Class began with a new surprise. Aro and Joham stood with Demetri in the front of the class. Quietly, the children took their seats waiting to see why they were being stared at like bacteria under a microscope. Joham had several spiral notebooks and pens handy as well as these four odd watches and other strange equipment such as different types of needles and syringes, vials and gauze. Aro stood, hands folded in front of him smiling like a warm grandmother, twinkle in his eye. Damien didn't feel too panicky as to why they were here, so their intentions must be benign. And it was all very public and seemed to involve all four of them compared to cornering just one of them alone and making them not say anything afterwards.
"Today Mr. Joham will be recording data on all four of you. He wants to know purely factual statistics such as height, weight, body mass index, average heart rate, body temperature, blood stuff and other exciting science stuff. The tests will be relatively harmless and short if you four cooperate," Aro explained. Joham nodded confirming Aro's speech. "First I am going to pass out a watch to each of you. It will record your heart rate and body temperature through the week and send the data directly to my computer. I am curious what your sleeping, sitting, mild activity, moderate activity, and extreme activity average heart rates are and if there are any patterns or correlations," he said in a monotone voice. He mechanically passed the watches out. Once they all put them on, they showed a singular number on the face. Olivia's read 157, Tiago's 148, Marina's 170, and Damien's was oddly 180 and the fastest by far, even though all were standing still. Then he recorded their height and weight, which was something they already had done routinely. Body mass index was new, but all they had to do was hold a thing that looked like a hand-held gaming console and it gave them a number.
"Next I am going to take just a couple ounces of blood from each of you. Just enough to fill a vial or two. From this we will be able to judge how well your immune systems work, blood type, hormone levels, vitamin levels and other genetic info," Joham next explained. Damien's watch shot up to 205. Could they see if he was a witch from just looking at his blood? Would they know he was different? He really wished he could quickly ask Donovan this to be sure. Olivia went first, hoping to look favorable in her master's eyes. She hissed the needle of the syringe plunged beneath the skin of her elbow. It took more force than a normal human since their skin was so much harder and sturdier. Slowly, it drew her blood hot and thick from her. Once full, he pulled away handing her a piece if gauze to cover the puncture. He emptied the contents into a vial with "Subject 3" on it before getting a fresh syringe and throwing the old one in a hazardous waste bin. Tiago hoping to look brave went next. His knees felt rubbery watching the needle disappear inside him. It didn't seem natural. The "Subject 4" vial was soon filled. Marina gasped at the sudden sharp pain of the syringe, her watch jumping to 186 as her palms felt sweaty. The only empty vials were the ones with "Subject 2" and "Subject 0" on them. Damien knew the "Subject 0" one was for Donovan. He was in this maze too, figuring out where the cheese was, hoping not to get electrocuted.
"Your turn, Damien," Aro smiled coldly. Maybe if Joham found out what made Damien special, they could copy it and create more. "I don't want to," Damien whispered, pale and shaky. The sight of the other three's blood had made him oddly flustered on top of his other worries. His mouth felt like sand paper and teeth oddly sharper, grazing his thirsting tongue as he eyed the fresh wounds, smelling the savory aroma. No, stay in control, he told himself. "What? You scared of blood?" Olivia snickered. "Olivia, that's enough," Demetri condoned. Damien continued to shake his head, backing away. Marina smiled encouragingly, "Just close your eyes. It's not that bad." It wasn't the needle that scared him. It was what Aro might learn. Hopefully Donovan wouldn't be mad. He really tried. Aro quickly grabbed Damien's arm and inserted the syringe.
