The Painter

Chapter 29

"Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free..." ~ Jim Morrison

~O~

Alec had heard rumors about the Cullen's for generations.

Stories told of a man who was bright like the Sun. A man with a kind heart and simply refused to harm humans to sustain himself.

The man was mocked and ridiculed, but Alec listened.

Carlisle, they called him. He was often brought forth as council, not the guard and was always separate from the thrones and prisoners. His words were clearly used to mediate and comfort wayward vampires, and if possible- persuade them into conformity.

However, Alec could see that Carlisle was different than all other vampires within the castle. His face pinched with unfathomable hurt as vampire after vampire was brought before the three kings. Aro gleefully taunted them, seeking their hand for information, and then had them torn apart as he deemed fit.

Alec always anticipated these few moments when Carlisle counseled the vampires, as if he was trying to comfort their mind or souls before they met their demise. These were usually the ones who had lost their mates or were done trying to seek them out.

But Alec never really thought of having a mate until he saw Carlisle.

The man who could come and go from the court so easily, and the last time Alec saw Carlisle, he was leaving the castle to go seek out his mate.

The man, who shined from inside out, was the laughing stock of the Volturi.

The same man who gave everything up, including the Volturi monarchy to help treat and cure the humans that they were all created to consume.

He was an enigma.

Never has there been such vampire like Carlisle as far as Alec knew.

But as he felt his twin sister's bittersweet infliction of pain, trying to gain his attention, he was once again apathetic.

He was also apathetic to the vampire standing before them, back arched in pain and agony because Aro told her to harm him.

Alec, tired of the screaming, sent a slight plume of smoke in the man's direction before his eyes became hazy and Felix relieved him of his head.

That was his gift, to relieve others from his sister's painful glare and any other pain they could feel.

Every day was always the same.

Alec wanted to just feel something, anything.

But most of all, he wanted to feel love.

Alec didn't love anyone.

He didn't love anything.

Not even his sister.

Especially not his sister.

He could only remember bits of their human life together.

They were the children of wealthy aristocratic parents whom often left them on their own, minded by their many servants.

Jane was especially cruel to them, he remembered. She often inflicted brutal punishments just because she felt like it and even fabricated stories of deceit so she could have them punished.

Alec could remember how she had one servant so upset that she threw herself over the railing on their balcony to save herself from Jane's wrath.

It was shocking and he was upset, he remembered, but when her attention was directed towards him, he instantly became cold on the outside, showing her that he was indifferent. Just one wayward look at her and you would be subject of her rage.

Jane was a constant creature of mental torment, too, saying hurtful things to people to get a reaction or to start trouble, while he tried as he might to sooth and buffer his twin's fury. He tried to give her victims a sense of peace with his slight outstretched hand.

It was all he could manage to do.

He also remembered the night she killed him and made him into the vampire he was today.

He still hasn't forgiven her.

As far as he could tell, he would be stuck with her for eternity.

Yin and Yang.

Any interest he had on any type of mate was quickly thwarted as she took wicked joy in causing them to recoil away from him in pain.

He couldn't protect them.

If he were to keep a mate, the girl would have to be immune to his sister's fury.

It was a Tuesday when he walked out of the Volturi castle.

Heidi was off gathering their dinner.

Aro was preoccupied with his simple musings.

Jane was busy glaring at random vampires touring the castle, smirking as she saw them buckle in pain and then wonder where it came from.

So, he excused himself and walked out of the room to his quarters, packed a light bag, and left.

.

"You smell good," The girl next to him said with a sigh. He was on the airplane heading for America, seeking out the Cullen's until he could find his way on his own.

His only hope was that Demetri wouldn't be sent after him to bring him back to the castle.

They were friends, after all, although that was fleeting with vampires.

"Thank you," he said, eyebrows drawn together as he managed a glance at the human girl.

"I just left Italy," She sighed wistfully, "I was hoping for an "Under the Tuscan Sun" experience, but that didn't happen. All I got was lost and sunburnt."

Alec gave a slight smile in politeness.

The girl didn't seem fazed by him, at all.

It was intriguing, but as he sat there with his own musings, he knew she would be no match for his sister.

Just a wayward thought he'd have a million times, was suddenly followed with an epiphany.

Jane would have to be destroyed if he was ever going to make his own life, let alone be with a mate.

How did he never have the epiphany before? He wondered.

