Bella's audacity seemed to be otherworldly. After her ignorant comment about hoping that we'd be friends I was dismissed.

A day passed and I hadn't seen Amelia since I sobbed in her arms. When I was summoned to Marcus' office in the royal wing I realized why. Bella was decorating a room to be her own. According to Marcus Amelia was in charge of acquiring items for the castle, as well as making sure it was spotless. When I passed Bella's new room I saw Amelia. Bella was spouting off different items she wanted and Amelia was standing in front of her with her hands clasped behind her back, nodding mutely.

We were halfway through our third game of chess when Marcus spoke.

"I see that you hate Bella, but I cannot see her relationship with you or anyone else."

"Do you think she is not mated to Caius?" I asked, hiding my hope while moving one of my pieces.

"No, I believe they are mates. I have seen enough pairs to recognize the behavior, the symptoms. Also, I can see Caius' bond to her and it is that of a mate."

"It just bothers you, not being able to see her relationships." I filled in the blank.

"That is correct." He was silent for a long moment, and just when I thought the conversation was over he spoke again. "I find that I prefer this change of events."

"Her being Caius' mate?" I asked, looking for a clarification.

"Not just that, though I am pleased that he has met his other half. It is also pleasant to have you back." I could only nod in acknowledgement of what he said. His fortune was my misfortune. "I do mourn for your children though."

"Yet despite seeing my ties to Jasper you did not stop him from being killed." I said, remembering begging him to stop that atrocity. Just thinking about it seemed to shatter my soul all over again.

"He was slated to die long before that relationship formed. Three years after he left the Southern Wars we destroyed the different factions. Aro learned of him through Maria's thoughts. He had broken the law many times. He was deemed a danger and to be killed on sight if possible." It was the most Marcus had ever spoken at once to me, but it didn't alleviate the pain in my chest at the loss of two of my children.

"What happened after Alec took away my senses?" I was both dreading and pining for his response. Marcus contemplated his answer while looking at the chess board. His hesitance to respond made me anxious. Though it could just be his usual pondering.

"Words were exchanged, after which Caius came to where you were lying. He used his venom to reattach your hand to your arm. You were put in a crate and taken here in our private jet. Your wife arrived first at your previous home. She didn't understand the situation. Aro inelegantly told her what had transpired. Edward arrived and realized the situation through his gift. He tried to attack Aro, but was held back. Aro made it clear that you were with us of your own free will as part of a deal. We warned them not to break the rules again. We did not meet the other two members of you coven, but we had Edward pass on our message to them. They were also banned from changing any humans unless we give permission for them to do so." He moved a piece on the board. "Check."

I looked at my wrist… the cuff like scar. It had the same venom that was in the Devil herself.

"Thank you for telling me all that." I moved my king out of the range of his bishop.

"Carlisle, when was the last time you fed?" His question made my throat burn.

"I won't kill humans. It goes against everything I believe in." He did not comment on my declaration. "Why haven't you all told any vampires about the alternative way they can live?"

"It is in our books, but very few vampires read."

"So many lives could have been saved."

"Your way of life is dangerous. We experimented with it. Those vampires always ended up attacking humans, even at the cost of exposing what they truly are. If many tried there would be many failures."

"They should have the choice…"

"None of them have the conviction that you do." He paused, looking at the stone wall. "Those who seek knowledge, seek to preserve human life will figure it out. Your control over your thirst is superb, but how long do you think you can fight against it?"

"As long as it takes for all of you to allow me to feed from animals."

"Caius will have the guards force feed you."

"I won't let him know I'm not hunting."

"In the library in the back corner are stacks of experiment findings. Read file 3389." He dismissed me mid-game.

I walked there, avoiding the hallway that would take me past Bella's parlor. The file was easy to find. It was on the effects of not feeding for extended amounts of time. I checked the date and it was conducted a few years before I first arrived. The results were chilling.

Four weeks without blood lead to headaches, six weeks in- blurred vision and diminished capacity, eight weeks in- loss of muscle mass and function, ten weeks in complete loss of movement and inability to do basic math, half a year in complete loss of speech and ability to think.

I flipped to the last page that was labeled in the early 60s. If the file was correct the four vampires that they conducted the experiment on were still in the deepest part of the dungeon, still unfed.

I closed the file and put it back.

I needed to see them myself. I needed to know the truth. I walked to the unguarded dungeons. The few cells that were occupied had humans in them. They begged me to help them, but I moved away from them quickly, both out of guilt and because my throat ached. The room the four vampires were being kept in was easy enough to find since it was labeled: Exp. 3389. Under the label was another file. According to the file every century one of the guards would check on them with Aro. The guard would make sure they were immobile then Aro would use his gift to see if they were still alive and if they had any new thoughts. It looked like on their last test they had given blood to one of the vampires, but the results were in another file.

The door was unlocked. I left the door open so I could see clearly into the small cell- and the three barely recognizable figures made me want to wretch. Their skins were riddle with spider web like cracks. They were just skin and bones. One had his- or her eyes open, and it just looked like two sockets with a black raisin inside of it.

I slammed the door shut and leaned against the wall opposite of it. I couldn't get the image of their warped bodies from my head. I knew the Volturi were cruel, but to keep vampires like this… It was horrible. They were horrible. And now I'm one of them.

If they ordered me to conduct one of these experiments I didn't know what I'd do. They were people, with souls, but they were stuck in this world, in this existence- unable to go to Heaven or Hell… At least Jasper, at least Aro didn't do this to my son. This was so cruel, inhumane, but I had to protect the rest of my family- Rose with her cold facade when all she wanted was friends, Emmett with his unyielding love of the world, Edward and his innocently skewed views, and Esme, she loves- she just gives so much because she has faith in the hearts of every man and woman-

I had lost two members of my family, but I had to protect the remaining four. I couldn't let them pay for mistake, but if they asked me to do this to someone- yet I didn't even know if my family was still alive.

Everything in my head was so conflicted.

God forgive me I wanted to kill that hellish woman- but my righteous fury towards Bella was not as strong as my love for my family. I had to focus on my love. If I lose myself to hate...

I let myself slide to the ground. The image of the three vampires in the cell wouldn't leave me- and then I started thinking about if my family had been treated like that… treated like that because I had been so foolish.

A wave of anguish washed over me and I let out a chocked sob. I used my hands to muffle my pained screams and to hide my face away from the world. I should have been smarter, faster to negotiate with Aro- maybe then… maybe then-

Arms encircled me and I recognized Amelia's scent, her touch. I gripped onto her as she whispered comforting words to me for countless hours.


What do you think of Marcus statement that Jasper was already on the Volturi hit-list before Carlisle even met him? Of what Marcus said happened after Carlisle was knocked out? Of the starved vampires? Of his love being stronger than his hate?