62 BC Northern Italy
"Argus! Tyre! Get inside this instant! And for the love of the gods, get off your brother and stop strangling him, Felix," Penelope shouted juggling the two screaming toddlers on her wide hips. Her dark hair was tied back, attempting to hide the grey streaks. Most of them had come from her second youngest boy, Felix, given that he got into fights with anything at moved it seems. Just last week she caught him getting into a skirmish with a one of the younger foot soldiers, purely out of boredom. He never had a temper, was exceptionally bloodthirsty, or some sort of hubris pride, he just wanted to see if he could best another's strength like a childish game smiling and laughing. People joked that maybe he was a demigod of Aries he was home telling stories of guts and glory, tales of conquest & courage. Poor Felix wanted to be just like him when he got older. He was eight now, so hopefully she still had time with her darling boy.
In a blur of dirt, dark curls, impish joy, and one bloody nose the three boys came into the house. Argus was ten, Felix eight, Tyre six, Octavia was three, and Ana was almost two. Her eldest daughters Rita was fifteen and married, while Jillian was twelve and worked as an apprentice for a potter. Life was constantly hectic.
Just as she was about to turn inside to join them, a young man in a military uniform appeared at the door. "Excuse me ma'am, I believe your son live here," he asked rather sternly. "Oh my, I am so sorry about him. Is this about the fight that broke out last week among one of your men with my son? I already talked to him and he promised not to do it again," Penelope said quickly, Felix could get in serious trouble with the authorities if they knew about the fight.
"I am actually. I would like to personally ask your son to come and train in the barracks. I saw the fight myself and I see the potential for a great warrior," He beamed. Felix perked up at this, almost mowing his baby sisters down. He was going to be a soldier just like his dad! A couple minutes later, Felix rubbed his cheek where his mother had kissed him and said goodbye to the home he would never see again for another century.
Present Day Volterra
Aro's mood had soften significantly since he found out there was a strong chance Damien would have some sort of gift. "Well I guess subject two isn't a complete bust. At worse he can translate languages, even if he still isn't talking yet," Caius shrugged trying to sound removed. Aro knew deep down he was also excited. "I was thinking the same thing, dear brother. Perhaps we are to create another? I was thinking it would be best to have a maybe another fighter, since we for sure will have someone with a psychic ability. Felix seems the most enthusiastic about this experiment, so I was going to talk to him," Aro mused.
It was true. Aro knew that Felix had always wanted a son, even before he was a vampire. Plus given his history of…affairs…he wouldn't mind conceiving one. Finally, his plans were running its course.
His schoolboy, evil villain glee was interrupted by a vampire he had never met before bursting through the large maple doors at around noon. He had the obvious pale skin and red eyes framed by a pointy face wrapped in close cropped blond hair. He was about five foot, nine and was rather slim. An expensive, burgundy silk suit clung to him in a way that screamed I am posh, worship me. "I am here to speak to the leaders of the so called Volturi. I have witnessed a vampire that has broken the rule of secrecy among humans," he announced in a highly accented voice, most likely French.
"Welcome dear friend our home," Aro extended his hand for a shake, and to of course read his thoughts. At first the vampire looked at the hand like a piece of dirty laundry, but then shook his hand bitterly. His name was Frederick and had been a vampire for about a hundred and fifty years. The thoughts about the crime revolved around a newborn he turned accidently three years ago, named George Letuteur. Frederick, following the rules had taught him all the laws and made sure George could survive independently before cutting him out of his life completely. He was a stupid college student, who had no experience of real, true culture. George was a stupid nuisance and Frederick was doing him a favour by now having him executed. A month ago he ran into him by accident and learned that he had told his sister his secret, but wasn't planning to turn her. Smiling, and repressing the urge to put this condescending dick in his place by speaking Fredericks most private thoughts aloud, Aro let go of this posh piece of garbage's hand.
