Prologue

"The heart that truly loves never forgets."

I knew his face. I knew every contour, every glimmer in his eyes, every line in his cheeks when he smiled and when he was sad, I knew every sign of misery on him. If I knew all this then how could I not know who he was?

****

J

She was still asleep, her stomach slowly rising and falling underneath the sheets. Five years had passed, though in reality she was already thirteen years old. Every day she grew a little more, either in age or in maturity and as I sat there watching her angelic face I knew that soon Renesmee wouldn't be like a sister to me. Soon she would be more than someone to protect and look after but truly love.

So far she had developed into a compassionate, goofy, kind, beautiful, creative and inspiring girl, and as all her dreams lay ahead of her I knew she would grow into a mesmerizing woman.

It was ten o'clock in the morning as displayed on her bedside table, as I put a plate of toast next to it.

"Nessie," I whispered as I shook her gently.

"Humph," she muttered shifting around in her bed. She lifted her head up slightly, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She buried her face underneath a pillow.

"It's ten in the morning and there's a surprise for you outside."

"What is it?" Her voice was muffled.

"Snow."

"Is that why it is so cold?" she said louder now, as she lift the pillow from above her head. "Can you sit on the bed? I'm freezing!"

I did as requested.

"I have a feeling Alice wants to take you shopping for an ice skating outfit."

"Ergh... I'll probably come home with a wardrobe full of mittens. I'm really not in the mood today." Nessie sat up, grabbing a square of toast. "Hey Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought of this last night... but why are you here? Okay I realise that sounds bad but I mean your such a nice guy and all... werewolves aren't even friends with vampires, but you still stay with my family. Well I guess it's really our family."

"So what exactly is your question?"

"I'm not exactly sure."

We both laughed.

"But seriously, I mean... don't you want your own life?"

No, I want a life with you.

"Nessie there is something you should-"

Suddenly Alice appeared in the doorway, with a pile of clothes in her hands. With one swift movement she had thrown them on the bed, raced over to my side and grabbed my arm.

"Nessie get changed we are going shopping!" she chimed happily whilst dragging me out the door.

They were gone within half an hour and I was relieved to not have to answer Nessie's question. There would never be a right time to tell her I suppose, but she was still thirteen and I didn't want things to be awkward until... well yeah. Instead of over thinking about it I went to sleep.

****

J

It had been hours; too many hours... even for Alice and one of her shopping sprees. No one said anything but we were all worried. I tried not to think of anything bad, I knew Edward was listening and every time I had a negative thought he cringed. It was already nine o'clock at night and if they were going to be this late they would have rang.

We all gathered subconsciously in the living room, Edward was pacing, trying to read Alice thought's but she was too far away. I played nervously with my hands and received sympathetic glances from Esme. Jasper who was usually the calm one kept shifting positions, holding the bridge of his nose, seconds later folding his arms, a minute later he was pacing just as Edward was. Bella sat motionless and Emmett held Rosalie in his arms.

Abruptly Edward stopped pacing and looked towards the front door.

"What is it?" Jasper asked now standing up.

Edward said nothing, he stood unmoving, staring out the window.

"Carlisle," he whispered, "Get ready."

Seconds later... CRASH! The sound of metal and steel colliding filled our ears and then soft but hurried steps along the porch until Alice crashed through the door, collapsing at Jasper's feet.

"They have her," she repeated over and over, shaking with fear.

"Who? Where's Ness?" Bella screamed.

"They have her... they took her," she repeated like a chant.

"They have Nessie? WHO ALICE?" she screamed once more.

I knew who the 'they' were. The Volturi were back and they had taken the thing that means the most to me. I tried to hold back my anger but it grew more and more. Edward took my arm and gave me a look to tell me to calm down.

"The Volturi," she broke into a fit of tearless sobs and Jasper picked her up, taking her to the couch to sit.

"Alice you need to calm down," he whispered as he set her down.

"Calm me down," she said.

Seconds later the sobs had stopped and she was hugging her knees. Jasper looked my way and I felt his stare on my hands. I looked down and saw they were clenched tight into fists, so tight that my knuckled were almost as white as him. He looked a second later and made me feel calmer. I unclenched my fists slightly.

"We were driving home and I saw a set of these black cars... I tried Bella I swear I tried... they were trying to run me off the road and as soon as I would move to one side they would follow and there were just too many... maybe if I had taken the Porsche... they crashed our car into a tree and they took her... Jane was there and I couldn't move. I tried I swear but they just took her away and she was screaming and I was trying..." she paused, "then when Jane had stopped I tried to run after them but they were too fast... they left a note... they said they would keep her alive."

She pulled a crushed piece of expensive parchment from her jeans pocket, passing it to Carlisle.

"Cullens," he read out loud, "Don't fear, dear little Renesmee will be fine... if you stick to these conditions... we require new talent," he began to mumble, "Alice, Bella and Edward should come immediately if the wolf wishes to see his girlfriend again... signed Caius."

"Well then let's go," whispered Bella.

"What if they are lying?" said Esme.

"Who cares? If we leave now we could make it to Italy in little over a day," I said, brushing my hand through my hair.

"Listen dog, I know you care about her, but what are you going to do when we parcel them over and she is already gone?" Rosalie hissed.

"Then I say we kill these Italians once and for all."

"He's right," Emmett said, standing up.

"Maybe you two left your brains in your sleep but this is the Volturi we are talking about!" Bella exclaimed, "I say we do this the easy way and just get there as soon as possible."

Everyone stopped at looked at Carlisle.

"I don't relish in killing any animal especially our own kind, but we have no way of believing that they will do their side of the request."

"So...?" Esme whispered.

"We need to call up our friends," Carlisle replied.

"We need to call the Romanians."