Disclaimer- All recognizable characters belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer, whereas all new characters belong to me.
Chapter 1- Tampered Memory
Four years after the war
I opened my eyes in confusion. My dream had been of when I killed Annebelle, except, it wasn't what I remembered. I remembered killing Annebelle because she was going to sell me to Nicholas. But in the dream, I'd killed her simply because she was a monster. She'd invited me to dinner and. . . I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion and pushed the thoughts away when I heard my door open. I knew it was probably Hope, coming to get Edward and myself out of bed. I quickly closed my eyes and kept them shut as I felt her tiny body jump onto the bed and come between Edward and I. Her hot breath drifted onto my cheek. I resisted the urge to smile or open my eyes. It was amazing how she could just make me forget my problems. " Mommy, I know you're not sleeping." Her little voice said. I broke my facade and opened my eyes. She squealed with delight as I wrapped her in my arms. I kissed her cheek and breathed in her soft smell.
" However did you know?" I asked her. She giggled, her light green eyes sparkled in the light that was peeking out of the curtains.
" Cause you told me mommy!" I gasped and put my hand over my mouth in mock surprise.
" I did! Oh how silly of me." She laughed and nodded her head. She'd just had her fourth birthday a couple days ago, and lost two of her teeth for that very special occasion. Of course, the tooth fairy came and left her money. She turned around and wiggled her way over to Edward. He scooped her up and planted a strong kiss on her cheek.
" You should go get some breakfast." He told her. " Didn't Aro tell the chef to cook your favorite pancakes this morning?" Her face brightened and she shot off the bed. We watched as she scurried out of the room, her brown hair flying past her shoulders. I sighed and laid my head on Edward's bare chest. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed the top of my head. The dream once again flashed through my mind, but I didn't want to worry him about it. Even though it was eating away at me. Why did I dream something when I remembered it as being totally different? Again, I shoved it away to the back of my mind and let out a small sigh.
" I can't believe it's been four years already. It feels like just yesterday that she was a baby." I said softly, remembering how it felt to hold six month old Hope in my arms. I still did, but it was different now.
" It seems like it was just yesterday." Edward laughed. " Time sure flies when you're immortal." I nodded my head in agreement and sat up.
" Volturi meeting today?" He asked me. I got up off the bed, my black silk nightgown moving with me fluidly.
" Apparently there is a rogue vampire terrorizing some small town in Venice." I told him nonchalantly. I opened my drawer and rummaged through my clothes. Finally settling for a black tank top and red leather pants, I got dressed quickly. I had a gun safely tucked in the back of my pants and my favorite daggers were sitting inside my black boots. I ran a hand through my hair and then glanced in the mirror. I was done. I turned back to the bed, only to find it was empty. Edward was beside me, his clothes in his hand. I smiled and gave him a deep kiss.
" I'm going to sit in during Hope's teachings today. For a four year old, she is very bright." He said, his eyes warm.
" She gets it from her daddy." I winked and told him I would meet him in the library later that afternoon. He had something he wanted to give me. After a couple more kisses I walked out of the room. Halfway down the hundreds of steps that led from the third level where the Volturi roomed down the first level where we had meetings, I ran into Lanina. I stopped and watched as she shuffled the papers and files in her hands.
" I need your help." She stated. I smiled and started to continue my walk down the steps. Lanina and Travis still ran the assassin business her and I set up after breaking out of Annebelle's. I couldn't be there full time because I was now a Volturi member, but occasionally I helped her with some of the cases. I'd been a great assassin before teaming up with the Volturi. I missed it sometimes. It was an easy job and paid pretty good money. Of course, my new job enabled me to live in a big castle. The math was simple for that equation.
" What's going on?" I questioned. Her hair caught my attention, she had deep red lowlights. " And what happened to your hair?" She smirked and jumped down the last steps.
" The vampire is an asshole and I really don't want to deal with him. And I felt like a change. Travis dyed his hair black." I laughed and held up her left hand. Her diamond wedding ring sparkled.
" Marriage has made you soft Lan." I teased. She scoffed and yanked her hand from my grasp.
" You're one to talk Mrs. Cullen." She joked back. I looked down at my own wedding ring and grinned. " So, will you help?"
