I OWN NOTHING FROM TWILIGHT OR THE VAMPIRE DIARIES .
~March 27,Friday ~
- 8:23 AM-
~ The Velvet's House ~
- Forks , Washington-
~third person .~
Serenity Drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she sings-along to the song, turning off the highway and onto unmarked dirt road nearly completely hidden by thick towering pine trees , until it suddenly widens out to reveal a well manicured lawn with a beautiful stately manor house perched on top it .
' home,' she thinks and presses a button on her dashboard which makes a small car sized tunnel appear in the earth in front of her car . Serenity backed-up and then rolled down smoothly into the hole which closes up behind her .
Parking her Car in its spot she jumped out grabbing her cardigan and locking her car and bounced up the steps into her home , hearing her families voices float around her from where they must be having a debate in the hardly used dining room , she shrugged and emerged into the grand dark wood paneled foyer beautifully and richly decorated with ornate Persian rugs , and delicate chinese Ming vases from the tenth century filled with colorful highly exotic and thought to be extinct flowers, to the wonderfully detailing paintings of the grand masters of art .
She now stood in the middle of the foyer from where she came through small unmarked door hiding the semi hidden passage way leading to the semi used stainless steel modern kitchen and the garage ,she dashed passed the two large sweeping elegant staircases each banister being supported by a carved angel with it's wings unfurled , leading the second ,third and four floors.
Slipping silently through this door she walked down the carpeted passage the hand blowed gas-lamps in the shape of blooming flowers light her way ,and throw soft golden pools of light onto the dark paneled walls .
Serenity shook her head , she could hear the voices clearer now and louder ' Hector Velvet ! Sit down please ," she heard her mother Anna say in that scarily calm tone of her's .
" Mother! " Hector cried back " I refuse to sit here , and debate while my twin and Thane are heaven knows where ! They've been missing for twelve hours ! Not to mention Serenity isn't back yet from where ever she vanished off too ! " he snapped the anger , hurt and pain evident in his voice .
Serenity took a deep breath and stopped in front of the dining room door then reached out and lightly turned the handle , making the door silently swing open she stepped into the room saying airily " I heard my name , what are we debating about on tonights agenda ? Then ."
" Serenity ! " she heard her family gasp and rise as one from their seats and rush towards her . Anna and Driscoll reach her first , Anna pulls her into a warm, loving embrace " I was so worried my dear ," she muttered into Serenity's ear and squeeze's her again . Her wide silvery eyes brimming with tears , she steps back and pushes a lock of her long shimmering white blonde hair behind her ear and smiles happily , tears still threatening to spill down her cheeks.
Driscoll grins warmly at her and also pulls her into a tight hug , his irish accent thick and warm in her ear " I missed you baby girl , promise me you'll never to do something like that again! You hear me ! " she nodded " I think I can keep that promise Father," she replied then give him her own small smile . He chuckled " That's ma Girl," he whispered proudly to her then walks over to Anna wrapping her in a comforting hug and leads her back to the long oak table purring soothingly in her ear to calm her jittery nerves .
India , Alyssa and Charlotte tackle hug her next and sob " We missed you , Ren ! " she laughed softly " I missed you too , but I've onl y twelve hours . " India shakes her head " Yes , but did you not remember you had promised to us you'd come on an all girl'z hunting trip wit us ?" she said her french accent slipping out when ever she's highly emotional , Charlotte and Alyssa nod and said in unison " Yeah we had it all planned out weeks ago madame ! And you bale on us ! " they hiss pouting .
Serenity Smiles modestly " I'm sorry… dear sisters, forgive me ." she said softly Alyssa and Charlotte smile "How could we not ." and they spin around still smiling and drag India off back to their seats .
Serenity briefly raises an eyebrow, frowning slightly at this , then shakes it off as Lucca wraps her in a one armed bear hug " Where did you fly off too ? And why do you smell like… sunshine?" he hummed aloud confused and frowning as he glances over at Hector who shrugged , and then hugs her himself , both of them dragging her over to the long oak wood table and pushing her into a chair . ' Hmm, it is a usual scent , it's sweet smelling though not that of a witch … have you been chattering up that perfume seller in Seattle again Ren? " Hector asked giving her a sideways glance.
She snorts delicately " me? I would never…" she answered smiling dangerously .
" No , I have however had a rather interesting few hours … " she then launches into a detailed account edited naturally of the passed few hours events making sure to leave only a few pieces of information out she deems useful only for herself .
