Mimic | Jacob Black

29. The Long but Not So Gone Past

---

"Exactly how much of my past has Edward told you? I've mentioned the Volturi, but I'm unaware of how much you know," Carlisle asked.

"All I know is that you've been alive for centuries, and that you were among the Volturi's ranks in your 'early years' as Edward put it," River told him.

"Alright, so not much," Carlisle concluded. "It might be easier to give you a brief rundown of my journey from the beginning."

River leaned back until he was seated comfortably, making it evident that he was ready to listen.

"Usually, after becoming a vampire, one's human years become harder to remember, but I remember enough, for the most part," Carlisle started. "I was born in the sixteen-forties in London. They didn't measure time as accurately back then, but that I'm certain of. Over the years, my father–an Anglican pastor–led hunts for werewolves, vampires and witches. Most of the time they just ended up killing innocent people. I'll spare you the details of that, but there did end up being a coven of vampires hiding in the sewers below London. I was attacked by one, and after a long painful transformation, I realised I had become one of them.

"I was horrified, to say the least. I refused to kill humans, to become more of a monster than I already was, but one day I found out I could satiate my thirst through consuming animal blood. I figured if I practised enough, I'd be able to tolerate being around humans. So I did. Over the years, I built up my strength and dedicated my time to studying medicine and other things of the sort, all in hopes of becoming someone who could help humans in need."

"And you did," River stated. "That must have been hard. To go through all that and still keep your moral compass."

Carlisle smiled. "Extremely. But worth every second.

"It wasn't until much later on that I stumbled upon the Volturi. They were unique in the sense that I'd never met any other vampires as educated and sophisticated as them. You must understand, I was incredibly lonely by that time. Decades of isolation didn't do much good for the mind. I still wasn't entirely confident in my ability to resist the scent of human blood back then, so I jumped at the chance to join them, to have some company that was much like myself.

"I learned about their history the longer I stayed. It was especially fascinating learning about those who were gifted–had extraordinary abilities." Carlisle leaned forward. "The Volturi, as you know, covet those they deem to be powerful. Many among their ranks possess special gifts of their own. There were many records of different abilities the Volturi had encountered over many millennia. Usually, it is very rare for one to find the same gift more than once or even twice. Obviously, there would be a fair few more scattered throughout the world during any given time, but many still go under researched or just not discovered at all. Even so, there were still quite a large number of entries, and I guarantee it's only grown over time."

No doubt Aro would have already had official entries put in for Alice's precognition, and potentially even Jasper's pathokinesis, if they hadn't already found others like Jasper, since Aro would have seen him in Edward's memories. River was certain the Volturi had never met anyone like Alice at the very least, considering how enthralled Aro was when interacting with her. It was clear he very greatly desired her among their ranks, given she possesses such a powerful gift.

"Among all the entries, I still remember there being one in particular that caught my attention..." Carlisle continued.

"You mean...?" River trailed off.

"Yes," Carlisle confirmed. "Mimics."

"What was so different about mimics?" River asked.

"That there was practically nothing about them. And not in the same sense as most of the lesser-known abilities. This one seemingly had most of the information surrounding it purged. Or at the very least, hidden away." Carlisle smiled almost smugly. "I wanted to stop at nothing for my thirst for knowledge of the vampire world. So seeing this new mystery had me determined to unearth the truth.