Fate into Shadows
Chapter 13
Jane
I had to get used to my new name. I was no longer Jane Volturi, but Jane Cullen. I was with my blood brother, Jasper, and my father, who was centuries younger than us, Carlisle, and my new brother, Edward, through the castle, passing human staff who occasionally had to be replaced as they became meals. More wanted to come, but that would have made the Volturi alert. However, Bella Swan, a normal human as far as these vampires were concerned, was walking in with us.
I didn't find much humor in anything, except for maybe some cat clips on TikTok, but watching Bella skipping around the place, looking around like she owned everything, happily greeting both humans and vampires alike in delight, like they were her staff, even tipping a young woman with a fifty Euro bill down the cleavage of her blouse, was extremely hard to not laugh at, especially since she was greeting them in Latin, which is a popular language in Italy, and even Alice was struggling to keep her giggling down while Edward had a bemused smile, and Carlisle's eyes softened when he looked upon her antics, and then my twin brother was biting his lower lip, as he was desperate not to laugh, because he was still rather childish, having died at thirteen, and even though we are twins and just born minutes apart, it was a boy thing; I was sure of it.
There were two burly men guarding the throne room. Both of them were vampires, and they looked baffled when Bella skipped up to them and raised her hands.
"Hi-five, guys!" she said, sounding like she was a Google hipster at one of their corporate offices, trying to be 'hip'. They of course ignored her, and just did their jobs stoically, and opened the doors, but Bella didn't seem to care; she lowered her hands, and my brother and I led them in.
Carlisle walked between my brother and me and led us up to the thrones, with a cold fury that made the guards in the chamber fidget in nervousness, as he obviously ignored Bella while she mocked the Volturi's power.
"Wow!" Bella interjected as we paused. "Do you guys just sit around on your God complex chairs all day, doing nothing? Tell me you at least play Angry Birds on your smartphones, or you have a Nintendo 3DS hidden up your dresses, and a game of Pokémon raring for your attention?"
"These are robes, child," the man up front said as many of the other vampires, well, the male ones, hissed in disgust, while a few of the female vampires forced back the twitches of smiles. The man had a rather handsome face, and long black hair smoothed to his shoulders. "You should teach your pet some manners, Carlisle!"
"Says the guy in his bathrobe," Bella muttered in annoyance, earning glares and a few suppressed snickers.
Carlisle stepped closer, and his angry golden eyes never left the man. "Aro," he said in a low voice, his anger barely contained. "Your coven attacked my family." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Three of your interrogators tortured my wife."
So…? That is what we do," he replied smoothly. "But why has Caius chosen not to present you for trial?"
"Caius is dead!" Carlisle exclaimed, and the red-eyed vampires froze as they saw the flecks of gold in Alec's and my eyes; they looked to us for confirmation, but that was more than they needed. "We're here to punish you for breaking Vampiric Law."
He laughed, but he watched Alec and me with caution, as if he had always been obvious that he feared us more than anyone else in the guard. "And two traitors?"
Bella had moved, and with speed too fast for a vampire to see, she grinned in Aro's face before her left fist slammed into it. His throne shattered under the force, and she wasn't smiling anymore as he was sent hurling and slammed into the far wall, which cracked, as he slumped to the ground, whimpering. His eyes looked up at us, and his legs and arms were bent at odd angles; finally, he showed fear for the first time since I had known him, as we saw the punch, but we couldn't see what else she might have done.
"You fucking pieces of scum," Bella screamed enraged, as power pulsed and swirled around her, dark and cold energy swirling towards her clenched fists. "Then you treat me with so little respect, and fob off their assault as if it was nothing?!" she demanded when a vampire to her left flitted to attack, she moved back a step as he stopped, and pulled back her cupped hands full of deep blue light, and thrust forward.
