Chapter 6 – Guards

After Marcus had showered and changed his clothes – he was now in pristine black dress pants, polished black shoes with a matching leather belt, and a black button up with the sleeves pushed to his elbows – he found himself in front of Afton, who was dutifully standing guard outside his mates door.

Afton was not surprised to see Marcus in this more casual state of dress. The full suit he and the other ancients usually wore would have been a little too formal to wear around Castiel, and this slight change in attire was obviously made in an effort not to intimidate her.

Afton had learned much about Marcus over the centuries, and he would have been surprised if his master hadn't taken some steps to not seem so imposing in Castiel's presence.

"How is she Afton?" Marcus asked, even though he knew she was asleep, he could hear her even heartbeat and steady breathing through the door. Her scent did seem more potent though and he could smell salt in the air, which gave him an off feeling because he knew that this was most likely because she had been crying.

"She fell asleep only recently," the guard said honestly, only hesitating for a moment before continuing, "She's… well she's been crying for the last six hours. In the beginning she was crying for her dad, but toward the end she seemed to calm down some."

Marcus' heart lurched at these words, and the pain was reflected onto his face. Afton shot him a look of sympathy, he understood how much it hurt to see your mate in pain, and it was hard on Marcus' since Castiel did not know him well enough for him to be of any comfort.

Stepping to the side Afton allowed Marcus entrance to the room and Marcus tried to be as quiet as possible so he would not wake her as he slowly opened the door.

The guest quarters were large. The room they entered in was a living room of sorts; there were large windows that took up most of the far wall, the only part free of windows was the spot taken up by glass doors that lead out to the balcony. There was a large desk close to the windows so the inhabitant would be able to turn in their chair to gaze out at the city… the view of Volterra from this room was stunning.

A monstrous fireplace took up most of the right wall, Marcus could smell Afton's scent in the room and determined that he must be the reason for the fire currently crackling within it. There were plush armchairs around the fireplace, and above the mantle was a large flat screen television. On the wall where the door was shelves and shelves of books covered most of the free space. These books were some of Marcus' that he had run out of room for in his own quarters.

He would have to find out what kind of books Castiel liked, Aro had said she was very similar to him so surely she liked to read? Most of the books here were old and written in languages that were either long dead or just uncommon.

The left wall held paintings and three doors; one that led to a master bathroom that Marcus remembered to be roughly half the size of this room, another to a spacious walk in closet that was thus far empty, and the last door of course led to the bedroom.

Quietly, Marcus crossed the room to open the door leading into the bedroom. He was holding his breath, worried that making the slightest sound would startle her awake.

The sunlight streaming through the windows illuminated the gold and crème colored room, and the rays of light hitting the grand mirror propped against the wall on the opposite side of the room were sending bands of rainbow light in all directions. However, nothing in the room caught his attention quite like the form of the sleeping human on the bed that seemed much too large for one person.

Castiel was curled in a ball on her left side, her back was pressed up against the headboard and her arms folded tightly across her chest with her hands curled into tight little fists. She was lying on top of the blankets, her sneakers were still on, and her head was resting on a pillow that Marcus could see was still wet and stained with her tears. Demetri's jacket had been discarded on the floor.

Marcus would never be able to describe how awful he felt when he saw the area around her eyes and on her nose was an angry red color and sore looking. His concern for her only heightened when she let out a shuddering breath and shivered, seeming to try and curl up even tighter on the bed. A small section of skin was visible on her upper arm through the tear in her sweater – and the goose bumps were obvious even from his position across the room.

Rather than moving toward her, he crossed the room to the fireplace in the wall while whispering Afton's name.

He was selecting some dry logs from the stand next to the hearth when the guard entered and, upon seeing what his master was trying to do, rummaged in his pockets for the matches he had used to light the fire in the living room. The fireplace in this bedroom was gorgeous. It was made of beautifully sculpted black marble that had taken over a year to complete and it was still less ostentatious than the fireplace in the main quarters.

They had the fire started rather quickly thanks to the small fire-starter block that had been sitting in a little plastic wrap on the mantle, and Afton gave Marcus a small smile when the latter thanked him, giving the logs a prod with the poker to help the fire catch better in some places.