Once everything had been disinfected, Aro left with the case of now full vials. He was placing them in one of the fridges in the Building for Joham to look at later. Joham stayed. He wished to observe both Demetri's and Felix's classes for the remainder of the week. He was curious how the children learned and their current physical and mental levels. Although it was hard to focus with the sound of him rapidly taking down notes at every little action one of them did, class resumed as normal as possible. It continued into the afternoon as he observed their combat training. Only this time he brought a small camcorder and recorded them fighting for "movement analysis". It made them all very self-conscious knowing someone was watching their every move and would later be taking notes about it and commenting on every breath even. Not to mention the watches were annoying. The band was much too large for Marina so it often slid up and down her arm as she moved, while Tiago's felt constricting on his meaty muscled arms. Plus they were dangerous fighting. Every now and then it would clip when delivering a punch or blocking many hits, nearly breaking the watch and leaving all of them scraped up. All four had a layer of sweat and grime after working out, making their more sensitive skin itch and feel waxy. But they were banned from taking it off.
Free time wasn't much easier. Joham followed all of them around taking not so silent notes on their various activities. He tried to calculate Marina's probability of hitting bull's eyes as Demetri instructed her on how to use the long bow he got her for Christmas. Which lead to Joham wanting to see and videotape her using other weapons and do several tiring demonstrations for him. Joham then followed Olivia around, having her demonstrate her newly developed skill for music. She had learned rather quickly, thanks to the wives' surprisingly not too shabby teaching. She soaked up Joham's attention as she played for him, loving the feeling of an audience. Her father had never bothered to listen to her. He only seemed to care about Tiago now. And sadly Joham left to also find Tiago, leaving half-way through a piece. Joham watched Tiago play video games with Felix. It wasn't all that exciting in his opinion, but he wanted to see how the children spent their free time. After five rounds, they both ran outside kicking a futebol back and forth while seeing how many times they could kick the ball to keep it in the air. Damien knew Joham was going to watch him next and what was coming. He wanted to give Aro and Joham as little information as possible. To appear boring and plain and simple. He settled for reading. It was what he did often enough, so it would not be seen as a strange activity for him. Normally he would be talking to the resident ghosts or sneaking out to go see Enzo or cooking with Joan. Joham came down to Damien's room to find the boy sitting cross-legged reading a book titled "Paradise Lost". The boy did not look up once. He only turned the page with his eyes moving occasionally scanning the words. "Do you have other talents?" Joham asked. Marina was skilled with weapons, Olivia had played five different instruments and Tiago had great hand-eye coordination and athleticism. This was supposedly Aro's "special one" and he was doing nothing but sitting quietly, ignoring him. "Do you paint? Ride horses? Crochet? Juggle?" Joham asked. Damien turned the page.
"Damien, come play with us," Sven and Claudia begged. It had been a couple weeks since he had seen the both of them and he was starting to worry. But what harm could really come to you if you are already dead? He cared about them a lot, even more than some of the Guards. They had been there in the shadows for him when he was most lonely. Claudia was nearly jumping up and down, impatient from eternally being five. Sven wasn't much better as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. Feeling guilty and torn, Damien forcefully ignored the two of them. It was selfish, but he didn't want Aro and Joham finding out more. That would lead to more questions and being harassed. "We could go steal another of Olivia's dolls," Claudia pleaded, her lips being turned into a pout. Damien had to force his eyes not to look at her. But out of his peripheral vision he saw her sad face, only wanting someone to play with her. Death was a boring cruel fate for such a small child. Even Sven looked sad, with sagged shoulders and eyes losing hope. "Why are you being mean?" He asked, unable to understand the situation. It was the first time Damien noticed he was older than Sven. He looked up apologetically and mouthed "I'm sorry" at the two ghost children, hoping Joham did not notice his slip in composure.
