Summer classes are finally over! Yay! Unfortunately my schedule has changed once again. My brother, who I have not seen in I six months, is finally coming home! These next couple of weeks may be quite chaotic, so please forgive me if I find it difficult to update. Thanks for all the amazing support guys!

EPOV

"Bella, love," I said as calmly as possible, "stop." She stood there looking bewildered and frightened as I cautiously approached her. She began to tremble as I encased her into the protection of my arms.

"Edward," she practically whispered.

"It's me, love," I told her. "I'm here." She collapsed to the ground and began to sob. "Shh, Bella, shh, it's okay. Everything is going to be just fine." Bella began to shake her head in disagreement.

"I could have killed her Edward," she cried even harder. "I wanted to kill her. Don't you realize that I almost took the life of one of my best friends." I inhaled deeply and cringed. I had not noticed until now that Angela Weber was standing three feet away from us. Luckily, a large amount of greenery was blocking her vision from our presence.

"Where is she Charlie," I heard a woman begin to shriek. "Where is my baby? What have you done with my baby? Bella! Bella, sweetheart where are you?!" I felt Bella begin to shudder at the woman's words.

"Mom," Bella breathed. I leaned my head down and carefully kissed her forehead. She buried her head in my neck as I slowly lifted her from the ground.

"Bella," Charlie shouted, "Bella, can you hear me baby?"

"Charlie," Bella whimpered. "Oh Edward, what have I done? Who am I?" I kissed her temple once more before taking her face between both of my hands.

"You are who you have always been," I told her. "You're my Bella, and nothing you could say or do would ever change that." Bella shook her head in disagreement once again.

"I'm a monster," she mouthed against my skin. "I could have killed her, Edward. I could have killed all of them. Renée, Charlie, Jessica, Mike." Bella gently took herself out of my arms and walked slowly toward Alice who was frozen still on the ground. "Alice, I'm so, so, so, unbelievably sorry. Please forgive me."

"It's okay Bella," Alice soothed her. "I understand, believe me." Bella reached out to hug my sister's still body before whispering the word, "Move," into Alice's ear. Once Alice was free of Bella's entrancement she wrapped her arms around her.

"I hate you for this, Charlie," I heard Bella's mother shout behind me. "How could you just lose our daughter? How is that even possible? I expected you to take care of her."

"Like you did such a good job of that before Renée," Charlie retorted bitterly. "Bella was the one who took care of you for the past seventeen years!"

"Don't fight," I heard Bella whimper. "Please, don't fight." I quickly broke the space between Bella and I and took her into my arms once more. "I want to go home. I just want to go home, Edward."

"Hold on," I said wrapping her arms securely around my neck. Ten minutes later we were home. Carlisle and Esme were waiting outside the door to greet us.

"My poor Bella," Esme sighed gently caressing the strands of her new daughter's hair. "Bring her inside Edward. She's had a tough day."

I'm so sorry, Edward, Carlisle thought. If I would have known I never would have encouraged you to...

"It was my fault, Carlisle," I practically growled. "I should have never left her alone." Bella began to whimper even harder at my words. I brushed past Carlisle and Esme and took Bella up to her room.

"Don't leave me," she cried as I placed her on her bed. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down beside her. "Please, don't leave me, Edward."

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised her. Unfortunately I did not know how long I would be able to keep that promise. In two days Aro would be here, and I would be dead. I would not leave Bella willingly. What was the point of living forever if I could not spend my life with her? I would rather die than be taken away from the only person who ever truly understood me.

A couple of days later

It had been three days and Bella still refused to leave the house. Luckily the Voultri had decided not to leave the confinements of Italy. Time was difficult for the Volturi to judge. To them three days could accumulate to a year in the human world. I was grateful for this. I still had not thought of a way to tell Bella that I would soon be forced to leave.

"Hello, love," I greeted Bella as she entered my room. Alice had just forced her to play three hours of Bella Barbie, as she called it.

"Hey," she said collapsing on my bed. She curled herself into my stone cold arms and sighed contently. "I'm sorry I ditched you. Alice was relentless."

