Chapter 36

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR CHARACTERS

Bella's reaction was pure instinct. She felt fight or flight kick in, and with her family behind her, she swung inevitably towards fight.

She lunged but Alice's arms hooked around her waist and hauled her back.

"No, Bella!" she hissed as Bella jolted in surprise.

Yes! Bella's brain roared. It's the Volturi! They're here to kill us! Fight them!

She was stopped dead by Leah exploding upwards into her wolf form where she landed on four massive paws, hackles up and teeth bared.

"Jane!" Jasper barked as the tiny vampire watched Leah with hateful red eyes, unimpressed by her display of hostility or the sight of a werewolf coming to life in front of her.

She turned to Jasper, slowly, expressionless.

"What are you doing here?" Emmett demanded, his muscles bulging with tension, his face dark and stormy. They had closed around Bella like buffalos close around their young when the lions come out to hunt.

Bella didn't struggle in Alice's arms but she did shake with fury, with fear. She remembered easily how much pain she'd felt at Jane's hands, was terrified of experiencing it again, or worse, having it happen to the Cullens.

I can't let that happen. I won't let that happen!

"Breathe baby," Alice whispered to her ear, clutching her arm, her lovely eyes black on black, her fangs curving out past her pretty pink upper lip. "You've got to calm down Bella. Remember what we practiced. Control it. We don't know what she's doing here or if the rest of the Volturi are coming."

Alice was right, but that did nothing to stop the rhythmic pounding of Bella's heart from speeding up. It, in fact, only made it worse.

At Emmett's question, however, Jane gave a slight, humorless scoff.

"I'm defecting, of course," she drawled.

"Don't play games with us!" Emmett snarled like a furious bear and Bella hissed along with the rest of them in agreement.

Defected, yeah right. Nobody defected from the Volturi unless they wanted to die. And like Jane, one of the most trusted Volturi, would ever leave them like that.

"Are you here to attack us?" Jasper inquired. His voice was calm but bubbling beneath the surface. His control was only barely above Bella's. In one day Bella had almost caught up with him, actually.

"The Volturi can't possibly be that foolish, and they've never been inclined towards surprise assaults… They're too proud for such cowardice. So why are you here, Jane?"

Why, indeed. Bella's hand clutched at Alice's wrist tightly, too tightly. Her anxiety was pooling around her the longer Jane just stood there, watching them with those malicious eyes. Bella took in the sight of her standing there, and noticed something nobody else seemed to be pointing out.

"You aren't wearing the cloak," Bella spat, her voice rough. She had to swallow the growls begging to come out.

Jane's gaze jerked to hers and Bella's nose wrinkled defensively. Those eyes were what held Jane's gift, had pushed Bella so deeply into agony that she almost lost her mind. She practically flinched, but Alice shifted protectively in front of her and she held it back.

"You're not wearing the Volturi robes," Bella said again, her heart slamming against her ribcage. The Cullens all shifted in acknowledgement of this fact. Leah didn't move from where she crouched, hindquarters quivering, ready to explode into motion in a split second.

All the Volturi Bella had met that fateful day in the forest had been wearing the same cloak draped around their shoulders. Black on the outside, crushed red velvet on the inside. It complimented their blood colored eyes well. It was, she'd been informed, their uniform of sorts, what identified them as part of the Volturi upper class, the elite.

Now Jane stood before them in clothes that were startlingly, well, plain Jane. She wore a black turtleneck sweater and plain black pants stuffed into stylish black boots that came halfway up her calves.

Well, if she had defected from the Volturi, she definitely hadn't defected from their love of black. The color only made her bright blond hair and ruby red irises stand out even more against her pale skin.

"Observant of you," Jane replied dryly. "You're not quite as stupid as I remember, newborn. I am not wearing the cloak because of the reason that I just told you. I defected from the Volturi. I don't wear their attire anymore."

"You're a LIAR!" Emmett bellowed, startling Bella, his frame shaking.

Emmett never had poor control, but right now he seemed to. He crouched beside Rosalie, his hands splayed out into claws, itching to attack, to kill.

"You here to threaten us? Here to give us a warning, tell us to give up Bella again, maybe a nice little ultimatum to spare the rest of us? Well it's not happening! You're not taking our girl, and we sure as hell aren't afraid of you!"

