Murderers. Witches. Spawns of Satan. Devil Worshipers. Demons. Plagues. These were all names the villagers screamed and cursed as two adolescents were dragged the stairs to a plate form where a large post stood tall. A Stake. The boy had been quiet, calm, void of emotion. Maybe that one had a conscience and knew the only way to have his soul be purged was to surrender some of the villagers whispered. The girl was the complete opposite. She screamed, she kicked she fought, she drew blood, she bit, she clawed, she struggled. It took nearly ten soldiers to hold her down as they chained her to the stake. She's bwitched I tell you, wicked, possessed. Just like her mother, the women sneered.
A small blonde boy started crying begging them to stop. Daniel. He had always been too sweet and kind. At least he wasn't up here with them. Daniel was the only one it seemed who wasn't cheering for their death. Jane mouthed good-bye to her youngest brother. She had promised herself after Mother had left mysteriously one night that she would look out for and protect her two younger brothers with her life and soul if she needed to.
The village mayor read a list of what they were accused of. Arson. Incest. Destruction of property. Destroying crops. Assault. Theft. Murder. And above all Witchcraft. Any last words? A cold, hallow close of a bible, a jingle of a rosary. Jane chose to spit on the Bible as he walked by. The priest slapped her. "Well at least one of you is rational," he mused. "Well actually.." Alec whispered. If you're going to die at least have fun. The priest looked at him waiting for him to finish. "If we were witches and had magical powers, they why haven't we escaped yet?" His tone was calm and curious. The crowd murmured. The boy had a point. The priest stammered, "Well, uh, you are with in a Church where the power of Satan is useless. My rites have trapped you!" The last part was made up, Alec could tell. "If you truly say that we used magic to burn crops down then why are you trying to burn us. Wouldn't stabbing or decapitation be a more logical execution?" Alec hid an eye roll and a smirk. "He has a point y'know," the altar server with holding a cross said. Infuriated by his sudden loss of power, the priest ripped a torch out one of the soldiers hands and lit the hay beneath them.
It caught immediately. Jane tried to kick the hay away, but her legs were tied to the stake. Flames curled like ivy up her thin skirt. Panic set in as they realized this was real and they were going to be dead in less than an hour. "Alec, I love you," Jane said squeezing his hand. "Love you two, forever," was all he said back as the fire licked his ankles like a puppy. The flames slowly started biting up his legs as the smell of burning flesh, her flesh, and smoke wafted in the air. Jane started sobbing, it was agony. She felt he skin bubbling and melting off her legs. She wanted the villagers to feel the agony she felt, she wanted them to burn. Jane wanted them to feel this pure agony and nothing else.
Alec closed his eyes trying to block out the pain, ignore it somehow. Smoke everywhere. Fire. Can't move or break free. He couldn't breathe normally anymore. The smoke was everywhere, making him gag and feel light headed. It felt like the fire had gotten inside him somehow and was burning his lunges. His greatest fear was not being able to breathe. Alec felt like he was going to pass out. That's it! He could make himself pass out, he could escape the pain, feel nothing. The handcuffs were crudely made and sharp along the ridge in some places. His wrists were bleeding already. Smoke everywhere. Fire. Can't move or break free. Quickly he started rubbing them against them, scraping away his own skin. Eventually he felt a warm liquid drip all over his hands. His own blood. It went from a trickle to a river. His eye lids became heavy and moving felt impossible. Alec's vision blurred and everything sounded far away. He was dying. The pain finally ebbed away as his head slumped and eyes closed awaiting death.
Jane screamed when she felt Alec's head lob to the side. He wasn't responding. Smoke everywhere. Fire. Can't move or break free. The heat was so extreme now she couldn't focus on anything now. All she saw were flames. Her world was pain. Jane then felt something cold on her shoulder. An Angel in a black hood. "Do you wish to live young one?" its beautiful voice whispered in her ear, the coldness vanquishing some of the heat. "Please". Her world exploded in a new kind of fire. It was never ending. Maybe she was evil maybe she did deserve Hell. The torture seemed to last an eternity. Then it was over.
