Chapter Thirty-Four: Interrogations

Jane (POV)

Trigger Warning: This chapter involves incidents of torture and imagery of extreme violence

Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - Jane

I had heard about her several times throughout my entire second life. A tantalizing testament to history, and a fascinating subject to break. I wondered idly how long it would take to extract the information that Aro wanted. An hour? A day? Maybe even a week? It was impossible to know her will, although I was excited to find out what she could endure. I wasn't sure the tower was the best choice, it was arguably our least secure location for one of our kind, even with restraints fit for a newborn.

I already knew the basics, that she was obsessed with humanity and had aligned with the Olympic coven. Beyond those details, Aro wanted only one thing, the ancient's secret, which had been alluded to in a long-forgotten conversation, shared at some point well before I was born. It was a secret great enough that Aro was convinced it would alter the nature of our kind forever. I had my doubts, but I relished the challenge.

I entered the circular room and met her strange human eyes, with their mis-matched irises. I wondered why she would choose such a strange display of power, and what gift allowed her such an illusion. She didn't flinch or recoil from my presence, which was a bit of a surprise. Nearly everyone cringed when one of the witch twins entered a room. Despite hating my moniker, it did afford me a certain reputation that gave me some much-needed privacy in a place where we were never allowed to have time alone with our own thoughts.

She was pale in skin tone like all of us, but her features spoke to middle-eastern descent. She was short, barely over five foot tall, slight of frame and heavy in chest. Her strange almost glossy white hair fell to her waist, and her lips were the color of rubies. Yet her presence was unlike anything I had ever encountered, both confident and powerful, I could almost feel the weight of her age pressing against me. Yet in her eyes I could see the passion and intensity of a mortal indignant with captivity and holding onto a hope of a life beyond this momentary imprisonment.

"I have only one rule. You speak when I ask you a question, if you try to speak otherwise, I will inflict pain on you." She nodded once and didn't seem to regard me with any fear. She also didn't respond to the order beyond the gesture, which was a first. Everyone I had interrogated over the centuries said something after I had detailed my one rule requiring me to show them what the consequences were for disobedience. Perhaps this would go smoother than I thought.

"Let us start with an easy question. What is your name?" I said pacing around the empty space. There were no furnishings, only the chains fed through two holes in the back wall farthest from the stairs. The chains were too short to extend to the nearest window for now. Over time the prisoner would be allowed more slack in those chains, released from a mechanism below the floor as a reward for good behavior.

"Legally, Talia Marguerite La Crosse. Originally Tahlia of Samaria. I have gone by the names Sasha, Tabitha, Bethany, Gertrude, Elizabeth… I could go on." She spoke with a soft even voice, her eyebrows raised and finished with a look that questioned if that was enough. I nodded curtly before moving on.

"Why have you come to Volterra?" I had already discussed the nature of her visit with Aro, but there was still a small point of contention in her declared motivations. Aro wasn't fully convinced she wasn't a spy for the Cullens.

"I do not have a simple answer to that question. May I speak for a moment to explain?" Her polite and unexpected response disarmed me a little, and I nodded once without thinking. My normal response would've been to throw pain towards her.

"My family has a seer; she has seen a future where we would all die in an upcoming conflict. The only solution that had any potential for survival was for me to confront my past and return here to face whatever judgment Aro has in mind for me." The answer was honest, that much I was certain, although I didn't know if she was concealing anything. The best lies often were built on a partial truth.

"What need would Aro have to judge you, what crime have you committed that would warrant his type of justice?" The merciless nature of the Volturi was legendary, our refusal to allow even a single mistake was brutal in application.

"I killed his love, before he found his wife and turned Caius and Marcus. He was in love with my first wife, Rachel. They had some form of affair, but I had to kill her because she was too dangerous. If only I had known of her legacy, perhaps she would still be alive. Her death prevented nothing I had intended to accomplish by killing her. I wonder if her hand would have tempered his, or if the very nature of his power would've alienated her. Regardless, it is the primary reason we have never gotten along. That and my refusal to drink from humans, I find the practice abhorrent." She let a small sneer sour her expression as she spoke. The memory of those events clearly something she regretted. Yet I was curious about her, to be so open with her sexuality amongst our kind was unusual. Perhaps due to her age, she cared little for societal taboos.

