Chapter Thirty-Five: Interrogations

Jane (POV)

Trigger Warning: This chapter involves incidents of torture and violence

Day One

I had heard about the man my whole life. A tantalizing testament to history, and a fascinating subject to break. I wondered idly how long it would take to extract the information that Aro wanted. An hour? A day? Maybe even a week? It was impossible to know his will, although I was excited to find out what he was like. Aro had spent a full hour with him in the tower of all places. Our least secure location for one of our kind, even with restraints fit for a newborn.

I already knew the basics, that he was obsessed with humanity and he had aligned with the Olympic coven. Beyond those details, Aro wanted only one thing, the ancient's secret. A truth eluded to in a long-forgotten conversation, shared at some point well before I was born. It was a secret great enough that Aro was convinced it would alter the nature of our kind forever. I had my doubts, but I relished the challenge.

I entered the circular room and met his strange human eyes, with their mis-matched irises. I wondered why he would choose such a strange display of power, and what gift allowed him such an illusion. He didn't flinch or recoil from my presence, which was a bit of a surprise. Nearly everyone cringed when one of the witch twins entered a room. Despite hating my moniker, it did afford me a certain reputation that gave me some much-needed privacy in a place where we were never allowed to have time alone with our own thoughts.

"I have only one rule. You speak when I ask you a question, if you try to speak otherwise, I will inflict pain on you." He nodded once and didn't seem to regard me with any fear. He also didn't remark, which was a first. Everyone I had interrogated over the centuries said something after I had detailed my one rule requiring me to show them what the consequences were for disobedience. Perhaps this would go smoother than I thought.

"Let us start with an easy question. What is your name?" I said pacing around the empty space. There were no furnishings, only the chains fed through two holes in the back wall farthest from the stairs. The chains were too short to extend to the nearest window for now. Over time the prisoner would be allowed more slack in those chains, released from a mechanism below the floor. A reward for good behavior.

"Mynos or more recently Mason." He said raising his eyebrows and giving me a look that questioned if that was enough. I nodded curtly before moving on.

"Why have you come to Volterra?" I had already discussed the nature of his visit with Aro, but there was still a small point of contention in his declared motivations. Aro wasn't fully convinced he wasn't a spy for the Cullens.

"I do not have a simple answer to that question. May I speak for a moment to explain?" His polite and unexpected response disarmed me a little, and I nodded once without thinking. My normal response would've been to throw pain towards him.

"My family has a seer; she has seen a future where we would all die in an upcoming conflict. The only solution that had any potential for survival was for me to confront my past and return here to face whatever judgement Aro has in mind for me." The answer was honest, that much I was certain, although I didn't know if he was concealing anything. The best lies often were built on a partial truth.

"What need would Aro have to judge you, what crime have you committed that would warrant his type of justice?" The merciless nature of the Volturi was legendary, our refusal to allow even a single mistake was brutal in application.

"I killed his love, before he found his wife and turned Caius and Marcus. He was in love with my first wife, Rachel. They had some form of affair, but I had to kill her because she was too dangerous. If only I had known of her legacy, perhaps she would still be alive. Her death prevented nothing I had intended to accomplish by killing her. I wonder if her hand would have tempered his, or if the very nature of his power would've alienated her. Regardless, it is the primary reason we have never gotten along. That and my refusal to drink from humans, I find the practice abhorrent." He let a small sneer sour his expression as he spoke. The memory of those events clearly something he regretted.

"Practice. You speak as though it were some human tradition. We drink because it is our nature." I shook my head at his naivete, wasn't he supposed to Aro's father? His age didn't match up with his ideals, which were youthful and mortal. What care should immortals have over the lives of such fragile creatures? I had spent centuries observing the species from the cloistered walls of Volterra, there was nothing especially worthwhile in their short miserable lives that elevated them above a food source.

"As predators we can still choose our food, and while humans may taste good, they are not the only choice. Hell, if you prefer human blood there is plenty available in the human heath care system that no one wants. It is hubris and arrogance to think yourselves higher than the dominant life on the planet. Imagine if they did ever find out about us, and the truth that you have been slaughtering them for centuries. How do you think they would take it?" He spoke with a warning, one that even Aro had brought up before. It was the entire point of the Volturi, to ensure we didn't expose ourselves to the world, yet I couldn't satisfy his point with agreement.

"I would show them this." I focused my pain at him. He simply closed his eyes and took the pain without a sound. I turned on my heel, I could tell there would be no progress today. I went to my room, and found Alec waiting for me. His gaze was suspicious, and his expression hateful. We hadn't been close in a very long time, but he was still the only person I trusted with the absolute truth.

"From your expression I can tell you failed sister." I shot him a look and nearly threw my pain towards him, but instead shook my head.

