Bella

The first thing I noticed was their smell, each distinctive in its own, indescribable way. Then I noticed the smells of everything around me. I scrunched my nose up at the sudden intensity.

I opened my eyes then, and saw two of them hovering over my lying form. One was short and would've looked more childish had he not had bright red eyes, and the other was taller, older, with a serious-looking face. He looked troubled, in a way that was permanent.

"Alec," the older one said, and the younger one burst from the room in less than a second. They were vampires, and yet I was surprised to find that he wasn't just a blur when he was moving—I could actually see him clearly.

I looked around me from my position on the couch. I was in a room—a nice, fancy room.

I noticed movement from the corner of my eye and turned to see a buff, tall vampire enter the room once the young one had left. I shrank back away into the cushions on the couch. He looked intimidating.

"Isabella."

I turned my attention to the one who still stood in front of the couch. The buff one, sadly reminding me of Emmett, only less friendly, joined him, and I noticed that he was even taller than the other.

"Do you know where you are, Isabella?"

I opened my mouth to reply—to ask how they knew my name, who they were, what they wanted with me, where I was, if they had hurt the Cullens at all—but no sound came out. Instead I rolled to the edge of the couch and started coughing and dry heaving. I felt like I was going to be sick.

There was a gnawing thirst in the pit of my stomach, and it slowly crept up to my chest and throat, which was sore and dry. I was in desperate need of water, or…no, something else sounded much, much better than water, but I couldn't wrap my mind around what it might be.

I barely saw the slimmer vampire nod to the buff one before I was lifted up into strong arms. The coughing and dry heaving had stopped, thankfully, but now I was moving at human pace in the vampire's arms. I looked up to see that it was the buff one carrying me.

Who were they? I felt like some part of me knew, but it was hiding in the dark, locked away.

I opened my mouth and tried to speak again, but nothing came out this time either.

The slimmer vampire walked beside us as the two vampires led me out of the room and down the hallway. Why were they walking at human speed when they could go so much faster? Whatever the reason, I was infinitely glad for it. I don't think my stomach could have handled vampire running.

"She's rather weak for a newborn. That's not a good sign." The buffer one said. His voice was deep and startled me.

The slim one looked me over before turning his head back to the hallway in front of us. "She'll gain some strength after she feeds. It's been a long three days—for all of us." He turned his head to look at me. "Can you speak, Isabella?"

I shook my head. But…what did they mean, after I'd fed?

"Your throat should feel much better after a meal or two, and you'll get enough balance to walk on your own. Your body's just drained right now. Your senses, granted, will take some getting used to, but they're most beneficial." The slimmer one said. I wish I knew their names so that I could identify them with those.

I felt so in the dark just by not knowing their names.

It felt like hours until the slim one opened one of two large wooden double doors and walked in, the buff one carrying me behind. The doors opened into a large throne room, where there were a handful of vampires just standing there, waiting.

Had they been waiting for me?

My attention was caught by three vampires that sat on thrones in the front of the room. The left one looked old and weary and tired, like he wanted nothing more than to take a nice long sleep. He didn't look too thrilled to be there, either. The middle one looked friendlier, lively enough for the both of them. He had a smile tugging at his lips as he studied me and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I hadn't been able to get a look at my appearance since I had woken up. I must've looked absolutely horrible.

The third vampire, the one on the right, sent shivers down my spine and made me cold all over, goose-bumps illustrating that. He was staring at me with a chilly, lifeless look that would've made me want to run and hide under my covers, crying, if I had been able to get away. He creeped me out with his stare, and although the youngest-looking amongst the three vampires, he somehow managed to look the scariest.

"You're early." The middle one said, his voice sounding nice enough. "The food hasn't arrived yet."

The slim vampire who had walked with us down to the throne room bowed deeply at the waist. "My apologies, sir." He said, before standing back up straight. "We weren't sure how long it would take to get here since we had to go slowly for Isabella's sake. She's feeling faint, so we thought it best for her to feed as soon as the food gets here."

The middle one nodded and studied me again. I wanted to close my eyes against all their stares and unfamiliar faces, but I couldn't. And…there was something about each of them that seemed not exactly unfamiliar, but not entirely familiar either. Almost like I had seen them once in a dream of some kind.

My suddenly enhanced hearing drowned me in the silence that ensued in the throne room. I could hear slight footfalls off in distance, drawing nearer, but that was it.

All the vampires held still until the footfalls became louder. I could surprisingly tell that there were three people walking toward the room. The larger vampire kept me in his arms, where I resisted fidgeting uncomfortably.

The double doors were both pushed open by a beautiful vampire with a giant smile plastered on her face and two humans trailing after her, staring around in wonder. They had a dazed look in their eyes, which were glazed over.

I looked at the young couple, a man and a woman. They were both wearing shorts and had visors, the man had a backpack and a camera around his neck, and the woman had a fanny pack around her hips. Tourists.

There was something in my stomach that felt like it was reaching out toward the couple, wanting to pull me to them. I fought to stay in the burly vampire's arms rather than rush over to the humans.

"Felix, set Isabella down."

