Author's Note: Uhhh... sorry for the hold-up. Got a little too preoccupied with school. Anyways, the important thing is that I'm updating this. That is all. Do enjoy reading. Hopefully, I haven't been a little rusty when writing this.
Chapter 2: You Shouldn't Have Asked
He had been escorted into the room where the Volturi matriarchs were to see him. This time there was something different about the room. The once-gray walls ridden with bullet holes from a previous power struggle had been renovated with a red wallpaper bearing several rune-like markings in the distinct dark green rectangles scattered all over it. From the ceiling, golden chandeliers hung on silver chains with strips of lavender cloth loosely entwined around each of their appendages as they illuminated the room with a welcoming incandescent glow.
To both his right and left, the only things Edward could see were grandfather clocks all ticking at different rhythms and showing different times. Apart from grandfather clocks, all Edward could see were bookshelves that were half-filled with black books which were strictly off-limits to anyone other than the high-ranking officials in the Volturi. Those had been records of everything relevant enough to keep track of, one of the elder vampires had told him before adding a warning that those new vampires who have been foolhardy enough to open those black books have never been heard of again.
Soon enough, Edward reached the end of the red carpet which had served as the pathway through the room. To his left and right, the carpet had neatly divided the room with a relatively equal number of grandfather clocks and bookshelves on both sides, all arranged in no particular manner.
Then, he looked up and saw a balcony emerging presumably from a room next to the one he was currently in, and three women looking down at him. Their image was so enchanting like most other vampires that for a moment in time it seemed that his eyes just automatically became fixed on their beauty.
Their pale white skin shone brightly like finely-polished marble as rays of moonlight fell upon them from the wide rectangular ceiling window. Their hair rested freely on their shoulders, adorned with diamond-studded hair ornaments where the precious gemstones gleamed along with their glowing ruby-like eyes. Dressed in layers of flowing silk, the women almost looked ghostly under the moonlight with their ominous red eyes.
Edward then cleared his throat drawing the attention of the three women to himself.
"Hmm... So... you've come here at the dead of the night." The red-haired female in green smirked as she stood on the balcony, looking at the blond vampire; she then raised her right hand and held up a glass of red liquid up to her lips. "What brings you here, Edward? Any problem at school? Or is it perhaps that Swan girl whose full name I can barely even remember? What is it again? Amarelle? Thalia?" She leaned on the banister as she gave a faint chuckle before sipping from her glass.
Standing on the left side of the redhead, the dark-haired woman in blue smirked and shot Edward a questioning look. "Don't tell me it's you getting into a fight with any of the students there? Not that the entirety of the students there are humans... with some vampires but... there are also werewolves. Especially those Quileute ones. I don't really trust them." She then sighed as she shook her head, adding, "Whatever you do don't get involved with those barbaric beasts of the uncivilized end of the universe. It's for your own good."
Then, the blonde one who had been standing quietly all along cut in, saying, "It's the best thing that you... we vampires can do for now. Look, Athenodora and Sulpicia don't trust them. And neither does the entire vampire population of Forks. Well, maybe the majority. They have some unsettling history with us vampires, you see. It's much better that you do avoid them." She rolled her eyes and took a quick look at her dress, frowning at the sight of a miniscule speck of blood that stained the pink fabric of her dress.
"Look, I'm not in trouble as you three say it," Edward reasoned out, causing all three women to sigh exasperatedly with Athenodora reluctantly gesturing him to continue. "Well, technically nothing to do with school but with a…" He broke for a bit, unsure whether to continue or not. He glanced at each of the female matriarchs and saw Sulpicia twirling a lock of her black hair while Athenodora and Didyme exchanged puzzled glances and mouthed words.
Already feeling awkward about going all the way to the Volturi castle just to ask a simple question, Edward closed his eyes and attempted to read the trio's thoughts to find the right words in order not to say anything wrong. Much to his chagrin, he couldn't even make out the slightest thing that they were thinking. It was as if they were either protected or immune to his mind-reading powers. Maybe not entirely immune but resistant to the extent that Edward could only perceive the thoughts as unintelligible gibberish coupled with the annoying sound of static.
The lone male vampire in the room swallowed and nervously chuckled as he put his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Well, you see… what if there was a vampire fell in love?" He paused for a moment with the three women displaying rather annoyed looks on their faces as if they had discussed these kinds of matters more than a hundred times. "But with a non-vampire," he added quickly.
