Disclaimer: All the wonderful Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, however the story 'Goodbye, Former Miss. Swan' belongs to me.
Almost everyone voted yay on the Damien having a crush on Bella, so this chapter will start to develop their relationship in a way. Please enjoy, and review at the end!
Again, thank you for reading!
Chapter Three: A Friend in the Shadows
Edward POV
"Everyone, please come into the living room for a family meeting."
I turned my head slightly to look at Carlisle. We've been having a lot of family meetings recently, discussing where we were going to next. We had been living in the same spot for about 3 years, and soon, people were going to start suspecting things.
I sat down slowly on the white leather loveseat, glancing at the empty spot next to me. I imagined Bella here with me, with her arms around my waist, smiling up at me, her golden eyes sparkling. I imagined her kissing me softly on the cheek, leaning into the crook of my neck. All these thoughts brought waves upon waves of sadness and pain onto myself, but I felt calmness run over me. Jasper was looking my way, an apologetic smile on his face. I nodded curtly, silently thanking him.
Carlisle cleared his throat, and I tore myself away from my illusions to focus my attention on him. His thoughts were blocked, and it was making me nervous.
"When I was out hunting, I met one of our kinds. He belongs to a coven that lives a few hours away from here. His power is to be able to find other vampires, vegetarians especially. He had heard about us, and invited them to join their coven further north." Carlisle looked at all of us, his gaze betraying no emotions.
Alice froze for a moment, her eyes glazing over. Jasper prodded her slightly, and she shook her head, clearing it. "They are two females and a male- The male and one of the females are mates, and the other male is alone. I haven't seen anything that might lead to danger."
Carlisle smiled, seemingly calmer. He turned to look at the rest of us. "Well, what do you think guys? We need to move anyways."
"Yes" came from everyone in the room. When they looked at me, I shrugged. I didn't really care. Everywhere was hell for me these days.
"Hello. Do you like your room?" I turned away from my CD shelf, where I was getting everything situated. Someone was standing in the doorway, smiling.
"Yes, it's nice." Her name was Veronica, and she had been a vampire for about 50 years. We had arrived earlier this morning, greeted by the three vampires. The other two were Monique and Nickolas, who were mates. Monique was hyper, and she and Alice bonded instantly. Nickolas was like Carlisle, who had an unmistakable innate calm. It was easy to see how in love they were.
My room was up on the 2nd floor, next to Veronica's and Jasper and Alice's room. Carlisle and Esme's room were up one more floor, along with Monique and Nickolas. Rosalie and Emmett had taken the master bedroom downstairs behind the living room.
Nickolas was able to track other vampires, but not like James. He could feel the presence of other vampires within a certain area range, and tell immediately what diet they followed.
Monique's power is to place a shield around something, or someone. She had put one permanently around the house, to avoid other vampires who might have seen or scented our presence.
Veronica's power was subtle. She had the gift of luck, yet it wasn't entirely a physical or mental power. Simply put, in a situation, she had more luck than the others. The family was still figuring it out.
She nodded, gesturing into my room. "Do you mind if I come in?" I shook my head. "No, not at all. Come on in."
I moved, so she had a better view. I smiled to myself when I saw her eyes widen at my CD collection. "Wow, that's a lot of CD's. But I guess you've had a long time to collect them all." She laughed, and I laughed quietly along with her.
When I glanced back at her again, I realized how much she reminded me of Bella. Quiet and shy, not attention seeking. I was beginning to like her, but in a brotherly way. I could never love anyone the way my love was for Bella.
Veronica swept her gaze over the shelves again, grinning. "Well, I'll leave you to it then. You look like you have your work cut out for you." She nodded with her head towards my boxes of CD's.
"Yes, I believe I do. See you later, then." She turned to go out the room, but before she stepped out of the doorway, she hesitated, turning back to look at me.
"Edward?"
"Hm?" I turned to her, confused. Her eyes looked full with understanding and sorrow. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but I feel that you're going through a hard time. So I just wanted to let you know that if you ever want to talk, I'm here. I've gone through times too."
Veronica smiled slightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. It shocked me, again, how much she and Bella were alike. I nodded my head slowly. "Thanks. I'll try to take you up on that offer sometime."
She turned and walked away, and I turned back to my desolate room.
Sighing, I tried, unsuccessfully to clear my head of Bella, before returning to my music. I put Debussy on, and went back to organizing my CD's as the first notes of Clair De Lune drifted out of my stereo.
Bella POV
I could feel my senses becoming even sharper, due to the training I had begun with Damien.
Over the course of a few weeks, Damien had actually started cracking a smile instead of glaring at everyone the entire time. I wondered why, and when I questioned Kira about it, all she did was laugh.
Begin flashback
"Why don't you take a quick break now? We can resume our training later." Damien looked at me, slightly smiling.
