New Era: The fall of the Volturi

The First Encounter

Elizabeth Arden Black.

Hmph, if that's even my name. I sat on the plane from Italy dreading the several more hours it would be till I made it to Forks. The dread thickened worse when the thought of not having much time surmounted. I closed my eyes knowing damn well there was no possibility of sleep, you see my kind doesn't need sleep. So basically that means the torment of being a beast locked in immortality never ends. I took a deep breath, made sure that my dark sunglasses were in place and prayed to whatever god that would create such a creature that I could save the most noble clan in existence. The Cullens.

After a 14 hour flight I checked in at the Days Inn of Forks to change. I looked around the partition to the miniature bedroom and snorted at the bed dressed in frilly linens.

"Whatever…totally useless." I muttered to myself.

I pulled on a crisp white button down top and a business like navy high-waisted skirt. I pushed my fingers through my bone straight black hair and once again placed on my sunglasses.

"God I get sick of these" I muttered once again to myself. Lately it seemed like I had been doing that more often. Being a nomad all these years was really starting to get to me. I slid on a pair of black pumps and walked down the hall. I heard a few whistles and cat calls behind me and I threw up my hand in a flippant fashion and kept walking. A mortal male can not and will not provide me any pleasure, not physical or mental. The succubus thing is definitely not my forte.

I laughed humorlessly at the thought of ripping a mortal man to shreds in the peak of ecstasy and shook my head. I looked around the empty parking lot and took to the woods. A taxi was definitely out of the question, why in the world would I subdue myself to a crawl when I would be at the hospital of Forks in about two minutes running.

"May I help you ma'am?" the elderly volunteer asked with a warming smile.

"Um..Yes ma'am, I'm here to see a Mr….." I shuffled through my bag pulled out a meaningless receipt to help my charade "Ah..Mr. Carlilse Cullen?"

"Do you have an appointment?" she asked with her eyes tightened in curiosity.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I'm Detective Black. I have some information on the case involving his missing child Rosalie Cullen." I responded flashing a seemingly genuine smile.

"Oh!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "Right this way ma'am"

I followed her down a long winding hallway making sure to keep a normal pace. After what seemed like forever she knocked on a wooden door with a golden plate with his name and credentials.

"Come in" I heard the familiarly wind chime like voice.

She opened the door and gestured me inside and closed it with a soft click behind me. He looked up with a smile that suddenly faded when he realized he wasn't in the presence of a friendly client.

"Hello Carlilse" I spoke softly and extended my had.

"Er….Hi Mrs…." he trailed off fishing for my name.

"Elizabeth is fine." I sat poised on a leather chair in front of his desk. "Look I know you are probably wondering who I am, what I 'm here for and who sent me…..am I correct?"

He gave one solemn nod and I continued " My name is Elizabeth, I came here as a favor to you and your entire family. You are in grave danger, and I need to know that there is a way for all that is good…well if it can hardly be called that, to be protected."

He cocked his head to the side and pressed his finger tips together in thought. "Excuse me?"

"Listen, please….I need to speak with all of you at once. I know what happened to Rosalie and-"

He stood up and within a tenth of a second he was at my side with a suspicious expression.

"Dr. Cullen please…" I put my hands up in defense. "You have to listen to me! I need to speak with all of you at once!"

"I don't know who you are dear, I can not consciously put my family in danger that way. You must understand that. I don't even know exactly what you are. Your scent…..it's not what I would expect from my kind." He responded.

I knew that was going to come up, I KNEW it. I sighed and continued "Perhaps I should tell you this first. I am…not exactly what you think. As a matter of fact I'm not really sure who or what I am but I do know this I am here as a courtesy so please hear me out."

He flitted back around his desk and sat giving me one more solemn nod to continue.

"I'm going to start from the beginning Carlilse. I was born approximately 325 years ago to Tiara Ahka and Ephriam Black. My mother was bitten while she was carrying me. Immediately the venom that was put into her system was in mine. It was almost like a catalyst to my birth….needless to say my mother was ripped to shreds from my own vile hands."

I looked up through the slight tint of my sunglasses into a face that was utterly shocked. I contemplated waiting for a response, but decided that it was best to go on.

"Well long story short….I guess I am half vampire.."

"And half human?" he speculated.

"I'm afraid not. My genetic make up is much more complicated than that. I'm half vampire, a quarter shape shifter and a quarter human. Sort of repulsive I guess…" I trailed off wringing my hands nervously.

He shook his head fervently "That is absolutely impossible."

"No..not at all actually. Very possible…very rare." I almost whispered.

"Well child….may I ask you a favor?" he inquired.

I nodded in curiosity "Sure, what would that be?"

"Can you please remove your glasses. I must see your eyes."

I sat there in a stupor, knowing what his reaction would be. The self disgust began to rise again. I slowly slid the glasses away from my face. I looked down at my lap for what seemed like an eternity. I felt his fingertips lift my face and I'll never forget the look on his for all of eternity.

"….your eyes are..are…amethyst?"

I nodded ashamed. "I'm afraid so….I'm my own species."

He dropped to his chair flabbergasted, "How did you….where…..do the volturi…." he stammered incoherently. Sadly enough I had gone through this conversation many times in many different places, I knew exactly what he was inquiring. I reached over the desk and put my hand on top of his and a flood gate of compassion flowed through me.

"Oh…" I murmured as his lifelong intentions flooded my body. I had never in my entire existence felt such compassion toward anything. My lips turned up into a weak smile, Carlilse was an angel so to speak. When I observed his face again his eyes were scrutinizing my hand.

"Your hands are….warm but….your skin it's…it's…." he trailed off perplexed.

"Yes.." I sighed "My skin is hard as rocks, but warm. See that's what I don't understand! I have the perfect mix of everything I am! I have the superhuman speed and strength of a vampire, the ability to transform into any animal I please, and the emotions and warmth of a human being. It's all very baffling even to myself!"

"Do you have any….extras?" he pondered.

"Yes I do, but we will talk about that later! We don't have much time Carlilse, Aro and Caius have already gotten to Rosalie!" I exclaimed exasperated.

Greif flashed across his face, "The Volturi?"

"Yes!" I hissed, "Of course! The intention is to kill the Cullens one by one. Aro fears you! He feels that the clan is too large and can not be defeated due to numbers and…..the gifts that you all have."

"Well let me ask you this…..how did you acquire this information Elizabeth? Were you in on it? Are you here now on an assignment?"

I threw my hands up in exasperation and shook my head fervently "NO CARLILSE! If I wanted to kill you, you would have been dead the moment I walked through that door. I am quite dangerous! I spent a few decades with the Volturi myself! I can not….no I will not associate myself with an organization so crooked and so utterly disgusting! Also I assure you that if they find me here alone….that they will kill me."

"Well I certainly can't allow that to happen if in fact your intentions are true. Apparently you have put yourself at risk to alert myself and my family. Meet us tonight at the open canyon." He scrawled the coordinates on an post it note and handed it to me, "Meet us at twilight and we will talk more."

I nodded and placed my glasses back on my face, "I'll be there."