Author's Notes:

**I do not own Twilight; all that creative genius is the rightful property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.**

STTW is rated M for violence, strong language, possible dark themes and sexy scenes. If that isn't your thing, you've been warned.

Chapter 2:

"A familial unit in our midst! How exciting and refreshing." Aro grinned as he examined our strange coven.

He and my-father-of-sorts, Carlisle Cullen, knew each other from centuries ago. Carlisle was a good confidant of Aro's, and for a time, stayed by his side and humored his odd notions of humans. Then, there came a time where Carlisle sought to discover his purpose in life. At that stage in his life, I imagine, he never thought of having a family again. As the story goes, he found me as well as Alice who had become much like a sister to me. Although as loving, entertaining, and distracting as we were to Carlisle, he always seemed to hunger for something more. He taught us everything in his power; striving to pass on his idealistic ways of life with humans as equals instead of meals. Alice took to our new life with surprising gusto while I was more hesitant to embrace what Carlisle had turned me into. I clung to them, however, because I knew they'd be the only family I'd ever have again. For centuries, Alice, Carlisle, and I relied on each other. One day, Carlisle deemed that it was necessary for us to leave the humans and join our own kind again. He had grown weary and frustrated over time. Alice and I dutifully followed him to the underground lairs that lay beneath the bowels of the Earth to recover his old friend, Aro.

Alice clasped her hands behind her back, a nervous gesture she had picked up from our time living amongst humans. On the other hand, I stood perfectly still trying to gain my bearings. Being trapped under the Earth unnerved me to no end. Aro was surprisingly amiable and welcomed us graciously to his underground 'castle.' For the second time, Alice and I had to acclimate to our surroundings and once again, she handled it better than I did.

My door was busted open and effectively snapped me out of my reverie. An amusingly winded Emmett stood hunched over in the doorway holding up a finger for me to wait while he caught his non-existent breath.

I raised my eyebrows and chuckled at his intrusion, "let me guess, you ripped one of Alice's dresses and she's on her way right this minute to rip your fingernails off?"

He lifted his head and rolled his eyes, "sheesh, you'd think she would have stopped spreading that rumor." He said, breaking into a grin. "But that's not why I bum-rushed into your room. By the way - what the fuck, dude? I know we're underground like a bunch of sun shy mice, but do you have to be so cliché and mope around?"

Emmett's no-bullshit attitude was one of the things that helped him and I get along quickly. Although, at times his carelessness often bristled me, I appreciated the lightheartedness he provided.

I sat up and quirked my head to the side, "yeah, yeah. I could sit here and hash shit out with you all day, but you'd never get to tell me why you ran all the way to my room."

He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "Alright. Well, you know how Aro has us kooked up all over the goddamned globe in these rabbit holes? A new set of antennas just arrived at the castle today. Man. One of them is an all day – every day bombshell." He shook his head in disbelief. "I think I'm in love."

I couldn't help but smile at Emmett's description. I could only imagine the woman that had managed to capture his heart. We both knew there couldn't be an "I think" concerning love. Emmett was a vampire and if he found a woman to love, he'd love her 'til the end of his existence.

"Then what are you doing hiding in here? Go stalk your bombshell." I said lifting myself effortlessly from my mattress. "That's the thing… I kind of tried that already, and snarky doesn't even begin to describe her. She's fiery and it's hot."

I smirked shaking my head at him. "And what do you expect me to do?" I bent down to pick up my equipment for the night: a gilded vial, gloves, tubes, syringes, etc. "Introduce the two of you?" I added absently as I debated switching my gear.

"I knew I could count on you, Eddie!" Emmett clapped me on the shoulder and I tried not to wince. "Her name's Rosalie and I'm just gonna say this now – if you get injured while trying to set me up…I'm sorry, but bro code states that once you offer, you gotta deliver."

Incredulity seeped into my features as I processed what the hulking vampire had said to me. "First off, you just made that bro shit up. Second, what type of antenna is she exactly?"

Emmett blew out a sigh as a dreamy look crept into his eyes. "A damn gorgeous one, man. Good luck!" He said giving me another heavy-handed clap on the shoulder as he walked out of the room.

