Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters, else I wouldn't be writing fanfiction of it.
Story: After Edward's abandonment, Bella thought she would be stuck in an eternal twilight. But immediately after, she's haunted by three men she swears are vampires. And they are. The Voluri leaders at that. And once they've ensnared her, the Cullens won't be having a reprieve this time around.
Set AU of New Moon.
Spoilers: Maybe, if I can incorporate just right. I'll warn you beforehand.
Warnings: Total smut, hint of D/S, polygamous pairings, language, bloodplay, dubious consent in the beginning…
Pairings: Aro/Bella, Marcus/Bella, Caius/Bella
A/n: A variant idea of the Volturi/Bella fic I'm working on (on how they'd meet), then I heard about the contest and involuntary added more ideas to make this monstrous thing. Done to add more Volturi goodness to the site.
"I GET OFF IN VOLTERRA CONTEST"
Acta Sanctorum
La Dalla Aria: Agnus Dei (The Lamb of God)
Horror. Absolute horror is what each member of the Cullen family felt as they stood in front of the Kings, their eyes glued to the figures in front of them –more so on the docile vampire doll that lay her head submissively on Aro's lap, bright red eyes blank and body passively limp against the leader of the leaders as she sat on the floor at his feet.
"As you can see, she is not your little toy any more. She's ours," Caius stated cruelly, bending closer and licking a trail up Bella Swan's neck.
No one was more horrified than Edward.
"What have you done to her?!" he cried out, his chest in pain and his heart clenching, eyes staring at his love in anguish.
A passive doll. A vampire with all the beauty in the world, obedient and compliant to the Kings who ruled her and dominated her entire being. The innocent white Loli dress that made her look angelic even in living death, even in this damned existence.
"You have no bond to her, boy," Marcus stated dispassionately. "Whatever tie you had to her died when she died on the floor of the forest you'd abandoned her."
Edward shook his head in grief, backing away until he just turned and ran out the doors.
Child.
"Edward compared her to a lamb once. I must say, that's a rather accurate comparison," Caius said cuttingly.
Carlisle clenched his jaw, observing the Kings and Bella, noting Bella's submissive position and the three's obvious possessive and dominate arrangement around her. And he'd heard the implication in Caius' words.
"None of you are gods."
Il Primo Aria: A Priori (From What Comes Before)
Bella was just…tired. Tired of everything. She just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. But that wasn't right. She couldn't let Charlie suffer. So she forced herself out of her catatonic state, went back to school, but she didn't do anything more than was necessary. Around Charlie, she tried harder, but she honestly couldn't survive the way she was living currently. If she continued, she would be at the edge of sanity, if not death.
"Bells, this isn't healthy," Charlie murmured, brushing back her hair.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He just hugged her and left her alone to stare out her window as she'd been doing for the past hour or so since she'd come back from school.
She hated herself for doing this to Charlie, but she couldn't help it.
The next day, she dragged herself out of bed, showered, and then made herself go to school in her beat up red truck. It was the same as every other day. Everyone left her alone. So when she entered English and didn't see Mr. Mason, she mustered up some confusion, seating herself in the back and waited.
The principal walked in, wincing as the noise level grew at his appearance.
"Settle down, settle down! I have some unfortunate news," he started. The class reluctantly quieted and he continued. "Mr. Mason has been reported missing –"
When the class erupted into talk again, he quieted them down once more.
"In that event, I had to find a temporary teacher for you all. Please welcome Mr. Volturi."
Something about that name pulled at Bella's mind, but she couldn't quite recall why. And then he entered the room and she drew in a sharp breath, forgetting everything.
"Vampire," she whispered too low for anyone to hear but for the incredibly beautiful man at the front of the room. And she knew he heard, with the telltale tightening of lips that was unnoticeable except to her and only because she was watching closely.
The principal left the new teacher to the class, who stayed quiet and watched their new teacher with wide eyes.
Mr. Volturi smiled softly to the class, but Bella was sure she was the only one who saw the edge of danger coating the smile. Or she was imagining it. Just like she was overreacting to his appearance. He couldn't be a vampire. He couldn't. And that movement of his lips earlier was nothing. It was just her eyes playing tricks on her.
But he was too beautiful to be human –just like him. Though a part of her, deep down, admitted Mr. Volturi was even more beautiful.
His hair was to his shoulders and clipped black, unbelievably looking soft and silky from a distance. His skin was as pale as his –no, it was in fact paler. His lips were a chilling blood-red color and his eyes were an unnatural shade of purple.
If he was a vampire, his eyes showed him as a human drinker. The contacts did nothing to hide him from Bella.
If he was a vampire.
Bella was entirely too happy when school was over. And she hadn't really felt anything for awhile, other than guilt for hurting Charlie because of her behavior. She went into her truck and drove home as fast as it could let her.
Charlie was still gone, but she was alright with being alone. She needed to be alone.
But she wasn't. No, not when she saw another beautiful man that was just sitting idly outside on the porch of the house next to hers, reading a book and a half-glass of lemonade. Unlike her teacher, this man's hair was shorter and fell around his face, only the slightest hints of curls. His eyes were the same odd purple Mr. Volturi's were…
Was it coincidence? Was she just overreacting to all of it?
