My eyes flutter open to sunlight streaming in through my window. I sit up slowly in bed, for a moment feeling like the past year has been a dream and Jane is going to walk in any second and tell me the humans are here and it's time to eat. After a few seconds, though, the reality sinks in and I sigh contentedly and get out of bed, pulling my blinds back to look at the gray morning sky.

Staring out the window, I recall that I'm going to need to start getting ready soon; today is my going-away party. Well, I guess I should say our going-away party, mine and Jacob's. But really, we're all going away. We're moving to the northeast so that Jake and I can go to the college we've both been accepted into. Jacob is incredibly intelligent, but considering he hardly got his GED, I'm assuming Carlisle had to pull a few strings to get him in. My family is also covering his college expenses although he swears he'll pay them back once he gets a degree in engineering.

Jake and I will be getting our own apartment together near the college but my family is moving less than fifteen minutes away. And my parents have mandated that I spend all weekends and holidays at home and spend at least one weekend exclusively with them every month. The rules are overbearing, but I try to keep in mind that they only want what's best for me.

I listen throughout the house and hear nothing. They must have already gone to help Alice set up for the party. I brush my teeth and brush out my hair and change into a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top before opening the door in my room which leads to the patio and taking off. A pre-party hunt sounds nice.

I run through the forest as the dark clouds rumble overhead. Rain is definitely on its way. I take down an elk and a deer before feeling, for the most part, quenched. The smell of the wet leaves and the peace and the calm forest is just so tempting though. I run a little further until I happen across a small, oval meadow with long, dry, yellow grass.

I sit down in the middle of it and stare up at the sky, watching the clouds roll on. I feel a raindrop hit my face just seconds before it begins to pour. My brain vaguely registers that I should get home instead of just sitting here and allowing myself to become soaked to the bone, but something forces me to stay.

After a little while more of sitting there, I am sure that I am not alone. I can feel a pair of eyes on the back of my head. The slight rush in my stomach and the weakness of my limbs alerts me immediately to who it is.

"Hello, Alec," I murmur softly, much more unafraid than I thought I would be if I ever met Alec again.

After a second more of silence, I hear his footsteps coming out of the forest into the clearing. "It's been a while, Renesmee," he says in his darkly seductive voice. This is the first time I've ever heard him use my real name. Chills rush up my spine.

"Are you here to kill me?" I ask, incredibly calm for contemplating my own death. I have not turned to look at him once.

He comes and sits next to me. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see him. I don't want to be reminded of the boy who I'd spent years loving. I don't want to see that devilish smirk or those cunning crimson eyes. I just want to hold on to my feelings of hatred for him.

"Of course not." His voice is soft and sweet and musical.

"Are you here to kidnap me again?"

"If you were to ask Aro that question, then the answer would be yes. But as long as you're just asking me, the answer is no."

I sigh and smile a little. "You've always had a thing for speaking in riddles."

"Do riddles turn you on?" he teases coyly, his icy finger trailing up my bare arm.

"I have a boyfriend, Alec. A very serious boyfriend."

"I know. I've been watching you for months. Aro's orders, of course. Not that I wasn't curious myself. But, to be conventional, how is family life treating you? I've noticed the curfew. I'm not quite sure who you are at this point, but the girl I knew would stay out all night partying and drinking and messing around with guys. You stay jailed up in that tiny house, in this tiny town for that matter. My girl would be on jets every weekend to somewhere new."

My jaw clenches. "The curfew is for my own good, something the Volturi never seemed to care about. I don't party or drink or mess around anymore because I don't need to. I'm happy, for once. I'm not jailed here. I could leave whenever I want. I like being here, I like spending time with my family and with Jacob."

Alec chuckles darkly. "You really think you could just up and leave? You don't realize how far in you've sunk. They have you right where they want you. You'll always be mommy and daddy's little girl – a perpetual child with curfews and chores and rules and time out. The sooner you wake up and see that the sooner you can work on getting out of that nightmare. Tell me about this Jacob guy, I'd love to hear it. Is he just everything you could ever want and more? Does he listen to you rant about the lines at the mall and pick you up something special every time he goes to the grocery store and take you out on date nights to the diner and then the movies? Sounds like an exciting relationship."

I blush a little, knowing Alec is making fun of my relationship with Jacob and knowing that he has been watching us and has seen all of that stuff happen. "I don't want excitement. I want stability and love."

Alec laughs again. "You're joking right? Look, Renesmee, you can try to pretend like I never knew you but you know that I did. I knew you better than anyone. A girl like you doesn't just want stability and love. You, the girl who did god-knows-what with half the guys on the guard during games of truth or dare and spin the bottle and seven minutes in Heaven, who came up with your own ways of playing with your victims before feeding on them, who felt naked leaving the house if you weren't wearing at least one precious jewel, you do not just want stability and love. You want excitement and danger and unpredictability and passion and power."

I can feel Alec's cool breath tickling my ear. My heart rate spikes. "So what you're trying to say is that I want you." I try my best to sound exasperated but it somehow comes out meek and breathless.

Alec's lips move lightly against my shoulder. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that isn't true," he challenges. I stand abruptly and put several tens of feet between us.

"I don't have to prove anything to you, Alec. Just do what you came here to do or leave me alone." I sigh, folding my arms across my stomach in a desperate attempt to stop the nauseating whirling it's doing.

Alec is right behind me within a second, his arms gently encompassing my waist and laying over my arms. "I came here to try to get you to come home. I came to make you realize you're not ever going to be satisfied with playing house in small towns with some erratic, do-good family. You'll never be satisfied drinking from animals, going to school like a human, and you will never be satisfied with Jacob Black." His voice is a low growl in my ear as he slowly presses me closer and closer to him.

