Chapter 10: Sparks
New York City
Alec stared down the boy for a good long minute before the other teen pounced and tackled him, taking him by surprise. The force had knocked them both into the door to the room behind Alec splintering the door. "Ya' one of the Lost One's, aint'cha? Well tell the Old Pete I outa the game," the blond boy snarled. "I have not the slightest clue what you are talking about and your grammar is atrocious," Alec growled back rolling so he was on top. He tried to punch the boy in the temple to knock him out, but he caught Alec's wrist and found a way to hook his legs around Alec's shoulders and neck. With a strong thrust he forced Alec back on bottom, "Fighting words from da fucking Queen of England I see. Betcha' haven't been in a real fight in a long time ya tiny lil' runt. Betcha' what twelve, ten years old? Ain't got a hair on ya chinny, chin chin," The blonde boy hissed. That did it. Alec hated being called small.
"Fifteen, mate," Alec said through bared teeth. Yes he was small, but he was also much more flexible than most, given his youth. He wasn't much younger that the boy above him, but he was probably physically two or three years younger. In one solid jerk, he slipped out of the hold like butter and stood up holding his hands up signaling he wasn't going to fight. "Name's Donovan. Donavan O'Malley," the other boy said crossing his arms behind his head, making himself comfortable on the floor. Alec decided to lie. In situations where the guards needed to give a name, they often used an alias that was close enough to their real name. "Xander. Look I'm just here because my sister is injured and I thought you were a human. We mean no harm," Alec said trying to be diplomatic.
Donavan started cracking up, laughing manically, "So besides trying to attack me with whatever that cloud shit was and wanting t'drain me dry, you meant no harm." Gracefully, Donovan sprung up and started walking down stairs to where Jane was. Panicking, Alec followed. He didn't know what this lunatic was capable of. With a quick glance at Jane, who was laying on the couch with her eyes closed, Donovan went into the kitchen and opened the broken fridge. He pulled out a bottle, which given by the smell it was beer. "She's on hell of a looker. She's single?" Donavan mused as he ripped the cap off with his nails. "She's off limits," Alec growled. He was hating this guy more and more.
"And she's not deaf. You do know I can hear you both," Jane croaked from the couch. Donavan chuckled before chugging his beer in one swig. When he was done he noticed Alec was giving him a weird look. "There is no way you are twenty one," Alec explained. Hiccupping Donavan shrugged, "I'm not. I'm a hundred and seventy two. Perks of being a dhampir."
"What's that?" Alec asked. "Oh don't play dumb with me. I smell one on you. Probably a friend of yours or something," Donavan smirked. When he saw Alec still looked confused he clarified, "Someone who is half-vampire, half-human. Just hate being called half of one thing when I can be a hundred per cent of something. Most of us consider it an official name for our kind, I guess."
"There's more of you here," Alec was now curious. How many times had the guard traveled around the world and come across a half-vampire, dhampir, without realizing it? "Yeah, here an' there," Donovan's emotions turned on a dime again, muscles tensed and he look like he was going to start another fight if Alec kept asking him questions. "Well it is unfortunately a sunny day. Would you mind if we remained sheltered here until dusk? If it is not too much of a hindrance," Alec even forced a polite smile. It burned. "Nah man, anything for the pretty broad on the couch," Donovan gave him a smile that was the incarnation of Cheshire cat. Alec never in his life wanted to punch someone so much.
Having his fill of tormenting Alec, Donovan reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade. "Whoa. What are you doing?" Alec backed away, crouching in front of Jane defensivley. Donovan ignored him face deep in concentration, emotionally 180-ing again, turning around to the grungy sink, and slit his wrist. "Are you mental!" Alec yelled. Donovan calmly held his wrist over the bottle, filling it with his blood like this happened every day. In a little more than two minutes the slash had completely healed. Walking over to the couch he sat next to Jane. "Here you go blondey. Bottoms up!" Donovan laughed at his own joke. "Are you mad? How do we know dhampir blood isn't poisonous to us? What if you have AIDs or something?" Alec fumed. "If I had AIDs, I would give it to her another way," Donovan winked at Jane suggestively. "Well you sure know how to flatter a girl with dirty talk of deadly diseases," Jane snorted weakly. The blood did smell good and healing from the fire had taken all her strength away. One way to find out.
