12. PERFECTED
Abby found herself walking in the woods. It was twilight yet there was still enough light to find her way. She knew that she was searching for something but she wasn't quite sure what that something was. Her heart began to race in her chest. She tried to move more quickly now as her dress flowed out behind her. She could feel it- she was getting closer.
She came upon a patch of ivy. It had covered an entire garden, smothered it, suffocated it. As she walked through the ivy she finally saw what she was looking for. The image was terrible to behold. She saw herself lying on the ground with all the life drained out of her. She recognized the black pendant that Sarah had given her resting on her body's forehead. Abby's eyes trailed down to the body's bosom. Two piercings were made into her chest with smaller cuts between them. She recognized the image. It was a vampire bite, the kind Corin had left on the twins.
Was she dead? Had Corin gone too far? Was she now just a ghost staring down at her own body? Abby began screaming.
"Abby, wake up! It's only a dream." Corin's voice pulled her out of her nightmare.
She was panting heavily as she looked around. They were still on the deck of the ship. She must have fallen asleep in Corin's arms. He had wrapped her tightly in a blanket to keep her warm in the night.
"Are you okay? That sounded pretty serious." Corin looked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what happened. It was just a really bad dream." Abby tried to shake it all away. She used the base of her palms to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Then she looked at Corin. She didn't remember being this close to him. How had she fallen asleep this way? She felt a little uncomfortable and shifted away from him. He acted like he didn't seem to notice. "How are the twins?" She asked him.
"They're fine. No different from last night. Eleazar is watching over them closely." Corin looked over the bow at the horizon. "Look, the sun is coming up."
Abby stood up to see with the blanket still wrapped tightly around her shoulders. The horizon burned a bright pink color. "It's beautiful." She said as she took in the view. Corin did not stand up beside her though. He remained in the shadow of the ships side walls. After a few quiet moments she decided to go below to check on the twins, even though Corin had assured her that they were fine.
He was right, nothing had changed. They still lay on the floor, peaceful, as if they were sleeping. "Eleazar, I can watch them while you try to get some sleep." She offered.
He looked up at her with confusion and surprise. Then he nodded as he remembered that she didn't know everything quite yet. "Thank you for the offer but we do not sleep."
Abby was puzzled. She looked over at Corin who had just followed her down. "Really?" She asked him.
Corin nodded. "All part of the package."
Suddenly being a vampire sounded very intriguing to Abby. If she never slept, then the nightmares would never be able to haunt her. She sat down on the floor and pondered this. The twins were all she had left in the world and now that they were being changed into vampires. Was the only way, to continue to look after them, to become a vampire herself?
The next two days went by very slowly as Abby waited for the twins to awaken. It hadn't been the full three days like Eleazar had expected and he figured it was due to their bodies being smaller so the venom could circulate through them more quickly.
Abby watched their transformation. All the cuts and bruises disappeared and all wounds were healed. Their bodies did not look as small and weak from the hungry days before. Even though the color disappeared from their skin, they looked healthier, stronger.
"Their hearts have stopped beating." Eleazar announced.
Abby studied the children. They still looked like they were in a coma. "Why aren't they waking up?" She asked frantically. "Did something go wrong?"
Corin put his cool hand on her shoulder. "It's fine." He soothed. "They are still paralyzed from my venom. Now that they have turned into vampires it will only last for a few more moments. The paralyzing element in my venom is much stronger on humans but weak on other vampires because their bodies are stronger and can heal faster."
Abby nodded and continued to watch the twins. Jane began moving first. Her little fingers twitched and then the rest of her body began to come out of the paralyzed state. She opened her eyes and sat up. She quickly took in the situation and glared first at Eleazar.
He doubled over in excruciating pain. "Aggghhhh!" He cried out.
Corin quickly tried to grab her from behind but she was faster than him. She dodged out of the way and focused her attention on him. He too cried out and collapsed to the floor. She continued to focus her rage on him as he writhed in agony and Eleazar was still incapacitated.
