BPOV
I realized I was not dead.
At least not yet. Rosalie must have pulled Edward away from me in time, because I could hear them discussing something in harsh whispers while Rosalie's agile fingers combed through my hair. It was a bit unsettling how easily I recognized it as her, but pushed that aside. There were much bigger things to worry about than my apparent fondness for the vampire.
I was hesitant to open my eyes, slowly cracking one lid open. I saw Edward, Carlisle, and Alice huddled close together with their backs to me. They were the source of the hushed conversation I'd been hearing, with Rosalie interjecting a hiss or a disapproving sound at what they were saying.
I heard snippets of sentences; not possible... could it really be... can't hurt her until we know...
"She's awake." Alice's voice chimed out softly.
In sync, the three of them turned around and I suddenly had three sets of dark golden eyes burning me with their intensity. Rosalie tensed and shifted so that her torso was hovering over me, her blond curls pooling around me.
It didn't take Edward five long strides before he was standing in front of me.
"What's your name?" He asked me, determination set in his perfect face.
I frowned. They knew my name already, his question made no sense and I was worried this was a new tactic that he was trying to mentally torture me.
"Isabella Volturi." I answered cautiously.
It appeared that I said the wrong thing, because his hands shot out and pulled me to my feet, Rosalie began yelling behind me. I cringed away expecting a repeat choking or something equally horrific, but his hands held onto my shoulders gently and didn't move to harm me.
"Do you remember what you thought while I was..." Edward paused and looked a little ashamed, "right before you blacked out?"
I remembered a splintering pain in my head, and Edwards' hands wrapped around my neck, the blackness creeping up on me... I remembered
I remembered, but how did Edward know?
"They weren't my thoughts." I muttered. "I do not know what they were, please, I'm sorry." I was starting to panic again, the fear of saying the wrong thing and paying for it with more torture was overcoming me.
"What you thought about not letting me kill you because I'd regret it – where did that come from?" Edward was now shaking me by the shoulders.
"I don't know!" I cried out.
He growled in frustration and shoved me back into Rosalie who caught me gently. He pivoted toward Carlisle, and I saw all the energy drain from him as his shoulders slumped and his fingers twitched, almost like he'd been deflated.
"Is it possible, Carlisle?" Edward asked with a desperate tone.
"Well… I can't say." Carlisle frowned, looking intently at me. "I suppose it's not impossible. There have been cases of people with memories of past lives, some people recognizing long dead loved ones in another person, even stories of doppelgangers. It has been over a thousand years… there is a possibility that Bella has been reincarnated."
I gasped.
They thought I was a reincarnation of Bella?
Had they gone insane?
"No!" I blurted out. "That is an impossibility, insanity."
"We live in a world of vampires, werewolves, fairies, and half breeds... and reincarnation is the insane one." Emmett chuckled, looking at me with an almost fond expression.
"Isabella," Rosalie spoke, "how else would you explain looking like her, having kind thoughts about Edward when he's choking the life out of you, and even having her name? It's all to much too ignore."
"I'm not her." I whispered hoarsely.
"We know that sweetie, but you seem to be some form of her." She tried to comfort me.
"I can't be." My chest began to tighten and I was taking in deep breaths.
My mind rebelled against the fact that they were telling me I was not my own person. I was someone else, just in a different time.
No.
I was Isabella Volturi, Queen of Volterra. Not some vampire they wished I was.
Angrily, I pulled away from Rosalie and rushed past Edward and Carlisle, neither of which tried to stop me.
"Let her go, she can't go very far." I heard Alice tell them.
My feet carried me through the hallways, my body knowing them as well as I knew the lines on my palms. My hands furiously grabbed at the skirt of my dress, bunching and unbunching the purple fabric between my fingers. It was a habit I'd developed as to not trip when wearing my longer formal dresses, but I barely noticed that it was unnecessary in this dress as it only came to just above my knees.
The halls were dark and empty, the normal laughing and cheerful groups of people wandering the halls were a thing of the past. No one could be happy under the rule of the Cullens. My people were probably shut in their homes, afraid of the Cullen vampires who might come in the night.
