1,139Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight universe or any of its characters, nor am I in any way affiliated with the saga. OC's are of my own invention as well as the plot, and this story is rated MA 18+. If you're underage or uncomfortable with adult themes do not read – but hey I'm not a cop.
Chapter 1 - Discovery
"How much further Demetri?"
These words were asked by Felix Volturi, a vampire of impressive strength and intimidating stature. He was nearly seven feet tall with muscles that would put weightlifting champions to shame. There were vampires out there who were strong like Felix, but none quite matched his strength, and none could hold a candle to him when it came to fighting skills.
Currently, Felix wore an expression of boredom upon his heartbreakingly beautiful face as he turned to look at his companion.
Demetri was beautiful like Felix, and though his hulking companion dwarfed his tall form, the contrast did not conceal the fact that Demetri – whose physique was lean and strong – was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.
It was blatantly obvious in the way the pair stood that they were the upholders; the ones who were sent out when a job had to be done and done well.
They had passed the sign marking "Welcome to Ivy Peak" a few miles back when suddenly Demetri had stopped short in his gait. His sudden stillness caused Felix to rush passed him, so the giant was forced to double back.
Felix's expression was slightly irritated at the sudden stop. Demetri – not only the world's best tracker but also his best friend – always had a bad habit of making sudden stops and turns when he was closing in on his target.
"She is near Felix," Demetri said thoughtfully, his eyes narrowing and his head cocking to the side as he focused on the mental flavor of the young mortal girl they were hunting. "Located… around half a mile southwest from this point,"
Felix smirked mischievously at Demetri. This was always the most exciting part of a hunt; closing in on your prey and trapping them where they couldn't run, but his grin faltered after a second of thought. This particular hunt was expected to be very dull. Humans were never a match for their kind, and it was a human that Master Aro had sent them to retrieve from this very tiny town in America a week previously. They would have arrived sooner if it didn't it take time to cover their bases and make sure all travel arrangements were in order, for both their departure and return.
The memories containing the human their king had sent them to retrieve were from a nomadic vampire by the name of Ajmer Guptar, and the events that followed Aro's meeting with the nomad were certainly more interesting than the usual cases of humans who knew more than they should.
"Ah Ajmer," Aro breathed delicately from his throne as a handsome olive-skinned vampire entered the throne room escorted by one of the covens most powerfully gifted guards, Alec. "You did not inform us that you were stopping by for a visit!"
Aro had seen Ajmer only a handful of times since the latters creation a few centuries prior. He remembered the chaos the nomad had been responsible for in his newborn years (having been bitten and left to enter his new life utterly alone and ignorant to their laws) with an almost grandfatherly nostalgia. Of course, none of the chaos Ajmer had caused in his youth was really his fault; Aro had to come up with some very good arguments to keep his brother Caius from destroying Ajmer as a newborn because, while ignorance did not equal innocence, it didn't equal guilt either.
Ajmer breathed out a low sigh, his posture tense and his dark eyes scanning the room as he thought of the politest way to respond for, he did not wish to be there. But he didn't want to be rude to the vampire whom to this very day he still owed his life.
"I was actually not intending a visit. I was merely passing by on my way to Venice to meet up with an acquaintance of mine." He said honestly, "I must have come closer to your walls than I intended to, for I was accosted by your young guard moments later."
He inclined his head in Alec's direction and Alec glared at his back, probably because he wasn't pleased with being referred to a "young" when he was nearly twice Ajmer's age.
"Oh," Aro looked slightly disappointed, "Well I am sure you can understand why Alec bought you in here. We take the guarding of our home very seriously."
Aro stood from his throne at this point and descended the dais toward Ajmer before lifting his hand as if to shake the nomad's hand in farewell. "Of course, you are not required to stay if you do not wish to, but I must be sure of your truth." Aro said honestly, knowing people didn't like their privacy intruded upon but understanding he couldn't let a possible threat or new information walk out the door.
Ajmer, who only moments before had been completely calm regardless of the slightly stressful circumstance he was dragged into, suddenly looked very nervous – if not panicked. And it was his reaction that made not only Aro but all the vampires in attendance, his brothers included, very suspicious.
Ajmer's reaction was caused by the fact he knew what showing Aro his memories would cost. It would cost the life of a very dear friend.
Since the last time he had seen Aro nearly century ago – 97 years if he was being exact – he had developed a friendship with a young human girl by the name of Castiel (Cas-tee-el).
He had met Castiel four years previously, and it had been very late at night in the dead of winter when he had first encountered the pretty redhead.