" Sure. Meet me in the library this evening." We said a quick goodbye and then went our separate ways. After the war with Mitchell her and Travis had moved into Volterra permanently at my request. I couldn't live somewhere without my blood sister to lean back on. We'd clicked while being held at our sire's house. We became best friends. So naturally I was going to ask her to move in as well as my husband. Then I got Hope and for once everything felt right. Everyone I loved was near me. Well, the rest of the Cullens moved to a small town in England. But they phoned us every week so that made them feel closer. I loved my new family to death, but it wasn't a bad thing that they lived somewhere else. With them being vegetarian vampires, living in Volterra would make it very hard on them. Seeing as how everyone, except Edward, drank human blood. I knew it was hard for him, but he fought it because he wanted to be with me. And I loved him for that.
I walked into the meeting room, also known as the dining room, and took my seat next to Aro. Beside me at Caius and Marcus was across from me. Jane sat next to him while her brother Alec (whom I enjoyed calling Alex) sat next to Caius. Both of them had shown me a greater amount of respect ever since the war. At the end of the table sat Ash and Mike, two of my friends who helped me defeat Mitchell's army. I had met them, as well as my other two friends Manny and Flora, while at Annebelle's. But Manny and Flora were now vacationing at in Greece. They were all offered a job by the Volturi as Volterra's messengers and troop leaders. Only Ash and Mike had accepter. Flora gave me a million thanks but said she needed some time away from the gore, and of course Manny followed her wherever she went. His love for her was stronger than the prospect of a well paying job. I was glad for them. They deserved each other. Aro cleared his throat and leaned forward on the table. " As you all have been informed, a young vampire is going throughout Venice. The vampire community down there are in an uproar and they're demanded us to deal with the situation. Ashley, Michael, do you two think you can handle this?" Ash scowled at the use of her full name and then stood up. Her black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and her crimson eyes stared down at us.
" I'm positive we can get rid of this nuisance. Although, if you want to send a Volturi member down also, I wouldn't object to Noleen coming with us. Er, Bella. Sorry, I'm still so used to you being Noleen." I smiled and shook my head.
" Don't worry. You can call me Noleen. And, I'd be happy to go down with you." I looked at Aro who shrugged his shoulders.
" If you feel you must. I know the warrior in your veins is probably itching for a good fight." Marcus chuckled while Caius held back his laughter. I rolled my eyes and sighed.
" Laugh it up. It's not my fault it's been quiet ever since we obliterated Mitchell. . . I'll go with you Ash. Aro, may I speak with you?" He arched an eyebrow and nodded his head.
" That is all." He said to the rest of the people in the room. They all got up and exited the room quietly. " What's troubling you Isabella? Nothing's wrong with Hope is there?" I could see the worry in his eyes. He gladly accepted the role as grandfather in her life. I knew he cared for her deeply. I smiled and shook my head no.
" It's just. . . I had a dream last night. It's the first time I've slept in a couple months and it was about Annebelle. It was a memory of when I killed her. Except, it was different. It wasn't how I remember it. I don't. . . It felt real Aro." I didn't mask the concern in my voice. " I think something happened to me. I think somebody switched my memory of that night." He studied me, his eyes staring into mine. Finally he took a deep breath and leaned back.
" I'll look into ways to reverse memory switching. Meanwhile, I want you to talk to Lanina. See what version she gives you. I'm sure her memory won't be tampered with." I let out a shaky breath and stood up. " Bella, who would want to do that?" I shrugged my shoulders and started towards the door.
" I've killed everyone who would." I murmured before walking out the room. At least, I thought I did.
Hope jumped up and down on Edward's lap. We were in the library and she was telling me all about her day. Aro had hired a witch to teach her, seeing as how she couldn't go to an actual school. Plus the witch informed her on supernatural things. I'd been the one to tell her what we all were. I told her she was special and that just because she wasn't a vampire didn't mean we loved her any less. She seemed to except everybody. Well, except the bad people I talked about. " And then she told me about mermaids! Like Ariel! They're real mommy!" She exclaimed, her eyes alight. I smiled and lowered the book I'd been reading earlier from my lap.
" Really? Well what happened to them? I've never seen one." I replied. She stopped jumping and scrunched her face.
" Mrs. Smith didn't say. They're prob'ly still in the oceans like Ariel." She answered, looking satisfied with her answer. Edward laughed and lowered his cheek to hers.
" Hope, why don't you give mommy the present we got her?" He said to her. Her eyes opened and she nodded her head. I raised my eyebrow in confusion and watched as Hope a small box out of Edward's shirt pocket. Then she held it out proudly in front of me. She smiled, her missing teeth making it cuter.