Bella felt a great rush of affection for Emmett. His control wasn't poor for any old reason. He was in protective mode. He thought they were here to try and take Bella, and wasn't having any of it.

He wasn't alone. As Bella watched, every Cullen's body posture shifted to reflect the sentiment. Rosalie tossed her beautiful blond mane back and jutted out her chin. Edward shifted his body weight around, locked his hands tightly. Alice slipped in front of her entirely, let a hand sway back and press against Bella's stomach, as if ready to shove her out of the way of harm at a moment's notice. Leah stood to the side of all of them, her growling a constant backdrop like a jet engine rumbling, about to take off. Even Jasper bared his teeth in defiance.

It made her heart clench. They had all subtly shifted in front of and to the side of Bella, blocking her from any angle of attack.

And she hated it.

This was never what she wanted. She never wanted the Cullens in danger to protect her. She never wanted them in harm's way because of her. It killed her but made her love them all so much more.

I'll do it, Bella suddenly realized with a sob that she only just contained. If that's what she's here for, I'll do it. I'll give myself up for them. I'll… God, I'll die for them if that's what it takes. If it's my life for the rest of them, for all the wolves and the nomads and my father and the Cullens and Leah and my Alice…

I'll do it. I have to. I will die for them, because I can' let them die for me, for what I've done. I don't want to die, but if I have to, I will.

For all of them.

Jane, however, rolled her eyes with another scornful scoff.

"You are far beyond ultimatums at this point. Surely you knew that," Jane said. "The Volturi wouldn't spare a single one of you even if you begged after all you've done."

"We're not the ones who are about to be begging for our lives," Emmett spat. Rosalie put a hand on his arm to calm him.

"Then why are you here?" Alice scowled. "Don't give us that betrayal nonsense. No one leaves the Volturi and gets away with it. If you're not here to parlay and you're not here to attack, then why? Where are the rest of you, Jane? It's not like you to wander around without your little sidekicks. Is Victoria laughing in the shadows? Did you ever figure out how to make her a vampire again? Is Alec lurking nearby, blocked by Sulpicia?"

At Victoria's name, Bella felt a surge of hatred. If the redhead was here, then her control was about to play a dangerous game with a fine line.

But At Alec's name, Jane's face went very cold, very quickly.

"Alec is dead."

They all froze at that declaration as Jane showed the first sign of emotion. Her dainty jaw locked and her hands flexed, but she didn't otherwise move.

Alec is dead? Her brother is dead? Bella wondered nervously. Was it me? Did my bite… Kill him? Is that why she's here?

"How?" Edward spoke up in a baritone, breaking the stunned silence.

"Was it me?" Bella asked thickly, afraid of the answer. "Did my bite…?"

Jane turned to her again with those hateful eyes.

"Kill him? No, you didn't kill him, Swan. Rest assured, that is the only reason you're not locked away in a dark corner of the earth being tortured to insanity, begging for death right now," Jane responded cruelly.

God, she really, really hated the Volturi.

Bella couldn't help the slight shiver that went through her at Jane's tone, but Alice's rumbling growl made her feel a little better. Leah's jaw snapping bark definitely did its part as well.

Jane cast a look of pure disgust onto Leah.

"To think you've sunk so desperately low that you'd ally with dogs…" she shook her head and turned back to the Cullens, ignoring the way Leah's snarl echoed throughout the clearing.

"No, Isabella Swan didn't kill my brother. The Volturi did," Jane revealed. To Bella's amazement, she actually heard pain in her voice, pain that was her own. It was faint, but it was there. She hadn't thought anyone in the Volturi capable of such emotional pain, of feeling anything at all besides greed or hate.

It did nothing to change the fact that she was a hateful little bitch, at least to Bella.

"They don't allow humans into the Volturi," Jane went on. She wasn't meeting their eyes anymore, staring directly above their heads as she spoke. "And there is no reversing the process of her bite. They attempted to on Victoria, and she died a quick, painful death. I suppose you're all glad to hear that…"

Victoria was dead, too?