"Practice. You speak as though it were some human tradition. We drink because it is our nature." I shook my head at her naivete, wasn't she supposed to be Aro's mother? Her stated age didn't match up with her ideals, which were youthful and mortal. What care should immortals have over the lives of such fragile creatures? I had spent centuries observing the species from the cloistered walls of Volterra, there was nothing especially worthwhile in their short miserable lives that elevated them above a food source.

"As predators we can still choose our food, and while humans may taste good, they are not the only choice. Hell, if you prefer human blood there is plenty available in the human health care system that no one wants. It is hubris and arrogance to think yourselves higher than the dominant life on the planet. Imagine if they did ever find out about us, and the truth that you have been slaughtering them for centuries. How do you think they would take it?" She spoke as though delivering a grave warning. Which I had to admit was a sentiment that even Aro had brought up before. It was the entire point of the Volturi, to ensure we didn't expose ourselves to the world, yet I couldn't satisfy her point with agreement.

"I would show them this." I focused my pain and directed it at her. Most would bend or contort, she simply closed her eyes and took the pain without a sound. I turned on my heel, I could tell there would be no progress today. I went to my room, and found Alec waiting for me. His gaze was suspicious, and his expression hateful. We hadn't been close in a very long time, but he was still the only person I trusted with the absolute truth.

"From your expression I can tell you failed sister." I shot him a look and nearly threw my pain towards him, but instead shook my head.

"None of your concern." I uncovered my most recent painting and removed the lids from the paints.

"You will never capture them, no matter how many times you try." Alec left in huff, sweeping out of my room dramatically. I ignored him and concentrated on my hazy human memories. The faces of my parents were difficult to conjure, but I had to see them again. They had been haunting me recently, and I needed to know why.

Friday, September 23, 2005

The ancient looked at me with an earnest expression of interest, so I responded with pain. She had yet to react to my abilities, except to close her eyes and endure. I had kept up my assault for over an hour, beyond what many had been able to suffer.

"Why will you not give in?" I said through gritted teeth. I let her go and the tension in her shoulders eased. She opened her eyes and they cleared and focused, then she found me.

"I doubt you would understand." Her answer was clearly an attempt to provoke me, so I slashed at her with a stronger wave than before. I never used my full range, the height of my power reserved for dangerous situations because it put a strain on me to hold for any length of time. She flinched but took it without a sound again. I could feel my frustration building in response to her willfulness.

"Try me." I said, widening my eyes, hoping she would push at me, provoke me.

"I have already given up what I hold most dear. That pain is nothing compared to yours, there is nothing you can do that can hurt me anymore." She had provoked me, but it was not the answer I thought it would be. I looked down at her intently, tempted to lash out like a whip at her. Instead I turned and left, it was pointless to continue. I was treading water and making no progress. I wandered through the halls for several hours deep in thought, until I passed by Aro's private rooms.

"Jane." He said in his particular sing-song way.

"Master?" I answered immediately.

"Come my dear and close the door behind you." He spoke sweetly, and I found him alone at a solitary desk amidst towers of ancient books. I hadn't spent much time in his private chambers, but it was a place that meant a great deal to me personally, because there I could be his daughter instead of his servant.

"Father." Breaking the silence, using my private term of affection for my master. Aro smiled, his face still buried in a small paperback book. The silly title was dwarfed by the Author's name in yet another example of modern commercialism.

"Jane my dear, why are you prowling the halls in such a sorry state when you have so much work still to do? Has my mother vexed you?" His expression flashed danger, before settling into his normal welcoming smile. He reached out his hand, and I gave him mine as was custom. He just smiled.

"Not exactly, she has a way of fighting I haven't encountered before." I said elaborating, hoping to put into context the attempts he was viewing through my memories.

"She never was cooperative, why did I think she would be so now? She is just playing games with you." He shook his head. I scowled and frowned.

"Games. I don't like games, they are not... my strong suit. What should I do?" I felt myself stumble slightly over my words, which was something I hadn't done in a very long time. He smiled his playful smile, carefully exposing his glistening teeth. He released my hand and took a deep breath before speaking.

"You only dislike games that are out of your control. Well my beloved, you let her play, and then you do what you do best! Seize control of her game." He was positively gleeful; his voice was high pitched and the utter joy on his face was difficult not to be mesmerized by. Suddenly his words made sense, I was going about things the wrong way.

