"Go!" The door slammed in my face with more force than was necessary.

"Please! Edward! You can't do this! This isn't going to help her…you must listen to me!" I begged through my open window, gripping his hands to make him stay.

He looked as if he was to kill me, but his expression was replaced with a pain I would have rather died than watch. It was one of the most excruciating pains that I had never come to know. He bent down so that I could smell his intoxicating breath in my face. "I have to protect her in any way I can. And if that means that we mustn't interfere, then so be it." He pressed a hard kiss to my forehead. 'It's time to be a grown up now, Lilly. Go find out your destiny."

He moved his arm to start my car and pressed the button that rolled up the window.

"Bella's your destiny!" I screamed at him through the remaining space between us.

Through the glass I could still hear him. "Please, go to them. For me. Please."

I wanted to cry. I wanted so desperately to crawl into a small ball and cry for the pain that ripped through my chest. He went back into the house and I had only one option. I had to leave. They were surely all gone now. My family was gone.

With a rugged slowness that was too abnormal for my kind, I drove off, allowing my echoed sobs to fill the car.

"Peanuts?"

My eyes couldn't even lift themselves to peer at the unattractive stewardess. I shook my head once, ignoring the pain that lingered there. She left me to myself. Everyone left me to myself. Even my neighbor in the next seat cringed at the look on my face.

What went wrong? Everything had been perfectly fine! Bella was safer around us than she would have ever been by herself!

But I knew how wrong that was. We were so dangerous to her. Jasper had proved how wrong we were and even as I held him down on the floor—his nails clawing at my skin and the look of unbearable hunger writhing upon his face—I was just barely able to control my own senses. One small cut on her finger and it was over.

I even painted her a portrait for her birthday of what she looked like to us, how beautiful she was as a human. But that was destroyed in the struggle.

I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't think about it. Everything blurred together.

Cry. Please. Just one small tear for my family. Please! At least a small misty apparition for Bella. I didn't even get even get to say goodbye to her…

I blinked my eyes and scrunched them up so that the liquid could form. Nothing. I cursed inwardly, wanting nothing more than to thrash out at my surroundings and kill all in my path. No, stupid. That wouldn't solve anything. Edward was right. I had to be grown up in this situation.

I missed my family so much. I wanted Esme to hold me, to caress my cheek and promise me that everything would be alright. But she was the one who suggested going to the Volturi.

"You have your own agenda to attend to, a life that must be sorted out. Then, come back to us. It's no good having you mope around here in such a serious tune. Go, find your destiny."

That's what they were all calling it. My flipping destiny. I wanted to spit on it. Screw it! My life was nothing without my family…

But, aren't I curious as to what Aro wants with me? Why I was brought back…or chosen? I have to admit that there is something juicy about this whole situation which I can't deny for much longer…

True…I was more than curious as to what Aro wanted with me. And then there was the small detail of finding those love letters that I had buried in Bartelona before my—

I shivered inwardly.

Yes, there were many questions I needed answered.

For the first time in hours, I moved, making the person next to me wince with surprise. "Sweet Jesus!" He cried out. "I thought you had died…the way you were sleeping appeared as if you were dead."

I smirked at his use of words. I should be dead. I shouldn't exist at the moment. But that was why I was on my way to Volterra right? To find out the truth of my existence.

"Sorry."

The man shook his head. "It's alright." He flipped the page of his magazine and kept reading.

I took hold of my ring and examined it. I stifled a laugh as the object of my love shimmered in the lights from above. We were like diamonds.

"Mind if I shut this off?" The man next to me asked.

I shook my head and off the lights went. Into the darkness I plummeted…

It was pouring when we arrived. Thank God.

Now, the only problem was how to get to Volterra without loosing myself in the people. Oh, but they were elegant people. Europeans. And I might add, just for the record, that compared to Americans they were hot. Suave. Languid. Tantalizingly seductive in their hip movements and the way they greeted each other. They were a nice people, not one of them taking notice of me. Their skins were tanned—well most of them anyway as I was in an airport and there were all sorts of variations of society. Nonetheless, they were all the opposite of me and most likely possessed more good looks than I could have ever acquired.

I made my way down the escalator and turned to my right.

That was when I smelt him. That scent was irrevocably entrancing to me and I knew that smell. It was the smell of my own kind, but a different version. Like a hybrid, almost. I continued towards the bundles of luggage that were being rotated around and around, waiting for their owners to retrieve them. Maybe they wouldn't notice me if I ignored them.

"Good afternoon, Miss. Vespacelli."
I creaked around slowly to face the figure that the voice came from. I was met with a dark, cloaked figure, the face hidden in the shadows of his hood. Was no one surprised to see this? Not one soul was gaping with wide mouths at the gloriously cloaked figure before me.

I didn't say anything to the man. Instead, he reached down and took a hold of my bag with its weightless contents. He began to walk off, leaving me two options. Run or follow.

This is what I came here for. Go.

I was scuttling off after him in seconds, only keeping pace with him by softly jogging. Didn't he care what the humans thought? That they might actually freak out at our traveling so fast.

"It might be easier if you use your powers to travel with me." His lips didn't move.