She and Alice glanced at each other but didn't say anything. Bella wasn't sure how she felt about it. She really didn't feel anything at all, in retrospect. In a roundabout way it was her fault that Victoria was dead, but she felt no remorse. How could she possibly? Victoria dug her own grave with her own actions. Bella found no regret or sadness or vindication that Victoria had died, only a small relief that she didn't have to deal with her anymore. It was one less weight on her shoulders, and she was grateful for that.

I guess… I guess that's what she gets. Evil bitch, she mused, and just shook her head with a slight sigh.

"I suppose you're happy to know my brother is dead as well," Jane said with a sneer, a look on her face like all she wanted to do was burn the world to the ground at the thought.

Am I? Bella wondered curiously, nervously. It doesn't really feel like it… Should I be happy? That I got two people killed, as evil as they were?

Bella wasn't heartless. She was growing nerve, the ability to do what needed to be done to protect those she loved. Kill or die, whatever it took, but that didn't mean she had lost who she was.

"Jane," she said, ignoring Alice's hand tightening against her stomach. "We didn't… It doesn't make me happy. It doesn't make any of us happy. That's not what we wanted. But we weren't the ones trying to kill everyone you love, either…"

Jane looked at her with no expression, though she seemed to appraise Bella silently. It was true. Bella wasn't happy Alec was dead, wasn't happy that she'd indirectly played a part in his and Victoria's death. But she wouldn't apologize for it, either.

He'd tried to kill her first, damn it.

"No, but you still played a part, and if I knew I could I'd slit your throat in a heartbeat. Unfortunately the chances of that are slim to none as you are surrounded by foolish guardian angels… And I also need you."

The admission seemed to take a great deal of Jane's willpower. Everyone listened in astonishment.

"You did not kill my brother, Isabella Swan. The Volturi did," Jane told them darkly, steadily. "They killed the last person in this entire universe who meant anything at all to me, the last person who loved me, the last of my family, the only one who still held a place in whatever wretched heart I might have left. They snapped his neck before my eyes after years and years of faithful service, and made me thank them for it. They offered me the rights to your life as condolences, but I decided I'd rather have the rights to theirs."

Bella felt a pang, small as it was, in her heart for Jane. It was the epitome of sympathy for the devil, but it was sympathy nonetheless. Jane's face was filled with loss, a grief she couldn't hide.

But it was also filled with a desire for revenge.

"And now here I stand," Jane seemed to reel her emotions back into check after a moment of silence in which the Cullens and Leah considered her words.

"I defected. I am here to offer myself as an ally, or die trying. I have nothing left to lose and nothing left to live for anymore, anyway."

"No," Emmett snapped immediately. "It's shitty that you lost your brother, but that's not our problem. It was your own damn fault."

"Ally with us? You're lucky we don't kill you here and now! Wait, why exactly haven't we killed her yet?" Rosalie cocked her head, as if currently considering the merits of flying across the clearing and ripping Jane's head off.

Bella wasn't sure what she felt or what to do as the tension skyrocketed again. She shifted and Alice released a heavy breath, but Jane only gave a slight smirk.

"You could kill me," Jane shrugged. "But you'd be very stupid to do so. You will never find another who knows the Volturi as intimately as I do willing to fight with you, willing to give up every single one of their dirty little secrets, who knows exactly what their strategy is for destroying you down to the tiniest, most insignificantly significant detail. They know all about all these wayward nomads, by the way, know all about all these furry friends you've made, know the nuances of every single one of your gifts down to a T and have made plans to deal with every last bit of it."

"Bull! How could they possibly know all that?" Rosalie scoffed as Alice suddenly swore.

"The French. The fucking French," Alice breathed as she brought a hand to her face. They turned to her in confusion.

"They've been lurking, remember? They never left town but we thought they were just on the fence about whether or not to fight," Alice groaned as Bella's blood ran cold.

The French.

They had rats in their midst. Bella closed her eyes as she realized it was true when Jane nodded, confirming it. Emmett and Rosalie both hissed in rage, as Jasper and Edward shook their heads. Leah snorted a hot breath through her muzzle angrily.

