Twilight The Stranger's Gaze

If you want to support (To continue with the chapters and improve the quality of the language)or read some advance chapters please follow me on: patreon.com/Jayjayempi

Nate kept his gaze fixed on the blond-haired vampire, his fingers discreetly brushing against the handle of the knife hidden in his pocket. The silence between them felt like a taut wire.

Stefan raised an eyebrow before letting out a low, dry laugh, like the rustle of dead leaves.

"So I see, Vladimir. Apparently, Richard lied to us."

The name hit Nate in the gut with brutal force, making him take an involuntary step forward, his lips parting slightly, disbelief etched across his face.

Alice, who remained in front of him in a protective stance, turned her head slightly, her dark eyes blinking with recognition as she murmured,

"Vladimir and Stefan…? Are you the survivors of the Romanian coven?"

Vladimir rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh heavy with weariness as he crossed his arms with almost theatrical flair.

"'Survivor' isn't exactly a word I care for."

Stefan chuckled softly, that sharp-edged amusement marking his tone as he cast a mocking glance at his companion.

"At least we're still relevant among our kind, Vladimir."

Then his eyes shifted with feline agility toward Alice, scanning her from head to toe before he tilted his head, his voice tinged with rough curiosity.

"And what coven do you come from, girl?"

Alice pressed her lips together, her shoulders tensing with distrust, but she took a breath before answering firmly.

"From the Cullen coven."

For a moment, silence was filled with a spark of recognition before Vladimir's eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and enthusiasm.

"Ah, of course! Carlisle…" he said, as if savoring the name on his tongue. "It's been centuries since I last heard of him, not since he walked away from that Italian filth."

He spat out the last word with such disdain that venom laced his voice, waving a hand dismissively.

Nate, his breathing steady and his mind racing, quietly slipped the knife from inside his jacket, keeping it hidden but ready, before asking in a low, hard voice,

"How do you know my father?"

Stefan tilted his head, almost curious, his amused smile returning as his red eyes flickered to Nate's hand.

"Your father and we were… partners," he said, testing the word lightly. "For some years now, isn't that right, Vladimir?"

Vladimir shrugged indifferently, his scarlet eyes glinting as he inspected a family portrait on the wall.

"I'm not entirely sure how much time has passed, to be honest. Time is… a flexible concept for us."

Alice turned slightly toward Nate, her hand calmly reaching out to touch his arm, giving him a look urging him to lower his guard, if only a little. Her eyes carried a warning, but also calm.

"Nate," she said softly, loud enough for the Romanians to hear, "they… they're Vladimir and Stefan, the former leaders of the Romanian coven. One of the oldest covens before the Volturi destroyed them."

Her gaze moved from Vladimir to Stefan, carefully assessing them before returning to Nate.

"If they haven't attacked us, it's because that's not why they're here."

Alice kept her hand on Nate's arm, her black eyes, darkened by thirst, fixed on the Romanians cautiously. She took a breath, though she didn't need it, before speaking calmly.

"The Romanian coven… it was one of the largest, Nate. Centuries ago, before the Volturi rose."

Stefan smiled, and it was a cold sort of nostalgia, like the taste of ash on the tongue.

"We were kings," he said softly, his voice almost trembling with the memory.

Vladimir turned his eyes toward his companion, raising an eyebrow with dry irony as he corrected.

"Gods, Stefan. We ruled over all for a millennium."

The gleam in his red eyes sharpened, a flicker of wounded pride mixed with ancient rage as he crossed his legs elegantly.

Alice nodded, though cautiously, finishing in a barely audible voice.

"Until the Volturi overthrew them. Since then… only they remain."

The atmosphere tightened. A dark pulse ran through the room as the two Romanian vampires exchanged a look, their faces hardening at those words. Stefan's lips tightened with distaste while Vladimir tilted his head, his eyes fixed on Alice with an unsettling gleam.

Without invitation, both sat down on the sofa across from Nate and Alice, as if they still had the right to occupy any space they entered. Stefan propped an elbow on the back of the sofa with casual air while Vladimir leaned forward, hands clasped, gaze intense.

