THIS EMOTION CALLED LOVE

SUMMARY: During the time after Edward left her, Bella came to the attention of the Volturi. Because of the fact that she had been exposed to the vampire world, they give her two choices. Now, like Alice, she has no memories of her human life- or the feelings she had enjoyed as a human. What happens when she encounters Edward again?

BACKGROUND: Edward left, Bella moped around and was depressed until her issue came to the attention of the Volturi. She was bit, and as a result, has nothing from her human life, not even her memories. The "power" she has is subtle, such as Esme's or Carlisle's. She has the power to repress emotion, and has done so since. For as long as she can remember, she has never felt emotion once. She is part of the Volturi guard, loyal to it due to Chelsea's power, yet wanders off on her own explorations for a reason in existence, which is where this story begins.

RECAP: Bella has finally acknowledged to herself that there is no meaning in life, and that she will never feel emotion. She plans to stay in this city in Brazil for about a month before returning to the Volturi, permanently. Edward has convinced himself that Bella is dead, and finally emerges from his hole in the same city to find a vampire to take away his misery of life.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I DO NOT KNOW THIS HUMAN YOU CALL BELLA. I AM NOT SHE. I AM ISABEL OF VOLTURI, AND I AM A VAMPIRE. I AM SORRY, YOU ARE MISTAKEN.

As I entered the city limits at a decent, almost normal pace, I gave the sign a fleeting glance. Manaus, it said. Hmm. I had drifted east a little while hunting and meditating in the Amazonian rainforest; I distinctly remembered staying in Belem the last time I came into contact with human civilization.

It was a little refreshing to spend most of my time away from them for a little while, except when I needed to feed; their bustle and silly organization was tiresome. The feral excitement of catching a kill I do not think of as regressive, going back into wild uncivilized anarchy, but progression, a supremacy of the most powerful species. Someday, when we grow even more powerful, perhaps...

Heads turned as I walked through the streets, and I cursed quietly as I reached into my pocket for my darkly tinted sunglasses. I had forgotten about the eyes, how could I forget about the eyes?

I still drew attention, however, with my beautiful features and pale skin, almost glinting even though clouds covered the sun.

It was one of those days where you could not see the sun; it was hidden by the whiteness that were a sheet across the sky, with no exposure. You would not know that there was any blue behind there, or ever had been. But the fact that the sun was behind there made the entire sky, the entire whiteness, shine brightly with a blinding beauty. And it was more powerful than the exposed, blatantly obvious sun would ever had been.

I looked down at my skin as it glinted subtly. I could go out in public under this sky. It didn't sparkle extraordinary, but had a secretive glow that was there whenever you didn't look quite at it. I liked it.

It took me about fifteen minutes to reach my destination: the Novotel Manaus. It was a large motel, cheesy with the Amazon parody. Large palm trees, bright pink flowers, and parrots exploded from everywhere.

I made a disdainful noise as I entered, looking around. Our castle-- more like palace-- at Volterra made this look like a ghetto shack.

"May I help you, Miss?"

I turned, and saw a young man in a suit and a tie that sported the bright yellow words "THE NOVOTEL MANAUS". He was positively quivering like a puppy whose tongue hung out with slavering desire to jump and lick.

With disgust, I wiped away his lustful emotions, leaving him empty. He blinked, then refocused on me. "I- do you wish to-"

"Yes, why else would I be here? I need a suite here. My name is Isabel Volturi." I passed him my driver's license and credit card, and he began typing on his computer furiously, still shell shocked by his loss of emotion.

I felt the stunned amazement begin to rear again in his mind, a tsunami that was only pulled back to return in greater force. I sighed; lovesick teenagers were often the hardest to repress. I forced my power upon his mind, pushing back his feelings, making him feel nothing, nothing at all.

He fell backwards against the wall at my force, stammering quickly. "Here- here you go, Ms. Volturi... your room is number 98..." He handed me a key with a bar code on it, hand trembling slightly.

I snatched it and left, unlocking my room and slipping into it. My body collapsed onto the bed on its own accord, letting out a sigh and pulling off my dark glasses. I knew he had gotten his emotions back with the release of my concentration, and I glared at the door, halfway expecting the hormonal young man to appear there with a bouquet clenched in his hands.

My feral sense liked the idea a little, and venom pooled in my throat at the thought of the luscious boy here in the room with me, in a place where no one could see what happened.

They'd hear his scream, though.

I'd need to be quick, and snap his neck before he got a chance to react. Then I'd drink his blood quickly, before it cooled. Blood that had been sitting was distasteful, almost as bad as animal blood.

