A/N: Well, I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing frequently as well as trying to improve my writing in general, so I'm just going to see where this story takes me. I have a vague outline of what I'm going to write, so hopefully it turns out decently. Any reviews with criticisms or praise are appreciated- I just ignore reviews made for the sole purpose of flaming though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any characters within it.
Bella sighed, running her hands through her brunette hair in agitation. "You're kidding me, right?" She asked Alice, who was pacing back in forth in front of her.
"Do you think I would joke about this Bella?" Alice sighed. "I know what I saw. Edward is going to practically force the Volturi's hand to effectively kill himself, and he's turned his cell phone off to prevent me from talking him out of it!"
"Why? I don't understand how you guys can just pack up and leave for several months without a care in the world, but now that he thinks I'm dead rather than just never going to see any of you again, now he's regretful and can't live with himself?" Bella let out a deep breath. "Honestly, this is taking melodrama to the next level." She walked over to the drawer in the kitchen that had spare notebooks and pens.
"All over a stupid misunderstanding, too." Alice stopped pacing and looked down at the ground. "I know I told you this already Bella, but I really am sorry that we all just 'packed up and left without a care in the world' as you called it- I didn't want to, but Edward told us that it was the best thing for you in the long run..." Alice trailed off.
"I'm sure he did, Alice, and I can't really hold it against you for choosing Edward over some random human girl you guys, what was it he said? 'Didn't want anymore and were foolish to have tried pretend was a part of your family.'?" Bella glared at Alice for a moment. "I'm just disappointed in myself for believing I actually meant anything to any of you."
"But Bella-" Alice quickly tried to retort,
"And I'm even more disappointed in myself that I'm actually going to be worrying Charlie over this and putting myself in danger all to save your brother from killing himself over this circus show." Bella picked up a notebook and ripped out the first blank piece of paper she found.
"You mean you'll come to Volterra to stop Edward..?" Alice looked up at Bella in shock. "After everything we did to you?"
"Yes, well..." Bella paused to continue scribbling out a note to Charlie. "Unlike some people, I don't abandon people I care about, though at this point I use that phrase very loosely."
Alice gave a sad smile. "Thank you Bella, you don't know how much this means to me- to all of us that you're going to help save my brother." Alice said. A few moments passed before Alice walked over to where Bella was finishing up her note and placed her hand on Bella's shoulder. "I'm sorry for not saying goodbye, I- I know I can't take it back, but that's something I've regretted every single day since we left." Alice said in a soft tone.
Bella shrugged. "What's done is done, let's just get this Volturi thing over with and talk some sense into Edward." She said as she briskly walked over to the fridge and stuck the note to it using a spare magnet.
"All right, I'll go ahead and buy us our plane tickets." Alice stated, thankfully dropping the previous topic. Bella briefly wondered if Alice even cared about the negative effects that they'd had on her life- specifically, what them leaving had done, but also what this entire new mess would do. She'd be lucky if Charlie only grounded her for a year.
"Sure." Bella affirmed as Alice walked out of the room. "Well, might as well pack I guess." She muttered to herself and treaded over to the staircase leading to her and Charlie's rooms. She figured that she'd only need a few days worth of stuff, so she just packed some clothes, her toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, all of the standard stuff that one might pack during an international trip to an exotic place to prevent a vampire from committing suicide. The usual.
After double checking to make sure she had everything she needed, Bella grabbed her suitcase and walked out of her room, closing the door behind her. She made her way down the stairs into the living room where Alice was waiting with an unreadable expression. "Are you ready to leave?" She asked in a hopeful tone, likely eager to get on the road as fast as possible.
"Yeah, sure, let's go." Bella responded and followed Alice out the door, making sure to lock it behind her since Charlie wouldn't be arriving home for several hours still.
She opened the back passengers seat door of Carlisle's black Mercedes, and plopped down her bag, before closing it and hopping in the front seat.
Alice wordlessly started the car and began what was supposed to be a long drive to the Seattle airport where they'd be catching their flight to Florence, Italy.
Xxx
A noticeably short time later- full of anxiety and panic on Bella's side no matter how much she knew deep down that they were perfectly safe regardless of how insane Alice's driving seemed to be- they were at the airport.
"Come on, our flight is already boarding." Alice said as they briskly walked through the crowded halls of the airport after checking in Bella's suitcase as luggage.
"Are we going to make it in time?" Bella asked, causing Alice to shoot her a strange look. "Oh, right." Bella said and gave a humorless chuckle. All those months without talking to Alice made her momentarily forget the pixie's gift.
