Chapter Two: Jar of Hearts
Hello, my lovelies! I hope everyone is staying safe and getting by without too much stress. The world is very confusing right now and I'm sure you're all tired of every author posting a quarantine message at the top of their fic but please continue to shelter in place and practice social distancing in order to help flatten the curve. I just wanted to say that this chapter is all about coming to terms with some hard parts of yourself, even if you don't want to deal with them, in order to begin healing. I think that's something that maybe a few of us might need at the moment. This wasn't my favorite chapter to write but I hope you all do enjoy it.
Warning: contains depictions of emotional trauma, drug use, smoking, cursing, narcissistic/emotional abuse POV, and death. As always reader discretion is advised if any of this might trigger you, especially when it comes to Aro's POV.
I hear you're asking all around if I am anywhere to be found. But I have grown too strong, to ever fall back in your arms - Christina Perri
"We have at least one week before the Volturi will head to Seattle." Alice had summoned the entire Cullen family sans Bella Swan once both Carlisle and Edward returned a little while later. "Maybe more. I saw Aro decide to use the Elite Guard that had been selected search for Helen in London first." Ruby had been pulled out of bed wearing her old t-shirt and a pair of black panties, not even bothering to put on pants as she rubbed her bloodshot tired eyes and tied her frizzy brown hair up.
"Why would he look for her there?" Ruby asked in an exasperated and groggy tone. "Why now?"
"I don't know why," Alice replied. "My visions only allow me to see decisions, not the context for them."
"He sent them there because that's where he thinks I am," Helen admitted. "I used the sire bond to talk to him and tricked him into thinking I was there." There was a sharp pause as everyone looked at Helen in incredible disbelief. Ruby's eyes shot completely open before her face twisted in frustration and concern. Carlisle looked shocked, he buried his face in the plan of his hand and she heard him emit a light groan.
"Hendricks why the fuck would you do that?" Ruby snarled. "Are you fucking trying to hand yourself over on a silver platter and get everyone here beheaded?"
"Of course not." Helen snapped back. "I didn't tell him anything about anyone here. I only did it to try and buy us all some time to take care of the Seattle newborns. You heard Alice, now we have at least one week before we need to worry about them showing up unannounced."
"That's beside the point," Carlisle responded. "I know you were trying to help Helen but you cannot under any circumstances do that again. Any communication you have with him is dangerous and the slightest slip up will result in all of us being caught."
"Exactly how did you manipulate him?" Edward asked. "Forgive me if I find it difficult to believe you pulled one over on him, but you are a child."
"I made it seem like he got it out of me." Helen huffed. "I pretended to get emotional and acted like it slipped out by accident." The rest of the group didn't seem satisfied with that answer. "Scouts honor, I did not give anything else away. He and I yelled at each other for a little bit and then he sent me back once he thought that I had told him where I was. Clearly, it worked because Alice just said he sent the guard to London."
"Hendricks." Ruby sighed with great annoyance. "Ugh, fine. Do not do that again."
"Do not act like I just fucked this up. I bought you all one week at a minimum. With the sire bond, I can keep tabs on what they're planning on doing much more than any of you can." Helen snorted. "Oh, and by the way Edward, me being a child has nothing to do with this. You might be a mind reader but I actually just spend the last six months of my life playing daughter to him. If you think that I did that without picking up some tricks to keep him at bay then you don't know him as well as you think you do."
"You don't need to get hysterical." Edward narrowed his eyes. "It was a question."
For a moment, Helen saw red as she listened to his condescension. She hadn't even said a word before Carlisle quickly cut in and calmly shooed them. "Please, let's not argue amongst ourselves, especially at a time like this. Helen, if you say you convinced him then I believe you but Ruby is right."
"Do not do this again," Ruby repeated, staring dead straight at her. "Say that you will not try and contact him anymore."
"Ruby," Helen whined.
"Repeat it, Hendricks." Ruby sneered. "Or I swear to fuck I will call Richard. You don't want me to nag you about this? Imagine how ticked off he'll be, then."
Helen groaned. "You're seriously threatening to tell my Dad on me? You do understand that right?"
"One," Ruby warned, making Helen scoff in disbelief. "Two. Don't you dare make me get to three."
