AN: I didn't know if I was going to continue writing this, because leaving off at that last chapter was a good story (to me). But, I think there's more that I wanted to write that would make this more interesting. That's why there was a delay, and I'm sorry for that.

A Time to Weep

Chapter Six

I knew my happiness couldn't last forever like I'd hoped. Edward and I were finally, though warily, together again. Sure, I was still a little mad at him, and a little hurt, but don't we all make mistakes? Albeit, his was a big one, but it was what I wanted. Correction; it was what I thought I wanted.

The morning after I met with Edward, there was a note next on my dresser next to my bed.

Bella, it read.

Since the prophecy has now been fulfilled, you will need to begin on the path of your destiny. Meet me in my study at noon. I will send someone to guide you there.

Thank you,

Aro

Well, so much for giving me time to get acquainted. I knew what my purpose was with the Volturi, but I didn't expect to start so soon. I thought I would get a little time to explore or…hunt. I had been ignoring the burning in my throat for a few days, but it never, ever went away. I guess it would be something I had to get used to. I looked at the clock. It read 9 o'clock. Would that be enough time to go drink?

I had been sitting on the couch in my sitting room, surfing the channels. Nothing good was on anyway, I had decided, so I picked up a book and started reading. I put it down now, and ran to Edward's room.

He had not "slept" in my room last night, and I hadn't in his. I thought it was too soon. My wounds, and his, were still too deep.

I walked down the hall the few steps it took to get to his room and knocked. He was there in a nanosecond, it seemed, for the door opened immediately when my hand was off it. I held back my laughter at his eagerness.

"Bella, it's you." He seemed surprised.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Now I was confused. He definitely seemed like he was expecting someone else.

"No, no, come in." The smile he gave wiped any suspicion out of my head. I walked right in and turned around to face him as he closed the door. We faced another awkward silence. Well, I thought, things could only get easier.

"So," Edward began, "How did you…" He realized what he was saying and caught himself.

I smiled at his mistake. "Sleep?" I ventured.

"Yeah…sorry. That was stupid of me." He was torturing himself, anyone could see that. He was the reason I couldn't sleep anymore, and he was tearing himself up over it.

"Edward, stop. I'm not blaming you. Really, it's more like I'm thanking you." He rolled his eyes. "It's a gift, not a curse. See, I wouldn't be able to do this." I went out on a limb. It had to have happened sometime in the near future, so I took the initiative. I brought my arms out and pulled him towards me, never taking my eyes off his pained expression. My lips touched his softly, but they soon quickened, showing him what I meant. It was pure bliss.

He didn't reciprocate at first. He stood there, stunned into a statue-like embrace. I smiled into his lips. This was better than I remembered. He seemed to have come out of his stupor and he put his arms around me, deepening the kiss.

We parted and I couldn't believe I had been so bold. I was definitely a new Bella. My lips still tingled from the new experience. Edward didn't seem capable of speaking. He was always such a gentleman.

"So. I think we need to go…um…hunting. Do you think you could take me?" The subject was still sore for me. I don't know when I would get over the fact that I killed innocent animals.

Edward regained his composure. "Yea-yes. Just hold on a second." He walked into a room where I couldn't see him. I heard ruffling around, and I could hear him say "No, not there."

"Edward!" I called. "What are you doing?"

"Be right there!" He called back. I chuckled. "Hey! I heard that." Oops.

He walked out of the room with a big square shaped box in his hand. He handed it to me.

"Here. This is a gift. I hope you like it." He smile was contagious. I was grinning from ear to ear as I realized what it was. I saw gold lettering on the black leather box. It said Jane Austen and there was a list of all the books in the compilation under it.

"Oh Edward! I love it!" I wrapped my arms around him and he didn't hesitate this time. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome. I knew you would need something to do all day. It gets pretty boring, not being able to go outside." He smiled sadly at me and looked down at his feet. "We should probably get started because we have to go pretty far away to hunt. The Volturi have agreed to let us maintain our diet, but we can't do it within a certain limit of the city. You know, they want to keep their existence hidden…all that stuff." He explained.

"Right, well I need to be back by noon. Aro wanted to meet with me." He seemed uncomfortable after my request.

