Rosalie went ballistic. She lunged forward and it felt like I'd been hit by a frigging train as she drove her shoulder into my stomach. I felt what little air I needed explode out of my lungs as she hit me with a roar and we went flying back again.

Now, I may have been pissed, but I was also a little unnerved. Vampire or not, Rosalie was terrifying.

Still, I didn't give in that easily. I flipped us in the air and threw her off of me as we both skidded to a stop, landing on all fours a few feet away from each other, by her family.

"Both of you stop it!" Alice cried but there was no way. Not then.

I snarled a challenge and we both launched forward, meeting each other head on. I didn't expect the furious speed with which she would hit me and so I went from thinking about how I wanted to pile drive her into the ground to where the hell is my face?

Her knuckles shattered my cheek and I yelped slightly as I stumbled backwards a good ten feet and she kept coming, blurring in front of me to bend at the waist and send her heel into my stomach.

Can you say, bye-bye?

Peace, mother fuckers.

I went soaring, crashing into the far wall, watching as pieces of my skin, small but real fluttered after me and I made a good sized dent into the solid concrete, the impact jarring my whole body and making my head ring.

Ow, fuck!

I'd never been in any real, legitimate fights before. I'd never had a fist fight, never even slapped a ho. I was a relatively peaceful person. So, I'm gonna have to say I didn't like being taught the meaning of pain by Rosalie Lillian Hale.

No bueno.

I winced as I slid down the wall and she was stillcoming.

Give me a break…

I felt a rage of my own welling within me as her angry, blurring features came down on me as I remembered how she'd sent Alice on her ass. I reacted with total instinct, giving into the monster within me. I think it was the only way I was going to survive Rosalie's onslaught.

I exploded out of the wall, taking large chunks of debris with me as the blond came forward, ready to go. I met her halfway, swinging wide but low as I ducked under her punch that probably would have crushed my nose. I felt the startlingly satisfying crack of my fist hitting her ribs, heard her growl through it.

Damn.

She suddenly locked her arm around my neck and before I could react, her knee was driving in to my stomach, her arm clinching me and preventing me from pulling away.

That hurt. Like, no lie, I wondered how I was still standing. Probably the hot anger boiling in my stomach.

I snarled away the pain and thrust my foot into her other kneecap awkwardly, watched her leg twist and give and heard her yell out in pain before she leapt away.

I followed through with the advantage even as I felt a break in my skin around my abdomen.

But Rosalie wasn't weak, if we're going to state the obvious here. Even though her leg was bent awkwardly as she hopped back, when I rushed forward, blurring towards her, her fist shot out and drove straight into my collarbone.

Double damn.

I crumpled to my knees, feeling my eyesight go black with the pain for a moment. Then my world was streaking by me as she smashed her knuckles into the side of my face again and I flew through the air, hitting the same fuckin' wall, in the same fuckin' hole.

It hurt even more that time and I fell to my hands and knees, gasping as I tried to clear my head.

Newborn strength or not, I was going to lose if this kept up. I was subconsciously aware of that, but it seemed it didn't matter as I forced myself up to meet Rosalie again, a reddish, brownish white blur interfered with our clash.

Did I say Rosalie's punches hurt?

Esme's backhand to the back of my head felt like a lightning bolt as the streak landed between us and we both went shooting backwards. I felt another strike to my stomach before I could even process what the hell was going on and then I was flat on my ass, curling up to prevent further punishment.

I trembled slightly as I tried to come to my senses.

"That. Is. ENOUGH," Esme hissed as I peeked out through my arms which I had covered my head with. I glanced behind her and saw Rosalie shaking, fangs bared but arm raised slightly to protect herself from her mother's wrath.

At first, I remained in vampire mode.

I watched Esme warily, calculating her nervously.

She is alpha female. Dominant. Challenge her?

Uh, hell to the nizzo? I don't care if I was vamping out or not, there was no chance I was about to take on that woman. Esme's blazing black eyes bore into me and I flinched away, avoiding her gaze, the animal way of showing submission. I could see the powerful strength in Esme's muscles, the taut dominance pouring out of her every cell as I shifted away.