"Fine." She hissed, incredulous, and shocked at how infantile she was being treated by them. "I promise not to contact Aro anymore with the sire bond. Satisfied?"
"Very." Ruby frowned and then turned her attention back to Carlisle. "Alright, how do you want to play this? We have extra time now so there's some wiggle room to map this out."
"Extra time thanks to me," Helen grumbled under her breath, all it got her was another warning glare from Ruby and a chuckle from Emmett and Jasper's lips. She hated this. She hadn't expected gratitude for what she did but she certainly didn't enjoy the fact that she was getting scolded by two practical strangers for trying and succeeding in helping this plan. 'Who the fuck do they think they are? I fucking know that Aro is dangerous and yet I'm being treated like an idiot for what I did. Ruby is not my mother or even remotely my parental figure. She's just some bitchy woman who thinks she can tell me what to do. Treating me like a child, infantilizing me. That's exactly what fucking Aro and Sulpicia did. Set's my fucking teeth on edge just thinking about it.'
"Hendricks," Ruby called out to her, interrupting her inner rant. "Did you get that? We're staying for the whole week while you help them train for Seattle."
Helen rolled her eyes and sneered back. "You sure you can trust me with that?"
"Oh shut up you little brat." Ruby snapped. "You're really worked up right now you know that? Jesus."
"Why don't we all just cool off for a moment?" Esme interjected. "This can all be worked out in the morning, I think we should all regroup then when we've all had time to digest this."
"I need a smoke." Ruby disregarded Esme and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack in the foyer, pulling out a pack of Marlboro Gold's and an antique-looking silver lighter. Before Ruby was about to light it, Esme cleared her throat rather loud and eyed Ruby with little decorum. "Outside if you please, Ruby."
Ruby nodded and walked out the front door. At that, the tension in the room finally dropped as the rest of the Cullen children dispersed amongst themselves. Helen eyed the front door rather coldly, still a little pissed at the dressing down she had just received from the witch. As she was turning around to head back to her room she was stopped by Esme who gave her a rather warm and apologetic smile. "I hope you're not too angry with her she's just trying to keep you safe."
"She treats me like a child or better yet like I'm stupid." Helen huffed. "She just walks around giving me orders and claiming she knows me and gives me no reason as to why I should believe her."
"To be fair Helen, you are in many ways still a child." Esme shrugged. "I know it may not feel that way because of what you went through and what Aro made you endure but you are still very young. You aren't stupid but that doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to those with more experience dealing with this."
Helen didn't say anything and blinked at the woman in front of her. She could tell she was trying to be kind or even a little motherly to her and while Helen didn't unappreciate the attempt, frankly, she'd had enough random vampires trying to parent her as it was.
"Anyway," Esme stated after sensing that she wasn't making much headway. "I think you should talk to her. It doesn't help anyone if we're all at each other's throats."
"Thanks for the advice," Helen responded cooly. Esme nodded and gave a defeated smile before walking back upstairs. Helen huffed and leaned against the wall. She did feel like she was being a little too shitty to everyone right now. She snapped at Ruby, Carlisle, Esme for trying to help her. She snapped at Edward for asking a valid question. It felt like lately all she did was get mad at someone, even if they were just trying to help. It just bothered her for some reason, every time someone told her what she needed to do it just got her all tightly wound and bitchy.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. It was past one o'clock in the morning, easily an hour ahead in Denver, Colorado where her friends and family were at. Still, she had been wanting to call Aggie for the past few hours now and even if she just got a voicemail it would help just to try.
It rang about three times before she heard her friend answer in a clear voice. "Hello? Helen?"
"Aggie!" Helen blinked in shock. She hadn't expected her to pick up the phone at all. Helen quickly walked away from the parlor and down the hall to where a tiny desk had been propped up against the wall with a respective chair, taking a seat. "I'm sorry did I wake you?"
"No, not at all. Syd actually brewed a pot of coffee and we were watching movies in the living room with Wesley, trying not to wake your Dad. You have to come and see us soon, Nells, our house is right next to this giant lake and it's so pretty." Aggie said happily. It made Helen smile, to hear that she wanted her to come to visit them, to hear that they were having a good time.
"That's great, Aggs. I'm so glad you guys are doing alright." Helen replied with a somber smile. It tugged at her that she couldn't be with them right now, reopening what was already a constantly cut wound.
