Chapter 56 - The Battle Begins

Aro POV

"Master Aro! There's a new coven approaching, carrying a dead werewolf!" my minion reported excitedly through the intercom. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline.

Is this a hoax? Could it be real? I pondered. This could be just the break we needed!

I'll believe it when I see it, my inner voice muttered skeptically. Too bad Eleazar isn't here. He'd be able to tell from here if any are gifted with illusions.

I frowned and reminded myself, Eleazar's dead. If those stupid werewolves hadn't attacked, he'd have been brought to me along with the other gifted vampires caught up in Victoria's plan for revenge. Damn dogs!

My inner voice sighed. Right. Nothing we can do about it now. Let's hope these new vampires are for real.

I moved to the window and focused on the procession below. There were two men walking, one in front of the other about 15 feet apart, carrying a metal pole on their right shoulders, holding the pole in place with both hands. Stretched out between them, tied to the pole, was the sagging corpse of a massive wolf. The wolf was easily as big as a stallion, and I had a brief mental picture of riding one into battle, its razor sharp teeth gleaming, its poisonous saliva drooling, as it growled menacingly at the enemy.

If only we could harness the power of those beasts, I thought wistfully.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you, my mental voice sneered condescendingly. No werewolf would ever trust a vampire enough to let one ride it. You might as well mate a bird and a fish. It breaks the laws of nature.

I know, I thought rolling my eyes. It was simply a flight of fancy.

In the middle of a war?

I ignored the voice in my head and concentrated on studying the vampires and the werewolf. The wolf's mouth was open enough to display its sharp, pointy teeth, sending shudders through the crowd, as they gathered to get a look at our new enemy. A female vampire walked halfway between the two men, pacing beside the wolf and carefully searching the surrounding area, likely watching for human witnesses.

There weren't any humans near here though. The large number of vampires in a concentrated area ensured humans were instinctually driven to keep their distance, not wanting to be anywhere in the vicinity. Though they could well have encountered humans that needed to be eliminated along their way here. Their eyes showed them all to be well fed, which should help keep them calm, even though they're surrounded by unknown others of our kind, who may or may not be a threat to them.

The werewolf certainly seemed real from here, especially considering the crowd's reaction to it. If it were a mere animal, or simply an illusion, it wouldn't have caused fear or distress in the crowd. The information in front of their eyes and nose alone wouldn't have triggered the instinctual response. I had learned that the hard way over two millennia ago, when my 'sorcerer' at the time had attempted to use a werewolf illusion to cause fear and panic in the enemies ranks. Instead, they had ignored the image and trusted their instincts, knowing we had an illusionist amongst us, and the gifted enchanter had soon fallen, unable to defend himself. I sincerely missed his gift, as it had been quite entertaining when things got boring.

I kissed my wife gently, cupping her cheeks in my hands. "This could be the news we were waiting for, my love," I murmured. She was the only one who got such gentle treatment from me, since hurting or upsetting her would also hurt and upset me. When one mate is unhappy, both are unhappy.

Sulpicia smiled adoringly into my eyes. "Do be careful, dear."

I smirked and nodded. "Of course, dear. Aren't I always?"

I didn't have to tell her to stay here. She was familiar with the drill, having been kept locked up here for so many centuries. I doubted she'd even know what to do if I let her out in the real world again. Times had changed so much from the last time she walked along these streets.

I hurried down the tower's spiraling staircase until I reached the lobby at the bottom. Before I risked anything by exposing myself outside, I intended to see if Alice and Edward had any helpful insight to share. Ripping the cover off of their small habitat, I waited for their scared reaction. To my disappointment, they didn't even twitch.

Are they so far gone in their depression they are completely unaware of their surroundings? I wondered.

What is the longest time a severed head has ever been kept away from its body? My inner voice questioned.

I frowned. Do you think they aren't sustainable in this condition? Are they losing their minds, shutting down their senses?

Well, the blood is only traveling to their brains through capillary action, with no system in place to ensure proper digestion or circulation. We are simply assuming the tissue is able to break the blood down into venom indefinitely, but perhaps it is only meant to be a short term solution.

I frowned harder and furrowed my brows. I don't like this. It's going to mess up my plans for them. They are nowhere near broken enough to serve me if I return their bodies to them, and I no longer have Chelsea to keep them here against their will.

Clearing my mind of my concerns, I shook both heads, trying to 'wake' them. They still didn't react, both keeping their expressions blank, their mouths shut, and their eyes closed.

