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As always, huge thanks go to my pre-reader/cheerleader team. Gredelina1, Verseseven, IamTheAlleyCat and Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen. Also to Snarkymuch for beta'ing this chapter and listening to all my bitching when the words wouldn't flow. I love you all.

~ Chapter Two — A Changing Mind ~

Aro POV

I heard a flurry of movement in the hall, and a moment later, Jane entered the room followed by a familiar nomad and Felix, in whose arms was a person in the midst of the change. Felix dropped the human to the floor with a meaty thud.

"Was your meal interrupted, Felix?" Caius asked sardonically.

I barely concealed my shock as I recognized the face. It was the Cullen boy's human. She was twisting and writhing, but quiet; her jaws were clamped together holding back her cries.

"What has happened here?" I asked.

Jane flitted to my side and held out her hand obligingly.

"Thank you, dear Jane," I said, "but I think our guest may be the best person to explain this."I recognized the nomad from the Cullen boy's memories. He had been trying to capture her before his arrival in the city last time. Something had happened between his human and the nomad's mate. He believed the woman was hunting his human, and he was evidently correct.

Jane scowled as the nomad, Victoria, hurried forward her hand outstretched. I took it, and was immediately overcome with a wealth of memories and thoughts.

Her mate had been a tracker, and he had chosen the human girl as his prey. In his attempt to destroy her, he had been destroyed. She'd vowed vengeance on the girl and had been trying for a year to isolate her from her protectors. First the Cullens, and then… oh my… werewolves. No, not true werewolves, shapeshifters. Some genetic quirk made the youth of a small tribe mutate into enormous beasts. This warranted further study.

I pushed aside that thought for the moment and continued in my perusal of Victoria's thoughts. She had created newborn vampires. First with the mind to protection, and then, as her plans solidified, as an army to fight the Cullens. I had to admire her ingenuity. She had controlled her army by telling them the myths about the destructive sun were true. I had never even thought of such a thing. It was genius.

The way she had avoided Alice Cullen's gift was clever, too. By making no decisions herself, she rendered the psychic blind. I would have to bear that in mind.

My guard had found her and, using initiative I did not know she possessed, Jane made the agreement to allow Victoria her revenge. Though she didn't know it, I was sure Jane planned to destroy Victoria herself once the battle was over. Victoria made the decision to watch the battles, and then crossed scent trail of the Cullen boy. She followed it to its source and found the human girl and Carlisle's mate, Esme. The battle was short-lived and dull as she heard the approach of my guard and fled.

I dropped her hand and looked to Jane. "Where is your brother, dear one?"

"He and Demetri are with the Cullens, Master," she said. "We found the nomad and the human and thought you would like to see them again. Alec is holding the Cullens still and awaits your word to retreat. They are going to be very upset." She smiled evilly as she finished. If there was one thing my dear one enjoyed more than pleasing me, it was to enjoy the pain of another, be it physical or emotional.

"You did well," I said.

She was elated at my compliment. Unlike many of my guard that were bound to me by Chelsea's wonderful talent, Jane and her brother truly lived to serve.

The human on the ground whimpered the name of her love, and then fell silent again. Her infatuation with the boy was tiresome and foolish. Though I would never admit it to another, I was a little envious of the adoration she bestowed upon him. Marcus had read their bonds, and he learned that, despite the fickle nature of human relations, she was tied to the boy in a way Marcus had never seen before. That a human's love could surpass the bond of my mate and I was insulting.

Jane held out her hand to me again, eager for more compliments and I indulged her. Taking her hand I read the newest thoughts held within her mind. She had waited until dark and then gone to Victoria and the now changing Bella. She expressed her displeasure at the course of events— Jane wanted to see the human dead; she had harbored a desire for revenge since she had been bested by the humans queerly protected mind. She brought her here to me, not only for my pleasure, but because she hoped here she would be allowed free rein to punish the human.

