A/N: Hellllooooooo everyone! It's been a minute as always lol but I am back with another chapter! A little warning before reading this chapter is very fast paced due to me wanting to speed up the plot. Let me know what you think after and thank you for tuning in!
It took two days filled with patience and avoiding direct questioning but the three newborns finally spoke. The youngest had grown restless and hungry the quickest which was to be expected and after everyone was well fed the blonde haired teen had finally spoke.
"We not eaten in long time. Thank you." His accent was thick and it was clear he knew little to no English.
"Mi chiamo Bella, qual è la tua?" he quickly looked up at me and answered.
"La donna in blu mi ha chiamato otto uno." A frown made it's way on my face as I heard his answer.
"Chi è la donna in blu?" I leaned against a dry spot on the stone wall that somehow managed to not get dirty.
"Ci ha trovati e ci ha portati dall'uomo che ci ha trasformati in bestie."
The teen and I watched as the smallest vampire played in the puddle of blood near his feet, his eyes a bright red from the blood he just consumed. Clenching my jaw I moved away from the wall and walked around the many dead and mauled human bodies that littered the floor towards the child and held out my hand. Glancing up he stared at me with big innocent eyes that revealed his age and took my hand as I led him away from the carnage we had caused.
"Non giochiamo con il nostro cibo, capito?" I stared at the youngest as I spoke but the other two newborns stood and followed me to the door and answered in acceptance while the smallest pouted and stomped his foot. A dent formed on the floor where his foot was and I sighed. One of the reasons why vampire children were feared was the destruction they caused at the smallest inconvenience to them. By some miracle I had managed not to have any problems with the vampire children yet but I supposed this was inevitable.
"La donna in blu ha detto che possiamo fare come ci pare! Voglio giocare nelle pozzanghere!" he wailed and began stomping both of his feet creating more cracks in the ground and shaking the bodies that were discarded on the marble floor. Loud wailing continued to echo throughout the room and the child threw himself on the floor and began banging loudly and screaming. The other two newborns covered their ears and shut their eyes.
Kneeling, I gently but firmly took hold of the child's chin until his bright red eyes met mine.
"capisco che si vuole giocare, ma non si può giocare in questa stanza. Hai bisogno di fare un bagno, ok?" the screaming quieted down but limbs continued to fly as I waited for him to speak.
"Ma io voglio giocare! Non riesco mai a giocare!" He pouted.
"Ho giocattoli da bagno con cui puoi giocare e giocattoli con cui puoi giocare dopo aver finito. Come ti suona?"
He stopped banging and a wide smile made its way on his face as he nodded. Standing up, I held my hand out once more and a smaller one held it tightly as all four of us made our way out of the room. As I led them down the long hallway two figures fell into step with us on both sides of me.
"I would've just killed it and been done with it."
"I suppose that's why Isabella was put in charge of the demons and not you Demetri." Felix replied and the taller man simply shrugged.
"I'm sure there was a time when you both lost your temper. Actually if I recall correctly Demitri you threw a hissy fit when Alec-" a low warning growl came from my right and I smirked.
"No matter, there's a reason vampire children are outlawed. If you can't control them, I'll put them down myself." Understanding Demetri's words, the three children moved towards me and I laid a comforting hand on eight one's shoulder.
"I won't let anyone touch any of you. Eight one, you and Eight two will shower in here and meet me in this room." I gestured to the room next door and with a departing nod the two teens entered the room.
When I entered the room the smallest newborn, eight three, and I were staying Tori was already in the room sitting on the sofa that was placed against the wall. When my eyes met hers I knew she received more information. Wanting to know what she found I began filling the the tub with warm water and bubbles and threw in a few toys.
"Go ahead to the bathroom and get in the bath, there's some toys in there for you too." With a smile the boy turned to leave but was stopped when Victoria stood up and tutted.
"What do you say?"
"Thank you Ms. Isabella." came the soft reply and I smiled as he ran towards the bathroom.
We waited until the sound of water splashing could be heard along with giggling and then she spoke.
"Leah and I scouted out the abandoned shed Thing One told you about two nights ago and it's not so abandoned anymore. There's over two dozen vampires camped there now just as he said there would be. From what I saw the majority of them are newly turned and they have humans amongst them as well."
