Really sorry for the extremely late update, been a hectic few months. I'll try and get this story back up to speed for you people.
Thanks everyone who reviewed my last one, please keep them coming.
I'll try and do you proud with the rest of the story.
Enjoy!

Chapter 3

"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained"- Mark Twain.

I followed Aro out of his room, staying two steps behind him at all times. I wished my dead heart could be racing, just to alleviate some of the tension I was feeling. I became hyper-aware, even more so than was usual for a vampire. I could see the dust before me in perfect detail. Every drop of damp, every gust of air, I saw it all. I held my wasted breath as we climbed staircase after staircase. We'd climbed at least five floors when we reached the very top. There was no hallways, no windows, just a door. A metal door with rivets around its edges. Without waiting and without knocking or announcing his presence in the slightest, Aro opened the door and strolled into the room. Steeling myself, I followed his example. Even though the room was dark I could still see perfectly. The dust motes floating in the air, the way the shadows flowed across every surface in the room, the layer of dust that caked the chair, the desk, the wardrobe in the corner, even the neatly placed row of shoes under the single window. No light shone through it. Thick, velvet drapes kept the light at bay. The scent of the velvet overrode every other scent in the room, even Aro's scent. The room was so still and silent that I had no idea that a woman sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the shoes. Not moving, not blinking, not even breathing. There was no heartbeat, no pulse, no signs of life at all. Just a blank, staring statue.

"Mary-Anne?" The breath from Aro's voice made the dust swirl in front of his face. My muscles tightened. Mary-Anne...Mary-Alice...

"I have someone here who would very much like to make your acquaintance, Mary-Anne." Aro carefully folded his hands in front of him, letting them rest across his flat stomach.

I stepped forward slowly. Hesitantly placing my feet one in front of the other until I was stood just in front of the figure on the bed. Her long dark hair draped over her shoulders in waves and her ruby red eyes were unfocused. My eyes scanned her features. Her delicate lips, her perfectly shaped chin, the laughter lines around her eyes and mouth...there was definitely a resemblance. I slowly moved my hand across the empty distance between us. My fingers were almost shaking; they crept slowly through the air towards this woman's own hands resting delicately on her legs. Only millimetres apart, my fingers closed the distance and I wrapped them softly and slowly around her almost skeletal fingers. Her eyes narrowed slightly at my touch but other than that there was no movement. I knelt down onto the floor and placed myself in front of her, trying to draw her attention to me. I stared into her eyes, willing her to move or look at me or say something.

The seconds passed as slow as a thousand lifetimes. There was no movement in the room what-so-ever. Hopelessness enveloped me and my head dropped to my chest in despair. If I could have sobbed, I would have done so. Why was I so stupid as to get my hopes up? After everything I let my guard down and got the same result as I usually get. I braced myself to stand when I felt this woman's fingers curl around my own, griping them gently. I lifted my eyes are stared expectantly into hers.

"Mary-Alice?" Her voice was soft and broken and her bottom lip quivered ever-so slightly. Her hand slowly reach up until the very tips of her fingers brushed lightly against my cheek. Her lips turned slowly and her eyes widened slightly. She inched forward, staring more intently into my face.

"My Alice?" By now her entire hand was cupping my face gently. I stared back into her eyes. Examining her face intently. There was something about it; de já vu. I was extremely used to situation, but when I experience it after a vision, it's more like a movie replaying before my eyes. This time, it was more like a feeling, a distant memory...of which I possessed very few considering the extraordinarily accurate nature of my vampiric memory. The feeling puzzled me and stared even deeper into this woman's eyes, searching for something, anything that would make me remember. It was so frustrating. This woman clearly knew me, though whether that was genuine recognition or a ploy on Aro's part I could not tell.

By now her fingers were at my hair, she was slowly wrapping it around her fingers and gently pulling it loose, almost curling it. As I knelt there with her fingers in my hair, something stirred in the back of my mind. I felt my throat and chest begin to vibrate and realised I was humming a tune. The music came to me and I couldn't recall where it was coming from. I couldn't name the tune I was singing, I couldn't say where it began and ended, I just knew it. As I hummed she began to hum too. The soft sounds took me back foggily to a previous time, a previous place.

My long hair was damp and I was sat on a soft cushion in front of a roaring fire. The heat on my face was comforting; the crackling sound of the burning wood was soothing. My mother was sat behind me, humming softly and carefully running a comb through my wet hair. I was happy. I was content. I felt safe and loved.

"You're all done my dear." My mother tapped my shoulder gently with the comb and I turned round to face her, smiling widely.

The memory passed and the woman's face before me mirrored what has just passed through my mind. They were the same. The woman I was looking at now was more dishevelled and yet more perfect. The wrinkles around her eyes were gone. Her skin was pure and toned, her hair, whilst being fly-away was also silky and smooth. This woman was the woman from the only memory I had of my human life. The memory I had just experienced.