My feet stumbled at those thoughts and I caught myself on the marble wall.
I covered my mouth with both hands, holding in the screams and cries that wanted to be let out. My wide eyes could not look away from the arched window a few feet from where I'd collapsed against the wall, and the dark thought of jumping out the window passed through my mind. It was three stories down to the stone walkway, almost a hundred feet in total.
Would it kill me, like I secretly wished?
Or would I walk away simply injured and not only in emotional pain, but physical pain as well?
No, that was cowardly.
But what awaited me back with the Cullens? More torture? Edward's volatile temper? The pressures of being someone I wasn't? What happened if I did something wrong or disappointed them? Would they see how preposterous it was that I was Bella and kill me?
There were too many questions, too many things that were out of my control and I could feel myself going mad.
I cried out against my hands and felt my body shudder.
Why was I so frightened of being Bella? My life was already no longer my own.
I slouched against the cool marble and slid down it, shaking and closing in on myself.
I'd lost everything, I was the great failure of my family, probably the last queen of Volterra as I saw no future in which the Cullens would leave peacefully. I did not even-
"Are you all right?"
I jumped and screamed, lashing out at the form kneeling a couple feet from me, it's hand reaching out to me. It was a man – a vampire considering his pale skin – and he was staring at me with a sad expression.
Oh please, not more of them.
"I'm sorry!" He retracted his arm like I was on fire. "Are you lost? I don't know how to get around this place very well, but I'd be happy to help."
I had to look twice at him, because he looked as if he could be related to Edward.
He was smiling at me and it wasn't vicious or teasing, it was kind and true. His face was angular with a defined jaw, his hair wavy and nearly as messy as Edward's, and held the same reddish hue though it seemed to have more brown. His gentle smile showed off dimples, with big golden eyes shinning at me.
He was handsome.
"I'm Peter, what's your name?" He tried again when I didn't answer his first question.
"Isabella." I choked out.
"That's pretty." Peter complimented genuinely. He looked excited that he'd finally gotten me to speak. "Do you mind if I sit down here?"
He pointed to the floor just in front of him, still a good five feet away from me, and as I could see no harm in it I nodded yes. Peter held his light smile, settling down cross legged with his hands resting on his knees, which seemed like an attempt to let me know he wasn't hiding anything.
I took a moment to look over him completely; there were none of the combat boots or rugged clothing I'd noticed the Cullens wearing. Peter seemed to dress for comfort, sitting before me in denim pants and a worn out looking gray cotton shirt, and his feet were bare.
I knew that I should feel nervous because of the fact that he resembled Edward, but there was something calming about him...
"Why are you crying in a dark hallway?" Peter asked me, his head tilting a little as he studied me.
"It is hard to explain, and I probably shouldn't tell anyone." I told him vaguely, tucking hair that had fallen in my face behind my ear.
"I won't tell anyone, promise." Peter winked and crossed his non-beating heart with his finger.
I hesitated.
Why did I want to spill everything that I had built up inside of me to this vampire? I recognized this feeling... it was new, it was how I felt with Rosalie. Open, safe, warm. There was nothing threatening about Peter, no growling threats, no heated glares, and definitely no hands around my neck or threats of slavery.
Why couldn't Bella have loved this one? Peter seemed much kinder than Edward could ever be capable of.
"You shouldn't be talking to me." I pushed those feelings aside, choosing to go on the offensive instead. "Just leave me here, I'll get up when I'm ready."
"I'm not going to leave you here all alone and crying." Peter insisted, showing the first real bit of seriousness since I'd noticed him. "You don't have to tell me why you're here, that's fine. We can talk about something else."
"There is nothing to talk about." I said stiffly, folding in on myself.
"Sure there is." Peter was once again upbeat. "What's your favorite flower?"
"Excuse me?" I was caught off guard.
"Your favorite flower?" He repeated for me with a goofy grin.
What kind of question was that? I had never before been asked such a silly thing in my life.
"I..." I thought for a moment and realized that I loved cherry blossoms. The light pink color of them, how they fell and coated the ground, even the scent of them. We had a whole line of them going down the main rode out of Volterra, and in autumn when they would shed the leaves would float in through the open windows of the palace.
