Everyone hung out in the courtyard until nearly one in the morning when Demetri insisted the children go to bed in order to not be tired for school in a couple hours. "Demetri, it's fine. Let them stay up if they want to," Felix argued. If they wanted to stay up late, let them. He wasn't going to be the one to say no. "No it's not fine. They need to be well rested for tomorrow and it is already late as it is," Demetri hated that he was the only one here being a responsible parent and voice of reason. How ironic Felix was the most enthusiastic about being a father and now he was the worst one. He never said no or did anything that came with the responsibilities of a parent. Felix never taught his children to read or write or count or manners or anything really. Now Felix was arguing with him.

"Daddy, I want to stay up later. It's so much more fun out here," Olivia pleaded. "Of course Ollie," Felix gushed using the pet name affectionately. "Father, may I please stay up with the others?" Marina asked. She didn't want to play with Olivia per say, she just wanted to hang out with Tiago. The grass out here was so much better for cartwheels and running around. "I'm sorry, but you need to go to bed. You can come back outside tomorrow," Demetri picked her up to take her inside. Because his favorite playmate was now gone, Tiago decided to go inside too. Olivia defiantly stayed outside, gossiping with the wives and Chelsea. Heidi not wanting to be a part of it, went inside to go say good night to Marina. Heidi liked that although Marina had grown up in a very sheltered environment, she wasn't too spoiled and was a very sweet girl. Plus Heidi knew Demetri would later have to deal with girl things that would better be explained by another woman than a man. Better Marina and Heidi were close now. In a way Marina considered Heidi a mother-like figure.

Aro and Caius stayed out appreciating the garden and chatting with their mates. Aro was considering hiring someone to perhaps maintain it more, maybe putting in a swing set. He always wanted one, but there was never a good reason before to justify his childish desire. Aro also wanted the weeds removed, statues de-mossed, stepping stones polished, hedges pruned, and a coy pond. It had probably been over five years since someone ventured out and it looked a little over grown. Finally around four in the morning Olivia went inside. She would just sleep during Demetri's class, since she thought it was unnecessary and boring. He let Damien sleep once in his class, so why not her? With dawn soon approaching, the other vampire's decided to seek the shelter of the Building as well. Aro felt like he was forgetting something, but he didn't know what. Thinking he was just getting paranoid, he locked the backdoor and joined his wife in their chambers for a little personal time.

Damien hadn't realized he had fallen asleep until he felt something land on his head. It was this strange thing with claws, tiny skinny legs, a small brown feathered body, black beady eyes, and a horn. No wait a beak. It was just a bird. Waving it away, Damien stretched cracking his back and neck, which were both very stiff. Looking around he saw he was still in the courtyard, sitting up against a tree. Where he had fallen asleep. It was also painfully bright out and quite muggy. Damien wasn't in the Building. Looking around, he didn't see anyone else. Walking around, nobodies was there. No chatter of conversations, no pitter of heart beats. Damien was alone. The sky had begun to turn a peachy rose color to a light baby blue. Good, it was still early morning. See if the door is unlocked, a voice said, you can still get inside before they notice you're missing. It sounded slightly feminine. The voices lately had started to slowly sound more and more different to where he could tell gender and keep tabs on each of them. This one girl's voice he heard constantly. He liked her because she was reasonable and sounded like she wanted to help most of the time. The many times Damien tried to ignore the different voices, she often encouraged the other voices to leave him alone for a bit, or at least kept the more volatile voices at bay. Retracing his steps, he found the giant door. Tugging the handle, it didn't budge. Damien knocked, but after waiting about five minutes he gave up. Go explore, a masculine voice cooed, this is your one shot to see the town. Yeah, I want to go play in the fountain, a child's voice gasped. Shrugging and having nothing better to do, Damien wandered the hedge line until he found a small gap that his small form could fit through. On the other side was a dark alley. I've seen this before. There was this mist stuff, a woman's voice mused. Damien paused, listening and trying to make a plan. Already he had gone much farther than Aro or Caius would have allowed.

