Hey! I got back from my vacation to France a couple days ago so I'm writing again...just not very quickly. France was AMAZING!! I had so much fun! But you'll never believe it... two days before leaving for France... I did the stupidest, most painful thing I have ever done... I broke my foot! UHH!!! I had to use crutches the entire time I was in France, and let me tell you, crutches are nowhere near as easy to use as they seem... anyhoo.... once I got back from France, I had to have surgery done on my foot. The bones were misaligned, and if they weren't fixed, I would never be able to walk properly ever again :S. I must agree with Bella on this, though...IV's are creepy....:S. So, in the end...it's sorta a bitter sweet ending. My foot is KILLING me and I can't really walk or do much, but, because I can't do much, I have more time to write my story! YAY! So...either way...here's chapter 13. As usual, I dont own Twilight or any of it's characters, and I really hope you like this. :P
Recap: I looked behind me to see the tall Volturi castle, standing there, an ominous silhouette in the dark, moonless sky. I gulped. This was where the real adventure would begin.
The last time I'd been here, it had been a life or death matter. This seemed to be a reoccurring theme.
With small, nervous steps, I followed several of the Volturi guards headed towards the entrance to the castle, my family close behind.
We entered through two, large- they must have been 20 feet tall- doors at the front of the castle. Try to imagine the perfect, dramatic entrance we managed to create. The large doors opening, revealing many dark, faceless, silhouetted figures against the night sky, their cloaks lightly blowing in the sudden, chilling breeze. Something only a vampire could truly pull off. I likely would have laughed at this if I wasn't as petrified as I was.
We continued to follow the Volturi through the labyrinth of halls. We wandered for several minutes, and I would have thought we were lost if I hadn't known better. The anxiety was suffocating and my dead heart was beating a million miles a minute. I was heading towards my most likely demise. Great. (Wow...I just about screamed and threw my computer at the wall this point. Very frustrating. I simply could not get over this writer's block. I had NO IDEA what to write. You're lucky I finally forced myself to come up with something after, like, 1 week of futile efforts to write more.)
I couldn't help the sense of nostalgia that washed over my senses, making me feel sick to my stomach, when I began to recognize the twists and turns we were making, and I realized exactly where we were headed. The last time I'd been here, I narrowly escaped with my life, not to mention Edward's or Alice's. We were heading to where we had been taken the last time to see Aro. I suppose you could call it the dining hall. I can still remember the screams of the tourists Heidi had led in there.
I shivered at the thought, receiving some awkward glances from the Volturi, and causing my family to look at me and give me reassuring smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes. They must have had some idea as to where we were headed, and were, clearly, just as uncomfortable.
When we finally reached the massive doors which would open to the dining hall, I could feel my limbs lock in place. Paralyzed in fear and not knowing what exactly what would happen beyond those doors.
I could vaguely feel Edward squeezing my hand, but I was lost in his dark black eyes, as menacing and unnatural as they seemed, portraying such love and understanding, giving me the final boost of confidence I needed. This was not the time to freak. I needed to stay strong for him. I needed to stay strong for all of them. Everything would turn out fine. They always did.
With my newfound confidence, I managed to work my way toward the doors. ( This is the point when the REAL Breaking Dawn was released....obviously, you can tell I had my priorities there... for those of you who haven't had a chance to read it yet...I'll try not to spoil it for you...but I'm telling you right now...IT IS AWESOME!!!) When they opened, revealing the large room, I walked in, following the members of the Volturi until I was standing in the middle of the room, my family behind me, guards lining every wall, eyeing us with suspicion, and waited.
(Yes, I'm writing another mid-story Author's note. I apologize for all of these. Ok so, it's been like a month since I've written anything, but I suddenly have this urge to write more cuz I feel bad and I no longer have any excuses. My foot's all better, no writer's block (hopefully) so on, so forth...so...ya...here we go...again.)
Aro seemed to prolong the agony as he took his sweet time heading to the front of the room to make what was sure to be one of his many over-dramatized speeches. By the time he began to speak, the tension in the air was almost tangible.