Joham looked around the room. Damien was the only one living on one of the lower levels that was situated below the ground. All the other children had rooms with windows and were elaborately decorated like they belonged in a magazine, not to be lived in. His was simple. Just a full sized bed that had wrinkled blankets with creases from sleeping. A desk that often went unused for studying, since Damien preferred to do his homework on his bed. It was currently being used to house several books from the library that had yet to be read or returned, a couple faded sketch books, and several pencils of varying sharpness. The wooden closet in the corner had clothes hanging up as well as bundled on the floor. In the other was a shattered mirror that still had shards laying precariously. "What happened to the mirror?" Joham asked hoping to find something interesting. The boy ignored him. He looked again at the desk and the sketch books lying there. He was curious what the boy might have drawn. Perhaps he was a gifted artist. He considered walked over, just wanting to take a simple peak. "Don't," the boy ordered not looking up. "So subject two can speak and read minds. Childishly possessive of belongings," Joham smiled writing something down. Damien's eyes narrowed. "Well, would it be okay if I read the notes you took while observing or daily behavior?" Damien asked. "No, those are personal and confidential notes and not to be seen by the test subjects," Joham said plainly. Damien raised one eye brow at him, making eye contact. In a huff Joham left. Adults were frustrating at times.
Joham had one last task for today. Aro also wanted samples from the new hybrid, Donovan. Getting his supplies, he found him in Jane's room. The two of them were disgustingly curled on their sides, Donovan's chest pressed to her back with his arms wrapped around her. They were giggling t whatever teenagers giggled at these days. "I am currently running several tests on the hybrids and Aro wishes you are analyzed as well," Joham gave him one of the watch monitors, watching it flash a 129. He awkwardly measured his height and weight. Finally he pulled out a fresh syringe. "No, I'm cool with everything else. But no needles," Donovan held his hands out in front of him aiding his protest. His monitor jumper to 147. Jane put a hand on his arm trying to reassure him, "It'll be fine. Just a little bit of blood." Donovan shook his head. "I find it rather ironic. Your nephew was difficult to cooperate with also. We had to use a little more force to get a sample from him," Joham's voice hid a slight undertone of a threat. Jane let go of Donovan's arm, scowling at Joham, "You didn't hurt Damien, did you?" Joham was sick of difficult children. "It was his fault he was being so stubborn, like your Halfling mate," Joham huffed growing impatient with every second. "That didn't answer my question," Jane crossed her arms. How dare this stranger hurt her family? "No, Aro just had to hold him still," Joham rolled his eyes and gestured for Donovan to give him his arm, "Now would you do the honors?"
"First I just want to know why you need it," Donovan asked innocently, "If you need help learning more about us and our physiology, I probably know more than you. No offence." It was true. They had been doing similar studies in New York and many other divisions for years. They had dhampir science down to the T. They had developed their own averages after decades of censuses and assessments that had yet to be wrong. They had developed their own medication, pharmaceuticals, and anything you could imagine in a syringe designed for dhampirs and their unique chemistry. They even had their own paternity tests and tests to determine if someone was your sibling. Books had been written on dhampir psychology centuries ago and had been updated each year accordingly. Many scientific breakthroughs in the human world should be credited to dhampirs, but due to secrecy were not. If Joham wanted data, all Donovan needed to do was email friends from around the globe and they would send him more Excel spread sheets and PDFs than he would know what to do with. Joham's presence here in the Volturi was rather unneeded now Donovan was here. "Subject Zero, please just give me your arm," Joham said through gritted teeth, appalled this Thing that had been scraped off the streets of some American city thought he knew more than him. "Fine, you won't find what you are looking for anyway," Donovan sighed giving his arm. He didn't even flinch when the needle went in. He was too accustom to it to the point where he missed the odd sensation. Jane hated how her masters and Joham were now calling Donovan Subject Zero like he too was a lab rat. It didn't seem right, considering how much more experience and skill Donovan had above the other children and even a good amount of the Guards. Now he was thrown to the bottom of the food chain with almost no say nor freedom. Just for being half human.
