A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, so I'll make this as short as possible. I just wanted to let you all know that I spent a lot of time editing this chapter, and even though its like a lot longer than my others I'm kind of disappointed with it. But whatever, here we go…
I woke up alone in a very beautiful room. The floors and most of the furniture were made from mahogany wood and the walls were a white purer than that of my now pearly white skin. The furniture was covered in velvet plush that was the dark red color of blood. I shivered slightly at that. I looked down at what I was laying on, and found myself on a soft red leather loveseat. The room was so quiet I could hear my breath coming in shallow and quick.
I'll admit it, I was slightly worried. I mean I'm in a room that's color scheme was giving me the creeps, who knows how many miles under the ground, in one of the scariest places I could ever imagine and I was alone. So yes, I was a little worried, and no, not afraid of admitting it, at least to myself. Now only if I could find a way to get out of here—
"Isabella! It's so good to see you up. Actually, you've woken up much sooner than we expected, you must be more powerful than we originally imagined." Aro entered through a large door to my left, and began to address me.
"Um,, thanks I guess. So, uh, what are you planning to do with me?" My voice betrayed a little more emotion than I had planned.
"Well, that's for us to know and you to find out. But I brought you someone to talk to. She's wanted to talk to you for quite some time now. So we decided that she could come and keep you company for a while. Don't get any ideas about escape though." He looked me straight in the eye, forcing me to stare back into his red eyes, reminding me how dangerous he truly was and completing my creep-out. Then he opened the door he'd come through, and once he'd swept out of the room, in enterd the small form that was Miranda. My only thought was, Oh great, I get to spend time with the girl who put me here in the first place. I watched her silently as she grabbed a chair and pulled it up across from me before gracefully settling down into it. Before I realized what I was doing I started asking her the questions that had been running through my mind the first time I met her.
"Why are you here? I mean, how did you end up here? Who in the world changed you and how did you even survive the change?" I blurted, then waited for her answer. She gave a small smile.
"I'm here because I can't survive on my own. Well, at least not in this day and age. I'm here because Aro found me, just like he found you. I was changed by…my sister." She seemed to say this reluctantly, but almost as if she felt she had to tell me. "It wasn't her fault, at least at the time, and she helped me through the change. But then she did something...and anyway, we don't talk anymore." She was speaking so softly in her little child voice I couldn't help but pity her.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry, honey." I tried to be soothing, but she looked kind of annoyed at my words.
"Oh please." She scoffed at me. "Just because I'm in a child's body does not mean that I have a child's mentality. My dear girl, I was a vampire for more than four hundred years before you were even a twinkle in your parents' eyes." I have to say, this statement startled me, and I was slightly unnerved by it. "Further more," she continued; crossing her legs while talking, "the reason I am here is not to be questioned by you, but rather to inform you of a certain…foretelling. That is if you feel you're up to a rather intense conversation." I nodded in response, to dumbfounded to talk. She laughed.
"Very well." She shifted her position again, uncrossing her legs and putting her hands folded on her lap. "I have a friend, one who…knows things. She knew about you, and that you'd be coming here. That you'd have to come here. There is a purpose for your being here, you know."
Again I just stare, until I finally found my voice and asked a question.
"Your friend, can she, like Alice, can she see the future?
"Hardly," I swear I saw her roll her eyes at this. "Though don't tell her that. She kind of fancies herself a fortune teller. In all actuality she just reports prophecies. A lot of people get them you know, prophecies I mean. Usually they just come in the forms of dreams and seem like a case of déjà vu, and really, normal people, most normal people anyway, only get snippets of them. But no matter where they are, thte words they hear in their heads, even the ones that they can't hear, come out of her mouth and into the ears of the Royal Family."
Holy crow. "Wow. Okay, I have a question though. What does this have to do with me? I mean I'm guessing that there was some kind of prophecy about me, one that said I'm supposed to do something here, but what did it say?"
She looked hard into my eyes before answering. "It said that you came here to help us all. To save the Races."
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I was now allowed to leave the room. Yipee. I mean it's not like they seriously thought I could do a whole lot against a whole legion of super-powered vampires…okay they did, but still, it's not as if I would leave now. Mostly the only reason I was allowed to leave was because Miranda pulled the whole "look-at-me-Uncle-Aro-I'm-just-an-innocent-child-who-can-do-no-evil" act, and she was now leading me down the dark hallways underneath Volterra. When I asked her about why she acted like a child if she was so smart, she snorted.
"Do you know why, in the old days, women were considered the perfect spies?" When I didn't respond, she continued, while still leading me through a maze of hallways without seeming to get lost. "it's because at the time they were believed to be practically furniture; nobody thought they could be in charge of their own lives or minds, or even that they had them. Women could be any and everywhere and at the same time could go practically unnoticed; people—meaning men—believed that they had no brains or ears, let alone people who would actually listen to them if they spoke, and therefore thought women could cause no harm. Turns out that was great, because ignorant men would say important information in front of female maids and servants, who would in turn pass it on to their true masters. Basically what I'm trying to say is that being a child in the presence of the Volturi is like being a woman during the old wars. Except its better now, because children aren't thought to have any brains at all, while women today are at least accepted as having some semblance to a brain." She was smart, and kind of made me feel…unintelligent.
