Nora shuffled from foot to foot, boots making an unpleasant scraping noise against the worn sacramento green wood of the porch that belonged to her childhood home.

Disheartened, she turned back to face the front door after seeing that Bella's ugly, rusty red truck was not parked in the driveway. 'I knew she'd be at the fucking Cullens.'

Marcus stood to her right, his body so rigid he looked like some crazy marble statue. His face was stoic, eyebrows set into a hard expression. His tall, muscled form looked even bulkier thanks to the ankle length, textured black winter coat he was wearing. After a lot of debate they had decided that he needed to try and fit in or 'look human', even though he was unaffected by the frigid temperatures of Forks.

Exasperated, she thumped him gently on the arm to gain his attention. "Would you chill or...loosen up or something? You look like you're gonna kill someone."

To his effort he did try, relaxing his face as much as possible and loosening his shoulders. Clearing his throat he clasped his hands in front of him. Despite his efforts he just looked...odd. 'Hopeless. So hopeless.'

Nora was sure that was partly because of the fact he wasn't wearing his normal clothes, instead settling on a pair of dark jeans and a well fitted, long sleeved black crew neck.

"Forgive me, my love. I seem to be feeling a bit nervous." Now that was a shock to hear.

Though she supposed she understood. If their parents were still alive, she'd be bricking it at the idea of having to meet them. What was worse was that she hadn't told her dad about being in a relationship, so this was going to be...interesting, to say the least.

"It'll be fine." Her attempt at comforting him was funny, considering the audible nerves that shook her own voice.

Having enough of both of their restlessness and the cold that bit at her exposed skin, she decided the longer they dragged this out the worse they'd both feel. So, giving his hand a quick squeeze, she raised her balled fist to knock on the thin glass. The wait for her dad to answer was long and agonizing, but when the door opened all of her anxiety left her so suddenly it was like she'd never felt it at all.

His smile was huge, the biggest she'd ever seen on him. "Kiddo! You're here!"

Giving him one that was just as bright, she laughed and stepped into his open arms, basking in the comfort and warmth only her dad's hug could bring her. "Hey dad."

He pushed her back gently, holding her shoulders so he could check over her like he always did. "You're looking great kid, Italy must agree with you, huh?"

"I guess so." She nodded, complaining with a huff when he ruffled her plaited hair. "Dad!"

His relaxed composure completely vanished when he finally noticed Marcus, who was standing awkwardly to the side. Her dad stood up straight, stiffening his back and shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans; she groaned when she realized he was putting on his intimidating 'cop' persona. He looked Marcus up and down slowly, dark eyes so scrutinous that Marcus actually shuffled under his stare and wished that one of his brothers could be here to take his place.

Leaning his body back to try and look relaxed, Nora laughed uncomfortably when her dad looked down at her. The suspicion in his eyes was clear as day to her, as was the restrained anger in his voice.

"Who's this, Elenora?"

Okay, so this wasn't gonna go as smoothly as she had hoped.

Rain beat relentlessly against the streets of Seattle, sky dark and not a hopeful ray of sunlight in sight.

Biting at his already short nails out of boredom, Joshua Goodman's lifeless and dull blue eyes stared out of the window next to his seat, the incessant chatter of the other occupants in the cramped coffee shop worsening his already sour mood.

Sighing, he placed his heavy head in his hand to hold it up as he continued to stare, smiling at a group of girls who giggled at him as they walked past the window and trying to ignore that his mind was currently stuck, replaying the reason as to why he was there. He just...couldn't understand it.

What need did he have for a job? His parents were fucking rich, and where his father wouldn't cough up the goods, his mother was more than willing to oblige–he had her wrapped around his finger and effectively that meant he had control of his father too.

So why he had come to Josh yesterday, raving about the opportunity to work for some new Italian pharmaceutical company he had heard about was beyond him. But apparently, he had been specially selected by the head of the board, given the opportunity to work as a paid intern that would eventually reward him the role of lead medicinal chemist. Of course, Josh had turned his nose up at it–the same could not be said for his father, who had all but jumped at the opportunity to get rid of him. Tediously, he had gone behind Josh's back and agreed to a meeting.

So...here he was, waiting for the famous lead man himself to show up. 'What a fucking joke.'

If he was being honest, he thought this whole situation was sketchy, that his father was being a fucking idiot. It was no lie he was good at biochemistry, but he had only taken it to shut his parents up. He hadn't expected this at all and, what was worse was...he wasn't sure he really believed that this little story was true.

