Chapter 12: Home

New York

The three eternal teenagers walked side by side down the dark, buzzing streets of New York. To the humans around them they just looked like normal teenagers, with modern clothes, backpacks, and sullen expressions. It had been a long time since either Jane or Alec had been in such close quarters with so many humans at once. A single block seemed to have at least a hundred people. Bodies full of warm, delicious blood pressed into them from every direction almost begging to be drained. If they were close enough you could even feel their fragile heart beats. But the vampires couldn't hold their breath, no matter how agonizing the burn in their throats were, no matter how strong the Thirst raged. They needed to stay sharp, on the lookout for other dhampirs and possible threats. The fact that half vampires blended in so easily with humans, especially such a mass number was un-nerving. Alec was constantly glancing over his shoulder thinking he caught the scent of a vampire or heard the unusual heartbeat of a dhampir.

Finally Donovan took them to a black brick building, with no windows decked out in neon signs. Loud trance music throbbed over a large crowd of humans. It looked to be a Night club of some sorts. The largest sign read "DOWN WORLD". It seemed like a normal enough spot, but the more they looked the more the twins realized something was up. There was line about thirty people long, most of them college age girls. Yet, if you looked closely all of them had this glassy look in their eyes as if they were in a trance. None of them spoke, they just waited patiently like robots. A gust of cold November wind blew one girls hair away from her back and neck. Jane, in a quick moment with her vampire vision, saw bite marks and scars all over her neck and shoulders. Looking closer at the other humans in line, they also had bite marks covering their necks and even some wrists. This was either the right place or some sort of twisted brothel.

Donovan skipped in front of the line to the door. Knocking on it twice, as if the three of them were innocent girl scouts in a picture perfect suburb, the door was opened by a male who looked around twenty, blonde hair buzzed short, strong masculine jaw clenched, nose slightly crooked, body built like a bull, towering almost as tall as Felix, and arms crossed over his hulking chest. But the guy in front of them was very pale, heart jumping, scent too sweet for a human, and dark brown eyes too focused and intense for a human, "I thought you ain't comin' back no more, Donny," the dahmpir growled. "Drake, my good friend, I'm just here on a date with my new girlfriend Julie and a friend of mine Xander. They are visiting from London and I thought I would show them a night on the town. I heard Dorian was DJing & I thought I could show these two a good time," Donovan smiled a million dollar smile while putting an arm around Jane's waist as if they were going on a date. Breaking his stony complexion, Drake let them in, patting Donovan's back as if they were old friends. Maybe they were.

"Stay close to me, both of you," Donovan whispered as they went into the club, "Dorian has a very persuasive and hypnotic musical ability. If you listened for too long, well you saw what the humans outside looked like and they were hearing it from a distance. My gift should block most of the effects, as his is mostly mental. Try to act as normal as possible."

Looking around the packed club they saw many humans swaying and dancing of some sorts to the flow of the music, eyes glazed as if they had been drugged. They few people that looked alert had ear plugs in and were inter-mingling with the humans. Given by their appearance, they were dhampirs with one or two vampires. Of the non-humans, no one seemed older than twenty, with the majority being in their mid to late teens. The youngest, a dhampir boy sitting in the corner playing on some electronic device looked about twelve. If he had been a full vampire he would have been an Immortal Child. The room was pitch black except for a couple strobe lights and black lights. Looking across the club Jane saw a teen age boy at spin table, he was looking out at the crowd unblinking with concentration. It was a similar expression and intensity she had seen when Alec was using his gift on a large number of people.

Observing the large crowds of humans swaying like zombie to the music, they noticed the few dhampirs and vampires would every now and then bite and feed of the humans. Oddly enough the victims never seemed to acknowledge the parasites on their arteries. The predators would drink for a couple seconds, not enough to harm the human but just enough to feed. The twins noticed that the girls used their teeth mostly, while the boys used an old bite mark or a knife to avoid having the humans' blood streams come in contact with vampire venom. They remembered someone saying something about male dhampirs being venomous, but not females. It was an interesting system of feeding. Dorian would play music that seemed to hypnotize the humans, while the dhampirs and vampires fed without them noticing. When Jane asked Donovan more about it, he said that the humans space out and just think that they had too much to drink. They had had this system running for over two hundred years and they had never once had a problem with exposure to the human world.

