AN: This story takes place after Bella has jumped, but before she finds out that Jacob is a wolf. Thanks to Simple-2-Blink for reminding me to make a note about the timeline!

For those of you who have already read this story-yes, it is the same one. I'm simply changing a few of the words and the themes so that it fits a "T" rating. The story itself will not really change. To you new readers, I hope that you enjoy, and please review. The whole story is complete, and I will post a new chapter every day or so. For reference (because some previous readers had a problem with this), I wrote Alec and Jane as grown 19-year olds.

Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters aren't mine.

Chapter One

BPOV

What? What's going on…where am I? Charlie? Jacob? Who…

I twisted and sat up from my reclined position on what appeared to be an enormous bed. My eyes strained to adjust to the dim light; where in the world was I? How did I get here? I felt a presence to my right and noticed the slightest movement…

"Felix, tell Master that she's awakened," a delicate female voice trilled.

"Right away, Jane." I could only assume the velvety voice belonged to Felix. That voice reminded me so much of someone else's…but I quickly pushed that painful memory away from me.

My eyes, now accustomed to the dimness, looked to the figure at my bedside. She was impossibly tiny, with shiny blonde hair cut in an asymmetrical bob, and she was beautiful. She was too beautiful, and too pale. I made my way up to her eyes, and gasped—they were positively glowing red. The beauty at my bedside was most definitely a vampire.

I couldn't even allow myself any fear. If I was here to become the next meal, what did it matter? Death could only be a welcome relief from the pain I've been through in the past eight months.

"Are you not afraid?" the vampire girl asked in her trilling voice. She looked amused.

"No."

"How incredibly interesting." She paused, and seemed to concentrate very deliberately while staring at my face. A look almost like frustration passed across her lovely features. "Very interesting indeed."

"Jane, dear one. Thank you for taking care of our young charge." The voice came from the doorway of the room. I cautiously looked up; I knew better by now than to make any sudden movements when in close proximity to vampires. The man standing in the doorway was regal; he was tall, with jet black hair that hung down past his broad shoulders. He looked young, but at the same time, incredibly ancient. He was looking at me with milky red eyes. "Jane, will you leave us please?"

"Yes, Master." The tiny vampire spared no other glance for me as she rose and took her leave, touching her Master's hand on her way out. The dark-haired vampire watched me a moment longer, then slowly began to step toward the bedside. Was I being saved for him? He sounded kind, but there was an undercurrent of malice that I easily detected. Even through my chronic misery, I was beginning to feel apprehensive.

"Are you going to kill me now?" I might as well get that out of the way. Much better knowing what was coming.

He didn't answer me, but I noticed the sides of his mouth twitched a bit, as if he was fighting back a smile. The words he spoke made me wish he had killed me and been done with it. "So, you were the Cullens' pet project, am I correct, young one?"

It didn't seem prudent to ignore him, so I dropped my head and mumbled a few words in the affirmative. "And it has been many months since you have seen them? Since your last birthday?" At this point it was probably safe to assume he and Edw—he had a mind reading power. Not much shocked me anymore, but talking about them—especially him—was such a shock of pain that my arms automatically wrapped around my body and I began to shake in an effort to hold back the hysterical sobs. The tall vampire watched me as I tried to hold myself together.

I pulled myself together well enough to voice a question of my own. "Charlie? Jacob? Are they-?"

"Your father and friend are well, young one, aside from their grieving. You see, your death has to be arranged in your hometown. We are very efficient at what we do, and there is no trail leading to you." He spoke matter-of-factly, as if he had just mentioned the state of the weather.

"My death? Then you are…then I'm not…"

"No. You are not going back home. Exactly what happens to you is still undecided, and, in fact, completely in your hands." I just looked at him, dumbfounded.

"You may well be confused, young one. Allow me to explain. My name is Aro, and you are in my home in Volterra, Italy." As he spoke, he sat on the edge of the bed and slowly reached over to take my hand, for what reason I couldn't imagine. The same look of frustration I had seen pass tiny Jane's face crossed his. "Here in my home I live with my brothers, Marcus and Caius, and our guard. Our coven forms the Volturi." I gasped audibly; I had heard him speak of them before. "I see you have heard of us from your friends," he said with a nod. "Carlisle happens to be an old, dear friend of mine, as well. He and his family came to visit me three months back."

Aro sat very still and allowed this bit of information to sink in. It knocked the breath out of me. For eight months, I'd heard nothing of them, seen nothing of them—it was just like he'd said—like they'd never existed. Now here sat one of their kind telling me they had visited just weeks before I arrived! It was heart-breaking and maddening all at once.

He began to speak again. "I have a power much like Edward Cullen's. By touching another, I may read all their present and past thoughts and deeds." Well, that explained him taking my hand, and the frustrated look on his face. Edward couldn't read my mind, so he probably couldn't, either. This made me wonder, however, what power Jane had tried to use on me when the look crossed her face. "As I took each of their hands, the same human was prevalent in all their pasts—you. And you, it seems, my dear, know far, far too much about our world to be allowed to continue on in it." At this point, I drew a sharp breath and shivered. I could easily see where this was heading, but allowed him to continue. "I see you understand me. You were very close to them, I believe? You cared for them deeply?" A look of concern actually crossed his face at the pain that shot across mine, but he waited for an answer nonetheless.

