Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything associated with the series.
A/N: I don't re-read what I write after I've written it. I just use spell check and then call it done. So there are probably lots of mistakes; I apologize in advance for all of them.
A/N 2: Sorry about the huge delay; that's something I never thought I'd do. Unfortunately my back problems aren't getting any better… apparently it's harder than I thought to fight through my fear/anxiety of doctors to fix my back; but I am working on it. But an author has been updating their stories like crazy and it has inspired me to at least put forth this update.
Day One:
For the first time in months, I had woken up without an alarm yelling at me to get up or be late for school. For the first time in months, I woke up leisurely, at my own pace. I hadn't felt this rested in so long.
I stretched my body as I thought of when the last time was that I didn't need an alarm to wake me up. Thinking about it, ever since Edward had left, I had never slept well; if at all. In fact, even when I had Edward with me as I slept, I still hadn't slept this well.
That line of thinking caused me to open my eyes and my memories of where I was, to storm back to me. My eyes opened to a large room that I had just been assigned to last night. A room that the Volturi, the vampires that hate humans, had given to me while they waited for the rest of the Cullen family to get to their castle so that they could be punished.
I sat up in my bed and looked around, wondering what I was supposed to do. Was I a prisoner in this room like Edward was in his room? I would think I was, especially since I was human. But after what the queens said last night, I wasn't sure. Based off of what they said, I wouldn't think they would.
"Jane wanted me to knock to make sure it was okay to come in." Heidi said through the door, as she knocked on it, just before she opened the door and walked into the room with an annoyed looking Jane following behind her.
"And then we wait to be told she is okay with us coming in before we intrude." Jane practically hissed at Heidi as she closed the door behind her and Heidi kept moving to sit on a chair in the room.
"Why wouldn't she let us in?" Heidi asked, sounding genuinely confused as to why I wouldn't let them. Because, of course, I couldn't have any reason to not want to have red eyed, vampires that were complete strangers to me, be in an in-closed room with me. "You would have said yes, right Bella?" Heidi asked me.
"I guess." I hesitantly answered. There was no way I was going to tell a Volturi guard member no. Edward told me not to trust the Volturi, so I wasn't going to; even with what the queen's told me about the bond. I was sure I could trust Edward more than I could trust the Volturi… even though it seemed like the queens held nothing back, as far as giving me information; unlike Edward had.
"Next time let her answer before forcing an answer on her." Jane practically growled at Heidi as she walked to stand next to the other vampire. "I apologize for her Bella." Jane said.
"That's fine." I mumbled, causing Jane to frown and Heidi to smirk.
"Breakfast will be ready in about a half hour." Heidi said. "That should be enough time for you to get ready for the day. Yes?" She asked as she adjusted her position on the chair, supposedly making herself more comfortable on the chair.
"Sure." I answered.
Without waiting for either of them to say anything else, I moved from the bed and straight to the bathroom. A half hour was more than enough time for to get ready; especially since I didn't wear makeup or need to do anything special with my hair.
It wasn't until I was done with my shower that I realized something very important. In my haste to leave the room, I forgot to grab any clothes. I didn't even know if I had to wear the same clothes from yesterday or something else. What that something else could be, I had no idea.
I nearly just walked out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around me when I realized that, unlike humans, I was more than sure that the vampires in the other room would be able to hear me ask for clothes; no matter how thick this old door was. I nearly sighed in relief about not having to walk out practically naked into the room with dangerous vampires in the other room.
"Um, could one of you hand me my clothes please." I nervously asked through a small crack in the door after I barely opened the heavy thing. "I left my clothes on the left side of the bed." I added when I wasn't sure if they actually knew where I had tossed my clothes or not.
"You want to wear those clothes?" Heidi asked, suddenly appearing right through the crack of the door, making me jump at her sudden appearance. "Is it a human thing to wear the same clothes two days in a row?" She asked, sounding slightly disgusted; which I didn't blame her. That would be a disgusting thing to do and I would rather not do that if I didn't have to.
"Well, I don't really have any other clothes to wear." I responded, trailing off my words as I wasn't sure what else to say. It wasn't like I could say that I really hadn't planned on being held prisoner, so I didn't pack extra clothes. I don't think they would respond very well to that.
"True." Heidi said, sounding like she was thinking. After a second or two, she talked again. "We're about the same size, you can just wear my clothes." She happily offered with a huge grin.
"I don't think she would like your style of clothing." Jane said, sounding much closer to the bathroom door than when I had first walked into it. Thinking of how provocative Heidi was dressed yesterday and today, I had to agree with Jane. It just wasn't really my style.