It was negative ten degrees Fahrenheit that night in New Hampshire, and his feet had left no tracks in the snow as he ran through the streets. He knew what he was searching for, and it wasn't long until he found an elderly homeless man crouching in a box near the mouth of a dirty alleyway, which at that time didn't look so dirty due to the white snow blanketing the area.
He didn't hesitate to claim his meal and the homeless man didn't have the chance to know what hit him, let alone feel any pain before his life was abruptly cut short.
Without a moment's pause Ajmer dumped the body into the dumpster beside the boxes that were previously the man's home once he was finished, and he was thinking of the best way to destroy the evidence when he heard her.
He turned blindingly fast on his heel, facing the entrance to the alley where she stood.
Castiel was hardly an inch over five feet, and obviously thin in stature regardless of the fact she was wearing a large winter coat. The red curls of her hair that weren't tucked into her beanie were blowing toward him in the light wind, carrying her clean and almost minty scent toward him to entice the burn in his throat.
He crouched instinctively, knowing he had to eliminate the witness to his crime, and her blue eyes pierced him as she sighed… almost as if she were agitated with him.
"Easy Ajmer."
He froze, eyeing her suspiciously as he straightened up slowly. There was no way this girl could, or should, know his name. He had very few friends and none of them were human.
She didn't wait for him to say anything as she started toward him while pulling a purple backpack that she had slung over her shoulder in front of her and drawing out a large can of what could only be some kind of flammable liquid. It kind of looked like paint thinner to him, but he couldn't be sure. She unscrewed the lid and Ajmer couldn't help but wrinkle his nose exactly as she did at the scent of the harsh chemicals.
Haphazardly she lobbed it the few yards into the open dumpster, where it made a strange thud that caused her to wince, before pulling a small pack of matches out of the pocket of her jeans and lighting one.
She made eye contact with him again at that moment, and didn't break it as she flicked the match into the dumpster as well. And he could see the knowledge in her eyes, the understanding there, as she reached out and took his hand.
Unconsciously Ajmer's hand twitched as he remembered the strange feeling of her soft hand warming his, and the very alien feeling he had yet to decipher that made his stomach twist. He had followed her out of the alley that night without a second thought and discovered that he was not the first vampire she had met but the seventh. She had known he would be coming for a while and was waiting for him to arrive. She said that she knew they would be very good friends just as she had been sure she would be friends with the others.
Castiel was psychic, in Ajmer's opinion she was probably the most powerful psychic in the world. She took great pride in what she could see, and she had never had a vision lead her wrong. She wanted to make the world a better place, a happier place.
Ajmer could see the good in her. He could see how very sweet she was. But he was not blind to the loneliness there; he didn't have to ask to know that her ability had outcasted her for many years. She was a friend to his kind because being gifted was not abnormal for them and she would not be judged.
He cared so very deeply for the little human, she was so understanding, so innocent so… undeniably kind. He wanted to be her protector… he wanted to keep her from harm at all costs.
And now he hated himself. He knew deep down he had no choice but to present his hand for not doing so would hint at subterfuge and secrets; and when it came to the Volturi's way of seeing things only criminals had something to hide.
Before Ajmer could react Aro was upon him, clasping his right hand within both of his own. Ajmer stilled instinctively, both out of his own anxiety and so he wouldn't be seen as a threat.
At first Aro saw nothing of interest. He saw nothing at all to explain his young friend's anxiety in the centuries of his memories, and for a moment believed that they might have just been overreacting to nothing.
But then he saw her; the source of the current trouble in the nomad's mind. An American girl named Castiel and a very good friend of Ajmer's, likely the only person he dared to call a friend.
Aro would have sighed in disappointment at the news he would've been required to give, that the human would have to be executed, if he hadn't been able to see the reasons for Ajmer befriending her and the very reason the two had met in the first place.
The girl had the gift of intuition!
Alice Cullen… the seer whom he had the pleasure to meet this past March was nothing next to this human. Alice's ability was wondrous but flawed. It was very easy to avoid her extra sense and play with her ability's many holes and weak points. She was limited in a way Castiel was not. She was only able to see humans and vampires' immediate decisions with no ounce of solidarity, not to mention the fact that humans were blurry to her.
This human's gift was more advanced already with her perfect track record of correct visions and the fact she had no issues with clarity.
What an addition little Castiel would be to his coven! With the things she could see, she would make their overseeing of the "mythical" world only that much easier. But even better, since she had something she could offer their world, Aro now had a surefire excuse to argue against her execution if any were to demand explanation as to why she live.