He flashed her a smile and she was momentarily dazzled. Snapping out of it in a panic, she darted out of her truck and ran into her house, closing and locking all the doors. Even if it was a futile effort, she was just doing anything that could help put her mind to ease. Breathing heavily, she ran to a phone and called her dad.
"Bells? What's going on? Are you okay?" her father's worried voice said.
"Dad, come home, please," she whimpered, wholly unsure and shaking.
Her father was silent a moment. "I'm coming, sweetheart. Make sure all the doors and windows are closed and lock. I'll be there as fast as I can."
She waited anxiously for Charlie.
Thankfully, it wasn't too long until he was home and she's bounded down the stairs to greet him and hope he'd somehow make it all better.
Instead, Bella froze at the bottom of the stairs.
"Bella, this is a new recruit, Caius Volturi. I invited him over to dinner, if that's alright? You mind an early dinner, Caius?"
Like his brother and the man next door, Caius was incredibly beautiful. He had snow-white hair that fell in soft waves around his face, shorter than her might-not-might-be-vampire-neighbor's. His skin was that same paleness, flawless skin she couldn't get away from. And his cold purple eyes bore down on her…
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Isabella," his musical voice sounded like chimes, just like Mr. Volturi's, and she'd noted then that the two had a slight Italian accent.
She smiled brokenly.
"Pleasure's all mine."
Charlie watched on worriedly, confused at her reaction but linking it only to her previous behavior from before. He had no idea it had anything to do with ghosts haunting her in the present, with purple unnatural eyes and inhuman beauty that called out to her like a siren.
No, it had nothing to do with a world that refused to leave Bella alone.
It couldn't.
Because she was just imagining things.
So she went back to cooking a relatively simple but delicious soup she had left simmering as she'd waited for Charlie to come home, and went back to it with an air of weariness. The creamy texture was stirred and she watched, picturing pale skin so still and marble-like…
A spidery finger dipped into the soup and she stiffened up, following the appendage to see it being enclosed by blood-red lips, sliding out slowly until it had been completely cleaned off.
"Exquisite," Caius murmured, standing behind her, too close and too personal.
Her breath hitched.
He couldn't be a vampire. Vampires hated human food. But then again his finger hadn't been burned by the soup…
"Call me Caius, Isabella. I have two brothers after all," and then he smoothly turned and walked away to join Charlie in the living room to wait for her to finish up.
Her teacher definitely was his brother then. And she could only assume the other brother was her neighbor. Which meant that all of them lived next door.
All three inhuman beauty personified, and these purple-eyed Greek gods were mere paces away from her…
She tried not to curl in on herself and cry.
At school, she forced herself to not pay attention to Mr. Volturi and his musical voice and his purple eyes and his blood-red lips. She didn't let herself feel. She didn't let herself think in his presence. She didn't allow herself to think of Mr. Volturi as anything but another man and her teacher.
He's not a vampire.
Delusional. Borderline crazy. Foolish, foolish, naïve girl. Pathetic. A mess. Brok –
"Miss Swan? Can you stay after class?"
Nononononononono –
"Of course, Mr. Volturi," is what she answered instead.
The class emptied and she saw his legs stop in front of her, but she didn't want to look up.
"Isabella –"
"Bella," she interrupted and she wanted to berate herself.
"Bella," he sighed softly. He unexpectedly reached out and took her arm, using a nail to dig into her skin and cut a small line. Blood welled up and she fought off the nausea and need to faint. Instead, she focused on him and Bella is horrifyingly watching her teacher bend over her arm and his tongue dart out to taste her blood.
"You are so very, very temping, mia Bella," and he lapped at her blood, visibly enjoying the taste and looking euphoric.
School ended and she drove home quickly, numb and confused. She parked her truck and was about to walk into her home when she caught sight of the beautiful man next door –who she's not sure is Caius and Aro's brother. He's sitting on his porch, reading his book again. But she recognized it. Wuthering Heights. Cautiously, stupidly so and she's not even sure why, but she approached him and he looked up at the sound of her light footsteps.
"I'm –"
"Bella," he cut in, with a smile playing on his lips. Blood-red as always.
She fidgeted. Swallowing nervously, she opened her mouth to speak when he cut her off again.
"Cara mia, would you like to come in?"
Nibbling on her lower lip, she made up her mind. She nodded and he got up, gracefully extending a slender hand to her. After another note of hesitation, she took it and let him lead her inside.
She was still in pieces over him, but a part of her still longed and needed a connection –remembrance –of him and the family that had left her behind.
Bella didn't know what she was expecting, but the plain and almost bare home wasn't it. But she felt at ease so she didn't question it.
"Sit, sit. Would you like anything to drink?"
"No thanks."
She was in a stranger's home and she didn't even know his name. What was she thinking?
"My name is Marcus. You met my brothers, Aro and Caius yesterday, did you not?" he questioned, still kind and still welcoming.
"Y-yes."
