I'll be updating this story every Monday. It's in Carlisle's POV. It will hopefully give you more insight on the last story, as well as give you a few more twists :)
"I love a happy ending." I heard Aro say as I felt my whole world shatter.
"No! You can't do this! We were just trying to help her, I was just trying to make her better!" I crawled towards Jasper's torso, to protect it, to protect him, but I was kicked aside. I tried to push myself up, but Aro still had my right hand and my ribs felt like they were fractured.
"Just stay down, old friend." Aro said calmly while walking over to me. I looked at him, about to plead my case when he spoke again. "Mr. Whitlock is no longer among us. If you had been paying attention instead of trying to stop things that were out of your control you would have seen that." I stared at him for a long moment, not immediately understanding what he meant. Then it clicked in my mind.
"You didn't have to do this! All of this was my fault." I pulled myself off the ground and tried to talk reasonably to him. "Please just leave my family out of this. I'm the one who deserves to be tortured, to be killed not them." Aro waved a dismissive hand at me and a large vampire I didn't recognize pinned me to the ground.
"There are still many things we must consider, mostly pertaining to the four living members of your coven." I could tell he was pretending to muse on the subject.
"Just leave them out of this please-"
"Young Edward would make a fine addition to my guard, but I'm afraid the other three are of no use to me!" He let out a hoot like laugh. "Especially considering that wife of yours. Her existence is merely counterproductive according to our little Ms. Bella- the newest addition to my family!" He looked in the direction of my once joyful house. I couldn't see them, but I could hear her quick breaths and Caius' purrs and growls. "I so look forward to picking her brain- Oh, but what if she picks mine back! How absolutely terrifying!" Aro threw his hands up in the air before laughing again. He wasn't going to listen to me, he found this whole situation to entertaining. I strained my neck to look around.
"Marcus!" Maybe he'd listen to me. "You know this is wrong! I've always been loyal to the Volturi- take Bella, take me, just please leave the rest of my family alone! Marcus! I know you're there! What if you and Didyme had children? Wouldn't you give up everything to protect-" There was a bolt of pain and Jane was standing above me, her heel on my throat.
"It's rude to use the late queen's name in your defense." She ground her heel deeper into my throat. "Master Aro, shall I lead the search party for the remaining Cullens?" Aro walked over to us and I saw that he was using my hand to point at things.
"There should be a dashing portrait of me with my brothers in the house, take all the female jewelry you can find… it shall be a gift for our newest member once she has the time. Gather all of the clothing that looks like they fit Ms. Bella and prepare them for transport. In the second room on the left when you go up the stairs there are many dresses. Pack up all the pretty ones in there. I have a feeling that they will fit Ms. Bella nicely after the change." He used my hand to tap his chin. "One moment dear Jane, I know I'm forgetting something, but I'm not quite sure what it is. How thoroughly frustrating. Ah! I remember, there is a pair of cuff links in the room above the one with the pretty dresses- they're hard to describe so just bring all the ones you can find and I'll sort through them later." Jane walked to Aro's side and I already felt the cartilage in my throat healing. She held onto his hand like a child would hold her parent's.
"Master Aro," one of the guards said while coming out of the house, "Ms. Bella's things were already packed in a closet on the top floor. There was a note pinned to them stating that they should be delivered to Volterra ahead of her. Shall I send them off with the vanguard?" Aro kept tapping his chin with my finger, I could almost feel his papery skin under my twitching fingers.
"That seems rather reasonable. Put them next to Carlisle. He'll be going back in the first trip as well." Aro paused briefly. "Oh! How silly of me! This belongs to you old friend." He tossed my hand towards me and I instinctively tried to catch it with my dominant hand, the hand that was flying towards me. It hit the oozing stub, making me grind my teeth in pain.
"This letter was also on the suitcases. It's addressed to you." The guard handed him the letter and Aro immediately tore it open.
"Aro," I wheezed, air finally able to get through my collapsed trachea.
"Tut, tut Carlisle. It's rude to interrupt someone who is reading." He folded the letter before putting it in the breast pocket of his coat. "From your continuous interruptions I gather that you want to save your family, or at least what remains of it."
"Yes, yes, just please don't hurt them!"
"I suppose that we can make an exception of sorts for them. Of course it would be based on your cooperation with us, and they would be on a probation of a sort."
"Anything, just please don't hurt them."
"The deal is struck!" Aro patted his chest, right over where the letter was hidden away. "Box him up, send him and Bella's things to Volterra." My vision quickly faded and I realized Alec was using his gift on me, and I was thankful for that- the blank slate of nothing was better than all that had transpired so quickly…
"No! Let him go!" A female voice wavered as my hearing slowly came back. I tried blinking, but the world was still a dark blur. I twisted my head, trying to see the woman who was speaking or at least hear her better. "I'll take responsibility for him, just let him go!" Soft hands cradled my head and I realized I was laid out on a stone floor and someone was propping me up.
"I'll take your word. Master Aro won't be happy if he goes missing." Alec said, his voice fading as he walked away. "Make sure he's fed and clothed properly."