The three of them investigated the club, taking into account population, age, and possible threats. Every now and then another dhampir would come up and strike a conversation up with Donovan, some older girls even flirted with shooting glares at Jane. It wasn't like the two were even close to dating, but it was still flattering to have older girls jealous of her beauty and male attention. Jane's highlight of the evening though was when a dhampir girl came up to flirt with Alec, asking him if he wanted to dance and how frightened her younger brother. Donovan mouthed remember to blend in after giving him a thumbs up. After some stuttering and turning away to not make eye contact, he just nodded agreeing. He had never really danced with a girl before. Yes, he had waltzed with his own sister during occasional formal balls purely due the lack of females his age available for him to dance with. Alec highly doubted ballroom dancing was what 'the kids were into these days'.

Watching the other guys dancing with girls was very odd. Many danced with their lady partners' back to them, facing away. The couples also pressed and rubbed against each other in a very sexual way that Alec was not accustom to. How could having a girls rear end pressed against your pelvis be considered acceptable in society, especially in a public place. Maybe this was a twisted brothel. Not wanting to beneath himself with such unsavory ways of dancing, Alec decided to dance facing the girl who had asked him to dance. Sensing his lack of knowledge on twenty-first century dancing, she decided to drag him to the bar where they sat down. Alec, now not as focused on the crude dancing, was now able to focus more attention on the girl next to him. She was quite pretty, honey wavy hair, goldish hazel eyes, short yet athletic build, and the dusting of freckles on her nose and cheeks he found a surprisingly becoming on her. She wasn't too scantily clad, just tight fitting dark trousers and even tighter dress top. "My name's Harper," the girl broke the silence, "I'm guessing you have never been on a date in your life."

Alec froze. This was a date? "No, I was not aware that this was a date. I apologize if I had led you to assume that, miss," Alec said softly, trying not to stutter. She looked at him, waiting for him to say more. "My name is Xander. I hope you are having a splendid evening," he tried to be polite while covering up his lie about his identity. Wanting to continue searching for the Old Pete and scoping the area, he glanced around trying to see where Jane and Donovan were. Making eye contact, Jane led Donovan close to the bar where Alec was sitting with Harper. But they sat far enough away that outsiders would not assume they three were together. Harper went on talking about how she had not seen him around ever, where he was from, how he came to know Donovan an so forth. Keeping it as vague as possible while being polite Alec answered while glancing back at Jane every now and then. Donovan had wrapped his arm around her and was whispering in her ear. Whatever he had said, it must have been hilarious because she laughed a playfully swatted his arm. Alec's fists clenched in hatred.

"She an ex or something?" Harper asked awkwardly. "NO! Oh she's just my sister. I swear. I just don't like how comfortable Donovan is with her on his lap," Alec growled the last part under his breath. "Isn't being a sibling the hardest thing?" she sighed. "You have a sibling?" finally something Alec could connect with. "Two half-brothers, Dorian, the guy playing tonight, is fifty years older as he keeps reminding me and Echo, who is only six. They are all I got, I guess," She pointed to a sandy haired boy who looked slightly younger than Alec himself. It was the boy they had seen when they first entered. He looked up from a hand held gaming device and waved enthusiastically. "Middle child?" Alec guessed. Harper nodded, "How much older is your sister?"

"A couple minutes we guess. Nobody kept track when we were born," Alec was surprised how much easier conversation was. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how little he had to talk about. He had a twin sister, he liked reading, he was a vampire, he was part of the Volturi. Alec could only ever talk about the first two with humans and right now the first three were only available for discussion.

