𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙁𝙄𝙑𝙀
ミ★ ( obsidian, act one ) ★彡

     Amias Blackwood stood alone in his room, looking at himself in the mirror with a frown. It was next morning before the Cullen family and himself went to school. He missed his robes when he looked at himself in a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. It really did make him look like a teenage boy despite the unnatural golden eye colour he had.

     He couldn't tell if he missed his usual red eyes. He had grown somewhat fond of the topaz colour. It suited him in a way—made him look more... approachable rather than terrifying. He was sure it would unsettle the Forks townspeople if he began walking around with blood red eyes again just so he could satisfy his need to feel comfortable in his own skin.

     The thought of red eyes brought him back to the Swan girl and her delicious smelling blood. He was so sure he was about to lose control in that classroom the day before—something he hadn't done in the longest time. He normally had control of his thirst for blood; for a vampire of his age you would hope he would have otherwise he wouldn't be alive.

     The Volturi had a law about vampires being inconspicuous about who and what they are—they wanted to ensure no one was a risk when it came to exposing their kind. Vampires that weren't able to control themselves were often killed by the Guard because of their inability to remain hidden. Amias couldn't understand why the superior species had to be the one to hide from humans at first, but after seeing the horror of how humans react to change, he realised how they would be treated afterwards.

     And then, they would run out of food because the humans would end up killing themselves trying to kill the vampires. So, it ended up being the best choice to keep it a secret.

     Amias brushed his thoughts off his mind and walked downstairs and saw Esme standing watching the news channel on the television with a frown that matched his own moments before. There had been a couple of strange murders not too far away from Forks and given the circumstances of their deaths, the Cullen family was sure that it was nomads. Most of the crimes committed nowadays were committed by unruly vampires anyway, so it wasn't hard to guess who was behind it.

     "Oh, hello, Amias." Esme greeted when she finally peeled her eyes away from the television to smile at him, "You look handsome this morning."

     Emmett cooed as he walked into the room, "Don't you look like the sweetest little boy!" Amias sent him a scowl but didn't respond further. He had gotten used to Emmett's comments and teasing—in all honesty, he found it endearing because it reminded him of himself before the incident.

     "Leave him alone, Emmett." Edward scolded as he walked past them to grab his things before he walked towards Amias and clasped his shoulder, "But, you do look like such a handsome young boy."

     Amias rolled his eyes and shoved Edward's hand off of him playfully, hiding the smile that he desperately wanted to show off at how they had welcomed him into their family. His eyes quickly looked up to see Carlisle walking into the room with a stressed look on his face as he observed the note in his hand.

     He could see the wax seal from where he stood and the expensive paper that it was written on, and if he looked hard enough, the light would show the inked words written on it. Amias knew it was from his home; from the kings, specifically, Aro. "Amias—"

     "They're requesting my presence, aren't they?" Amias slouched slightly. He didn't think they would call for his return so soon—he thought he would have at least a couple of decades before they would ask for him to come back. Especially, after the death of Ingrid.

     "I'm afraid so." Carlisle answered him as he handed him the note, "It seems important."

     Amias gently grabbed the note and could recognise Aro's handwriting requesting he return to Volterra as they needed him to complete a task—most likely obliterate a threatening coven. He looked at the piece of paper with disappointment, like it had told him some bad news.

     To him it felt like it was bad news. He would have to be away from the life he was weirdly building in Forks. Even though he felt as if he wasn't exactly creating roots in the small town, he had strangely grown fond of the town in all of its dreariness.

     The older vampire let out a sigh that sounded like a groan, "I suppose I better get back. They'll be expecting me shortly."

     Carlisle nodded his head in understanding before he moved out of Amias' way. He could see the conflict burning in his eyes and held back the urge to ask him to stay.

     Amias was strong enough to take on the Volturi if he wanted to go against them—if he wanted to. But his loyalty towards them saving him held him back from living his life. To Carlisle, it seemed like the Volturi were using him like an attack dog instead of treating him like a person.

     But even if Amias thought that same way, his loyalty would never let him act on any negative thoughts towards them. He thought that they gave him a good life so far compared to his human one.