"As mentioned earlier" He gave me a pointed look, "We are not very pleased by the fact that you did not comply with our wishes. Bella was not changed within the very generous time frame we offered." I noticed as Edward's head fell slightly, like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "We were exceedingly kind, especially considering the fact that you broke not only a rule, but the rule: you let a human know of our existence. The mercy we bestowed upon you by not immediately having some form of repercussion was... clearly, taken for granted. I let the first infraction slide, because I still consider Carlisle a friend, and because of the reassurance that she would, in fact, one day become a vampire, but when you continued to ignore our request, I sincerely regretted the original mercy we gave you, and wish to immediately take some kind repercussion."
I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me, and immediately looked to Alice. She had this far –off look in her eyes- a vision. It was clearly not pleasant. Her lips began tremble, and the tears that could not be shed seemed to form in her eyes. If possible, her face became even paler, her eyes darker and more pronounced.
Worried, I looked over to my Edward, hoping he would know what was happening. The intense concentration in his eyes was penetrating as he read Alice's mind, in turn, seeing the vision himself.
So fast, I nearly missed it, Edward whipped around into a crouch, pulling me behind him protectively, and growling the single most terrifying thing I have ever heard.
"You will not touch her!" Oh. So Alice must have had a vision about me. Or, what Aro would do to me.
"Wow! Simply amazing! What I would do to have such gifts! Truly a remarkable display of just how lucky you two are-" But Aro was cut off by another growl from Edward.
"None the less, that is not entirely your decision, Edward. Get up, before I make you. These threats are never in your favour. One more time, from any of you, and it will be the last thing you do." Aro paused to let his point sink in, "Now, the normal punishment for letting a human know of our existence would be to kill the human, and usually the one who told them. I have learned the hard way that when you make exceptions, people take advantage of it, as demonstrated by you, so I believe we will stick with the rules here.
"But that's not it." He smirked, "I truly am quite upset with this whole ordeal. Here's my personal plan: Edward, simply killing you would not suffice. If Bella were to pass, you would wish to follow. See that's my problem. I can't kill both of you. It immediately ruins the effect. However, Edward, you have a certain gift I am quite amused by. Perhaps I shall destroy Bella, who, as far as we know, has no gifts, and as a punishment, I'll make you watch. Then you can join our guard." Aro grinned with this air of 'I'm-better-than-you-and-you'll-do-whatever-I'll-say'.
It seemed like Edward was about to say something to Aro that likely wasn't particularly pleasant, as he seemed to bite his tongue in an attempt to hold something back.
I, on the other hand, was shocked. I'd only just got my wish: my eternity with Edward, and already, so soon, it was being taken away, ripped from my very hands.
The thought was...unbearable. Never again would I see his beautiful face, the deep topaz eyes I could get lost in forever, feel his strong safe, embrace, hear his beautiful melodies, or the love in his voice. His glorious, intoxicating smell, the taste of his lips on mine, all of it would be lost. Lost forever.
Even through all this pain, I managed to look up at Edward. Although it was just a stare, the love portrayed there was unequivocal. Without a word, I tried my best to let Edward know just how much I cared about him, and, how, no matter what, I wouldn't have changed anything about our time together. Looking into the depth of his eyes, I seemed lost for an immeasurable amount of time. Nothing could have removed me from this state where nothing could interfere, nothing could bring us apart, and yet, something did.
It was quiet, but I noticed. I low sob had escaped someone behind me's lips. I looked behind me, shocked, to see Esme staring intently at Edward and me in our own personal moment. I looked to the others, to see the same look.
That was the turning point. I would do anything to protect my family from any kind of pain at all. Anything. It was my turn to take a stand.
A/n: wow...im happy...i thought i was actually gonna give up the story *shies away in embarrassment* even after i promised to finish it :/ Well...srry bout the OOBER LONG wait...hopefully..i havn't lost my touch in this story. And bcuz i made u guys wait so long (srry again guys... XD) im gonna give u guys a little hint. The last paragraph of the story is REALLY IMPORTANT! It gives this big thing away that adds up to a major story arc :P so...any guesses??
AND
I just wanna sorta remind you guys to PLZ READ AND REVIEW! That is what prevents the long waits! When you guys review, it encourages me to keep writing, so that this whole like 3 month wait thing dusnt happen again (heh...srry...again...again...) so plz review, or i srsly think i will hav to drop the story. Until next chappie (mayb...if ur good XD )