Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does.
This story is non-canon and contains fem slash.
Author's Note:
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First Person POV: Izzy
Once the sun had risen, I left my bedroom and headed downstairs. My appetite for blood had gradually lessened over the past months and the family had recommend I adjust to hunting every other day. It didn't sound like a big deal, but it was an improvement from requiring daily hunting trips.
Normally I would leave in the morning when the sun rose and return in the afternoon. I always had at least three family members with me. Generally, the sisters accompanied me on the weekdays and Tanya, Eleazar, and Carmen joined me on weekends. Though, the family made it a goal to take hunting trips with all members present at least once a week. Today was my first idle day since my change. Now that I didn't need to constantly hunt, I wasn't sure how I was going to fill my extra time.
As I descended the staircase, the sisters paused their conversation in the living room. They waved me over when I entered the room, and I took my seat between Kate and Tanya.
"So, you're getting older… No more daily hunting trips." Irina drawled.
"Our baby's growing up so quickly!" Kate mock cried and pinched my cheek. I slapped her hand away and scrunched my face in annoyance.
"So, any ideas for how you want to spend your free time?" Tanya asked and I gave an indecisive shrug.
"I don't know… What do you all do during the day?" I asked them.
"My sisters and I mainly online shop, play video games, and practice our indoor hobbies." Tanya informed me.
"What about Carmen and Eleazar?"
"Carmen works as a substitute teacher for the local public schools and Eleazar usually gardens." Tanya told me. It surprised me how little I knew of my family members even after living with them for a season.
"Gardening?" I asked. Gardening didn't seem very plausible at this time of year.
"Yes, the big green house in the corner of the yard is Eleazar's. He grows tons of vegetables." Irina added in.
"But you guys don't eat…" I said in confusion.
"Well, it's not for us of course. He donates all the produce to local food pantries." Tanya told me.
I liked the idea of that. Not only was Eleazar living a peaceful live, but he was giving back to the human communities.
"Do you think he might let me help?" I asked.
"Definitely sweetheart, he's always trying to rope us into helping him." Tanya told me.
"Are you sure? I don't want to ruin anything with my newborn strength…" I hesitated and Kate snorted.
"Ugh, grow some balls Izzy! You're way too timid for a newborn." Kate joked. "And yes, we're sure. Eleazar loves you like a daughter; he would let you help him even if you ended up ransacking his greenhouse." I giggled at the visual she created.
"Come on, we'll take you over there." Tanya said.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me off the couch. We glided through the house and across the lawn to Eleazar's greenhouse.
Irina knocked on the door and after a few seconds of rustling, Eleazar answered the door. He wore an old, faded tee-shirt and blue jeans. It was probably the most casually dressed I had seen anyone in the family since arriving.
"Hey girls, did you change your mind about helping out?" He asked hopefully.
"Nope, but Izzy here wants to volunteer." Irina quickly clarified.
"Oh, wonderful!" Eleazar said brightly and ushered me into the green house.
The girls waved at me and headed back to the house. I turned around and inspected the greenhouse. It was, well, very green. Unidentified plants and the occasional pruned tree lined the walls and formed rows through the center. It was organized chaos. Though, I knew very little about gardening, so I wasn't one to judge. In the back corner was a long table with two large sun lamps and scattered seed packets on top.
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting any company, so you'll have to tolerate my disorganization today." He said scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. I gave him a reassuring smile to let him know it didn't bother me.
"Well, you have perfect timing, it's the beginning of October so I'm going to be sowing winter crops today." He waved me over to the tables in the back corner.
"I'm growing Kale, radishes, carrots, and beets. Those are all nice, hardy crops for the winter. You can help me plant seeds today. What you're going to do is grab a peat pellet," he said and picked up short flat brown cylinder about the diameter of a golf ball with an indent in the center, "and place one seed inside. The peat pellets are made of dried, compressed peat moss so when you add water… they expand and keep the seed at the perfect depth. And then we're going to line the expanded peat pellets under the lamps. They'll sprout in a few days." Eleazar instructed and I nodded along with his instructions.
"I'm working on the kale right now, but you can start on the radishes. Just add them to the tray under the lamp until you run out of space." He directed.
I took the package of radish seeds he handed off to me and grabbed a few peat pellets out of the bag on the floor. I focused on moderating my strength - I didn't want to damage the seeds with my newborn strength. Eleazar seemed to pick up on my anxiety.
"Don't worry if you break a few seeds, it's unavoidable, just try your best." He reassured me.
I continued adding seeds to the peat pellets, wetting them, and then lining them up on the tray under the lamp. Eleazar and I worked in silence for a few minutes, and I decided to strike up a conversation.
"Eleazar?" I began.
"Yes dear?" He quickly responded.
