Summary: When Edward left Bella in the woods, she didn't make it out alive. Instead she was turned by Victoria. Now, 23 years later, Bella is living with the Volturi, she was found just after she was bitten by some of the Volturi Guard. They were checking to see if the rumors of the Cullens move was true. The Volturi know who she is and don't tell her when she wakes up. She is trying to remember what her human life was like. The Cullens take her in.

I do not own twilight or any of the characters… I only wish I did.

Chapter 1—BPOV

I am so excited! I am finally allowed to leave the confines of this ghastly castle; 23 years of the same place can be such a bore. I still don't understand why Aro was so insistent about me not leaving for the past years. I wasn't even aloud to go into Volterra for Christ's sake! Aro can be such an ass at times, I myself prefer Marcus. He is very quiet, much like myself when I first arrived. He was very gracious and sweet, not at all what one would expect of a leader of the Volturi. I wonder if he is a contributor in my leaving.

Flashback

"Isabella."

"Yes, Master Aro?"

"How long have you been with us here in Volterra?" Aro questioned me. I was slightly confused. He was a vampire. Shouldn't he remember how long it has been?

Slowly, I replied, "23 years?" Making it sound more like a question then a reply. I was quite confused.

"And you have never left the castle grounds, if I remember correctly." Of course you remember correctly, you're a vampire you ass! This was getting annoying. But who am I to go up against Aro? I replied "No, Master." Instead of cursing at him like I wanted to.

His answer surprised me. "Well! That must be changed now shouldn't it? The world is best seen with young eyes." My so-called young eyes widened.

"But… but, where would I go? I do not know anyone apart from the guard!"

"You mustn't worry, little one. I know plenty of covens who would be willing to take you in." He smiled. He actually smiled. The only other time that I had seen him smile was when I first awoke after my change… and right after he destroyed another vampire, but I don't think that counts. He continued, "Unfortunately, there are only two that I know of who share your views on dietary needs."

There were more? Why was I just being informed of this? Ever since I awoke I haven't touched anything but animal blood. The smell of human blood just set something off in my mind. It screamed at me telling me to stay away. Not that it didn't appeal to me. Every time my lips would come close to the blood pouring from the wound, my mind would have a fit. And I would be so desperate for it to stop I would step away.

"I would be honored to stay with any of them, Master."

"Wonderful! It is settled. You shall leave within the month."

And so it was decided. My month was over and I was to leave tonight. I was told that I would be staying with a coven somewhere in North America. I hadn't received all of the details quite yet. Not that I really cared, of course. As long as I was leaving.

I heard someone know on my door three times.

"Come in!" I called softly, knowing that they would be able to hear me.

Marcus walked into to the room, smiling at me. I grinned right back and got up to hug him softly. He was such a sweetie. I do not understand why everyone tries to avoid him. Aside from Jane and I of course.

"Are you excited, darling? Your first trip off the grounds!" As he spoke he didn't let go of me, he just held onto the sides of my arms and looked at me. although he was grinning I could see the sadness in his eyes. This wasn't the first time that I had felt guilty about leaving him behind.

"Of course I am! Aren't you excited every time you leave?"

"Well, not quite as much as you are, but I guess now that I think about it, yes."

We stood there in a not quite awkward, but it definitely had the potential to become awkward, silence. Suddenly, he pulled me in to a bone crushingly painful hug. That's hard to do to a vampire. He also pressed his face into the side of my neck, breathing deeply.

"I'm going to miss you." He murmured.

"I will miss you, too." I pulled back slightly to look at his face. He looked as though he would be crying if he could."Don't worry though. We will keep in touch. We can write letters to each other!"

He smiled sadly and glanced at my bed, where all of my unpacked possessions were piled.

"I should probably let you pack, shouldn't I?"

"Probably. I am supposed to be leaving in," I took a look at the clock on the wall and cursed under my breath,"two hours."

He sighed.

"Well I guess this is goodbye, Isabella."

"Goodbye."

We hugged one last time and he left. I started to pack, but ended up laying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"Isabella? It is time to leave." Jane's voice called from behind the door. I was quite surprised. Her voice was usually bright and chirpy, right now it was dull and, and… depressing. Not at all the norm for her.

"Well are you coming or not?" She was getting impatient, never a good thing when it came to Jane.

To prevent anything drastic, I responded with "Thank you, Jane! Give me a quick second!" It seemed to do the trick because I heard her footsteps pitter-pattering away.

God, I had to finish packing, especially if the leader was here already. He wasn't supposed to arrive for another 20 minutes. That is odd. We had arranged for him to come so that I wouldn't be completely lost when I got there.

Once I had packed my two suitcases and duffle bag, I headed to the door. I was surprised at what I saw when I pulled the door open. Outside the door Jane was still there. And she was pacing. And playing with a thin purple string hanging off of her blouse. That was not at all like Jane.

"Jane?" I said in a soft, soothing voice. It wasn't until she looked up that I noticed the horribly sad, almost tortured look on her face. It took me a moment to understand that she was crying. Or she would be crying if she could, that is. I walked over to her and took her in my arms, stroking her hair.

"Jane, sweetie. What's wrong?" I was too shocked to try and figure out why she was crying. I mean, this is Jane for God's sake! Nerves of steel, Jane! What in the world could cause her to cry?

She jerked back at what I had said, an angry look appearing on her face. This made me even more surprised. She was angry with me? What had I done? All I had said was what's wrong?

"You're kidding me, right? You can't seriously tell me that you have no idea why I am crying." Oh. Wow, I am stupid. I am about to leave her for God knows how long and I can't figure out why she is crying. Maybe I need to go back to preschool.

"Oh, my God. I can't believe I was stupid enough to think you wouldn't react to me leaving. That was just horrible of me."

"That's alright. I forgive you." A bright smile appearing on her face. Huh. She goes from impatient to sad to mad to happy. Maybe she's bipolar. What am I saying? Vampires don't have health problems. Or maybe they do. No one has really checked to see if the mental health problems are still there after the change. We just know that the venom kills the diseases. Maybe we should start testing on that theory. That would be a good thing to bring up with Marcus.

I was pulled out of my train of thought when Jane squeezed my waist. There is no doubt in my mind that Jane would have crushed my bones if I were human.

"I'm going to miss you." I heard being mumbled into my chest.

"I'm going to miss you, too, Jane. Don't forget to make trouble without me." I added a little wink to the end of that last sentence.

"What are you talking about, Miss. Bella? I have never done anything of the sort. You must be thinking of someone else." She was such a good actor, if I hadn't have known her so long I would have felt guilty.

"Uh-huh, sure, you keep telling yourself that." I glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that we had taken a bit too much time saying our goodbye.

"Uh, Jane? I gotta go now."

"Oh, I've kept you haven't I? You better get going before Aro gets pissed."

With one last hug, I was headed down the hall towards the main entrance.

Well that's it... Please review!

The Marcus in my mind is in his early thirties with a sweet face that is filled with dread most of the time, not the creepy one in the movie... Hope you liked it!

~Annie