I told all of this to Peter, a little shyly and uncertain, and he smiled even wider and his dimples deepened.
"What?" I asked.
"I got you to stop crying." He stated proudly.
My mouth curled into a small smile and I realized he was correct. I had stopped crying, and for a few moments I had even forgotten about the Cullens and the panic I'd felt.
All too quickly reality set back in and my few seconds of happiness was behind me.
"I should-"
"Who did that?" Peter spoke up before I could really even start.
"What?" I was suddenly nervous.
He lifted one of his hands and motioned to my neck, looking like he was restraining himself from leaning over and touching me.
The bruises from Edward choking me hadn't healed yet.
"Nothing to be concerned about." I brushed him off, cupping my throat in a useless attempt to make him forget about the dark purple marks I was sure blotted my skin.
"Peter!" A voice echoed off the marbled walls.
I jumped and scrambled back into the wall, only breathing with ease when I saw it was Emmett coming down the hall, his large form coming toward us hesitantly.
"Emmett." Peter greeted him coolly.
The atmosphere became awkward and cold, the bubble Peter and I had somehow formed around each other nowhere to be found.
Emmett turned to me and smiled in what I'm sure he meant to be friendly and reassuring. "Isabella, we should get back and finish talking to everyone. Get it over with and you can go back to your room."
He tried to make light of it, but I could sense the tension underneath.
I didn't want to go back to the prison that was my new room, and I would rather sit in this hall for the next year than go back to the Cullens.
Peter stood up with the fluidity and grace only a vampire could possess and held his hand out to me. I hesitated, my deeply rooted instincts that the Cullens and anyone associated with them were evil warning me against touching him.
"We'll go together." He winked at me.
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"What the hell is this?" Edward asked, somewhat rhetorically, when Peter entered the study behind me.
"I found her crying in the hallway, little brother." Peter answered with an edge, but he shrugged casually.
I froze, my lips parting slightly in shock as my mind processed the last two words.
Little brother.
I knew Peter did not call Edward brother just because they were in the same vampire family, the resemblance between them was too much.
"I thought it rude to walk past a weeping girl, something I thought that our human mother had drilled into both our heads, so I sat down and tried to cheer her up." It was an obvious dig at Edward, one to which he cringed and looked away from his brother.
"Yeah well, you need to stay out of this." Edward recovered quickly.
"Why, so you can choke her again?" Peter suddenly sounded furious.
"Go back to your books!" Edward snapped.
"I think I'll stay right here so I can help Rosie tear you limb from limb if you make one more wrong move." He said in a pleasant tone, gently guiding me over to where Rosalie sat.
"Great, someone else who wants to jump in front of her." Edward mumbled from his corner.
"Actually, this seems very similar to the cases of the immortal children." Carlisle's curious voice broke in. "Anyone who was in their presence for any length of time instantly became protective of them and even went as far as dying for them."
"I think it has something more to do with the fact that she's practically a mirror image of Bella, but... yes, I do feel that protective pull toward her." Jasper said stoically from his place beside Alice, who was nodding in agreement.
"No matter, I think it will be best for everyone if we delve deeper into this." Carlisle said. "For now, Isabella should remain where she's been." He turned to me them, addressing me directly. "You will not be harmed, and I don't think it would hurt to give you a few freedoms, though you will continue to be our prisoner."
I huffed, astounded at these vampires gall to think it was kind that they would allow me courtesies in my own home. I tread carefully though, all too aware of the power they'd won over me through their violence and blood.
"Rose, would you take her back to her room?" Carlisle asked.
Rosalie didn't look any happier at the way they were treating me than I did, but stood and took my hand. With one last look between Peter and Edward, I followed her out of the study.
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Over the next week and a half, I spent my days either with Rosalie or Peter. It seemed like they had worked out some sort of schedule between themselves, alternating days.
My days with Rosalie meant stories and walks in the gardens for fresh air, and once she even let me give her a tour of the palace. She had been stunned by the High Temple. I was pleased to see that despite the fighting between James and I it was relatively untouched. I missed going there and meditating, and I longed for it even more when I explained to Rosalie the religion in Volterra.