"I'll send a few of my guards to investigate. There is no need to worry, dear Frederick," Aro soothed paternalistically. Frederick huffed, raising his nose high, and walked delicately out the door. Glad to be rid of him, Aro relaxed slightly. He found no evidence that this Frederick had any awareness of the hybrid. In his thoughts he planned to just come and leave as soon as possible, nothing in the Building interested him. The secret was still safe. But it also meant the next step in his plan would go on hold. He would need to send Jane and Alec out, along with Demetri and Felix. He didn't know how long the mission would take.
He quickly summoned the guards. Demetri and Felix were rejuvenated to have another mission, since it had been months now. But, Jane and Alec surprised him. Annoyingly enough they had grown quite attached to the half-breed, and asked if they could just waited until Damien was slightly older until they went back into field work again. Alec didn't trust anyone to watch his kid and worried how long they would be gone. Aro assured him that they would keep an eye on him. Damien was now three weeks old, although he looked about eleven or twelve months old, and was just figuring out how to walk.
A couple days ago, he could almost stand, pulling himself up onto anything he could find. Then he tried stepping away from what he was holding to fall over constantly. After hours of determination he finally got in a couple steps before his too large of a head caused him to topple over. Now it seemed like he spent every waking moment trying to get the hang of walking, to the point where he rarely let even Jane or Alec carry him. Except for when he got really sleepy, then it was fine.
Alec was also worried because Damien's appetite had also increased Instead of the six or eight ounces every other day like before, he now drank a blood bag each day. Hopefully this was a sign that he would be ready to feed from the source soon.
Begrudgingly the twins left, although Alec was constantly worrying because Damien was still asleep in Alec's room when they left. By four in the afternoon, the four guards were sprinting on foot, soaring to France. It would take about five hours to run to get to where Aro wanted them to go, a small apartment in the outskirts of Paris.
Aro then asked his wife Sulpicia and Athenodora to babysit Damien. He knew they would be overjoyed to watch him. Unfortunately Aro hadn't yet clued in that they were the two least responsible people ever. They said that they would watch Damien, but completely neglected their duties.
Damien woke up to a silent, pitch dark room. Alone. Where was Alec? Slowly he pushed himself up so that he was sitting up. It was a little bit of a struggle since he was tangled up in the black knitted blanket that Alec always kept on the back of the couch. Damien loved it because it smelled like Alec and made him feel safe. Looking around at the static shadows of old clothes, an open closet, books that Alec had not yet returned to the master library, and other items, Damien saw that the backpack in the closest was now gone along with some of the clothes off the floor. He was also trapped up here on the couch. It was a good two foot drop to the floor, which seemed stories high to him. It would be best to just wait for Alec to pick him up and set him on the floor.
Out of boredom he started sucking on one of the corners of the blanket. It drove Alec crazy, but it was sort of a nervous habit. If he wasn't sucking on the edge of the blanket, he was idling chewing or sucking on the end of the sleeve of his shirt or onesie. Not enough to ever damage anything, it just made whatever was in his mouth soggy, wrinkly and slobbery. Putting stuff in his mouth and sucking on it was one of the few human baby traits he had.
His mouth started to feel dry so he stopped. Damien was starting to get worried. Maybe Jane was coming for him? He decided to play with the odd thing around his neck. He remembered someone calling a rosary, but he didn't remember who. He didn't remember getting it either, but he had always been wearing ever since he could remember. But he had the feeling it was important and that he could never take it off. The smooth black, wooden beads felt cool like stones in his hand. Soothing and warm from his high body temperature. Damien wondered what the lower case t was at the bottom was and what the disfigured man was hanging of it.
He had no idea how long he had been waiting staring at the floor. Hunger was slowly starting to settle in along with thirst. His throat felt bone dry and stomach kept making a funny noise. He couldn't get his lip to stop trembling and felt his breathing speed up. Don't panic, he will be back any second now with a bottle of that dark liquid. It tasted so good. Alec's room, like all the vampires' chambers, had heavy curtain that shielded them from the sun and outside world. There was a very subtle difference between day and night. The room slowly became lighter and Damien felt his eye start to feel heavy. Laying back down on his back he thought that maybe he would just fall back asleep and Alec would be back when he woke up. Except for some reason he couldn't fall back asleep. Wrapping himself in the Alec scented blanket, Damien felt hallow when he realized something. This was the first time he had gone to bed without Alec reading aloud, or Jane humming. She had a pretty voice. It didn't help that he was starving.
