Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Sigh.
Edward opened the door. And there stood Jane. In all her benevolent glory, smirking at us.
"What brings you to us?" Edward growled.
"Now, now, I've only come for peace," she started. "I've an offer to be made by Aro. And you've nothing to worry, since the girl has been changed, so stop gripping that door frame, the humans are looking."
Edward abruptly let go of his grip on the door frame, and moved aside to let her in. She was showing too much confidence for her position. Alone in a place very far away from Volterra. I thought that was strange. Why would she be here by herself, and not with another one of the Volturri goons?
"What have you got to offer us?" I asked. "Because I can tell you already, if you want us to join you—"
"Oh, no, not 'us,' just you, Isabella." She looked from the glass figuring on the mantle she was toying with. "I don't think you realize what we could offer you."
"I don't think you realize why I don't want to." I felt Edward's hand on my shoulder. "We don't support your ideals."
"Oh, that's right. The 'vegetarian' vampires. You don't have to go the traditional route, like we do. You can keep your little 'ideals' and such you feel so strongly for. I don't think you see how being with us can really help you out in the long run." She kept her tone dangerously even, so as to not let anything sound unsafe.
"And do tell, what does the Volturri offer u—me?"
"Protection," she stepped towards us, Edward growling lowly.
"From what?" I, even as a vampire, hadn't mastered how to mask my emotions.
"We've had some rogue vampires, exiled from our group, and they've been seeking to regain our good faith. In other words, they want to regain their status." Jane paused. "And they've been looking for a way to prove they are capable of belonging to us once more."
"And how does that have to do with Isabella's safety?" Edward gripped my shoulder tighter.
"They're just looking for a way to draw our attention to them. They know we're seeking new recruits, fresh talent to join our system, and sometimes the new talent doesn't have much desire to join," she motioned to me and smiled eerily. "So they find it their responsibility to give us what we want. They find ways of… persuading those who are reluctant to join."
"So what you're saying is, that if I don't join, they'll—" I started.
"Come after you and force you to, in order to try and regain membership with the guards." Edward finished, and started walking towards Jane, until they were inches away from each other.
If I were human, I'm sure my heart would be in my throat—excuse me, my mouth, by then.
"Tell Aro that Isabella is not interested in joining him, thank you, and that we'll be able to fend off these rogue-exiles on our own."
"Very well, then. Thank you, so much, for your time." She smirked knowingly and headed out the door.
Once Edward knew she was out of earshot, he picked up the figurine she was toying with and smashed it in his hand. I knew that was all he could do to keep his rage from getting out of proportion.
I was terrified even now. I knew that if he started to get physical, I'd not be able to make it out without a scratch, for certain.
"Bella…" Edward growled.
I nodded, and then knew exactly what to do. I walked outside the door, into the surprisingly chill air, and headed down the street.
I was shocked. How did Edward not see this? Had he seen something that made him so upset just then? It wasn't as if Jane showing up at our doorstep and telling us it was either join us or die wouldn't have made him flair. But… Something else, I sensed, was making him act so rashly.
I'd been allowed to sit through most of his periods of anger, since I'm a little more durable, but when he really got frustrated, it was scary. I'd only ever had to leave in the extreme situation, like that time he was upset in Denali, when we'd visited the other clan, and when he'd almost lost control…
It wasn't a bright sunny day that we'd picked to go window shopping. The others had split up, and decided to leave the newlyweds to themselves. We'd found ourselves in a rather empty part of the town, and, well, did what newlyweds were expected to do.
Start kissing.
What else could've been expected? But when you're a natural hunter, you're almost always in that mindset when you have very passionate emotions occurring. You focus in on the kill, and your other entire guards drop, leaving you vulnerable for other urges to come in.
Edward and I have made that mistake. Your animal senses start to kick in and you feel more vulnerable to giving into those sensations. A girl was walking past us, at the opening of the alley way. Edward followed.
He hadn't hunted for days, a big error on his part. The girl had been seen earlier that day, walking out of a clinic near the center of town. I remember hearing a snatch of conversation, about a skiing trip gone awry, and how she'd gotten herself cut on her ski stick. She'd had her whole left arm bandaged, indicating her open wound.
