Part II
Didyme's death killed Marcus as well. The three of us; Caius, Marcus, and myself, had evolved into a triumvirate, but he was a shell of his former self. I knew that he'd searched for decades to find her, and he knew there would never be another woman for him. He gave up.
When Chelsea joined us, she used her power to make him let go of his obsession with her memory. But it left him a hollow, joyless man. Nothing interested him, and he truly became a walking corpse. In spite of his lackluster persona, Chelsea helped us grow the coven into the most powerful in the world. Vampires of all kinds wanted to join us, and we could be selective. The Guard took shape, and we had a fast and powerful army, which could go anywhere and strike down any who opposed either us or the law.
The law evolved and we were the law.
I met Carlisle when he came to Volterra. Almost all of our kind comes here at least once. All roads lead to Volterra, if you're a vampire. He was seeking answers, but what he found was a woman. He should have stuck to his original goal.
He was unusual, and she was quite common. Gabriella had been turned by someone who'd wanted to keep a pretty young thing for his pleasure, but decided she wasn't to his liking. It happens. I'd read her, and knew she had an inflated sense of herself, and she was ambitious for fame and glory. She was talented and beautiful, and she thought the laws did not apply to someone of her caliber. But no one is that beautiful.
The story is quite tragic. Had she visited the Volterra before Didyme was killed, we would have welcomed her, and invited her to sing for the services and celebrations – she would have had fame. But she came at a time when we were fighting to establish the law.
I regret the way it played out. I was only just getting to know Carlisle, and his strange beliefs. He was one of a kind, and so fascinating to me. He was and is one of the most controlled of our kind. The only one I've seen rival him was his adopted son, Edward. If I had known we would so thoroughly lose him, I would have voted to spare the girl.
Marcus knew. He tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. I actually thought I was saving the young doctor from being involved with a very shallow woman, like my own Sulpicia. And of course Caius was all about the law, and what he saw as her arrogant disobedience. Regardless of how it looks to outsiders, executions are rare.
He left us after her death. I had hoped that he would stay and make his home with us, but it was over a hundred years before we saw or heard from him again. Ironically it took another death sentence to bring him to my notice. He was witnessing for the Denali coven, when Sasha and Vasili were killed. He stood by as the vampire child was destroyed, closing his eyes during the deed.
When it was time for us to pass the sentence for Sasha, he argued for us to show lenience. Again, it was futile, even though he argued that his friends had planned to raise the child on an animal diet, we all knew there was no "raising" for a vampire child. In the matter of Sasha, I didn't share what touching her had revealed. So great was her desire for children, she would have tried again. Even as she watched Vasili being fed to the flames, she was imagining her next child.
I didn't hear of Carlisle for many years afterward. When I did, I was surprised to hear he had a coven of his own. More importantly, he had discovered another mind reader. I wanted so much to go and meet with this young prodigy, but we had so many matters of our own to attend to.
Because of the nature of Volterra, we are often influenced by both religion and politics. Other covens can simply move, or weather a storm, but we're often forced to play more of a part in the human dramas than we would like. World War II was one time where we were caught up in human conflict. We wanted to step out of the conflict entirely, like the Vatican. But we weren't given the opportunity. When the Germans came, we chose to abandon our home. The residents of the town would fare much better without us, and our buildings would be too tempting to take as their headquarters.
After so many rules and so much restraint over the years, the Volturi were anxious to live as real vampires once again – even if it were only a short time. It's noted that the casualties in Italy were higher than any other country during the war. You'd have to believe in myths and monsters to understand how so many soldiers fell, not to bombs and bullets, but to teeth and thirst. War for us was like an enormous buffet, whether we supported the Axis or the Allies. The more conscientious of us would feed from the gravely injured or dying – which were numerous. At least I thought that's what a conscientious vampire would do.
I was shocked when I heard of a certain blond doctor who was actually saving the wounded. Of course it would be foolish to go anywhere near London at that time, but he was right there in the midst of the bombing! It was Felix who'd told me, as he'd ventured into England on his hunts. Even my ferocious guardsman wouldn't stay in London during a blitz – but Carlisle had.
