I do not own Twilight…
Chapter 1 Leaving Volterra
Two swift knocks echoed into the formerly silent room.
Go away. Go away. Go away.
Knocking turned into impatient banging and cursing when the door knob refused to budge.
Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone.
The wood of the door wasn't much of a barrier to the one who banged on it. My name echoed from the hall and into the room on a frustrated shriek.
I can't hear you. I cannot hear you. I. Can. Not. Hear. You.
I just wanted a break—a five-minute break—yet already they were pounding at my door. Curling deeper under the covers, I tried to pretend like I couldn't hear the fuming vampire on the other side of my door.
"Isabella Marie!" Well, she definitely wasn't outside anymore, and now I needed yet another door to replace my newly shattered one. Sleep wasn't a possibility anymore, not with Heidi wrenching the covers out of my hands and tossing them clear across the room as I tossed a pillow at her.
"You know, I'm part human, and humans need sleep!" She managed to knock aside the pillow I had tossed at her, leaving my ears open to her complaining.
"I can't believe you're sleeping late again. You need to get up and get dressed, no slumming around today even if you don't have training." The last part caught my attention and I finally pulled myself into a sitting position, watching as she pulled one thing after another from my closet.
"No training today?" I couldn't exactly hide the hopeful note in my voice. It was Wednesday, and Wednesday training sessions were with Felix. I cringed just thinking about having to be so close to him and his wandering hands. Heidi completed the look she had put together next to me on the bed, finishing off the pale pink skirt with a cream colored top and cardigan. Apparently she had chosen a new color palette for me, changing from her previous favorites of vibrant purple, pink, and blue to the lighter shades of brown, pink, cream, and white. I didn't know what I liked, really, I was never given the chance to look. Either way, she chose what I wore, not me.
"Nope, Felix and Demetri are currently circling Volterra, checking reports of a vampire seen hunting in close proximity." She turned away from me, guarding the door in case of others walking by, and let me change. This was the familiar routine; from when I was a baby, she always chose what I would wear and then stood nearby while I got ready. "They shouldn't be gone long though; Aro wants everyone in the throne room at dusk."
"Why?" I finished up the outfit with the heels she had chosen and tapped her shoulder so she could turn. While my closet was newly filled with every pale article of clothing in all of Italy, Heidi seemed to be the opposite in her bright yellow and black spotted dress. She pulled my hair back while thinking about what exactly to say, or so I thought.
"It's not my place to say. You'll learn it tonight, but for now maybe you should feed."
"I fed last night with Chelsea and Renata before heading to bed." I couldn't help but laugh slightly when we left my room and the shattered door behind; she really had done a number on the thing. I walked silently beside her, faster than any human, as we entered the office area of the palazzo. "Where's Karen?"
"Talking with Aro momentarily; she should be out soon." She left me standing in the middle of the room, strolling over to the desk that currently belonged to the human and looking at the pictures that littered the heavy wooden surface of the desk.
"Isn't it almost time to hire a new receptionist?" It was over a month past the usual time that we hired a human for, yet Karen was still working. This confused me greatly.
"We're looking, but for now she has her job." When I was very young, I figured out that humans were really temporary here, so getting attached was useless. Ever since, I kept clear of getting to know the few who were allowed to know the secrets of the Volturi.
"What should I do today, since I don't have training?" I couldn't remember ever having a day free of training, at least not since I started training. Training began as soon as I turned ten, teaching me the techniques needed to fight everything from a newborn vampire to an ancient.
"The library?"
"Probably, I think there may be a few books in there that I haven't read yet."
"You need a hobby."
"How am I supposed to have a hobby when I'm confined to the indoors?"
"I don't know…try sewing or knitting." I raised an eyebrow at her suggestion; I didn't think Heidi even knew what a sewing needle was. She shrugged one last time before finally walking away, leaving me to make my way towards the expansive library, a sanctuary of my own since before I could even read.
Apparently I had dozed off on my favorite couch in the library before even finishing a single chapter of the book I had chosen. I was feeling lazy, and it was a rare day when I was actually allowed to be lazy. My feet hung over one arm of the couch and I worked at slipping off the heels that Heidi had gotten me into before getting up and putting the book back. If it couldn't hold my attention enough to keep me awake then it was a safe bet that it was a waste of time.
"I would think—with you being part vampire and all—that you would sleep a little less, but I'm willing to bet that you sleep more than even a human." I cringed as his voice broke the once comfortable silence of the library.