"What day is it?" I asked while rubbing my eyes… apparently they'd reattached my hand.
"Alec just brought you in. I'm sorry, I don't know what day it is." My sense of touch was coming back, and I think she was shaking. "You're in Volterra, Italy. Do you know who the Volturi are?"
"Yes, yes, I know them. Can you help me sit up?" I was pulled up slightly and could feel how soft this stranger was. Her scent was smooth and soothing, like almonds and hazelnut. "When is Aro getting back, Marcus and Caius?" And Bella, I should have seen this coming, I should have known.
"Alec said the Masters will be back tomorrow morning. Are you a member of the Olympic coven?" The woman's face was starting to come into focus, clear white skin…
"Yes, well no, not anymore." I tried to concentrate on seeing her face, but I kept picturing Jasper's limbless torso. He couldn't have died… he just couldn't have. He had survived too much to die just like that. "I made a deal, I'm part of the Volturi now." I gulped, trying to clear my throat… that taste, human blood. I touched my lips, there was dried blood on them, but it wasn't Bella's.
"Can you feel your legs yet?" I shook my head. I couldn't feel them, but I could feel an immense pain in my chest. Bella… she said Alice was dead. My flighty, carefree daughter was dead. I couldn't believe it. Thank God the rest of the family hadn't been home. Esme couldn't understand with this sort of place, these sorts of vampires. "I thought I knew Aro, I didn't think he'd go this far. I know we broke the rules, but... Does he keep his word? We made a deal." The woman's hair… I blink hard, surely I was seeing things. Her hair was the same shade of embers, and every time she moved the red brighten then dimmed. I reached out without thinking to see if they were hot like coals, but instead her hair was soft, like the faint brush of smoke from a blown out candle.
"Master Aro always keeps his word, so long as the other party in the deal does the same." She sounded flustered.
"What's your name?" This scent… this feeling, I don't understand. My whole life had just exploded in my face, but somehow I wasn't crying or shouting. There was the sound of footsteps in the distance.
"Alec is coming back, we have to go. He'll be angry if we're still where he left us." The woman helped me stand up. She looped my arm over her shoulder and we started hobbling down the hallway. My legs felt like they were asleep, but I could move them, barely. "There's a vacant room just ahead. I'm going to have to set you down there. I still have duties I need to do before the Masters return." I could make out the image of a door, before a bright beige room made me cringe. "You should gain your sight back soon, but your other senses will take longer to come back."
"I know, I know." I had seen his gift used on enough vampires to know how it worked, I just never thought it would be turned on me.
"Just wait on this bed. I'll be back in an hour." I felt the plush of the bed beneath me. "And please don't leave this room. If you do I'll get in trouble." Before I could respond she ran out of the room.
Now that I was alone again and my senses were coming back… what had transpired back in Washington hit me full force. Jasper, Alice, Peter… all dead, all because of Bella. One woman… one human, it didn't make any sense.
I let out a stuttered breath. Jasper had tried to warn us. I saw the warning signs, I knew she wasn't stable, but… How could I be so stupid? She had just looked so innocent… played the part, played us all…
And that woman, the one whose hair looked like embers- she said Aro kept his word… He did when I lived with them, but he always directed the level of cruelty he showed back in Washington to those that had truly betrayed him. I was loyal, I was always loyal and I followed the rules… before Bella arrived on my doorstep in a white dress and barefoot like she was about to be baptized in the Jordan River.
I thought I had control of my bloodlust, but then she practically shoved her bloody finger in my mouth. God forgive me, I licked her arm. No human should ever smell that good. No one person should have that much power. If only she hadn't been immune to Alice's gift, if only Edward had been able to read her twisted mind, if only-
"I have to stop thinking about it." I whispered to myself, trying to find any shred of comfort. The rest of the family had to be alive, I had to believe that.
I stood up on shaky legs. My senses were mostly back, but still dulled. I automatically went to the mirror that hung over a small vanity. My eyes were red… after so many years of struggling, they were red again. I could fix that though, it wasn't permanent- it wasn't death.
I made a silent vow to God to not look into my own eyes until they were gold again. I prayed that He'd give me strength, that he'd protect my family when I couldn't, and that if they were truly dead that He would welcome three new angels into his kingdom.
My light blue shirt had bloodstains on it. They must have tried to feed me when I was incapacitated. The burning in my throat was dull, but that could be a lingering effect of Alec's gift.
There was a thin band of raised skin circling my wrist where it had been cut off. For it to scar, there had to be foreign venom… probably Alec's, to make my hand reattach faster. I tried flexing my fingers. They worked perfectly, all the nerves must have healed.
My eyes kept drifting back to the fresh scar… I couldn't help but think, it just- the scar it just… it reminded me of handcuffs, and I knew I'd never be able to escape them.
I beg that you have patients with this story. This story will be longer than the prequel.
What do you think of what happened immediately after Silver Tongue? Of his encounter with the woman with ember hair? Of the last paragraph? Do you think Aro will keep his word?