The Volturi had been worshiped as gods, and as a descendant of those gods, I was considered not only royal but holy as well. She seemed a little taken aback at that, looking at me with wide golden eyes.
"Why are your eyes amber now?" I asked her candidly one day.
"Well, my eyes have been this color since the development of the synthesized blood." She explained. "That's what makes them golden, it's human blood that makes our eyes red. Some of us, like myself, Carlisle, Peter, and Esme, prefer the synthesized blood. The others drink it, but they're not on a strict diet of it."
They chose to drink from willing humans.
I knew that was it, I was simply curious as to why Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and even Edward now had golden eyes, when they had red when I first saw them. But I didn't push Rosalie anymore, the fear of bringing up the wrong subject and her never coming to visit me again was first and foremost in my mind.
It grated on my nerves, but I was all too aware that these days were a privilege Carlisle and Edward were giving me, and they could easily be revoked at any time.
On my days with Peter, we would walk down to the Great Library and I'd show him all of my favorite novels, and a few times he pulled a few favorites of his own off the shelves to show me as recommendations to read. It was a relief to have some form of normalcy since my imprisonment.
I had been cautious of Peter after I discovered he was Edwards brother, but I found him to be quite the opposite of his cold sibling. Peter was fun and gentle, often striving to make me laugh and talk about things I liked. In the library, he'd sit close to me to read out of my book, but never touched me. I knew he could tell I did not like much physical contact, but his warm smiles brought me an odd sense of comfort.
I confided this to Rosalie and she laughed, trying to hide it from me until I convinced her to tell me what she thought was so funny about it.
"Isabella, Peter isn't just Edward's brother. Bella and Peter were friends." She told me carefully.
"They were friends?" I found my curiosity growing more and more where Bella was concerned.
"Yes, Bella and Peter were best friends actually. When Bella wasn't with Edward, she was usually doing something or another with Peter. Emmett always joked rather crudely to Bella about her having both the brothers wrapped around her finger." Rosalie chuckled and shook her head at the old memories.
"So he knew who I was the moment he saw me." I muttered, strangely disappointed that this too was something tainted with the memory of Bella. For some reason, I wanted my friendship with Peter to be exactly that – my friendship.
"No, he simply saw that you looked like someone who was once his best friend, and he wanted to help." Rosalie smiled kindly.
I had struggled with that.
It was difficult to tell if Peter was simply like the rest of the Cullens – who would have been more than willing to kill me if they didn't realized I was some reincarnation of their long dead family member.
I watched him carefully the next time I saw him, searching for signs that he was under the impression that I would be some form of Bella to him. All through the day, he never once brought the subject of her up, nor did he slip and call me Bella, something I'd caught Emmett do while talking to him with Rosalie.
Today was another day with Peter. I sat on my bed, still in the small closed off room I had been confined to from the beginning, waiting for the knock on my door.
I was dressed simply today, in a light blue dress that had a print of small white roses, the end hitting me just mid thigh. It was something I wouldn't normally consider wearing in public, but then again, Peter wasn't exactly public.
In my hair, Rosalie had placed a circlet of gold leaves – something she had grabbed from my wardrobe in my old room – and braided it into my hair so the curling sides of my hair were out of my face, but the rest hung loose down my back. It was the closest thing to a crown I had worn in weeks, and I wasn't entirely sure Edward would be pleased.
Who cares what Edward thinks? I should be able to wear whatever I wish. What would he do – rip the offending piece out of my hair?
I scoffed to myself.
I'd like to see him try.
Peter did not make me wait long. Just on time I heard his footsteps echoing down the hallways, then a moment later a solid knocking. I made my way across the room to open the door. It didn't lock from the inside, but from the outside, so he could enter if he wanted, but I knew that wasn't something Peter would do.
"Hey." Peter greeted when I swung the door open.
"Hello." I responded brightly.
"You look beautiful, as always." Peter complimented, showing off his dimples in the process.
I rolled my eyes a little, he would always find something nice to say about me, and truthfully I found it quite endearing.
We walked down to the Great Library, taking our time because I found that I had come to enjoy the simple act of walking the halls that I once roamed freely.