"Hadouken!" she cried at point-blank range, and the vampire's entire upper body, from his head to his waist, had been vaporized, as the swirl of energy faded, and the ground shook as the energy ball smashed into the far wall, leaving a massive crater in the thick bricks, revealing the corridor beyond. The remaining pieces of the vampire stupid enough to attack Bella crumbled to the ground, and he would most certainly never be able to pull himself back together from that.
Bella turned to Marcus, surprised to see him smiling. "Finally, I get to leave this world," he said gently, seemingly unphased by the human's power, unlike the other vampires.
Bella ignored him, and turned to a blonde in the far corner. "Corin, right?" Bella asked and got a hiss in reply. "Jane and Alec say your gift is like a drug," she said to her shock.
She whimpered, stepping back. "No!" she exclaimed. "Aro ordered me to do this."
Carlisle Cullen interrupted. "The leaders of the Volturi are going to die… but the rest of you have a choice… first, as an added precaution, you, Corin, if you choose to take our deal, will never use your power again, for yourself or anyone," he said to her shivering nod. "But ultimately, you have two choices… evil pieces of shit humans if you're that weak, or animals… choose the latter, and you can keep your positions, and join our clan where you shall be free, but choose the former and you shall be monitored closely, and one slip… one innocent death, and you will burn."
"Can someone hurry up and kill me, please?" Marcus quickly begged. "Chelsea's power isn't working on me either."
A beautiful brown-haired woman stepped out from behind the guards and slid around to stand beside me. "I will get over losing Corin's gift," she said gently. "I have chosen to release you of my power." A moment later, a man with curly brown hair and a smirk stood next to her.
"Damn, it's about time someone with a brain took over, but even better that he has a heart," he said with a grin, "and hunting down those morons instead of… that bastard Caius, and… he even let them eat children… no… he made most of them!" he said and I could see many vampires with shame and heartache over their own weaknesses.
"Afton!"
"Come on, Charmion; those damn kids! The cries and screams of the innocent will haunt me for the rest of my existence."
"Me too," she said. "But I told you to call me by my modern name, Chelsea, more than a thousand times; maybe I should keep count." She replied in exasperation and sadness.
With that, a huge vampire flitted in to grab Afton, but he moved, and slid around the man, and slammed him to the floor before his face slid into view, and his body went limp. Afton looked up with a smirk as Bella's sword glinted near his own face before she returned it, sliding it under her blouse, and clicking it into place, and he stood.
"Thanks for backing me up, Sis."
Bella sighed and I couldn't help but smile. "Out of curiosity, Marcus," she said gently to the man. "How did you plan on killing yourself?"
He sighed in exasperation. "I was going to pick a fight and not try very hard to defend myself. Maybe find a pack of lycan, or maybe those wolves from your territory."
"Why not just jump into some magma?" Bella asked, and even I was surprised that the idea of death by magma or lava had never been considered by any of them.
"I don't have time to find a volcano."
"Use an explosive or hollow-point bullet to the head, or throw a grenade, napalm, dynamite… the list of things within walking distance is pretty big. In fact, just sit in a kitchen with all the gas hobs and oven and grill on, and wait a while before lighting a match."
"Oh." was all he could say as the vampires fidgeted with the realization that they weren't as indestructible as they had thought they were. "Yes… that one I could do here, in the castle," he said thoughtfully.
"Didyme isn's dead," Chelsea whispered to our shock. "Aro needed a backup plan in case I couldn't control you. I tried to drop hints, but some were so obvious that you should have fled. But you and Didyme aren't very clever, even by human standards!"
"Where is she?" Marcus spat out enraged, as he flitted to be in her face, but she stood her ground.
There's a vault under the White Tower where she is kept... she... tried starving herself to keep humans for company after a while, and even when they starved to death, she refused their blood. So, to punish her, Aro has been feeding her on animals, and stopped giving her humans. She eventually gave in, and has been a vegetarian ever since. After that, I made sure she had books and entertainment, and I gave her two young women for company... they were already burning when I dropped them in for her, and I tripled the animals she was being fed for them, convincing those responsible that animals were three times less potent, rather than at least three times less appealing.