"I thought Aro told you to keep your stalker tendencies in check, Felix." I slipped the book back into its space and turned to face him, perfectly executing the cold shoulder that Heidi was currently teaching me. Felix really was huge, ridiculously so, but he seemed so much bigger now when I stood on my own. For years I hadn't been allowed to be alone with him, Heidi or Renata sitting in on my practice sessions with him.
"It's a work in progress, or so I've read." I couldn't trust a single move he made, so I kept my eyes on him. "You really are so soft." His hand was circling my right wrist before I even registered his words, rubbing gently but stopping me from jerking it out of his grasp.
"Let go of me," I whispered. Considering how big he was, it wouldn't be completely inaccurate to think he would be slow but he was fast, one of the fastest in the guard.
"I don't even think you understand how truly fascinating you are." His fingers made their way from my wrist, slowly massaging their way up to the scarred inside of my elbow, tracing the bite mark that marred the surface. Despite the three years since it had happened, the mark never faded completely; except to the eyes of a human, it was brightly visible against my pale skin. When I was fourteen, Felix had managed to mark me, and I still hated him for it.
"Felix, let me go." I tried to twist my arm out of his grasp, but it was impossible; he was too strong and far too intense for me to break free.
"Do you really hate me, Isabella?" His lips were already pressing to the center of the bite mark, causing me to cringe and try my damnedest to get away. I didn't want to rehash how I had gotten the bite, having worked my mind into forgetting it when Aro barely punished Felix for his actions.
Three Years Earlier . . .
I loved training. Learning new ways to protect and defend myself was constantly interesting to me, ever since Aro had first allowed me to begin. At fourteen, I felt like I knew everything there was to know about fighting a vampire. I was happy where I was, soaking up as much knowledge as possible and training as much as I was allowed. Training with my gift of shielding, on the other hand, was anything but fun.
"Push it out, Isabella. You have to envelop Felix in it." I listened to Renata's words, spoken in the murmur that was usual for her, and tried to visualize it, picturing it snapping around Felix, cutting him off from the effects of Alec. "Felix?"
There was no response from Felix, who stood quietly close to Alec. The mist coming from Alec enclosed his feet; like most practice sessions centering on my gifts, Alec confined his to merely blinding Felix. I blew out a breath and focused more, feeling the elastic tug of my shield as it enveloped Felix; I knew I had finally succeeded.
"Felix?" Renata repeated.
"It worked," Felix answered as the mist from Alec's gift retracted.
"All done for the day, you have practice tomorrow morning with Demetri." I nodded towards Renata and relaxed my shield. Alec was already long gone, on his way to find Jane, and Renata also exited the room, leaving me alone with Felix who was casually strolling around the outskirts of the space.
"Not ready to be done for the day?" Felix's question caught me off guard, while I was tired from working with my shield, I didn't feel ready to stop practicing. I nodded my agreement.
"Good." The blow to the back of my neck didn't even register until I was slumped on the ground, a cheerful Felix hanging over me. I raised my heel, for once glad about the high heels Heidi deemed a necessity, and slammed it into his knee. The slim heel fractured under my foot and against his skin.
I was up and across the room quickly, trying to outrun him. Practices had never begun like that, not with sneak attacks. Felix had a hold of my shoulders before I could get out, his fingers digging painfully into the skin. I reached my elbow back and connected it with his eye socket, struggling more as he took me to the ground, my stomach pressed against the cold stone.
"I've thought about this in more ways than one over the years, since we started training." His knee slammed into my back as he jerked my arm towards him. I felt him breathe against the skin of my inner elbow, the one I had slammed into his face. I was hyperventilating, but I kept myself from screaming. "With you beneath me finally, it's hard to deny that you are really an enchanting creature."
"Fuck you." I spat. I grew up hearing it from the other guards but never had the nerve to say it aloud. His knee slammed harder and I couldn't stop the screech that came out with the last of the air in my lungs. He blew air across my elbow again, and I fought to pull it away from him.
"It's almost a crime the way you smell, just enough vampire in you to temper the human scent." He paused again, as if waiting for someone to walk in, before sinking his teeth into my inner elbow. I fought, harder than I even thought I could, and got him off me. His teeth had left a bloody mark on me, something I had never seen before. In all my life, I'd never been cut or even bruised. Felix was sprawled on the floor, staring up at me dumbfounded, blood still smearing his lips.
