Chapter 6

As It Was

Scott

If someone had told Scott that he would be immortal by the time he reached twenty, he'd laughed in their faces.

Except now, sitting on a terracotta slate rooftop, a million stars in the sky above him that he could see for miles – fuck, he could even see the transitional shades from the sky to the atmosphere if he tried hard enough – life felt a little different. Like a mix of spinning too fast and moving too slow.

It was weird.

Plink, ziiiiirp, plink, ziiiiirp.

In his fingers, he threaded his bar necklace and Willow's signet ring, the sounds of sleep-soft hearts soothing in his ears from the city far beneath him. He found it easier to deal with the humans at night, when they were still asleep, where everything was at a certain level, no emotions intertwining with the race of their heartbeat. It was still difficult, not easy by any means, that god-awful burn in the back of his throat felt like a never-ending cold or flu, but he was getting there.

At least he hoped so.

It had been a couple of months - two months, 15 days, and 17 hours to be exact - since he became immortal. He could now get through a shower and change without wrecking his clothes; drawers and doors were far easier to manipulate. But it was the petri-dish feeling he got when he met with the Kings weekly that had just gotten worse.

He had begun to feel something anytime either Aro or Caius would speak to him, like a chord in the back of his head. Sometimes it would play a smooth note, other times, it felt sharp. Those, Scott had begun to associate with not-so-great ideas and more often than not, managed to get out of them with a little wordsmithery but sometimes, one time, Aro had gotten a glint in that ruby gaze of his that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge, made his dead human heart give a phantom chase in his chest.

It felt a little like when he had been in Port Angeles with Bella and Jessica when Bella had nearly tried to go with those bikers. He could almost taste the iron of adrenalin on his tongue, the flush of sweat to his palms, the small of his back, the hammer of his heart when he had come face to face with Aro. And he didn't quite know how to take it, or who to tell.

Because he couldn't tell anyone, not really. Because Aro could listen to anyone's thoughts, and they were mainly loyal to the Kings so they could go to them if they had any concerns about what Scott had been going through.

He wanted to tell Demetri, yearning to spill all of his secrets with the guy, with such an intensity that caused Scott to sometimes feel like he needed to take a step back. Sometimes it felt like there were magnets between them, pulling them closer together. Demetri seemed to be fine with it, more than content to let Scott work out whatever was in his clusterfuck of a brain.

But Scott, fuck, sometimes it felt like he could barely get a grip on things, let alone work out whatever the fuck he was feeling when it came to the Tracker.

He dropped the necklace to rest on his sternum, drew his knees up and dragged a hand through his curls. God, he wished he could sleep. At least then he could get some respite from the cacophony of life within the castle. Not to mention there had been murders in Spokane.

He caught wind of the news report as he came to the rec room after being tossed about for several hours by Felix.

'—there has been no further information on the victim, music teacher Julian Pankhurst, aged forty-three, who left behind a husband and adopted daughter, aged thirteen. However, Spokane Police Department asks for anyone to call the number below if they have any information on the suspect. Back to you, Susanne.'

'Hey…' Afton turned to Scott as he hovered behind the guy on the sofa. 'That's not far from Forks, right?'

Scott settled his cap backwards and nodded. 'A couple of hours east. Gimme a sec.'

He flashed to his room, where he had his laptop set up but hadn't checked his email in the last couple of days.

His heart went to his feet when he got a few emails – Gi, Daniel, Willow – and he quickly brought them up, reading Daniel's first.

Hi, kid,

Everyone is fine, whatever is happening over east is staying in that area for now but we've been talking about moving your Grandparents in with us whilst you're away, just to keep them out of the big city. Again, everyone is fine, your mother wanted to email you, to keep you up to date from this side, but we both know what she gets like.

I'll let you know if anything happens, but for now, just keep enjoying yourself and try not to worry.

Love you,

Dad.

That settled something in him, the feral animal in his chest soothed by the fact his family was safe. Next was Gi's.