Her desire for revenge was marvelous. I took pride in the dark creature I had created. And also inspiration. I was also displeased that my gift had been beaten by the girl, and I now saw the perfect opportunity for revenge. And a little experimentation.

I moved swiftly to the human girl's side and took her hand. There was nothing but silence for my gift. The sensation was not entirely unpleasant. I could see the attraction she held for the Cullen boy. She provided him with company while allowing him rest for his constantly bombarded mind. She provided me with the same rest while experiencing human contact. To never touch without seeing the thoughts of another became wearisome over the millennia.

She was changing fast; if I was to implement my plan it had to be soon.

I addressed Victoria. "You may leave us."

She looked mutinous. "I was told I would have revenge."

"And trust me you will, though I shall be the one to exact it for you. What is to happen now is a matter for my brothers and I alone to witness. Please feel free to return in a few days, though. I am sure you will be satisfied with the results."

It would have been interesting to keep her here, but I wanted this to be my victory, not hers. Besides, from what I had seen in her thoughts she was determined that the girl should die. I had no intention of letting that happen. Yet.

"Felix, Jane, please see our guest out of the city," I instructed.

Felix clapped an enormous hand on her shoulder and directed her out of the room. Jane gave me a slavish look and then followed him out of the door.

"What are you plotting, Aro?" Caius asked when we were alone.

"I am feeling inquisitive today," I began, and he smiled. There were few days I was not feeling inquisitive; it was a natural side affect of living as long as I had. "I should like to experiment with the human mind a little."

I well remembered all I had learned from Alice and the Cullen boy's last visit. This girl was besotted not only with him, but with his family, too. She loved them, and for the most part, they her. I had seen all that had transpired in the thoughts of both Jane and Victoria and that had solidified my plan.

"I am going to test the limits of a changing mind," I said with obvious relish.

I explained my plan to Caius and the utterly disinterested Marcus in hissed tones; it would not do for the girl to hear our plotting.

Caius had none of my inquisitiveness, but he did have a streak of cruelty that this plan appealed to greatly. He smiled. "After you, dear brother."

I knelt at the girl's side and took her hand in mine. I had to seem comforting, for now anyway.

As vampires, we had the ability to perfectly reproduce the voice of another. It was an innocuous talent compared to the others at our disposal, but I was going to use it to my advantage.

"Bella," I began, mimicking the perfect cadences of Carlisle with ease.

"Carlisle?" she whimpered, her eyes remaining tightly closed. I could render her blind of course, but it would be easier for the charade if I didn't.

"Yes, Bella, it is me."

"Where's Edward?" Desperation and pain made her tone hoarse.

"He'll be here soon."

Caius quirked an eyebrow and I shook my head. I was not going to spoil it all with the revelation I had planned just yet. That was for the grand finale. First, I had to set my scene.

"It hurts," she whimpered.

"I remember," I said simply.

Caius muffled a laugh behind his hand. He was enjoying this almost as much as I was.

"Bella, there are things we need to discuss," I said. "You are going to be a vampire."

"I know." There was obvious happiness in her tone, despite the agony she was feeling.

"You are going to be a vampire, and you are going to be alone."

"Why?" It came out as a moan as the pain broke over her.

"Because you killed them, Bella. You killed my family, and I cannot bear to look at you now. It is only my duty to see you through your change that keeps me at your side."

"No, I didn't! I couldn't!"

"Yes, you did," I hissed. "They were here for you, and we fought them to protect you. Now they are dead and it is all your fault."

She whimpered and I saw a solitary tear streak down her cheek. Possibly the last she could shed as the venom worked its way through her body. It gave me a surge of satisfaction that I had drawn this last sign of human weakness from her.

"Who?"

I had to concentrate for my next task. I had never heard him speak in person, but Alice's memories had been full of the voice of her mate. Fashioning a light southern accent I spoke in the voice of Jasper.

"Alice. You killed my Alice."

She screamed. It was a drawn out sound of both her mental anguish and physical agony. It was immensely gratifying to hear.

