I stared numbly into the ruby red eyes of the immortal before me.
"I won't ask twice Edward." Jane batted her doll-like eyelashes delicately.
I didn't move. I couldn't. Anything I did or said now moved the timeline forward. Without Alice, I was immobilized by the uncertainty of the future. I had no fractals of the enchanted mirror to rely upon. I had no way to manipulate the mortal threads now. I had only one choice; and it left me paralyzed.
"Fine, then, we will draw her out." Those words were the last I heard. Pain, were the last thoughts I read.
The feeling of Victoria ripping me limb from limb held no comparison to the agony that Jane unleashed onto me now. My initial shock wore off as I found myself on my hands and knees. I desperately fought the urge to make a sound, but I could not be sure that the horrible ripping noises were not in fact coming from me. I was being electro-shocked, burned alive, and having my skin shaved off with a rusty razor all at once. Surely just one of those torture methods would suffice? Surly there was no need to pull my fingernails out of their nail-beds, drown me, and throw me into a mountain of 12 inch long needles as well. I tried to claw at my face, not entirely convinced that Jane hadn't removed my eyeballs with a splintered wooden spoon. I collapsed onto the ground. The pain went on and on and on.
Please. Please stop.
Something warm touched my side, and I curled into myself.
Please stop. You're killing him!
Such a velvety soft touch could only be an omen of more torture to come. Perhaps I would now feel my femur flattened like a pancake, to counterbalance the pleasantness.
Then, all at once, the pain disappeared. I found myself curled around Bella, her body covering mine, tears falling from her eyes and onto my cheek. She was so warm and her scent was so delightful. Her fingers traced my face like a kitten rubbing her cheek against a corner of a wall. I almost enjoyed the sensation.
Almost.
Then came panic. Jane's eyes were narrowed as she focused on Bella. I tried to move to shield her, but was too weak to lift my arms. A very broken part of me refused to willingly submit my body to that level of excruciating torment again, like a small child, begging me not to make a sound for fear of father's whip again. Still, I managed to lift myself, and attempted to move Bella behind me. Two strong arms grabbed my body and hoisted me into the air. My feet swung and my head hung limply as Felix and Demetri held onto me. Bella bravely stood before them, an amber fire dancing in her eyes. As if she could fight them off. As if she fully intended to.
Jane narrowed her eyes again.
"Jane, No!" I croaked, before Demetri twisted my arm and my words became a scream.
Pain, Jane thought in Bella's direction. I watched helplessly as Bella turned toward Jane, expecting the cloaked immortal woman to run at her. Bella covered her face with her arm, as if expecting to be struck.
Then a moment passed. Then another. Then another. Jane's eyebrows knit together, as she tried again and again to bring Bella to her knees.
Bella straightened and inhaled a deep breath. "Let him go." Her voice was a cross between a warning and a wish. Her hands curled into fists.
Alec stared at his sister, confused as to why she had not acted upon the human girl. Deciding to avoid embarrassment, he reabsorbed the black smoke that crept from his hands, releasing Kate and Tanya from his power. The Denali sisters dropped to their knees, shocked by the scene before them; Bree's corpse laying decapitated on the ground, and Bella defiantly facing the Volturi guard on her own.
Alec brought both of his hand to his chest, then channeled his power directly at Bella. Void, he thought in her direction. The smoke crawled toward her as I watched, expecting to watch my reason for living experience deprivation of sight and sound. Once again, a moment passed. Then another. Then another.
Bella stared at the creatures in confusion, eventually turning her back on the twins and facing Demetri and Felix again. Inexplicably, Bella grabbed a vase from the table beside her and proceeded to smash the glass against Felix's gigantic head. The guardsman did not blink. The entire exchange could have been a reenactment of a classic cartoon.
The clattering of glass on the floor was followed by silence.
I burst into a fit of giggles. Laughter shook my body like a seizure. Kate and Tanya watched me, their mouths agape.
He has gone mad, Kate thought.
