Chapter 10: The Meeting
EPOV
The hallway to Marcus's study was dark and desolate. The walls of the ancient castle created a very dreary and gruesome back drop for the situation we found ourselves in. It matched my mood perfectly. Thoughts began creeping into my mind as we approached the entrance to our destination. There were so many people 'speaking' at once that it was very hard to pin point the exact words. However, the general concept roaring through seemed to be nervous anticipation. Something was wrong. I shot Carlisle a nervous look while lowering my eyebrows. I feel it to Edward. They want something. This is not a social visit. Try to stay calm. Let me do the talking. His phone vibrated in his pocket, but before Carlisle could look to see who was calling, Demetri calmly said, "No Phones." It was Alice. She must have seen something.
Demetri opened the door to the vast study and led us into the center. Aro and Marcus sat in the back of the room surrounded by their personal guard. To our very detriment, the witch twins, Jane and Alec stood holding hands on the right of Aro. He loved to show off his greatest treasures. This is going to be so fun! Jane was an evil creature, who hoarded great power. I was not at all surprised that she was hoping she would get a chance to flex her muscles during the gathering. Demetri took his place on the left of Marcus, leaving the three of us alone.
Marcus took Aro's hand in order to convey to him his thoughts. It is time for answers brother. I will call them in. Aro nodded at Marcus, turned to whisper the same thing to Demetri, who then promptly left the room through a door that was behind the elders. I frowned at my father and he returned the same nervous expression.
"Carlisle, old friend, it is good to finally be back in your company. Thank you for coming so quickly. I'm afraid the meaning behind my request for your presence has… changed a bit. Circumstances have presented themselves that require explanation. You see we recently sent members of our guard to Forks to relay my request for your presence."
Carlisle let out a loud gasp. I turned immediately to see his look of horror. They were there in Forks. They have her. We were so wrong. His face never left focus on Aro, refusing to turn in my direction. I felt his thoughts turn to panic and shock as his head shook side to side. What the hell is going on?
The door behind Aro swung open rapidly revealing Marcus. He strolled into the room carelessly, followed by a massive vampire I knew to be Felix. He was holding a tiny hand and pulling a female vampire behind him gently. The familiar scent spread throughout the room quickly as I realized who was hiding behind the mahogany curtain of hair.
"Bella!" My voice was mixed with surprise, shock, and anger.
The perfect angel raised her head up causing her hair to fall away from her face. At the site of me and my family she threw her hands up to her mouth and gasped loudly. I wanted to run to her and tightly embrace her in my protection. One step was enough to make Emmett wrap his arms around me in restraint and hold me at their side. Felix stepped in front of Bella holding one arm back around her waist, letting out a menacing growl aimed in my direction. I could hear the sobs behind him, muffled in his back.
"Be calm Edward, there will be plenty of time for reunions later." Aro was highly amused with the incident that had just come to pass. "Welcome to our little gathering dear ones. Isabella, why don't you come out so we can all see you? Felix is almost completely hiding you from the view of our guests."
What are they doing here? This is insane! Does Aro wish to torture her? Felix was clearly not happy with what was going on. He continued to growl at me in a warning before gently pulling Bella around his body to face us, never releasing her from his clutch. Her face met mine for a brief second, before she hung her head in shame. They had ripped my angel from her home against her will, without me there to protect her, and yet she was ashamed. My fury at her captures was building in my chest, but it was nothing compared to the anger I was directing at myself.
I had left her unprotected to fend off the wolves. Visions of Bella being ripped from her bedroom and crying as her capturers tore into her flesh with their teeth, sent chills down my back. But worst of all was the thought of her all alone in a room, screaming out in it agony as the venom coursed through her veins, taking her life away. My body slumped to the ground out of Emmett's embrace.
"It is not like you to bend the rules Carlisle. You let a human in on our secret and then just left her behind. Bella has refused to speak of the situation at all, so naturally, this left Marcus and I very curious." Aro reached his hand out to my father waiting for him to take it.
"Aro, old friend, do not pretend that you do not have means to get around a stubborn girl."
Laughter rose from both Marcus and Aro simultaneously. Aro looked at me and said, "Are you conversing with Bella right now Edward?" I shook my head and muttered a no.
