Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga or any of its affiliates.

Chapter 10:

Bella's Point Of View:

I licked my lips. The lingering taste of blood rested in my mouth. I smiled as Demetri walked towards me. He rested his hand on my hip, pulling me close to him. I looked down at the last human I killed. She was delectable; I was happy I saved her for last. Her fear made her even more tempting to me.

"You missed some, love." Demetri held my chin and gently licked my lips, taking off the excess blood. Then, his lips folded over mine, and we began kissing.

"Don't get too eager, Demetri," Aro voiced. "We still have many things to do today."

Demetri instantly pulled away from me. He always obeyed Aro's orders. We all did. I watched as Aro strolled across the body-covered floor. He stepped over every body delicately as if they were fragile trophies. He walked back over to his chair near the back of the large room. Marcus and Caius were already sitting down, bored expressions on their faces.

"Demetri," Aro hollered from atop his perch, "Go fetch Felix. He left after his third kill. Tell him that we must dispose of these bodies now. Bella, feel free to go with your husband. You can help if you wish. Protect them as well as they get rid of the humans."

Demetri and I nodded simultaneously. Demetri latched onto my hand, and we walked towards the nearest hallway. We weaved in and out of bodies, finding the easiest path. As I walked past each person, I tried not to look at their faces. It was something none of us did. If we chose to look at too many humans, we may become too attached; we could not afford that.

Once we were in the confines of the hallway, Demetri spoke. "You don't have to come with me and Felix. I understand if you wish to stay here."

I shrugged. "Truthfully, I want to come with you. Whenever I'm alone, I'm just horribly bored. You are my only happiness." I ran my other hand through his thick hair.

"I doubt that. You and Jane do a few things together while I'm gone."

I chuckled. "The only thing Jane and I have in common is the fact that we are vampires. That is it. I just appease Aro by hanging out with her. She is dreadful; I can't stand her."

Demetri laughed as we turned down another hallway. "I can believe that. I've never liked her. The only true friend I think she has is her brother, and even then, I don't know if he likes her."

We stopped in front of a closed wooden door. Demetri knocked on it twice, obeying Felix's privacy. Instantly, Felix opened the door. "How important is it?"

"Aro needs us to dispose of the bodies. I think it's going to be our permanent job." Demetri and Felix were extremely casual when they talked to each other; they were like brothers in a huge family.

"And the little missus is going to join us. Let the party begin." Felix walked out of his room and began down the hall. As he passed me, he ruffled my hair.

"I hope you don't mind my company." I grinned as I ran up next to Felix.

"Just as long as you and Demetri don't make out and force me to do all of the work." Felix shrugged and continued forward. I shot a fleeting glance at Demetri, and he silently laughed to himself.

The three of us walked down the wide hallway together. I knew all of the pathways by heart now. Demetri took me through the whole castle and showed me every room. Our room was my favorite, but that was only because of what we did in it.

When we reached the great room, Felix immediately started to pick up bodies. He had four in his grasp before Demetri even had two. Felix started walking towards the main door with Demetri right behind him. Not looking at their faces, I picked up four bodies, stacking them on top of each other in my arms. I followed behind the two men.

Felix broke into a run, most likely wanting to get the job done faster. Demetri and I ran right behind him, the walls speeding past us. We turned left right before the main entrance came into view. Then, we turned right and were greeted by a door. Felix slammed it open, and Demetri and I followed him outside.

This was an area of Italy that I had not seen yet. We were in an alley somewhere around the castle. The sun was high in the sky, but only a bit of it shone down on us. We walked to the edge of the alley, and I instantly smelled spoiled meat.

"What is that horrible smell?" I tempted to hold my nose, but instead, I stopped breathing.

"It is the smell of that." Demetri dropped his bodies on the ground and pointed straight ahead.

I gasped, and the four bodies I was carrying fell to the ground. In front of me was a pile of bodies. There were at least fifty, maybe more. I covered my mouth as my eyes rested on every human in the pile. I took a step back, appalled.

"Why are they just lying here? Shouldn't you have gotten rid of them sooner? This is horrible. They are rotting." I wrinkled my nose.

"We should have," Felix said, "But it is just easier to get rid of them all at once. Besides, no human can get back here. No human can smell this either. And they won't be able to see the smoke when we burn them; the smoke rises and disappears before it gets to the common in Volterra."

"This still seems so wrong."

"Bella," Demetri whispered, "They are dead. What happens to their bodies does not affect them at all."

I did not respond. Even though they were dead, it still repulsed me. Burning the humans right after they were killed seemed like the best thing to do. Letting their corpses rot just seemed inhumane to me.

"Stay here, Bella," Felix voiced. "Demetri and I will go rally up the rest of the bodies. Then, in a few minutes, we'll come back. Just stay here. If anyone in the guard tries to get back here, turn them away."