"So I heard Donovan had lost a close friend of his, Moira? I was wondering if you could tell me what happened exactly. I was hoping to pay my respects," Alec even forced a smile trying to be charming. "Well stuff has been brewing for a while now. Less than a year ago a major vampire coven finally found out about our existence. We have kept ourselves secret for millennia, but someone told them. Different territories of our kind reacted differently. Some wanted to attack the coven, some want to make treaties and come out on our own terms, but most just wanted to let by-gones be by-gones and wait until they made the first move. All over the world we have divided ourselves into territories and within that different factions and divisions. This is the New York faction, the closest one besides this is New Orleans, and Hadley is our current Pete. He is the slim per cent who thinks that we need to attack the vampire royal family. Moira had some sort of vision that told us that if he made a move he would start a very violent, bloody war. He didn't believe her, even though most of us did. To prove his point he tortured and burned her at the stake in front of all of us saying who ever didn't follow him was next," Harper noticed Alec stiffen when she mentioned Moira burning at the stake, but ignored it, "The following night he and his second in command started leaving bodies everywhere hoping to catch the royal family's attention. Apparently Hadley's plan worked because they bombed a subway station killing two of them, along with dozens of innocent humans. More are swinging to his side, but mainly 'cause no one has the balls to step up against him. Rumor has it other leaders from other territories might come and kill him for abusing his power and endangering us all."

Taking a breath she said, "Sorry I talk a lot. Seems fitting since Tristan means 'noisy' in Welsh." A slight blush snuck its way to her snow white skin.

"Do you know where Hadley might be?" Alec asked. She shrugged, "If he's not in the office upstairs, or feeding amongst the crowds here, then he might be either at one of the warehouses by the docks or in one of our bases underground. Why are you asking? Most people are trying to avoid him right now."

Jane, ease dropping on her brother's conversation, chose a seat closer to them. Once she heard than The Old Pete might be in the upstairs part of the club she subtly gestured for Alec to follow her to investigate. Dismissing himself as politely as he could, he bid his new possible ally farewell. Pausing her turned around, saying, "There is a chance that Moira might have been right about something dangerous to come. It would be prudent for you and your brothers to leave New York for at least a couple weeks if not months. Perhaps New Orleans?" She nodded confused.

The twins, with Donovan close behind, marched up to the upstairs office listening for voices and heart beats through the metal door. They hears two. Jane kicked down the door screaming "IN THE NAME OF THE LAW SURRENDER!"

Unfortunately the two people in the office were not The Old Pete. But rather a couple laying on the desk naked. It was quite scarring visually. Stuttering an apology and diverting their eyes, Jane and Alec closed the semi-broken door trying to unsee the event that they had just seen. Donovan broke the awkwardness by laughing at Jane's horrified expression.

"So this was a bust," Jane grumbled, "Next stop the warehouse?"

Volterra

Damien finally built up the courage to ask Joan if she could ask Aro if he could venture past the courtyard and possibly explore the small town of Volterra. He had been very well behaved, he thought. Damien knew he wasn't allowed to tell humans vampires existed and in his mind knew how to pass as human. Plus he really want to see Enzo again. She said she would try.

The next evening, during their new ritual of having dinner together, Joan said that Aro said it would be fine. But he was to stay within Joan's view at all times, was not to be gone longer than two hours, and not to tell his coven siblings of this special privilege. Aro did not want to have being exposed to the outside world like this a habit. He also wanted to see Damien immediately to see how it went. Changing out of his school clothes he walked beside his closest friend to explore the town.

