I screamed, jack knifing into an upright position.

'It was only a dream,' I thought to myself as I climbed out of bed and stretched.

"Arianna, Lord Aro wishes to speak to you." Felix called though the door, not walking in for once in his existence.

I could hear the smile in his voice and knew that he had heard me scream. He loved the fact that anything could get to me. None of them frightened me, much to his dismay.

I quickly got up and went over to my closet. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a black shirt. I grabbed my long, dark gray robe that I was supposed to always wear and walked out the door.

Felix was waiting for me when I walked out.

"So what had you screaming this morning?" he sneered, "Not afraid of the dark, are you?"

I smirked and replied, "Naw, just a dream. They can seem real. Not that you would know."

Felix fumed.

Okay, if you haven't already figured this out by know, my name is Arianna, and I live with a bunch of vampires. The vampire coven that I am living with is like the ruling class of the vampire world. They are the ones who enforce all the rules and make sure humans never find out about their existence. I am one of the few humans among them that actually knows what they are.

Before I get any further into that, you should know a few facts about vampires first. For one, vampires don't sleep, at all. That's why Felix is so touchy about it. Vampires can't go out in the sunlight, they would sparkle. It's weird, I know.

Vampires are super fast, super strong, and their skin is harder than all rocks. Some vampires have extra powers, too. Aro, for instance, has the power to hear every thought you've ever thought if he ever touches you. Demetri can track people, and things, as long as he has "heard" them. He has this weird power, and I don't know exactly how it works; only that it's extremely effective.

As for me, I'm just a normal human who they "adopted" me when I was a child and my parents had died. At least, that's what they had told me. For some reason, I can't remember any of my past since coming to Volterra. I don't know if the Volturi had anything to do with my parents' deaths or not.

You see, I'm …special. I'm strong, stronger than some vampires, even. And its not physical strength either. Sure, I could duke it out with the vampires, but I would get tired and they would eventually win.

I'm faster than vampires. I also have control over the elements (fire, earth, water, and wind/air). In addition to those formidable powers, I can also sense what another's power is. The Volturi are idiots and think they have complete control over me. What they don't know and I just found out is that Aro can only hear what I want him to. I have complete control over my mind. I also know that I'm immortal. Not in the vampire-eating-humans sense, just the fact that I will stop aging soon and live forever.

I stopped that train of thought as we walked into the meeting room. Everyone was already there.

"Master," I said to the three ancient vampires, bowing. I hated the fact that I had to call them 'master.' It felt wrong to me, and I didn't like to admit that all together they were stronger than I was. I was just waiting for a chance to get out of the guard and away from Volterra forever.

"Arianna, this is Edward Cullen. He has come to us with a very peculiar request. I would like to have your input on it." Aro said serenely

I looked at the vampire that Aro had gestured towards. I remembered hearing about the Cullen coven. They were some sort of "vegetarian" vampire. They ate animals instead of people.

I took in Edward's appearance, automatically searching to see if he was any sort of threat to me or to the ancient ones I was supposed to protect.

He had bronze colored hair and golden eyes. He stood tall, yet there was a tortured pain in his eyes. He looked like he had watched many loved ones be tortured to death and had decided that there was no reason left to live.

Edward was staring back at me with surprise.

I realized that he was a mind reader and had been hearing my assessment of him. He was probably also shocked by the fact that I was in the guard, and I was human.

"A human, Aro?" he asked warily.

"Edward, this is Arianna. We took her in when she was a child and her parents died. She is quite strong." Aro explained, talking about me like I was some sort of pet. He also seemed like he was trying to convince Edward of something.

I controlled the anger I felt at the tone he spoke in and continued to study Edward. He was staring right back at me. I knew that he was hearing everything I thought, so I changed my train of thought very casually, trying not to make him suspicious. I started to wonder about why he was here, and more importantly, why Aro had called me in to see him. Aro didn't normally show me off to visitors.

Aro must have sensed Edward's confusion because he gestured for Felix and I to walk forward.

"Arianna, I would like you to demonstrate some of your powers to Edward. You can fight Felix, if you would like." He said.

I grinned and looked over at Felix. He was acting all sure of himself, but I could tell that he was afraid to fight me. He had seen me fight before and knew what I could do.

"You're not scared, are you Felix?" I asked tauntingly.

Felix turned to glare at me. I smirked smugly right back at him.

'This should be fun,' I thought happily. I actually had an excuse to kick Felix's butt. And I wouldn't get into trouble for it, either.

Every one moved to stand around the perimeter if the room as Felix and I squared off in the middle of it.

Edward had continued to stare at me as he followed everyone to the perimeter of the room. Now, though, he was staring at me in recognition and amazement.

I didn't have time to dwell on his expression, however, because Felix decided to start the fight right off the bat.

I jumped backward as he lunged at me, staying right out of his range. Felix was slightly surprised that I was able to react so quickly and was off-balance for a second. I launched myself forward, hitting Felix and almost knocking him to the ground. Felix was quick to retaliate and managed to hit me. I moved away and rolled my shoulder, checking to make sure that it wasn't injured.

Felix ran at me again, but I was more prepared this time. When he got close enough, I spun around and kicked Felix in the chest. I had learned a long time ago to not kick a vampire straight. You have to catch them from the side or else you'll be the one getting hurt.

I had kicked Felix hard enough to knock him backwards and then onto his butt. He looked so startled at being knocked to the ground by me that I started laughing at him. I could hear Demetri chuckling along with me. Everyone else just looked surprised, like Felix. I had never really kicked as hard as that before, even though I had been able to for a while know. I had been training with Demetri.

Felix jumped to his feet and growled at me. I continued laughing at him. He growled again and took a swipe at me. I ducked, and faster than he could see, spun in a circle with my leg sticking out. My leg swept Felix's feet out from him, and he landed on his back heavily.

Demetri was full out laughing at Felix know. I joined him, seeing everyone's facial expressions.

"Demetri," Aro called.

Demetri nodded at him and stepped into the circle to fight me.

'This'll be interesting being that Demetri has been the one I have been training with. Maybe that was Aro's intention, though.' I thought to myself as Demetri and I slowly circled one another. 'Of course, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, like I'm sure Demetri does.'

I made a huge gust of wind fly into the room, kicking up a bunch of dirt and dust, making it hard for Demetri to see me. I launched my self forward right after the wind hit him, delaying unlike what he would have expected me to do.

I was right and caught him off guard, tackling him to the ground. I let the wind stop to reveal Demetri and I rolling around on the ground, each of us trying to get the upper hand.

I finally got Demetri pinned to the ground on his stomach with one of his arms twisted up behind his back.

I looked smugly around the room at all of the completely shocked vampires.

I turned to look at Edward, and heard him whisper,"Ari."

Suddenly, all my memories from before the Volturi took me in came flooding back. I gasped, and stood frozen as I relived everything that had happened to me up till coming to Volterra.

My eyes flashed as they opened and turned to glare at Aro. I growled low in my throat, but didn't do anything being that I was way out numbered.

Aro starred at me for a moment, looking slightly nervous, before dismissing me and turning to talk to Edward.