Bella's insane, they are both insane, Tanya was stunned. This is insane.
How could they know that I laughed now from sheer amazement. Bella had rendered two of the Volturi's greatest weapons useless. It would appear her resistance to my talent translated to resistance to other powers as well. Had we not been in peril, I would have stopped to ponder the limits of her resistance. Alice and Jasper could influence her, perhaps Bella was only resistant to talents that she would consider unpleasant.
I had continued to laugh, until Demetri punched me in the gut, causing my laughter to turn into a cough.
Bella leapt forward, wrapping her arms around my neck, completely ignoring the two assassins that flanked me. Felix wiped the water from the vase off of his face. His thoughts toward Bella were nothing short of vile.
"You wanted to meet me, well here I am." Bella's voice shook.
"Yes, here you are." Jane calculated the scenario before her. She regarded Aro as a father, and wanted above all to obtain his approval, to please him. Olly's recruitment had won her quite a bit of favor. Aro was pleased by acquiring talented immortals, thereby increasing his power. While Olly's skills were clearly offensive and manipulative, Jane pondered what Aro would think of Bella's defensive talents.
"Such a pleasure to meet you," Jane smiled. "Please forgive the theatrics, Edward here was reluctant to share you with us. Of course, we can see why. Such beauty, bravery," Jane frowned slightly. "And such a unique strength."
"Let Edward go." Bella spoke through her teeth.
"But of course." Jane stepped aside, taking her brother's hand. Felix released me, joining the twins. Demetri continued to grasp my arm, now fully broken, for a beat longer before reluctantly releasing me. He tired of these political games.
"Curious. Curious." Jane eyed Bella as she wrapped her arms around me, trying and failing to hold me up and to help me stand. I leaned against the banister, holding her with one arm, like the mostly dead pirate in The Princess Bride.
"Aro will be very interested to meet you." Jane turned to me. "We will take the human girls with us."
Bella spoke before I could reply, putting my response into less than eloquent yet no less accurate terms.
"Aro can kiss my ass," she said.
Tanya and Kate appeared on either side of her, helping me to stand. Tanya placed her hand on Bella's shoulder, an affectionate gesture of solidarity. We were outnumbered. But then again, we had spent the entire day outnumbered and somehow continued to live to tell the tale of it. They stood at my side, three goddesses; ice, lightening, and earth.
"I am sure Aro would be interested to learn that the Cullen clan had not only revealed our existence to a human, but have also been aiding and abetting a dangerous immortal child." Alec spoke to us with disgust.
I plucked the relevant information from his mind as I replied. "The Volturi often reveal our existence to select humans." I thought of Bella's martial arts instructor, the various staff that ran the operation in the light of day.
"Humans we intent to kill or turn," Felix reminded me.
"I have every intention of welcoming Bella into our family," I added. Bella's eyes widened slightly in response.
"And as for the alleged danger, the immortal child was harmless. Her violence was caused by her sire bond to Victoria, caused by direct orders given to her by her maker. We would never have been so reckless as to endanger our family by exposing our secret. We would never have allowed such a slaughter."
I chose my words carefully, subtly emphasizing the allowance of a slaughter. The Volturi had done just that.
"But you would not have reported her, which in itself is a crime," Alec crossed his arms.
Jane shifted her attention to the Denali sisters. "False report is a crime as well. We are well within our jurisdiction to seek out your sister and end her for providing such false witness about the immortal child's origin."
Kate launched herself at Jane. Demetri was faster, catching her around the waist and swinging her until her body slumped over a table. Kate electrified every part of him, radiating the lightening blue current throughout her body. Felix helped his fellow guardsman, withstanding Kate's electrifying touch better than his peer. Jane watched Demetri vibrate like a fork in a microwave with mild amusement.
"Interesting." Jane tapped her finger against her chin twice. "We were given explicit instructions to collect talent. It would appear there is much that has been under-reported about this group of vampires." She looked at Alec, and smiled. "Bring them all."
Alec grinned.