"None of your concern." I uncovered my most recent painting and removed the lids from the paints.

"You will never capture them, no matter how many times you try." Alec left in huff, sweeping out of my room dramatically. I ignored him and concentrated on my hazy human memories. The faces of my parents were difficult to conjure, but I had to see them again. They had been haunting me recently, and I needed to know why.

Day Three

The ancient looked at me with an earnest expression of interest, so I responded with pain. He had yet to react to my abilities, except to close his eyes and endure. I had kept up my assault for over an hour, beyond what many had been able to suffer.

"Why will you not give in?" I said through gritted teeth. I let him go and the tension in his shoulders eased. He opened his eyes and they cleared and focused, then he found me.

"I doubt you would understand." His answer was clearly an attempt to provoke me, so I slashed at him with a stronger wave than before. I never used my full range, the height of my power reserved for dangerous situations because it put a strain on me to hold for any length of time. He flinched but took it without a sound again. I could feel my frustration building in response to his willfulness.

"Try me." I said widening my eyes, hoping he would push at me, provoke me.

"I have already given up what I hold most dear. That pain, is nothing compared to yours, there is nothing you can do that can hurt me anymore." He had provoked me, but it was not the answer I thought it would be. I looked down at him intently, tempted to lash out like a whip at him. Instead I turned and left, it was pointless to continue I was treading water and making no progress. I wandered through the halls for several hours deep in thought, until I passed by Aro's private rooms.

"Jane." He said in his particular sing-song way.

"Master?" I answered immediately.

"Come my dear and close the door behind you." He spoke sweetly, and I found him alone at a solitary desk amidst towers of ancient books. I hadn't spent much time in his private chambers, but it was a place that meant a great deal to me personally, because there I could be his daughter instead of his servant.

"Father." Breaking the silence, using my private term of affection for my master. Aro smiled, his face still buried in a small paperback book. The silly title was dwarfed by the Author's name in yet another example of modern commercialism.

"Jane my dear, why are you prowling the halls in such a sorry state when you have so much work still to do? Has my father vexed you?" His expression flashed danger, before settling into his normal welcoming smile. He reached out his hand, and I gave him mine as was custom. He just smiled.

"Not exactly, he has a way of fighting I haven't encountered before." I said elaborating, hoping to put into context the attempts he was viewing through my memories.

"He never was cooperative, why did I think he would be so now? He is just playing games with you." He shook his head. I scowled and frowned.

"Games. I don't like games, they are not... my strong suit. What should I do?" I felt myself stumble slightly over my words, which was something I hadn't done in a very long time. He smiled his playful smile, carefully exposing his glistening teeth. He released my hand and took a deep breath before speaking.

"You only dislike games that are out of your control. Well my beloved, you let him play, and then you do what you do best! Seize control of his game." He was positively gleeful; his voice was high pitched and the utter joy on his face was difficult not to be mesmerized by. Suddenly his words made sense, I was going about things the wrong way.

"I know what to do. I will not disappoint you; I promise." I felt my confidence again, and I knew that it was reflected in my voice. He set down his book and reached out for my hands again, which I relented to without hesitation. Then he brought them up to his face, palms together and fingers extended. Then he gently kissed the tips of my fingers once, a delicate grin curling up his lips slightly.

"You never do." Despite his warm expression, his tone had shifted becoming mildly cold. Nothing Aro said had one meaning, and there was no mistaking the menace laced through his voice and intonation. I couldn't fail him, I refused to fail him. I would find out the secrets I was tasked to discover, even if I had to tear the ancient apart with my bare hands. I got up and turned towards the door, hatred welling up in my heart.

"Jane, one last hint before you go." I turned and nodded at him. "Try not to think of him as an immortal, instead treat him as you would a very old and pedantic human."

"I will. Thank you." I said sincerely, thankful for the advice.

"Of course, report to me as soon as you have that information… My dear Jane." The threat wasn't lost on me, but I shook it off because I knew I would not fail him.

I made my way back to the tower and closed the solid door behind me before climbing the long spiral stairs to his cell. As I entered the room, I found his bizarrely human mismatched eyes focused on me, and as I met them with my own gaze, smiled at me. I kept my face neutral, even though his reaction wasn't what I was expecting yet again.

"Jane." I nodded and he leaned his head back against the cold uneven stone wall behind him. "It is a shame we never crossed paths when I lived here before."

"The guard do not fraternize with guests, that is why Felix was destroyed." I said coldly, slashing at him for breaking my rule. He briefly gritted his teeth, but didn't break our eye contact.