They made it through security without any problems, and shortly afterwards just barely made it onto their flight before the terminal closed. Bella took her seat- thankfully a window seat- and wondered about what they were going to do when they arrived in Italy. She imagined Alice had some sort of plan, but she was curious how long they'd actually be in Italy, where they'd be staying, and if she'd have to meet any of these "Volturi" that the Cullens had told her about.
It made her kind of nervous, actually. The way Carlisle had described them, they were basically vampire royalty that loved to snack on eager tourists that didn't have a connection to their city, or to them. Bella seemed to fit that bill pretty nicely.
She figured that Alice would let her know if she was in any danger, but... Could she really count on the small vampire to tell her anything if she had to choose between Bella or her brother? She kind of doubted that. Okay, she really doubted that.
'Oh well, it's too late to back out now.' Bella thought, sighing. She really hoped that she didn't get eaten, but appreciated the morbid irony in the scenario that she ended up getting feasted on by bloodthirsty vampiresdirectly due to Edward's actions, which he had only done because he thought she was dead already.
"All passengers please buckle your seat belts now, and the flight will begin shortly." A voice sounded out over the intercom. "Thank you for choosing United, and we hope you enjoy your flight."
Soon, the flight took off, and Bella felt her eyes drooping shut, exhaustion hitting her heavily, before everything went dark.
Xxx
"Pst, Bella, wake up." Alice whispered to her softly, nudging her shoulder.
"Alice," Bella stated groggily as she woke up. "Are we almost there?"
"Yes, the flight attendant just announced we'd be landing in ten minutes. I'm surprised you slept so long, the flight was just under 11 hours long." Alice said.
"It's probably for the best that I did I guess." Bella replied, going back to looking out the window. "Wow..." Bella said as she looked at the Italian countryside. "Italy is beautiful from up here," Bella muttered in awe as she looked down at vast scrolling plains and farms, with the occasional small town scattered in.
Before long, a large sprawling city came into sight, and the plane started to dip downwards on a direct trajectory towards it.
"Please refasten your seat belts passengers, as we're preparing to land. We hope you enjoyed your flight, and welcome you to Florence, Italy." The voice called out in a pleasant tone over the intercom system.
As soon as the plane landed and they were able, Alice lead them out of the plane at a quick pace(for humans, that is). "We need to hurry up, we don't have a lot of time left. Edward is planning on stepping into the sun at noon, so we need to get to him before that." Alice said.
"Noon? It's already 11:00 right now!" I said with a gasp.
"I know, that's why we have to hurry!" Alice said urgently as she lead Bella out of the airport. "You aren't opposed to a little grand theft auto, right?" Alice flashed her a smirk.
"I guess if we don't have any other options..." Bella returned nervously.
"Great, be right back." Alice flashed off.
A few minutes later, a bright yellow Porsche pulled up in front of Bella.
"Couldn't you have chosen a car a bit more... conspicuous?" She asked the small vampire.
"Probably, but isn't this car just the most adorable thing ever? Anyways, we don't have time to be picky, let's go!" Alice said as she hammered the gas and started on the drive to Volterra.
What normally would've taken an hour took us around 40 minutes, which left us with 10 minutes until noon. "Okay Alice, this is all you, where's Edward?" Bella questioned.
"He's in the main plaza of the city. We'll have to walk from here, follow me." Alice said, getting out of the car and grabbing hold of Bella's hand, dragging her along at a rather quick pace.
The minutes ticked down until finally at 11:58 they spotted him.
"Edward!" Bella called out, knowing he'd hear her. His head whipped around and stared at her in shock.
"Bella? What on Earth are... I thought you died?" Edward said, his face fixed in a state of disbelief.
"Well, as you can see, I'm still very much alive, and I don't plan on changing that any time soon." Bella paused, "Honestly, I can't believe you guys all thought I would kill myself on your behalf." Bella finished acidly.
"There!" Alice said happily as she rushed to Edward and embraced him. "Now please, let's stop this ridiculousness and get out of here!" She pleaded.
A large figure walked up to them. "I'm afraid that's not going to be possible- the kings have requested your presence Edward, and you two will have to come along as well." The figure said.
"Hello Felix. Very well, I'll come along, but please leave Alice and Bella out of it, they did nothing wrong." Edward asked the large man.
