Chapter 10
Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to review the last chapter!
A/N: One reviewer asked two really good questions. As far as why Edward is not catching on to Tanya's thoughts, that will hopefully be explained in this chapter.
The other question was why Alice is not seeing Tanya's planning. In Twilight, Alice, herself mentions that her gift is not an exact science and it is possible for her to miss things; therefore I think it would be plausible for her to miss Tanya calling the Volturi. Especially since Alice would not be watching Tanya's future, as no one suspects her. All of Tanya's other plans so far would only happen if Bella were to leave and are only fantasies at this point, not decisions. I hope this cleared that up, but if you still have questions or this makes absolutely no sense, don't hesitate to ask/tell me.
EPOV
From the moment Tanya walked in the door, I had become increasingly suspicious. The first action that sent up a red flag was the fact that Tanya was here to see Bella, who had only a few days ago been the source of her jealous musings. Also throughout her visit, Tanya's thoughts were very controlled, which lead me to believe that they could only be artificial. It was almost as if there were a jagged edge to her entire thought process. I knew I was missing something, something vitally important, but no matter how hard I tried to pry, Tanya's mind remained fixed on the conversation.
It significantly added to my unease when Tanya insisted Bella go on a hunt with her, alone. As much as I wanted to prevent Bella from going, I knew that at this point it would be irrational. After all, all I had to go on were suspicions of some unknown deceit, which may or may not exist. So I let Tanya drag Bella away, leaving me to think about Tanya's unexplainable actions.
Something was off; her odd behavior the other day and her strange actions today were enough to pay testament to this theory. However no matter how vigorously I racked my brain, I could not figure out what that something was. The hours dragged by as I thought in my solitude, when the rest of the family finally came down to wait in the living room, informing me silently that the Volturi's visit was only minutes away.
"Where are they," asked Esme, glancing to a clock on the mantel, "I mean, really, how long does it take to hunt."
Panic was also starting to consume me, as I began to image scenarios of the Volturi cornering Bella in the woods and being stolen from me forever, while Tanya sat by doing nothing, with a smile on her face. As soon as the image was formed in my mind, I mentally admonished myself for thinking of Tanya that way. True, she might be a little staggered by the discovery of Bella, but she would never be that cruel.
"They will be here in a few minutes," Alice replied, "don't worry. They get here before our guests."
Carlisle took a brief moment to interject a thought, "speaking of our guests, let me make it clear that there will be no signs of aggression when they get here. We will be welcoming and civil, no matter what happens." He set pointed glares at Emmett and I.
"What if they attack us first," Emmett questioned, almost hopefully.
"No one is going to attack us," said Jasper, confidentially.
"Alice do you see anything," Esme questioned, in a worried tone.
"As long as we make no signs of aggression," said Alice, rubbing her temples, while scanning her visions, "they have no plans, at the moment, to use violence. But then, they also think that Bella is alone and I cannot see how they will react when they find her with all of us. It's too clouded." She muttered the last part to herself, ashamed that she could not see more.
"Great, so we are going in blindly," snarled Rosalie, "this just gets better and better."
"Bella and Tanya are here," piped Alice, "and the Volturi will arrive about thirty seconds behind them, so I suggest we go now."
As I heard their voices and Tanya's thoughts draw closer, I quickly made my way through the door, in order to see with my own eyes that Bella was still safe. My family had followed me behind me, as I wrapped my arms around Bella's tiny waist, wishing more than anything that I could simply take her and run to a place where the constant threats that seemed to plague her life could not touch us.
But as three vampires appeared from beyond the tree line, I realized that this was impossible. I tightened my hold on Bella, as if simple will power could meld her to my side forever.
I listened to the shock play in all of the Volturi's minds as they stared at the coven of nine vampires amassed before them. From their thoughts, I also discovered the names of these unknown vampires. The little one, called Jane and Carlisle exchanged greetings quickly before moving on to more important topics.
"Aro set us here to collect that newborn and bring her to Volterra," Jane said, pointing to Bella. She had not expected this type of complication, however her mind betrayed no fear. Her thoughts strayed briefly to her gift, without mentioning specifically what it was, and her belief that if necessary they would easily be able to use force to overcome us.
"Why has your masters set you half way across the world for Bella," Carlisle asked, playing dumb.
"We are not here to explain ourselves to you, we are here to take the child. It would be in your best interest to release her immediately," Jane finished, with a hint of menace in her voice. The vampire behind her, Felix, flexed his muscles threateningly and Emmett growled in response.
Carlisle shot Emmett a warning look, before answering, "Bella appreciates your invitation, but will have to decline to accompany you today."
Jane raised an eyebrow, before asking, "does she not possess a voice?"
Carlisle turned to Bella, signaling her to speak. "I'm sorry, but I would like to stay here for the time being," said Bella, her voice showing no sign of fear.
"Ahh, how can I phrase this? We were sent to bring you to Volterra. When you get there you can accept or reject whatever you feel is necessary," explained Jane, her voice betraying her growing impatience.
"Again, my getting on a plane with you is not going to change my mind, I assure you," said Bella, her voice laced with anger.
"This is not an invitation. Consider it something more akin to a summoning." said a calm voice, issuing from the third vampire, Demetri.
At that moment, I had to literally fight with my muscles to not sink down into an instinctive crouch. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emmett struggling similarly beside Rosalie.