"I know what to do. I will not disappoint you; I promise." I felt my confidence again, and I knew that it was reflected in my voice. He set down his book and reached out for my hands again, which I relented to without hesitation. Then he brought them up to his face, palms together and fingers extended. Then he gently kissed the tips of my fingers once, a delicate grin curling up his lips slightly.

"You never do." Despite his warm expression, his tone had shifted, becoming mildly cold. Nothing Aro said had one meaning, and there was no mistaking the menace laced through his voice and intonation. I couldn't fail him, I refused to fail him. I would find out the secrets I was tasked to discover, even if I had to tear the ancient apart with my bare hands. I got up and turned towards the door, hatred welling up in my heart.

"Jane, one last hint before you go." I turned and nodded at him. "Try not to think of her as an immortal, instead treat her as you would a very old and pedantic human."

"I will. Thank you." I said sincerely, thankful for the advice.

"Of course, report to me as soon as you have that information… My dear Jane." The threat wasn't lost on me, but I shook it off because I knew I would not fail him.

I made my way back to the tower and closed the solid door behind me before climbing the long spiral stairs to his cell. As I entered the room, I found her bizarrely human mismatched eyes focused on me, and as I met them with my own gaze, she smiled at me. I kept my face neutral, even though her reaction wasn't what I was expecting yet again.

"Jane." I nodded and she leaned his head back against the cold uneven stone wall behind her. "It is a shame we never crossed paths when I lived here before."

"The guard does not fraternize with guests, that is why Felix was destroyed." I said coldly, slashing at her for breaking my rule. She briefly gritted her teeth, but didn't break our eye contact.

"Felix was a good man, if he hadn't been kept like a dog he could have flourished." I focused my rising anger into a funnel of intense pain and cast it at her like a dagger. She shuddered and clenched her jaw, but still refused to call out in pain. Her eyes still focused on me, in that pathetic excuse for compassion.

"Felix was a fool and a traitor. He broke our rules by befriending an enemy of the Volturi, and now he is ash just as you will be." I let go of my anger and unleashed my pain in an assault that was stronger and more intense then I had ever dared before. She slumped forward, catching herself before falling onto the floor.

"I do not burn; I will never be ash. Do you know your pain barely touches me? Because it is born of fire. What burned you in such a way to produce such an unnatural gift I wonder?" She asked looking up, her teeth still clenched, and her muscles strained from continued convulsions, if she truly didn't feel my pain then why was she reacting so strongly.

"I think you're lying, I think this hurts just as much as it does with everyone else." I slashed at her again, but this time she did not flinch, instead she got to her feet and faced me. Her hands forced down to her waist due to the length of the chain.

"I think you only reflect your own pain. Whatever is inside of you was done to you, because no gift exists for the sole purpose of inflicting agony." She said calmly, glaring at me with more than just compassion. She pitied me, she felt sorry for me. I felt my scream erupting from my chest after I had lost control, my full power thrown at her with my fury. Her eyes shut involuntarily, and she fell to her knees as violent shudders coursed through her body. I let my power loose for a full minute until she collapsed onto the floor, her body limp. Disgusted, I turned and left the tower, the guard at the bottom glaring at me.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

"Are you ready to talk?" I asked with a kinder voice than I intended.

"I'm always ready to talk. Are you?" She smiled knowingly, and I slashed at her again, but she didn't even show that it affected her. I almost screamed in frustration, because this was an impossible situation. I needed more time, and I didn't know how much longer Aro would let me have, to solve the riddle of this woman who predated most written history.

"Fine, quid pro quo. You ask me a question, and I ask you one. But we must have honesty." I hoped it was the right approach, but I was already grasping at straws.

"Do you like being an enforcer?" The question was unexpected, and it hadn't even crossed my mind as something to consider before.

"Yes, do you always ask such inane questions?" I shot back with a small sneer.

"No. Why do you like being an enforcer?" She countered without skipping a beat.

"I think it…" I paused, realizing what she had done. "Wait, that wasn't my intended question."

The ancient nodded, a small smile curling up her mouth slightly, "fair, what is your question?"

"What is the secret you keep concealed?" I had to try being straight forward.