Nearly gagging on the after taste of beer, Jane found herself explode with energy once she was finished. She had never felt so awake and jittery in her life. "Perks of dhampir blood. It's like the red bull of the vampire world. So much stronger and potent than human blood," Donovan explained seeing Jane fidget, blink and twitch uncontrollably. "Thank you," Jane said politely. "You could always repay my noble deed by a kiss or even a little something extra," Donovan wiggled his eye brows while Jane and Alec rolled their eyes in unison. "Oh and how old are you girly? Ya got to be at least a couple years older than your baby brother here," he continued flirtatiously. "It's rude to ask a woman her age," Jane laughed defensively. Alec laughed too. "Well if I'm not going to get a kiss for being your knight in shining armor, may I have the honor of knowing your name? I know your Xander" Donovan asked faking a British accent horribly and pointing at Alec. This made Jane giggle an adorable wind-chime laugh, "Julie. You know we don't actually sound like that?" Did Jane just giggle? At least she had the common sense to follow protocol and use her fake name, Alec thought to himself trying not to puke. Of all the places to hide, he chose the one with the flirtatious psychopath who was hitting on his sister and even worse, she was acting like a foolish school-girl. If it wasn't for the god forsaken sun outside, Alec would have grabbed her and ran. Instead he sat on the kitchen counter and watched Jane and that THING chat on the couch.
Donovan opened his mouth again to speak, "So your brother can create this girly cloud shit…"
"MIST. Its Mist that sucks away all your senses and leaves you paralyzed leaving you in an illusion of nonexistence!" Alec interrupted.
"Vampire Death Mist which I blocked with my Shield of Awesomeness. Happy Count Dork-ula? As I was so importantly saying, can you do any fun tricks?" Donovan smirked cockily, voice full of innuendo. Alec really wanted to rip his lips off and watch him bleed to death. This erased when he realized Jane was scheming on her own. With a really girly flirty voice she gushed, "I can do this amazing thing where I make you believe you are burning alive and mentally trap you in your own illusion of Hellfire. It works great for torturing others, especially guys without the idea of boundaries." She scooted two inches away sending the message that she was not interested. Alec would have jumped up on the counter and dances his heart and blackened soul out if he was the dancing type. "Ouch. Playing hard to get?" Donovan huffed. "More like impossible," Jane countered. "Kitty has some claws," he laughed. "A lot sharper than you think." "The bitch does seem to bite." "And bite with venom". Alec watched the two banter back and forth. It was very entertaining. At one point it got to where Donovan called for a truce and to "rhymes-with-hug it out". Jane hopped of the couch and gave Alec a sisterly side hug resting her head on his shoulder. Alec had to smile.
"My heart bleeds for you! Oh wait, it actually did," Donovan still never lost his smirk through it all. "Xander, do you think Aaron (Aro) would like a new friend? I tested my gift on him and he is a shield like he said. It might give him something to think about besides the Cullen girl," she whispered in his ear so only he could hear. Alec hated this guy, but if it for the best of the guard then he might be able to set aside his differences. Besides, Donovan just barely bested him in fighting. Alec would kill to watch Felix beat his cocky ass. He could already picture it.
"So you mentioned 'others'. Who are they if you don't mind us asking," Jane asked having a feeling he would soften up more to her. "Just a couple of other dhampirs, a couple vampires on the younger side, a gifted human or two. Supernatural street kids really. Let's just say I had a falling out with a leader of theirs," Donovan shared. "Old Pete," Alec asked. "Yeah, he killed a friend of mine 'cause she went against orders. A gifted human, probably nineteen or something. Moira was her name. She turned against the Old Pete and rallied a couple of others on her side. Tortured and killed her in public to make an example of her. The Old Pete threatened to kill anyone else who went against him. So I told him I was out. Still waiting for his buddies to come knocking any day now. Thought you were one of them," Donovan's smirked slipped. Alec guessed he was genuinely sad. "What's a Lost One?" Alec hoped Donovan was still being generous with information. Maybe him downing a beer wasn't such a terrible thing.