"Oh, ok. I'm sure we'll make it." I set the books down and looked at his hands hanging at his sides. Should I grab one and hold on? Would he freeze up like the last time I tried something?

Before I could do anything I looked up and saw his eyes on my hands. He reached out and grabbed mine. We smiled and he led me out the door.

"Now, he trick is to smell the scent first, then chase after it as stealthily as possible. You don't want the animal to hear you, or they'll run away." He finished. I rolled my eyes.

"We've been talking about this forever. Let's get going!" I said. We had been running along side each other at a slow pace. We had just gotten out of the city limits, and he stopped us to explain the tips and tricks. I was ready to quench the thirst. It was stronger than ever, now that we had passed by humans, and animal blood was near. I could practically taste it. It was mouthwatering.

"Ok, ok, try to contain yourself. The thirst, it overcomes you. You won't be able to control it, especially because you're new at this. Ready?"

"I was born ready." I winced as I thought about what Aro said about the prophecy. Of course I was born ready, and of course those exact words had to come out of my mouth. Edward looked down, ashamed.

I sighed. "Sooner or later, and I'd rather it be sooner, you're going to need to forget about what happened. It's over, in the past, hakuna matata." He laughed quietly at my joke, but the joy didn't reach his eyes. This would take time.

Suddenly, I heard it. Something was running towards us, and there were four legs hitting the ground. I smelled the blood and took off toward the sound. Edward was right behind me. It felt as though I were some wild animal in pursuit of its breakfast. There was only the animal's blood and I. Edward was trying to say something to me softly but I blocked it out. It was mind-boggling how the blood took over me.

Then, I saw a deer. It was different, since we weren't in our native country. It was a different breed, but it was blood nonetheless. I jumped at it, wrapped my hands around it's necked, and it snapped. I felt unbridled power running through me, and it was exhilarating. My teeth sunk themselves out of their own will power into the deer's broken neck, and I fed until it was dry. I didn't even think, once, how disgusting this was or that I shouldn't be doing it. It was my destiny.

"Bella, I've never seen…" Edward was staring at me incredulously after we had both finished. We were sitting on the ground by a tree, savoring the moment.

"I know. I feel kind of barbaric." But the aftertaste was heavenly. I smiled in spite of myself.

"What are you smiling for?" He seemed amused.

"Well, it was good. I never expected that. I thought I would hate it. You know?"

"Yeah. You didn't like the smell when you were human, so why would you now?"

I laughed. "I'm such a mystery."

"Yeah…" He trailed off. We stared at each other until I felt compelled to bring up the time.

"We only have forty five minutes to get back. We'd better get going." I said. Every time I was with him, all I wanted to do was kiss him. It was like Biology class, when the electric current was running through me, but now I felt it all the time. It was almost worse than the thirst. It was so frustrating when I was human, but I didn't have to hold back now. We had subconsciously leaned into one another. Our thoughts, I knew, were completely in sync. He smelled amazing.

Our lips touched, but not so softly this time. There was a fervor there that wasn't there before. He had finally realized he couldn't crush me anymore, and it felt good. The kiss, although it seemed like something otherworldly, had to end.

I pulled away. "Edward, we need to get back. It's getting late."

"You torture me. There's no other explanation for this feeling." He looked at me longingly. I smiled flirtatiously and stood up from the ground.

"Race you." I sped off, but he won, of course.

We ran into the alley where the entrance to the palace was. I had to hold my breath; there were people all around me. Living in this city has helped me with the blood lust, but I still craved it. Edward opened the hidden door.

He looked at me before jumping into the black hole. I took one last look at all the people walking around the square in front of me. It was sunny, and they were enjoying every minute of it. I was wearing clothes to cover my whole body, and I had a hat on to cover my face. What a life I had.

I sighed as I followed Edward into the hole, knowing he would catch me.

"No, no, no. I won fair and square. There was no cheating on my part."

"Hardly!" I scoffed. "You pushed me at least twice."

He paused for a few seconds, deciding on whether to give into my accusation.

"But I still won. You can't deny that. We never set any rules."

I rolled my eyes and pushed open my door after I unlocked it. There was someone in there already. My eyes darted to the clock on the side table by the couch. It read 11:55. Perfect timing.

