Hey everyone,

First of all I have to deeply apologize for my half a year absence. My excuse is that my laptop broke down that had chapter 6 on it, and I didn't get one until a few months later. The story had kinda drifted away from my mind and I felt really guilty not updating. I've recently found my motivation to write again, and I got a Mac (which is great for writing stories on) so updates should be coming in more frequently now. Reading my past work, I have realized I made a whole bunch of mistakes and It's kind of embarrassing reading, but I don't think I'm going to rewrite any of it.

I truly want to finish this story, and it still has a long ways yet. I hope you guys stick around :)

"What the…"

I was too shocked to say anything else at the scene in front of me. Another piercing shriek from Lilith sounded and I felt tears welling up. I felt paralyzed with fear as I watched Lilith clutch her head in her hands.

Jane remained standing there, simply staring at Lilith's struggling form with a smile on her face - as if she was enjoying it.

A surge of foreign anger rushed through me replacing my fear. I had never seen my best friend in such pain before, and I also had never seen someone who seemed to enjoy hurting people so much. I sprung up from the bed and lunged at Jane on impulse. The next thing I felt was the painful sensation of being back- handed to the ground. My cheek stung with unbelievable pain as I tried to comprehend how Jane had knocked me to the ground so swiftly. I slowly lifted myself upright into a sitting position. I cup

Jane looked down on me in disdain, and she was right next to me in a split second. I gasped and flinched backwards on instinct. She grabbed my hair and threw me across the room. I cried out in pain as I crashed into the large dresser. I fell to the ground, my arm aching madly as it was the first to collide with the dresser and cushion my fall. Tears started to form in my eyes and I cursed myself for being so weak. For not being able to be there for Lilith when she was always there for me. My hair fell over my face like a protective curtain, shielding it from Jane's sight. I couldn't let her see me cry – I would not give her that satisfaction. I desperately tried blinking away the tears in my eyes, but each ache from my cheek and arm brought on a stronger urge to sob.

I felt Jane's presence right next to me, and I squeezed my eyes shut – bracing myself for the next wave of pain.

Instead, I heard a bell like laugh. Under any other circumstance I would have found it quite soothing and lovely, but right now it only brought on anger.

"You aren't completely immune to pain, are you now? Ah yes, this opens up a plethora of opportunities for me to show you what it's like to receive a gift from me." She whispered lowly. I said nothing as silent tears streaked down my face.

She then stepped on my injured arm, and I screamed as she painfully started applying more pressure slowly. "No, stop, please don't…"

She paid no attention to my plea as she stepped on my arm with even more unimaginable force.

A painful shriek emitted from my mouth as I heard a sickening crack sound from my arm. It was broken.

"Let this be a warning to you, human. If you ever try to intervene in my matters again, I will make sure you get twice the amount of pain as to what you received today."

She grabbed my hair and pulled me up eye level to her angelically calm face. A malicious and giddy glint in her eyes, as if someone just gave her a new toy. This wasn't a look any normal excited girl would have. This was the look of a girl who ripped wings off of flies for enjoyment.

"Now, is that understood?"

With humiliation, I nodded weakly. I was getting woozy from the pain of my fractured arm, and I was starting to see two Jane's. She stared at my face in disgust for a few more seconds, and she let go of my hair, my body dropping back to the floor in the process.

I heard her scoff and the creaks of the door being opened. I whimpered from the immense pain that emitted from my arm. I had never broken any bones before, and this was a frightening experience. I looked at it and gasped. There was a large white mark where her foot had been, and I could see a massive bruise start to form. I silently thanked the gods that she was out of the room and hadn't done anything else to me.

"A-Al? Are you okay?" I heard Lilith's voice frantically ask.

"M-my arm…it's broken…" I said in a haze, all this pain was making me extremely dizzy.

"O-Oh my god, what happened?" She scurried over to my side.

Before I could answer her, everything turned to black.

