Chapter 21 – The Past Returns
It was the early hours of the morning. The sky was becoming a pale gray. Chelsea left earlier to take home her prey. Bree, Rosalie and I were driving back to Volterra. Bree was fussing with the spots of blood in her clothes. Rosalie grimaced and looked at me, "Do you enjoy this?" I looked at her, "I do." It must be difficult for the Cullens to be around those who do feed on human blood, especially seeing me do it. Rosalie looked back to the road, "Bella, what's happen to you?" When will they realize I'm not the same person I was before?
The three of us came out of the elevator and walked through the hall of bedchambers, chattering lightly. Bree went off to her own, while Rosalie and I went to her chamber when the sound of quick feet approached us. Chelsea came towards us and she was angry. Before I could ask what was wrong, her hand flashed up and slapped my face, knocking me down, "How dare you?"
Rosalie held Chelsea's wrists and pushed her away, "What are you doing?" Door opened as spectators came out to see the scene. Emmett helped me up and Felix held Chelsea against a wall, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He was ready to defend me. No one was allows to lay their hands on me like that. Chelsea bared her teeth, "She's cheating on you!" My body went hollow and ice ran through me. Rosalie and I looked at each other. Chelsea snarled the words, "Felix, I just saw her kissing Edward Cullen." My brows furrowed, "Wait, what?" I hadn't seen Edward since yesterday.
Felix's hand was clamped on her shoulder, keeping her pinned, "You're lying!" Rosalie looked as perplexed as I did, "No, she wasn't. She was with me." Chelsea hissed, "You would do anything to protect your brother! I saw them together!" My eyes widened, "No, Rosalie and I were together. We just got back with Bree." Chelsea fought against Felix's hold as she glared at me, but Felix moved to stand in her line of sight, "Bugiardo!"(Liar) she spat at me, "You heard me and quickly came down here and told Edward to stay away." "No, she didn't." Edward's voice came from behind everyone. He looked as perplexed as I did. Chelsea bared her teeth, "Just admit you and Bella are having an affair. I just saw you with her." His eyes widened as they fell on me.
"He wasn't with her. He was with me," an unfamiliar voice came from behind Edward. The sounds of shoes sounded on the marble floor, along with the swishing of stocking. She was hidden behind him, then stepped out. My eyes widened at the woman with Edward. She smiled at everyone, but her smile disappeared when she looked at me. Her eyes took in my face and mine did the same. She looked exactly like me. The dark hair contrasting with the pale skin, along with the crimson eyes. The same full, uneven lips set in the heart-shaped face. Her eyes turned in another direction, "Felix!" She flashed and wrapped her arms around his neck. My foot took one step, then Emmett and Jasper held my arms as I tried to move closer. Felix let her down on her feet, "Helena!"
Helena pressed her lips to Felix's. Emmett and Jasper's strengths weren't enough to stop me as I leapt on her back and pulled off Felix. The woman's body flew down the hall, crashing loudly. She took down a decorative table as she landed. She got to her feet quickly, "Who the hell are you and why do you look like me? And how dare you come between me and my fiancé!" Felix held my arms and I snarled at her, "He's not your fiancé. He's my husband!" My body locked into place against his hard frame.
Edward stood near me, "Bella, stop!" Felix's hand moved my waist, trying to stop me. "Enough!" Aro, Caius and Marcus surveyed the scene. Helena stood, breathing heavily. Aro's head looked back and forth, "Felix and Edward, please bring these lovely ladies to the main chamber." Felix didn't release me as everyone left. Anger still rolled off me. In my life, I never felt such anger. I wanted to tear her to pieces.
Jasper went with us to the antechamber, to keep the atmosphere calm. Aro, Caius and Marcus called the room to order. Helena stood in the center of the room, while everyone else stayed to the sides. This was her interrogation. Helena looked around the room. When she looked at me, her eyes narrowed, as did mine.
"Helena, what brings you to Volterra?" She looked straight ahead to face Aro, "I came to see if Felix was really alive. I was in Venice during Carnivale and I saw him. I didn't think it was him. I thought he died centuries ago at the university. But I saw him wearing the Volturi emblem. I didn't know he was married." She sneered the word, turning her head slowly towards me. My eyes met her with my own glare. Felix took my hand and held the back of it against his chest. Aro looked at us, "Well, there seemed to be some confusion."
Aro turned towards me, "Bella, could you come closer?" Reluctantly, I went to stand next to Helena. She and I face each other, our faces similarly angry. "This is remarkable," Aro whispered, "If I did not know either of you, even I would not be able to tell you apart." With a frustrated sigh, my body turned to face Aro. What was he going to do? From the expression on his face, he was enjoying this too much.
