(A/n) Ok, here is my first Twilight fic. I have no idea what inspired this. I've read way too many fanfictions of Twilight lately and read the books again. I adore some of the characters but Alice and Carlisle remain dearest in my heart. I do love adding OC's to my stories so if you do not like please move on. If you are curious and like what I have started with, please share your thoughts. This will be a romance of course. I love romances and Carlisle had taken the spot of my radar so... yeah...
October, sometime in the early 1920's...
The sound of screaming echoed through the thin walls and penetrated the small hands that tried in earnest to block the sound. The room was small and cramped, a single cot rested in the corner upon which a tiny figure was trembling. Her black hair fell in a tangled mess about her pale brow. Her eyes were large as they darted from one corner to the other. Every so often, her gaze would go out of focus, a sure sign that she was seeing things that no other could see.
It would last for a few short moments before she would gasp, her eyes glancing around the small room in surprise. A small sob escaped her throat and she shrunk within herself even more, trying to disappear within the cot, the wall, anywhere to get away. She wore nothing but a hospital gown that was covered with sweat stains and spots of blood. Her pale limbs were exposed to the darkness that constantly surrounded her.
It was some time before the screaming finally stopped and the door to her room opened. She didn't look up, she didn't dare to look at the fear of the visions that constantly plagued her. It wasn't until a familiar warm hand reached out to brush her bare arm that she looked up. Her eyes locked with a pair of deep brown orbs, a tangled mess of black curls falling about a round face. The eyes stared with intense emotion before a timid smile appeared. "Alice..."
The terrified young woman stared into those earthy orbs before recognition flickered across her pale face. "Lil..." Her tiny voice croaked before her pale arms shot out and wrapped around the other woman. The clash of ivory and caramel flesh lasted for a few heartbreaking moments before the woman named Lil looked up. Her earthy eyes glanced toward the doorway where a pale man stood, watching them with a sadness that made the tears erupt.
He was devastatingly handsome with thick brown hair fell about a pair of butterscotch eyes. He was dressed in a white coat and his pale hands were clenching and unclenching as he stared with longing at the woman that held the tiny pixie within her arms. The frown that twitched on the caramel face was troubled, the earthy eyes glancing from the doctor to the door. "Save her... Please..." Lil knew that this doctor was different from the rest, knew that she could trust this man to save her friend from the terrible nightmare that had hunted Alice. Her best friend needed to be saved, she could feel it in her bones.
Lil had been alone with her own shadows before she had met Mary Alice Brandon a year before. Actually, it was the doctor who had introduced the two patients to one another for some reason. The moment they had met, the recognition had been instant and the calm that both women needed from their visions and nightmares could only be achieved within one another. They were friends, sisters... It was a recognition of two souls that understood something that others could not.
The throat of the doctor convulsed as he swallowed, a look of slight panic appearing on his pale face. "She will be in pain but... He will not touch her once it's done." His butterscotch eyes flicked toward the face of Lil, her caramel skin looked golden even within the darkness of this cell. "I can save you both... She won't survive if you're not there to calm her."
Lil's eyes glanced toward the corner of the dark room, those earthy orbs catching sight of the shadows that squirmed, shadows that were darker than the blackest nightmare. She swallowed and closed her eyes against the sight. "No time... I'll distract him... You must take her away from here."
Without a word, she gently pulled herself from Alice's embrace and whispered soothing words as she pulled the dirtied nightgown from her dearest friend. She pulled off her own gown, not caring of her own nakedness as she buried every inch of herself into the aged fabric. She continued to whisper soothing words as she put her gown over Alice. The pixie said nothing in response as her large eyes remained glued on the face of her friend. There was nothing but complete trust in her eyes. When Lil had taken Alice's gown and put it on, the doctor took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened them and gave a quick nod. "I can barely smell her scent but it'll only buy us time."
Lil nodded and leaned into whisper a few more soothing words to her dearest friend before she reached out to help the pixie to her feet. One step and then two, Alice followed her friend willingly though her eyes glanced at the doctor with slight apprehension.
"Trust him..." Lil whispered as she pushed Alice toward the doctor. "I love you Allie... Please live..."
The doctor took the pixie like woman by the arm, his butterscotch eyes studying the other woman with deeper longing. "I never understood why you were here... You're not... You never were..." He trailed off, trying to find the words but all that came out was a slight sob, though there were no tears to be shed. "I need you..."
A slight smile touched her lips as she studied the doctor and she moved close to him to press her warm lips against his cold flesh. A deep growl rumbled in his chest as his tongue tasted her warm flesh, the longing and sadness in his eyes hurting her to the core. She turned her attention to Alice and buried her face within the warmth of her tangled black hair.
"Lil..." Alice's voice was pleading. She knew that something was wrong, she was never going to see her friend again. She had seen it... That nightmare that had hunted her was going to kill her dearest friend. "Lil, please..."
Lil shook her head and moved quickly away, as quick as her simple human feet would allow. "Go! Just go... This is the only way." It was the only way... Alice would live on and the shadows would finally claim her since she would be the only choice left. "I love you both."