I turned and gathered Bella to my body. No matter what happened now, I would not let her go.
Then there was, once more, only silence.
When there was conscious awareness, I was aware of only one thing. Hurt. Nothingness and hurt.
Jane and Alec used their abilities on me interchangeably. Had several hours passed? Several days? When enduring the live wire of Jane's torture I occasionally felt Bella's presence in my arms. I could still feel her heartbeat. I could almost taste her tears. I could hear her screams of protest as she watched my body contort again and again. I had never before wished so strongly for the ability to lose consciousness.
"You have to do something, to help him," Bella pleaded. With whom, I do not know.
Then came the void. Without a heart beat, I did not even have the comfort of hearing the gentle woosh of my own blood rushing through my veins. I much preferred the pain.
Eventually...Something in the great nothingness tickled my mind. It was the tiniest of things, a little voice in a cacophony, like the chirp of a songbird. I had become familiar with the torture. Something new could mean another new horror. Still, I followed it.
Edward...Edward... I found the tiny voice. It belonged to Tanya. I don't know if you can hear me. He must be in so much pain. Listen to me Edward.
I was instantly transported to a memory. I held on to the wisp of these thoughts like a lifeline, my proverbial flotation device in a sea of despair. I caught glimpses of images; Bella's cream white skin in the moonlight, the sound of her laugh. I was moved by Tanya's incredible act of kindness. In thinking of Bella, she offered me a potent analgesic, a sedative.
She thought of Bella, laying in the sun, a book in her hands. Than another image; Bella licking peanut butter off of a spoon, humming with pleasure. Finally, Bella sitting on her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, looking out of her window. The moonlight illuminated her skin as if she were an immortal.
Something stood out in this particular memory. I pushed through the pain and focused, listening harder.
The human girl stared into the moonlight, pensive and quiet. Tanya could admit that Bella was beautiful in a way - tonight she reminded her of Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée's painting "La Mélancolie." She held a masculine shirt in her hands as if trying to resurrect the arms that once occupied the fabric. Tanya entered the small bedroom and appeared beside Bella on the bed, sitting with her legs stretched out on the deep purple comforter. Bella was startled by Tanya's appearance, but quickly recovered, sitting amicably beside the woman who broke into her bedroom.
When Tanya appeared to be settling in for the night, Bella quirked an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Keeping you company," Tanya smiled lightly. "Edward was very clear that you were not to feel lonely." She folded her hands behind her head.
"I think he probably meant I shouldn't be left alone."
"Tomato - Tomah-to. Didn't he keep you company while you slept? I thought perhaps I could fill his place. Was he usually big spoon or little spoon?" Bella rolled her eyes and ignored the comment.
"Little spoon. I knew it."
Tanya grabbed a nearby book and began leafing through it. It was a worn copy of an old gothic horror classic. Tanya lifted the copy of "Interview with a Vampire" questioningly.
"You know you have plenty of vampires to interview Bella, no need to resort to fiction."
Bella grabbed the book from the blonde immortal. "It's homework." She held it in her hands for a moment, tracing the cover.
Eventually, Bella looked up at Tanya, a serious expression on her face. "Can I ask you something?"
"It wouldn't be a very good interview without questions," Tanya said as she grinned. Bella shifted until she sat beside Tanya, her legs crossed, finally resembling a teenager rather than a mournful 18th century painting.
"Do you wish you hadn't become a vampire?"
Tanya laughed, surprised by the personal nature of Bella's question.
"Not in the least. I came from a poor family and my only purpose in life would have been to elevate my family's status by marrying someone fat, mean, and rich. I wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world. The ability to keep your family forever, to know that you never have to say goodbye to anyone you love, I truly believe it is the greatest gift that the world could offer."
Bella became thoughtful again, tracing the spine of the book. Eventually she spoke.
"When I started at this new school, they asked us all what we wanted to do after graduation, what we want to do with the rest of our lives. Do you know what my first thought was?" Bella looked up and met Tanya's curious eyes. "I thought, I want to die. I want to become a vampire."
