A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 20-

Bella's POV-

I should tell him.

I need to tell him.

He needs to know.

I can't spring this up on him…taking him by surprise.

That would be very, very wrong…not to forget dangerous.

I hardly know the man; what if he does not take to it kindly?

No…

Marcus was not the kind to get angry or violent, he would much rather be sad and disappointed….and in a way, that was much, much worse.

Seeing him sad felt like my heart breaking- over and over again, roughly stomped over as it shattered into a billion- trillion pieces.

I really needed to tell him…before it was too late to rectify…and apologize for.

He needs to know what I have done.

I would bear the anger in his eyes, or that feeling of being betrayed and not trusting him enough. It would still be better than speaking up when shit hits the metaphorical fan, if only by a slight. Marcus was a mature and patient man. He knew his brothers well. He would know how to cover up for my impatience and hasty decision. He would get us out of this. Probably, he would use it to his advantage. He was indeed searching for allies…maybe…

Yes, let's be hopeful!

He would probably thank me for taking this step. I had just accelerated the process of us getting out of here, getting our allies to our doorstep.

And that was a good thing, right?

Yes.

He would be appreciative of my decision.

It would all work out in our favor.

Fingers crossed.

"Bella," Corin smirked, pulling me out of my thoughts, coming to a smooth stop in front of me, my eyes wide as I waited for her to continue speaking, slightly perturbed by her sudden presence. "The masters have demanded your presence in the throne room. They have specifically instructed me to pull you by the hair if you protest in the slightest."

The extreme delight on her face was more than disturbing and I quickly looked away, my words an incoherent stutter as I attempted to make sense of them. "What…um…why? Where is Marcus? I need to talk to him. It is urgent."

"The time to talk is now over." She folded her arms over her chest in defiance, seeking undeniable pleasure from my discomfort. "And from the looks of it, Master Aro will do the talking now. Nobody but him standing in the center of the massive throne room; oh, how he loves that! Wait, silly me!" she creepily giggled. "Did I forget to inform you? We have visitors currently in the throne room. Specifically asked to meet you. Took Master Aro by quite the surprise. The entire castle heard his gasp."

Oh.

No. No. No.

This could not be happening to us.

I was yet to talk to Marcus!

It had been only a day since I had spoken to Charlie; how could they be here this soon?

Didn't they need the time to pack and book a flight or something…anything?

No. It could not be them.

I was clueless on how vampires traveled but irrespective, this was too soon for it to be him.

But then who?

Who was this unknown guest?

Where was Marcus when you need him!?

"Walk faster." Corin pushed me through the narrow corridors, a hand on my back as she demanded complete obedience from me, my mouth tightly shut as I, the prisoner, followed her towards what possibly could be my doom….

No. I had to remain positive.

Hope was all I had with me.

This was…nothing.

It was just a false alarm.

"Corin?" Sulpicia whispered in fright, her and Athenadora coming to my rescue, their shadowy figures engulfing my warm hand in their cold one. "What is happening? Where are you taking her? Do you…does Aro know of this?"

"Did you just ask me that?" Corin snorted in amusement. "Well, considering, he issued the order, I am rather confident he knows of it. And it is not just her who is currently under surveillance," Corin evilly winked. "I have specific orders to pull the two of you too by the hair, your presence ordered in the throne room."

"Excuse me?" Athenadora was always the braver one in the two. "How dare you talk to us in that tone? We are the wives! Have you forgotten that? You will be punished for this misbehavior."

Corin laughed in utter indifference, taking all three of us by surprise. What was happening here? Corin never disobeyed the wives; it was a serious offense! Were the Masters to find out of it…there would be serious repercussions to bear.

"If what I hear is true, your good days have now come to an end. Can't say I'll miss tending after your sorry ass!" She finished with a smirk, silence prevailing as we followed her through the corridors, out of the tower and in the castle, our breaths bated as we waited for the tornado having disturbed our somewhat peace, unable to come to terms with Corin's declaration.

What were the Masters planning?

Why were we being treated like criminals out to be given our punishment?

Was Marcus aware of this?

He had to be. Nothing was a secret in the castle.

Where was he then?

Why hadn't he come to our rescue?