"Is everything okay? You sound upset." Aggie asked with concern, her voice slightly above a whisper.
"Just dealing with some shit, honestly some same old bullshit that I do very well," Helen admitted. Aggie chuckled lightly at that statement before replying. "Well, at least you're consistent with how often you get snippy. I always told you that your hair was red for a reason."
"Not an excuse," Helen admitted with disdain. "I feel like all I do lately is get angry at even the smallest thing."
"Did something happen?" Aggie asked with even more concern. "Do you want me to get your Dad?"
"No, but can you get somewhere private? I really don't want to tell anyone else what I did right now." Helen asked and she heard a worried inhale on the other line. "No one's dead but I need to talk to someone about it."
"Hold on." There was a rustling as a door opened and closed. She could hear a faint breeze and deduced that Aggie must have gone to their porch or patio. "Okay, what happened?"
"So that's the extent of it," Helen confessed, recapping the night's events up to her and Ruby biting each other's heads off. "Do you think I should have done it? I don't even fucking know now."
"Do I think you should have had a conversation with a psychopath who wants to murder all of us and continue to torment you?" Aggie asked very matter-of-factly."Well, the answer is obviously no because I would prefer to stay alive. I can where you thought you were doing a good thing. It worked out for you this time as far as you know."
"That's basically what everyone else said too," Helen admitted, guilty. "What would you have done if you could?"
"Probably spend a few minutes telling him to eat shit." Aggie laughed. "Honestly I don't know but I agree with everyone else. It's not good for anyone especially you to talk to Aro even if all you do is cuss him out and throw off his trail. That dickhead deserves it but you can't risk everything after we finally got a leg-up on him."
"I'm not usually that impulsive, even for me that was bold," Helen admitted. "What's wrong with me?"
"You have this great idea that it's up to you to save everyone, Supergirl." Aggie deadpanned. "You always have good intentions but you need to take a backseat on this. You also need to listen to other people besides me and your Dad when you're asked to keep your head down."
"I'm an idiot you're right." Helen sighed.
"You're only an idiot if you let this one thing you did be the thing you get upset about." Aggie retorted. "You're also not going to throw a pity party with me, Nellie Lou. I'm not giving you any validation on this. Just accept it and move on."
"Can I tell you something?" Helen asked in a small voice, her mind getting a dangerous thought. Aggie gave her an mmhmm and braced herself. "It's weird not talking to him every day. I'm so used to seeing him and having to brace myself for whatever I needed to say in order to keep him happy. It was exhausting and I hated it, but now that I'm not doing it," She paused for. a moment. "It's like I don't even know what to do with myself."
"Hooked on the pain." Aggie surmised. "I think you just got so used it. Maybe your brain just wanted to get back to where it was before. I don't know."
"Does that mean anything about me?" Helen asked in a worried tone.
"I think it means you need help and I don't mean that as a joke. You need to separate yourself from the box he put you in or else he just wins in a different way." Aggie paused and thought to herself for a moment. "He has no power over you anymore."
"I wish I felt the same as you did." Helen gritted her teeth. "But I'll die before I'd go back under his thumb."
"Don't talk like that," Aggie said with renewed concern. "I mean it. Don't ever say that. We spent half a year thinking you were dead. I can't even tell you how many times Syd called me in the middle of the night crying because she dreamt that they found your body or that we were at your funeral."
"Sorry, didn't mean it," Helen admitted bashfully. "Thank you for not yelling at me tonight."
"Helen, I'm not mad at you per se. I'm frustrated, we all are, but I'm not going to take it out on you." There was a crack in Aggie's voice as she asked hopefully. "Do you think you could ask Ruby to let me see my parents soon? Just give them a phone call? I won't tell them anything I promise."
"Aggie." Helen paused, defeat swelling in her voice. Of course, she wanted to tell her yes. Hell, if it was up to her, Sydney and Aggie would have left St. Louis with both of their families. "I can't promise she'll say yes so I don't want you to get your hopes up."
"I miss my mom." Aggie sobbed lightly. "I was so mean to her before I left. She grounded me for getting an 89 on a paper and I told her to go fuck herself. She didn't say anything she just looked so betrayed and hurt. She called me down for dinner later and I just sat in my room all night pouting. I never thought I'd miss her this much. How did you deal with it? How did you even handle being away from your Dad like this?"
