December 18th 2122
One day before battle
Half an hour after Felix had left, Bella went to the East courtyard and settled on the bench, leaning her head back and staring up at the sky. She could feel the burn in her throat getting fiercer with every second that passed as she anticipated the blood she'd become so accustomed to. The need for it was stronger than ever before- even when she had been forced to go without for weeks upon weeks while her family rationed their blood. This time, she needed it to dull down the red of her eyes, to satisfy her, to end the craving for human blood that was far more delicious.
Another half an hour passed and Bella felt a twinge of worry. Surely Felix would be back soon. It didn't take that long to run to the nearest forest, kill a couple of deer, and bring them back. Unless he'd gone to a different forest. But what for? Bella tried to keep her mind off it as one day bled into the next, and she realised she only had to get through this day before she saw her family again. Just as Felix had told her, she focused on the outcome she hoped would happen.
Felix. It had now been almost two hours and there was still no sign of him. Frowning, Bella strained her ears and caught Caius' voice far away. Inhaling deeply, she could detect Felix's scent in the distance, as well as Caius'. Something wasn't right. Felix wouldn't simply stop to have a chat with someone while pulling carcasses behind him.
Bella jumped to her feet, knowing she needed to find Felix somehow. She reached out to open the door to go back inside, but someone beat her to it, and she almost went crashing into them.
"Ah, Bella." The name ran off his tongue in a silky smooth voice, making Bella instantly stiffen. "Just who I was looking for."
"Was there something you wanted?" Bella asked, fighting to keep her tone even.
Aro sighed in false disappointment. "Would you follow me, Bella. There's something we must discuss."
"Felix? I asked you a question. What are you doing outside the walls of Volterra with two animal carcasses?"
There was no point in lying. What lie would be plausible enough? Simply put, there was none. But if he was going down, he wouldn't drag Bella down with him, and he certainly wouldn't fall on the floor and allow Caius or Aro to walk all over him. He'd go down with defiance.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Felix asked.
Caius raised an eyebrow. "It rather looks to me as though you're going against Aro's direct orders. I can't allow that to go unpunished."
Two guards stepped out from the shadows. One yanked the deer away and the other pinned Felix's arm behind his back. For a moment, Felix contemplated fighting his way out. He was undoubtedly stronger than those guards. It was why he was more than a mere hallway guard. But if he was to fight back, what would happen to Bella? He'd increase his chances of being killed on the spot, and never be able to ensure Bella's escape.
So he complied with the guards, showing no resistance as they led him through the corridors and to the main antechamber. As he was pushed to his knees and firmly held there, he looked up to see Caius take his place on his throne, flanked by Jane and Alec. Glancing to his left, Marcus was sat there, not even bothering to look at Felix, his face impassive.
"You know what to do, Jane," Caius said.
Felix knew too, and when he was hit by the bout of pain, he forced himself to stay upright expressionless. He refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing him in agony. Silently, he wished Bella would realise he was here and shield him. The bug was still in the room; he instantly regretted never showing Bella how to use the recorder, not having anticipated things turning out this way.
"Up the level," Caius instructed.
Jane did so, and Felix crumpled. No longer could he withstand the pain. No longer did he have the strength for it. He felt the pain, tried to block it out as it attacked him, hoping that this would be his only punishment, and he would not be killed after. In his mind, he saw Bella, focused on her and his friendship with her.
"You bitch!"
The pain stopped abruptly and gasping for breath, Felix weakly raised his head, his eyes widening as he saw Bella slamming Jane's head against the marble steps.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" Bella asked, hurrying along beside Aro.
"Caius wanted to speak with Felix about something. Funnily enough, he couldn't find your friend anywhere. So he decided to check outside of Volterra. And you know what he found?"
"What?"
"Felix, carrying a few dead deer with him. For you, naturally."
Furrowing her eyebrows, Bella turned to Aro, a sick feeling in her stomach. "What did you do to him?"