It was shortly after the deaths of Mussolini and Hitler when I got my first chance to meet the younger Cullen's. Our coven had started to trickle back into Volterra, though there was significant damage to the structures we occupied. We were only about half strength, when they turned up in the heat of the summer. Four were clearly couples, but the mind reader was alone. They had come to Europe in search of their sire.
To say I was fascinated with this group was an understatement. I welcomed them joyfully, and it was my first touch of the lovely Alice, which set my mind reeling. Her mind was so complex! I've met many who tried to block me, but she did so effortlessly. I could read her, of course, but there were many thoughts that were inaccessible to me. It took me a little time, but I realized the things she hid from me were instances of precognition. She saw the future!
Her husband had an ability that would have fascinated me, if he weren't standing in her shadow. The sensing and enhancing of emotions is a powerful ability. I could easily see he would be a great compliment to Marcus and Chelsea if he joined us.
However, I made a terrible mistake, which cost me the Cullen's; likely forever. I had hopes that they would join us, even if Carlisle could be found. In fact I imagined that the doctor would find his way to us as well, and bring his wife Esme. It was my affinity for Alice, which made me misstep. I wanted her – desperately. She was perfection, with her challenging mind, and her incredible power. But she was also familiar to me. She reminded me of my own mother, and of my sister Didyme.
Her petite form, and lively mannerisms drew me like no other woman. She was graceful and spontaneous, and she had a zest for life that reminded me of what I'd been trying to capture for so long. For her I would have left my own wife. For her I would even have left Volterra itself.
Perhaps I'm just lying to myself. I had always known that I couldn't just divorce Sulpicia. Truly the only way to rid myself of her was to leave Volterra and all I knew. Divorce wasn't an option for me, I would have had to kill her to be free of her, if I wished to remain in Volterra. She was always lucky there was never any woman worth the cost of 'til death do us part.' But I imagined that Alice was that woman.
I admit it, I asked Chelsea to split them up. Chelsea can sever weak bonds, and weaken strong ties. She can create loyalties where none exist, and she can essentially take one tie and give it to another.
She failed.
Not only could she not break their ties; Jasper seemed to know something was amiss. Before I'd even had a chance to spend time alone with the powerful group, they took their leave of Volterra. I found out later, that they'd reconnected with Carlisle, who had been gravely injured in an explosion. They took him back to the new world, and I didn't hear much more about them until a young human girl named Bella, happened to figure out their secrets.
In the sixty years that passed there were many changes. Superstition gave way to science and technology. Religion bowed to reason, and mankind learned to devalue life the same way we did. We went from being horrible evils of nightmares, to romanticized figures of fiction.
We also became the ones who remembered. Our tiny pocket of Italy was no longer a place of pilgrimage for holy communion with God. We became a historic site of tourism, where it seemed time had stood still. Indeed, for many of us, time did stand still. Volterra was the place where people could see the robes of the religious hierarchy, and watch a ceremony performed exactly as it had been for hundreds of years.
For our kind, all roads still lead to Volterra, and we were still the law. But we were the law in a changed world. Planes replaced ships, and cars replaced horses. Humans could almost travel as fast as we could. They could certainly kill on a scale that dwarfed us. In a world where one bomb could kill thousands, we needed to be ever vigilant, and guard our secrets. It is said that we are the only ones who can kill our kind, but humans discovered ways to kill one another that would certainly work on us as well.
Caius had always warned us about a time when humans and vampires would clash. We had guarded his one ability, and propagated the story that he alone of our triumvirate had no talent. He in fact had the greatest power of us all – the power to unify us. Still we knew any clash with modern humans could easily mean our extinction. We would likely win many battles against them, for surely it would take time before they would acknowledge our very existence. But once we were a known threat, we were few in number, and we could be eliminated.
Even Caius believed we should avoid this conflict at all costs. It was the reason our laws were so harsh, and the punishments so steep. All it would take is one indiscreet revelation, and all of us could suffer. In our ever shrinking world, the possibility for discovery multiplied. Where once a witness had to rely on word of mouth, now there was mass media. We could be video taped, we could be photographed, we could be recorded, and those images could be sent around the world in seconds.
The punishments for vampire wars and newborn armies became even greater. We may not have been able to eliminate all the hostility, but we made open warfare punishable by extermination. The Southern U.S. wars stopped, and those that continued, were so far into South America, they were hidden away in undeveloped and uncivilized areas.