All three were brothers then.
"Do you like music?" he asked in a smooth voice, tempting and alluring.
She nodded dumbly, unable to really process anything. He disappeared for a second, not bothering to hide his speed, before coming back with a violin case. Well, with a weak and resigned attitude, she forced herself to acknowledge what he and his brothers really were.
But then he started to play such a haunting tune and she was wrapped up in it, too busy feeling the anguish and agony and sorrow and just feeling and connecting with her own pain.
It stopped and she reluctantly opened her eyes to see his. Except they weren't red any more. They weren't even the burgundy she expected.
They were onyx.
"You're hungry," she stated. It was fact and she wasn't scared. Her sense of self-preservation had run long ago.
He only smiled at her.
"Would you like to learn how to play, cara mia?" and she eyed him and then the violin in surprise.
He had never offered to teach her, even though she'd love music and hearing him play.
"Yes, please," she answered quietly.
"A price then," he murmured, and he disappeared again, only to reappear with a cup. "Do you know what I am asking for, cara mia?"
She looked at the cup and then into his dark eyes.
"Yes."
Yes was all she could say to this man.
So she held out her arm and he took it, tenderly touching his lips on her skin in a chaste kiss before dragging an incisor across it, blood already starting to well up. Then he placed her bleeding wrist above the cup. She started to feel the nausea and dizziness again.
"I don't handle blood well," she told him in a small voice. "The smell makes me sick."
"I know."
And his lips started to attach themselves onto her neck, licking and nibbling, all the while placing butterfly kisses across the smooth expanse of the skin of her neck. It was thoroughly distracting and when he pulled away, she could only gaze at him with dazed eyes as he began cleaning and bandaging her cut wrist.
He smiled again at her before taking his cup full of her blood, giving her a silent toast, and gulping it down ravenously.
"Delicious," he murmured after.
And then he was moving towards her and his hand wrapped around her neck, pulling her closer, and kissed her with lips stained with her blood.
The blood and smell of it couldn't make her sick –not when his fingertips were brushing against the back of her neck in featherlight touches and the other was firmly pressed against the small of her back. Not when his lips were dominating hers. Not when his tongue was sinfully sweeping into her mouth and dancing around hers.
He pulled away slightly, lips moving to her ear. A quick kiss there.
"To the music then, cara mia."
He sat her on his lap, took the violin, positioned it into her hands, and wrapped his arms around her to lead and direct her movements.
"Soon, when you learn to play well, we will compose an aria. And you will be our la tua cantante."
She shivered at the connotation of the words.
An aria was originally an expressive melody, usually but not always performed by a singer.
"Caius was originally Latin, you know. Roman, I mean. Aro and I –we've been Italians from the beginning."
Aria was Italian for air. 'La tua cantante' was Italian for singer.
"Occasionally, we will slip into Italian or even Caius will rarely speak Latin."
'La tua cantante' in vampire lore was a human whose blood especially called out to a vampire.
"We use a lot of Italian terms and Caius sometimes Latin. You will learn. Soon, cara mia, soon," he said with promise in his tone.
They wanted her to sing to them, not just with her voice but with her blood.
"…Cara mia, your mind is restless and Charlie will be home soon. Go home now and I'll see you soon."
She swallowed harshly and stumbled off his lap, walking unsteadily out the door and to her home without looking back.
Bella didn't feel like cooking so she called for pizza and sat on her bed. Charlie came home soon after and she listened as there seemed to be double the noises.
"Bella, I'm home! Caius is here again."
She trudged downstairs, greeted by the sight of a grinning Charlie and a stone-faced Caius, whose eyes immediately lit up at the sight of her.
"Hey Dad…Caius. I'm not cooking tonight. I ordered pizza, though."
Charlie nodded, still grinning. "S'okay, Bells."
He left to turn on the TV and Caius was slow to follow, eying her.
"Such a shame. You have such exceptional cooking, Isabella," and he smirked before leaving her behind.
She hovered near the stairs, torn between wanting to hide in her bedroom and following after them. After a moment of indecision, she followed them into the living room. It was dark, no one having bothered to turn the light on, and the TV was the only thing giving up any illumination. Charlie was sitting on one end of the sofa and Caius sat a little away from him. It would be too uncomfortable to squeeze in between the two, so with a grimace she sat on Caius' other side.
After a few minutes, Caius had nonchalantly slipped an arm around her waist. She stiffened up, but refused to react. Then his ice cold fingers started tracing small circles on her side, slipping under her shirt to continue with her bare skin. Not wanting to alert Charlie, she just leaned back and tried to squeeze his arm between her back and the sofa. It wouldn't hurt him, but it would tell him that she wanted him to stop.
He smirked and kept at it.
While he never did anything else, the entire time they were there watching the game, Caius kept up his teasing. Even when the pizza came, Charlie was the one to get it and Caius had removed his arm while they ate. Still, Charlie having been the one who'd gotten up had ruined her chance to move to another seat.
He left and Bella immediately retreated to her room.
That was the first night she slept without the nightmares and without screaming.
