This is my first ever Twilight fic - kind of late, seeing as BD2 was last year. [weeps into pillow] But nonetheless, here it is, sprung from my obsession with the Volturi. I apologize for any mistakes - I proof read it twice, but there is always room for human error. Review, please.

Disclaimer: All characters in this story belong solely to Stephenie Meyer. Only the plot is mine.

Volterra, Italy, August 1930.

The man in the great throne clasped his hands together, resting his head on them. 'Ah, young one, but how am I to know that you will not tell?' he mused. His skin was papery – thin and crisp and incredibly pale. Jet black hair framed his face and his crimson eyes stood out.

'Aro,' the one on the left chided, his hair a dark brown and curly to his shoulders. 'Let us be done, now, quickly.'

'Patience, Marcus,' Aro replied. He motioned for me to come forward, and rising from his chair, he grasped my hand. His hand was ice cold and as pale as his face. His eyes were vacant for a moment, his face twisted into an expression of confusion, of frustration.

'Can you not read her?' the blonde on the right enquired, his eyes drilling a hole in me with his gaze. His hair was long and a dark blonde, but like the other two his face was papery.

Aro shifted his head ever so slightly, a small tilt to the right. 'No,' he murmured. 'There is absolutely nothing at all.'

'How queer,' Marcus remarked. 'A shield, then, even in her human life.' The blonde merely let out a disgruntled snort.

'There are more pressing matters at hand, brothers. We must destroy her, for she knows too much. One slip of her tongue and our futures are gone. Furthermore, I cannot read her at all, and I simply have no idea of her intentions.' Aro's grip on my hand tightened and I winced.

'Must we destroy her?' the blonde almost pleaded Aro. 'A shield, like Marcus said previously, even now as a human.'

'But of course,' Marcus disagreed. 'We know nothing of her intentions.'

'Now, Caius, let us think this through,' Aro cautioned. The blonde one – Caius – merely rolled his eyes. 'But a shield... How fascinating. I wonder: will it manifest if she is changed?' Aro mused.

'It is worth a shot,' Marcus agreed. 'That is all I have to say.'

Aro nodded serenely at him and turned to his left. 'Caius?'

'I concur,' Caius said, still examining me closely. 'Let it be done, then.'

'Brilliant,' Aro breathed. 'Who would like to have the honor?' Marcus merely looked away, muttering something about not caring as long as I was changed.

Wait! My brain was screaming now. They're going to bite you, damn it, run!

I turned around, ready to run, when a cold hand grabbed my shoulder. I stifled a shriek, my heart beating so fast I could've sworn it would've burst free from the confines of my chest. No, they couldn't do this to me – I was rich and I had a mother and a father and they would expect me back home, though I didn't want to be.

Aro made a tsk sound. 'Not so fast, young one.' He laughed then, a low sound that reminded me of bells. 'Your heart is beating so fast and you smell absolutely, well, delectable, child. I'll try my best to stop,' he laughed, throwing me a brief grin.

I tried to scream but he had already bitten me.

I woke up in a bright room, sunlight filtering through the blinds.

And… Wow. Everything was so clear now: I could see the dust particles swirling through the air, the cracks in the bricks, the indents on the bed's wooden post and the pollen on the flowers that stood in a crystal glass on the table. I inhaled a deep breath and relished in the feel of the dust swirling down my throat, as weird as it was. I realized I was wearing a long white night gown, and reaching out; I touched the silky fabric, wondering who had changed me from my blue dress.

Ah, the blue dress... all my memories of it are hazy. I wondered how long I had been out.

'Three and a half days, or eighty three hours and forty minutes if you'd like to be exact,' a voice spoke from the corner of the room. I must've spoken aloud – I did have a tendency to do that after all.

'Should've stayed out for another twenty minutes and made it exact, no?' I mused. 'Who are you?'

'Alec,' he responded, his voice silky smooth. 'And I suppose, though that would be impossible since your change is complete, seeing as we are unable to sleep.'

'Insomnia,' I hummed. 'Fascinating. Won't we get tired, though?'

'We never get tired,' he promised. 'How do you feel Isabella?'

I flexed my wrist, stretching my arm out. 'Not much different, I am still myself. As expected, I suppose, though I didn't really have expectations of any sort.'

