Disclaimer: I am NOT Stephenie Meyer. Hell, my name doesn't even resemble hers. And further more…

A/N: I am excited to give you guys this chapter so I will keep this Author's Note short and just let you read already!

TOOT-TOOT! (Train whistle) All aboard the rollercoaster I call GIA! Strap yourselves in really tight and hold on to your valuables and loved ones. This is going to be one hell of a ride.

Indulge Your Curiosity, Loves, with CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE!

Disclaimer: I am NOT Stephenie. Hell, my name doesn't even resemble hers. And further more…

A/N: I am excited to give you guys this chapter so I will keep this Author's Note short and just let you read already!

TOOT-TOOT! (Train whistle) All aboard the roller coaster I call GIA! Strap yourselves in really tight and hold on to your valuables and loved ones. This is going to be one hell of a ride.

Indulge Your Curiosity, Loves, with CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE!

"The winner takes all
Its the thrill of one more kill
the last on to fall will never sacrifice their will
don't ever look back on the world closing in
be on the attack with your wings on the wind
Oh, the games will begin."

--"Sweet Victory" by David Glen

Chapter Twenty-Three

BPOV

A loud crashing noise—not unlike the one that I had heard in my dream—came from the floor right below my room. And, right then, I knew where this was going and how it would end.

Fate was calling and I was going to answer.

I pulled myself out of my bed, my heart thrumming with anticipation, as I raced across my room, throwing my door open with such force that the knob made a large, gaping hole in the sheetrock.

I was not wasting any time dallying around, observing holes in walls that I didn't care about when, for all I know, Aro could be killing the Cullens.

I wouldn't put it past the old bastard.

Of course he would have waited until I was asleep to turn on me. I bet that if I hadn't woken up, that he would have told me, in the morning, that the Cullens had simply gone home and left me, not wanting anything to do with me.

Bull shit.

I hated Aro with every fiber of my being.

With that thought racing though my overactive mind, I pushed my legs faster and harder than they had ever gone before, the muscles burning with the force of the exertion I was forcing upon them.

I made it down to the hall in record time, skidding around the corner and bounding down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, not caring that I was dangerously close to slipping and breaking my neck.

But right now, I could not give a fuck about my well being when the ones I loved lives were in jeopardy.

Why couldn't I run faster?

I cursed my legs as I propelled myself off of the last flight of stairs, skipping over at least five steps in the process; but who was counting?

I felt the adrenaline course thick through my over-worked veins as I pushed my body to its limits, rounding the last corner that would lead me to the large oak doors that led to the turret room.

Through that room, I knew that there would be only one door between me and the Execution room.

The room where Alice said I was going to die.

But if it would save the Cullens and Edward, I would do it. Self-preservation be damned.

I slowed down when I reached the large doors leading to the turret room. I wasn't entirely sure why I was slowing down, but something told me to not rush into this without assessing the situation first.

I pushed the heavy doors of the turret room open, taking in the silence that surrounded me. It was deafening.

The first thing I noticed was the fact that the entire room was empty; something that was a very rare occurrence. I realized that I hadn't even seen anyone on my way here. But, then again, I wasn't really paying much attention to my surroundings.

I looked across the room and my eyes caught on the huge white door looming in front of me. I knew where it lead to and I knew what I had to do; I just couldn't kick the intense jitters I was experiencing just from looking at the damn door.

I sucked in a breath; digging deep for some much needed courage, as I began the seemingly endless trek across the room.

My heart was beating at a dangerous speed, thumping out its disjointed, staccato beats in a way that caused my head to swim dizzyingly, to the point where I felt borderline nauseous.

But I couldn't dwell on that now. No, not now.

I pushed past the uncomfortable sense of foreboding that had worked its way into my stomach, sending butterflies fluttering through out my already unsettled stomach. With every step I took towards the white marble door at the opposite end of the turret room, the butterflies grew more and more intense.

I was still taking my time when another loud thump, like the ones I had heard from my room, reverberated across the walls, startling me into action.

My body reacted before my mind could think things through.

My feet were running towards the door, yanking on it with all of my might but it was locked.

I started yelling out profanities at every single member of the Volturi that I had ever wanted to cuss out before while ramming my shoulder into the unrelenting solidity of the door. And let me tell you, my cussing must have been pretty colorful because before I could get through damning Aro to hell, the door was flung open, a pale white hand flashing out to meet my thrashing, overly anxious body, and pulled me inside, throwing me, head first, across the room at a break-neck speed.