"So where are we going?" I asked as we rounded yet another corner.
"We're going to see my friend Dionne, the prophecy recorder. Originally her name was Blake, but after becoming a vampire and becoming the "prophecy queen" that she is, she only answers to Dionne. When we get there, after some basic information exchange, we'll just be talking numbers." After noticing the confused look I wore, she sighed. "I'll explain when we get there."
Then she disappeared into the dark shadows of the halls, and I had no choice but to follow her, and let her lead me to my uncertain fate.
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Dionne was not who I expected her to be. In my minds eye she was an older woman with long brown hair who wore lots of necklaces, bracelets and a shawl, and who spoke in a strange and mystical voice. Suffice to say, I was not prepared to meet another young girl, this one about thirteen, who had shoulder length white blond hair and eyes that were red with a slight tint of yellow. She was also rather short, barely reaching Miranda's height. When she us enter her room, she squealed a little and gave Miranda a big hug, which reminded me a lot of Alice, thus making me think of Edward. When was the last time I had seen him? My heart gave a little tug in my chest, reminding me of how much I missed him and everyone I'd been forced to leave behind. When was the last time I had told him how much I loved him? The last time he held my hand? The last time—
"Bella," Miranda said. I looked up, distracted from my depressing thoughts. "This is Dionne. Dionne, this is—"
"Bella, obviously. I already knew that Miranda." I noticed she had a slight Irish accent while listening to her words. She stepped up and shook my hand. Miranda started to make funny faces at her behind her back, while I tried to suppress a laugh. "And Minnie, stop making faces behind my back." Dionne said, obviously unperturbed . "Bella, have you yet been told how important you are?" She didn't say it in any mystical voice, but her words and tone held so much power behind them I couldn't help but shiver. "You're the key to stopping this, and everything that is to come. We really need you to understand this, if you're going to help in the upcoming…days." I felt there was something she wasn't saying, but at this point, Miranda had stepped up beside her and they were both staring at me solemnly.
I must admit, being stared down by two girls who are both shorter than me and appear younger than me, but are, in fact, a lot older than me, is kind of unsettling. Even so, I was able to find my voice and answer.
"Yes, I'm ready and willing to help in anyway possible, but—,"
"Good." They said in unison, cutting me off before I could finish.
"We do have one, well two small problems," Miranda told me, her eyes betraying her troubled feelings.
"What are they? I'm sure we can do something about them." My earlier thought was now forgotten, as I was faced with my first problem.
"The problems are your families."
Oh.
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Back at the Cullens. The Pack and the Cullens are discussing Alice's vision and the message Sam heard from Bella, and they are trying to think of a course of action. Let's just say things aren't going so well with their only liaison having been kidnapped. Edward is still gone.
"I don't know how many times we have to tell you! You cannot just go and storm the place. We are talking about the Volturi here, an ancient and powerful vampire family that has more than enough guards to stop any attempt you…you dogs! And the fact that you are dogs will make them kill youall the sooner!" Alice had worked herself up and Jasper sent a wave of calm her way, trying to soothe her. She sat down in a huff, crossing her arms.
"Well we don't see you bloodsuckers coming up with any great ideas!" Jacob snarled at her from where he was pacing the room.
"That would be because we know better than to try such a foolish task. The Volturi are some of the most powerful vampires in the world, and Volterra is one of the most heavily guarded places. Their power is only outmatched by their guard, who swear their loyalty only to the Royal Family, and thus they are virtually impenetrable. It would be suicidal to just barge in there and just try to get her out. We need a well formulated plan, and help." Carlisle tried to explain.
"Well, we can't sit here and do nothing. Not only is it just plain against our natures to not go after her, but we all care deeply about Bella and what could happen to her. And we don't want to just leave her to rot there. If these Volturi are as bad as you say they are then it seems we should be trying to do everything we can to get Bella out, and I'm confused as to why it looks like you aren't doing anything to help!" Sam responded, his voice having taken on a very hard and defensive tone. Before he could continue though, he was cut off by a surprising source.
"Listen," Rosalie began, "Bella is our sister. Edward is madly in love with her and she obviously returns his feelings. And we are the ones that truly understand the threat the Volturi pose. So whether or not you trust us to help rescue Bella, at least trust in her trust in us and all of our collective love for her, because you are going to have to work with us to get her back. And we are not stupid enough to take unnecessary risks!"
Rosalie's outburst startled everyone into silence, and as they all were regaining their thoughts the front door burst open and Edward entered the room.
A/N: Okay, so there you have it. My newest chapter. There were like three spots I was considering stopping the chapter, but then I was like "no they'd be mad if I did that" so I didn't. I am sorry it took so long. I was gone all weekend babysitting, and I was stuck watching four kids while trying to write this chapter, so I'm sorry about the childish little remarks and things in the chapter, it's all "when in Rome" stuff. Again, I wasn't exactly happy with this chapter, but I love all of my lines from Miranda, they just crack me up when I read them…But yea, please review! This chapter was over 2200 words, and I spent a lot of time on it, so show your appreciation!
DinekaI most definitely do not count all the words in each chapter, I think I would go crazy if I did. how I know the number of words is I type the chapters in a words processor and at the bottom it tells you how many words are on the document. Hope that satisfied your…question.
-flyingxfreely