Jane opened her eyes before scrunching them close again trying to block out the pain. She found Alec and herself huddled together. She had smell gas and felt the heat of the explosion before it happened. Vampire reflexes took over as she tackled Alec to the ground, the two of them finding cover sandwiched between slabs of concrete. He blood curdling screams echoed off the demolished walls. The sound of a vampire screaming is blood chilling enough. Now it was magnified by her high pitched voice. But she couldn't help it, it felt like Hell itself was digging its claws into her and ripping the frozen flesh off her small bones. Her back was in agony and she couldn't move. Jane smelled the sugary sweet smell of burning vampire. Centuries of serving Aro had made her all too familiar with it. The fire continued to rage on, the air full of gasoline. The stench of burning human flesh burned in their nostrils along with the stench of burning clothing and whatever else was down in the forsaken tunnel. They heard the agonizing screams of innocent humans burning alongside them. She prayed to whatever higher power existed that someone would shut off the gas valve and make this purgatory end! She couldn't die here. Jane, one of the more fearsome immortals in history, was not going to die in a subway tunnel cowering under a rock! Yet it was oddly poetic and at least she would have died protecting Alec, or at least died with him. Neither could live without the other.
The flames attacking her back was just part of the problem. Memories of burning at the stake kept flashing through her mind. They reminded her of the fear, the abuse, the humiliation, how she thought Alec had died, how she thought she was going to die, and above all the sheer agony of it. Slowly the intensity died down and the air began to cool. Her back felt like ants were crawling all over it as her body tried desperately to heal. Jane tried to move, but she couldn't get up. Alec saw her pained expression and focused his Mist on her, taking the pain away as she healed.
As gently as possible, he wriggled out of the small crevasse in the cement. It was just large enough for Alec and half of Jane's body to fit. For once in his life he wished he was smaller. Rolling her limp, charred body on her stomach, he assessed the damage. His Mist has smothered most of the embers, but from neck to heel, Jane was covered in black scorch marks. Slowly the porcelain doll became complete. Sadly it was discolored and scarred permanently. Her dress was scraps, so Alec gave her his sweater to cover her torso.
Slowly he lifted the Mist and she gasped at the scorching pain in her throat. The pain had ebbed away mostly, but her body had used a great amount of energy to heal leaving her quite weak. She would need to feed as soon as possible. Alec helped her stand up, she had not felt this weak in a long time. Their surroundings had changed again. Smoldering corpses littered the grotesque tunnel. Anyone who wasn't killed in the initial bomb explosion was dead now. Alec tried again to break through the wreckage. Eventually some of the rubble gave way and he half carried Jane through it. Their phone had been destroyed in the fire. There was no way to call for help. The twins were on their own.
Thankful for vampire vision, Alec guided Jane through the tunnel until they found an emergency exit. It was a manhole cover. It sounded quiet above indicating it wasn't too busy nearby. There wasn't much light filtering through the two tiny holes, most likely in an alley way. It would have to do. There would be SWAT and cops and EMTs and FBI swarming above the normal exits. The twins could not be seen. Helping Jane sit down Alec leapt up through the hole, removing the cover in one swoop. He looked around assessing his surroundings. It was an abandoned alleyway with a rundown apartment. Most likely a sketcher part of the city. It would have to do.
Jumping down, he helped Jane up. Breaking into the building, it seemed to be empty. The apartment reeked of mold and dead rats. The smell of humans was faded amongst the dusty air. Listening for heartbeats and voices, Alec heard only one. It was beating very fast and sounded like a humming bird. Setting Jane on a couch covered in newspaper that looked relatively clean, Alec went upstairs to get Jane the human to drink.
As he approached, he felt something was off, like someone was watching him. He breathed in the human's scent trying to locate it. The scent was different somehow, sweeter like a vampires. This made him pause now on high alert, ready to release his Mist at a seconds notice. Looking around, he saw nothing. The heartbeat was getting louder, letting Alec know he was getting closer. As he approached the door, he heard rustling and light footsteps on the other side. To light to be human. "I know you're there, ya' fucking sucker. Come in and face me like a man why don't 'cha," a cocky voice yelled from the other side. It sounded too low to be a girl, but not low enough to be a full grown man. It knew he was a vampire, so hopefully it would know he was a Volturi and not to messed with. Debating what the best course of action would be, Alec figured whatever this thing was, it wanted a fight. Taking a deep breath, he pooled his Mist in front of him, loading it up to fill the room. As quick as possible, Alec broke down the door, releasing his Mist.