"How could we have been so stupid?" Alice sighed with a moan of regret. "Carlisle, why do you have to be so trusting…? I knew we should have run them off…"

"You should have, but you didn't. So go ahead and kill me. You could do so very easily, but you would regret it dearly. You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into with the Volturi," Jane shrugged as if un-bothered either way. "You're not the only ones who have been making friends in our time apart. Did you know the Volturi have recruited at least four extremely gifted vampires in the past two weeks alone?"

Jane's smile was eerily frightening, as if even in her hatred of her former masters she still relished the power they were capable of.

"They recruited a man named Solomon, who can break your bones with the slightest brush of skin on skin. They even found a rare pair of vampire twins; a woman named Holly who can freeze you still with the slightest eye contact, and her brother, Mark, who is possibly the fastest vampire alive. The perfect executioner for a frozen vampire…"

The Cullens' faces were all frozen in disbelief and shock, in a fear they just couldn't hide. Bella's face twisted up as her heart spasmed.

Fucking Christ, she thought with a sinking desperation. How-How did they find people like that so fast? How can we even stand a chance against people like that?

"You said there were four gifted recruits. That was only three," Rosalie said quietly. Her bravado was gone now. Bella detected a tremor in her voice. Emmett swore.

Jane smiled a tight smile.

"Oh, but how could I forget sweet Benjamin, the most devout of the Volturi's new martyrs after they saved his family from desolation and disease, from death with their venom, and created a

gifted man like no other… Benjamin is their ace in the hole, my deluded little Cullens. He can control the elements."

There was gasps all around, Bella included.

"No way," she breathed. "There's no way anyone could be capable of something like that. That's like-That shit only happens in movies. You're lying."

But Bella knew deep down that Jane was telling the truth. She could see it on her cold little face. But how could she believe this? How could she accept this?

It would mean all of this was for naught… How could they compete with all of that? How?

"No, you fool, I tell the truth. Ask your former lover. My thoughts are unshielded. And so you know that every word I speak is in no way false. Benjamin is as real as any of the others the Volturi have scoured the world to find and destroy you with. He can control every element, down to the very one we all fear the most…"

Jane didn't need to say it, but she did anyway.

"Fire."

Every vampire standing around hissed in a breath, a grimace on their face.

Fire, the only thing that tore through a vampire like wet paper, that destroyed them as quickly and as totally as any other living creature on the planet.

And now Jane stood there telling them that the Volturi had a man who could harness it, and use it against them.

Not to mention the fact that he could control water and earth and wind as well. What the fuck did they even begin to do about all of that?

What the actual fuck do we do now?

For a long moment, nobody moved or spoke, deliberating what to do. Bella could see how torn everyone was. Jane had made an excellent point, one they couldn't deny. If they turned her away, if they killed her now, they would lose a very valuable source of information. If the Volturi knew everything about them and what they'd been doing, -vive le France her ass— then they needed the same advantage.

Wolves and numbers wouldn't get them anywhere now. As many gifts as they had of their own, the Volturi had just out matched them.

But how could they trust Jane? How could they know it wasn't all a lie? If it was, if they let Jane in and were wrong, it would mean the death of them for sure.

What do we do? Bella thought, on the verge of panic.

"She's not lying," Edward informed them, hearing what everyone must be thinking. "I've been

picking her thoughts to the core. No one is blocking them."

"She's not," Jasper agreed. His voice was trembling, fighting for control. "I would feel it. Her emotions are ringing true."

"But that's not it," Edward said quickly. His eyes were darker than Bella had ever seen them, his posture not loosening in the slightest.

"She's not here alone."

Bella stiffened along with everyone else. A chorus of growling and hissing echoed out as Jane remained unaffected.

"I never said that I was," Jane drawled. "I'm not the only one who has left the Volturi."

She turned away from them and gestured to the gloom between the trees.

"Come meet our new friends, Omi."

Omi?

Bella stared in shock as the creepy little girl she'd met only once before slid slowly out of the forest, bald head gleaming and red eyes shiny with what seemed to be tears.

"You brought the child?" Rosalie gasped. "You little bitch, you put this whole town in danger!"