"I didn't handle it," Helen admitted, on the verge of crying dry and broken sobs. "I wasn't really allowed to be upset, or if I did it just pissed the two of them off even more. I just sort of had to push it down and when I was sent back to my room I would let it out as quietly as I could."
"Will you promise to ask?" Aggie hiccuped. "Please? For me and Syd?"
"I promise," Helen said softly, trying not to upset her. "I can't guarantee you'll get an answer you like."
"I'm gonna hang up now Helen. I don't want to go back in there crying and freak Sydney out. Call her too, when you get a chance, and your brothers and your Dad. I hope you know how happy we are that you aren't dead."
"I'm happy none of you are dead, either." Helen giggled. "Goodnight Aggie." There was a slight click as the line went dead. Talking to Aggie made Helen happier but it didn't seem to get rid of any of her residual anger. If anything, being reminded of the situation just infuriated her more towards Aro and the Volturi.
'I swear to you Aro, if there comes a day when I see you again I'm going to tear your fucking eyes right out of your skull. If not only because you just made my best friend cry.'
Still, she needed to calm down and focus. After all, Aggie was right. If she let what Aro did continue to define her attitude and her actions it was no different then if she was still back in her gilded cage in Volterra. She couldn't visit with him anymore, Ruby and Carlisle were at least right about that. She needed to quit him cold turkey or else it was going to end badly for all of them.
Standing up, she walked over to the front door and looked through the windows, Ruby was still outside smoking. She carefully opened the door and received a side glance from the witch upon walking outside next to her. Ruby took another drag off of her cigarette and didn't bother to say a word.
Helen sighed and put her hands in her jacket pockets. "I'm sorry I got pissy with you. You're right, I shouldn't have used the sire bond to contact him."
"It's no skin off my back, Hendricks." Ruby still faced forward. "It's not as if I thought it wouldn't happen again."
"I just wanted to help," Helen admitted softly. "I wanted to do something, to be useful to everyone. You've all gone to so much trouble to help me and my family."
"You want to help? You are helping by being here and keeping your head down and your mouth shut." Ruby turned to face her and flicked the ashes of the end of her smoke. "You are helping when you do as I say when I say it. You are not helping when you take matters into your own hands and trying to manipulate the freaking Devil in order to feel like you've accomplished something. You are not in a position to do shit like that. I'm sorry but it's true, it may have worked out this time and while I'm not going to congratulate you on making it out of there alive, I do see the merit in us getting an extra week."
"I've dealt with him before though, Ruby," Helen said poignantly. "I don't see why you'd think I'd be going in there without any intuition on how to do that."
"Yes, you have." Ruby took another drag. "In which he was able to kidnap you, emotionally manipulate, gaslight and harass you until you started convincing yourself that you loved him. You know how to survive him but you are not claiming an advantage in this game. Right now, Helen, you aren't even a player, you're just a pawn."
Helen sighed and nodded in agreement.
"However." Ruby lit another cigarette. "If you do what I say for now that won't always be the case, but if you pull any shit that leads to either of us being caught I will leave you without question."
That statement shocked Helen profoundly. In all the time and things they had dealt with in the past year, Helen hadn't ever heard Ruby threaten to pull out and leave her alone.
"Shocked? Don't be. I'm willing to help you but I have my own devil that I'm hiding from and if it comes down to it, I'm saving myself. Just so we're on the same page, I want to avoid that but if you leave me with no choice I will not hesitate. Understood?" Ruby smirked and Helen nodded only once.
"Good." Ruby exhaled some smoke. There was a beat and she held out an unlit butt to Helen as a sort of haphazard peace offering. "You want one?"
"I'm fifteen." Helen furrowed her brows. "Plus I don't even think my body would be able to work with nicotine at this point."
"It's not like it will kill you." Ruby snorted jokingly. "No pressure, just offering."
"You know that stuff will give you cancer and kill you." Helen pointed out matter-of-factly. "You're better off just drinking poison."
"Do you have some?" Ruby teased while taking another hit. "I'm two hundred and seventy-eight years young so I think I'm winning this battle against dying rather successfully."