"It seems-," Aro mused quietly as he dropped Ajmer's hand, the room's inhabitants hanging onto each word as they waited for instruction. "Ajmer has made acquaintance with a human whom holds a rather substantial psychic ability."
"You mean like the Cullen's girl? Alice?" Caius' voice cut in from behind Aro's shoulder, and the ruffling of fabric could be heard as he stood from his throne.
Ajmer refused to break eye contact with Aro to watch the blonde king, and he had a rather fervent look in his eye as he began to plead.
"Master Aro… please" he begged solemnly, trying to seem as subservient as possible, "I beg you. Let Castiel be. She has done no wrong-,"
"No wrong?" Caius' disbelieving tone barked out in the form of a harsh laugh, "She knows of us! You – with such a blatant disregard for our secrecy – even dare to beg for her life as she walks around with the knowledge that could destroy us."
"Brother! Peace." Aro chided, sensing the tirade Caius was about to begin if left to continue. He turned at that moment, gauging both of his brother's expressions. Caius was irritated as per usual and Marcus… well he was just Marcus. He was staring at some cracks in the far wall with a blank expression.
"She won't… tell." Ajmer's voice was pained as Aro turned back to him, knowing this battle was lost. "Please don't. Don't hurt her. I'll take her – I'll change her I swear it."
Aro shook his head. Back in March Edward and Alice Cullen had visited his coven along with Edward's human girlfriend, and Aro had allowed them to leave. He had done this as a favor to his old friend, and the young one's coven leader, Carlisle and he still regret the decision to this day. He knew that the vision Alice showed him of Isabella Swan's change was not concrete. Even his call to Carlisle a few day's later, where Carlisle assured him that after Isabella graduated high school she'd be changed, didn't calm his nerves.
For him to allow Isabella Swan freedom as a human for another year – as she had only entered her senior year in September and it was now January – was extremely foolish. Caius liked to remind him daily about the huge breach of secrecy he allowed as a favor to a friend.
He'd never live it down within the coven and if he were ever so lenient again the immortal world would begin to question their ruling, which was unacceptable.
But Aro knew his brother's would not begrudge him adding Castiel to the coven. After all they had in fact been looking for someone with an ability like hers long before Alice Cullen was born. Such a guard would make a wondrous addition to their coven!
So luckily an alternative could be found for Ajmer's human friend.
"Do not fret Ajmer," Aro sighed airily as he waved for Alec to come forward, "I have no intention of harming your charming Castiel."
And all Ajmer could hope as he was dismissed, as well as threatened against trying to find Castiel and warn her, was that his little human friend would see what was coming for her in time to run.
Over the next week, the six other vampires' that Castiel found friends in were bought to the Volturi for questioning, the names of each immortal having been retrieved from Ajmer's memories of the conversations he had had with Castiel.
Merida from Romania, Charlotte and Lee from Mexico, Alexander from Ireland, Yakone from Canada, and Lizza from North America were all subjected to show Aro their thoughts. Each vampire's memories supplied Aro with more information on the young seer and his excitement at finding such a talent in a human was only increased with each new thought. Every immortal seemed to have lived with the hope that memories and mention of Castiel would not cross the Volturi's notice until she had lived and died in a human's natural lifespan. That way any argument of law breaking would be nearly moot since she'd already had died.
Of course, they all knew they could still be tried and charged in the Volturi's court for the security breach they made, but the punishment would have been much lighter than what was usually given after her death. They all believed with the deepest parts of their soul's that Castiel was trustworthy and their secrets were safe with her. All were so very protective of her it astounded Aro at first, and he had to threaten each of them that interference with his coven upholding the law would end in terrible punishment.
Humans were such fickle creatures, and while Aro held complete respect for the loyalty that the vampire's brought to him so surely believed she held, he could not convince himself that she was no threat. He would not make the same mistake he made with Isabella Swan.
And that was what had bought Felix and Demetri to this point. Their masters had discussed in the privacy of Aro's quarters for nearly forty hours what they would do about this breach, and after all the evidence was bought forth the decision was made to add Castiel to the guard. And in the end, rather than send one of the lower ranking coven members to dispose of the human, they were sent to retrieve her for trial with or without her cooperation.
A/N: As you see, I drew out the Twilight Saga's timeline a bit to allow things to happen at a more reasonable pace. Imagine Bella came to Forks in her sophomore year, was attacked by James at the end of said year, had her 17th birthday party in the beginning of junior year only for the Cullen's to leave and return after the events in Volterra late March. Bella, Alice, and Edward are now in their senior year and it is early January where our story begins.
Revised January 18th, 2021.
(7 Pages, 3,080 Words)