While he was good, he wasn't smart enough for this kind of company to seek him out specifically. Still, he wouldn't stir his fathers anger. He just had to get this out of the way, fail the 'interview' and he could get straight back to living his comfortable life.

As he watched the rain batter against flimsy umbrella's, watched people run for cover, he heard the bell above the door ding. Reluctantly, he towed his admiring gaze away from a timid and pretty mousy haired girl who had taken shelter under a large oak tree, his eyes flitting over to the doorway to subtly check who had come in.

What he saw left his mouth hanging open, all of the muscles in his body tensing. The... 'man' who had just entered, if he could even be referred to as such, commanded the instant respect of the room, the whole atmosphere of the once lively café dimming and the chatter growing quiet. The raven haired newcomer paid them no mind and shook out his billowing black trench coat before he removed it, hanging it on the rack to the side of the door.

Josh, along with every other person in the establishment, took the time to examine him. He had long midnight black hair that might have looked ridiculous on others, though on him it was rather haunting and made his unnaturally pale skin so light it was near translucent. He was dressed from head to toe in a clearly expensive, perfectly kept all black suit, right down to his leather shoes. By the looks of it he was somehow miraculously untouched by the rain, as if it hadn't dared to place even a drop on him.

To put it bluntly...he was one of the most attractive people Josh had ever seen, almost disturbingly so. The confidence and grace with which he carried himself told Joshua one thing–this must have been the guy.

Josh, realizing he was gawping at the unbothered man just like everyone else, quickly snapped his mouth closed. The action did nothing to take his mind off of how surprised he was. No, the better word for it was awe. He had been expecting some crotchety old grandpa, stern and serious in face. Not this...young, charismatic man who was so abnormally attractive Josh wouldn't have been surprised if he was the devil, come to collect his soul for all of the sin's he had committed.

As he turned in his direction, Josh finally got to see the eyes that had been hidden from him. He couldn't hold back his shiver as those eyes, an odd almost purple blue, scanned the room before they connected with his unremarkable ones, the shockingly red lips on the man's alabaster face pulling into an eerie smile that made Josh severely uncomfortable.

His shoes, real leather oxfords that only someone of great wealth could afford, clicked along the wooden floor as he glided towards Josh and the two seater table he resided at. As he approached, Josh found he was battling his fight or flight instincts–the most prominent the urge to run away.

Finally, the man stopped in front of the small table, so close that Josh could feel the coolness that radiated off of him. Feigning politeness, the nervous boy rose to meet him. "Mr Baldissare? I–it is a pleasure to meet you."

He offered his hand respectfully, hoping to god that the intimidating male wouldn't notice the sweat accumulating on his palm. In the end there was no need to be nervous, as the hand that rose to shake his was covered by a...black glove? It was...odd but, Josh reasoned with himself that Mr Baldassarre could have just been a germaphobe.

Lips stretching into another spine chilling smile, the man inclined his head. "Call me Aro, please. Such a pleasure it is, Joshua." The way he almost...hissed his name made Josh wince. His deep voice, slightly accented, sounded nice enough but Josh could have sworn there was an underlying note of hostility.

Shaking the chills away, he pulled his hand from the man's bone shattering grip with a pained grimace he tried to disguise as an easy and charming grin, nodding his head to the chair opposite his. "Please, have a seat."

Folding his gloved hands in front of him formally, Aro's eyes looked critically at the selected table. "I think not."

Disturbed by his words and the old–fashioned way in which he spoke, Josh chuckled nervously.

"Uh...what?"

Flashing his perfect teeth, Aro released his own chuckle, though it was a humorless one. "I have other plans for us, young Joshua."

''Young Joshua?' He can't be that much older than me.'

"What, uh...what plans?" Pushing in the uncomfortable chair he had been sitting in, Josh sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as Aro took his time in answering, plucking an invisible hair from his pristine suit.

"You will see. At the present moment, I wish to know more about you." Aro's charm was hypnotising and, as he beckoned Josh towards the door the confused boy found he couldn't help but to follow.

"Don't you want anything to eat?" Josh questioned nervously, casting a fleeting glance at the counter behind them.

Aro shook his head, coming to walk closely behind him. With an unnerving glint in his violet eyes, he spoke without bestowing even a glance upon Josh. "I am not hungry. Though I am sure I will find my appetite later."

Josh couldn't say why, but the strange man's words that sounded harrowingly like a promise, made his stomach twist with nausea.

Marcus couldn't really remember the last time he had been this...uncomfortable, or for that matter the last time he had actually been frightened of a mortal.