Helen scoffed and took the cigarette from the pack, placing it in between her teeth and holding her head up at more of an angle so Ruby could light it for her. She inhaled deeply as the smoke crawled in and burned her throat and lungs slightly before her body quickly adjusted and numbed the pain. She felt the high feeling from the nicotine threaten to creep up on her senses, but no sooner than it appeared did it vanish. A few more drags didn't help either, which proved her point that no matter how much she might fight it, vampire venom would burn off anything else she consumed that wasn't blood.
"Damn, Hendricks." Ruby guffawed with a little bit of a snort. "How did you know how to smoke that? I expected you to cough most of it up."
"My older brother," Helen admitted sheepishly before throwing the butt down and stepping on it with her right boot. "He smoked marijuana with his friends last year and let me try it a few times. We all got in deep shit when my Dad found out, to say the least. Not that it matters, it's not going to work at all."
"Learning experience." Ruby winked and took a smug hit off of her own cigarette. Helen scoffed and took a picture of her on her phone, which earned her nothing but a middle finger from Ruby as she bit down and smiled in the frame. It made Helen roll her eyes and smirk in delight at such a silly image of the witch.
She really was a terrible influence most of the time.
There's nothing like the smell of ash in the morning. That's something that Aro had discovered after three thousand years of immortality, the aroma of one's burnt enemies was deliciously fragrant. Sebastian had been taken deep into the forest of the Volturi's private ground in Florence where they held more public and painful executions for those who committed especially heinous crimes. To someone who possessed a less selective conscience than Aro, it would have appeared a bit extreme to burn his traitorous guard to death for desertion, but this fool had attacked him personally. That was something that he would simply not abide.
The guard had all gathered, cloaked, and hushed as their Masters and their Wives stood on the small stage before the unlit pyre. Felix and Santiago dragged the dirt-covered, chained, gagged, and unkempt Sebastian forward, awaiting command.
It would appear foolish to most to have a public execution out further in Italy, but these woods belonging to the Volturi were enchanted to prevent any humans from wandering too close. They had not held such a bonfire as this in quite a long time, and truly it was more to serve as a show for those that had gathered more than that of the accused. For some of the guards on thin ice, it was a warning, for those seeking to move up in rank it was an opportunity. For the few that were a bit on the more unsavory side, this was entertainment in it's purest form, where any cheers would be welcome and relished.
Aro looked to his right where his wife was. Sulpicia had dressed in one of her finer cloaks, her blonde hair was immaculate today. Her sheer black veil pressed and steadfast against the light breeze. Today held as much justice for her as it did for Aro, she would receive recompense for the guard that had caused their daughter to be taken away. Athenodora flanked Caius' right as well, offering her a look of support under her own respective veil. Marcus had appeared sterner today as well, a small sign of approval for what would occur.
In one swift motion, Aro raised his hands to direct Felix and Santiago to bind the traitor to his pyre. The chains locking into place with a resounding click. The metal that rendered vampires powerless has many uses, and being indestructible was certainly one of them, no matter how hard Sebastian would writhe and wriggle to escape the flames the devices would not yield.
"Good morning, dear ones," Aro stated with his usual merriment in his voice.
"Good morning, Master Aro." The guard replied in unison, not a single soul dare be silent when greeting their Master in the ceremony. Aro smiled, his eyes particularly gleeful today.
"We are all aware of the circumstances as to why we have gathered on this beautiful morning." Over his head, the sun had not threatened to creep out from behind the clouds. Cold, grey and bare. Truly a day of beauty for any vampire to be up and about. "When in fact, I am sure we would all want to be doing something else far more productive."
Aro sighed rather forcefully, he was trying so hard not to appear anymore outwardly gleeful. One can't have one's servants think them too cruel for comfort. "But duty requires us to take care of our needs before our wants. Am I correct my dears?"
"Yes, Master Aro." The crowd replied rather sycophantically.
"This traitor." Aro fingered Sebastian as though he were a child caught stealing from the cookie jar, condescension dripping in his feathery voice. "Has brought shame and disgrace to your Masters and the Family. There can be no greater injustice than to dishonor those who ensure the peace and stability of our kind. There is no worse offense than to personally seek to harm your Master Aro and Mistress Sulpicia. There is no greater crime than to take a child away from their parents. Your Lady Helen will receive justice even in her absence and abduction by criminals. Wouldn't you all agree?"