"Bella," I heard Alice breathe as she ran to me, dropping to her knees next to me as I finally noticed everyone staring even as I felt Esme glaring down on me.

I barely caught the almost imperceptible nod Sulpicia gave to Jane over Esme's shoulder before Rosalie, seething, jerked wildly, falling back and slamming her head into the floor, screaming.

Esme whirled instantly and I, for the first time, saw real hatred in that sweet woman's eyes as she watched her daughter writhe on the ground.

Now, I wasn't exactly upset with Rosalie. I hadn't even wanted to fight the blond, but instinct took over when she attacked Alice and I hadn't been able to stop myself. I certainly wasn't happy with the treatment she was receiving as Jane relentlessly tortured her and the Cullens all shook with rage.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" Esme finally broke, falling down beside Rosalie, grasping at her flailing limbs.

There was a moment of hesitation and I watched as Sulpicia, along with the men I hadn't noticed earlier, including Aro, turned to her.

Sulpicia paused for a long moment, the silence filled with Rosalie's cries before she jerked her chin at Jane who instantly broke her bloody red gaze from Rosalie's body.

Instantly Rosalie was engulfed in her adoptive mother's arms, her whole body shivering with the after effects as Carlisle knelt down next to them, joining the embrace.

I saw the subtle shift in the room, felt the air thicken with tension as the Cullens all simultaneously turned their bodies towards the Volturi, stepping ever so slightly in front of their family. Alice and I both rose, my body aching and I didn't even mean to do it but the impulse to get in front of Alice and in front of Rosalie as well overwhelmed me.

Protect your pack. Protect your family.

Though I had a modicum of control over my instincts, they still partly controlled my actions as I made sure I had at least half my body in front of Alice, or rather, between her and Sulpicia.

"Well…That was interesting," Sulpicia said after a moment into the silence as Rosalie inhaled deeply and stayed locked in Esme's arms, looking like she actually didn't mind the display of protective affection for once.

I did it without thinking. I evaluated what I assumed to be the enemy, and even in my human mind I knew the Volturi certainly couldn't be our friends and I highly doubted they were merely unfriendly allies.

I looked over her companions, spotted a slightly confused Aro, sitting in the middle throne out of three, tilting his head as if he didn't quite understand why everyone was upset or fighting, ran my eyes over a man with long, sleek blond hair and papery thin skin like Aro's that still retained some of its thickness on his left, a man with wavy dark hair on his right. They all looked young but aged, if that makes sense. Sulpicia stood by her husband, hand on his shoulder.

The two other men I'd seen earlier still flanked Jane, who stood off to the side a bit, all of them glaring distastefully over at us.

Well, fuck you, too.

"If you ever," I heard a furious, quiet, controlled voice start from my right, from the ground start. It was Esme.

"If you everhurt my child or any of my children again," Esme continued, slowly standing as Carlisle helped a weakened Rosalie up.

She didn't finish but the tone of her voice made me shiver and I watched Sulpicia's eyes flash at the warning, the obvious threatening promise in Esme's voice. There was no need for the infuriated mother to finish, the idea was easy to grasp and Sulpicia seemed to find amusement in this.

Esme remained calm, unaffected by the slow smirk that broke Sulpicia's face.

"My, my Effy, you seem to have grown quite hostile in the time we've been apart," Sulpicia sighed as she floated off the raised floor to land beside Jane and her groupies.

"Do not call me that, Sulpicia. You have long lost the right to call me by any nicknames, especiallythat one," Esme hissed, balling her fists and glaring hatefully at the ebony haired woman.

Sulpicia gave a playful pout and crossed her arms.

"Why ever would that be, my Effervescence?" Sulpicia cooed and Esme's head tilted, just barely.

"Because you're a bitch," she said quite simply and I'm sorry, I really am, I couldn't help the loud snort of laughter that escaped me.