"Just a little punishment, of course. He disobeyed my very clear orders not to allow you animal blood. Since we're on the topic of punishment, I thought I might have a little chat with the both of you."
Bella silently cursed. She'd been foolish once again. She never expected Aro to expressly say she could drink from animals. But she never knew he'd forbidden it. If Felix had told her, she never would've let him go out.
Felix…
What was Aro's idea of a little punishment?
She itched to find Felix, but was forced to match Aro's pace as he lead her through the corridors. They finally reached the antechamber and Bella didn't stop to hesitate before bursting inside, fury crossing her face as she took in the scene.
Her friend, her close friend, the one who had been by her side in those torturous weeks of Volterra, was sprawled on the floor, writhing in pain as Jane watched her with a poisonous smile.
In that second, she didn't think about consequences, where she was, who she was with. She only thought about her friend in pain, being tortured. She only saw the wicked vampire taking pleasure in the pain she inflicted.
"You bitch!" Bella yelled, as she flew towards Jane, locking her hands around the smaller vampire's neck, sending them both to the ground with the force of her jump. She pulled Jane's head up again and slammed it down on the steps, a grim satisfaction passing through her as the cracks formed on Jane's head.
Shocked, Jane threw Bella off of her, grabbed her by the arms and swung her around, letting go and causing her to crash into the centre throne. Incensed, Bella lunged at Jane, but an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her away. It was Demetri who held her in an unbreakable grip. Realising it was pointless to fight to break free, Bella fell limp in his arms, looking to see Aro's reaction. Surprisingly, he didn't look furious at all. He had a curious smile on his face.
"I must admit, Bella," he said. "You have some serious fight in you." He turned to Alec, who nodded. "Lower your shield, Bella," Aro instructed. "Or I'm afraid you'll be facing instant death."
Bella didn't say anything, her stony gaze fixed on Aro.
"Do it," Felix said quietly.
After only a moment's hesitation, she pulled her shield back from Felix and pushed it away from herself. Then she was consumed by darkness, which she knew was Alec's doing.
"Very good," Aro said. "Now, I have a few questions for the both of you. Felix, why did you go against my orders?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Felix replied. "I wanted Bella to be free to drink from whatever she wants. It's wrong of you to force her to go without or drink human blood when she clearly doesn't want to."
Aro tilted his head slightly. "You've grown soft, Felix." He opened his mouth to continue but Demetri interrupted.
"I found this on Isabella," he said, holding up the tiny bug. "It wasn't on her when she entered so it must have stuck to her when she crashed into the floor."
Stepping forward, Aro took the bug from Demetri and held it up to his eyes, inspecting it from every angle.
"You were bugging this room?" he asked, his voice dangerously low. Neither Bella nor Felix answered. "Take them to the dungeons."
Bella's face paled as Demetri started dragging her away. She thrashed about, trying to escape, but it was nearly impossible in the darkness. She instinctively wanted to pull her shield back around her, but she knew that being sent to a dungeon and locked up was much better than being killed on the spot.
It was only when Bella and Felix were locked in a pitch black cell that Alec withdrew the blindness. Two guards were stationed outside the door, and Aro stood watching them from outside.
"Don't bother trying to break out," he said, as Bella pulled at the metal bars that kept her captive. "Even the combined strength of two vampires isn't enough to tear these down. We shall go ahead with the plan and eliminate the Romanians tomorrow- without either of you. Upon our return, you shall both be executed for treason."
Aro spun on his heel, his cloak swishing behind him as he slammed the door to the dungeons shut, leaving Bella and Felix in the darkness with two guards for company.
"What are we going to do?" Bella hissed, though she knew the guards would still be able to hear.
Felix was slumped against the wall, his head resting in his hands. "I don't know," he said, defeated. "Aro wasn't lying when he said we aren't strong enough. Even if we did get out, there's the guards… hell, we don't even have the privacy to discuss anything."
Bella sighed, fixing her gaze at the ground. "I'm sorry. This is my fault. I could have just extended my shield to reach you, rather than attacking Jane. Then we wouldn't be in this mess right now."
