome. The whole place worked like a family, and it had totally meant that for us, when we were newborns. Therefore, now it was my turn to welcome someone, luckily not as exasperating as Demetri had always been.
"Mind if I join you?"
She smiled. "I'll be more than glad."
I sat beside her. "So? How do you like this life?"
"It's a miracle. God couldn't have given me a greater blessing."
God, God, God, again that fantasy. But I restrained myself from telling her that. It's not the right moment, I thought. You'll have time to enlighten her later.
"And… have you found your superpower yet?"
She laughed. "No. I'm not even sure I have one. Aro says I do, and so does Aleida, but we have to wait for them to appear."
"Then don't worry. Alec's and mine appeared just in time."
"You have a talent?" I nodded. "Wow. What is it?"
"Umm… it's difficult to describe."
"Can you show it?"
I laughed. "You wouldn't like it if I did. Well, you see, I torture people." Chelsea's eyes went wide. "With one look, I create an illusion of pain in people's head so they think they're burning or something like that. I don't know exactly how it feels, but given what I have seem I think I'm quite good at it." After a pause I continue. "Alec is my opposite. He cuts all the senses: you cannot feel, you cannot smell, hear, see, taste, you are completely alone in your mind. He once did it to me, because I asked him out of curiosity, and believe me, it's absolutely terrifying."
"I can imagine. So it's better not to upset you."
"I would say."
"And what do the talents depend on? Why do some have one, and some others not, and why that specific talent?"
"I don't know why some of us are talented, but I think the power depends on your experiences when human, what you were able to do back then."
"You tortured people when you were human?"
"Well, not quite. I believe mine comes from having been the victim of what I can do now."
"What do you mean?"
I tell her our story and observe the understanding in her eyes. We have gone through exactly the same, in the same place, even, and she knows what I'm talking about.
"Then we can get our revenge, too?"
"I suppose so. Talk to Aro, he's comprehensive and will surely help you."
We were in silence for a while until curiosity got the best of me again. "Where do you come from? I mean, how did you join Selene?"
"We met when we were both children. She was a little older than me. One day, she disappeared and we lost touch for a few years. Meanwhile, I realized strange things were happening to me. Weird events, things that I couldn't explain. I couldn't tell anyone because of the witch hunting; I knew what my destiny would be if I said anything. It was really hard for me to understand. Then, all of a sudden, she came back. She asked me to meet her one night in an old farm and she explained that she'd left because she'd realized what she was, what we were, and that she'd had to prepare herself before she could come back for me.
"I knew that given my nature I wouldn't be able to stay in my hometown and decided to join her. She'd already found Coco and it wasn't long before Mary and Aleida arrived, too. For a while, we were very happy together. We practiced our magic and received the benefits of it. Beauty, youth, men, anything. But then this new wave of attacks began, so much stronger than the others. Things became so dangerous that Selene decided to come here and ask for help. She didn't think Marcus would still hold a grudge against her, but he did, and that was what doomed us. We found a hiding place we used for a couple of days before we were found. I swear we were betrayed. Stupidly, we thought that if we didn't use our magic to defend us we would be able to leave after the trial without charges. My God, there wasn't even a trial! We were automatically considered guilty. Worst is, we were. Of everything they charged us with. When we tried to use our magic, we realized it was gone: with the minimal food they gave us, they mixed I don't know which drugs to weaken us. Add that to the fact that we were tortured, raped, beaten, hurt in every single way, we had no strength left.
"They burned us one by one, starting with Selene, until Aleida and I were able to escape. The rest you know."
I sighed. "What a mess. But, well, at least that led us here, to this place, where Aro, Marcus and Caius protect us and care for us. We have unlimited youth, beauty, and time to enjoy them. And the possibility of having a special talent. Then you could go back and make those beasts pay for what they did to you."
She shrugged. "Maybe. To tell the truth, I have no idea of what I want to do. I'm too confused by this change. I mean, I love it, but it will take time to adjust."
"Yes. One needs to go slowly."
I wait a little bit before I ask the question that's consuming me with girly curiosity.
"Do you know what happened between Marcus and Selene? If he refused to help you because of that, it must have been something serious."
"I'm not sure, to tell the truth, but I think that they had a relationship and then one of them found out that the other wasn't as into the relationship as it seemed, or there was a third person involved, or something like that. I don't really know; Selene never spoke about it until we came here the first time."
"I see. Poor Selene."
"Absolutely. She was the best sister anyone could have asked for. I think that once day I'll have to talk to Marcus about that. I can't just ignore it, and neither can Aleida."
I sighed. "I suppose some issues could be solved there." After a long pause I added, "Have you hunted yet?"
"Hunted, no, but I do have fed. Demetri got us a couple of villagers during the evening."
"Oh. I was going to ask you if you wanted to go hunting with me."
She laughed. "Of course I do! I have no idea about how to hunt and those humans were nothing. When do we leave?"
"Right now."
"Perfect. Let's go!"
We got on our feet and left for San Gimignano, where I taught her some hunting techniques I'd learned from Aro himself when I was a newborn. I caught myself having fun, which surprised me greatly. I wondered why that was happening, with no success, so I decided to just let go and enjoy myself. Chelsea was a sweet girl, who unlike me had been able to get over her grudges: for me, revenge had been an immediate need, something I had enjoyed deeply, and even now I purred with pleasure whenever I heard people talk about the strange demon that had annihilated an entire village almost twelve years ago; Chelsea, on the other hand, was only ready to go forward and leave all traces of human traumas behind. I would have to study her later on. But that could wait. In that moment, I just wanted to live. And I could. Forever.