"Now that you know who we are," Vladimir began in an authoritative tone, letting the tension settle between each word, "I believe it's a good time for you to introduce yourself."

"Richard never told us your name…" Stefan added immediately, with the same cadence, his tone loaded with curiosity as he tilted his head slightly, assessing Nate with predatory eyes.

Nate took a deep breath, his fingers tightening around the hidden knife as he forced himself to remain calm. His jaw tightened before he answered firmly.

"Nathaniel Winter."

His eyes moved between the two of them before locking in with wary distrust, his voice making it clear he wouldn't yield so easily.

"Now… I want to know how you knew my father."

The Romanians exchanged a look, sharing a smile that was both complicit and mocking. Vladimir leaned back into the sofa while Stefan toyed with a loose thread on his jacket, and in unison, they began to speak with that unsettling cadence that completed each other unnaturally.

"Before we start telling stories…" Stefan began, in a tone almost kind.

"It would be polite to put that knife somewhere it can't do harm," Vladimir finished, leaning toward Nate as his smile widened.

Nate's heart jumped in his chest, his eyes widening slightly as his fingers clenched around the knife's handle. The air seemed to grow colder as a spark of alarm passed between him and Alice.

"How… how do you know about the knife?" Nate asked, his voice tinged with disbelief, unable to maintain the calm facade for a moment.

Stefan let out a low, dry laugh, looking up at the ceiling with an almost theatrical gesture.

"We recognize the scent," he said, his smile twisting into a near-amused smirk.

"After all…" Vladimir continued, leaning closer toward Nate, his eyes glinting with dark amusement, "It smells a bit like the vampire we used to create it."

The silence that followed was absolute. A heavy, dense heartbeat filled the room as the air seemed to drain away. Nate felt the world stop for an instant, unable to fully process what they had just said.

Alice, beside him, had gone utterly still, her eyes so dark they looked like bottomless pits, fixed on the two vampires before them, her lips parting with a gasp laden with repulsion and fear.

The ticking of the clock on the wall thundered like a drum amid that moment, marking the pulse of a tension that threatened to snap with a single movement.

Nate exhaled, feeling the weight of the tension that had formed in the room as his hand, with visible reluctance, released the knife. He walked over to the nearby dresser, placing it on top, out of reach, the metal catching a final glint before lying still.

"I suppose what they say is true…" he murmured, bitterness in his voice as he looked back at the Romanians. "No other vampire knew about this knife until now."

The Romanians looked at each other before letting out a low laugh, a dry humor reverberating against the walls of the house.

"He's a clever boy, this Nathaniel," Vladimir remarked with a crooked smile, the deliberate use of the full name marking each syllable with a hint of mocking respect.

"Very clever," Stefan added, crossing one leg over the other with satisfied air.

Nate held their gaze boldly before walking back, taking a seat across from them. The sofa creaked slightly under his weight, but he didn't flinch. Alice positioned herself beside him, almost like a protective shadow, though her dark eyes never left the Romanians.

There was a moment of stillness, like a held breath before a storm, before the Romanians settled into the sofa as if they were the hosts of a house that wasn't theirs.

Vladimir began, each word heavy with the weight of ancient history.

"Throughout the centuries, Nathaniel, we have sought ways to destroy our enemies."

"The Volturi," Stefan continued immediately, his voice dripping with disdain, the name itself seeming to taint the air. "Aro, Caius, and Marcus… names that will haunt us for the rest of eternity, until we finally destroy them."

Their red eyes seemed to burn with the echo of that ancient hatred, a hatred so deep that even time had failed to dull it.

"We tried everything to eliminate them," Vladimir explained, waving a hand with a graceful gesture devoid of hope. "Traps, ambushes, even entire armies."

Stefan let out a humorless laugh as he added,

"All of it failed."

Silence fell for a second before Vladimir resumed, his gaze fixed on a distant point, as if seeing scenes drenched in fire and ash.

"Perhaps our most notable attempt was when we created an army of newborns. We thought we'd have the advantage, with the strength and hunger of hundreds of young vampires on our side."