"It's okay," I laughed. "It would have been better to be with you, but I understand. Alice is a force to be reckoned with." Bella laughed snuggling even closer to my body. I loved it when she laughed. To me it was the most beautiful sound in the entire world.

"I could have said no, but I just felt so guilty," Bella confessed. "I can force anyone to do anything I want, but I see no reason to. Not after what I have just done." A frown replaced the smile that was on her face just moments ago. I reached out and lightly lifted the corners of her lips.

"That was not your fault," I told her. "You are a newborn vampire it is to be expected." Bella scowled at this. She hated it when I made excuses for her.

"I hate my gift," Bella said. "I feel as if I am some lethal weapon that could take out the entire world in a single second." I laughed lightly at her words.

"You know Bella," I said encasing my arms around her waist, "your gift does have some advantages." I lightly kissed her neck causing her to giggle.

"What advantages," she asked cocking her eyebrow.

"You could always tell me to kiss you," I said nuzzling her neck with my nose. "I could not refuse if you demanded me to." Bella took my face between both of her hands and smiled.

"Kiss me," she demanded. Before I knew what I was doing my lips were on her own. "Kiss me again." I did as she instructed. "And again?" I kissed her with even more intensity. Once we broke apart I began to tickle her sides.

"Edward," she laughed, "stop." My hands fell from her sides as my lips found her neck. I continued to kiss her tracing the patterns of her skin with my tongue. When I removed my lips from her body she began to scowl.

"I didn't say you could stop doing that," she pouted bringing her lips to mine once more. We continued to kiss until someone began to pound on the door. Oh come on, Alice thought. Edward open the damn door!

"Go away Alice," I said against Bella's lips. Before I could process anything Alice had broken down the door. Her eyes were wide with fear and her hands were trembling.

"Alice what is it," Bella asked in a panic.

"Edward you have to go," Alice said ignoring Bella. "They're almost here. They decided to come and find you." Bella tore her eyes away from Alice to stare at me.

"Who," she questioned Alice. "Who is coming after him? Edward, what is going on?" I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.

"Bella we need to talk," I told her.

BPOV

I hated those words with a passion. Whenever anyone said, "we need to talk," it always meant bad news. Edward and I had already been through so much. What news could be so horrific that he couldn't even tell me?

"You have two hours, Edward," Alice said as she began to exit the room. "I'm going to talk to Carlisle. Perhaps we can figure something out." Suddenly the room felt empty. The only sounds I could hear were Edward's steady breath and my frantic sobs.

"Bella," Edward said holding out his arms to me. I moved away from him and towards the window. I could feel my dead heart begin to shatter. "Love, please."

"Just tell me," I said sharply. "I'm tired of playing guessing games with you, Edward. Can't you just tell me the truth for once and get it over with?" Edward sighed and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my cheek lightly and turned me to face him.

"Bella," he began, "when we were apart I did something rather stupid." I felt my breath hitch. What had he done? "I joined a coven called the Voultri. This coven is the most powerful and prestigious of the world. You could say they resemble a government. They created the rules and control the actions of fellow vampires."

"So you joined their coven," I said in confusion, "why is that affecting you now? Couldn't you just tell them that you want to stay with the Cullen's instead?" Edward shook his head at my reply.

"It doesn't quite work like that, Bella," he told me. He kissed my lips quickly before sighing once more. "When I heard you were in danger I begged the Voultri to release me from my contract for just a short amount of time. Aro agreed to let me go on one condition."

"Go on," I whispered when Edward hesitated.

"I promised them I would return in seven days," he said quickly. "I also vowed that after those seven days I would never see you again." I felt the burning of anger begin to ignite inside me. I pulled his hands off of me and began to walk away. I was too angry to speak.

"Bella, please," Edward begged.

"Edward, no," I screamed. I couldn't deal with this. "I won't let them take you away from me, not again." Edward pulled me into his arms and held my head against his shoulder.

"You will never lose me," he said with an unsteady voice. I knew that if he could cry he would be doing so. "Bella, I will always be here for you when you need me."

"Edward, that isn't possible," I said pulling myself closer to him. "You can't be here if you are never allowed to see me again."

