"Okay, Alice, you had better have a bloody good reason why-" Mariah began as she walked through the front door of the Cullen's home, only to have to pull herself up short when she saw the Volturi were also there…but why? "O…kay…what's going on guys?"

"Ah, so nice of you to join us, my dear." Aro's face was eerily calm as he took a step away from Carlisle. "Perhaps you might go over a few details with us…details concerning your knowledge of our kind."

Mariah's eyes flitted from Aro to Carlisle who mouthed 'I'm so sorry.' before it sank in. She was in deep shit now. Aro took a step towards her and she took a step backwards.

"So…just to clarify," Mariah said cautiously, taking a step backwards each time she paused. "You, want me to… 'discuss' facts with you…as in let you into my head?"

"That would be correct, ma Cherie." Aro replied matching each step she took back with a step forwards.

"Right." Mariah was now standing in the doorway through which she had entered. "Yeah…that just…isn't gonna happen."

"Mariah." Aro's tone was a warning.

"Yeah…bye!" Mariah replied as she bolted out the door and down the steps of the Cullen's home, sprinting towards the tree line. If she could make it to there, she'd be able to lose them…maybe…maybe not. But it was worth a try. Mariah, for the first time in her life, thanked her lucky stars that she'd had that accident when she was five. That she had vampire DNA running through her veins…and that she had the physiological attributes of one.

Her legs took her faster and further away from those trying to catch her, her ears listening to the sound of their footfalls as they chased her.

She made the tree line, but kept going, deviating from her original plan slightly. She glanced over her shoulder to see Alec and Felix in hot pursuit of her…closely followed by Aro and Caius. Mariah turned back just in time to narrowly avoid colliding with a moss covered tree.

A soft chuckle emanated from Caius, to which Mariah growled and ran faster. Then, oomph! She slammed into something rock hard and nowhere near tree-like.

Stone arms wrapped around her, uncomfortably tight, as Felix's voice chuckled quietly in her ear, "Gotcha."

"Let go!" Mariah yelled, panicked. "Please! Let go!"

"I cannot." Felix held her firmly.

"Felix -"

"Thankyou Felix," Aro's voice sounded from close behind her. "If you will just leave her with us and then return to the house, that would be…delightful."

"Of course, Master." Felix replied and looked down at Mariah, the significant look he gave her a plea that she not make trouble. He let her go, and vanished, headed back towards the house.

Mariah stood very still. Her back still faced towards Aro and Caius. She refused to turn round, refused to give in quite that easily. Aro began to move around her as she calmed her breathing.

"You claim to have nothing to hide… and yet, you run from us." Aro moved to stand in front of her. Mariah refused to meet his gaze, fearing the anger she might inevitably find there. Aro remained silent for a moment before speaking again, his voice a firm command. "Look at me. Mariah, look at me."

"Give me one good reason why I should." Mariah asked plainly.

Aro sighed. "Because, I would rather not force you."

"Our patience may have been legendary once, Mariah," Caius' voice whispered, in an almost growl, from close behind her. "But I do believe you'll find that that patience has faded somewhat after your murder."

"I'm not murdered. Look, I'm standing right here. Alive and breathing." Mariah continued to stare at the ground, away from them.

"For now…" Caius paused and wrapped his arm around her shoulders; her back pressed against his chest firmly, whilst his other hand slipped up underneath her shirt and traced the outlines of the scars that patterned her stomach. "You're still a magnet for trouble."

"I am not!" Mariah's head shot up as she replied, her eyes fixing their glare on Aro's mocking gaze.

"Oh, but you are." Aro cocked his head to the side ever so slightly; his eyes flickered from hers to her stomach and back again. "You've been attacked more than once, Mariah." Mariah looked at the ground again. "Did you think we wouldn't notice the scars? Especially since you slept with me tracing patterns over your skin…still as soft as I remember…"

Aro's words made Mariah uncomfortable. If they knew about the scars on her stomach from the knife attack and the shooting, would they have checked elsewhere on her person? 'Oh, God.'

"So I've been stabbed…and shot, so what?" Mariah fumed, glancing up at Aro through her lashes to see if he'd noticed the way her voice broke on the last word. His eyes were narrowed at her in suspicion.

"I thought you would be a little more forthcoming," Aro sighed. "You seem to think I wouldn't have looked to see if you had any others."

"You didn't." Mariah stated bluntly, looking Aro dead in the eye.

"And, how do you know that, love?" Caius whispered into her ear, his grip on her tightening slightly. "You weren't awake."

Mariah swallowed nervously as Caius, very gently, brushed his lips along the side of her neck, closing her eyes and failing to suppress a shudder of pleasure as he placed a kiss just below her ear. Her train of thought lost, Mariah forgot her reply. "…I…I…"

Caius chuckled and continued his actions, "Easily distracted, isn't she Aro?"

Aro's quiet laugh brought Mariah out of her daze. Clear headed again, she snapped at Caius. "Stop that!"

"Why?" Caius asked, the smirk in his voice only irritated Mariah further.

"Get off me!" She growled as she tried fruitlessly to escape his hold on her.

"But, you like this." Caius replied, his voice low and seductive as he nipped at the sensitive place just behind Mariah's ear.

"No I don't." Mariah answered quickly…a little too quickly. It was a lie, she knew it, and, unfortunately, so did they.

"Ah, you never were any good at lying, Mariah." Aro whispered, his voice barely audible. He closed the space between Mariah and himself in one small step, placed a crooked finger under her chin and tilted her head up slightly to look in her eyes. "Your body betrays your words, my love. You can say you don't want us, that you hate us…but you cannot stop the way in which your body responds to our presence, even less so our touch… We can smell what we do to you, love."

Mariah's cheeks flushed a delicate pink in response to his words and jerked her head away from his gentle touch. He was right, and she hated that. Aro chuckled darkly at her reaction as she glared daggers at the forest floor. "Your point?" Mariah replied, her tone uncharacteristically harsh.

"My point, ma Cherie, is that, whether you want to or not, you will tell us what we wish." Aro replied, as he shot a meaningful look at Caius. "You won't be able to help it…you'll want to…"