The room would take a little while to rise from the freezing temperature it was currently at, and Marcus couldn't help his relief when another glance around the room showed that there was neatly folded piles of throw blankets sitting on the couch that was resting against the foot of the bed.

Though he was concerned that covering her would wake her up Marcus decided he really didn't have any other option as not doing so meant leaving her to sleep on top of the blankets freezing for another hour. So, as carefully as he could, Marcus pulled the two thickest throw blankets from their piles and moved to cover Castiel with them. He was grateful that even when he took the time to tuck the blankets around her she didn't startle, and as he moved away she actually seemed to nuzzle her way into the blankets, subconsciously pulling one higher so it covered her mouth and nose as well.

And as Castiel fell into a more peaceful sleep, her form relaxing and uncurling from the stiff little ball she had been in, Marcus couldn't help but watch her.

He was basking in the wholeness he felt around her, the warmth of their bond acting as a balm and soothing the centuries of pain he had felt while he was alone.

Marcus stood silently near the foot of the bed for a few minutes with his attention on their bond and the bright swirls of gold the strands emitted as they coiled around each other acceptingly. He could see some of the strands emitting from his end of the bond reaching out toward some of hers and watched as hers moved away as if apprehensive when his tried to link them completely together.

This did not worry him though. Their bond would not truly become one until they had partaken in the full aspects of vampire mating rituals together – some rituals he believed might be too intense for her as a human. He only hoped she would be as accepting of him as their bonds were of each other already. He longed to see her awake and as relaxed with him as she was in her sleep. He wanted to hear sounds of joy from her rather than sounds of fear, as these were the only real sounds he had heard from her thus far.

Castiel groaned suddenly, and the noise drew Marcus out of his bond sight instantaneously, only to see that a beam of light from one of the windows was across her face. He didn't hesitate in moving to each window and drawing the floor length curtains shut. All the curtains in the castle were made of thick materials meant to keep light completely out since such was a necessity in a castle where vampires threw off startling rainbows of color when in sunlight.

And once the room was shrouded in darkness, the only light coming from a digital clock giving the time on the nightstand and the crackling fire in the hearth, Marcus knew it was time to take his leave and let her rest. He had all the time in the world to speak with her and for now he had to be patient.

Once Marcus was out in the hall Afton closed the door to Castiel's room before moving to stand with his back to it as he faced the hallway, resuming his post.

Reaching into his breast pocket Marcus withdrew a handkerchief. He didn't miss Afton's inquisitive look as he unfolded the soft fabric, revealing that sitting inside it was a solid gold Volturi crest, one that's design was exclusive to only the three masters and their wives.

The crest was expertly crafted, showing more detail than any crest the guards owned, making it much more intricate and beautiful than the others aside from the fact that the crests of the guard were only ever made of silver or bronze.

The Masters' crests also had personal touches to them. Each had a precious stone that was set at the bottom point of the V. Aro and Sulpicia's crests both had an emerald at the point, Caius and Athenadora's crests each had a purple gem at the point called musgravite, and Marcus' gem was a red beryl – similar in look to a ruby but much more expensive.

Afton could recall the day, centuries ago, that Master Aro had these more extravagant crests designed for himself and his brothers. All the guard, even the younger or "less important" guards who rarely entered the castle since they had nomadic lifestyles, knew the significance of owning one of these extravagant crests. There were some guards who had never met Athenadora or Sulpicia because they didn't have much of a reason too but seeing the crests upon their necks when the time did come that they were confronted with the wives, there was no room for confusion about their positions in the coven. They were the queens and had to be treated with the utmost respect.

But what surprised Afton about seeing the necklace was the fact that he hadn't even know Master Marcus' crest was part of a set. Since the necklaces were created centuries after Didyme's death and no one believed it would be possible for Marcus to have another mate, it was completely unexpected that there was another created to match his own. Of courses imprinting was always a possible option but it was just so rare no one had ever considered it.

And Marcus seemed to know what he was thinking, because he answered Afton's look with a small smile.

"I was not aware that my crest was part of a set either. Aro pulled me aside and gave it to me last night. He admits he never thought it was possible but… he was always hopeful."