     Most vampires of his age forget about their human life, but Amias never forgot about it. His birth parents had abandoned him, and scarred him that the Volturi became his true family to him, although he would never admit it to himself or out loud. Ingrid was another important person in his life, although Carlisle wouldn't have the confidence to bring up the subject then after Edward had informed him of the situation.

     Carlisle felt bad for intruding on his old friend's thoughts, but he was genuinely concerned as to why he was leaving his place of residence to suddenly come and visit—more so without Ingrid. With Edward's gift, it helped stop an awkward conversation about Ingrid, and it also stopped them from making him uncomfortable or violent.

     The father figure was comfortable enough around Amias to know that he would never hurt him—or intentionally hurt him, but he was unpredictable and could be especially worse around people he didn't know well like the other members of his family.

     The Cullens were a little unsure of their position and relationship with Amias considering how closed off he was. Edward would often give insight but even then it was hard to tell what his true intentions were because the older vampire was known for his deviousness and cunning.

     Now that he knew that Edward could read his mind, all cards were on the table. Carlisle had no idea where he stood with Amias which is why he didn't ask him to stay, he only hoped that he would return.

     Amias walked towards the king's throne room after his travels to Italy. He had hurried in case they would send anyone after him so they don't hold up his time with them.

     "Oh, you've returned." Dimitri scowled as soon as he saw Amias, holding out the black robe for him, "Here I thought you would've stayed wherever you ran off to."

    "Of course you did." Amias smiled before taking the robe out of his hands and putting it on. He rushed inside so he could limit talking to Dimitri.

     "My son!" Aro exclaimed with a happy smile, "You've returned."

     Amias bowed his head, "You called for me?" He asked them, wanting to know what task he could of possibly been called out of hibernation for.

     Aro's lips pressed into a thin line for him thinking his fun and happy greetings. It was always business for Amias, no pleasantries. "There is a coven that is drawing attention to themselves from the human eye. They need to be rid of."

     Amias froze instantly, thinking of the situation that had happened in the cafeteria where Emmett had accidentally thrown the snowball through the wall. The Cullens had moved to such a small town that even the tiniest bit of luxury items drew attention—and Rosalie drove a fucking red, modified BMW. It was the type of car that screamed 'look at me!' with how it stood out in contrast to the white snow and greenery. Someone was bound to of noticed that there was something unnatural about them.

     They were too perfect looking to be human. Too beautiful to blend in with the rest of the average humans that occupied the space.

     Then there was Jasper—constantly on the verge of completely breaking down and drenching the entire town in blood; despite the fact that he wouldn't leave any left to spare.

     "They live not too far away from the Arabian sea." Amias relaxed. Too far away to be the Cullens—they were still in Forks, thankfully, so there was no risk of it being them. He nearly cursed at himself for bringing Carlisle and his family to Aro's attention, but now they were far from it. He had other things on his mind.

     Amias bowed his head again, "I will handle it." He assured them and went to turn around.

     "Amias—" He froze to look back at his kings, "Your eyes." Aro pointed at his own eyes to signal something to him. Amias caught his reflection in the mirror and and noticed the topaz colour that stood out in the sea of red, "I see you've taken to Carlisle's diet. I'm afraid you will need your strength to carry this out."

     Aro ushered Heidi who stood by the doors and she opened them to let the person who was behind it in; and in came Felix with a woman that was as confused as she was terrified. Amias looked over at Aro intriguingly when she was placed in front of him and the king urged him.

     Animal blood didn't diminish his strength in any way—if anything, it changed nothing—it only tasted absolutely disgusting and he hated it. Aro knew that. There wouldn't be anything that could ever compare to the taste of fresh, human blood—even a blood bag. It just wasn't the same.

There wasn't anything in the world that could tire out his gift either. It only seemed to grow more powerful. Animal blood wouldn't diminish it. Despite not wanting to drink it due to the taste, Amias didn't want to disappoint Carlisle—but here, he could tell he was being tested. He was being tested for his loyalty. Coming home with golden eyes was a mistake, but it wouldn't of been something that could've been hidden if Aro simply asked to look in his thoughts. Either way, he would've seen that he changed his diet to please Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens.

     "Go on." Aro urged again and Amias held back the urge to snarl at those god forsaken words. They were the same words that he used when he made him kill Ingrid and the immortal child. It seemed to be his magic words and Amias would bend over backwards to please him. He had him trained like a dog to do his bidding.