I was able to turn myself in the air at the so that I wouldn't hit the wall face first.

As I made impact, my back cracking loudly against the pristine white marble of the Execution room, I felt the room fade in and out as I teetered precariously on the edge of consciousness.

And one little tap would send me over.

"Bella!" I heard an angel yell from my side.

I looked over to see all of the Cullens standing in a perfect little line with their backs against the walls.

I wondered what was keeping them there, but I didn't have to wonder for long, for as I looked around them, I saw almost every single member of the Volturi guard poised and ready to attack, just mere feet from the Cullens.

I wanted to scream out.

I wanted to save them from the impending danger.

But I felt like I couldn't move, I could barely form a coherent thought as my head throbbed with an unyielding pain that started in my lower back and worked its way up my spinal cord, to the crown of my head.

Everything hurt and I didn't think I would last much longer with this amount of pain.

But then, a small, insignificant memory tugged at the back of my mind, fighting to come to the front of my mind.

I looked at this memory, realizing that it was Alice's previous vision of me dying. When she had drawn it out, it had shown me being attacked by a black blur before it but out.

And more importantly, I was standing.

I felt weak, but I knew that I was close enough to a few of the guard members to be able to siphon off enough energy from each of them that it would go unnoticeable, but still revive me enough to get off the ground.

I closed my eyes and let my head loll slightly to the side to give off the appearance that I was unconscious, but really I was focusing on the energy signs I could feel all around me.

I picked on the guard closest to me, some guy name Mortimer or something like that, and I pulled a very small amount of his strength from him. He didn't seem to notice the slight drain, but I could definitely feel the difference.

I did the same thing to four more vampires before I felt that I had recouped enough to stand and function with a minimal amount of pain. It would still hurt like a bitch but it would be worth it.

For the Cullens.

Everything I do is always for the Cullens. They deserve my help in any way I can give it to them.

I opened my eyes, as I let my newly heightened senses readjust to the room around me.

I could hear Edward off to my side yelling at no one in particular and the cracking of Emmett's knuckles as he glared menacingly at Demitri who was crouched just three feet from Emmett's huge, looming figure.

Alice had a far away look in her eyes as she scanned our futures. That much was expected.

The one thing that surprised me was Rosalie.

She was standing next to Emmett, her glare even more vicious than her husband's. But it wasn't directed at Demitri. No, hers was directed at Aro.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" She screeched as she took a step forward, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Are you trying to kill her? I thought that she was the best of your best."

When she took another step forward, I noticed her sneak a glance at me quickly before focusing her drop-dead glare on Aro again.

I understood exactly what she was doing.

A diversion.

I stood up carefully, taking my time to ensure that I didn't make any noise. But as I crept closer, summoning all of my strength, preparing to take Aro's head off in one swift motion, I was headed off by a few of Aro's most devout guard members. They quickly formed a semi-circle around Aro's tense form while Demitri snuck up behind me and grabbed me by the arms, pulling me back so that I was firmly locked into his iron grasp.

Lady Luck had abandoned me in this time of need.

"Let her go! This has nothing to do with her!" Edward yelled, as he futilely struggled to get around the thick mass of the guards and over to me.

"This has nothing to do with her?" Caius countered, sauntering over to where the Cullens were being detained.

"She is human this is no place for her." Edward argued hotly as he clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly. From my spot in the room, I could faintly see the muscles of his tense jaw working with his frustration and anger.

I knew that if I didn't find a way to calm him soon that he would do something rash and outlandish. Typical Edward.

"Au contraire, my friend," Caius chuckled darkly as he paced around safely behind the lines of his guard. "She knows of our secrets and where we reside at. And, quite frankly, she is ridiculously powerful and I can only hope that her powers intensify with her change."

"You are going to change her against her will?" Rosalie sneered, turning her fiery gaze upon Caius.

"It was our plan all along." Aro claimed as he walked over to stand next to Caius, a sullen Marcus following a few feet behind him.

"You mean that you were never intending on respecting my wishes?" I scoffed.

"Yes, well, we were going to wait until you were older seeing as Aro wanted you for himself, but now that our plans have been exposed, why wait? Plus Aro would look dashing with a young bride on his arm. It is always a boost to a man's ego to be able to draw the attention of a younger girl." Caius spoke as though he was reading a grocery list.

I was pissed.

The fucking bastards.