"Dove sei? Vieni qui, cucciolo," a small boy's voice shouted. Damien out of curiosity followed the voice. The boy was looking for his puppy. Maybe he could help? Damien froze when he heard a deep, guttural growl behind him. Please don't be Caius, Damien pleaded in his mind. Turning around slowly, not wanting to make any sudden movements to startle what was behind him, he faced the beast behind him. At first he thought it was the fearsome werewolves he had heard so much about. It was a giant, black fluffy Great Dane taller than Damien himself. Backing away slowly, Damien stared the massive beast in the eyes growling back. From what Demetri had taught him, animals asserted dominance with eye contact. Damien also hoped, growling back would scare it away. Damien heard sloppy, yet light footsteps coming from the other end of the alley. It was the boy.

After about thirty seconds of staring the dog down without blinking, the ferocious beast finally broke and whimpered hiding behind a rubbish bin in the alley. Damien had won. "Come hai fatto?" the boy gasped as if Damien had done a magic trick. Damien turned to look at the human. The boy looked about seven, had disheveled black hair, olive skin from being in the sun, wild blue eyes and an untucked t-shirt with khaki shorts and sneakers. Damien felt like he knew him, but he didn't know from where. Enzo, the woman whispered. "Aspetta, non andate a scuola si fa?" the boy asked. Damien shook his head. The boy had asked if he went to his school, since he had never seen him before. "Sono Lorenzo DeLeale. Ma I mei amici mi chiamano Enzo. Questo é Baci," the human introduced himself and the beast as 'Kisses'. Who would name such a monsterous thing 'Kisses'? "Sono Damien," Damien introduced himself. Mentally he kicked himself. He wasn't allowed to have anyone know about him. The innocent boy could die just because Damien decided to be friendly. Damien was tired of people dying simply because he existed. Wait, did the boy say Enzo? Like the boy mentioned in the letter his mom had written. Taking a shot in the dark Damien asked in Italian if the boy knew a Katherine Argento. Enzo said that was the name of his aunt who went missing in May. The human standing in front of him was his cousin.

Enzo asked if Damien had seen her. Damien lied saying he had just seen the posters. The boy asked if he had just moved here since he had never seen him before. Damien said he moved here two months ago with his father. Where? The giant tan building. My friend Leo said it's haunted. No, it's just a government building, you know taxes and boring stuff. That's cool, want to play at my house. No, I have to get home my father is waiting for me. Damien tried to keep the conversation as vague as possibly. The less the human knew the better. Yet part of him wanted to go with Enzo. Enzo was his family. From the letter it said Damien had an Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Tommy. Damien had family that was still alive. They were human, but alive. Damien had never felt so conflicted. The human part of him screamed that he needed friends and go and play with Enzo, be a normal kid with a loving family. But the vampire part of him reminded him companionship was not a luxury he had, especially with a human. It was too risky for the both of them. Damien had to keep his existence a secret no matter what. He should slink into the shadows now and never be seen again. The human would think that Damien was a figment of his childish imagination.

After promising to be friends and have a playdate sometime, Damien disappeared the way he came. When Enzo wasn't looking, Damien dashed back through the hedges and back into the confines of the courtyard as if nothing had ever happened. Damien walked back to the door and decided he really should wait for someone to let him in eventually. Less chance of getting in trouble.

Demetri looked at his pocket watch. It was two minutes after seven and he only had half his class. Searching for Damien and Olivia's tenors he found that Olivia was still in bed. That girl was really starting to get on Demetri's nerves. After making his way down to her room, Demetri knocked as loud as possible. "What do you want?" a voice groaned. "Young lady, you are now five minutes late for class. You are to be out of this door in thirty seconds or you will have detention again," Demetri shouted. These children had very little responsibilities around here and one of them was to wake up and go to class. It was very simple. "Why can't I just sleep? You let Damien miss class," Olivia whined wasting her thirty seconds arguing. "His father and aunt died. You decided to stay up just to blabber about clothes. Those are very different circumstances," Demetri was going to break down her door if she didn't shut up and do what she was told.

After doing her 'make up' and doing her hair and finding the right school uniform, Olivia strolled into class an hour late. Demetri was livid. Grasping whatever self-control and patience he had left, Demetri started class. "If Damien's not here, why do I have to be here?" Olivia pouted. That did it. How dare that brat be so disrespectful! Did she have any idea who she was dealing with? Demetri's lips curled into a snarl, he felt the chalk in his hand explode in a cloud of dust, his teeth bared ready to snap. Olivia had crossed the line. "Father, Damien is locked outside and can't get in," Marina quickly diverted his attention, calming him down and reminding him he was still one pupil short.