The room became dark again. Still no Alec or Jane. Not even Demetri, who would normally measuring him. He needed to get off the couch and maybe then he could go see where they were. He couldn't take being hungry more, it had now become painful to the point where his throat burned and stomach ached. Drop it's not that far. Rolling onto his stomach, he slowly lowered himself down to the ground. He started panicking when realized that just arms were clinging to the couch for dear life and his feet still didn't touch the ground. Damien tried pulling himself back up, but he couldn't do it. He would have to drop.
He tried to let go as slowly as possible, but he ended up crashing to the floor. Landing on his butt and banging his head on the stone floor and he fell backwards. The pain was explosive at first as his vision went dark for a couple seconds. Whimpering he pealed his eyes open, somehow the room was light again. Maybe it wasn't just a couple seconds. His head ached along with his throat burning. Wearily he sat up, looking around. Damien was on the floor now. There was a small bit of a dark red liquid that looked similar to what Alec had fed him where his head had hit. He was tempted to try drinking it to ease some of the pain in his throat, but it smelt different.
Damien crawled over to door. Slowly, using the closed door for balance, he reached for the doorknob. Freedom was within his grasp. He'd be able to find Alec! He was pretty sure he could figure out how to open the door, he'd seen Alec to it at least twenty times. You just have to grab it and turn your wrist. But he was too small and even stretched out as far as he could, he was at least five inched too short from even touching it. Damien slumped down in defeat. How long had he been trapped in the room? Four days? How much longer.
A strange tightness in his throat strangled Damien, making the pain even more intense than before. His vision blurred as water pooled in his eyes. He couldn't stop shaking. If someone, anyone, could let him out! Without realizing Damien fell asleep curled up against the door.
Waking up each night was now becoming agonizing. Damien hadn't fed in a week, he lost count after eight days. His clothes felt too small, smelled funny, and made his skin itch. Damien normally always felt warm, now he felt ice cold. He didn't bother getting up he was going to die. Maybe that was a good thing. Perhaps Alec and Jane and everyone was already dead and this way he could see them again. Damien's heartbeat and breathing had already slowed significantly.
Then he heard footsteps. They stopped in front of the door. Someone was coming to let him out. Damien scooted out of the way of the door and bolted to stand up fighting a weird dizziness, so it could open without snowplowing him. The old wooden door creaked open, releasing light that temporarily blinded his sensitive eyes that had not seen bright light in such a long time. Without thinking, Damien shouted his first word, "ALEC!"
The bright spots faded from his eyes and Damien's soul felt like it had been shredded in a blender as he crumpled to the ground, all strength leaving him. It was Marcus.
Marcus felt a dagger go through his heart when he heard Damien speak. The sweet magical joy of a boy seeing his father was deflated by his own presence. Marcus also noticed how weak Damien looked. He must have been trapped in there since the guards had left. That was fifteen days ago. Looking closely Marcus saw that the child was deathly pale with dark bruises under his wide, terrified eyes. Oddly enough his eyes were no longer the vibrant, cat-like green, but a ravenous, cold black. Just like an underfed vampires. The boy had indeed aged. Two weeks and a half ago he looked about ten or eleven months, now he looked almost two.
Scooping the now toddler up, he carried him through the many hallways. There was a small kitchen, next to an actual bedroom for when they had a human receptionist. In the fridge was just blood bags. Marcus glanced back at the child to find that his eyes were closed, and body completely limp. Slowly he set him down on the counter, resting his back against the wall. Fight the bloodlust, he poured the contents of the blood bag into a bottle and microwaved it for a minute.
