A/N: Sorry for the delay. I hope this makes up for it!

Bella POV

I awoke to a severe feeling of déjà vu.

I was in a room I had not seen for a couple of weeks, still dressed in the clothes from the night before. I didn't think I had gone home with someone. It certainly didn't feel like it.

The touch of silver at my wrists increased my awareness of the situation I was in. I pulled at the restraints to find that these were not the feeble handcuffs used in bondage. They were the real deal. Sterling silver, made to endure. I looked up to see three very familiar figures staring, their eyes like rubies that had lost their value. All the life had been sucked out of them – leaving heartless and soulless creatures in its wake.

Aro rose from his throne. "Isabella, how kind of you to join us."

I snorted. "Believe me, you're the only one getting any pleasure out of it."

He didn't falter. "Now now my dear, there is no need for that. Not for old friends."

I was barely fifteen the first time I visited the Volturi. After returning from visiting Forks and Charlie I once again joined Beth and Faye on their nightly ventures. They were having a difficult time tracking a Vampire. We knew it was only one because we had had many near misses in the past. He had a penchant for torture and always left a string of corpses to mark his territory. He was either careless or arrogant that he would never be caught.

My thoughts remained favourable towards the latter.

I can remember experiencing a strong sensation of cold before I was thrust into the darkness. I woke up blindfolded and gagged, chained to a table. It was rough against my skin. There was a dampness surrounding me that could only be blood. It was sticky and sickly-sweet. Just like liquorice. It reminded me of him.

Minutes turned to hours.

Hours to days.

Days to weeks.

I know now that I was a month in his company, before he decided that he was ready to change me. I had endured his tests and was now deemed suitable as his mate. Throughout my captivity, he continued to hunt, often bringing his prey back. Perhaps he meant to accustom me to the smell of it.

To this day I cannot stand the smell or taste of blood.

The pain of transformation was excruciating but part of me welcomed it. I was no stranger to pain. It reminded me that I was still able to feel.

I remember waking up to his face. He might have been a handsome man but for the scent of neglect and corruptness emitting from his body. He took my hand in his.

"Come, my Isabella. The world awaits us."

The smell of blood slapped me in the face. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. I rushed out with him snapping at my heels. He grabbed me and held me close. Then there was the blackness. The next time I saw the sunlight, we had left America for Italy. He wanted to introduce me to his friends. They sat in their thrones as I was presented to them.

"Ah, Francoise, it has been too long. But what is this?"

"Isn't she beautiful? She's my mate."

The one called Marcus gave a tired, "Congratulations old friend."

Aro looked almost concerned. "The poor thing is hungry. Jane, be a dear and have someone order our dinner."

Caius's grin was grim. He stared at me. "Now that you mention it, I'm rather peckish myself. Jane, would you do the honours."

Three tourists were brought in to the chamber, never to leave again. I watched as they were set upon by the vultures. In the mist of bloodlust, he didn't notice my escape. I ran from Volterra and its cruel masters. Having no money with me, I snuck on to the baggage hold of a plane, bound for America. Then I ran, hunting for Beth and Faye.

I found them, hunting and compelled them to kill me. My body was thrown into a pit of fire. The flames wrapped around me but I felt frozen. There was no pain to be suffered.

No fear to feel.

No doubt to burden me.

I was nothing...

My sanctuary had run its course.

Once again, I was taken by Vampires. Alex and Demetri, loyal guards of the Volturi had snatched me away and brought me to Aro. The last time I saw him, he had been unable to recognise me in my less than Vampire state. I stood before him now.

Caius joined his brother in his assessment of me, Marcus following close behind. "You are not so beautiful as before but yes, you are she."

"We did not have much time before but I'm sure that we can remedy that, despite the time lapse."

"Why am I here Aro?"

"I fear that time has run out, dear one."

Caius was triumphant. "The Cullens have shown themselves to be less than the obedient vampires they made out to be."

Marcus whispered, "You were such a beautiful creature."

The Volturi began circling me, like the predators they were. The doors were guarded. Jane, Alex and Demetri watched in delight as the lions pounced on the lamb. Their teeth pierced my skin and all I could feel was the venom, rushing through my veins. Killing all my hope and free will. Destroying any secret desire I had of a normal life.

