Wow, it has been a while hasn't it? I apologize for that, been busy with college stuff and what not. -sigh- Stressful does not describe it. I do apologize for waiting so long, honestly, how long has it been? I think last time was October? I don't know, something like that. Anyways, sorry to keep you waiting. HEre's the next chapter! Don't forget to review my loverly readers!

-da idiot-

-ALICE POV-

We turned to face a smug looking Aro emerging from one of the shattered windows. Caius and Marcus filed in after him, looking quite cocky might I add. The rest of the guard entered through the other openings or were already in the room. I heard Edward growl as he stepped over to shield Bella at the top of the stairs.

"You said you would wait until the wedding, Aro." Carlisle stated, stepping up to face the leader of the Volturi.

"Details, details." Aro waved his hand dismissively as he spoke. "Surely we have given you enough time. It has been a year and a half since the little human found out. I thought we were being most generous with that amount of time, don't you agree Caius?"

"Why yes, I do believe you are right, Brother." I could see the sinister twinkle in Caius's eyes. I had a vision of different ways Caius was going to feed on Bella; it made my blood boil as a growl erupted from my throat.

"Don't even think about it." I heard Edward ground out through clenched teeth.

"I don't have to." Before any of us could react, there was another sound of shattering glass from behind us. I turned, as if in slow motion, as I caught sight of Felix coming up behind Bella. I was not fast enough for he grabbed Bella from the arm, yanking her to him as he held her close to his chest, one of her arms twisted around her back. She yelped at the sudden pain, causing Edward to snarl as he eyed Felix, who kept Bella between himself and my brother.

"My, my, such hostility Edward. You don't want dear Bella to get hurt," he emphasized the word by further twisting her arm, causing her to whimper softly, "now do we?" He laughed at the end of his sentence, causing the rest of my family to growl as well.

"Let her go, Felix!" Edward roared, crouching low. Felix's response was to laugh as Aro addressed Carlisle once again.

"Carlisle, my good friend, we have given you enough time. You have wasted the time we have given you. It is our right to deal with the situation as we see fit. The human will be either changed or killed tonight!" I heard Jane's laughter from somewhere behind Aro, making my skin crawl as I envisioned her torturing us as Caius killed Bella.

"NO!" I heard a voice scream, but it did not come from Edward as I would have thought. It came from behind us and was feminine. I turned in time to see Alicia pounce onto Felix, snarling as she did so. She dug her fingers into Felix's back, causing him to howl in pain as well as release Bella in the process. Edward reacted quickly, pulling Bella to him and out of the guard's reach.

All hell broke lose then as Aro ordered his guard to detain us and obtain Bella. We all moved quickly, picking a fight with about two vampires a piece; Aro, Caius and Marcus stayed back, watching with sadistic grins on their faces.

Snarls echoed throughout the room as everyone fought. We all struggled to fight back the guard, their greater number making us play more defense than anything. I fought alongside Jasper; his power over emotions gave us an advantage as well as my ability to predict their moves. Though we had our powers on our side, they still were able to push us back and then some. It was then I was hit by another, unexpected vision, it overcoming my sight as I felt myself get knocked back.

It left me a moment later, after I had hit my back against the wall. A piercing scream echoed around us, momentarily stopping the fighting. Our eyes darted over towards the sound, spotting Bella, on the floor. She was gazing at Felix, who looked like he was advancing on her, except he currently held Alicia up by her neck. She clawed at his arms, making him wince in pain but keep his hold.

"Vile creature! I will deal with you personally! You should do well not attack me, you disgusting demon." Felix snarled as he tightened his hold.

"You should do well not attack my granddaughter, you disgusting vampire!" Before he knew what happened, Grams had tackled him down the stairs, releasing his hold on Alicia in the process. They rolled onto the floor below, clawing and snarling as they did so. After this, the fighting resumed once again.

"ENOUGH!" I heard Aro cry, followed by a particularly loud growl from him. I don't think I've heard him growl before; he was always one to keep his cool. With grace that even I was jealous of, he darted forward, flung Grams away from Felix, and stomped his way over to Bella. "You have caused us too much trouble! You are coming with us!" And before we could react, he was gone through one of the many holes in our living room.