S'up dickbag,

Dad's probably emailed you already, but yeah, we're all good. I think the Elderly Ones are going to be in your room which will be Great Fun for me because we both remember how long Grammee spends on her curlers and how much she just loves to nitpick at my shit. I mean, it would probably be good to have them here, give Mum some company and Soph more people to show off to, and it would be nice to know that they're okay and safe and shit from everything.

It's just, well, I guess, I just miss having you hear. Not that bitching to you through an email isn't satisfying, it is, it so is because Mum can't snoop this way because I log off every time I'm done, but I guess it's just weird not to just waltz into your room WITH A KNOCK and have you sit there as I rant. Like it's not that I wasn't excited that you were planning to go to Europe, I was, but we both know how much you sometimes hate talking to people, and how much anxiety Security causes you. And I don't know, I guess part of me thinks I should be there to do the things that cause you anxiety.

Call it a Twin Thing if you want.

Like I know that the time apart will do us good, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't suck at least a little.

Anyway, have you seen any hot guys? Don't give me that look, just because I'm with Riley doesn't mean I can't look at the merchandise on sale, okay? How's the food? Been anywhere cool yet? You see the Colosseum yet? What about Pompeii? Florence? When you do, I expect photos, yeah? Maybe some presents shipped ahead.

What? I'm thinking of your poor back. Don't think I've forgotten how much you bitch about it when Mum asks you to bring the washing or shopping in.

Love you, stay safe, and eat some gelato for me,

I'll see you when you get back,

Gi x

Scott huffed a little wet laugh at the rambling rant that was typical of all of Georgie's emails. God, he could still feel the chokehold she had on him the night before he left when she was headed down to Riley's. Could smell her perfume on the shirt he wore still. Georgie was headstrong and very much a Type A, sometimes to the point where he wanted to throttle her, and whilst she didn't exactly think personal space and boundaries applied in the same way to her, Gods, sometimes it felt like he was missing something.

It felt the same way with Lucy and Willow. He had had the three of them in his life for so long that, to have them be so far away, felt off. Like he was off-kilter. He watched how Alec and Jane moved with each other, like the tide, and remembered being like that with each of the girls – different in a multitude of ways, but so similar it made his dead heart pang in his chest.

He shook it off and opened up Willow's email.

S,

You've probably gotten emails from your Dad and Gi, they've probably told you that everything's fine, and everyone is. However, it isn't a human killing people.

It's a vampire.

J and E headed to Spokane after the latest body popped up, and that was just the earliest one that the cops found. Apparently there was venom remains around the dump site, and enough of a scent trail for it to be a vampire – just one so far, at least in terms of direction – but enough people have either gone missing or died to have J on edge. Enough that P and C have been talking to J about potentially coming up this way in case anything happens.

I don't want you to panic, well, not to over panic. You know J has the experience to deal with this. This email is both to let you know we have something in the pipes in case something does happen, but also to keep the VCs in the loop. Think of it like an olive branch.

I won't try and cover things up with empty questions because we both know that you don't really give a shit about everything with what I've just told you. Just keep working on the newborn stuff, and if you fall off the wagon, that's okay, just know that you've got more than enough strength in you to climb back on. And if you don't want to stay on the wagon, that's okay too.

Love you, S, just because you're trying a different diet doesn't change that.

Again, I'll keep you updated,

Love you!

W x

It felt like Scott read and reread that damned email thousands of times until he copied and pasted it and printed it off to bring to Demetri. He'd know what to do. Surely.

'Anything?'

He lifted the laptop gently and made his way to the common room. 'Uh, yeah. Wills says that Jasper thinks it's a vampire committing the kills, just like what he had said before –' Scott looked to Demetri and Felix, 'in the throne room? When her and Bella were here?'

'He has proof?'

Scott read it from the screen. 'Jasper and Emmett headed to Spokane, yada yada, there were venom remains around the dump site and a trail for them to follow enough for it to be a vamp, so yeah.'

Felix looked to Demetri as Santiago straightened from his leaning post by the shelves. 'If the Major has ID'd it…'

Scott found the second paragraph and spoke slowly. 'Wills sent this to keep the Kings in the loop – Jasper has stuff in the pipes as a 'just in case things escalate'.' He got a nod from the Tracker who tipped his head to the doors. Shit, he would be the one to tell the Kings about stuff.