Unbeknownst to them, the Isabella they had sought to recreate had never left me. I kept her hidden away from the world, only for her to resurface in times of need. This time, the transformation was much quicker. I opened my eyes to a new world.

"There, you see my brothers; I knew how it would be."

"She is magnificent." Aro admired my form.

"How do you feel, dear one?"

"Strange. As if waking from a dream."

Aro clapped his hands together. "Poetic as well, well done. I wonder, when you last came with the Cullens, you proved resistant to Jane's powers. Jane, come here."

Aro placed me in the centre of the room. Jane faced me and concentrated. I felt the waves of her gift approach me, only to rebound. Almost as though there was a shield, separating us. Aro was delighted and even Marcus and Caius cracked their ice-cold control.

I felt the power exude from Caius. He almost smiled. "Wonderful. You will make a powerful addition to our side."

"I don't think so."

The room went silent.

"No? You dare to refuse us?"

"Selfish girl, we made you."

"Calm now brothers. It seems that Isabella is determined to deny us of her company. That is a shame. However, perhaps you need some time to rethink your options."

It took most of the guard to drag me from the room. I was thrown into the lift and taken to the dungeons. They cast me in irons and slammed the doors. Jane was the last to leave.

"You would do well to reconsider Aro's proposition. Many would die to receive such an honour!"

"It's a shame that they had to die to get such an offer."

Jane was stumped. Clearly no-one argued back with the pint sized demon.

The door thumped behind her. Once more, I was trapped by vampires. I was far from home and family. I would probably never see them again. I felt a sudden longing for home. It was clear as day in my head. Charlie's house, prominent in my mind. It was the only place I felt safe, other than the woods, where the pack stood guard over their friends and imprints.

The day after the car crash, I woke to a world where I was an orphan. The emptiness was all consuming and I was lost. I wanted to die. Without them I had no life. It was then that I made my first suicide attempt. I grabbed the closest thing to hand and stabbed my chest. The doctors found me and brought me back to life. When I was deemed physically better, one of the doctors brought me to his home, for one-to-one psychiatric counselling.

He taught me that in order to heal, I had to learn to feel again. In the night, he would tuck me in to bed and read me a story. The stories were all about princesses and heroes on white horses. They would slay the dragon or the troll and rescue their lady-loves. The lady would be so grateful that she married him and they spent the rest of their lives in marital bliss.

Every night, he would ask me if I wanted to be healed. At first I didn't understand. He said that he was a prince with healing hands. Those same hands rubbed all over my body. They were light and caressing at first but as the nights passed, his hands stayed longer. The grip became tighter, more brutal. I froze as he removed our clothes and settled himself under the covers. We were skin to skin. His hot breath blew through my hair. He kissed my chest, his tongue lingering in the little pink peaks as his hand travelled lower.

I ignored the coarseness of his hands. The fullness of his lips on mine. His tongue demanded entry and his fingers danced below. Clawing for some pleasure spot that was hidden inside. He searched, becoming more aggressive until he tore into me.

He shook all over and he wouldn't stop plunging, each time he went deeper inside me. Afterwards, he would collapse inside me and I lay trapped underneath him.

It had all begun on the day of my birthday. I was eleven years old.

During the day, I immersed myself in the books my school had sent me. He had told them that I wasn't well enough to return to the one place I belonged and they believed him. After the first time, he would bring me flowers after work. Their bright shades mocked me. He would place them in my room and each night, he traced petals over my body. He insisted on bringing me gifts, spending hundreds. I was the luckiest girl in the world.

That's what I told myself, the day I snuck into his liquor cabinet. I glugged down the bourbon kept for special occasions. I choked on the vodka and ignored the burning of my chest. I pulled out bottle after bottle, wanting to drown out the world. The room was spinning and a floated on a cloud of serenity.

They found me lying in a pool of alcohol and I was removed from his care. My stomach was pumped and I had to undertake a course of psychiatric treatment, in the hospital. It took a long time but I convinced them that I was cured and ready for school in September.

In the meantime, I spent the summer catching up on my work and recuperating in a house specially set up for troubled children. That's how I was branded.

Troubled.

I guess I embraced that title.