"Now, I see it."

"What do you see?"

Alec's question announced his return from the unexpected meeting that had called him away not too long ago. I sensed his presence as he came to stand behind me, but I was so lost in thought that I'd not processed his question. I was too busy staring up at a portrait that hung above the fireplace mantle and noting that it was similar to the one I'd seen of Alec during my 'tour'.

I was standing in the common room that connected Jane and Alec's bedrooms. Normal siblings shared a Jack and Jill suite. These two immortal vampires each had a marvellously decorated room to themselves and enjoyed a common area the size of a church. It was no wonder they hadn't formed stronger bonds through the years with the other guard members. They had no need to share the training or game room because they had their own personal one complete with a grand piano in the very center of their common area.

Heidi was taking her time redoing my room, which had left me to camp out in the twin's common room and more specifically, in Alec's room. The siblings and I had settled into an irregular routine that ended with nights where we'd read books, play board games, watch movies, or play Dance Dance Revolution on their television. A game that I was becoming rather fond. Eventually, Jane would retire to her room or other duties and Alec would insist that I had a bedtime.

I only seemed to leave the suite when neither of the twins were guarding me. Felix or Demetri would pick me up at the door and we would relocate to another room. Sometimes, transporting the mat for DDR. (That's right. I use abbreviations now.) Although I hadn't seen the Prank Kings since they left for a mission a few days ago, and we'd parted on a bit of a rocky slope for one very simple reason;

I, kind of — sort of...went rogue.

They kept telling me that their so called, 'greatest prank ever' was almost ready. When I offered my services to make it move faster, the two insisted I had done the only part I could. But nothing happened and they were dodging any curiosity I showed in regards to the subject of pranking. I was cooped up in this stupid castle and I wanted to have some fun. After persistent nagging on my part about when exactly they planned on putting it on, they finally admitted the plan was on hold for creative reasons. Apparently, the timing had to be perfect. In an attempt to compensate, Felix assigned me yet another 'task' to make a list of the people I thought would be suitable pranking targets.

And yes, they were on the top of the list.

Unfortunately for them, they had opened the door to the prank world for me and left the door unlocked without proper supervision. Unable to still my growing curiosity and excitement on the subject, I happened to spill the beans on the whole production to Jane, whose eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

The guys had mentioned that some of the vamps had limits when it came to the pranks they'd pull. What they had failed to mention was that involving the twins was a hard limit; The importance of not involving the twins.

And it was apparently, a castle wide standard. Jane and I had been giggling over possible pranks as she gave me examples of common, every-day pranks. Our laughter attracted Heidi's suspicion and as the word 'prank' slipped from my lips, her eyes went wide. Heidi got our attention face on once we'd settled and she pointed a finger at us. She wagged it at us with the bossiness of a new babysitter that was quickly realising they had very little control over what happened next. Her confidence dissipated when Jane and I responded with false innocence, so she later complained to the Kings of Pranks. This led to Felix pulling me aside one day to give me an unnecessarily theatrical storytelling of the strangely sensitive topic.

According to Felix, the twins had gone through a phase in their younger years where they terrorised the guard, and even the masters, with pranks that nearly 'crossed the delicate pranking line between comedy and mean-spirited actions'. Felix's words — not mine. I have no doubts that he utilised a fair bit of embellishments throughout the rest of his story.

He claimed that the main problem was that Jane and Alec had no limits. Once the Volturi rose to power, Aro began spoiling the siblings rotten and their value to the coven allowed them to do whatever they pleased — right down to torturing other guard members with no real reason. Their discovery of the game of pranks provided them with a proper outlet for their remaining immaturity. Having also never partaken in such activities in their prior life, their 'reign of terror' was the only way they knew how to have fun. They weren't able to recognise or find concern in the fact that they were the only ones doing so. Behaviour that built into their growing reputation.

Eventually, members of the guard began to retaliate until Aro announced his only rule for the twins. They were not allowed to engage in any pranking or related activities — 'unless fired upon first'. Felix's retelling had begun to sound like an increasingly intense game of paintball by the time he made his point.