"Well, what else can she wear until we buy her more clothes? She won't fit into your child size clothes." Heidi said, sounding like she was fighting a giggle at her insult of Jane.
"I do not wear child size clothes." Jane said, clearly upset at the insult.
"Then she can wear my clothes." Heidi said, like she had solved the whole thing. But I really didn't want to wear her clothes if I could avoid it.
"I think I'll just wear what I wore yesterday." I hesitantly said. There was no way I was going to wear Heidi's clothes.
"You do not need to Bella." Jane said. "Athenodora felt her style of clothing was closest to yours and has lent you some of her clothes until we can buy you some of your own. Here they are." She said as she pushed Heidi aside and pushed clothes through the now slightly larger crack. "Although, what you're wearing now is also fine." Jane said as her eyes slowly roamed up and down my body while they darkened to a deeper scarlet. Her eyes held a hungry look and I was much too afraid to think about which kind of hunger it held.
I quickly grabbed the clothes, which was thankfully just plain jeans and a regular black t-shirt, and closed the door before I could put any more thought into the look Jane had given. I would have expected that look from Heidi, who was practically sex on legs anyways, but not from Jane. She was far too stoic for that; at least, I had thought she was.
Ten minutes later, I was finally walking out of the bathroom. Hopefully I was about to get a lot more answers about what was going on. Perhaps I could even find a way to visit with Edward. Just knowing that he was in the same building as I was, prisoner or not, was comforting.
"Ready for breakfast Bella?" Heidi asked once I was out of the room.
The walk to a small dining room, a room that I was sure wasn't originally a dining room but had probably recently been reassigned that title, was filled with Heidi talking a lot about the city and what all there was to do. Which wasn't much. It had almost seemed like she was fishing to find out what I liked about anything she had said but I wasn't up for a lot of talking. Jane was her normal quiet self and I couldn't help but copy her. Heidi was doing more than enough talking for all three of us anyways.
The first thing I noticed when we walked into the dining room was all the food on the table. There were nearly a dozen different items on the table; way more than I could ever eat in one sitting.
"Have a seat Bella." Jane said as she pulled out a chair for me when I hadn't moved from the doorway. "I hope that there is something on the table that you want to eat. We weren't sure what exactly you would like, so we made sure you had plenty of options."
"It's fine." I said as I took the seat she had pulled out for me. There actually wasn't anything I didn't like on the table. "What am I going to do today?" I asked as I started to eat. They had both sat down at the table with me and I didn't want to just eat and have them stare at me, so I opted to try and start a conversation.
"Well, the mistresses want to talk with you right after you're done eating." Heidi answered. "After that, we were going to watch some movies with you." Heidi said with a smirk that made me very nervous.
"But it is your choice." Jane added. "We will wait to discuss the options until after you have spoken with your mothers."
I couldn't help but cringe at Jane calling them that. I understood that vampires had bonds and I was sure the queens weren't lying and that they truly believed what they told me. But I didn't. I couldn't. How could I believe that complete strangers were supposedly some sort of 'bond parents'? All I was sure about was that they were keeping both me and Edward prisoners and that the Cullen's would be here in a week to hopefully save us. Or at least to try. I hoped. In the meantime though, hearing people reference the queens of vampires as my parents, it's just weird.
"I don't like you calling them that." I said without thinking. It was like I was talking with friends, friends that I had left behind in Forks; not two vampires that were guarding over me to make sure that I didn't run away or get killed by other close-by vampires.
"Well, that's what they are." Heidi said, seemingly confused that I would say what I did.
It seemed like that whatever the bonds said, even though I couldn't see or feel these bonds, were fact and that no one should argue with them. I understand that the vampires can not only feel them but some could literally see them, like Didyme, but I couldn't. How could they expect me to just fall into line and go with what they say when I had no proof. At least with Edward, I could feel it. I could and can feel our bond; so I couldn't, not that I would want to, deny that it was there. But with the queens, I was only afraid of them and what they could do to me.
"Not to me." I answered, finding that talking to these two women was a lot easier than I would have ever thought it could be. Perhaps it was because I knew that I was stuck with them as my guards and with no one else to talk to, it was easier since they were all I had.
"Perhaps as you spend more time with them and talk with them, you will grow closer to them." Jane responded.
"I doubt it. I already have parents. I don't need or want anymore." I answered.