I refused. After all, I was used to pretending for so long that it was natural habit. This was one thing I wouldn't give up on while in public. I was able to keep my pace all the way out the front door and to the black Jaguar that waited outside. The door opened for me and inside I went. What was I thinking? Traveling with strangers? They could kill me.

No they couldn't.

What was this odd double voice in my mind that I had just recently adapted into my mind set? Maybe it was a different side of me that had always been there. The adult side. The rational side.

The car jolted forward with a swift agility. Just as we peeled off onto the road, the sun burst through the clouds. I was now curious as to the powers that the Volturi had over nature. Sure, they could minimize the human race if they truly wanted to. But—could they control weather as well? I laughed at myself with a soft chuckle. That was impossible.

The roads were slick with dew as the car zoomed off. Luckily for us, the windows were tinted so that no one could see us sparkle. I wondered who was driving the car…but that didn't really matter did it? Because this whole operation was an odd and curious thing. I didn't want to over think myself or who knew what would happen.

We pulled out into a sunny parking lot when worry struck me. Does he expect me to walk through a crowd, sparkling the entire way? And where exactly were we going?

I glanced towards the town. Volterra. I knew it from just the brightness of it. I had been here before and that I was certain of. But, how could such dark creatures live in a town where sunlight was the main weather?

"Here, put this on."

I was handed a black cloak made of a thick material. It wasn't shiny or soft, but rough and warm. I could see why our kind would like it so much.

"Follow me."

Shrouding myself in the black cloak, I stepped forth from the car and realized we had parked just in front of a grand cherry wood door. A sign to the right of it read "No Trespassers Allowed". Behind the door were thickets of woods.Something caught my eye in the distance, a dark shape that blinked through the trees. I allowed my eyes to stray for too long, apparently, because I felt someone touch my elbow. I winced and shied away from the touch. It wasn't one full of command or a need to hurry, just a simple gesture to bring me back to the present.

The man dropped his hand and ushered me towards the door. "Don't go looking into the woods for too long or your mind will begin playing tricks on you."

The door creaked open only to reveal a dark corridor. But the darkness was nothing to be worried about as I could see clearly and well enough. It was a white hallway with gray carpeting and at the very end of it stood a metal door. An elevator. I wondered if we would be going down or up.

He was flying at full speed down the corridor when my attention came back to him. I had no choice but to use my "vampire powers" to keep up with the man down the hall. What was his rush? It wasn't like the whole coven was waiting on my arrival. The ride downwards in the elevator was icy silent. I wanted so very much to ask him questions, but by his will and mine, my mouth was sealed. Only yesterday I was with my brother trying to persuade him from making such a rash decision and today—I was on my own personal quest.

The elevator dinged and we stepped into a dark tunnel that I could tell ran under the city. This was when he spoke. "Always use this entrance. We cannot risk any shimmering catastrophes while the city is alive. We must keep to the shadows."

This person obviously thought that I was staying—was I? I had yet to make the decision. I did have my own agenda to take care of and then it was probably off to find those papers. Or, if I was lucky, I would remember my past existence and retrieve all the memories I could of the man I loved.

Unconsciously, I wrapped my fingers around the long silver chain that held the only symbol of my love. The man beside me noticed.

I had to distract him before he said anything. So, I asked the first thing on my mind. "What is your name?"

The man shoved off his cloak so I could get a good look at him. His black hair was cut short and his pale skin was just as mine. But there was one exception. His eyes were rimmed in red. The sign of a human killer. "Felix."

I took note of the elevator we came to and stepped inside it. This time, we went up. "How do you know my name?"

He chuckled with just a hint of menace lingering in the back of it. "Everyone knows your name, Lillith."

The shivers that ran up and down my spine were unnatural. Shouldn't I have felt at home with these people? We were of the same species and same make up. This should have been home.

No. Home is with Edward. Home is with Esme. Carlisle, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmet…Bella. But this is where I need to be. I need some answers.

The elevator opened its metal doors and into a reception area paneled in wood with green carpets. I cringed away from the walls as there were no windows. None to gaze out from or see the world that surrounded us. This was an encasement of the most vicious creatures. I was only to well aware of what horrors awaited me. Carlisle had said that Aro had tried to feed him humans, but that he had remained consistent in his choice. Would I be that strong? Surely they would force blood down my throat as I could not hold out my thirst forever. I had already been too long since my last meal and the smell of fresh blood lingered in the air. There was also something else. Flowers? I shifted my gaze towards the flowers in vases on polished tables that were arranged neatly by comfortable groupings of light colored couches. The flowers must have been to cover up the blood that pounded in my nostrils.

No, wait. The pounding was coming from something alive…within these very walls.

"Gianna." The word hadn't slipped from my lips, but rather from my guide. I peered up at his twinkling eyes and dropped my gaze at the woman behind a mahogany counter. She was pretty, but failed in comparison to Rosalie. Everyone did.

But she wasn't a vampire—as if that were any excuse—she was human. Her green eyes were twinkling at me, full of life. "This must be Lillith."

"Lilly." I corrected her.