"Just the name of the Old Pete's Cult. Use to be called Lost Boys until they started letting the girls in about two centuries ago. Started out as a haven for dhampirs who had nowhere else to go. Then it got extended to any supernatural really. Then it just changed one day and a new Old Pete rose to power and had this idea of conquest and got the idea to start killing off random vampires. The most recent one, what Moira died for going against, was killing this huge coven in Italy. Called Volt something. She was convinced a very very bloody, ugly war would break out if they tried to start something. Enormous casualties on both sides. Methinks she's a future seer of sorts, never been wrong about a hunch ever and look how she was repaid for saving or asses more than once. The Old Pete started killing in the public human world to draw attention. It was Fox's idea to lead them to a part of Central Park where they needed to use the subway. Planted a bomb where he knew a large gas pipe was. Clever as fuck if you ask me. That way if the bomb didn't kill 'em, the gas explosion would and destroy any and all evidence."
Jane and Alec exchanged looks. Jane was right about the assassination attempt. If they could take down Old Pete and the Lost Boys, the mission would be done and they could go home. Not to mention shutting down a huge treason plot. "May we meet this Old Pete? He sounds rather fascinating," Jane was happy they now had a lead. "You mean THE Old Pete. It's a title, like king or prince. Apparently there are hundreds of factions and divisions like the one here. Old Pete or the name Peter is what you call the leader of that one faction. Started with some twisted biblical reference or something. Blame the Rome Faction for that," Donovan huffed.
Apparently finally getting sick of sitting on the couch, Donavan hoped up and grabbed another beer out of the moldy fridge. "How on earth can you stand the taste, let alone the smell? I thought dhampirs didn't like human food?" Jane wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Decades of stomaching it. Barely taste it anymore. Keeps me calm, but never out right drunk. Moira said I had sort of a problem. Can you believe it a vampire with a drinking problem?" Donovan laughed without joy to himself. Emotions flipping again, he resembled a guy you would find alone sobbing drunk after being dumped by his girlfriend. Not quite an angery drunk, just a sad heartbroken one reminiscing old memories in an alcohol induced stupor.
Breaking the tension, and hoping the second beer had made him more talkative, Jane asked if at dusk they could just take a peek at where the Old Pete was or maybe where the Lost Ones were? Just innocent curiosity of course and after all they were just two nomad teens lost in New York. Shortly after Donovan's twelfth beer he fell asleep on the couch. Once the twins were one hundred percent sure he was out cold, they discussed the next step in their plan. Jane seemed to think they could trust Donovan with their true identities. After all the enemy of your enemy could be your closest ally. Plus he was a shield who could serve as another defense. Alec wasn't so sure. Donovan seemed too much like a loose cannon. Or worse, what if the whole drunk lone wolf thing was an act and he was planning on delivering them to the Old Pete himself. What if this crack-head had put two and two together with them being twins dressed in black, escaping from somewhere close to where the bomb went off and je had dragged Jane in here still smoldering with he himself singed. If Donovan wanted to, he could switch his shield and make the both of them powerless. Alec also mentioned to Jane that he thought Donovan was faking all of this. His speech had become less slurred and more grammatically correct after he had drank. Something wasn't adding up. Jane thought Alec was just making excuses. After thirteen rounds of rock paper scissors, a couple staring contests, and arguing, Jane won out. They would tell Donovan when he woke up who they were. With luck, he would join their side and hopefully get Lost Ones who were against the Old Pete to join them also. They would just investigate tonight and then finalize plans from there.
At dusk, war would begin.
Volterra
Regardless of recent events Aro seemed to be beaming with a new sense of energy and excitement. Every year the Volturi hosted a winter ball around Christmas time. This year it would be on December twenty-first. Only a month away. There was so much to plan, an orchestra to hire, invitations to write, and decorations to buy. Aro and Caius debated using this as an opportunity to showcase their four new editions, but decided it would still be best if they were still a secret. Aro was not sure how the other vampires would respond to them. Many had yet to even learn of half-vampires and their existence. It might start unneeded panic amongst his guests since many would assume them to be Immortal Children, which would soil their reputations. He would just have the children stay in the basement for however long he needed them to and tell his guest that a tunnel collapsed, which happened all the time in the ancient Building.
