Prologue:
Vampires are a species resurrected from the dead, and thus everything about them, whatever they do, is destructive.
From their consummate beauty to their extreme thirst for blood, and finally their love that is more blazing and direct than the fire that burns themselves, all are destructive.
This, Caius understood from the very first moment he laid eyes on the successfully turned Catherine Windsor.
——————
When Caius was turned into a vampire, he first discovered the price he had to pay before realizing his gift.
Before that, he had been in a state of mania for a whole decade, which established the main theme of his character in the subsequent three thousand years - irritability and moodiness at any time and place.
Sometimes Aro felt that if it weren't for Caius's slightly longer period of self - decadence, he might have had the chance to meet his younger brother who was only sharp - tongued and cunning but still rather approachable.
Unfortunately, Caius waited a bit too long, and Catherine appeared a bit too late.
He, Caius, one of the founders of the Volturi, had no sense other than sight and hearing.
The venom endowed him with an indestructible body, an immortal lifespan, and an appearance that was dazzling even among vampires, but it took away his sense of perception.
This was unbearable for Caius. Because he could feel nothing, there was no distinction between cold and warm, no difference between hard and soft, no variation in comfort, not even pain, let alone other delicate sensations.
Likewise, he could smell nothing. Even the fragrance of blood was insignificant to him.
He originally had the best qualifications to become the first vegetarian vampire. Unfortunately, such torment turned him into the most terrifying killer.
After discovering that he had lost the ability to sense the world, Caius began to become hysterical.
Along with the change of his body, his view of the world also changed.
If Aro remembered correctly, Caius was probably the vampire among the three of them who adapted to drinking human blood the fastest, and he was also the record - holder in the Volturi.
After losing his senses, the whole world was like an endless and long - drawn - out movie to Caius. The audience won't be overly sad for the movie characters for too long, and Caius must be the most heartless one among them.
The allure of blood to vampires is like the snake tempting Eve. Although this allure was greatly reduced in Caius, it became the only source for him to perceive the world.
He was almost pathologically obsessed with the smell of blood, that bright - red liquid that gave him a weak stimulus and was a life - saving liquid that he would wither and die without.
He loved the blood gushing out from people's bodies, pouring on his hands, with a warmth that was as transient as a meteor.
Even just a moment was enough!
Caius was like the most hopeless patient, using endless killing to fill his boundless numbness. He was like a criminal on the gallows, struggling desperately, no matter what the method.
Unfortunately, the duration of this execution was as long as his life.
For Caius, the establishment of the Volturi had no meaning other than enabling him to search more efficiently for the blood that could bring a momentary sensation.
He was probably the person in the entire Volturi, or rather the entire vampire clan, who loved killing the most, had the most capricious temperament, and liked to torture his prey the most. He liked to torture others, both physically and psychologically. Because the screams and curses of the prey would make him feel alive.
If not for this, Caius felt that he would be almost the same as a real corpse or that guy Marcus.
That guy who seemed to have lost the whole world and the strength to survive because he lost his mate. Caius sneered. He had long ceased to believe in mates, unless she was as red as blood.
Caius thought that maybe next time he could try patiently peeling off the prey's skin. That process must be wonderful!
Red blood, screaming people.
In the vampire world, there was the only ironclad rule set by the Volturi - humans must not be allowed to discover their identity, and violators would die.
However, in the Volturi, there was also an unwritten precept - do not touch Caius. The consequences refer to the previous rule.
This precept was for the protection of other vampires. Because aside from Caius's extreme aversion to physical contact, it was also because his gift was rebound.
Like a spring with infinite bearing capacity, he rebounded all attacks imposed on him psychologically.
The first person to know this was Aro, because he touched Caius once when Caius was not so averse to being touched. As a result, he saw all his own psychological states, which made him almost look as if he had seen a ghost.
Originally, there were not many vampires with gifts, and there were even fewer vampires with gifts related to the mind. Moreover, the current Volturi hardly required him to take action personally. Thus, in the outside legends, Caius became an existence without any gift but was extremely ruthless and would stop at nothing.