"Well, Lilly, everyone is just—dying to meet you. Welcome."

Again with the shivers. I needed to control this sensation or I was sure to give myself away to the wolves. "Er, thanks?"

As we passed the counter, Felix's fingers brushed themselves through her hair and she sucked in air quickly. I had never done such a thing to a human and it was cruel, toying with their emotions. We traveled onwards towards doors that were made completely of gold. This coven was far richer than the one I had previously vacated.

The one I belong to.

Yes…where I belong.

Into a stoned room we came that was a perfect circle. The walls were two stories high with ancient windows used for shooting arrows out of. The sun only cast slim lines on the floor, not enough to make our skin shine but just enough for us to glow faintly. There were large wooden thrones for people I didn't know. In the middle was a drain and it was only then that I realized the monstrosity of these people. It wasn't an emergency escape route. It was merely what it was. A drain for blood. A drain for the dead, mutilated bodies that these monsters drank from. But my attention was taken from the grandeur of the palace—if that's what it was—to the people in the room.

"Such terrible thoughts of us already?" A loud voice burst like a beam of happiness into the atmosphere. "Felix! You have failed me! I thought I asked you to make her feel comfortable."

"It's difficult when she barely utters a few coherent sentences."

I focused my eyes on the man with long black hair, his skin translucent, like paper held up to a light. I knew who he was before he even had a chance to introduce himself. This was Aro—the man who held all of my answers.

"What a busy mind she has! I could hear it from the tunnel."

Oh, no. That means he must have heard me worrying about being trapped within this palace with no way to escape.

"I hadn't actually thought of that but there are plenty of ways for you to escape. You just wouldn't make it that far."

I kept my mouth from dropping. This was a mistake. The biggest one of my life. I should have just gone somewhere else.

His face pulled into a scowl, which, for him, wasn't right on his features. "I was only joking, Lilly."

I still wouldn't say a word. Was there a point when he could hear me so plainly? I only briefly scanned the other two figures at his sides. I recalled the other brothers' names—Marcus and Cauis. I even knew their faces to their names, much like I had done with Aro. Caius had the same black hair as Aro and Marcus had white hair. Each of them watched me with fervent interest, except I could detect the mellow boredom underneath Caius's well guarded mask. But before any of them could speak, two other figures appeared. Two children who—

My mind went black as I began to scream.

I was running threw the woods, my feet traveling at a hundred miles per hour. They were chasing me down but I couldn't stop. I had only a little farther to go until I could be with him, see his face after so long. "I'm coming! Corpus! I'm coming!"

I saw him there, amidst the trees, beaming down on me with the smile of a man who was too serious for his own good. He was too self-sacrificing, too much in love with me. He would do anything to protect me…even offer up his own soul to save mine. And he did—he had. Something latched onto my feet and I skidded down onto the floor. My finger was just inches from his foot and if I just moved my finger—

I was being dragged back by an unnoticeable force, sucked back into the very room I stood.

I hadn't noticed how tight into a ball I could get or how that even occurred. But I was on the stone floor, my hand pressed firmly into the cracked ground of the turret. It hadn't been cracked before. No, it was by my own hand that the ground was uneven. And the ripping noises that echoed from my chest. Sobs. I prayed to God that they weren't paying attention to me.

"Jane, that wasn't very nice to our new member. Go and apologize."

"But master, I thought you—"

"Do it." There was no mistake of the commanding tone in his voice or the venom that leaked into it.

I heard a small shuffling of feet until it stopped by my head. "My apologies, my lady."

I heaved myself slowly from the ground, my hair entangling into my face so that I couldn't read the expression of the little girl who had caused me such pain. I felt a small, cold, little hand find mine and wrapped themselves into my fingers. I was tugged down easily because of my unconsciousness to attain a hold on my frenzied limbs. Her lips were at my ear in seconds. "You remind me of my mother, Lilly. Please don't be angry with me, mother."

Mother? What? I hadn't given birth to anything since my unconscious state. I was still practically a virgin. My mind, for once in this long day, pulled into a thought that wasn't attached to what was happening in the present. Human, yes, always a virgin. But as a vampire…in my old life…I chocked on a laugh, my cheeks turning faintly red.

That brought a rumble of whispers into the room. Could they see my cheeks?

Aro exhaled a gust of wind. "Incredible."

"What are you blushing about, mother?" The girl seemed so sweet to me, but she was a monster. A terrible monster that almost made me lose my goal.

"They're just images, Lilly. Nothing to worry about really, as Jane has already taken interest in you. You should feel special, considering she only takes kindly to Alec and me."

"But she's the mistress, master. She's the one you have been telling us about."

My head shot up at that moment. "Telling them what?" My eyes were scrutinizing each person in the room which was now almost full. There were even people behind me. How had they gotten here?

"Amazing! You still act as a human! This is going to be quite entertaining for us all." Aro snapped his fingers and at once another man with dark flowing hair appeared. "Demetri, tell the boys that tonight I want the best of the best. We shall have a grand feast where we all can learn more about our new member." He cast a weary glance at me for a moment before speaking in a hushed tone. "Find some mountain lions while you're at it."