BELLA'S POV

The Volturi? Here? Not good, not good.

My heart started beating like crazy and a forceful knock shook the door of the bedroom. "Enter" Rose called. I expected it to be Edward, instead I found myself enveloped in Jasper's arms. I could feel the waves of calmness he was sending me and I welcomed them greedily, needing them to keep me from freaking out.

"Edward went out to hunt before they arrive. He said we have half an hour?" I heard Emmett say, and looking up I saw that he, too, stood in the room. He was hugging Rosalie while speaking with Alice.

Alice nodded. "He will come back in time, don't worry. Now, I need you to remove all the decorations and change into more comfy, simple clothes. Go!" she commanded, and the two males left immediately.

Rose came at my side and quickly removed my dress. I helped her and stepped out of my shoes, finding myself naked, only wearing my panties. She handed me two tissues to clean my make-up with while she and Alice stripped also.

I wiped my face up and removed most of my make-up. Alice, having finished her change of clothes, helped me, removing every trace of cosmetics from my face. Rose handed me a pair of maroon high-waist jeans, a bra and a white shirt. "Put them on" she ordered, and I obliged quickly.

"Ten minutes!" Alice yelled, even though the entire house could hear her just fine.

"All is ready here!" Em called back, and she ordered him and Jasper to come here. She let them enter only after I had fully clothed myself. The two Cullens entered and stood, waiting for new instructions. We were all surprised when she pulled them close to her and started speaking too low and too fast for me to hear.

I felt uneasy about being left out, because that meant something was up, but I had no time to bother with it as Rose came out of her bathroom wearing a red jumpsuit, only a shade lighter than my own maroon jeans.

She dived into the conversation, and I could not hear a thing even while she was speaking while braiding my hair in a tress that she left draping over my right shoulder.

"Anyone cares to enlighten me?" I snapped, after being ignored for a full minute more.

Alice ushered the boys out, telling them something else. I only caught the name 'Edward'. "Sorry, Bells. Not now. Later, I promise. For now, you need to know that two Volturi guards will arrive. They will give you a letter, you will have to read it, without letting Edward see it. It's important. Then be cool about what they ask you to do. Do not panic or something. Then, when they will ask—you'll know when—tell them my name and Rosalie's."

I nodded grimly, not pleased about being in the dark, even if it was partially.

"Edward is coming. Occupy your mind with other thoughts, do not let him know about what we talked about" she then ordered Rose. The blonde vampire nodded her head. Not more than two seconds later we heard a door slamming open and then close.

Alice ran at vampire speed downstairs. She barked something at Edward and came back in less than thirty seconds.

"Ready yourselves. You'll open the door Carlisle. We have forty-five seconds!" she said.

I started fidgeting with my hands, and I felt the waves of Jazz's power calming me. I muttered a soft 'thanks'. The only reply I got was an intensifying of the waves. Usually I preferred to deal with my emotions myself, but right now I needed his help or else I would have fainted.

A while later the Carlisle opened the door. My two friends sat beside me and listened to the conversation, which was too low for my ears. I was truly pissed now. Hello? Human with lower hearing here! Jasper's power kept me from growling in anger.

A few minutes later Alice stood up, dusting off some invisible dust from her pink dress. She nodded at me and Rose and we got up, also.

Opening the door, we walked to the stairs and I heard Edward yelling "They can't decide for her!"

I immediately understood that, while he was saying that, he wanted to make the choice I was, apparently, supposed to make himself. My temper flared, now no longer controlled by Jasper.

I hissed back "And neither can you!"

All eyes were on us in an instant. I looked at Edward, whose eyes were black with fury, glaring at him. He stared right back. Ha. Buddy if it's a staring contest you want, a staring contest you'll get. We stayed like this for a minute before he turned his eyes away from my burning gaze.

My eyes then flitted over my family, acknowledging my brothers' light smirk—seemingly having noticed my staring contest with Edward—and then I looked at the strangers in black.

My gaze fixated on them. They, too, were analysing us. The two guards both wore dark grey, almost black in shade, cloaks. Their hoods were down, so we could all see their bright red eyes. The one on the left was tall and sleek, yet muscular, with black hair that grazed his shoulders. He had the typical paleness of vampires and the physical charms. His companion was enormous. He was taller than his fellow guard, taller than even Emmett. He had to be at least 6'5'' feet, with huge muscles ready to rip humans and vampires to shreds. I guess steroids were used even during ancient times, I thought. His hair were also black, but shorter.

Rosalie spoke before anyone else. "Who are our guests?" she asked, her tone colourless. The big vamp stepped forward and said "I am Felix, and this is Demetri. We are here on a mission. We must deliver these letters to you and Miss Isabella."

Yep. That I already knew. Thanks Alice!

"Bella" Rose, Alice and myself corrected at the same time. Only a wave of seriousness from Jasper kept us from giggling like idiots. I quietly sent back a feeling of gratitude, without looking at him.

I took a few steps forward, with my sisters still flanking me, and, steeling myself, I stood before the vampire hulk. I nodded my head to the letters he held in his huge hands. "Which one is my letter?" I asked nonchalantly. I was not going to show any fear to these people.