It was a boy who looked a couple years older than him, maybe seventeen or eighteen. He had wild blonde "skater" hair. His eyes were a silvery turquoise. The boy looked to be about five nine, was slim yet slightly muscular. His clothes were beat up tennis shoes, ripped worn jeans, dark blue hoody that was too big for him. Most likely this kid lived on the streets and was homeless. But the one thing that caught Alec's attention was that he was standing palms out reached. The Mist was being blocked by some sort of invisible wall. The boy was a Shield.
Volterra
Damien refused to leave his room. He felt really weird. On top of the recent events, he felt really shaky and lethargic. Everything was too hot. He was probably just in shock. Marina knocked saying it was time for school. Demetri knocked when he was ten minutes late. Felix put a dent in the wood when he tried. It didn't matter, the last of his family was dead. Although he never told anyone, he blamed himself for her death. Now it was his fault that Jane and Alec were dead all because he wasn't able to tell them to get out or warn them about the gas or tell them before they left to not go or anything. He knew they were going to die and he let it happen. Yeah Alec never really seemed to notice him and seemed to despise him at times and yes Jane was bossy and both were practically brainwashed by Aro, but they were still his family. Part of not being that close to Alec was also Damien's own fault. He just wished they would come back magically somehow.
Aro had spent every moment after contemplating what had just happened. It seemed impossible that his two of his strongest guards were now gone. Aro was also very concerned about Damien, or rather his power. He needed to read the child's mind to completely confirm what his theory was on what it could be. Aro guessed that Damien was perhaps a seer of the future, and perhaps at times the past. It was odd how he seemed to know exactly where the twins were right when the bomb went off. Damien had reacted so oddly, how he just started screaming and crumpled like he had been shot. How he kept asking, "Did you guys hear that?" or "Did you feel that?" How exactly did Damien know that the bomb was inside a blue duffle bag? If Damien was a seer like Aro was now hoping, he would make an irreplaceable addition to the guard. Smiling gleefully, Aro went to call Eleazar. He had to be sure.
Once the three children had gone down for combat training, Demetri returned to the library. The fact that Alec and Jane were now dead unsettled him. It didn't seem real. Just a year ago he, the twins and Felix were hunting down werewolves, going on missions, normal stuff. It was bad enough Santiago had died a little while ago. Sifting through worksheets, he made a pile of work for Damien to make up. Upon doing this, Demetri found Damien's graded homework from yesterday. A pang of guilt stabbed him as he realized that if he had taken Damien more seriously, the twins might still be alive right now. The click of heels snapped him out of his thoughts. Cold arms wrapped around him and he turned around to find Heidi hugging him from behind. "Hey, we don't know for sure they are dead, just their phone isn't working. Just give them time," she tried to stay positive but deep down she felt the same despair. She knew Demetri was somewhat closer to the twins that some of the guard. She often watched Demetri and Alec play games of chess or cards, sometimes Demetri would be arguing with Jane for fun. Little did she know Demetri had just tried tracking the twins, but he couldn't hear their tenors. They were dead. Just to be sure he tried again quickly and sensed nothing. "What's that?" she asked glancing over his shoulder.
"Oh, just Damien's homework. Yesterday he turned it in convinced he had done all the problems, but it wasn't till after he turned it in that he realized it was full of these random drawings. Many of them look like warnings to what happened. I just was taking a closer look I guess," Demetri shrugged. There was the picture of the sign, which read "Cathedral Parkway" backwards. The number 630 must have meant 6:30am. The Adidas symbol and duffle bag must have been what the bomb was in. He remembered Damien telling him last night about it. He didn't know what the bench or 666 meant.
"Hey did you look on the other side?" Heidi notice other writing. On the back it had just two words. WITCH. Dhampir?
