Sorry for the delay. wouldn't let me upload my documents. But here is a much longer chapter, and hopefully much more exciting!

. . .

I felt odd, wearing the layers of silk. I hadn't worn anything formal in a long time. I was surprised they weren't more old fashioned with these things - the dress I had been brought was more modern in it's deep red color. I wondered if they were trying to be funny, dressing me up in the color of blood. But I didn't say a word, as tonight I would finally get out of here.

They had people come in and do my hair, oddly enough. Apparently they thought I was incapable of doing it, or were afraid to leave me alone with hot curlers because I might hurt someone. If I wanted to hurt one of them, I would have done it long ago. It was almost like they didn't think I was a vampire, because they were treating me like I was a little fragile human.

I gazed at my reflection in the mirror like I had been doing the past twenty minutes. I had already put my last set of contacts in, my hair had been pulled back into a silver butterfly clip, and I looked like I was ready to go to a party. I wanted to rip it all off and throw it at them.

Something tugged at the skirt of my dress and I grabbed the top to keep it from sliding down - I'd always hated strapless dresses. Not to mention the force pulling it was strong as my own. I bent down and swept my daughter up, sitting her on the edge of the sink. She looked like a toddler now, able to walk and run, usually without tripping over herself. She was dressed up too, only in pale blue. She wouldn't wear a mask, but I was keeping her by my side at all times during the night.

"Pretty mummy." She said, looking up at me. I smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you angel." I murmured into her hair, pulling her into a tight hug. She could speak, but not very well, as I had little time to help her with her words. It was more of broken English. She still didn't understand why the vampires around us her bad, either. I hadn't explained to her why they were bad, but she knew I didn't like them.

I had been mulling over names in my head the past few weeks as well, and had picked out one, Andrea. It was pretty, yet modern, and she just looked like an Andrea to me. I didn't want to pick a name without Carlisle just yet, but I had taken to calling her Andrea, just because I didn't want to refer to her as 'it', 'she', or 'her', and her to pick up that those words were her name.

There was a soft knock on my bedroom door from the outside. Calling that I would be right there, I grabbed my mask on the side of the sink and helped my daughter down. She looked excited - I didn't want to ruin her fun by telling her we wouldn't be staying at the party.

I slipped the silver mask on, not too happy about not being able to see out of my peripheral vision. It was going to be awful - Heidi had said all the scents would be confused, so you couldn't tell who was who by their scents. Mine had been masked in a strong vanilla perfume that nearly made me gag after they'd literally drowned me in the stuff.

There were two masked Volturi members at my door. One of them held out a black cloak to me that I tugged on over my dress - apparently some sort of tradition, so you could at least distinguish who not to piss off during the night. I took Andrea by the hand as we were escorted toward the soft sounds of music playing, coming from the throne room.

Couples swirled in the middle of the room, a mix of vibrant colors and familiar scents. They mingled together, almost blending in with the vampires that stood around the edges of the room, holding crystal goblets of what I knew to be blood, of the human kind. I lingered in the hall for a long moment, unsure of what to do as I pulled Andrea closer to me. She too seemed entranced by the colors.

"You look lovely as always." Aro said, striding toward me, the edges of his cloak billowing out around him as he took my free hand, pressing a kiss to it. He was the only one - along with Caius and Marcus, I assumed - who did not wear masks. They were there to watch, not enjoy. His gaze slipped to Andrea and he gave a bow in her direction. The girl shuffled behind me, clutching at my dress, hiding her face. She wasn't shy - she just knew I hated Aro with every fiber of my being.

"Remarkable how she's grown." He mused. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you." I replied curtly. It was hard to believe that if I had not agreed to this little truce, my daughter would be slaughtered in front of all these people tonight. The thought made me nearly cringe, and suddenly I no longer wanted to be there. But I had to be. I silently inhaled deeply, attempting to calm myself down.

"How about a dance?" He offered a gloved hand in my direction.

"Maybe in just a bit." I said, and before he could say anything else, I led Andrea across the room, stepping up onto the raised platform that the thrones sat on, where others stood and mingled, watching the crowd. My eyes scanned it over and over again, trying to find sight of Heidi, or one of the members of my family. She'd promised they'd be here tonight, it was just only a matter of finding them.

A familiar waltz began to play - I still had yet to figure out where the music was coming from - and I was surprised when a masked gentleman approached me. He extended a hand toward me, but said nothing. I looked at him - something about him gave me the sudden urge to actually dance with him. I couldn't see his face, yet he seemed familiar. Frowning slightly, I turned to find Andrea to tell her to wait, but Heidi had already swept the girl up and was dancing with her a few feet away. Heidi winked at me - her mask was off as well. I turned back to the gentleman in front of me and took his hand, allowing him to sweep me out onto the dance floor.

Distracted, I barely paid any attention to dancing. Yet my movements were flawless, the dance rather familiar to me - I had danced this particular waltz with Carlisle many times. My eyes were on Heidi and Andrea the entire time, but they seemed fine, as I could hear my daughter giggling even from here.

As the gentleman spun me, he finally spoke.

"I don't believe we've danced like this in years."

I nearly stumbled at the voice, but he grinned, carefully supporting me so that I did not fall and that we continued to flawlessly dance. I knew that voice.