Bella was about to retort, but I squeezed her hand in caution. Carlisle took this opportunity to speak, "well in that case, who are we to decline such a generous offer. It appears we will be going with you to Volterra."
"Excuse me," said Jane, sweetly, "we? The Volturi only instructed us to deliver the newborn, no one else."
"It is either all of us or none of us. If you are going to be inflexible, we shall be as well," said Carlisle firmly.
Jane opened her mouth to vehemently reject our proposal. In her mind, she was outraged that such a simple assignment was taking so much effort. Again, she contemplated the use of her power to speed things up, however Demetri put a restraining hand on her shoulder and said, "fine. We will need to contact Volterra this evening to tell them that the child is not alone before we depart, anyway. I will tell them of your request, however we make no guarantees. We will be back before the sun rises to collect the Bella."
Carlisle nodded, as a sign of acceptance, however in his mind he assured me that we would be no means allow them to take Bella to Volterra alone.
"It looks like we will be seeing you in the morning," snapped Jane, sending a glare at all of us, before leaving with her other two companions. We all went into our home in a stunned silence, as we prepared to discuss our next course of action.
BPOV
The hours of the night seemed to be rapidly slipping away as the Cullens endlessly discussed what was to be done. My greatest fear was that the rest of the Cullens would be left behind as I was dragged, against my will to a foreign city.
Carlisle had just finished going over all the names and powers of the various members of the Volturi that he had encountered during his stay with them and now the topic had turned to who exactly was going to join me in Italy.
"It is not necessary for all of us to go to Volterra," started Carlisle.
"We are not letting her go alone," growled Edward beside me.
Carlisle sighed and said, ",no one here is suggesting that she go alone, Edward. I merely think that it would be prudent if some of us were to stay behind."
"Wouldn't it be better to if we all went to show our unity," questioned Esme.
"No, they may take it as a challenge if we all go, which honestly, we would be no match to them in a fight anyway. It would be far better if only a select few us leave with Bella."
"So who goes," questioned Rosalie, "and who stays."
I felt terrible, for I was the reason behind all of this. And now I was breaking up the Cullens. I briefly considered just giving myself to the Volturi, just to rid the Cullens of my ever-constant bad luck, but the thought of losing Edward and my new family was too difficult to bear. I was a terrible person to put my own selfish needs above those of my families.
"Obviously, I should go, as Aro and I are old friends," said Carlisle, rubbing his chin as he considered his options, "and honestly, Edward, it would be wise if you stayed here due to the interest your power will generate." At these words Edward snarled, which made Carlisle say, apologetically, "but of course I would never expect you to do that, so of course you will come with us. However Alice, as useful as your power would be in this situation, I do not think you should come. Aro will find out about you anyway, through the use of his power, and it would be better if you were out of his reach for the time being." She nodded, seeing the wisdom in his words. "As for the rest of you, it is your decision as to what you do," finished Carlisle.
"I'm staying here," said Rosalie, without a second thought.
"I'll come," said Esme, in a quiet voice. Carlisle however said quickly, "Esme, I would prefer it if you would stay here and keep an eye on Alice. That way you can contact me if she sees anything important." Everyone could see the lie and that Carlisle wanted Esme to stay for her safety. Again, I was visited by a swift stab of guilt.
"Fine," she said, raising her eyebrows skeptically, "but you have to promise to be careful and come home safely."
Carlisle grinned at her sheepishly and Emmett's voice boomed, "well, there's no way in hell I'm staying behind!"
"I think I should go to," stated Jasper, "just in case."
I was shocked that the person that had adamantly scorned the idea that the Volturi could do anything dishonorable was now suggesting that he should come with us for protection.
"I'll go too," said a silkily voice from behind me. I turned to discover was none other than Tanya, who had not left, "I've always wanted to see the city and Bella might need some, ah, female support while she is there."
Edward, for some reason, stiffened and eyed her the same way he had this morning, with a deep mistrust. However Carlisle said, "thank you, Tanya, that is a very generous offer. Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," she said, "however I want to make it clear, I will not go to meet the actual Volturi."
Just then, Alice suddenly startled us by saying, "they will be here in about fifteen minutes."
'Oh, no,' I thought to myself, 'this is it.'
EPOV
After Alice had announced the Volturi's immediate arrival, I made the decision to talk to Alice about keeping an eye on Tanya's future. I was already suspicious about her misleading thoughts, but her sudden desire to join us in Volterra sent me over the edge.
Alice, of course , saw this conversation in the future and asked me in her thoughts, 'do you think she has something to do with this?'
I minutely shrugged my shoulders and then she replied, 'alright, I'll keep an eye on her. Don't worry.'
I smiled at her and Carlisle went to speak with Jane, Demetri, and Felix, who had just appeared outside our front door.
They had a hushed conversation and Carlisle came back into the room to inform us that the Volturi had approved of our accompanying Bella.
We all got up to leave when Alice squealed, "wait!" She then dashed up stairs and came down carrying six small black bags.
"Sorry, Tanya" she said, "but you will have to borrow some of Rosalie's clothes."
"How," I asked, before shaking my head. After all, one should never underestimate Alice.
Everyone in the room exchanged a farewell with their mates, while Tanya, Bella, and I waited on the front porch with Jane, Felix, and Demetri. When the rest of our party finally emerged Emmett clapped his hand on my back and said with fake enthusiasm, "alright, it looks like we are off to Italy."
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