Cold…

The fog was cold. Alec Volturi had been incapable of feeling cold for millennia and he found that he did not like it.

All was cold but for the burning, searing pain in his chest and left forearm. It battered at him with harsh blows and bit him with sharp teeth.

He huddled into the softness he could feel against his cheek. It was barely there, in the corner of his mind.

"It's alright," a very fretful voice told him. "Can you hear me, Alec? It'll be alright. Felix and I will get you home. Someone has to know what to do to help you."

He could not answer, for his face, including his mouth, had gone numb, and besides, he could not remember how to speak.

So instead, he slept.

Onward they trudged, snow puffing around their feet as they ran. Alec's small body was cradled protectively in Demetri's arms.

How had the mission gone so wrong? Felix wondered. Their missions never went wrong. They certainly never ended up like this. Terrible.

They reached the castle, and their impending doom, for surely Aro would be angry.

The only sound though, when they reached the castle, was Jane's earth-shattering scream.

The castle was hushed, grim, silent. The only sound was occasional hurried footsteps in the corridors, and low murmurs as they exchanged news on Alec's condition.

"How is he…?"

"No better, no worse" was the usual answer.

As for the other Witch Twin, little Jane, she perched on Alec's bed, her ruby eyes wide and glassy, almost unseeing. Without her brother, she was lost. She didn't know what to do without him—it was always "we" with those two, never "I" or "Me".

She looked like what she was—a small frightened girl, barely a year shy of being an illegal immortal child.

Quietly, she read aloud to him from books—not teen romance nonsense, but good books, the classics that he so loved. If he heard her, he gave no response, other than his hand tightening in hers occasionally.

He slept on.

Aro came into the room eventually, to check on his favorites, his beloved Witch Twins. He glanced around—the room was entirely ruby red and black—and then looked at Alec, frowning and sighing heavily.

"How is your brother, Jane dear?"

"No better, no worse," she whispered, huddled into her black cloak. She didn't look at Aro.

"Felix has the culprits locked in the dungeon, my dear."

Her head snapped up and she turned to look at him. For the first time since they'd brought Alec home, her pale lips curved into a smile.

"They are in the dungeon?"

"Yes, they are. They await punishment."

"What punishment have you decided on, Master Aro?" Hope and excitement glimmered in her ruby eyes. She wanted badly to punish them herself.

"That is for you to decide."

"May I punish them myself then, with the use of my gift?"

"You may, of course, if that is what you wish to do, Jane." He had expected nothing else—she loved to use her gift in general, he could only imagine the thrill she would get out of using it to avenge her beloved brother.

In an instant, she was off the bed and out the door, presumably going down to the dungeons.

Casting one glance at the still child on the bed, I followed her out the door.

Jane's red eyes glittered with malice and an overall hatred as she gazed at the writhing figure on the floor. Beautiful screams, full of pain—pain she herself was inflicting—filled the air. She enjoyed the sound and even increased the agony, until it was nearly unbearable for the recipient.

One of the two others let out a nervous laugh and whispered to his companion. In a flash, her head snapped around and he fell victim to her power. His head met the stone floor with a loud crack, the floor splitting on impact.

"I'll teach you to laugh at someone else's punishment," she snarled, keeping her gaze on him.

More than likely, the young—well, younger than her, at roughly 400 years of age— male vampire did not even get a chance to process her words. After only a few minutes, she grew tired of his shrieks and wails, as they were grating on her nerves. She crossed the floor and cut off his cries with a simple twist of her wrist, his head popping off easily. Jane hurled at the wall so that it shattered. She would worry about burning the bodies later. Perhaps she could leave that to Felix.

Or perhaps her brother, upon waking up, would want that privilege himself? If he woke—she cut that thought off.

"P-please, let us go," the lone female started to sob. How dare she interrupt Jane's thoughts? Lips curling back in a snarl, she whirled around with a look that seemed far too savage for such a sweet and lovely face.

"Shut up!" She hissed, already using her gift.

The female vampire screamed and fell to the ground. Jane grabbed hold of her and crushed her head inward, before finally destroying the first, who had been whimpering on the ground.

Her face wearing a satisfied look at last, she looked around at the demolished floor and the crumpled bodies, smiling before she left the dungeons.

Her brother needed her, after all. She couldn't stay here forever.

Once back in Alec's room, she returned to her nearly catatonic state, curling up on the big bed beside him and staring at him.

Alec's condition had not changed in the hour or so she'd been away from him, torturing the culprits.

He lay still in the big bed, face white even for a vampire. He was so small now, as if he'd shrunk in the last day. Jane knew it was not so, but it seemed like it to her.

She watched him.

For three days he did not wake up, nor did he move, nor did he breathe. During these three days his fever mounted higher and higher, but none of them knew what to do about it. Jane stayed curled up at his side, another thing they were unsure how to handle. They were not used to a weak, scared Jane.

But what was there for them to do?

All they could do was go about their normal duties and hope for the best with Alec's condition.

Lucky them—on the fourth day, he finally woke.

When he did, Chelsea had managed to coax Jane away from his bedside for a much-needed break. Demetri had been sitting with him, on Jane's orders.

His head snapped around as soon as Alec's eyes opened. "Alec."

Alec coughed, blood dribbling out over his lips.

Immediately, Demetri was on his feet. "I'll get you a human to drink."

"No," he moaned, "no, don't. Just the thought of drinking one makes me sick."

"What do you need then?"

"Nothing, just let me be…"

"I will get you a human," he repeated, and darted off into the corridor, quickly disappearing. Alec sighed and relaxed into the pillows, letting his eyes close again.

"My dear Alec." It felt like only seconds later that Aro drifted in and took a seat in the armchair at the bedside. "Tell me, how are you feeling?"

"Not well, Master Aro, but I feel certain I will regain my strength soon."

"I'm sure." Aro's tone was suspiciously soothing and placating, as if he did not believe Alec. "What do you remember?"

"I only remember being sent out on a mission with Demetri and Felix, as well as two or three more inexperienced members of the guard. New ones, if I remember correctly." He paused, thoughtfully. "And then great pain." He shuddered.

"You were badly injured, dear Alec. We feared we were going to lose you."

"Am I still in danger of death?"

"No, I believe the danger, at least the worst of it, has passed for now. You should be resting."

Alec began to protest but then thought better of it and closed his eyes again, nodding obediently. "Yes, Master Aro."

"Your sister will be overjoyed to hear you have woken. I will send her in shortly."

"How is she?" Alec's eyes opened again.

"She has not been well," Aro said carefully. "She has worried over you over the last several days. She only left your side, oh, an hour ago. I hope she will feel better upon seeing you awake and alive." He disappeared out the door.

Alec could do nothing but close his eyes again and wait for his sister.

Sometime later, a hand slipped into his own.

"You have woken," Jane said.

He nodded, too tired to open them again.

"You are not to do that to me again," she said, her tone holding a warning. "I found it unbearable."

"I am sorry, sister."

"You should be. I want you to promise, Alec."

"I promise…never again."

Ah, bit of a cheesy ending that I might go back and rewrite later. Thoughts?