And judging by the intense growls coming from the Cullen's, so were they.

"If you would ever believe that I would come willingly to you as your bride, mate or what-not, you are sadly mistaken." I spat at Aro's pompousness.

"But you would have no choice because, my dear, I have power over you." Aro argued, never breaking his calm, nonchalant demeanor.

"You know, they say with age comes wisdom. But I think that after you get old enough, you lose that wisdom." I shot at him, trying to wound his pride, knowing that was the only way he was going to retaliate.

"Why do you say that, my love?" Aro smiled a wickedly sickening smile that made my stomach twist unpleasantly. I hated that he called me love because only Edward had that right.

"Because you are pretty damn stupid." I stated flatly, not caring if he had some witty retort or not. I just wanted to sit here and berate him for every idiotic thing he had ever done since I had met him.

"You are pushing your luck, Bella." Aro warned, as I started struggling against Demitri's arms. But the stony arms were unrelenting.

Aro wandered over to the Cullens and straight over to where Edward was being held by Felix and three other guard members.

"Edward, I do believe that I would like your point of view on this. You are, after all, the reason for Bella ending up here, are you not?" Aro smiled as he rolled his long black sleeves up to his elbows.

Edward's head hung slightly and nodded, agreeing with Aro's outrageous accusations.

"No, Edward, you are not the reason I am here. Don't blame it on yourself." I tried to convince Edward but I knew that he wouldn't listen.

"Let's see if he believes you, my dear heart." Aro called from across the room, before he reached out and—skin to skin—grabbed Edward's neck, accessing his thoughts.

This was bad. This was really bad. This was incredibly shitty the-most-terrible-scenario-possible bad.

The main thing that the Cullens had told me that they were trying to keep a secret from the Volturi was their incredible powers. And now all of their work to protect their secrets was for naught.

I couldn't help but feel as though I had let them down.

"Ha ha ha!" Aro chortled as he withdrew his hand from Edward's tense neck. "That is… incredible!"

Definitely not good at all.

"Carlisle, my dear old friend," Aro exclaimed as he walked over to where Carlisle was visibly fuming next to Esme. "Why did you keep this from me? All of this power in such an irregular coven. I knew there was some secret behind your strength!"

"I assure you, Aro, I did it simply for…" Carlisle began but was cut off by Aro's unnervingly happy voice.

"…For the safety of your family because you were worried that I would get power hungry and try to assimilate your coven's power-houses." Aro concluded with a wave of his hand.

Carlisle simply blinked; stunned.

"I listened to the conversation through the memory of your first changed." Aro stated simply.

"Of course." Carlisle sighed.

"Think of all of the potential that you have at your fingertips, friend! Emotions, thoughts, and the future… it is incredible! Think, if we worked together, what we could accomplish." Aro's eyes took on a far away look that I had only seen once before: when he was contemplating whether or not to kill the wolves and me when he first found me in Forks. He had been so overwhelmed by my power that he had only thoughts of my potential and what it would mean for him in his head.

"No, Aro, I will not turn my family over to you." Carlisle said, his cool, calm demeanor unwavering.

"Family? How… quaint." Aro started walking around the Cullens, looking them over. I could tell that his patience was running thin but I couldn't seem to catch Carlisle's eye to let him know not to push Aro any harder.

"I wonder what would happen if I were to—oh, I don't know—take away a unit of your family? How strong would you be, friend?" Aro hissed as he continued to circle, casually looking over each of the Cullens as they stood still as the stones they were.

I glanced over and Edward's golden eyes met mine instantly.

"I love you," was all he mouthed at me. And I knew that he didn't need to say more. I could see it in his eyes.

I simply nodded and mouthed the word right back at him, which caused a huge grin to spread across his face. No matter the fact that we could die in a few minutes, we were still blissfully lost in our little world. It was our escape.

"You never answered me Carlisle. How would you react if I took away a facet of your family? What would you do?" He teased.

Carlisle stayed quiet, refusing to dignify Aro's question with an answer.

"Well, let's see, shall we?" Aro laughed again, turning away from the Cullens.

Aro walked over to me, running a cold, unwelcome finger across my forehead and down the side of my face, continuing down the side of my neck until he was tracing my collarbone.

"Such a beautiful girl." Aro murmured, running both of his hands across my cheeks, making me feel violated. "You will make a stunning vampire my sweet." Aro purred as he leaned in, pressing his lips to my neck.