I felt my mouth open slightly. My eyes flitted across her face. I couldn't believe it. All these decades I had been alone. There had been nothing, not even a remembrance of my human life, and now I was kneeling in front of my mother. My actual, birth mother...and she had been changed. I felt the anger well up inside me. I felt the disgust and rage boil over. Like venom pooling in my mouth I felt the rage flood my veins. I screamed and leapt from the floor, rounding on Aro, my fists clenched at my sides.

"What the hell did you do?" He didn't even flinch at my screeched words. He just stood there, smiling haughtily. My raised voice caught the attention of a number of other Volturi members who came charging into the dimly lit room, Jane at the head of them. I was seething by this point. My teeth were clenched and my eyes were narrowed, I had no doubt that the irises by now were pitch black. The Volturi clambered around Aro. Forming a protective circle around him, they mirrored my stanch; slightly crouched, fists at their sides, teeth bared. Only Jane was different. She held her hands up, she was talking calm and smoothly...this was not the Jane of legend.

"Alice, clam down. Think things through. There would be no victory if you attacked like this. You would be ripped to pieces in a matter of seconds. Think about it." She stepped closer and closer to me. Her voice becoming quieter but firmer with every step she took.

I flicked my eyes around the room. She was right. If I launched into an attack now there was no way out. Even with my visions to aid me, Jane alone could cripple me in less than a nanosecond. Aro was still stood there smiling smugly. It took every ounce of strength I had to loosen my fists, straighten my back and lower my head. I'd chosen to live to fight another day.

I heard a soft noise behind me and turned to watch as the woman, my mother, slowly stood and moved away from the bed and towards me. I turned to face her. I could feel my face was marred by sorrow. She lifted her hand and placed it lightly against my cheek. I leant into it, allowing her to cradle my face in the palm of her hand.

"My daughter." She smiled weakly at me before her eyes glazed slightly and her face went blank; the all too familiar look of a vision invading her mind. So it wasn't just me then.

I opened my mouth to speak but before I could a hand clamped onto my shoulder. A nameless Volturi guard was gently but firmly pulling me away from my mouth and steering me towards the door.

"That is enough now Alice. Time for your mother to rest I think." Aro's smile had even permeated his voice. The sneer in his voice was thinly veiled and it drove the venom and the rage coursing through my dead veins once more. I allowed myself to be taken from the room, managing to glimpse my mother for just a half second more before the closed door barred me from her room. I was steered through the corridors and down the stairs towards the main hall. The three elegant seats at the far end of the hall awaited their owners and I was in no doubt that they would shortly be occupied. I turned on the spot and stared defiantly at the large, male Volturi member who had dragged me. After a few moments the door we had just entered through opened once more and Aro entered the hall with Jane a step behind him. A door to the back of the hall also opened at the same time and Caius and Marcus slowly entered the hall and made their way towards their seats.

Their delicate frames were covered with elegant robes. Silk with exquisite detail. Diamonds, golden thread, pendants, all positioned decoratively across their chests. Caius and Marcus took their seats silently on the left and right of the centre seat. Neither raised their eyes to look at me ant both looked extremely bored. Without a word Aro breezed past me and took his place between his comrades. Jane stood to the side of the three most powerful and influential beings on the planet and looked on quietly and obediently.

"Now Alice, I'm sure you may now have numerous questions buzzing around that fascinated mind of yours." Aro was smiling politely. All traces of his cocky sneer were removed from his features, except for his eyes. Those endless pools of conceited evil were as smug as ever. I tried my best to remain calm and keep my voice steady as I faced him.

"Yes Aro. I have a few questions. Firstly, what the fuck have you done?" I managed to keep my voice level until the last part, when a scream erupted from my lungs. All three seem startled. Caius even jumped to his feet, his eyes ablaze. I doubt they were used to anything other than reverence.

"How dare you speak that way before us!" Venom was flying from his lips, not just figuratively. Aro rose and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Now Caius, surely you can understand how trying this time must be for Alice. Her outburst is understandable, though perhaps unnecessary." He looked at me and I instantly understood. Another outburst like that and Aro himself might not be able to control Caius' actions.

"My apologies, my emotions are a little temperamental at the moment. I will try and contain them better." I nodded my head respectfully and left my eyes down until Caius had returned to his seat.

"Alice, you're mother has been with us for quite some time. We heard rumours and rumblings about a certain human psychic, we investigated and found someone who was worthy of our interest." Aro held his hands folded slightly under his chin and he smiled sweetly at me. It almost made me sick.

"When did you change her?" I was almost trembling from the effort it took to keep my voice calm and level.

"1925. In the winter." He was nodding slowly

"1925?...Five years after I was changed. Why?"

"Why what my dear?" He leaned forward ever so slightly. Caius still looked angry, Marcus just looked disinterested with life.