"The kings will be the judge of that, though the fact that the human girl clearly knows what we are means something is clearly wrong with this situation." Felix said, pointing at Bella. "I'd suggest coming along peacefully, you really don't want to make a scene." He continued.
"I... Very well." Edward sighed in frustration, nodding to Felix.
"Great." Bella muttered as Felix beckoned them to follow him to the side entrance of a large castle.
The large vampire opened the door and beckoned them inside. "Ladies first," he said with a grin after Edward had already walked through the doorway.
I found myself giggling despite the situation, and I walked through the door into the dark hallway that was furnished with old pottery and paintings.
We walked for what felt like a decently long time considering we were inside before finally arriving in what looked like a reception area.
"Hello Gianna, are the kings ready for us yes?" Felix asked pleasantly to the human behind the counter.
"Yes Felix, everything is prepared." The human replied to him, gesturing to the door to her left.
"Great, thank you." Felix said politely as he went to the door leading to the throne room and opened it up. "The kings will see you now." Felix said to the Cullens plus Bella, and they all walked through the doors, unsure what to expect.
Upon entering the room, they saw three men seated on extravagant thrones, surrounded by multiple guards next to them, as well as positioned near the exits of the room.
"Welcome to Volterra Edward, my boy!" One of the men called out from the center throne.
"Thank you, Aro." Edward replied in a polite tone.
"Now, what is this I hear about you planning to expose our kind to humans right in our very own city?" Aro's voice hardened. "Are these assertions true, by any chance? This would be quite the insult to our authority, surely you realize this?" Aro said, staring Edward in the eyes.
"Yes, well, I heavily misunderstood a certain situation. I apologize, but no harm was done, so surely you can let us leave and forget about all of this? After all, The Volturi didn't have to intervene in the end." Edward plead his case.
"Do you think us fools, boy?" A cold voice called out from the right-most throne, with the owner of that voice viciously sneering at the bronze-haired vampire. "What would've happened if Alice Cullen and that human girl hadn't stopped you? We all know the answer to that question."
"Now now, Caius, let's keep our wits about us." Aro chided. "Edward, surely you wouldn't be opposed to letting me use my gift on you, would you?" He asked, though it wasn't the type of question where refusal was a valid answer.
Edward sighed. "Very well." And he walked up slowly to the center Throne, before holding his hand out and allowing Aro to grasp it.
A few seconds went by before Aro released his hand. "Edward, surely you cannot possibly expect for us to just accept this?" Aro said slowly. "The crimes you've committed both today as well as in the very recent past are very hard to overlook. I'm afraid I'm going to have to demand that you face a real trial, where you will be judged and your punishment will be decided upon appropriately." Aro continued. "Alec, Felix, take Edward here to the dungeons and keep him there under guard."
"Yes, Aro." Two voices chorused as they both grabbed Edward and firmly lead him out of the room.
Edward sighed, and resigned himself to his fate. There was no way to realistically go against the Volturi when he was deep in their layer.
Bella observed this ordeal with a worried look. She could obviously put two and two together and understood that Aro seemingly knew facts about Edward's past, though she didn't know the extent of what he knew. It seemed that he did know about them meeting Bella and telling her that they were vampires, though.
She nervously looked around the room at all of the various vampires that were positioned in various areas of the room. She hoped that if she was eaten, they would at least not let her suffer in the process- she at least deserved that, right?
At the end of her process of scanning the room, she locked eyes with one particular vampire that she noticed more prominently than others. She was a fairly tall woman dressed in a shimmery red dress, with absolutely gorgeous features. Her hair was reddish-brown and curled, running slightly past her shoulders. Maybe the most captivating of all were her ruby red eyes- Bella couldn't seem to look away from them.
The expression on the vampire woman's face was momentarily one of pure shock, before she snapped out of it and shot Bella a large grin that lacked the predatory aspect that she figured it should.
"Lord Aro, may I show you something?" The woman spoke up, swaying as she walked up to the throne.
"If you feel it's important, then very well Heidi." Aro glanced at her in curiosity, and grasped the hand that was held out to him when offered. Seconds later, a genuine smile broke out onto his face. "Well, that's certainly quite the event, isn't it?" Aro said, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye before nodding to Heidi, who pranced back to her original position.