We turned a blind eye to these warring factions, when we should have paid closer attention to those undeveloped areas. But we thought we had time, and we each had our own little agenda's which we pursued. Caius had his law, Marcus had his memories, and I had my collection. I also had my files of sweet Alice's memories. I could ponder the maze of her thoughts for hours, gleaning bits and pieces of her past and present, along with tantalizing glimpses of the future.
It was those future predictions which captivated me. Sifting through her memories was akin to reading an intelligence brief which was in code. I had the memory, but I had to learn to read it. I saw glimpses of the girl, Bella, and I also saw pieces of a terrible war. I saw a vampire named James, and my dear Alice tearing him to pieces. I saw the first hints of a newborn army marauding through the Pacific Northwest, and I saw a child who was more than human, coming through Carlisle's coven.
As fascinated as I was with Alice, I envied her husband Jasper. The couple who came with them shared a great and lustful physical attraction to one another, and it was amusing to look at their memories. But the memory Jasper had of my Alice – his Alice – made me burn with envy. They loved each other passionately and unconditionally. It is so rare to see that kind of love among our kind, and he had it with the woman I adored.
I peeked into his memory of their intimate moments with prurient interest. But it was more a punishment, as I was confronted with everything I could never have. Seeing her loving eyes gazing at him, I tried to imagine it was me, but the truth always won out.
It was her second visit to Volterra that yielded a future memory I would cherish. I uncovered a vision of us together. It was a small scrap of possibility buried deep in the layers of her mind, and I pondered and poked at it until I could see it fully. I knew twelve years before the fact, that she would be mine! It was one of the few things that gave me joy. It was this tiny sliver of intimacy with the woman I loved, which got me through Joham's occupation of my beloved Volterra.
The more recent Cullen visits gave me many things to ponder. First was Carlisle's offspring, asking to be destroyed. Just touching him made me want to shake him. He'd had the kind of love I dreamed of, and he'd turned away! He allowed his true love to kill herself because he didn't want to change her. He was an idiot, but I wouldn't destroy him for stupidity alone. I knew how strongly Carlisle felt about our death sentences, and young Edward was too valuable to lose. Still I read that he would push the issue, and we'd likely be forced to end him, if he refused to see reason.
When Felix and Demetri brought the trio to us, I was overjoyed to see my Alice again. She was so sweet, and I imagined she was even flirting with me. I truly wished I was alone with them, as Caius was harping about laws being broken and punishments being meted out. The girl who had not killed herself as it turned out, clung to Edward like he alone could save her. Indeed, he stood up to Jane, and took her punishment for the girl.
She was just a human girl. I knew that Caius would demand her death – Felix and Demetri were already salivating for a taste of her. I knew her blood was irresistible to young Edward, and yet he did resist. He loved her so completely he'd even overcome his very nature to be near her. It reminded me so much of three hundred years prior, when a young Carlisle had begged for the life of a pretty young opera singer. We'd denied him, and lost him. I was reluctant to make the same mistake twice.
I had to see her memories. As Caius was so fond of saying, there was always a loophole in any good law. I hoped to find that hole, and save the girl from her fate. Her timid touch told me all there was to know, and yet it told me nothing! She was a blank – completely unreadable to me, as well as her young love. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the pair. He had found the one creature in the world he could love, without being subjected to her every thought intruding on his mind. And she held the potential for a great power, if she were changed.
Felix and Demetri would have to slake their thirst somewhere else; the girl wasn't going to be destroyed if I had anything to say about it.
Thankfully Alice gave me the loophole I sought. From her mind, I glimpsed the chance of Bella becoming one of us, even though Edward seemed horrified at this possibility. I tried to remember his youth, and not treat him harshly for his foolishness. He had no idea how loneliness felt, compounded over hundreds of years. Both Marcus and I shared this knowledge, and so we voted to spare the girl.
I hated letting them go. I wanted them to stay with me, especially after I'd fed, and the fresh blood washed some of Alice's future predictions to the forefront of my mind. I saw so many little glimpses of what could happen. It's when I learned that there was a possibility Alice could some day be my lover. I also saw a future where I could have the lovely Bella. Both of these fragments would haunt me, and sustain me through some very dark times.
