Chapter 15: Volturi

I woke up to stiff bones and faint sunlight. Somewhere there was a humming sound, that must have been what woke me up. I listened closer and I could hear a voice. It was singing something. It sounded so pure, so angelic.

My eyes flew open. Edward was sitting next to me, singing along to nothing. I was in the passenger seat of his Volvo.

"Good morning, sunshine." He smiled.

"Hi." I said. My throat sounded hoarse. I looked out the window and the sky was grey. The clouds looked at though they would open up and release hell on unsuspecting towns people.

"It started to rain. You were so sound asleep that you didn't even stir when I picked you up." I looked in the back seat and sure enough, the basket and blankets we sitting right behind Edwards seat. "Are you cold?" He said, reaching for the heat.

"No, I'm fine." But I was cold and that was betrayed by a series of shivers. Edward laughed and turned up the heat.

He still wasn't wearing a shirt. He laughed when I asked him about it. "Bella, look down." I looked at my own body and saw his tan sweater wrapped around my body. I could see the hem of the tee shirt under it. "You started shaking really badly when I ran, I couldn't get you to stop. Well, obviously, eventually you stopped. I was worried that you were going into shock or something." He looked concerned.

"Oh, well, here." I said, handing him the sweater. He laughed and put it on without even moving the car a fraction of an inch away from the center of the lane. "Edward!" I screamed. Again, he just chuckled at me. Well, at least I'm entertaining, I thought.

"Go back to sleep, Bella. We have a very long drive ahead of us.

"How long will it take?"

"By nightfall." I looked at the red digital number on the dash, they informed me that it was only 7:30 in the morning.

"I can't sleep now." I yawned.

Edward laughed as he reached across me to recline the seat as far back as it would go. When he was satisfied with my position, he said, "Sleep, my love," and started humming my lullaby.

Cheater, I thought as I drifted into slumber again.

I was running away from something, but what? There were long red streamers everywhere around me. Children were running around with silly plastic fangs over their teeth. I pushed my way through angry people, through small, crowded streets. I looked up, expecting to be blinded by sunlight, but instead, the rays were blocked by tall buildings. I kept running forward, towards what? From what?

Then the sky went dark. I looked up again to see a full eclipse. The sun was gone and the streets were nearly pitch black. Children cried all around me and frantic parents screamed names of loved ones.

I stopped running and tried to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, an ice cold hand as hard as stone grabbed mine and started dragging me. I tried to scream, but the sound was lost in the crowd.

"Stop that screaming!" I heard a familiar voice. "If you ever want to see Edward again, you'll stop bringing attention to us."

The voice was familiar, but it didn't belong to any of the Cullen's. It was a voice that I had only heard twice in my life. It had a child-like ring to it, though I knew that it belonged to someone much older than any human. Jane. I panicked.

"Where am I? Where's Edward?"

"All questions will be answered in due time." This time the voice was different. It sounded older, much, much older. It had wisdom and age attached to it. Aro. What was going on? Now it wasn't Jane who was leading me through the black, chaotic streets, but Aro was gripping my hand in his papery thin hands.

I was still being dragged through the crowds as the sun came back again, but my the time the streets were light again, I had been pulled into an ally. Aro dropped into a sewer duct at the end of the ally, expecting me to follow.

I froze at the opening, unable to move. "Bella, I will catch you." His voice sounded far away. "Bella…Bella…Bella…Bella." The musical tone kept getting farther and farther away, more and more faint until I couldn't hear it anymore.

a/n: to avoid questions that i know will come: no, Bella was not captured by the Volturi, she is having a nightmare in Edwards car on the way to Alaska. :)

im working on the next chapter. an emergency has come up and made it quite difficult to get ahead on writing. i will update as soon as i can, but please be patient and understanding. aka, no guarenteed update time. sorry folks. thanks for reading, reviewing, and adding me as favs/alerts. always makes me feel better even in the toughest of times.

Edwards pov of that chapter will be written and posted at the end of the story. thank you for wanting it :)