Chapter Twenty

It was as we trekked back that I heard it. A voice – unfamiliar and authoritative – drifted through the trees. I held out my arm, stopping the other two. In silence, I held a finger to my lips and pointed towards the clearing, where the voice was coming from. Adam had already heard, and his eyes widened in fear, however it wasn't until we were a little closer that Niamh could hear anything. I could sense from her continuous glances at me that she wanted to ask who they were, but I shook my head at her in warning as we edged closer. When we were downwind, about 200 metres away from the clearing, I stopped them again, but this time I pointed at the treetops. Leaving them wondering what I was doing, I leapt up into the tree, climbing to the top in moments. I perched on branches that wouldn't support a human, and tried to get a better vantage point over the clearing, which meant that I had to jump from tree to tree until I could see without being seen. The blazing fire was letting off a sickening stench, but the bodies of the nymphs were nowhere to be seen. I chewed my lips, trying to work out how they'd gotten rid of them. Even if they'd managed to get rid of the bodies, there would have still been blood to clean up, but the clearing was spotless. I made a mental note to ask them about it later. Right now, the Cullens looked a little busy. I could see Jasper, not far from the fire; the warm glow illuminating his features. The less graceful shape of Bella stood right up next to Edward, who seemed to be standing between her, the other Cullens and the strangers. Four hooded figures stood in a perfect line before the Cullens. There were three males and a female, who stood in the middle with a tight bun of blonde hair and bright red eyes. She was shorter than all of the males – almost two feet shorter than the gargantuan vampire on the end – but there was an air of authority about her. She was the one who had been talking, and from the displeased look in her brilliant red eyes, she can't have been saying anything good. But before I could wonder about their relationship with the Cullens, she suddenly stopped talking. I leaned a little closer, trying to figure out what was going on. At the same moment, Adam appeared over my shoulder, "What's going on?"

She may not have heard him, that is, if he hadn't fallen. The branch beneath his foot broke, unable to support his weight. He caught himself, of course, but the damage was done. My head whipped back to clearing, my hair fanning out behind in my speed, and my eyes met hers. Those blood red orbs penetrated into my soul with the strength of a thousand daggers. I managed to push Adam away from her view before the pain overwhelmed me completely. I slipped and fell, my limbs unable to support me, but Adam grabbed my wrist. The pain died as I fell out of her sight, but I looked up at him, "Let me go, Adam."

"What?" He asked, he face crumpling in confusion.

"She'll come here if she doesn't know that I fell. Let me go."

Adam stared at me for a moment, before releasing my wrist. I was thankful that this was Adam and not Jasper. I knew Jasper would never have let me go, even if he meant he was going to die. I fell through the trees, feeling like I hit every branch on the way down before I landed flat on my back. I could have landed properly, of course, but if those vampires had been watching, something told me to play along. Niamh was standing not to far away, and she stepped forward, her expression worried. I turned my head and met her eyes, "Run,"

She stopped, but she didn't need telling twice. She knew that I knew best, and besides, no matter how good our friendship was, she wasn't about to die for me. She disappeared into the woods as the vampire appeared at my side. His red eyes stared down at me, and his head twitched in an animalistic manner as he tried to figure me out. Above his head, I could see Adam poised in the branches. Thankfully, he didn't dare move. He'd only make things worse if he tried to attack this vampire.

"Hurry, Demetri. I'd like to meet this little eavesdropper," The girl's cruel voice drifted through the trees. The vampire, Demetri, swooped down on me, his stone arms slipping under my body as he picked me up.

"I can walk," I protested, but I purposely made my voice sound weak and pathetic. He looked down at me, surprised, before hazarding a glance in the direction of the clearing. His voice came almost too low and fast for me to hear in an attempt to keep the girl from hearing.

"I don't know what you are, but I know a human couldn't survive that fall. Your no vampire, I can hear your heartbeat. If I were you, I'd answer her questions politely."

I stared at him, but he looked away as he strode back towards the clearing. I noticed how his grey cloak flapped open, showing the intricately decorated, purple material on the inside, unlike the plain cloaks of the others. This marbled purple design covered the waistcoat he wore beneath the cloak too, whereas his scarf was a similar grey to the outside of the cloak and his trousers. His face was structured strangely, and about as vampiric as they came, with a white skin and sharp features. His hair was an unusual frosted bronze shade, and was pointed down the middle of his forehead, not dissimilar to Edward's do. Just from seeing him now, I knew that he was tall, and by being in his arms, I could feel that he was as lean and hard as a sword – physically his body was almost the same as Jasper's. I'd only given him a brief look-over, and we were in the clearing before I could analyze anything properly. I noticed Jasper tense from the corner of my eye, and I prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Demetri put me down in front of the Cullens, about two metres from the blonde girl. I managed to stand, but he put a hand on my back – as if restraining me, although I leaned on it heavily enough to make him think that I was still weak. "She isn't a vampire," Demetri told the girl. She cast him a look, and he immediately fell silent. Her large red eyes turned on me,

"Who are you?"

