Chapter 8

REMEMBERING

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT. SHE DOES (POINTS TO STEPHANIE MEYER.)

Alice walked after the little Jane at once. Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me along beside her. The alley angled slightly downward as it narrowed. I looked up at him with frantic questions in my eyes, but he just shook his head. Though I could not hear the others behind us, I was sure they were there. They were creepy like that. I would have looked over my shoulder to check but I did not want to see Felix smirk again-talk about freaky.

"Well, Alice," Edward said conversationally as we walked. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see you here."

"It was my mistake," Alice answered in the same tone. "It was my job to set it right."

"What happened?" His voice was polite, as if he were barely interested. I imagined this was due to the listening ears behind us.

"It's a long story." Alice's eyes flickered toward me and away. "In summary, she did jump off a cliff, but she wasn't trying to kill herself. Bella's all about the extreme sports these days."

I flushed and turned my eyes straight ahead, looking after the dark shadow that I could no longer see. I could imagine what he was hearing in Alice's thoughts now. Probably, he was hearing all about how I almost drowned and about the stalker vampires who had apparently taken to following me, not to mention my werewolf friends…

"Hmm," Edward said curtly, and the casual tone of his voice was gone. Clearly, he was not pleased, but I could not understand why. After all Edward had no feelings for me, so why would he care what I had done in my spare time after he had left.

There was a loose curve to the alley, still slanting downward, so I did not see the squared-off dead end coming until we reached the flat, windowless, brick face. The little one called Jane had apparently vanished. 'Must be one of the multiple creepy things vampires can do,' I thought 'Disappear into thin air...'

Alice did not hesitate and did not break pace as she strode toward the wall. Then, with easy grace, she slid down an open hole in the street. 'Oh,' I cannot help thinking, 'that was slightly anticlimactic.'

It looked like a drain, sunk into the lowest point of the paving. I had not noticed it until Alice disappeared, but the grate was halfway pushed aside. The hole was small, and black. I knew that the space inside would be claustrophobic and I was obviously meant to follow Alice down said hole. This is not going to be fun.

I balked.

"It's all right, Bella," Edward said in a low voice. "Alice will catch you." If Alice does not catch me... then my trip to Volterra will have ended slightly earlier than expected.

I eyed the hole doubtfully. I imagine he would have gone first, if Demetri and Felix had not been waiting, smug and silent, behind us. That thought alone was enough to make up my mind for me.

I crouched down, swinging my legs into the narrow gap.

"Alice?" I whispered, voice trembling. 'Please catch me,' I begged mentally. 'Please.'

"I'm right here, Bella," she reassured me. Her voice came from too far below to make me feel better.

Edward took my wrists – his hands felt like stones in winter – and lowered me into the blackness.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Drop her," Alice called.

I closed my eyes so I could not see the darkness, scrunching them together in terror, clamping my mouth shut so I would not scream. Edward let me fall. The moment Edward let go of my wrists, I felt a moment of blind terror. I did not wish to die in this fashion, not after I had just had Edward in my grasp once more.

It was silent and short. The air whipped past me for just half a second, and then, with a huff as I exhaled, Alice's waiting arms caught me.

I was going to have bruises; her arms were very hard. She stood me upright. For some reason I had forgotten that vampires often felt as though they were made out of rock...

It was dim, but not black at the bottom. The light from the hole above provided a faint glow, reflecting wetly from the stones under my feet. The light vanished for a second, and then Edward was a faint, white radiance beside me. He put his arm around me, holding me close to his side, and began to tow me swiftly forward. I wrapped both arms around his cold waist, and tripped and stumbled my way across the uneven stone surface. The sound of the heavy grate sliding over the drain hole behind us rang with metallic finality. I felt although I were in a horror movie were the killer is lurking in the shadow, waiting to pounce now that seemingly all the exits have been closed off. Horror movies, seriously I am in a life or death situation and all I can think about is horror movies? Could I get any more cliché? I mean that I currently am living most people's definition of a horror movie.