But then, again and again, thoughts came into his head.

Heidi.

The way she buffered them all to get along, pulling at attachments- it could only be her that he didn't realized how controlled he truly was.

"So I am standing under this olive tree and trying to shake the trunk like they told me to, you know, and I am making a total fool of myself, but I can't seem to stop. I wanted to prove them all wrong. That the olives would fall to the ground and they wouldn't be able to say another word. But it didn't happen. I did pelt olives at them, though."

Alec smirked. "Good for you," he said softly.

He had some trees he wanted to shake and olives to pelt himself.

But first he was going to need to get to the Cullen's and come up with a plan to save himself.

"Bye!" The curly haired girl said as she waved at Alec.

He gave a curt nod and slight wave, unused to being treated so humanly.

Was this what it was like to be a Cullen?

He suspected it that it was and it made him want more.

Want.

He had only wanted his sister dead and blood in either order, for so long, never anything else, until now.

He managed to get to the baggage claim to grab his bag, waving at the girl again when she waved first. But as she walked towards him again, he felt himself stiffen.

She suddenly felt far more appetizing after such a long flight.

"Hi, again," she grinned. "I just wanted to say you remind me of some of my classmates. They have the same eyes."

Alec watched her carefully. "Really?"

"Yeah, especially your eyes." She smirked.

"Oh, yeah." Alec swallowed. He had taken it upon himself to only hunt animals before his plane ride. He didn't want to decimate the entire flight in bloodlust.

"I'm Jessica." Holding her hand out to him, he took it and shook it, careful not to hurt her with his grasp.

Never had a human, let alone a female ever garner his attention and hold it. "I'm Alec."

"I love your accent! I can't wait to tell my friends I met a cute Italian guy." With that she held up her phone and clicked a picture of him.

He was totally off his guard with the girl.

"Do you have a cell phone so we don't lose touch?" Jessica smiled expectantly.

"I don't," he frowned.

How could he be so obtuse to such things?

Alec couldn't recall any of them having a phone, or anything of that nature.

"Well," she huffed, "We'll just do this the old fashioned way." Jessica pulled out some paper and a pen and wrote her name and number on it. After she handed it to him she leaned forward to kiss his cheek, gave his a slight smile, and a wink, "I hope you call, handsome."

And then she was gone.

.

Alec ran to Forks, Washington. He decided it would probably be best to hunt, steering clear of the humans.

Normally he'd use his powers to buffer the pain and agony of the victims in Volterra, suspending them in the catatonic abyss of haze while the others tore them apart.

Sometimes the gift suited him.

Alec stopped running with the thought.

The whole idea that he cared enough to help the human to enough to thwart their pain and agony while the vampires fed off of them had him reeling.

That was really something to consider.

That he cared.

Before, in the castle, he had just wanted to save himself from their screaming, but it was more than that… it was a whole new feeling.

But Alec could smell fire close by. The clean, fresh air was tainted with smoke as it drifted up from the trees. He could smell the salty air, the sand and thick logs of drift wood.

He could also smell something unhuman and foul.

Sneering, he changed his direction, staying in the background as he watched the humans dance and act out. He watched as they howled to the sky as they beat drums as if they were a constant heartbeat low and slow and more quickly until it was so intense that it was as if he could feel his own dead heart.

Alec moved through the trees, watching as they disbanded, cheering each other on. But Alec stood off to the side, close to the waves.

Then a girl seemed to appear before his eyes.

She stood on the beach, watching the waves as he stood still in the shadows of the trees. He watched her aptly, seemingly unaware of his presence.

But it was the simple smell of paint and strawberries that made him look at her closer.

Her hands were stained with color as well as her clothes.

She didn't seem like any of the others there.

She didn't smell bad.

All the sudden, her head turned and she was staring into the trees where he stood. He watched as her hand lifted towards him, reaching. But he knew she couldn't see him.

He stood still, waiting for an attack, but there wasn't one.

Alec allowed a plume of smoke drift from his hands, watching it swirl forward toward her for mere seconds before she sighed and looked back out to the beach.

She didn't react at all to him or his gift.

Could she be the one he was searching for? The one who wouldn't be affected by Jane's gift?

Backing further into the darkness, Alec knew he would need to find out more about this strange human girl, and until then, he would need to prepare himself to change his first human into a vampire.

.

A/N: Ending this here… I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and as ever, thank you for reading and your kind reviews.