That night I had a strange dream. It didn't start off like most of my dreams start. I was in a doctor's office, or perhaps a hospital waiting room when three men walked in. The three men were frighteningly pale, and I realized that they must be extremely ill to resemble such. I watched as one of them was taken back to be seen by the doctor. I was also taken back at that time but to a different room. While the doctor gave me a check-up, a young, blonde doctor, who looked so familiar, but I couldn't place him, I kept thinking about the three men I had seen before.

When the doctor released me to go back to the waiting area, I saw a young girl being forced against a wall by two new men. They said her lungs had collapsed and they had to take her immediately out of the hospital. Once she was gone, I turned back around and the pale man from before reemerged, but this time, the two men who had come in with him were no longer pale. Their skin had turned a deep blue like all the oxygen had been drained from their bodies.

The two took the first man and yelled at him. They blamed him for what he had done, and suddenly, they stuck the man's head through a hole in the wall. He was stuck, and the only way to get him out would be to cut off his head. The two men who had turned blue walked away, but not without first taking a glance in my direction. I shuddered.

I was grabbed from behind, dragged back into darkness, and when I could see again, my surroundings had changed. I was no longer in a hospital but in a room that looked vaguely familiar. Someone grabbed my arm and stood me up to my feet before throwing me back to the ground in front of a large dog cage. I tried to back away, but I couldn't. He was behind me, and then I was forced inside, the door shutting and a padlock being placed just as quickly.

He left, and I screamed. I screamed and screamed until my throat was hoarse, and I could scream no more. Where was I? What was happening? Why was I here? What did he want? I was so cold.

"Ariana, wake up, little one."

Who was that? I shoved away, but they only held me closer, so tight that I thought I wouldn't be able to take a breath. I couldn't struggle, so I relaxed, and then my eyes shot open. I could still feel the arms around me, and the struggle began again. Who was holding me? Was I awake this time?

"Hush. You're okay. You are safe."

Aro. It had been Aro speaking to me. I fought to get my breathing under control as he released me, and I scooted back against the headboard on the bed. When I looked up, he was frowning. "I'm sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

He chuckled a bit. "My dear, you could not hurt me even if you were trying. I would only heal moments later."

Aro paused then reached out and took one of my hands into his. I wanted to pull back like before, but then he would want me to tell him, and I wasn't sure if I could. We stayed like that longer than he usually held my hand, which I now knew he was reading my thoughts, and it began to make me grow nervous. What was he searching for? Was he trying to understand the strangeness of the dream as well?

"It's been a while since I've heard you scream in your sleep. I was starting to think the nightmares had gotten better, but perhaps I was wrong." He released me. "There is still so much I do not know about the human psyche, and this dream of yours is quite a mystery. The last part I understand, but the beginning was intriguing."

It was my turn to frown. "What do you mean?"

"The man you saw in your dream was Amun, my eldest brother."

"Which one?"

Aro had a devilish grin on his face now. "The one whose head was put through the wall. That is a delightful idea, though even cutting off his head would never kill him."

I swallowed. Aro seemed too occupied by that thought. "You don't get along?"

"I have a complicated family, though Amun and I are only brothers by our creator." I bit my lip, trying to take in the information. Plus, I had never met Amun, had I? Why would I be having a dream with him in it? Aro then asked, "Would you like to know a secret?"

"Will you have to kill me as soon as you tell me?"

He appeared shocked for a moment at my statement, then recollected himself with an amused smile. "What a silly thing to say. Of course I won't have to kill you once you know. I know my secrets are safe with you, hm?"

It wasn't so much of a question than it was a threat, and I nodded. "Besides," he continued, "if it makes you feel any better, I will not be killing you anytime soon, so you can allow yourself to relax around me for now."

"How do I know that's not a trick to get me to let my guard down?"

"You will have to trust that I am telling you the truth. You were the one who inquired of me what my plans were for you. Why would I kill you before seeing them come to fruition?"

He did have a point. "Fine. What's the secret?"

Aro went to sit down across from me in a chair by the bed and leaned back, crossing his ankle over his knee, hands clasped in his lap. He studied me for a moment before finally answering. "My brothers and I are the first vampires. We're the originals. All other vampires were born through us."

Now things were starting to make sense. "Is that why you're blood is different, and why you can bite me and not turn me? But wait, Caius can't do that. He said so."

"Caius is not an original. I was the one who changed him. Though his blood has no healing properties, he does have control over his venom, so if he were to bite you, though he would never do so without my consent, you would remain human as you are currently."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

He sighed. "Amun was here very recently, but he had no contact with you. It makes me speculate about how you were able to picture him so clearly in your dream. Then there was Carlisle, who you have met before, but he seemed to play a role just as well. The two men who took care of Amun, who were they, I wonder?"

"Dreams don't usually make sense," I told him quietly. So the doctor was Carlisle. How could I forget who he was? But like I told Aro, dreams didn't have to make sense. They just were.