In the twilight, the tan brick building casted purple shadows. Smells of peoples' dinners, cars, flowers decorating terraces and porches. A young waitress at a café was angry that she was covering everybody's' shift today. She scoffed when a loud American tourist family ordered a Coke with ice. Her shoes were killing her and the guy as table seven had just slapped her ass. She better be getting a big tip as she carried five scalding plates at once. Laundry hung drying in the crisp November air danced in the wind. The elderly woman's back ached as she reached from her balcony to grab a man's dress shirt. She had Alzheimer's and often forgot that he passed away last summer. Her granddaughter came to help her when she realized her Nona was struggling. Dogs, cats and owners alike called to each other. Damien was able to hear snippets of conversations at a small restaurant a crossed the streets, jeers of a group of children playing hop-scotch in an alleyway along with the clip-clop of a horse drawn wagon carting produce on the ancient coble stone streets. The gears in the old clock tower clicked and clunked. Every forty-three seconds one of the gears would make a strange noise. The caretaker was on vacation, but would see to it next Wednesday. Damien noticed a young couple by the fountain. They boyfriend was nervous and there was a small object in his pocket. He loved the girl very much. Perhaps he was about to propose. It was over whelming, explosive, stimulating, calming and paradise all at the same time.

There were only a handful of people out walking. Many were locals returning home after working in the fields bordering the town. When Damien and Joan got to the fountain, Damien searched for where he had first met Enzo. Finally he spotted a young dark haired boy holding the leash to a black hound larger than its owner. A man who looked like he was in either his late twenties or early thirties approached the boy, scooping him up and placing him on his broad shoulders. "Papá", Enzo squealed. The man was Damien's Uncle Tommy.

Kisses the hellhound began sniffing the ground when he caught the scent of an intruder. The dog spring to high alert ready to defend his owners. But when it saw it was Damien, he started whimpering and hid behind Tommy with its tail tucked. Enzo noticing the strange behavior of his dog looked around before seeing a familiar face. "Damien!" Enzo jumped down and ran to say hello to his friend. Joan gave Damien a shocked look. How did this boy know him? "Buonasera, Enzo", Damien greeted shyly. Enzo's dad walked over introducing himself, shaking hands with Joan who had not spoken a word. Partially because she didn't understand Italian, partially because she was scared how she was going to explained this to her employer. Tommy invited them to come to their house for dinner. Joan asked Damien to speak for her, saying that they already had dinner but would visit for a short while before it got too late. Their open hospitality and outgoingness was a shocking comparison to the Building.

Tommy and Enzo led them to a small apartment. As soon as they entered, Damien was hit with a feeling of warmth and compassion. If he had to sum up the many smells of the apartment he would say sunshine and olive oil. A young woman, who the later learned was named Elizabeth or as she preferred Eliza, greeted them offering Joan something to drink and some dinner. Joan was about to say no, but as soon as the oven opened and Joan smelled what Eliza was cooking she agreed to try just a little. It was some sort of homemade sausage and pasta dish with red sauce, baked with lots of cheese.

Within a matter of minutes both Joan and Eliza were discussing recipes in broken English since it was a sort of middle ground for them. Joan noticed a picture of a black-hair teenage girl, who she later learned was Eliza's sister who had gone missing a couple months ago. The odd thing was the slight resemblance between her and Damien. Enzo was running around the house, showing Damien all his toys and books and anything else that caught his interest. The first thing Damien observed about Enzo was that he never stopped talking. He was very glad his Italian was well practiced because Enzo spoke in rapid fire, motor mouth Italian with at least two grammatical mistakes a sentence. Once Enzo finished giving Damien a tour of his house, he ended at pointing towards a door. "This was my Auntie Katherine's room. She disappeared a couple months ago. Grandma and Grandpa think she ran away, but Mommy doesn't think so. I'm not allowed to go in there," Enzo's voice got very quiet almost as if he was telling a ghost story.

Switching mental tracks on a dime, Enzo ran to his room, Damien in tow, to show him more of his toys. His entire floor was covered in plastic toy soldiers, tanks, and LEGOs. Damien had never seen so many toys, except for Olivia's growing doll collection. Dropping to his knees, Enzo started making sounds that sounded like a machine gun before swatting down half the soldiers on the other side of his room. Enzo continued running around his room, playing out some sort of make believe battle. Damien was very confused. He had never really played 'make believe' games. The idea that inanimate objects could inspire so much entertainment baffled him. Feeling awkward just standing in the door way, he tried to join in best he could. According to Enzo, Damien was to take the left side of the room and try to blow up the right side of the room, which was Enzo's land. How could plastic blow up plastic?