"NOO!" Edward ran after, the rest of the Guard trailing behind him. The rest of us stood stunned for a few moments before we too followed. It was a few miles before I caught two dark blurs speeding by me. It took me a minute to comprehend that was Grams and Alicia that had passed us. Another one soon followed and I deducted it was Ivone as well. Ellias came to run beside me, biting her lip as she fought the urge to speed up to keep pace with her mistress.

"I'm worried, for Bella and for Alicia. Bella's life is on the line and Alicia is not in the best of minds. I shudder to think how all of this might end. I do not even think Alicia realizes who she is facing right now." Ellias hung her head as she spoke, mumbling something else I could not understand.

"What do you mean by that last part?" I inquired as we increased our pace a bit.

"The Volturi were the ones to kill Alicia's parents. It was in a strike against them, commissioned by Alicia's grandfather, that they lost their lives. It was similar to Alicia's mission a few weeks ago. It was a strike disguised under a negotiation meeting, but no one thought to inform Diana and Aemilius of it. They were the first to be struck down, since they were the ones who were actually negotiating." She paused, looking up at me when she did. "That's all we really know about what happened."

--

-BELLA POV- (surprise!)

I struggled against Aro's hold, futilely attempting to break out of it. I looked behind me--as I was draped over his shoulder--and caught bare glimpses of Edwards bronze locks. Seeing this gave me some bit of hope that I would be saved and sparred from the one death I did not want--dying and "living" forever was what I wanted, big difference.

"Let me go!" I screamed into his ear in hopes of hurting them; they did have sensitive hearing after all. He didn't so much as flinch at the volume I was using, making me huff and increase my struggles.

"Stop struggling, girl, or else I will kill you now!" I heard Caius scream at me. I looked over to see him glaring, a menacing snarl on his lips. I continued to struggle anyways. "Where, did you say, was this new dwelling of yours, Aro? I am rather tired of her yelling."

"Patience, my dear brother, patience. We are almost there. And as for her," he paused, shaking me a little as he mentioned me, "she will be dealt with once we get there." I shuddered at the tone he used, hoping that Edward and everyone would arrive soon.

--

We came upon the house that Aro was talking about not much later. House was an understatement; castle would be more like it. I only caught a glimpse on the outside before we rushed inside but I could tell this building was very old, maybe a century by the layout of the bricks and such.

I was taken into the main "chamber" as Aro had called it. Looking around, I realized it looked much like their home in Volterra. It had the same eerily old atmosphere that hung over you once you set foot inside. I shivered at the feeling before I was unceremoniously tossed to the ground.

"Thanks so much for being gentle." I muttered, momentarily forgetting their acute hearing. I heard a growl from Caius's direction before Aro quieted him with a glare.

"You forget that we control your life, my dear Isabella, so you would do well to keep your comments to yourself." Aro remarked, before looking to his brothers. "Savannah, take her away; her lover will be here soon." My jaw must have dropped unintentionally for his next words were: "Do not act so surprised. We cannot keep an eye on you and fight at the same time."

At the mention of her name, a young blonde stepped forward to yank me up off of the floor, almost pulling my arm out of its socket in the process. I bit back a yelp of pain as she pulled me away from everyone else. She stopped, making me wonder if she was going to disobey them.

My hopes were shot down as a few others came to stand beside us. With a nod, everyone placed a hand on her shoulders or arms, ensuring they were in contact with her. I was confused by this but my question was soon answered. I suddenly felt dizzy and before I knew it, we were in a completely different room.

Aro and the other guards were no where in sight. I had no time to ponder this as the one names Savannah yanked my arm once again. I couldn't bite down the whimper that escaped me this time. She growled as she continued to pull me along. She didn't speak a word until we entered one of the darker hallways that looked to be filled with cells.

"You will stay here until Master Aro returns. You will not be so foolish as to try and escape. You are in a castle full of vampires after all. I think you are much safer here than outside anyways." She almost sounded as if she cared, but the bored expression on her face said otherwise. She tossed me into a random cell before locking it behind me. She glared at me once more then took her leave, the others following after. The loud clang of the heavy metal door signaled her departure.