Charlie noticed right away, in a good mood the next morning. He grinned at her as he whistled, and when he left she thought on how ironic it was that the first good sleep she'd had, void of nightmares and waking up screaming, was after she'd finally acknowledge the three brothers as vampires –that she could rest peacefully only after vampires had reentered her life irked her. And that irritated her too. She'd fully expected to live out the rest of her life in a listless void, unfeeling but for the pain that haunted her at night. That the three of them were making her feel again and she reacting and feeling more alive since the day he'd left.
That was how she'd started to feel again, as the weeks started to pass her by.
She had begun to get used to Aro's cheery personality, and his insistence at her staying a couple moments after class for a quick lingering touch and a moment to gaze upon her, which quickly progressed to sharing lunch with him as well. He never ate food, only watching her curiously and talking about idle things. Sometimes he'd share something personal, even a little about his past and some things of his brothers.
She'd also went to visit Marcus every day, after school, giving him some of her blood at times, talking about everything, playing various human games like with a card deck, and continuing with her violin lessons. Sometimes, when they'd talk, she'd curl up on his lap and just say things, confess things even, and he could sit back and hold her close with one arm while the other usually played with a tendril of her hair. She talked a lot –the most –with Marcus. And when he did take blood from her, he'd always have delicious food ready for her to eat so she could replenish the blood she'd lost. But as a result from losing a lot of blood frequently, she became more hungry lately, eating more than she was used to after he'd left. She was sure that was a result Marcus had wanted.
Caius came over for dinner every night, staying to watch the game. He regularly held her close and put his arm around her whenever he could, touching almost as much. She was surprised when he ate her food every time, but that wasn't enough to dissuade her from thinking they were vampires.
Spending time with these men seemed to be becoming normal for her. She stopped questioning and getting irritated at her reaction to them.
Bella had finally resigned herself to their presence in her life, never mind how'd they become integrated in it or known about her at all.
Il Secondo Aria: Acta est Fabula, Plaudite! (The Play is Over, Applaud!)
"Mia Bella! Lunch time already. Come sit," and Aro placed his hands around her waist and lifted her onto his desk as if she weighed nothing. He sat opposite her on a student's desk, taking her food and beginning to feed her. Her face flushing red, she glared at him, but he only gave her a cheeky grin. With him feeding her, she was surprised to find it only took her five minutes to finish everything, including the scoop of sherbet that left her licking her lips happily.
"I wanted you to finish early because I have plans for you," he murmured and then he went to the door and locked it.
She only noticed how dark it was in the room, mostly due to the blinds lowered to a sliver, letting only the slightest of light in. Usually, Aro kept the blinds completely closed and only used the ceiling lights, but this setting was too different and confused her.
"What's going on, Aro?"
Perhaps he was finally going to drain her dry.
Instead of answering, Aro just came back to her side and took out a strip of cloth from his pocket. He only smiled at her questioning glance and had it wrapped around her head and between her lips before she could voice her question. When she began to panic, he just moved in front of her and pushed her back a little, making her arms brace herself from behind her as he took advantage of her preoccupation to bend down and push his head under skirt as he firmly push her legs apart.
She froze as she felt his icy breath hitting her.
If she moved her arms, she would become unbalanced. If she tried to close her legs, he could just overpower her and push them apart again.
In a swift move, he'd swung her legs onto his shoulders, using one hand to slide her panties off. Before she could try anything, his mouth was back on her, and her whole body trembled as she fought to not lose control. She was whimpering, but the gag was doing its job of muffling any noise coming from her.
Whimpering louder, she braced herself fully on one hand and took the other to thread through his silky locks, combing through in encouragement and need. She urged him closer and felt herself coming closer to the edge.
She cried out, unheard except for his vampire hearing, and she slowly came down from her high as he moved back. He gave her a lazy grin that she averted her eyes from, unsure if she was feeling ashamed or just embarrassed. She slid off his desk, grabbed her underwear from where it had fallen onto the floor, put it on, and walked passed him, not saying a single word.
School ended and she drove home, seeing Marcus waiting for her at his usual spot. He gave a quick smile as she approached, and held out his arm for her to take like a gentleman. He led her inside, and they started straight in on her violin lessons.
"No blood today?" she smiled.
"No. I have something else in mind," Marcus replied, giving her an enigmatic smile.
He held out a hand, that she took, and he led her upstairs. He stopped in front of the last door on the hallway, and he opened it for her to see a large bed draped in light blue with the setting sun casting a glow about.
"Blue?" she teased, but she was starting to feel wary.
"What did you expect? Black?" He took her hand and sat her on the bed, sitting next to her decisively.
"Marcus, what are you planning? What is going on with you and your brothers? Why…why have the three of you come into my life like this?" Bella finally asked the question that's been on her mind for a long time.
"…Which one do you want me to answer first?"
Surprised he was willing to answer, Bella took time to think about it.
"Whatever is easiest."
"I'm planning on seducing you completely and bedding you right here and now."
Bella gaped at his audacity and bluntness, but in a weird way she appreciated his honesty.