"But we hadn't counted on the Volturi having prepared their own hand…" Stefan added, his voice lower now, almost a growl.

"They had acquired their champions," Vladimir said, his gaze reflecting bitterness.

"Their monsters," Stefan corrected with disgust, his lips curling with distaste. "Those repulsive twins."

Nate leaned forward, his pulse drumming in his ears as he absorbed every word.

"With just those two, and a handful of others, they shredded our army," Vladimir explained, each word landing like a hammer in the tension-laden air.

Stefan nodded slowly, his hands clasped over his knee as the past reflected in his red eyes.

"In the end… only the two of us survived," he said firmly, "watching, learning."

Vladimir continued immediately, without pause,

"And slowly, the Volturi began to acquire more champions. First, the twins…"

"Then Felix," Stefan added, frowning, "who they say is unbeatable in combat."

Vladimir let out a low, humorless laugh, his fangs barely visible.

"And then that disgusting bloodhound they send after us every few years…"

Alice couldn't help but interrupt, her voice slicing through the air as the name slipped from her lips, laden with anxiety:

"Demetri."

The name triggered an immediate reaction in the two Romanians. Vladimir tilted his head with disdain while Stefan let out a low growl, as if the word left a bitter taste on his tongue.

"Ah, yes, Demetri…" Vladimir said with contempt. "Aro's tracker, his loyal pet."

"A hound that never tires of chasing us…" Stefan completed, a glint of restrained fury in his eyes. "Even now, every decade or two, they send him to check if we're still alive."

Nate leaned forward, frustration creeping into his voice.

"And what does any of this have to do with my father?"

The silence broke with a deep, dry laugh from Vladimir, who threw his head back before looking at Nate with amusement in his red eyes.

"Patience, Nathaniel," he said mockingly, like a teacher reprimanding an impatient student. "Every story deserves to be told in its proper order."

Stefan settled back into the sofa, letting the back creak heavily before continuing, picking up where they had left off.

"We learned from the Volturi that among our kind… sometimes these 'gifts' manifest," he explained, raising a hand and turning it in a vague gesture. "Unique abilities… perceptions, tracking, among others…"

"But finding a vampire with a useful gift is almost impossible," Vladimir added, resentment in every word. "The Volturi have had extreme luck with that, collecting talents like children collect toys."

Stefan's eyes darkened with a shadow of frustration as he spoke,

"We tried it ourselves. We sought out useful individuals, turned random humans, hoping to awaken a gift in one of them…"

"We even tried with ourselves," Vladimir continued, his voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. "We tried… to force it, to find a spark that would make us different. But nothing."

Stefan shook his head, resignation etched into his marble features.

"It was all in vain."

For a moment, the two fell silent, as if feeling the weight of centuries of failed attempts and forgotten massacres.

"After a millennium of failing in everything we tried," Vladimir resumed, his voice heavy, "we decided it was best to… wait."

"To wait for someone, someday, to rise against the Volturi," Stefan finished with a crooked smile. "And to be there to see it happen, and to ensure they fall."

Nate swallowed, his breathing ragged as he tried to understand what any of this had to do with his father in this millennia-old story of hatred and revenge.

"So we continued our existence…" Vladimir said with a sweeping gesture of his hands, "traveling, feeding… staying under the radar."

"Until, a few years ago," Stefan continued, a spark of dark humor in his eyes, "we were feeding in a nearby city."

"Some people died, of course," Vladimir added indifferently. "These things happen."

Stefan shrugged with an almost theatrical sigh.

"Much later we learned that a 'client' of Richard's had been accused of killing one of those humans we had consumed."

"But to us, it didn't matter," Vladimir continued with a sneer. "Humans always find someone to blame."

"However…" Stefan added, his smile fading as his gaze turned serious, "Richard didn't leave it at that."

Vladimir clicked his tongue, recalling the detail with amusement.

"He started investigating us."

Stefan raised an eyebrow, a mixture of respect and disbelief crossing his expression.

"And we didn't even notice."

Vladimir let out a low laugh.

"We have a habit of not staying in one place for long, Nathaniel. It's the only way to avoid the Volturi's hound."