After she's finished her whole family sits in stunned silence , until Anna says frowning a little " Experiments , in my day we called them Daywalkers . Thought all us Original's just label them sparkly's now . "
Charlotte and Lucca burst put laughing " Why? " Hector asked curiously ignoring his mate's and brother's laughter , staring at Anna who shrugs as if to say 'how should I know' and slides out of her chair " I'll be right back ." then vanishes from the room , reappearing seconds later holding a large worn thick black leather bound book embossed with a cross and studded with glowing rubies which shone like bright pulsing hearts in the dim light with huge metal claw clamping the book shut .
Gently laying the book down in the center of the table , she pricks her right snowy white index finger , letting a tiny bead of her blood drop onto the metal claw ,which makes a horrid groaning sound and uncurls itself from the book letting it soundlessly fall open onto the tabletop .
" This ," said Anna softly , stoking the book's crinkly , stained and faded yellow pages " Is called The Lore , once upon a time every vampire had their own copy in it was all our laws , customs , traditions . Our way of life , It was a great honor to own one of these books that is until Vladious Draculia - better known as Count Dracula or Vladimir had his men find and burn every copy they could get they hands on , see Vladimir hated the old ways and wanted to recreate the vampiric world . With his own set of laws he expected the vampire community to follow, and he decreed it was far too dangerous to have books like this in homes-what if human's got their hands on it? So he had all the books burned ,and the law was from then on passed down from converter to converted by word of mouth .
Of course the vampire's did not wish to follow Vladimir , most people who made the choice to in those days to become one of the undead did so to be free , to live as they pleased , not be tied down by the restraints of the law , social status or government . And then suddenly be expected to take orders from him, a man who had once rule over us with an iron fist as a mortal man was to rule of us for eternity as an immortal one?
The people obviously were horrified by such a thought so , naturally a Coo was staged to overthrow Vladimir , it was lead by a vampire scientist who's name was lost of the millennia and his army of Daywalkers , see this scientist wanted to solve the problem of having to wear lapis lazuli gemstone just to walk about during the day , no one is sure how he did it-as all the records of his documented work were destroyed ,but whatever he was trying to achieved he managed it .
The three of his very first creations quickly gained respect , powerful allies , and numerous followers mainly other Daywalkers like themselves, that is after they killed their creator and erased every single mention of him from the history books , thought a few Original's joined their esteemed ranks ,but were sadly rejected rather early on when it became apparent they thought , acted and behaved differently to the Daywalkers ,their laws and way of living .
It become obvious that the two different groups of Vampire weren't meant to mix , hence the reason the Volturi court has no Original vampires as guard members , thought I'm sure the leader Aro would love to try and persuade our family to join his ranks ." here she stopped and smiled a slightly sharp sweet smile . " He is after all a collector of sorts . At lease that's what's been recorded in this book. " she hummed leaning back in her chair her eyes locking with each of them for only a moment before staring down at the book again .
"This man sounds like a creepy nutcase , who should be locked up to a mental institution , with strict orders to never have visitors or be let out of his cell." Driscoll said frowning and taking Anna's hand rubbing it gently , Anna laughs airily everyone else looks warily around the table at each other then back to Anna " Mozher , what do you mean this Aro person is a collector ?" India asks softly a wave of comfortable calmness sweeping through the room as she speaks .
Anna gestures to her saying " What you just did proves my point , India my dear . Aro loves power . But he loves surrounding himself with extraordinarily gifted vampires even more . Why just Thane alone would be a trophy in itself . But all of us , Original's and gifted . The ten of us . " she shakes her head delicately a faint cold smirk curled on her lips " Aro would manipulate us and turn us onto his secret weapons of war ." she whispered and gently flips a few pages in the book to a double paged painting of three experiment vampires all tall and royal looking , the middle one and the one of the right share straight raven black hair , the remaining one's head is snowy white as she speaks she points to each one with a slender pale digit . " Aro is the middle one with one touch he can read every thought you have ever had,Marcus is to his right , and has the power to see relationships and Caius on his left is just bloodthirsty . They may not look like much to us Original's but they are very well feared by most sensible Daywalkers ," she explained .
Driscoll looks over at Serenity deafly changing the subject , " You said one of the Lockwood's was here , has he had his first Shift yet ?" he asked curiously . Serenity nodded " Yes and there's three Lockwood's here actually , Karen now Newton , her son Mike who's not shifted and Mike's cousin Tyler who has shifted I could tell by the strong wet-dog scent clinging to him , I'd say judging by his strong reaction to his mate getting hurt he's quite young probably only just had his first shift recently I wager , " she answered .