Felix coughed, puffing his chest out to make himself seem more accountable. "The point is — the twins are trapped in a pranking cease fire." He attempted to lower his already deep voice, moving with robotic-like movements. His attempts to keep my attention and relay his message had failed from the moment he sat me down for 'a little history lesson'. In that moment, I had experienced the same level of second-hand embarrassment that schoolchildren did when their teacher tried to rap out their lesson plans. "If you were to come in, it would be their loophole to start an all out war." I raised my eyebrows at the seriousness with which he spoke.

"But that sounds like fun."

"Balloons are fun. Dying Corin's clothes pink is fun. The twins don't stop at fun." He had shuddered, which made me giggle, which in turn made Felix's face turn grave. He took hold of my shoulders to get through to me as he instructed, "as your elder, Saffiya, under no circumstances, are you to engage in the discussion, action nor thought of pranking with either of the twins."

Within that same week, both Chelsea and Demetri had approached me separately with similar concerns. But the more I was told no, the more I did the exact opposite and Jane was all too happy to comply. This time, she was older and didn't need to pull pranks geared towards humiliating or negatively effecting others. Plus, she had me and we were in it for the laughs and good fun all around. Jane and I had covered our bases with solid ideas and we would be able to defend our plans against any one of Felix's assertions.

By the time Caius summoned me to the masters' study one afternoon, I was prepared. Mentally pushing aside my own grievances with the man, I offered him a deal; Allow the twins and I to prank to our hearts' contents in return for full immunity and all access — including a heads up and veto power on all pranks Jane and I were to put into action.

To my immense surprise, he agreed.

Jane and I started small, with Demetri and Felix as our test subjects, so that I could get my bearings before we committed to anything big. Also to keep a low profile until we got to the real stuff. We had a few failed attempts. Like when I smashed a lemon inside Felix's shower head hoping to test my theory that it might, at the very least, sting their eyes. Instead, he came out smelling freaking amazing. Seriously, it was like a delicious candle in the summertime. Lemon. Who'd have thought.

She did insist on limiting Alec's participation in our shenanigans, briefly stating that he lacked the ideal medium between going too big and too small for pranks. I didn't question it, grateful to spend the time alone with her. I was getting a little tired of losing at chess.

Distracted with the brewing prank war, my looming and still unknown death date, and my newfound friendship with Alec, I'd stopped keeping track of the days I'd spent with the Volturi. Days grew into weeks and one month became two and it didn't seem to matter at that point. Plus, I always asked the receptionist the date, but they had just hired a new woman. The new one was not as nice as What's-Her-Name. What's-Her-Name had sweeties on her desk just for me. And when I'd pulled my first amateur prank on Demetri, one that Jane defined as 'overdone but always a laugh', What's-Her-Name let me hide under her desk. But when I asked the new chick for help, she just stared back at me. Which was just rude...unless she just didn't speak English. Something I had not considered until now.

Either way, she didn't have any candy and that was the true crime.

It just so happened that Jane and I had begun planning our first real and original prank when she, Alec, and all my other guards were summoned to a meeting in the throne room this morning.

There had been an abundance of these meetings occurring within the last week. They increased after a single lower guard member returned from a mission sans the two companions he had left with. He told a harrowing story of being forced to watch as their attackers ripped Killian, a younger guard member, limb by limb and burned him. He'd been helpless as they dragged his other partner away; Elizabeth, whom he presumed dead.

Though she had shown the most contempt for me, I had a general concern for Elizabeth's survival. I preferred to focus on the part of the story where the surviving guard had not seen her die. Thinking deductively, it was obvious to me that if they planned on killing her, they would have done it at the same time as they did Killian. But, I was also smart enough to recognize that my opinion was not of interest to the Masters and so I kept my mouth shut.

I gathered more information after catching soundbites from small conversations here and there. I'd put together that they believed it to have been a choreographed attack. Someone had specifically targeted the Volturi and left one alive to pass on the message. What the message was exactly, I was still unclear on.

The meetings seemed to increase the intensity of the guard and I wasn't left alone for even a millisecond. During the meetings with the higher guards, I was practically locked in a single room guarded by four members of the middle ranking guards. Feeding time left me in a similar predicament, only the lock on my door was to keep my temporary guards out — just in case. While a lock wouldn't stop them when they were at their most famished, I had no doubt that they feared the wrath of Aro and the twins more than they craved a single human. I was, however, still warned not to do a single thing that might possibly end with my blood being spilled.

