Disclaimer: Yeahh it isn't mine

Things are pretty slow in this chapter and I have to admit, it certainly isn't my favourite, but it explains a lot of things that will happen later on, so it's necessary. Review, please.

Hearing my daughter's frantic, pleading voice on the other end of the phone terrified me. Hearing that Jacob was in trouble terrified me even more.

"Renesmee, calm down! What is it?" Edward hovered impatiently at my side and Alice stood rooted to the ground in shock; she knew what was coming. I was about to press Renesmee for a reply but the phone went dead. Panic pulsed through my body. Edward felt it and turned to Alice.

"What do you see?" He spoke so quickly that I was surprised Alice took it in. She held up a finger telling us to wait and we did. Eventually, she answered.

"I don't really know. It's not clear at all because, of course, I can't see Jacob or Renesmee properly. But I can see us going to Volturra for another reason than just to make deals". Edward shook his head in disappointment. I was still clutching the phone; desperately wishing Renesmee would phone back. Edward noticed and stroked his hand across my jaw.

"It'll be fine, I swear. We'll have someone trace the number". I pursed my lips together to prevent myself from screaming in anguish. Alice seemed disappointed too.

"I can't figure out why we're there. I think it may be because we don't know exactly. I have a feeling that Jacob's trouble lies somewhere in Italy". I knew they'd heard the phone call; our hearing was much too sensitive to miss even Renesmee's hushed tones.

"Yes, a very dangerous somewhere", Edward muttered to himself. Then he looked down at me and smiled reassuringly. "It will all work out, love". I nodded though I knew he couldn't truly promise that. I flipped the phone open again and stared at the calls list. The word 'Unknown' had never been so unwelcome. I sighed and shut it. Shaking my head in dismay, I took Edward's hand and lightly kissed it, wondering what an earth we would do now. After a few moments, there was a rap at the door. Carlisle was suddenly there, answering it. I'd forgotten that he was there; he hadn't said a word since the phone call. I concluded that it was because he didn't want to get involved in the Renesmee and Jacob situation after what had happened the day before. It was still a strange thing to be a vampire; the days and nights sort of blended into one, and I wondered if I would ever get used to it. After a hushed discussion at the door, Rosalie entered the room with Carlisle walking swiftly behind her.

"We just got a call from Nessie", she said cautiously. My face dropped and I was stood directly in front of Rose before she'd even noticed I'd moved. I placed my hands on her shoulders and she flinched slightly in shock at my sudden contact.

"What did she say?" I demanded, breathlessly. Edward was at my side, pulling me away.

"Calm down, love".

"Sorry, Rosalie, I didn't mean to make you jump". She smiled slightly.

"She called about five minutes ago. I would have come sooner but I didn't really want Tanya to get suspicious. Anyway, she sounded pretty scared, I tried to calm her down but all she kept saying was, 'they took Jake, they took him!' Then when I started asking who, the phone cut off". I flipped the phone open once again to look at the recent calls. The 'Unknown' number had called three minutes ago.

"She rang the house before Edward's mobile". It wasn't really directed at anyone in particular. Edward looked as perplexed as me.

"What does shemean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Rosalie rolled her eyes as we all turned to her questioningly. "They are also sometimes known as the Volturi". She had an expression on her face as if to say 'Duh'.

"Don't mess with us, Rosalie". Edward's voice was suddenly harsh, foreboding almost.

"I'm not, Edward. That's what I think she means". I considered it and was about to shake my head when she continued impatiently. "Think about it! She's just run away with her boyfriend and she knows full well how much trouble she's in. She wouldn't call unless it was an emergency. What other emergency could it be? Jacob's big enough to take on just about anything, except ..." She stopped short and looked around expectantly for us to finish her sentence off.

"The Volturi", Edward grumbled. Rosalie looked smug.



"Will we ever be rid of them?" I moaned. Carlisle grimaced.

"Apparently not, no. But the question now is, what do we do?"

No-one had the answer to Carlisle's question so we kept quiet. Eventually, Edward broke the awkward silence by nudging me gently.