"Anyways, let us continue this, I'm sure many of us have better things to do than sit here all day." Aro said, focusing his attention back on Alice and Bella. "Alice Cullen, seeing as you have broken no laws today and have done nothing wrong for the moment, you may leave. However, do not think that I will be forgetting about the situation with this human girl, Bella. Your family has acted very irresponsibly in accordance to our laws, and it's only out of my affection for Carlisle that your entire coven isn't punished for this transgression immediately. The Cullen coven is hereby on warning though, do not treat our laws so carelessly again, there will be no second chances." Aro said firmly, and gestured for Alice to leave.
Alice hesitated. "I appreciate that, Aro, but what about Bella? My family has grown to care for her greatly so, and we really don't want anything bad to happen to her because of us." Alice said.
"Tell me child, if you care for her so much, then how did you abandon her in the face of a potential revenge-seeking vampire who had just lost her mate? How did you not warn her of the potential danger of carrying the secret of our existence, and how could you leave her defenseless against the perils of our world after you introduced her to it?" Aro said in a questioning tone.
"I..." Alice trailed off, realizing she didn't have a response.
"Since you inquired about the fate of Bella here though, rest assured that she will be perfectly unharmed, you have my word on that." Aro said, much to Alice and Bella's shock.
"Wait, really?" Bella blurted out, before blushing and looking down at the ground. "Sorry," Bella squeaked out.
"Do not worry about it Isabella, and yes, really, I swear that we will not kill nor harm you." Aro said.
"Thank you, Aro. I guess I should be leaving now." Alice muttered. "Goodbye Bella, hopefully I'll see you soon." She said as she walked out.
"Now that all of that distasteful business is over, I'd like to formally welcome you to Volterra, Ms. Isabella." Aro said warmly. "Something I saw in Edward's memory intrigued me, would you mind letting me attempt to use my gift on you? A simple touch will do." Aro asked Bella, who looked up at him and nodded. She slowly walked towards him, trembling slightly. When she was close enough, Aro reached out and lightly gripped her hand.
Seconds upon seconds passed by in silence. "Fascinating," Aro finally exclaimed after nearly a half a minute had gone by- which felt like a very, very long time to Bella. "It seems that you possess somewhat of a shield to our powers even though you're still a human. Jane, if you would try..?" Aro gestured to a small blonde vampire next to him, who grinned at him in reply.
"With pleasure, Master Aro." She said. Moments later, an annoyed hiss resounded throughout the room.
"Master Aro, please reconsider this," Heidi spoke up while glaring at Jane.
"I apologize my child, but if it is as I suspect, nothing will happen to our dear Isabella. Jane?" Aro said.
Moments passed again with nothing happening. "Why won't it work?" Jane said in a frustrated tone, scowling at the human.
"It seems like you possess a very strong shield indeed, very fascinating." Aro murmured, pondering something. "Very well, you've firmly caught my attention now Isabella. I would like to offer you a choice, one that you'll find isn't much of a choice at all. Become one of us- that is, a vampire, within a fortnight, or you may also choose a painless and humane death if you prefer." Aro paused, glancing at Heidi, who had a steely look in her eyes. "Though I'd very much prefer if you chose the first option, as I think we might lose the services of one of our most treasured guards if you were killed." Aro said.
"Thank you for at least offering me a choice," Bella said nervously. "Obviously I choose to become one of you, though. I don't have any desire to die." She continued.
"Wonderful!" Aro exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Heidi, due to your involvement in this situation, you will be in charge of taking care of Isabella while she is still human, as well as turning her when the time comes, and naturally teaching her the basics of how to adapt to our lifestyle." Aro said to the gorgeous blonde woman.
"Very well, Master Aro." Heidi said in a lighter tone than before. She turned to face Bella. "Follow me- do you prefer Bella or Isabella by the way?" Heidi asked and gently smiled at the human girl.
"Either is fine, but I do prefer Bella." She muttered in reply, very much unsure what exactly was going on.
"Don't worry Bella, I'll fill you in on all of the details as we walk to where you'll be staying, okay?" Heidi said, catching the confused expression on Bella's face, and the brunette nodded in return.
"Very well, you are both dismissed." Aro said to both women.
"Here, follow me." Heidi said to Bella, reaching out and gently grabbing her hand. She led the human out of the throne room and through several hallways, into what looked like a residential area. "While you're here, you'll be staying with me in my room. I have basic furnishings including a bed that you should find comfortable, and I can provide anything you need other than that." Heidi explained. "Sometimes we entertain human guests, so we have a cook on standby that will be preparing three meals a day for you until you're turned." She walked up to a door and opened it, beckoning Bella inside.
"Um, Heidi?" Bella spoke up for the first time since leaving the throne room.