The messenger turned around, revealing himself. It was Alec, Jane's twin sister. Edward had told me once that his power was so great that the Volturi guard wouldn't be what it was without him.

"Hello Bella, Edward." He nodded to each of us. "I assume you got Aro's message this morning?" His presence was overwhelming and intimidating that I could only nod. Edward tensed beside me.

"Bella! You don't have to go. Just stay here with me." He pleaded.

"What? What are you talking about?" Alec seemed to realize what was happening at once.

"No need to worry, Bella. This is nothing more than a discussion. We'll get you back here in no time." Then Edward froze beside me. I looked over to see if he had seen something, but he wasn't moving, just staring off into some unseen place. I waved my hand in front of his face. Nothing happened. He was literally frozen in place.

"What did you do to him?" I shouted at Alec. I shouldn't have been so bold.

"Like I said," He spoke over me, "There is no need to worry. Edward heard something I had said in my head. He felt the need to warn you, but nothing is going to happen. Follow me please." This was too weird. He had frozen Edward in place. He couldn't move.

"What about Edward?" I asked in a small voice. I wasn't going to yell again.

"He will be fine. I will take care of him." He began to walk out the open door, and I took it as my cue to follow him. I took one last look at Edward. Oh my god, I thought. What have I gotten myself into?

Alec led me to a room I hadn't been in before. I assumed it was Aro's study, because he was there, sitting at a desk doing something on a computer. He turned around to face me.

"Bella! How lovely to see you. You've made up with Edward I hope?" He had so much gusto. I wonder how he did it. Just then I remembered Marcus and his ability to recognize relationships. Aro probably already knew Edward and I were mostly back together. What a stupid question.

"Yes." I answered anyway, because I knew he expected an answer.

"Good, good. That's what we like to hear. Now, we have some business to get down to. You are to be a special agent, a type of information gatherer. You'll travel around to places we tell you and do the things we tell you to do. Simple, right?"

"Sounds simple enough." I agreed. It sounded suspicious though. What would I have to do? He seemed to have read my mind, however impossible it may be.

"You're probably wondering what you're going to be doing, and probably wondering how I knew you were thinking that." My jaw dropped. Wait, did I have a power or not?

"I'll answer the second one first, since that seems to be the question on your mind. You see, part of your ability is blocking others from your mind. There's another part I have just discovered. You can send people commands or questions, or anything else, through your mind. Humans will just feel compelled to answer you back or do what you ask, but vampires will know what you're doing. However, they have no choice to do what you ask, like humans don't. It's a very valuable gift." This was so cool!

"And you knew about this since I was born, I'm sure." I deadpanned. No matter how cool, Aro probably had a vampire that could see far into the future, and would know the whole outcome of my afterlife before it happened. Boy, would that suck. Don't get me wrong; it would be a cool gift to have, but seeing everyone's futures all the time could get pretty tough. Not everyone has a nice ending, if you know what I mean.

"Naturally, but that's beside the point. Now you know, and it will help you on your up and coming mission." I braced myself for what he was about to say next. "We have a…suspicion…that there is a human, much like yourself a week ago, that knew of a vampire's existence. This vampire knows that the human knows, and it is very dangerous. You see, this human isn't what the vampire thinks she is. This human is undercover as a spy, if you will, for the American government. She, let's call her Samantha, is about to spill the news about the vampires' existence, which would be catastrophic." Wow. What a case. But why would I need to be there?

"Ah, very good question Bella." I felt the need to blush. This other power would take some getting used to. "You will be there to convince her to keep quiet for however long she lives. And yes, no need to ask, your 'spell' will last that long. Whatever you tell her, she will do."

"Will I be alone?" I asked. I didn't want to be part of a one-sided conversation any more.

"Oh, hardly. We will be sending a few members of the Cullen family, so you won't be uncomfortable." I mentally wiped my brow of sweat. I could never handle this alone. "We'll talk later this evening for the rest of the information, and you will leave shortly after that. Understood."

"Yes. See you later." Aro nodded, and I left the room, turning one last time to take a look at his fiery red eyes.

I had one last thought before I reached my room. Why was Edward so hell-bent on me not going?