Everyone in the room turned to look at me and my snickering quickly died as I blushed as much as I could, coughing sheepishly and avoiding Sulpicia's eyes.

I felt a little better when I noticed the tiny smirk on Esme's face and the wink she gave me as Alice bit her lip next to me, trying not to grin.

Come on, now. Esme calling a bitch was just too funny and too damn true for me not to laugh at the pure awesomeness of it. I really did love that woman.

"That's really mature," Sulpicia rolled her eyes before she turned towards me, eyeing me curiously. "So you can speak and understand everything that's occurring, newborn?" she inquired slowly and even though I didn't fully believe she'd let the whole deal with Esme go, I wasn't feeling the shift in the conversation or the taunting tone of her voice.

"Sure enough," I muttered back, not dropping my defensive posture as I eyed her back.

"You know…You've caused us quite a lot of trouble, Isabella Swan…Quite a lot indeed…" Sulpicia went on slowly and floated back up the steps to sit daintily on Aro's lap and I scowled a bit as she began to play idly with his hair and his lips moved, his brow furrowed and I felt odd seeing it.

He looked like a child in the middle of an adult conversation who didn't like or understand why the adults were fighting. Sulpicia's mouth twitched before she turned her attention back to me.

"I suppose you all are wondering why we've called you to the Court, though some reasons are more obvious than others," the bitch called, addressing all of us for the first time, her eyes flicking to myself and Rosalie briefly.

"And though this situation is not exactly ideal, you need to be aware of just how much trouble you've brought upon us and upon yourselves in turn. The Cullens…" Sulpicia continued, her voice silky, too sweet, like Victoria's had been.

No one replied so she went on.

"I assume you've seen the mountains surrounding our beautiful city, yes?"

We nodded hesitantly as I felt Alice behind me, supporting me and I felt a lot stronger with her by my side, cliché as it was. I reached back and clasped her hand and she squeezed mine.

"In those mountains lies a rouge coven of vampires. This coven is vast and…Irksome…They desire to bring down the Volturi for their disagreement with our…Ideals…And this coven, Memento Mori as they have deemed themselves, believes that you, Isabella Swan are the key to their success…"

I opened my mouth to protest, to tell her I had no idea what the hell she was babbling about but she silenced me with a raised hand, though I was sorely tempted to tell her she could shove her talk to the hand bit up her ass.

"Not only this, but you have brought trash and scum and filth right to our doorstep. You have the humans frantic and if they should be led to us, you've no idea the consequences it would bring…Not to mention you've brought the wolves," Sulpicia spat out wolves like it was something nasty and I tilted my head.

"She means werewolves," Alice whispered in my ear and there was a pause.

"WEREWOLVES? What the HELL? You can't be serious!" I whirled on Alice whose eyebrows arched up.

"Are you really that surprised? We're vampires, Bella. It's not that hard to believe," Alice replied slowly as I gawked.

"No fucking way! You mean like half man, half wolf werewolves? Seriously?" My disbelief was evident.

Right then, I reverted right back to my old defense mechanism against mega bullshit.

"Completely," the corner of Alice's lip quirked up as I shook my head.

"There's no way. There's no freaking way. I can deal with vampires but werewolves? No. Way," I refused to believe it.

Give me a break. Give me a frigging break.

"Apparently, there is."

"You guys are just screwing with me, right? Come on."

"I wish I could be screwing with you right now darling, but no. Werewolves exist, sadly."

There was another pause as I took in the double meaning of her innuendo and then I was right back at it.

"I don't believe this. I do not believe this!"

"Believe it, Bells."

"That's retarded! It's just retarded!" I threw up my hands and right then a voice cleared loudly.

Ooh, and who better than to take my mind off this crap but uber bitch!

Joy…

I turned back around as Alice grabbed onto my hand again, kissing my shoulder gently as I huffed and shook my head, grumbling to myself.

Werewolves.

Were.

Wolves.

Man.

Wolf.

Werewolf.

FUCK.