"Why did you change her?" I took a step forward but immediately moved back to my original position when a flash of fury swept across Caius' face.

"We were informed of future-seer. A very accurate one. We investigated, saw there was truth in the rumours and intervened." He was so blasé about the whole event. Part of me wondered if he was trying to lessen the blow.

"Future? So she has visions like me too?" So I didn't just inherit my mother's cheek bones!

"Nothing like yours my dear Alice. Your mother works by touch. And after what happened to her favourite daughter and then the trauma of the change...she's a little...unstable."

"Unstable? Is that why you keep her locked in that room?" I took several steps forward and in less than a blink of an eye Jane was stood in front of me. I stopped in my tracks and waited for my answers.

"Yes. Most of her visions are jumbled. She forgets to feed. She barely speaks. She wanders aimlessly." He listed my mother's flaws as if they were an inconvenience.

"You did this to her?" I stepped even further forward and Jane wrapped her arms around me, trying to hold me in place.

"She reacted badly to the change. The pain drove her insane." Aro hung his head slightly and Caius cleared his throat.

"Insane? Is she dangerous?" The pain was killing me. I wanted so desperately to scream.

"Given the right provocation we are all dangerous Alice. But your mother is unpredictable. She has violent moments." I couldn't believe it but I thought I saw something behind his eyes and his sneers; something that looked like shame.

I slumped slightly and Jane released me. Her fingers lingered a half second longer than they needed to on my arms and I looked sideways at her. A million thoughts were flying through my head. I had a mother. She was alive. She was insane. There was no way to have a relationship with her. She didn't know her own mind.

"Is she...I mean does she...does she have any quality of life?" I could barely find the words.

"She will survive. She is a vampire so she will not die. But she doesn't move. She doesn't speak and she doesn't eat. She has to be fed, cleaned, clothed."

"So she's basically a psychic vegetable?" Jane was stood by me, her arm occasionally brushed against mine. I got the feeling she was trying to comfort me.

"In a sense. Today was the first time we've heard her speak in 8 years."

I was processing everything. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.

"Let her go." Aro looked at me surprised. As did Caius. Even Marcus twitched slightly.

"Let her go? Dear Alice, why ever would we do that? She may be unreliable but she does provide us with information."

"Take me. I'll take her place. Just please let her go. That isn't a life for anyone." Jane looked at me, her eyebrows raised. Aro looked pleased with himself.

"That sounds like an arrangement everybody could live with." He tapped his fingers against his chin and nodded at Jane. She lowered her head and led me out of the hall and back through the corridors towards my mother's room.

"You shouldn't have done that Alice. Your mother doesn't know anything of what's going on around her. You do. Will you be able to live with this decision?" Her voice was quiet and delicate, soothing.

"I have to live with it. I can't let her stay like this." I grabbed Jane before she could continue and turned her to face me.

"Please Jane, promise me you'll ask Alec. Please!" She swallowed hard, averted her eyes and nodded at me.

We were at the door now. Jane opened it for me and I stepped through tentatively. She was in exactly the same position as she was when I first saw her. Staring into nothing once again. I knelt before her. I expected some sort of reaction but I got none. I placed my hands over hers, searching her face for something, anything, any sign of life, of recognition. Aro was right, she really was a shell. I hung my head defeated. All these emotions. Fear, anger, hate, loss, grief, jealousy. My damned soul was a battlefield for these wretched emotions to wreak havoc on. There was so much I wanted to say. Questions I wanted answered. But I couldn't find my answers here. There was nothing here. An empty shell. I heard noises behind me and turned to see Aro enter the room followed by Jane, Felix and finally Alec. I nodded appreciatively at Jane.

"Are you sure this is what you truly desire dear Alice?" Aro's voice violated the peaceful silence of the room.

I shook my head.

"It's not what I want. It's what has to be done. This isn't right." I stood slowly and squeezed my eyes shut. I kissed my mother gently on her cheek, trying to memorise her scent. I opened my eyes and scanned her face one last time; taking in every minute detail. This woman was my mother. She was my past. She was the reason I existed.

"Thank you mother. I've always loved you, even when I never knew you." I kissed her cheek one last time and walked over to the group. Aro nodded his understanding but my gaze was fixed to Jane's face.

"Very well. I'm saddened that it has come to this. Alec, Felix." He nodded at the other two and they stepped past me. I could sense Alec's invisible mist move across the room. He let it lap at my ankles slightly to prove his presence wasn't a rouse. I heard a slight gasp and knew it had finally reached my mother. I heard Felix move slowly from behind me to across the room where my mother sat. The world was shaking, or I was. It was impossible for me to tell. I felt the air move slightly as Felix reached his arms out. To my side Aro nodded and the air shifted again. A metallic screech filled the room.

My eyes never left Jane's.