Three thousand years had passed, and Caius had been gloomy and violent for three thousand years. He had been watching this endless movie with cold eyes for three thousand years.
The dawn that broke through this seemingly eternal torment appeared six years ago, the little girl beside Leonardo Landon.
It was the San Marcus Festival that day. Caius, for the purpose of hunting, went out of the Palazzo dei Priori with Aro. The stupid activities imitating vampires in the square year after year were always more or less the same. Now, they didn't even have the attraction to make Caius curl his lip in a sneer.
Because he seemed to smell some fragrance, very, very faint.
Caius didn't pay much attention. It was probably that some performing troupe here used the blood of some animal to achieve a realistic effect. It was not unusual. After all, except for blood, Caius could smell and feel nothing.
However, what kind of blood smell could stimulate his sense of smell without him even seeing it?
Caius looked around casually, trying to find the source of the faint smell.
"Long time no see, Leonardo. How are you?" Aro's voice pulled Caius's attention back. Caius glanced at the half - blood of human and vampire in front of him and said nothing, too lazy to exchange pleasantries with him.
This kind of face - saving effort had never been in Caius's consideration. That was Aro's passion. Just as Caius was crazily obsessed with blood, Aro was almost fanatically obsessed with power and pompous formalities.
However, soon he found that the faint fragrance came from the teenage girl beside Leonardo.
Caius was stunned for a moment and began to deliberately examine her.
Most of the girl's face was covered by a mask, leaving only cat - like eyes and a small chin exposed. Her figure was not tall and well - proportioned, and she wouldn't be particularly noticeable in a crowd. But from time to time, that faint fragrance came from her body, making Caius a bit unable to shift his attention.
He wanted to get closer and smell clearly whether it was the smell emitted because of blood. However, the girl shrank back in fear, and Landon wrapped her in his robe, along with the fragrance, which was also wrapped inside the black robe.
Caius frowned. The venom in his mouth began to run rampant because of the loss of the comfort of the faint fragrance just now. He wanted to hunt. His eyes were fixed on the girl.
During the subsequent hunting activity, Caius killed two people in a row. The smell of blood dissipated the influence of the girl on Caius. He no longer thought about the Catherine with blue - cat - like eyes and focused on torturing the prey in front of him.
The screams of the prey in extreme pain and fear made Caius feel physically and mentally愉悦. He loved this feeling, the only feeling in his life.
Caius knew that this would last forever, with no end. And he would only sink deeper and deeper into this morbid pleasure. No one could save him, and he didn't need anyone to save him.
...
The balance was broken six years later. However, the person who broke the balance hadn't changed. It was still her, Catherine Windsor.
She was covered in blood, with a strong smell of venom. Caius could almost hear the boiling sound of the venom and blood in her veins crazily eroding each other, hear the sound of her heart beating on the verge of its limit, and hear her painful gasps.
Caius didn't hesitate at all. He picked her up from the ground and greedily sniffed the blood smell. Although it was not strong because it was flowing out in a large area, it was the only blood smell that he could perceive. Then he found that the blood smell of this sweet treat seemed to be stronger than that of previous food.
What a special sweet treat, Caius heard himself say softly. His hand was pinching her as if pinching the most fragile treasure. He stopped in place, not knowing why his hand was reluctant to let go. At the fingertips, something that had been lost three thousand years ago was reviving.
Caius suddenly wanted to touch her skin and test the temperature of the warm flesh and blood under her skin. He wanted to very much!
"Caius, my dear brother, would you please help send this lady brought by Leonardo to the dark room?"
Aro's damned voice rang out. Caius turned around expressionlessly and threw away the sweet treat in his hand. He hated the inexplicable smile on Aro's face. Every time he comforted himself that there must be someone who could lift his curse and become his exclusive antidote, the only gift from this abandoned world, Aro had this expression.
Caius was disgusted with the legend and also with Aro's smile.
Catherine was left in the dark room for three days, and Caius didn't go to see her once. It was not until Jane came to report that the sweet treat had escaped.