All of this was entirely stupid. I still didn't believe it but I really didn't have time to think about it.

"If you two are finished now," Sulpicia glared over at us and I was tempted to stick my tongue out at her like I was five years old.

"The wolves are not pleased. The pack you brought with you from Forks is hell bent upon your slaughter and the only thing preventing them from doing so is the gates of Volterra and the protection we offer, despite the problems Isabella brings with Memento Mori's desire to have her and the fact that Charlie Swan has the National Guard searching for her," Sulpicia said and I tensed.

Oh, Charlie…

My poor father…He must have been going crazy trying to find me…I knew it probably broke his heart when he found out I'd up and disappeared after being crushed by a five foot four tall blur of pixie.

The National Guard though…That was a bit much, Dad. Come on, now.

I really had no idea what this Memento Mori clan wanted with me, though, or why the…Fuck it, werewolveswere after us.

"The werewolf pack from Forks is one that has long had a peace treaty with us, as vampires and werewolves are sworn enemies," Edward said under his breath next to me, reading my mind.

Cliché, but okay…

"But one of the rules of the treaty is that we may not bite or turn a human. Obviously, Alice broke that rule right in two…"

Oops, right?

"They're not exactly reasonable when it comes to this, but they are too nervous to cross into vampire home ground, especially the Volturi's…Problem is, the fact that there are werewolves within a hundred miles of Volterra pisses the Volturi off anyway…" Edward whispered and I paused. "And while the Volturi do offer us adequate protection, I fear we're rapidly losing their favor…"

"Obviously," I mumbled back as Sulpicia lifted off of Aro's lap and began to approach us.

"We have suffered at the hands of your humiliating disrespect multiple times and forgave it due to past relationships with Effy and Carlisle," Sulpicia said as she took long strides and Jane followed behind her, her two creepy pals shadowing her every move. I saw Esme twitch at the continued use of that nickname, Effy or Effervescence…Hmm…I wondered what their past relationships actually entailed.

"And while I do not desire to do so, before we may begin to work through this mess, your slights and hostility will notbe over looked anymore. It seems for too long we've given you all a leash that far exceeds the lengths to which you may stray when it comes to our world. There is no excuse for the behavior you all have exhibited from the moment we gave our assistance and protection," Sulpicia ranted as they came closer and closer, Aro and the two other men still sitting, relaxed on their thrones.

Instinctively, I knew their approach meant something was about to happen, and it couldn't have been good, especially with what Sulpicia was saying.

However, Esme's scoff stopped her cold in her tracks.

"Do not give us that bullshit. Do you think we're daft, Sulpicia? Did you honestly think we wouldn't catch on, just a little bit to the games you all are playing?" Esme scowled deeply and I felt a well of pride in my chest for her as Sulpicia's eyebrows shot up.

"From the moment Victoria arrived, I knew. I knew you had something to do with this. I'm going to let you know right now, you are not as powerful, as in control as you think. You do not pull our strings because we are most certainly not your puppets, not your pawns, not your oblivious little servants or subjects. You are not royalty and you do not control us and if you attempt to punish us, you'll have hell to pay," Esme's voice rose and she'd taken the last few steps forward till she was nose to nose with Sulpicia who was struggling to hide her shock and her anger.

There was a pause as the whole room held its breath and then Sulpicia smiled a sweet, deceiving smile, lifting her hand to push a stray hair from Esme's face.

"You still have that fire, my Effy…You still fight me…"

There was a defined slap, a dull crack as Esme's marble wrist connected with Sulpicia's and sent the despicable woman's hand out wide, away from her body as Carlisle growled low in his throat from behind them.

Sulpicia's eyes flashed once again and the corners of her mouth turned down as her lip curled, hinting at a snarl, but she sneered instead as she took a step back, Esme's eyes trained on her the whole way, not backing down. The collective shift from the Cullens and myself put us all behind Esme, backing her up.

Whatever the Volturi wanted, thought they could do or control us like we were their slaves to be punished, they had it wrong. We were not about to bow down or give in so easily.