"BOOM! You're dead! VRRRROOOOMMM!" Enzo drove a tank through Damien's side, somehow killing ten of his plastic figurines. Eventually Damien was able to catch on and able to figure out the made up rules of plastic toy warfare. It was surprisingly fun. The two boys played well into the evening, until Joan knocked on the door to tell Damien they had to return home. Strangely, Damien wanted to stay and didn't want to go home. He argued with Joan for a couple minutes, but lost.

Walking home, Joan started lecturing Damien on the dangers of this innocent family knowing he existed. How they were now at risk. How she was at risk. How even Damien was at risk. If and when Aro found out there would be consequences. Severe ones. She then asked how he even came to know Enzo before tonight. Damien explained that he when he got locked out he ventured past the courtyard for just a couple minutes and met him. Joan was also curious because normally Damien avoided people. Why was he so interested in this family?

When she asked, he turned away not looking at her. This made her worry thinking there was more to the story. After demanding an explanation, Damien finally told her, "Enzo is my cousin, Eliza is my aunt, and Tommy is my uncle. Eliza's sister, who was living with them at the time, was my mother. They are the only family I know of. I just had to meet them, just once." The last sentence his voice cracked and he had trouble breathing, his chest ached and eyes stung. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took a deep breath composing himself. Joan was shocked, but at the same time relieved. He was just being a normal boy, almost human. Physically he had to only still be around six. Mentally he always seemed older and more mature. Joan realized that seeing him now almost crying mentioning his family, and when she watched Damien playing with Enzo like a normal, happy child, that he needed a family. She was right about him lying that he was fine after losing Jane and Alec.

"What do the humans know?" she asked. "That I just moved to the tan government building with my father two months ago," Damien answered. It was a good lie. That way they would not know of the Buildings true occupants and it explained why Damien was unfamiliar with everything. It could also excuse the fact that Damien spoke multiple languages. IF he was ever to see them again, he could just say that he moved around a lot with his father. It would set the stage for if Damien needed to stop seeing them suddenly, without reason.

"We need to tell Aro. He's going to ask how your first trip outside the walls went and try to read our minds. It will be better if we tell him out right than try and lie," Joan sighed, praying Aro would be reasonable.

Locking the door behind them, Joan marched Damien up to the throne room. "Ah, how was our little adventure?" Aro asked. Joan gave Damien a gentle push before he offered him hand for Aro to read. Damien tried to keep his breathing calm and pulse even while making sure his hand didn't shake. Aro grasped the small hand with his cold one. One second of silence, Two seconds of silence, Thre-

"YOU IDIOT! DO YOU KNOW THE SEVERITY OF WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DONE? AND FOR MERE MORTALS!" Aro out of rage and surprise swung at Damien, knocking him to the ground so hard he almost blacked out. "What did subject two do now?" Caius asked with sadistic glee. "IT EXPOSED ITSELF TO HUMANS. Not only that, but he befriended them and now is attached to them emotionally!" Aro seethed. "He exposed our secret?" Caius asked, excited for punishment. "No, it hid its true nature. That's just about the only smart thing it did," Aro sneered at Damien who was still sprawled on the ground stunned. "Aro, let the boy explain," Marcus broke in quickly. Marcus had sensed the new emotional attachments to Damien new family. Lately Damien's emotional ties to the Volturi, or really anyone, had been near to non-existent. Marcus knew the boy trusted no one and was scared and paranoid of almost the entire guard. Jane and Alec were the only ones he somewhat had any connection to and now they were gone. He had started to have a growing bond with Joan, but it was still fragile. It wasn't healthy for a child to grow up without having adults he trusted or people he loved. When Damien entered the room, Marcus sensed the new, yet strong bond with the human boy Enzo. The bond wasn't one of friends, but more closer to a family tie or sibling tie. Marcus even guessed Damien loved his new uncle and aunt. From visiting his human family, Damien's tie with his late mother had grown stronger. Marcus found it odd that Damien was the only one of the children who had asked or shown any interest in his biological mother.

