break; a.v. [ hiatus | rewriting ]

chapter v

Apollo's life was always really simple, from a young child he knew that he wanted an easy life with no stress. At twelve he knew he wanted to model full-time, and by sixteen he knew could do it with ease. At twenty he had his first signed modeling agency, but at twenty three that's when things got a little complicated.

When Apollo was four his mother started posting his picture on facebook. While Darcia shied away from the camera, Apollo basked in it. He loved the praise and soaked it up like a dry sponge. That was when people first started contacting him, well, his mother. She had no problem pimping him out to different fashion, and advertising companies. Darcia had always insisted on coming, and Apollo was always unpleasant whenever his sister wasn't present. Refusing to listen until his sister was there. Maybe that's why she grew to fall in love with photography, maybe it wasn't, but Apollo is always going to take credit for it.

At twelve years old, most kids are starting to figure themselves out. They're starting to think for themselves, not letting their parents influence their ideas. Apollo wasn't. He didn't have time for that. He couldn't have a sexuality crisis when he had appearances to keep. He could worry about relationships when he was worrying about where he had to go for the next photoshoot. He couldn't make friends while wondering if they were only friends with him because he was modeling. But despite these problems, he knew he could never give up modeling. He loved it too much. He loved putting in hours of work to see himself pop up in an ad, or appear on a commercial. It always felt nice. He never wanted to let go of that feeling.

"And, finally, sign and date here." The womam pointed to a blank line where twenty year old Apollo wrote his name and the date. They had been talking circles around the modeling agency, Simple Dreams, and his body was vibrating with excitement. Previously he was considered a free-lancer; choosing all of his own jobs, but also getting taken advantage of. Now he had less freedom of who he modeled for, but was likely to get more money. He thought it was worth it. He now had at least ten years of modeling with Simple Dreams, unless they sign him on again. Short bursts of energy still left his body whenever he thought of all the time he would have to model. Well it did for another three years, until everything changed.

Apollo never expected his life to turn into some weird contemporary fantasy bullshit, but that's where it has taken him. Now that the Volturi saw him as a powerful asset they had declared that he will be trained with the highest guard: Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demitri. He attempted to hold out that it wouldn't be too bad. That maybe the workouts he did for modeling would help him, but he doubted it. Modeling workouts, although they build up your muscle mass, are mostly useless. they didn't focus on getting strong, they focused on keeping your muscles apparent while still being thin.

Jane and Felix's jobs were to help him fight offensively, while Demitri and Alec taught defense. At the end of each week Apollo would be task with fighting one of them, and since his powers could easily make someone die until they got them under control he was forbidden to fight with his gifts, but that didn't stop the others, namely when fighting Jane and Alec.

It took them two months to figure out who to task with helping him control his powers. They wanted someone they could trust, yet expendable, but a compromise was made. Aro and Afton were to help teach him. Aro wasn't Afton's biggest fan to say that least, and if he were to happen to die, at least no one excessively important will be lost. According to Aro, the only thing important about him was his mate: Chelsea.

With leaden legs Apollo dragged himself from his assigned quarters to meet Aro in the gardens. The task today was to see if it was a gift for killing, or for breaking, vampires? Or if it worked on other things, like buildings and humans?

"Apollo!" Aro's gleefully greeted him. Afton wasn't needed for this particular problem. Aro started to hold out his hand but swiftly dropped them. Before their practices would start Aro would always greet him by holding his hands and saying hello, and usually add some other compliment. He must of realized that Apollo is still going through gay panic. He had been here for two months, and he'd seen him everyday for a week and a half. Aro was a beautiful man who was nearly impossible to get out of his mind. It wasn't too bad for the first two months because they only saw each other at feeding and occasionally when passing in the hall.

Apollo smiled his own greeting back politely nodding his head and said a simple hello.

"Today, I want to see exactly how your powers work. If they work solely on our kind, or if they work on other beings as well," The way 'our kind' rolled off his tongue sent shivers down his spine. He had a gorgeous Grecian undertone with an hint of an Italian accent while speaking English. They tried to have him take Italian lessons, but quickly found out that learning languages wasn't his strong suit. He tried, he really did, but it was like it went in one ear and out the other.

Apollo and him strolled next to one another in the garden. If Apollo was on the outside watching in he would've thought it was a date, and it most certainly wasn't. He was mentally adamant about that. Everytime the d-word would slip into his mind he would start his mantra over again. "I'm not gay, I'm straight. I like girls, not guys because I'm straight."

"See this rose?" Aro had placed his hand on the crook of Apollo's elbow to stop him from walking as the stared at a white rose, "I want you to use your power." Apollo was silent as he focused intensely on the white rose before him. He imagined the petals falling to the ground, crumpled and destroyed. Slowly, as if an invisible hand had wrapped itself around the flower, it started to collapse in on itself. Petals bending and falling, as glucose, or water, or maybe both, dripped from the petals and stems. The rose wilted beneath the invisible grasp and soon the steam was starting to break, peeling itself apart under the gaze of what used to be a bright sunny boy. He still loved the sun, but the sun no longer loved him. It scorched his skin and tricked it into thinking it was on fire beneath its rays.

"Bellissimo, amore mio." Aro breathed as he gently clapped his hands together. He longed to have simply reached out his hand to the boy next to him. It used to be so bright and colorful, and something had taken that away from him. Now, his thoughts, showed he was just a shell of who he used to be, albeit and panicked shell, but a shell nonetheless.

Apollo smiled gently at his feet. He may not have understood the first word, but he knew the last two.