"My sweet Alice is dead because she tried to save you. After all she had done for you, you killed her. Now I shall kill you."

Caius smiled, and came lightly to my side. "Not yet, Jasper," he said in Carlisle's soft tones. "She needs to hear it all. She needs to know what she has done to us all."

I snarled fiercely, though my eyes danced with mirth. "She killed my Alice!"

"You are not the only one that lost something today," he said. "Do you forget my own pain?"

"W-w-w-who?" she gasped.

"Esme," Caius said, affecting a heartbroken tone. "They killed my Esme when she tried to give chase. I was there just in time to see her burn."

"No! No! No! No!"

"Yes, Bella, you killed our mates," I said, now making my tone fierce. "For that I should kill you, but I won't."

"Why?" she asked plaintively.

If I did not know the human mind better, I would have said she wanted to die. She was such a strange human.

"Because we believe living with your pain is a greater punishment than death," Caius said.

My smile was now huge as I prepared to drop my final bombshell. I lowered my mouth to her ear and whispered my last words directly to her.

"Edward is dead."

The scream that came from her was unlike anything I have ever heard before in my long life. It was a feral howl of misery.

The sound echoed from the stone walls and reverberated around my mind. It went on far longer than I would have believed possible, and then cut off sharply. As the scream ended so did her movements. She no longer twisted and writhed; she lay quiescent on the floor. Her eyes were open but they stared unseeingly at the ceiling.

Caius waved in front of her face and there was absolutely no reaction.

"I think we broke her," he said in an amused tone.

"Well that was the goal after all," I said mildly. "I admit I am disappointed it was so easy. I thought she would have managed a little longer than that. She seemed so brave in the boy's memories. Pity."

Caius rose smoothly to his feet and looked down at the girl with little interest. "Shall we kill it?"

I considered carefully. It would be satisfying to kill her, but also a waste. If the damage was as extensive as I suspected, it would be more entertaining to keep her alive and see what happened. It might be interesting to see how long a vampire could go without feeding before there were physical effects. I had never seen a vampire starve before.

"No. I think we should let her live a little longer at least. She is still changing after all, I should like to see how her awakening progresses."

I reached out a hand to close her eyes. They were unnerving me just staring up like that. The moment our skin made contact a familiar feeling of power swept through me and my mind was filled with memories that weren't my own. Either because her mind was truly broken, or because something in the change had opened her to me, I could see all.

A lifetime of memories was there for my perusal, like pages torn from a book and spread across the floor. All I had to do was to focus on one and the image was replayed in my mind in glorious detail. I scanned through some, finding only banal childhood memories. The more interesting were the most recent. It seemed she had struck some kind of deal with the boy, exchanging sexual favors for his promise to change her. It was laudable that he thought he possessed the control; even if she was not his singer,he was still far too young to change her safely. He would have lost control and destroyed her.

I looked at her immobile form with its racing heart, pumping the venom through her veins. "Victoria did you a service, really," I told her. "At least she had the control to change you safely. Your Edward would have drained you dry in minutes."

Rudely, in my opinion, she did not respond.

I continued to search through the memories, occasionally drawing one to the surface to examine. They were interesting for a human, but only because of the Cullens involvement. I enjoyed her memories of Carlisle immensely. She had admired him greatly. I really couldn't have chosen a better voice to taunt her with.

I found the most recent memories, those of my and Caius' taunting, and watched them again and again. They were fascinating. She really had lost her mind. The very last memory I read from her was the moment I told her of Edward's death. She felt something fragment in her mind and a piece of herself fell away. Every thought since that moment was a repeat of the moment the Cullen boy asked her to marry him. It played on a loop in her mind. It was a strange memory to fixate upon, especially as she didn't want to marry him anyway.

I soon grew bored of watching that. I rose smoothly to my feet and sat again in my throne.

Now all that was left to do was wait.

Thanks for reading. If you would like a teaser of the next chapter let me know in a review or a PM.

Simaril x