I shook my head for the second time that evening as I gathered my supplies and sought out my sister.

Alice was the center of attention in one of the large halls as she assisted the recently arrived vampires and the 'antennas' – those who possessed a supernatural gift in addition to what they already were. She coordinated her outfit accordingly. Her off-white strapless cocktail dress made it easy for all the newcomers to spot her and it also matched the marble columns that held the ornate ceiling up.

I strode over to her, parting the wave of frazzled beings that congregated about the room. She glanced up at me and frowned. "What are you wearing? I don't remember putting that outfit in your closet…" She briefly went back to taking a little girl's measurements. "That's because I can dress myself now, Alice." I chuckled at the irritated face she gave me.

"Aro's sending you out again? You know the reserves are full of blood. The chefs have more than enough resources to cook decent meals for the non-vampiric. Why does he need to endanger you again?" She sighed as she sent the girl off and spoke to me in hushed tones. "He's not still going on about that 'extract the souls' business, is he?"

I shrugged my shoulders peering down at my sister, I placed my index finger in the middle of her eyebrows. "Relax, Alice. You know how the King is… he's adamant that the captured souls, of what many of us once were, will reveal some 'Great Truth.' No need to worry about me. We lived above ground for centuries, I don't think I've forgotten my survival skills. I'm a big demon now; I can handle whatever insane tasks the King throws at me. I just came here to ask you if you've had any bad premonitions about me concerning the next couple of days I'll be above ground."

Alice shifted on one foot to another eyeing me nervously and shaking her head slightly. "Nothing necessarily bad, no."

"Then, what's with the fidgeting?" I questioned.

"Edward. I'm afraid…" I cut her off before she could babble off some of the King's superstitions about being above ground. "Alice, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't listen to the King's rambling about being up top. It's completely harmless."

"No, Edward, listen." She hissed at me while stepping a bit closer. "I've been having glimpses again. I haven't had a complete premonition in a while, but I do know that something big is coming. Some dramatic change…I'm not sure what it is yet, but it's been suffocating me. I feel like we're all in danger."

I rolled my eyes at her paranoia, "what's suffocating you is being locked down here for centuries, Alice. Come with me up top one day. Get fresh air. I think that's what we all need."

She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side. "Don't patronize me, Edward Anthony. You know what I mean. There's something ominous coming and I can't see what it is. It's aggravating, Edward!"

I placed my hands on her shoulders and softened my tone. "I know, Alice. I've felt it too. Maybe it's the tension of being down here so long. I don't know, but we'll figure it out later, okay? Right now, I have to go carry out Aro's orders. The happier he is, the happier we'll be."

She nodded her head slightly, lowering her eyes as she did so. I smiled softly and ruffled her hair a bit noticing that she didn't stamp her foot like a petulant child this time, but had gave me a far-off look. I wrinkled my eyebrows and decided to get started on Aro's orders instead of staying for her next round of badgering. I started to turn when I heard Alice's soft voice next to me. "Don't hurt her, Edward. She's important."

I turned to face Alice, but she had already masked her worries with a bright smile as she waved over another woman who had waited for her measurements to be taken. "Lilac would look just lovely on you!" She chirped as she busied herself with people who would remain down here with us for eternity.

Once I left the grand hall, I briskly walked down the corridors. I had to find Emmett and let him know that I wouldn't be able to be his wing-man for a few days.

I found him outside of the throne room wearing a grimace and when I opened my mouth to ask him about it, he lifted a finger to his mouth and pointed to the door. A highly irritated, feminine voice rang out clearly:

"What the fuck? You motherfucking fang flashing monkeys! I am NOT staying here until hell decides to freeze the FUCK over! You understand me? So either let me skip along my merry motherfucking way just like I came in here or my fist will find your saber-toothed faces pretty quick!"

My face broke into an immediate grin once I saw Emmett's grimace dissolve into an expression of longing. Welcome home, Rosalie.

A/N:

Phew *wipes brow." What did you guys think? Which POV would you like for the next chapter? Hit that pretty little button below and review. It makes Emmett look like a lovesick puppy XD

Nightmarish Escape