Oh, joy.

Several different things had happened since then, but most had been a discussion on what the Kings would do. If they would send the Guard as muscle, or as a warning, or if to nip things off in the bud, to keep things from festering. Surprising probably no one, Caius was for option 3 but Aro wanted to see how the Cullens would react, what with them having one of the pivotal members of the Southern Wars on their side and all.

Scott didn't understand it because they spoke in not only rapid Italian but also an older dialect that he had no chance to understand unless Marcus probably taught him personally. Or maybe Demetri might.

Another was Alec taking him out more and more come evening. To flex his restraint and control around humans. He was getting better, little by little, but there had been a few too many close calls. Scott hadn't slipped yet, but there was a feeling every time he nearly did that the next time would be That Time. And maybe he shouldn't be tempting it by sitting on the roof like some fucked up Batman, but it wasn't like the thirty-foot drop to the ground would kill him anymore.

Bergamot floated on the breeze before the tinkling click of stilettos made Scott turn slightly to watch as Heidi lowered herself down beside him. She reminded him of Georgie, with more than a dash of Rosalie, and sometimes, when he was being as melancholic as he was – Christ, who was he? Edward Cullen? Scott had way better hair – that was needed. 'You know,' she drawled, leaning back on those red-tipped hands, 'Dimka is worried about you.'

'He thinks I don't notice his periodic pacing back to the bottom of this tower?' he glanced at her before beginning to mess with his necklace again. Heidi nodded. 'I just needed to think, that's all. And no offence or anything, but all of you are a lot and you got the wrong twin for large crowds.'

She smiled lightly. 'Alec says you're doing well. Even with everything.'

'Alec is an old hat at this. I nearly ate a fucking child, Heidi.'

She twisted to him, dark coil falling over her shoulder. 'But you didn't, because even under the bloodlust, you know that eating that little one was wrong, and you stopped yourself. You are going to fail at one point, Scott, if you keep letting yourself linger on the negatives and not stretch the muscles that you've been developing. And that's okay if you do. There's nothing wrong with slipping, as long as you pick yourself up and try again the next day. Catastrophising over what could happen is just going to drive you insane.'

'I know.' He nodded and scrubbed at his forehead. 'This is the worst version of learning how to ride a bike.'

Her laugh was warm in the night air, and she tipped her head. 'You're doing better than the lot of us.' She crossed her ankles, 'I've tried it before you know, the animal diet. To see what all the fuss was about.'

Scott watched her face twist in disgust. 'Not your thing?'

'Everything was so dirt-y. Or watery.'

Currently, Scott didn't mind the deer, but apparently, his preferences changed every couple of weeks. It didn't feel all that dissimilar when he was human and his Comfort Foods shifted. Though that feeling of off-ness only usually kicked in after he'd drained whatever he'd caught and he'd want to claw his tongue out and bleach it.

The first time it had happened, Afton was a little taken back when Scott has begun to hack up venom and his face had twisted from utterly satisfied to utter sensory disgust.

It's funny. When it comes to vampire fiction, some of them say that certain characteristics are amplified as one. Scott could see the athleticism, and feel it as he repeatedly beat out several of the guards, but did it have to also be that?

'Carnivores tastes meatier.' Scott considered. 'But I get you. Like the blood doesn't have the right viscosity.'

'Exactly. Though it was a raccoon. Chelsea dared me. She doesn't like you.'

'Because I can feel her little gift at work?' he cocked an eyebrow. It had been a source of contention, the fact that Scott could feel it trying to do something to his connection to Forks. He had gone for the Bond Maker a few times, felt a sliver of Jane's power one time and nearly tore through Felix before Demetri got in front of him and separated the two.

'Mmm.' Heidi agreed. 'It is not so bad. But Lord Marcus was very firm in your stance here.'

He didn't agree with the fact that 'it wasn't so bad' if she had been a victim to Chelsea – and they were, right? Because Chelsea's ability fostered a false sense of loyalty and they had no way to ever truly get the upper hand in deciding what they want for themselves.

Scott tipped his face to the stars. 'Mmm. I'm okay, you know.'

