The door creaked open painfully slow. Soon, we all marched into the house.
"Took you long enough," Jane announced, exasperated, when we were all inside. The Cullens were being very careful to have me completely obscured from the Volturi's view. I didn't want them protecting me. For once, I wanted to protect myself.
Slowly, I loosened my hold on Seth's hand. Alice tried to stop me from walking forward, but her arm dropped when Aro smiled at me.
"Yes, dear, come hither," he smiled.
My face expressionless and my outlook unafraid, I stepped forward.
"Now, Aro, would you mind telling me why you decided to intrude on our graduation?" I asked.
"My dear, intrude is such a harsh word. We simply decided to come and visit you, Jasmine. And, of course, none of us wanted to miss the show. As Jane has ever so kindly pointed out, we even brought Alec to make the experience less uncomfortable for you."
"Aro, please," I practically snarled. "Stop with the games. Why. Are. You. Here."
"Now, Jasmine, unclench those pretty hands of yours and make your tone kinder. There is no need to get angry."
Reluctantly, I did as he said and returned to my composed stature.
"For heaven's sake, Aro, the girl is right!" Felix huffed. "On with it!"
"Yes, Aro, honestly," the one called Chelsea sneered. "We've wasted enough time on guessing games. As Felix has ever so kindly said, on with it!"
"Humph," Aro scoffed. "A feisty bunch, they are. Surely, Jasmine, you must remember our little compromise."
I rolled my eyes. "Get to the point," I muttered.
Aro smiled evilly. "Remember, Jasmine? The compromise that is keeping us from destroying you?"
I froze. It all clicked together at that instant. I felt Alice and Rosalie—who I had been standing in very close proximity to—stop moving. It didn't feel or sound like anyone in the room was breathing, not even me. All six members of the Volturi present smiled cruelly.
"Do you recall now, Jazzy?" Jane hissed.
I gulped. "Yes, Jane, I believe I do," I said. My voice came out as a squeak.
"Are you ready now then?" she asked, clearly impatient. "We're immortal, but we haven't got eternity to waste."
I gulped again. No, I wasn't ready to become a vampire. Not yet, not now. I was going to go to college soon. I couldn't do that as a newborn. Even if I learned to control my thirst like Bella had, if I stayed strong like Carlisle had, if I simply fed off animals to keep myself steady like my entire family had, none of that would be enough so that I could sit in an extremely crowded classroom everyday, seven days a week, hours at a time, surrounded by soft, warm, breakable, blood-filled human bodies without going insane.
"No," I whispered.
"No?!" Felix growled.
"No?" Aro mused.
"No?!" Jane snarled.
"No!" Alec rumbled.
"She said no," Chelsea said, shaking her head.
Aw, crap, now I'd done it. You don't say no to the Volturi. You don't piss off the Volturi.
I'd just done both.
I closed my eyes tight and clenched my hands, expecting the worst. I thought the hand that patted my head was going to tear it off and the nails I felt at my neck were going to stab me, letting my blood run free. But, no, neither of those things happened.
"But, Jasmine, we had an agreement," Aro argued gently. "Either you are changed after your graduation or you become a meal."
"Well," I said, "I changed my mind."
Something cold and hard smacked me across the face then. The force sent me flying sideways into the wall. I was surprised the slap hadn't knocked my head off. Two seconds hadn't passed before I was sobbing in pain.
"Insolent girl!" Aro cried.
"You don't touch my daughter," Jasper growled, crouching, ready to pounce. Alice scratched once at Aro's arm before rushing over to help me. Seth beat her to it.
"You have no right to hurt her!" Seth's voice boomed in the wide room as he pointed accusingly at Aro.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Rosalie yelled.
"You hurt her! I hate you!" Renesmee shrieked.
"You have serious issues!" Emmett exclaimed, sounding even more serious than I'd ever heard him.
"You're such an ass!" Leah screamed at him.
Jacob growled.
"What in the name of all that is good and holy in the world did you do that for?!" Edward demanded.
Bella opened her mouth to yell at Aro, but a powerful voice cut her off.
"How dare you lay a hand on her!" Carlisle exploded. We all turned to stare at him in awe—even the Volturi turned their heads in shock. Carlisle had always encouraged peace. He'd never yelled. I'd never seen him angry, at all.