"Felix was a good man, if he hadn't been kept like a dog he could have flourished." I focused my rising anger into a funnel of intense pain and cast it at him like a dagger. He shuddered and clenched his jaw, but still refused to call out in pain. His eyes still focused on me, in that pathetic excuse for compassion.

"Felix was a fool and a traitor. He broke our rules by befriending an enemy of the Volturi, and now he is ash just as you will be." I let go of my anger and unleashed my pain in an assault that was stronger and more intense then I had dared before. He slumped forward, catching himself before falling onto the floor.

"I do not burn; I will never be ash. Do you know your pain barely touches me? Because it is fire. What burned you in such a way to produce such an unnatural gift I wonder?" He said looking up, his teeth still clenched, and his muscles strained from continued convulsions, if he truly didn't feel my pain then why was he reacting so strongly.

"I think you lie, I think this hurts just a much as it does with everyone else." I slashed at him again, but this time he did not flinch, instead he got to his feet and faced me. His hands forced down to his waist due to the length of chain.

"I think you only reflect your own pain. Whatever is inside of you was done to you, because no gift exists for the sole purpose of inflicting agony." He said calmly, glaring at me with more than just compassion. He pitied me, he felt sorry for me. I felt my scream erupting from my chest after I had lost control, my full power thrown at him with my fury. His eyes shut involuntarily, and he fell to his knees as violent shudders coursed through his body. I let my power loose for a full minute until he collapsed onto the floor, his body limp. Disgusted I turned and left the tower, the guard at the bottom glaring at me.

Day Seven

"Well Jane, how long have you been Aro's puppet?" I felt my anger flash, and I lashed out in response. Ever since my outburst he had barely flinched at my inflicted pain. I was starting to lose confidence in my ability to get the information I needed.

"I'm not his puppet, I'm his most favored child." It took a long time to phrase it properly. My normally cool and collected voice seemed broken somehow. He closed his eyes for a heartbeat of time, then fixed a sympathetic stare at me.

"Child. Do have any idea what that even means?" He wasn't hostile, in fact he seemed almost friendly. Yet I had resolved not to react anymore, not matter what he asked me.

"He is my father; I know nothing else." I kept my response cold, but I couldn't completely conceal the affection I felt for Aro. He shook his head, looking down at the floor and furrowing his brow in concentration. Then he seemed relax and looked up at me again.

"You love him, don't you?" I didn't really understand the question. I turned it around in my head for a long time, looking at the meaning of the word. Then I searched my own feelings, it wasn't something I had ever consciously thought about. But the truth was undeniable.

"Yes, I do." I whispered the words without intending too. I was confused by my actions, and even more so by the ideas his question conjured up. The ancient looked at me strangely as if my answer was slightly unexpected.

"Tell me, do you remember how you came here?" That wasn't part of the plan, I refused to talk about my horrible human life. The distant hazy memories were something I never thought of anymore, it was an existence that was to be wholly forgotten. Yet I still found myself drawn to my painting every night, trying to perfect the lines of faces I had not seen since… I felt myself lash out again, letting it ride for several long seconds. He just stood still, staring at me until my outburst faded.

"Mason, my human life holds no importance to me. Tell me what I want to know now, or I'll..." I couldn't finish the sentence as I felt the fire of thirst pull me violently to the ground. I clutched my throat, confused and panicked about what was happening to me.

"You won't do anything Jane. Except tell me about your past. I genuinely want to know what happened to you. You see, my son has been unscrupulous, manipulative and evil since I first encountered him. He has lived far too long, with far too much power. You are the pinnacle of his monstrous appetites, and I need to know how you were turned. Where does your remarkable talent come from Jane? Because it isn't natural, it isn't what you should be." I forced myself up and as I looked at him, I found myself staring into two faintly glowing golden orbs. The power within his eyes was so intimidating that I was instantly humbled.

"I don't remember, those memories are too far gone." I could no longer meet his eyes as I spoke, retreating my focus to the irregular pattern of the ancient river rock floor, polished down by centuries of wear.

"Will you let me help you remember?" He was so gentle, that I believed him. I didn't understand what was happening to me, I couldn't figure out his game anymore.

"Yes." I wasn't sure if I was even speaking anymore my voice was so faint. I curled up into a ball on the uneven floor and felt tears well up inside of me. The empty sobs racked my body for what seemed like hours and I didn't even react when he pulled me into his arms. I no longer cared that he had broken his bonds somehow, I just wanted the pain inside of me to end.

"Start at the beginning, you need to get it out." The long-faded memories jumped to the front of my thoughts abruptly. The first image was of my brother Alec. I was looking down at him cradled in my arms, crying about our parent's deaths. I felt the warm tears flowing down my face, and the sensation of my heart beating in time with his. Then I could see their faces in the moment of their execution, twisted in terror and shock. It was all I had left of them, and it was a memory of pain.