"Yes, Master Aro and Mistress Sulpicia." The guard breathed. "We will not tolerate such disgrace." Aro nodded and turned to his left where Caius stood, Athenodora backing up slightly as his brother handed him their large golden torch. Sulpicia stepped forward more as she and her husband in unison clasped the weapon and activated the flame. Together, they lit the outermost layer of straw in the pyre and watched as the flames crept up slowly but surely, eating through every boundary until they would reach the center where Sebastian continued to squirm in terror of his inevitable death.
They all stood there watching as the pyre continued to burn. Some jeered and laughed in amusement as Sebastian's legs started to catch fire. Others looked on with solemnity, grateful that it had not been them who had been so careless. Santiago, in particular, looked on in relief and pity. He had not been punished for leaving Lady Helen's room to join the council meeting as that was his order, but he knew in a way that had his Master not directed all of his rage and anger against Sebastian's blatant carelessness, he could have easily joined this execution more directly.
No one took their eyes off of the display, no one dared look away and shield their eyes as Sebastian's skin burnt, cracked and dusted before them. His screams getting louder and more animalistic until his tongue was no more. It took around an hour before he was nothing more than a pile of ash and dust and soot. No trace of him was left on his Earth, he would only be remembered as the idiot traitor, an example to be set and lived by. The only remnant that remained was the chains still hooked onto the mast where his hands and feet had been bound.
Once his death was complete, Aro commenced the guard to smother the flames with the buckets of sand they had brought, watching very carefully until the flames had completely extinguished. Only once there were no embers or risk of the fire remaining did Aro dismiss the guard to return back to the estate. A few miles away on a path near the road were two black town cars with the Leccapiedi drivers that accompanied them. Caius, Marcus, and Athenodora had entered the first car, while Aro held the second car door for his wife as she climbed in with him having followed suit.
Once they had situated themselves in their seats, Sulpicia had lifted her veil over her face and attached it to her cap before leaning into her husband's embrace comfortably. Aro's arms wrapped around her very snugly and he whistled sharply to order the low ranking vampire to begin driving the car.
"It's over, my love." Aro tenderly caressed her cheek. "He's paid for his sins against us."
"You know I truly detest coming to Florence," Sulpicia stated bitterly. "It always reeks of death here."
"We have had a difficult day, Sia." Aro kissed her forehead as she sighed further into his chest. "We shall be home soon and then you can relax in our bedchamber while I continue to sort out the situation."
"She should be here with us." Sulpicia's face hardened, anger and pain distorting it. Aro sighed and buried his nose in her hairline, taking in his wife's lovely smell. Milk and Honey, the nectar of the promised lands from their home. "Of course, darling, and she will be back soon. She'll see the error of her ways soon, I promise you, she will come back to us and apologize for what she has done and then all will be as it was before."
"Such a mess, dear husband." Sia frowned. "I didn't think she'd be so careless with our hearts." Aro saw in his wife's mind as she briefly conjured a few memories the three of them had and treasured with her. Their chats in the Family Room, that ridiculous holiday they put on for her, their walks in the courtyard. In every one of them, it had her smile, her sweet, decadent, priceless smile. The greatest treasure in the world to both of them, the pinnacle of their happiness together with her. Aro smiled lightly as he thought about her with that look. Truly, he had been blessed with such a lovely girl.
When she wasn't being an insufferable and ungrateful little brat, he reminded himself. He'd been too lenient, he'd spoiled her and then she went and ruined their happiness. She was selfish and stupid, she ripped out his heart after he dared to honor her with it and rejected their love as though it was trash.
She didn't deserve them, she didn't deserve their love and affection. She dared to disobey them and run away and she would pay the price for her transgressions. By the time he was done punishing her, Helen would beg to be allowed the honor of being his daughter again. Aro must have started growling in anger as he was lost in his inner rant because his wife put a comforting hand on his cheek and shooed him rather soothingly.
"I do not mean to upset you, dear heart." Sulpicia breathed out, her lips tracing his jaw. "We can't let her disrespect consume us or this will have all been for naught."
"Of course, Sia." He kissed her deeply on her lips, his hand moving down to the small of her back and traced circles over her cloak and dress. "I was lost in my upset for a minute. I'm afraid our daughter has that effect on me."