"Heh, it isn't going to be that easy. Ask me another." She was now openly smiling at me, and it felt wrong so I slashed at her with my gift. Her smile fell and she glared at me. "That was uncalled for."

"No, this is pointless." I started to turn away from her feeling disgusted and disappointed.

"It was your idea." She said with a slight taunting tone to her voice. I stopped and looked back examining her for a moment and then moved over to the small desk in the far corner of the room away from the wall where she was chained too, and sat down. I pulled out some paper and a quill and inkwell, which I recognized was antiquated, but I preferred the way it felt to the more modern writing implements.

"Alright, then why do you forsake your impulses?" I asked as I prepared the quill and primed it for her answer.

"That's a complicated question, but if I had to boil it down to the most basic reason, I don't want to be a monster." I wrote down her answer, and then stared at it trying to determine her meaning. Was she accusing any of us who feed normally of being monsters?

"I take offense to that accusation, I am not a monster." I shook my head at her and she simply cocked her head at me in return, examining my expression.

"Are you not? How would you define a monster?" She asked with clear curiosity as she waited for my answer.

"Something stupid and ugly." I said letting my anger show through my voice and expression.

"The word Monster is derived from the latin, Monere, which means to warn. Or in another form it is Monstrum which is an evil omen. It eventually became the word Monster, which yes, is usually an imaginary creature that could be described as ugly or frightening. But I was referring to being a monster, someone cruel or evil. To kill indiscriminately is to act as a predator without connection to its prey. That would mean we are above humanity, they are simply food." Tahlia spoke with passion and logic, and I couldn't deny the argument. It was what I had always believed, that we were above humanity. To consider anything else would be a quick road to madness and death.

"We are superior, and they are food. There is no denying that truth." I said with a small shake of my head, feeling the conviction in my words.

"I am the oldest of us, and I am not above humanity. I am not a god, and I am no longer a monster. So I forsake my impulses because I am intelligent and capable of making different choices to survive. I realized a long time ago that killing is nothing more than a grasp of power, a way to feel superior. When in reality all you're doing is trading pleasure for souls." Her voice took on a serious and powerful tone which felt like a weight had been dropped upon my soul.

"It is natural, it is right." I almost whispered, feeling humbled by her once again.

"Is it though? When I had my grand army, and we had feasted on all the humans left on our lands, there was nothing left to eat except for the animals you so casually dismiss. I found that when they resorted to feeding from animals, they started to behave differently. Their hunger faded, their connections strengthened and they even began to form families." Her words hit hard, and I felt like she was trying to trick me into admitting something, but I couldn't let myself fall for her tricks.

"If it is so natural to forgo our lust for human blood, then why does animal blood not fully satisfy?" It was the defining argument, but it also inadvertently revealed something about my past that I hadn't intended to admit.

"Because it is balanced with emotions and love. Tell me, do you like to hunt?" She asked, and I felt a small wave of relief that she seemingly missed my small unintentional confession.

"It is what I know." I answered truthfully, because my human memories were all difficult to access and hazy to the point where I couldn't even conjure an image of my parents' faces.

"Have you tried the other way?" She followed up quickly, and I sighed impatiently, because of course she caught onto my flub.

I shrugged, and looked at her with a touch of hesitation. "Yes, after meeting Carlisle and hearing his reasons, I tried it." I admitted, because I couldn't see the harm in telling her the truth.

"How did it feel?" She asked again with genuine curiosity, as if she wanted to know more about me. No one, not even my brother wanted to know about me. It was a strange feeling to be under examination, or was it something else. I could also chalk up her motivations to simple game theory, trying to break me while I broke her.

"That's two questions." I countered, refusing to play into her hand.

"Then ask your question." She raised her eyebrows and waited for me. Her posture was straight, and her hands were clasped together at her waist. Despite the fact that she was in chains, she looked rather refined.

I rolled over the question that came to mind a couple of times, because I knew it might be my only opportunity to ask such a question. "Is love worth it? What do you gain from such weakness?"

"Love is everything. I have found a love who completes me, shapes me, informs everything that was missing from my life. If I can return to her, I might finally know the happiness that has always eluded me. How can that not be worth what you call weakness. I see it as strength." It was such an honest answer, but it also opened a door I hadn't expected. She had a lover, which meant she had a vulnerability. Perhaps one I could exploit.