Suddenly, I am flipped around in Alec's arms and my lips are pressed against his. He kisses me passionately and hungrily. But even more so than the last time we kissed, it feels entirely wrong. Alec can try to convince me that this is not the life for me all he wants, but living with my family and my Jacob is the only life I could ever be happy in. Maybe a year and a half ago living in Volterra covered in expensive jewels like a princess and being Alec's girlfriend and traveling the world with Jane and playing with humans before dining upon them would be my dream life, but dreams change. Alec is not who I want anymore, and he never will be again.

I wrench myself from his grasp, stumbling backwards from the force it took and falling down in the muddy grass as the rain continues to pour down relentlessly. A crack of lightning strikes in the distance, shining an eerie light over Alec's angry face.

"You're making things very difficult for me Renesmee," he growls. This growling voice is much different than the one he used before. His voice has gone from a seductive growl to a menacing one.

"If I am going to be returning to Volterra, it will be as your prisoner, not as your lover." I vow, glaring up at him.

"I really don't want to have to do that. If you can just realize the possibilities that lie waiting for you with the Volturi, I won't have to."

I stare at him evenly, refusing to so much as blink. He finally sighs in exasperation. "Fine, but remember that you made me do this."

Alec lunges at me with the lethality of a cobra. I instinctively roll out of the line of fire, almost as if this is a wrestling match with Emmett or Jasper. Alec is dazed when he looks down and sees himself covered in mud and me not in his arms, as if the last thing he ever expected was for me to be able to evade a single one of his moves. Honestly I'm pretty surprised myself. But not surprised enough to sit there like an idiot staring at myself like him. I am up and running before he has time to register that I am gone.

At first my mind tells me to run to La Push but then I remember that the Volturi don't have some treaty with the wolves that would stop him from entering their lands. And bringing the most menacing power on the Volturi to the pack would only end in young, naive wolves getting killed.

I begin to head for the main house but then I remember Aunt Rose and Leah. What if someone dies for me again? I'm sure Alec isn't the only one here, others were probably waiting in the trees.

I continue to run in the general direction of the main house but not heading straight for it. I can hear Alec pursuing me a ways back and even farther I can hear the sound of several more footsteps. I'd say there's about four of them. My family could take them, and I'm sure some of the pack is at my house for the party, but what if-

My thinking is cut short as I am suddenly stopped by an icy hand reaching out and grabbing my arm. My heart nearly goes into overdrive until I look over to see a familiar pair of topaz eyes staring in confusion at me.

"Renesmee, what are you doing?" Mom asks with a tone of worry.

"Mom, you need to put your shield up around everyone right now and run." I tell her with urgency. I feel the warm bubble of her shield go around my mind instantly.

"Run?" she questions until she registers the sound of footsteps in pursuit. Her doe-eyes widen. "Is it them?" she whispers, looking terrified.

I nod. "I can't let anyone else die for me, Mom. I just can't." I tell her as I unhook her fingers from around my wrist. Her eyes harden.

"Hell if you can't!" she cries, more riled than I've ever seen her. Suddenly, I'm in my mother's granite arms like a child as she runs towards the main house.

"Mom, please. They won't stop until they get me. You have to let me face them alone, maybe I can reason with them." I argue as I try to wiggle free of her grasp. I know there's no chance of reasoning but I also know that another death on my conscience will more than likely cause me a mental breakdown.

"We'll make them stop."

I've never seen my mom look so much like a warrior.

She all but crashes through the main doors and sets me down on wobbly legs. A dozen pairs of eyes fall upon us. I am drenched and covered in mud and grass and other debris and my tank top and shorts are tattered.

"The Volturi." Mom breathes as an explanation to the worried faces of my family, Jacob, Seth, Claire, and Quil. My legs give out and I sit on the floor, paralyzed with exhaustion and fear.

Quickly everyone is a blur of action. Jacob comes over and kneels next to me. He holds me in his arms and his warm body is a wonderful antidote to the chilling rain. "Are you okay?" he murmurs, kissing the top of my head.

"I hope." I reply in a whisper.

"I will never let anything happen to you." He vows quietly.

"I know." I kiss his lips for an immeasurable moment, conveying everything we can't put into words right now. He carries me over to the couch and lays me down.

"You have to stay here, okay? Don't try to be a hero. Just stay put. You're what they want. The safer we keep you, the easier it will be to get rid of them."

I want to tell Jacob that there is no way in hell that I am staying in the living room as my family and friends fight for my life out there but my lips can't seem to move as exhaustion begins to overcome me, a process I'm sure Jasper is helping speed along. With one last glimpse of my family preparing to go out and confront my former family, I succumb to the darkness.

Some amount of time later, my eyes open although my mind still feels asleep. Everything is blurry and too bright and my mind can't seem to comprehend what is going on.

A body is suddenly looming over me. Something in me vaguely registers the sound of Claire screaming for Quil. The body kneels down next to me and I recognize the cherubic face.

Frosty lips press against my burning hot forehead. My mind seems to be trying to decide whether to stay here or dive back into unconsciousness.

He winks at me and trails his fingers down the side of my face. "Goodbye, Renesmee. Forever." He whispers with a tone of finality. That same distant something in me that had registered Claire's screams now wonders if I should fear for my life.

But suddenly the blurry figure is gone.

I manage to whisper one last thing before slipping again into the dark. "Goodbye, Alec."