"Damien, wake up. You need to feed," Marcus commanded calmly. He twitched slightly, but that was it. Marcus shook him gently, trying to push the thought of how much Damien looked like his half-brother Jonathan right now. The hybrids eyes fluttered and slowly pealed open. They widen as soon as he saw the blood, gaze unwavering. Marcus handed him the blood and watched the parched toddler devour the blood. Drink. A little less than a minute, the bottle was empty. Damien's eyes were now a forest green and looked at Marcus pleading for more. Marcus didn't even heat the next one up. Damien drank this one slower, not as desperate or rushed. "Thank you, sir. For everything," a small angelic voice whispered.
It took a moment to realize Damien was the one who spoke…and to him. Damien looked into his eyes unfaltering, like he knew what Marcus had done after Jonathan died. Now that his eye colour was back to normal and he was fully awake. Damien could easily pull off looking like a small two year old, with rosy round cheeks and fast beating heart. Yet he was now only a month old. Marcus noticed that Damien's clothes were way too small now and he hadn't had a bath in a while.
"Where's Alec?" the same sweet, angel voice asked as Marcus silently lifted him off the counter and sat him down on the ground. Damien's wobbly toddler walk was nothing compared to Marcus' immortal glide, but he was able to keep up to go to the bathroom to get him cleaned up.
Damien now wore a pair of small jeans and a navy polo with tennis shoes. It felt weird to have big boy clothes on, considering he was use to the soft cotton onesies. His thick, jet black hair was much longer and covered the back of his neck and ears even. Marcus thought, minus the black hair and green eyes, he looked even more like Alec than he did two weeks ago when they found out he could read in several languages.
Damien had done it perfectly, but Marcus wanted to see if he was genuinely reading the words or something else. While Marcus had spoken a command, he thought about a different command and visualized Damien doing that instead. Although he told Damien to touch his chin, he thought about Damien pointing outside. Next he thought several things at once. Instead Damien tried to block out the supposedly real sound. Whenever Aro tried to read Damien's thought, he complained that they were too fast and it seemed like there was several at once. Marcus had his other theories about what Damien could do.
They walked together to the throne room to find Aro. Marcus had a few choice words for him and his wife's amazing ability at being a 'mother' for one week. Marcus wondered if he hadn't gone down to check on him, how much longer the kid would have lasted. Plus he was now at the age that he could possibly have his own room and bed. He couldn't sleep in Alec's room forever.
Marcus found Sulpicia and Athenodora holding bags of designer clothes that they had just bought that night and being over affectionate with Aro and Caius. Aro caught them in the corner of his eye. He saw Marcus holding the hand of a dark haired child who barely came up to his waist. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked skeptically, not recognizing the child as the baby he was used to seeing. "I believe your wives forgot something. Which is odd considering we have perfect memories," Marcus pondered rhetorically. Sulpicia rushed up to Damien and bent down cooing in a fake baby voice, "Oh my wittle dear, I am so sowwy. How about you give your auntie Sulpicia a hug?"
Damien stepped away, dodging her while he held a glare that reminded her a lot of Jane, "You are not my aunt, you stupid selfish bitch!"
The entire room was stunned. No one had ever heard him speak, let alone a whole sentence. Something deep down inside of him screamed Run. With several pairs of crimson eyes trained on him, he turned around and sprinted out of the throne room. Damien had never run before, but it felt natural and exhilarating. Flying down the labyrinth of corridors, a weird maniac laugh bubbled out his throat. Left, then left again, something in his mind ordered
"Damien!" a voice called, "Stop this instant!" Someone was chasing him, which oddly seemed to make him feel more alive. Damien didn't know where he was running too, his subconscious was the pilot. "Damien!" the voice was closer.
He came to a set of glass doors. Behind them he saw shelves of colorful rectangles. Books. This was the library. Ducking inside he tried to find a place to hide. There's a gap between the wall and shelf on books about Medieval art, you can hide in there. The wall and books will absorb the sound of you heartbeat. He didn't know how he knew this. He had heard the same voice when everyone was putting scribbles on a piece of paper. He recognized the words in English and Italian, but the others he didn't know that they meant. Damien had just listened to the voice in his head.