"Over two dozen? That's a lot of vampires in one place and it's rare. Seeing as how you said the majority of them or newborns it would take someone with years and experience to ensure they don't bring attention to themselves. I don't understand how no one in the guard knew about this let alone the Kings themselves."
Tapping her fingers against her knee, the older vampire began pacing as she went over all the information they had gathered so far.
"We know that Aro was secretly gathering data on hybrids and using the triplets DNA samples for his research. We know that his lab was raided two months ago and all the research he conducted was stolen. Four nights ago five vampires were found near his lab. The intel Eight One gave you led Leah and I to the shed which is housing over two dozen vampires plus human hostages. What I don't understand is why all the secrecy on Aro's part? Why didn't he just outright say he knew about the possibility of hybrids? Also hiding this from the others?"
"We need to find out more on what exactly Aro was doing in that lab. It may shed some light on why someone would steal his research."
Victoria nodded at my words and stopped pacing at the sound of a knock on the door. We both glanced at each other then she opened the door. Mele, Athenadora's most trusted advisor stood in the hallway.
"Caius and Athenadora require your presence in the study on the fourth floor. Bring the children along too." she was gone as quickly as she arrived.
Victoria continued her pacing after our visit, reminding me of a caged animal and after watching her for five minutes I laid back on the bed in front her. I felt as if there was a dark cloud hanging over the heads of my family. Moving back to Forks now seemed like the best decision I could have made given the circumstances and I'll be forever glad I didn't listen to Aro's pleas of staying for a while longer. While Aro's betrayal came as a surprise Sulpicia's defense of him was what hurt more. She had been the one who took care of triplet's health and recorded their growth while we were here and the thought of her being an accomplice to this was disappointing. I hadn't known either of them for long but she didn't seem like the type to manipulate and use people but then again I was never that good at judging people's intentions, clearly. Yet the compassion and care she showed us was something I found hard to fake. This was all so unsettling and to think I was planning on coming back here at the end of the year with my family, something that I wouldn't do again. More knocking at the door interrupted my thoughts and Eight One and Two came in the room freshly showered wearing clean clothes.
"Thing One and Thing Two go help the little monster get dressed we have a meeting to attend." with a grunt Eight One quietly complained.
"That's not my name Merida." He rebutted and I snorted in amusement.
"You don't have a name which is why you have been dubbed 'Thing One'. I on the other hand do have a name it's Victoria not Merida. They don't even sound remotely alike so i'm not sure where the confusion is coming from." she answered back and he merely huffed and entered the bathroom.
"They do need names though, we can't call them by their number for the rest of their life."
"Yeah that's if they live long enough to need names." I shot her a disapproving look and she placed one hand on her hip while raising the other one up.
"Bella you know just as well as I that the chances of them being destroyed are higher than not. They were never meant to be created and the fact that they have survived this long is only due to their usefulness."
Turing to face the red haired teen near the door I smiled softly and asked "Do you have a name in mind that you want to be called?"
"I like the name Aldo!" he declared with a smile.
"Aldo it is then!"
...
Thousands of books lined the shelves surrounding the large room we now stood in, all in various sizes, thickness and age. The library on the fourth floor was a welcome change in scenery after being holed up in one of two places for the last two days. After being turned, Marcus would take me here and teach me about the history of vampires such as the wars fought, laws of past and present, and even information not privy to most vampires outside of the castle. We would often spend hours in here discussing the books that occupied these shelves or simply read until we had enough. Upon entering I noticed Caius and Athenadora weren't the only ones joining us, Mele, Didyme, Marcus and Raul were here as well.
"Bella dear i'm happy to see the young immortals have settled in comfortably."
"Yes it seems they just needed a little time to process their new surroundings. It didn't hurt that they were able to feed either." Athenadora smiled pleasantly and turned to face her blond haired partner.
"Isabella as I stated before Aro will not be privy to any information that is discussed concerning this matter, that goes for those in the guard who's loyalty we know is to Aro as well. Now, tell us what you know." he said and so I proceeded to tell him everything we learned.
After speaking, I took stock in the expressions of the royals across form me who were quietly digesting the information I just gave them. When no one spoke, Tori voiced her concerns and questions she directed to me previously in the room.
