I've got demons running round in my head

And they feed on insecurities I have

Won't you lay your healing hands on my chest?

Let your ritual clean

Chapter 8: What Lies Beneath

Alice POV:

I walked out about fifteen minutes later, tired and upset from the day. Bella ignored the rest of our questions. I needed to get out of there before I broke down in front of her.

"You ok?" Liam came out behind me concerned.

"No. How can I be? That person in there is not Bella." I started to cry and he hushed me in his arms.

"I know. But she's in there Alice. That's why we need to fight. We can't give up on her. She would never give up on us."

"Of course." I sighed and leaned back. "What now?" He chuckled dryly and took my hand to lead me upstairs.

"We need to find a trigger of some kind. Something that will make her feel. I'll think about what might work. But right now, we need to talk." We got up to the main floor and he called everyone in for a meeting.

"Well? Are you going to tell us what you've been hiding?" Colt asked expectantly and we all looked up in wait.

"Yes. But I want you to know we weren't hiding it on purpose or anything. It just didn't seem important. Until now." That made me feel slightly better. Nothing that bad could be hidden for no particular reason. "Um, ok. Where to start? Um Carlisle you remember when you were in the Volturi yeah?" Carlisle jumped at the sudden question aimed at him, but quickly recovered.

"Yes. Perfectly. Why do you ask?"

"How do you remember it? Like specifically. Can you describe everyone's traits and behaviors?"

"Uh yes." Liam nodded for him to continue and describe them. "Well there was Aro, he was cold, manipulative, heartless, and sadistic. Then Caius, always trying to prove he was the most merciless. Obviously he was." He paused and glanced sadly at me. "And then there was Marcus. He was really reserved, always kind of seemed like he just wanted it to end. Shall I continue with the main guard?"

"No no. That was perfect. Thank you Carlisle." Liam took a deep breath and began again. "I guess it all started when we first arrived. They made that serum just for us, putting all they wanted in there to create what they pictured to be the perfect species."

"We know all this Liam." Colt said gently, but you could tell he was still slightly annoyed.

"Not this part no. There were originally three of us."

"What?" I asked, completely dumbfounded. Bella never mentioned anyone else besides Liam.

"Yeah. It was a girl. Her name was Danielle."

"What happened to her?"

"She didn't make it to the injection day. A lot of people didn't make it there actually. The getting there was rough." He stopped and ran a hand through his hair. "They didn't have time to replace her, so it was just the two of us from then on out. But there was a reason why there were originally supposed to be three." Liam looked at Carlisle, hoping he'd catch onto something. But he appeared to be just as confused as everyone else.

"Why?"

"Come on Carlisle. Use your head. The Volturi think of themselves as kings, gods even. And if they were to create the perfect species-"

"They created you in their image." Jasper whispered, putting the pieces together. There was a collective gasp that rang out.

"That they did." Liam smirked humorously at our revelation.

"Wait, how would they do that? Besides making three of you?" Emmett asked from across the room.

"Well you know there's a special bond between the vampire and the vampire whose venom created them, right?"

"So they each put their own in one of you." Carlisle answered.

"Bingo." The tension in the room was thick. You could feel everyone's questions about who had whose. "But their original plan was unraveling. After Danielle died, Marcus said he'd had enough. He had grown tired of the meaningless killing and such, and he got up and left. But not before they had his venom of course. So now they had a choice, three samples of vampire venom, but only two humans to change."

"Why didn't they just get another? I mean they had plenty of humans."

"While that may be true Emmett, it's not quite. The Volturi picked us out for special reasons, like they usually do for their guard. As you know, Bella was a sort of shield for mental abilities. So were the rest of us, we all had that one thing in common. When Danielle died, they didn't have a replacement for her. And there wasn't enough time to find one. So it was just the two of us."

"So." I started, not knowing exactly how to ask it. "Who did they choose for you?"

"Marcus." Holy shit. If he was Marcus, then Bella….

"Fuck." Emmett muttered for everyone's thoughts.

"Yeah. I figured that might be your reaction." He stayed silent for a bit so we would all take it in. "But, like I said, Marcus left before I was even created so I never met the guy. Until two days ago."

"Volterra."

"Precisely Alice. There was a rumor that Marcus went back to Volterra to live out his days peacefully. And then Bella came along and ended it for him."

"She-she killed him?" I blurted out, amazed and horrified. Killing a Volturi king? That was supposedly impossible.

"Yes. Right after she snapped my neck. So when I said I knew her end game, I had figured it out. She wants to take out the Volturi. Every last one."