I ran. The practice room was far gone when I finally stopped in the middle of the throne room, staring blankly at all the wide-eyed vampires that circled me. All those red eyes staring at me, focusing, taking in the blood that coated and stuck to the bite mark only seconds old, left my skin crawling in a way it never had before. It was the first time, as Aro's, Caius's, and Marcus's eyes widened before narrowing on the blood, that I truly felt the inferiority of not being completely vampire.
"Isabella, what happened?" Heidi's voice broke the uneasy silence.
"It was-" I tried to find my voice, focusing on Heidi but unable to really keep her steady in my eyesight. I slumped, my knees hitting the ground as a cold band gripped my back and held my arm out. I was having trouble breathing, a fire beginning to sizzle the blood centering around my wound. I wanted to speak out and scream, but I just couldn't—not even when Felix strolled into the tense room, taking in me on the ground in Heidi and Demetri's arms and Aro hovering over me. I caught the bright smile on his face before everything rushed over me, the fire spreading painfully through my system.
Present . . .
Felix, apparently blessed with an agile tongue, had managed to pass it off to Aro as an accident, an overstep on his part. I was out for an entire day. The venom, rather than acting as it usually would with a human, worked as a paralyzer on me. I had had a seizure and my temperature had dropped, but 24 hours later I was finally able to come out of it, no worse for wear according to Aro.
I still had the scar and a steady amount of fear of Felix, especially with his renewed interest. All he got for punishment was a week without blood, and he was no longer allowed to teach me alone, or even be with me alone.
"Isabella?" Felix's nose skimmed my ear, blowing cold air against it as he breathed. I stepped forward and away from him, aware that he wouldn't be able to follow me since Heidi was making her way towards the library.
"You'll never have me and you'll never touch me. When the chance comes, I'll be the one that ends you, no matter who stands in my way." I turned to face him finally, staring straight into his blood- shaded eyes. His mouth was puckered, and I knew he wanted to do or, at least, say something.
"Isabella, we need to be going. You've been in here for hours!" Heidi's eyes focused directly on Felix but she didn't address him, merely waiting for me to stand beside her. I smiled, never more thankful for her interference, and followed her out of the library, ignoring the harsh growling and splintering of old wooden shelves.
"I wasn't aware that he was back so soon; I thought he and Demetri would still be out hunting for the vampire. I'm sorry, Isabella." I shrugged it off, feeling the chill leave my body as we got farther and farther from the library.
"He didn't do anything too bad. I'll be fine," I said. My voice, thankfully, didn't betray me by breaking mid-sentence. We continued down the hall until we reached my room, and I realized the time; it was late, far later than I thought it would be. "I didn't know that I slept that long! Why didn't you come wake me?"
"You have time for a quick human moment, I'll be outside waiting." She slipped the heels I had taken off back into my hands before leaving me alone completely, shutting the door behind her. I hurried through all the regular rituals and was putting my shoes back on when Heidi tapped on the door. The shoes were fastened so I got up and left my room behind, following Heidi to the familiarity of the throne room.
"Isabella!" Aro's cheery cry filled the somewhat noisy throne room; he stood up to greet me, raising his arms for a hug. I smiled brightly and l slipped my arms around him, hugging for a moment before letting go. "How is the shield, my sweet?"
"Stronger than ever, Master." I motioned for Demetri to come over after asking for Aro's permission. I slipped my shield outward around him as Aro grasped his palm, waiting for his thoughts but finding nothing.
"Fantastic, absolutely brilliant." His praise filled me with warmth as my shield slipped back into place. I was proud and happy; not even Jane's glaring could ruin that for me. Aro went back to his throne as I stood in front of the three, smiling at Marcus quickly, but refusing to show the same courtesy to Caius.
"Heidi? Go get the human." My eyes flickered between Heidi and Aro at his words; no humans witnessed a Volturi meeting, at least none that were meant to leave. Karen entered behind Heidi, fidgeting awkwardly with her sweater and skirt.
"Hello, Mr. Aro."
"Karen, you really are such a lovely employee. Remember what we discussed this morning?" Karen eyed Aro nervously but nodded. "Good, then you may simply listen."
"Isabella, you have done so wonderfully with your training. Despite your youth, you are among the strongest of our guard," Aro paused before continuing. "But you have more still to learn."
"What more can there be to learn, Master? I know how to fight everything, I've been taught every-"
"Isabella." Caius's hiss stopped my rising voice, and blood flooded my cheeks from the subtle reprimand.
"I apologize, Masters."
"Yes, you have learned everything of being a vampire, but you know nothing of being human," Aro continued.