Blowing off steam, Demetri stomped to the back door to find Damien waiting patiently. "You are late to class again," Demetri growled. "I apologize, but I was locked out," Damien said politely. "You could've knocked," Demetri realized he was taking his anger out on the boy. At least this one apologized for being late and made up the work when he missed class. "I'm sorry but I did, sir. No one answered and I have been trapped out here," Damien answered calmly as he rushed to class. Class now an hour and fifteen minutes behind, Demetri began lecturing about Iambic pentameter and Shakespearian sonnets.

The morning ended with large amounts of homework. Everyone knew that was Olivia's fault for making the class wait for her. Damien was just happy Demetri believed he had just waited to be let in as oppose to venturing past the courtyard. Knowing Demetri, he would have mentioned something. Because he has to mentally searching for you to track you. He wasn't trying to locate you, so he was not aware of your location, a husky male voice whispered. That sounded really familiar.

Combat training was as usual a blast for Olivia and Tiago and a drag for Damien and Marina. The small girl was getting better though. Felix was impressed. Damien was also getting faster, finding better ways to out maneuver Tiago, deflect hits, and predict moves. Felix didn't think he was half bad, except for when he tried to make an offensive move. Damien's hits just didn't have that much effect. And if they didn't stop someone half-human, they would be no match for a full-on vampire.

After class Olivia went to complain to Chelsea about Demetri being mean to her today. She swore Demetri was failing her on purpose. Tiago, unable to find his best friend went to go play videogames in the TV room. Maybe his dad would even play with him. Damien decided to have dinner with Joan. He didn't know why, he just really like human food. Tonight she decided to try to teach him how to make macaroni and cheese out of a box. Pushing his step stool up to the stove top, he listened intently as she explained how to measure how much water to put in the pot and how to boil water. Damien even laughed as she teased him about his lack of culinary skills. The only thing he had really ever used was the microwave to heat up blood bags. Joan even let him try to drain the pasta. She gasped grabbing the strainer from him when she saw the boiling water splash on his hands a little. "Êtes-vous d'accord?" Joan quickly asked, checking his hands for burns. Damien felt fine, the water felt hot but it didn't hurt when the boiling water splashed him. His hands were pink in spots, but it disappeared in less than ten seconds. Seeing that he was fine and unharmed she did something that took him completely by surprise. Joan knelt down and hugged him. At first Damien stiffened, eyes like a deer's caught in a head-lights, unused to physical displays of emotion. Eventually he relaxed and even hugged her back. Surprisingly it felt good. It felt warm, almost like a blanket. Finally she let go of him and returned to making dinner. Deciding to get creative she put in sun dried tomatoes and sausage she had bought at the street market that morning.

Pouring the mixture into two bowls, Joan set them on a small table perfect for two people. Amongst the chaos of teaching Damien how to use the stove, she had put a kettle on for tea. Damien had also heated up some blood in the microwave. Pouring it in a mug, it made him feel normal almost as if he was having an evening cup of tea with her. Oddly enough Joan had gotten use to Damien's…dietary needs you could say. Joan at least like that he was getting use to human food. He seemed to be the only one of the children who liked to eat. Both had also noticed that the more he ate human food the less he craved blood and needed to rely on it. Come to think of it, with Joan back he only ever had a small mug off blood once a week as oppose to the other children who had a blood bag a day. None of them really knew where or what blood came from. They thought it was just a special food product you could buy at the store like milk or butter. The Volturi did not think they were ready yet for hunting or even feeding with everyone else. Every now and then a fight would break out over a human and the Guards were unsure if a fought broke out between themselves and the children if they would accidently kill them. Another hazard was that as soon as the doors locked everyone went into predator mode, killing anything it could in a bloody frenzy. There was a chance in the heat of a feed, one of the vampires would attack one of the children. Perhaps when they were older and able to defend themselves if a problem arose, but for a little while at least they only fed off blood bags.

