Okay, so Carlisle's running away from a problem…we all know that wouldn't really happen, but if I had been placed in his situation, I would have run… now we're going to see what happens several years later.


I did as best as I could as I tried to relax into this life…well half-life. Things had changed for me, 50 years and eight cities later I was in Italy, in a city called Volterra.

A large coven of vampires resided here, and I hoped to get some sort of guidance. The leaders were brothers of sorts; Caius, Marcus and Aro, the latter of which was the most friendly. Caius was uninteresting and Marcus was solemn, somber even.

The three had greeted me in their castle of sorts, and Aro had been the most frontal. After shaking his hand, and the jolt of a lifetime, he stared at me with wide crimson eyes, enraptured and astonished at what I had done.

They had offered me a place to stay, and so I am here. And the feeling of entrapment has begun to claw at me, the terror only a caged animal feels. That is what I have become.

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My eyes were dark and I needed to hunt, but Aro wanted me to live my true nature.

He has offered humans, ones in the prime of their lives, with rich fragrant blood running through their veins. But I resisted, refusing the offer when they bring one in. It frustrated Marcus so that I continued on with my diet, my abstaining from human blood infuriating him.

Tonight I waited, watching for the square to clear before I leapt from my window. The beast in me almost took over today, Caius brought in a young boy, bleeding from several whip marks across his back, and a low hiss erupted from my throat.

I truly believe he wishes to see me break, but I refused him, balling up my fists and yelling for him to take the boy out of my room. I watched Caius go for the boy himself.

"No! You will not do that in my presence. I will not tolerate it. Leave the boy here and go." I said.

Caius continued to go for him, and I leapt, landing between them, growling loudly. He swiped at me, making contact with the side of my face.

"You will not tell me what to do in my own house, whelp!" He said.

I had a flashback as I felt his hand strike my face. It didn't hurt but to hit me in front of a human was supposed to be humiliating and offensive. His nails were like claws and I felt the marks he made on the side of my face.

Where his nails met my granite skin would be chiseled there, possibly for eternity. I turned to the window, hearing the sound of the door closing, but I could still hear his heart, loud wet thumping inside his chest. I turned back to him, hearing his heart beat faster and his breathing quicken, his eyes on the marks on my face.

"I don't want to hurt you." I said, walking behind him.

"I apologize for what he did, and for that…display of anger. I am trying to become more collected, but there is only so much I can do." I said.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked me as I poured a little antiseptic on a rag, carefully cleaning the wounds.

"I am trying to change my nature, or at least defy it." I said, glancing at his face in the mirror.

He was gaunt, dark circles around his eyes, his limbs frighteningly thin. He smiled slowly, looking out the window and shaking his head.

"What?" I asked.

He laughed. "I heard you arguing with the eldest about your choice of diet. Aro finds it intriguing, but Caius and Marcus are disgusted by it." He said.

I smiled.

"I know." I said.

"They fight me at every turn, but I don't want to be a monster." I said, standing up and walking to the window.

I continued to feel like a caged animal.

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My thoughts strayed to the boy as I hunted, the whip marks across his back. Anger consumed me again and I knew I must talk to Aro.

Caius and Marcus were becoming intolerable, and I knew that if I didn't say anything it would continue to get worse. I felt as though they were trying to hinder me from making progress.

I believed that if I were to leave, I might make some progress but I would never really understand what needed to be done.

I was independent and had no need for a companion, and I knew that if I offered to leave and take the boy with me that they would find us and kill us both…him for knowing what I was and myself for allowing the boy to know my deepest and darkest secret.

They would never understand what I have gone through, although Aro may see it in my mind's eye.

Never would they have the curiosity that sits at the back of my mind, waiting and observing. I wanted to help people, to be a healer, but in the present that was only a dream, albeit a waking dream.

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"Aro, it is my belief that my time has come to go, to be on my own." I said.

Aro looked slightly saddened at this.

"Carlisle my dear boy where will you go, surely you would not leave your family." He said.

I had felt that the three of them were like brothers to me, as well as their guard, but it was time for me to move on.

"I wish to see the New World." I said.

"The barbaric ruffians, they believe they can attempt to recreate what we have all over Europe." Marcus sneered, while Caius rolled his eyes.

"If that is what you wish then I will not stop you. I will, however, miss you greatly." Aro said.

"I shall miss you as well." I said with a sad smile.

He grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a hug.

"Take care of yourself." He told me.

"And you." I replied.


'It seems what's left of my human side is slowly changing...in me. Will you give in to me?' – 'Down With The Sickness' Disturbed