"Human?" I couldn't hide my growing confusion.
"Yes, human. You know nothing about being one, how to act like one, how to walk among them. We need you to learn these things."
"So the receptionist will teach me?" I turned to the cowering human and couldn't stop the raising of my eyebrow.
"In a way, yes. She'll be there to guide you." Aro's short answers were really starting to drive me crazy. I huffed loudly, something I never did, and ignored the pointed glare from Jane. The little bitch was always glaring at me for some reason or another.
"How so?"
"We're sending you to a small town, one you won't even have to worry about being discovered in, if you learn to act appropriately, that is. Karen will be there to show you around, how to act around humans, how to truly be human. After a year," He held up a finger, stopping my planned retort, and continued. "We'll see how truly well-rounded you've become, and you will be welcomed back home with open arms."
"All I have to do is learn to be human?"
"Yes."
"How about for three months, rather than a year?"
"It will be a year."
"Six months?"
"A year."
"Nine months?" I was trying to negotiate, but it wasn't something I had done before.
"It will be a year, Isabella." I stopped at his tone and nodded, my eyes downcast to keep away the threatening tears. "You'll be leaving in the morning after Heidi provides you with the appropriate documents."
"Just like that? You're not even giving me time to say goodbye?" Caius growled over my tone but I ignored him, my frustration had reached a peak and was beginning to boil over.
"A year is barely nothing to us, Isabella. Learn what you have been sent out to learn, and when you return you will be a fully fledged member of the Volturi Guard." I nodded at Aro's words, tipped my head, and followed Heidi out of the throne room, eager to leave and lick my wounds before my apparent morning flight.
"I know you don't think so, but this is a good thing." I rolled my eyes at Heidi, wanting to be a brat for the first time in my life. I never acted out, I never went against what I was told, but I just couldn't pretend to be happy about this new order. "A year isn't long at all, especially for our kind."
"I know; I just don't understand how this is going to work. How am I supposed to just go from not being around a single human, to being confined in a school full of them for hours on end? How does Aro see this ending in anything but chaos?" I sat back on my bed, letting Heidi take over the packing. It was midnight; I had six hours left until I had to leave for the plane to Forks. I should have been sleeping, but I just couldn't get my mind to stop working.
"This is everything you will need." She handed me a folder filled with documents and I turned and tucked it into the backpack I would be carrying in the morning. "You're going to Forks, Washington. It's a tiny place and thankfully the human knows about it because she grew up in Seattle. That folder contains your birth certificate, a Washington state driver's license and ID, banking information, and the directions to the house you'll both be staying at. Everything you'll need for school is in there, so don't lose it."
"I won't." I listened to Heidi for another hour as she packed a ridiculous amount of suitcases; she didn't seem eager for me to leave. I stayed on the bed, lifting my legs up to rest on the mattress completely, and tried to keep my eyes from drifting closed. While I hadn't been tired earlier, it was slowly starting to creep up on me. I should have fed in the throne room earlier, but I was too angry. I had needed to vent, and Heidi had helped with that.
I must have dozed off because I woke up later to an extremely quiet room. It was dark outside and I was trying to remember why I had woken up when a sharp knock sounded on my newly replaced door. I murmured something; I was barely awake and started to get up. The vampire on the other side of the door had walked off, leaving me alone with the silence again. I stood up and stretched, reaching for the clothes Heidi had laid out for me and changing quickly.
I felt like I was in a bit of a haze as Heidi came in and pulled my hair back into a bun before leading me out of the room and into the throne room. It wasn't loud in there, but it wasn't silent either. All the noise seemed to be hurting my head, so I worked at tuning it out, slipping deeper into the haze that was surrounding me. I was hugged several times, several of the vampires murmuring about it only being a short year, and was led from the room. Karen was waiting in the back of a car in the darkness, and I sat beside her.
"Learn what you've been told to learn, Isabella. Don't lose that folder or your wallet; they contain everything you need." I nodded at Heidi's words. She was holding open the car door and Demetri and Felix were standing a few feet behind her. I smiled softly at Demetri, but I couldn't hide the cringe when I saw the look on Felix's face. He looked pissed, absolutely livid, over me leaving. I felt marginally better about leaving when I realized that I would have time away from Felix, away from his staring and touching. I, at least, wouldn't have that burden on my back.
I murmured goodbye again, and the door was shut. The car headed away from Volterra to the nearest airport, where a plane waited to take me to some town called Forks—a town I knew nothing about but was already starting to hate.
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