Carlisle Cullen's coven gained in strength and respect. First it was the destruction of James the tracker. He'd visited Volterra once, maybe a hundred years before, and he wanted to join the guard then. He was the best tracker I'd seen since Alistair had abandoned us. But I'd just acquired Demetri. I would have gladly taken James and his small coven, but he was undisciplined, and arrogant, and he refused to acknowledge Demetri as his superior. I didn't need someone who refused to follow the hierarchy.
Hearing the way he'd threatened the girl young Edward loved, and how they'd dealt with him, made me feel there was some hope for the boy yet. He would die for her, and he would kill for her – it was only a small step for him to realize he needed her even more than she needed her humanity.
James' death left Victoria without her mate, and set her on a path of destruction, from which even her ability couldn't save her. I had to send out the guard, when it became obvious that someone was creating a newborn army in Seattle. I should have known it would involve the Cullen's.
The Cullen's disagreed with our law to exterminate all newborns created to fight in a war. Once again Carlisle would take issue with the punishments we'd decreed. The newborn who surrendered had to be destroyed since it was the law. But there was a good reason for the law. In most instances, the newborns were often created from the same pool of humans, and from populations local to the war. It was highly unlikely that the girl would remain invisible, even if she could control her thirst. Inevitably they always go home, just to say goodbye, or see their loved ones again. It is the mass media which makes it impossible to insure that one newborn could remain hidden away for fifty or more years, until all who remembered her were gone.
The creation of newborns is always a difficult choice, and often requires some proof of the new one's death. Because of the thirst, they need to be carefully watched and managed until they gain proper control and discernment. They need to move away from their homes, friends and families, and cut all ties.
I knew the Cullen's would not require this of their surrendered newborn. They had been living among humans and as humans for so long they had begun to believe anyone could do it. Leaving her alive, would have insured a return trip to rectify our oversight, and clean up another mess.
Of course it wasn't my decision, but Jane's. As much as I wanted to go myself and again see my lovely Alice and the intriguing Bella, I sent the guard instead. Jane carried out her instructions to the letter, as I knew she would.
I trusted Jane.
I trusted her, but I didn't like her. Of the twins, the more likable one was of course Alec. Both of them were turned too young, though they were physically mature. We really had no choice in turning them, as we quite literally rescued them from being burned at the stake. It always amazes me how humans can call us monsters, and continue to visit such torturous death upon one another.
We were almost too late. We had a habit of listening for rumors of individuals with strange talents, and certain gifts. It was how we managed to find gifted vampires. Chelsea was a gifted matchmaker before her conversion, and Demetri was an incredible detective who could find anyone. We heard of the witch twins and went to investigate. Their village was afraid of them, merely for the fact that strange signs happened when they were near. Cows gave curdled milk, and chickens laid green eggs.
The two had been abandoned by their parents, and they were surviving by telling fortunes, and selling a potent tea made from mushrooms and other ingredients they gathered in the woods. They knew secrets people wanted left buried, and extorted money to keep them quiet. They were quite clever, but they were harmless. We decided to watch them and wait til they were older.
The tide of religious fervor turned, and within months there were witch burnings and drownings all across Europe. I remembered the twins, and I thought maybe we should bring them to Volterra to keep them safe. I took Felix with me, and we came to their village on the run. We smelled the fires from a great distance, and the smell of burning flesh made us run. Even a mile away I could hear her screams.
I was injured myself from charging into the flames, and what I pulled from the fire didn't look human, and was barely alive. As Felix tore into the crowd of watching villagers, I thought to end their suffering quickly. They had been tied together, and though the ropes had burned away, their flesh had melted them together with the heat.
It was touching them and reading their memories that made me change my mind. They were completely and totally devoted to one another. I saw the things they'd done to survive, and I knew little Alec had already killed a man he found raping his sister. She had nursed him from the brink of death when he'd come down with pneumonia, and they both gave to one another selflessly. I found myself wanting to save such loving and devoted beings.
I bit them, and they began the change. Watching their burned flesh writhe in agony, made me question my decision. But when they began to heal, they clung together blindly in their suffering. When the change was complete, it didn't take me long to realize that the harmless witch twins had become truly powerful and terrifying.
Felix and I had fed well from the village spectators. But most of them had fled to their homes. The newborn twins easily escaped our watchful eyes, and ran back to the village. Those who were unlucky enough to fall within their spell would rue the day they ever burned someone at the stake.