"Well that's not so insane." Jasper commented again. "Did she not want to before?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"Vampires don't want to kill their creators. It's kind of wired in them." Carlisle explained so Liam didn't have to.

"Exactly. No matter how much we really crave to kill them, it's not an easy thing to do. It's going against your body's wishes. But, without humanity, all that goes away. So she was free to do as she pleased."

"So…. Whose venom created her?" Edward finally asked the big question. I didn't know which evil I preferred at this point.

"Aro."

"Jesus. Why didn't you tell us?" Rosalie was understandably angry.

"Because it wasn't important! We didn't want you to judge us for something that wasn't in our control!"

"That's ridiculous! We would never do such a thing!"

"Are you sure about that Rose? You mean to tell me that there's not a single part of you rethinking all your time with us, all the clues, everything that makes you think, 'wow, that really makes sense now'?" Our silence answered his question. "Yeah. That's what I thought."

"That's not fair." I yelled at Liam. It wasn't. "Of course we're thinking about it now. Now that you thrust this new information on us! But it doesn't change anything! It doesn't change my feelings for you or Bella." He rolled his eyes at my statement, not believing. "Hey. Look at me. I don't care. I really fucking don't. Why would I?"

"Because without her humanity, she's going to start showing signs. The things she says or does, will remind you a lot of Aro. It's in her nature. I already saw a bit of it."

"Yeah but we're trying to get her humanity back. So it doesn't really matter."

"I know. But I just didn't want you to be surprised or confused about her behavior. And I think maybe it might help a bit with analyzing her psyche and all. Considering Carlisle's background." He eyed my father, who appeared to be deep in thought. Jasper suddenly gasped, bringing our attention to him.

"That's why they're always after her first. Aro wants her back."

"Yes. Aro thinks of her as his daughter." Liam's words sent chills through my body. I honestly didn't care whose venom brought Bella into this word, well that's sort of a lie. If I had my way entirely, it would have been mine. But that ship had sailed a long time ago. The thought of Aro thinking that Bella was his however, made me sick.

"Like hell he does." Those ground out words came from none other than my own mother. I've never seen Esme so pissed off until now. Carlisle went over to comfort her.

"Relax sweetheart. He never will be." He continued to hold her as we sat in silence, taking all this new information in.

"So what do we do now?" Rosalie was the brave one to speak up in the quiet room.

"Yeah, about that. I actually wanted to talk to Edward."

"Why me?"

"We're looking for triggers Edward, of any kind of emotion. The initial Alice presence did nothing. And neither did mine. So maybe yours might provide us with something." Liam put it gently, as not to anger me. But it still hurt, I had failed.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I'm not really sure yet. Love and caring hasn't really worked yet. Maybe anger will?"

"Are you sure that's the best way to go Liam?" Carlisle wasn't objecting, just questioning.

"Honestly I have no clue Carlisle. But if she gets just one emotion back, they all will start to come with it." Without any further comments, Liam motioned for Edward to follow him downstairs. I let out an involuntary whine. Just because I knew what they were going down for and why, didn't mean my inner animal liked it. I wanted to be the one to bring Bella back. I wanted to be with her every second of it.

"Come on Alice. Let's play a board game or something." Jasper steered me away towards their place to distract me, and Rosalie and Emmett followed. Carlisle and Esme stayed behind, still bound in their embrace as he whispered loving words to her.

"I can't believe she's got Aro's venom in her."

"So what Emmett? It's like Alice said, it doesn't matter."

"Easy Rosie. I wasn't saying that as a bad thing. I'm just surprised is all. Aro usually never turns people. It's always Caius or one of the main guard."

"Maybe that's why they chose Aro and Marcus." I said dully, my bad mood hadn't faded.

Fuck I wish I had turned her way back when. It's like Bella said, the future had changed. I missed my shot. And I have to live with that fact every single day for the rest of my life.

"Alice? Alice are you even listening to me?" I had apparently zoned out and Rosalie was trying to get my attention.

"Huh? What? Oh yeah I am."

"Well you weren't. Where'd you go?"

"Just thinking about the past and so on. Nothing important really." She scrutinized me as if she knew I was lying, but eventually shrugged it off and continued to ask me which game I felt like playing. We finally settled on Monopoly, it was a long enough game to keep my mind occupied for a while.

But my head wasn't fully emerged in the game. It was downstairs, thinking about what Edward and Liam were doing with Bella right now. Jasper read my feelings and took my hand.

"We'll get her back Alice. One way or another, we'll get her back."

A/N: I told you an explanation would come in due time. :) Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! Your kind words are absolutely amazing and I've almost cried at a few. So really, thank you.