'I know.' She agreed before twisting to him, sitting criss-cross apple sauce. 'So tell me of your little cutlery town.'

Heidi got a bark of laughter. 'Forks. Why? Surely you got better stories?'

'It amuses me. The fact you named your town after a utensil.'

'I, me personally, did not name it – hey,' she'd smacked him, 'but okay, I guess.'

So that's how the rest of the night went. The two of them sat on the roof of the tallest tower, trading tales about their human lives. The people they remembered, memories they had and cherished.

It was nice, no D and M at the first divot on the trek out the back of Lucy's or at the bottom of Willow's garden around the fire. But it would do in a pinch.

'Get dressed.' Felix waltzed into his room where Scott was carefully trying to work out the strength required to play the six-string that was in the common room.

He'd nicked it when no one had admitted to having an attachment to it. It was nice not having to worry about calluses.

The newborn looked down at the jeans and sleeveless Rush shirt he had on, the backward cap to keep his hair out. 'Why?'

'Going out tonight. Further to the capital.' Felix moved to his wardrobe and Scott let him pick what seemed to fit.

'Buttons? Really? Dude, I don't got the patience for those yet.'

Felix sent him a flat look. 'At some point, you're gonna have to learn to button a shirt, fratello. But fine. Dio mio, you, yourself, weren't a lumberjack, why the flannel?'

Scott deliberately looked at how he was splayed on his bed, a foot on the wall, and the other propped up, the cuffs in his jeans. His skate shoes were practically begging for death. 'You didn't know? Everyone in Forks gets a flannel from their sixteenth birthday, as a rite of passage.'

He got up, and propped the instrument where he had been trying to work out the pressure needed for Master of Puppets – didn't have the same oomph on an acoustic as it did on an electric, but he still had it in his notebook from where he'd been learning it before. And sometimes Scott could be 'Go big or go BIGGER' 'I'll change my shirt, and put shoes on but it isn't like I can go to a fancy restaurant anymore.'

A light breeze blew Scott's favourite scent – according to his Lizard brain apparently – towards him and he turned to find Demetri about to knock. 'See? He has manners.'

Felix pointed to him. 'I'll shove you out of a window.'

'I am one with the Force, asshole.' Scott gave a closed smile, snagging his black paisley shirt. He fucking hated the little slippery discs that crumbled under his fingers like snowflakes but it had gotten him laid in Canada.

You never knew.

Maybe Aphrodite and Venus were on his side.

'Where are we going?' Scott asked Demetri as he tossed his hat to the bed, tugged his shirt off, pulled an undershirt on, and then the paisley.

'Roman catacombs.' Demetri gave him and Scott froze.

'Sorry?'

Demetri had the most adorable set of dimples that peeked out from beneath that black rasp of eternal shadow and Scott swore he could feel sweat bead on his palms when the Tracker stepped into his space to button the shirt. 'Heidi was the one to offer up the idea. Lord Marcus said you were a history buff.'

'But they're blocked off, right?' Scott looked between both Demetri – after drinking in his profile that was soaked in the golden hour, the way the deep purple of his shirt warmed his skin – and Felix, who shook his head with a grin. 'Seriously?'

'We made it seem that way, centuries ago, as a way to navigate the capital without being seen during the day. There is still the dead underneath though.'

Probably why Felix had told him to change. A sleeveless shirt prone to nip slips wasn't the most respectful shirt.

Gods being this close to Demetri was a lot. Felix had been the one to do a majority of his training, with Santiago and Afton backing him up, to fill in the blanks where he couldn't. So, Scott had gotten used to having them in his space, but Demetri always stayed back or was given orders by the Kings which kept him away from the area they trained in.

'Why don't you help?' he had asked the Tracker, his third Thursday as a vampire, as the night reached that inky black and the two of them had found themselves atop the rooves of Volterra.

Scott had remembered seeing flashes of something dart across that warm face because Demetri had given a closed, lazy smile and tucked his hands behind his back. 'I track, luchnik, and when it comes to it, I fight to kill. Felix is not so dissimilar to your Emmett and needs the stimulation of the sparring to entertain himself. He was a soldier during the Russo-Soviet War of 1654.'