After two days of locking himself in his room, Damien was forced out by Aro. The elder vampire wanted to know what Damien's side was. Was the child making stuff up? Was he involved somehow? Was this just a freak occurrence? Aro grasped the child's small hand, which was oddly warm and feverish. Sifting through his thoughts, Aro saw that whatever sort of 'vision' had was more than just visual. It was hearing the ticking of the bomb, it was feeling the heat of the explosion, it was smelling smoke and gas, it was watching it happen as if he was there. Everything was so vivid and real, it was as if Aro had watched them also die themselves. But Aro also unfortunately saw images of Damien remembering Jane singing to him, having Alec read to him, the guilt that he might be partially responsible for killing both his parents, and the fear of slowly losing his mind. This was also the first time he had seen real carnage, destruction and death. Whatever was going on in Damien's scared him because he realized how out of control his mystery power was. It was like something was hijacking his scenes and at times his body. He clearly remembered doing his homework only to find random drawings.
Damien was then dismissed and he made his way back to his room. Making one quick stop, he went to see if Joan was back yet. Her desk was empty. Walking towards it he debated how much trouble he would get in if he quickly used her computer for a second or two. Kneeling on the office chair, he turned on the computer. A screen popped up asking for a password. He didn't know what it could be. Suddenly his fingertips itched like crazy. They relaxed when his finger went on the 'M' key. Out of curiosity he pressed it. His fingers itched again. They relaxed on the 'A' key. He continued until the password spelled out 'Marie Curie'. Hitting enter, he was logged in. "Guess whatever the hell is going on with me is not completely useless," he whispered to himself.
He opened up the web browser. Damien googled "New York Bombing November". Along with useless ads and unrelated topics, he found an article about the bombing. 120 dead, 15 missing. Bomber unknown. Islamic Terrorists? The next talked about how the bomb damaged a gas pipe and caused a second eruption. Another showed security footage. His heart ached when he saw Jane and Alec sitting on the bench. They stood up and walked towards the plate form. Numerous comments were made on this saying how they lost loved ones and how terrible this was. One comment made him freeze. Did you guys see the two teens with the duffle bag they left on the bench? Maybe they set it off? It was posted less than a minute ago. A second comment popped up agreeing with him. Then a third. This was not good.
Damien took a deep breath holding back his anger at the poster. He decided to look up a couple of the other things that had been haunting him. Opening a new tab, he googled 'Inability to read while dreaming.' Sifting through articles about ludic dreaming and sleep disorders he found that it is a common belief you are unable to read while dreaming, but not confirmed.
Next he googled 'Psychic visions'. Many were websites for palm readers and scented oil. But he did find some helpful info on how most visions happen while one is asleep or altered consciousness. They often happen right before an emergency. There was a link to a page about witchcraft. It was quite interesting and led to many other links and web pages. One even led to a web page on vampires.
Most of it was just stuff about not being able to go into sunlight, being killed by holy objects, and about demons and such. But he spotted a tab that caught his attention. Dhampir.
"You know it's rude to use people's things without permission," Damien jumped startled by the voice. Demetri stood there arms behind his back just looking at him. He didn't sound mad, just more matter-of-factly. Snapped out of the allure of the computer, Damien realized it was now nighttime. His eyes stung and felt dry while the computer felt hot to the touch. How long had he been on the computer? Demetri was wondering the same thing. The boy's eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them from lack of proper sleep. Given that they were now black, he hadn't fed in a while. The light of the computer made him look quite pale and not in a good way. It was currently four in the morning. "You should get to bed. Class starts in two hours and fifty two minutes. You have three days of work to make up both in my class and in Mr. Felix's," Demetri said too calmly.
After Demetri sensed Damien was back in his room, where he should be, he made his way to the TV room. There he met with Felix, who was watching 'Tropic Thunder'. It was so bad it was laughable. "Demetri is late, someone call the press," Felix joked. "Perhaps he was busy grading papers or other exciting activities now that he isn't out on missions," Chelsea joked cold-heartedly. "Like getting blown up," she continued laughing at her own joke. "Too soon," Felix growled. Yes, the twins weren't the most likeable people ever, but that didn't give Chelsea the right to be so out right jovial. It was obvious she felt threatened by their position in the guard, but she didn't need to be a bitch.