"We need to hunt, love", he said simply. He was right; I knew that my eyes would be absolutely scorching crimson by now, but the thought of leaving the phone unattended was almost as unbearable as the thirst. What if Renesmee called back? Edward read the apprehension on my face. "Rosalie will watch the phone, love". I nodded and we both darted to the window and ran towards the forest. It was noon and people were out walking dogs, but Edward and I moved to fast to be noticed. My hand was in his and he kissed it every few moments as if to comfort my uneasiness. We reached the woods in record time. Walking slower now, I turned to see his black eyes darting up and down my face.

"Has anybody ever told you how beautiful you are?" His crooked smile was teasing. He knew I wasn't a fan of compliments like these.

"If I'm even only one-tenth as beautiful as you are, then I'll believe it". We smiled yearningly at each other and then we darted off in opposite directions to hunt. Tearing into an elk, something dawned on me.

"Edward", I said between chews. He grunted in response; he was too busy with his lion. "Why don't we speak to Seth? Perhaps he can try to get in touch with Jake". There was silence for a while as Edward finished his kill. He came to my side and I expected him to put a hand on my waist as he normally did when we were together, but then I remembered that it would be quite awkward to do while I was eating.

"Carlisle's done that. You noticed our private conversation back at the house, right?" I thought back and then nodded; I'd been meaning to quiz him on that. "Well he was telling me that Seth and Sam had both failed to communicate with Jake. He won't phase in front of Renesmee, you know that, and he also won't leave her by herself to phase privately, which I suppose is a good thing". I finished my own kill and walked with him away from both carcasses.

"Do you think Rosalie's right? About Jacob being in trouble with the Volturi?" He paused, deliberating for a moment or two.

"Yes. Alice is sure that she sees the three of us and Carlisle flying to Volturra. She can't figure out what we're there for, because like she said, we will be going there completely blind so we won't know what we're there for until we actually are. Does that make sense?" I nodded. "She knows for definite that we're not just there to offer an exchange; our services for Tanya's forgiveness and the other's lives, so I think that we'll be there because of Jacob". I almost shivered at the thought of meeting with the Volturi again.

"Does Carlisle still want me to be the first there?"

"No, I don't think that's necessary now. We were going to wait for Caius and Aro to come to us, but we obviously won't have time for that now. We'll all go together. At least I think so. I hope so". I looked up and his elegant face, flushed slightly from hunting. He gasped.

"What?" I asked, panicking. He reached out and stroked the hollow underneath both my eyes.

"Our eyes match". A wide smile was spread across his face as he scooped me up into his arms and ran with me to a small stream. The water was clear like the sky and he set me down so that I was able to look into it. It wasn't a perfect reflection, but I could clearly see my sparkling topaz eyes. My mouth hung open as I took them in.

"Can the transformation be so quick?" Edward shrugged.

"I think they've been changing slightly all the time that we've been thirsty, but we never noticed because of how thirsty you actually were". I looked into his eyes and then back at my own. They were exactly the same shade. He noticed the same thing at the same time. "Now that, I cannot explain. Possibly because it was my venom that changed you?" He questioned himself, not me.

As soon as we reached the cottage, I darted to the phone.

"No-one rang", said Rosalie moodily. She was obviously as desperate for Renesmee's call as I was. I would have sulked had I not been so stunned by my new eyes. She did a double take. "Oh, Bella!" She gasped. I bit my lip whilst smiling shyly; I was one of them now, finally. Carlisle inspected me from the other end of the room to see what had caused Rosalie's impressed outburst. He beamed at me.



"Bella, I'm so pleased for you; I know how much the old colour bothered you". Edward turned to him.

"Look at the both of us Carlisle. Tell me what you see". Carlisle approached us and stopped just inches from my face. He studied my eyes and then Edward's.

"Oh my!" He exclaimed, double checking.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked.

"Their eyes ... are identical".

"It isn't just the colour then?" I didn't know what Edward was talking about.

"No. From what I can see, they have the exact same imperfections too. The changes in shading in different areas are the same as well. I wonder ..." If I wasn't confused before, I was now. Carlisle reached for a torch that was in the drawer of a cabinet. "Stand very close together so that your heads are touching", he ordered. Edward and I complied without demur. He shone the torch in the centre of where our heads joined and gasped at what he saw.

