Angelus Mortis
Aurora swallowed hard as she raised her arms, straining with every fiber in her body, yanking at the handcuffs. She glared daggers into the lifeless blue eyes. A spiteful smile played on Aldrick's lips as he watched her trying in vain to break free from her shackles. Aldrick moved towards the bed, coming to stand beside the night table where Aurora's jewelry lay. He picked up the earring, turning it over in his hands.
"Life is a funny thing Aurora," he oozed. "And death, well death has an even better sense of humor."
He put the earring down, sitting on the edge of the bed. Aurora thrashed on the bed trying to kick him. He paid no mind to her wild movement, as his hands moved to the bedpost.
"If you touch me, I will kill you," Aurora said through gritted teeth.
Aldrick met her gaze, his hands near the handcuffs, almost touching her wrists. Throwing his head back he howled with maniacal laughter. He grabbed his sides panting.
"Oh, my dear, dear Aurora," he wheezed. "You always had such a fire in you, such an untamed passion. And yet here you are – completely helpless, open to be taken. Vulnerable."
Aldrick's eyes moved to her body, taking in every inch of her skin. The sheer fabric of the silk lingerie covered little but promised a most scrumptious meal. He licked his thin lips, wetting them slowly, staring at her panties, as they barely covered her sex. Aurora felt as if she would vomit. Turning her head away, locking her knees together, she tried to somehow shield herself from his piercing stare, but it was no use. She was laid out on a platter, for the taking. Aldrick took one hand, roughly yanking her hair, making her head twist painfully to look at him. Aurora could feel her wrists beginning to get raw from the constant friction of the handcuffs, as she tried to squirm away. She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from crying.
"Aren't you in the least bit curious as to why I am here?" he asked.
Aurora recoiled, yanking her head back, refusing to acknowledge him. Aldrick pulled on her hair once more.
"What did you do to Carlisle?" she hissed. Her breath was uneven and shaky as she felt her stomach lurch uncomfortably.
"Ahh that is an interesting question," Aldrick mused. "All in good time my dear Aurora. All in good time, but for now let us talk honestly."
He rose, walking to the foot of the bed, watching her every move.
"Now I can see all of you," he laughed.
Aurora closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on anything but the terrified beating of her heart and the beads of sweat that were pooling on the small of her back. She tried to remember her run-ins with the Volturi, the feelings that coursed through her veins, trying to remember what it was that wakened her powers. Aldrick could see her body going rigid, he knew she was trying to summon her powers. An ugly grin spread onto his face.
"Tsk, tsk Aurora, I am afraid your feathery wings won't sprout today," he whistled.
Aurora's eyes shot open. She stared at him; her mouth slightly agape. Aldrick nodded.
"As I said Aurora, life is a funny thing, but death, my death, in any case – opened up a whole new realm of possibilities of me being able to see you once again," he continued. "I suppose I should thank Dr. Cullen's little coven for that."
Aurora blinked.
"What the fuck are you saying?" she growled.
Aldrick clasped his hands behind his back as he began to pace the room.
"You see Aurora, considering Carlisle and his coven don't believe in taking human life in any circumstance, when they whisked me away from you, determined to be rid of me, but also determined to not kill me, they ironically sealed your fate."
The night Aurora had been attacked by Aldrick and the night Carlisle saved her, flashed through Aurora's mind. She remembered Emmett and Jasper dragging Aldrick away, but she couldn't remember anything beyond that.
"Yes, yes, the Cullen boys did indeed drive me far from Forks," Aldrick cut into her thoughts. "They must have driven hundreds of miles, into the middle of nowhere. They left me naked in the middle of a field, hoping the elements would get to me."
Aldrick had indeed been left to the wolves so to speak. Emmett and Jasper were almost certain he would be devoured by the wolves or other predators, or even mistakenly shot by hunters. But as it turned out, he had a knack for survival. Aldrick ended up being rescued by local hikers, who implored him to go to the police. Aldrick talked his way out of a meeting with the police and managed to get to Port Angeles where he fled the country back to Europe.
"And so, I left, and I am not ashamed to say, with my tail firmly tucked between my legs. I spent months recuperating in Spain and Portugal, letting the sun warm my bones, heal my wounded ego. And so, I continued my little spa tour until I reached Italy," he said. "And it was in Italy, where I truly began to feel like myself again."
Aldrick Fabien, who had amassed a fortune from buying, selling, and collecting antiquities and art that had been stolen or sold during the various wars in Europe, had developed an intricate spiderweb network of other like-minded businessmen and some seedy underworld figures in his business dealings. He was a man who was at ease in the boardroom, just as he was at ease visiting a brothel. A man renowned for his great philanthropy, as well as the salacious rumors of his proclivities for dominating women, he was a notorious figure in European socialite circles. He commanded respect, fear, and a silver tongue. He was a sleek and cunning man who through his insatiable thirst to inflict pain and his lust for unimaginable cruelty made him a prime candidate for none other than the Volturi.
"And of course, while I was in Italy, I visited my little wine yard in Tuscany. And of course, while I was there, I was invited to a wine tasting," Aldrick replied. "And at this particular wine tasting, I met a rather strange man."
Aro, who had a penchant for socialite flesh was often seen mingling in the upper echelons of Tuscan society. And while Aro's plan was to seduce Aldrick, it turns out that there were other uses for him.
"You see I was quite horrified when I saw him, standing across the room. That skin and those eyes were known well known to me by now," he said. "But he seemed quite reserved, a stoic gentleman."
It wasn't until the two men were on a rooftop, Aldrick smoking a cigar and enjoying his Masseto Toscana wine, that Aro lightly touched his hand. That single touch endowed Aro with all Aldrick's thoughts, desires, and needs.