He heard footsteps pass by the library door and continue down the hallway. He was safe for now. Once his heartbeat stopping ringing in his ears and he could breathe normally, Damien realized how tired he was. The gap he had curdled up in was surprisingly cozy. Sleep, you will know when if they get closer.
Damien sighed, closing his eyes, hoping he could trust this weird voice. He didn't know why he called Sulpicia what he did, it wasn't like him to do that. Or why he started running and couldn't stop. Was he going to get in trouble? The door creaked. Damien's eyes snapped open. "You seriously don't think subject two escaped outside?" it was Caius and Aro with the wives trailing behind. Damien held his breath, hoping they wouldn't find him. Stay still, they haven't seen you yet.
"No dear brother, I think he is lucky that he has even eluded us this long. Plus all the doors are locked with alarms," Aro argued. By his tone of voice he was quiet irritated, yet oddly proud. "Perhaps we should call Demetri," Aro suggested. "And have to admit babysitting one stupid, half-breed was too much for the great Volturi Family?" Athenodora sneered. "Well it was your idea to go shopping in Milan all week!" Sulpicia seethed, she could be trying out that new nail polish by now. This was so not her fault. Embracing his wife Aro whispered, "Patience, mio amore, this is the last room that we need to check." Caius was losing his patience though.
"I say we flip over every fucking book case until that little shit pops up," Caius growled angrily as he threw a bookcase against the wall. Damien felt the vibrations and he put a hand over his mouth to keep himself from making any noise. Another, then another. Caius was getting closer. "Where are you, you little coward?" Caius chuckled sadistically. A fourth flew, this time it crashed against the bookcase Damien was hiding behind. The sound was like thunder and rang in his ears for a couple seconds. Debris and plaster from the wall made his eyes burn and tear up.
"Brother, please contain yourself. You are getting no were. The only reason he ran is that he is scared and surrounded by strangers that he knows are lethal. After all he has been imprisoned for the last two and a half weeks. I know he trusts none of us," it was Marcus, maybe Damien had a chance.
"Damien, if you are in here, please come out from wherever you are hiding," Marcus shouted, "I promise none of us are going to hurt you." Come out now, this is your best shot. Damien pushed against the rubble of the bookcase, it didn't budge. "I can't. I'm trapped," Damien cried out. Marcus followed the sound of his voice to find the pile of ancient texts and old wood book cases blocking the gap. Marcus dug him out in three seconds flat before lifting him from the rabbit hole. Once he was free, his stomach sunk to his knees when he saw the livid expression on Caius's face and the deep scowl on Aro's. "Damien, please apologize to my wife for calling her a bitch, for running away, and destroying the library," Aro said with teeth bared.
Damien wanted for some reason to scream at them and say it wasn't his fault. That Sulpicia had left him for dead. That Aro and Caius were terrible leaders. That Caius was the one who tore apart the library and left stuff in ruins. That he just wanted Alec and Jane back. Just do it. Lie they won't know the difference. Fists clenched, Damien spoke his first lie, using his angel sweet voice to his advantage, "I am sorry for calling you a mean name. I didn't mean it. I am also sorry for running. I won't do it again. I'm sorry there was damage in the library." The last part was true. Half the books in here were hand written and older than half the guards.
Marcus convinced Aro to let Damien off the hook, but he would keep an eye on him until Alec returned. The tension slowly faded throughout the week. Damien got his own room, it was on the bottom floor, which was two stories below the ground. Aro didn't trust him with a room with a window, in case he tried to escape for some reason. It was painted dark blue and the only furniture was a wooden closet that had all the clothes he would need until he was mature in seven years, a wooden desk, a mirror, and a full size bed that felt too big. Damien made sure he grabbed the black blanket from Alec's room. His scent was fading, but it still helped Damien sleep. Damien liked having his own room and liked that he was now tall enough to reach the doorknob.
