Author's Note: Hello everybody! This idea came to me after a sleepless night. Vampires are awesome, but vampires controlling the humans is even more awesome. This story is going to be written mostly from Bella's POV, with some other POV's at certain points of the story. I will try to update around once a week (possibly more) depending on my schedule. Just so you guys know, my estimates for the vampire populations are based on math. Realistically, if vampires wanted to remain undiscovered they would need to feed almost entirely on missing people, the homeless, and deadbeats, otherwise people would notice bodies drained of blood piling up. So I made approximations on how many of these types of people can go missing without anyone noticing and did the math. Anyway, hope you all enjoy, please R&R!
-May 16th, 2012-
BPOV:
Hurrying to class, I did my best not to stumble as I raced my way through the halls of Forks High School. It was always a gamble; being sure footed was just not in my cards. Having tripped and launched my books across the floor on the way out of my Pre-Calculus class, forcing me to pick them all up for most of passing period, I was running really late. I breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped through the threshold of my Society and Coexistence classroom mere seconds before the bell rang. Catching my breath, I paused for a few seconds, before heading to the last empty desk, in the back left corner of the room. This movement, however, caught the attention of my teacher, Mrs. Albert. Inwardly I winced as she turned her mean spirited glare towards me.
"Miss Swan. You cut it very close arriving to my class today. I expect you to be in your desk ready to learn when the bell rings. Now sit down, you have forced me to take time from teaching to reprimand you," she said.
"Of course Mrs Albert, won't happen again," I responded wearily.
"See too it that it doesn't," she said. Trudging to my desk, I practically collapsed as I sat down. Forcing myself to look up at Mrs. Albert, she stared me down for a few seconds, before turning her attention to the entire class. "Everyone stand up please, time for us to pledge our loyalties," she said. I groaned. Having just sat down, I didn't want to stand up so soon.
Realizing I had accidentally insulted the Volturi, and Mrs. Albert, I quickly looked around to make sure no one noticed. I exhaled the breath I didn't realize I had been holding when the only one who heard me was Eric Yorkie, who just gave me a small smile. The thing was, most people didn't really care if you were truly loyal out here. The war and subsequent vampire takeover had had virtually no effect on Forks and even Washington as a whole remained relatively untouched, quickly switching sides when the vampire armies began marching on Seattle.
The only real changes were the news, now filled with Volturi propaganda instead of U.S. propaganda, the blood withdrawals, and the education reforms. Not reading the news, and hearing anything important from people around me, that didn't really affect me. And I was exempt from the blood withdrawals after I proved more trouble than I was worth due to my extremely negative reaction to blood. A vampire was even called in when I told the school nurse I could smell the blood, which shouldn't be possible. After exposing me to blood, the vampire said it wasn't important, but I was exempt from the blood withdrawals, which is great. The third change, the education reforms, did have a fairly significant impact on my life. Society and Coexistence, teaching students about the new world we live in and the benefits of living under vampire rule, became required learning all four years. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, if any infractions were recorded that involved 'disloyalty' to the Volturi, getting into college became virtually impossible. You would need to submit to a gifted vampire, either a mind reader or a truth teller, and you would need to prove to them you are loyal to the Volturi. Most people didn't even bother. The wait to see one of those such vampires can take months and even years, and getting your life picked apart is never an enjoyable experience. Instead, people just made sure they didn't get any infractions recorded or didn't go to college.
Getting up, I recited the pledge with everyone else like we did every day in this class. "I pledge allegiance, to the Volturi, and any to whom they are aligned. To King Aro, to King Caius, to King Marcus. To their high authorities on the continent- to Lord Jasper, to Lord Demitri, to Lady Maria. I shall serve the Volturi with my all," I said. I winced; Lauren Mallory's shrill voice, along with Jessica Stanley's and Mike Newton's, were far louder than the rest of us. They were probably the only people here who fully bought what Mrs. Albert peddled.
