It was bright outside when Mariah was awake enough to notice. Her mobile lay on the bedside table next to her… it was flashing. Mariah picked it up and realised why. She had four missed calls and seven messages waiting for her. Instead of checking her messages, she checked the caller ID. There was one from Alice, one from Jasper and two from Carlisle.
Right as she was about to call Carlisle back, Troy came in to get her up. His entry reminded her that they had to practice for an upcoming gig for an hour before they went out for a while. They were all going out into the Olympic Peninsular to hang out with each for a while and going to the movies to see something Pat and Ric had been waiting to see for ages.
They all drew straws to choose who was driving, Troy lost. Suzie and Chris were more into the shopping than the movie, and grumbled and complained through the whole film. All day Mariah didn't know where to go, didn't know whether she should run from her life or to stay and face what was to come. She couldn't choose between two different 'teams' and was so confused. She wanted to know what it all meant. All day she felt like screaming out loud from the stress that encompassed her entire being.
Mariah kept thinking back to that dream, to that kiss, to that feeling of unrequited love that had filled her. She was so completely lost in thought that, even though she watched the movie, when it finished Mariah had absolutely no idea what she had just seen.
"Riah! That was so cool! I mean that final battle sequence was totally awesome!" Troy babbled nearly inaudibly over the noise from the crowd.
"Yeah… totally." Mariah replied without thinking.
"It was a lost cause on you wasn't it?" Troy said, amused.
"Water under the bridge. I can see now why Suzie and Chris didn't want to see it." Mariah smirked up at him and Pat, knowing that they were hooked on the movie.
"Right on sister." Suzie smiled, punching Mariah lightly on the shoulder in appreciation.
"C'mon then. Let's head home before traffic starts to jam up." Troy said, now annoyed that he had to drive but still enthusiastic about the movie.
The first part of the drive home was uneventful. They joked and laughed and sung along to their favorite songs, but that was it. When they were only an hour from home though, Mariah's Mobile rang in her pocket. Checking the caller ID, she saw it was Carlisle.
"Ha, ha. Hey turn it down a bit, I'm on the phone." Mariah said as she put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Mariah? Mariah! Thank God!" Carlisle said desperately. "So now you decide to answer your phone!"
"Nice to hear your voice too Carlisle." Mariah replied, annoyed. "What's wrong?"
"Mariah, please forgive me. I didn't know that this would happen. Please, come home."
"Wow, what? Forgive you for what?"
"Let's just say I've had a visit from some old friends of mine. And they came because I sent them an email with a certain photo attached to it, and um…"
"Oh, no, Carlisle you didn't! Tell me you didn't send a photo with me in it to the Volturi! Please tell me you didn't!" Mariah whispered furiously over the phone.
"Ok… I will not tell you."
"Carlisle!"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but you've got to get back here this instant. They want to see you."
"Well they're going to be disappointed when they see me. I'm not the same as I used to be."
"Have you been holding out on us? Did you know something you weren't telling us?" Carlisle accused over the phone.
"That's none of your concern. But right now I need a cover story to tell Troy so he'll drop me off at your place."
"You weren't running away?"
"No. I didn't know about this until just now."
"Oh. Okay… tell him I need to see you. That there may have been a complication during the extraction of one of the bullets from your accident."
"Okay then, I'll see you then Carlisle… bye." Mariah hung up before he had the chance to say anything else.
They were here. In Forks. To see her. This was all too much at the moment but she had to work this out. There had to be a way to fix this mess. There was always a way, and Mariah would find it. She had to, she needed to.
Giving Troy her flimsy excuse, which Troy bought, they redirected in the direction of the Cullen's place when they got back into Forks. Mariah was silent on the back seat as they went up the long drive to the home of the Cullen's. As they pulled up out the front a curtain pulled back from the window slightly. Mariah slowly undid her seatbelt and slid out of the car, waiting for it to have driven out of sight before turning back to the house.
She unwillingly walked toward the verandah, climbing the stairs as slowly as possible and standing outside the door considering whether or not to simply run away. Mariah didn't like her chances of getting to the tree line before someone caught her, but that option was incredibly tempting. Mariah turned around and took a step back the way she had just come when Alice appeared at her side, making Mariah jump a foot in the air.
"I'm watching you Mariah. They're being incredibly understanding at the moment, knowing that this must be a lot for you but it may not last." Alice said, putting a hand on Mariah's arm. "And yes, if you run someone will catch you before you even get halfway across the lawn. So, come inside."
"How many of them came?" Mariah's voice shook.
"Let me see… there's Aro, Caius, Marcus, Demetri, Felix, Alec, Jane, Heidi, Athenodora, Sulpicia and one more, oh what's his name… oh, yeah, Stephadro. By my count, that makes eleven."