As Edward perused her, she'd felt his presence. I could smell her, of honeysuckle, must. She'd caught our reflection in a store window, how close we were walking, and the intent in Edward's eye. Her cheeks flushed, and she turned around.
"Can I—?"
At once, Edward had her grabbed by the shoulders, and he stared deliberately at her neck. I was so panicked, so absolutely fearful, that I stopped breathing at once, and stayed that way for five minutes.
"Edward!" I'd shouted, desperate to get his attention, to break his trance.
"I—I'm sorry, miss. I thought you were our daughter." He turned from me and walked off.
I remember that night. He'd hunted and locked himself away in his room, loud bangs to be heard. I'd cried to Alice, tearless sobs, I was so afraid for him. What if he thought himself a too much a monster to bear, and tried to kill himself? Things like that didn't happen every day, and he'd taken so much pride in himself and his sobriety. He was the Alcoholics Anonymous Mascot.
I remember coming into his room, seeing him, hands in his head, and having a long talk about what we could do, what we would do, and how we'd do it…
And walking down the streets, I'd felt that same sense of loneliness, asking myself how I could make things better. It's not as if it was a problem caused by ourselves, it was an outside, unchangeable tangent factoring in on things. I was confused, and now, lost.
Yes, even vampires get lost, especially ones going through a certain emotional crisis. I'd stepped to the side, to try to get a hold on where I was. Yes, Ville de Whatever, I was sure, and I was apparently at the corner of Something-French and Fancy-Gargle-Sound. Oh, and there happened to be a coffee shop, too.
I'd stepped inside, welcoming the warmer air hitting my face. Everything feels warmer to vampires. I'd walked to the counter, and smiled at the barrister.
"Um, B-bonjour, monsieur, um…" I'd started.
"Oh, vous êtes americanne, oui, anglaise?" He'd asked, politely. He had a rather large nose, blonde hair, and the muddiest eyes you could imagine.
"Wee?"
"Are you lost?" His nose was as large as his accent.
"Yes, I'm looking for… Err…"
"Oh, you are most likely staying in the …. Section, no?" I couldn't even remember what he called it. I speak Spanish.
"Pardon?" I was baffled.
"Nice cottage? Large terrace?" He'd suggested.
"Yes, I think so…" More like hoping so.
He managed to give me directions, offered a cup of coffee, just because I was visiting (and because I was most likely the most decent looking girl to talk to him) and sent me on my way.
So I made my way down the streets awkwardly holding a cup of black coffee, on my way back to Edward.
I looked down at the streets. Cobblestone. I was suddenly very glad I didn't take Alice's fashion advice to wear heels, no matter how internationally accepted they are. Not that they'd hurt, but even I, the epitome of grace (or supposed) would find some way to trip spectacularly.
Taking a final left turn, I'd realized the directions he'd gave me were slightly off. I'd ended up in a darker, more secluded section of the town. I glanced towards the corners, where there were the most shadows, immediately feeling a pair of eyes watching me. I'd managed to shrug it off and keep walking, until I saw a flash of red.
And I'd done what anyone else would've done, without showing it on my face. Went into panic mode.
I'd started walking very fast down the street, glad nobody would've taken any attention to it (I was going as fast as a human person would when they were jogging) and the coffee I was holding suddenly collapsed inwards, flooding my hand in an oddly warm sensation. Great, now I'd it all over my sleeve.
I made my way to the end of the street, and saw Edward walking towards me. I ran straight into his arms and was so thankful that I'd seen him again, or that he wasn't turning me away.
"Edward!"
"Isabella, you silly fool, are you alright?" He'd tilted my chin upwards.
"Yes. I was—you were—red eyes—and then that coffee—"
"Yes, I've already picked up on the coffee and your happy-to-help friend, but red eyes? What's this?"
He took my arm and walked me to the street's corner, made a left and took me to the door. Happy-to-help had me take a left an alleyway too soon.
Edward opened the door for me, and immediately we started into hushed conversation about what we would do, and how we'd do it.