I delved into their minds to find out what was going through their heads to behave this way. Alice was lost in a vision of blankness. All she saw was solid blackness, with no sound, smell, taste, or feel to it. It was an empty void of nothingness. Edward's mind was focused solely on Alice's vision, leaving him just as lost in the black hole as she was. There were no stray thoughts dancing through his head like I had found in the past.

"Look for my future!" I demanded, whacking Alice on the head. "Or I'll rip off Edward's ear and burn it."

She opened her blank black eyes, devoid of any spark of life and glanced at me as if she couldn't really see me standing there in front of her. The blackness flickered slightly, shifted to solid white, then back to blackness again.

I see no future anymore, she thought, her mind's voice empty and hollow.

"Listen to the new coven!" I ordered, pulling Edward's hair. "Find out what they're thinking and what they want." Edward didn't react at all. "Now, or I'll light Alice's hair on fire!" I threatened with a low pitched growl.

I felt Edward reach out to the area where the procession was. He saw the procession, heard the thoughts, and detected the emotions of those watching, but got nothing from the new vampires themselves. Then, even the minds he had just read began to go silent.

I cannot hear them anymore, he informed me dully, emotionlessly.

"Ugh, you're both useless!" I spat angrily, snatching my hands away and pacing in front of their box, lost in thought.

They are of no use to me in their current condition. I can't be blind right now, when war is clearly on the horizon, I grumbled to myself. I'll have to simply bite the bullet and allow them to be put back together long enough to revive their health. Then, I'll just behead them again. Unless they've learned their lesson now.

Don't count on it, my inner beast warned.

I rolled my eyes. Of course I wouldn't. I hadn't gotten this far from trusting anyone.

"Put them back together!" I snapped to Santiago, pointing at the disembodied heads. "Their bodies are down in the dungeon, in vault 232 and 233. Get Marcus to take you there if you don't know the way."

"Yes, sir!" he replied, eager to please.

I ignored him, unimpressed. I missed my old guards. The ones who had run away from me at first opportunity. I missed being able to order them around, belittle them, humiliate them, and dismiss them whenever I felt like it, while they kept coming back for more abuse, with a smile and a 'please, Master'.

I sighed. Those were the good old days. Now I have to be careful, lest I scare away my few remaining supporters. Soon I'll find another way to control them and take back the power I deserve, I promised myself.

In the mean time, I had a new coven to face. I needed to 'see' their stories and know how the werewolf was captured, and if they could do it again. I needed to find out if they were willing to serve me, belong to me, and eventually be controlled by me. I was losing influence rapidly and needed something important to solidify my position.

Caius and Athenadora joined me in the lobby. "Well?" Caius sneered. "Are we going to go speak with the newcomers or stare off into space like vacant idiots?"

Growling at him, I gathered my new entourage and strode regally outside, while he, his wife, and their guards followed. I stopped on the platform just outside the main entrance, allowing my guards and all the others to fan out behind me.

"Hello, there, my friends!" I greeted them jovially "How on earth did you catch this ferocious beast? We are all dying to know."

They stopped where they were and stared up at me. None seemed to fear me, and I wondered if they even knew who I was. I had certainly never seen them before, so it was entirely possible they had no way to put a name with a face. Come to think of it, I haven't seen these three in the minds of any of the other vampires I'd read either. They must be fairly young and reclusive.

"Oh, pardon my manners. I am Aro Volturi, High King of Volterra and ruler of the entire vampire race. Please, introduce yourselves and tell us how you managed to kill the werewolf."

"Certainly, Your Majesty," the one in the front formally acquiesced. He began his tale in a spellbinding voice that captured everybody's attention and imagination. "When I was a lad of twelve summers, I did that which most boys only dream about. I ran away from home to join the circus. I was naïve in thinking it would be an easy and fun life, but I finally located a small traveling carnival willing to take me in, feed me, and train me to make a living in the seamier side of the entertainment industry. At first I was just given the shit jobs nobody else wanted, including mucking out the elephant stalls. Luckily for me, I had a real affinity for animals, which eventually brought me to the ringmaster's notice. Finally, I had a way of contributing financially, gaining me acceptance and a voice with my colleagues. For years, I served as a snake charmer, handling poisonous snakes without fear of being bitten. I really hit the big time after we got a couple of lions and tigers. I became the resident lion tamer then as well, able to get the animals to perform tricks never seen before. I had just been informed I was hired to perform my own Feline Frenzy show in Vegas and was in the airport awaiting a flight out of Houston, when I was changed."

