Disclaimer- All recognizable characters belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer, whereas all new characters belong to me.

Chapter 24- Judgment Time

The back streets of Italy were almost filled with more scum than at home in America. Key word being almost. I dropped the rapist I'd been drinking from and wiped my mouth. He'd ran a whole mile before I got bored and just attacked him. The thrill of the hunt pulsed in my veins. Lanina and Ash came up to me, their crimson eyes glowing from the fresh blood. " Wow, Italians taste so much better than Americans. I think I actually tasted pasta in his blood." Ash said with a smile. I chuckled and shook my head.

" Yeah, that was a pretty good chase." I replied. I could still hear Mike and Manny feeding. ' Men always take longer.' I thought with a laugh. I killed myself sometimes.

" So. . . You're back with Edward." Lanina said quietly, her hands on her hips. I studied her, she had her mother face on. Damn. She was worried about me. I hated when people were worried about me.

" Yes, I am. And no you do not have to worry Lanina." I responded nonchalantly. " I'm a big girl now. So big the Volturi think I can handle being one of them."

" I know Bella. I just want to tell you to be careful. He's hurt you before."

" Yeah, and I told him if he does it again I'll kill him." I paused. " Slowly." I decided to add. She chuckled and rose an eyebrow.

" Oh really?" I shrugged my shoulders and stepped over the body of my meal.

" Well, not in so many words. But he gets the point. Believe me." Ash giggled and elbowed Lanina teasingly.

" He must be pretty good in the sack if she's going through all this trouble." She laughed. Manny walked up and put an arm around my shoulders.

" Don't talk about my Bella like that." He told her and winked at me. I rolled my eyes and stepped out of his grasp.

" Okay, listen, all of you. I appreciate the fact that you guys are so concerned about me, but I can take care of myself." I assured them. " Now, let's head back to the. . . I don't really know how to describe Volterra except as a big castle. And that just sounds way too medieval for me."

" Better get used to it. Seeing as how you live there now." Mike pointed out to me. I pursed my lips in thought and nodded my head. He had a point.

" Still doesn't mean I have to call it a castle." Mike was about to say something else when all of a sudden an arrow came flying out of nowhere. We all took out our swords and went back to back. " Where did it come from?" I asked no one in particular.

" I wanna say-" Lanina was cut off when another arrow came shooting towards us; and hit Mike. He dropped to the ground and let out a cry. I pulled out the arrow and glanced at it; dead man's blood coated it.

" Shit." I muttered. " Watch him Lan." She shook her head and put her hand to his wound. Another arrow came whizzing be, but I caught it before it hit me in the back. " Where the hell are they coming from?" I shouted. I was getting a tad pissed off. I didn't like not knowing where the enemy was. Gave them an advantage. I didn't like them having an advantage. I wanted the advantage on them.

" No idea!" Manny exclaimed, his back against mine.

" Okay, watch my back. I'm going to go find out."

" No need to tell me, I know." I nodded my head and ducked. I did a quick roll and swung my sword around my head; hoping to hit something. And sure enough, a man screamed and fell in front of me. I grabbed his throat and pulled him to me, making sure there were no arrows heading at me.

" Where's your leader?" I growled. He didn't need to answer. Tristine walked out of the shadows, a smile on her face.

" Looks like you're out-numbered." She said, her grin widening. I looked around and saw twenty vampires surrounding my four. Well, three. Mike wasn't really up to fighting at the moment, seeing as how he was slowly dying. I smirked and stood up.

" That's what you think." I snarled and then shot a line of fire at five of the soldiers. I ignored their screams and faced her. I felt great pleasure as soon as I saw her eyes were opened as wide as a deer in headlights. I kicked the arrow out of her hand and put her in a tight headlock. Lanina, Manny and Ash killed the rest of her tiny army. " Never underestimate me." I said in her ear.

" Because you will always end up on the short end of the stick." Manny took over for me as her guard as I stepped towards Mike. He was leaning against the wall of a building, pain showing on his pale face.

" It hurts like a bitch." He told me through gritted teeth.

" I know. Hold on." I put my hand on his wound and concentrated, trying to tap into my inner guardian. The same feeling ran through me as when I'd healed Travis. The light appeared, a strong almost blinding white light. I watched the blood that had gotten into his system slowly leak out and the wound close. Mike let out a content sigh and smiled. " There's a reason I'm called the guardian. Now, let's get back to the castle."

" I thought you weren't going to call it a castle." He teased.

" Changed my mind." I turned towards Tristine and tapped her face slightly. " I am sure you are so excited about seeing Yuzria again. I know if you need to be tortured he will jump at the idea." I leaned closer, so I was next to her ear. " And if he's as good as torturing as he is at other things, you're in for a lot of trouble." I pulled away and winked, then started the journey back home.