"There was also the girl," Aro commented softly, continuing to try analyzing what he had seen in my mind.

"The girl?"

"Renesmee, Carlisle's granddaughter for all intents and purposes. I do not recall you being in contact with her when Demetri took you to the Cullens."

I shook my head. "I wasn't." What was going on?

"Curious indeed."

The door to the study opened and then slammed shut, Aro glancing at the bedroom door and sighing. He stood and took my hand, helping me out of the bed before leading us into the other room where a furious Caius paced back and forth. He stopped when he saw us, his eyes catching mine, and I immediately glued mine to the floor.

"What ails you now, brother?" Aro questioned the vampire who had barged into his rooms.

"The boy is what ails me, Aro. You let him get away with too much," Caius spat back.

Aro took a seat behind his desk, and I tried to make myself comfortable on the sofa, wondering why Aro had brought me in here with him in the first place. "What has Yevgeni done this time?"

"He should not be allowed in the main library. It is not his place."

Aro shook his head, almost like in disbelief. "Is this really what has you so enraged?"

"You allow him the same privileges as if he never left. You delay his sentencing, and yet do not seek out what answers there might be."

"Keep in mind that the little disagreement between the two of you centuries ago was what caused him to leave in the first place, and you can't expect me to sentence him when I do not know the whole truth. I am waiting to see what plays out in Russia. If Yevgeni was not the maker of these newborns, then surely more will soon be created by their true creator."

Caius silently moved to sit in the chair across from the sofa where I was seated, arms crossed, almost as if he were pouting. "We need to protect our laws, Aro. We must uphold our authority."

"I am aware, dear brother, but we must also not act in foolish haste. Yevgeni could have information that we need, and one way or another, I will find a way to retrieve it."

The entirety of their conversation was mostly lost on me, and though I tried to close my mind off to it, it was difficult to do so. This Yevgeni seemed to be the center of everything going on at the moment. Aro couldn't read his mind like he used to be able to. That he had told me earlier. Caius obviously didn't like him, and then there were these newborns in Russia which Yevgeni may or may not have been in charge of creating. Like newborn vampires?

I was taken out of my thoughts when I turned and Aro found a new seat beside me on the sofa. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him. I peered up at Caius who had raised a brow, possibly questioning what Aro was doing. I knew that I was.

"Tell me, brother. When do you plan to go through with your little experiment?" Caius never took his eyes off of me, and I immediately felt trapped under his gaze.

I felt Aro place a gentle kiss on my head before replying. "When she's ready."

Caius scoffed. "Why should it matter when she's ready?"

"Surely you're aware that for it to work, certain things must be in place. Besides," Aro brushed a finger down my jaw as he went on, "my little pet has enthralled me with such riveting information. She may be more perfect than I first thought."

"And what is this riveting information you speak of?"

"Ariana saw Amun in her dream last night, and yet the two have never met. Isn't that fascinating?"

Caius hummed, his eyes narrowing. "You're saying she may be gifted?"

I shook my head, denying the fact. I was not gifted with anything but getting myself into bad situations. Aro chuckled. "It is not something to be afraid of, my dear. Perhaps you do have a gift, especially if it is what I surmise."

"Care to tell?" the other vampire remarked.

"I will call on Eleazar. He will be able to let us know for sure." Aro stopped stroking my hair, which he had begun to do after caressing my face, an action I was grateful to have ended. "I wonder if Eleazar could give us insight on Yevgeni and why I cannot see into his mind as I used to. It is worth a try."

"Whatever you decide to do, just get on with it. I will not tolerate his presence much longer. As for her," Caius's eyes meeting my own, "it strikes me that she is full of surprises."

"Yes, she undoubtedly is. She will make a perfect specimen."

I glanced up at Aro, my heart starting to pound as they spoke about me like a research subject. I knew that I partially was. Aro was studying me to learn about the human mind and all of that, or so he said, but why did it feel so damning all of a sudden? He wouldn't tell me until the time came. That much I was certain of. He enjoyed the game too much.

Aro stood abruptly, releasing me as he did so, and I pulled my bare feet onto the sofa to wrap my arms around my legs. "I will go make a call to Eleazar," he mentioned to Caius. "Feel free to make my dear Ariana comfortable in my absence."

I dared to look back at Caius as Aro exited into the hall and closed the door behind him. The smirk on Caius's face was dark, and I swallowed hard. Obviously, Aro and Caius had different versions of the meaning of the word 'comfortable.' Then again, a part of me grasped onto the idea of being alone with Caius once more. As terrified as he made me, that was 'comfortable.'

Studying my mind for sure. I was as sick as they came, and Aro knew it.

A/N: So that dream at the beginning was the actual dream I had two nights ago. I changed it only slightly as in making the men start pale then turn blue, making one of them Amun and of course making the girl Renesmee and the doctor Carlisle, but they originally existed but as someone else. Dreams have been generally nightmares again lately, so this one was a bit strange. Thought I'd do something with it. And dear Caius... what will you do now?