"Why wouldn't you want them as your parents?" Heidi asked. "They are the leaders of the Volturi and are thousands of years old. That means you can literally have anything you want and go practically anywhere you wanted for vacations and whatnot. I wouldn't mind having them as my parents."
"Then you can have them." I sarcastically answered as I finished eating what I could eat of all the food they had made for me.
"I'm working on it." Heidi muttered.
"What?" I asked her, thinking I hadn't heard her properly.
"We will explain later." Jane answered before Heidi had a chance. "The Volturi are not ones to keep secrets but the Mistresses want to talk with you more before everything is explained to you."
"What more do I need to know?" I nervously asked. Maybe they had decided on what to do with the Cullen's and were going to tell me. I really hoped it wasn't anything bad. I love the Cullen's too much, even after they had left me, to want anything bad to happen to them.
"Everything you need to know will be explained to you, I promise." Jane said and for some reason, I just knew that she was being completely honest. Jane just didn't seem like the type of woman who would hide anything from anyone, not if she wasn't ordered to by her mistresses.
"I, I appreciate that." I said, surprised by the conviction in her voice and in her eyes. "So, when I talk with the queens now, they're going to talk about new things that they haven't mentioned yet?"
"Well, we honestly have no idea what they're going to talk about." Heidi answered as she stood from her seat. "But we do know that they won't keep anything from you, at least not on purpose."
"Although," Jane interrupted. "They may keep something from you if they feel it would be better to tell you at a later time."
"But, as much as we love answering any and all of your questions, your moms really do want to talk with you. They want to answer your questions as well." Heidi said walked towards me and held her hand out to help me up from my seat; even though it really wasn't needed.
I felt my shoulders sag as I grabbed her hand and she pulled me from seat. I really didn't want to talk with the queens again. I had had enough bad news from and I really didn't want to risk receiving any more from them. The Volturi exactly weren't known in the vampire world as being kind and generous… that I had really heard anything past what the Cullen's had told me. But still. I could see how scary they were and violent they could be. They had to be, to be in power for as long as I suspect they have been.
I was led to an office that I was told was an office that used to belong to Didyme before they re-organized the castle… two centuries ago. Apparently every few centuries they like to change things up a bit with where their rooms are so they don't get as bored. And apparently Heidi likes to decorate when she gets a chance. Hearing that made me think of Esme and I could help but frown as I took a seat on a very comfortable couch across from the queens.
"What's wrong dear?" Didyme asked as Heidi and Jane took seats next to me; making the couch seem a lot smaller than what I had originally thought it was.
"I just miss my family." I admitted, causing Athenodora to scowl.
"As much as you seem to think they are your family, they really aren't." The blonde vampire said. "I don't doubt that they loved you; but if they were really your family, they wouldn't have left you. Wouldn't have even thought about it."
"I know." I said with another sigh. It was an argument they had already brought up and I had had a lot of time to think about it. Even though I love the Cullen's, they did leave. How could I be sure that if I was able to go home with them, they wouldn't do that again?
"You will see them again in a week dear." Sulpicia assured me. "But in the meantime, we are hoping that you will allow us to get to know you better." She said with a wide smile.
"I was told you had something to tell me though." I interrupted, somehow not afraid that she would get mad at me interrupting and changing the subject.
"That's right darling." Didyme said with a smirk. "She's so used to knowing everything about everyone right away, that now that she doesn't know everything about you, that's all she can focus on. Getting to know you seems to have taken over her thoughts. It's an adjustment for her that I'm sure she's not very happy about." The older woman said with a smirk directed towards Sulpicia.
"It's not that I'm not happy about it." Sulpicia said right away. "It's just a bit disappointing that I don't already know her as well as I want to."
Watching the queens bicker back and forth was kind of surreal. And amusing. To watch millennia old vampires arguing, basically teasing each other, was weird. I would have never thought to see the leaders of the Volturi argue like I'm watching them do now. After all I had heard from Edward and the fear I could see in Alice's and Edward's eyes, it was amusing to see the feared leaders behaving this way. I practically felt honored that I was able to see them in a way that I was sure not very many people did.
"Excuse me, mistresses." Heidi interjected since it didn't seem that the queens were going to back down anytime soon from their teasing of each other. "But Bella is still waiting to for her answer." The excitement in her voice made me nervous. I may not know Heidi that well but I was sure that if she was excited for what the queens had to tell me, I shouldn't be. I should be nervous.
"Of course." Sulpicia said with a wide grin. "I'm sorry we were side tracked."