"If I may, there's many unknowns that still need to be brought to light and aren't adding up. As Bella informed you all the shed Leah and I found was occupied by over two dozen vampires. That isn't normal for our kind. The question of why these three newborns were made is still unknown as well as the reason for the ones in the shed and most concerning is who is behind all of this." with a halting look from Caius Tori stopped her onslaught of words and he glanced at Marcus who nodded.
"Bella my child, this meeting wasn't purely just to unveil your findings but ours as well. We had an enlightening conversation with our brother while Anthenadora and Didyme spoke to his wife. Aro began researching hybrids after a visit to Brazil him and Suplicia took nearly two centuries ago. While in Brazil they met a shifter named Xavin who told them about a legend passed down from their tribe after Suplicia took interest. From there onward Xavin, Aro and Suplicia have been conducting research and studying the genetic make up of both humans and vampires to see if the legends could be possible. While not having any solid proof Xavin was sure that there had to be some truth to the legends and eventually came to Volturra which is when they built a lab. From what I understand the experiments that were being conducted weren't life threatening to anyone until Aro decided that greater efforts needed to be made. He began taking humans and experimenting on them but Xavin didn't agree with what he was doing and left, that was a a little over a decade ago. Since then Aro has been experimenting on humans and vampires alike but what's worse is who else he's been working with. He recruited humans, of all things in his research lab therefore breaking our most important law and exposing us to humans."
It would be those who make and enforce the laws to be the same ones who break them.
I swear its just one problem after the next. No doubt those humans will be dealt with swiftly if they haven't already.
This makes us clearing out the abandoned shack more pressing Bella. I'm guessing Caius will call for no survivors save the few mature vampires that are bound to be there.
Refocusing on the conversation happening outside, I watched the four royals stare at me clearly trying to gauge my reaction to the news.
"The Volturi use humans to do their bidding on multiple occasions but I have to admit this is rather unsettling. Has anyone been able to track down this Xavin? They could prove to be of help as well. What's important now is finding out what those still alive know and destroying them afterwards. What are your orders?"
"I agree, Isabella you will lead a team to infiltrate the shack you found. Along with Victoria and her mate you will take Mele and two others of your choosing. Find out as much information as you can while there and bring the one in control to me." Nodding I turned and began towards the exit and paused as Athenadora called out to me.
"Be careful young one."
"Aren't I always."
...
The sound of screaming was accompanied by the sound of body parts being torn apart and destroyed as Riley and Raul made their way through the shack. Finding out who I didn't want on this team was a longer list than those I did and those two were the obvious choice after much thinking. They worked well together with Riley being able to see anything and anyone coming at him with 360 degree vision that spanned for miles on end and Raul turning anything to ash with a simple touch. As the four of us watched the fighting going on inside Victoria and Leah headed to their positions just as a few vampires tried to escape the two inside the shack. Mele and I watched as Leah swiftly tore off the arm of a well built man and Tori decapitate the head of another as they tried to flee from the back entrance. Heading for the shack Mele and I made our way through the various body parts that lay across the ground and towards the terrified voices coming from the back. Two figures suddenly sped towards me and I quickly grabbed the fist aiming for my cheek and tossed the body towards the foot aiming for my stomach. While the two bodies collided I continued walking deeper into the shack as Mele made quick work on the two. Eight One had said there was a basement underneath this place which is where i'm certain the ones calling the shots would be and seeing as they already know we're here my chances of grabbing them before they run off are decreasing the longer this goes on. Running from behind us caught my attention and Mele stopped walking intent on taking care of the threat as I continued to navigate through the long winding hallway. I soon found Riley and Raul who were fighting off ten newborns. Grabbing the one closest to me I tossed her to in the next room and kicked another off Riley.
"Let me guess the basement door is on the other side of all these newborns?" I asked sarcastically
"Your skills of deduction are as sharp as ever ." Riley drawled.
Ducking under an arm thrown my way I punched the outside of an elbow and heard the satisfying sound of a crack followed by an enraged growl and kicked in his knee before tearing off the head and tossing it somewhere behind me. The vampire I previously tossed ran at me and smirking I stuck my foot out at the last second and watched as she tripped and fell face first on the ground. Stomping on her neck I added pressure slowly and watched her neck begin to crack.