Joham purposely didn't offer a piece of gauze when he left, but it didn't really matter since the wound healed as soon as the needle left his arm. He quickly ran to observe his new samples. How exciting! Looking at all of it under the microscope sent chills down his spine. He had only observed his four children before. Unfortunately his eldest was the only one who ever cooperated willingly. Right now she was home in Brazil looking after his lab like a good girl. Nahuel had been an unfortunate case. When they finally located him after his birth, Joham discovered his son had bitten his aunt and turned her. It was impossible to deal with the newborn vampire and she ran off with his son, leaving him unable to study his development until he tracked him down as a fully mature hybrid. Then he left when he saw his marvelous work. They talked every decade or so, but only at a distance. When his youngest, Jennifer was born. Nahuel stole her away too, saying he was protecting her. This still infuriated Joham. He had worked so hard to create it and it was to be used to make more scientific discoveries. And his son just stole it saying, "It was immoral to keep a baby in a dog crate." Well maybe if Joham had raised him correctly and not some hippy native woman, he would listen to his father more. He was quite glad to be called on by the Volturi to study their hybrids. They had two males and two females all with different special abilities, while his offspring had no talents. They all were relatively young, all under a year. If only he had been called sooner and he was able to observe the hybrids from conception. But at least Aro was paying for it.
Damien ran to find Donovan after Joham left. He found him in Jane's room. The two of them seemed rather angry about something. "I just don't get why they are treating you like some little kid," Jane frowned. "Well how long have you and Alec been working here and how much respect do you two get?" Donovan countered. Damien knocked on the door frame, interrupting. Jane welcomed him in. "I heard Aro and Joham came to class today? Did everything go alright?" she asked, hoping Joham had been telling the truth about not hurting the kids. "He just gave us monitors and measured us. Then he took blood samples," Damien answered. "I heard Aro grabbed you," Jane hinted, wanting to know his side of the story. Damien's face fell. Was he in trouble? Would Jane be mad he didn't listen to them? "Are you mad at me?" he asked nervous. Jane noticed her nephew's reaction, "Why don't you tell me what happened?" He told her about how Joham wanted a sample, but he was really nervous and didn't want to so Aro grabbed his arm and grabbed the sample by force. "I'm fine. It would have been worse if Demetri wasn't watching or if Caius was there," Damien tried to reassure her. He didn't want Jane to make a big deal out of it and it didn't matter anyway. There was nothing she could do about it. This was the same reason he hadn't told Alec about the many encounters with being Aro and Caius' sick form of entertainment. All three were in the same boat. The Titanic. She tried to process what he had said, like there was more to his answer and there was something she was missing. Why would it be different if Caius was there? "Don't worry. Joham has his head so far up his ass. He would be lucky if even could focus a microscope correctly, let alone make any 'scientific discoveries'," Donovan shrugged breaking the tension. Jane didn't know what Donovan meant by finding something, but let it go. Damien caught what he meant and felt a whole lot better since that was the whole reason he came to talk to Donovan.
Later that night they both met in the back of the courtyard to do another practice session. "I want to know if there is a way to magically block out Aro from reading my thoughts," Damien asked. Donovan smiled, happy to have someone like minded of himself. "Was already thinking that," Donovan answered. Aro wanted to meet tomorrow with Damien to practice his ability more. And have Joham take even more pointless notes. "There is a way to make a temporary shield around yourself. First you are going to need a piece of jewelry, some salt, sage, and a bunch of other stuff I saw lying around the garden here," Donovan flipped through the Grimoire to find the spell. "Would this work?" Damien pulled out the black, hand-carved rosary that had been his mother's. Donovan laughed very amused at the irony, "I have never used a rosary for this spell before. It just seems wrong to do so in a way, but might actually work as an extra defense. Where did you get this? I pegged the Volturi as some secret Satanist cult that sacrificed."
"My mom gave it to me the day she died," Damien looked down somberly. Donovan now felt like an asshole for laughing at it. "Well she will be happy to know its keeping her son safe," Donovan smiled warmly, making Damien feel slightly better.
They began the spell after getting all the ingredients. Sadly it called for virgin blood, which Damien knew he had to offer since he was pretty sure Donovan had slept around, and Donovan's blood since he was originally a shield. But it wasn't more than a quick cut that healed quickly leaving only a trace of a scar. When it was over, Damien put the rosary around his neck. Hopefully this would work. They couldn't risk Aro reading Damien's mind and seeing they were witches. It had to work.