"No I just found Damien out of bed," Demetri defended. "How is schizo-naut holding up? I heard there is a lovely Insane Asylum in Switzerland," Chelsea cackled. That was the last straw. Not because it was so out-of-line, but Demetri knew it was true. Damien wasn't the most mentally-stable person and Jane and Alec's death hadn't helped. In an odd way he felt bad for him. It seemed like he was the only person who had some sympathy for the Halfling. Plus he didn't think Damien was all that crazy. There had been too many coincidences and patterns.
Grabbing the remote, he changed the channel to an American news channel. Demetri hoped to find more news about the bombing. So far it was only death counts and hysteria. Then the overly-made up reporter talked about how two teenagers were seen leaving a piece of luggage and if anyone had any information to call the police. This couldn't be happening. They showed a blurry security clip and sure enough it was Jane and Alec. The news camera zoomed in on them. Humans wouldn't know who they are, or rather were. But vampires would. A new unwanted spotlight would now be on the guard. And now they didn't have their strongest weapons if violence broke out. Not to mention Demetria and Felix had children they had to protect. "We should warn Aro about this," Felix finally said something smart.
Later that morning class started. Demetri hoped this would be a sign things would return to normal quickly. Given the fact Tiago and Olivia theatrically sat as far as possible from Damien as possible and seemed to forget vampires had super hearing when they whispered 'psycho', 'freak', or 'Schizo-naut' (which Olivia had parroted from Chelsea), they were going to draw this out longer than needed. The day was a long one for everyone. It ended with Demetri threatening Olivia that if she didn't stop whispering in class to Tiago and Marina, he was going to tell Felix. Demetri nearly beamed with pride when he saw Marina scoot away from Olivia just like Olivia had scooted her chair away from Damien.
Felix didn't care Damien had missed the last couple days. He still made him spar with Tiago. Surprisingly he wasn't too bad…at running. Damien was fast and it seemed his reflexes faster. But he was constantly on the defense while Tiago, his partner, was on the constant offence. It was a good tactic since Tiago was now much larger than him and much much stronger. Slowly it became evident that Damien had not slept well in a while and his focus would slip resulting in a hard punch in the ribs and getting the wind knocked out of him. Next it was getting knocked to the ground. After that it was game over. Tiago won.
Next was Marina and Olivia. It was an unfair match. Marina still looked like a toddler while Olivia could pass for seven if she wanted to. And with that she was sturdier built and tall for her age. Instantly Olivia threw Marina on the ground and started hitting her, like a cat playing with its prey. Felix ended it less than a minute out of pity. Olivia won. She got off the smaller girl "accidently" kicking her. When Damien saw that Marina was having a hard time getting up, he gave her a hand. They were in the same boat…the bottom. At least being half vampire, most of Marina's bruises were faded by the time she limped to the wall and sat down.
Felix had Damien and Tiago go again. This time Damien tried to get more adventurous, but only because Felix kept shouting at him "To make a goddamn move already" and "Stop being a coward". Surprisingly Damien found that Tiago was terrible at blocking and was a graceful as a bull when it came to dodging. This he could use. Eventually the fight ended with Tiago grabbing his throat and forcing him to the ground while strangling him. Felix gave Tiago extra points for that since 'it would be a helpful move when he became a guard member.'
On his way back to the wall he whispered in Marina's ear, "Olivia loves to make the first move and is cocky about it. Her muscle flex a certain way right before she lunges. If you make the first move it will throw her off completely". Marina nodded a thank you before going into the ring. She always hated how intimidating and mean Olivia could be. Daddy would say that she was the 'b-word'. Olivia was always pushing Tiago and Marina around and constantly bragged about being a better fighter than her. Now she hoped she could at least put up some sort of a fight.