It wasn't the first time I was left alone in the twin's common room with nothing to do, but this time, as I had done maybe a few weeks ago in Alec's room, I decided to take a closer look around.

I'd ventured over to the far wall, the one part of the room we never spent much time in. Mainly because it consisted of a large meeting table, a single bookshelf and a fireplace whereas we spent most of our time on the much more comfortable couches and in front of their television. The two seemed to share an aversion to this side of the room, particularly of the fireplace itself. Obviously they had no need for it and it was better for me to stay away from fireplaces to avoid the possibility of overheating. So, my exploration gave me the opportunity to view a painting just above the mantle of the fireplace.

A woman I'd never seen before centred the portrait and Aro was seated in an identical throne on her right. Alec and Jane stood on either side of the two adults. They were all garbed in 17th century clothing — Volturi style. The crest of their coven stood out proudly around each of their necks. It seemed that family portraits were not only a human indulgence.

The unfamiliar woman had a beauty surpassing even that of Heidi's and though her mouth was set in a straight line, there was a firm gentleness to her. Jane and Alec had identical empty faces, while the tiniest of smiles stood out as a signature contrast on Aro's face. Alec had a hand on Aro's shoulder, the role of the dutiful son. The rumbling of a husky voice behind me required that I, once again, make the conscious decision to tear my eyes away from the ruby gaze the artist had managed to capture in the boy.

"What do you see, vita?" Alec further questioned my intended lonely, rhetorical statement in a dulled voice with mumbled Italian words. He often returned from these meetings less than bright, but his eyes were scanning the portrait as I had been. My attention, however, suddenly became much more focused on his proximity to me. My shoulders were inches from his chest and I tensed to keep myself still, conscious of what would happen were we to make contact for even the briefest of seconds.

This awareness was not an uncommon occurrence over the last few weeks. Alec had a habit of slyly brushing a hand against my arm, my hand, or my leg, almost as if to check that I was really there. At least, that was the purpose at first.

Every time his skin touched mine, my heart jumped into my throat. It never adjusted to the act and the quick shock through my system was a surprise every time. I think it became a bit of a game to him because he'd time out taps on my skin with whatever non active activity we were doing. And although it amused Jane at first, the fact that I couldn't remember more than a few details after a marathon of our favourite tv series' drove her mad after a few days.

Alec didn't care much when Demetri and Felix began to take notice, until he realised that their winks and sly commentary was distracting me from fully responding and engaging in his unruly game.

The thing about being friends with Alec, as I had come to discover, was that the guy loved to mess with those around him. As often as Jane used her powers, Alec seemed to find more pleasure in witty remarks and snarky comments. Occasionally, he'd make a particularly funny one and any amount of laughter from present company at a successful joke spurred more unsuccessful ones. I'd laughed at a few of them until I realized Jane looked ready to explode at him, so I began hiding my amusement in my shirt or under coughs. He never did give up, though. So, whether he was trying to be funny or not was still on the table.

He did have his days. He'd have moments where he'd grow silent and brooding instead of his usual silent and observant aura. The amount of patience and discipline instilled in him was astounding. I'd learned from watching Jane that just continuing on and letting him wallow by himself resulted in overturning his mood more often than not. But sometimes, I would earn a small crack in the hard exterior by giving someone bunny ears, making silly faces, or engaging in other harmless, childish mischief.

It wasn't practical, that our tumultuous relationship could be flipped upside down with a single handshake. Was it really so easy to turn heated arguments into shared laughter? For whatever reason, we'd been able to pull it off so far. Still, the energy that passed between us, no matter what state or mood we were in, was always 100%. And I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that.

I hadn't had time to sort out why Alec was able to cause this sort of response in me. The amount of space he occupied in my mind on a daily basis drove me crazy and clearly my heart couldn't take it. I had programmed myself to always hope for the best, but to expect the least. I was very aware of every worst case scenario that this situation could end in. For now, though, it was fun. And that was enough.

I could feel his eyes on me, naturally, unconsciously before he turned to also gaze up at the portrait. The meeting had certainly set up the potential for him to catch a moody vibe. But there was a difference in his moodiness when we were with others and when we were alone. Instead of me actively trying not to piss him off or distract him, he found his own ways to calm himself down.