But, that privilege would have to fall to Nora's father, who was sat just as stiffly as Marcus was in his own chair across the kitchen table.

Casting a brief look at Nora, who was making them all some coffee out of courtesy, he met the 'older' man's dark chocolate eyes and smiled a nervous smile that was not returned. "You, um...have a lovely home, Chief Swan."

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Nora's shoulders shaking and could hear her muffled giggling. The beginnings of his glaring at her were interrupted when her father, seemingly from thin air, pulled out a large shotgun and slammed it unceremoniously on the table in between them.

Marcus gulped, truly disturbed by the vicious gleam in the Chief's eyes. The man reached down, pulling a small and rectangular gray kit from the side of his chair, opening it to reveal...cleaning materials?

"You ever used a gun, Marcus?" The Chief's gravelly voice was nowhere near being nice, stained with his dislike for the 'younger' man. Marcus had to admit he appreciated Charlie's bluntness and the way he was so clearly and overbearingly protective of Nora. She had a wonderful father, one that Caius would have loved to meet.

Stilling his hands that had been subconsciously fixing the ends of his sleeves, he tried to relax. Though his mate's father was not making it easy, and he wondered to god why he had been the one who had to come. Still wearing that smile in spite of his nervous disposition, Marcus adamantly shook his head. "I am glad to say I have not, Sir."

It was one of the most demeaning moments of his life, calling a mortal 'sir' when he was so old, so wise and to most so terrifying.

'If people could see me now.'

"Good, that's good." For the first time since their entrance into the quaint home, Charlie smiled at him; Marcus couldn't bring himself to smile back. There was some badly concealed animosity in that smile, that on the surface was so similar to Nora's. It kept Marcus on his toes and from truly feeling comfortable. "What do you have an interest in Marcus? What do you do for a living?"

Ah, here it was then. He would now have to prove his worth, prove that he could care for Nora sufficiently and that he could be trusted to look after her.

Noticing Nora tilt her head in their direction, he relaxed a little when he remembered she was there. Surely she'd step in if her father attempted to kill him, something he looked very keen on doing right this second, his finger hovering over the trigger in an obvious warning.

"I am in business with my brothers, Chief Swan. Stocks and shares. I'm afraid it's all very dull."

Charlie chuckled threateningly, placing the cleaning rod in his hand on the table so he could smooth his hand down the barrel of the gun. "So, your income is pretty unreliable then, huh? You like taking risks?"

Marcus knew Charlie's unasked question. Would he ever risk his daughter? Her safety or her life?

"Not at all." Marcus, contrary to his words, took a gamble and leaned back in his chair, letting his true nature come out to play. "If you invest correctly, great profit can be reaped. Profit that can benefit all." At this, he made sure Charlie noticed the way his eyes flickered over to Nora who was standing back and watching it play out, picking at the skin of her fingers. "It's all about the logistics. Thinking over feeling, using your head rather than your heart. I'm sure you can understand that? Given what you do."

Charlie, with an unreadable look in his nearly black eyes, jerked the gun in his hand so the separate pieces slotted back together with a loud snap. He paused for a hefty second, observing the lethal weapon in his hand like it was the most precious thing in the world, or as if he were...debating whether to use it.

When he sighed in resignation and moved to place it standing up against the wall, Marcus saw Nora's tense body deflate before she threw him a thumbs up. He wouldn't admit it, but he was put at ease now that he'd passed the 'test'. He wasn't sure, if it had been his brothers in his place, that they would have succeeded. Charlie Swan was a surprisingly scary man, to have one of the three fearless Volturi leaders all but shaking where he sat.

Thankfully, Caius had been told to stay back in Seattle to monitor the newborns, and Aro had...disappeared somewhere. 'Lucky bastards.'

Nora approached the table, impressively holding the handles of the two mugs of coffee in one hand and a beer in the other, which she placed in front of her father with a relieved giggle. "Well, now that that's out of the way, let's talk about something else, huh?"

"Fine," Charlie agreed placidly, crossing his arms over his chest, daring eyes still silently challenging and goading Marcus when Nora took his limp hand in hers, twining their fingers together. "Why don't you tell me how you met then?"

If the amused little twitch of his mustache was anything to go by, he was loving how uncomfortable he was making them both. This was going to be a long afternoon.

"...and uh I guess I've been interested ever since then, but I've gotta admit I only ever really took biochemistry because my parents wanted me to."

Aro, who was walking mostly silently besides Josh as they wandered the Seattle streets under the shade of the clouds, merely hummed and stared forward with a calculated gaze. "That is...interesting, Joshua." Josh nearly scoffed, since Aro was doing nothing to hide how uninterested he actually was, malicious amusement for Josh's no doubt boring life in comparison to his evident in his voice.