"I have never known happiness, so why should I long for it?" I replied letting the conversation continue, I could report my findings to Aro later.

"No, it's my turn." I reluctantly nodded. "How did it feel when you tried Carlisle's path?"

I glared at her and let out another heavy sigh. "Painful, always painful. Not just the never ending thirst, I felt this raw sensation in my gut that made every day feel like neverending torment."

She smiled, which was so strange that I felt instantly curious about her reaction. "That's longing, and it is painful. But when you find something to fill that longing, there is nothing else like it. As for happiness, do you know that feeling after a kill, that sense of calm and euphoria?"

"Yes, it is why I gave up on Carlisle's delusion." I easily admitted, it had been an impossible state to endure. How the Cullens thrived on such a diet long term was beyond me.

"True happiness is the purest form of that feeling, but it doesn't fade and it isn't mixed up with the grief and remorse from killing an innocent. There is no comparison." She said it so calmly, so easily that I almost gasped. With a few words she had countered everything I had ever known. Yet I couldn't believe that such a thing was possible, love was nothing, it was weakness. Compassion was a luxury, and blood was the ultimate reward.

"That… that cannot be true. I see we are getting nowhere today." I shook my head and stood from the desk, and stormed out of the tower feeling waves of fear and confusion.

"Jane?" Marcus asked with a touch of muted irritation, as I realized I made my way out to his private garden. I had intended on going to the public garden that the guard was allowed to use.

"Sorry Master, my mind is elsewhere." I immediately bowed my head in respect, and Marcus waved it away and walked forward to me, motioning me to sit down on one of the stone benches lining the main walkway through the enclosed garden. It was beautiful here, tended by him personally as a tribute to his late wife Didyme.

"I assume Tahlia has been a challenging project." He said it as a rhetorical statement rather than a question, so I simply nodded instead of answering. "Breaking someone like that takes time and patience. Caius may not have either, but Aro and I recognize that your task is not an easy one."

"Thank you Master." I gave him a grateful smile, and he nodded once.

"Be careful you do not lose sight of your goals, conversing with ancients is a tricky business. If Aro suspects she is influencing you, there will be repercussions." His warning was a thinly veiled threat, and we both knew it.

"I am not some soft headed fool like Felix. She isn't influencing me, she may be frustrating, but I will break her." I said with a confidence I wasn't entirely sure I truly felt. Tahlia was an enigma that I couldn't quite wrap my head around. How could someone so old and so removed from humanity feel so strongly in the value of humanity? I almost shook my head as I dismissed the notion, keeping my attention focused on the moment.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. I will make sure Aro knows you are making progress. You have a month, any longer and I will not be able to convince my brothers that you are capable of such a task." Marcus was no longer being circumspect, this was a threat and I knew that I had to succeed. Or I might learn how many individual grains make up the lid of the box they would imprison me within for failure.

"Again, thank you master." I stood and bowed, and Marcus nodded once before returning to tend his garden. I swept out of the garden and made my way back to my rooms, hoping a few hours of thought would give me a new angle to try. I was going to hold on to the information about her lover, just in case I couldn't break through her surprisingly stalwart willpower.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

"Jane, you must know by now that you are nothing more than Aro's puppet?" Tahlia said with a strange tone of voice, it wasn't mocking or angry, it felt almost like sympathy or pity. I felt my anger flash, and I lashed out in response, and yet again she didn't react. After a month I had lost all confidence in my ability to get the information I needed.

"I'm not his puppet, I'm his most favored child." I replied hastily. My normally cool and collected voice seemed broken somehow. She closed her eyes for a heartbeat of time, then fixed a sympathetic stare at me.

"Child. Do you have any idea what that even means?" She wasn't hostile, in fact she seemed almost friendly. Her eyes fixed on me in a way that felt familiar, but I couldn't place from where. Yet I quickly resolved not to react anymore, no matter what she asked me.

"He is my father; I know nothing else." I kept my response cold, but I couldn't completely conceal the affection I felt for Aro. She shook her head, looking down at the floor and furrowing her brow in concentration. Then she seemed to relax and looked up at me again.

"You have a daughter's love for him, don't you?" I gasped at the absurd suggestion. But the suggestion forced me to search for my own feelings, because it wasn't something I had ever consciously thought about, and after a moment of self reflection, I found the truth was undeniable.