     Amias' eyes simply darkened as he lent forward, hearing the girl's pulse quicken with his mouth nearing her neck. He could feel the venom in his mouth build up just from smelling her fear of him. That, he did miss—there was nothing quite like the stench of fear from your victim.

He couldn't quite get this same reaction from animals.

      He kept his eyes solely trained on Aro as he bit down of her neck, his teeth breaking her skin and penetrating her veins before he began to suck; the metallic tasting liquid going down his throat like butter. He refrained from moaning at the taste. Human blood washed his throat like he hadn't drank for days, reminding him of rain after a long period of drought.

     Aro simply smirked when he noticed the golden colour being washed away by a bloody red, the two colours swirling against each other like they were fighting for dominance before the blood red eventually overtook it completely. Most times it could take hours before the colour changed, but with Amias' gift, it could take seconds to revert him to his monstrous and animalistic ways.

     Amias pulled away casually and the woman fell to the ground. He made no effort to hold her up to begin with—he didn't even want to touch her—so he made no effort to try and pick her up either. She just fell to the ground, pale, and completely lifeless.

     With his hands behind his back, he bowed once again before turning around and walking out to his target.

     It didn't take long for Amias to track down the coven that Aro was concerned about. Like he had stated, they were drawing attention to themselves with humans; which made it so much obvious to vampires.

     All he had to do was follow the trail of blood and bodies.

     It was covens like this one that risked the exposure of their kind. Vampires liked hiding in the shadows—it helped fuel their need for the hunt with unsuspecting humans when they didn't know what lurked beyond the darkness of the night. While if humans knew of their existence they would live in a constant state of fear, the hunt was no longer fun.

     Amias liked the build up—the tension. It's what made him feel most powerful than he would day to day. It was the same with the vampires that he was hunting. It was clear with how they had no mercy against their victims with how they tore them apart and scattered their limbs in their trail with no remorse. That was how they felt powerful.

He could hear them not too far away from him, they were cheering and making a ruckus like someone was having a party filled with teenagers and alcohol, but instead it was a hunting party filled with vampires drunk off of human blood... and lots of it, from what Amias could smell.

They didn't even seem to notice him when he finally joined the party, continuing to cheer and feed off of what little was left in each of the humans, any of the mates proceeding to kiss each other. It looked like many parties people see on film where a couple is seen in the corner, shoving their tongues down each other's throat.

     Amias cleared his throat, "Good evening." He greets them and multiple sets of red eyes snap up to meet his, "I hate to ruin this... riveting social gathering you are having, but, I have come to put a stop to your little party."

     "And who are you?" One of the males asked, assuming he was the leader of this coven, shoving one of his victims to the ground and going to walk to him, "And who are you to tell me what to do?"

     He could see some of the coven members beginning to get nervous, one of them even having the balls to try and warn their leader who he was but the leader was too thick in the head to listen.

     "I am but a man asking a girl, if she loves him." Amias says sarcastically, his tone teasing the leader which he did not like one bit.

The leader snarled and lunged at him, Amias quickly ducking out of the way and ripping his head off before anyone could register what was happening. The leader's dismembered body fell to the ground and Amias shot a flame of dark fire at the body, and watched it burn to ash within seconds.

He then let out an exhale and clasped his hands together casually, "Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to business." The clan didn't know what to do next when Amias said, "The Volturi have been watching your antics. Unfortunately—for you—they have sent me to kill you."

The clan immediately scrambled to their feet to try and run, but Amias trapped them in a ring of dark fire. Fire alone was harmful to vampires, but dark fire—as they had just seen with their leader—could kill them within a split second.

"Please!" One of them begged, "Please don't kill us. Just let us go! We'll do better, we promise. Just give us one more chance."

Amias' eyes narrowed on them. They only promised to do better because they got caught. They wouldn't of changed their ways had he not killed one of them and threatened to kill the rest. He seriously doubted they would change and not expose their kind like they were doing so carelessly before.

"The Volturi doesn't give second chances." Amias said coldly before he held his palms out and dark fire seeped out from his hands, spreading towards the coven and it attaching to them like glue.

He only smiled as he heard their screams as they burned to death.