Marcus turned to Aro as he crawled towards the shattered pieces of his lower jaw; his arms and legs struggled to heal. Aro paused and looked up at Marcus.
Looking at Bella, Marcus dropped to his knees. "Please, before you dispose of me, all I ask is you let me finish what I started with Aro… and I wish to say goodbye to my wife before I follow him to hell."
Bella nodded with a pitying smile, but before she had a chance to speak, Marcus turned to ask Carlisle. The blonde nodded before Marcus even finished speaking. He then turned to Aro, and I was surprised that none of the other guards moved as Marcus picked him up by his hair and growled with a hiss. The torture lasted roughly an hour before it was over, and all that remained of the Volturi leader was ash. I was surprised that someone with no lower jaw could scream at all.
Bella
When the door to the vault was unlocked, it seemed to have rusted shut, so Marcus ordered one of the guards to force the metal open. It took about fifteen minutes for him to shatter it free. Marcus stepped forward, and it was dark inside from my perspective, but not completely dark enough for a vampire to hide in. We could hear the hissing sounds coming from within, two of them.
"My children, do not fear!" came a soft voice in an ancient form of Greek. "He is your father; finally, after so long, he has seen the truth."
She stepped out in an elegant black dress, and could be considered pale even by vampire standards, with vibrant black hair and beautiful golden eyes. She was joined by two young girls who must have only been a couple of years older than Jane and Alec when Chelsea turned them, and twins too. They had ginger hair and cute freckles dotting their faces, and wore white, and had golden eyes too. It only seemed to be Alec and I who noticed Jane stiffen as she saw the girls, stiffening in return and staring at her in something akin to fascination while looking as confused as Jane was.
Dido flitted into her husband's arms as they sobbed, while the twin girls didn't know what they could or should do. However, they looked back at Jane as if she could possibly have all the answers to their questions. Jane went to them, tilting her head in curiosity as the three of them took a deep breath before the twins pounced on Jane, and the guards tensed when they saw this. The twins were purring and nuzzling Jane's cheeks either side, as they had dragged her to the floor with their strength, and for most, it was rather embarrassing to see such instinctual soulmates, claiming the person who belonged to them, and who they belonged to.
"That is adorable!" Alice exclaimed, cuddling within my arms, and while Jane held the twins around their waists, and pretended she wasn't basking in their attention, she turned to half-glare at Alice, but it just bounced off my girl's amazingly smug grin, and Jane looked away as she saw how happy we were for her to finally have found the other half of her soul.
"My babies have found the love of their lives," Didyme whispered in awe and delight from within Marcus's arms.
"My love, I must."
Carlisle stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Marcus… you could build a wonderful little home near ours, for you and your wife, while Jane and the twins can have rooms within both our homes, perhaps?"
Marcus looked gobsmacked, and he turned to me as he knew I was the strongest in attendance. I shrugged. "As long as your eyes turn gold, after everything Aro has done, as long as you are loyal to our family to some degree… we shall let you do as you please… and we have no interest in killing another victim of that piece of shit, Aro!"
"Aro!" Didyme snarled. "I want to…"
"Aro, you died by my hand," Marcus said in glee. "We can be better now, whole, and free, part of the Cullen Coven."
"You are young," Didyme said gently, looking at Carlisle and then bowing low. "We accept your kind offer, master."
"My name is Carlisle," he quickly corrected to her shock. "You are family now. You, Marcus, and the twins."
"They have names?" Jane asked, looking at the twins over in question while she was still on the floor with them.
"I'm Mary!" the first girl said in joy. "Well, Meredith… but you can call me Mary!"
"And I'm Lexi… umm… Alexandra!" the other said shyly before they continued blissfully taking in Jane's scent, burying their noses into her neck on either side.
Jane said, "I am Jane." She added, "I will take care of you both, for the rest of eternity."