I woke up on the soft surface of a bed. I attempted to sit up but a sharp pain ran up my arm and I immediately went back down. I slowly started remembering what had happened - Jane had broken my arm. I quickly took a look at it, and to my surprise I was greeted by the sight of a big bulk of material – my arm was in a cast. I sighed dejectedly – 'So much inconvenience…'

My eyes peered around the room, which I recognized to be mine. Someone had been kind enough to carry me all the way back here, but I wondered whom?

I slowly withdrew the covers to reveal my other arm. To my surprise, it was in a big bulky cast. Whoever brought me back to my room was also kind enough to bandage up my arm.

I sighed. What was I thinking, trying to attack Jane like that? There was no doubt that she was going to beat me up easily, but yet I still tried to hit her blindly…

If I were a vampire…then maybe I would stand a chance against her…

I immediately shook that thought away. It hadn't even been half a year yet and I was already thinking about the what-ifs of being a vampire. The thought of feeding off of humans and no sleep…it was a bit gruesome to think about.

I heard the soft creak of the doorknob being turned, and I raised my head to glance at the door. Heidi walked in, wearing an un-amused expression.

"Your awake. Aro wants to see you." She informed.

I tried sitting up again, this time careful not to move my arm. My back also ached a bit, but I was sure I could manage.

I slowly made my way towards Heidi, and she eyed my cast warily. "Well well, injured already I see?"

"It was Jane…"

"Your second day, and you've already gotten on bad terms with Jane? Your going to have a rough time" Heidi mused, and my heart sank.

She once again lead me down the vast hallways of the castle, and this time she escorted me straight to the library, where Aro was sitting reading a book.

"Have a seat Alvira, Heidi you may go."

Heidi bowed and she walked out of the library in seconds.

I took the same seat I had sat in when Aro and I had last talked. It seemed a bit like déjà vu, except this time I had a big bulky cast on.

"How is your arm my dear?"

"It's been better…." I moved it for emphasis and I winced as it throbbed a bit with pain.

"It would be best for you not to strain your arm too much – we wouldn't want any more injury than we already have. I will have one our guards specialized in medical care to examine it daily. I see they have already done a fair job of bandaging your arm up."

"Yeah thanks…"

Aro laughed, "Oh don't thank me my dear, thank them. I deeply apologize for Jane's actions – she has a hard time accepting the fact that you seem to be insusceptible to her gift. I have already talked to her and I'm sure she feels at least a slight sense of remorse for her actions."

I had a hard time believing that Jane was capable of feeling anything close to humane, other than her sick delight for pain.

"She will keep her distance from now on, but please refrain from provoking her. Jane has quite the temper and sometimes - I'm afraid even I'm not capable of stopping her actions when she is angry."

"Her gift is pain, right?" I asked.

"Correct. I'm surprised that you know that, since you have never experienced it before. Perhaps it was a lucky guess?"

"Emilia told me back in the airport..."

"Right, yes, of course…" Aro said thoughtfully, "I hope you will forgive Jane for her behavior," Aro smiled.

"Now there is also something else I wish to inform you of - We are going to be having guests arrive in our home tomorrow."

"Guests?"

"Yes, very special guests might I add. They are my old friends, and they have caught word of your arrival here in Volterra."

'My forced arrival...' I thought in my head. "Who are they?"

"Just a rather simple coven that likes to travel. They were rather curious of you and Lilith, so they have decided to stop by and send their greetings. I hope they are within your best interests. They should be arriving here soon after noon, so please have yourself ready by then." Aro said.

"Yes sir…"

"That will be all then. Please take good care of your arm, and have a good night my dear." Aro smiled.

"Same to you." I rose from my seat and walked out of the library. I was rather curious about these visitors that were going to be here tomorrow. What would they be like? Friendly? Or scary and cruel like Jane?

I walked out and was immediately greeted by Heidi. She once again, led me back to my room. But before she left, I had to ask her about our visitors.

"Um, Heidi…"

"Yes?" Heidi stopped at the door.

"You know we're having visitors tomorrow right?"

"Of course, everyone knows these things around here."

I started to feel a bit dumb for asking since she was obviously a vampire with a super brain, but I continued, "Who are they exactly? Aro just told me they were a coven that liked to travel."