"No. Omi obeys me as she obeys no other, not even herself," Jane declared quickly. "And she will be the ace in the hole that you desperately require to defeat the Volturi. Without her, you don't stand a chance, even with the surprising amount of support you've found. And without me, you don't get her. I am the only one who has ever been able to control sweet Omi…"

Jane seemed proud of this fact. She gave Omi a cold gaze that made the immortal child whimper. Bella had seen Omi's look before on abused dogs. The slight cower in her stance, the way she wouldn't meet Jane's eyes, the way she stood submissively, fearing-

Fearing pain.

"You're sick," Bella bit out hoarsely. "That's-It's sick."

After hearing everything about immortal children from Carlisle, Bella couldn't find it in her heart to hate Omi. All she felt for the girl was compassion. She feared her and would never let Omi hurt anyone she cared about whether she could control her urges or not, but none of that changed the fact that Omi was just a kid.

She looked so young, so small, so scared. Bella had seen her go from little girl to vicious killer in a split second, but staring at her then, trembling beside Jane and fearing her like a child fears a drunk parent, it made her stomach turn over. She felt Alice put a hand on her shoulder and saw the way her lover's eyes swirled with the same kind of ache for Omi.

I really hate the Volturi, she thought, not for the first time. How could they do this? To a child?

"I want to go home!" Omi blurted suddenly as she saw everyone staring at her. "Jane, I want to go back! I'm scared and hungry and I want to go home!"

She sounded just like a little girl. How old had she been when she was turned? Six, seven? Maybe eight?

Sick was right. Omi shouldn't have been in this hellishness. No child should have to go through any of this. Hell, Bella was too young to be dealing with any of this. Bella glanced at Leah when she heard a growl come from low in her throat.

Leah looked as disgusted as she ever had. She had hardly believed them when they told her about Omi, but seeing it made her whole body shake with rage. Bella was afraid Leah might lose it, just seeing the abomination committed before them.

It was innocence corrupted to the worst degree. Omi's eyes were shiny rubies twinkling in the moonlight. It was the closest a vampire could come to crying.

"Well, you can't," Jane rolled her eyes. "You wanted to come, remember? You wanted to make it stop? Then you have to do what I say."

"No! No! I want to go home! I want Aro and blood and I WANT TO GO HOME!"

Omi's voice rose at an alarming rate. She went from frightened child to furious predator in the blink of an eye. Her mouth yawned open to show two tiny fangs and her precious face became ugly, twisted.

It was a horrifying sight.

Jane's reaction was immediate. She turned her gifted gaze onto Omi and the little girl went down screaming. She hit the dirt writhing in pain, shrieking.

Bella almost fucking puked.

"STOP IT!" she cried and shoved through the Cullens furiously, unable to stop herself. Leah's snarl reverberated as the wolf leaped up next to her, both of them hardly controlling the urge to rip into Jane.

Today was all about control, apparently.

"Bella," Alice gasped, coming up behind her quickly, but Bella ignored her as Jane spoke.

"It's the only way she listens. It's the only way she learns," Jane said, not moving her eyes away from a squealing Omi.

Watching what was essentially a little girl being tortured was more than Bella could take.

This is sick, this is wrong, oh god, look at her-Look at her!

Attacking Jane wasn't what she should do, even if it was all she wanted to do. They needed Jane, as much as she hated it. They needed her to beat the Volturi, but Bella couldn't stand this.

"Jane, stop it!" Alice yelled, a hand around Bella's hip in case she tried something.

She was about to, too. When Bella put a hand on Leah's heavy, hot body, she could feel the wolf's ribcage shaking with hate, felt her whole body vibrating with rage. She clutched at Leah's fur, preparing to fight with her.

We can't just stand around and watch this. We can't. This is wrong!

"Stop it! She's just a kid!" Bella yelled desperately. She didn't want to attack but she couldn't stand another second of watching Omi scream in pain. The Cullens were all looking away from the scene, as if they didn't like it but wouldn't do anything about it.

Fuck that. If this plea didn't sway Jane, Bella was going in.

"She's over fifteen hundred years old. The only child around here is you," Jane abruptly turned her eyes away from Omi, breaking the connection, to scowl at Bella.

Omi gasped and immediately curled up in a little ball where she began sobbing.

"I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home…" she whimpered miserably.