That excruciating pain came again, and even with Demetri's supportive hand, I collapsed. I tried, for Jasper's sake, to quieten my screams, but it was no use. The pain was worse than anything I'd ever felt, crippling me. I recoiled and writhed in unrestrained torture, my chest lifting from the ground as if my heart was being torn out whilst it still was beating. Only when I thought that I couldn't stand any more did it stop. I fell back to the ground, my eyes wet with tears of agony and my breathing ragged. I stared up at her, my expression both defiant and angry. I knew I should be acting weak, but there was no way she was getting away with that, "Bite me, you ugly little bitch."

The blonde girl's eyes widened in shock, and the two other males by her stepped forward, but she held out her arms, stopping them. "Get up," She commanded smoothly,

I stood without help from Demetri, who only stared at me. I was taller than the girl, and I tried to stand as strongly as I could. The girl tipped her head, evaluating me. My eyes, I was sure, were red with anger at what she'd done. "What are you?"

I stayed silent, already expecting the next wave of pain. It didn't make it any easier to bear though, and only with the girl's command did Demetri hold me up as I screamed in agony. I knew it was only a matter of time before Jasper did something. Demetri had an arm around my back with both his hands clasping a wrist each, so he encircled me in a stone prison. The pain was a screeching, unbearable feeling ricocheting up my spine, into my heart and reverberating in my skull.

"Stop, Jane."

Carlisle's voice broke through the pain, and the girl's eyes flicked to him as I panted - a sheen of cold sweat on my face - in Demetri's arms. He continued to hold me up, and I felt his red eyes search my face subtly, before looking back at Jane. "Maybe you will answer for her then," Jane said sweetly, her eyes cold.

"Her name is Morgana. She's a witch and an old friend of some members of our coven,"

I could tell by his answer that he didn't want to anger this girl, Jane, but in the same respect, he was hiding things from her. She looked back at me, "A witch. How...peculiar. Tell me, witch, what do you know of vampires?"

"Little. They...they don't interest me," I panted, hoping that I could play along with the 'innocent-witch' act still. Jane stared at me, a calculating look in her eye, but before she could say another word, Demetri spoke up,

"Aro will be most interested,"

"Indeed," The smaller, dark-haired boy on Jane's right agreed. He was watching me carefully, and I could still see the annoyance at what I'd said to Jane in his eyes. Jane looked at him, completely ignoring Demetri, "What say you, brother?" She encouraged, but I heard a threat in her words. However, her 'brother' – be that genetically, or a name they gave their allies – simply nodded at her, before looking at me again,

"Aro would be...unhappy, if we were to dispose of such a strange new being."

"I'm sure there are more where she came from, Alec," Jane argued, her voice as hard and cold as steel, "Besides, such a pathetic thing won't be of much interest to him. A play thing, maybe, but he need not know of her existence."

Her words seemed to reverberate around her trio of male escorts, and they all snapped to look at her. The huge vampire on the end warned with a deep voice, "Jane. Aro would be intrigued, and he would certainly want to know. Let him decide."

"Felix is right. And no matter how 'pathetic' she is, it would be a pity to waste such an exquisite example." Alec said, and a shiver ran down my spine, "I vote that she lives. For now,"

"This is not up for a vote, brother," Jane hissed, but I knew her break in cover meant she found herself defeated. She closed her eyes for a moment, before smiling at Carlisle, "Fine. But I refuse to travel with her now. I wish to go home quickly, not waste my time with pets," She gave me her best 'bitch-look' before looking back at the Cullens, "We shall return to pick up this witch when we check on your human," Her eyes flashed towards where Bella stood, and an unspoken agreement was almost tangible in the air, "I trust that you can look after them both until then,"

Her last words somehow sent a shiver of fright through me, but before I knew what was happening, Demetri, Jane, Alec and the colossal vampire – Felix, I think Alec said - on the end had disappeared, the only thing indicating their presence being a disturbance in the choking smoke pumping out of the fire. I blinked, frozen in place with shock. There was a moment of silence whilst what had happened sunk in. Carlisle walked over to me, and stood in front of my unmoving body, "Are you alright, Morgana?"

"Never better..." I murmured, and looked up at him. He looked stressed, but he smiled tiredly. I blew out shakily, "Who were they?"

"The Volturi. Vampire royalty, you might say."

"I just pissed off vampire royalty?"

He smiled crookedly, "Don't worry about it, Morgana. They'll lose interest soon enough,"

I could tell that he was lying, but he was doing it for my sake, so I smiled back again. Jasper walked over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder, a friendly gesture more than anything romantic. He was all too aware, like I was, of Alice's presence, though I was certain that she knew, "Jane's power is unpleasant, but there's no lasting damage."

I looked at him quickly, "Oh God...you could feel that too couldn't you? I'm sorry...I didn't realize-,"

He shook my apology off, and squeezed my shoulder, "Not like you I couldn't."

Carlisle cleared his throat, and looked past us at the family, "We should all head back home. Bella, I need to examine your arm so you should come. If you need to call Charlie, you can use our phone as always. Morgana, I may need to check you over too." He gave a pointed glance at the bite on my hand. I rubbed it consciously, but the sound of running feet made us all turn. Niamh and Adam were running towards us, and I didn't sense the danger until Edward hissed, and Adam froze – his eyes fixed on Bella.

Ah crap, can't I just have one second to relax?

...

Teehee, I had to put Demetri in there – he's awesome XD Jane's just divine right? *Rolls eyes*

Anyway, as always, please review! Come on, that Volturi cameo has at least got to earn one new reviewer! :D