I was shocked-he had never even smiled before, not even saying something remotely nice. I matched my tone with his, my emotions escaping from my slightly.
"Good idea. I need to speak with Kira quickly also." Damien looked at me again, nodding.
I turned to walk out of the training room quickly. My head was full of my thoughts about how Damien had been acting, so I didn't notice when I crashed into Kira.
"Geez, girl, slow down! What's the rush?" Her eyes were golden and filled with amusement. I smiled. Kira had adjusted perfectly well to becoming an animal drinker.
I shook my head slightly. "Nothing, it's just...Damien actually smiled today, and he was nice!" Kira's eyes bugged out, and her jaw dropped open.
"DAMIEN??" I nodded my head vigorously. Kira seemed to freeze for a moment, before glancing back at me and the training room a few times. She started chuckling, before she full out laughed.
"What?" Kira just kept laughing, until I used my telekinesis to slap her cloak across her face. She stopped, then glared at me. But she couldn't for long, and she grinned again.
"I think it's you, Bella. Damien's never acted that way-I think he likes you!" If I could be blushing, I would.
"Are you serious? No way!" I shook my head in disbelief. Kira rolled her eyes at me, patting my shoulder. "I'm just telling the truth, Bella. I seriously believe that that boy has something for you, I promise you that. Give him a chance."
I turned to go back towards the training room, my head spinning. Did Damien really like me? What about my feelings for him? I turned to look up at the ceiling. He was okay, a bit withdrawn, but he seemed nice. I knew that over time, we could become good friends. But I could never learn to love him-I could never have that kind of love for anyone except for Edward.
My thoughts disappeared as I locked them back inside my box, trapping it in the darkest corner of my mind as Damien walked into the room.
"Let's start." I cleared my mind of all emotions, and positioned myself to attack.
End Flashback
I counted my days here. Currently, I had been living in the Volturi Castle for about 2 months and 3 days. My training was shaping up, and Aro was impressed by it.
Damien and I had become close friends, talking and spending time with each other. I had learned to like him as a brother, and it was nice to have someone like that.
"Isabella, could I talk with you?" I turned around to see who was speaking to me, and I found Aro, his eyes glittering. I bowed my head slightly, indicating that he should start.
"I've seen how you have been training, and Damien tells me that you've been one of his best students. So I have a proposal for you." Aro stopped looking at me. I was feeling slightly confused, and shocked. Was I really that special?
"Yes, master?"
"I was wondering if you would like to train some of our members to be in a small, special guard. I had been wanting to create one apart from the main guard, and you seem to be the perfect candidate to lead them."
"I will be in charge of training them all?" I looked at Aro with disbelief.
"Yes, and you will be able to choose who will be in this special group. I suggest you make your choice wisely, because this is quite an honor. Whoever you choose will train with you, and I will be checking on your progress regularly."
"Please give me a day to consider this proposition-I will tell you tomorrow morning." I wondered what kind of mission we were going to be given, so I knew to be wary.
"Good. I will be awaiting your answer tomorrow. Have a good evening, Isabella." Aro gave a small wave, before turning and walking back towards the living room.
Retreating to my room, I curled up on my sofa again, remembering my precious memories.
I thought about the pros and cons of taking Aro's offer. If I had a place of power in the Volturi, it may make my stay here better. I would form close friendships, and I could forget about the Cullens easily. But on the bad side, what if I had to stay here forever? Never to see the light and experience freedom again?
Groaning, I flipped onto my stomach. If I were to choose, who would I choose? Kira, definitely. There were three other girls that I had talked with, and they were nice, and it was pleasant getting to know them.
Sophia has the ability to break through anything-force fields, steel, metal, you name it. She is a quiet girl, and she reminded me of myself. I always felt calm around her, and she never pushed anyone around. When I talked to her a few days ago, she mentioned that she wanted to switch over to animal drinking like Kira and myself, and I had volunteered to take her the next time when we were feeding.
Desha is a loyal person, always standing up for others. She is always happy, very robust, and honest. Because of her robust traits, she had the power to enlarge and shrink items to her will.
Ginger's personality is serious. She always got down to business, no fooling around. I guess I liked her so much because she always kept everyone on task, and never missed a beat. Also, she had a nasty temper if you made her mad, and she doesn't take lying well. She had the ability to tell if you were lying or telling the truth, and she could hypnotize people to see things her way.
A small group of five…and we could always work together, becoming good friends, working on missions…I was starting to like the idea, so I decided to give it a shot.
Pleased that I had solved my dilemma, I relaxed on my couch, waiting for the next day to come.
Long chappie, right?
I hope you've enjoyed this, and please review! I really appreciate all your priceless input into this story, and it truly is nice reading what you think of my writings.
Until the next update, then!
BellaJ