Felix blew the whistle and as Damien had said, her muscles clenched ready to spring. But before she attacked, Marina pounced first. She didn't have strength or height, but she had one thing she hadn't considered until now. On day one Felix talked about using your nails as a weapon in emergencies if being attached. In one swift movement, Marina had dug her nails deeply into Olivia's throat until it bled. In shock Olivia froze. Marina hated her so much and this fury fueled her as she kneed her in the stomach making the larger girl double over. From there Marina was able to get her on the ground. Marina had won her first fight ever. Taking a deep breath, she got off Olivia and held her hand out to help the now defeated up. Olivia spit on it. "You only won 'cause schizo-naut helped you. He probably used whatever freaky powers he's got," Olivia hissed, "You are dead meat next time."
In the end Felix took away points from Marina for having outside help and fighting dirty using her nails. But the rankings had changed slightly. Tiago was ranked first by far, with Marina and Olivia now tied, and Damien was last. They left the training room to go do homework and play. Leaving the room Marina's victory felt sour. She now had a huge target on her back. She would need to be on high alert at all times. At least she had her tracking gift.
Southern Russia, Winter 550 AD
Fire. Burning. Demetri lay in the snow in agony for hell who knows how long. He had been on his way to Constantinople as a member the Tsar's army. He wasn't the largest brute out there which made him perfect for secret mission because no one suspected such a slim, lithe man. Little did they know he was deadly with any weapon he could get his hand on and slyer than any fox. Secretly he was part of the Tsar's personal guard, which was pretty good considering he was in his mid-early twenties and was very young by some standard. He had been asked to blend in as a normal civilian while tracking down and assassinating a noble for the Tsar. He was one of the best bounty hunters in all of Easter Europe. Then someone must have hit him with a poison arrow or shot him or gotten bitten by a snake. Slowly the pain faded away everywhere but his throat.
His eyes quickly snapped open to find the world full of vivid color he never even knew existed. The snow no longer felt cold and he could feel every single crystal. He smelled the forest, the pine trees, the animals with in it, the earthy smell of the snowed over path. Demetri also heard these weird bell-like sounds which had an odd pull to them, like he needed to find them. Standing up quicker than he imagined, he continued his quest the great Tzar had assigned him. Oddly walking seemed easier and he was almost tempted to break out into a run. Since he must be behind schedule, he decided to run for a while. Demetri broke out into the longest strides he had ever had moving at a speed he never imagined. It was like flying. It was effortless and he wasn't even breathing hard or heart rate elevated. Pausing for a moment, he realized he couldn't find his own pulse. How odd. Maybe whatever poison he had been attacked with was still running its course and he was still hallucinating. Well at least the experience wasn't completely unpleasant except for the burning in his throat and horrible ringing sounds in his ears.
Demetri ventured for another week without seeing another person, but that was not uncommon. The burning had become agonizing and weird sounds unbearable. Until one day he spotted a figure miles away with his recently improved eye sight. One of the ringing sounds got louder to the point of painful. As he got closer he smelt this sweet smell that made him instinctively made him crouch in a defensive stance. The figure kept walking towards him until Demetri saw it was a man with wild black hair, pale skin, and ruby eyes. "So you are the little newborn I left in the snow. Sorry about that, comrade. Heard you were a powerful tracker and couldn't resist. I mean you no harm, even though I just bit you a while ago. But oh well. My name is Boris Tseloval'nikov," the strange red-eyed man had to be slightly crazy talking about biting him and calling him 'newborn' following him through the frozen landscape. Odder things had happened this week. "Demetri Myslivtsev," he responded keeping his distance. Originally his last name had been Khlopov, but he changed it once he joined the army so no one would know his family had been beggars living on the streets in a small village.
Boris explained to Demetri that he was a vampire and his life story, which as soon as the word 'vampire' was mention Demetri turned around and started walking away. He did not have time for this lunatic. One of the sounds got quieter until Boris started following him mid speech.
"And then I traveled to France as an Ambassador. The girls there are simply divine to look at and the poetry just makes you sway with romance. But not as much as the Spaniards. Their ballads make you weak at the knees I tell you, old friend," Boris babbled. Demetri growled out of frustration. This incessant squabble and never ending ringing sounds in his ears were driving him crazy!
