Chapter 24 – Fire and Dark.

Sasha's howl echoed across the clearing.

The vampire child himself vanished in the fire. There was no noise, no pained shrieking, nothing but thick clouds of purplish smoke that immediately began drifting from the fire.

I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder, but it was only Aro, leaning closer to me with a dazzling smile. "Well done, little one," he murmured. "You have proved your loyalty here today, and that means a great deal. You have more than earned a place with us. I expected good things from you when Philippe brought you to my attention, but you have quite exceeded all expectations…you have been like a delightfully unexpected and wonderful little gift!"

I smiled, the praise warming my heart. Already I had begun to push away the thought of the little boy held in my arms as he curled against me. It didn't matter. He was dangerous, wrong…should never have existed. I didn't have to feel guilty about following the law that had been laid down to protect all vampires.

But I saw the piece of silver on the ground that had been the bird styled clasp on my cloak, now mashed into a round, lumpy ball that bore the clear imprint of a child's small, plump hand, and I picked it up and slipped it into the front of my tunic.

The Volterra vampires were silent, pausing in their task of collecting up the humans both dead and alive. Everyone was focussed on Sasha, who was screaming and beating at the ground like one possessed.

"Enough!" Caius thundered. He glared at Aro, as though it was his fault that we were all still here, eyewitness to such grief. "We have wasted enough time here! Everyone knows what the penalty is for the creation of an immortal child!"

"No!" It was Tanya, obviously speaking on behalf of her sisters. "We know the consequences, but we ask you for mercy. Mother made a mistake…she will never do it again! She's seen what results and she realises that she has done a heinous wrong. But I can promise you it won't happen again. Please, please reconsider!"

"Reconsider?" Caius' lip curled. "To what end? Make the Volturi look weak? Open the door for more deluded vampires to create these monsters? Your creator did wrong and she will stand as an example to all other vampires who would question the Volturi's power and commitment to the law."

I didn't think Sasha cared what happened to her. I had never seen anyone so lost in the ravages of grief as this woman who had just watched her child creation burn. For the first time ever I saw a vampire cry, blood tears streaking her pale face as she sobbed and beat her fist against the earth.

I could tell by the sisters' faces as they glanced from their mother to Caius to each other that they knew that they had lost, but Tanya tried one more time. "My lord, any punishment but that of the final death. Please. And people will speak of your mercy…"

Caius glared at them. "She knew the penalty. She chose to disobey and create the monster…she deserves neither compassion nor mercy."

"Indeed." Aro clicked his tongue, suddenly seeming bored of the whole situation. "There is only one outcome here. Sasha, you have disappointed me." He shook his head sadly. "To have betrayed all your kind…you know what you deserve now."

"Please," Sasha whispered brokenly. "Please…oh, my baby boy, Mama is so very sorry…"

"Appius, Adelmar?" Aro flicked his fingers at them. "Take care of it."

The two of them stepped closer and took a stronger grip on the delicate looking Sasha. Uncomfortable at the idea of a vampire's vulnerabilities being exploited and the final death coming to one who should be immortal, I turned away slightly.

But although I could shield my eyes I could do nothing about my ears and I heard everything of Sasha's final seconds. The noise of a vampire being dismembered was like rending stone. But even as loud and harsh as it was, it was drowned out by the scream Sasha emitted as she was torn limb from limb. A terrified shriek that cut off to nothing as the pieces were flung onto the fire, and she burned with the son she should never have made.

The silence was broken by grief-stricken cries from her daughters. But they were heartbroken rather than angry and, although they kept a sharp eye on them, Caius and Aro let them be.

"Empty the village," Caius ordered loudly. "All humans to be killed, all bodies to be thrown on the fire. Feed if you are thirsty. But make haste…I wish to be back to Volterra as soon as possible."

Alec and I were not thirsty, but neither were we comfortable so close to the fire. We slipped backwards, away into the darkness and sat on some large, smooth rocks, watching as the other vampires threw bodies onto the roaring flames.

"I had to use my gift to incapacitate her," Alec told me. "She was so determined to go and rescue it…the child, I mean." He looked pleased. "It was easier for everyone for me to simply remove her senses so that Appius and Adelmar could take over."

"Did you like doing it? Do you like being involved and so important?" I asked.

Alec thought for a moment. "I do," he said, sounding almost surprised. "It's nice to be useful. It's nice to be…special." He looked at me. "What about you? What you did with the child…are you at peace with that?"

"It was what Lord Aro wanted of me," I answered matter-of-factly. "It's what we came here to do, and I did it. The rules and the consequences are clear and well known, and Sasha chose to break the most important one and so she paid the price. What we have done here today cements our place in the Volturi Alec. There can be no doubt about our loyalty and our willingness to act when necessary, and they have all seen the potential of our gifts. Really, I should practically be grateful to Sasha for breaking the law and creating the child, because that created this opportunity for us."

"What do you think will happen to them?" Alec asked, indicating the three sisters still huddled together.

I shrugged. "They weren't aware of what their creator was doing and are innocent of any wrongdoing. Lord Aro is a fair leader and they won't be punished. I suppose they can go back to their cave and get on with their immortality."

Alec half laughed. "Immortality…Janey, are you even half used to what we are now? How can we possibly really grasp what forever is going to be?"