"No! Let her go!" Glancing up I watched as a middle aged man came through the basement door with an old red faced human not too far behind. An eyebrow slowly made its way up my head as I applied a little more pressure to my foot.
"Oh? And who are you again?" I asked and the duo made their way towards me as the vampire answered.
"I'm the one who has the answers you seek Isabella Swan." Pausing my movement I stared at the two in front of me as he continued to speak.
"I'll tell you what you want to know but leave them be." Glancing at Riley and Raul I nodded my head and they dropped the bodies they were holding in their hands. They began fleeing and I stared at the duo expectantly.
"Mara as well." my gazed momentarily turned to the struggling newborn underneath my foot.
"Oh no Mara stays here. For insurance, I'm sure you understand." I said with a smile and he frowned.
"Very well, my name is Dr. Mark Rice and this here is my associate Dr. Roger Cane. We are both part of The Foundation that you will soon become familiar with Ms. Swan. I must say you're a lot younger than I figured you would be."
"What is your purpose and why did you steal those files from Aro's lab?"
"That's a heavy question but you see my purpose is simply to help usher in a new beginning from long past and in order to do so I needed the information that selfish traitor had."
"What do you mean 'a new beginning'? Who put you up to this and why those samples?"
"There are many things you don't know Isabella, things of the past spanning eons before you were even thought into existence. Have you ever wondered how you came to be? How it is that we can exist, why we exist? The Foundation knows the answer to all of these questions and more, like why are your children the only half-lings that share the memories that you possess?" at his words a snarl left my lips and my hand was around his neck as I glared at him.
"Kill everyone that was here leave no survivors." Raul and Riley glanced at each other in confusion but went to join Tori and Leah who were disposing of the vampires who fled earlier, Mele who was listening stared at me.
"It seems to have already started then, isn't that right Ms. Swan? That means a growth is imminent and soon for what are they called now? Niklaus, Alexander and Valeria was it? Strong names for even stronger-" squeezing my hand around his neck I crushed his throat and watched as he wheezed pathetically.
"You talk too much."
Turning to the human I swung my fist towards his chest only to be stopped by Mele's warning.
"His Majesty told us to bring back those in charge and this human may have information we need."
"You're carrying him then. Let's go."
The human began protesting but was ignored as Mele grabbed him and headed towards the door where the four were finishing up. The doctor in my grip offered no protest and gave me a wide smile as I pulled him outside.
" Riley and Raul you clean up here and meet us in the throne room when you're finished." Giving them no time to reply I began running back towards the castle as a whirlwind of emotions flooded through me. I had many questions after the brief talk with this doctor the main ones being 'Who the hell are the The Foundation?' and 'What did they want with my kids?'.
...
The four Royals were waiting for us when we arrived and anxious for answers I dragged the still smiling doctor to the center of the room then kicked his legs from underneath him while pulling not so gently on his wrist from my position behind him.
"My name is Marcus and this is Caius we along with the two woman behind us are The Volturi, the rulers of our race who enforce the laws we have, but i'm sure you already know that. You will tell us everything you know and why it is whoever you are working for are committing the crimes you will be charged with."
"I have nothing to say to the likes of you. None of you are true kings or queens you're merely usurpers who stole the crown from those who did the same before but that will all change soon. The Foundation has a plan one you people have never seen before and I am just sad I will not be around to see the looks on your faces when it comes to pass." the self satisfied smile that was on his face dissipated as I began slowly breaking the bones on his wrist.
"Who began The foundation and what do they want with my children? How long have you known about them?" I questioned and when I did not get a reply my foot made contact with his shoulder and his screams rang loudly in the room.
"Stop screaming and answer my questions! How do you know about my children? Where is your main base of operations? Answer me!" when he continued to scream I applied more pressure and both arms were wrenched from their sockets and he fell face first on the marble floor. Tossing the limbs aside in annoyance I let out a growl and stomped on his knee causing his screams to intensify.
"Your mouth is making noise and yet none of the answers to my questions have been answered. Stop your crying and talk!" lifting my foot off the disfigured knee I aimed for his calf this time but was stopped when a pale hand yanked me back.