Afton knew how much of a sentiment this was between the brothers, and he felt touched as he thought about how much this small act probably meant to Marcus.

"Athenadora will be bringing a change of clothes for Castiel in a few hours," Marcus tone had gone businesslike once the moment had passed, "Be sure Castiel puts this crest on as well but please do not explain the significance to her just yet. I plan to tell her myself within the next few days."

Afton nodded as he took the crest from Marcus' outstretched hand and placed it safely within his own pocket. Of course he knew Marcus would want to tell his mate himself what was going on and even though it would be challenging he would face it head on and make sure Castiel wasn't blind to everything that was happening around her, or this very serious change that had a lot to do with her future.

Marcus left Afton to stand guard as he headed to the library. He would stay there for the remainder of the day as he waited to officially meet his little mate.


8 Hours Later, 4PM

Waking up with a groan, Castiel stretched letting out a tiny moan as she spread herself out on the bed. This mattress was one of the softest she had ever lain in, and it was difficult to open her eyes even though she knew she had slept plenty, and that it was time for her to face whatever unpleasantness was waiting for her on this new day.

She hadn't answered Aro's question from the previous night, at least not directly, but she knew that once she saw him again she would see in her head that she really didn't want to die even if that meant she had no other choice but to live the rest of her life as one of the protectors of vampire law.

After it was said and done, the idea of Aro reading her mind wasn't as abhorrent to her as before because she wasn't a very secretive person. Her largest secret was the fact that she was psychic, but everyone here already knew that, so she didn't really have anything to hide anymore. Aro had already seen the very worst of her along with the very best, so everything else was a moot point now.

And was that what her life was going to become here? Just one big grey area?

Her eyes were only half open when she stood from the bed, and she was stunned to feel blankets slipping off of her onto the floor. She knew she hadn't fallen asleep with any blankets covering her so the idea that someone had been in her room while she was asleep was frightening. Upon closer inspection though she realized she was still completely dressed, shoes and all, so she calmed slightly upon the realization that no one had physically messed with her.

After rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her knuckles, which kind of hurt because the skin near her eyes felt raw, Castiel observed the room. Her room.

There was a flame burning low in the fireplace. The room had been at what she assumed were below freezing temperatures before she fell asleep and was now a slightly stuffy, but still very comfortable temperature. Whoever had lit the fire must have closed the curtains to the windows as well, because when she went to look out over her view of the town her eyes were blinded by the glare of the afternoon sun.

She groaned aloud when she re-shut the curtains and turned to check the clock, only to see the bright red numbers reading 16:12.

Of course it was four in the afternoon, Castiel thought irritably as she made to rub her face in frustration at the horrible sleeping schedule she was going to have now, only to wince upon feeling how painfully sore her eyes were. She must have been crying longer than she thought for it felt like she had removed most of the layers of skin around her eyes from rubbing them so hard on her sleeves.

With a sigh she stared around the room, getting a good look at it for the first time since she hadn't cared to investigate it when Demetri and Felix had bought her there in the very early morning. The room was made up of colors of crème and gold, a large off-white shag carpet covered most of the smooth stone floor, and she had fallen asleep on the undoubtedly king sized bed with a crème colored comforter with gold embroidery of some kind of leaf pattern.

There was a light tan leather couch pushed up against the foot of the bed, which had a pile of blankets that hadn't been there before and a small stack of clothes next to it.

On the left side of the room there were more towering bookshelves like the ones in the main room, with plush seats and a small table making up a little sitting area in front of them. Castiel had wanted to take one of the books to read on the large windowsill last night, but not only did she notice she couldn't open the window as it seemed to be stuck shut after years of un-use, but the books were all in languages she couldn't understand.

Across the room from the bed there were two chairs and side tables sitting in front of the fireplace and just like in the main room the mantle of this fireplace had a television mounted on the wall over it as well.

The right side of the room had a grand white armoire with a matching vanity next to it. She had taken a quick peek in the armoire last night and had been disappointed to see that it was empty. At least that would explain why someone must have left her clothes, but was this going to become a daily thing? Was she just going to sit in a living quarters three times the size of her fathers' home with empty furniture and books she could never read?

