Jacob sat watching the Cullens mourn. He would have gone had it not been for Renesmee, he would have left them to mourn in peace. It was then that there was a knock on the door, Esme got up to go see who it was.
"I'll go" said Jacob, getting up and heading for the door. It was Sam. He looked gravely at Jacob.
"I need to talk to them." Sam pushed past Jacob and walked straight in before he could stop him. Jacob followed him through to the lounge.
"Sam, how can we help you?" asked Carlisle. Rising from his seat and moving towards Sam.
"I want to know if the Volturi are coming back." He said simply.
"We don't know…" Carlisle began
"Then I want you to leave, people in this area have been in danger too often because of you." Sam said harshly. Edward rose from his seat.
"Sam, surely you could wait till a better time. We aren't in the best of places…"
"I know you're all upset about midget going, but it was her choice. She deserted her family…" Sam never got a chance to finish; Jasper had sprung from his seat and onto Sam in an instant. He had him pinned easily on the ground.
"She did not abandon us!" hissed Jasper "She saved us. And her name is Alice!" he spat at Sam. The grip on Sam's neck was getting tighter and tighter. Jasper would have killed him had Emmet and Edward not pulled him off. Edward then turned to Sam and said calmly,
"Alice had a vision, and do you know who died in her vision? Not just some of us, but Seth and Leah too. Not to mention other wolves. She saved us all by changing what could've happened. She sacrificed herself for her family, which is what family would truly do. Now, get out." Edward hissed the last part menacingly. Jacob caught Sam's arm and dragged him out.
When they got out side Jacob threw Sam to the ground.
"You absolute ass!" he snarled at Sam, getting angry. He pushed him back down when he tried to get up "Alice did so much for us all. And you waltz in acting like the hero? Just because the wolves were there doesn't mean we changed anything. You may protect these people, but the Cullens have never hurt them and for you to just demand they leave is ridiculous. You complete ass!" Sam got up, and without a word left. Jacob watched him leave and when he was certain he had gone went back inside. He went in and sat on the ground by Renesmee. She rested her head against Jacobs shoulder and fell quickly into a deep sleep. Jasper sat with his head in his hands.
"Sorry," said Jacob to them all "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you anymore."
Esme sat by Carlisle, she smiled gratefully. Emmet and Rosalie both looked at Jacob annoyed, Emmet had his arm tightly around Rosalie, Edward and Bella sat on the sofa, Bella had her head on Edwards shoulder.
December had passed quickly, it was now mid-January, and Alice had not been paid much attention. At the moment Aro had been busy dealing with all the other people he had captured. Alice and Caitlin had become closer over the few weeks they had been enclosed in the room together. Alice had learnt that Caitlin had been raised in England and after being turned into a vampire had run. She had left England and started travelling Europe where she had met witches; she had then gone onto China and had travelled that part of the world as well. There she had met a pack of werewolves who had been very tame (until the full moon when they went and hid in the forest away from human life). She had also met shifters but they had nearly destroyed her so she wasn't too fond of them. She had only been turned into a vampire five years ago; she had been bitten at the age of sixteen a few days after her birthday. Caitlin knew everything about Alice already.
From what they could gather (Caitlin had incredible hearing) Chelsea's powers were failing on any non-vampire being. They had mainly resorted to threatening their families to get them to cooperate. One witch had joined them easily; she was nearing sixty, but looked no older than thirty. When Caitlin had been questioned the witch had been there. She learnt that her name was Darya and she was from Russia. Chelsea's power had not worked on Caitlin,
"Why don't Chelsea's powers work on you?" asked Alice, intrigued by Caitlin's immunity
"Same reason they don't work on you." Caitlin said, but when Alice questioned her about her mate she wouldn't answer. She would just shrug off her questions.
Suddenly, Caitlin sprang onto her feet she faced the door and hissed quietly. It was pushed open and in the doorway stood Decimus.
"Come on, darling." He said to Alice, "I want a word with you."
Alice followed him out of the room, seeing no point in struggling. He slammed the door shut behind them, and took Alice's wrist. Instead of heading towards the usual chamber where Aro was he led her in the opposite direction.
She found herself in a small room that was completely empty and not decorated like the others. It had plain walls and a simple stone floor. Decimus kicked the door shut behind them. He caught Alice's arm and pushed her to the floor. She sat on the floor, looking up at Decimus as he throw off his long cloak and turned up his shirt sleeves.