As we all sat down, Mrs. Albert immediately set to work 'molding our minds' as she put it. "So, as you know, the end of the year is approaching , and you all have less than two months until school ends," she told us. There were several scattered cheers. Scowling, she continued. "This means you have your final exam in this class coming up. So, you have all been working hard, some more than others," she said, glancing at a beaming Lauren, "so today we are going to review some of the topics we have covered this year. Let's get started shall we? I got word earlier today we are having some sort of a school assembly very soon so I want to get in as much in as possible before it starts. Let's start off simple. Can anybody tell the class what caused the Volturi to take control of the human world, and give a brief summary of the war?" I very quietly snorted. I had been shocked to say the least when she announced today was a review day. In Mrs. Albert's mind, you should be studying the stuff she teaches 24/7, and not need to review in class. But if we were having an assembly really soon, it makes the students actually like her a little bit without taking much time away from her teaching.
Three hands shot up. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. This was the ONLY class Lauren did well in, and Jessica and Mike both had an A+ in this class and made sure the world knew. Mrs. Albert nodded her head towards Jessica. "Well, vampires were revealed in 1998 when a crackpot by the name of Jeffrey Harrison somehow managed to get a video of a newborn vampire feeding and spread it across the Internet before the Volturi could contain it. Still, vampires remained obscure.
In 1999, the Volturi arranged a meeting with the delegates of all the world governments to come to an agreement on how humans and vampires could coexist. This meeting went nowhere however, and one by one governments passed laws allowing and even encouraging people to kill vampires indiscriminately. In early 2001, the U.S. became one of last countries to pass one of such laws. At this time, vampires were few and far between, with Volturi estimates putting the number of vampires on Earth between 50 and 70 thousand, almost all of them nomads. This, combined with vampires natural defenses, meant these so called 'vampire hunters' were getting themselves killed far more often than they killed vampires.
However, this was unacceptable to the Volturi, who had began implementing a plan they came up with after Hiroshima and Nagasaki as soon as the first anti-vampire law was passed. Between 2000 and 2003, they unified almost all of the vampire world against the threat humanity posed to them, creating a stable group of experienced vampires. During this time, they also searched the world for human talent, turning an extraordinarily massive number of humans into vampires. By the start of 2004, the vampire population had swelled to slightly over one million, with 99.99% loyal to the Volturi, and over 90% newborns less than a four years old. They have still not announced how they controlled this many of the normally extremely volatile newborns. This massive jump in vampire populations became known as the Rising.
In 2004, the Volturi made one final, reasonable, offer to the human governments, who all refused save Switzerland. In Italy, a strike led by the U.S. was attempted on Volterra, home of the Volturi, leading to the death of almost all of the cities humans and virtually none of the vampires, who escaped using ancient tunnels. Suddenly, all across the world, military installments were wiped out like clockwork. This was quickly followed by the invasions. In the U.S. the Volturi started on the East Coast. New York, Boston, Washington D.C. were captured first. By 2005, the entire Northeast was controlled by the Volturi. By 2006, everything west of the Mississippi. In 2008 the West Coast, including Washington, was in firmly in Volturi hands. From there the war slowed down. In 2009 and 2010 the Great Plains were captured. In 2011 and earlier this year the remnants of the U.S. government were driven from New Mexico and Arizona. The only areas they still control are the states of Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and parts of Colorado with heavy fighting occurring around Denver currently. In the areas the Volturi do control order has been restored, and those who are loyal, talented, and skilled are turned into vampires. As of the start of this year, the vampire population worldwide is at around three and a half million, and all vampires wishing to change another vampire must now go through the proper channels in the Volturi," Jessica said.
Mrs. Albert began clapping her hands. "Very, very good Jessica. THAT is the type of answer I expect on the exam! I'm so happy with your progress this year Miss Stanley! The assembly will begin any minute now. Can someone quickly go over the key figures in the Volturi? Lauren, go ahead," she said.