"A non-vampire?" all three exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
Athenodora was the first one to speak on this matter, casually explaining the matter to Edward. "Edward. Edward Cullen. One of our dearest vampire favorites among the entire vampire clan united under the rule of the Volturi. You see, Edward, your question is a matter of fact not the first to catch us off-guard in our undead lifetime. But it certainly won't be the last. Unfortunately, many others before your time had asked the same question. One of which had been your… father." She reluctantly finished the sentence as if the word "father" did not want to be spoken out.
"My… my father? What about him?" Edward asked curiously. "I thought he was killed out of treason. Why? What did he do?"
"Sulpicia and Didyme will have to answer that for you. I have a meeting to attend to right now." The red-haired woman looked at the clock a few meters away from Edward which displayed the current time – 11:50 in the evening. Before turning her back to leave, she faced Edward and told him, "As soon as you're done here, go back to your school's dormitory. Hopefully, you'll be there before dawn since you have classes fifteen minutes before eight. We don't like making any additional arrangements in dropping you off to school if you are stuck here, you know."
"Yes, Madame Athenodora." Edward gave a slight bow as a show of respect.
The black-haired woman crossed her arms as she continued on from where her fellow matriarch stopped. "Your father. Carlisle Cullen. He sure had been charming with those looks. But, of course, with great looks comes great disasters. He fell in love with a woman. A human. Would you believe that? He was already a vampire with a vampire son yet he still longed for a human female. It didn't take long until the High Council found out."
"The High Council…" Edward gritted his teeth. He had thought that it was perfectly logical of the High Council to kill his father for treason against the Volturi. But now, he was not so sure about that.
Didyme must have seen him clench his fists as she immediately added, "The High Council under the main leadership of Aro considers falling in love with a different species as a somewhat… immoral act. But that didn't qualify for treason."
"It didn't?"
"No, it doesn't actually. Your father slept with the woman three nights a week for about five months. In the human world, it's considered 'adultery'. But in ours, it's treason. A crime only punishable by death. However, we did appeal to the High Council's decision to sentence him for banishment instead of execution." Didyme sighed heavily and Edward could see the pained expression in her eyes as she was telling him this.
"But he didn't get banished, did he?"
"He didn't. The High Council's decision was final. By the next morning, he had been set ablaze in the sun's rays. He died… for… love," Sulpicia said, dabbing the sides of her eyes with a white handkerchief she procured from her dress.
"He had been such a great vampire. Such a shame that he had to die." Didyme then turned to Edward with a slightly worried expression on her face. "I hope you don't end up like him. If you happen to fall in love with a human, it would be best if you turn her into a vampire before anything intimate between you two happens. As for werewolves, stay away from them. Long ago, the High Council – the one before Aro – had proclaimed that any union between a vampire and werewolf was strictly taboo and may bring about the destruction of both races."
Edward averted his gaze down to the floor before looking back at the two remaining women and told them in a reassuring manner, "You don't have to worry. I won't end up like him." He then feigned a smile.
"That's a relief. Now what question were you asking again?" both vampires asked in unison. "About a vampire falling in love with a non-vampire, right?"
Edward let out a nervous chuckle and swallowed before answering, "Actually, I think I just want to ask if what were the kinds of relationships that the High Council has forbidden. Just a little curious about it. That's all."
"Hmm… pretty much anything but vampire and vampire ones, I guess," Didyme replied with Sulpicia nodding in agreement beside her. "Yeah, just stick to vampires and you'll stay away from being accused of treason."
"Does that involve liking vampires of the same sex?" Upon hearing this, both Sulpicia and Didyme looked at each other before looking back at Edward and opening their mouth in astonishment. Then, Edward quickly added, "I mean, it's not for me but a friend of mine."
"I see… then that's no problem at all, Edward. We were… just surprised about you asking such questions. Anything else?" The blonde female tilted her head sideways and folded her arms as she looked at Edward earnestly but with a trace of suspicion in her face.
Edward looked uncertain for a bit about continuing on with his question. But he couldn't resist knowing whatever happened to his father. Ever since he had been a newly-converted vampire, he was one of the several newborn vampires who were separated from their makers – or parents as they call the former – until they were taken in and raised by the Volturi.
Finally, he decided that he should find out and gathered up the courage to ask. "Could you… tell me about how I came to be a vampire?"
"You do know that it is actually forbidden to learn about your parentage, don't you?" the blonde female grimly stated before laughing. "I was just kidding. You don't need to get alarmed. You might as well learn some of your own history. But mind you, not everything you'll be hearing would be thing you would want to hear."
Edward chuckled nervously. "It doesn't matter that much. So you would tell me?"