"Yes, I do." I whispered the words without intending to, because however I felt I knew that Aro would never return that kind of affection. I was confused by my actions, and even more so by the ideas her question conjured up. The ancient looked at me strangely as if my answer was slightly unexpected.

"Tell me, do you remember how you came here?" I shook my head, because that wasn't part of the plan. My human life was hard and cold, and I could barely remember much of anything. Yet I still found myself drawn to my painting every night, trying to perfect the lines of my parents' faces. A hazy snapshot of memory I had clung onto for centuries. Deep down I knew that they had loved me, and I loved them. That feeling was real, and it suddenly made my feelings for Aro seem hollow in comparison.

But I wasn't about to give into sentiment, and I felt myself lash out again, letting it ride for several long seconds. She just stood still, staring at me until my outburst faded.

"Love is not transactional. Aro doesn't love you, but someone has, or you wouldn't be able to recognize that feeling within yourself." The words echoed my own thoughts and I started to shake my head, I was letting her influence me, affect me with lies and manipulation.

"Tahlia, my human life holds no importance to me. Tell me what I want to know now, or I'll..." I couldn't finish the sentence as I felt the fire of thirst pull me violently to the ground. I clutched my throat, confused and panicked about what was happening to me.

"You won't do anything Jane. Except tell me about your past. I genuinely want to know what happened to you. You see, my son has been unscrupulous, manipulative and evil since I first encountered him as a man of the cloth. He has lived far too long, with far too much power. You are the pinnacle of his monstrous appetites, and I need to know how you were turned. Where does your remarkable talent come from Jane? Because it isn't natural, it isn't what you should be." I forced myself up and as I looked at her, I found myself staring into two faintly glowing golden orbs. The power within her eyes was so intimidating that I was instantly humbled.

"I don't remember, those memories are too far gone." I could no longer meet her eyes as I spoke, retreating my focus to the irregular pattern of the ancient river rock floor, polished down by centuries of wear.

"Will you let me help you remember?" She was so gentle that I believed her. I couldn't understand what was happening to me, I couldn't figure out her game anymore.

"Yes." I wasn't sure if I was even speaking anymore. My voice was so faint. I curled up into a ball on the uneven floor and felt tears well up inside of me. The empty sobs racked my body for what seemed like hours and I didn't even react when she pulled me into her arms. I no longer cared that she had broken her bonds somehow, I just wanted the pain inside of me to end.

"Start at the beginning, you need to get it out." The long-faded memories jumped to the front of my thoughts abruptly.

"I can see my brother, Alec. I was looking down at him cradled in my arms, crying about our parent's deaths. I can feel the warm tears flowing down my face, and my heart beating in perfect unison with his heart." It was such a heart wrenching memory, I couldn't fathom why I had remembered it. Then suddenly I broke through the haze, and I could see back to earlier that day. "Oh god, I can see their faces. We are being forced to watch their execution, as their expressions twisted in horror, and pain and shock. That's why I never got their faces right, I couldn't see it because it was all I had left of them, and it was a memory of pain."

I thought further back and then it just started to roll out of me like a stream of consciousness, "Aro had been coming to us every week since their deaths, and I desperately wanted him to find us. Alec and I were huddled in the farthest and darkest corner of our makeshift cell, waiting endlessly for our own execution. We were accused of witchcraft because I had been able to see the secrets in people, secrets that no one wanted told. But I couldn't understand why I was being singled out, why my brother had to be subjected to beatings for my inability to hold my tongue. All I knew was that our parents defended us to their deaths, that I was the reason for their execution.

The darkness of that final night made the hours stretch into eternity, and eventually Alec fell asleep. I couldn't sleep, so eventually I disentangled myself and moved to look out the tiny cell window, hoping to glimpse the last images of freedom I would ever see. I can still vividly remember that view of the coastline stretching out before me. The shadowed and blackened waters lapping against the white sands were hypnotic.

"Then dawn came Sooner than I wanted, yet I was grateful for the eastern exposure. To see the colors spread across the sky like a bed of summer flowers one last time. It was an image I thought I would cherish to my death. It was an image I wanted to share with god, after I walked hand in hand with my brother into heaven. Yet I had never conjured it once after I became an immortal.