"Yes."

"And they left you broken, without any inclination of where they were going." He paused here, but he didn't seem to want a response. He still held my hand, but his gaze moved from me, as if he was mulling over this point. At this point, the one arm I still had wrapped around my body was not sufficient to hold me together anymore, and my speech came out in broken sobs.

"Yes, they left me! He didn't want me! I was never good enough to be with him!" Aro's milky red eyes were on me again, watching me with interested eyes. He let me have my cry out, before speaking again.

"Young one, was Edward Cullen able to read your mind?"

"No, never."

"Such potential…." his voice faded as he got lost in a thought. "Isabella. Do you know why Edward couldn't read your mind?"

"No, we never knew." Why did he keep talking about him?

"Isabella, even in your human form, your latent power is stronger than mine. You are blocking my power, Isabella, just as you were blocking Edward's then, and as you blocked Jane's earlier. If you were to become one of us, just imagine the potential you would have as a shield in my guard."

A shield in the Volturi guard? What on earth was he talking about? "I'm blocking you? What do you mean?"

"Isabella, the reason I can't see your thoughts is because your mind is shielding you from my power, and from Jane's as well. Jane's power is very useful to me in my guard: she can burn someone where they stand using her mind. She tried to give you a test run earlier, and had no effect on you. It did not make her happy." Aro chuckled at this. "I say all this to bring me to my point, Isabella. You know too much about our lives to remain alive as a human. You must make a choice today."

I felt my heart speed up as I realized his meaning. Either I would die today, or I would become what I had dreamed of becoming only months ago. Would I rather die in misery, or live forever in it? I couldn't see any hope of happiness again, with him gone forever. At the same time, I couldn't help wondering if, when I was no longer a weak human, I would be beautiful and worthy in his eyes. There was nothing to hold me back; Charlie and Jacob believed me dead. I needed to know about this, to be sure, before I made a final decision.

"Charlie? Jacob? They think I'm dead?"

"Felix made sure that the last drink you had before you went to sleep Thursday would keep you asleep for a few days. When you were deeply asleep, he took you from your room and brought you here. You have been missing from Forks for three days, young one. We understand that you have jumped from cliffs before; Demitri is now returning from Forks. He made sure that clothing of yours will be found by the searchers, washed up in the tide."

I sat, dumbfounded. "You knew I jumped?"

"We have been watching you since the Cullens left our home."

"But…." If the Volturi knew they would be coming for me, Alice had to have known. That meant that none of them, not even my best friend Alice, my sister, cared enough for me to try to save me from this. Keening, anguished sobs ripped through my body again. I struggled to pull myself back together, pulling my hand away from Aro to wrap my other arm around myself. "Alice," I choked. "She had to see that you were planning to come for me, and none of them tried to help me!"

"It isn't as bad as you think, Isabella. We have one with the power to, well, for lack of a better term, "cloud" everything around another. Sebastian used his power on you, and continues to, in order to block Alice Cullen from seeing your life. Right now, she knows that you are gone; when your decision has been made, she will see that your clothes were found on the shore on the Quileute lands."

"Why, after my decision has been made?" I needed to know the significance.

"Well, young one, if you choose death today, then truly, she will have seen a death, if not satisfying, much more acceptable to her than the one you will have. If you choose to become one of us," he paused for a moment, knowing this was the first he had actually spoken the words, "then there will be no longer a need for secrecy. I am quite certain that she is not watching any of the Volturi; we gave the Cullens no reason for suspect."

It was easy to see that we were coming to the close of our conversation. There was one more thing I needed to know before I made my decision. "Do the Cullens visit you often?" If they were coming to Christmas dinner every year (or the vampire equivalent), I was pretty sure I'd rather be dead than have to look at his beautiful face and not be able to touch him, or stroke his bronze hair, or….Enough, Bella, I mentally chastised myself.

Aro chuckled, amused. "Three months ago was the first time I have seen Carlisle and his family in three hundred and nineteen years. It was the first time for me to meet some of them." His smile faded. "Isabella, I will not pretend that I am not trying to influence you in your decision. I feel that your death would be an unforgivable waste of talent. If you were to join me in immortality, I can offer you a comfortable home here in Volterra."

"As a member of your guard, or a friend?" I felt uneasy.

"At first, as a friend. Of course, it will take many years to hone your talent into one that will be useful in the guard. Isabella, I know you are a broken spirit. I would like to offer you a chance at healing, and the knowledge that the Volturi will never desert their own."

That was the push I needed. I had wanted immortality to be with Edward forever, and he had broken me. Now, I wanted immortality to heal and make me into the strong person I should have been. A bigger part of me than I wanted to think about wanted to know if the new Bella would have a stronger hold on Edward, as well. "Okay, Aro." There was no turning back now. "Let's do this. Make me a vampire."

I am going to go ahead and post the next chapter today, so look for it.