"No, Bella," Felix shook his head. "It isn't your fault, and it isn't my fault. It's Aro's. With any luck, he'll be killed tomorrow in the fight. Even if we don't survive… at least he'll be gone. Hopefully."
This brought a tentative smile to Bella's lips, though she was still filled with despair as she sought out Felix's hand in the dark and held it tightly.
The snow had fallen heavily, covering the large field with a thick, white layer. Carlisle stood surveying the land, planning in his minds eye where best to place his army of vampires. Some were well trained, some not so much. But they'd all made a significant improvement. Even those who were still weak and vulnerable, he knew would fight valiantly because this was for Bella. And they all cared about Bella. That was what gave him faith.
Despite his family's forgiveness, Carlisle still felt immensely guilty for the events that had occurred a century ago. He knew that most of the animosity shown from other covens was directed at Edward, and rightly so. But he also knew that on some level, they blamed him. After all, he was the coven leader, and strived to act as a father figure.
He had failed. He failed his coven when he failed to rein Edward in, keep the boy in his place. All because of his own self-righteousness, and his belief that Edward could do no wrong. Edward, the Golden Boy. Carlisle snorted. Edward had proven he was far from that.
At the same time, Carlisle could not entirely fault him. He too had failed to change with the times, and he could never forgive himself for the mistakes he made as a result of that. He had been a terrible coven leader, and despite his family insisting he had made up for it with his leadership while escaping the vampire hunters, it would never change the fact that he had failed. That wasn't what disappointed him most, however.
It was the way he had treated Esme, his wife, his mate, with utter disrespect.
They had spoken about it a lot after all was resolved. But Carlisle would forever remember her broken expression every time he demeaned her. He would never forget how he had used her love and loyalty against her, treating her in such similar ways to her husband from her human life.
In the past, Carlisle had failed over and over, so many times he couldn't believe his family was still willing to forgive him for his mistakes. Which was why this time he had to succeed. He had to get his daughter back, for all their sakes.
The hours ticked by, and Felix and Bella sat in their cell, unmoving, desperately trying to come up with an escape, to no avail. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was. For all they knew, the Volturi guard were on their way to Forks, ready for battle.
They weren't. Bella could detect the scents of Aro, Marcus and Caius, coming steadily closer to them. At last, a key was slipped into the lock, turned, and the cell door clanged open. The three kings entered, staring down at the mess of their prisoners, both of whom were leaning against the wall, defeated. Caius was smirking, Aro wore a sinister smile, and Marcus was impassive as always.
Stepping forwards, Aro grasped Bella and Felix's heads and smashed them against the wall. They both grimaced, wincing from the slight pain due to the walls being made from the same metal as the cell bars. Neither made a sound and did their best to keep their expression neutral, determined not to give Aro any satisfaction.
"Such a waste," Aro tutted. "You were excellent assets to the Volturi. It's a shame I am forced to dispose of you." He sighed dramatically. "But no matter. Immediately upon return, you shall be executed. In the meantime, I will take great pleasure in eliminating the opposing covens. There's no way for you to join us in time for the fun, either. Marcus has ripped up your plane tickets. You're stuck here."
Felix searched Marcus's face for clues, but the king betrayed no secrets. Aro turned to leave, Caius right behind him.
"Marcus, are you coming?" Aro asked.
The third king nodded. "I'll only be a minute," he replied.
Marcus approached Bella and Felix, so close that his cloak billowed around their faces. Just as Aro had, he whacked each of their heads before whirling around and leaving without a backward glance. Felix knew it was a message for them, reprimanding them for not being more careful after his warning.
Beside him, Bella watched as the light diminished. He knew she was wishing they could fight back to flee, but two against five, no matter how strong the two were, was impossible. Felix knew she was quickly losing hope, but he had a feeling all was not lost.
Reaching round behind him as silently as he could, his fingers brushed against an envelope, and he couldn't help but grin.