Marcus continued, going on to her main question, "There were rumors of one of my kind having revealed himself to a human girl and romancing her. To investigate that rumor, and if true deal with it severely, my brothers and I decided to personally come here. We find you instead, and the wrong vampires about.
"You were a curious thing, cara mia. The vampires we were looking for, surprised it was the Cullens of all vampires, were already gone. But we knew there was still the human. The Volturi, my brother and I's coven, have one main rule. No human can find out about us. The consequences are not light. The human in question must either die or be turned. We found you, intent on your death, and found ourselves intrigued. We watched you in your catatonia until you forced yourself to face the world. We watched as you struggled through life. We were enthralled with your scent. Simply put, everything from how you smell to your behavior to your attachment to one of our kind intrigued us far too much to kill you.
"And so we continued watching. As you know, the longer you get to know something or someone, the more probable an attachment to it or them will form. We watched you and we became attached. Our sympathy for your plight and your pain became a personal affront, and much more personal than it had been before. The more we came to care about you, the more we came to care about your situation and feelings. So we decided to meet you in person, before you could be dragged in any more to your personal hell. We tread the line very carefully, between revealing ourselves and keeping an act. I admit, we were willing and eager to play a game with you, wanting to see how you'd react to our presence and if you'd recognize what we were –if we could fool you into thinking otherwise. But our main concern was distracting you from Edward's abandonment, from your pain, and pulling you towards us. While we wanted to help you move on and help the pain go away, there is the selfish part of us that just wanted you all for ourselves."
"But Caius eats human food…" Bella stated in a daze.
"Of the three of us, while Caius doesn't have a specific power, he can actually taste and enjoy human food and drink. He has a genuine like for your cooking."
"Why are you telling me all this now?" she noted Edward's name hadn't bothered her earlier, that she had started to live more with the three brothers in her life.
"Because, cara mia, our little play is over. Aro, Caius, and myself are done acting, and it is soon time for the final act. We told you the rule. Choose, death or eternity," he purred, hand grasping her jaw lightly and making her look him in the eyes.
She had always wanted forever with Edward, but he was gone and she was learning with help to move on. Looking into Marcus' dark eyes, and she felt no fear, she shivered and chose.
"I want to be turned…but I want to finish school first," she hesitantly added.
Marcus just nodded, leaning forward and nuzzling her jaw.
"We know you enough to have guessed that. Things have already been set."
"So…so now what?" she asked unsurely, nervous that he was being serious about bedding her and not sure if she didn't want it.
She was starting to really want it so much that it scared her.
"And now for the finale," he murmured, pushing her onto her back and kissing down her neck and unbuttoning her shirt.
Using his vampire speed, he'd managed to get her clothes off of her before she had time to blink. Realizing that, she blushed heavily. And she mentally groaned at that, knowing that her blood would only entice him even more.
His clothes were taken off while she had been momentarily lost in thought, and she gazed in awe at his flawless body. The red light of sunset gave him a crimson glow, sparkling and looking like a god of war. She was much too shy to look down, but she admired his chiseled chest and his toned arms. His perfect face was admiring her in return, and she couldn't understand how when he looked beyond the beauty of even vampires.
Then he got on the bed and leaned over her, placing soft kisses on her lips before trailing to her jaw. One of his hands went to ensconced itself into her hair, almost painfully gripping it.
And when he started to move, she became too lost, her body moving for her as she just focused on feeling.
At the end, she arched up and orgasmed, her body feeling spent but very satisfied.
"Cara mia, your father is going to be home in 5 minutes. I suggest you get dressed and head over already," he said in amusement.
She groaned and slipped away from him, finding her clothing and stumbling into them. She rushed out, feeling sore and unbalanced, most of it centered at the area between her legs.
She arrived on her lawn, just as her dad pulled up, looking curious at her and why'd she come from the house next door. Caius was next to him in the cruiser.
"Hey, Bells. You look flush and lively," Charlie smiled.
She forced herself to give a steady smile in return, "I'm starting to feel better, is all."
"Sound good. What were you doing next door?"
No suspicion, not yet.
"Our neighbor plays music. He offered me violin lessons. I've been coming over every day to learn. I'm actually getting pretty good."
Still no suspicion, thank God.
Charlie nodded, "Great. You need to find things you like to do. Well, if that's all, there was something that came up and I have to go back. Caius offered to stay awhile and watch over you, okay?"
What?
Bella nodded, eying Caius warily. She could just tell what was coming up, even from the small smile and seeming innocent and nice look on Caius' face. Caius stepped out of the car as Charlie went in, and soon enough it was just her and Caius.
"Um…there's some leftover spaghetti in the fridge, if you want. I'll just be in my room," she mumbled.
"Oh, I want something else for dinner," Caius said in a smug tone, smirking at her.
Before she could say something back, she'd been picked up and sped into her room, still being held in Caius' arms until he dumped her unceremoniously onto her bed.
"I'm protesting here," she snapped.
Yes, she liked what had happened between Aro, Marcus and her, but that didn't mean she wanted it. She thinks…
"And I'm not listening," Caius had grabbed her arms, skillfully placing her wrists in handcuffs. He took off his belt, easily threading around the handcuffs and tying it around the bedpost of one end of her headboard.