The two guards seemed surprised—and Jasper, who was not tampering my emotions, smirked at their surprise—but the enormous one recovered fast and handed me my letter. I went to sit at the couch and was immediately surrounded by my brothers and sisters. Carlisle and Esme still stood, ever the perfect hosts. Edward I didn't care about, not now.

I opened the letter, and I vaguely noticed how everyone's eyes went to my face, reading my expressions, but not the letter. Alice's doing, of course. If Edward couldn't be allowed to see the letter from my hands, he couldn't from others' thoughts, too.

What I found inside surprised me.

"Dear Isabella,

I am happy that you are well, after having heard of your supposed demise from your beloved Edward.

I am also very glad I did not get a reason to kill young Edward, and I thank you for this. I heard from my guards you stopped him yourself. Very brave.

I write you this missive hoping that you would join me and my brothers here in Volterra for a little vacation. I'd be delighted to meet you and enjoy your company, as would my brothers and coven.

If you decide to humour me and come stay with us for a while, I promise that no harm will come to you. You have my word.

I hope to meet you soon, my dear.

Yours sincerely,

Aro Volturi."

Right. Yes. A vacation in the Citadel. Sure.

I remembered Alice's words and refrained myself from fainting. Be cool. Be cool. Be cool.

I stood up—my legs were surprisingly not shaking—and I stared at the two human-drinkers right in the eye. Rose and Alice stood with me.

"When do we leave?" I then asked, and the surprise on the faces of Demetri and Felix wasn't masked this time. I vaguely heard Edward gasp, but I ignored him. I kept staring at the two males, not backing down.

After a minute—vampires and their staring contests—Demetri answered me. "We leave in three hours" he said. I nodded.

Then Alice asked them, "And the third letter?"

"It is for the entire coven as a whole" Felix said, handing it to Carlisle.

He opened it in a smooth motion and read the contents quickly then said, "Here briefly says what I believe is told in Bella's letter. She will be welcome for a while in Volterra. Then it says you can bring two people with you, if it makes you feel more comfortable" the last bit was directed at me.

Before I could say Alice and Rose's names, as I knew to do, Edward stood up and dusted off his blue pants. "I'll go with her. No one else" he said. The others glared at him and I growled. Actually growled! Shit, all this time with vampires and I'm starting to act like them.

"As I said before, you cannot make my decisions in my place" I hissed at him, and my family backed me up with affirmative nods.

He huffed, still thinking he had the upper hand here. "She's my mate, I get to—"

"Nope. You get to do nothing in my place, Edward. Are we clear?" I asked, fuming. Before he could retort I turned to Demetri and Felix, who were eyeing me with appreciation and admiral, and told them "Rose and Alice will come with me."

They nodded, letting us know where we had to meet them in three hours. They left after that.

Completely ignoring Edward, I turned to Rose and Alice. "What's next?" I asked.

"Packing" Rosalie giggled, and I cackled with her, too.

"I know we have to pack, Rose. I meant, what do we do with Charlie? And school? Alice, any ideas?"

"We'll tell him you got accepted into an exclusive abroad program with me and Rose in Italy. She will pretend to have already been accepted the year before and so she will be our senior there."

"All right, but how can I simply abandon high school and go off to Italy?"

"Well, while we were changing I ordered a few things that will help us" she winked. As if on cue Jasper—who I hadn't noticed had vanished—walked through the door and, standing proudly, said in a voice that sounded so like our principal's, "Isabella Marie Swan, I hereby declare you free of High School!"

We all laughed (well, except Edward who was fuming in the corner, but who cared), then I realised what he was giving me. I gaped at the document. My fricking diploma. "What the hell?" I breathed.

Emmett pulled me into a massive bear hug and laughed. "We pulled you out early!" he shouted in my ear.

"How?" I asked, without the presence of mind to say anything else.

"Your good grades and a fair amount of cash" said Jasper, wiggling his eyebrows. We laughed again.

"Well, now we need to go. We must pack our things and go tell Charlie. Say goodbye to everyone now, Bells, because we won't have time for that later" Rose declared. I nodded I quickly hugged Esme and Carlisle, kissed Emmett's smooth cheek and squeezed Jasper.

They wished me good luck and pleaded me to stay safe. I waved at them, still ignoring Edward (as was everyone else) and got into my truck and drove home.

I entered, holding my diploma in my hands and squealing. Charlie ran up to me, eyes darting everywhere to spot a possible reason for my joy. When they found my diploma he grinned and picked me up in his arms. He twirled me around like he hadn't done in over ten years. I told him about how my excellent grades led up to this early conclusion of high school, and the abroad program. He wasn't convinced, but when Alice and Rose arrived, adding a dose of charm to my speech, he was done. He congratulated me, and then throttled me when I told him I had to leave in less than three hours.

He demanded to know why I hadn't told him before, and I quickly invented an excuse. After some more talking I went up in my room to find everything already packed by Alice and Rose, their luggage placed beside mine on the floor.

"Thanks girls" I said and they smirked at me.

"Let's go, there's no time to lose!" Alice exclaimed, and Charlie, who had heard her, agreed wholeheartedly. We grabbed our luggage and went downstairs. Charlie asked if we wanted a lift to the airport, but we thanked him and told him we would go on our own. A cab was waiting outside, and in what felt like seconds we were at the airport.

Italy here we come!