Damien, with a now swollen jaw, explain how he just wanted to meet his human family. Nothing more. "Why would you need those livestock? We are your family!" Caius hissed coldly. Damien wanted to scream and argue saying that he hated Caius and Aro. That every day he lived scared of what any of them might do to him. Of how much he just wanted a real family and to be loved. Even his own and father and aunt, while they were alive, barely showed him any attention. Instead he just held his tongue. "Yes, you and Aro have been wonderful family members. I bet you couldn't even say what his favourite colour is," Marcus huffed sarcastically. Aro was shocked. Marcus speaking and using sarcasm? The unemotional rock was defending this THING and back talking him?

Aro dismissed Joan asking to speak to Damien alone. Bowing, she left to continue her duties. "I understand, sir, that I have broken the rules and lost your trust. But I would very much like it if I were allowed to continue to visit the DeLeale's," Damien kept his tone respectful and apologetic. Aro's eyes glowed like embers with fury. Losing control again Aro back-hand slapped Damien with a loud CRACK. Dark spots and flashed of light lit up Damien's vision and for a couple seconds all he could hear was white noise. "You will learn to respect us! WE are your masters! You are nothing but a THING that we allowed to exist! As far as you are concerned, we are GOD! You exist, breath, because we allow it! You exist to serve us and follow our orders! Not have tea parties with mere mortals! You are to forget you ever knew them. If you ever so much as look at them again, I will kill them with my bare hands one by fucking one, you little shit!"

Damien held his ground, not showing any emotion on his face, not wanting to give Caius and Aro the satisfaction of watching him break down and cry. Caius thinking that just yelling at him and two small licks was too petty of a punishment. He quickly voiced his opinion to Aro, who in turned muttered, "Be my guest. See if you can make an impact." Caius grinned like a shark who had just smelled fresh blood. He had the strong belief that respect and fear were one in the same. This petulant THING needed a lesson in both. Caius also reminded Aro that in their little hybrid experiment, they hadn't fully tested how breakable half-vampires were. This was a perfect opportunity.

Caius was slow, cruel, and knew where to leave marks that would take a long time to heal. Mid punishment, Damien saw out of the corner of his eye, Marcus stood up and leave the throne room shaking his head in disgust. In Marcus' eyes the boy had slipped up, but it was in good intention. Watching Caius treat an innocent child like his personal chew toy was sickening, even to a bloody thirsty demon.

By the time Caius had received his fill of entertainment, Damien wanted to cry, to hide in the shadows, to not exist. Instead he stood there, silent, face void of emotion, arms at his side. "Some granddad you are," was all Damien said before turning and limped out of the throne room. Aro didn't know how to respond as he watched the small child leave. Caius started muttering how subject two need to be taught a lesson and that Aro was too gentle with him. Aro was too shell shocked to listen. In an obscure way, Damien had just called him "grandfather". In a way, this softened him. It hinted that maybe if he was not so cold and cruel to the boy, maybe they had a chance to get along. In way, Damien was indeed his grandson. Aro had turned Alec, who was in a way a son to him. This was Alec's son. In a way it reminded him of the Cullens' relationships with each other. Carlisle had turned Edward, who he thought of as a son, and Renesmee was his daughter. Judging by the little girl's thoughts last winter, she adored and loved her grandfather. Aro realized that part of Damien wanting to venture into the human world was his fault. If they had been closer then maybe he wouldn't be so ready to defy him.

Marcus returned to his throne once he heard Damien leave. Caius was still ranting how irresponsible Damien had been. How Joan should not be encouraging this and has been a nuisance suggesting how to raise these children. They should just kill her already. Marcus argued that doing that would make Damien hate them more. Marcus also reminded Aro that Damien had done an amazing job blending in with the humans and that none of them suspected anything. That had to be a plus. Marcus personally thought that they should even let the child continue to see his family on the condition that he needs to be ready to say goodbye and never see them at a moment's notice. It could be a test to see how well these Halfling children could blend in with mortal society, which was essential to being a Guard. Not wanting Caius to hear his idea, Marcus silently exchanged his thoughts with Aro showing him how damaged the boy's ties were. Aro said he would think about it.