The two women had a stare down, the tension in the air crackling as Jane and the two men with her stood readily behind Sulpicia and Aro stood slightly.

"Why are we fighting? This is silly! This is absurd! We are friends! Please, everyone…"

Aro's calling was cut off abruptly and I felt my heart drop and my fangs dip in seconds as Sulpicia, faster than I'd thought possible, blurred behind me and Alice was suddenly gone.

I turned in circles, snarling as I spun around once fully and the Cullens all roared angrily as I spotted Sulpicia, standing at the foot of the steps with Alice in her arms, Alice's chin cradled in the palm of her hand, the other arm wrapped around her waist tightly, digging her nails into my mate's hip.

I went berserk.

I tore across that floor so fast I think I almost flew. Sulpicia merely sneered once more and I skidded to a stop in front of them, halting my charge as Alice cried out in pain as the bitch jerked her head up, too far.

It was a warning and I heeded it, reluctantly as I growled and snarled in Sulpicia's face, rapidly losing all control.

But if I attacked, Sulpicia would break her neck…I didn't doubt it for a second.

Carlisle had told me there was only a few ways to kill a vampire. Burn it or sever its head from the spinal column. Breaking the neck was a pretty good way to go about doing that.

Alice trembled in Sulpicia's grasp as I bared my fangs and paced in front of them, my hands shaking.

I heard the Cullen's outcry but my eyes stayed locked on her ruby red ones.

I had never wanted to kill someone so much in my life.

"Not so haughty now, are we?" Sulpicia tilted her head, teasingly scraping her nails along Alice's throat and I growled.

"Let her go. Just let her go. She didn't do anything," I breathed raggedly and she only continued to sneer.

"No…I don't think I will…You see, you all seem to have forgotten the way things are…" Sulpicia spoke, eyeing all of us as she did, lightly dragging the tips of her black nails into Alice's neck as she did, pissing me off in so many ways.

I'd come to learn that the neck is a very tender, sensitive and affectionate spot for vampires. It is also a place to mark for possession, for ownership and every second Sulpicia's fingers remained against Alice's throat, I wanted to rip them off even more.

"You seem to think that you are stronger, better than the Volturi…You seem to think you have the ability to defy us…That you are above our laws…By all means, you all deserve to be aflamed, one by one, with Jane torturing you the whole way through it and Chelsea severing your precious ties as she does," Sulpicia went on and I snarled in frustration, whining softly when Alice tensed in the bitch's arms, angling her head away from those probing fingers.

"However…That would be…Such a waste. Your clan has so much potential…Although, the disrespect, the crimes you have committed against us especially in light of our hospitality deserves a severe punishment…You have brought the wolves and the humans and vampires alike to our doorstep, you make claims of a woman we have already killed to protect you though we should never have interfered but did because we cared for you…And yet you treat us like this…" Sulpicia's tone went softer and her eyes slowly came back to mine.

I tried to kill her with my look, I really did. I wanted her to drop dead beneath my gaze.

She didn't.

"And you…A newborn attacked me…You should already be burning alive, yet by my grace, you live…Young Isabella, do you know what my power is?" Sulpicia asked suddenly, still gripping Alice easily in her grip.

I shook my head, unable to speak through my rage.

"Tell her, little one," Sulpicia urged Alice whose lip curled at their proximity.

"Mind control," Alice grunted. "Look, Sulpicia, we never meant for things to happen like this-" Sulpicia cut Alice off by scraping her nails over her neck, digging into her skin and making me roar angrily at them, my hands curled helplessly into claws.

I couldn't hit her. I couldn't protect Alice.

"Sulpicia, sweetheart…Can't we be reasonable about this? Surely punishment is in order, but these are our friends," Aro cried, coming up behind them, still with that childlike innocence.

I really didn't detect any malevolence within him. He seemed to be genuinely concerned with the fact that we were all at each other's throats.