Of course she could watch something on the television, but really the only times she watched TV was when she was binge watching shows like NCIS on Netflix or re-watching all the Harry Potter movies.

Wanting to get away from the overly large and empty room that put depressing thoughts into her head, Castiel resolved that she would try and figure out what was going to happen from this point onward even if it meant demanding to see Aro, because she flat out refused to be locked away in some room like an animal.

Grabbing the pile of clothes on the couch, Castiel began to undress. She had been left a plain black blouse – one that must have been tailored to fit whoever this belonged to since it felt tight around the bust on her – along with a pair of slim black jeans that luckily seemed to only be a few inches too long at the bottom and very slightly loose at the hips.

She knew the clothes couldn't be new since they had no tags and felt warm as if they had just been taken out of a dryer. So she neatly rolled the legs of the jeans so they didn't pass her ankles before tugging her shoes back on.

She had also been left a very expensive looking, but still very soft, dark brown leather jacket. As she shoved her arms through the sleeves she wondered if she could ask the owner of her borrowed clothes if she could keep the jacket. It really was very nice and suited her tastes.

Gathering up her courage Castiel marched determinedly from her bedroom and through the living room before approaching the door that lead out to the hall. She yanked open the door with a little too much gusto and found herself blushing when she ended up bumping into the back of a guard outside her door, the latter turning to face her with a raised brow.

The guard at her door probably just about six feet tall, and he was lean and muscular with dark brown hair that was trimmed short… maybe about an inch shorter than Demetri's dirty-blonde artfully messy style. This vampire also seemed to carry an air of boyish charm even though his face was as perfectly angular as any of the other vampires here, and his eyes looked as though they had permanent laugh lines at the corners making them seem much less frightening even though they were the same deep red as all the other guards.

She didn't know why, but he made her think of Trent even though he looked nothing like her human best friend.

"Well," Castiel said nervously, laughing in an embarrassed sort of way, "This is… embarrassing." Her determination had faltered at the appearance of this vampire as she hadn't been checking her future to see if she were being guarded, so she had been caught totally unawares.

The man didn't say anything, and his brow was still raised when she coughed uncomfortably.

"Soooo," Castiel drawled, figuring she already looked extremely foolish after charging directly into this vampire's back and therefor had nothing to lose. "Am I allowed to leave?"

"Leave as in leave Italy?" The man asked, and much to her relief his tone was teasing, "No. But leave your room? Of course."

He stepped back so she could exit the room, and she moved quietly to the side so he could lock the door.

"Err right." Castiel really wasn't sure what to do now, and the guard seemed to notice because he gave her a knowing smile and indicated down the hall with his hand.

"I can show you where the kitchen is if you'd like as I'm sure you're very hungry. One of the chefs can make you something."

While she couldn't deny that was very hungry, she also couldn't stop herself from asking "Chefs?" as they began to walk down the hall together, the tall guard leading the way. "As in plural? Why does a castle full of vampires need not just one but multiple chefs?"

He chuckled as if her question had been funny. "You'd be surprised how many humans we have working in this castle. I'm sure you're aware that the humans we employ are in on our secret and therefor they cannot just quit their job. We try to be sure that when we offer a position in our coven to a human that the job perks are irresistible. We offer them the most amenities we can, chefs to make meals, free housing within the city and castle, use of the swimming pool and sport courts we have… along with a very good wage to make accepting our offer worth their while."

This did surprise her, she knew the rumors of this coven weren't very good even though her friends really didn't tell her more than the basics of them so it was a shock that they seemed to treat their human employees well… at least well when it came to living conditions.

"My name is Afton by the way," The guard said suddenly as he led her down another drafty hallway, where at the end of which they had to descend a flight of stairs.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Castiel frowned, "I really should have asked you your name, that was rude of me. I'm Castiel, and I promise I usually have better manners than not asking people their names and walking into them."

"And-," she paused uncertainly "I would shake your hand but first… you can't read all my thoughts too right?"

This made Afton laugh loudly, and when he laughed the smile lit up his whole face. His joy was contagious and Castiel found that she couldn't help laughing with him.