" I see, " Driscoll hummed nodding " In that case we all need to be more alert when we go hunting , who else turned up with the Salvatore brothers that could cause us harm should we anger them ?"
"Well , they had a third younger fledgling with them who had no fighting experience , An old friend of mine Rose." Alyssa gasps softly in her seat at the mention of Rosemary's nickname but said nothing Serenity ignores it and continues "And their own little Bennett witch who must have just discovered her powers for she couldn't even seem to do a simple trapping spell on me , and passed out rather quickly ." Serenity said .
" Hmm, I suggest you should get in contact with Elouise but I guess you all ready have ?" Driscoll replied smirking amused at her .
Serenity grinned " Of course I learnt from the best . I'm meeting her later to today , I saw on Charlie's calendar in his room his daughter is flying back into town today so I thought I'd pick her up from the airport and have a little chat ," she answered .
Driscoll shakes his head , and Anna raises her eyebrows everyone else just chuckles quietly amused .
Serenity wakes up early and showers , wrapping herself in her silk kimono she glided over to her dressing table her expression thoughtful and eyes dark with tears. Picking up her father's pure gold cross, she kisses it , whispering a prayer in soft latin she then places it back on her dressing table and reaches for her other family heirloom , a sliver bracelet with four elegant little charms hanging from it ; a small worn silver heart , she remembered mother would often rub it when she was anxious . A tiny crown inlaid with small sapphire stones given to her mother by her grandparents on her sixteenth birthday . And once she gave Serenity the bracelet on Serenity's own sixteenth birthday, her and her husband added a proud little fox with mini agate eyes too the charm bracelet . A few days after her granddaughter was born Serenity's mother presented her daughter a new charm it was a tiny silver bell, a reminder of her granddaughter.
Taking a deep breath and clasping her mother's old charm bracelet onto her left wrist , she sniffs delicately, swiping away the few tears that had rolled down her cheek and secures her Lapis Lazuli Heart-shaped necklace around her neck and brushes her dark hair slowly ,thoughts ticking , After elegantly arranging her hair in a fashionable braided bun and applying a single slick of red lipstick , and a bit of kohl around her eyes she floats over to her closet and grabs a few items .
Dressing in a comfortable pair of fitted black pants with two shallow front pockets. The pants were made from a wool blend ,with a slight stretch ,that tapered down her legs to her ankles where they flared out slightly around her stiletto-heeled black knee high boots. Next she slips on a white cotton blouse ,it was one of her more recent purchase's on a solo trip to France last had long sleeves with an exaggerated folded cuff and an elegant,crossover design that sat low on the bust and tied with a crisp sash at the waist . Finally she slides a jacket made of the same black material as the pants, with a slight stretch was long and split in the black and front .There were two tiny pockets at the front with little ruffles under them,and stiff silk lapels along the neckline. securing her jacket with its single round metallic button , she pulls the french cuffs out so they poke out from the long jacket sleeves like they should , then grabs her car keys and black and white diamond shaped clutch , and zooms out her door , passed Ms. James their live-in human maid who's in her early fifties , and busy dusting the paintings on the landing of the third floor where all the bedrooms are . " Morning !" she sung politely turned around her unlined olive-coloured skin crinkling up into a smile and her dark brown nearly black eyes shine brightly " Good morning , Miss. Serenity " she answered happily , then continued dusting humming lightly " I've made breakfast dear , it's in the kitchen ," she said , and tottered off down the hall to dust the other paintings on this floor .
Serenity stared after her with rich contempt watching amble away then dashed down the stairs too the second floor passed Anna's and Driscoll's studies, Hector's sitting on the window seat under the long gothic styled window at the end of the hall , peering out it watching the pale dawn light creep into the house . Serenity know's he's actually looking for Harmony and probably hasn't even noticed the sun has risen .
" Hector ,Ren Breakfast , " Charlotte's sweetly voice called as she climbed the stairs and walked over to Hector , pulling him to his feet and heads back down stairs to the kitchen , Serenity walks after them. " What's for breakfast ?" she asked her sister .
" Oh , just the usual coffee infused with 50% blood , grape pancakes and fruit dear sister , " comes Charlotte's warm reply as she loops her arm around Hector's and resting her head on his shoulder ,guiding him down to the kitchen.
Serenity nodded" 's is a saint ! " she said mustering up a joyfully laugh ,Hector cracks a faint smile Charlotte giggles softly and nods .