I opened my mouth, my face lighting up behind my mask, but Carlisle only pressed a finger to his lips, grinning. I tried to compose myself, and forced my body to cooperate. It wasn't like I could tackle him to the ground right here in front of all the Volturi.

My mind reeling, I could only smile like a giddy schoolgirl as the waltz finished. We stopped and clapped with the rest of everyone else. Carlisle took my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, as if it were any other gentleman, thanking me for the dance.

"I do believe its time we took our leave." He murmured and offered me his arm. I took it, and we acted as any other couple leaving. It would be midnight in less than fifteen minutes, so people would be distracted, passing around drinks, all to toast to the New Year. Heidi was supposed to meet us outside with Andrea, so hopefully she would come up with her end of the deal and not just keep the girl for the Volturi.

However, at the door, we met our problem.

"Leaving so soon?" Aro said, blocking out only exit.

"I was escorting this gentleman to his car after a lovely dance. I'm afraid he has to miss the New Years toast because he has a previous appointment. And a bit of fresh air for myself would feel lovely." I replied quickly, surprised at how well the little lie tumbled out. I had never liked lying, but this called for it. Aro glanced at me, and then Carlisle. He smiled.

"Thank you for coming." Aro reached a pale hand out toward Carlisle. I saw a fraction of movement before Carlisle shook his hand - I panicked for a moment, until I realized Carlisle was wearing gloves, having pulled them on while I wasn't looking. Aro looked almost disappointed.

"I will be right back." I said to Aro, but he didn't move.

"We can call the guards to escort him back to his car. Wouldn't want you getting lost."

"I'll be quite fine."

"I'd feel a bit safer if you took guards with you. Or if I knew who your lovely escort was." He glanced at Carlisle, the smile never leaving his face. I felt Carlisle's hand move up to remove his mask, but I gave him a discreet nudge. He met my gaze, but merely smiled as he reached up and removed his mask. If possible, Aro's smile got wider.

"Ah, nice try my dear friend." He said. "But your wife stays with us. She agreed."

A chill ran up my spine as I shook my head.

"No, Aro. I'm going home with my family, and you're not stopping me."

There was a long silence, and I noticed that the dancing had stopped, as well as the music. The entire crowd was watching us with interest now. Apparently we were the entertainment for the night.

"Aren't you forgetting one little detail?" He asked and looked over my shoulder. I turned - the crowd parted and I saw Marcus striding forward, a struggling Andrea in his arms. She was trying to bite him, her nails raking down his arm, but it did no good. He held onto her like a lifeline, not letting her slip.

"Mummy!" She cried when she saw me and my heart wrenched out of my chest. I let go of Carlisle to run toward her, but the way was suddenly blocked by several Volturi guards, all masked, looking quite agitated with me. I glared, but they did not move.

"You leave and she dies."

"Let her go Aro. Now." I said, not turning around, my voice dangerously low.

"No."

"Yes."

"Well, as much as I hate to break up this little fight, I do believe that we have a plane to catch." A familiar voice said at the back of the room. I looked up, surprised to see Emmett standing there, a large grin plastered across his face as he removed his mask.

"I don't want this to become a bloodbath, but if you attempt to leave, it will become one." Aro said from behind me. I turned, moving past Carlisle and striding up to him. I was shorter than he was, but I could still be intimidating. I was a mother of six teenagers and a toddler - I could put the fear of God into any man who crossed my path.

"You're going to get a bloodbath if you do not let her go right now, and allow my family and I to walk out these doors, get on a plane, and fly back to our home."

Aro merely grinned, looking over my shoulder once more. The crowd had backed up against the platform except for the many Volturi guard that had stepped forward, and entered the room from various halls. We were surrounded, with every exit blocked. Great.

"What's it going to be Esme?"

I heard a sudden strangled yell come from Marcus behind several members of the guard, before something hit the ground and the sound of running feet was brought to my ears. I paled, and ran forward.

It seemed to spark something, because all at once people collided around me. My family with the guard - somewhere Jacob and the wolves had come from and were forcing back more of the guards. But my attention was on the blonde haired child that had just rounded a corner down a hallway. I ran after her.

"Andrea, stop!"

Bella's description of Alice's vision suddenly played out before me as I ran down the hall after Andrea, passing doors and other halls. This place was a maze! It probably ran underground all of Volterra and more.

I finally caught up to her toward the end of the hall, my arm coming around her waist and scooping her up into my arms. She screamed until she realized it was me, upon which she promptly clung to me. I turned to run, but once more, Aro blocked my path.

"One more step and I will break your neck."

I froze, unsure of what to do. He glanced behind him - Heidi came around the corner and stepped forward, a wide smile on her face.

"You'll be free to go. As soon as you hand us the child." He said as Heidi grew closer, holding her arms out for my daughter. I clutched her tighter, pulling her away.

"No."

Aro's face darkened.

"The child is against our rules. She must be destroyed." He growled darkly. How many times was he going to tell me that? And he'd apparently changed his mind again about destroying her.

Somewhere down the hall, the clock struck midnight with twelve loud tolls.

"You'll have to kill me first." I hissed furiously. Aro merely pressed his lips into a thin line.

"That, my dear, can be arranged."