"Who's your sire?" I asked, intrigued. What a fascinating history!

The charismatic male shrugged and continued, "My sire apparently believed I was as good as dead when the tigers dragged my body away, because he abandoned me. My tigers protected and hid me, carrying me off away from humans while I transformed. They stayed with me even after I awoke, and we shared our kills, with me drinking the blood and them eating the flesh. I didn't even realize how strange that was, that they should have been deathly afraid of me, until I met up with this pair. Of course, their arrival scared my tigers away, and I let them go for the opportunity to learn more about my kind."

"So, how did you capture the werewolf?" I wondered, just as caught up in his story as the rest of the audience.

"It came out of nowhere to attack us, crouching in front of us, prepared to lunge. As it pounced through the air, its eyes met mine, catching it in my gift. It fell to the ground in surprise, calm and tame, lulled into a false sense of security. The connection made between us through my gift, forced it to trust me, nullifying its natural fight or flight instincts long enough for my coven mates to move in and snap its neck. It never even knew what hit it, caught completely off guard."

"Astonishing! Truly amazing," I declared, clapping my hands gleefully. Incredibly useful indeed. I think I just found my new body guard, I mentally cheered.

He shrugged sheepishly and murmured. "Aw, it wasn't any different than facing down a ferocious lion and having it eating out of my hand, while purring like a big old kitty cat, moments later."

Yes! I thought to myself. That makes sense! Perfect. Just what we needed! Should I send him out after the other werewolves, or keep him here with me, just in case? Maybe I should send him out only to places with known sightings. Well, no matter. I've got time to figure things out now.

I smiled widely, giving him the toothy grin of predator scenting weakness, expecting him to get a bit nervous. It would have been wise for him to, but he was clearly unaware of my capabilities. That's only going to work more in my favor. He'll be in too deep to wiggle out before he even realizes what's happening.

"I'd love to take a closer look at your prize, Mr . . .," I paused, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

"Locke. Whitman Locke," he responded smoothly.

My mind was busy making big plans now that I was no longer panicking about the werewolf situation. I moved quickly toward Mr. Locke, eager to shake his hand. As I approached, Locke and his buddy set the werewolf down on the ground, presumably so I could examine it more easily. The male in the back took a few steps forward so he was beside the female. It was the instinctive action of a vampire protecting his mate, upon being approached by an unknown male. Maybe that's why they set the wolf down. No doubt Locke anticipated his buddy's reaction and made it easier for him. The mark of a good leader.

I was only a few yards away when I was suddenly hit with a burning need to confess all my sins. No! I can't! If the truth gets out I'll be dead for sure!

I froze in place, caught up in my inner struggle. Feeling the words crawling up my esophagus, squirming up my throat, and wiggling defiantly on my tongue, I clapped both hands to my mouth, trying to prevent them from escaping. I even bit my tongue until venom leaked out, but it healed all too quickly.

The soul wrenching desperation to confess clawed at me until I was literally shaking with the effort of holding my secrets inside. The desire to tell all was then coupled with self-righteousness, superiority, and condescension. Not only did I want to unburden myself of all I'd kept hidden all these years, but I felt the overwhelming urge to give one of the villainous monologues common to grade B movies, wherein the villain wastes precious time gloating over all the crimes he's committed and all the ways he'd manipulated and used others to get what he wanted. This accomplishes nothing other than explaining all the details the audience didn't know or missed, while giving the hero time to recover and come up with a new plan or for help to arrive. The villain is then defeated, all because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and pull the trigger, without rubbing his victory into the hero's face. I'd always thought it was one of the stupidest things ever and swore I'd never be so foolish. Yet, here I was longing to let everyone know just how badly I'd duped them all over the years.

The feelings built and tore through me, until it was too much for me. The words came pouring out, unfiltered, to my complete and utter horror. No matter how terrified and disgusted I was with myself and my weakness, nothing stopped the flood of condemning statements, the confessions I made in front of all my supposed allies.

"I only brought you all here for my own benefit. I would gladly throw you all to the attacking werewolves if it would save my own skin. In fact, I intended to keep all the gifted who gathered here, as well as any who had useful skills I could use. The rest of you I intended to abandon as chew toys to distract the dogs from the departure of those that really matter, like me and my mate."