It was almost like clockwork that once his gaze left me, I felt a familiar tug on my hair. His fingertips brushed my skin and I found myself leaning in to it, as easy as that. Long fingers found company untangling the ringlets at the base of my neck and sliding down to the ends of my hair. It was an action he performed almost unconsciously, and never in the company of others. An action too intimate to even be put into words, let alone shared with others.

I couldn't help but wonder if maybe these weren't things that normal friends did.

His touch seemed to disappear as quickly as it had come and with it, the serenity of absolute contentment.

Clearing my throat, I finally answered him, "I understand why Felix refers to the Volturi as royalty."

He considered the idea and I could almost hear him smirking with pride. "I suppose. In the vampire world."

Referencing the portrait once more, I informed him, "I don't recognize her." Alec took a seat at the head of the meeting table, twirling the chair around to examine the portrait.

He dropped his head to the side in acknowledgement before tapping his fingers lightly on the table. His fingers moved fluidly, as if he were pressing keys on a piano."Sulpicia." He offered no further explanation or details, famous for one word answers as if I could read his mind. I'd called him on it several times, so he knew it mildly irritated me. Now, every time he did it, it seemed to be just to rile me up. Even if it wasn't always the case.

I noticed the hand Aro rested on the woman's knee. "Who is she?"

"Aro's wife."

I laughed softly until the look Alec gave me made it clear that he was not making a joke. "Aro has a wife?"

He nodded, not quite picking up what had amused me. "The Master's wives remain in the tower."

"Why haven't I met them?"

"Their control is not as developed, as they spend very little time with humans." He halted in his table playing before continuing, "Jane has told me they look forward to meeting you, especially seeing how fond Jane is of you."

Nodding, "I heard that was unexpected." He didn't acknowledge my comment and I turned away from the painting to see his head down. He was studying the table with a conflicted intensity.

"As Aro's mate, Sulpicia may as well have raised Jane and me." Joining him at the table, I made sure he could see that I was giving him my full attention to encourage him to continue. It was rare that he shared tidbits about his earlier life. I'd been told nothing of his human experience, but he sometimes provided unexpectedly angsty opinions about historical figures or to provide an addendum to the sagas told by our recurring companions. I never pried any further than what was shared, that same warning from Marcus still loitering in the back of my mind.

His eyes moved to the portrait and I mimicked him. My focus rested on the entwined hands of Sulpicia and Jane. "She would never replace our mother, but she, and Aro, have been good to us." We rested there in silence, letting his reveal sink in for both of us before I started up again to keep his mood from slipping.

"What is a mate?" Like I said. I took care not to pry into his past.

However, this question didn't seem to be one he wanted to go into either. As soon as the words left my mouth, he visibly took in a sharp, unneeded breath and held it in. He was frozen staring at the painting. He raised his shoulders in a timid reluctance, finally answering my question.

"A mate is a vampire's partner. Their soulmate, if you will." I opened my mouth to scoff at the term but thought better of it. I don't think Alec noticed, appearing to be in deep contemplation.

"So, the guard members in relationships, are all mates?"

"Chelsea and Afton," he named two other pairs in the lower guard, but took me by surprise with the last pairing, "Prosper and Elizabeth—"

"Prosper and Elizabeth?"

"Aye." Old-timer. "This surprises you?"

I tried to form words to describe the dynamic I couldn't process. "He's just so...gentle...and she's so cold."

Alec nodded in thought before sharing evidence that opposed my belief. "He became barbaric once he learned of her disappearance. Felix had to restrain him." He pursed his stone lips, "Prosper believes she is still out there."

"Do you?"

He shrugged, continuing on about his fellow guard member, giving me more detail than I'd managed to catch. I assumed that with all the information, this must have been the topic of their most recent meeting. "For his safety, Aro has confined him to the castle — an attempt to keep him from trying to find her." My heart went out to Prosper, believing that I could only imagine what he must be going through.

Another thought came to me, "are you still sour on him?"

He smirked, shooting back at me, "was Elizabeth still unfavourable toward you?"

With no qualms, I answered straight out, "relentlessly. Maybe I should ask Prosper why?" I chuckled emptily, not actually planning on acting so selfishly when he was so distressed.

It seemed Alec did still have some harsh feelings against Prosper because he provided me with an immediate answer. "She holds you responsible for Prosper's injuries after your first escape."