As they ate, both conversed in French since it was easier for Joan. She was slowly learning Italian, but only knew basic greetings and phrases. They shared what they did today, how Damien was doing in school, what chores Joan did, movies they had seen, and several other trivial discussions. Every now and then Joan's warm inviting smile would falter. Damien knew it was whenever she thought about her family, especially her brother. "You're thinking about him aren't you," Damien asked in French. Joan nodded sadly cringing. "What's it like having a brother?" Damien was curious, maybe it sparked from meeting Enzo. He sort of considered the other children his siblings but in reality they felt more like classmates. Not quite friends, just children his age he was force to sit next to in a learning environment. "It's difficult yet wonderful. When we were small he use to tease me about being a nerd or put gum in my hair or go in my room when I wanted to be alone. I would tease him about being brain-dead, call him ugly, teased him back. I use to think we hated each other. Then our parents died while traveling, the just didn't come back after a vacation. We then realized how lucky we were to have each other. Siblings are the people we sometimes want to kill, but would die for any day," Joan's voice got softer as she talked, clouded by memories.

Changing the subject slightly she asked, "So how are you feeling after the unfortunate accident with your father?" She tried not to use the word death, she always thought the word made everything dark and gloomy. "Alec," Damien corrected. Never once had he called Alec any sort of paternal name. Hell, he didn't even call Jane 'Aunt' or 'Auntie'. If he started now, it wouldn't do him any good. It would cause uncomfortable feelings for people who were gone and never coming back. As long as he pushed those feelings away, and ignore what happened, everything would be fine. "I'm doing fine, I guess," Damien lied. He hadn't cried, but then again he had never in his life cried. Maybe had trouble breathing, felt his throat close up and chest ache in grief. But never cried. Joan raised one brown eye brow giving him a lecturing look, not believing him but not pressing it further.

"Well let me know if you need to talk about it," was all she said before changing the topic. Joan asked how he was getting along with the other children. Damien again said fine. In truth he hated Olivia. She was a spoiled brat who had slowly become a clone of Chelsea. Damien didn't mind Tiago, they just didn't ever really talk much. They got somewhat better acquainted through always being sparing partners. But it was hard to really get to know a person when they sucker punch you in the ribs before slamming you on the ground while strangling you. At least Tiago fought fair and followed the rules. Damien pitied Marina. Everyone but Felix seemed to realize how much of a dirty, unsportsmanlike fighter. Even Tiago had told her to knock it off and play nice. Marina was a nice girl, a little clingy and a bit of an overachiever, but she didn't deserve to be kicked of punched even after the fight was over. Damien knew Olivia was just jealous that Marina had better grades than her and had a gift Aro thought was some what useful. His coven siblings were complicated. So if Damien had to sum up how he was getting along with the other children. He chose the word Fine.

After finishing her homework, Marina started her private lessons with her father. Tonight he actually let her throw the knives. Demetri was blown away how accurate she was. Every single time she hit within an inch of the bull's-eye. Sometimes she would even get the point lodged in the same hole as another knife. Trying to challenge her more, Demetri had her stand on the opposite side of the room, as far as possible, to throw it. They still struck home. Finally he had her try to throw the knives while moving. It was like watching a dancer, as she fluidly and gracefully flicked the knives unfaltering. It was almost art like. She looked like she had been training for years, not days. It seemed to come natural to her like breathing or walking. Demetri watched his daughter as she danced, floating hitting the target. Demetri had made it very clear from day one that she was never to pull a weapon against someone unless they too were armed or it was an emergency situation. Training with weapons was purely an exercise for her to get stronger without relying on just 'sparing' with Olivia. Not to mention, he had noticed a huge self-esteem boost in his daughter. Marina didn't really think was all that smart, she just liked to learn. Already she knew that when they got older Olivia would be prettier than her. Marina was the weakest strength wise. Even her gift was useless, she would never be as good of a tracker as her Father. The only physical advantage she had over her coven siblings was that she was told that she was the most agile and graceful. Now she was getting stronger, finding a way to use her agility and focus.

Finally he dismissed her. Marina was sweaty, panting unable to catch her breath, pulse exploding out of her chest, fingers calloused, blisters stinging, muscles aching. It was glorious. She had never felt so alive and alert, so powerful. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she was out cold. All too early she was woken up for school. It was the first time Demetri ever struggled to have her get out of bed. Normally she was up by six in the morning, fixing herself a blood bag after getting dressed, sometimes playing with Tiago before helping to wake Damien. This morning she groaned and curled back under the covers. Her head felt like something was trying to claw out of it and kept hearing this ringing in her ears. Demetri shook her slightly whispering how she needed to wake up, that it was six-forty five. This wasn't like her. Finally she painfully peeled away the covers, eyes barely open. Head pounding she swung her legs over the side of her bed and eased herself up before staggering to her closet to grab a clean set of clothes. She couldn't possibly be sick, it was genetically impossible. Dressed she slowly made her way to class. For the first time ever she was the last one there.