Scott had stopped short, mind rushing ahead of him. 'As in the one that's considered the First Northern War, the Thirteen-Year one, that one?'

He had gotten a flash of teeth as Demetri tipped his head to his feet. 'Yes.'

'Get fucked.'

To say that Scott had, tentatively, picked Felix's brain till sunrise when they got back was an understatement.

For what felt like the first time since Scott had become a vampire, as soon as he got his bearings in the Roman catacombs, a hush fell over his mind. He'd always adored European history, the stories, the architecture, the religions that came and went like the tide, the messages left behind entangled in the reeds of the mythos. He loved it all.

To see the catacombs, smell the damp earth, hear the wind as it whistled through the carnivorous halls, and the crumbling shelves where people had been buried, taken by time, it was startlingly sobering. These had been living people centuries ago, going about their life not unlike he had been, and some were fossilised, some ground to dust, and some just there.

Alec was the one that spoke then, his light voice soft as a dove, echoing with ancient life. 'We've always done our best to preserve what we can, give them burials if their placements were too eroded. Give them the respect in death, that they may not have received in life. It is a humbling experience, I find, every time we come down here now. Time, humans, seemed to have moved within a blink of an eye and yet, we remain. Untouched and unchanged by the Fates.' He turned red eyes up to Scott, a child, dressed in a Reaper's garb. 'Do you miss it? Your life? Your family?'

'Do you?' Scott volleyed back, in a softened murmur. He had never had to truly think about it. The fact that, apart from Willow, he would be leaving his family, never taking that next step in life beside them. Seeing the marks of time around him as the four of them walked, it hit home.

Forks had been all he had ever really known, the Pacific Northwest if he had to cast a wider net. He had always wanted to see where his grandparents had come from, and learn about the relations he never got to meet. He could do that now, yeah, but it wouldn't be the same as the idea that Georgie and he had come up with when they were twelve.

Explore the world together. Colour a map of all the places they had been until they covered the globe. Collect magnets from every city; postcards of their favourite places.

Scott couldn't help the pang of grief in his chest as he stared down the blackened tunnel.

He could play the guitar all he wanted now, and not get sore fingers. Sit on rooftops and count the stars as far as the eye could see. Skype his friends and tell them what had happened. Write emails describing his days and the things he had seen but it would never be the same as the dreams he had made up as a child.

Didn't feel the same as it was before everything happened.

If he could, Scott would bundle the young boy that version of him was and just let him babble out of his dreams, the secrets he felt he could never say in case they were too out there for Forks in the mid-90s. Just let him be a boy.

'You okay?'

Scott blinked back to find Alec staring up at him, just a little shorter than him, coming to his nose, 'Just realising what's going to happen to me now, I suppose. When we were kids, Gi and I planned to explore anywhere we could if we had the cash. She always wanted to see Milan and Morocco, and always liked the heat when we went on holidays to Florida and stuff. It's weird just.'

'I can imagine.' Alec mused. 'Jane and I have never truly been far from each other. Even when we were human, our village didn't trust us, so we were each other's confidant. The others do not truly get what is like to have always had someone walk Life's path with you.' He tipped his head as his brow furrowed. 'To even toy with the idea that Death would come for one of us but not both leaves me unsettled, I will admit.'

'We haven't always been close, if anything since sophomore year, things have been a little strained between us, but I want her to be happy, I want her to find someone who will love her for every facet and not just sex. She's not had the best relationships recently so she's a little jaded. She drives me up the wall, can be obtusely selfish and self-centred, and has different boundaries for everyone else but none that apply to her. But she remembers things you notice during the year and gets them for your birthday and Christmas, and will either verbally eviscerate or physically smack down someone if they broke your heart or said shit about you. She'll cheer the loudest at celebrations for you regardless of who hears, loves fiercely and passionately, and even after everything she's been through, still lets people in again.' Scott described, throat tightening a little. 'She's not everyone's cup of tea but Georgiana doesn't give a fuck, to be honest. Gods help whoever ends up falling for her because they're in for a ride.'

'You look alike.'