"I'm sorry," he said, straightening his posture and clearing his throat. "It was uncivil of me to behave in such a manner. Aro, you have no right to lay a hand on Jasmine. She is part of my family and I care greatly about her. You promised me all those years ago that you would always respect and treat my family as you would treat me. If you choose not to keep that promise, well, I don't see the need for us to keep ours."
Aro straightened as well. "Carlisle, my friend, I'm sorry. I meant absolutely no disrespect to your family. I acted on first instinct. Please, I wasn't thinking."
"You sure as hell weren't," Bella murmured. Aro didn't pay her the slightest attention.
"Forgive me, Cullen family. Forgive me, Jasmine. I meant not to diminish the promises made between us."
"Come here, Jasmine, we should ice that," Alice said in a motherly tone as she scooped me up into her arms.
"No, Alice, it's okay. I can walk," I said, though I wasn't so sure of that myself. I felt dizzy and lightheaded, but I didn't want to show any weakness. I couldn't let down any guard.
"Are you sure?" Alice asked, her voice thick with concern.
"My goodness, Alice, just put the girl down!" Caius exclaimed. "It's obvious she doesn't want your help or sympathy."
"You don't know anything, Caius," Alice snapped. Caius sank back in his seat on the sofa and pretended to be uncaring.
"Alice, why don't you go get the human girl ice and leave her here? We still have things to discuss with her," Jane seered.
Great. Just what my headache needed.
"Jasmine, angel, I think you should sit down," Seth suggested.
"That might be a good idea," I said, my voice sounding as woozy as I felt. With one hand putting the right amount of pressure on my cheek to try and still the pain, I wobbled over to the only empty chair. Of course, it had to be the one next to Felix. I tried to scoot as far away from him as possible and ended up scrunched against the side of the chair.
"Here, Jasmine, just press this onto your cheek," Alice said, walking quickly into the room and handing me an ice pack with a paper towel wrapped around it. "Let's hope that stops the swelling. Carlisle can look at it when the Volturi leave." She put a lot of emphasis on the last word.
"She won't need to worry about swelling in three days," Alec said, standing up. "Now, Alice, have you decided who will bite her or will I have to do it?"
"Hold it," Jasper growled through clenched teeth. "No one is biting her. You all, however, are leaving." He gestured to the door.
"But, Jasper, we made a deal," Jane said. "We don't kill her as long as she becomes one of us. That is why we bought Alec. We figured maybe she'd like to skip the pain."
"She will not be turned," Esme said. "My husband and I will not allow it."
"Carlisle," Caius said, "you are a man of your word, are you not?"
"Indeed I am," Carlisle answered. "But I do not believe we stated that her change would happen the moment she received her high school diploma."
"Let me refresh your memory," Felix volunteered. "Mary Alice Brandon Cullen stated that Jasmine Isabella Cullen would be changed after her graduation for knowing of the existence of vampires. If such did not occur, her and her family would have to face the given consequences. For the Cullens, a warning, for her, death. Am I right?"
There was utter silence throughout the room. This was it, then. I wouldn't get to go to college. Maybe in a century when I could control my thirst I'd be able to, but not this year and certainly not next year. The silence lasted. We were all frozen for what seemed like hours.
"I've had enough of this!" Felix exclaimed. Before I could blink, he lunged himself at me, teeth bared, aiming for my throat. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. Instead, a small vampire laid crumpled at my feet with a dark crescent shaped mark that clearly hadn't been there before at her neck. Alice cried out in pain.
A thousand things happened at once then. Jasper rushed to aid his wife, Carlisle behind him. Renesmee hid her face in her mother's stomach only to have herself be pushed away when Bella rushed over to my side. I could almost see the surge of energy sprout out of her as she covered her family with her shield. Jane cried out in annoyance when her power didn't work on whoever she'd wished to inflict it on. Felix stared at me with fire in his eyes. Before he could lunge at me, a small gray wolf pinned him to the ground just long enough for a large sandy colored wolf to take her place. Jacob and Leah managed to protect all of us from Jane, Alec, Aro, and Caius as we strained to do several things.