Aro was also concerned with the deaths of his two strongest weapons. He couldn't have other vampires knowing how weak they were now. He would just lie if someone were to notice their absence and say the twins were away on business. He needed to keep the appearance up as long as possible that all was well, especially after the incident with the Cullens almost a year ago.
His phone conversation with the florists and ordering poinsettias and holly was halted by a call from a coven from Boston. They were demanding to know why the Volturi were now resorting to bombing subway stations. The coven had seen on the news the security clip and recognized Jane and Alec. Aro assured them they did no such thing and didn't even know anything about the explosion. They bid their farewells, begrudgedly apologizing for their accusation. A second call came an hour later from the Egyptian coven, who had also seen the news. Aro was now very worried. After convincing them it was a misunderstanding, he got a third call from the Tokyo coven. This was getting out of hand. The Volturi tried very hard to not EVER catch the attention of human media. Now two of his late guards were assumed to have bombed a New York subway and the entire world knew about it, mortal and immortal. Maybe this year's holiday party would not be so easy.
Class with Demetri resumed. After finishing up learning about the Ancient Middle East and Egypt, they started learning about Ancient Greece and then Ancient Rome. Within this unit they would also be learning Greek and Roman Mythology along with how the Volturi started. Aro, Caius, Athenodora, and Sulpicia even agreed to come in and to a brief lecture about the founding of their coven and what life was like back in the 'good old days'. Marcus surprised Demetri by asking to be included also. Back when Didyme was alive, both had been huge culture enthusiasts and at times were very involved with the human world. They use to go on dates to see Theban plays and Roman Gladiator Fights. Had she still been alive, Marcus knew she would have adored seeing Shakespeare at The Globe and listening to Mozart perform live. Music was not the same without her.
Today for science they had a small biology quiz that was only ten multiple choice questions. It took only about ten minutes, well about five for everyone but Tiago who hadn't studied the parts of the cell and just made up words. Demetri lectured for another ten minutes about the importance of putting forth at least some effort. In all honesty, if Tiago had cheated and looked at someone else's paper he would have been less ticked off because that at least required action and showed you at least cared about your grades. The only response Demetri got from the class was Olivia, "Mr. Demetri, I don't see why any of this IS even important. It's not like we will need good grades to get into college and the only future any of us have are as Guard members or buried in a box dead. Why do we need to learn math and science, when all were are going to be doing is fighting or killing?" And with that smart ass comment Olivia now was in charge of re-shelving all the books, vacuuming the library and washing all the windows in the Building. On top of that everyone had to write a thousand word essay on the importance of education as a Guard. These children needed to know what punishment was and that they were not invincible. In all honesty Demetri thought Felix had spoiled his two kids too much since he never once told them no & gave them everything they t thinking that's how you keep children happy and an appropriate way to raise children. Demetri also said he was going to have a stern talk with her father. That wasn't really a threat to her, she had Daddy wrapped around her finger and if anything Felix would soften the punishment for his baby girl.
For literature, he had the class on mostly the same page. After finally getting Tiago and Olivia to learn how to read and write, which wasn't an easy feat, he had gone on to having daily vocabulary quizzes and finally they were able to handle more basic novels. Now he had everyone start on Romeo and Juliet, the easiest and dumbest play ever. Surprisingly Olivia was excited about learning about such a wonderful romance and how she wishes she could fall in love like that. "Yeah, I bet a love story that results in two suicides and three murders is simply wonderful," Damien scoffed sarcastically while speaking for the first time today. Demetri was just happy the class managed to finish half the play today.
Math was now divided into two groups. Marina and Damien worked on Pre-algebra while Tiago and Olivia worked on fractions. It was amazing how quickly the first group was working. Marina was ready for Algebra and Trigonometry but Demetri tried to force her to slow down so he could have only two different groups. But he was very proud of her for moving at such a face pace and always giving over a hundred percent in class. Since Demetri had to dedicate most of his time to the slower group, the advanced group was normally forced to use books to learn and were self-taught for the most part.
