Author's Note: I do not own Twilight. Twilight and all of the characters are the creation of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.
If you thought that little skirmish between Alex and Iris was intense, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

Chapter 21: Visitors
-oOo-

The great thing about November 23rd and 24th was that they were half days. We came home from school on the 24th at eleven-thirty, since school let out at eleven-ten. I had no homework for the entire break, and I was more than happy to relax for the five and a half day weekend.
I ran upstairs to my room, plopped my backpack down on my futon, and grabbed my laptop. I sat down on my bed and opened it.
Parker walked in to my room and sat next to me on my bed, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"How was your day?" he asked.
"It was good," I said. "Pretty uneventful, actually. I'm just really happy that I have no homework over the break!"
He chuckled. "Lucky for both of us then, huh?"
"What do you-" I began, but he crashed his lips to mine. After a few seconds, he broke away.
I giggled. "I think I figured out what you meant."

-oOo-

It was four 'o clock in the afternoon, and it was slightly drizzling outside. The light pounding of the rain on the windows would have been relaxing if Emmett wasn't blasting Rockband on the T.V.
"I think I beat your high score, Jazz," Emmett said when he finished and placed the guitar on the coffee table.
"That could only happen in your dreams, Emmett. You know I'm better at the guitar," Jasper replied.
"Really? Well, I'm the master of the drums, so I'd like to see you try to beat any of my high scores," Emmett said, tossing Jasper the drum sticks.
"You are on!" Jasper said.
I laughed at the both of them.
"Oh, and what is so funny, Miss Alex?" Emmett said.
"You guys are just fun to watch," I retorted.
"I have to agree with you on that, Alex," Alice said as she walked into the room. She sat down on the couch between me and Jasper. "They fight like little boys, but it is one of the most amusing sources of entertainment."
Jasper wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.
Suddenly, Alice stiffened and sat up straight. Jasper's eyes went wide. Alice must be having a vision.
"Alice, what do you see?" Jasper asked.
After a moment, she gasped and looked at Jasper.
"They're coming!" she shrieked.
"Who?" Jasper asked. Emmett looked as worried as Jasper and Alice, which is something I thought I wouldn't see.
Alice must have whispered something that I couldn't hear because Jasper and Alice shot up off the couch.
"Everyone!" Alice yelled. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Parker were downstairs in a split second. Edward, Bella, and Nessie came bursting through the back door a second later.
"What is the matter?" Carlisle asked.
"The Volturi are coming!" Alice shouted. Esme gasped and everyone else's eyes widened in fear. "They were doing a scan of states to check for newborn activity, and they stumbled upon a nomad who said he smelt a human who was surrounded by vampires. Aro has also found out and they will be here any minute!"
"What are we going to do?" Bella asked.
"Bella, you and Edward need to keep Nessie safe, but stay in the house and see if you can put a shield on everyone why you are on the first floor. Emmett, you, Rose, and Parker need to take Alex... to the library! There are no windows!" Alice said.
Emmett swooped me up into his arms and in a second we were in the library. The library is in the center of the third floor, and the rest of the rooms on that floor are surrounding it, leaving no space for windows.
"What's going on?" I asked Rosalie as she and Parker entered the room. "Who are the Volturi?"
"The Volturi are the most powerful vampires in the world," Rosalie said. "They set laws for all vampires to follow, and one of the laws is to not expose our existence to humans, which we've broken. We have a feeling they are going to be extremely upset, because this is the second-"
The door to the library cracked and fell to the floor. Four figures in black cloaks gracefully sauntered into the room. When they lowered their hoods, I saw that there were three men and one younger girl. The girl had longer blonde hair that was pulled up. She had somewhat of a child-like face and her eyes were blood red.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" she said. This vampire seemed very... sadistic.
"You won't lay a finger on her, Jane," Rosalie snarled.
Jane chuckled. "Well, Rosalie, I wasn't planning on laying a finger on her"
She looked right into my eyes. I was expecting something to happen, but nothing did.
"What?" Jane hissed. "Impossible!"
"Calm down, Jane," one of the men in cloaks said.
"You forgot about Bella," Rosalie said. "Your power is of no use now."
I had a feeling that Jane's power was to make people feel like they are burning... like Adrienne.
Adrienne torturing poor little Mary.
I gripped Parker's arm tighter, causing Rosalie to grip my other arm tighter. My heart started to beat faster. No, I would not have a panic attack right now. I closed my eyes and tried to take deep breaths.