"Of course, we would. Umm… we found you alone in the streets. As pale as Death, you had been staggering in the alleys, looking for blood. It was rather pitiful sight when you finally find a trio of bikers whom you thought was going to be easy prey for you. Unable to control your own powers, you were beaten up and almost 'killed'. And when I mean killed, it's how humans term fellow humans being repeatedly shot and stabbed. Both of which could never kill an actual vampire… even a newborn one." Sulpicia was making elaborate gestures as she spoke. It was as if she were retelling an ancient epic to an audience in a theater.
She then continued, "But seeing your condition, we decided to intervene as allowing them to see you still standing up and alive after being beaten up and shot multiple times all over your body. We could never let the world know that vampires actually coexisted among humans. The effect would be disastrous. We might be the target of scientific experiments or interest of politicians to gain tremendous military power. I'm quite sure you know vampires and werewolves are capable of. Speaking of which, and that is also the same reason why we keep peace with the werewolves. Any stupid war between us factions can alert those humans.
"Moving on, we killed the bikers and fed you with their blood until you looked seemingly full with your face flushed red because of the blood. We then took you in under our wing and raised you. You had been a quick learner on how being a vampire works. After a year, you were ready enough to hunt by yourself. And so, we sent you and other vampires who have been turned in their teens across the country attending different high schools to fit in normally in the so-called 'normal' human society. While you were across the country attending high school, we have been sending searches to look for your possibly nomadic father. It wasn't until five years that we found out that your father was none other than Carlisle. Our dear own Carlisle who was a doctor for humans. Of course, he never told us that he had any living relatives for that matter. It was then that we found out that he had a wife and son."
"A wife and a son?" Edward repeated, looking puzzled.
"You were his son whom he had turned into a vampire as soon as he got the gift of vampirism. Your mother… Elizabeth, however, was not so fortunate. She had died of an unknown cause before your father became a vampire. And anyone who knows how the gift of vampirism works knows that it will not work on a corpse."
Edward couldn't believe his ears. His own father, biological and vampire, abandoned him and maybe he even thought he was dead. He was almost furious with the thought of even having a father. He hated him for not looking after him. He hated him for not even looking for him after he had become a Volturi when he could already provide for him. It wasn't fair, he thought, how could he even do this to his own son? His own flesh and blood.
The male vampire didn't want to hear anything else about his father. He decided that it was time to end the conversation but not before he found out what happened to his father's human mate. "May I ask something? What happened to the woman my father slept with?"
"What we did to Esme? Why, it was simple. We drove her mad with the sight of her own lover burning right in front of her. Of course, we took necessary precautions as not to burn ourselves. Eventually, we set her loose back into her hometown and she went on a killing spree. Carlisle might have fed her with some of his blood since she wasn't entirely as human as she seemed. She displayed peculiar strength and agility that could not have been imagined in that body of hers. It was almost comparable to that of a vampire."
"I see… well, I must get going now. There's a test that I have to study for tomorrow," Edward lied as he turned his back and proceeded to leave the room.
He stopped in his tracks when Didyme called out to him, saying, "Well, we could always continue this story sometime. But I hope you're not mad at your father or anything. I mean, hearing all this must've made you so bitter against him. But you should know something about your father. He loved you."
"Oh, did he?" he muttered inaudibly. The only thing he loved more than me was some other woman that caused his execution.
"Well, yes, Edward. He always carried a picture of his seventeen-year-old son in his wallet and he looked at it every single day and night. But every time someone would ask him about who was in the picture, he'd merely reply a loved one of his. We assumed that must have been his brother or his son who died a long time ago before he was a vampire."
Big deal, Edward thought. A picture is no reminder that he was still alive.
"Your father… never mind. It'll take a while for you to let everything sink in. Very well, you may have your leave." Didyme then disappeared after Sulpicia.
Edward lingered around for a bit in the room after he was left behind by the two. He eyed the black books carefully and wondered what records if they could be called records they contain. If they were supposed to contain records of the Volturi, they might have a record about my father, he thought.
Author's Note: Okay, so I changed some things that were facts in the Twilight-verse. Carlisle is Edward's biological and vampire father. Esme was technically a five-month fling of Carlisle. Didyme, Sulpicia and Athenodora have the same power… with Didyme's power obviously changed because the original one was somehow ridiculous. But like I said, it's a remake of Twilight. I won't follow through with everything that SMeyer wrote unless I think it's good enough for me to leave unchanged. SO yeah... that's it for this chapter. See you on the next one.