Alice was still screaming in pain, but I could see the wound paling. In seconds, it became but half a shade darker than her marble skin. Seth and Felix fought outside.
"Emmett!" I cried. "Emmett, please help him!" I pleaded, sobbing. I dropped the ice pack and pointed out the window. Emmett's head whooshed to the side and in less than a blink of an eye, he was fighting by Seth's side. Rosalie went right behind him. Renesmee—poor thing—was curled up in a corner, crying her eyes out. Edward was trying to comfort her but at the same time, his eyes were on Bella, making sure she was okay. Noticing the fight going on outside, Caius and Jane went to aid their fellow Volturi member, who, by the looks of it, had lost his legs and one of his arms. Poor Bella, she looked like she should be sweating bullets with all the effort it was taking to keep her shield around the right people.
No attention at all was on me. I gently stood from my chair and ran to the glass door that led to the enormous backyard-slash-forest. I opened the door and slipped out of it. I gasped at the scene in front of me, but it thankfully went unnoticed.
Felix was towering over Seth, a cruel smile on his face. Jane and Caius were kept busy by Emmett and Rosalie who were putting up a hard fight. Even in wolf form, Seth's arm looked broken and his leg was clearly twisted. I brought my hand to my mouth to muffle my sobs.
Carefully, I walked over to Felix. His head was thrown back, laughing at Seth's pain. His eyes were closed.
"Stay away from him!" I shrieked. All heads turned to look at me, even those from the inside. Felix was just a second too late.
I leaped at him, knocking him over. Thank God for the fact that he'd been distracted or else I wouldn't have been able to do that. Felix seemed too shocked himself to even move or fight back.
"You don't hurt him," I said, breathing extremely hard. "Do whatever the hell you want to me, but you don't hurt him."
Felix smirked. "Protective, are you? And, Jasmine, don't think I'm above fighting children. I will fight you."
"That's going to be pretty hard since your missing body parts," I growled.
Felix opened his mouth to speak, but a sandy paw stepped on his neck. I looked up to see Seth, standing and looking ferocious. He nudged me and I stood and backed away. I wanted to look away—I didn't want to see this—but it was like driving by a car crash. You can never look away.
Jane and Caius tried to scramble over to help Felix, but they were literally dragged back by Emmett and Rosalie who were obviously not finished with them yet. I turned my eyes back to Seth who was just tearing off Felix's head. I cringed, but still failed to avert my eyes. Felix's torso was ripped in half, his arms were cracked at the elbow, and his legs were slashed. With more force than I thought possible, Seth slammed Felix's head onto the ground causing it to break down the middle. I gagged—I was going to be sick. He draped Felix's black cloak over all the pieces and Esme walked outside. She was—very carefully—holding a lighter. She flicked it on and—her expression sorrowful—held the flame to the cloak. The lit cloak ignited the body pieces underneath. She flicked it back off and held it to her heart.
"You didn't have to do that Esme," I whispered to her.
"Yes I did," she said. "No one hurts my family."
I threw my arms around her and let my tears flow. Emmett, Rosalie, Jane, and Caius looked up from their fight to look at the purple smoke that was rising into the sky.
"No!" Jane gasped. She collapsed onto the ground and her body shook with the tears she couldn't shed.
"No," Caius whispered angrily. "Aro!" he called.
"Good riddance," Rosalie muttered.
"You said it, babe," Emmett chuckled.
The Cullens, Jacob, Leah, Aro, and Alec walked out into the yard. Esme shifted me to stand behind her. I peeked out from behind her and caught sight of the disgusted expressions of Aro and Alec.
"Who did this?!" Aro demanded. "Who?!"
"I did," Seth said strongly. He walked past me and I clung onto his arm, walking with him. He was in his graduation suit pants and his white collared shirt.
"The werewolf!" Aro growled. "Kill him."
"With pleasure," Alec snarled.
I moved to stand in front of Seth, not that it would do much good. He was six feet, I was about five-foot-three-inches. The flicker of a lighter dragged my attention away from the physically twelve year old vampire in front of me.
"You're not scared of me," Seth said. He held the flame up close to his face. "But you are scared of this."
Alec straightened and backed away.
"Now, I suggest you leave before you all end up like this." He gestured to the pile of ashes at his left.