Aro stepped closer, "Helena, may I have your story?" She looked at him perplexed. He held out his hand to her and she placed her own in his. The room fell silent. Helena eyed Aro while he held her hand. She didn't know what was going on. Aro's head slowly lifted, his eyes looking pass Helena. On Helena's other side, Edward came forward. "You could not tell the difference?" Aro asked with wonder in his voice
Edward shook his head, "No, which is quite shocking." Felix snorted arrogantly and I looked at him. Aro stepped back up on the raised floor, his hands clasped together. When Aro was this silent, it was a dangerous thing. He was plotting.
"This is of interesting turn of events. Bella is the doppelganger of Helena." My arms folded, "That maybe so, but I would like to know why Edward couldn't hear her thoughts?" Helena smiled, "I'm over 500 years old, child. I can silence my mind. Edward's not the first mind reader I've encountered. My lips pulled back from my teeth when she called me 'child.' I wanted to kill her. "My creator and mentor, Louis taught me to quiet my mind and hide my secrets. Now, I do it all the time when I am around other vampires."
Aro nodded, "Louis was a good mentor to you. He taught you well. However, they only work on those like Edward. Those who can hear minds from afar." Aro nodded his head to me. I walked away to stand next to Felix again. Felix took my hand and kissed my palm. Staggering breath came from behind me. Something sharp suddenly hit the outside of my shield. The sharp feeling was getting stronger. Felix and I stood together as the attack continued. No one knew of the sharp feelings that were hitting me while Aro spoke with Helena.
My eyes winced as the sharpness continued to increase. Pain was creeping up against my shield. It felt like a thousand knives hitting me all at once. The knives were eating away at my shield and the elasticity was fading. The last of the knives got through and I fell to my knees screaming. My hands clutched at the sides of my head from the searing pain. My ears were muffled from the shocked voice of Felix, "Bella! Bella, what is it?" My screams were piercing, "Make it stop!"
My eyes were clinched shut, "It hurts! Please make it stop!" Arms held me from writhing on the floor. My screams increased as the pain grew. This pain was worse than the burn of the venom. The ringing increased in my ears, almost destroying them. It felt like blood should be coming out of my ears from this pain. This was so unbearable that I wanted to die. The knives stabbed me over and over, unrelenting and vicious. They felt worse than the burn of the venom and the feel of fire. I screamed again, hoping for my pain to end.
Suddenly the pain stopped and my body fell limp as I gasped for air. My head collapsed onto Felix's chest. My breath was quick as another scream filled the room. I looked up to see Helena falling to the floor, screaming. She was clutching at Edward's arm as he held her. Jane was in the room and staring at Helena. She nodded to me, then her eyes darted back to the writhing woman on the floor. It was Helena who was hurting me. Helena's screamed stopped. She clutched at her arm as I pushed my shield over her, leaving only her arm exposed. "My arm! My arm burns!" She banged it on the floor, trying to dull the pain away.
Felix looked at me, but my eyes were fixed on Helena, pulling my shield slowly away from her, letting other parts of her body feel the burn. She writhed and screamed. "Jane, Bella, enough!" Helena sighed as Jane stopped, but that wasn't enough for me. I wanted her to burn. I pushed my shield through Jane's mind and expanded it over Helena. She screamed again as my shield pushed Jane's ability over her body. Helena rolled across the floor from the pain.
Edward pleaded at me with his eyes, but it wasn't enough to stop me. Aro looked at Jane but she shook her head, "Master, it's not me." Eyes fell on me while I still looked at Helena. "Bella, stop!" It was said to me over and over, but I ignored them. I wanted her to suffer. I wanted Helena to know that I could hurt her too. Two hands held my face, turning it away from my victim, "Bella!" Crimson eyes were all I saw. My shield snapped back, with the recoil almost stinging. My shield was weakened from Helena's attack. I won't use it for a while.
Helena exhaled and was still for a moment. Edward helped her up as she gasped for air. Felix stood me up, holding me to his chest. Aro looked at me and Helena, "Painful, but interesting. Helena, what did you do?" She exhaled and looked up, "That is what I can do." She sucked in a long breath. Aro nodded, "May you try it on me?" She eyed him, "Are you sure?" He nodded and readied himself. His eyes pinched as Helena turned her gift on him.
He sighed and held his head. Aro was silent while he looked at her, "That was interesting. Not as strong as Jane's, but quite penetrating. No one was ever been able to affect Bella as you did." Aro looked at me, "Now, I'm curious. Bella, how were you able to hurt Helena?" I still felt disorientated from Helena's attack, "I pushed my shield through Jane's mind. It carried her ability over Helena." Aro smiled brightly, "Your shield has more potential than I ever imagined."
After learning about Helena's story, she was invited to stay in Volterra. This was bad. I wanted her to leave. She wanted Felix for herself. She was to me what Edward was to Felix. Helena smiled, "I would love to stay. It would give me time to catch up with Felix." His hand held mine as we left the main antechamber. Thinking about it, I realized that this was my punishment.