"They can't keep us apart, Bella," he said kissing every inch of my face. His kisses terrified me. It was as if he were already saying goodbye. "I will come back to you, no matter what it takes." I felt so shallow and angry. If I had not forced Edward to go away then none of this would have happened.

"I need you," I cried into his chest. "How am I supposed to survive in this world without you?" In all reality there was no point in living in this world without Edward. He was my world; he was my life, now and forever.

"Bella, listen to me," Edward said in a strange voice. "You do not need me to survive. You are stronger than you know my love." He kissed my head as I laced my fingers through his hands. "I believe in you Bella. I know you can do this."

"Edward let me come with you," I begged him. "Maybe I can use my gift to manipulate the Voultri into letting you stay."

"Bella," Edward said, "you are not aware of the strength of the Voultri. They have many members with many gifts. Their powers may override yours, and I refuse to put you in that kind of danger."

"I don't care if it puts me in danger, Edward," I said stubbornly. "If I can save you then it is worth risking my life."

"Bella, no," Edward said firmly. "I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to send you with Alice, Rosalie, and Esme. They will keep you safe until you are able to return." I clenched my teeth and began to growl.

"I won't go with them," I said with as much strength as I could muster. Edward's eyes turned pitch black at my words. For a moment I was actually frightened of him. I could see that I was all he cared about, but how could he not see that I felt the same way?

"Don't make this anymore difficult than it already is, Bella," Edward said to me. "I love you so much. I cannot bear to think of you in any more danger. If you leave then it will be easier for us all."

"How can you ask me to leave," I questioned him.

"I just have to, Bella," he told me.

"Edward," Alice said impatiently as she came busting through the door. "We have less than two hours to get Bella out of here. If she doesn't leave then Aro will demand that she join their coven. You have to get her out of here before it's too late."

"No," I said gripping onto Edward with every last ounce of my strength.

"Alice give us a moment," Edward demanded as he pushed his sister out of the room. An idea occurred to me as Edward starred at my face. "Bella, stop, I know what you're thinking and it isn't going to happen."

"Don't tell me what I will and will not do, Edward," I said with fury. "If I want to become part of the Voultri then I will."

"No," Edward shouted. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"It will solve all of our problems," I said suddenly feeling hopeful. "If we're in the Voultri together then we won't have to be separated." Edward growled. "You heard what Alice said. Aro will want me to become part of the Voultri."

"Think of what you are saying, Bella," Edward said starring into my eyes. "If you join this coven then you will be a monster!"

"I don't care," I said without fear. "As long as I am with you I don't care what I am. You love me and that is all that matters." I knew this was a lie, but I didn't care. I had to make Edward see that I wasn't going to back down. I knew what I wanted. I had made my decision.

"Love, no," Edward said. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you are safe. Attempting to join the Voultri and put both of us in danger is not the answer. You have to go."

"Not without you," I cried.

"I won't be far, Bella," Edward vowed. He lifted his hand and placed it over my silent heart. He then reached into his pocket and brought out a small blue box. "It was my mother's." He lifted the lid and slid the small silver ring on my right hand.

"What is it," I asked him.

"It is called a love knot," he explained. "When my father went off to war he gave it to my mother. It is a symbol of everlasting love and devotion." The small white gold ring held an antique sapphire that took my breath away.

"Let me stay," I pleaded. "Let's fight them together."

"There is no reason to fight," he said kissing me deeply. "We will lose if we try to go against them."

"I'm not ready to say goodbye," I said kissing him in return.

"Neither am I," Edward said. "That is why I refuse to let this be goodbye."

"Edward," Alice said barging into the room once more. This time Esme and Rosalie were with her. "We have to go."

"I will be back, Bella," he vowed one last time. "We will see each other very soon. I promise."

"I love you, Edward," I said tracing the patterns of his lips with my fingers. He kissed my fingertips and kissed the ring that he had just given me.

"I love you too," he told me. No matter what he said I knew this was goodbye.

Kind of a sad ending, I know :*( The next chapter will hopefully be more uplifting. Also I wanted to apologize for not giving some people a preview last time. I completely forgot to add it. I am still giving previews if you review though. The picture for the ring is on my profile. Thanks for reading!