Carlisle's Diary

Learning

"And please tell Carlisle that we will be home soon."

I nodded that I heard.

"Where are you anyways?" Marcus asked for all of us.

"South Africa."

"Whoa." Said Jacob. Then they hung up. And Marcus looked at us.

"What did he want you to tell us, Marcus?" I asked quietly looking concerned.

"It's nothing bad . . . well it's nothing bad about me. OK, that didn't sound right either . . . " Marcus was trying to figure it out in his mind while we waited patiently.

"Take your time," I told him gently. He took a deep breath and got off the swing. It's as if he didn't want to make Tanya feel uncomfortable.

        Then he finally spoke. "What Alexander wanted me to tell you, is that he and I are related." He allowed a moment for that to sink in. When we were all breathing again, or at least blinking, he continued. "I am his great cousin times 5, basically, as Alexander is 532 years older than me. That is why he hated the Volturi more than any of the other Watchers. He hated Aro with a passion because I was the last surviving human in his bloodline and Aro turned me, effectively ending the bloodline and any chances of continuing his ancestry. Aro's last name was Volturi. I don't remember if Caius had one. My last name isn't Volturi, it's Melanides, just like Alexander's. So that makes me Marcus Melanides. When I joined the Volturi and the Watchers came to us that very first time, or at least it was the first time I saw them. Alexander knew instantly that we were related and he nearly killed Aro right then and there. If it wasn't for Didyme who begged for Alexander to spare Aro's life, he might have killed him on the spot. So Aro was safe and well, you know the rest. What did Didyme get for saving her brother's life? Her own death because she loved me."

          He finished that last sentence with a whisper. His eyes had filled with tears and he turned away. We were all just trying to process everything that Marcus had just told us. Dear lord. Marcus was innocent. A total innocent! All these years all he did was exist because his reason for living was taken so cruelly away from him; he never left the Volturi because he had nowhere else to go. He wasn't ready to give up the lifestyle so he didn't join Alexander. That's technically all that his crimes had entailed. But many of our closest friends still fed on humans. I knew then that Marcus was just a body, an empty shell when he was with the Volturi. He never actually wanted to kill anyone. He was just there because of Aro's ability to manipulate and one of Aro's gifted member's ability to cut ties of families.

          At that moment I looked at Tanya who was coming to the same conclusion as I was. She squared her shoulders and walked over to him. He still had his back to us as he was fighting back tears that would never fall. She put her hand on his shoulder. He knew it was her and turned to look at her. His face was unsure like he was afraid what he would see. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Marcus had fallen in love with Tanya.

          Her face though still conflicted, had genuine compassion in it. She was feeling really bad for Marcus. Edward nodded at me, meaning my thinking was correct. She couldn't combine him with the Volturi anymore; none of us could. He was their puppet used to show their power until they had gotten enough gifted members. They were even worse than we originally thought. I think we were all once again thankful that the Watchers had gotten rid of them. They were like parasites!

          Marcus and Tanya were still standing there and looking at each other. At that point, Tanya realized she was thirsty and decided to go hunting.

"Carlisle, I'm going to go hunting. Marcus, would you like to join me?"

        He looked surprised, but nodded. We let them go alone. I knew they needed the time to themselves. Tanya turned toward the forest and ran with Marcus, only hesitating for a split second before running after her.

          The rest of us sat back, all lost in thought in silence. We all knew that the one thing about life, or even our own life, is that every single day you learn something new. Learning was a part of living and we were all glad we had learned what we did that afternoon. Even though it did leave us at a loss for words as we all went through every encounter with the Volturi. I know I saw a lot of things through different eyes now. The revelation was astounding but at the same not really surprising. At least this piece was good news.

          It also meant that Tanya had to figure out what her feelings were for Marcus and I knew she had them. A nod from Edward meant he knew, too. Edward was finally let in on what had transpired with Tanya seeing Irina so he wouldn't be feeling completely out of the loop. That's not something he's accustomed to. A grunt from Edward confirmed my suspicions. Thinking back to Marcus and the fact that he's survived thus far the way he has gave me a new sense of warmth toward him. It will be great when the Watchers return. He seems to feel comfort being around Rogue and Alexander in particular. Well it makes sense now considering he and Alexander are related.

Meanwhile, my family and I are just taking everything in . . . one day at a time.

~Carlisle Cullen