"Know then, darling, Aro's out and asked me to find something out for him. We wanna know a little about Caitlin. She's very difficult to manage…and we've got a feeling you might know something."
Decimus looked at Alice expectantly, but she remained silent. She pushed herself off the floor and looked at Decimus.
"I'm afraid you thought wrong." She said simply, Decimus laughed darkly.
"I was hoping you'd say that!" Decimus said, as he caught Alice's arms and slammed her against the wall, with one hand he caught both of Alice's small hands and held them down; with the other he roughly caught her waist. His hand then slid under her top, Alice snarled at Decimus. "Now, darling, don't be like that!" he gently kissed her neck as she tried to squirm away. In one smooth movement Alice managed to free one hand from his grip and hit him hard in the face. Decimus moved backwards as the impact of the slap caught him off guard, but before Alice could do anything he pushed her back against the wall. He lifted her right arm and bit down hard. Alice winced in pain and tried to pull away, but Decimus only bit her again. He then smoothly threw her to the ground and jumped on top of her, pinning her down. He restrained her arms above her head, and slowly slipped his hand under the hem of her shirt, he pulled it half way up revealing her toned stomach. Decimus then bit down hard on her hip making Alice whimper at the pain.
"You see, darling, I have control over you." Decimus removed his hands from Alice's wrists yet she could still not move them. She whimpered as he slid his hand under the edge of her top and peeled it up revealing a lace white bra. Alice began pleading,
"Stop, please. Stop." Decimus grinned, he kissed Alice's stomach. Then bit down hard causing Alice to whimper even more. He laughed, and gently stroked her stomach as Alice whimpered.
"You're mine, darling." Decimus told her. He quickly moved to her left arm and bit it. Alice whimpered. "Had enough?" Alice nodded in reply. Decimus smiled. "Alright, if you tell me one thing about Caitlin I will let you go. What coven is she part of?"
"She isn't" replied Alice, Decimus growled "I promise!" Alice said. Decimus looked at her for a minute then nodded.
"Well done, darling. Now, get up. You're going back." He got off her and Alice pulled on her top as soon as she realised that she had the use of her arms back. Decimus grabbed her arm. He dragged her back to her small prison and pushed her in.
Caitlin sat by Alice. Alice hadn't spoken a word since she'd been chucked back into their prison. It had been nearly three hours.
"Alice, what did he say?" whispered Caitlin "What did he do?"
Alice didn't say anything she just stared off into the distance, her eyes glazed over. She barely noticed Caitlin's arm drape over her shoulder and pull her into a one armed hug. Alice was shaking; she couldn't get rid of the image of Decimus biting her. Or the pain, she knew they didn't hurt anymore but she could still fill the small throbbing from the bites.
"Al, come on, what happened? You can tell me." Caitlin said, trying to comfort Alice without knowing what was wrong. Alice took a shaky breath; she gently pulled up her sleeve and showed Caitlin the scars that had formed on her left arm. Caitlin gasped and let out a small hiss of anger. Alice then continued to peel up her top and show her the two bite marks there. Caitlin let out a ferocious snarl. She quickly regained her control though, instead of getting mad she put an arm round Alice.
"Fuck, Al. I'm sorry." Caitlin hesitated before continuing "He didn't do anything else, did he?"
Alice shook her head. She leant back against the wall.
"I can't do this, Cait. I'm not strong enough. I want to go home, I want my family…I need Jasper." Alice said her voice breaking as she thought of Jasper. Caitlin pulled Alice up; she then turned her round so they were face to face and gripped her arms tightly, looking into Alice's eyes. Their eyes were darkening, Caitlin's more so than Alice's as she had not fed in a long time. She then proceeded to say
"Alice, you can't let them break you. You are strong enough. Don't ever think you're not. Not ever."
Jasper let out a frustrated cry. He pushed Edward away from him.
"NO!" Jasper shouted at Edward "I am not waiting any longer, you keep telling me to be patient, that we'll find a way! But we've been researching the Volturi for nearly a month and have not found a way to get past them! How do you expect me to just sit around and wait!" snarled Jasper.
"Jazz…we're getting there." Said Edward calmly, trying to calm Jasper down.
"No. We're. Not." Hissed Jasper "Alice is still there and we haven't even left this house except for huntimg! You sit there researching ad researching, because you think you'll find a way around it. A law. A fact. But YOU WON'T!" he screamed "The only way to save Alice is with force. I don't care what Carlisle says, you can help me or not. But I am going to get Alice out."
Jasper turned to leave but it was then that Esme walked in. Before Jasper could even think of leaving she had him in a tight hug.