He would speak up against something this serious and dangerous…wouldn't he?

He had to. He couldn't remain quiet while I was executed like a nothing through the hands of his own brothers.

I believed in him enough to know that!

"Sulpicia," I whispered in her ear, "Do you think Aro knows about what we did?"

"Shh," she silenced me, undeniable fear evident in her tone. "He will kill me. And not just kill me, he will torture every part of mine before finally giving me the sweet relief. Let's just hope, for your sake and mine, that you are wrong, and that he is still clueless."

"Would he..." why was I still surprised? This was Aro we were talking about! He was definitely capable of the worst imaginable.

"Bella," Athenadora took my hand in hers. "I am scared." She cried out. "Caius would replace me in a heartbeat. He doesn't…care about me. Why else would he lock me up in this tower!? He doesn't even bother to visit!"

There was nothing I could say to that, her misery heartbreaking, the only thing I could offer her being assurance, and so that's what I did.

"We need to be hopeful." I squeezed both of their hands tight. I had never had anyone to call a sister; the two of them being the closest I had to one. "Our mates…they love us." I gulped, nodding my head to myself. "We need to believe in them. We need to believe in our destiny. We will come out untouched through this. Let's remain optimistic."

"I am scared."

Me too.

"It is probably nothing." I lied, adding a humorless chuckle, their mirrored frowns depicting their disbelief. "I trust Marcus, if nothing else."

There was nothing more I had on my side.

It wasn't a favorable situation, even I was aware of that.

But I wasn't going to break down and shed tears of hopelessness and despair.

I would wait to see what this was about.

I wasn't as naïve to believe that this was something good…how bad though was yet up to debate…

"We are almost there." Corin announced, pushing open the massive doors I had seen only once before, my eyes wide as I noticed the audience awaiting our presence, pin drop silence commanding the massive sized room.

Everyone was here- Aro, Caius, Marcus the entire guard consisting of several unnamed- unimportant vampires…and my father, Tanya and the Cullen clan standing right behind him.

Oh.

He was here.

He had come to my rescue. And at the moment, I wasn't sure whether to be happy or upset by this development.

That would mean…Aro knew…right?

Why was he grinning then?

You could never tell with the psychopath!

"Bella." Charlie whispered, unshed tears lining his eyes. He looked the same, and yet he looked so very different. His eyes were creepily yellow- the color of shit. And had this not been a serious situation, I would have cried out laughing. I mean, who was satisfied with eyes that resembled poop similar to Diarrhea? And what's with the freaky paleness and creepy stillness? This modification definitely did not suit him.

Oh, there's Tanya.

Now, I get it, she wants everyone to look like her, so that she doesn't look creepy and scary alone.

Smart move, I would say.

"Um, dad." I hesitantly responded. I wasn't close to tearing up, not by a whole mile. Let's be honest here- I hardly knew the man. Sure, he was my father and all, but we had never shared any bond that suggested so. We had been strangers living together, and while I could respect…er…tolerate his presence, I wasn't keen on jumping into his open arms any time soon.

The ship for that had sailed decades ago.

He should have been there for me while I was growing up if he did want to witness such a reaction from me.

It was too late now.

Instead, I locked eyes with Marcus, sitting on his throne with his head in his hands, the disappointment visible on his face stilling me at my place.

Wonderful.

He was upset.

What had I even been thinking?

Had I seriously believed that he would be happy to be blindsided in this manner?

"Welcome," Aro stood up at his place, a wide grin on his face. "Sulpi, Dora and Bella, our special guests for tonight."

I frowned at him in question.

What was he up to now?

Why wasn't anyone stopping him?

"As everyone here already knows," he continued, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "The unknown excites me." Yeah, right. "And even more than that, I await a reason to celebrate. Life is one never-ending party, is what I believe in."

Can I scoff or laugh out loud?

Please.

"And today is one such day to celebrate. My old friend, Carlisle, has come to visit, bringing with him our dear Marcus's mate, Bella's, family," I ignored the several gasps that were heard throughout the room, my eyes trained on Aro, as he continued. "To celebrate my joy and utter happiness, I declare a party in this very throne room tonight. Our guest of honor of course being our beautiful wives."