"Then you, Carlisle, do not pretend to not know Bella has her own means of protecting her secrets." He again put his hand out to my father, frustration plastered on his face.
BPOV
Carlisle eventually consented to Aro's touch, but I was ready for him. Aro cocked his head to the side, released the hand and then approached Emmett. Confused, Emmett offered his arm to him while giving his father a puzzled look.
"Bella?" Aro turned to face me, eyebrows raised. "Are you keeping me out?"
I didn't respond to him, but continued to look down at my feet. Edward cried out in agony for only a minute before I responded to his pleas. I stepped away from Felix and turned my head in the direction I knew Jane was attacking from. Rage filled my voice as I spat at her, "You think I can't protect all of them at once? Go ahead, keep trying! I will not let you hurt them!"
My chest rose and fell in fury. My family stood before me stunned. The room was silent in anticipation of my newborn fury, but it never came. My eyes locked with Emmett's as he nodded his head at me proudly. I small giggle escaped my lips and I started to go to him. Felix reached forward for my hand, but I shrugged him off. I went straight to Emmett and he embraced me in a bear hug, lifting me off my feet. "I missed you big brother." He laughed and sat me back down, as Carlisle came forward to hug me as well.
Stepping back, I looked over at Edward and dropped my eyes. "Hello…Edward." It hurt to say his name and not be able to run to him. I yearned for him so badly to hold me. Aro had forced him to come here to see me, but I knew he couldn't force him to stay. The familiar loneliness spread over my body as I again felt dejected. I bit my bottom lip and turned to go back to Felix. He started to walk to me as Edward reached out for my hand and said, "Bella wait."
Felix growled at him and reached for my waist, as Edward did the same. They were literally pulling me in two different directions. I let out my own growl as I thrust my hands out in both directions sending them both flying away from me onto the ground. "I don't need either one of you to protect me from the other!" I turned my attention to Edward. "Do you think I'm still that fragile human you need to save from herself? I'll decide what is best for me!" I shot Felix an annoyed glare before walking across the room from both of them and standing alone. As I crossed my arms over my chest, I heard the laughter in the room break out.
"She is a delight isn't she Carlisle?"
"Yes Marcus and she always has been." Carlisle smiled over at me as I continued to stew. Chuckling in his unique way, Emmett stood before me, eyes wide as if to ask for my permission. I couldn't help but let out a small smile. Who could refuse Emmett? He took his place by my side and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, giving me a little squeeze. Across the room, Felix and Edward both looked down, hurt. Edward did not love me, but he sure wanted to annoy me to death with his need to be a savior.
"Now that Isabella is calmed down, we really must be getting back to business. I would like to know what happened Carlisle. I can't force you to tell me, obviously." He waved his hand in my direction indicating I was to blame, and I smiled. "But as friends, I would hope you are willing to give us an explanation for your actions."
"Of course, Aro."
I gasped "No!" in Carlisle's direction.
"It's okay my child. You have done well. Let me handle this." He tried to calm my panic with his reassurance. Emmett gave me another squeeze.
"Bella is well, one of a kind. As you know, our lifestyle is much more intertwined with humans than yours, and my family became rather attached to her unwittingly. She is very easy to love and care for. I won't try to deny that Bella and Edward don't share a very close bond." He glanced briefly at Felix and I laughed a little, though I didn't find it amusing. Shows what he knows. "We never let Bella in on our secret, but she is too smart for her own good. We left as soon as she began to suspect we were more than what we claimed to be. Clearly, Edward could not tell for sure if she had the correct assumption. So we chose to leave before she tried to call us out, so to speak." I bit down on my lip knowing he was lying. "The whole thing was wrong of course, and we will not make the same mistake again with other humans." He stepped back once he had finished his speech.
"The threat of exposure has been eradicated. Therefore, you are forgiven of course, old friend. We will insist on holding you to that promise, however. Next time we will not be so willing to overlook your lapse in judgment." Carlisle nodded and Aro continued. "Now that business is finished, I hope that we can spend time together under happier circumstances before you leave Italy."
He stood up and smiled over to his brother waving his hand to everyone letting them know the meeting was complete. "Wait!" Edward yelled. "Is Bella free to leave Italy with us?" The roaring laughter that escaped Aro surprised me a little bit.