"When you speak with her again will you do me a favor, my husband?" Sulpicia breathed sweetly, cupping her hand behind his head and pulling him in closer. Aro nodded, "I will grant you anything you wish, as I always have."
She smiled and it made Aro feel such a surge of happiness to be blessed with such a darling wife. "Promise me that you will be kind to her, even though she doesn't deserve it right now. She will rightly be punished when she returns, but I don't want her thinking that there is no love for her waiting at home."
"Oh, my wife." Aro sighed and kissed her head. Such heart she had, as any good woman would, but her feminine navieté had stepped forward even more than he expected. "Such mercy you have, such a gentle soul. I am always kind to her, but I'm afraid she continues to test me whenever I look at her, she truly was such a bratty girl when we last spoke."
"Promise me, Aro." Sulpicia smiled again. "All I want is her back with us as it were. I know we will need to be stricter with her so she follows the rules, but I don't want her to hate us. I want her to know how much we love her, even if our love has a high price."
"Perhaps you do have a point." Aro chuckled lightly. "She needs a firm hand, but a gentle one nonetheless. I'll make an effort, even if she does not deserve such tenderness."
"Will you pass along my regards as well?" She asked even more sweetly. "Pass along my love and care?"
'Gods be good' Aro thought, Helen truly did not deserve this level of devotion that Sulpicia held for her. Aro still loved his daughter very deeply even in his anger, but his wife's soft and womanly heart was truly a marvel to behold. He nodded and she leaned back into his chest, placing her hand over the spot where his heart had beaten some millennia ago. He was grateful for her calming presence and he knew how badly she needed him to lift her up during this difficult time of familial strife. Aro was always amazed by how extraordinarily different women could behave. Sulpicia knew to turn to him for comfort and support while Helen had sulked and screamed, disgracing herself with foul language and unkind words. He reminded himself of course that Helen was not a woman, but rather a girl, and girls needed to be minded and disciplined and never left to their own devices. He always found her cleverness amusing, but she wasn't half as clever as she thought she was as evident by her stupidly trying to trick him in their last conversation.
Such a silly girl, thinking she could try and lie to him of all people. He did not teach her to be dishonest, because if he had she would have been able to do it successfully.
His musings were interrupted by his wife, who looked up at him with tender eyes. "Dearest one, will you sing for me? I hate this long drive and I am in need of a distraction."
"Only for you, my love."
Aro sang a lovely tune he crafted for her back when she was a young woman with warm flesh and a beating heart, their song, sung in his delicate tenor reminded him of the early days when they were first husband and wife, surrounded only by love and adoration, with no worries about the children they could never make themselves or the daughter who had spurned their affection. It served as a welcome distraction for both of them as they returned to the safety of their castle.
What had started out as a week of training had transformed into three. Only because the first had shown the Cullen clan just how inept an inexperienced fighter like Helen was when it came to getting themselves ready against a newborn. As a result, Jasper had spent a week and a half getting her somewhat ready so that when it came time for her to spar with the remainder of the coven, she was able to put up a decent fight when combing basic moves with her temporarily supercharged strength.
It still pissed her off when Emmett through her jacket over her head and then proceeded to give her a wedgie. "You dick!" Helen shouted, embarrassed, and enraged. She lunged at him and he gave her a playful look as he dodged her two attempts to clock him in the jaw. Emmett only laughed at her and did a quick sweep of her feet with his leg and she fell back slightly before her vampire agility caught up with her and she was able to handstand into a backflip and resume a basic defensive position.
"Alright," Carlisle interjected. "I think that's enough for today. Good catch, Helen, hopefully, we can have you up to par in a few days. Emmett, while I am always impressed by your creativity," Carlisle deadpanned, rather exasperated as it turned out. "Please stick to maneuvers a bit more realistic than pulling Helen's undergarments."
"Hey!" He shouted in mock defense. "We don't know what kind of freaky crap those newborns are into! They could take cheap shots like that."
"You're a cheap shot!" Helen grumbled in annoyance while flipping him off. "Fuck you!" She examined her now ripped waistband on her burgundy thong. "This was my favorite pair of panties!"
"C'mon Little Red." Emmett dismissed affectionately while placing a hand on her head, all it did was make her hiss in annoyance. "I promise no more wedgies or anything else that a 6th-grade boy would do to you."