The doctor glanced back at the door, the sound of the screaming was drawing closer. The occupants of this asylum would not live to see the light of the coming morning. He just wished his beloved was not among them. He looked at her and she shook her head, taking another step away. He growled in reply, inhaling her scent deeply to commit it to his memory. He would save Alice, he had given his word but to survive without his love... He had promised that he would live for her but his dead heart ached at the thought...
Lil's earthy eyes flicked to the door and to the corners of the room, her caramel skin taking in a sickly hue as she moved to the cot. "He is nearing... the shadows crave... Leave this place."
The doctor's jaw clenched tightly as he took one last look at the woman before he gave a nod and took Alice in his arms. Alice's large eyes took in the sight of her friend one last time before they were gone in a flash, the doctor's sudden disappearance speaking of the true nature that he held.
Lil wrapped herself within Alice's gown as her eyes darted from one dark shadow to another. They were bubbling, showing their anger at being denied their marked target. She will never be yours... Lil thought fiercely as the door to the room was kicked open.
A man stood within the doorway, inhaling deeply before he moved with inhuman speed. He was pinning her against the cot, his blood-red eyes not focusing on the face of his intended target. "He thought he could keep you from me but I always get what I want."
Lil said nothing in reply, she didn't even breathe as the man leaned in close to her neck. It took but a moment but he caught the scent of her flesh, it was different from the one he had tracked. With a deep growl, he raked his teeth across her neck and right collar-bone and her cry filled the room. The shadows danced with delight.
"Where is she?" He growled, his icy fingers gripping her throat tightly as he stared into her earthy brown eyes. She gasped for air but a look of triumph appeared, a gasping laugh escaping her parched lips. It was all the answer he needed and he punched her face, his pale knuckles leaving a deep gash across her left eye. Blood seeped from the deep wound and a gurgled scream erupted from her throat as her left eye was nothing more than bloody mush. The man didn't linger to finish her off, he was so intent on obtaining his target that he fled the room in pursuit of the doctor that had taken Alice.
Lil continued to gasp as the venom burned its way through her body, her eyes watching as the shadows churned and drew closer to her. She may not have been their intended but she was better than nothing... She closed her eyes, waiting for the feel of her very life force being dragged from her flesh and bones. She waited and waited, trying to ignore the feel of the burning fire that was working its way through her veins. Nothing came. Instead, she felt a cold mouth clasp upon the flesh of her collar-bone and neck, a deep pulling sensation occurred and the burning began to subside...
She opened her eyes, her gasping breaths easing slightly as she caught sight of pale flesh. It was not her love, it was not the nightmare that hunted her dearest friend... this was a completely different soul. The sucking lasted for a moment and the man pulled away. He licked the blood from his pale lips as he studied the woman with keen interest. He was tall, taller than any man she had ever seen. He was pale with a shock of midnight hair that was swept back from his face. He was neither handsome nor ugly, he just was. He was dressed in clothes that were deeper than the shadows themselves. His dark eyes took in the sight of her before he reached into his winding black cloak and pulled out a flask. "This will burn but not as badly as the venom."
The woman said nothing and the pale man with the midnight hair opened the flask and poured a dark liquid over her wounds. She hissed and writhed, the burning was extreme but the man was right, it did not burn as badly as the bite of Alice's nightmare. She tried to look up at the pale man but she only had one good eye, the other was beyond recognition.
The pale man replaced the top to the flask and slipped it back within his cloak before reaching out large, pale fingers to bind the wounds closed. The shadows that had crept along the walls had earnestly moved toward the pale man's fingers, following some unspoken command as they bound the flesh as one. Her caramel skin bound together leaving nothing save for a wicked dark scar that remained from where the nightmare had raked his teeth.
Lil could feel the coldness settle into her very bones though her heart continued to beat. It beat slowly, very slowly, until all that was left was a single thump. A moment passed and then another, time moved on before her heart gave another single thump. She looked up at the tall, pale man as her breath came and went in a slow rhythm, as if she were just realizing that she was capable of breathing. "Why... now..." Her breath continued in this slow way, her remaining earthy eye filled with even more questions she did not have the breath to ask.
The pale man only stared at her as the shadows that had haunted the darkest corners of this asylum shivered and disappeared. "You are worth far more than you believe. You saved her life but the life of your beloved is no more..."
Her eyes grew wide at these words and a sob caught in her throat. "He... No, he was... He promised... She can't be alone..."
"He did not believe anything was worth living for if you were gone."
"She can't be alone!" She gasped, her voice screeching as she felt the scar on her collar-bone twinge with dark intent. "He promised!"
"He believed you dead so you cannot fault him. You were his singer..." The pale man's large hand reached out gently rest against her breast, soothing the aching of her slow beating heart. It was trying to beat faster, the love that had filled it for the doctor remaining ever strong. "You must remain as you are. Your choices from the moment you had met them has led up to this. You knew what this life would have brought her so you chose it for yourself."