They had not even stopped to clothe themselves. Both were still bald, and they were furious. Alec stole their senses, forcing them to wander blindly in fear. But it was Jane, and her volatile temper who truly made them suffer. Again we heard the screams of people being burned at the stake, but no fire was set, but that which was in her mind.
It was a great spectacle, and we would eventually have laws against what they did. But I allowed them their revenge – the villagers had brought it on themselves. The twins had taken three days to go through their transformation. It took them six days to finish torturing the villagers to their satisfaction.
It was then that Jane simply came alongside me, and asked to come with us. They had acquired clothes, and both were ready to travel. They knew who had saved them, and from that moment on, they belonged to me.
I appreciated their incredible power. There was none as fierce as Jane, and Alec though more subtle, was even more dangerous. Still, I lamented the loss of the tenderness they had once shared. Their human memories were dim, and though they were still devoted to one another, they had lost their softness and humanity.
They'd become vampires.
I should have remembered that Jane wasn't just a twin, and a powerful vampire, but also a woman. Not that I didn't recognize her as female, but that I should have realized that women come with their own brand of trouble.
It took years for her hair to grow back. She fit so perfectly into life at Volterra, I didn't even take much note of the change. With her hair came her reclamation of her womanhood. She was so young, and yet she wanted what a woman wanted. She already had love and devotion from her brother Alec. What she lacked, was a physical connection.
She chose me for that connection.
Married! I told her I was married, and I really did believe in upholding that sacred covenant, even if my wife did not. But Jane was not one to take no for an answer. She pursued me, flirting and teasing in a way that shouldn't have been known to one so young. I was somewhat flattered, but I knew what intimacy meant for me. It meant knowing every thought and emotion to pass through my lover's mind. I could barely tolerate it with my wife, and I'd touched Jane enough to know she'd grown hard -hearted. I didn't want intimacy with someone who enjoyed causing pain.
But the child was wily, and stubborn.
She got help in her quest to bed me. Of all the people to ask, she went to my wife. I learned later that Sulpicia thought it was quite funny to help her out. She didn't care if I bedded another woman, so long as it didn't embarrass her.
My wife asked for an evening of marital duty. I dreaded these encounters, which were thankfully rare. I readied myself, and waited for her in our seldom used bed. When she appeared, she was lovely, and dressed so alluringly. Sulpicia has never had trouble attracting men. I wondered why she asked me to extinguish all the lights, but I complied.
By the time I realized the darkness was too complete, it was too late. Jane was in my bed, and doing things to me which would have made them burn her at the stake again if they knew! Such things only the highest paid courtesan's would do – no matter how common it became in modern times.
My resolve melted in her mouth. Her mind was open to so many possibilities when it came to intimacy, and I learned she had been practicing among humans. The things she was willing to do to and with me, flooded through my mind, and incited a passion within me that overlooked everything that was wrong with our union. I took her, and savored everything she freely offered.
We were lovers. In her arms I was fully a man, and she met me with an open willingness I never knew was possible. Her youth knew no taboos, and she was wanton and adventurous, and quite insatiable in bed. I loved it!
Historically, sex between a man and his woman was a duty. It was a necessity to create children, and it was his right as a husband. It wasn't necessary for her to want it or like it. It was her duty only to submit, and if she did not, he was perfectly within his rights to force her. A woman who actually enjoyed sex and wanted it, would have been considered a harlot.
Jane didn't care about propriety, she only cared about having her needs met. She was clearly a woman ahead of her time. When we were together I didn't have to worry about her thoughts, because she was so carried away with the physical side of our union, it obliterated any other thoughts.
We were together for a tempestuous three months. We spent long hours in one another's arms, and I confess, I was falling for her. There were moments, when we were lying together, spent and alone, when I caught glimpses of the soft girl she had been. She would snuggle against me, and I could feel the beginnings of a loving connection.
My wife of course would not tolerate such a thing. It was one thing for her to allow the young waif to have me physically, but quite another for her to allow feelings to develop between us. Just as she followed in Heidi's footsteps, ignoring every human law on moral decency, she took little Jane aside and suggested and encouraged her to throw off the chains of human sexual slavery, as she called it.