"There are several things we have to tell you; but there is one thing in particular that will greatly impact you more than anything else." Athenodora said. "And its news that we feel we shouldn't share with you. But Heidi and Jane can." She said as she relaxed further into her chair, like she was waiting for a show to begin.
The two woman next to me stood from their seats and moved to kneel in front of me. Right in front of me. They were so close, my knees were touching their abdomens. It was an awkward position for me to be in but the look in the eyes, the seriousness they projected, kept me from even trying to move away from them.
"As you will come to know, Heidi has a tendency to be dramatic." Jane said, starting off the seriousness conversation. "I assure you, I would much rather be standing." Jane said with a small sneer that I knew was directed towards Heidi, even though the blonde wasn't starting at the taller vampire.
"Oh hush Jane." Heidi said with a roll of her eyes. "We're giving her a wonderful memory that she will one day look back on and cherish."
"A memory of what exactly?" I nervously asked. Heidi placed both her hands on my knees and leant towards me, causing Jane to roll her eyes and I was sure she was a second away from standing up.
"The news I'm about to tell you will make your life so amazing that you will surely want to hug me for the rest of eternity… as well as other things of course, but I was told to take this slow or I would be in trouble." She said the last part so quickly that I barely caught it and I could help but smile at her. Heidi was at least very good at making me smile, even in a situation that made me nervous.
"Just get on with it before I tell her for you." Jane said as she finally stood up. I was surprised it took her that long to stand up. From the pout that Heidi gave her, Jane was clearly not supposed to move from her kneeled position in front of me; but even I knew that Jane's patience for something she didn't like wouldn't last long.
"But you promised." Heidi practically whined and I swore her eyes glistened a little with tears that could never fall.
"And we promised not to tell her for you." Athenodora interjected. "But I'm seriously starting to rethink that decision. Move it along Heidi, we don't have all day."
"Fine." The vampire in kneeled in front of me said with a small huff of annoyance that I was sure would have normally gotten her in trouble with the queens. The woman stood up and pulled me with her to my feet. Apparently the time for theatrics was over. "Bella, how much do you know about vampire mates?"
From just that simple question and from how focused both Jane and Heidi were looking at me, I knew what they were about to tell me. Everything started clicking together, started making sense as I thought about how they've been practically glued to me since I met them; how the queens were making sure they were always around me instead of other vampires. I knew what they were about to tell me and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it.
"I know that every vampire has a mate that they eventually find." I nervously answered, wishing that I could take a step backwards and put some more space between the two vampires and myself.
"So you understand that some vampires find their mates within decades of being turned, within centuries or may have even been turned by their mates?" Heidi asked. I was somewhat shocked that she was actually making sure that we were on the same page. She was actually making sure I understood, instead of moving on. Instead of verbally responding, I just nodded my head. "Do you know that when a vampire finds their mate, the connection is instant?" I hadn't known it was instant, it took Edward a little time to realize I was his mate. But I was sure that was because I was singer, so it was harder for him to realize it.
"The scent alone of a vampires mate, is a giveaway." Jane said, finally adding the conversation. "The scent of our mate is very delectable. It is a very appealing scent that smells like home to the vampire. It's a very welcoming scent." She explained.
"Edward's scent was something I really liked about him." I said and nearly instantly regretted it when I saw both of the women in front of me sneer.
"Let's just not mention him for now dear." Didyme said from her spot behind Heidi and Jane. "We'll talk about him later; but right now it's just about you three."
I really didn't want it to be about the three of us though; not with what I was thinking they were going to eventually tell me.
"When a vampire finds their mate, for the first few years, they can't bear to be too far away for too long. The time frame differs for everyone but it's usually a few years." Heidi explained.
"That's a long time." I muttered, forgetting for a moment that the people in the room with me would easily hear what I said.
"But for a vampire that can live for an eternity, a few years is not that long." Jane responded. "During that time though Bella, a vampire cannot leave their mate. There are too many worries for the vampire too leave their mate alone for too long."
"Worries?" I couldn't help but try and get as much information as I could about vampires since they both seemed more than willing to give the information to me. The Cullen's were always so tight lipped about being a vampire that I really didn't have that much information from them.
"What if they get hurt?" Heidi asked and I could see the worry clear in her eyes as she looked me. The worry she directed at me only helped to confirm what I was thinking they would tell me. "What if another vampire threatened them? What if they get lost as they travel? What if they can't find something they need, or even want?"
