Jane looked at herself in the mirror. She was disgusted by her own reflection. The young vampire was down to nothing. Her clothes were a pile underneath her feet.
She was stuck somewhere between a child and a woman. She did not dare blame her master for changing her when it was him who saved her. If Jane had been changed much older,
Could she have landed a place in his heart? He only considers her as a child that her saved. Jane was far from a child already.
She was nothing but a child. A waif who was saved by him in the brink of death. Jane feels a connection that she cannot allow.
Was it all a game? Were she and her twin was just a toy that he collected. Jane mentally slapped herself,
Aro was not like that. Deceiving herself that he cared about her would be the best for now.
"Sister?"
Alec knocks on her door and she gets dressed in a flash. She was fastening her necklace when he opened the door.
He sat down next to her.
"How did your training go?" Jane asks calmly.
"Sister, have you forgotten? I was home the past two days," Alec pointed out.
"Oh," Jane looks at him with her innocent red eyes. "I'm sorry, it must have slipped in my mind."
Alec did not buy his sister's excuse for her slip up. Alec wrapped an arm around his twin, he just felt something was not right. He did not press his twin much further.
"You must have been lonely," he remarks with his round eyes full of concern. "Were the junior guards picking on you again?"
Jane just chuckles.
"It has been the same, brother," Jane replies nonchalantly. "Witch Twin was a frequent nickname but the devil spawn of Master Caius was something,"
To his surprise, Jane was just laughing it off.
"Well you do resemble Master Caius, sister, " Alec remarks. His milky red eyes met her burgundy ones. "If there was one thing you inherited: it is his impatience."
Jane rolled her eyes at her twin.
"I had enough of that already," she pouts. "Everyone was always telling me that."
She fell silent for quite a while. Alec placed a hand on her shoulder calmly. He could feel her hesitation and emotions she did not realize she was capable of.
"If we were under different circumstances," Jane trailed off. She looked at her brother with her melancholic eyes. "I would have been proud to be Master Caius' and Madame Athenodora's daughter. If only life was that easy,"
Behind the door, Athenodora staggered back. There was a warm feeling in her chest when she heard Jane utter those words. It was a feeling she hasn't felt for quite some time. In the never ending eternity, she would also would have been proud to call Jane her daughter.
"You had been attached to her, " Caius said in a matter of factly voice. His steel gaze met her compassionate ones.
"Do not tell me you did not try to be a parental figure to the twins. You are such a bad liar, Caius," Athenodora snickers
He swept his blond hair away from his face. Athenodora can certainly read him like an open book.
"Fine," Caius held his hands up in surrender. "I am fond with both of my wards. I try not to get attached for their purpose was to serve as guards and not to be our children."
His face turned grim.
"Stop that childish fantasy of yours, Athenodora," Caius said. "The circumstances are no different. They do not belong here in the wives care,"
He left her to ponder with his words. As Caius got away from quite a distance, he sharply inhaled a breath that was not much needed. There was no room for love in this cruel world.
Whatever he was feeling, must end it so it will not be his downfall.
Aro could definitely smell the burning. He definitely remembered her screams of terror as she burned in the stake with her twin. Jane's cries of pain were embedded in his memory.
The Volturi had been watching the twins for quite a while. Aro had found them when they were at the age of five. He knew that the twins were destined for something great.
The twins would be a great addition to the Volturi once they were turned. Jane and Alec fascinated him, but it was Jane that he was drawned to.
Her blood was so tantalizing that he struggled to keep away from her. The leader of the Volturi stopped himself from doing something risky.
Her blood was like a drug to him, luring him over and over. This may have been the term he came across several decades ago.
La tua cantante. Blood singer.
He pushed those thoughts away from his head. Throughout the years, he had taken it upon himself to watch over the twins instead of some random flimsy guard. The main council which consists of the kings and their wives were made aware of the twins. Everything about her made him drawn to her.
Aro somehow regretted changing the twins early. There was so much more of their potential. Yet the villagers wasted it by simply burning them with the crime of witchcraft.
Humans were cowards. They could not bear to see such precious talent. They just wasted it.
The other Volturi guards took care of the crowd who watched the twins burned to the stake. He had already changed Alec and he was in Marcus' hands. Jane however was suffering from the wounds she sustained in Caius' arms.
She let out a small whimper as her blue eyes stared into the blond vampire's milky red eyes.
"W-Who a-ar-" Jane was cut off by Caius placing his finger gently on her small lips to silence her.
"Save your strength, child." he whispers softly in her ear. The blond vampire knew that her suffering was about to end. He was ruthless, but he could not bear to see young children suffering like that.
"Step aside, Caius. Thank you for assistance," Aro thanked the blonde vampire.
