Chapter Thirty Eight

Bella

As soon as we walked in, I could tell there was something wrong. I looked around anxiously for Megan who came running up to give us both hugs and kisses but she wasn't her usual carefree self and I frowned at Charlotte who just shrugged.

"Mommy, daddy, I think I did something wrong while you were out. Darius said I should tell you when you get back."

We both turned to Darius who stood leaning against the door frame leading into the lounge.

"You'd better come in and see for yourselves."

Clutching Jasper's hand I followed Darius through to see the room now resembled the computer room of a large corporation.

He pointed to the screen of a laptop with leads sprouting from it and connected to another larger computer.

On the first screen was a simple logo on a black background and I gasped as I recognized it as the Volturi symbol.

"What's going on? Is that what I think it is?"

Darius nodded, " I'm afraid so, and I guess in a way it's my fault. I've been showing Megan how to use the computer safely. All kids stuff but I should have been more vigilant, stayed with her while she was online."

"Why? What did she do? Megan, what did you do?"

Megan hung her head scuffing her sneakers on the carpet and realizing how upset and scared she was I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her.

"Honey, just tell me what happened. No one is angry with you, we just need to know."

She peered over my shoulder at Darius through tear-filled eyes then sniffed, wiping her eye with the back of her hand. When she spoke it was very quietly although we could all hear her perfectly well.

"I wanted to know about the Volturi. About the bad man who hurt Darius."

I frowned up at Jasper. Did he know what she was talking about? He nodded, glancing at Darius who groaned and closed his eyes rubbing his hand across them before joining us.

"Megan's talking about Caius Volturi. I never told her my story but she seemed to know anyway. I remember her telling me that she wanted to help me, to give me something back for all the help I'd given you. I never imagined she meant Caius and believe me, I had no idea she could hack into the Volturi mainframe."

He'd lost me. What was the deal between him and Caius Volturi and what exactly had Megan done?

"Let's all sit down and discuss this calmly, shall we?"

Charlotte, the voice of calm, urged us into action. Darius sat down heavily on the chair by the laptop with that forbidding logo while I sat beside Jasper on the couch and Megan snuggled between the two of us sucking her thumb and twisting Jasper's hair between her fingers. Something I'd not seen her do before.

"Right. Will somebody explain what Megan did in plain English?"

Darius sighed, reluctant to go on.

"I guess I should begin at the very start. Many centuries ago, after I became a vampire I fell in love and married a young woman named Sara. She was everything a man could ever want, intelligent, warm, and sensitive as well as beautiful. She was my life and we planned an eternity together.

Sara had friends in Volterra and we visited although I tried to stay as far away from the Volturi as possible. I just didn't want to become involved with the business of government and at that time they were still a young organization and recruiting intelligent, gifted, and fighting members.

What I didn't know was that one of the ruling triumvirate, Caius Volturi to be exact,

was a womanizing animal. He had an eye for the ladies and wasn't used to taking no for an answer. Unfortunately, Sara caught his eye and he started pestering her. She didn't tell me because she knew what I would do. Instead, she tried to deal with him alone.

One day he caught her alone while I was busy shopping for a gift for her, and this time he forced himself on her.

She was devastated and instead of telling me she went to Aro to accuse Caius and demand justice. Unfortunately, he needed Caius at the time and refused to listen to her. Unable to live with what happened to her Sara tracked Caius to the audience chamber and attempted to kill Caius herself. Instead, he fought her off and threw her into the huge fire they used to keep burning in there. It was a convenient tool to rid themselves of enemies and rebels.

I attempted to find her having been warned by her friend of the rumors going around but I was too late, it was over. I blame myself for what happened, I should never have left her alone in Volterra, I should have been there to protect her. She was my life, my love, and I failed her.

I don't know why Aro didn't order my death too. Maybe he felt guilty at refusing Sara any help. Anyway, he had me removed from the citadel but not before I vowed to get Caius, however long it took. I told him I would make him pay for what he had done. I would torture him for all eternity.

Caius thought it was an empty threat. That I would cool down and forget but he was wrong. He tried to leave Volterra a few times in the early days and came close to being captured. I was young and hot-headed and he saw me coming in time to save himself.

