Chapter Twenty-Seven: Surviving Flowers - Mason

"I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows. For my mind to run around with my ear up to the ground. I'm searching to behold the stories that are told. When my back is to the world that was smiling when I turned."

~ Imagine Dragons (Enemy)

Saturday, September 17, 2005

I severed the head of my loathsome enemy with one terribly familiar motion. My body clenching in horror at taking a life again. I watched as his body burned, my power stretching out to finish this one last thing before it retreated into me and I felt the weight of its use. I collapsed to the ground and slipped neatly into a state of deep unconsciousness, devoid of dreams.

I awoke a several minutes later and felt the warmth of someone holding my head in their lap. I looked up into Angela's eyes and smiled, until I noticed the blood that had dried along one side of her face down to her chin and covering one side of her chest. The old fire of thirst screamed at me and I laughingly repressed the impulse. She was injured and I couldn't physically move to check on her yet. My limbs were like lead, I had exerted myself in ways I hadn't attempted in centuries.

"I'm sorry." I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"You saved me, again." She said reverently, her hand moving down my face. "Thank you."

I started to reach up to touch her temple but stopped myself. "You're hurt."

"In a lot of ways yes. But the blood stopped, and I think my left shoulder is sprained, I think I'll be okay." Her voice betrayed the shock she was in and my need to explain myself was put on hold until she could truly absorb what I needed to tell her.

"I kinda lost it for a minute, seeing you like that. I thought you were broken, and I reacted in a way I haven't in a long time. I'm not really sure how to say this, but you are definitely worth it. You have become the most important part of my life in a very short period of time." I said perhaps a bit too melodramatically. In response she let out a mildly manic laugh, and then self-consciously stopped and looked around for monsters.

"Were safe, Victoria ran far from here, and I doubt she'll return anytime soon." I said calmly, trying to ease her mind just a little. She stared down into my eyes with a strange intensity and without a word she leaned down and gently kissed me. Her soft lips touched mine for the briefest of seconds, but I felt alive from the contact. She pulled back and stroked my hair tenderly.

"That's for saving my life." She pulled her hand away and began to randomly play with the grass.

"Angela..." I hesitated, I thought about everything I could say. I knew that I would gladly sacrifice myself for her. It was an impulse that was dangerous to have. "It was my pleasure. I hope you can forgive us all for your capture. I know Bella and Edward are beside themselves with guilt."

"I don't blame them, they were tricked. James was gloating about it; I mean that's how I know." Then she paused for a moment and looked deeply into my eyes, "May I ask you a favor?" I nodded. "Could you distract me from all of this?" She nodded towards the charred patch of grass and the pile of ash and bone.

I could feel my strength returning and I gently lifted my head from her lap. Then I sat opposite her and checked the cut on her forehead, and then her arm. She was right, all the injuries were superficial. Then I lifted her and carried her deep into the woods until we came across a much smaller clearing. It was still mostly green, with odd surviving patches of wildflowers. As we broke the tree line the sun escaped through the clouds long enough to make the grass almost glow in an otherworldly light. I looked down at her and noticed she had her eyes closed, and her head was pressed into my chest. I placed her on the ground gently and then sat opposite from her again, our knees almost touching.

"What would you like me to do?" I raised my eyebrows to express interest.

"Tell me about your coven, if it isn't too painful." I smiled slightly and nodded.

"Well there is a lot to tell. Would you like me to start at the beginning?" She grinned and nodded quickly.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before starting, I kept my tone pleasant as though telling a story instead of relating my past which was anything but easy or nice. "I had just left a bad situation and needed to find others who shared my ideals. I searched for a long time and found no other vampire who would give up their love of human blood. I was about to give up, realizing that I would have to make my own coven if I were to ever find like minded souls. It is too hard to change once the thirst has a hold of you. It is like asking a heroin addict to give up his fix, most are not going to do it voluntarily. But to give that choice to someone without a predisposition is completely different."

"So, did you turn some people to form your coven? Oh, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." She bit her lower lip slightly; it was a nervous habit and it made me grin widely. She looked down at her hands and waited for me to continue. I reached over and lifted her chin so that we could have eye contact again.

"You can interrupt anytime, for any reason. You are the last person in the world who should be afraid of me." She met my gaze and tried to smile but she faltered slightly then took a deep breath and looked up at the clouds.

"Okay, please keep going." She looked at me again and smiled fully to urge me on.