Heidi sighed. "Oh right, I suppose you don't know. They're the Denali coven, and you won't have to worry about them attacking you – they don't drink human blood."

That definitely caught me by surprise. "What? They don't drink human blood? But their vampires aren't they?"

"They drink animal blood." Heidi said, with a hint of what seemed to be disapproval in her voice.

"Animal blood?"

"Yeah, animal blood. If you want to know more about it you can just ask them yourself tomorrow." Heidi said. She didn't seem to want to discuss the topic any further. "Ok thanks…goodnight."

Heidi closed the door behind her.

I tossed and turned that night; my cast was making it hard to sleep. It started to itch, and any time I moved my left arm the wrong way a jolt of pain would dash up and it would usually take awhile for it to settle down again.

I looked out my window, - at the stars, and an idea crossed my mind. There was an astronomy tower here, wasn't there? Maybe I could clear my thoughts a bit if I just took a glimpse at the sky there. I looked at the clock – midnight. It was the perfect time for stars to appear.

I slowly got out of bed with my broken arm in mind, and scurried out of my room. My heart dropped when I was greeted with a path of two hallways, both looking identical. I decided to take the path to the right, because that's what I always chose in situations like this.

I arrived at the elevator where I met Jane, and took it to the next floor.

The astronomy room was the first door to my right, and with a sigh of relief I sauntered over.

To my surprise, there was already a person there. It appeared to be a boy wearing Volturi attire. 'Maybe visiting a different time would be wiser… ' I thought. I didn't want any more trouble from the guards after what happened with Jane.

As I turned to leave, the voice spoke up, "Leaving so soon?"

I froze. "U-um…"

"You haven't even taken a look at the sky yet. Changing your mind so quickly?"

I slowly made my way back into the room. I hid my casted arm behind me in an effort to hide its ugly bulkiness.

I approached the boy that was standing there looking up at the sky through the large window. He turned his head and my eyes widened. It was Alec.

"You should be sleeping." He said. His back was still turned to me.

"I couldn't sleep…" I said, timidly looking out the large window in front of us.

"Understandable. But if I were you, I wouldn't be venturing out this late at night. There are some guards here that don't take too kindly to humans no matter what Aro tells them."

"I'll…keep that in mind." I said. I was still extremely nervous around vampires, especially boys. I was always nervous around boys.

We continued staring at the sky in silence. I was so transfixed by picking out constellations that I nearly forgot Alec was there, until I felt his eyes on me.

I slowly looked to my right where he was, and my breath caught in my throat as I met his crimson stare.

He was handsome. His face had a boyish quality to it, but his eyes held a sharp calculation to them. He shared the same smooth pale skin as the rest of his kin, and his hair was a lovely chocolate brown.

"What happened to your arm?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. I was so engrossed in his looks that I didn't notice my arm slowly unveil itself from behind my back. I groaned inwardly, "Why did he have to see this…"

"I ran into Jane and…that happened."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "That's odd. Jane usually never inflicts resorts to physical pain."

I shrugged my shoulders slightly. "They say her gift doesn't work on me…"

He scoffed. "Oh right. You're the one that Aro is so happy about."

I frowned. Alec didn't seem to be too happy about me being here.

"Just…try not to be a nuisance." He said irritably, and without another word he walked out of the room.

I felt dejected as I continued to stare at the spot Alec had just stood. 'A nuisance? What have I done to make him think that?' I thought sullenly.

I sighed. So far, no one here really seemed to get along or like me. Jane had already made a point by damaging one of my arms, Alec thinks I may become a nuisance, and Heidi didn't really seem to like me either.

I thought of Lilith, who was right now brainwashed along with Emilia. They were both under the influence of Chelsea…who I would assume is also trying to brainwash myself. Right now, I had no one…

I gloomily made my way back to my room – being the pessimist that I was right now; nothing seemed to be going right. Well what would go right anyway when I was going to be turned into a vampire one year from now?

I climbed into my bed and heaved another sigh. It was going to be a sleepless night…

Phew, so glad I finally got that chapter up! It's a short one, but a fair amount of things have happened. Feel free to drop a review 3

Snowbell