"And then of course we both realized we had something in common," he replied. "You, my dear Aurora."
Aurora felt her eyes widen. She lay still, holding her breath, trying to discern everything that she had been told.
"So... so, he turned you," she squeaked.
Aldrick nodded solemnly.
"He turned me indeed," Aldrick confirmed. "He knew my thirst for flesh would never be fully satiated if I remained human. And he also knew I had quite a longing for inflicting agony and deriving pleasure from it – he said that when he looked at me, it was like staring into a mirror."
Aro suddenly understood that Aldrick's powers as a vampire could be harnessed to destroy Aurora and everything, she held dear.
"The Volturi tasked me with finding out what exactly was it that made you so special Aurora," he said. "I searched high and low, traveling the continent, alas nothing came of it. Until, one day when I stumbled upon a derelict little chapel right outside of Volterra."
The universe seemed to bow down to Aldrick when he found the little chapel, only kilometers from his own vineyard.
"Father Sebastian," Aurora breathed.
Aldrick smirked, nodding, continuing to pace around the room.
"Ahh yes the padre was most helpful," he said. "Of course, it wasn't until I tied him to the pew, slicing finger after finger after finger off that the dear old padre really opened up."
Aurora squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the kind old priest. She could not fathom the torture Aldrick had inflicted on him. Tears spilled from her eyes.
"And then when I broke both his knees and slowly crushed each and every vertebra in the old man's spine, that is when he truly sang for me," Aldrick hissed softly.
During his last moments, while Father Sebastian lay on the chapel floor, screaming and praying, he told Aldrick that while Aurora was a hybrid celestial, perhaps only one of her kind, her power was not boundless. Aurora had not been trained or instructed on how to harness her power, and because it was so volatile, it could be defeated.
"If her hope, her ability to believe that her love can overcome evil, is broken, she will no longer be able to manifest her powers as a celestial," Father Sebastian rasped.
Aldrick would stand, hovering above the old man, watching blood spurt from his mouth.
"Helplessness," Aldrick breathed.
He finally understood what needed to be done. If Aurora were no longer able to believe and hope that her power could save the ones she loved, then she would no longer have the strength to use it.
"With the last dying breath, he forgave me," Aldrick said softly. "But perhaps he should have sought your forgiveness since it was his death rattle confession that brought me here."
Aurora shook her head violently as Aldrick began to stalk towards her.
"So, you see my dear Aurora, as you lay there helpless, bound, and at my mercy, you are very much no longer a celestial," he whispered.
Aurora thrashed again, the handcuffs biting into her wrists.
"YOU'RE LYING!" she howled. "IT'S NOT TRUE!"
Aldrick clicked his tongue. He turned on his heel and left her, sobbing and shaking. Moments later, with a limp Carlisle swung over his shoulder, Aldrick returned. Aurora winced as Aldrick unceremoniously dumped Carlisle's form onto the floor beside the bed.
"You know what I love about history," Aldrick said, turning to Aurora. "It offers us every answer we could possibly need. And in the case of killing vampires, history has also answered us. Ricin."
Aldrick bent over Carlisle, playfully slapping his cheek. Aurora wildly swung her body off the bed.
"YOU'RE LYING, HE ISN'T DEAD!" she shrieked. "CARLISLE! WAKE UP! CARLISLE!"
Her cries echoed in the unnervingly hushed house, filling the air. Aldrick watched as a flood of tears rolled down Aurora's face, into her open, quivering mouth. Her head wildly shook as her body quaked with rasps.
"Oh, I am afraid he's deader than a doornail my dear. It turns out ricin has been used for centuries to kill the undead – making them truly dead," Aldrick tittered hysterically. "It was first used in ancient Egypt – a favorite poison of assassins and bloodthirsty usurpers. And just as it killed Phaorahs, it has killed your precious Carlisle."
Through tears, Aurora stared at Carlisle's body. A sinister trembling overtook her body. A hot blade tore through every cell of her body, ripping with hungry teeth at the very fabric of her soul. As when a glass shatters on the floor, her heart shattered into a million pieces, splintering time and space. Her breaths came in ragged bursts, as the shards dug into her lungs, brain, mouth, and eyes. Blood slowly dripped down her wrists and forearms as the cold metal of the handcuffs bit at her raw skin.
Seeing her body sag, smelling the blood, Aldrick pounced on her, his body pinning her to the bed. He put his hands on her neck, clamping down.
"And now my dear Aurora," he said, his eyes gleaming with hell in them. "I will finally have what is deservedly mine. I will drink your blood and ravage you until your very last breath. And when you finally beg for the angel of death to deliver you, I will turn you into my very own bride, right here beside your lifeless husband's body."
Aurora barely heard a word he said, her head rolling to the side, as tears ran onto her pillow, her eyes empty and dim. She looked at Carlisle, his eyes closed as if he were in a divine state of sleep. Aldrick lowered his face into her neck, inhaling her scent. His nails pressed into her neck, leaving marks. Aurora smiled softly, as her in her mind's eye she saw Carlisle bandaging up her arm, the way his lips curled into a smile when he asked for her camera to see her photos, the way he leaned against the doorframe of her office, smirking at her, the way she was nestled in his arms in bed, the way his eyes would glimmer as he teased her, the way her breath would hitch when he stood behind her, kissing her shoulders and back. Aurora closed her eyes.
"I will see you in heaven, my love," she whispered. "I promise you that."
Aldrick sunk his teeth into Aurora. Aurora felt an inviting darkness swell in her eyes, beckoning her into it. It said her name in harmonious silence. She felt a quietness seep into her body, feeling as if she were floating in space. Her breath calmed and slowly receded her from her body. And as Aurora sunk into the ethereal abyss, floating on the cosmos of eternity, a pair of golden eyes opened.