The stunning fact that Omi was over fifteen hundred years old did nothing to change the fact that she was trapped in the mind and body of a small child. It broke Bella's heart, made her feel violently ill.

Fifteen hundred years of this hell? Fifteen hundred years of feeling urges that even fully grown adults can hardly take?

"Why did you bring her?" she demanded of Jane, her throat tight. "She shouldn't-We're not forcing her to fight for us. It's not fair. It's not right."

Jane's scowl grew.

"Then I hope you're ready to die. Without Omi, you will lose. Your gifts aren't strong enough. You aren't strong enough. The Volturi will win and you will all die," she snapped. "They'll kill Omi too. Is that what you want? They don't forgive traitors. They'll slaughter all of you, set Omi loose on this pathetic little town, then throw her in the fire with the rest of the dead bodies to burn. That's what you're resigning yourselves too if you don't get over it."

Bella's stomach dropped out, terrified.

"No," Bella hissed, but she knew it was true, and it killed her. Leah roared and Alice's hand tightened around hers. She felt tears spring to her eyes that Jane had no patience for.

"Yes. But you know what you can do? You can help Omi. Use her gifts and we can kill the Volturi to save your own idiotic lives and avenge my brother. And when it's over, take her pain away."

"You mean kill her?" Bella gawked, misunderstanding.

"No, you idiot," Jane spat. "Bite her. Turn her back!"

Bite her…?

It was a thought that hadn't occurred to Bella, but one that made hope leap in her chest. She looked at Omi curled up on the ground, sobbing, a pitiful creature, a pitiful sight.

That… That actually makes a lot of sense, she admitted internally.

She looked around at all the Cullens, at Leah, who barked forcefully. Bella furrowed her brow, trying to understand what Leah was attempting to convey.

"Leah doesn't agree. She wants you to kill Jane and turn Omi back now," Edward translated quickly.

Oh, Leah… You think that's not exactly what I want to do? But how can I?

Bella gave Leah a pained look.

"You know we can't do that, Leah," she whispered to her shape shifting friend.

They couldn't. Even if Bella wanted to with all her heart, they couldn't.

Leah snarled, her hackles high. Alice gave her a look of warning when the wolf seemed to deliberate whether or not she was about to take matters into her own hands.

Leah was not like the Cullens. Her morals were not so gray. She barely tolerated the nomads; she couldn't stand being told that she wasn't allowed to kill one of the actual Volturi. Her fangs glistened from curled back black lips.

"Don't do it, Leah," Emmett called to her, even though he sounded like he wanted to do it, too.

Leah snarled again, louder, her yellow eyes wild. She didn't look away from Bella. Bella didn't need Edward to tell her what Leah was saying.

You can't be serious, Leah's eyes said. Tell me you aren't serious, Izzy. You know it's wrong.

I am. I have to be. This is the only way. We have no other way out, Bella told her silently back.

"We can't," Bella said brokenly, her voice barely managing not to crack. "Leah, I can't. Not now. Not yet."

Leah's furry face filled with disbelief and sudden loathing. She never thought Leah could look at her like that. Leah snarled at her and Alice hissed as the wolf shook with rage and betrayal gleaming in her eyes.

"Back off," Alice said sharply and Leah growled at her in response.

"Leah, please," Bella pleaded softly, wounded.

She has to understand. Leah, please understand…

Leah took two steps back from her, growling ruggedly. For a split second, Bella feared that she was about to attack Jane anyway as everyone tensed, preparing for it.

But she didn't. Leah just gave Bella one last look of disgust that tore at her heart, threw her head back and howled.

It was a far cry from the howl she'd given earlier. It was one of frustration and hate instead of respect. It was short, sharp, quick, and then Leah turned and bolted from the clearing into the trees. Bella had no way of knowing where she was going and she could only watch in anguish as Leah disappeared with the swish of her ashy gray tail.

"She'll come around," Alice murmured to Bella as the brunette stared after her, torn.

"Should she even have to?" Bella murmured.

Alice only gazed at her with concern, no response at the ready.

Bella swallowed the lump in her throat and turned back to Jane, whose expression hadn't changed. She found herself hating Jane, hating her for putting her in this position, forcing her to make this choice.