"Jane! What are you doing?" Abby cried out, but Jane ignored her.
The little newborn vampire breathed heavily as she let the full force of her power reign over Corin. Abby pulled on her shoulder to try to make her stop but it was like pulling on the shoulder of a marble statue.
"Jane, please! You're hurting him." Abby begged.
Jane continued to ignore her. Then Abby went to Alec's side. She remembered how Sarah had told her that Alec was the balance to Jane. She shook his tiny shoulders.
"Alec, wake up! Please, I need your help." His eyes flung open and Abby gasped at the bright crimson color of his irises. He leapt up into a standing position and immediately a type of clear haze began to emit from him. It was like heat waves rippling off a desert, almost a mirage. When the mist touched Abby, everything went dark.
She couldn't see anything, she couldn't hear anything, and she couldn't feel anything. What had happened? Was she dead? Abby's mind reached out to grasp anything but there was nothing to hold onto- just complete and utter darkness. It went on this way for only a few minutes but it felt like an eternity. Finally her vision came back to her. She was lying flat on her back and looked up to see Jane's angelic face gazing down on her.
Jane looked different somehow. More beautiful. More perfect. "Abby?" She asked.
Abby sat up and looked around. Eleazar and Corin were lying on the ground with Alec standing over them. She realized that Alec had been the one to make her lose all her senses and that he was doing the very same thing to Eleazar and Corin.
Abby noticed Jane's face leering closer and closer to her. "Jane, what are you doing?"
Jane was almost in a trance and she licked her wet lips. Jane was thirsty. "Oh Abby, you smell delicious…" Jane pulled Abby's arm towards her in a vise grip and brought the pulsing veins in her wrist to her pale pink mouth. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent more deeply.
"No Jane, don't!" Abby cried out.
It was enough to catch Alec's attention. Before Jane could do any damage, she slumped onto the ground like the others. Alec had used his power on her to stop her from hurting Abby.
"Alec, you need to listen to me!" Abby pleaded. "Those men are here to help us. They saved you and Jane from death."
Alec's face was dark and sad. "Did they save us from death?" He asked skeptically. "Then why isn't my heart beating?"
Abby stood up slowly and walked towards her nephew. "You have to understand, I had no other choice. It was the only way to save you."
Even though Alec was still a thirteen year old, he looked older somehow, matured. He looked at Abby with longing eyes. "I'll never see my mother again, will I?"
She shook her head no. "I'm sorry…"
Alec let his head hang in despair. He pulled the mist back up off of Corin and Eleazar and they suddenly came to. They jumped to their feet, ready to defend themselves.
"It's okay now!" Abby told them. "Everything is going to be just fine. He understands."
Corin looked at Jane's limp body on the ground. "What happened to her?"
Abby blushed just slightly. "I think she wanted to feed off me. Alec saved me."
Corin nodded. "We need to get you out of here. As newborns they will not be able to control their thirst as well as we do. From now on you'll stay up on the top deck. Eleazar will stay down here with the twins and he'll teach them everything that they need to know about the change that they've just been through." He started to guide Abby to the stairs but looked back at Eleazar. "I'll have one of the sailors come down; Jane and Alec can feed from him."
Abby shuddered at the thought. Was it right for her life to be spared but only to be replaced by another? She hadn't considered this aspect when she gave Eleazar the okay to change the children. She hadn't thought about the murderers that they would become.
When she reached the top deck she was relieved to breathe in the fresh air. She made her way to the bow and tried to ignore Corin as he asked one of the sailors to go below to clean up a mess. There was no mess, at least not yet.
Abby closed her eyes and breathed in the salty sea air of the Atlantic. How much longer would she be stuck on this ship before they reached England? Corin silently approached from behind and rested a hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head towards his touch. Even though it was ice cold it was somehow comforting. She turned to face him and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as she began sobbing.
