Truth and a jar of blood

We looked at each other with unmoving eyes. I tried to take a step towards her but she quickly turned around and ran into the darkness, away from the secret she had just unveiled. I looked around: no one else except our own people realized what had happened. Aro sighed again, but he didn't actually look displeased, Alec, on the contrary, looked at me with eyes that said, Go fix this now. Next to him Caius nodded, also with a serious face. Without any other option, I went after her.

I quickly caught up with her, and called her name. She covered her ears and kept running, yelling at me, she wanted me to go away. I insisted and finally she stopped. She turned around, hands still on her ears, her whole body shaking and trembling under some sort of hysterical attack. I waited until she was calmer and began to explain the best I could the diabolical scheme she had been brought into.

She asked me for the truth. The truth. Something so simple, yet so complicated. How could I tell her? What should I tell her? She was fragile, very fragile, both of body and spirit, and I had no idea of how she would take the truth. I tried to make her find it out for herself, to think, what had she seen? She made no reference to my nature, what I am, since her worries were of a moral kind rather than biological. She seemed horrified by the fact that I had known everything about Aro's intentions than by my drinking human blood. She demanded if I knew him since before we came to the castle together. I had to admit to that. There was pain in her eyes when I said that, more when she asked if Aro and I had been talking behind her back, and absolute agony when once again I said yes.

There was no need for more; she'd had her truths. There was no need for me to tell her that I had been a part of her seduction and downfall: her eyes told me she had understood. She now knew that it had all been planned, from my arrival to the convent to every second Aro had spent in her bed, and she knew he had planned it all with me. I wasn't her friend, her partner, her support, but the one who had handed her in. She called me every name there was on Earth. I couldn't decide what surprised me more, if her fury or the simple fact that she knew so many words to describe me; wouldn't have expected it from her. She screamed and screamed, fierce, completely lost in her pain. She was just as broken and corrupted as Aro had always wanted her to be.

Still, there was one question that managed its way through her vocabulary, why. Why, why, oh in the name of God why. What had she ever done to me, that I chose to do such harm to her. I had no idea how much I could tell her; the rest of Aro's plan was unknown to me and I knew that talking too much was the surest way to upset him. He had wanted her lost, defeated, broken and faithless, but now that she was utterly shattered I didn't know what he would do to her next. Oh, just tell her already, I thought to myself, she's already beyond repair. I took a deep breath, as if it would help, and told her everything. I skip the details of our immortality, but I told her that I was sent to the convent by Aro specifically to get her, that he had been watching her for a long time. No, I wasn't his lover. No, not his daughter, either. I simply worked for him, and had been there for a long time. Yes, I knew what he wanted all along, and every little thing I did was meant to serve his purpose. She buried her head in her arms, panting, growling almost, and fell onto her knees. She looked like a child, completely defenseless, and when she began to cry very softly it almost made me feel bad.

I tried to approach her, but she sensed me and crawled away. When my fingertips brushed her shoulders she squealed and kicked, then got up and ran to the castle. I decided not to follow her, whatever I said or did would only make matters worse. I returned to the castle by another entrance and went directly for my brother. He advised me to let her rest and digest everything. Meanwhile, we went to hunt and I was able to release some of my anger and frustration at our prey. When I returned and asked around nobody had seen her.

"She can't have gone too far away," said Aro. "Find her and bring her to me."

If she was inside the castle there was only one place where she could be. The room we shared had always been her refuge, especially after Aro had seduced her, and I knew she wouldn't feel safe anywhere else. I went to the floor our room was in, and heard nothing. If she wasn't there, where else could she be? There was no sound coming from the room, no crying, no praying, no heartbeat, no nothing, only a faint, faint noise, like two things brushing against each other, the sound of air moving around them. Then I realized that Mariette's scent was there, strong as it only was when she was present. If she was inside the room, then why couldn't I hear her? I walked down the corridor until I reached the door, and opened it. She was definitely there, I could tell by the scent.

I softly pushed the door open. I could definitely see her shape now. Oh yes, she was there. She had changed to a pretty white dress and wore no ornaments except of the matching white rope made of bed sheets that was tied around her neck on one side and tied to the lamp in the ceiling on the other. I sighed and went downstairs, where the party had already faded, to deliver the news to Aro. He nodded slowly, then offered me a cup of blood while he commanded Felix to deal with the body. I sat, sharing the table and the liquid with Aro. I tried to guess his mood; his unmoving face and smooth voice gave me no clue at all. He looked at me, sipped, then sighed and looked around and sipped again. Finally he met my eyes and a small but happy smile appeared on his face.

"You know what, Jane? I think we did quite well this time."

I stared at him, unsure. "Do you really think so, Master?"

"But of course! Just look at what we have just done. I really see ourselves working as a team. We could get far, playing with humans."

Felix reappeared, carrying Mariette's body. Despite having hung herself her face was still pale and smooth, peaceful, even. There weren't traces of tears, though it was possible to tell that the calmness in her features had only come after death.

"She wasn't exactly pretty," said Aro, "it was only youth she had. We did her a favour by not letting her grow old enough to realize that. She was also a terrible lover, so inexpressive!"

Felix and I said nothing; we didn't know what could be appropriate. I saw that Marcus had arrived, and distaste was clear on his face. I had never been as close to him as I was to Caius, but I'd heard enough gossip around the castle to know that he absolutely disapproved of what Aro was doing. He pursed his lips as he saw the girl's dead body and looked at his brother meaningfully. Aro only chuckled.

"Burn it," he said, turning to Felix, who nodded and disappeared.

"Brother." It was Marcus. By the look of his face I could tell he was more upset that usual. Aro gestured at his study and they both went in. Knowing that it would be a long, long discussion I left the castle and went to the gardens, where Felix was burning the body. It surprised me how very little emotion I felt, how unmoved I was by the whole episode. Once Felix had set fire to the pyre we sat together and watched the flames do their work. His face was just as expressionless as mine, and just as insensitive. Neither of us spoke as she burned.

By the time the task was done the sun was well up in the sky. We scattered the ashes and erased all traces of her, keeping absolutely nothing that could bring us a memory of her. Inside the main hall of the castle we found Aro and Caius sharing laughter and the usual jar of blood. Caius was quite happy about the end of Aro's game, of course, and had surely wanted to celebrate his brother's victory. Marcus was nowhere to be seen; I guessed he had lost the argument. If anyone saw our routine and attitude that day, it would have been impossible to know that we had killed a girl the night before.

It would take a long time for Aro to pursue such entertainment again, but when he next tried, it all changed so much that who the victim of the game was would become very, very unclear.