EDWARD
I held Bella as she cried into my chest. I knew how torn she must've felt at that point. She was relieved that Sam had done what she asked but felt guilty about it as well. She knew that they'd be safe but that we'd just lost the best help we could possibly have gotten. I hoped she knew that we'd rather the stay alive and safe to continue taking care of their loved ones than have them risking their lives to save ours.
Our family stood beside us. I could hear all of them racking their brains for something comforting to say. Everyone was coming up blank. I hoped they knew that their presence was a great comfort to Bella.
Even as I comforted Bella, I was cursing myself. I knew that all of this was my fault. She would never believe it but it was true. Everything thing from James to what happened with Jacob, even Kyle. It was all my fault. I was willing to admit that. I should've just walked away like I kept telling her to do. It would've made her life in Forks so much easier. She certainly wouldn't be facing the Volturi right now if it wasn't for me. I had to figure out something.
Suddenly, the most heartbreaking image filled my thoughts.
Bella was on the floor. He hands and feet were bond. Her face was dirty and she had deep scratches across her face. There were tears running down her cheeks. She looked so scared. Marcus and Caius were standing in one corner with disgusting smirks on their faces. Jane and Felix were standing guard at the door. Aro was circling Bella like a hawk circling its prey.
He was talking to her but I only caught three words, "My new pet."
As the vision faded out, I realized Bella had pulled away from me. She was looking around at the family wondering what just happened. The family was looking at Alice. I turned to her with the same questioning look. She was staring at me too. I was scared by the look in her eyes. Alice was rarely ever sad or afraid but I knew she'd be crying at that moment if she could.
"He's decided what he wants her for." she thought to me.
"No." I growled pulling Bella back to me. "I won't let him."
"You won't let him do what?" Bella asked as she pulled away again.
"Don't worry about it, love." I said pulling her back to me. "It's nothing we can't handle."
"What did she see?" Carlisle thought. I simply shook my head in his direction.
Bella didn't need to know about that. I was going to do everything in my power to ensure that in didn't happen. When he didn't get a response from me, Carlisle turned his attention to Alice. Knowing I wouldn't want Bella to find out, Alice shook her hand and grabbed Jasper's hand. I could see the pain in his eyes. He, no doubt, felt the fear and sadness radiating of the two of us.
"Let's just go home." I said swinging Bella into my arms bridal style.
We arrived at the house within five minutes. I set Bella down on the floor with every intention of telling her to go upstairs. I needed to discuss this with the family out of her hearing range. She, however, had other plans.
"I want to know what Alice just saw." she stated before anyone could say anything.
"Like I told you, Bella." I said. "It's nothing we can't handle."
Somehow, I knew she wasn't going to fall for that excuse.
"And like I told you last night, it's my life, I think I have a right to know." she argued back.
She had tears of fury, sadness, and confusion in her eyes. I cursed her because she knew I couldn't say no to her. Especially not when she looked that upset. I sighed and looked to Alice. Her eyes were still sad and fearful as well. She nodded.
"She's right." Alice thought. "She had a right to know what could potentially be happening to her. Besides, she's gonna find out sooner or later. Better that it's now and not then, if the vision comes true."
I nodded. The rest of the family had already taken seats in the living room. They were all just as curious about Alice's vision as Bella was. I sat on the couch and pulled my angel onto my lap. I didn't know how I was going to tell her this.
"Aro has made a decision about what he wants from you." I said looking her in the eye. She nodded. "He wants to make you his pet."
I was disgusted as I let the words fall out of my mouth. My families thoughts clicked into overdrive then. I suddenly got imagine after imagine of all the horrible things they could do to my sweet innocent Bella.
"Guys, I really don't wanna think about it." I stated. The thoughts didn't stop but they quieted a little.
"And what does that mean?" Bella asked. I could see the fear in her eyes.
"We aren't sure." I explained. "Knowing Aro and the things that he's capable of, it's not good."
Bella nodded. I thought she was too shocked to form any kind of response.
"So does this change our plan?" Roxy questioned.
"I think we should reconsider changing her." Rosalie stated.
"No." Alice stated. "If Aro wants her for a toy, I imagine he'd take her whether or not she was human."
"But wouldn't it be easier for her if she were a vampire?" Rose asked.
"No because if she were a vampire, there'd be no limits on the torture he could put her through." Alice explained. "He wouldn't have to hold back because injuries would all heal in a matter of hours. As a human, he'd have to make sure he didn't hurt her too much too fast. It would take days maybe even weeks for her to heal from his attacks. If we were to change her, we'd be doing him a favor."
Rosalie let the arguement go. Her thoughts were telling me that she understood where Alice was coming from. However, she still felt it was our best option.
