Chapter 15

I could feel my eyes rolling in the back of my head and nearly I collapsed from the sensation of it, not from pain. I barely could register that Edward was holding me up in his arms still. I heard him screaming my name and deciding to carry me back to the house. The frantic voices of the Cullen's were panicked for my well-being.

The flashes of light that were blasting away in my head were blinding and bright. I concentrated on opening my shield so that Edward could get an idea of what was going on in my head. I wasn't sure I could completely trust my memory of what I was seeing.

Every human memory since coming to Forks were just as vibrant as if I was watching a movie. Most of my memories were of Edward and his family, and through the convulsions, I could tell I was smiling. The trip down memory lane journeyed as far as my last human day in Forks. The day Edward left me. Then something strange happened. As I was watching myself crying in the murky earth of the forest, I saw my essence, for lack of a better term, rise from my body and float away. There was a pulling at my dead heart when I figured that was the moment I had died.

But when I looked closer at my soul flying away, I realized that it actually was resting in a figure that stood too far away for any human to see. I focused and saw my soul in Aro. Instantly, there was a whooshing noise and I was suddenly seeing myself from Aro's perspective.

"Brothers, it is very interesting that this Edward trusts his human with our secret, and wishes to leave her. All the while, I think it best that we take her with us." Aro's voice was still very calm and polite, but hearing it now only made me sneer.

"And how would you want to proceed Aro? You saw the note the boy left, if we take her, the humans will no doubt search for the Cullen's. We can't have that." I heard Caius' voice.

"I trust Renata's control of the bloodlust. Renata, darling, go draw some of her blood, but take care not to drink or smell it. Destroy the note, ransack her house, and splatter some of the blood on the walls. Make it look like there was a struggle and she was abducted. We can't let people think that the Cullen's were involved." I saw Renata run up to my body and then run off out of the forest towards my house. The remaining guard was walking ever so closely to my resting spot.

I was looking directly at my body, when I moaned and repositioned myself. "So kill me and get it over with." I remembered speaking those words when I first noticed the strange vampires staring at me. I thought my voice was weak and defiant, but it was so hoarse that I didn't even recognize it at first.

I remember the conversation well, and it replayed without disappointment. Aro held out his hand to help me up, and I saw him closing his eyes, but I felt the shock that went through him as he opened them. He was trying to read my mind and couldn't. That was when I realized that this wasn't my memory. It was his.

I was the proverbial fly on the wall. "She is an excellent specimen. She is to join us." Aro said.

"The Cullen's will come after us."

"And? With what she can do as a human, she'll be magnified. Imagine, two shields, along with the force that we currently have. Vladimir and Stefan will have no chance in hell, trying to reclaim what we have. And you know as we speak, they plot their revenge!" Aro didn't even find it necessary to breathe when he spoke. "And if the Cullen's come, they can join the guard as well.

"Look." Marcus said, in a monotone voice. I turned my head with Aro as he looked in the direction that Marcus was pointing to. I saw the fog that Alec was sending over to where I was standing, completely unaffected by his efforts.

"You see my dear brothers, she is amazing. I think she would be the perfect addition to our guard. Look how she stands, despite our little Jane and formidable Alec. Shall this be put to a vote?"

"You make an interesting point, Aro. She will do lovely with the guard. My vote is yes." I wanted to scream at them to stop, but no words would come out of my mouth.

"Whatever you say Aro." Marcus seemed so disconnected and bored.

I remembered what happened next all too well. I heard the scream that ripped out of my mouth as Aro tore Jane's arm off. "Trust me," I said to myself. "She deserved it."

"Choose wisely and quickly my dear. Just know that by choosing death, the fate of the Cullen's will be that of the same. By becoming one of us, we will spare them and this small town with their lives." I remembered Aro saying only it seemed eerie that along with the dialog I remembered, I was also hearing his thoughts. He had never planned on killing the Cullen's, at least all of them. If I had chosen death, he would have held me hostage until Edward, Alice, and Jasper handed themselves over to spare the rest of the Cullen's. Either way I was going to be made into a vampire.

I could feel the venom in my mouth boiling, my fists were clenched and I was ready to fight. I shot up from the table that Edward had laid me out on and swung at the first person I saw. I crouched down in a defensive pose ready to attack, but after a twentieth of a second, I took in my surroundings and realized I was in the safety of the Cullen's, and not the Volturi.

"Oh my gosh, Emmett. I'm so sorry." I said, bringing my hands to my face. "I didn't mean it."