"What is all this about?" I demanded. Carlisle turned off the torch and allowed Edward and I to separate, although we did not move too far apart.

"You've done biology, Bella, so you know that every single person has a different reaction time, even if it is only by one millionth of a second", he explained. "Most people cannot notice this because their eyes are not acute enough. Ours, however, are. Your pupils should have contracted either a fraction of a second faster or slower than Edward's. They reduced at exactly the same time". Edward gave a small gasp even though he must have known what Carlisle was going to explain before the first word was even out of his mouth.

"What does this mean?" Alice was clearly as bewildered as me.

"I'm not entirely sure. You can see that I don't come across this in my every day work".

"So our eyes are exactly the same in colouring, they are the same shape and size, they have the same flaws, and they react at the exact same time?" I was struggling to keep up.

"Yes". Carlisle looked wary, as if this was something to fear.

"Is it because it was my venom that changed her?" Carlisle raised his eyebrows.

"Interesting..." This was the only answer he gave, so Edward translated his thoughts.

"Carlisle thinks that because my venom runs through your veins, it is creating a sort of clone of me". My face dropped and he laughed. "Not a full clone, obviously. But he thinks that we will react at the same time to everything, like changes in temperature, pain and so on". Carlisle smiled but then frowned, as if he'd thought of something else.

"Not possible" Edward assured him, shaking his head.

"Is it not? How do we know? You haven't been hurt", Carlisle answered. Rosalie hissed furiously.

"Will the two of you please explain things to the rest of us?" Carlisle grimaced.

"I was just thinking ... that maybe you will be able to feel Edward's pain, Bella". I scrunched up my face in confusion. It normally made Edward laugh but he was too shocked and defiant to laugh at anything.

"Why though?"

"Well, your reactions are a perfect clone to his, so I was wondering if because your bodies are so similar now and you will share practically the same DNA, you might possibly be connected in some way because of that. We cannot know for sure without a test". I blinked, still baffled by his theory.

"Get a knife, Rose". Edward's command was abrupt and my eyes widened.

"Edward, we don't need to test it, please!" I wasn't scared that I would experience the pain of this; I just did not want him to harm himself. He ignored me and snatched the knife from Rosalie. He looked at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry if you do feel this, Bella. But I doubt that you will so much that I am prepared to take that risk. You know I wouldn't cause you this pain if I thought for a second that you would feel it". I didn't have time to take any of this in as he ran the knife down his forearm. The pain was excruciating. I'd been cut before, of course, but not as a vampire. It took all my strength to resist passing out in agony. He did not bleed and he did not cry out in pain. Instead, his face simply contorted with the pain and it took me a while to decipher the horrified faces around us. Then I realised that it was because my face was contorted in exactly the same way. Edward realised too and he grabbed my arm as gently as he could in his hurry. He tore off some cloth from the curtains and wound it tightly round the gash. The 

pain instantly disappeared. My arm did not numb; there were no blood vessels to cut off. Instead it just felt empty as all my senses cut off. He did the same with his arm and we turned to look at the others. Carlisle's mouth was almost on the floor and Rosalie and Alice had crouched in a corner.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asked, his voice pulsing with concern. I nodded. "I'm so sorry, love. I never thought for a second ... I didn't think Carlisle was ... I'm sorry". He hung his head in shame but I lifted it up again and kissed his mouth lightly.

"It's fine", I assured him. "I'm fine. We had to test it out, I understand".

"I still shouldn't have-"

"Leave it", I interrupted. "I love you, okay? Whether you unintentionally cut my arm or not". I laughed gently. He smiled back at me.

"I love you too". Carlisle was still clearly astounded but there was something he needed to get off his chest, evidently.

"Never do that again". Even Edward couldn't understand because he pressed him for more. "If the Volturi find out about this ..." I still didn't understand but Edward did. He wound his arm around me tightly.

"If Jane finds out about this, more like". I looked at him and then to Carlisle and back again.

"What?" I insisted impatiently.

"It will make things a lot easier for them, Bella". Rosalie extended Edward's feeble explanation.

"It will be like killing two birds with one stone".

Review please. I normally post a chapter a day, but I'm really busy tomorrow so Chapter 8 may not be done until Monday. Sorry x