I sat on the table as Aro talked to Tristine, trying to get information out of her. " Just use your powers." I told him with a sigh. He turned to me and smiled.

" I don't want to have to force the truth out of her Isabella." He replied. I rolled my eyes and walked over to her.

" Well, I don't have a problem with force." I mumbled. I put a hand on her stomach and conjured up my fire power. She looked at me, confused for a second. " Wait for it, it's less dramatic than if it happened right away but eh. What can you do." She went to say something, but then a scream slipped out of her mouth. I held my hand in place, even with her squirming. " Now tell us why you attacked us. Where's Mitchell?" She clenched her fists and spat in my face. I wiped it off with my free hand and laughed. " You'll have to try harder than that." She tried to bite back her screams, but to no avail. I pushed my hand down and her wail could've made my blood curl. If I had blood that is.

" Okay!" She yelled. " I'll talk to you, just get the fuck off me!" I took my hand away and stepped back slightly. Aro was chuckling from behind me.

" You were testing me." I stated. He nodded his head and patted my back.

" You passed." He assured me.

" I know that. I also know that you most likely did touch her." Again, all I got was a nod. " Oh well, I'm making her talk anyways. Alright Tristine, talk."

" An island. He's on an island." I arched an eyebrow in confusion.

" What's he doing on an island?" I questioned her.

" It's where the war is supposed to take place. Away from-"

" From people." I finished for her. She swallowed and shook her head. " Alright, now give me one hell of a good reason why I shouldn't kill you right here. Right now." She snarled and I grabbed her throat. " You aren't in the position to be showing those teeth at me. I'll rip them out."

" He'll kill you. He loves me." She growled. I laughed and let go of her.

" Is that what he told you? And you believed it!" I exclaimed. " He's playing you! Just like you played Yuzria. I'd think you were smart enough to see that. That's what happens when I assume I guess."

" He wasn't lying to me."

" Sure he wasn't. Now, what island is he on?" She struggled against the ropes that were holding her to the chair. They were charmed of course. She could struggle all she wanted, she wouldn't get out.

" He loves me!" She cried. " He wouldn't lie to me!" I sighed and rested my hands on the chair arms.

" Yes, he would. He used you, and you fell for it. You are a stupid human, most of them are. So don't feel bad." She shook her head and tears fell down her face.

" No, he was going to change me. So we'd be together forever." I studied her face, she actually thought he loved her. I pushed up off the chair and faced Aro. She was still crying from behind us.

" What are we going to do?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her.

" We should just kill her." He told me. I looked back at her.

" She was stupid. . ." I whispered. " She shouldn't be condemned to death because she happened to believe the wrong guy."

" You feel sorry for her?" His eyes inspected me. I slowly nodded my head, I didn't know why. But I did.

" Why don't we just wait. See what else we can flesh out of her."

" It's your call." He replied easily and sat down. " I could care less, she's only a human." Yuzria walked into the room, his face solemn. He didn't even glance at Tristine.

" Yuzria," She whispered, but then quieted down.

" Can I talk to you?" He asked. I nodded my head and followed him into the hall. He crossed his arms and focused his gaze on a painting; I knew something was up. " I don't want you to kill her." He said quietly. " I don't think. . ." I put a hand on his cheek and moved his face so he was looking at me.

" I wasn't going to. Not yet at least." I replied. His mouth opened in surprise. " I feel sorry for her." I cleared up for him. He shut his mouth and nodded his head.

" Yeah, I do too. So, what are you going to do with her?"

" No clue. Come up with something for me." I smirked and patted his cheek, then walked away. Being a Volturi member was fun at times, but not when it meant I'd have to kill humans who didn't really deserve it. Aro and I were going to have a little chat. I, meanwhile, couldn't believe I was getting a damn conscience. They only ended up getting in the way and affected judgment. ' But without them, you truly are a monster.' I thought silently. And I really didn't want to be a monster.

A/N: Well, I hope you liked this chapter. It was okay in my opinion. Thanks for reviewing, but for everybody who DOESN'T, please do. Because I love to know what my "fans" ( I don't really know what else to call you guys lol, if you have an ideas tell me) are thinking about my stories. So please, please, please KEEP REVIEWING! lol. I love y'all who read this. Truly, I mean, y'all are awesome. Now, I'm still trying to come up with a title for the 3rd story. Not sure yet. And, I may have to put Hot desires with a cold heart on a small break. I'm not sure if I'm going to or not. I still gotta think about it. So, just in case anyone who reads this reads that, I'm just letting you know. I think that's it. Again, if you want to read some of my original work, go to fictionpress and look under the pen name of losingmyfaith. Same as here.

Until next time,

Faith