My legs wobbled, and it took all the strength I had to stay standing up straight. Why was I so weak? And… I sniffed the air suddenly, surprising myself. There was something that smelled so good. An aroma of sorts, and it seemed to be coming from the man and woman still standing behind the gorgeous female vampire.

And then suddenly it hit me like a sack of bricks to the head, and I stumbled forward slightly. It was their blood. Their blood was calling out to me. My mouth was filling up with saliva, and I swallowed it down, licking my dry lips. Blood sounded so good all of a sudden, like it was a milkshake on a long, hot, blistering day.

I took a shaky breath, and my eyes widened as the revelation came to me. I was a vampire.

I was a vampire.

I turned around to stare at the other vampires in the room. I recognized this room, those three on the thrones, the other vampires. My eyes landed on a small girl with her hood over her blonde head, her red eyes glaring at me.

Jane. Her name was Jane. The slightly taller boy standing beside her was Alec, her twin brother.

My eyes quickly found the three on the thrones. Aro, Marcus, and Caius. The Volturi.

My breathing stopped as I locked eyes with Caius's emotionless—yet somehow cold at the same time—stare. The Volturi had changed me into a vampire, and now they were forcing me to become one of them. They wanted me to become everything that the Cullens opposed, everything that they fought so hard to resist.

I turned back to the humans, and I could tell that some of the vampires in the room were getting annoyed and irritated at my taking so long. They probably expected me to just fly at these poor, innocent humans, rip their throats apart. I shuddered at the thought, because that was exactly what I wanted most to do.

I shook my head slowly, and took a step back, and then another, away from the humans.

"No." I managed to get out, my voice scratchy and rough, barely a whisper. My throat tightened and burned, and my stomach threatened to chew itself up at the refusal of this food. I took another step back.

"Isabella, is there something the matter?" I heard Aro ask from his throne.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I wouldn't do this. I wouldn't become like them, a murderer. I turned my back to the offered food—no, the offered humans. They were humans, not food. They were what I once was, what I had so wanted to give up.

I could have cried at that moment, sobbed. Where was Edward? Why wasn't he here? Why hadn't he stopped them—saved me? But I couldn't cry. I was a vampire. And no one was going to help me out in this place.

"You dare to turn down the meal we brought to you?" My eyes opened at the sound of the cold, menacing voice. Though he spoke quietly, his voice demanded silence, attention. And that's just what everyone gave him. "You foolish child."

I glared at the floor in front of me. I would take their insults, whatever they wanted to throw at me. I would not become a monster.

"Would you rather starve to death?" The cold voice asked, and I knew it must be Caius, the blonde one. I couldn't imagine such a voice coming from bored-looking Marcus, or Aro, who seemed almost kind, in a way.

I bit my lip. I would starve to death. They couldn't force the blood down my throat. Edward would come to rescue me before long, and then I would be back home in Forks. He would come. And besides, blood had always repulsed me in my human life, so maybe I'd have a better time avoiding it in this one. Maybe I'd be able to eat human food, although the way my stomach ringed itself on that thought made me want to gag. Maybe not…

I felt a rush of wind blow my hair behind me, and I looked up with wide eyes to see that Caius now stood in front of me. I stumbled back, away from him. He scared me more than the others, more than Jane. Why was he in front of me now? What did he want? I shrunk away from his intense scrutiny.

"Why are you such a docile, weak newborn?" He asked, although I don't know whether he was expecting an answer or not. How was I supposed to know? They were supposed to be the experts on all things vampire.

"What's wrong with you?" He murmured.

My un-beating heart constricted, but I chose to instead stare into his eyes as he was mine, as he tried to figure me out. I hardly imagined myself as a conundrum.

I could see the impatience, the irritation in Caius's red eyes.

"Take her and the humans to my study." Caius announced suddenly, turning and beginning to walk away.

"Caius, you're not—" Aro began, sounding worried.

"Of course not." Caius's voice was one of disgust. "She'll drink, whether she likes it or not."

A shiver spread throughout my body. It sounded so…foreboding. Although I was relieved at him sounding so repulsed by Aro's suspicion—I didn't want anyone to try and exert that kind of power over me—I was still scared. I was going to possibly be all alone in a room with this sadistic vampire, with only two hypnotized humans as well.

The slim one—his name still escaped me—came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder, guiding me more gently than I thought capable from a Volturi. We walked through the doors that Caius had previously passed through, each step filling me with dread. I heard the beautiful vampire woman lead the two humans behind us.

I was going to die. I was sure. One way or another, I was going to die.

Oh Edward, where are you?

What's this? An update? Inconceivable! Yeah, I know...you hate me. I'm sorry. :( But will this update make you forgive me? Or perhaps the next one will... ;) I completely lost inspiration for this story, but today I recovered some of it and was able to create this! I wasn't planning on the chapter taking this turn, where Bella is sent to his study (can you say ooo la la? Lol, just kidding), but here we are. So, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm going to try and get the next one written pretty soon. Again, I'm so sorry for the incredibly long wait!

I would just like to thank each and every one of my readers and reviewers! You guys mean a lot to me, and I love hearing from you! Please leave me a review to let me know what you think.