I was slowly beginning to realize something. Aro was just a show piece. He was not the real orchestrator of all the madness we endured and I was certain now that the Volturi were involved in everything that had happened, but it was Sulpicia. She was the mastermind here.

Sulpicia ignored her husband.

"Do you know what it's like to feel real, true pain?" the ebony haired woman breathed as Alice struggled a bit, quickly stopping when Sulpicia clawed her hip.

"Do you?" I snapped back pathetically.

Yup, worst come back ever but whatever. I just wanted her claws off my girl.

"More than you know," Sulpicia sneered back. "However, maybe Jane should teach you what it's like," she added and Jane stepped up behind me.

I whipped around, unwilling to just lie down and take the pain. No way. I would follow through on Rosalie's promise to punt the little shit if she tried anything on me.

But before I could drive my foot into her, her eyes narrowed slightly and I felt a push into my body. At first, everything burned, stung and ached for a split second and I shuddered, jerking. My nerves lit up and my cells rebelled at the intrusion. I hated the alien feeling, the violated feeling and my stomach flip flopped.

Before I could process what was happening, I pushed back. My body lurched a bit and mine and Jane's eyes went wide.

And then she crumpled, screaming her lungs out, clawing at her arms, her whole body as I kept my eyes on her, unable, literally unable to pull my gaze away.

My body was tingling as she writhed and I heard shocked cries throughout the whole room.

Holy fuck…

"You bitch! Stop it! Leave her alone!" I heard a voice cry and then my right temple cracked as the lean man I'd seen earlier struck me hard, sending me toppling over.

"Alec!" Jane dry sobbed as I reacted instantly, righting myself and tackling him backwards. We both snarled angrily and then all hell broke loose.

The dark haired burly man met Jasper and Edward head on as the Cullens finally broke, lashing back out at the Volturi. The room collided in a raging, roaring mass as I wrestled Alec and Rosalie broke free of the mess as men and women in shining, glittering armor poured out from the room behind the thrones.

I didn't get a good look at them because Jane, the creepy bitch was latched onto my back, hell bent on tearing my neck out as I ground and pounded Alec, overwhelming him easily. But I did see that what they were wearing was nearly see through but it shimmered, glittered beautifully in the light…

It looked like diamondarmor, at least from what I could see over Jane's stupid ass head.

But what I did see was Rosalie leap right over Alice and slam into Sulpicia, ripping her adoptive sister from the woman's grip as the some five or six armored people lay into the Cullens and the room echoed with animalistic snarls and cries.

Carlisle and Esme were fighting two of them, Jasper and Edward were still beating the shit out of Jane's other pal and Emmett was fighting three of the armored guards.

Boy was a beast…

I whirled on Jane and yanked her over my shoulder, slamming her down on Alec and elbowing her once in the face for good measure, adrenaline and rage pumping through my veins as much as it could.

I leaped up and spotted through the madness Rosalie taking on Sulpicia.

"ROSALIE!" Alice screamed and I knew it, I could tell easily that there was no chance in hell Rosalie would win as she desperately tried to protect Alice.

In seconds, Rosalie's attacks were dodged, countered and then halted as Sulpicia kicked out the backs of her knees, dropping her down to the floor on them.

Sulpicia was too good…What I'd seen from our fight was nothing compared to the effortless finesse she expressed in her movements, doing what I had thought impossible.

She beat Rosalie and she beat her bad…

Toobad…

And I don't care how cliché it sounds, how bad move it may be, it seemed to happen in slow motion as Sulpicia cupped Rosalie's chin, snarling and baring inch and a half long fangs. Her other hand landed on the back of the blonde's neck and there was a bang, a deafening, horrifying CRACK as she yanked and twisted…

Snapping Rosalie's neck cleanly.

My heart stopped beating. The whole room went quiet, went very still. Even the guards paused in their battles to look up as Rosalie's neck bent weird, gut wrenchingly awkward.

I watched the light leave her eyes as she toppled forward and knew Alice's pained screams would haunt me for a long time to come.