Born in Flames / / C. Volturi

{14 Italia}

Adela Gascoigne

The long journey had been worth it in the end, even in the dead of night the beauty of the castle before us was astounding. The large building was the star piece of the surrounding town, sitting atop the winding hill. The village bellow was just as silent now that its inhabitants were sleeping.

The inside was just as grand as the outside, although it seemed so large for a humble coven of our size, it was clear that Aro intended for the halls to be busier as we gained more members. However, there were more vampires here than what had arrived in our village. Most noticeably two women who stood out from the rest in finer fabrics and jewelry.

They must have been the Sulpicia and Didyme that Caius had told me about. Sulpicia had curled brown hair that fell effortlessly down her shoulders with a content smile on her face at the arrival of her mate. While Didyme was much smaller than Sulcpicia in stature, he appeared brighter and happier than her friend. With sleek black hair that fell smoothly to her lower back, she had a much cheerier disposition that seemed contagious to the other vampires around her.

"Aro, Caius I see you have returned" came the calm voice of a rather tall vampire. He joined Didyme to greet his coven mates with an equally contented smile on his face. This must have been Marcus.

The rest of the evening was spent getting to know our future coven mates, giving me hope for a better future for Alec and Jane.

The following week quickly became a flurry of new names and faces, many of the lower guards were busy, and seeing them was fleeting. However, I quickly made new companion ship with the mates of Aro and Marcus, especially Didyme, I could see what Caius meant about her happiness induction as her gift would effortlessly comfort those around her. But despite how often I was around the cheery girl I could never feel the effects of it myself. Didyme said that her brother never really bothered to teach her to control her gift as it was harmless by nature so it was strange that I seemed almost immune to it.

Another part of me was comforted by the fact that I couldn't be so easily manipulated. Unfortunately, our present discussion was interrupted by the frustrated grown of Jane. It was like my body was being controlled by something else as I moved faster than I ever had before to get to her. Ignoring the guard member on the floor writhing around as if he were in great pain I quickly knelt down to inspect Jane over to make sure she wasn't hurt. But in her rage, she wouldn't stop making eye contact with the vampire on the floor.

The myriad of footsteps that followed me became unimportant as I made sure Jane wasn't hurt, she seemed perfectly fine after a thorough inspection and before my panic-struck mind could continue its rampage I was interrupted by a light cough.

Aro and Caius were stuck behind some kind of wall, it was near impossible to see unless you looked closely. It was mostly sheer yet if you looked at just the right angle you could see that it was the colour of lavenders. Shocked out of my stupor the barrier disappeared of its own accord, or possibly my own. But I turned my attention to the howling on the floor as Jane still appeared to be in some kind of trance.

As if set off by the panic and by his twin Alec seemed to act outside his own body as a black smoke appeared from his hands and crawled dangerously across the stone floor towards Aro and Caius as his hands shook in fear and he frantically looked around to everyone, begging for help.

"Jane? Jane? Can you hear me?" As if my voice suddenly resonated with her she broke eye contact with the guard and his howling ceased only to be replaced with unnecessary panting as if he were out of breath. Once she had been calmed I turned my attention towards Alec and pulled his back to my chest to try and calm him down, reassuring him that everything was going to be okay.

"How astounding" called Aro with a clap of his hands and a childlike glee behind his eyes, the look unsettled me and I pulled Jane closer to my side. He went to take another step forward before the lavender barrier had returned. The smoke on the other side quickly dissipated but what Alec was creating began to slowly rise up the wall looking for a way around. Curiously Caius also took a step forward and placed his hand delicately onto the wall, he couldn't move past it as the area his hand was on faintly glowed brighter.

Alec was in a panic, becoming short of unnecessary breathe due as he became more and more overwhelmed, Alec had always been more in touch with his emotions than Jane had, so it was no surprise that while Jane quickly brushed off and accepted her new gift Alec was struggling to cope.

"Leave" I growled out to the remaining vampires in the room, and they quickly got the message, everyone but Caius quickly fled the room as fast as they could.

"I didn't mean to do it, I just wanted it to stop" He cried, his voice now small and afraid as the smoke slowly but surely faded as if it had never been there.

"What do you mean my darling?" I questioned softly as I brought us both to sit on the floor and began petting his hair.

"It started in the fire, it just hurt so bad that I wanted it to stop, then just now when that man was screaming I just wanted it to stop, I didn't mean to" Alec nervously fiddled with his fingers as he looked down in shame.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of Alec, you are simply better than most others, your gift proves that, you should be proud" came Caius soft but stern voice "It is okay to panic now, but you can learn to harness your powers and use them to your advantage, both of you can"

Jane also came to comfort her brother, he was her lifeline and saving grace, no matter what the world threw at them they always had each other and that wasn't going to stop anytime soon. The twins had overcome far worse together and they would survive together stronger.

She would make sure of it

Thank you for reading~