The Volturi never allowed any fugitives. All those who broke the rules had to die!
Caius sneered. He hoped that she had enough talent to stay in the Volturi. Otherwise, he must break her neck with his own hands, tear off her limbs, and let the fragrance on her body completely dissipate. He was even thinking whether the flame lit with this girl's body would be more gorgeous and warmer?
He was fantasizing about the appearance of Catherine's screams and death. He was smiling.
...
Finally, Demetri found Catherine's trail. Caius compared her with previous fugitives. Catherine's performance was not worth remembering.
The manhole cover under his feet moved, and Catherine climbed out of the sewer. Caius clearly saw that her body was stiffer, the same reaction as all the prey, very boring.
However, all this ended at the moment when Catherine bit her lip.
Caius watched the strange liquid slide down along the other's smooth and graceful chin, and his world seemed to collapse all of a sudden.
Destruction and reconstruction are interdependent, and Catherine was like a creator, so easily destroying Caius's defense, starting from the smell.
Different from the faint blood smell, it was an extremely vivid and clear smell, stimulating Caius's sense of smell, and then running wild like a fire, burning his consciousness and thinking.
He asked Demetri blankly, "Demi, can you smell it?"
Can you smell this smell? This smell that almost casually restores and then extremely forcefully takes away all his senses.
Caius didn't remember what Demetri said, nor what he himself said.
He gently touched the liquid that should have been flowing in Catherine's body with his finger and put it in his mouth. It was a taste that could make him go crazy in an instant like blood, the only taste that he could perceive besides blood!
The sense of perception that had been taken away for three thousand years revived again in Catherine.
He was almost crazy, unwilling to believe it was true, but the extremely clear tactile sensation in his hand also crazily stimulated him, reminding him that it was true, that it was not an illusion.
The venom in his mouth began to run rampant uncontrollably. Every nerve was clamoring for this precious feeling of getting something back after losing it.
He was so excited that his body was shaking. The dull and long - drawn - out numbness accumulated in three thousand years seemed to erupt all of a sudden, almost destroying Caius's spirit. He couldn't believe that he had endured for so long, and the only antidote was the newborn trembling uncontrollably in his hands. It was a feeling that no amount of blood could obtain, but she could!
Catherine Windsor, his Catherine Windsor!
The powerful strength of the newborn helped Catherine break free from Caius's shackles. She escaped, and along with her, all his newly recovered senses disappeared, and he became as if he were a corpse again, unable to feel anything.
The feeling of losing something again quickly after getting it back was almost unbearable for Caius. How can you make a severe addict give up the drug in hand?
He roared angrily in a low voice, his eyes on Catherine's staggering figure as she fled.
She was carrying his sense of perception, the only way for him to feel the world!
Catherine was easily caught by Caius, who was completely out of control. That vivid and clear feeling returned to him again, and he no longer had to endure the feeling of being like a corpse.
After three thousand years of torment, his completely ruined senses that he had been maintaining with blood piles came back to life.
Caius buried his head in her neck, breathing her smell freely, the only smell that could revive his senses, addicted like being poisoned.
It was not until Catherine screamed and attacked that Caius raised his head angrily, realizing that she was a dangerous newborn, a newborn who was so dangerous that she might disappear beside him at any time.
He would never allow this to happen. No matter what the method, Catherine must stay by his side.
"It doesn't matter."
Caius heard himself say this.
"I will finish what he didn't do."
He smiled, an extremely evil smile.
He bit Catherine's neck. The remaining blood on her was more delicious than he had expected, and more irresistible. He kept swallowing, and the venom in his body boiled and burned with his emotions.
Everything was as Caius had expected. He caught Catherine.
She was dying a miserable death, and he was smiling.
...
The first time I saw you, I knew I would destroy you.
I will imprison you in the darkness. I will make you spend the rest of your life only with me.
Such deeply - rooted, rolling, and clamoring desires are called love.
Those so - called words of loving you and letting you go because of love are all warnings that I will catch you again.
I will possess you for a lifetime.
I'm even jealous of the sunlight shining on you.
— Caius Volturi