"But Richard…" Stefan leaned forward, his voice filled with an odd respect. "He didn't give up."

"Somehow, he managed to find us…" Vladimir continued, almost impressed. "In another city, months later."

Stefan narrowed his eyes, a small smile at the corners of his lips.

"He managed to ambush us, Nathaniel. With a group of armed humans."

Vladimir let out a dry chuckle, as if remembering a private joke.

"We killed them all easily, of course."

"But Richard…" Stefan continued, now with a glint of genuine admiration in his red eyes. "Richard was different."

Vladimir nodded slowly, almost solemnly.

"He was the only one who knew exactly what we were… although he called us 'cold ones.'"

Nate blinked, a shiver running down his spine as the puzzle pieces about his father began falling into place.

"He must have discovered it like I did, through the Quileute stories…" he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.

"He impressed us," Vladimir confessed, resting an elbow on the back of the sofa as he spun a ring between his fingers, lost in thought. "Your father, Nathaniel, was… different."

"A human who thought," Stefan finished with a crooked smile.

"So instead of killing him… we invited him to join us." Vladimir raised an eyebrow, gauging Nate's reaction.

The young man tensed, the muscles in his jaw tightening as he held his breath.

"But Richard refused," Stefan continued, a note of disappointment in his voice. "We insisted, of course. We couldn't turn too many without drawing attention… but finding someone with his potential… it was a treasure."

"We were elated." Vladimir let out a soft laugh, remembering an ancient triumph. "But he kept saying he didn't want to leave his family behind… that he didn't want to lose his humanity, though he admitted he was afraid."

Nate's eyes burned, his hands curling into fists, knuckles white, a dull beat pounding at his temples.

"So we gave him two choices, Nathaniel," Stefan said, his tone so casual it made the skin crawl. "Join us…"

"...or die right then and there," Vladimir finished coldly, letting the words drop like stones into the room.

"Bastards…" Nate muttered through gritted teeth, trembling with fury.

Vladimir noticed his red eyes sliding to Nate's clenched fists, but he ignored them with cruel indifference as he continued:

"But your father, always a resourceful man, proposed a third option."

Stefan smiled with a touch of respect.

"He offered to find someone else for us… someone useful."

Nate looked up, his breathing ragged.

"And you accepted?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course, we didn't fully believe him…" Vladimir replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "But his logic was sound, and the idea of a human hunting talents for us amused us."

"So we gave him a year," Stefan added, leaning forward with his hands clasped. "A year to find someone worthy."

"Why didn't you just turn him by force?" Nate spat bitterly. "Why didn't you just take him?"

Vladimir looked at him, the red gleam in his pupil flickering, as if speaking to a child who didn't grasp the obvious.

"What use is a forcibly turned fledgling to us?" he said with disdain. "Allies are chosen, Nathaniel, not manufactured. A convert turned against their will is a potential enemy."

Stefan nodded slowly, an echo of truth in his eyes.

"We needed a partner, not a problem."

Silence settled in the room for a moment, broken only by the hum of the lamp and Nate's quickening heartbeat.

"And your father kept his word…" Vladimir resumed, a wolfish smile appearing on his face. "In that year, he tracked down several humans with potential… with these 'gifts' we've spoken of."

"But…" Stefan raised a finger, waving it theatrically, "none of them agreed."

"All with their excuses…" Vladimir made a mocking gesture with his hand. "Family, fear, morality… human nonsense."

"Richard didn't press further," Stefan continued, with a grimace of annoyance. "Even though we pressured him."

"And when the deadline came…" Vladimir continued, a dangerous glint in his eyes, "We confronted him."

Nate leaned forward, holding his breath, ready to hear how they had killed his father.

"But…" Stefan smiled, a spark of respect in his gaze. "What he had accomplished in that year was… impressive. His research, the names he found, the trails…"

"He was too good to kill," Vladimir concluded with a shrug. "So we gave him a final challenge."

The air seemed to crackle with tension, Nate's eyes fixed on them.

"In this very city," Stefan said, his voice heavy enough to chill the bones, "we heard there was a child of the moon."