"Unfortunately for you, Cullen, Bella's powers can't save you from what we came here for," Jane said.
She looked right at me. "You. What is your name?"
"A-Alex," I said.
"Well, Alex, are you living here with the Cullens?" Jane asked.
I didn't know what I should say, so I looked up at Rosalie. She nodded, which probably meant I needed to answer. Truthfully.
"Y-yes, I live here," I replied.
"Yes, I see. Just answer all my questions truthfully and you should be fine... possibly."
Parker growled, and Jane whipped her head to look at him. "And who are you?" she spat. "I've never seen you before."
"My name is Parker," he said.
Jane looked at him, then back to me. "I don't understand why you and Edward seem to fall in love with humans. It is..."
Jane trailed off and didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she looked back at one of the men in cloaks.
"Alec, go fetch Carlisle and the wife," she said. One of the men nodded.
"We are already here," Carlisle said as he and Esme broke through the line of cloaked figures. "And her name is Esme."
"Alright," Jane said. "Now, this is the message that we have come to deliver. Aro wishes to speak with you, Carlisle, your wi- Esme, and..." Jane paused and looked at me. "You."
"He requests that you come to Italy at once," Alec said.
"Yes, and he has allowed that you can bring two others of your coven," Jane said. "However, why doesn't the girl pick?"
She walked closer to me and Rosalie gripped my arm tighter.
"Now, chose wisely. Who are the two that will come along on your visit to Volterra?"
Chose wisely... I looked around at everybody. I looked at Parker's face, then to Rosalie's, Emmett's and then Carlisle's and Esme's. I hope Parker will understand...
"Alice and Jasper," I said.
"Hmm, I had a feeling you would chose them," Jane murmured and then turned to look at Carlisle. "Aro wishes to see you immediately, Carlisle."
"We will take the first available flight tomorrow morning," he said quietly.
"Good. Then it is settled," Jane said. "We will expect to see you tomorrow, Carlisle. Lodgings are available in Volterra."
With that she, Alec, and the two other cloaked figures exited the room. I heard the front door shut moments later.
We were all quiet and frozen like statues for a moment. Esme ran up to me and wrapped me in her arms. I started to sob into her shirt.
"T-this is a-all m-my fault," I sobbed.
"No it's not," she said, rubbing my hair.
"Yes it i-is. If I w-wouldn't have r-run away and c-came here, n-nobody would be in d-danger," I cried.
Rosalie came over and wrapped her arms around me and Esme.
"None of this is your fault, Alex," Rosalie murmured. "If it's anyone fault it is the Volturi's, having to desperately enforce their laws."
I sniffled and untangled myself from Esme and Rosalie's arms. I wrapped my own arms around myself and paced away from everyone.
"What are they going to do to us?" I asked, not able to look everyone in the eye.
Carlisle sighed. "I do not know what they want us for. Only Alice may be able to tell as of now."
"I can't see anything... I don't know why..." Alice said, walking into the room with Jasper in tow. "Would they be using hybrids in their plan? Maybe they know of my handicap... Ugh, I hate being blind to things!"
"Alice, it is alright," Carlisle said. "We understand."
I sniffled and rubbed my sides. I turned to look at everyone, and they were all staring at me.
"I know you understand," Alice sighed. She walked over to me and placed her hands on my shoulder. She reached and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"Do we have to find a flight?" I asked, looking up at her.
"9:45, first class. You can call a ticket center to get the five seats booked," Alice sighed.
Carlisle nodded. "I will be in my study." With that, he walked out of the room.
Esme sighed. "I need to start packing-"
"I'll come with you," I said quickly but quietly.
"Okay," she replied. I walked over to her and she put her left arm around my shoulder. "Do you want me to help you pack first?" she asked.
I nodded.
When we got to my room, she sat down on my futon. I walked over and sat down next to her, wrapping my arms around her.
"Are they going to separate us?" I asked her.
She sighed. "I wish I could tell you they are not, but I do not know."
"What are the Volturi like?"
"They are the most powerful vampires on the entire earth and have created the laws for vampires," she said.
"Rosalie started to say something about the laws, but then... they came," I said.
"The Volturi are not the villains. They are only trying to protect themselves and all other vampires. One of their main laws is for all vampires to keep our existence a secret. This is not the first time we have broken this rule, though. Bella found out about us..."
"But you didn't tell me about what you were! N-Nathaniel did..." I trailed off. I didn't want to think about him now.
"Yes, I know, but that will not matter to the Volturi. We have kept you... human while you knew about our existence," Esme said.
I stood up and paced over to my bed.
"W-what happens to people who break the laws?" I asked.
She stood up.
"They execute them."

-oOo-


Yikes. What is going to happen to everyone? Could this be the end of Esme? Carlisle?
Alex?