"No, no, no! What do you think you're doing?" Bella asked in a panic.
"Tying you up," he stated simply. "It's really quite unfair that dear brother Aro and Marcus both not only tasted your blood, but had a taste of you today."
And then he began stripping out of his uniform for her, and she couldn't help watching, her eyes glued to his form and his actions. She couldn't draw her eyes away, even a little.
"Enjoying the show, Isabella?" he purred, eyes alight with wicked humor.
"You're horrible," she breathed out, but she really couldn't say anything else.
He just kept smirking, pushing her skirt up and pooling it around her waist, unbuttoning her shirt but leaving it on. She lay there on her bed, handcuffed to it, clothing ruffled and half-dressed, and so very indecently exposed.
He paused a moment to look over her body, eyes drinking her up greedily.
"My, my, what a beautiful and fragile flower you are. Marcus was rather greedy today, wasn't he? I think, after this, Aro will be the one feeling left out. He'll want to sleep with you soon too, you know."
He pulled back, grabbing his discarded shirt and lifting her lower body up. He took one of her legs, tying it next to her arms with his shirt, before taking the other leg and hoisting it over his shoulder. He adjusted her a bit and lifted her.
He grinned in delight and plunged his face forward, practically smothering himself.
She cried out loudly, and she knew with his vampire hearing, Marcus would be listening in from next door. But she had never been able to control her reactions, so there was nothing she could do to stop herself. But it brought to mind something else.
Were they really trying to share her?
It made no other sense otherwise –why she kept going from one brother to the next, and that none of them seem to mind! In fact, they were the ones manipulating the circumstances and her so that it ended that way.
It wasn't fair.
But then again, with Caius diligently caressing her with his ice cold and smooth hands and his talented tongue, Bella really didn't care for fair right now. She was starting to babble incoherently and ohgodohgodohgod –
"Caius!" she screamed as she came for the third time that day.
Her body trembled under him, he finishing at the same time as she, and her arms were wrapped tightly around his muscled back after he'd taken his fastenings off with one hand and without even looking up from where his face was buried into the crook of her neck. He slowly pulled away, but stayed close, still hovering over her.
"I should…I should take a shower. Charlie will come back soon and we can't be here…like this," the thought of Charlie walking in on her and Caius made her alternately want to blush or pale significantly.
"Charlie won't be home for an hour."
He sounded so sure. Bella didn't question it.
Caius turned her onto her side and slipped beside her, spooning his front against her back. His lips glazed against her neck every few seconds, causing her to shiver pleasantly.
"I don't understand why the three of you are so interested in me," she muttered. "Edward –"
"Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit, Isabella. And I will only translate this once. If you ever want to understand my odd ramblings, learn Latin. I told you, 'He has left, absconded, escaped and disappeared.' It is best to not think of that boy ever again."
And Bella began not to.
Still…
"It just hurts so much," Bella murmured, feeling the ache again, but it was actually almost dulled to an annoyance and not the searing pain it had been before.
"Accipere quam facere praestat injuriam," he purred into her ear.
What was with these brothers and purring to her?
But at least she felt better from his words, even if she didn't understand them and he didn't volunteer an answer.
It is better to suffer an injustice than to do an injustice.
That was what Caius had told her. And for her, it was true. Yes, she felt unbearable pain after Edward left, but she would never wish it or something similar to someone else. And she had the brothers now, all three who have told her they would not leave Forks without her. That meant, since she was staying until graduation, that they too were willing to stay. For her.
She had never felt so appreciated in her life.
Charlie was still unquestioning, but she had a feeling it was more because he was just happy that she was so happy. That meant there might still be suspicions buried underneath all the gratefulness, but he was willing to push it aside for her.
"What…what are we going to tell my dad?" Bella asked Marcus, who was absentmindedly combing his hand through her hair.
"The truth, of course."
She stiffened up.
"But…the rule…"
"Exactly, cara mia."
She said nothing, but cried inside.
And at dinner, Caius was there again, but this time both Aro and Marcus chose to appear, meeting Charlie for the first time. Her father greeted them genially, confused but not willing to show it. She was surprised that they decided to forgo dinner and skip straight to the talk, sitting Charlie down and letting Bella sit next to him, the three brothers sitting in front of them both.
At least she won't have to lie and hide from her father.
"What's going on, Caius?" Charlie asked, since he was much more familiar with him.
Caius smiled grimly.
"You have noticed how different I am from everyone else, haven't you? And you can see now my brothers are the same."
After a pause, Charlie reluctantly nodded.
"We are vampires."
And he started talking about their kind, forcing Bella to tell about her experiences, starting with the Cullens and eventually how she came to meet the brothers and what she planned to do after she graduated. Thankfully, she wasn't forced to talk about her intimacy with any of them.
"Say this is all true, why would I just let you take my daughter?" Charlie asked, no inflection in his voice as he steadfastly stared the vampires on.
Aro smiled, "That is why we are going to give you a choice."