"Oh no that's only Master Aro." He chuckled, "I do, however, have the gift of diversion. It is mental in nature and enables me to create an illusion of me disappearing on the spot. I can also make others disappear with me as long as we are touching."

Castiel's jaw dropped, she hadn't been expecting that response. "But even without seeing you wouldn't other vampires be able to smell and hear you? Not that your gift doesn't sound really cool anyway! I'm just curious."

She wasn't sure if it was her business to ask but Afton couldn't really expect that he could just spring that on her and she wouldn't ask any questions, could he?

Afton shook his head, "No actually they can't. The illusion itself causes a slight sensory deprivation – though nothing compared to what Alec can do – and it hides all aspects of me and those I am touching from sight, sense, and thought."

Before she could ask who Alec was, the two of them stepped onto an elevator at the end of the hall and the warmth inside stopped her train of thought in its tracks and she sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry it's so cold here." Afton said, his previously cheerful face now gracing a deep frown, "The only ones who make a habit of roaming the halls here are immortals, and since we don't need heat the only rooms that are warm are those our mortal employees congregate in. I'm sure we will have some warmer clothes coming for you so you don't have such a hard time."

She only nodded as the elevator began to move downward, before touching her eyes gently with the tips of her fingers and wincing. "Tell me honestly how bad do I look?"

Afton pursed his lips for a moment, turning his head slightly so he could get a good look at her face. "You look… alright. You seemed to have rubbed your eyes raw when you were crying last night. I'm sure we can stop and see Arkos to check if he has something to sooth the area if it hurts."

With a ding, the doors opened and the pair stepped out.

Castiel sighed, shoving her hands in the pockets of the jacket, "And I'm assuming you heard all of that last night didn't you?"

While Afton could hear the depressed edge to her tone, he didn't feel it was right to lie to her. "I did."

"Sounded like a dying whale right?" She joked halfheartedly, though the humor didn't reach her eyes.

Afton's lips twitched as he tried not to smile. He really appreciated Castiel's easygoing nature so far, and was glad to see that she wasn't above making fun of herself to lighten the mood.

"Not a dying whale per says," he shrugged, "But maybe like a whale trying to pass a kidney stone… if that's even possible"

Unexpectedly, Castiel burst into laughter. She hadn't expected him to go along with her teasing, but she couldn't help the happy feeling that seemed to fill her chest when she realized that yes… this guard was exactly like Trent.

"Do whales have kidneys?" she inquired, once she calmed down enough to speak, "I never took marine bio."

Afton didn't answer her question. They had come upon a metal door at the end of yet another hallway they had traveled down, and upon opening it, they stepped into a very sleek and lavish looking kitchen. There were stainless steel appliances, a large breakfast bar, a huge cooktop, and a stove that an older gentleman was working at.

The smells of peppers greet Castiel's nostrils as Afton shut the door, and the sound caused the man at the stove to turn.

He was probably around 70 years old and very grey, his skin was aged and wrinkled but his hazel eyes were alight with excitement. He seemed completely at ease here, and the smile he gave Castiel showed that he must have greatly enjoyed what he was doing.

The man opened his arms in welcome, and Castiel noticed he was wearing an apron that seemed stained with different sauces as he came over to her and kissed her enthusiastically on both cheeks, much to her own embarrassment. He proceeded to say something to her in Italian and the large grin never left his face.

Afton said something back to him and the only part of the conversation she was able to understand being the word "English" as Afton motioned to her.

"My apologies Stella!" The old mans voice was gravelly and excited, his heavy accent endearing, "My name is Emmanuel, I am the head chef here. Afton says you would like some food yes?"

After going over foods she liked and disliked, as well as informing him that she was allergic to most berries aside from strawberries, the Chef began taking out extra pans to work on something for her. She assumed it would be a pasta dish since it was closer to dinner than breakfast.

Afton had taken a seat the breakfast bar at the end of the kitchen and Castiel didn't hesitate in going to sit with him, assuming the reason he hadn't left being because he was required to be wherever she was.

"You have a berry allergy?" Afton asked once she sat beside him. He had been allowed to look over the chart Arkos had shown the masters the previous night, and didn't remember seeing anything about food allergies.