I went from being her lover, to being completely abandoned by the girl. She avoided me for quite some time, and when I finally found out why, I was dumbfounded. Sulpicia had suggested that since she already had love and companionship from her brother; there was no reason why she shouldn't enjoy him in the flesh. Jane had initiated an incestuous relationship with her own brother, at my wife's urging. Not that I have the high ground to stand on when it comes to morality, but incest was one of those taboos that showed just how far we were from human.
My wife seemed to take special delight in flouting all those human values. I knew for a fact she bedded her male victims before she fed on them. I had thought it was merely a symptom of the way she hated me, but it turned out she enjoyed it. It was one of the reasons I loathed her touch, as the memories of those encounters illustrated perfectly how cold and hard she really was.
I saw so many men falling for her charms, leaving behind wives and paramours to follow her to her bed, and their eventual deaths. She didn't just enjoy them physically, but she toyed with their emotions as well. She promised them love and commitment, and often visited them several times before she took them. They lavished her with gifts and treasures, and promised undying love and adoration.
It sickens me to know that she would bite them during the act, and their struggles excited her. She was an example of all that was wrong with our kind. I determined that after what she'd convinced Jane to do, I would no longer be available for "marital duties."
Still, even though my wife had ruined it for me, I still trusted Jane. She still held a soft spot for me, even though she would never love me. Demetri may have been the Captain of the Guard, but it was Jane I often chose to lead them.
When she returned from America and told me of the way the Cullen's handled the newborn army, I was impressed. They were so talented, they didn't suffer a single loss. I was also shocked to hear about the wolves. I kept this knowledge from Caius, as he was terrified of werewolves. I knew he'd make it his goal to eradicate them, even if they weren't true Children of the Moon.
My endless years were increasingly lonely and dull. Marcus was a lifeless shell, Caius was pompous and legalistic, and I was a man desperate for change, but equally afraid of it.
I listened to Caius ranting about the other covens, and what his spies and minions told him about them. I always listened closely when the Cullen's were mentioned.
The woman Irina was impossible to ignore. She came to us with an impossible story of an immortal child, created by Carlisle's coven. She knew better than most, the seriousness of the charge. Her own coven had suffered the punishment which came from creating a vampire child. What surprised me most, was that she was implicating the Cullen's, who were known to be friends with her Denali clan.
When I touched her, I saw that her lover had been destroyed by the wolves, who were also friends with the Cullen's. Indeed, this offense was the reason the Denali had refused to aid in their earlier conflict with Victoria and her newborn army. What enthralled me was the image in her mind of the mysterious Bella, who was clearly a vampire. With Edward by her side, they were obviously hunting, and the breathtakingly beautiful child was following after them.
It was not what I expected, and I thought Irina must have been mistaken. The girl child didn't look out of control, and there was something about the image that bothered me. Even as Caius geared up to confront them, I looked again and again at the images she'd given me. It wasn't right.
Caius gleefully called everyone together. He longed to flex the muscles of the Volturi, which hadn't been tested since we'd defeated the Romanians. Destroying a vampire child was only the pretext for our attack. We were going to dismantle the Cullen coven, and either destroy or acquire them. Caius was afraid of them, and a fearful Cauis was a dangerous Caius.
I worried that in such a conflict, I would lose Carlisle forever. We only accepted the most powerful, and his wife wouldn't have been accepted. Nor did we have a desire for the lovely, talentless Rosalie. Emmett could be useful in the guard, but it was unlikely he would see reason once his mate was destroyed. And of course, Jasper would have to die, merely for the sin of being married to my Alice.
Moving a force the size of the Volturi is difficult under the best of circumstances, and we hoped to have stealth on our side. It didn't work out that way, thanks to my Alice. Our visit to America was supposed to be one of our finest hours, but instead it became the beginning of our downfall.
A/N: A couple reviewers have mentioned that Aro killed Didyme himself. I either missed this detail in my reading or it came from Midnight Sun, or T.S.S.L.o. Bree Tanner; which I have not read. I've also been told Meyer has answered questions about her characters in various interviews, and they're not in the books. Wherever this detail is found, I'm claiming creative license, and in my story she's killed by the Romanians. I never claim to write cannon in any of my stories. I only hope to give a wink and a nod to cannon and go on to tell my story. Hope this clears up any other inconsistencies.