Victoria stood in between the doctor and me with a look that clearly expressed her dislike for my actions.
Is this who you are now?
Behind her Leah stared at me in surprise and I stepped away from the mangled body in front of me. The double door opened and Raul and Riley entered the room taking the place of where I previously was.
"Did you know The Volturi were not the first Kings of the Children of the shadows? They wrongfully stole the throne centuries ago. Back then, war and death were the only things the world knew."
"I'm aware of the control the Romanians had until the Volturi uprising."
"Do you know the full story though? In order to understand the actions being taken now to better the future you need to first understand the past. Vampires were never meant to walk the earth as the dominant species we were only pawns in a much greater game. "
"What do my children have to with your goals?"
"The Foundation's intentions lie in the true history of our kind, a history that your children are directly connected to."
"How is that possible? They were just born."
Flopping over the doctor stared at me and replied "Or maybe they were reborn."
"Enough of your fairy tales. We'll get to the bottom of this now." Caius made his way from his throne and towards Dr. Rice who began crawling away in fear.
In the blink of any eye the blonde haired ancient tore off a leg and tossed it with the other two limbs and Marcus set all three on fire. Wrapping a pale hand around his neck Caius' blood red eyes stared into frightened red ones and Rice gasped. It was silent for ten minutes and Caius released his grip.
"You're tricks won't work. The Foundation knows all about the abilities you possess and has prepared us for it."
"Were you able to see anything brother? " Marcus asked. Disregarding his question, Aro instead addressed me while staring at the frightened doctor.
"Isabella you need to return home now." At his words my body became tense and Leah unconsciously moved to stand beside Tori..
"What did you see my love?"
"There are blank spaces in this man's memories as if they've been altered somehow but what I did see..." he trailed off and suddenly gave me a hard stare.
"Return home and don't let the children out of your sight. This was all planned I should have factored this in before calling you here. We'll be in touch."
"It's too late! She won't make it in time! The Foundation-" with a simple flick of the wrist, the doctor was silenced and thrown into the fire with the rest of his remains.
Squeezing my wrist Victoria gestured to the double doors and giving everyone one last once over I followed Victoria and Leah out of the room and a voice softly called out to me once more.
"Trust no one but those in your home Isabella. Safe travels to you all."
...
The airport in Seattle was crowded with humans excited for the upcoming holiday as our trio made our way through the waves of humans. Relief filled my being at the prospect of being this much closer to home and it seeped through the link as I checked on everyone quickly. Following the easiest threads a smile made its way on my face as I saw my children cuddled up under blankets on the couch at Charlie's as he sat in his reclining chair. There was a movie playing in the background quietly and from the fuzziness that began to surround Val's sight I knew she would be sleeping soon.
Mama is that you? Are you coming home now?
I'll be with you soon. Close your eyes and sleep when you wake up I'll be there, okay?
Okay love you...
I love you too
Pulling back I went to visit Hulian who was teaching a class where the other three members of my family were in attendance. We had finally reached the car that was left for us and sliding into the backseat, I leaned back and closed my eyes then continued looking. Looking around the classroom I could see Seth pouting at something and chuckled then glanced to the far right and a wave of excitement hit my body as I saw golden eyes staring back at me. Or rather at Hulien. I hadn't spoken to Rosalie in what seemed like weeks and while in Volturra I had been too busy to reply to the few texts she sent me. I didn't inform her of my impromptu trip to visit The Volturi but seeing as things have changed within such a short amount of time I found myself wanting to come clean to her. Telling her however would involve asking Rosalie to withhold this information from her family or telling the full story to all the The Cullens, two things I wasn't willing to do. My private thoughts were interrupted when everyone entered the link.
You guys are back thank God. I was beginning to worry.