Finally the last hour Demetri had them working on perfecting Italian and worked on different conjugations and grammar. All four had grown up hearing it and Demetri knew it would be an easier subject for Olivia and Tiago. Felix mainly spoke Italian to them to the point where it could be considered their first language. The odd thing about them growing up as part of the Volturi was that everyone spoke multiple languages and you could start a conversation in Italian, have it change to English, and then finish in French. Although Olivia had a point earlier about many of these subjects being irrelevant to their future Guard duties, international language had to be the most important and critical. Part of being a Guard was traveling the world to judge crimes and oversee the vampire world. Surprisingly Italian was easier for everyone then English.
Finally the morning was over and it was Felix's turn to teach. Instead of the usual sparring, Felix had them working in pairs with different pin down techniques. As usual Damien and Tiago were partners and Olivia and Marina were together. "Don't think I've forgotten about you 'beating' me last time," Olivia hissed in Marina's ear. Olivia shoved her to the ground as hard as possible and pinned her arms behind Marina's back, twisting them until Marina begged to stop. Even then Olivia waited a couple seconds before releasing. Felix praised her for good technique before turning his back to watching Tiago win. Olivia loved watching Marina struggle and beg. It was her way of taking out her anger for Demetri being the only adult who ever didn't bend to her will. Her anger for not being gifted and not being Aro's favorites like Marina or Damien. Damien might be crazy but she could tell Aro like him best of all. Olivia took out her anger on never being number one in anything. Her brother Tiago was Felix's favorite because he was an amazing fighter, even though he was the second youngest in the group. The entire time she kicked, punched, strangled, and beat Marina, Olivia found that Felix wasn't going to stop her. Here she was better than Marina. Marina who was too perfect in EVERYTHING. Better in everything.
When the day was over, Marina was covered in bruises and it hurt to even breathe. She waited until everyone else had left before she broke down crying. No matter what she couldn't beat Olivia. Mr. Felix wasn't doing anything either, he just watched it happen and made it worse by complimenting her. He believed that Marina just needed to suck it up and taking hits was good for her, no matter how cruel it was. Her gift was useless in a fight and it was physically impossible for her to ever win a fight. She was too small and too young. Marina was happy at least she healed quickly. Marina was too embarrassed to tell her father what was going on and didn't want him to know how much she sucked at fighting. He would be disappointed in her and worse would try to fix it and Olivia would be furious at her for tattling.
After she finally healed and took several deep breathes, Marina stood up and faced the training equipment. Maybe if she trained extra when everyone else was gone, she could get stronger. So she spent the rest of the evening practicing punching the bags, kicking the dummies, all while imagining they were Olivia. The dummies didn't seem to protest or fight back.
When Demetri came to Marina's room to tuck her in and say good night, he found she wasn't in her bed. After searching the Building, he found her down stairs pathetically trying to beat up at dummy. Felix was right, she really was weak. "It's way past your bedtime, Marina Elena," Demetri scolded, using her full name to indicate she was in trouble. "I was just training," Marina argued, her tone harsher than she meant. "Well you can wait until tomorrow when you have class with Felix," Demetri picked her up. "No, I don't ever want to practice her ever again!" It slipped out before Marina could catch it. "Who, Olivia? I thought you two were best friends?" Demetri was now confused. Marina's eyes watered, betraying her. "Is something wrong?" Demetri was now very concerned. "NO! Forget I said anything! You will just make it worse!" Marina gasped now more scared. "Make what worse? What aren't you telling me?" Demetri set her down. Marina sighed telling him what really was going on during their practice sessions with Felix. Demetri was fuming. How dare that little brat hurt hid baby girl. And worse his best friend was not doing anything and encouraging it. "Please don't say anything. It will only make it worse," Marina's voice sounded so frightened. "Well, what do you want me to do? Let you continued to be bullied?" Demetri didn't mean to sound angry, but it made Marina flinch. "Teach me to fight," she offered. She knew her father had similar problems with his small size too. Maybe he could share some insight on how to use being smaller and lighter against a massive opponent.