Aro had been coming to us every week since their deaths, and in that moment I desperately wanted him to find us. Alec and I were huddled in the farthest and darkest corner of our makeshift cell, waiting endlessly for our own execution. We were accused of witchcraft because I had been able to see the secrets in people, secrets that no one wanted told. But I couldn't understand why I was being singled out, why my brother had to be subjected to beatings for my inability to hold my tongue. All I knew was that our parents defended us to their deaths, that I was the reason for their execution.

The darkness of night made the hours stretch into eternity, and eventually Alec fell asleep. I stood and looked out the tiny window, hoping to glimpse the last images of freedom I would ever see. I was shocked to see the coastline stretching out before me. The shadowed and blackened waters lapping against the white sands were hypnotic. Sooner then I wanted dawn came, and I was grateful for the eastern exposure. The colors spread across the sky like a bed of summer flowers, an image I cherished and wanted to hold in my heart and never forget. It was an image I wanted to share with god, after I walked hand in hand with my brother into heaven. Yet I had never conjured it once after I had become immortal.

As the light illuminated the shoreline, I stared longingly into the blinding light bouncing off the waters. Light and sound had begun to play tricks on me, and for a moment it seemed as though I could touch the sand through the bars of my cell. I pushed my arm through the bars as the guards came, and they grabbed me roughly twisting my shoulder as it was yanked violently from the bars. Alec didn't immediately wake up, so they beat him across the head to rouse him. I screamed at them to leave him alone, but that simple request was beyond their mercy. Instead two of the three men began to kick Alec in the face, chest, and stomach again and again. They kept at it until blood began to drip from his lips.

I couldn't stop screaming at them to stop. The pain of hopelessness was building so acutely that I began to convulse from the intensity of it. Absently I heard their harsh voices speaking vaguely about a prince, or king... no three kings. The three kings wanted to be sole witnesses to our execution. Still I continued to scream fruitlessly as they brought us into a large empty courtyard. We were tied together at a stake, with bundles of dry twigs soaked in oil beneath our feet. The only thing that stopped my screaming was the sound of wheezing coming from my brother.

His breathing was so weak that each ragged breath made his body shudder. Bound hand and foot, the only choice I had was to let him sleep. I didn't want him to see the fire coming for both of us. But even though we were about to die I couldn't handle the fact that my brother was about to die. The beating so violent that his beautiful face was shattered and contorted. A massive wave of tears came then, and I was unable to clear them away since my hands were bound. Soon I was blinded by my own tears, and had to use my ears to figure out what was happening. In the distance I heard a voice that felt familiar, but the words were impossible to make out.

Then there was heat, surrounding, engulfing heat. The fire grew, lashing at my legs, hands, and then finally my face. I felt helpless as the fire consumed me, the pain building to such intolerable levels that I became lost as darkness consumed my conscious thought. Vague noises, and a new fire soon replaced the blackness. This new pain became pulsed through my body for what felt like an eternity, until it finally coalesced at the center of my being. After an immeasurable amount of time passed the pain finally faded, and a wonderful coolness covered me like an icy blanket.

That's when I awoke to immortality. That's when I felt my thirst for the first time, and that is when I found I could share my pain with others. My eyes opened, and I looked up at Mason. He was still holding me, listening to me as I told my story.

"Go back, remember the voice. Hear what was said." Mason's voice wasn't startling just unexpected, like everything he had done in our short acquaintance. I was confused at first by the request. But after a moment I felt myself falling back through the fire to the chaos of my last moments as a mortal. The heat was coming I knew that, but I wasn't focused on my impending torment. Nor was I focused on my brother, instead I was focused on the familiar voice. Everything wanted to distract me from that voice, the rope binding my wrists, the wheezing of my brother's breathing, the dull ache of the never-ending tears. But I ignored all of that and filtered out everything but the voice.

"Burn them, but don't let them die. They are mine." Aro spoke mercilessly, and the affection he had always used with me was utterly absent from his voice. All that remained in that voice was the brutal monster devoid of compassion and love, a voice that was ordering men to burn me at the stake.

Author's Note: The next chapter needs some work to get it in line to where I need it to be. It is sitting at only four pages, and considering it is basically Angela's chance to say goodbye to her human family, I need to expand it to make sure the emotions feel right.

I will be dropping down to only two released chapters next week. If these three are any indication I should be able to actually meet that schedule, but it is possible as we move towards the finale of the story I will have to drop to one post per week. I'll make sure my profile is updated if anything changes.

Please take a moment to review, I do love reading your thoughts. This is a one off narrator choice, as I do not believe I there will be another chapter in Jane's voice.

Thank you for reading this far into the story!