The dim light from the street was quickly lost in the gloom. The sound of my staggering footsteps echoed through the black space; it sounded very wide, but I could not be sure. There were no sounds other than my frantic heartbeat and my feet on the wet stones –except for once, when an impatient sigh whispered from behind me. I wanted nothing more to turn round and curtly point out that I am a human, as of such cannot travel as quickly as a bloodsucking vampire can, and if the Volturi had not insisted on dragging Edward back to see this Aro, then none of us would be in this position! Hell, it looks like-should I get out of here alive- I am going to have to invest in anger management classes.

Edward held me tightly. He reached his free hand across his body to hold my face, too, his smooth thumb tracing across my lips. Now and then, I felt his face press into my hair. I realized that this was the only reunion we would get, and I clutched myself closer to him.

For now, it felt like he wanted me, and that was enough to offset the horror of the subterranean tunnel and the prowling vampires behind us. Wait I had forgotten about the others in the tunnel... if I was not so cold I knew I would be blushing, after all I had never liked PDA's

It was probably no more than guilt – the same guilt that compelled him to come here to die when he had believed that it was his fault that I had killed myself.

However, I felt his lips press silently against my forehead, and I did not care what the motivation was. At least I could be with him again before I died. That was better than a long life. It was better that before I died, I was able to hold and see my angel one last time, even if said angel felt nothing but indifference towards you.

I wished I could ask him exactly what was going to happen now. I wanted desperately to know how we were to die – as if that would somehow make it better, know in advance. However, I could not speak, even in a whisper, surrounded as we were. The others could hear everything – my every breath, my every heartbeat. The moment to talk to Edward was not now, much though I wished the opposite.

The path beneath our feet continued to slant downward, taking us deeper into the ground, and it made me claustrophobic. Only Edward's hand, soothing against my face, kept me from screaming aloud. 'Edward will probably never know what he means to you now,' my mind screeched at me. However, I no longer cared; I was with Edward-my Edward, dare I call him that, were truly I had no right to.

I could not tell where the light was coming from, but it slowly turned dark gray instead of black. We were in a low, arched tunnel. Long trails of ebony moisture seeped down the gray stones, as if they were bleeding ink.

I was shaking, and I thought it was from fear. It was not until my teeth started to chatter together that I realized I was cold. Why had I not brought my jacket? Oh that is right I forgot that vampires are inconsiderate pigs, who do not give a damn about humans! 'Bugger Bella, you really do need anger management classes.'

My clothes were still wet, and the temperature underneath the city was wintry. As was Edward's skin.

He realized this at the same time I did, and let go of me, keeping only my hand.

"N-n-no," I chattered, throwing my arms around him. I did not care if I froze. Who knew how long we had left? I could not lose Edward not now when I was facing my death.

His cold hand chafed against my arm, trying to warm me with the friction.

We hurried through the tunnel, or it felt like hurrying to me. My slow progress irritated someone – I guessed Felix – and I heard him heave a sigh now and then. 'He really should cut me some slack, I am human...'

At the end of the tunnel was a grate – the iron bars were rusting, but thick as my arm. A small door made of thinner, interlaced bars was standing open. Edward ducked through and hurried on to a larger, brighter stone room. The grille slammed shut with a clang, followed by the snap of a lock. I was too afraid to look behind me.

On the other side of the long room was a low, heavy wooden door. It was very thick – as I could tell because it, too, stood open.

We stepped through the door, and I glanced around me in surprise, relaxing automatically.

Beside me, Edward tensed, his jaw clenched tight.

Marcus POV

I could see that Aro was desperate to ask me something and so as Caius shuffled the cards for a game of *Primero* (see A/N), of which I would most definitely reign triumphant, I could see Aro visibly pluck up the courage to ask me whatever it was that was on his mind. "Brother," he began. "Does this...is this...are you..." Aro trailed off at this only for Caius to butt in "What Aro means to say is: does this change in mood and your sudden ability to answer and speak in more than monosyllables finally mean that you are no longer suicidal?" Caius bluntly questioned me, handing the cards to Aro to be dealt for our game.