I held back a sigh as I began, "it was a chance encounter, her name was Katherine. She was intelligent and courageous, accomplished in a great many talents at a time when a woman wasn't really allowed to be accomplished. She also shared my values, which was a first for me. I quickly fell in love with her passion, with the false idea that she could teach me how to be passionate again. We instantly clicked, and together we set out to start a new life."

"We were happy together, exploring the world. But she was a bit restless, and I didn't know why at first. The thing is, she was a bit like Bella, she had a different gift, but was so completely in control of herself that she never even flinched around humans. She was empathic, and cherished humanity striving to help whatever community we happened to be in when we stopped." I knew I sounded nostalgic, letting my longing for that time in my life come through in my voice.

"What happened to her?" Angela asked, and I looked away from her in shame for a second. Could I tell her that it was my fault she was murdered?

"I'll get to that I promise." I smiled at her hoping she would understand I had to get the story out in the right order, and she immediately nodded once and gave me a warm smile and attentive look in return.

"At first my goal wasn't really to start a coven; it was simply to have a companion. But eventually I realized Katherine wanted a family, she worked on me until I relented to giving my first idea a try. I believed I was in love with her entirely, well as entirely as I could be at that point in my life. In truth I don't think I was fully capable of that kind of emotion back then, so my obsession with her was my interpretation of love. I learned much later what love truly feels like, but I'm getting ahead of myself." Angela looked at me thoughtfully then nodded to encourage me to continue.

"I gave into her wishes, and we found Michael. He was a beautiful young man who was full of life and passion. Katherine was very taken with him, and I felt immediately jealous of their relationship. I turned him just as she asked me to, she could never drink blood to turn someone, and we gave him the same choice to follow our way of life. He made it quickly, albeit for her, without fully thinking about the ramifications. To make things clear, as much as I cared for Katherine, I never pursued her romantically. I had traveled down that road many years before and I knew that I would have to be sure we were right for each other before committing to her." Angela closed her eyes and shook her head at me.

"Okay, so you over-thought your relationship with her, and she hooked up with Michael, right?" She stared into my eyes again and gave me a lopsided grin. It made me want to lean over and kiss her, but I stifled the impulse.

"No, not exactly. Michael desperately loved her, and because of his love I found a strange kinship with him. But she wasn't interested in him as a suitor, for her he was a son. Neither Michael nor I understood that at first, until she found Michael a mate so that he could find happiness. At first, he was resistant to Camille, but she was so infatuated with Michael that his defenses soon fell. After a few years Michael and Camille were deeply in love. Katherine and I were like their parents, perhaps without the depth of emotion of your Carlisle and Esme, but we... no there is no point in sugarcoating my past, I never had familial connection with them." I couldn't help but frown, it was hard to admit my true feelings. Michael and Camille were precious to me, but I had never loved them as a father.

"Then we stumbled across Cain, quite by accident. He wasn't one of my kind, he was a werewolf much like the shifters down along the coast here, alone and hunted. We took him in despite the danger, and soon I found a best friend. He and Katherine had a unique relationship, they were antagonistic but were obviously in love with each other. However, they could never be together due to societal taboo, so they remained distant unrequited lovers. I was happy during those years and soon a century had passed.

"Then war surrounded us, we fought our way to safety, until a group of werewolves caught our scent and attacked us unaware. Michael fell during the fight defending Camille. Cain, who was a stalwart member of our coven by then, took off to destroy that pack in retribution for Michael's death. He never returned from his crusade. Katherine and Camille were never the same after that. For a few decades, the three of us continued our lives, broken and never really admitting that it wasn't working anymore. Until the Volturi came into power, and Camille had her chance to end it. She was the first to commit suicide by the Volturi's rules." I felt bitter sadness but tried to suppress the emotion from appearing on my face.

"That's horrible, and I don't mean to sound insensitive, but who are the Volturi? Everyone seems to be afraid of them, and while Carlisle has explained some, I still don't have context for who they are." Angela looked sad and confused.

"Essentially they are the self-appointed ruling body of the vampire world. They also enforce the rules of our society, keeping wanton feeding and the destruction of life in check. On paper they are a vital function of our society and should be a good and stabilizing influence. However, they are as soulless and corrupt as any other political organization. I know this because of what happened to Katherine. She was utterly grief stricken by Camille's death, so she went to confront the Volturi against my wishes and advice. I had a past with them, in fact they were the bad situation I had just left before my search for companions began in the first place.