Oblivious to his surroundings and turning a street corner on auto pilot, Josh lost the nice pretense and decided to say exactly what he was thinking. Screw his father and his disappointment. "Look Mr Baldissare, if you don't care about me or my life, why are we even doing this?"

Aro chuckled, stopping short so Josh would have to stand in front of him. "On the contrary, Joshua, I'm very interested about you; your thoughts, your reasonings...what makes you such a horrifically disgusting human being."

"Wha–" Josh began to stutter as Aro tilted his head, his once violet eyes now bleeding a startling red. "What the hell is wrong with you?! What are you talking about?"

Aro tutted, shaking his head and sweeping his coat as he walked around Josh, circling him and making him feel as if he were a feeble mouse caught in the claws of the cat who hunted it.

"Come now, child. You know what I'm referring to."

Finally seeming to realize what a bad situation he was in, Josh's tan skin paled to a garish white. His eyes flitted around him, noticing with dread they were now in a completely silent, deserted street. The rain that had now stopped must have driven everyone inside.

'Shit.'

Aro, with a sickly grin that sent Josh's heart racing, stopped before him once more. "Make no mistake, Joshua. I am a deeply bad man, with a black heart and a withered soul. I've done many atrocious things in my life. But you," Aro whistled, shaking his head in disbelief. "You are truly the embodiment of evil."

"Look man," Josh laughed nervously, muscles jolting as he tried to decide whether to face this guy head on should he try something, or run away like a pathetic wimp. "I have no idea what you're talking abo–"

"Yes, you do." Aro seethed, losing any and all welcoming behavior he had before. "You are despicable. You would stand here and lie if I gave you the opportunity, like you have done to so many others. Fortunately for me but unfortunately for you, I know the truth as to what you are–Un mostro perverso." Closing his eyes, Aro breathed deeply, collecting himself.

"I'm going to ask you something Joshua and if you lie to me, things will become infinitely more...difficult for you. Do you understand?"

On the brink of literally pissing himself, Josh's miniscule shred of courage that he had left evaporated and he made to rush past Aro to escape. He released a strangled, fearful gasp when his arm was snatched in a bone shattering grip, his feet stumbling as he was thrown harshly to the floor. Groaning, he gasped to get air into his winded lungs, feeling like he'd just been hit by a car."Dude, wha–what the fuck?!"

Standing ominously over him with not a hair out of place, Aro smirked in dark glee, those terrifying red eyes filled with fire. "I said, do you understand, boy?"

Pathetically nodding to avoid any further pain, Josh flinched and embarrassingly wailed when Aro stepped closer, his expensive shoe crushing the end of Josh's finger. "Wonderful. Now," Aro crossed his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth in front of Josh's sprawled body. "This is the only question that matters, so let's be truthful, yes? Do you know someone...called Elenora Swan?"

At the name, and remembering what he...did to her, Josh knew he was done for. "N–no." He denied anyway, trembling voice and shifty eyes giving away that he very much did know.

Aro sighed in mock disappointment, pursing his lips before they split into a delighted grin that masked his building rage. "Poor Joshua. I really had hoped that you would be honest, things would have been simpler for you if you had. No matter, it's always so much more fun this way...you'll see. Jane."

Too quickly for his eyes to catch, a small girl no older than 12 or 13 appeared at Aro's side, her angelic face ten times as terrifying as Aro's when she grinned down at him, giggling a tinkling little bell like laugh when Josh cowered on the wet concrete. "Master?"

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Aro nodded to Josh, his body tensed with anticipation. "Show our friend here, the same courtesy he bestowed upon your Queen. Continue until this filth can no longer bear to be awake."

She bowed her head, her own radiant scarlet eyes filling with sadistic joy. "With pleasure, my King."

Just like that, burning pain hit him, so raw and all encompassing that he screeched like a wounded animal. The excruciating rolling waves of fire burned through every nerve in his body, consuming his mind with so much agony he would sooner die than experience it a second longer.

"Ple—please." He begged pathetically, voice stuck in his throat as he struggled to breath, his face turning a sickening purple; as another wave of pain fell over him his mouth fell open and he screamed once more. The pain seemed to go on forever–never ending. His headache inducing screeches, loud and ear shattering, soon died out and the burning feeling became all his subconscious could focus on. As he slipped into the blissful reprieve of darkness, he knew one thing.

He had been right.

The devil had finally come to drag his soul down to the fiery pits of hell.