I was shaking with fear that he was going to bite me right now. I didn't want to be his wife like he was saying earlier, I didn't want to be stuck with him forever, and I just wanted Edward and the Cullens.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Edward kept screaming, as he fought against the multiple vampires holding him back.

It was obvious that the Cullens were outnumbered here and I was too weak to do anything to save them.

"Awe, listen to that Bella. Little Edward Cullen still cares for you! Do you care for him?" Aro breathed in my ear, making me shiver in fear.

"Yes." I whispered.

"What was that?"

"Yes damn it!" I yelled in Aro's face, making him take a step back.

"How unfortunate." Aro sighed, motioning for Marcus to come over.

Marcus shuffled over to Demitri—who was still restraining me—Aro and I. "Yes Aro?" He mumbled, not meeting anyone's eyes.

Curiously, Edward ceased growling but I pushed that to the back of my mind as Aro spoke.

"I want you to take Bella from Demitri and make sure she doesn't get lose. I need Demitri to do something for me."

Marcus simply nodded as he walked behind me, getting a firm grasp on my upper arms before Demitri released me and walked over to Aro.

"Excellent! Now, Demitri, here is what I want you to do." Aro smiled. "I want Bella as mine, and I cannot have that if there are any…obstacles. Do you understand?" When Demitri nodded gleefully, I instantly became worried. "I want you to kill Edward."

"Now?" Demitri asked hopefully.

"Now." Aro agreed.

"NO, NO, NO!" I screeched, thrashing even more violently against the restraining arms that held me in place. "Do NOT kill him you vile bastard!"

"Well… when you put it that way… now Demitri." He commanded, a twisted smile taking over his papery features.

"No!" I continued screaming as Demitri made his way over to a very compliant Edward.

What the hell was that about?

All of the Cullens were yelling at various people around, begging them to stop or to try to solve this problem peacefully. Or, in Emmett's case, he was grabbing the vampire closest to him and quickly dismantling him in an attempt to take out some of their guard members.

I could barely see through my tears and all I could hear was my screams and pleading for Aro to stop but I could still feel the stony arms around me.

I felt a hand reach out and pry one of my fists off of Marcus' arm and drag in behind me, pressing it to Marcus' chest.

I turned my head slightly, noticing that it was Marcus who was pressing my hand against his chest.

"Find my Mark, Bella. Save those that you love." He whispered into my ear only loud enough for me to hear.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, I don't want you to lose your reason for living. I know how hard it is to live through that." Marcus explained quietly.

When I sent him a questioning look, he shook his head slightly and pressed my hand against the side of his neck where I could feel the slightly raised scar of his bite mark.

"Now is not the time, dear child. Quickly." He commanded.

I smiled gratefully at him before quickly closing my eyes and following the pull of his power to the spot directly over his heart. The only difference between his mark and that of the Cullen's was that his had nothing attached to it; no other person to share the strength with.

I easily pulled most of his power, not wanting to drain him completely so that he could still put up a fight if necessary.

When I opened my tear brimmed eyes, I shot Marcus a watery, thankful smile before breaking away from his grip, tearing quickly though the throng of vampires between me and Demitri.

My heart was still pounding, as I feared that I wouldn't get across the room in time.

But, thankfully, I managed to get across the room in the matter of as second and launch myself in front of Edward, in between him and Demitri's approaching form.

"Stay back." I commanded, looking Demitri dead in the eye.

"I have an order that I fully intend of fulfilling, Bella. Do not get in my way." He warned any remnants of the man that I used to call friend was gone.

I realized that I might only have one ally in this room besides the Cullens and myself.

Damn.

Demitri took another heavy step forwards, swiftly approaching where I was crouched at, protecting Edward.

"I said to stay back!" I yelled again, hoping to get the point across.

"And I told you no." Demitri countered.

When he took another step forwards, I acted upon instinct, throwing up my shield at full force, slamming everyone around me into the walls surrounding me.

"I told you to stay back. If you would have just listened when I told you the first time, you would not be in this situation right now." I sneered, walking right over to Demitri's confined form as he flailed about in a hopeless fight against my shield.

"You think I would listen to you?" He mocked. "You are beneath me."

"Fuck you." I spit directly in Demitri's eye and turned away from him, sauntering back to the middle of the room.

I was almost to the center of the room when, of course, I slipped and fell on my butt in front of everyone.

I always hated the oxymoron that my name was because Bella Swan was certainly no swan.