I paused before answering. Aro looked so excited and so hopeful and Caius was staring pointedly at the table, undoubtedly trying not to get his hopes up. Weighing my words, I replied, "Neither of you know what it is to lose a mate, for that I am glad, but you cannot fathom the pain I feel every day. I will not lie to you both for I consider you to be my brothers and I firmly believe that I should never lie to my family so you should know that if the opportunity ever arises were my life can be ended, I will take it and nothing will change that." Both of my brothers looked crushed, a fact that weighed heavily on my conscious, evidently my answer was not the answer that they had desired.

"Perhaps," began Caius tentatively, "If you were to find Didyme's killer..." If I, the monster that I am, could cry the tears would have been streaming down my face. "Brother, if I was to discover Didyme's killer then I would end their pitiable excuse or a life slowly and painfully but when I had ended them I would most certainly seek to end my life."

Suddenly Chelsea flitted in through the door. "Masters," she started, "the Cullen boy is here with his sister Alice, and the human Bella."

Bella POV

We were in a brightly lit, unremarkable hallway. The walls were off-white, the floor carpeted in industrial gray. Common rectangular fluorescent lights were spaced evenly along the ceiling. It was warmer here, for which I was grateful. This hall seemed very benign after the gloom of the ghoulish stone sewers. At least, in this room I would-hopefully-have more difficulty thinking about horror movies...

Edward did not seem to agree with my assessment. He glowered darkly down the long hallway, toward the slight, black shrouded figure at the end, standing by an elevator. If Edward was uncomfortable in these surroundings then I knew that I should be also.

He pulled me along, and Alice walked on my other side. The heavy door creaked shut behind us, and then there was the thud of a bolt sliding home. Oh dear, that was not a sound that I liked, it left us with very few escape routes, not like I could get away from all of these vampires if they decided to attack, but still. I liked to leave my options open.

Jane waited by the elevator, one hand holding the doors open for us. Her expression was apathetic.

Once inside the elevator, the three vampires that belonged to the Volturi relaxed further.

They threw back their cloaks, letting the hoods fall back on their shoulders. Felix and Demetri were both of a slightly olive complexion – it looked odd combined with their chalky pallor. Felix's black hair was cropped short, but Demetri's waved to his shoulders. Their irises were deep crimson around the edges, darkening until they were black around the pupil.

Under the shrouds, their clothes were modern, pale, and nondescript. I cowered in the corner, cringing against Edward. His hand still rubbed against my arm. He never took his eyes off Jane. I was afraid, and Edward's obvious discomfort was not helping to reassure me.

The elevator ride was short; we stepped out into what looked like a posh office reception area. The walls were panelled in wood, the floors carpeted in thick, deep green. There were no windows, but large, brightly lit paintings of the Tuscan countryside hung everywhere as replacements. Pale leather couches were arranged in cosy groupings, and the glossy tables held crystal vases full of vibrantly coloured bouquets. The flowers' smell reminded me of a funeral home.

In the middle of the room was a high, polished mahogany counter. I gawked in astonishment at the woman behind it.

She was tall, with dark skin and green eyes. A human, a human works with the Volturi? The rulers of the vampire world have humans working for them? Wow...

She would have been very pretty in any other company – but not here. Because she was every bit as human as I was. I could not comprehend what this human woman was doing here, totally at ease, surrounded by vampires. Then again I was one to talk after all I had, up until recently, surrounded myself with vampires...I had considered them to be my friends and family, so perhaps this relationship was similar.

She smiled politely in welcome. "Good afternoon, Jane," she said. There was no surprise in her face as she glanced at Jane's company. Not even as she looked at Edward, his bare chest glinting dimly in the white lights, or even me, dishevelled and comparatively hideous. I knew what an odd grouping we must make and I could not fight off the rising blush.

Jane nodded. "Good afternoon, Gianna." She continued toward a set of double doors in the back of the room, and we followed.

As Felix passed the desk, he winked at Gianna, and she giggled.

On the other side of the wooden doors was a different kind of reception. The pale boy in the pearl gray suit could have been Jane's hair was darker, and his lips were not as full, but he was just as lovely. He came forward to meet us. He smiled, reaching for her. "Jane."