"Oh don't be such a grouch, Demetri. You probably just need to feed. It's one of the most delightful things about being a vampire. The delicious, savory taste of the immortal elixir cascading down your white hot throat. Ooh, look I have goose-bumps already just from thinking about it," Boris smiled patronizingly. The self-proclaimed vampire didn't seem to have any food with him and Demetri's seemed to have been eaten by animals while he hand been writhing in the snow a week ago. Oddly enough he hadn't felt hungry, just extremely thirsty. Even eating snow hadn't help his dehydration.
The wind started picking up indicating a blizzard was on the horizon. They would need to make it to a village soon or they would freeze to death. Demetri caught a scent in the wind. Smoke from fires. This odd amazing smell that made his mouth water and throat feel like an animal was clawing at it trying to get out. Demetri broke out into the fastest sprint he had ever run towards it. He ignored the sounds clawing at his ears, and he abandoned the logic he loved so much. "Demetri! Stop!" Boris' orders feel to deaf ears.
A man came out of his hut to take a leak. Stumbling in the dark towards the sparse trees he saw something coming towards him rather quickly. Something that felt like a cold rock knocked him to the ground. It was a man. Next what really surprised him was that the thing that knocked him down jerked his head to the side and bit into his neck aggressively taking out a chunk of flesh. He tried to fight him off but it had its jaws were too strong. Slowly his life was drained away leaving nothing but an empty corpse.
Demetri sighed with relief. He didn't care he had just killed this human. He was too thirsty. The burn in his throat was more bearable. Strangely enough one of the weird ringing sounds was gone now. The thought quickly disappeared when he caught the scent of another human. By the end of the night, five more ringing sounds were gone.
As his newborn month went by painfully, Demetri stuck close to Boris. The elder vampire might have seemed looney once, but later Demetri found him to be a rather great traveling companion. Boris had been an Ambassador for Russia and had traveled the world when one night he met a vampire by chance. The vampire was intrigued by Boris' many travels and decided to turn him. Now two hundred years later he spoke twelve languages, had studied at many of the best universities in the world, been to every continent (all three of them!), and had met some of the best artists of all time. Boris was astounded by Demetri's lack of education, but surprised by his cleverness and logic. Demetri was a quick study and had a surprising passion for learning.
One of the main reasons he was flipping through scrolls and manuscripts was that he could never figure out what that ringing in his ears was. All he knew was that some sounds got louder and some quieter. A sound disappeared when he killed a human. He decided to call them tenors. Slowly he felt like he was losing his mind. He mentioned these tenors to Boris several times, who just shrugged them off saying he wasn't hearing anything. The rare times they came in contact with other vampires, Demetri asked again only to get strange looks and glances. It was driving him insane!
One day while the two were traveling south towards Rome before exploring Ethiopia and Egypt, Boris decided to take a quick detour. There was a coven who had just rose to power as guardians of the law and maintaining the secrecy of vampires. Boris thought it would be a great learning experience for his new pupil. Two brawny vampires stood at the gate. One with pale olive skin and the other with pale bronze. Boris kindly stated they were just visiting old friends. They both stepped aside. "Aro, I haven't seen you in so long my dear friend," Boris exclaimed friendly as ever. "Boris, who is this newborn?" the vampire called Aro asked holding out his hand for a handshake. Something made him hesitant. "Demetri, my lords," Demetri just bowed his head politely. "I like this one," a blonde vampire said from a wooden thrown. "Eleazar, what do you think of our new guest?" Aro asked a dark haired man who could have been brothers with the darker skinned gate keeper, but wasn't as built up. "I think he will be an amazing tracker," Eleazar spoke. This excited Aro. The vampire elder whispered something to a beautiful mahogany haired female vampire.
After that Demetri never saw Boris again. Although he had just met Aro and the other vampires, he felt oddly drawn to them and had a need to protect them. He felt like the soldier he was as a human. He would never thank Aro and Eleazar for explaining what the tenors meant and how to hone in on his ability. Soon he found himself befriending Felix, the olive skinned guard. Demetri was Aro's new favorite, after Chelsea. Until about five hundred years later, Eleazar made a shocking discovery about two young children.