"The shadows..." she whimpered, warm tears spilled from her eye and the sadness that now filled her slow beating heart was stronger than any fear she had ever known.
The pale man simply gazed at her and gave a nod. "They will no longer lay claim to her now that she is. The tracker that had craved her cannot harm her since she is now like him." He moved closer to her and gathered her within his dark embrace.
She opened her mouth but all that emerged was a sob. The pale man understood that sob well enough as he wrapped his dark cloak around her trembling form. "She will not remember any of this but she will find happiness. We must leave now..."
"You...?" She stared up at him, her question easily read within her earthy orbs. He caught the question and a hint of a smile appeared, though she could not be certain.
"I used to be... I'm nothing now. I just am."
"I am...?"
The hint of the smile disappeared and he shook his head slightly. "No, not hardly." He moved his grip of her and lightly touched the her neck. Her pulse thumped only once and then nothing. It felt like hours had passed before her pulse thumped again. "You are barely... but it is enough. You will live in a sense. You must if you wish to see her again." He held her closer as the shadows surrounded them and a small room in the asylum disappeared from sight.
"The nightmare..." Her voice was soft now, the shadows that she had feared for much of her life now seemed comforting, even welcoming.
"He lives if that is the best term to use. He will continue as he has but you must be aware that later... Much later... You will need to be ready to protect such a one as your Alice. She will be marked and your Alice will do all she can to protect her."
Lil closed her good eye and buried her face within the cold neck of her rescuer. Even his cold neck was beginning to feel warm to her now. "My Alice... I'll protect who my Alice loves... and you?"
He caught her true meaning and a ghost of a smile touched his lips. "I am known as Silvan. I will oversee your proper growth and training. Be prepared, it will be many years before you see your dearest friend again..."
Lil sighed and muttered something in reply, her heartbeat never picking up in speed and never stopping. It just was. Silvan smiled, catching the gentle mutter as he appeared on the grounds of a large estate. It was here that the shadows danced with delight, the sight of the near full moon greeting them as he walked toward the large front doors of the mansion. The doors swung open and torchlight spilled on to the gravel driveway.
"There you are Silvan!" A woman stood at the doorway, a tall woman with long golden hair, her body was lithe with pure muscle. She was naked for all the world to see but didn't seem at all ashamed. There was something feral of her and at the sight of the near full moon, her eyes flashed with pure delight. "Another night and we would have started without you!"
Silvan simply removed the vestiges of his dark cloak, revealing the round face of their newest charge. "There has been a change in plans Rieka..."
The woman's yellow eyes focused on the caramel tone of the sleeping woman and her nose flared, taking in the scent of her. "A human?"
This time a smile did touch the pale man's lips as he swept past the naked woman and into the mansion. "Just barely... She had taken the spot of an Intended. She had seen the shadows for sometime now and decided to act to save her friend."
The woman named Rieka closed the doors and turned to follow the tall man into the entrance hall of their hidden home. She stared at the human, the barely human, and her eyes grew wide with surprise. "She had been Marked?"
"I had no choice." He glanced back at the naked woman, his pale face twitching slightly with a frown. "There had to be a replacement and she was all there was."
Rieka frowned in response as she folded her arms beneath her well-shaped breasts. "This will not bode well. We needed the Oracle, not a Medium."
Silvan simply shrugged in reply and continued on toward the large flight of stairs that led to the bedrooms. "Fate has something different planned and I am not one to argue with fate."
"So what are we supposed to do with her? She has no special abilities that will be of use to us now!"
The tall, pale man paused on the landing of the flight of stairs and glanced down at the naked woman who was nearly growling with suppressed rage. Silvan shook his head once. "There will be others Rieka, I assure you. The human world is changing and the vampires are becoming more dominant with each passing decade."
"That is why we needed the other girl, the one who had visions! She would be able to help us restore the balance! I am telling you Sylvan, taking in this human as is will be the end of our world."
Silvan frowned and glanced down at his newest charge. He could sense her heartbeat, thumping ever so slowly. "That may be so..." He closed his eyes and took in her scent, the old traits of his vampire self still remained even after all of these years. Her scent of human would remain but it would be touched with the scent of earth, of time. She might bring the end of their world but she would also continue it. Their time was ending, the humans did not fear as they used to, the Children of the Moon were becoming fewer in number thanks to the war. Even the Children of Hecate had gone into hiding. Silvan was very aware of that their world was fast becoming nothing more than a simple dream. However, they would need someone to remember them, to remain where they could not. "She will stay and she will learn the ways of the shadows."
"She will bring nothing but-"
"Death," he said and simply smiled at the feral woman at the foot of the stairs. "Rieka, you and I both know that there are far worse things than death." He turned then in a flurry of dark fabric, listening keenly to the slow thump of the woman's heartbeat. "Lilith, you need not worry of the whispers you will hear or of the shadows you will see. What you had once feared will become your greatest ally."
The woman said nothing in reply, she simply dreamed...