"The primary concern is what if they get hurt?" Jane informed me. "If we leave, we have no way of knowing if there is a problem. Even with today's technology, we would only about a problem after it has occurred, we wouldn't have a chance to prevent it, to allow our mate to avoid any chance of being hurt."
"Once we find our mate, a vampire will never leave them. Will never hurt them. Will never even think about doing anything that has even the remote chance of hurting their mate. To a vampire, their mate is everything. Their world changes to revolve around their mate." Heidi said and then she grew a wide a smile. "But it's very different when that mate is a human."
And there it is. That all but confirms what I'm afraid they are going to tell me. I wasn't even sure Edward thought they would tell me something like this.
"When a vampire is mated with a human, the feelings the vampire feels is intensified." Jane explained. "They feel more protective, more territorial and they are much more worried about their mate being hurt."
"They tend to be clingy." Heidi jumped in, interrupting Jane, which didn't seem to affect Jane at all as she continued to talk after Heidi.
"But a human mate does not feel any of that." Jane explained. "They do not feel the mating bond, they do not feel as strongly as the vampire does. A human mate can easily choose to ignore their vampire mate; which is devastating to the vampire."
"That's why it's very typical for a vampire to change their human mate practically right away." Heidi said. "It also helps to alleviate some of the vampires worry because changing the human into a vampire will make the human stronger and have less risk of getting hurt."
"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked with slight desperation. I knew what they were working on telling me and as much as I appreciated that they were giving me all this information that the Cullen's seemed intent on not giving me, I just wanted to hear from them what I was expecting them to say. I needed to hear them say that they thought I was their mate. I needed them to tell me that so I could tell them they are wrong. They had to be wrong.
"Because you're ours Bella." Jane said, her voice sounding like a purr.
"And we want to make sure you know what to expect from now on." Heidi said as she took a step towards me; a step that didn't actually exist since we were already so close.
I took a step backwards, so keep as much space between us as possible, but the back of my legs hit the couch and I nearly fell backwards. Both Jane and Heidi grabbed my arms and kept me from falling onto the couch. Thankfully when I was firmly on my feet again, they let me move the side and away from them. I ran my fingers through my hair as I thought about what I was just told.
I was expecting it, I figure it out. But I still felt like I was blindsided by what they told me. I didn't want to believe them; I couldn't believe them. I was Edward's mate. Not theirs.
"I thought only two people could be mates; not more." I said, my eyes just barely looking over at the queens, the only other vampires I knew of that were a trio instead of a duo of mates. The queens caught my look and they all smirked at me.
"It may be more common, but it's not finite that mates only consist of two people." Jane said as she eyes me take a few steps away from them. It looked like she, and Heidi for that matter, wanted to move towards me, but thankfully they refrained and stayed in front of the couch as I moved to stand behind it.
"Mates can be include any number of vampires." Heidi said. "I believe there's a coven in Egypt with four mated vampires." She explained.
"It all depends on the people mated." Jane answered. "We don't know exactly why more than two people are mated. But we do know it does not diminish the love between the mates and the relationship is just as strong as it would be between just two people. Mates are mates, no matter how many of them there are."
"It just means there's more loving to go around." Heidi said with a smirk.
"Heidi." Jane hissed, scolding the other woman.
"What? It's true." Heidi said with a small pout, but even I could tell she wasn't sorry about making her comment.
"It's not true though." I argued, not willing to give up on Edward. "Edward's my mate." I said, again, causing both Jane and Heidi to growl.
"I think that brings us to the next part of our conversation dear." Didyme said as she stood from her seat and walked towards me. "But first, I think now would be a good time for lunch."
"Didyme will take you to the dining room where we have had a spread of food made for you, and then you will come back here and we will discuss Edward." Sulpicia said.
"As long as you're still willing to talk today." Athenodora added. "There is still much to talk about and we would prefer to talk about as much as we can today and get all the talking done and over with."
For as much as I was feeling, as over whelmed as I was feeling, it wasn't like I was blindsided. I was at least able to figure out what they were going to tell me and it wasn't such a huge shock. Now I knew they were going to argue about Edward; of course they would. I want to be able to defend Edward; I want to defend our relationship.
But even though I wanted to argue with them about me getting lunch, just for the sake of arguing, I really was hungry. So I nodded my head at Didyme and let her lead me out of the room and towards wherever it was they had gathered food for me. She looped her arm around my arm, and as we were nearly out of the room, I saw Heidi and Jane look after me with a look that I could only describe as longing.
The conversation after lunch was going to be very long. I was sure the conversation was going to be difficult.