I never let up. In the early days, I had to live in Italy to keep an eye on him and as I made friends, the Volturi had plenty of enemies even then, I found allies happy to watch and let me know if Caius stepped foot outside of his citadel.

I was shocked one day to be approached by a messenger from Athenadora, Caius' wife. She didn't want her husband dead obviously, but keeping him in Volterra kept him out of temptation's way. Aro had warned him if he did anything like that again Aro himself would kill him. So, she agreed to let me know if he tried leaving. I didn't believe her at first but he tried a few more times and each time she warned me.

Caius hasn't attempted to leave Volterra in more than four centuries, can you imagine that? It's like being imprisoned, an eternal life sentence. I learned about technology, computers etc as they came along and now I watch Volterra electronically. Caius knows of course, but there's nothing he can do about it."

"I'm so sorry, Darius. But what does this have to do with Megan?"

Darius glanced at the little girl who hid her face in Jasper's shoulder.

"Megan knew although I didn't tell her. Maybe not the whole story but enough and somehow she got through the parental controls, through the firewalls, and into the Volturi mainframe."

"She did all that? How? You must have accidentally left her a way in."

I know I sounded accusatory but I couldn't help it. Megan was just a little girl, how could she do all that on her own? I had no idea how to do it, so how could she?

"Believe me, Bella. It took me a very long time to do that and I'm a computer expert. I don't know how Megan managed it alone but she did. Not only that but she got in without alerting them to her presence. They have the best security bar none, yet she just walked in unobserved."

I looked down at Megan who was still sucking her thumb.

"Is this right? Did you do that all by yourself?"

She nodded then looked at Darius,

"I knew how to do it because Darius did."

He frowned and Jasper tilted her head so she was looking into his face.

"Can you tell me what you mean by that, Megan? No one is angry with you. We're just confused."

"I can do what he can do, just like you daddy. I know how people feel because you do."

"You mean you have the same gifts as anyone you are close enough to?"

She shook her head, "Not close to like being beside them. People I love like you and mommy, and Darius."

Jasper and I exchanged a concerned glance, this was a very valuable gift, taking on the gifts of others but not it seemed, everyone. I understood her picking up Jasper's gift, he and Megan were so close and if I'd had a gift, well apart from stopping Edward from listening to my thoughts, then she would have picked that up too but Darius? Was his wizardry with computers a gift? Even so, how was it Megan picked up that gift? I had thought she was fond of Darius, but to be that close?

"I just knew how to get into the Volturi computer and I wanted to find out about the man who hurt Sara and made Darius so sad."

"Why, sweetheart?"

She looked at me as if had just asked a really silly question.

"So, I could find a way to hurt him back, help Darius like he helped us."

"Megan, that's a really sweet thing to do but it's far too dangerous. Caius isn't a nice person and you're only a little girl. What did you think you could do? And if you have Darius' gift didn't you know how dangerous it could be to try breaking into the Volturi computer?"

Megan sat up a little straighter looking less like a child and more like a pint-sized Amazon warrior.

"I used Darius' way in so no one would know. You always told me it was bad to be horrible to people even if they weren't nice to you. I know you and mommy would help Darius if you could, so…"

Jasper smiled at her partly in amusement but partly in admiration at her tenacity in sticking up for herself.

"So? What were you going to do? Darius can't go into the Volturi citadel and Caius never comes out."

"He might if he thought Darius wasn't looking for him any more."

I frowned, where was she going with this?

"But why would he think that? Darius swore to get even with Caius if it took all eternity."

"If he thought Darius was dead he wouldn't be afraid to leave Volterra, would he?"

Darius knelt down and gazed at Megan, a strange look on his face.

"Megan, what you did was very brave. I appreciate you wanted to help me but Caius watches over me just as I watch over him. He would know if we tried to lie to him."

She wriggled forward until she was nose to nose with Darius and whispered in his ear, "Not if we used mommy's gift. No one can see through that."

It was my turn to be confused, "What gift Megan? I don't have one. Well, I could prevent your father from reading my mind but that's nothing."