"Well?" Jane demanded when Bella only glared at her with despise. "Make your choice. But be warned, if you reject using Omi, I'll kill her myself. If she's not a help, she's a danger. It's hard enough to keep her under control as it is."

Omi had sat up by this point and had her arms around her knees, looking small and lost. Bella stared at her sadly.

Your poor thing. Why does it always have to be this way, the worst way?

"You said you'd make it stop," Omi muttered petulantly at Jane. "You told me you were going to make it stop if I came with you. I just want it all to stop…"

"That's not up to me. It's up to her," Jane snapped to Omi as she jerked her head at Bella, looking annoyed.

Bella's eyes narrowed. So that was how Jane had convinced Omi to abandon the Volturi… She'd promised her to make it stop by using Bella's gift.

"What is 'it' exactly?" Bella inquired nervously as Omi gave a despairing wail but quailed when Jane glared at her in warning.

"The hunger," Omi moaned and began to rock back and forth. "I'm always hungry," she whimpered and buried her face in her knees where she began to sob again. "Make it stop, make it stop…"

Oh. Of course. The hunger. The thirst for blood. An urge to murder. An urge normally reserved for sociopaths, serial killers, the sick and twisted.

Not for children…

Bella looked around and was startled to see all the Cullens staring at her, as if waiting for her to decide what to do.

Um, excuse you? Since when did Bella become the final word?

She was baffled by this and it showed on her face.

"What do we do?" she asked them instead of acknowledging the fact that this was clearly all on her. "Do we trust her? Can we trust her?"

Edward and Jasper both looked at Jane for a long moment, then back to Bella.

"She's telling the truth," they both said.

"I don't fucking like it," Emmett declared immediately, glowering down on Jane, his huge muscles bunched up.

"Me either," Rosalie agreed.

"Nobody said you had to like it," Jane told them sarcastically and received two wicked glares in response.

Again, there was silence as they all seemed to await Bella's opinion on the matter.

Why?

Bella supposed she understood why. No one else could give Omi what she'd been promised. They needed Jane's information after the betrayal of the French. They needed Omi's power. But it was sick to use the little girl like that when Bella could just as easily stop her pain right now.

Well, if they could get to her before Jane snapped her neck, that is. Evil little brat. She was barely older than an immortal child herself, come to think of it.

Bella waffled back and forth, and as always, turned to the one person who could always set her mind straight.

Alice.

Their eyes met in that way they always did; effortlessly, instinctively. Bella absorbed her face, her marble cheekbones, her down turned heart shaped lips, the wrinkle in her brow, the lashes framing expressive eyes.

God she really loved this girl. It wasn't the most opportune moment to notice how beautiful Alice really was, but sometimes Bella just couldn't help it.

"What do we do, Alice?" Bella whispered desperately.

I don't know what to do. I don't know what's right. All I know is what's going to keep us alive and what isn't…

Alice's face twisted in compassion at Bella's tone.

"Bella, I… That's up to you, honey," Alice murmured softly, regretfully. "You're the one who can change Omi back. But… But I think we need her, and I don't see Jane turning on us in my visions. She's made up her mind about which side she's on and who she wants dead, and it's the Volturi, not us. For now, at least. And I-I think Omi's going to end up dead either way if we don't do this."

Bella took that in slowly. The reassurance from Alice that Jane wasn't enacting a masterful plot to trick them was helpful, and it was basically exactly what Bella was thinking.

"But it's up to you," Alice repeated quietly, and scowled when Jane began tapping her foot as Omi's crying grew louder and louder, wrenching Bella's heart.

"Why?" Bella whined miserably. "Why does it have to be up to me?"

Her tone of voice caused that familiar twinkle in Alice's eye as the pixie smiled just slightly, just so. It hurt Bella's heart at the same time that it soothed it.

"You know why, sweetheart."

Bella sighed, but in the next moment Omi let out a cry and surged into motion. She was fast. She was across the forest floor and crashing into Bella's legs in the same second.

Instinct slapped the back of Bella's head and she snarled as Alice gasped and Jane gave a furious shout.

"Omi!" Jane hissed, but Bella heaved in a breath and held out a hand to stop the ex-Volturi member from using her power on the immortal child clinging to Bella's legs like the little girl she really was.