Tanya did not respond. Bella went on.
"My mother hadn't intended on keeping me, I don't think I was ever supposed to exist. And then I kept narrowly escaping death, over and over. I was always out of step in my world, but lately it felt like I was always being called to death - Though now I realize I was being called to something else. I feel called to your world. I feel like I was born to be a vampire. I don't want it all to depend on whether or not Edward chooses me. I want more than Edward. I want your world to chose me."
Tanya was thoughtful for a moment, then moved to twist a loose strand of Bella's brown hair behind her ear.
"I felt the same way, when I was a human" she said as she took one of Bella's hands in hers. "Bella, you would make a spectacular immortal. I can see that about you. My sisters see it too."
Bella exhaled, nodding as Tanya spoke. Tanya was overcome with a feeling of kinship with the human girl. She smiled softly at her.
"If you ever decide that you truly want this life, and when you're ready, we would accept you as our sister. If you desired a life separate from the Cullen family, the Denali clan would take you in."
Bella threw herself into Tanya and embraced the blonde immortal fiercely. Tanya stroked her hair, and sighed. There was more to say. When Bella released her, Tanya reached forward and poked Bella gently on her nose.
"Incidentally, I think you do not have to worry about whether Edward would choose you. He already has. We knew it the moment he visited with us in Alaska. And I think Edward would very much want for you to be the one to chose him. I believe it would be his greatest wish to be the one who carries you into our world."
Bella ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.
"I want forever with him. I love him so much it terrifies me. The promises he's made me, I want so badly to believe them. I have been pushing him away because then at least that way I get to keep one hand on the wheel. Letting go and trusting him means losing control, giving him my whole heart means losing the person I've built trying to survive being without him."
"You're not the same person you were before, but neither is he," Tanya replied. "I think you owe it to yourselves to forge a new path together."
A storm began to brew behind Bella's eyes. Tanya rose to stand beside the bed. "I have given you a lot to think about."
"Yes," Bella whispered.
As she reached for the door, Tanya spoke once more. "Bella, while you may not fully believe it yet, trust me when I say, Edward does love you. And when immortals find their mate, they don't change their minds. Eternity without a partner in this life... it is a lonely one."
The electric thrill of hope swelled in me like a rising tide, crashing into my soul and pulling me under and away from the agony. No pain would find me now. I held Bella's body to me tighter, pressing my lips against her hair. She tightened her grip on me in response.
Bella's words swirled in my mind. I love him so much it terrifies me. Oh, Bella. How the depth of my devotion terrified me when I discovered it, sitting in your tiny bedroom in Forks. How far we have come, how much we have persevered through in the months that followed.
We would survive this.
I was fortified by the possibility of the future, determined to see Bella safely home before long. Whatever it took. I was not going to give up on the future we would forge together. Eternity had never before seemed like such a gift.
In my elation, I failed to notice that the atmosphere around me had changed. I picked up pieces of fear from Tanya and Kate's minds. We must have reached Volterra. My body was moved forward by force, until my back was pressed against cold concrete. I held Bella close. She shivered in my arms.
Alec removed his hold on me. The inky blackness seeped out of me and away, slowly returning my vision and hearing.
Before me, the Volturi royalty sat upon elaborate pomp thrones of silver. The three kings, Marcus, Caius, and between them, Aro, peered down at us from their lavish raised platform. All three of the ancients had nearly translucent skin, and their eyes somehow more crimson than even Jane's.
We were in an ancient throne room, clearly underground, where shining black and gold curtains framed painting of the kings ruling justly over their grateful subjects. Aro, the ruler and eldest of the ancient ones, adorned in a golden cloak, grinned in delight, regarding the captives before him as if receiving a pleasant visit from old friends.
"Welcome dear ones," he announced, clasping his hands together. "Welcome to Volterra."
TO BE CONTINUED. . .
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, the Twilight Series.
No copyright infringement intended. Plot is mine :)
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