The Painter
Chapter 30
"When we spend time in silence, we can hear the voice of our soul whispering its sacred message and encouraging us to make choices that bring us more happiness, health, love, meaning, and peace."
~David Simon
~O~
Alec followed the girl home, running alongside her new but old truck just inside the tree line.
She never seemed to notice.
When she parked the old red truck in front of a modest house, he pulled back, watching and listening. The male, her father, was kind and careful with his words as he brought up her going to school and he listened to her soft, nervous voice gently respond.
They seemed to have an easy relationship, commenting on the weather and the storm lighting up the sky with electricity and rumbling thunder.
A slight movement in the trees made him notice that he wasn't alone watching the girl's home.
She had already garnered the attention of the Cullen vampires.
That was most problematic, especially, with Edward Cullen being a known mind reader.
Alec had heard of the vampire but never saw him before.
Aro was adamant that one day Edward was going to be an excellent addition to his guard. Aro needed touch to hear the thoughts and history of others whereas Edward didn't. He could hear any of the thoughts of any person that was close by. That revered talent had a purpose in the guard and would be effective in judging everyone instantly.
But if he could hear thoughts it was likely that he could also hear Alec's this very moment. The last thing he needed was Edward Cullen hearing that he was there, let alone knowing that he knew of Bella's apparent gifts.
It was then that Alec backed away from the house.
Moving through the woods, he followed the slight scent of vampire toward the Cullen house and eventually found a three story home with thick glass windows overlooking the forest and nearby stream.
It was a beautiful home, unlike any other that he'd ever seen.
Recalling his room at the Volturi castle, he couldn't help but have a twinge of jealousy.
He had a sister, but these Cullen's were more of a family rather than a coven. He had never had that, nor could he recall ever seeing such a relationship.
Alec was basically at the beck and call of Aro and his brothers. He stood off to their side, always waiting and anticipating any possible threats to the overly paranoid royals.
The Cullen's didn't seem that way.
They sat around their home, entertaining themselves with drawing, reading, chatting, and two of them were fornicating.
All the sudden, a lithe, teenage boy who didn't seem to fit in, yet he did, entered the living room.
He looked very much like the two older vampires and Alec watched with amusement as the boy greeted them both with affection before he settled himself onto the piano bench. The mother figure, smiled brightly.
"Bella's Lullaby, Edward?" She asked and he gave her a curt nod. She mirrored him before returning to her drawing.
The whole exchange had Alec bewildered.
If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that she was actually his mother.
They looked very close to the same.
But that's when he heard it.
In between the tinkling notes of the piano was the slightest vibration of a heartbeat.
The vampire was seemingly a suspended as a teenager, just like him, clearly a vampire, but yet had a faintly beating heart.
Alec stiffened with the knowledge. His first reaction wanted to go back to Volterra and tell them that the Cullen's had a half human half vampire son.
But then, like the slightest voice in his head warned him about going back.
He'd surely be held to answer to the court he's guarded for as long as he could remember.
He would never be free again.
Alec would need these vampires help if he would ever be free.
That's what he wanted, after all.
His freedom.
.
"I need to open an account and transfer money," Alec said as he smiled at the bank teller who looked old enough to be his grandmother.
"Aren't you a little young to transfer money, sweetie?" The teller smiled kindly as she took in the boy before her. His eyes were a dark wine colored caramel with perfectly styled brown hair.
Alec gave a small frown and ducked his head. "My parents have passed away leaving me emancipated," he said apathetically. He found a stoic demeanor often helped thwart unwanted attention and commentary.
"Oh, of course," the woman blushed and pulled out some forms from her drawer and handed them to Alec. "I just need some personal information. Name?"
"Alcuin Knight," he said simply, "I just moved here and need to set up residency. In order to accomplish that, I need an American checking account." He gave the woman a slight smile, knowing how to affect humans did have its bonus's.
"Of course," She grinned, eager to help the poor boy. She spent hours walking him through everything he needed to know to live independently in his new country.
Alec walked out of the bank, cash in hand, and decided since he was going to stay here, he needed some personal items.
.
She answered on the third ring with a curious, "Hello."
"Hello. This is Alec… from the plane." He said shaking his head; feeling like an idiot. He had bought the cell phone as soon as a large portion his Swiss account was transferred to the new American account and he only had one number to put in it.
Jessica from the plane.
"Oh, you finally got a phone, hmm? That's awesome. I thought for sure you would've lost my number by now!"