'You are incredibly queer, Isabella. You must be thirsty, are you not?' Alec asked.

Thirsty…. So that was what the inferno in my throat was. It was raging hot, almost like a burning iron had been shoved in it. A foreign liquid pooled in my mouth – far too thin to be saliva – and in hopes of trying to quench my thirst, I swallowed, but it did nothing for me. The fire raged on.

'Very,' I barely managed to gasp out.

'Come,' he ordered, offering me his arm. 'We'll get you something to drink.' He smiled at me, secretively, as if he was on some sort of inside joke. 'I suppose our meals should be here by now.'

I grinned at him eagerly. 'What are we waiting for?'

Volterra, Italy, 1989.

'I cannot believe you've been a vampire for nearly sixty years now,' Felix remarked. 'You still act like such a newborn.'

A snarl ripped through my lips. 'Kettles have no right to call the pot black.'

'Are you implying something, Isabella?' Felix laid back in his armchair, Demetri and Jane smirking next to him on the sofa.

'That you're a total hypocrite? Yes,' I said, as Alec, Chelsea, Renata, Santiago and Heidi walked through the doors.

'A hypocrite?' Felix scoffed. 'I am no such thing.' He shot me a dark look as he spotted Renata. Renata was Aro's personal guard, and almost never left her side. 'Renata,' he said, obviously pleased. 'What are you doing here? Where is Aro?' He smiled brightly at her, a smile that I knew he clearly reserved for her.

Alec came to sit next to me on the loveseat, slinging an arm around my shoulder and intertwining our fingers. Jane, of course, did not miss this and smiled knowingly. I could only grin at her. Jane had hated me when I was first changed – I had become Aro's… obsession, for lack of better word. He spent almost all his time with me, Renata hovering in the background and in turn, I became close with her. Now my shield – as Caius had predicted – was one of the strongest the Guard had ever seen. However it was only mental, though I had discovered I had a limited physical shield to myself a while back. But I digress – Jane hated me because I was Aro's obsession, as previously said. She liked being the center of attention, being the most talented and most respected, both out of fear and admiration (poor Alec had to sit in the shadows while she shone, but somehow he was O.K. with that), so when I took that away from her, she would be mad, obviously. Though I couldn't say I would've been the same if I was in her position – I like to regard myself as being a bit more humble. Nonetheless, Alec took a liking to me and as we spent more time together, I found myself liking him even more. But we were not mates – Marcus had seen that. Just two individuals who appreciated each other's company. Of course, not too long after Alec and I started spending time together, another more "talented" vampire joined and thus became Aro's new obsession – his obsessions are rather fickle, I must admit, chosen on his conquest for total power. Jane then proceeded to direct her hatred towards them and in turn, admitted to me that she had only hated me because I had become Aro's favorite. Still, we were O.K. now: sisters but not friends, a level only marginally higher than tolerance because Alec liked me so much.

Renata smiled shyly back at Felix. I had never understood why she was shy – a shield like her ought to be bold and arrogant. But Renata was the definition of unpredictable, and her shyness was endearing. 'He's spending time with Sulpicia and, God willing, I would not like to be around them.' We all nodded understandingly. While Aro was quieter in terms of vocalization, Sulpicia was very, very bold – and loud. 'What were you and Isabella arguing about?'

'He called me a newborn. How do you call me a newborn when you act like one yourself? So I called him a hypocrite.' I shrugged my shoulders.

'Actually, Isabella, you are a newborn,' Heidi objected. 'We are all hundreds, if not thousands, of years old and you've barely hit sixty.'

'I am aware of that,' I affirmed. 'I do not mean newborn in the sense that I am plenty younger than all of you, but in the sense that I am not some wild, maniacal savage of a creature. Felix, however…' I trailed off.

'In that case, then you are correct,' Alec agreed.

'I am not maniacal or wild or savage,' Felix protested.

'Really?' we all wondered, a hint of sarcasm seeping into our voices.

'Yes! I am none of that. I am strong, controlled and domesticated.'

'Domesticated? Really, Felix?' Renata sighed.

'But of course,' he replied. 'I am tame.'

'And I am still human,' I laughed.

I hope you liked it and please, review. It would make me really happy.

Clara.