"A being like us… immortal," Vladimir added, "but under the full moon… stronger, faster, immune to vampire gifts."

Nate sat up abruptly, comprehension flashing in his eyes.

"That… that was in the last entry of his journal…" he murmured. "I… I thought he meant the Quileute…"

Alice, who had remained silent until then, whispered in disbelief, her dark eyes wide:

"Children of the moon… are extinct… Caius hunted them for centuries…"

Vladimir chuckled, a low, dark sound.

"Ah, Caius…" he said with disdain, "that fanatic has spent centuries trying to wipe them out."

Stefan tilted his head, a mocking glint in his eyes.

"But as always, the Volturi are too busy playing kings… to see the cracks in their own world."

"Since we couldn't stay long in the city…" Stefan continued, his gaze fixed on the dim room, "We offered Richard a deal."

"He would find the child of the moon for us…" Vladimir went on, crossing his arms as a half-smile appeared on his face, "and with that… we'd be even."

Nate swallowed, eyes locked on them, a chill running down his spine.

"Richard accepted," Stefan said with a slight shrug, "albeit reluctantly."

"We understood…" Vladimir added, a mocking glint in his eyes. "After all, it isn't easy to hunt something that can kill you with its bare hands."

"Why…?" Nate forced himself to speak, his voice low but firm. "Why didn't you go after this… child of the moon yourselves?"

The Romanians exchanged a quick glance before letting out soft laughter, a low sound that filled the room with tension.

"Because we already tried, Nathaniel," Stefan explained patiently. "We heard rumors that one of them was in this city."

"But every time we got close…" Vladimir gestured with his hand as if vanishing into thin air. "It disappeared."

Stefan leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping to a rough whisper.

"Children of the moon… have a keener sense of smell than we do. They detect our presence from miles away. The moment it sensed us… It hid."

"So we needed someone invisible to him," Vladimir concluded, a cold glint in his gaze. "A human… who could get close with a blade."

Nate frowned, his fingers drumming on his knee as he processed every word.

"The blade…?" he murmured.

Stefan nodded slowly, his wolfish smile barely visible in the shadows.

"Curious, isn't it? Children of the moon, even in human form… have skin nearly as tough as ours."

"And they are much stronger than an average human," Vladimir added, a note of respect in his voice. "But not invulnerable."

"That's why we gave Richard the blade," Stefan explained, crossing one leg over the other with casual ease. "Not to kill him."

"But to present himself in our name," Vladimir finished, letting the words sink in. "A symbol that he came with our word."

"After all…" Stefan tilted his head. "The Volturi nearly exterminated their kind."

"So, Nathaniel…" Vladimir raised an eyebrow. "We had a common enemy."

Nate ran a hand through his hair, breathing heavily, his mind spinning as each piece clicked into place.

The Romanians watched him silently, letting the ticking of the room's clock punctuate the charged air.

"And… what happened next?" Nate asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Stefan shrugged.

"We gave Richard the task, and we left."

"We agreed to meet him in another city…" Vladimir added, frowning slightly. "He was to report his progress."

Stefan inhaled, though he didn't need to.

"But the appointed day came…"

"And Richard never showed up."

Nate felt something cold twist in his stomach, the echo of his father's loneliness in his final days hitting him hard.

"Later, we learned he had died…" Vladimir continued, his tone suddenly somber.

"So we kept moving…" Stefan said, a spark of weariness in his voice. "We roamed this country for months… leaving no traces, evading the Volturi's hound."

"But eventually…" Vladimir looked him in the eyes, an unyielding gleam in his red gaze. "We decided to return."

Stefan leaned forward, a faint glint of anticipation in his eyes.

"We wanted to find out what happened to our… partner."

"And we found…" Vladimir continued, a smile that did little to ease the tension in the room, "…his son."

Stefan narrowed his eyes, studying Nate intently.

"With a vampire… in his own house…"

The silence stretched until it broke as suddenly as it came.

"You know," Stefan said, letting the words hang as he leaned back on the couch, a faint smile on his lips, "your father shared an interesting theory with us, Nathaniel."