My, how imprisonment made one look at the simple things through whole new eyes.
We took our usual path to the library, and like every other day I saw that there were none of the usual people who walked these halls before the Cullens came.
How where they ruling when no one was ever here?
I never even saw any of the vampires that were with the Cullens. There had been hundreds of them storming Volterra not even a month ago and now it was deserted. I was not allowed out of the palace to get an idea of what remained of my city, the gardens and courtyards within the stone walls the closest I ever got to being outside and free – and even that was an illusion of freedom.
I glanced to Peter, who was strolling along happily beside me, completely unfazed by the emptiness of it all.
We went through our normal routine, finding a comfortable place and settling down with a stack full of books we would sort through, eventually deciding on which one to read.
"May I ask you something?" I wondered, setting a book aside in the no pile.
"Anything." He nodded and waited.
Start with something smaller, don't interrogate him about how his family is supposedly ruling Volterra.
There was something else I had been wondering...
"Of all the stories I've been told about the rebellion, I don't ever recall your name being mentioned." I frowned, trying to think back. "Yet you are Edwards' brother, were you not involved with the other Cullens?"
"I wasn't apart of the war; at least, not the part that all the vampires know about. All that fighting... not really for me. I'm more of the intellectual of our family." Peter tapped his temple and grinned.
"What did you do then?" I asked.
"Mostly I did the research." He answered simply.
"Research? During a war? How does that help anything?" I didn't understand – war was fighting and blood. What place did books and research have in such a savage act?
"Have you ever fought a war?" Peter countered me.
I blushed a little.
Clearly not, or else we would not be in this situation. Maybe if I had known how to command an army, Carlisle Cullen would not be sitting on my throne.
"No, but I've heard plenty of stories. Most of a war is nothing but fighting, killing and conquering." I said bluntly.
"True, that's what it is on the surface." He allowed. "Though behind the fighting is strategy, and you need to know your enemy, their land, their people... what they want, their weakness... even what they'd die for. There has never been a war won without someone whispering in a kings' ear."
"And you whisper in Carlisle's ear?" I asked.
"Sometimes." Peter said, looking at me with sadness written on his face.
We lapsed into silence after that, going back to our respective books. I hadn't read through half a chapter when Peter spoke again.
"Can I ask you something?" He queried softly.
"Of course." I answered, setting a book down.
"That day I found you... you were crying and staring out that big window." Peter cleared his throat, even though vampires didn't need to. "You looked so sad... so desperate... you wanted to jump out that window, didn't you?"
I looked away sharply, my hands folding in on themselves in my lap as my mind searched for an answer.
"I do not know what you're talking about." I said in a clipped tone, hoping he would drop it.
"You're a horrible liar." He accused halfheartedly.
"If you're so sure you know the answer, why even bother to ask me?" I snipped at him.
"Because," Peter gripped my chair to pull me closer to him, staring into my eyes with heated seriousness. "I want you to know that if you ever feel that way again, don't you dare go to that window – go to me."
My breath froze in my throat from the feeling behind his voice. I was mere inches from him and the heated look in his golden eyes made my heart thump loudly in my chest.
A throat cleared and I nearly jumped out of my skin as I tried to move away from Peter.
What was with these vampires sneaking up on me? I usually had amazing senses.
"Edward." Peter said cautiously, leaning back from me.
Of course it would be Edward. Any other of the Cullens would have been welcome. Now I was sure my day would be ruined with his sullen attitude and threats.
I spared him a glance; he stood firmly between two bookshelves just five yards from us, his dark eyes darting between Peter and I, oddly suspicious. He was wearing his usual attire – black combat boots, black and slightly torn jeans, and a dark gray shirt and he'd pushed the long sleeves up to his elbows.
"Isabella." Edward nodded toward me curtly, but politely.
"Come to make more threats?" Peter asked him in a bored tone.
"No." Edward said sourly. He took steps toward us, but still kept a reasonable distance. "Actually... I've come to ask Isabella's opinion on a matter concerning the people of Volterra."
The look on my face must have been comical.
Edward was here to ask my opinion on something?