The following week Marcus showed him how to open the fridge and use the microwave. There was now a small step stool Damien used to reach the countertop and shelves. Now Damien was in charge of feeding himself with the blood bags out of the fridge. He was also in charge of getting dressed by himself. He never knew that there could possibly be so many options and combinations for clothing.
Slowly Damien became very independent and spent most of the day in the library reading, watching movies in the vacant TV room, or sometimes talking with Marcus. He liked Marcus, not just because he had saved his life now twice, but Damien knew that deep down Marcus was compassionate and had interesting stories to tell about gladiator battles, about the one time he was sailing to Greece and his ship got attacked by pirates, about how Caius once got attacked by a pack of werewolves and has been frighten of them ever since. Marcus gradually began to integrate Italian, French, and Latin into their conversations, encouraging Damien to speak also. In two weeks he was able to speak fluently in all three. Although Marcus rarely showed it, he adored Damien and liked having someone to talk to who listened. He hadn't realized how lonely the last couple centuries had been. He even told Damien about how he met Didyme, laughing when Damien looked grossed out when he talked about kissing and romance.
But Marcus was also very concerned about Damien. The boy had no interest or loyalty towards Aro or Caius and to a point despised them. He didn't really trust any of the guards and was paranoid of them. Plus now Damien felt abandoned by Alec and Jane, not trusting them either. Even before Alec left, Damien had an odd relationship with him. He didn't really think of Alec as a father, but more like a big brother. He relied on him and looked up to him, but not much more than that. Now that Damien was speaking, not once had he heard him call Alec "dad" or "father". Damien had also stopped asking where Alec was after about two days. Oddly enough Marcus sensed that Damien still had emotional ties to his dead mother and wondered where she was. Damien also didn't feel lonely and now preferred to be alone. There was no desire for friends and knew Damien only spoke to Marcus because he grew tired of doing nothing but reading or watching tv. None of that could be healthy for a child so young. Marcus saw an odd darkness brewing in the Halfling child.
Another two weeks passed and Damien now looked like a small four year old. Damien was sketching in a black note book he found in the semi-destroyed library when he heard voices and a group of vampires walking down the hallway. Through the glass doors he saw four black cloaked figures walk by on their way to the throne room. Who were they?
Paris, France Five weeks ago
The guards arrived before morning at a large hotel. Busy hotels were safest because they were forgotten once the bill was paid. Jane and Alec in one room, Felix and Demetri in another joined by a door. At dusk they would investigate the address Aro gave them. Hopefully this would all be over in less than a week.
At dusk, all four slipped out of the rooms in street clothes that would not attract attention. Jane wore a simple grey pleated skirt that went just past her knees, a black cardigan, black tights with flats that she could easily run in. A lighter was tucked into a secret pocket in case on an emergency. The guys all wore black slacks, grey dress shirts with blazers. In a mass populated city, no one would bat an eye or look twice.
The apartment they went to was small and cramped. The landlord said in belonged to a young women named Joan Letuteur who was last home two days ago. Secretly searching the apartment, there was a faint smell of a human and a vampire. Demetri now had his scent and could track him easily. Focusing on the trail, Demetri sensed that George and Joan had taken a train to Germany and were on the run there.
Packing their bags, the Volturi were on the hunt. As soon as they reached the border, their prey had moved to Poland and then Lithuania. The guards would chase them across the entire world in they could. After three weeks of a non-stop wild goose chase, they found them hiding in a hotel room in Seville, Spain. Alec cast his dark mist upon them blocking out everything around them but the sound of Jane's voice, "Surrender now and your suffering shall be quick."
They both bowed their heads in defeat. "I apologize for my crime. But we are the only family we have left. Frederick is just tattling on me to have you do his dirty work. Yes I told my sister about our world, but she has known for several years. Joan swore to never tell anyone and no one besides her knows about the supernatural world," George pleaded almost on his knees.
