Author's Note: I do not own Twilight or New Moon.

Thank you all so much for the reviews, especially in chapter 9. Apparently it was better than I thought! ;) There was some mild confusion in one of the reviews, which I would like to address now. No, Bella is not a vampire. Yet.

Song of Choice: "All That I'm Living For" by Evanescence on The Open Door

Freesia Juliet

Part Two: The Queen

Chapter Eleven: Scream

(Bella's Point of View)

I swallowed hard. The white haired ancient stared at me, surprised beyond words. My body was urging me to make a run for it, but my mind was frozen with fear. "Signora Cullen," he said at last, he fluid voice filled with humor, "What can I do for you?"

I tried to keep my eyes locked on his burgundy ones, and I had to literally struggle to do this, planting my feet hard on the marble. "I congratulate you on your wedding, Isabella; I'm afraid I heard about it so late that I couldn't send a wedding present. Did you have a pleasant honeymoon?" His voice was civil. Well, I could handle that.

"Yes," I said, standing tall, as the wife of the most wonderful being on the planet should, "we took a trip to Greece. It was lovely."

"So close to Italy!" laughed Aro, gesturing that I should take a seat beside him one of the oversized armchairs in his personal study. "You should have come for a visit!"

"I'm afraid Edward was against it," I said lightly, sinking into the chair with relief. My feet and neck ached uncontrollably. Just another thing I wouldn't miss when I became a vampire. He laughed again, apparently very pleased to see me.

"Did you see Crete?" he asked, as though we were two old friends.

"Yes," I nodded, not letting my guard down. "The legends associated with that island were particularly fascinating."

Aro smiled smugly. "I'm surprised that Edward has not told you of our species personal connection with Greece."

I thought for a moment. "No, he has not told me anything of a vampire connection to Greece." I bit my lip. Now the word was out in the open, and there was no more use playing this little game Aro seemed determined to enjoy.

"Another time, my dear," Aro dismissed, recognizing my true purpose. He stretched a little. "So, why have you really come, Signora Cullen?"

I chose my words carefully. "Edward has failed to keep our half of the bargain we made with you a few months ago."

"Ah," said Aro thoughtfully, his dangerous eyes glinting. "But we did say he had a year."

I pressed, my stomach tying into knots. "I don't have a year, signori." There was a lump in my throat that I couldn't get rid of.

"So you have more selfish reasons to come to me, Isabella. That sounds more reasonable, my dear. You are sick?"

"My heart is dying, Signori Aro," I said with bitterness.

"And Edward will not turn you." This was not a question, but a statement. He had known immediately that Edward would never change me, although I had not known. I recalled that Aro's power enabled him to read every thought a person had ever had just by touching.

"Yes." It was unnecessary.

"So you want us to turn you."

"Yes." I was surprised that I spoke this with no hesitation.

"Are you sure that you want us to do this?" asked Aro generously. "You still have time for Edward to do it."

His benevolence only added to my resolve. "I came to you because I want this from you," I said firmly.

His eyes glowed. "Tomorrow, then, my dear. I'm sure that you're tired now, and could probably use some dinner and a bubble bath." His ancient, deadly face smiled slightly, as if he was picturing what life was life for him before he was a vampire.

Edward had said that the Volturi were over three thousand years old. I wondered if he could remember human life at all. Would that be me? Would I forget Charlie and Renee, and Mike and Jess and Angela so very easily? I vowed that this would never happen to me.

I would be a vampire, but in identity alone. I would still always be human at heart.

All that I'm living for

All that I'm dying for

All that I can't ignore alone at night

So engrossed in my thought, I barely realized that Aro's servant had brought me to a lushly furnished set of apartments deep within the Volturi compound. The windows were enchanting stained glass, and the drapes and bedspread were wine-colored. I saw that two of the antechambers were a bathroom and a dining room. Clearly, this room had been designed for human, rather than vampire, occupancy.

"Is something wrong, signora?" asked a beautiful voice.

"Oh!" I said with a start, "I forgot you were there," I explained to the servant. I took a real look at her for the first time.

If Rosalie was a goddess, this girl was a cherub. Her youthful face was framed by short blonde ringlets, and her eyes were impossibly blue. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn she was human. Her face even had a delightful pink tinge to it.

"What are you?" I said, unable to stop myself.

"I'm half-vampire," she confessed. I was immediately confused. How was it possible to be half-vampire?! Everything I knew about vampires screamed that it was impossible for them to have children.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Octavia," she explained, "daughter of Octavian Caesar and his vampire mistress, Elixa."