" I picked it out." She told me. Edward kissed her cheek and watched with delight in his eyes as I opened the box. Inside was a locket. I gasped and opened it up. There was a picture of Hope inside. On the back ' For the greatest mother. Love Hope' was inscribed on the back. Edward held out the chain for it and came over to me. He swept my hair back and gently put it on. Then he lowered his lips to mine and gave me a soft kiss. Hope giggled and jumped into my lap. " I wanna kiss!" She said. Edward and I looked at each other. Then we both started to tickle and kiss our daughter. A knock tore us from our playful activity. We all looked up and saw Lanina standing there. The files were in her hands from before and she had a huge grin on her face.
" Hey you three." She said. Hope bolted up and ran over to her, embracing her tightly.
" Auntie Lana! Daddy and me gave mommy her ann'versary pwesent! I picked it out!" Lanina kissed the top of her head and told her that she was a bright girl. That she picked out the best gift. I turned to Edward as the two of them were chatting and kissed him.
" I have to talk to Lan honey. Can you take Hope somewhere?" I asked. He nodded his head and put a hand on my cheek.
" Is everything okay?" He questioned, concern laced his voice.
" I'll talk to you later tonight okay?"
" Okay. I'll talk her over to Aro. I'm sure he won't object to listening about the mermaids." I laughed and kissed him once more. Then he got up and picked Hope up into his strong arms. They both said goodbye to Lanina and then left the library. Lan walked over to me and sat on the couch. I got up and lit the huge fireplace, my glass of blood was on the nearby table. She sighed and lowered her head to the back of the couch.
" Man, this assassin stuff is so tiring." She complained. I slapped her arm and took the file from her.
" You can't sleep or get tired." I reminded her. She rolled her eyes and took the files back from me.
" A small technicality. Now, his name is Bobby and he's being killed because he killed a young vampire's lover. The vampire wants revenge on Bobby, who is an older vampire, but doesn't want to do it himself. He called upon us too. So, you up for killing him?" I grabbed the file and read some more of it.
" Hmm. . . He was one of Nicholas'." I muttered to no one in particular. " In fact, he looks familiar."
" Yeah, I think he was at Annebelle's a couple of times." I bit my lip and stared at the vampire's picture.
" Yeah, I'll do it." I closed the file and shifted in my seat. " Hey Lan, what do you remember of the night that I killed Annebelle?" She looked at me in confusion.
" Um. . You were crying because she killed two little kids in front of you. The boy you couldn't save, but you promised the little girl you'd help her. She wanted you to feed on them and you told her no. You guys got in a fight and you killed her. Noleen, what's up?" My mouth was open, my memory had been tampered with.
" That's not how I remember it Lanina. I remember it as she was going to sell me to Nicholas and I killed her because I was angry. Lanina, someone messed with my mind!" I cried out. Her mouth dropped open like mine had and she shook her head. She looked more confused than before.
" No, no that did happen Nol. She was going to sell you to Nicholas. You got mad and you fought her, but you didn't kill her then. You killed her a couple of weeks later." She said softly. " Who would tamper with your mind?"
" I have no clue." I replied. " But I intend to find out." I stood up and tucked the file under my arm. Someone had invaded my privacy. I let out a low growl and threw my fist into the fireplace. A brick fell from it, clattering to the floor. Lanina got up and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
" We'll fix it Noleen. Don't worry. I'll call Yuzria. Maybe he knows something."
" Thanks Lan." I whispered. She squeezed my arm and then she was gone. I closed my eyes and the dream popped into my mind. It was all so vivid, so real. Who had messed with my mind wasn't the only question to be answered. The other was why was I remembered everything now? Why was it coming back to me? I opened my eyes and sat back down on the couch. Then I picked my book up and took a drink of the warm blood. I would figure it out. But first, I needed a little distraction. I reached up and wrapped my fingers around my new locket. It was my wedding anniversary. I still had to give Edward his, but I could do that later. Right now, I just wanted to curl up with a book and lose myself for a few hours in a good classic.
A/N: Okay, hopefully you guys like this chapter! Let me clear a few things up. The prologue was the memory of her killing Annebelle. In short, it was her dream. Now that was fourteen years in the past. Hopefully that helps you guys. Lol. I know it's a little confusing at first when all you have is a prologue that takes place in the past. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you like it so far! Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter!
Until next time,
Faith