Aro could not resist her blue eyes filled with fear. The villagers will pay for what they did, yes they will.
He slowly leaned in and found himself unable to perform the act. Was he ready to claim the life of a girl a few weeks who would turn sixteen? Marcus observed him carefully.
"We do not have time, Aro!" Caius urges. "The child is dying!"
Aro tuned out Caius who was rambling at him. He was at crossroads, he did not know what to do. A single tear had fallen from her porcelain face. The raven-haired man snapped back from reality.
He leaned in and bit the soft flesh. She was destined for great things and he will conquer the world with her.
Whenever he has the chance to gaze into her innocent eyes, he did not regret anything. They will conquer, yes they will.
The twins were patiently waiting for Caius by the gardens of the castle. Jane was throwing pebbles in the water. It was a chilly night, Jane and Alec were wearing their cloaks.
They heard footsteps and anticipated that it was Caius. Instead of the blond king, it was Aro. The twin's eyes had an element of surprise in their eyes. The raven-haired vampire strode towards them.
"Master,"
"It was supposed to be Caius who should be teaching you?" he asks and the twins nodded. "I took the liberty of taking over his class for quite a while. I wanted to see your progress in training, shall we?"
They were practicing in the clearing in the outskirts of Volterra. The twins looked at their master, anticipating what they will do.
"Since Jane is the oldest, how about you go first? Show me what Caius had taught you, fight me..." Aro commands but Jane shot him a worried glance.
"P-Pardon?'' she stammers.
He had caught the young vampire off guard when Jane was sent flying at a distance of the clearing. When she finally regained her footing, Aro lunged at her and pinned her down to the ground.
Yet she made no move to harm him.
Alec clearly saw his twin staying docile as a lamb. It made perfect sense, she was smitten with their master. It absolutely infuriated the you
"You disobeyed my orders," he growled. "I told you to fight me, yet you did not."
"I-I cannot," she gasps.
He was lost in her innocent blood-red eyes. Jane's soft lips upturned into a smirk and she pushed him away, breaking out of his tight grip.
He went flying a distance but landed on his two feet quite gracefully. He smirked and looked at his pride and joy.
"Well played, Jane. Well played," Aro commends her. "A deception tactic I see but you will never be able to outsmart me,"
Alec was watching by the sides when he heard a faint rustling. Jane and his master were still busy sparring. He went forward to check what is going on,
"Master," Alec came back by holding a young gentleman by his collar. Their law of secrecy was breached as the human had witnessed their inhumane strength. "It seems like this petty human was eavesdropping all along."
To Jane's surprise, the human was not afraid of them. Aro looked at the stranger quite intently.
The stranger had brownish blonde hair that was partially spiked. His dark brown eyes met her milky red ones.
"Demetri," Aro lets go of the stranger's hand. He cocked his head towards the side. Jane scanned the human from head to toe.
Demetri winked at her and Jane scoffs in disgust.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
The "scum of a human" according to Jane actually lived and had been turned into one of them. Demetri was another tracker, his abilities were to be tested as a newborn. Jane actually loathed him as he was such a flirt.
He had the audacity to actually hit on her.
Other than that, it seems that he and Felix are getting along.
Demetri immediately noticed the elevated position the twins have over the guards. They were pampered like they were actual children of their masters. It did not make sense for him as they wear the lightest cloaks among the ranks. Yet the twins were pampered like royalty itself.
"It took you long enough to wonder about the Witch Twins," Santiago said as he sat down next to the newborn tracker.
"What's so special about them?" Demetri inquires.
"Eleazar once told Aro that the twins will obtain great power," the guard replied.
"Where is the great power they were talking about?" Alegria buts in. She stared at Demetri with her cold and calculating stare. "The Witch Twins were turned to be one of our kind decades ago. They can be at the kings' disposal any moment from now,"
"That would be far from reality, Alegria," Felix's voice ran inside the guards' common room. "The masters had invested too much on the twins, I doubt that they will dispose of them. Can it be that you are just annoyed that she was the apple of their eyes? " he taunts as Alegria's eyes turned livid.
"You..." she seethed in anger but Felix paid her no mind.
He turned to Demetri.
"They are not that bad," he smiles. "Just aloof to other people. Just do not get on their bad side, my friend."
The guards softly chuckle.
"Do not be fooled by their cloaks, they are regarded in the highest manners, powerful or not. The kings may have toned down their favoritism, but the wives do not even bother to hide it." Santiago advises the young tracker.
"They are treated like children?" Demetri asks inquisitively.
"The treatment they get is different from us," Felix said. "They were given lessons in the arts and literature. Jane learns music with Madame Didyme and does not train with the guards. They are trained privately by the Masters themselves,"