"I like what I am now," I said slowly, as the smile spread across my face. "I love what I can do now…and I think immortality is going to be quite satisfactory."

The two of us grinned, and looked back at the vampires moving quickly around the fire. The sun was beginning to lighten the sky. "Should we go and help?" Alec asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not going to." I stretched out on the rock, and reached into my tunic, bringing out the silver lump with the child's handprint. It was so much smaller than mine, but then I thought how tiny my own hand looked in Aro's and I shuddered.

"What is that?" Alec peered at it as I tossed it casually from hand to hand. "Oh, the clasp from your cloak…he ruined it."

"Yes, he did." My fingers caressed the indentation of the child's fingerprints. "Some of them still see us as a child like him," I said slowly, staring at the vampire shadows over by the fire.

"Do you feel like a child?" Alec enquired. "Because I don't."

I frowned in thought. "I guess…I don't either. Not now." I gripped the lump of silver, squeezing it slowly and feeling it mould itself to the shape of my hand, erasing the impression of the immortal child's hand. "Maybe I feel younger than them sometimes, but I don't feel like a child. Look at all we've done since we came to Volterra."

Alec's face was bright. "Look at what we've learned. We're not like the immortal children Janey, and they all know that. I think we've more than proven ourselves as being valuable members of the Volturi now."

"Indeed you have, my little ones." Aro appeared silently in front of us, trailed by Caius, Felix, Appius, Matilda, Willamar and a few others. He cupped Alec's face in his hand and tilted it up as he smiled down at him. "Caius has informed me of how useful your talent was in subduing the criminal. I believe there can be no doubt now about your worthiness to be one of us."

"You know how I feel about that," Alec smiled guilelessly. "The Volturi means everything to Jane and me." His eyes flicked towards me.

"You have both been a very welcome arrival." Aro's eyes, glowing crimson in the dawn light, swept across to me. "And of course, my sweetling…you have surpassed the expectations Philippe gave us about you. Was there ever any question that the pair of you were going to become so invaluable?"

I smiled at him, feeling my ability like a coiled snake of power deep within me. No, I didn't think there had ever been any question that this was where I belonged. Maybe a tiny hesitation, back at the start, when I first woke. But I had been a silly vampire newborn then, I hadn't known about the Volturi or understood about how special Lord Aro was and what an honour had been bestowed upon me…it was all different now. This is what I had been born for.

I glanced down at the lump of silver, smoothed by my hands, all traces of the child's fingers gone from the malleable metal. Smiling, I tossed it lightly in the direction of the fire, watching it soar through the air and disappear into the flames. I didn't need it now.

Caius agreed with Aro, for once smiling at me in a satisfied sort of way. "You have done well. Aro, Marcus and I are all in agreement that you belong with us."

I glanced quickly at Alec. Why were they being so complimentary? Oh, Aro was always extravagantly kind, but since when was Caius one to acknowledge that something was done more than merely adequately?

Aro, never one to miss anything, saw the look and laughed gaily. "Always so suspicious, my little one!"

"You don't need to say it, my lord," I said, although the truth was I liked hearing the compliments. "Alec and I are devoted to you and fully committed to the Volturi. You need never doubt us." And I offered him my hands.

For once he did not take them. "I do not need your hands sweetling," he told me sincerely. "Not today…I have seen first hand your fealty, and what you will do for me, and I am honoured."

"Thank you," I said finally.

Aro grinned and waved his hands expansively. "Now I have a gift for each of you! We had these made while we were back in Volterra, but we wanted to be absolutely sure that you deserved them…and you do."

With a flourish Lord Aro took something from Felix, something that tumbled and unfolded from his hands, a thick fabric cloak, and oh! So dark!

"You know what this is?" Aro questioned.

Alec and I nodded wordlessly.

"You know what it means?"

"That we're one of you," I whispered. "That we will be members of the guard."

"Members of the guard," Aro repeated. "Very, very important members…quite irreplaceable." He smiled fondly. "And as a sign of your commitment, and of your important place with the Volturi, we have made you this." And he reached out and swung the cloak over me.

As I felt the warm weight of the cloak settle onto my shoulders, the last remnants of my humanity drifted away. The cloak, the darkest in the guard and lighter only than the pure black worn by my lord Aro and Caius and Marcus, reflected the darkness within me. Here in this burning village my transformation had become complete, and I was what I was always meant to be- a vampire of Volterra.

A/N. And so ends the tale.

Forgive me for such an abrupt ending, but I felt that with Jane's participation in this hunt and destroy mission she's really come completely around to the idea of being a vampire. She's given away the last of her humanity, and from now on she's always going to be Aro's right hand girl, doling out her special kind of justice. When it comes to Jane, the darkness wins and she revels in it.

I have to admit I did cheat with the timeline a little here. The Denali coven were not around until a couple of centuries later, but I felt that the storyline of Jane and the hunting and destroying of a immortal child shows how far she's come from the innocent (if slightly bad tempered and cranky!) human girl. I thought this storyline would be more fun if I could bring in a few more characters that we know from the books so I borrowed the sisters and their mother and ill-fated brother and brought them back in time.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this one. I would LOVE to know what you thought, what you liked and didn't, now that it's done!

And since writing all this darkness was quite disturbing, I'm going to go and cleanse my soul with a lovely new Rosalie and Emmett story, so keep an eye out for that!