Demetri smiled at this. "I'll teach you something much better. I'll teach you how to use a weapon. Wait here." Demetri ran upstairs as fast as he could. Seconds later she sensed him walking back down the steps carrying two throwing knives. "Tomorrow night, we will start our first official lesson, just the two of us," Demetri announced, "Bu tonight we will just work on a brief introduction since it is already so late." They spent until midnight having her just get use to holding one, the feel of the handle, the weight in her hand, rubbing her finger against her delicate finger against the sharp tips and edges, how to grasp it correctly, and memorizing every detail of the knives. There was a new spark in her eyes, a new confidence.
The next day Olivia was still cruel, but it seem to hurt less. Marina was excited for her lesson with her father. Demetri showed her the correct stance for throwing them, where to grasp the knife, and proper throwing technique. Although exhausting, Demetri made her hold the throwing stance for an hour straight to have her commit it to memory. He had her practice throwing without a knife, nit picking every little thing he could. It frustrated Marina, but she knew he was only doing it because he cared. These late night sessions oddly enough helped them bond. It was time Marina was able to spend time with her father, although he treated her like a student and at arm's length.
Joan finally returned from being the wives' personal maid during one of many shopping sprees and travel week. It was tiring yet excited. She didn't think with her new job and conditional living situation that she would ever be allowed to leave the Building. It felt nice to breathe. Aside from every now and then being allowed to walk around the square when she ran errands such as dry cleaning or getting newspapers, she had been cooped up. It was a nice distraction from her brother's death. She wondered if maybe she talked to Aro if she would be able to convince him to possibly let the children ever go outside. It couldn't be healthy, half-undead or not, for children to be trapped inside twenty four-seven. Joan knew it was for their own protection, and possibly Caius' evil master minding to take over the world. But she would risk agitating him and she was not in the position as a human to give him orders. Maybe she would talk to the children's fathers and see what they had to say.
Taking a deep breath to gather her confidence she went to find Demetri. Joan knew he was at least rational. Plus he would know where Felix and Alec were. One her way to approaching his study, he looked up before she even had a chance to knock. "Good evening Mademoiselle Joan. May I help you with something?" He politely used French to make it easier for her. "Yes, it wasn't too much of a bother. I was going to ask what your opinion was on the children always being inside. Surely it cannot be good for them and I personally think as a former psychologist that it would be beneficial to even let them go into the court yard supervised or possibly allowed to walk around the plaza chaperoned perhaps?" Joan tried to hide the quiver in her voice. Demetri's face was expressionless and she couldn't tell what he was thinking. "I absolutely agree with you. I think that the children are mature enough to understand the importance of secrecy and how to hide their abilities. I'll talk to Felix, Aro, and Caius about a possible field trip," Demetri had seen how stir crazy the children had slowly become. Plus a field trip could enhance their curriculum. "Could you also forward the idea to Jane and Alec. I didn't see them when I came in. They are welcome to join us as well. I find it tragic for people that young to never have any fun," Joan smiled happy this was going better than she expected. Demetri's smile faltered however into a scowl, "Jane and Alec are dead. Have you been listening to the news?"
Joan's eyes widened. That was impossible. Demetri had to be kidding. Except Demetri wasn't the joking type. If she had heard it from Felix maybe. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Joan didn't like them that much. "I'm fine. I pity Damien. I can tell he is burying his feelings and trying to act like he's fine with it. He's like his father that way. I think he's in denial, as most of us here. It didn't help that no one really seems to care about him. Damien's been alone except for classes and hasn't been talking to anyone. I know Alec and Damien weren't the closest but I can tell it hit him really hard to lose his last parent. I dread the day we have to tell Tiago Felix isn't his real father. But enough of that. I will pass the idea along to the higher ups," Demetri didn't know why he was telling her all this. She just had that feel about her that made you trust her I guess. Now he knew why Damien use to hang around her when he was younger. Joan seemed so motherly and open. Probably part of being a psychologist he guessed.
Later Demetri talked to Felix about the idea of allowing the kids to go outside, even for a couple minutes. Demetri also fought the impulse to inform his best friend of the antics Olivia had been up too. Marina made him pinky swear not too. Felix agreed that physical exercise would help immensely. They would bring it up with Aro next time he and Caius asked for a report of their experiment.