"We won't fight or run from our punishment, but I beg of you, find some way to spare my sister. It was my decision and own fault I told her. If there was any way to make her less of a liability besides turning her, we'll do it. I understand you have not had a human secretary in a while," George continued. This interested the guards. Although they had been hounding these two across the continent, George was giving himself up without a fight in order to have his sister live. Joan seemed to be in her late twenties, early thirties and was quiet pretty. It would be nice to have a secretary that they didn't have to lie to about turning.
Felix dialed the simple flip phone Aro had given them. "Hello sir. Yes I understand we are taking so long…there's not… I just wanted to ask if you had put an ad out for a new sectary?...Yes I know…I'll put her on the phone right now," Felix handed Joan the phone. Aro asked Joan how much education she had, what job experience she had, how queasy she was around dead bodies, the usual job interview questions an employer would ask. She was hired.
Unfortunately George had broken the law still. Out of an odd sense of mercy, Jane said that they had a week together before they executed George. But if they tried to run, she would personally torture them for hours before slowly burning them piece by piece. The Letuteurs spent the week traveling the beautiful Spanish city of Seville. On the seventh day Joan hugged and kissed her brother good-bye. She didn't watch him slowly burn away. Joan felt oddly relieved when she discovered Alec made sure he felt no pain.
The guards traveled back to apartment to clean out her apartment, gather her bags, and set her affairs in order. She told her friends she got a job as a nanny for a rich family in Italy, which wasn't too far from the truth. With her rent paid, bank account emptied, and loose ends tied, Joan disappeared from the human world to permanently live in the city of Volterra. A week after her last family member died, Joan entered the door to the Building she would now call home. Along the way Aro told Felix to impregnate a women and create a second hybrid.
Jane and Alec were relieved to be home. After checking in with Aro, they were dismissed. Alec wanted to know where Damien was immediately, he hadn't seen him in over a month. Aro informed him about the incident of him being trapped in Alec's room for over two weeks, of him yelling at Sulpicia, hiding in the library, and his odd new friendship with Marcus. Marcus said he had last seen Damien doodling in the library.
Alec flitted, excited to see his son. He wondered if Damien would be excited to see him again? Opening the door, Jane right on his heels, he found a small child with dark hair, holding a pencil in his left hand, attention locked on whatever he was drawing. "Damien, I'm home," Alec said calmly. The boy looked up from his drawing of a raven, his face void of expression. Damien didn't know why he didn't feel elated to happy Alec was finally home. He felt anger, hurt, confusion, frustration, and disgusted all at once. The air felt thick and like it was suffocating him. Say something, pretend you're happy to see him.
"Hello Alec, how was Paris?" Damien said robotically. Alec forced a smile. He was excited his son had learned to talk, but sad that he had spoken his first words without him and didn't seem happy to see him. An odd feeling of guilt washed over him. Damien had changed significantly while Alec was gone. Now his son clenched up whenever he tried to pick him up. Damien gave him weird looks when he tried to fix a blood bag up for him. Now it seemed like Damien was out right avoiding Alec and Jane.
While the twins and Damien were having family issues, Felix was bursting with excitement. He was going to be a father in less than three weeks. He couldn't decide if he wanted a boy or a girl. A boy would be great, because he would have a blast teaching him how to fight and playing with him. But he wouldn't mind spoiling his baby girl rotten. It would be hilarious to intimidate any boyfriends that ever considered being worthy for her.
On August twenty-eighth a screaming baby girl was born. Felix named her Olivia Venus. She had dark brown ringlets, wide hazel eyes, full pink lips, and a beautiful olive tone skin. Everyone joked she looked like the Italian poster child and would for sure be a heart breaker one day. Olivia loved the attention and being coddled by everyone. Plus the guards loved that she was much more open than Damien was and is.
Damien hated the new baby. It was constantly screaming nonsensical vowels, squealing when someone tickled her, and cried when Damien ignored her. Plus Damien hated that he got in trouble for making the poor baby cry. Now that Aro knew that there was success with hybrids he ordered Santiago and Demetri to also make one of their own. Aro also wanted Afton to make one, but Chelsea threatened to leave the guard if Aro had Afton so much as hold hands with another woman.