Chapter Six: Silent Archives

How long had they stood in the chill of the darkened room?

Marcus refused to move a muscle, he hadn't moved in what felt like ages. He kept unimaginably still to preserve the small humans' life. Her blood tempted him, the sweetened taste lingered on his tongue, venom pooled in his mouth, making his throat ache, burning desperately in a feeble attempt to convince him to drain the fragile human of her blood.

His years of experience allowed him to concentrate, keeping him from slipping into the inebriated state of frenzy. The catatonic state he'd lived in for a majority of the last dozen centuries could not keep him from acting on his instincts. Blood was always alluring, his melancholy could delay his desire to feed, but it had never eliminated his need.

Linnea's thrashing about hadn't helped her chance of survival in the slightest, the venom seared her wound shut, keeping the smell of fresh blood from polluting the air, the scent that lingered was dry and stale and not at all appetizing, but Marcus was thirsty, the warmth resonating under her skin teased him. He caught his mind deterring, trying to convince him that Linnea wouldn't survive the transformation, though it was an extremely rare occasion when their venom failed to change a human before their heart ceased to beat.

When that thought failed, his thoughts reminded him that humans were little more than livestock to his kind, the desire to drain her blood drove her identity from his mind, she was no longer 'Linnea' to him, instead, she was a small, defenseless human. But the orchid threat that had woven around them still shone brightly, showing Marcus how deeply connected they were, allowing him to endure whatever falsehoods his mind developed.

Once the venom enveloped enough of her humanity to alter the scent in the air, Marcus thanked the Gods. A surprising thought. The so-called Gods had not crossed the ancient man's thoughts in a millennium. He remembered worshipping them during his human years, though the memory was foggy and lacking detail, he recalled cursing their names and casting his belief aside when he was bitten by a vampire who had not realized Marcus clung to life. Though, when Aro brought his younger sister, Didyme to join their coven Marcus regained his beliefs. There was no conceivable way that Didyme was not Aphrodite herself.

Every depiction of the Goddess he'd seen was wrong; Aphrodite didn't have locks of gold or auburn, rather her hair possessed the radiance of the night sky. Violet and navy undertones twisted through the strands.

Linnea knew the transformation would be a painful experience, that was a fact. She recalled glimpses of Didyme's alteration, in her dreams she felt the searing pain that choked the young woman, while she shrieked in agony as her creator watched from across the room. Didyme hadn't been held as sweetly as Marcus held Linnea. The coolness of his skin almost soothed her pain, but the fire burning through every vein kept her from feeling any form of comfort. No area hurt least or worse, the ache throbbed all at once with no signs of stopping.

Her eyes burned, and tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed. She'd forced her eyes closed, praying to dull the sensation. It hadn't worked. Linnea tried to resist the anguish, to concentrate on anything to keep control of the situation, yet her attention span no longer existed. Her thoughts flickered from Marcus to her mother, her coworkers, Aro, and the rest of the Volturi and she hadn't been able to form a cognitive thought before she refocused and both mentally and physically screamed at the pain.

As the fire reached her lungs, all she could manage was a whimper now and again. Any sound she made or breath she took made the blaze burn harsher.

Her quiet sobs slowed upon feeling Marcus' rhythmically rubbing her back. The blistering heat began to shrink, pulling from the edges of her body centering in the base of her throat. She wanted badly to find something, anything that would soothe the ache.

But they were so far underground that there wasn't a scent that appealed to her thirst.

However, when she inhaled she could smell him.

The sweet scent of freshly sliced green apples, tarty, lemony citrus similar to quince, and a hint of diluted peppermint-rather watermint.

Linnea's hands fell from the death grip they held on his clothes, moving under his robe, wrapped around his back, pulling him tightly into an embrace.

The abrupt impact caused Marcus to grunt but he made no effort to distance himself from her.

"Were you going to come back?" She questioned, the roulette wheel of her thoughts landing on the memory of where he'd left her standing in her hotel room, wondering if she'd done something wrong.

He didn't answer immediately. Marcus valued her input, he'd asked if she wanted to live as a vampire and Linnea had said the decision wasn't hers to make. If she desired to live as a human, he would've allowed it, but he wasn't above forcibly turning her to save her life; he'd just done that very thing. This wasn't something she would have chosen, she never asked to be saved, she asked if turning her was his plan. Linnea confirmed that she was ready for the transformation, but the decision was his and he'd taken it from her with no remorse. There wasn't enough time to plan her future, to beg Aro and Caius to overlook her knowledge of their world as long as she kept quiet. He only had time to act.