"We still have something to settle," Aro said. "And, if you don't mind, I'd like to do it in a civilized manner. Can we all come inside?"
Safely tucked under Seth's arm, I walked into the house where my fate awaited me. I passed Alice who I was immediately concerned about.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
She nodded. "I'm fine, Jasmine. Just in shock, that's all." She smiled at me. "You'll be okay."
Oh how I wished she was right.
"We'll separate the ashes," Rosalie murmured, taking Emmett's hand to go back outside.
"Jasmine knows of our existence," Aro stated. "Therefore she cannot continue living. Not as a mortal, anyhow. Our deal was to change her after her high school graduation unless she was willing to become lunch." He smirked evilly. "What's it going to be?"
"Jasmine has a right to know about vampires," Edward said. I turned to stare at him. What the hell was he saying?
"She has a right?" Aro laughed. "Why, Edward, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"No it is not," Edward argued. "You know our friends, the shape shifters. They have a sort of love they call imprinting. When a shape shifter imprints, they tell the object of their imprinting everything about the mythological world. They tell about their own existence as well as that of their supposed enemies, us, the Cold Ones, the vampires. I'd imagine you, oh high leader of the Volturi, would be well aware of this. Therefore, unless you were to track down and kill each object of imprinting—and by doing so you would be killing the imprinter—then there is no valid reason for you to kill Jasmine."
Aro was silent as he glared at Edward. I could feel the relief in the room from the Cullens and the anger of knowing they'd lost from the Volturi.
"Let us depart," Aro muttered. "Our visit here is done."
The Volturi made their way to the door with deliberate slowness. His hand on the door, Aro paused and turned to smile at me.
"Don't expect this to be our final check up," he declared. "You're not like the other imprinted humans. You knew before this whole imprinting happened. I'll give you a pass now, Jasmine, but I'll expect to see you with gold eyes one day." He laughed—well, more like cackled—as he opened the door and disappeared along with the others into the night.
"Jeez, he's such a pain," Rosalie muttered, walking back into the house. Her hands were black with ash, as were Emmett's.
"Rosalie, please don't dust your hands off here. Go upstairs and wash them. My carpet's had enough damage for one day," Esme said, staring playfully at Jacob and Leah.
"Sorry, Esme," they murmured together.
I stood up and ran over to throw my arms around Edward.
"Thank you, Edward," I whispered, a tear sliding down my cheek. "Thank you so much."
"Inspiration in desperation," he whispered back.
"Thank you all," I said, choking on a sob. "For everything."
"There is no need to thank us," Carlisle said. "You're part of our family, Jasmine. We love you."
I walked around and hugged every single one of them. I stopped longer at Alice and Jasper—my parents in so many ways.
"I love you both," I said, squeezing them tight.
"We love you too," Jasper said.
"So much," Alice sighed.
I stepped back and bumped into my favorite person in the world. Gently, I put my arms around Seth.
"You're not hurt, are you?" I asked.
"Nothing that didn't already heal," he smiled.
I stretched up and he bent down. I crushed my lips to his; wanting nothing more than to just be with everyone I loved at the moment. Minutes had passed when I heard Jasper clear his throat. I looked over at him and blushed a bit.
"Sorry," I giggled.
He smiled. "Maybe you should go upstairs," he suggested. "You still need to see your graduation present."
"You didn't need to get me anything," I said. "Honestly."
"Too bad because we did," Alice smiled.
I laughed and hurriedly ran toward the stairs. I heard several footsteps behind me.
I threw open the white door of my bedroom and gasped.
On my bed there was a box that looked made of metal. It was slightly singed—as if from a fire—but it still looked strong enough to protect whatever was inside. On the side of it, I could clearly see several words engraved.
Robert and Lidia Brandon are forever.
Author's Note: Robert and Lidia Brandon. Anyone remember who those two people are? :D Anyway, sorry if there's anything terribly wrong with this chapter. I'm like half asleep right now so I'm not exactly coherent. I'd read it tomorrow when I can actually distinguish the difference between "to," "too," and "two." And, also, I have received several (and by several I mean eight) PMs asking me the same thing: Are you sure you're eleven? And, so, for the final time, I swear on my life I am an eleven year old girl. Got it? Kay :D