Seth we're fine, no need to worry
Everyone goes straight home today
With everyone in agreement I began to pull into myself as Hulien began teaching once more. We were getting close to the road leading to Forks and the anxiety in the car began to rise quickly. It seemed as though the closer we got to Forks the more I felt the absence of not having my children around. I never enjoy having to leave them, no matter the reason but seeing as how this last trip turned out moving forward that won't be a issue any longer. Communication between Caius and I will have to increase slightly in order for us to keep both parties up to date with finding The Foundation and anyone working with them. Caius, Marcus and the Queens were going to have a rough time over the next few months concerning Aro as well as the humans him and The Foundation worked with. It was still unclear what information they would make public but either way the news will likely cause much unrest in the immortal community which didn't bode well for anyone, immortal or not. My thoughts were halted by an insistent pressure inside my head that had I been human would have me crying on the ground and evidently Tori and Leah felt it as well. Groaning I grabbed my head and looked in front of as the car jerked left once, twice before something crashed into the driver's side causing all of us to go flying through the woods. Without thinking I kicked the door nearest to me open as we flew through the air and saw Tori do the same after grabbing hold of Leah who was in too much pain to do anything. Jumping out the the still flying vehicle we both landed smoothly on our feet and opened the link and what I felt made everything in me freeze. Unparalleled terror like I've never felt before was flowing through the bond. Reaching out to Valeria was the easiest of the triplets but as I reached out to her I saw and heard nothing. Trying again gave me the same response and I took off running as the car finally landed where I had been previously standing. Leah had shifted and let out a howl as we all ran towards Charlie's house. Something was wrong, not only couldn't I reach Valeria but I couldn't contact Hulien or anyone else either. Taking out my cell, I called Charlie and was disappointed when I was met with voicemail then called the house phone which went straight to a busy tone. Pushing myself harder I ran faster as dread began to enter my body. The headache was getting worse the more we ran but I couldn't stop or slow down, the terror I felt was coming from the triplets there was no doubt about that. Just as we were passing the 'Welcome to Forks' sign I paid closer attention to my surroundings and realized we were being followed. There was six of them judging by their footsteps and Tori looked back at me indicating she noticed as well and I forced myself to calm down and think. Victoria was the fastest out all three of us and she was able to erase her presence quickly. Leah and I could handle them ourselves but without contact from Charlie or anyone else I had no idea what was happening at Charlie's or if there were more people there. Tori stopped abruptly causing me to almost run into her.
"Listen carefully we don't have much time before they reach us. They're coming from all directions and there's six of them. I have an idea but neither of you are going to like." Victoria rushed out and I growled already knowing what she was going to propose.
"Bella you need to think rationally, I'm the fastest and I have the most battle experience of the three of us. Leah already called for backup so they should be heading towards Charlie's already. I'll be fine and I promise I'll protect Charlie and the kids with my life. This is our best option and you know it, both of you do."
"I don't like this and judging by the growls neither does Leah." I argued but I knew she was right. Tori was already running slower than she could in order for us to keep up with her. Moving forward she smiled at me and squeezed my hand then moved to Leah.
Her tail was swaying back and forth and I turned to give them a little privacy choosing to scan the forest instead. They were less than a minute way and I could clearly make out their forms and eye color. There were four newborns who couldn't be older than a year and the other two had to be at least half a decade which means they're still young but older than I am. Tori and and Leah must have been finished because she quickly took off in the direction towards Forks just as the six vampires were within range. A rather young looking newborn attempted to stop her but she simply volleyed off a tree and seemingly disappeared as she erased her presence. The throbbing in my head was consistent and much more painful now but I know I need to focus on the threat in front of us. The newborns were cautiously looking at Leah who I could tell was barley holding herself together while the two older woman stared at me. In her current state I knew Leah wouldn't be able to last very long so bending down slightly I set me sights on the threat in front of me and attacked.
A/N: Like I stated earlier this I know this chapter was very fast paced but hopefully not too confusing as I'm trying to move the plot along. Thank you all for your continuous support and love for the story! For anyone interested I have decided to write a new story hopefully I can get the first chapter out to you all soon! I won't be abandoning this story its just something that came to mind and I'll be bouncing between both. Below are the translations of the conversation between Bella and the immortal children so check them out. Bye for now!
My name is Bella, what's yours?
The woman in blue called me eight one.
Who's the woman in blue?
she found us and took us to the man who turned us into beasts
We don't play with our food, all right?
The woman in blue said we can do as we please! I want to play in puddles!
I understand that you want to play, but you can't play in this room. You need to take a bath, okay?
But I want to play! I can never play!
I have bath toys that you can play with and toys you can play with after you're done. How does that sound to you?