She shook her head making her hair whip across her face then pushed it back impatiently with one hand.

"No, mommy. You can hide anyone. I know, I tried it when Uncle Peter and I played Hide and go seek. He walked right past me and he didn't see me, twice."

Charlotte clapped a hand to her mouth in shock, "He told me about that. He went nuts because Megan hid so well he couldn't find her and yet when she came in she told him she'd been hiding in the barn. She even showed him where and he swore she couldn't have been there because he checked it twice."

I noticed Darius hadn't moved and Megan had laid a hand on his cheek.

"I don't like you to be so sad, Darius. I want to help."

He smiled a genuine smile, an expression that was almost alien to him.

"Thank you munchkin, but I don't want you putting yourself in danger for me. I can wait."

"But you shouldn't have to. It's not fair. Caius should pay for the horrible things he did and Sara wouldn't want you to be sad for such a long time."

"No, I don't suppose she would, but you must promise me that you won't break into the Volturi again."

She nodded but I suspected it had been too easy. Whatever she had planned she no longer needed access to their computer. Now, however, was probably not the time to point this out.

"Well, then I guess that's it. Megan doesn't break her promise and maybe we can talk about this again later. Is that OK with you Megan?"

"Yes mommy. I'm sorry Darius, I didn't mean you to get into trouble."

"You haven't, at least the Major hasn't hit me yet so I guess we got away with it this time."

Megan giggled and slipped off Jasper's lap, the whole thing forgotten for now but we would have to sit her down and discuss this gift of hers sooner rather than later. For now, I wanted to explain where we had been and that Carlisle and Esme wanted to meet her. I wondered how she would take that after all that had happened already today. There was also our own news to break to her if she didn't already know. I was rather in awe of my little girl.

Darius went off to check his computers while Charlotte excused herself to speak to Peter. I guessed that she would fill him in on all we had learned in private because knowing Peter the air might well turn blue in his surprise and shock and Megan already had enough new tricks for one day. Colorful language was something I preferred she left for later, much much later!

Once we were alone Megan came to sit with us once more, but she was almost back to the confident little girl I had first met.

"You went out without telling me."

"Yes. Do you know where we went?"

She shook her head, "No."

I explained that we had gone to meet Esme and Carlisle, her grandparents.

"Are they my father's mommy and daddy?"

"Yes, in a way. Ever since your father became special."

She nodded, looking a little wary now.

"Why did you go to see them?"

"Well, they are family and I thought it was only fair to tell them that your father won't be coming back and about you."

"Me? They didn't want me so why tell them?"

"They were just scared of what might happen. They didn't hate you, Megan, and they are very excited at the thought of meeting you if you want to."

She frowned but she didn't dismiss the idea out of hand and Jasper smiled at her reassuringly.

"What do you think Meg? It might be nice to have some grandparents and they are nice people really."

She regarded Jasper, "How do you know, daddy?"

"Because I lived with them for some years. They treated me like a son."

"So.."

I could see her working this through.

"So, they're like your mommy and daddy too?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

Her expression cleared and I understood that she didn't want to meet people who were only related via a father who had abandoned her to die as a baby which was understandable.

"OK. What do I call them?"

"That's up to you I guess. Nanny or Grandma Esme and Grandpa Carlisle. Does that sound OK?"

Again she gave this much thought before answering.

"How about nanna Esme and poppa Carlisle. That way I'll remember they are daddy's people."

I nodded, it sounded fine to me.

"When do I get to meet them?"

"Maybe in a few days.. We'll see."

She grinned, "Not here though. Uncle Peter doesn't like them, does he?"

"Uncle Peter doesn't like lots of people. We make allowances for him. We'll sort something out darlin'"

Jasper stood up and held out his hand to Megan.

"There's something I'd like to talk to you about in secret. Take a walk with me?"

She jumped up and took his hand turning to me, "Are you coming mommy?"

I shook my head, "No, this is between you and daddy. I'll speak to you when you get back."

I watched as they walked out, sure of her response to his question but troubled by her revelations. Would Aro find her too alluring when he discovered what she could do? Would my life, our lives, ever settle down to some kind of normality? I could only keep my fingers crossed and pray.