"Now I can never be one hundred percent sure, but I believe Aro tried to use Katherine to get close to me. When she wouldn't give up my location, he executed her, drumming up some false excuse to justify her death." I looked down, unable to meet her eyes for a moment. When I did, she looked terrified. My first impulse was to take her hand, or caress her face to try and comfort her, but I wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.

"God, I hope I never cross them." She said, the fear in her voice matching her expression.

"Hopefully, that will never be an issue. When I heard that Katherine was destroyed, I was devastated, I hadn't realized what she meant to me until that moment. I felt love truly for the first time, and very nearly went to Volterra in an attempt to destroy their entire coven, or more likely end my existence like Camille. I waited for centuries for the anger to abate, but it just grew colder. Eventually I went back to the Volturi and accused Aro of murder, he simply deflected the accusation, and managed to convince me that she had committed suicide. He welcomed me back as family, not that he had the vaguest clue what that word meant. I was about to leave when he baited me with news of another with my ideals. Carlisle had just left them, and I was drawn into Aro's world for a short time while he dangled the information I wanted to know in front of me for almost a decade." I could still feel the frustration from back then, even after centuries.

"So that's how you knew about Carlisle?" She asked with a curious glint in her eye, she looked enraptured, and I almost sighed at how beautiful it made her look.

"Yes, eventually I grew tired of Aro's games and fled while they were distracted feeding. They have been trying to find me ever since, because Aro wants more than anything the secret I have already shared with the Cullens." This was it, the reason I was so guarded, and she took it like everything else I had told her, with curiosity and understanding.

"The gifts?" She furrowed her brow at me. I smiled at her again and nodded, and this time gave in to my impulse and pushed a stray hair from her face. She didn't retreat from my touch at all, so I rested my hand on her cheek. She brought a hand up and covered mine, and then she closed her eyes contentedly.

"Your skin is so cold, I thought with the fire you would be at least warm." That's when I realized she must be cold, the temperature outside hadn't bothered me, but I hadn't had to consider the comfort of a human in a very long time.

"I can change that if you like." I pushed a candle sized measure of the element within me to my hand. Her eyes lit up as warmth blossomed in my palm. She smiled shyly and met my eyes again. I felt a pull towards her, like she was dragging my soul closer to her, and I wanted to give into it completely. Instead, I shook my head and pulled my hand away from her face.

"We need to take things slow; I am not going to force you to make a choice. If you choose this life, I will welcome you. If you do not, I will respect your wishes fully." I kept eye contact as I spoke, hoping she would know I was being utterly truthful in my sentiment.

"How does the power thing work?" She asked curiously, changing topics.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure. I can feel gifts, that's how I know every vampire has one. It is just that most require a push, and it takes the right kind of desire and intuition to bring it out. Some already possess that ability innately which is why their power manifests when they are turned. For others it is buried much deeper, Rosalie was keeping hers suppressed out of a, never mind that is not my information to share." I cocked my head in a half shake and smirked at my almost mistake. I couldn't betray her trust anymore than I already had after revealing her request for powers to her family.

"I understand, you promised Rosalie you wouldn't tell anyone that she cares a lot more than she acts like she does. Did she tell you about Bella, I mean before they announced it to everyone?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise, I knew she was perceptive but not that perceptive.

"Actually yes, on both counts, how did you know?" Angela smiled mysteriously, and then shook her head in laughter.

"It isn't about words, it's about actions. She loves her family deeply; she just hates herself. I didn't understand why until I learned about their vampire nature. As for the Bella thing, I'm her best friend and it is a new exciting relationship." She didn't elaborate and I wasn't about to push.

"Interesting, would you like to know another secret?" I asked playfully, she cocked her head slightly to one side and then inhaled deeply..

"I think so. Well I guess it depends, is it going to upset me?" She nodded as she spoke, hesitation in her expression and voice.

"I'm honestly not sure. Would you still like to know?" She thought about it for a moment and then nodded confidently.

"I'm the first vampire." I said, trying not to make it sound like a boast. Her eyes practically bugged out, and then she fell backwards and stared into the sky with an exaggerated sigh.

Author's Note:

Consider this the first chapter of Part Two: Crash Into Me.

For my long term readers thank you for your patience, for any new readers getting to this point there is a lot more story ahead.

Thank you all for reading!