"Then as the light brightened over the shoreline, and I stared longingly into the blinding light bouncing off the waters they came for us. For a brief instant, it seemed as though I could touch the sand through the bars of my cell. They grabbed me roughly twisting my shoulder as it was yanked violently from the bars. Alec didn't immediately wake up, so they beat him across the head to rouse him. I screamed at them to leave him alone, but that simple request was beyond their mercy. Instead two of the three men began to kick Alec in the face, chest, and stomach again and again. They kept at it until blood began to drip from his lips.

"I couldn't stop screaming at them to stop. The pain of hopelessness was building so acutely that I began to convulse from the intensity of it. Absently I heard their harsh voices speaking vaguely about a prince, or king... no three kings. The three kings wanted to be sole witnesses to our execution. Still I continued to scream fruitlessly as they brought us into a large empty courtyard. We were tied together at a stake, with bundles of dry twigs soaked in oil beneath our feet. The only thing that stopped my screaming was the sound of wheezing coming from my brother.

"His breathing was so weak that each ragged breath made his body shudder. Bound hand and foot, the only choice I had was to let him sleep. I didn't want him to see the fire coming for both of us, but I was sure he was already dead, because the beating had been so violent that his beautiful face was shattered and contorted. A massive wave of tears came then, and I was unable to clear them away since my hands were bound. Soon I was blinded by my own tears, and had to use my ears to figure out what was happening. In the distance I heard a voice that felt familiar, but the words were impossible to make out.

"Then there was heat that surrounded me and soon engulfed me. It hurt at first, and I remember screaming in agony. The fire grew, lashing at my legs, hands, and then finally my face. I felt helpless as the fire consumed me, the pain building to such intolerable levels that I became lost as darkness consumed my conscious thought. Then there was a soothing coolness, and vague noises, and then there was a new fire that replaced the blackness. This new pain pulsed through my body for what felt like an eternity, until it finally coalesced at the center of my being. After an immeasurable amount of time passed the pain finally faded, and a wonderful cold covered me like an icy blanket.

"That's when I awoke to immortality. That's when I felt my thirst for the first time, and that is when I found I could share my pain with others." My eyes opened, and I looked up at Tahlia. She was still holding me, listening to me as I told my story.

"Go back, remember the voice. Hear what was said." Tahlia's voice wasn't startling, just unexpected, like everything she had done in our short acquaintance. I was confused at first by the request. But after a moment I felt myself falling back through the fire to the chaos of my last moments as a mortal. The heat was coming, I knew that, but I wasn't focused on my impending torment. Nor was I focused on my brother, instead I was focused on the familiar voice. Everything wanted to distract me from that voice, the rope binding my wrists, the wheezing of my brother's breathing, the dull ache of the never-ending tears. But I ignored all of that and filtered out everything but the voice.

"Burn them, but don't let them die. They are mine." Aro spoke mercilessly, and the affection he had always used with me was utterly absent from his voice. All that remained in that voice was the brutal monster devoid of compassion and love, a voice that was ordering men to burn me at the stake.

"Jane." Her voice was soothing, and brought me back to the moment. Yet I couldn't open my eyes, it was far too painful.

"Mama." I called out helplessly, and instead of ridiculing my weakness, she pulled me closer and wrapped me up tightly in her arms. A sensation I hadn't felt since I was human. I broke entirely as I almost involuntarily pressed into her embrace. This relative stranger had shown me more love and compassion than anyone, including my own brother since I had been turned into a monster by the man I had trusted implicitly.

"I'll never let you go. My daughter." The words wormed their way into my mind and heart, as not just a promise, but a vow of commitment to me as the one person who would always be there for me. I should've rejected her, pushed away the affection and returned to my duty. Yet I found myself accepting her. My new mother, who was now the foundation of my world.

Author's Note:

To answer the question, the difference was Jane. In the original vision, Alice witnessed, Tahlia went to Volterra and simply resisted the interrogation until Jane got so frustrated that she turned to Aro who had her executed. This time knowing that she needed to do something different, she realized quickly the only real possibility was with her torturer so at first it was a manipulation, until she realized that Jane is a truly miserable soul. Forced to become a weapon for a group that cares nothing for her except as a valuable tool. It then turned into something far more, and yes Jane is now a part of the story in a much bigger way. Surprise!

Next Chapter: Surrounded by Monsters - Edward

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