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3 days

Carlisle had left for no reason, yet again. This time however, she tolerated it easily and spent her time hunting and organizing her dresses.

"Siobhan!" Carlisle's voice called, reaching her ears even though it was only a whisper.

"Yes?" she whispered back.

"Hide, there is someone coming." he replied.

She listened to Carlisle's tone and could tell he was concerned, so she hid behind the rocks near the entrance of the cave. Moments later Carlisle was standing at the entrance to the cave his back tense. Siobhan breathed deeply trying to sense what Carlisle had detected but she couldn't smell or taste anything out of the ordinary.

"Carlisle, I can't sense anything." she whispered.

"Quite." Carlisle growled.

She breathed again, this time spreading her senses out as far as they would reach. That was when she smelt it, or them, she couldn't tell which. The smell was heavy with the scent of human and a sour smell of something like sulfur. The way it traveled made her unable to tell if it was one or many things, all she could tell was that it didn't seem to be breathing.

"Carlisle!" a distant voice called.

Siobhan gasped as a memory suddenly surfaced in her mind. Carlisle nodded to her from the corner of his eye.

"The Volturi!" her brain screamed, she wanted desperately to run.

It was Aro who entered their vision first, followed by Caius and Marcus.

"Aro, Caius, Marcus." Carlisle called, greeting them with a bow.

"I see these past years have treated you well." Aro replied.

"Yes." Carlisle nodded, "I can say the same for you."

Siobhan studied the Volturi members in detail. Their hair was unchanged, Aro's was still black along with Marcus and Caius's was still the bright white she remembered. In the sunlight she could see that their skin was almost translucent. It reminded her of onion skin, making her wonder how old the Volturi really were.

"Why are you here?" Carlisle asked, after a few minutes passed in silence.

"There is a wide spread potato famine that has affected this whole country as well as Ireland. You know we couldn't pass up an easy feast." Aro replied with a wry smile.

Siobhan's stomach lurched at the sound of her homeland being entrenched in famine; it meant death, more death.

"We thought we would drop by and invite you along, seeing as you had decided to change your ways." Aro explained.

"If you step closer you might see that I have returned to my old ways." Carlisle growled.

Aro drifted closer and Caius and Marcus followed.

"Perhaps we can change your mind again." Caius growled, smiling.

Siobhan felt herself stiffen, if any of them touched Carlisle she would have to hurt them.

"Don't get your hopes up." Carlisle growled in reply.

"Come now Carlisle, you couldn't have returned to your ways so easily." Aro replied, reaching out to touch Carlisle's shoulder.

She saw Carlisle stiffen and she knew she couldn't just stay where she was. She was between Aro and Carlisle with her teeth bared before either of them had the time to think. Caius stepped forward with a growl and she growled back but didn't move an inch.

"Easy now." Aro spoke, raising his hand in a peaceful gesture.

"Don't touch him." Siobhan growled.

She felt Carlisle touch her arm, the tingling beginning in the base of her brain. She tried to shake her head, but the feeling didn't disappear. Slowly but surely she could feel her body lowering its defenses in reaction to its grip. Aro took the opportunity to reach past her and touch Carlisle. She felt him tense at Aro's touch.

"I knew you wouldn't kill her." Aro sighed.

"What happened" Caius questioned Aro.

"It seems like these two have a very close bond." Marcus replied to Caius's question.

"I don't understand it fully, but I think we have someone to gather more information from." Aro replied, smiling at Siobhan.

She growled. Aro would get nothing from her.

"Siobhan is it?" Aro asked, continuing to smile.

She looked from Aro to Carlisle and back.

"How does he know my name?" Siobhan's brain shouted.

"Yes." Siobhan replied, glaring at the Volturi.

"Siobhan, it is a pleasure." Aro replied, bowing his head slightly.

It caught her off guard and she straightened herself, releasing the tension as best she could. Carlisle released his grip on her arm and she was able to think clearly again.

"May I touch you?" Aro asked.

"What?" she asked, confusion rising in her voice.

"Aro can read minds." Carlisle replied.

She looked at Aro and he nodded in agreement. Seeing no danger in allowing Aro to read her thoughts she reached out her hand. Aro took it in his own hand and she felt her brain disengage from the rest of her body. It was like watching someone flipping through a book, as each of her memories flashed by. The pain of her parents' abandonment, her first and second transformation, the feelings of Carlisle touch and scent to her body.

"That's personal!" she growled, as Aro studied the night where she had given herself to Carlisle.

"One more moment." Aro whispered.

She knew then that there was only one more memory that Aro had not yet seen, the one of the night when she had returned to the small house. As Aro watched the memory, the memory of the human scent that she had buried away resurfaced and it was as strong as the real thing. She could feel her mouth filling uncontrollably with venom and she could feel her vampire self surfacing as a result of the toxic scent.

"Stop!" she cried collapsing to her knees and gasping, trying to rid her mind of the scent.

"What did you do to her?" Carlisle growled, as Aro removed his hand from Siobhan.

"I did nothing." Aro sneered.

Carlisle stepped forward threateningly.

"Easy Carlisle or I will be forced to harm you." Aro replied to Carlisle's advance.

"Siobhan, would you like to join us for a meal?" Aro asked his eyes glimmering.

Siobhan's brain was spinning, the craving still burning at the back of her throat.

"She will do nothing." Carlisle growled.

"Let the girl answer for herself." Aro replied.

Siobhan remained motionless, still gasping and trying to rid the scent from her mind.

"Carlisle." She whispered painfully.

Carlisle bent down beside her and kissed her forehead, the tingling erupting on contact and causing her mind to relax. She took another breath of air and the scent began to finally dissipate.

"No." she replied to Aro's question.

"Very well then." Aro nodded eyeing Caius and Marcus.

The two stepped forward and continued to advance towards them.

"I was hoping that at least one of you would cooperate." Aro sighed.

Carlisle reached out and grabbed Siobhan's hand.

"You plan to kill us?" Siobhan gasped, "Carlisle is your friend."

"We have no need for him, he had a need for us and we obliged. As for you, we have no use for another vampire." Caius sneered, a growl erupting in his throat.

Before she could reply to Caius's answer Carlisle had her running full speed away from the cave. He didn't stop running till they were at the edge of the harbor back in Liverpool.

"Where are we going to go?" she asked Carlisle when they had finally stopped.

"Across the Atlantic," Carlisle replied, "Our scent won't carry in water."

"Which means we need a boat?" she concluded.

"We will swim." Carlisle replied.

"Swim?" she yelled.

"Shhh." Carlisle hissed.

"Sorry." she replied

"As a vampire we don't get tired or exhausted, we don't need to breath and our strength allows us to move quickly. We will reach America in three days." Carlisle explained.

As Carlisle climbed into the water Siobhan was happy that she couldn't feel cold temperatures.

"Carlisle, I never learned to swim." she gasped as she clung to the side of the docking.

"It's natural." Carlisle replied as he dove beneath the surface of the water.

Siobhan released her grip and followed behind him. Thankfully Carlisle had been correct about swimming being natural. She quickly caught up to him and because they didn't need to breath she didn't need to worry about surfacing. They saw sea life such as fish, dolphins and whales but only from a distance as they would disappear if they got to close. It was like they sensed that Carlisle and she were predators. When the night feel and the water got to dark and full of silt to see clearly, Carlisle would search out a ship and they would climb onto the anchor till dawn and then continue on their journey.