"Have you always followed this diet?"
"No… I wasn't aware of this lifestyle until I met the sisters." He told me somewhat apprehensively.
"Oh sorry… I didn't mean to upset you." I said guiltily. I had just wanted to strike up a conversation, I hadn't meant to make him uncomfortable.
"No dear, I knew this would come up eventually. You're a part of the family now and you deserve to know my background." He told me and I silently waited for him to continue.
"I imagine you know of the Volturi?" He asked me and I nodded in confirmation. I tried not to cringe remembering Tanya's story of her encounter with the Volturi but failed.
"Yes, that's a common reaction." He chuckled, not missing my facial expression.
"I was actually recruited by the Volturi when I was very new to this life." He told me and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. He gave me a rueful smile.
"Like many of our kind, I started my life as a nomad. When the Volturi learned of my gift they tried to recruit me. Of course, I was hesitant, but as I learned more about their purpose, I decided to join them." I schooled my features and waited for him to continue.
"You see, I liked that the Volturi kept order in the supernatural world and kept humans ignorant of the supernatural. Not everyone agrees that we should allow humans to live freely. There are a pair of brothers, originally from Romania, who used to hold much power before they were dethroned by the Volturi. The brothers used to rule over Romania and did not hide their vampiric natures from the humans living there. They believed vampires were superiors to humans and therefore had a right to rule over them and keep blood slaves. I joined the Volturi to help maintain peace and keep the ever-looming Romainian threat at bay. The main leader of the Volturi, Aro, is an avid collector of gifts. Because of this, I spent most of my time traveling the world looking for gifted vampires and humans with latent gifts who could be recruited into their guard. I served the Volturi faithfully for about a century and then, on one of my missions through Spain, I encountered Carmen. Our bond was instantaneous and profound. I attempted to balance my guard duties with my relationship to the best of my ability. However, it quickly became impractical, and I found myself neglecting my responsibilities on both sides. I requested an audience with Aro and informed him of the situation. Aro holds the gift of tactile telepathy, so he can see all an individual's memories upon contact. Through his gift, Aro was able to verify the authenticity of my bond with Carmen. He was sad to see me leave the guard but released me from my duties none the less."
"That's very… nice of him." I said still surprised by what I'd been told. I supposed the Volturi weren't the tyrants I had imagined them to be. Eleazar chuckled at my reaction.
"I know, many outside the Volturi believe them to be power hungry and needlessly cruel. Having served with them for a century, I've seen firsthand the brutality and ruthlessness they are capable of. However, I've learned that nothing they do is purposeless. You've heard Tanya's story… It truly requires the coldest of hearts to kill an immortal child. And yet… If they had not, that child would have continued to rampage forever, and countless innocent human lives would have been lost. If the Volturi ruled with anything less than an iron fist, vampires would abuse their lenience and the world you know would seize to exist."
My brows furrowed; his logic was sound. The Volturi had a thankless but necessary job. They continued to uphold the law and protect the human population despite being judged as tyrants. And even if they weren't perfect, they sounded like a significant improvement from the Romanians.
"I think you would be surprised if you met their guard members. They may not share our diet, but they do share our desire to let humans rule themselves freely. I still do contract work for the Volturi occasionally. Ever couple of decades they recruit a new member that they believe may be gifted and I fly to Italy to lend my skill. I know you have had a poor opinion of the Volturi so far, but I hope I may have improved your perception of them - if only slightly. At the very least, I hope you do not think poorly of me when I assist them in the future." He told me.
"Thank you Eleazar, for sharing with me. You have changed my perspective." I reassured him. His shoulders sagged by a fraction, and he gave me a relieved smile. I found myself surprised that he even cared about my opinion. Perhaps Kate was right, and he did care for me more than I realized.
"Of course, dear, and I appriciate that you're helping me out with this today." he gestured to the rows of planted peat pellets that now occupied the space under our lamps. "It always goes quicker with a helper, but the girls aren't fond of such messy activities." He told me and I giggled. I couldn't even picture the girls with dirt on their clothes.
As we drifted back to our work, I thought about what Eleazar said regarding when he met Carmen - that instantaneous connection.
"Eleazar? You said you knew right away that Carmen was your mate…" I began and he nodded in confirmation. "How did you know she was your mate?" Eleazar hesitated and seemed to weigh his options.
"Well, there are a few ways to know. Your mate calls to you in every way, they attract every one of your senses." He told me and I nodded in understanding. "But the real test, is whether you feel tempted to mark them."
"Mark them?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, when a vampire meets their mate, and they become, er, intimate, they have an overwhelming urge to mark their mate by biting their neck and injecting their venom into the mark." He informed me awkwardly. I narrowed my eyes and glanced away. That description sounded familiar…