I raised my eyebrows, "you mean the injuries you caused?" He waved me off, as if it made no difference. Refraining from rolling my eyes in annoyance, I huffed, "what kind of messed up logic is that?"

With a more serious tone, he told me that "mates can often be irrational when it comes to their match." Nonchalantly, he continued, "being human, she already regarded you with slight contempt."

I scoffed, "yeah, yeah, let's just blame humanity." None of them seemed to recall the fact that they were also human once. Whether it was a lack of control on their part or simply an irrational dislike for humans, many of the guard were either polite from afar or they completely ignored me. While Heidi had certainly warmed up to me, I think she agreed to be my handler only when she sought entertainment. Or when Demetri was around. Their flirty banter had always been amusing, but with my new information about mates, I understood why it never seemed to be anything more. A thought occurred to me and though I knew it may test Alec's patience, I proposed it anyways. "If you had killed Prosper, would that irrationality have made her...you know...'seek revenge'?"

He actually laughed. "She wouldn't dare."

"Not on you," I clarified. His head whipped to me and flames danced in his eyes.

"No one will ever lay a finger on you. I promise you." My stomach fluttered.

I continued my questionnaire, taking advantage of the fact that for some reason he was more than willing to answer everything I was asking. "What will happen to Prosper — if she really is...dead?"

He paused for a moment, as if it was painful for him to even consider. "Some broken mates choose death." He stopped once more to gather himself. "Others continue on, though I cannot imagine their demeanour would be much different from Marcus'."

"What do you mean?"

"Marcus' mate, Aro's sister, was murdered. An act against the Volturi."

My mind was racing with all this new information, details into the personal touches of what made the masters' tick. Aro's sister was Marcus' wife? And they never found her killer? It didn't seem possible that the Volturi, supposedly the most powerful coven in the world, would be unable to find the vampire that murdered someone so important, so high up in their hierarchy.

"What was her name?"

He looked back up at the portrait and muttered sadly, "Didyme." I thought of Marcus. The sweet, extremely old man that had been so kind to me at the beginning. Even if he'd insisted that I be constantly surrounded by mean Alec. It wasn't right. Someone like him...he didn't deserve such a horrible tear in his life. But then, who did really? "Mates are for life. We only get one chance." His eyes flickered to mine and he watched me, as if he wanted to say more.

I, too, bit my tongue, too cowardly to ask if he had found his mate and too afraid of the answer.

His hand found my cheek lifting my head up to look at him. I knew he was supposed to feel cold, but all I felt was the smooth, uncalloused palm of his hand and the tips of his fingers on the side of my face. No cold, no warmth. Just him. He whispered something in Italian as he studied my face. "Cuore…vita…", but to be honest, I could only make out every few works and despite the few Italian lessons Demetri had actually offered, it still sounded like mumbled gibberish to me.

A second later, the double doors to the common room creaked open and a sweet voice chimed out, "my turn to play with the human!" Somehow, Jane managed to make the normally demeaning term sound like an endearing nickname.

Alec stood abruptly and I jerked back in my own chair at the act. She paused as she took in our position and smirked, before practically skipping over to us. I could feel the smile on my face widen the closer she got. I'd never really had a friend, especially not one my age. I'd spent most of my life with my father around adults and though I had made friends with the children that took Sunday mass at the convent, it was never anything like what Jane and I shared. As close as I was with the others, there was something different about having a girl that understood me. Alec, however, was another story entirely.

Jane kissed her brother on the cheek in greeting and took both my hands, pulling me quickly to my feet. "Sleepover party!" She was grinning eagerly and I couldn't help but match her energy, even if I had no idea what she was talking about.

I giggled at her excitement, "Jane we've practically been having sleepovers every night."

Denying my claim, she corrected it, "a real sleepover. No boys!" I tilted my head in a mix of amusement and confusion and Alec added in to the conversation.

"Jane will be your guard for the next two days."

"We're going to put every sleepover movie to shame." She dropped my hands as she had a thought attack, "We need movies! And games!" Jane declared, flashing over to the other side of the room. She opened up the cupboard under the television and began searching for activities she deemed worthy of the event.

Alec was watching after his sister in amusement and I looked up at him over my shoulder. "You're leaving again," I commented, unable to keep the disappointment from trickling into my voice. Alec's lips curled up in a slight smirk at the vulnerability I displayed.