I needed to stop daydreaming. I had just hunted. What was the matter with me? I needed to get to a secluded place soon, some alleyway somewhere, and hunt again. Get plenty of my drug into my system.

Yet my blood red eyes stayed trained at the door.

And I heard steps come down the hallway, approaching my room.

My mind instantly began analyzing every message from my astute senses, finding out and recording every possible observation about the visitor before his or her entrance. His, I corrected, noting the heavier step I noticed was missing from females. Meanwhile, I sat up on the bed, tossing my hair over my face to hide my crimson eyes, and smoothing my clothes, examining them for blemishes that would alert someone to my kill earlier that day.

I could hear, along with his step, a certain dragging edge to every swing of the arms. Hmm. Despair, or depression, I concluded. And his smell, a certain cold, sweet smell I associated with vampires...

Interesting. Another vampire in Manaus. Coincidence? Probably. Should I overlook it? No.

"Come in," I called out imperiously when my senses evaluated that he was close enough to my door to knock. He paused for a second, probably surprised, then lowered his hand to the doorknob and opened it.

My eyes, through my mahogany hair drooping over my hidden face, took his features in instantly. He was tall and muscular, and had the appearance of a seventeen-year-old boy. His hair was bronze and messy, falling over his long-lashed eyes, and his mouth was soft above his strong chin. His clothes and posture, however, disputed the confident air of his body, with ragged, probably unchanged shirt and jeans, and a drooping, dragged edge to the way he held himself up. And his eyes- his eyes were black, sickly, yet with a strange tint of yellow to them.

His story seemed like it would be interesting. "Speak," I commanded.

He barely seemed to notice me, instead talking to the floor. "My name is Edward Cullen."

Ahh, that explained the yellowness of his eyes. I had heard of the Cullens, the animal-drinker. Well, actually I had heard of Carlisle, and I knew he had a coven that followed his unnatural ideas. I watched him, a little more interested due to curiosity. "You are an animal-drinker," I stated, unable to keep the condescending edge from tainting my voice.

"Yes, he confirmed, still not meeting my eyes. "I found your last name from the hotel records... and I know the Volturi are so eager to uphold the law."

"What?" I was confused. I did not like being confused.

He lifted his head up finally, but did not look at my face, just at my hands. "I told a human girl about us. That is punishable by destruction, I understand." He clenched his jaw. "I want to die."

It took a couple moments for the understanding to reach me, then I almost laughed. A suicidal vampire. That was one I hadn't seen before. "Why?"

"That is not of your concern," he returned, returning his gaze to the floor again.

I whipped my head, sending my hair flying to the side of my face, irritated. I, a member of the Volturi guard, was not usually denied information.

The slight breeze from the motion hit him, and his face tightened in confusion, perhaps in reaction to my scent? I thought. "Who are you?" he asked, abruptly.

I responded at the same time that he looked up, meeting the eyes that had been unhidden as I pushed aside my hair. "Isabel of Volturi."

His eyes widened, and he looked about to fall over, as he breathed, "Bella..."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EDWARD

Was I hallucinating? Had I finally gone mad? Was that it?

All I knew was that I was staring into the eyes of a girl I had taken for dead.

Oh, they were not the brown I remembered and loved, and her features were hardened, frozen into a terrible beauty... but it was her.

I'd know her anywhere.

My mouth opened and I heard myself breath her name, but my body was out of my control. I was separate, apart, and I was falling, falling...

I felt her satiny, almost warm arms catch me, hold me, and I gloried in the experience. A small part of me smirked wryly at the situation; before, I had always been the one catching her.

But what was going on? My brain was fogged, half-dead, I couldn't think clearly.

Bella was a vampire?

"Isabel of Volturi," she said, moments before I met her eyes and saw her face, saw her for who she was.

She set me down on the bed, and I mourned the loss as her arms left my skin.

Oh, so much more to mourn...

I had left, left to keep her safe, safe from this! Safe from this life, this immortal damnation that I deserved but she, an angel, did not. And here she was, standing in front of me, with white skin and-- and crimson eyes...

I tried not to let her eye color hurt me. Our family was abnormal, after all, and we hadn't been there to guide her, help her onto the path... it was only natural that like Jasper, her instincts would cause her to hunt humans without restrainment...

"Are you all right? I've never seen a vampire faint before." She smiled mockingly, face devoid of compassion. What was wrong with her?

"Bella," I sat up, my arms reaching out to her. "It's me. Edward."

She stared at me, confused. "Why do you keep calling me Bella?"