Bella felt hope seize her, even as confusion set in.
"A human cannot live with the knowledge of us. He must either be turned or die. For you, for Bella's sake, we will allow you to live, if you so choose to stay here. However, we will take her with us and there is no guarantee she will be able to see you as she will be a newborn and she might not have the necessary control to restrain herself. If you choose so, you may come with us, and be allowed to be turned alongside your daughter."
Charlie swallowed nervously, but then looked determined.
"Do you swear you have Bella's interests at heart and she will be safe in your hands…or at least that you won't hurt her…like him?"
Marcus answered him with a soft tone, looking completely serious though gentile.
"She will be our heart and soul."
Bella blinked, having had no idea that she was that important to them.
"Bella…sweetheart, is this what's best for you?" Charlie turned to look directly at her, asking her tenderly.
She paused and thought about it. But then she looked at him and gave him a sincere smile.
"Yes, Dad. This is what I really want."
Charlie sighed, but turned back to the brothers.
"Please let me come with my daughter."
Bella felt more happier than she had in ages. The brothers were not only helping her heal, but keeping her intact. And making her happy and happier.
That night, sitting curled up on her bed, she stared at her opened windows as she laid her head on her knees. Windows she had kept open for Edward.
His name didn't cause her pain anymore.
He used to climb through that window, lay down with her on this bed, and she'd fall asleep in his arms. Now she was just left with a lonely and empty bed.
Determinedly, she slipped through her window, and carefully climbed down the tree, stumbling onto the ground. She went to their door and knocked.
That night, she slept soundlessly on top of Marcus, with Aro and Caius on either side of her.
The rest of the school year passed by in a blur. She was back to normal, her friends cautiously but happily welcomed her back, and she had her life again. Her continued intimacy with either of the brothers no longer bothered her and she began to really look forward to them. She got to talk to Charlie about the supernatural world and she didn't have to worry about keeping any of it from him (other than her sex life). In fact, he had lots of questions and faithfully said nothing to no one else.
"Thank you for letting me keep Charlie," she murmured, her head submissively lying on Aro's lap as her legs lay on Marcus, whose icy fingers trailed teasingly against the skin of her legs.
"We want you happy," Caius stated simply.
"Though we genuinely like Charlie. It must be in your family to be likable to our kind."
And she just smiled, letting Aro unclip her hair as Marcus slid his hands closer to her underwear. And she just let herself react to their touches alone.
A week before graduation, both Charlie and Caius sent in their resignations to the police force, and Aro informed the school of his leave. Charlie started on his arrangements, packing up necessities to be sent to Volterra, leaving everything else to be sold with the house.
It was on one of these days where both father and daughter were packing, that Bella noticed Charlie was tense.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
Charlie sighed, "Billy's been around. Keeps sending me strange looks. He used to tell me to beware of the men you've been hanging with, starting when I'd first brought Caius to the house."
"Dad –"
"I know, Bells," he murmured, taking her and hugging her tightly. "Whatever he says, it doesn't matter. The only thing I care about is that you're happy."
They were going to leave Billy Black and everyone else behind. It didn't matter what they had to say in the end anyway.
The castle was large. As humans, they would probably get lost. Full of amusement, the three Volturi Kings allowed them to wander around, with Demetri and Felix as their guards and helpers. After their change, they were to be introduced to the rest of the guard, but for now they were stuck with the polite and helpful duo.
"Earlier, when I went to the bathroom, there was this really pretty lady in the hall. She was staring at me as if she wanted to eat me. It was creepy."
They ignored the snickering from behind them that probably came from Demetri.
"Vampire, Dad. She probably did want to eat you."
"I was afraid of that."
They turned a corner to see a beautiful woman leaning on the wall, watching them closely. They continued walking pass her, though Bella noticed Charlie nervously stiffening up.
"Her? That's Sulpicia, Aro's wife."
Charlie coughed, "Aro's married? I thought he was, uh, with you…"
Bella took a moment to think about her answer. Charlie was still uncomfortable knowing that she was supposed to be with all three vampires (the first time he'd found out, he'd been livid and had taken out his shot gun. Luckily, she had warned the brothers of this and the three had made sure the bullet ricochet into the ceiling).
"She and Aro don't really love each other. But Sulpicia's actually a very nice person, so I have no idea why Aro wouldn't love her…Actually, the way she was looking at you, I'd say she was interested."
"…Right."
They turned another corner.
"This three day thing…uh, is it really going to hurt that much? I have a low pain tolerance, remember?"
"…I inherited that from you, Dad. I don't think there's going to be any helping that, for either of us."
They shared a laugh and a look at that.
"So…last day as humans. What do you want to do?"
Charlie shrugged, "I'm much too cowardly to try anything really dangerous, not until I've been turned and there's a guarantee I won't die."
"Hm, too true."
"But I'm going to miss real food. Do you think I'm going to keep the pounds I tack on, if I eat one hell of a feast right before I get turned?"
"…Now that is something we really need to find out, for the both us…"
It was funny, though, that Sulpicia ended up requesting to be the one to change Charlie. Bella hadn't stopped laughing at him for days.