It took a lot of effort not to kick Omi away like a scuttling insect when instinct screamed in Bella's skull, but she held it back when Omi turned her small, beautiful little face up to Bella's.

"Make it stop, please make it stop," Omi begged. "Please miss, please, p-please make it stop. I don't w-want to go back to A-Aro and Italy and I don't w-want to be hungry anymore! I'm s-sorry we hurt you and tried to eat you and I w-won't ever do it again, I promise, please…"

Oh god, Bella thought as her heart spasmed painfully. Oh, Omi…

The Cullens were all alarmed but they didn't move when Bella crouched down and peeled Omi off of her slowly, delicately.

She was still a wild, unpredictable immortal child, but she was also a child, and Bella couldn't stand it.

"Omi, Omi look at me…" Bella whispered to her. "Look at me."

Omi did hesitantly, her wet red eyes filled with over a thousand years of desperation. It made Bella's choice for her.

"I'm gonna make it stop, okay? I'm gonna make it stop," Bella told her softly and Omi gasped as if she couldn't believe it.

"Yes, please, p-please!" Omi sobbed.

"But not yet. If I do it now, it won't work. You'll be killed and so will a lot of other people," Bella added, and that was a mistake, because Omi's face immediately clouded over, twisted up.

"No! No, no, no! Do it now! I want it to stop NOW! Now, now, now!" she screamed, her tiny hands clutching so tightly to Bella's arms that she felt them straining not to break.

She gasped in pain and grimaced, but when Jane made to intervene she snarled, "Don't!"

Omi had instantly backed off and began to cower when she noticed Jane approaching, but at Bella's declaration, Jane hesitated.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I c-can't help it, I'm sorry, please, please," Omi whimpered under her breath, looking at Bella in ancient melancholy.

How could anyone ever do this to someone else? Bella wondered sickly as a few tears rolled down her cheeks unbidden. The Volturi are truly evil…

"I will, Omi, I promise. I swear I will," Bella vowed and cupped the little girl's face, forcing her to focus on Bella. Her small red eyes were wild and flickering around anxiously, struggling with instincts and urges and desires too old for her mind, frozen forever in a time that was too young for them.

"You've gotta help us first baby, but I promise, no matter what, I will make it stop," Bella told her fiercely, meaning it with all her heart and soul.

Whatever happens, however this ends, I'm going to change Omi back. I can't leave her like this. It's not right.

Omi seemed to zero in on Bella, finally, at this. Her bottom lip quivered pitiably and she whimpered.

"Okay," she whispered.

Bella grinned a watery grin at her, trying to make her feel better.

"Yeah?" she murmured, talking to Omi like a Kindergartner instead of a fifteen hundred year old vampire.

Omi nodded furiously, and before Bella could register what was happening, Omi threw her arms around her neck and squeezed, embracing her. Bella choked, her air supply cut off, but Omi immediately loosened her grip at the sound as Alice made a noise of anxiety and Jane snapped at her in warning.

"Don't," Jane said. "She's dangerous!"

"Bella," Alice frowned, but Bella shook her head at them all.

"It's fine," she mumbled and stood up slowly, hesitantly, holding Omi to her as the immortal child began to sob loudly.

Omi was extremely dangerous and unpredictable, yeah, and she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't a little nervous holding her this close or letting her wrap her arms around her neck, but she couldn't bring herself to push the trembling little girl away.

"You're fuckin' nuts, Bells," Emmett shook his head in disbelief as Bella rubbed Omi's back lightly, trying to soothe her sobbing that had started up again.

"Idiot," Rosalie scoffed, but Bella ignored them.

Alice looked torn, as if she both agreed with Bella and wanted to rip Omi away from her at the same time.

Omi deserved a hug, god damn it. She'd been through a lot. Maybe if someone ever bothered to give the little girl a hug in fifteen hundred years, she wouldn't be so freaking psycho.

"You know what's really nuts? Shh, Omi," Bella asked them while trying to calm the girl before she went crazy and tried to snap Bella's neck or something.

When no one answered, she couldn't help but grin a little at the absurdity of it all and inquired with a lighter laugh than the situation called for:

"How are we going to explain this to everybody else?"