Hello my dearest readers! Thanks for the reviews!

I will just leave this chapter right here. Skulks off into the shadows again.

Right, disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Content Warning: Menacing atmosphere straight ahead.

A little reminder:

Bella ran her hands across her face. Marcus would have no idea what was coming for them, and it was all Bella's fault. The only consolation was that they wouldn't stand a chance against the Volturi. But he had told her that they could make a lot of trouble for the vampire coven. If she had just tried to be smart about this, instead of just rushing headlong into it. Marcus had been right of course. It had been a trap. She didn't regret going in though. It's not like humans could harm her anyway, so she would just take her time and find a way to free her father. It would just have to be at the right time. She and her new family weren't in any immediate danger.

It would be much, much later she would realise how very wrong she was.

Bella's POV

Bella was left to her own devices a lot of the time. The room she was in seemed almost unnaturally silent. No, not almost. It was deathly silent. Shadows were pooling in the corners, but weirdly kept at bay around Bella's cell. She could see no visible light source, but something seemed to almost force them to keep a distance. A menace holding them at bay.

She pondered why she was unable to hear anything from her location. As far as she knew, she wasn't deep underground. She should be able to hear at least the hum of a distant car, or even birds singing. It was almost as if someone had turned down the volume of the world outside. This might be what being in space would sound like.

Sometimes Annetta would descend down the staircase, and just stand and stare at Bella for hours. Bella would try to talk to her, provoke her, and even yell at her. Nothing. The woman simply stood watching her, as if Bella was a mildly entertaining, yet stupid dog, doing silly things.

It was not like Bella was scared of her, but her senses did tingle from time to time. She was beginning to realise that she didn't know everything that was going on.

Marcus' POV

Marcus was sitting on his throne, staring disconsolately into space, as if petrified. He had been like this before, but this time it felt different. A cold darkness swirled within him. His mate had disappeared entirely. Why had he let her go in the first place, he could no longer understand. He should have held onto her.

He felt utterly useless. Bella had been gone for days now. He had sent Jane along to assist her, but it had proved impossible. It was as if Bella had just sunk into the ground. Jane had returned with no news, and no Bella. The girl had searched high and low and had located the car Bella had used, but her scent vanished within a few steps of the shop. Furthermore the shop had been dismantled. It was now dark and vacant. It was all highly disconcerting.

Marcus was tempted to go search for his mate himself, but Caius had pointed out the unwise move in that. There was no reason for him to walk straight into a trap as well. Aro had agreed. And so they had sent their agents out searching, listening for anything unusual. Only a cold, eerie silence returned.

He could not understand it. As far as he knew the lady who had kidnapped Bella's father was still in town. She would find a hard time evading them forever. Unless they had missed something. A detail gone unnoticed perhaps. He sighed deeply, feeling like his mind was only driving him in circles.

Finally he got up and went to the library. His brothers were there, going through a stack of books at lightning speed, clearly trying to find some answers.

"Anything?" Marcus asked as he approached them.

Caius slammed a book shut, hissing in anger.

"Nothing!"

Aro was still reading a large tome, his eyes scanning the pages at an impossible speed.

"The scent of a vampire does not just simply vanish," Caius said, frustrated with the lack of answers.

"Something or someone made her vanish!" He said, his eyes roaming the heavy books on the table. Marcus joined him, feeling like he may as well try to do something useful.

"Or," Aro said, his eyes coming to a halt as he read through a passage. Both Marcus and Caius looked at him.

"Someone made it appear as if she had vanished," Aro continued, his eyes finally looking up, a meaningful glint in them.

"I think I may know what is going on," he said in a dark tone. The way he said it, made Marcus afraid for the first time in his immortal life. Aro's tone did not sound encouraging, on the contrary, they seemed to be in deep trouble.

Marcus flashed to his side, and looked down at the page Aro had been reading. He felt himself grow even colder than he already was.

"No, that is impossible!" He snarled angrily.

Bella's POV

Bella stood staring down at the little lady in front of her. Annetta stared right back, never even blinking. This was getting tedious. How many days had gone by like this? She had lost track of time by now.

Something was off. But the weird part was that Bella's vampire senses caught nothing unusual. She could sense the heat from the woman's body, hear her blood pulse back and forth. Her heart pounding steadily in her chest. And yet… Something was not as it appeared.

"So, how long are we going to be doing this?" Bella asked her, sounding annoyed. Annetta didn't answer.

"I want to see my father," Bella persisted angrily. A smirk appeared on the older lady's face.

"You know, I could just walk out of here and go look for him myself. You wouldn't stand a chance, old lady," Bella snarled.

Annetta scoffed softly.

"Have you not caught on yet, my dear?" She spoke in a manner that made Bella pause.

"What do you mean?" Bella feared that her father might already be dead. If so, nothing would stop her from killing anyone who stood in her way.

"Annetta, if you have hurt my fath-" she began, but Annetta waved her off.

"Oh he is fine. I have him well tended to. He is not suffering, yet," An ominous laughter floated through the room, as she stepped closer.

"No, I mean, you have no idea of what you have gotten yourself into, do you?"

Bella glanced around the room, swiftly trying to reassess her situation. Nothing seemed to have changed. The bars in her cell would be easily broken, she could be on the lady in a flash. But she needed the location of her father first.

"Listen, could we just get on with it? You want something from me, and I want something from you. We are wasting our time here," She stepped closer to the bars of her confinement.

"Where's my father?" She demanded angrily.

"I have no intention of telling you where he is yet, young Bella. I am merely waiting. I find it entertaining to watch you, you see life does get awfully dreary sometimes. Now that things have been set in motion, I intend to savour every moment of it,"

Bella growled deep in her throat.

"What are you talking about? What things has been set in motion?" She asked. Annetta didn't answer.

"Listen lady, I am this far from attacking you right now," Bella snarled, making a gesture with her hand, showing her index finger and thumb almost touching each other.

Annetta raised an eyebrow and tutted.

"Such impatience. Youngsters these days…" she trailed off meaningfully, beginning to turn away slowly, an evil smile on her face.

"No!" Bella shouted, coming all the way up to the bars of her prison. Annetta simply began walking away. The audacity of the woman, just turning her back on a vampire, made Bella see red. She grabbed the bars intending to bend them apart, but as she did, she felt something course through her, like an electric current, only infinitely cold. She was thrown backwards, her back hitting the wall behind her, and another current shot through her, making her scream in pain. She fell forward, a deep grunt escaping her, as she landed on her hands and knees. Silence filled the room, and Bella slowly pushed herself up onto her knees, sitting back. As her head tilted backward, she saw Annetta standing right by the bars, staring hungrily at her.

"Do you see now, what you have gotten yourself into, my young vampire?" She hissed softly.

Bella blew at a wisp of hair dangling in her face.

"You don't scare me, Annetta," Bella growled, keeping a steady gaze on the woman.

Annetta sneered.

"No?" She asked quietly, then she stepped forward, through the solid metal bars, pushing through them as if she was made of air, but her very solid hand grabbed Bella's chin, easily pulling her up from the floor, holding her face close. As she spoke, her appearance changed slowly. She grew taller, and Bella soon felt her feet leave the floor entirely as she dangled in the woman's grasp. Annetta's face had changed too. Her head grew longer, her skin colour had acquired a bluish tinge, her ears had become pointed, and her eyes were all black.

"How about now, then?" She hissed into Bella's astonished face.

So another short chapter for you, sorry. I'm just setting the stage.

I will post another chapter as fast as I can, but something has come up, so I might be slightly delayed! Sorry about that!

Also sorry for any mistakes.

-Pancakes