Re-written and hopefully better. I re-read the original and thought it was pretty bad. Or at least not as good as possible...

Anyway, I don't own Twilight and this is pretty close to what actually happened at the end of the second, but the original idea is all Stephenie Meyer's.

Enjoy!


Chapter One

I eyed the outstretched hand in front of me with trepidation. Glancing behind me I saw Edward give a nod, a slight dip of his glorious face, and I was filled with the determination to follow this through; he was here, what more could happen? I had already lived through the most painful of tortures – and when he left again I would endure so much more, though I tried not to dwell on that point – and I could not bring myself to care about what happened now. At least, that was what I tried to tell myself. I felt myself shivering in a cocktail of cold terror.

I once more stared at the hand extended toward me, followed the veins, pumping nothing but venom around his body, from his palm, to wrist then losing themselves behind the thick material of his dark cloak. I glanced at Aro's face, the skin pulled loosely over the bones surrounding the milky eyes; milky red. He smiled at me, attempting to reassure me, but his face was too strange and alien to comfort.

I breathed deep and extended my own hand, trembling profusely and undermining my resolve to not fear this. I watched Aro's eyes shift from my face to my hand as he glided toward me; I followed his gaze as his two hands enveloped my own. His hands felt brittle upon my own, although still with the trademark, stone-like quality already familiar to me. It was colder than expected and an involuntary shiver sped down my spine.

My eyes snapped up to meet his own, his eyes gaining depth, clouds scuttling across the surface hiding the real colour. I found I could not look away as I became more absorbed, falling deeper. I could not look away, mesmerising as they were in an unpleasant way.

As I watched, I saw his confidence waver, knew that he was no better than Edward. I was feeling reckless, filled with ideas. What was the worst that could happen? If this worked, then I could learn more, I could speak to Edward just by thinking something. Or I could, if he would stay. But as soon as he would be sure I was safe, he would be back to his distractions… I pushed those thoughts from my mind and brought back something nondescript: a school photo taken years ago.

I had no idea how this could work; maybe if I imagined him receiving it, willing him to see what I saw… I looked at Aro's face of newly found wonder. It worked. Maybe Edward won't find me so boring and will stay. I knew it was a long shot and the edges of the hole in my chest flared as I tried to suppress that line of thought. Aro winced as if he felt it, too. That couldn't be possible.

I panicked. I didn't want this to be a permanent thing; I wanted my mind and my thoughts to be mine. I didn't want this stranger hearing and feeling everything I'd ever thought and felt. He looked at me incredulously. Even more so when he heard the string of profanities that were meant for my head only. I started to ease my hand from between his, pulling with more force as Aro did not see my futile attempts.

I heard a commotion behind me and looked to see Edward, stood on the other side of two bodyguards, their cloaks high about their necks concealing their identity. He must have heard through Aro what I had been thinking. My thoughts became more scrambled as I realised how much I didn't want him to hear. I tried to wrench my hand from Aro but to no avail, it was stuck. I pulled harder but he didn't even notice and I became more worried still. I thought of everything he must not see, realising too late that Aro could hear my list. I stared in horror as he rocked backwards, looking as if someone had punched him. I instinctively made to wrap my available arm around my torso, holding my ragged chest together as everything flew to the forefront of my mind and I relived the past eight months in the eight seconds it took to fall unconscious to the floor.


There you go, I reckon it's better than my first attempt...

Review and tell me what you think,

Thanks!