New York

When it was finally dark enough to leave, Jane shook or rather kicked Donovan awake. "Evening, Julie", was all he said yawning. "Before we head out to check out The Lost One's, we both needed to tell you something really important. We are trusting you with this information and hope you keep it confidential," Jane began, "For starters, Julie isn't my real name". "Is it like your stage name?" Donovan teased. "My real name is Jane Volturi and this is my twin brother Alec Volturi. We are members of an ancient and very powerful vampire royal family. THE family the Old Pete is targeting for attack. We are the two vampires that were targeted in the bombing." They let the information sink in. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence Donovan started laughing to himself like Jane had just told him a joke, "You mean to tell me that you two are royalty? You, who came beginning for shelter like two puppies, are royalty?"

Proving their point, Alec dug underneath his shirt to find the silver pendant that had the Volturi crest stamped on it. "Have you ever seen this before? Do you know what this means?" Alec said calmly. Donovan froze, everything finally making sense to him now. "Well, damn. I don't know if I should be shooting myself in the foot or curtseying," Donovan huffed. "Both would be lovely," Jane suggested.

"The real reason we want to see The Lost Ones and the Old Pete is for surveillance. We need to see what exactly we are up against and if we need to call in for reinforcements. What we really want to know is if you are willing to join us and be an ally or are you still aligned with the Old Pete?" Alec asked. "I'm in. There's no way I'm helping that asshole after all the shit he has pulled recently! I'll do whatever you need me to. You need contacts, I got'em. Need weapons, I got'em," Donovan boasted enthusiastically. "Good we leave in five," Jane ordered. "Great, but first we should probably get you two new clothes. You both will stand out like sore thumbs," Donovan noted. Instead they decided to run back to where Jane and Alec had stashed their bags. There they had about a thousand in American twenties and credit cards for the rest. Along with a change of clothes, back up lighters, lighter fluid and other fun toys. The only thing they didn't have was a backup cell phone. They needed to call their Masters and let them know everything that was going on in case The Lost Ones tried to attack back home. Plus Alec really wanted to check in with Damien to make sure everything was alright. Right before the second explosion, when he was on the phone with Aro, Alec had heard screaming and Damien talking about "Cathedral Parkway and 110th" which had been the station the bomb had gone off in. Then Alec remembered Damien asking to speak on the phone, like he knew something. The last thing Alec could make out before more screaming was "They are going to die!" The cryptic message had to mean something besides just the bombing. A quick little phone call wouldn't hurt.

As they headed out Alec stopped at a phone booth. Punching in the number, he made a collect call to Italy entering the number for Aro's cell. It immediately went to voicemail. Alec left a brief message summarizing what was going on before it beeped. Trying again he called Caius' cell. "What could you possibly want?" Caius screeched as soon as he heard "Hello Master, its Al-". "I was just cal-" Alec was interrupted by Caius ranting how Alec was wasting his precious time and how dilly-dallying when they both had important work to do and wasting money by charging collect calls and if they need help, like a bunch of helpless children, maybe they didn't deserve to part of the Guard. After a moment of silence, Alec asked Caius to at least pass on the message that 'he's sorry he left without saying goodbye, that he will be home soon, maybe even before Christmas, and if he wanted a souvenir from New York'. "You want me to waste even more of my precious time to play telephone and relay a pointless sentimental whim. Who the hell cares about subject two, it's not even a useful Guard member yet. So far both of your bastard offspring have been complete nuisances. We are not impressed. Now leave and finish the task we have assigned you before I loose anymore of my patience!"