"Alec," she responded, embracing the boy. They kissed each other's cheeks on both sides.

Then he looked at us.

"They send you out for one and you come back with two… and a half," he noted, looking at me. "Nice work." Wait a minute, did he just refer me as a "half". Hell, if his face were not so hard I would smash it in. Do the world a favour.

She laughed – the sound sparkled with delight like a baby's cooing. Nice to know that we are all friends here and we are all able to laugh at the human's expense.

"Welcome back, Edward," Alec greeted him. "You seem in a better mood."

"Marginally," Edward agreed in a flat voice. If this was Edward in a better mood then I am glad I did not see him earlier.

I glanced at Edward's hard face, and wondered how his mood could have been darker before.

Alec chuckled, and examined me as I clung to Edward's side. "And this is the cause of all the trouble?" he asked, sceptical.

Edward only smiled his expression contemptuous. Then he froze.

Alec POV

Jane is back. Now together, we can beat Afton and Santiago at Guitar Hero. Now the only questions I have are; which character should I be and which song I should pick...Hmm... This may require some thought. Felix and Demetri are back too. I do not need the gift of seeing the future, to know that later there will be some serious Mariokart DS going down.

Speaking of seeing the future unfortunately Cullen and his freaky pixie sister are here, along with Cullen's precious little human. Really, if I were in charge I would kick them out, as to tell the truth, they lower the tone of this most glorious building. Nevertheless, I must admit-the human smells good but Felix-I mean Cat-food or Demetri have probably already claimed her blood, and to be frank I do not feel like kick starting a bidding war.

It is as I am studying the human that she looks up at me from below her eyelashes. I have to say, I did not see that one coming. This human girl is stunning. Fingers crossed Aro turns her and keeps her here. At least that way we would have our Miss December. I look to Demetri and I can see that he has just had the same thought as me, judging by the look on his face. Awesome that calls for a high-five later. Uh-oh, Jane's staring at me oh hell she knows what I'm thinking-I hate the creepy twin-bond sometimes, and now Cullen looks like he wants to rip my throat out. "You do know that there is NO WAY IN HELL that we are doing that naked calendar thing right?" Jane mutters too low and too fast for the human to realise that we are speaking.

I am about to apologise, in any case you do not want to annoy Jane, when I catch a glimpse of Cullen's face. He looks utterly murderous and right now, I am having excessive amounts of fun and so I have no real desire to stop teasing Cullen, so I ask the general question "Sure Janey-pie, now who wants to do the photos?"

Bella POV

"Dibs," Felix called casually from behind. Dibs...How old is he? Besides what is he even is he even trying to dibs? I hope that it is not my blood.

Edward turned, a low snarl building deep in his chest. Felix smiled staring at Edward– he raised his hand palm up; and curled his fingers twice, inviting Edward forward.

Alice touched Edward's arm. "Patience," she cautioned him. I was glad that Alice was there, I had no way of controlling Edward, to make him stop from doing something incredibly stupid.

They exchanged a long glance, and I wished I could hear what she was telling him. I figured that it was something to do with not attacking Felix, because Edward took a deep breath and turned back to Alec. It looks like he needs those anger management classes more than me...which is saying something.

"Aro will be so pleased to see you again," Alec said, as if nothing had passed.

"Let's not keep him waiting," Jane suggested.

Edward nodded once.

Alec and Jane, holding hands, led the way down yet another wide, ornate hall – would there ever be an end? I began to wonder if the rulers realised how maze-like their home seemed to an outsider.

They ignored the doors at the end of the hall – doors entirely sheathed in gold – stopping halfway down the hall and sliding aside a piece of the panelling to expose a plain wooden door. It was not locked. ' Talk about lax security' was my first thought.

Alec held it open for Jane.I wanted to groan when Edward pulled me through to the other side of the door. It was the same ancient stone as the square, the alley, and the sewers. And it was dark and cold again. That is it! I need to make an official complaint to the owners as all of this straining to see in the dark was giving me a headache. In addition, the constant cold had begun to make me wonder if this was the universes way of punishing me for not bringing a jacket with me.