'Probably as far as we parallel each other.' Scott laughed, hands going to his pockets as they walked, Felix and Demetri falling a little behind them. 'She wants to be the next Elle Woods and was Captain of Forks' Debate team since junior year. According to my parents, she was speaking by eleven months and has never truly stopped.'

'Who's your younger one then?'

'Sophie.' He nodded, 'Currently, she wants to be the next star on Broadway and is chaffing under the restrictions that y parents have put into place after the first couple of missing people. She was a surprise, she's turning 10 in July, and is very excited to move to middle school.' Scott sighed sharply, grinning to himself. 'She's precocious and knows exactly what she wants, and how to get it because she learnt what not to do from watching Georgie and I fail miserably.'

The other two bracketed Scott and Alec as the cavern opened up enough to allow it. 'Like what?'

'Like the back trellis isn't secured to the back of the house? That it will be easier to sneak into the house by the tree right next to my window. That Mum and Dad fall asleep by ten-thirty at the earliest on a Saturday so always wait till midnight to sneak out just to be sure. Do not ask for a sleepover when Mum is on the phone because that woman will go nuclear once it's over. That if you ask Dad first, and he says yes, but Mum says no, you're screwed.'

'You the one that worked out the back trellis?' Felix asked hands deep in his pockets.

'No, actually.' Scott grinned. 'Dad did, one December putting up the roof lights, nearly ate shit from about twelve feet in the air. Richard, Willow's dad nearly ended up face-first into a snow drift laughing so hard. I was…. eleven at the time.'

'You're close with Miss Crawford.' Alec acknowledged.

He nodded. 'We were born within months of the other, same years at kindergarten, elementary, all the way through school. Next-door neighbours too. And before you lot start going on the idea that I had to have a crush on her, never. She was too much like another sister from the beginning for those to even cross my mind. If anything, it kinda makes me want to vomit.' Scott's face twisted as his stomach roiled at the idea.

Their parents had teased them about that idea when they were younger but had quickly realised that the bond between him and Willow was completely and utterly platonic. It was funny sometimes, he mused, looking at the forgotten past around them, that they had found each other, and Georgie had found Lucy. Like the Fates had cut a mirroring person for the twins because they knew the path that lay ahead of them, the path where they would deviate from each other, and would have to eventually walk alone.

He'd never truly been alone before. Never had to navigate life with the shadow of his sister by his side. He hadn't had holidays or birthdays by himself, always having had his family and his friends there. Scott wondered how that would feel. Not having Georgie slip into his room pre-dawn having sent Sophie back to bed because she was up at 3 am and they couldn't open presents till 7. Not having those little pockets where there was no drama, or stress, the two of them just curled together in their holiday pyjamas, either dozing or quietly whispering to each other.

'You okay?' Demetri asked as Scott had fallen silent.

He nodded gently, and could feel nothing but the sparks from his touch on Scott's forearm, Alec following Felix up the ladder to the surface. 'Death's made me introspective, that's all.'

Demetri drank in his face, and it felt like he could see down to Scott's very bones with that maroon gaze of his. 'It does that. We know what you're going through. At least a little.'

Scott nodded gently, a close-lipped smile a guest on his face. 'I know. Come on, before Felix loses it.'

'You first.' Demetri grinned, squeezed his hand and tipped his head up the ladder.

I'M SORRY FOR SUCH A LATE POST. LIFE HAS BEEN A LOT RECENTLY, AND THE LAST THING I WANTED TO DO OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS WAS WRITE FOR YOU LOT. I love you all dearly, Willow and Scott are constantly on my mind but I have had to do a lot of reading recently in training for my new job so ya girl was Tired.

Happy Holidays, Happy Solstice and Happy last night of Hannukah. I hope everyone has had a lovely year, and if they haven't, may you have a good 2023. I promise that Willow, Scott and I will be here for next year and their stories are not finish just yet.

Thank you all so much for sticking with us through this journey, and whilst, it may not be the usual weekly update, this story will get finished one way or another. Real Life just needed to take precedent for a while, as I'm sure you all understand.

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely and safe start to 2023, regardless to if I get another chapter posted before then.

I love you all,

Enjoy,

K x