But Aro also had other things on his mind also. It had been almost a month since he had last searched through Damien's thoughts. They were still erratic and dizzying as ever, but this time Aro noticed a difference. Everything was more vivid, bursting with detail Aro had never even imagined before. Ordinary things that everyone else experienced the same way, the boy perceived differently. It was small differences from being able to understand and visualize what another was imagining in their mind, when Damien played make believe with Enzo, to being able to tell what someone's emotion were even if there were no body language indicating it, to being able the know a computer's password just by rubbing his fingertips across the key board. When he had explored outside, he was able to sense things about people most people should not be able to do. Even before when Aro had seen Damien's thought, he had learned of the random voices that occupied his head. Before they were androgynous and barely cypher able. Now they all had separate voices to the point where Damien could sense gender, general age, and personality. And the child was doing this all without realizing it.

The next day school continued as normal. None of the others knew that Damien had left the building yesterday after classes and the outcome of his journey. The only thing that they saw were the few bruises on his face and neck. The rest were hidden by strategically worn long-sleeved uniform. When the others asked about them, Damien shrugged and said it was nothing. He tried his hardest to hide the fact that even breathing was agony. That morning, he had caught a quick glance in the mirror, which he later regretted. His skin was a patch work of green, yellow, blue, purple and black. When they headed downstairs for combat training, Demetri pulled him to the side asking what really happened. Damien again said it was nothing before following behind the others.

Joan freaked out when she saw the few marks on his face. Damien tried to calm her down saying that they didn't even hurt and that they would be gone by tomorrow morning. She knew Aro was the one who had hit him, but she had only seen it happen once. Asking Aro about it would get her in even more trouble.

Not wanting to worry her more, he excused himself to go to bed early. The only problem was that he couldn't sleep. His mind was racing a million miles per hour as he thought about what might happen to the DeLeales'. And it would be all his fault. He thought about Jane and Alec, Alec mostly. Damien thought about what Aro might do and if two swipes were all he was going to have as punishment. Damien figure that if Jane was here, Aro would make her torture him. The more he thought, the more this strange image kept flashing through his mind. It was the tomb stone under the apple tree in the very back of the courtyard. Jonathan Sangnoir 'The Angel'. The grave had been just a couple months old, not much older than him. It looked too small to be an adult or even a small child. Damien had a feeling he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Go, see the truth, the young female voice almost seemed to sing.

Listening for footsteps, Damien got out of bed as quietly as possible. Grabbing his notebook and a pencil, he crept to the back door. Wincing when it creaked, he open it slowly breathing in a breath of fresh air. Walking bare foot through the dew grass to the very back, he found the small stone. Feeling the moist dew on the crumbling stone, he traced the hand stretched lettering with his fingertips. A semi-unpleasant tingle went through his fingers, up his arm, ending with his brain. With a rush of vertigo, an image of Marcus cradling a small yellow bundle in his arms. With one hand he dug the small grave before placing the bundle in the ground and burying it. It looked recent, since the scene behind Marcus looked almost the same as it did now. Taking his hand from the stone, he felt a second wave of vertigo and nausea. Sitting with his back against the tree and head between his knees he waited a couple minutes for it to pass. When it was over, he started to draw the tomb stone. Damien, the same female voice called. He put down the pencil and looked around. Look behind you, she called again. As he searched the near darkness, his eyes itched and he felt a slight migraine coming on. When the itch got worse to the point of burning, he saw a strange flicker of light on the other side of the tree. Damien stared at it, focusing as it became a more definite shape. The light took the form of a young woman who looked about twenty. She had black ringlets to her waist, translucent skins, a white dress that looked like it from the days of Ancient Rome, and a peaceful yet joyous expression. She looked very familiar. Greetings, Damien. My name is Didyme, she said.