The stone antechamber was not large. It opened quickly into a brighter, cavernous room, perfectly round like a huge castle turret…, which was probably exactly, what it was.

Two stories up, long window slits threw thin rectangles of bright sunlight onto the stone floor below. There were no artificial lights. The only furniture in the room were several massive wooden chairs, like thrones, that were spaced unevenly, flush with the curving stone walls. In the very centre of the circle, in a slight depression, was another drain. I wondered if they used it as an exit, like the hole in the street.

The room was not empty. A handful of people were convened in seemingly relaxed conversation. The murmur of low, smooth voices was a gentle hum in the air. As I watched, a pair of pale women in summer dresses paused in a patch of light, and, like prisms, their skin threw the light in rainbow sparkles against the sienna walls.

The exquisite faces all turned toward our party as we entered the room. Most of the immortals were dressed in inconspicuous pants and shirts – things that would not stick out at all on the streets below. However, the man who spoke first wore one of the long robes. It was pitch-black, and brushed against the floor. For a moment, I thought his long, jet-black hair was the hood of his cloak. Whoa, it looks like we have a male Rapunzel on our hands.

"Jane, dear one, you've returned!" he cried in evident delight. His voice was just a soft sighing.

He drifted forward, and the movement flowed with such surreal grace that I gawked, my mouth hanging open. Even Alice, whose every motion looked like dancing, could not compare. I personally think that he deserves some form of award, being more graceful than Alice is no mean feat.

I was only more astonished as he floated closer and I could see his face. It was not like the unnaturally attractive faces that surrounded him (for he did not approach us alone; the entire group converged around him, some following, and some walking ahead of him with the alert manner of bodyguards).

I could not decide if his face was beautiful or not. I suppose the features were perfect. However, he was as different from the vampires beside him as they were from me. His skin was translucently white, like onionskin, and it looked just as delicate – it stood in shocking contrast to the long black hair that framed his face. I felt a strange, horrifying urge to touch his cheek, to see if it was softer than Edward's or Alice's, or if it was powdery, like chalk.

His eyes were red, the same as the others around him, but the colour was clouded, milky; I wondered if his vision was affected by the haze. It seemed almost impossible that it would not be but then again these are vampires, they are impossible (in more ways than one)

He glided to Jane, took her face in his papery hands, kissed her lightly on her full lips, and then floated back a step.

"Yes, Master." Jane smiled; the expression made her look like an angelic child. "I brought him back alive, just as you wished."

"Ah, Jane." He smiled, too. "You are such a comfort to me."

He turned his misty eyes toward us, and the smile brightened – became ecstatic.

"And Alice and Bella, too!" he rejoiced, clapping his thin hands together. "This is a happy surprise! Wonderful!"

I stared in shock as he called our names informally, as if we were old friends dropping in for an unexpected visit. Strangely, his familiar manner did not put me at ease rather it made me feel on edge.

He turned to our hulking escort. "Felix, be a dear and tell my brothers about our company. I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss this."

"Yes, Master." Felix nodded and disappeared back the way we had come.

"You see, Edward?" The strange vampire turned and smiled at Edward like a fond but scolding grandfather. "What did I tell you? Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?"

"Yes, Aro, I am," he agreed, tightening his arm around my waist.

"I love a happy ending." Aro sighed. "They are so rare. But I want the whole story. How did this happen? Alice?" He turned to gaze at Alice with curious, misty eyes. "Your brother seemed to think you infallible, but apparently there was some mistake."

"Oh, I'm far from infallible." She flashed a dazzling smile. She looked perfectly at ease, except that her hands were balled into tight little fists.

"As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them."

"You're too modest," Aro chided. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits, and I must admit I've never observed anything like your talent. Wonderful!"

Alice flicked a glance at Edward. Aro did not miss it.

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel like I know you already, and I tend get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a peculiar way. You see, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not." Aro shook his head; his tone was envious.

"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward added dryly. He looked at Alice as he swiftly explained. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what is passing through your head in the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had."

Alice raised her delicate eyebrows, and Edward inclined his head.

Aro didn't miss that either