Castiel looked at him strangely, not understanding why he would care, "Yeah, but berries are easy to avoid. I do need an EpiPen in case I ever do consume something I shouldn't though."

"And you have one of those?" Finding out that her allergy was severe enough that she needed an EpiPen was alarming to Afton. He knew that food allergies in humans could range from a mild discomfort of the throat to the much more deadly anaphylactic shock and he wasn't happy to hear that she fell on the more severe range of the scale.

Around a decade earlier they had employed a young secretary who had a deadly allergy to nuts and had gone into anaphylactic shock after eating someone else's lunch in the fridge one day. While the secretary hadn't directly eaten the offensive item – a peanut butter sandwich from what Afton could remember – she had eaten food that had touched it.

They were not able to save the secretary in time as she left her purse in the lobby so her EpiPen was not close enough to be of use to her and no one entered the kitchen until many minutes after it happened.

"Of course," Castiel affirmed, but Afton's relief only lasted for moments before she muttered "damn it" under her breath and said, "It's in my backpack at my fathers house."

Afton was sure she had forgotten to tell Arkos about her allergy so when the chef came over to set her food in front of her he stood. It was a pasta dish just as Castiel had expected, and it had a few different types of cheese, something leafy, and light tomato sauce.

"Please do not leave this kitchen Castiel," Afton tried to make his tone sound like it was more of a request than an order. He wanted to find Arkos and inform him of her allergy as soon as possible. He was extremely unwilling to let anything happen to her in light of the good he knew she was going to bring the coven.

He figured she'd be fine alone with the chef for ten minutes, and didn't wait for her response before reaching into his own pocket and taking out the handkerchief the crest Master Marcus had given him for her was wrapped in.

Unwrapping the necklace, he placed it carefully on the counter in front of her.

"This is your coven crest," Afton said, trying to find the proper words to explain the importance she wear it without giving anything away. "Everyone in the coven has one, and as you are now part of our coven it is… protocol that you wear one as well."

Castiel took the heavy golden crest in her palm, running her fingers along the thick gold chain. The red gem at the bottom was sparkling, and she assumed it was ruby. Unwilling to accept something both so expensive and extravagant looking, she held it back out to the guard wordlessly. She really didn't want to be responsible for damaging it.

Afton could see the argument forming in her head and sighed before reaching forward and carefully folding her fingers shut over the crest, then pushing her hand back toward her. "It's necessary that you wear this crest at all times Castiel."

The gravity of his tone made Castiel unable to stop herself from asking, "Why?"

"Well for one," Afton's mind was reeling as he tried to explain without over-explaining, "The crests are part of our uniform, and therefor they should always be worn, but this crest will also keep you safe. I don't want to beat around the bush and hope you will pardon my language when I say – no vampire here is going to fuck with you if they see that on your neck. I can't promise anything if you aren't wearing it though."

And this was true for more than just the vampires in the coven. Even nomads would be cautious of her if they saw her wearing that crest. While they might not know the significance of the crest the extravagance of it hinted that the Masters held her in high regards.

Just over a dozen guards had seen her in the throne room when she arrived and knew what had happened, but she was still a mystery to about the near two hundred other vampires in the Volturi's employ. The crest would be necessary to keep her safe from the younger guards, and any other guards that had yet to meet her.

"Will you get in trouble if I don't wear it?" Castiel asked, and Afton nodded.

She sighed reluctantly.

She didn't even need to unclasp the chain to put it on. It was so long she could just slip it on over her head. The pendant itself rest heavily on her chest between her breasts, and as she made to move the necklace to hide it under her shirt Afton held up a hand to stop her.

"Please Castiel. It has to remain visible."

She didn't want to get him into trouble, he seemed nice enough and she had a feeling they could be spending a lot of time together, so while she waited to find out how much longer she had until her humanity was taken from her she figured it would be best to try and become friends with him.

"Please call me Cas," She said as she began twirling some pasta around her fork. "My name is such a mouthful."

Afton pursed his lips for a moment. The ancients usually didn't like the shortening of names since they viewed it informal to the point of disrespectful.

So he merely nodded at her, resolving to mention her request to Marcus so that it would be evident he was only following her wishes before he started calling her by a shortened name.