I heard a muffled laughing noise coming from my right, causing me to whip my head around, my eyes connecting with Caius' cold ruby eyes.

"You think that is funny?" I asked, with acid dripping from my every word as I stood up and walked towards Caius.

"Yes, I actually do." He stated, having the audacity to laugh right in my face.

I blinked once and I saw red.

I could feel the power flowing directly to my fingertips and I reached out and placed a hand on Caius' chest.

"I'll show you funny." I spat at him before quickly finding his Mark and draining him of every ounce of his power and strength. "Do you find that funny? Because I don't hear you laughing anymore."

"Nuh-n-nn…" He mumbled incoherently.

"Here is something for you to laugh at." I chuckled darkly before reaching out and doing the same thing I did to Victoria all those years ago.

I planted a foot on the wall behind Caius and a hand against his shoulder before I grabbed onto his forearm and pulled. Hard.

I closed my eyes as I pulled against the hard stone of Caius' arm. It only took a second before I felt the joints weakening and giving away to my pulling.

I gave one last tug before a sickening crack echoed throughout the room.

And everything was silent.

Well… it was silent for about two seconds before Caius started screaming bloody murder, cursing my and yelling about his arm—which I was still holding.

I couldn't resist the opportunity, so I got a firm grasp on the disembodied arm and slapped Caius across the face with it, knowing that it would hurt a lot worse than me slapping him.

When the hand made contact with his marble skin, he silenced.

"Laugh about that." I shot at him before dropping the twitching arm at his feet and walking away.

Tuning out the yelling and angry protests of the Volturi, I looked around until I located the Cullens. They were pinned against a wall with a few member of the guard stuck next to them.

The Cullens were looking at me with blatant shock, ignoring the viciously snarling vampires next to them.

Well… most of them were shocked.

Emmett had Felix in a bear hug-like death grip, pinned to his chest, and was giving me a huge grin and cheering me on. "Pull the other arm off, too, Bells!" He cheered.

I shot him a small smile before focusing on the energy signatures of him and the rest of his family until I had singled them out from the mass of vampires in this room.

I withdrew my shield from them. Allowing them to move freely instead of being constrained against the wall as everyone else was. But that simple task was hard.

I could feel the toll the shield was taking on me. I could feel my power supply dwindling but I knew that I could hold out for a few more minutes. That gave me just enough time.

"Bella!" Edward exclaimed as he sprinted over to me, pulling me into his firm, familiar embrace.

"Are you okay?" I asked all of them.

"We are fine." Edward answered for them. "How about you, are you okay?"

"Now is not the time. You guys need to go. I want you to run as fast as you can and get out of here. Don't stop to get your personal affections, I will take care of that, just go now!" I commanded them, trying to sound forceful despite the lightheadedness that was taking over my body.

But I fought it.

I needed to stay conscious just long enough to get them out of here.

"Alright," Carlisle agreed. "Come on, everyone."

With that, they turned on their heel and ran out, leaving me standing in the middle of a room with a bunch of pissed off vampires.

Now what?

I didn't have to wonder what was going to happen next for long, for as soon as the thought entered my head, Edward and Alice burst back in through the door they had just left.

"Why are you still here?" Alice hissed, grabbing onto my arm, and trying to drag me towards the door where the rest of her family was waiting.

"I need to stay… my shield won't let us get far if I go with you." I mumbled though the drowsiness.

"No, you are coming with us." Edward protested, reaching out to grab onto my arm but before his hand could reach me, I felt my world cave in.

The floor rushed up to meet my spinning head as my world was enclosed in blackness.

A/N: Okay, there is not a Quote Hunt in this chapter because I couldn't find a song suitable enough to out in here.

Sorry!

But, I am SUPER HAPPY because last chapter I asked for 53 reviews and you guys gave me 90!!!! Eek! I broke 1000 reviews!! Can we get that many reviews for this chapter, too? Pretty please?

Beta note from Portland Writer: Damn it all, if Chey doesn't get at LEAST 90 reviews for this chapter, I will hunt you down and make you review! This woman works her ass off to get these stories to you, and does school, and soccer, and puts up with me! So REVIEW! Anonymous, signed, whatever just REVIEW!

Thanks Natty. :) You rock my Beta socks.

:)

Much love,

Chey

Oh… also, don't expect an update from me next Monday because I have a soccer tournament in Las Vegas so I will abroad. But, don't worry, I will try to get one out late next week!