"No, it's right here in front of me. I have no reason to have lost it."
She giggled.
He smiled.
It was all so new.
"So…"
"What?"
"Want to take me out?" She laughed, clutching the phone with nervous excitement.
"Out?"
"Of course, like a date where you feed me or take me to a movie, and then we kiss goodnight and promise to do it again on another day."
"Ah, yes."Alec chuckled, impressed with her no-nonsense but humorous demeanor. "Can I pick you up Friday?"
"That would be perfect!"
.
Alec ran to Port Angeles.
It was bigger than Forks and right on the water. A perfect place to hide from the Cullen's and come up with a plan.
He checked into a motel on the edge of town, seeing that the people didn't seem to care that a lone, teenage boy inhabits one of the rooms.
Alec figured that he'd be left alone to look up possible residencies, making up school transcripts, and a plan to change Isabella Swan to a vampire so he could be safe from the Volturi and especially his sister. I
He spent the first few days in solitude, putting an offer on a home, and requesting enrollment to Forks High online.
But then someone knocked on his door half passed midnight, Alec was cautious.
He wondered if it could be one of the guards, possible Felix, Demetri, or even his sister, Jane and that terrified him.
Terrified?
That was not a usual emotion he felt and since he was way from the Volterra castle he was feeling much more than he ever did before.
But it wasn't the guard.
It was a woman who was looking to score some money and a few hours of a warm bed by selling herself.
Alec almost felt sorry for her, but he didn't know her and he wasn't used to trusting anyone, let alone a woman of the night.
But she'd be perfect practice for learning more control of his thirst and if not, he'd at least would save himself from needing to leave to go out.
He had his food delivered right to his door.
How human of him.
He chuckled at his joke.
So he let her inside, noting the dark figure in the shadows waiting and watching. Alec glared at him, putting things together that he was most likely her pimp.
She was not here by choice.
Just like him, she wasn't free.
Just like him she was being controlled.
Just like him her gifts were not her own, but for another's benefit.
"Have a seat," Alec said with a slight smile. He could sense her discomfort but calmed as he pulled out his wallet and place several large bills on the table.
"Where's a teen like you get so much money?" She asked wide eyed and plotting. Her eyes darted from the money to the wallet to the door.
"Do you really want to know?" He grinned, seeing how her red hair curled around her soft face as she shrugged. "It's yours if you sit here for a while."
"That's all?" She smirked, looking at Alec. "You just want me to sit a while?"
"That's all."
"Where's the fun in that? I can make a man out of you."
One thing at a time.
Alec grinned and shook his head. "Fortunately, I am not looking for that kind of entertainment. I'm new here," He allowed his thick Italian accent come through and her eyes danced with each syllable. "So, I'd like you to tell me about Port Angeles and the cities close by."
"Oh, well," Her eyebrows scrunched together trying to come up with something of use to the strange but weirdly attractive boy. "I don't know what you want me to say. I'm not from here, but I know some places." She looked uncomfortable but she did her best. She started to talk openly about the Seattle, the nightlife, and how she usually roamed around from town to town based on the time of year.
That was very troubling to Alec.
Both sets of eyes found the door when there were several taps on the door in a pattern.
"Is that you're pimp outside?" He asked quietly, gesturing toward the door with his head.
She squirmed, obviously uncomfortable with the new topic but gave a curt nod. "Time's up."
"Can't you get away?"
The red head's light eyes darkened as she gave an ominous laugh, shaking her head as she whispered, "Not even in death."
Alec nodded, grabbed his wallet off the table and handed her the bills.
He asked her to stay there in the hotel room while he had a small chat with the man outside.
She protested in vain, but he ignored her.
He opened the door, seeing the man in the shadows, his eyes dark and cruel as he came into the light. But Alec didn't need to question the man to know he was evil.
Evil takes many different forms, it seems.
The man before him was one of the worst.
Alec took him by his throat and closed his hand, not even giving him the chance to spit a word of plea or a breath in or out as he held him there.
Leaning closer to him, he whispered, "You were a waste of perfectly good blood in this life," He sneered, "Perhaps by sending you into the next- you will find a more constructive significance." He clenched impossibly tighter as the man kicked and thrashed in vein, clawing at marble hands as he tried to get away before all of the life within him waned and he was lifeless, sent straight to where he belonged. To Alec, it didn't matter if they killed for blood, sport, or justice; it was their deific purpose.
Humans were their food, after all.