Conscious of the dirty glares I was receiving from the vampires all around me, I wished I could stop. I begged and pleaded with my body and my mind to stop revealing things better left unsaid.

"I have always killed off my rivals, stealing their gifted before disposing of them. Just like I had planned for the Cullen coven, if the wolves hadn't gotten there first."

There were gasps all around at this doozy of a revelation.

"Yes, I planned Carlisle's death, knowing how well respected he was. He could easily have taken the throne from me if he wanted. His coven was one of the most gifted around. First, I betrayed his trust by beheading his children, torturing them, and forcing them to use their gifts for my own twisted purposes. Then I conspired with Carlisle's one enemy, planning the final death for Carlisle, his mate, and most of the rest of his children."

There was a buzzing throughout the audience, along with grumbling, growling, and threats. I gulped and hoped I was nearly finished with sharing my secrets.

Suddenly, there were gasps and all faces turned in the same direction. The same type of questions began flying from numerous mouths.

"What's that?"

"How did that get there?"

"Where did that come from?"

"When did that get here?"

"How long has that been there?"

My head had swiveled along with the rest of the crowd, and I winced as my secret rocket came into view, exposed to the masses, both human and vampire. Where is Lance? Why isn't he at the rocket site? Did something happen to him?

The compulsion to confess, to answer everybody's questions overcame me once again.

"That is my rocket, my secret plan for the future I've been working on for decades. I knew the human technology would eventually get to the point we'd have difficulty remaining hidden and would face persecution. I've also had scientists working on a synthetic blood substitute, as carrying humans along as a food source would be both costly and risky. I figured it would be best to rid ourselves of any need for the beasts, so we could move on to bigger and better things. I intended to gather together my chosen ones and begin colonizing other planets. After all, our bodies are much better suited to space travel than human bodies are."

"What about those of us left behind?" Someone shouted from the crowd. "Those who didn't make the list of your chosen ones. What would happen to us?"

"Oh, I'd most likely kill you, put you out of your misery before I left. After all, I couldn't risk any of you guys following me, now could I? Either the humans or the werewolves would get you otherwise, so really, me killing you would be a blessing."

The grumbling and muttering was getting louder from the now disgruntled and angry crowd. I worked hard to keep my mask of indifference in place, knowing a show of fear now would completely undermine my position of power and authority. I had the distinct feeling the crowd was beginning to turn on me.

Yet, even in the midst of all that, with my panic nearly suffocating me, I felt the edges of my deepest, darkest secret trying to escape, to make itself known, seen, and heard. It was pounding at my innards, trying to find a way out, reminding me of the scene in Alien when the creature exploded out of the man's abdomen. This grisly, dark, bloody, poisonous secret would be no less ugly or frightening.

I wish this would stop! I lamented. I don't want to do this anymore. Please, no more confessions!

Be careful what you wish for, my inner voice warned.

The warning came too late. Indeed, the next confession was my last, but not in the way I'd hoped.

"I killed my own sister, Didyme. She was my human blood sister, whom I changed myself, believing she would have a powerful and useful gift like I did, hoping it was something that ran in families. I was disappointed to discover her only gift was making those around her feel happy. How would that help in my quest for power? She was Marcus's mate. Then I found out she was plotting with Marcus for the two of them to leave me and go off on their own. I could have let her go, but Marcus's gift was too valuable for me to lose, so I killed her. With the loss of his mate, Marcus was too devastated to leave the comfort of his brothers. The only challenge was keeping him from committing suicide. Shortly thereafter, I obtained Chelsea and forced her to use her gift to bind all the guard and my two brothers to me. She was easy to manipulate once I threatened her children with a fate worse than death. I miss her gift most of all. It was so easy to enslave the guard with her help."

Oddly enough, I heard the sound of tearing metal before I actually felt the pain associated with the loss of a body part. I turned my head toward my wound and found Marcus staring into my eyes with his own hate filled ones. There was a spark there that had been missing for years. I saw my death in his shiny black eyes, his need to avenge his mate burning hot and bright. I'm sorry, Sulpicia.

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AN: Sorry, I had this nearly finished, down to two paragraphs left, on Sunday, when i got hit with one of the worst stomach flu bugs I've ever had. I was down and out for the count. I didn't feel good enough to read, much less write. Hopefully, I'll be able to get this next chapter out more quickly. I have it outlined at least. Thanks for your reviews and support!