"Our Jane!" the twins chimed dreamily, kissing her small ears.
"I'm glad you speak Greek," Alice said in delighted glee for Jane.
"Me too," Edward agreed with a smile at his three new sisters; as the world changed, they had to change with it.
"Jane," I said quickly, startling her. "You should probably take them home before they sexually assault you."
"Of course!" she quickly agreed while looking embarrassed, which I thought was impossible for a vampire. "Mary, Lexi, let's go home… we have to get to know each other first."
The trip back home was rather interesting, as we couldn't have too many humans around the twins yet, so we had to have some vampires fly us on an actual private jet. As we flew, Alice was cuddled up on my lap while the twins, once freed from their seatbelts, were snuggled up into Jane's arms, and Jane looked ridiculously content, and we all pretended we didn't know the three of them were ridiculously horny. We would all make sure to give them some space to explore their discovery of each other, and get to have some fun privately, as I got the feeling that the three of them were thousand-year-old virgins, and they had all been turned at rather, precious states of life, and I had a feeling Cassandra had little choice with Alec and Jane, and Chelsea admitted she chose them because they were so young and innocent, so took them, and saved them being just a "meal," as she had always made it a point to refrain from turning anyone.
"Mum, what will the woods be like?" Lexi asked, looking over at Didyme, excitement evident on her face as she sat beside her mother-in-law, who was holding her husband's hand tightly, and looking rather possessive.
She smiled lovingly at her waiting daughters. "With so many different animals to hunt, each one with a unique flavor to sample," she said.
Edward nodded in agreement. "When hunting, we bring back the carcasses for butchering," he explained, speaking from across the table where he was playing a card game with Carlisle. "That way, nothing goes to waste; we have family members who are not vampires who appreciate the meat, and we can respect the animal whose life we took by not just leaving it for scavengers or to rot."
The twins nodded their heads eagerly. "That sounds like so much fun!" Mary exclaimed in delight. "Will you teach us to hunt properly, Jane?" she asked dreamily.
Jane nodded as she held them a little tighter. "Indeed, it shall be my great pleasure."
Mary and Lexi grinned while looking ecstatic as they snuggled their faces into Jane's tiny chest, while she stroked her fingers lovingly through their hair.
I couldn't help but smile at Jane, and her girls - finding your soulmate was a once in a lifetime thing, and I had gotten lucky enough to have found mine twice; once when I was young, and foolish, and again now, after years of searching for her. I held my Alice tightly, and pushed my face close to hers while she grinned, and then squished our noses together, and I laughed, and lovingly kissed her soft, cool lips, and she returned the kiss before we pulled back, and we just snuggled.
"Will I ever have something like that?" Alec suddenly asked, sounding concerned.
I pulled away from snuggling to look at him across the room. "With the cycle of life… someday the world will shift for you, and you'll feel whole." I told him that because I had to believe it and I wanted him to hold out hope for that time; as we all returned in several cars back to the Cullen house, where vampires, shifters, and a couple of witches had been helping with the extension, a Native American wolf shifter cried out in alarm.
"Seth?" his sister Leah asked in concern.
However, to my surprise, Alec moved forward with his golden-red eyes locked on the wolf.
"Maybe I'm the seer," I suggested to my love. "Seth wasn't here when they turned up, so…"
Alice rolled her eyes but smiled as Seth and Alec took a few steps toward each other, looking embarrassed and shy.
Jane rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Just accept your place in each other's arms before you end up hurting one another's feelings!" she declared in annoyance, and they quickly moved together, the wolf-boy wrapping his vampire within his burning embrace.
For the first time in forever, away from his sister, Alec felt at home, and smiled as he took in the wild scents. Jasper startled everyone as he commented with a smirk, only to receive glares from Alec and Seth; while Edward lovingly pulled him into his arms and kissed him, and most of the others laughed, and teased them a little. I could tell, though, that Alec did look like he had finally found home within Seth's arms.
to be continued...