"What about revisiting the idea of hiding her?" Esme suggested.
"No." I stated. "He'd still stop at nothing to find her. I won't let Renee and Phil and the other people Bella loves to die because of us. They didn't do anything wrong. I won't let them be punished for our mistake."
Everyone seemed to agree with me on that one.
"So, the best option is still to fight." Emmett stated.
"Yes." I agreed. "It would be the option with the least casualities."
"There is one other option." Bella stated pulling away from my chest.
She had the determined look in her eye. I knew what she wanted me to do but I refused to allow it.
"No." I growled trying to be as firm as possible. "We talked about that last night and this morning. I will not allow you to hand yourself over to them. You're just gonna have to face the fact that you have a family who is willing to fight and die for you. Reitirating what I said early, if I have to go as far as locking you in my bathroom, I will. But you are under no circumstances going to sacrifice yourself for this family. That is not happening. So just leave it."
I could see the hurt in her eyes at that forcefulness of my words. It broke my heart. Yet, I knew this was for her own good. I wasn't going to send her off to those disgusting excuses for men and vampires. The family wasn't going to have it either. We were going to do what we could for her.
She glared at me for the longest time. A few tears fell but she wiped them away.
"Fine." she stated defeated.
"I'm sorry." I told her as I pulled her close. "I know it's going to be hard but it's for your own good. I love you and don't want anything to happen to you."
"I don't want anything to happen to you either."
"I know."
The family sat in another silence as Bella cried into my chest some more. I comforted her the best I could. I also tried to block out the thoughts of my family. That was until Esme voiced what everyone was thinking.
"Why her?" she said. "There are plenty of humans in Volterra and all over the world that would deserve nothing better than being his plaything. Why does he have to come after this innocent little girl. What did she do to deserve something like that?"
She looked to Alice. She probably thought Alice had seen some kind of reasoning behind it.
"I don't know." Alice stated looking at her hands. "I'm sorry."
Jasper put his arm around her and she leaned into his shoulder. I could hear everyone trying to come up with an answer to Esme's question but they came up with nothing. I had a feeling that Carlisle had figured out more than he was letting on. I kept it to myself, though because I didn't want to make the tension over this any worse.
"Alice," Jasper stated after a minute. "Do you think you could get a read on how they're going to approach the situation? And pinpoint a better time range for us?"
"I can try." Alice answered. She pulled herself away from Jasper and closed her eyes.
Jane, Alec, Demetri, and Felix were standing across from the family in our backyard. Jane and Carlisle were having an amicable conversation.
Alice opened her eyes as the vision faded.
"They will approach us head on." I answered before anyone could ask. "And ask us to simply hand her over."
"Okay, that means, we will be prepared to meet them, together, as a family." Jasper stated. "Now, where are we going to put Bella while were doing this?"
"In my room." I stated.
"No." Bella said. "I wanna be outside with you guys. I wanna be able to see what's going on."
"Over my pile of ashes!" I nearly yelled. "I will not have you that close to the fight. I won't make it that easier for them to get their hands on you."
"Please, Edward." she begged. "I need to be able to make sure you're all okay as the fight progresses."
Once again, she had the look in her eyes that I couldn't say no to.
"Fine." I said. "You'll be in the living room but no closer. And I don't want you in view of the window. Also, if you go outside before the fight's over, one of us, will drag you back in and lock you in the bathroom."
"I can deal with that." she stated. "As long as I can keep tabs on all of you."
I nodded and she laid back against my chest.
"So, once we refuse to hand her over, we'll have to be ready immediately." Jasper contuinued. "Our first priorities will be Alec and Jane. They could cause the most trouble in the distraction department. Then we go after Demetri who will be a problem if we live and have to run. Felix isn't that much of a threat so we'll take him last."
I continued listening to Jasper go over the battle plan as I felt Bella's tears soaking through my shirt. I stroked her hair and made shushing noises, trying my best to comfort her. I wanted to tell her that it would be okay but I couldn't bring myself to lie to her. It was a major possibility that we could all die and she'd still end up as his toy. I shuddered to think about that.
As I continued stroking her hair, I found myself praying for the first time since my transformation. I prayed everything would go well and we'd all live. Mostly though, I prayed that the beautiful angel in my arms would come out of everything unscathed. She didn't deserve anymore pain. Only could only pray that God felt the same way.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this one. The next chapter is the fight. I know you're thinking that this one is going pretty fast but we're just getting started, I promise. Please vote on the poll. This is the problem, I want Jane's power to work on her because it's an excellent form of torture but I'm not sure about Aro's. I suppose he could get use the bad memories to hurt her but I don't know. Let me know what you think. And please review this chapter. I live for your feedback.