Alec put him on the ground and left him there, knowing that there was a good chance there were many people who wanted him dead.
They just couldn't have the strength or ability to do it.
But just as fast as it started, it was done and over with and he couldn't even be bothered to clean up the mess he made.
Perhaps his body will serve a purpose to warn others like him.
He could almost hear the police reports.
The man was murdered by a drifting teenage boy for no reason.
But Alec didn't realize there would be so many witnesses as he walked back to his room. There were so many eyes on him, watching.
All women.
All had various looks from fear, shock, to awe.
But one had the look of confusion.
The redhead that sat in the window was watching him carefully, cautiously, seemed unconcerned that the boy who just murdered her pimp was coming back to the room.
She didn't even move from her seat by the window as he opened the door. He didn't say anything to her as he pulled his clothes into his bag. He didn't know if any of the witnesses were going to call the authorities and he didn't want to stay and find out.
"Why?" She whispered, looking at the body of her pimp to the teenager.
"Because I know what it's like to not have control of your own life," he bit out.
Tears fell over her softened face.
It was then, as he looked at her, that he noticed that she wasn't that much older than him.
"Not even in death, you said," he whispered, looking at her face to face, "I wanted to prove you wrong."
She chuckled at his little joke but then they grew more serious as her tear-filled eyes watched him.
"Now is your chance to find out if that is true. Here's your peace; their peace. Take them away from here and lead them where you were not. Guide them to save themselves before it's too late. Save whom you can, when you can."
He gave her a kind smile before he moved to put his computer in the duffle bag he had. He then pulled out his wallet and gave her a good chunk of bills which she took with shaking hands.
"And forget what you saw out there because you are not the same person who walked into this room… neither am I."
The red headed woman nodded with tears in her eyes before Alec pulled open the front door and ran into the trees. He would head closer to Forks, but far enough to not cause any unwanted attention.
Not close enough to tip off the Cullen's.
.
Alec found a small house that sat on the edge of Forks but bordering the Hoh National Forest. He opened the door easily. No one was home or had been for a long while so he felt confident that it would be a perfect hiding place until the home he put an offer on was approved.
It was a simple two room cabin with several wood burning stoves to heat the place. The one bathroom had a basic septic system that he wouldn't have a use for anyway, but it was good to have if he ever had guests.
He scoffed at the idea until a flirty, curly haired teenage girl came to mind and he couldn't help but smile.
The date.
But first he needed to go to school.
.
.
.
A vampire stood on the edge of the forest looking toward Forks High School as the bell rang and students emerged from every direction.
He could see the slight form of the girl he had been watching for weeks.
The girl who was a shield and he wanted her as his own, when the time came.
"Did you hear about those deaths in Port Angeles?" A girl with glasses quietly asked her friend. "One woman is missing and several more were found dead, including a guy on the street."
"No, I don't watch the news much," the girl shrugged as the nomad hissed from the trees.
"Her name was Victoria or something and they say she was a hooker. Her pimp was found dead and two other women were also killed sometime either before or after that."
"But I guess she tried to take those girls to the shelter and they said that they left it late at night to make some money and this Victoria woman went to go look for them. She hasn't been seen since, so they think she might have killed them."
"That is too bad those people died, but can we talk about something else?" the brunette said with exasperation. "My dad has had to help with the cases so I hear enough about it at home."
"Oh, sorry. It's just that nothing like that ever happens so that was big news."
"I get it," The brunette frowned, trying to hide her face with her hand.
He could hear her breathing pick up as her heart raced, but all outward appearances she seemed fine.
He cocked his head to the side as a male came up and ran his hand up and down her back, but didn't say a word. She looked to him gratefully as her heart and breathing calmed.
But then a vampire flitted over the concrete almost as if she were dancing.
She was hypnotic and he couldn't help but anticipate her turning so he could see her face.
All the sudden she turned, her beatific face smiling.
The nomad hissed as a small vampire girl walked forward and joined the other two girls and the guy, laughing as she teased the brunette girl.
He hadn't seen her since the 1920's, yet he wouldn't ever forget her face.
She was the one that got away.
Mary Alice Brandon, the psychic.
This game just got a lot more interesting.
.
A/N: If you remember in chapter 28 there's a nomad that is suspected by the Cullen's to be killing people. If you thought that was Alec, nope!
If you know me by now, you may know that names are important as are the meanings. Alec means: "defender of mankind" so I felt it was fitting to see him in that light.