I nodded, my eyes not moving from the dead humans. Demetri and Felix left the alley without another word. Not breathing, I stared at the pile of bodies a bit longer. I could make out the separate humans; I could tell what clothes they were wearing.

I closed my eyes instantly; I could not get attached. I looked down at the bodies that Demetri, Felix, and I just brought here. Working systematically, I picked up one body after another and threw them at the very top of the pile; it would be less work for Felix and Demetri to do when they got back.

As I picked up the last human, my eyes strayed to his face. His skin was white, and his eyes were still open. I put him back down and really looked at him. He had high cheek bones and full lips. His face was young, and I assumed he was no more than seventeen years old. His eyes were bright green, emerald. A smile slowly came to my face; he was beautiful.

I knelt down and rested my hand on his face. His skin was almost the same temperature as mine. I carefully closed his eyelids, allowing him to finally sleep. I ran my hand down his face, feeling his cheekbones and his soft lips. I wondered who killed him. I could have killed him and not even known it.

Gingerly, I stood up and backed away. I leaned up against the alley wall and stared at the ground. I clasped my hands in front of me, and my eyes fell on the ring on my left hand. I stared at Demetri's golden ring. Slowly, I took it off and held it in my right hand, but I did not look at it. I continued to look at my left hand.

Something kept my eyes on my ring finger, but I did not know what. Something was there before Demetri's ring; I could sense it. That young boy sparked something inside of me, but I could not figure out what. I glanced at him one more time, staring at his golden hair.

A picture popped into my mind. A man appeared in my head that had a resemblance to the boy in front of me. He had gorgeous hair as well, but his eyes were golden, a rich gold. He was striking; his beauty was heart-stopping, but I did not know who the man was.

Becoming frustrated, I put my ring back on and walked over to the young boy. I grabbed him by the leg and threw him on top of the pile. Before turning away, my eyes got caught on something red, bright red. There was a woman in the pile that had curly, red hair. I brushed the hair away from her face, and I gasped.

I stepped back, shocked. Instantly, I recognized the woman. Her name popped into my head: Victoria. I vaguely remembered her, but there was something there. She brought me to the Volturi. She gave me this life, but she was dead now. The Volturi killed her.

My head was spinning. I was trying to remember everything I forgot. When I came here, my past was so blurry; I only remembered the few moments with Victoria. I had no idea what I walked away from to get here. I had so many unanswered questions, and I had a feeling that the man in my mind had something to do with those questions.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember something from my past. I saw Victoria standing in front of me in a forest. She had an evil look on her face, a wicked smile. I remembered that I was scared, but I could not understand why; Victoria was so good to me.

Then, another man appeared. I know I saw him before, but I could not remember his name. Suddenly, Victoria and the man lunged towards me, and after that, I remembered pain, excruciating pain. It was like a fire ripped through my body, and when I woke up, I was not the same.

My body shook. Victoria changed me into a vampire. I shook my head, refusing to believe it, but in reality, I had no choice but to believe it. She killed me and turned me into a blood-thirsty monster. I could not believe that she became my friend after that. My memories were fitting together, but I was missing a huge puzzle piece.

I tried to think of my life right after that. I just remembered a lot of green and a lot of walking. I could picture my first kill; it was an animal. Then, a house popped up in my mind. It was large, and it smelled of vampires; I remember that clearly. I saw the rooms in my head, and I saw a flash of the people who lived there, the vampires who lived there.

There were three women and four men. They were all beautiful, and each one of them had golden eyes. One in particular stood out to me. He was the man that I saw before. His face was etched in my mind now. His name was on the tip of my tongue, but I could not place it.

As quickly as all of the thoughts appeared in my head, I saw new visions one after another. They were all with the gorgeous man, the other vampire. He kissed me in a beautiful meadow in the middle of the woods. We made love in a small house; I felt his hands caress my body. He stood in front of me in a suit as he said, "I do."

My legs were weak. I fell against the wall for support. If I could have cried, I would have. I had a life before this. I had a husband before Demetri. I was in love, and then, it was all taken away from me. I saw Victoria again, and this time, she took me away. I was in my wedding dress, and she pulled me away from my husband.

Knowing that Demetri and Felix would be back, I collected myself. I wanted to rip the ring off of my finger, but I had to keep it there for show. I remembered the truth about my existence here, and it made me sick. But I knew that I had to put on a show in order to survive. I did not have the strength to break Demetri's heart, if he even cared about me.

As I heard footsteps walking towards me, I thought of my husband again, my first husband. He was always there for me, and I wondered if he was even heartbroken now that I was gone. No matter what, I would find him. And then, I remembered his name, his beautiful name. No matter what the cost, I would find Edward again.