"I'm not. Emmett needed to get his nose punched in. He's been insufferable since you were missing."

"Jeez, Bella. This is the welcome home that I get? You could have just given me a hug like everybody else got." I heard Emmett from beneath his hands, and I rushed over to give him a hug. Emmett was my great big teddy bear of a brother, and I missed him just as terribly as everyone else. "So does anyone want to tell me what I just missed?"

I looked over to Edward to see if he was okay, but he only had a look of concern in his eyes. "Bella, what was that?"

"I don't know. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. But I can start at the beginning. Aro bit me just as we were on the plane going back into Volterra. Edward as you saw, Aro figured I would be extremely special as a vampire. After two days of transforming-"

"Two days? The average is three. I've never heard of anyone transforming less than that." Carlisle's astonishment seeped through.

"Carlisle, let her finish." Esme patted her husband on his back. "Continue Bella."

"After the transformation, Aro tried reading my mind but was dismayed that he couldn't. Moments later, after showing some favoritism, Jane started to stomp out of the room and I thought something, and everybody heard it. So within the first few hours, we knew what my gifts were. However, Aro wanted a more solid confirmation, and brought me and a few others to Denali. We met with Eleazar who said I was the perfect companion, whereas I held onto two gifts, I was a mental shield and sword. With some training, I was able to place my shield over anyone I chose, and also speak to anyone with my thoughts. While with Eleazar, he also mentioned that there was a third gift that was present when I was a human, but would remain dormant since it was linked with my dreams."

"Your dreams?" Edward asked.

"Well yeah, before I fully knew what you and your family were, I had dreams that helped me come to terms with you being vampires. Basically, they told me what you were. Speaking of which, are werewolves real? I had a dream once that Jacob turned into a wolf." Everybody looked at me like I was crazy. "Anyways, Eleazar said that my dreams rivaled Alice's visions, only mine weren't based on decisions, it was actions. But since I would no longer dream, it was a shame that it was a wasted gift. Only it wasn't wasted. That night, after the funeral and on the trip back to Volterra, I sat in a chair and just started relaxing. For lack of a better term, my first dream came to me."

I started thinking about the different layers of that dream. Me, wearing the robe of the guard, holding hands with a hooded Demetri. Then the image changing to Edward, and finally me standing in between Edward and Demetri.

I looked over to Edward and saw that he was holding his head down with his eyes closed. Crap! My shield was still down. 'I'm sorry Edward. It really isn't what you think.'

"Anyways, I began to realize that whenever I allowed myself to relax and let my mind wander on its own, I was able to conjure up my dreams. Nobody knows about the dreams, except you. I kept that from the Volturi and from Eleazar, though I had wanted to go to him for some training. I just never got around to it because Aro sent me on another mission."

"I was to find and make sure Laurent was in Denali."

"Laurent? Irina's mate? What does Laurent have to do with this?" Edward asked, being brought back into the conversation.

"Everything. And Nothing at all. It was a ruse, I'm convinced for you to know that I was really alive. I think he knew that you were in Denali and wanted you to see me. But nonetheless, Aro knew that there were two members of your family on their way to see me in Volterra. The only thing that he wasn't aware of was which two. I think he assumed that Edward was one of the two on the plane, as did I. I excused myself from the chamber and had another dream. It was the reason that I warned Edward mentally to get off the plane. I knew no one was found when Corin came back empty handed, so to speak. I then made up an excuse to travel the world, and I came here. To warn you."

"Warn us of what?" Carlise and Esme asked at the same time and I resisted the urge to say 'Jinx.'

"Aro wants you dead. Except for Edward, Jasper, and Alice. He wants their gifts. The rest of you are collateral damage to him." I felt ashamed telling them his plan, but not because I felt betrayal to Aro, but because I couldn't imagine life without the Cullen's.

"And what was that earlier?" Emmett asked.

"That? I don't know. It had never happened like that before. I was looking at the past, and more specifically, I was looking at the day that Aro approached me. Only it wasn't my memory of the day, it was his. I was feeling what he was feeling and hearing what he was thinking."

"So what happens next?" Rosalie asked. She was running her hands through Emmett's hair.

"Aro dies."

A/N: Okay so hoe you enjoyed this. I'm not sure but I think Morning Moon is closing faster than I had initially planned. I got to this point much faster than I anticipated because I cover so much in one chapter. (Even though this is a bit repetative, but it's important because it catches everybody up). This is a pretty short chapter, but by far not my shortest. I love all of your reviews, you guys are absolutely the greatest. Thanks so much everyone!!