Flashing down the stairs with her siblings Serenity , passes the grand entrance hall and follows them into the hidden side passage leading to the garage and massive ultra modern stainless-steel kitchen which would have given Karen Newton a heart attack from all the expensive flash appliances sitting on the metal countertops , the room has white tiled walls , cream-coloured shelfs , and a flagstone grey floor .
Walking over to the breakfaster bar , Serenity joins India and Lucca both grabbing a mug of coffee " What type of blood is on the menu today ? " she asked , India replies pointing to the two different coffee machines " The right one is white-tailed deer blood , and the left is O positive from the blood bank in town . "
Serenity nods grabbing herself a tall red travel mug from the kitchen cupboard above her head and filled it up with O positive coffee " Thanks India , I love the smell of coffee in the morning . Have Dris and Anna left for work already ? I never heard them leave ," she asked , Alyssa who's nibbling at her lone grape pancake at the large island in the middle of the room shrugs " I think their still in bed asleep , Ren."
Serenity smirked " lucky them , but I need Driscoll for something , so Deer flavored coffee or O positive ,people? " she asked, the room her siblings look up from the large island in the middle of the room and set down their coffee cups ,knifes and forks then say in a regular occurrence of unison " Both! " then the girls at lease dissolve into a fit of uncontrollable giggles , while Lucca furiously tries to maintain his compose but crack seconds later and falling off his bar stool onto the floor , howling with laughter, Hector crack a light smile and continues eating his pancakes.
Serenity rolls her eyes slightly ,smiling a little and snatches a large tall cup off the drying rack and fills the cup up half with Deer blood mixed coffee and half with O positive , then sets off to the door walking passed Lucca, who's crawled back up into his bar stool and snagging a thick pancake off of his plate she drowns out his cry of " REN! " with " Oh , and your on your own with helping with the dishes this morning Lucca ." Lucca frowned confused " Why , I helped her last night ? " Serenity smirked " Because I won't be here ,that's why ," then flies out the kitchen door skirting around , and away from the shout of her annoyed brother and the howls of laughter echoing around him coming from her remaining siblings .
She speed out into the entrance hall , up the second and third floor staircases munching on her pancake thoughtfully ,to the third floor landing once there she slows down and walks at a steady pace to Anna and Dris' bedroom at the end of the hall on the left hand-side .
Once outside their bedroom door she politely knocks calling out " Mother ,Father . Its Serenity may I speak with you father dear ?"
Driscoll's reply is warm and filled with curiosity " Of course ,come in ," she smirked and glided into the room the steaming mug of coffee in her right hand she closes the door behind her and hands him his coffee . " Here , father I made it just the way you like ," she said sweetly ,smiling .
Driscoll takes the coffee ,his expression a mixture of amusement , curiosity and bewilderment . " Thank you Dear." and hesitantly takes a slip " Mmm ,very good , now obviously you didn't come all this way here to just bring me a cup of coffee ? " he said his eyebrow arched and a smirk on his lips , Serenity laughed softly " You've caught me , would you kindly be able to phone in the school office as Charlie Swan and say Bella Swan is sick , then call the female Officer Gemma Walton and tell her to meet you as in-Chief Swan-so you can go over the details of Bella's plane's arrival . " she asked again sweetly.
Driscoll gives Anna a sideways glance then looks back at Serenity , Anna just watches amused " Oh , go on Dris , " then snags his coffee cup off him and takes a slip " Oi ! " he hissed his voice more amused then upset . Anna looks up at him through her lashes " Yes, love ? " Driscoll half-frowns at her and holds out his hand " Coffee cup , Anna ." he hummed.
Anna shakes her head " Nope , not until you agree to help our daughter ,then you can have your coffee back love ," she sung kissing his cheek then taking another slip of his coffee and going back to marking essays .
Driscoll sigh theatrically, muttering a draw out " Finnneee." a soft smile on his face .
Serenity laughs merrily " Thanks Mom ! " she said delighted and smirks at Driscoll , Anna softly rolls her eyes skyward and smiles lightly " You heard Mother , Father , " Driscoll shakes his head chuckling heartily " All right , all right . Phone please Serenity ." he said .
She grabs the phone resting on the end table beside the bed and hands it to him , and two minutes later he hands the phone back to Serenity . " All done my dear ," he said and then eyes Anna who's holding his coffee .
" Anna, my love, coffee please ," he said and she hands it over , he smiles gleefully and happily skulking it down . Serenity smiles a little " Well I'm off to visit Elouise I'll text you around the time I think I'll be coming home . Love you ," she said and slips out the door hearing her parents call back " We love you too sweetheart. Be careful! "