Marcus breathed out a sigh as he replied "Yes" in a quiet voice. There was no doubt that he would've found himself in her bedroom again, whether it was a hotel room or if he had to track her across the world, he would find her.

As Linnea pulled away, she finally opened her eyes, taking in the dark blues and violet tones of his robe. The shades were remarkably similar in color, yet, the hues weren't the same. She'd easily mistaken them to be a single shade a few days ago, but now she could see how intricately woven each threat was, the mismatched tints were purposely chosen and wrapped elegantly around one another.

She wanted to look into his eyes, to have some form of a heartfelt conversation with him, but her focus was elsewhere. The reverberation of an unknown footfall headed in their direction from the halls. Their walking cycle was a brisk pace, yet it didn't sound rushed.

While Marcus' scent focused on the Rutaceae aspects, this stranger held the fragrance of the terpenes in the forest. Linnea didn't like it.

The aroma was oddly familiar, but it was lacking the key aspect; there was no trace of the acrid ash or vanilla orchid that accompanied his usual cologne.

"-alright?" The end of Marcus' sentence snapped Linnea out of her trance.

She'd been looking around him towards the door, her teeth bared as her body automatically shifted into a hunting crouch. Her body straightened automatically when her attention returned to her mate.

Their eyes met and a look of worry washed over Linnea as she took in his features. As a human, she thought Marcus looked tired. As tired as anyone would look after a long day. With her enhanced vision, she could see that was not the case.

His eyes were dark, not only from his blackened irises, but there were deep bruises under his eyes, traces of frown lines, nasolabial creases, Marcus looked as if he'd carried every carried of the Volturi on his shoulders. Had he always looked so weary? So weak?

Linnea's brow furrowed, her mouth curved down. There had to be a way she could ease his suffering.

There was a creak as the heavy door was pushed open, another vampire stepped into the room and all of her instincts screamed at her, begging her to eliminate the threat.

Using her newly developed strength. Linnea shoved Marcus away from her with enough force to knock him out of his stance as she launched herself towards the blond. The intruding vampires' eyes momentarily widened with fear until Marcus caught her by the waist, pulling her away. Instinctively she twisted her body, mindset on escaping and slaying whatever attempted to hold her back. Marcus caught her arm as she swung and her teeth snapped together in anger. As their eyes met, her resolve faltered, harming Marcus had not been her plan, but in that instant where she couldn't see him, she wanted nothing more than to rip him into pieces.

"Be still." He breathed in a quiet tone, remaining calm while Linnea struggled to escape his grip.

The blond scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Such pests, always lacking in the basics of self-control..."

"Why are you here?" Marcus frowned, releasing Linnea's arm once she stopped fighting against him. Caius found it strange that irritation radiated in his brothers' tone. He'd always been easy to aggravate but it hadn't been so simple in recent years.

"You must've realized Aro would send someone to check on the newborn's progress." Caius hissed the sentence as if he put little to no value on Linnea's life. He had a distaste for adding such young vampires joining the guard.

As Caius spoke, Linnea's eyes locked onto him and quickly flitted away. He carried a callous aura with him, and the sinister crooked smile he wore was unnerving. Linnea clung tightly to Marcus' arm, refusing to meet the blond's gaze again.

Her reaction made for an interesting development. The sedona light that flickered between Marcus and Caius had never been equal; one of their sides was always fractured, attempting to separate the two. Their cord was shredded, splinters of orange barely keeping their attachment alive.

Linnea's connection to Marcus had always been a secure strand that shone a vibrant orchid. Between Caius and Linnea was a jagged black line, whatever bound them together dripped like ink. This was not a connection formed from fondness, it strained, severed, and existed now as a reminder of the bond they could never restore.

Marcus had commonly seen links like these between coven mates who betrayed one another. This happened commonly when the Volturi was first starting to make their move to control the vampire world and it happened more commonly when Chelsea used her gift to separate a talented vampire from their coven, linking them to Aro, forcing their loyalty to him. Marcus didn't understand what he was seeing, Linnea had never stepped foot into their fortress. She'd only seen glimpses of him at best.

Though Caius was ungifted, he recognized the thoughtfulness in Marcus' gaze and sensed the tension forming in the air. He wasn't a stupid man: Sure, through the recent millennium Aro developed a preference for Caius conversationally, but, because of his gift, Marcus remained of more use. If there would be a conflict between them, Caius would be the one eliminated.

He decided to fall back into his place before his nobility was stripped from him.

"Aro is elated to be welcoming your newborn into our family. He'd like to meet her as soon as possible." Caius chose his words carefully, not wanting to upset his brother. Without giving Marcus time to reply, Caius stepped backward, allowing the door to swing closed as he turned to walk away. If Aro asked him to return to this chamber, he would have Jane tag along, ensuring that Linnea stayed in control.