Giving her a pointed look as he turned to leave, she responded to by putting her hands up by her shoulders in surrender with an expression that clearly told him to chill out.

Once he was gone, Castiel took her time to eat. The food really was very good, and the chef looked like she made his day by voicing her approval. She took her dishes to the sink to rinse them, but she was stopped by the chef, who lightly nudged her back to her seat insisting it was his job to clean as well as cook.


Afton had been gone longer than she expected, and Castiel began to feel very restless. The chef had left almost fifteen minutes ago, so she was alone in the pristine kitchen as she walked around admiring the appliances as she chewed on an apple she took from a large decorative bowl.

Spotting a trashcan next to a door on the opposite side of the room, Castiel paused in the center of the kitchen and tossed har apple core while calling "Kobe!". It landed in the trashcan with a satisfying thump and she threw her hands up in victory before crossing to the door and reaching for the handle. She expected the door to lead to a walk in freezer or something of the sort, and therefor was very surprised when upon opening it she came out to another empty hall.

"I really have to start making a map of this place." She mumbled under her breath as she shut the door behind her and traveled down the new hall. Perhaps she would try to find her way back to her room or find Afton. After all it was possible he had merely forgotten about her. She was just a boring human after all, and she was sure he had more important things to do.

She walked for a while, picking random halls to travel along when she came to forks as she looked for a staircase that would lead her up.

Following the curving hallway she was currently in, she found herself in a new hall where most of the left wall was taken up by many floor length windows that let the warm sunlight stream through. The right wall only held a couple candelabras that weren't lit. It really was something straight out of a movie, and before she could go stand by one of the windows to look out and hopefully figure out where she was in proximity to her room someone else entered the hall across from her.

They stopped and stared at each other. This vampire was totally unfamiliar to Castiel and she was sure he hadn't been in the throne room when she arrived. He wore a light grey cloak and had dark brown hair that was cut in a style that reminded her of Justin Bieber in 2009. He didn't look much older than sixteen, which was surprising to her.

But his hair had Castiel trying very hard not to laugh. The idea of being permanently stuck with a Justin Bieber-esque bowl cut forever was really very unfortunate.

Her thoughts might have been obvious on her face, because the boy glared at her.

"What's so funny you filthy little human?" He sneered at her, and the smile fell from Castiel's face when he insulted her.

"Excuse me?" She really didn't appreciate how he was talking to her. Yeah it wasn't nice of her to laugh at his hair, but she didn't even say anything! How could he know what she was thinking and what gave him the right to be such a jerk?

Suddenly he was in front of her, totally invading her personal space and causing her to step back in alarm.

"I asked you what was funny you pathetic little human. Are you stupid or just deaf?"

Castiel felt her hands ball into fists at her sides, she knew she could have a hot temper when she got going but she figured now really wasn't the time to try and pick a fight.

"Well," She snapped back at him, not at all impressed by his high and mighty attitude, and seeming unable to help herself as she said, "I just find it funny that you seem to be rocking the old Bieber haircut. It's very unfortunate really."

The guard snarled at her, and Castiel sensing the danger slipped into her foresight.

Her pupils blew open wide and she ducked just in time to avoid the vicious backhand the guard aimed at her face.

When his arm passed over her, she took his moment of surprise as an opportunity to do the only thing she was sure might hurt him, and she literally punched him in the crotch.

Because vampire or not, she was sure getting hit in the balls still hurt.

The guard bent double, cupping himself as he shoved Castiel back.

She didn't fall hard, but she did stumble backwards and fall on her butt with a slight, "Oof."

The guard recovered quickly but didn't have a chance to even stand up straight before Afton appeared seemingly from nowhere. And without so much of a word, Afton hit the guard with an impressive right hook that send him him to the floor with cracks forming across his neck, cheek, and ear.

There was a long pause where the guard stared up at Afton looking utterly bewildered, and Afton took a deep calming breath before turning to where Castiel was on the floor. He reached down slowly so he wouldn't startle her before wrapping his hands around the tops of her arms and hoisting her to her feet.

He brushed the back of her jacket off for her while asking, "Are you alright?"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she gave a soft, "Yeah." Before looking to the guard on the floor, "Thanks for hitting him for me."