"Yes? What is it, Bella?" Heidi asked in a concerned tone.
"Could you please tell me why all of this is happening? Not that I don't appreciate not being eaten and all, but I don't imagine the same choice is offered to every human that finds out about vampires?" Bella asked.
"Well," Heidi started, but stopped to think about her answer. "I'm going to be fully honest with you, normally humans in your situation would be eaten. However, there are two reasons why you're an exception. One, you have a very strong gift already as a human- this typically means that it'll grow even stronger as a vampire, and could mean that you'll be one of the strongest mental shields that we've ever seen- which is a rare gift as it is." Heidi stated, before taking a seat on the bed in the center of the room, gesturing Bella to sit down next to her. Heidi grew a bit nervous suddenly, and every time it looked like she was going to continue, she suddenly stopped.
"And the second reason..?" Bella prodded her, eliciting a sigh from the mahogany-haired vampire.
"I know you may not believe me on this one, but if you need me to, I will beg you to believe that I'm not lying to you. I overheard Aro discussing this subject as we were leaving the throne room, so I know that the Cullens have already lied to you about this before, but..." Heidi exhaled, however needless it was to do so. "I'm genuinely one hundred percent without a doubt your mate, and you are mine." Heidi said, a worried look in her eyes- fear at being rejected.
"H-How do you know for sure?" Bella asked, looking her in the eyes. "Edward claimed that I was his mate all along, and then he just up and left me. How do I know that this is real this time?"
"I'm so sorry that they lied to you about the mating bond- it's one of the most sacred things in our culture. While humans don't feel the full effect of the bond, this isn't even close to the first time a mating bond has formed while one partner was still human." Heidi said, returning Bella's gaze.
Bella's heart sped up as she saw the honesty in Heidi's eyes, and she felt her stomach clench up with raw emotions that were being invoked by the gorgeous vampire.
"You know what I'm saying is true, Bella," Heidi said, reaching her hand up to softly caress Bella's cheek. "I know you can feel at least some form of the bond too, even if it doesn't compare to what you'll feel once you become a vampire- what I'm already experiencing." Heidi continued. "As for me, it feels like nothing on Earth matters other than your safety and happiness, my sweet Bella," Heidi murmured, still stroking Bella's cheek lovingly. "The thought of abandoning you like the Cullens did is a literal impossibility- I would rather die first than do what they did!" Heidi said fiercely as she leaned in and wrapped Bella in a somewhat tight embrace in human terms, though obviously Heidi was being very careful to prevent her grip from becoming painful.
"I..." Bella started, before trailing off. "Okay." Bella gulped, surrendering herself to her raging emotions that all pushed her to accept the vampire in front of her. "I can tell that you meant what you said." Bella brought her hands up and lightly placed them on both of Heidi's cheeks, gently motioning for her to back up from her embrace so that Bella could look at her. "Honestly, I know I should be wary of this after what the Cullens did to me, but every sense in my body is telling me 'fuck that', and that this is right." Bella said, wrapping her arms around Heidi and pulling her back into an embrace.
"Thank you for accepting me, my Bella." Heidi whispered in a tone full of love and joy.
Both women remained in their embrace for a few moments, before Bella succumbed to her urge to yawn.
"Are you getting tired? We can talk about this or anything else that you wish to know tomorrow, you should get some rest now. I know it's been quite a long day for you." Heidi stated with concern.
"Has it really gotten late already? Wow, it feels like everything has happened so fast." Bella replied, even as she felt a wave of tiredness sweep over her.
"Understandable. Sleep now, Bella, I'll watch over you." Heidi murmured into her ear as she gently nudged Bella into a lying down position, before picking her up and placing her at the head of the bed where the pillows were. "I'll always watch over you, my beautiful mate." Heidi whispered into her ear and cuddled into her side as Bella drifted off to sleep with a large smile on her face.
A/N: Though I ended this chapter kind of like a oneshot would end, I don't intend for this to be a oneshot. The next chapter should be coming relatively soon.
I'm not entirely sure how many chapters this will have, or how long of a story it will be. I'm debating between making it a two shot or making it a(relatively short) multi-chaptered fic. Both have their ups and downs, so I'll just be doing whichever I feel will make for a better overall story.
Hopefully I made the characters believable- I think for the most part this is shaping up nicely, but I worry about a few scenes and their believability and/or details. Regardless, please feel free to review with any criticisms, as I'm constantly looking to improve my work.