Helen huffed and knocked his hand off of her head. He was really in the mood to act like an annoying older cousin today, he'd been boasting all day about the ass beating he was going to give her while they sparred. While Rosalie and Esme might have promised he was kidding, that grin on his face only served to make her venom constantly flood her mouth in anger.
Emmett continued to smirk at her and let his guard down for just the slightest moment, allowing Helen to take advantage of his lack of defense and rip his v-neck apart from the neckline down to the hem. Emmett blinked in confusion before frowning at her like she had just spit in his face.
"Hey, I loved this shirt!" He scowled at her. Helen scoffed and smirked up at him in return, "yeah it sucks whenever people damage your clothes! Doesn't it?"
"Enough." Jasper cut in, having just quickly run outside once he saw Carlisle bury his face in his hands in annoyance. He too had heard the squabble and did not find any part of it amusing. "We need to get ready for tonight before the guests arrive and Ruby needs to take Helen out for the night."
Ah, yes, Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Alice had all graduated from high school earlier today. The Cullen children having taken part in yet another photo op in their royal blue polyester gowns, their caps added to the wall decoration after Esme had managed to make room. Alice apparently had also decided to throw a party and invite the entire senior class full of humans over to celebrate. Obviously wanting to avoid the massacre of fifty or so humans by her newborn bloodlust, Ruby agreed to keep Helen occupied by taking her out into the woods and keep her distracted until the party was over.
At this point in her training to control her thirst, Helen could manage to be around two humans who had not consumed Leechless without losing her shit and going crazy. An amazing feat to increase her previous record of only one, if she really wanted to be cocky about it that is. The sky had gone dark, the distant roar of the party was humming in her head and Ruby had only had to strike her with a bolt of energy from her ring just the once when she smelled someone especially delicious at the house. The only thing that it had managed to hurt more than anything was her pride.
"Have you had a lot of experience doing that?" Helen grumbled and picked a leaf out of her hair from when she had been knocked over and tumbled in the dirt. Despite not even attending the party, Alice had insisted that she wear this ridiculous olive green party dress and sheer black tights, pulling on her cheap brown boots and booking it with Ruby before she could force her into these black suede wedge booties. Her dress was now muddy and the tights had several runs. It briefly flashed her back to the night she escaped Volterra and ruined the comparable fine clothing she had been given no choice but to wear. "I mean Jesus, you really nailed me with that blast."
"Well I was trying to put you on your ass, and when I'm determined about something I usually get what I want," Ruby smirked, rather pleased with herself. Maybe she enjoyed getting to take a shot at the bratty newborn she had been forced to bunk with for the foreseeable future. Helen snorted at that and kept walking with her through the deep forest that surrounded most of the Cullen land. Despite her current circumstances being separated from her family, Helen was enjoying the past month she had been given to find her footing away from the Volturi. She was still being careful and she had followed everyone's request that she not contact Aro again, because if even the slightest margin of error occurred then all of this would be over. She felt the continued call from his end, a sharp, piercing in the back of her head that came and went every so often. He was probably trying to wear down her resolve so that she'd inevitably answer, but it was like Ruby said, she can't beat him at the game when she's doesn't have the advantage to play. Helen knew she needed more power to face him again, and until she had that in her possession there wasn't really anything she could do but avoid him.
'Honestly, as much as I wish he would just get me out of his head, I would pay big money to watch him squirm and get twitchy over me ignoring him.'
They had gone a few hours into their long walk, during which Ruby blasted Helen twice with her ring. The first time because Helen caught the scent of a group of hikers downwind from them and the second as a result of Helen picking up a spider and putting it in Ruby's hair as a joke. It was just the two of them walking around in the cool, wet leaves and dirt of the Pacific Northwest taking jabs at each other but never making it personal. Despite how much they got on each other's nerves, Ruby was almost bearable to be around when she wasn't glued to the flask on her hip and got out of bed for more than an hour.
They had stopped at a nearby pond to sit down when Ruby got a call from Carlisle on her phone telling them to come back immediately. She put him on speaker and heard the grave concern in his voice as he spoke. "Come back right now. We won't be going to Seattle after all, the newborn army will be here in four days. I'm afraid we need you both to fight them off."
Well, fuck.
Word count: 7,803