"I must. Felix and Demetri require my assistance."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "oof, sucks for you." It was his turn to roll his eyes at me.

Jane called me over, pulling us from our conversation. "Saffiya, come here." I obeyed, leaving Alec to join her on the floor. She placed her arms behind her back and faced me. "Right or left?"

I tapped her right bicep, "right."

She pulled two DVD cases out from behind her back. The one I'd chosen was a film and the other looked like the case to a violent video game that I had to admit, grew on me the more I watched her play it. "Looks like we're starting with 'Magic Mike'."

Alec frowned, examining the cover of the DVD from his standing position. "Are those not Heidi's film sets?"

Jane shot me a look to mock her brother before informing him of her plan in a matter of fact tone. "Yes. Saffiya is from the 21st century, yet four of the last five films we've all watched were from the 40's and 50's."

"I like Marilyn Monroe!" I defended myself.

Mocking me, Jane declared, "we're going to be normal teenagers and watch half naked men dance and…actually I think that's it."

This detail of the film seemed to be a hard line for Alec. With a firm voice, he denounced the plan, "absolutely not."

"I agree, Jane. It sounds a bit…pornographic?" Maybe I was a bit of a prude, but I had lived with women 'married to God' when I first started noticing boys. There was no way anything like this movie would have been included in the nun's movie collection.

She shrugged, "I have no idea, I've never seen it. But Heidi suggested it," she addressed Alec as if to convince him and get his permission to let us watch it. But, it was very clear that she wasn't giving him a real vocal input on the decision. "This is a normal experience for 16 year olds, so would you rather it be me or Heidi that she watches something like this with?" Alec frowned, pursing his lips at his sister's bossiness.

Scoffing, I picked up the case. "What are you guys, my parents?" I flipped over to the back of the case, scanning the description. The content was highly adult, but Jane was right. It was the closest I'd probably ever get to a normal teenager's movie viewing experience. "I'm in."

"Ha!" Jane gloated to her brother. "Two against one!"

Alec sighed, seeing he was losing a case he'd have no control over anyways. "Try not to get into too much trouble, you two."

"No promises." Jane said in a sing-song voice before standing to give her brother a brief goodbye and returning to her task. I giggled at her tone and at the slight irritation it sparked in Alec, though he couldn't stay upset with her for long.

Seeing that Jane had moved on from him, Alec then locked eyes with me. I remained on the ground, looking up at him with a slight frown. It was more out of some bothersome tug that didn't want him to go, but I made sure to push that aside and replace it with a quick, small smile. He hesitated before giving me a nod, "Fiya," and retreating to the door. I watched him go, void of any pertinent thoughts.

It took me a second after the door shut to realise that Jane was staring me down from her spot on the floor, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Yes?"

"Nothing." I relaxed my shoulders and shifted my legs, tucking them into my side. Then, she couldn't help herself. "You two looked comfy."

I laughed softly, expecting the suggestive phrase. "Is this the part of the sleepover where we gossip about boys? Because I don't have anything interesting to share."

Jane raised her hands, yielding to my denial. "Did you and my brother happen to talk about anything interesting?" I shot her a half-hearted glare as she persisted.

I considered the minutes that had passed before her arrival and it struck me that I was a little more than still curious about the conversation we'd ended on. I was sharing before I knew it, "he told me about Marcus' mate. Didyme."

Jane froze at the name and this only spiked my curiosity. Calmly as she could, she continued sifting through the rest of the DVDs. "What else did he say?"

Shrugging, I joined her lazily and without really reading the titles of the entertainment options we had available. "Nothing really. I just asked him a bunch of questions."

"And he answered them?"

I huffed lightly, "I know, I was surprised too."

On a mission, Jane insisted, "but he said nothing else?"

"Er…no?" I eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

She shrugged, "just curious." Before I could press her on it, she jumped up. "You need snacks. All sleepovers have popcorn and other gross human food."

Clearly, there was something more than curiosity driving her. I soon, however, found the topic fading from my mind by the time the opening credits of our first movie appeared.

~•~•~•~

Happy New Year, everyone :)

Thank you for your patience! I had a lot of trouble getting this chapter written so it has its' issues but I hope you still enjoy it anyhow.

Ro