Vladimir adjusted the collar of his black coat, tilting his head slightly as he added:

"He discovered it while researching the family trees of people he found interesting…"

The red eyes of both gleamed with intrigue as they spoke, like two ravens sharing an ancient secret.

"The abilities…" Stefan continued, drumming his fingers on the arm of the couch, "those… oddities that manifest in some humans…"

"They are incredibly rare," Vladimir finished calmly, "appearing as traits that often go unnoticed."

Stefan smiled, a single fang glinting coldly.

"But there is an even rarer phenomenon…"

"A phenomenon that…" Vladimir squinted in amusement, "caught our attention."

"Sometimes, Nathaniel…" Stefan said, emphasizing each word, "only sometimes…"

"Those traits… are inherited." Vladimir let the words sink into Nate's mind, heavy in the charged darkness of the room.

Nate felt his breathing quicken, his hands clenching on his knees as he processed every word.

"If a person with a marked trait has a child…" Stefan continued, moving his hands as he spoke, "There is a small chance…"

"A very small chance, truly…" Vladimir added with a smirk, "That the child inherits the trait."

Stefan lowered his voice to a near-whisper:

"But when it happens…"

"The trait is stronger than in the parent," Vladimir said it with a satisfied smile, as if savoring the weight of that truth.

The clock gave a sharp tick in the room.

"That is why…" Stefan continued, leaning forward, "When we found out Richard had a son…"

"We asked if you… were special too," Vladimir concluded, his red eyes fixed on Nate's.

Alice tensed behind him, placing a protective hand on his shoulder.

"And… what did he tell you?" Nate asked, his voice low, tense.

Stefan and Vladimir exchanged a look, sharing a flicker of amusement.

"Richard didn't hesitate…" Stefan said with a hint of mockery.

"To tell us no," Vladimir continued, rolling his eyes, "that you were just an ordinary boy."

Stefan let out a dry laugh.

"But…" he drew out the word, "that doubt lingered."

Vladimir nodded slowly.

"And then… when we returned to this city…"

"And saw you… with the vampire…" Stefan finished, his eyes on Alice, a curious gleam in them.

"You raised our alarms, Nathaniel."

The silence grew heavy in the room, the air nearly vibrating as Nate felt his pulse pounding in his temples.

"Then we saw you…" Vladimir went on with a cold smile, "Decipher your father's journal."

Stefan leaned forward, a shadow of respect in his red eyes.

"That notebook…" he said, his voice tinged with frustration, "we held it ourselves when Richard shared his findings."

"And we couldn't decipher it." Vladimir gestured with his hand, almost resigned. "And we've had millennia of existence."

Stefan tilted his head.

"But you… You did."

Nate felt a shiver run down his spine as Alice gripped his shoulder more firmly.

"Your father was brilliant, like you…" Stefan said, his tone strangely solemn.

"But in other ways…" Vladimir added, lowering his voice as he crossed his arms, "…he was average."

Their eyes gleamed in unison as Stefan concluded:

"We saw you, Nathaniel."

Vladimir let out a soft laugh.

"You easily defeated that other human…"

Stefan raised an eyebrow, amused.

"A bigger one…"

Vladimir clicked his tongue.

"Stronger…"

Stefan smiled, baring a fang.

"And with a talent specifically for fighting."

Vladimir tilted his head, wearing that half-mocking smile.

"That was when we realized…"

Stefan let the air fill with anticipation before concluding:

"That Richard… had deceived us."

The Romanians settled comfortably back on the couch, like predators who had already caught the scent of their prey, watching Nate closely as their red eyes glowed under the dim light.

Stefan leaned forward, his tone almost inviting:

"We understand you may have… your reservations about us, Nathaniel."

Vladimir tilted his head, a half-smile on his lips:

"After all, it was us who brought your father into this world."

The air grew denser as Nate clenched his fists, his eyes locked on them.

"But…" Stefan continued calmly, "You must admit, it was all a consequence of his actions."

Vladimir waved a hand as if brushing the air aside.

"He hunted us, cornered us… even tried to destroy us."

Stefan showed a thin, dangerous smile.

"We showed him mercy."