La Finale Aria: Alis Volat Propiis (She Flies with Her Own Wings)
"Oh, does Caius sound like he was implying we were?" Aro mocked with a smile. "I'm sure he hadn't meant it that way. I'm sorry, old friend, that it had to come to this."
"She was just a sweet girl," Alice dry-sobbed. "Where is the life in her? Where's my Bella?"
"She was very sweet, wasn't she? Her blood even more so," Caius smirked, tinged with a mean edge.
Carlisle frowned, momentarily ignoring his family so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed with their emotions and end up having to confront his own. He was already having a difficult time trying to keep his anger and sorrow from overcoming himself.
Bella had been the missing piece to their family, and she had become his daughter in every way.
He looked to the side of the Kings, still surprised to see Charlie standing there quietly next to Sulpicia, holding hands with who he thought was still Aro's wife.
"Charlie, you don't want this for her. You can't possibly want to allow them to force themselves on our –your daughter!" he pleaded to Charlie, inwardly wincing at his slip.
But Charlie only turned from him in pain and bitterness, allowing Sulpicia to hold his face in her hands and affectionately lean her forehead against his, the both of them ignoring the inconsolable family.
"I think, to avoid any more pain, that all of you should leave," Aro stated quietly, no more mocking and too solemn.
"Aeternum vale," Bella murmured, eyes still blank and still unmoving from her lifeless pose.
She looked like a wilted flower.
Carlisle's eyes widened, the only one of his family to understand the near-silent words in the dead language of Latin coming from their beloved girl.
"That is a long time to say goodbye, Bella," Carlisle said gently, coaxing.
She said nothing more, and his family was left confused at the exchange. And then he saw the quick flash of longing and bittersweet goodbye in her eyes, and he swallowed the venom that had pulled in his mouth from the emotions he was consumed with.
Bella was not the blank slate he and his family thought she was.
He nodded in resignation and melancholy.
"Aeternum vale," he returned with a yearning and torn look.
He forced himself to turn and begin to walk out without a backwards glance, his family reluctantly following after him.
It was better this way. His family need not know that their lost daughter and sister chose to greet them a lasting goodbye –that it was not the Volturi turning them away but her. They didn't need to know that the Volturi hadn't killed Bella's spirit.
They didn't need to know that they had, and that the Volturi were the ones to salvage her.
They were Saints.
From Marcus to Aro to Caius, they were Saints who'd come to Bella in her time of need and had saved her.
And after the recent meeting and departure of the family that had bereft her of life, she felt reborn again in the presence of her Kings, who worshipped her body lovingly, looking willing and fervent at her, and wanting nothing more than her happiness.
She stood tall as each King knelt at her feet and devotedly tended to her pleasure, adoration plain on their faces as well as the soft caresses of gentle lips.
Intimate and the exact opposite of the scene before the Cullens.
She need only ask them and they would willingly give her the world.
She felt full, loved, and wanted. She thought she had finally taken her life back into her own hands and would never miss cold and lonely beds and screams in the still of the night from nightmares.
Instead, she screams of pleasure.
"Bella, I don't know if you want to see them, but…the Cullens are coming for a visit," Aro informed her hesitantly.
She froze.
"I've an idea," Marcus drawled. "If we were to continue looking like the cruel rulers we're known as, and show them a broken Bella that they left behind and that we picked up and decided to keep, think of the reactions we'll get."
"Mm, no more carefree human," Caius continued.
"But a lifeless vampire in her stead," Aro purred, coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her neck. "Though, if we really want this to work, we'd need you to be a submissive, silent and detached doll."
"You don't have to, if you don't want to," Marcus told her gently, coming closer and lightly brushing the back of his hand against the side of her face.
"We would understand," Caius gave her a rare smile. "We just want to make them pay a little. But if it'll be too much for you, then forget it. We just want you happy."
Bella swallowed down venom.
"No…no, I think I need this. Even if it's only a little, I want them to at least feel a fraction of the pain I'd suffered when all of them abandoned me."
"As you wish it," Caius murmured, kissing the inside of her wrist.
Started 12/14/09 –Completed 12/30/09
EDITED 9/1/13: Edited to not be explicit, just in case, in accordance to the guidelines.
Italian:
"La Dalla Aria" = The Preluding Aria
"Il Primo Aria" = The First Aria
"Il Secondo Aria" = The Second Aria
"La Finale Aria" = The Final Aria
Mia Bella = My Bella
Cara mia = My darling/dearest/sweetheart
Aria = literally translate into 'air'
La Tua Cantante = (Your) Singer
Latin:
"Acta Sanctorum" = Deeds of the Saints
"Agnus Dei" = The Lamb of God
"A Priori" = From What Comes Before
"Acta est Fabula, Plaudite!" = The Play is Over, Applaud!
"Alis Volat Propiis" = She Flies with Her Own Wings
Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit. = He has left, absconded, escaped and disappeared.
Accipere quam facere praestat injuriam. = It is better to suffer an injustice than to do an injustice.
Aeternum vale = Farewell forever