.

.

.

.

Caius' pace quickened, heading through the corridors faster than he came, returning to the turret room where Aro waited, sitting at the old mahogany table, an old tome laid open in front of him as he pondered the words on the page. He hadn't welcomed Caius back or even given him the courtesy of a glance, rather, Aro held his hand out expectedly.

A deep frown lined the blond's face as he was hesitant to take his brother's hand. There were always thoughts that Caius didn't like his brother knowing, and his distaste for the newborn was one of them. Marcus would only want to run off with her as he had desired to leave with Didyme, there was no possibility of them succeeding with the murder of his new wife.

Still, Caius tapped his fingers to Aro's palm and allowed every fractal of information to flow freely.

Aro's eyes flitted closed as he absorbed the knowledge.

It was her pale skin and glowing crimson eyes that allowed Aro to see why Marcus felt attracted to the human girl. As a human there was scarcely any resemblance, but as an immortal Linnea shared many of Didyme's features. She wasn't a spitting image by any means, but Aro could see his lost sister in her.

And then there was a red haze, bitter resentment. Caius was angry that Aro allowed a human who had not shown potential, to join their coven. Bypassing Jane and Alec's ranks without earning it, possibly outranking himself. Aro hadn't been the only one who'd seen the similarities between Didyme and the newborn, there had also been the faintest smile playing on Marcus' lips and Caius could not remember the last time he'd seen his brother smile.

When Aro opened his eyes, he looked at the blond with disbelief in his eyes, "No harm will come to Linnea." He alerted his brother.

Caius jerked his hand away, disgusted that Aro was already referring to this newborn by name. An unapproving scoff left his lips as he turned to walk away. Aro stood, reaching out and grabbing Caius by the wrist, pulling him back into the conversation. "You will not hurt her." This time he spoke in a stern, authoritative voice.

The blond pulled against his brothers' grip, trying to be done with the conversation. A sudden electric current convulsed through Caius' system, sending him to his knees, Aro flinched and immediately released his brother's hand, calling out Jane's name ceasing her attack.

.

.

.

.

"It is imperative that you keep your emotions under control when meeting Aro. There's a member of the guard, -a child named Jane- who possesses a gift capable of replicating the burn you experienced during your transformation." Marcus explained as the pair made their way towards the turret room.

Linnea's hand squeezed against Marcus' as they walked, nervous at the idea of standing face to face with Aro, allowing him to read her thoughts and realize that she knew about his darkest secret. She tried to guess how Aro would handle the situation; he couldn't decide to slay her immediately, perhaps he'd wait and corner her somewhere alone. Somewhere she could beg him not to kill her, convenience him that she would never utter a word about Didyme's demise to Marcus.

If by some chance Aro did decide to kill her on the spot, Linnea had a gut feeling that Marcus would also meet his end. He wouldn't die protecting her, but if Aro decided to kill unprompted, Marcus was intelligent enough to realize that Didyme died at her brother's hands.

Linnea's nerves worsened the closer they got to the wooden door her fate lay beyond. She felt her anxiety so intently as a vampire that she was certain it would've killed her as a human. If her heart still beat, it would've stopped the moment Marcus opened the door to the turret room.

She quickly scanned the room, seeing designs in the stone that she hadn't noticed as a human. Etchings that quite possibly displayed their history, modified to glorify them, of course.

There were several vampires in the room, Aro who now sat on his throne with the tome, rather than sitting next to Caius, who seemed to be sulking at the table, two immortals that were definitely twins, and very young. One of the twins smiled when Marcus and Linnea walked in, the other looked as if she'd never felt any emotion aside from anger in her life. The last had been the man who helped that beautiful woman kidnap her. Linnea couldn't help glowering at him. He winked in response.

Aro looked up from the book, a bright smile stretching across his face as he set the book down on the armrest, standing to greet them. He'd first addressed Marcus, speaking fully in Italian, asking how her transformation had gone, how much control she had, about her thirst, which caused the burn in her throat to intensify. Aro began to ask something else, but Linnea interjected, stating that she'd understood everything Aro had said while speaking Italian herself.

There was no disguising the leader's excitement as he clapped his hands together once, replying, "Wonderful." before extending his hand out, inviting Linnea to introduce herself.

.

.

To be continued…

.

memoryofthestars/art/First-Light-Cover-2-912509982

.

.

Sometimes it's best to remain in ignorant bliss. To live in fear is easier than everything falling apart because you failed to turn a blind eye.