"Wow," I hissed, immediately impressed by her words. "Your father was the first Emperor of Rome? Then how did you end up serving Aro?"

"I can't properly explain until the Volturi share their story with you," Octavia said sadly, "But I can say that my mother was a slave, and so I was born into slavery."

"Couldn't you leave?" I couldn't help but asking.

"I don't want to," she confessed. "I am safe and happy in Volterra, just as I have been since I was born." I couldn't wrap my mind around nineteen thousand years of servitude. Hell, I couldn't even wrap my mind around nineteen.

"Come now, Signora Cullen, there is a bath prepared for you, and a lamb dinner in the dining room waiting. If you should need anything, just call my name." She vanished in front of my eyes.

The bath soothed muscles I didn't even know had tightened. It smelled of chamomile and lavender, and I was instantly sleepy. I dried my hair and pulled on the bathrobe handing on the back of the door. It fit perfectly, but I almost flung it away when I saw it was monogrammed 'I.M.C.'

Having eaten a fantastic dinner of minted lamb with chardonnay, I climbed into the oversized bed and fell instantly asleep, completely comfortable.

However, my dreams were less than comfortable.

I can feel the night beginning

Separate me from the living

Understanding me

After all I've seen

Piecing every though together

Find the words to make me better

If I only know how to pull myself apart

I woke screaming to Octavia's concerned face. I gave an incoherent shout and tumbled out the other side of the bed. "I'm sorry, Signora Cullen," she apologized, helping me up. "I've had orders to wake you. You have an important morning. But apparently, you woke yourself."

Feeling my heart pound from my nightmare, I protested weakly as Octavia dressed me in a floor-length, powder blue, spaghetti-strapped gown. She was much too strong for me to fight off, so I gave in and let her comb through all the tangles in my frizzing brown hair.

"I want you to know that I'll be there to help you… after," assured Octavia in a small voice. "I've seen a few of these before, and I know how painful they must be." I recalled that she had been born a vampire, and had never had to go through this.

I missed Edward.

I really missed Edward.

He understood what I was about to go through.

I believe that dreams are sacred

Take my darkest fears and play them

Like a lullaby

Like a reason why

Like a play of my obsessions

Make me understand the lesson

So I'll find myself

So I won't be lost again.

"Now Bella," breathed Aro, his eyes black with anticipation, "you understand the pain of transformation."

"Yes," I breathed, my hands balled into fists. My arms were spread wide, with each hand handcuffed to the wall. Aro and Caius had explained that this was to keep me from hurting myself while my body fought the venom. Volturi venom was twice as potent as a regular vampire, so the change would take place in about a day and a half rather than three days, but this meant it was twice as painful.

"Good luck, Isabella," Aro breathed before his face dove toward my neck. I shut my eyes as the flesh on my neck exploded with pain. My involuntary screams pierced the silence of the small chamber as Aro pulled away, shaking as he released reluctantly. My mind morbidly wondered if my blood tasted as good as Edward always swore it smell.

Then all sense dissolved into a pool of fire as the venom raced through my veins.

Guess I thought I'd have to change the world

To make you see me

To be the one

I could have run forever

But how far would I have come

Without mourning your love?

My swollen eyes cracked open, and my lips begged for water as Octavia approached, clutching a wet rag in her eternally icy fingers. I pulled my head up to meet her, and she wiped my mouth and face gently. The water literally evaporated off of my boiling face, and she repeated the process over and over again.

Oh, God, Edward stop the fire, I thought desperately as I tugged at the handcuffs that bound me to the wall. I couldn't break free. I couldn't escape the fire that consumed my veins. Edward, I love you. I'm doing this for you.

"Hold on, signora," urged Octavia, her strange blue eyes watering through my vision.

There was a new pain; I hadn't thought there could be a pain more intense than the all-consuming flames. But there it was, and suddenly I was tearing apart. I actually heard my heart beat out of control, and my body plunged into blissful numbness.

Too early, I noted with despair as my spirit was ripped from my body. It was cool and painless.

For a minute or two, I hovered lackadaisically outside of my dead body, noting passively that my heart had given out before the venom could reach it.

All that I'm living for

All that I'm dying for

All that I can't ignore alone at night

All that I'm wanted for

Although I wanted more

Lock the last open door-

My ghosts are gaining on me.