AN: thank you all for the wonderful reviews. School is done until September so I should be able to update on both stories more often.

Again not SM

Strangers Hold the Answers

CPOV

Edward and I returned back to the house to be greeted by our family all gathered in the dining room waiting for us to join. Edward began mumbling something about not having time to deal with this; he was looking straight at Alice as the words left his mouth. However, he did not fight her and took his seat at the table while I took mine at the head of the table. After everyone was settled I began to speak to try and form a plan to see what to do about Bella. Before I got two words out Alice cut me off. "Carlisle there is a small coven of vampires, 3 to be exact, to males and 1 female. The will be here before nightfall, and I'm not sure what it is they want with us, but I have a feeling that whatever they have to say we need to hear."

We all sat for a moment trying to decide if we all should stay or if some should leave and begin to search for my little one. Edward shot up from his spot with such force that he knocked his chair into the nearby wall and shattering it. "We all stay, we do not let on to our abilities. Alice if what you think as true they will be able to lead us to her." Alice nodded her head, neither of them offering any of us any more information as to what they were discussing silently for Edward to make that decision. With that settled we all roamed the house waiting for the newcomers to show.

At 5pm Edward and Alice had gathered everyone to our family room informing us that they will be here in 10 minutes. Exactly 10 minutes later there was a knock on the door. We had agreed earlier that Emmett would answer the door, which he did and invited them in. One man introduced himself as James, he had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail, he was shorter than Jasper, and slightly more muscular. The female had fire for hair, no order to it, it seemed to match her look in general. The last male, was olive toned, with dark hair, flowing beneath his shoulders. They all had one thing in common, deep crimson eyes. I greeted the coven and introduced them to my family. During this time I noticed Jasper place himself near Edward, and place a comforting arm on his shoulder. Edward, do they know about Bella? He discretely nodded that only I caught the movement.

The olive toned man, Laurent was the first to speak "Is this all in your coven?" I simply said it was, and he began his line of questions. "Have you run into another of our kind recently, there seems to be a scent in the home that does not match any of those present." Edward stiffened but I confirmed there was another that passed through. I did not give any specifics about my little one to these strangers. The next question did not surprised me, but it should have; the surprise in the question was more who uttered it, James "Was she an animal drinker like you?" This got everyone's attention, but before anyone could answer he began a little rant and his eyes seemed to be unable to focus on anyone thing. "Don't try to lie; I am perfectly aware that little bitch was here. Do not think about attempting to protect Isabella" the way he said my daughter's name with such distaste sent shivers through my spine. "You do not k now what kind of creature she is, and she deserves no one's pity; even if you share the same diet."

It had been agreed upon earlier to not let these three know how much information we had on Bella, granted it wasn't a lot, but we needed information so we could bring my little one home. "I'm sorry, she just passed through. Maybe if you could enlighten us as to what she has done to incur such distaste from you maybe we will be able to help find her." The three looked at each other, but it was the female, Victoria who began the tale of their dealing with my little one, to say what information was provided was shocking would be the understatement of the millennium, and judging by the look on Edward's face and Jasper's struggles to keep him calm, things were being left out.

"We ran into Isabella 20 years ago while we were traveling in Italy. She seemed to be on the run from the Volturi, but she never confirmed our suspicions. We felt pity for her and offered her a place with our coven. She did not readily agree stating she appreciated the offer but that she feared our appetites differed too much for her to be able to stay with us. Laurent was fascinated with her, and agreed that we would attempt her way of life if she agreed to travel with us." She paused before continuing, while Emmett on Jasper's urging took this time to position himself in front of Edward, whatever was being left out was testing Edward's calm demeanor.

"Isabella travelled with us for about six months with us drinking from animals. We all were passing by a town and James was unable to deny his thirst, and once Laurent and I smelled the human blood our resolves all weakened. Isabella found our behavior appalling, and began to fight us, she stole all of our belongings that we had and ran. The things she took were of great value to us from our human lives, a necklace of mine, a picture that belonged to Laurent, and a ring that belonged to James' family. You see we are only in search of her to find our things, and then we shall leave her alone." After she was done, Edward began to speak. "I apologize for her behavior, but she only came and went and we have no information on her, and did not see any such belongings on her. If you will excuse me we need to be leaving shortly." The three nodded and left.

Once they were out of range I turned to Edward and asked him to explain. Before he could start Alice gasp and horrified look drew our attention. She looked at Edward begging him that what he was about to say isn't true. He simply nodded and began to fill the rest of us in on what Alice saw him to reveal. "It was true that they met her in Italy, and that they had no idea what she was running from. They did agree to try her lifestyle after begging on Laurent. The plan was for them to play along until he was able to make her his mate, by force if necessary. None of them stuck to the diet throughout the six months. Bella informed them that she would be leaving, stating she did not feel they could maintain the diet and did not feel comfortable around them. Victoria was more than happy to let her leave initially, she hated every moment with her there just so Laurent was pleased. After she made her statement and turned to leave, Laurent attacked." He paused and looked at me before continuing; "As he was holding her, James approached and held her upper body down so Laurent could complete his task. Both of them were determined to take what they wanted from her. They kept telling her she owed them this, because of all the trouble they went through to hunt animals for her." Again he took a moment, while all of us let this sink in, but his smile was unexpected "She fought both of them, she was able to tear an arm off of James, but Victoria joined in. unable to finish them herself she ran. She took nothing of theirs. They have been hunting her for 20 years, and have caught her a few times but she always escapes. Their initial goal for the first 10 years was to have her as Laurent's pet, not mate, pet. After that they just wanted her gone. It became a game to them."

I was in my study some time later trying to figure out what in the world my little one was thinking when she thought that 3 vampires could harm our family, when she herself had fought them off. There was a knock on the door, but the owner did not wait for a response before answering, I looked to see Jasper take a seat in front of me. "Carlisle I do not believe those were the ones she was worried about. I think those are the ones that have her on the move constantly, but from her feelings when she was here there is something greater in her past then those three." I nodded my head in agreement, and my mind began to wonder if the Volturi had something to do with my little one's fear. The screams of Alice and Edward's tore through the house, and Jasper and I rushed to the ground floor where the rest of the family lay. Alice spoke "They have her." I asked who, but Edward answered "The Volturi."