Alec winced at the loud clang as Caius hung up the phone. What stung even more were his insults. Not just insulting him but Jane and Damien his two favorite people in the world. It left a sick feeling in his stomach. Jane stood outside the phone booth overhearing the whole conversation. Her eyes were bugged in shock. Caius had been like an uncle to her, family even. Someone they had risked their lives hundreds of times fighting for and protecting. Someone they had shown centuries of unyielding loyalty and devotion to. She felt guilty like maybe she was slacking, that there was more they could have done. Maybe the twins really did not deserve to be part of the Guard. "Well that didn't go the way I expected," Jane snorted sarcastically as they made their way to grab their bags. It hurt that Caius didn't seem to care if they were dead or alive. It didn't matter to Caius that Jane had just healed from the biggest injury anyone on the Guard had ever gotten. It didn't matter to Caius that they were a target for assignation. All that mattered were results and that Aro and Caius were still on top of the world. They were to be weapons and at times trophies. Not even soldiers, they were the thing the soldier fired and used to kill others. Not a prince or princess, but something shiny and impressive to show superiority.

Heads hung low they silently changed into clean, unsmoked, singed or ruined clothes. Donovan asked to maybe come in the room for "protection". Alec had a feeling it was to get a glance of Jane naked. Instead he was exiled to the other side of the door. The twins quickly changed, completely use to seeing each other naked. The Guards, mainly Felix and Chelsea, joked that the two of them have had sex with each other and were incestuous mates. Neither were true, they were just really close and use to living with each other. When they were done, they opened the door to find Donovan staring at them both, "There is no way you two are going like that! You are basically screaming 'Royal ancient vampire'".

Jane had on a black loose fitting silk dress with a maroon sash that covered her ankle to neck to wrist while still looking elegant and formal. On top of that she had on a new black cloak and black ballet flats and black tights. Alec had on a clean black drees pants, black dress shirt with a black blazer, and matching maroon tie with black dress shoes and black cloak. They hadn't really thought about what they wore much. The Volturi had a strict dress code for each position in the Guard. Depending on your ranking, you wore a certain color. Being higher ranking Guards, they wore cloaks so dark they look black. If you looked closely, it was just a really dark grey. Chelsea, the few occasions she was out actually doing Guard business, she wore the darkest cloak. Alec's was second darkest. Renata and Jane wore matching third darkest. Next went Demetri, which easily looked dark grey followed by Felix and Heidi, then it used to be Santiago, then Corin, having Afton last. The wives wore blue tinted cloaks while the three leaders wore red tinted cloaks. Aro, like an OCD child, liked to have all of his collectibles color coded and organized.

Donovan told them to wait there while he got different, less conspicuous clothes. Thirty minutes later he came back with dark wash jeans, grey graphic t-shirt, dark blue hoodie, and beat up vans. For Jane he brought back a black pencil skirt that looked more like a belt, a red strapless tank top that Jane didn't know how was going to stay up with her whopping A-cups, and heels that look longer than the skirt. "I refuse to wear that!" she screeched. Heidi even would refuse to wear in. Maybe not that attention whore Chelsea or some of the wives, but there was no way in Hell Jane was wearing that. Donovan, smiling his Cheshire cat smile, was showed her a different bag proving he was just kidding. In the bag was black skinny jeans and with a grey V-neck, brown leather knee high boots, and a blue plaid flannel. It was a much better option but Jane still frowned looking at the bag. "What? Not your normal royal gown, Princess?" He laughed at her digested expression. "No it's just that I have never worn trousers before," she said in a small voice. The idea of a lady wearing trousers still seemed like an obscure, radical idea to her. "Well traditionally you put one leg in one hole and then the other leg in the other after you make sure the zipper goes in front," Donovan joked sarcastically as if she had never seen pants. Sticking out her tongue, she slammed the door for them to re-change. Maybe tonight was a night for doing something rebellious and adventurous, like wearing trousers for the first time in her life. The black material clung to her like a second skin accenting her small thighs and boyish figure. She had to roll the pant legs up, the shoes were two sizes too big for her, the shirt dipped surprising low and was quite tight around the bodice. Alec's made him look like a scarecrow since everything was several sizes too big. Being petite sucked.

Geared up & loaded they made the made their way to investigate. Alec really hoped Caius had passed on the message to Damien. Something told him that this mission was going to be more dangerous than what they were accustom to. In a way that could be considered a goodbye. In reality, Caius never passed on the message to anyone. It was like Alec had never even called. No one but Caius knew their true whereabouts, not even Demetri since Donovan was now keeping the twins protected under his shield. They were on their own…