"You unconsciously assume that Bella would want to leave with you Edward." He stated matter-of-factly, patting Felix on the back to further communicate his meaning. Edward growled a little before Carlisle walked closer to Aro and said, "I think we will stick around Volterra for a little while if that is okay."
Aro nodded and turned to leave before looking over his shoulder to say, "Nothing like a little friendly competition!"
EPOV
Felix walked straight to Bella, who gave my brother a final squeeze. She whispered, "I'll see you soon," before running out the door, Felix following right after. I wanted to run her and explain everything as best I could. I still loved her with ever fiber in me, and wanted to show her. No Edward. Let her be for now. We aren't going very far. I think we should find a hotel to talk. Carlisle's wisdom could get very annoying at times, but I listened.
We checked into the hotel closest to the castle, for there was no way I was getting very far from Bella. We had just got into the room when Carlisle's phone rang.
"Alice. Yes, she was there. I'm not sure how she managed that either, actually. They must have found out about her shield. She was brilliant, Alice, you should have seen her! I'm not sure how long we'll be here, but I'm not leaving Bella again unless she wants us to go. NO! You need to stay as far away from here as possible. Aro knows nothing about you, Bella saw to that. We will call you soon. Tell Esme I will speak with her later. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and flopped down in the chair across the room.
"I want to know what is going on. You seemed just as shocked as me that she was there, but yet you said you were wrong?" My attempts at maintaining my composure where started to fissure. I tightened my hands into fists and focused my frustration on the wall across from my seat.
"We actually thought Bella was dead Edward." He paused to make sure I was still in control. I only squeezed my fist tighter. "Clearly from your phone conversations, you are aware that Alice was very depressed and distraught over Bella absence. After we discussed the vision about the Quileute's, she and Jasper decided to leave the family for awhile. There were up in Denali when she felt glimpses of Bella being in devastating pain. We can infer now that she was probably feeling Bella going through the change. She set up a meeting with the wolves without my knowledge. They informed her that Bella was taken from her home three months after we left. The trail they found was of three unknown vampires. Before she was taken, they had been tracking a red-headed. The last time they had almost caught her. We all assumed that Victoria sent three of her friends to bring Bella back to her, not wanting to risk a run in with the wolves herself."
"Victoria was in Forks? God, Carlisle I wasn't even on the right continent!" I was disgusted with myself. How could I have been so stupid to leave her unprotected? And now, she would barely look at me! I slumped back down on the bed, putting my head in my hands between my knees. "She wouldn't even look at me. And did you see how she looked at Felix? She must hate me, not that I blame her one bit. I don't deserve her, and I never did." I wanted to drag myself back to the hole in the Amazon that I had crawled out of.
"Would you get over yourself Edward!" Emmett shouted from across the room. His voice brought irritation that I had found for him during our 'meeting'.
"And you!" I jammed by finger at him. "She wouldn't even look at me, and yet you were all over her!"
"Do not even start with me Edward! I'm not going to feel bad for embracing my sister after five months!" He was very mad. He stood and forcefully took a step in my direction. "You want to feel sorry for yourself and play the victim? Well then let me lay it all on the line for you Bro. You brought Bella into all our lives. There are six other people in this family, not even counting Bella, and yet you still felt your opinion was the only one that mattered. What about what she wanted? The fact that you didn't trust Bella to choose the path she wanted in life is just plain insulting to her! We all knew you were making a huge mistake, but out of loyalty to you, I shut my mouth and supported your choice. For five months I watched Alice and Esme cry for both you and Bella, but still I supported you!" I slumped down on the bed. The truth was always hard to hear. "I heard you countless times tell that sweet girl how much you loved her, and intended to be with her forever. You were the best out of all of us. I have never in the whole time I have known you, seen you as a monster until you told Bella you didn't love her anymore. You don't treat women like that! I should have kicked your ass the night you told me you said it. So yes, your right, you don't deserve her! But as much as I wish she didn't right now, I know Bella still loves you, man. She is putting on a brave face and clinging to that guy, because she thinks he is her only option." He sat back down in the chair he had gotten up from. "So you have two options, Edward. You can leave her again like a coward, or you can fight for her. And she deserves for you to fight for her!"