The suggestion went much smoother than Demetri thought. Of course Caius shot down the idea immediately, arguing that a secret weapon only works if it's kept secret and it would be too much of a risk to have another vampire see them. Demetri argued with he and his daughter's tracking abilities they would retreat indoors if a vampire was sensed. Then Caius argued that people would notice the children aging so quickly. But then again in the millennia the Volturi had been in power none of the towns people questioned them not aging. Proving Caius' argument invalid. "They could attack a human. We have no way of know how in control they are. They are just children," Caius was scrambling now. "Well then this would be a marvelous opportunity to let them be accustom to the human world. The children always seem fine around Joan. If we were to take them outside we would make sure they were well fed to minimize the risk of disaster," Demetri countered. To everyone's surprise Marcus spoke up next, "It would be even more problematic to have them become guards without ever leaving one building their entire lives," Marcus was the one to finally sway Aro. Grasping Aro's hand Marcus thought, You and I both know at least one of them will attempt to go outside on their own. Better they do it in a controlled and monitored environment. Besides it might shed some light on what Damien's power is. We both know you have been obsessing over it.
Two out of three agreed and said that Demetri & Felix were to let them go to the garden after class tomorrow night, after the sun had gone down. When Demetri broke the news to them the next morning he was surprised with the mixed reactions he got. Tiago hadn't really even noticed or clued in that there was an existence outside of the stone walls of the Building. Marina was scared, what if there were monsters outside? There was this thing called Daylight or Sun she had heard people whisper about. It sounded ferocious. Demetri found it comical she was afraid of monsters outside when she had grown up surrounded by them. It made him wonder what the children thought about vampires & what their perceptions were. Olivia was excited, Chelsea had told of these places called Boutiques and Stores where they had clothes and endless shoes. Anything had to be better than in here. Damien had known that there was more out there, he had gotten use to the idea of being trapped here forever. It was like telling a penguin it was now able to fly. It just seemed so impossible, yet amazing. But he was curious and wanted to go.
Demetri soon learned he should have waited until the end of class to tell them. The rest of the morning Tiago and Marina whispered guessing what might be out there. It was adorable how child like they were, so filled with wonder and awe. To Demetri the world was the same place he had seen for a thousand and five hundred years. Nothing was all that exciting anymore. One down fall of eternal life. All four of them were restless and distracted with the idea of freedom, even if it was just walking a couple metres outside for a couple minutes. Yet they were so excited and jovial. Demetri swore he saw Damien smile, even if it was for a fraction of a second.
Felix ended class two hours early. Everyone rushed upstairs to one of the back entrances. As Felix approached the door to unlock it Tiago felt like he was an astronaut counting down until lift off. Under his breath he started counting down from ten. This made Marina giggle her sweet bell laugh. Tiago loved to make her laugh and always hated it when his sister was mean to her. What would be out there? Monsters? Rainbows? Flowers? All the windows in the Building had heavy curtains over them constantly. Was the outside world exactly like the movies they had watch? Would they meet the cat in the hat? Maybe there were dragons in the sky.
The iron door creaked open. Everyone gasped. It was just like being in a fairy tale. Even with the fifty foot hedges blocking the view of the rest of the world. It was a surprisingly chilly night in the late November gloom. It didn't matter. Immediately All four spread out to examine everything. The feel of the moist black soil beneath them, the smell of fruit trees that no one ever picked, the bubbling sound of the spring, the fireflies eliminating everything. Marble statues of angels and warriors glowed in the moon light. There was this weird bush everywhere that had to only be three inches tall at most. When Olivia asked about it, Felix said it was called grass. Everything was just a magical wonderland!
Eventually a game of hide and go seek broke out. How could so many great hiding places go wasted? Aro, Chelsea, Afton, Renata, Heidi, Sulpicia, Athenodora, Caius, and even Marcus joined in. Who could resist seeing these angelic children, glowing with innocent excitement? It made everyone feel young again. Maybe Aro's idea to have children wasn't such a terrible idea? Felix started counting down from twenty as everyone dashed into the twilight. Damien bolted to the farthest depths of the garden. He came apon an apple tree that had fruit so dark they looked like onxy jewels. It looked like no one had been here in decades. Except a small patch of dirt that looked to have been disturbed. There lay a stone with writing that hand been scratched crudely with a vampire's nails. It read 'Jonathan Sagnoir, The Angel'.