I sighed and sat down on the metal cot that served as my bed--at least I thought it was my bed. They at least had the decency to leave some covers and a pillow in here. I looked around my cell, being able to look into the other ones seeing as how it was just vertical bars that separated them. Across from me were more cells. To my surprise, there were two others being held in cells a little down from me, a man and a woman from what I could tell.

"Hello?" I called softly. I wasn't sure if they were awake, seeing as how they were lying down. Or for that matter alive; they weren't exactly moving and I don't have the best eyesight in the world. I heard a grunt of a reply as one of the lumps moved.

Long dark hair parted to reveal a feminine face. It was frighteningly thin from malnourishment but beautiful none-the-less. She looked my way and I was captivated by her dull, piercing eyes. The lighting was too dim so I could not make out much else on her face. She smiled a weak smile before sitting up and facing me.

"Who are you?" I could not stop myself from asking. I blushed as the words left my mouth as she laughed softly.

"My name was lost a long time ago. Why are you here and how did you get mixed up with vampires?" She asked softly, not sounding nearly as nosey as her words. I sighed, not up to telling the long complicated story of my life and opted for the condensed version; no use boring her to death, she is, after all, my only company right now.

"Long story short, I'm engaged to a vampire. We were planning on changing me after the wedding, which is only about a month or so away, but the Volturi is not happy at how long it's taking. I've known about vampires and all that jazz for over a year now, so they grew impatient with my lack of change, thus resulting in me being here." I rushed through what I said, not wanting to repeat myself. She laughed softly once again, shaking her head from what I could tell in this dim lighting.

"Sounds dramatic, like something you would see on one of those soap operas." I chuckled with her; hey, it did sound overdramatic, didn't it? "I'm sorry to hear how you are all caught up in this and all you want to do is get married and technically 'die'."

"I'm not sorry. People really do crazy things when they are in love." I replied as she nodded in agreement.

"Yes, they do." She looked over her shoulder to a lump in the cell next to her. She chuckled as she stared at it as if waiting for it to move.

"You're not crazy." Came a voice form seemingly no where, making me jump. I looked at the lump a ways down from me, captivated as it moved to reveal a man. The covers over hum fell to reveal long hair and somewhat ragged clothes. I could not see much else from where I sat, but I could tell that he was anything but old. "So don't even start saying you are." I was unsure if his words were directed at me or to the woman.

"Oh stop. You know I was only joking and so was she. It's a figure of speech dear." She held a hand up to her mouth in hopes of quelling her laughter, but failed miserably.

"I know, I know. You can quit laughing you know." He said with a huff, plopping down on his cot and sending dust everywhere. He let out a series of loud sneezes, opting more laughter out of the woman next to him. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You won't be laughing when we get out of here and I get my hands on you." Though I could not see his expression, I could here the suggestion in his voice which only prompted me to laugh along with her.

--

-ELLIAS POV-

We came upon an old-looking house--or maybe dwelling; house didn't quite fit it--to see Edward glaring at the door with hatred. Alice walked up to him and we could hear him begin to growl.

"They locked her up?!" He growled out, whipping around to face her. "Do you know where exactly? If we don't find her in time they will kill her!"

"No, but they haven't decided yet. We have time, Edward, time to change their minds." Alice replied, looking him in the eyes with determination on her face. "I won't let them kill her. We all care about her as much as you do; she's our family too."

Edward shot forward in reply, entering the house before we could react. I could hear Alice curse lightly as she followed him, the rest of us hot on her heels. The inside looked like an old castle due to the old stone floors and high, arching ceiling. We came upon the Volturi--was that what they called them?--in a large, open room that was bare of any furnishings.

"I was expecting all of you sooner." The one named Aro remarked, eying Edward with a smirk. "But, as your little future-seer probably already told you, your dear Isabella is out of the way."

sorry for the cliffy. wasn't sure how to end this one. questions, like always, will be answered in due time! review por favor! just hit the little button

right.

down..

here...

-da idiot-