"Oh. Okay… just give me a minute to make myself not run in fear." Mariah sat on the top stair and let her head fall into her hands in despair.
"Okay, but you have exactly thirty five seconds before Felix carries you in." Alice said while glaring at the door.
"Argh! Okay, I'm coming, Geese!" Mariah said, exasperated.
She was on her feet in an instant and turned for the door. But she still paused for an immeasurable moment before Alice opened the door and skipped inside. Mariah, very slowly, stepped inside and closed the door behind her. There was no one there and Mariah felt her eyes turn ice blue from how terrified she was.
"Carlisle…" she whispered, unable to raise her voice any louder.
Before she could blink, Carlisle stood in front of her, apologies in his eyes. He hugged her close, ignoring a growl from behind him. As he pulled back, Mariah saw that the room around her had now filled with people. Jasper stood beside her and the rest of the Cullen's were spread out among those of the Volturi. Carlisle stepped aside so Mariah could see. Aro smiled at her from across the room one second and then from directly in front of her. Mariah took an involuntary step back and he chuckled darkly before returning to his place across the room.
Mariah looked back toward the door for a second and then took a measured step toward Aro and Caius. Felix took this as his cue to appear right in front of Mariah, pick her up in a bone crushing hug and swing her round a few times. When he set her back on her feet, she laughed nervously and then glanced at Edward.
'They won't hurt you Mariah. They're overjoyed to see you alive and well. They missed you immensely.' Edward thought. With that encouragement, Mariah felt much braver.
"C'mon Ree, smile or they're gonna think you're severely depressed or something." Emmet said from directly behind her.
Caius growled threateningly. "Don't call her that."
"Leave him alone. I happen to like him calling me that, it's a nice change from the norm." Mariah said in fierce defence.
"Don't you like your name?" Sulpicia sneered.
"I like my name, why don't you?" Mariah spat in her direction.
"Be nice Mariah." Carlisle said gently.
Mariah read the thoughts of Sulpicia to see just how much she was despised by this woman.
'Who does this little girl think she is? Does she think she can just come a take my power from me? What is she to them? If Aro chooses her over me I'll kill her!'
"I actually don't think I'm anyone special at all. And as for your so called 'power' you think you have acquired, not only is it only given to you because you are Aro's wife, but I also don't want it. You can keep whatever power you have in your world. I am what I am to them, and as for you wanting to kill me, bring it. I'll give you a run for your money any day! Believe me, I don't care of he chooses you over me but I wouldn't kill you if he did. Think about that, Sulpicia." Mariah said so politely it had to be false, and she said it with an angelic smile on her face.
Mariah waited as Sulpicia looked from herself to Aro to Edward and back Mariah again, glaring all the while.
"And as for the mental jibe about Mariah being only a 'little girl'," Edward smirked. "From where I'm standing, she's no little girl. All the right curves in all the right places as far as I'm concerned… and Aro thinks so too."
"You watch yourself girl." Sulpicia spat before storming out of the house.
"That didn't end nearly as bad as I thought it would." Aro said to the room, still smiling.
"That was really pathetic." Mariah whispered after Sulpicia, and was rewarded with a feral snarl in reply from a very angry queen vampire.
Aro looked at her in awe. "Aren't you afraid of her?"
"No. She didn't even fight back. Not one spiteful remark, not one annoying jibe, nothing." Mariah said sounding rather disappointed.
"How did you know what she was thinking?" Aro inquired, his face animated with pure interest.
"I… I'm um…" Mariah looked around to Carlisle for help.
"Mariah is… different this time. She has special qualities in this life which aren't normal for a human." Carlisle intervened.
Aro ghosted forward and took Carlisle's hand. Mariah knew what he was doing. Aro was reading Carlisle's mind. Now every thought, feeling, spoken word, intimate moment, emotion and motive of Carlisle's, was Aro's. Aro released Carlisle's hand and looked at her, his face alight with excitement.
"And as for what you are… you are the soul mate of us both. And we will love you always." Aro bent down and kissed Mariah's cheek before holding her close. "La tua cantante."
Mariah looked over Aro's shoulder, as he said this, at Caius and Marcus. Caius looked back at her lovingly, while Marcus simply looked on with a blank face. Mariah read his thoughts to try and understand him better.
'She is still their soul mate, but seems unwilling to admit to her self that she loves them. Mariah, stop reading my mind…" Marcus thought, suddenly smirking at her. Mariah's shocked expression made everyone in the room laugh and Edward, who knew why she was so shocked, laughed even harder and louder than the others.
Mariah spent the rest of the evening with those of the Volturi who actually liked her, and this did not include Sulpicia. She got to know them again, and was relentlessly questioned by all of them. Mariah was exhausted from the anxiety that she had felt all day that, even though she hadn't wanted to consciously, she fell asleep in Aro's arms.