Vladimir nodded, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

"We even came to appreciate him."

Stefan settled back, his tone laced with venomous softness.

"We gave him a fair amount of time… for someone of his skill."

"And we only tasked him with finding the child of the moon when he no longer wanted anything to do with us." Vladimir let out an almost theatrical sigh.

Stefan raised a hand, emphasizing each word:

"We offered him everything, Nathaniel."

Vladimir finished, a glint in his eyes.

"Power. Immortality. Or any earthly thing he could desire."

Stefan narrowed his eyes, a predatory gleam within.

"He refused us."

Vladimir leaned forward, a smile of expectation on his lips.

"But we have seen you."

Stefan tilted his head, eyes fixed on Nate.

"You are… even better."

Nate swallowed, holding their gaze, feeling the pulse in his throat as tension beat in his temples.

"That is why," Vladimir continued softly, "we want to offer you a deal."

Stefan nodded slowly.

"Join our coven."

Vladimir moved his hands, opening the offer with elegance.

"We already have our suspicions about who killed your father…"

Stefan continued, his voice dripping with cold venom:

"And your innocent mother."

Vladimir showed his fangs in a smile.

"We only need to find the wolf… to confirm it."

Nate tensed, the name thundering in his mind.

"Even if it turns out the wolf was involved…" Stefan continued with icy calm, "We will help you kill him yourself."

"The only thing certain…" Vladimir added softly, "Is that this wolf is somehow tied to their deaths?"

Stefan leaned back.

"What do you think, Nathaniel? A good deal, isn't it?"

Vladimir smiled, baring his fangs.

"When we finish with the Volturi, you can take the place they hold… alongside us."

Stefan closed his eyes for a moment.

"Perhaps we have no powers…"

"But we have centuries upon centuries of combat experience."

"There is no one we cannot face," Vladimir concluded with a hint of pride.

Nate closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath while Alice watched him with concern, unable to speak.

Then, Nate looked at them coldly, his voice firm:

"First, I want to discover the truth."

The Romanians raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"I will find the wolf," Nate continued, a determined gleam in his eyes, "and when I know what happened, I will make my decision."

The silence was sharp as a blade. For a moment, Stefan and Vladimir exchanged a disappointed look… until, almost in unison, they began to smile.

"Definitely…" Stefan said, a respectful glint in his eyes.

"You're smarter than your father," Vladimir finished with an amused tone.

Stefan nodded.

"You don't reject us outright…"

"You leave the door open." Vladimir smiled.

Stefan stood up calmly.

"So be it."

"Find the wolf," Vladimir said as he adjusted his coat, "and when you locate him…"

Stefan smiled, a dark glint in his eyes.

"We will meet again…"

"And we will ambush him together."

"Then you will know…" Stefan lowered his voice gravely. "What happened to your family"

Alice, in a low but firm tone, intervened:

"Aren't you… going to stay?"

Vladimir shook his head with graceful motion.

"We have already spent several days in this city."

Stefan rolled his eyes.

"We need to leave before we leave a trail."

Nate nodded, cold and resolute:

"I will find him… in less than a week."

The Romanians paused, surprised, exchanging a look of astonishment.

"In a week?" Stefan repeated, letting out a dry laugh.

Vladimir showed a fang-filled smile.

"Then we will return in a week."

Without another word, they moved with the speed of a heartbeat, vanishing from the house like a breath of air, leaving behind emptiness and a faint metallic scent.

Alice, standing beside Nate, looked at him with eyes full of questions, her unnecessary breath stopping as she searched for words.

Finally, in a whisper, she spoke the most important one:

"How do you know… you'll find him in a week?"

Nate didn't answer immediately, his gaze fixed on the door through which the Romanians had vanished, the blade glinting faintly atop the dresser.

His blue eyes seemed to harden as he murmured:

"That's the reason…"

Alice frowned.

"The reason… for what?"

Nate turned his face toward her, a half-smile heavy with shadows.

"The reason you couldn't see further into the future, Alice."

The silence grew heavy between them as Nate concluded, a cold certainty glinting in his eyes:

"Because within that time… we will meet the child of the moon."