"Well there's Aro and Marcus and Caius obviously. They are the leaders of the Volturi and they bring order to our world. There is their personal guard, whose members gained during and after the Rising remain mostly a secret. There's Chelsea and Heidi, who are a combination of diplomats and spokespeople. There is Jane, who is in charge of criminal justice worldwide, and Alec, who is in charge of civil law worldwide. Probably the two most important figures in the war in North America are Benjamin, who has the power to control all four elements, and John, who is the only known amplifier on Earth. He has the gift to amplify other vampire's gifts, making them far, far stronger. Combine him with Benjamin, and they are virtually unstoppable. The Lord Governors of North America are Demitri, who is in charge of everything east of the Mississippi, Jasper, responsible for everything north of former Mexico and west of the Mississippi, and Maria, who has brought order to the previous untamed regions of Mexico and Central America," she said, her face alight. At the line about Maria bringing order, I couldn't contain myself anymore; I burst out laughing. By all accounts Maria was the most ruthless of any of the Volturi's high command, her only competition being Jane. Unfortunately, Mrs. Albert noticed my laughter, turning her gaze to me. "Miss Swan. You were in Phoenix when the fighting was going on, correct? Tell the class how the U.S. government destroyed the city rather than let the Volturi take it," she sneered.
The classroom was dead silent. Everyone knew my story. I looked up slowly, my throat constricting, hoping, praying, she wasn't serious. She was staring at me, a cruel smile on her face. "Go on Miss Swan," she sneered. My breaths quickened. Even the thought of Phoenix brought back memories I never wanted to experience. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I couldn't do what she asked, I wouldn't.
"No," I whispered. Her eyes widened slightly, before narrowing again.
"What was that Miss Swan. Did you say no? That would be unacceptable Miss Swan. One more chance, tell the class about the fighting in Phoenix," she said.
I didn't know what to do, I felt trapped, cornered. Suddenly my savior came out of the blue. "No, that's enough Mrs. Albert. This is cruel and serves no purpose. You have gone to far," Eric practically yelled. It seems he reached his breaking point as well. She stood their like a deer in the headlights. It never really occurred to her that someone might stand up to her. Slowly, her face twisted into anger, a lot of it.
Me and Eric were saved from her wrath by the ding of the PA system. "Everyone please report to the gym immediately. We have some very special guests who would like to meet all you," the voice said. I exhaled. Talk about saved by the bell. Quickly making my way out of the classroom, I stayed in the center of the crowd trying to avoid Mrs. Albert. Turning my head to the left a bit, I noticed Eric.
"Thanks," I told him gratefully. He looked at me and smiled.
"No problem. Don't worry, she can't really do anything. That was too far and even she knew it," he said.
"Yeah. But still, thanks. You risked a lot doing that for me," I said.
"Your welcome," he replied.
Making my way into the gym, the bleachers were set up and we all crammed in and sat down. Luckily, I was sitting with Angela and Ben on one side, and Eric Yorkie on the other. Looking around, I didn't see any of the supposed special guests. All I saw was Principal Greene standing with the microphone. As he tapped the mic, I winced at the noise.
"Hello everyone. So I'm sure you are all wondering what you are doing here today. As you all know, the Volturi are always examining the human population for those who would be better suited for a life of immortality. Today, Forks High School is proud to welcome renowned Volturi Searcher Eleazar Denali, as well as Captain Erin Harrison of the Volturi Armed Forces!" Principal Greene announced. As soon as he finished speaking, about twelve vampires materialized, and Principal Greene began explaining how we would all line up and present ourselves quickly to Eleazar.
About twenty minutes later, R through Z was called up. Apparently Eleazar was gifted with the ability to sense others gift. So far, only one person in Forks High School would have an ability as a vampire, and it was extremely weak, so he wasn't worth turning considering he was unskilled otherwise. Mike and Lauren had been crushed when they found out they were practically useless to the Volturi.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wailing. Looking up, I saw Jessica Stanley was sobbing rather loudly. Looks like she didn't pass muster either. Realizing it was nearly my turn, I took a few steps forwards. I heard one of the vampires tonelessly announcing names. "Steinberger, Adam... Stinnett, Caleb... Swan, Isabella..." He said. Looks like I'm up. Taking a few more steps forward, I stood in front of Eleazar. His brows furrowed in confusion.
"If you would, Isabella?" He said, holding out his hand. Hesitating for a second, I put out my arm and touched his hand. His eyes shot wide open. Suddenly all around me was a conversation going too fast for me to follow. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself surrounded with vampires.
Author's Note: Figured starting it off with a cliffhanger is the right way to go. So what do you guys think? Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please R&R!