"Corin, what have I done?" Her cries were muffled against his chest. "Perhaps I should have let them die. Perhaps that would be better than this…"
He gently stroked her hair and rested his chin on top of her head, letting her settle into the nape of his neck. "Don't beat yourself up over this." Then he let out a soft chuckle. "It's not like you saying no would have stopped us anyways, you know?"
A small laugh escaped her lips. It wasn't funny but it somehow made her feel better, not being entirely responsible for what the twins had become.
Days went by, even weeks. Abby found herself feeling sea sick but Corin was always there to look after her. When the storms came he would take her into the captain's quarters so that she would be out of the elements but still safely away from Jane and Alec.
Suspicions began to rise on the ship as people were disappearing. Some suspected Eleazar and Corin, others concluded that they must have fallen overboard. The traveling party encouraged the latter. Eleazar was getting along with the twins just fine but he had to often plead with them to feed more sparingly. Their bloodlust was nearly uncontrollable and Eleazar and Corin were powerless to stop them.
The day finally came when shore came into view. It was a happy day for Abby. They all got off the ship but Eleazar was quick to make them catch another boat, smaller this time. Abby almost stayed behind. The idea of being at sea again made her ill but Corin convinced her that this voyage would be much shorter.
They sailed from England to the shores of France. From there they took a carriage to Italy, letting the horses rest along the way. Corin always stayed close to Abby. While he knew that the twins loved her and didn't want to hurt her, he did not yet trust their self control. Jane especially seemed to lust after Abby's blood. Alec was a little better at resisting.
Finally the horse-drawn carriage pulled into a city with cobblestone walkways. Abby looked out the window of the carriage and saw that they were entering the town square.
"This is the Piazza dei Priori." Corin informed her.
She looked around and saw a very large clock tower in the center of the square with a beautiful water fountain in front of it. The architecture here was beautiful. It was as if the people who created the buildings here were creating art and wanted it to last forever. Back in Salem, no one bothered to make such beautiful buildings, they only made what was necessary.
The carriage stopped in one of the alley ways. Corin pushed open the door from the inside and Abby was surprised to see two cloaked men standing there waiting for them.
"Abby, Jane, Alec, this is Demetri and Felix." Corin introduced. "They are part of the Volturi Guard."
Felix was large in stature and grinned at the new guests. He handed Eleazar and Corin gray cloaks that resembled their own. Then he looked at the twins. "Huh. I didn't know you were bringing two. They'll have to share."
Eleazar draped the last cloak over their small bodies and they climbed out of the carriage into the sunlight.
"Do I need one?" Abby asked.
Corin smiled. "No, you'll be fine. We can't allow the direct sunlight to touch our skin. Otherwise people would be able to see that we're different."
"Different how?" Abby queried.
Corin looked down at her from under his hood and sighed. "I'll show you later. There are too many people around right now."
He was right. The town square was bustling with people. She stayed close to Corin as their group went through more alleyways to get to where they were going. They finally came upon a large wooden door. It was somewhat closed off from the streets but the beautiful castle that it was attached to stood high over the city.
As soon as they entered the building a beautiful woman with long dark hair flung herself onto Eleazar. She was obviously of Spanish descent. They began kissing and whispering things to each other in Spanish.
Abby looked away to give them their privacy and her gaze fell on Corin who was smiling at her. "That's Carmen." Corin told her. "Eleazar's mate."
"Mate?" Abby laughed. What a peculiar thing to call someone.
Corin's smile grew wider. "Perhaps soon-to-be wife."
They made their way up some very long staircases. The walls of the castle looked very old but they were still beautiful. Finally they came to another door.
Eleazar made his way to the front of the group with Carmen still clinging close to his side. He looked down at the twins. "I will go in first and the rest of you will follow me. Do not speak unless spoken to. I will do the talking for now but you may respond to Aro if he asks you any questions." Eleazar had succeeded in his task yet he still looked very nervous. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then he pushed on the door that would lead them into the throne room of the turret.