"Not yet, Jasper." Esme said calmly, rubbing his arms gently "We know, Jasper, that you want to help her but force will not help us. We will not do that unless there is no other option. One more week, Jasper. Give us one more week to research and if we haven't found anything we will all go. Ok?"
Jasper would have said no, but he knew that to help Alice he would need more than one person. He knew he stood no chance by himself but with everyone there might be the smallest possibility that they could help her. Jasper gave a small nod and began pacing again.
Two days had passed and Caitlin and Alice hadn't been out of their prison once. They were both lying on their backs staring at the ceiling.
"Back when I was human" Caitlin said, continuing with her stories "we would go out on nights like this and just sit outside and talk and laugh. I didn't realise it, but I don't think I'll ever be as happy as I was then." Caitlin, of course, was looking outside of the room which was the only escape she had and looking at the sky.
"What's it like?" asked Alice. She envied Caitlin; she desperately wanted to see outside this dismal room.
"Beautiful. A completely clear night, it's nearly a full moon and the stars are out. It's clearer than…shit!" Caitlin sat up and took a deep breath. Her hand then shot to her throat. "Shit!"
"What?" asked Alice, sitting up.
"Oh fuck…they've got a human. And from the smell of it, they're heading this way! Fuck! Shit, Alice, I'm not going to be able to resist! I can't do this. I have never gone near a human. I swore I would never kill a person. Never feed off them!" Caitlin panicked, she started pacing the room.
"Calm down," Alice said (even though she wasn't sure she could restrain herself) "I will stop you. I promise." Alice caught Caitlin's hands; Caitlin looked at Alice and nodded.
"They're nearly here." She whispered.
They heard the footsteps coming closer and the muffled cry of a person. The door swung open and Alec walked in with Decimus, Caius and a few members of the Volturi guard. Caius held a young boy by the arms; the boy could not have been older than fourteen.
"Meal time!" he said mockingly. Caitlin snarled and backed away, "I think we should test Caitlin's will power! Hold that one back!" ordered Caius, nodding his head towards Alice. One man gripped her arms tightly.
"Don't do it, Caitlin." Alice whispered. The young boy was thrown into the middle of the room, directly in front of Caitlin. Caius stood behind him. Caitlin pushed herself back; she pushed herself against the wall. Caius grinned menacingly and lent forward, he drew his nail across the boy's cheek, leaving a small cut. The blood slowly trickled down his cheek. Caitlin smelt it. She was struggling to resist. She let out a cry of agony and leapt towards the boy. Alice quickly too action, she threw the man holding her off her whilst he was distracted and leapt forward, she clashed with Caitlin in mid-air and in one smooth motion had her arms behind her back.
"Keep control, Caitlin. Don't do it. You'll regret it." Alice told her. Caitlin was no longer struggling against Alice.
"Thank you" Caitlin whispered "thank you!" Alice felt her body relax and let go.
"You little bitch!" snapped Caius, moving forward. He reached for the boy but before he could reach him Caitlin had leapt forward. For a moment Alice thought she was going for the boy but in mind-air her direction changed, she launched herself into Caius. Caius hissed. He threw Caitlin off with a little struggle and slammed her against the wall. Caitlin hissed and tried to break away from Caius, but failed. He had her pinned tightly against the wall.
"You think you can beat me?" he said mockingly "think you're strong enough?" he laughed. With one hand pinning Caitlin to the wall he slammed a fist into her stomach, again and again. Caitlin hissed slightly but did not flinch away. She stood and took each punch.
Caius finally finished, he spat on Caitlin before turning away. He then went to the boy who was cowering in the middle of the room. Taking by the scruff of the neck he dragged him forward. Caius stopped in front of Caitlin.
"Make sure she watches this." He hissed, before sinking his teeth into the boy's neck. Caitlin sobbed, she let a sob without any tears. She was forced to watch by Decimus as the boy was killed. Alice could see it was tearing her apart. It was destroying her. When Caius was finished he let the body drop carelessly to the floor and wiped away the blood around his lips.
"Make sure that Cullen gets punished." Caius hissed as he left, followed by Alec and the Volturi guard. Decimus stayed behind. He watched with disgust as Caitlin slid to the floor and shook as she stared at the corpse, her eyes wide open with fear. Decimus snorted and looked at Alice. A small smile spread across his lips, he caught her wrist and dragged her from the room.
"You're gonna be sorry you ever stopped her, darling" he hissed in her ear threateningly.