"Oh." Afton paused, glancing at the guard with disinterest, "I was hitting him for me, but I can punch him again if you'd like."

The nonchalant way he said it made Castiel burst into peels of laughter.

"No no," She giggled as she tried to compose herself, "I think you got a good enough hit in for the both of us."

Afton smiled at her then, and it was the lighthearted boyish smile that reminded her so much of Trent. When he grinned like that, she realized that if she ever wanted to dislike this guard that chance had long since passed.

They must have raised some sort of alarm, for a couple seconds later Demetri and Felix entered the hall unnaturally quickly… well unnaturally by human standards at least.

They took in the scene before them with expressions that were a mixture of both surprise and worry before Demetri spoke.

"Is everything alright here?" Demetri tried to control his tone so his relief wouldn't show in his voice. They heard Castiel arguing with the guard from a way away and only grew increasingly worried when they heard Afton arrive to fight. It would not bode well for any of them if she were hurt, but she appeared to be unharmed.

"Yeah." Castiel answered, unable to help the bitter edge that seeped into her tone, "This guy just has some opinions that are better kept to himself."

Felix, who really needed no other indication of where the trouble came from than Castiel's words, moved forward to pick the guard up roughly off the floor. He knew him of course. He was a recruit by the name of Shaun who had joined the Volturi in the last five years.

Shaun gave a gasp of fear when Felix yanked him roughly up by the arm. During the altercation the guard hadn't noticed the crest on Castiel's neck for her jacket had covered it while she was walking since she had subconsciously pulled it closed around her due to the chill of the halls.

But now that her form had relaxed her jacket had fallen open leaving the crest in plain view on her chest.

Shaun blanched upon seeing it. "I… I didn't-," he stuttered, unable to take his eyes off the necklace. He might have had no idea what was going on but he knew there was only one reason the human would be wearing the crest of Master Marcus, "I… didn't know… I didn't know I swear!"

His voice had broken at the end of his sentence, making it sound as though he was squealing.

His pleading caused Castiel to look down at her crest in confusion. Was it some unbreakable rule that you don't attack a coven member? But he had been so nasty to her for no reason… was he some kind of problem child or something?

"We'll let you explain your reasons to Aro yourself." Demetri snapped, and the guard visibly cowered.

Without saying anything further, Demetri nodded to Afton and Castiel while Felix yanked the guard along in his wake. The guard seemed to have lost the ability to use his legs, and was stuttering incoherently as his eyes filled venom tears that would never fall.

"Wait!" Castiel called out to them before they were around the corner, shaking off the stunned feeling that had fogged her brain. They halted, but only Demetri turned to face her. Castiel seemed to be unaware of the fact that Afton had placed his arm out to stop her from moving forward to follow the pair, and was staring at her in confusion.

"You aren't going to hurt him are you?" Castiel asked, her voice trembling. "Please don't hurt him. This whole confrontation was stupid."

She knew wouldn't be able to live with this guard's life on her conscience even if he was an ass. He just needed a lesson on how to talk to people.

But Demetri seemed to have no answer for her and only shook his head before disappearing with Felix.

Castiel reached up and gripped Afton's arm, unable to move her eyes from the spot the duo had disappeared.

"I don't want them to hurt him. Please Afton I don't want anyone to get killed because of me."

His face softened at her defeated expression. He could already tell she was too sweet for her own good.

"They won't kill him Cas." He wasn't sure if his words were true, but once her lips quivered as if she were about to start crying he was willing to say anything to make her feel better. "Aro will see your protests… I can't promise the guard won't be hurt since vampires require a certain level of brutality to be kept in line, but I'm sure Aro will try and take your feelings into account."

Castiel released his arm, and they stood in tense silence for a minute before Afton had what he felt was a brilliant idea, because there was always one surefire thing to do when you felt terrible.

You go to your mate.

"Why don't I show you to the library?" He suggested with a smile, taking her hand and towing her back the way she had come, "I'm sure the books in your room are so ancient and dusty that even I can't read them. Something more modern might be a better reading option."


Revised January 19th, 2021

(17 Pages, 7,745 Words)