Had there been an invasion of the body snatchers sometime during the night?
"What is it?" I asked.
"Come with me." He motioned me forward.
I held my place, suddenly panicked at the thought of going anywhere with Edward.
"Ain't gonna happen, little brother." Peter stood up.
"Holy Hell, what do you think I'm going to do to her?" Edward asked, exasperated.
"It's all right." I said, putting my hand up to Peter.
I walked over to Edward, a bit cautiously, and followed him out as he turned sharply on his heels.
His heavy boots made no sound, his gate more graceful than I had expected it to be from such a brutal man. Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised – his vampire grace was meant to make him seem unsuspecting.
Nothing but silence accompanied us as we walked, and I was left to my thoughts as to what he wanted from me.
I glanced at Edward from the corner of my eye and saw that his brow was furrowed, his hair messier than I'd seen it, his mouth drawn down into a frown, and he looked genuinely upset about something.
It wasn't long before he spoke up to me.
"Are you all r..." Edward trailed off, hesitating. "I'm sorry."
"What?" I must not have heard him correctly, because sorry did not seem to be in his vocabulary.
"I'm sorry." He repeated, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking oddly vulnerable. "I shouldn't have hurt you like I did, that was awful, and I hate myself for putting my hands around your neck."
"I'm not going to forgive you." I said stubbornly.
He takes my entire life from me and then struts in looking all cute and frazzled and thinks a sorry will help him, but I am not so forgiving.
Edward chuckled to himself. "I'd be disappointed if you did, but I just wanted you to know that I am sorry, even if you never accept or understand."
I halted abruptly, making Edward stumble to a stop and turn to look back at me.
"Exactly what is it that you want from me?" I asked, my eyes narrowed. "Why the sudden kindness, and asking my opinion on the very kingdom you took from me?"
Edward grimaced. "Carlisle and Esme have left to go back to America, and they've left me in charge of Volterra."
The blood drained from my face.
"What?" I whispered hoarsely.
"Well, we do have our own world to run. Not all of us can sit around here all the time, ruling over prissy vampires and dhampirs" Edward said like it was as obvious as the sky was blue.
I bristled a little at prissy vampires. Being peaceful instead of savage animals was not something I considered to be a flaw, like Edward seemed to think.
"So, they left my city in the hands of a vampire who likes to choke defenseless women." I snapped.
"I wouldn't exactly call you defenseless, that mind trick of yours is pretty effective." He said sourly.
"It didn't keep you from choking me until I lost consciousness!" I was furious now, taking none of his apologies or excuses.
Edward took a threatening step toward me, when suddenly the frustration slipped off his face and he was staring at me with something akin to longing.
"Bella..."
Swiftly as I could, I hauled my hand back and smacked him across his stone face.
"Don't you call me that!" I shouted at him.
Edward looked down at me with wide eyes, probably stunned that I'd actually hit him, but did not try to retaliate like the times before. It likely didn't hurt him much, no more than a fly bothering a horse.
"I am not Bella! No matter what you and Carlisle may think, make no mistake – I am my own person. So do not call me by her name!" I insisted, shouting up at him.
Edward regarded me calmly. "I suppose that's fair. No need to resort to violence, oh peaceful queen." He mocked, smiling in delight to himself.
I suppressed a scream of frustration and watched as he sauntered away, obviously expecting me to follow after him.
That vampire made me want to rip my hair out.
I thought of how arrogant he was, how he liked to play me like I was his personal fiddle, and how twelve hundred years of progress was now in Edward Cullen's hands.
It made me want to spit fire.
I had to get my kingdom back.
Edward is getting a little better, right... eh okay, he's still an asshole. And Isabella does have a point about the whole name thing, you wouldn't want people basically calling you by another woman's name, would you?
Peter, oh Peter. What do you think of him? Seems innocent enough...
I'm getting better at this updating on time stuff, made in right at the two week mark! As always, links for my fanfiction Tumblr are on my profile page. Check it out, I'm just getting a page for Sacred up and running and I've got some character face claims up as well as a fashion collection I'm doing for some of the characters.
Thank you for reading, see you in a couple weeks!
