Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

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.

This is the chapter in which I think I will lose some of you. I have taken liberties with Bella's state of mind. I ask you to trust me, as it will all come good in the end.

~ Chapter Four — A Strange Awakening ~

Aro POV

Two days later, her change was almost complete. She had not moved or spoken once since she learned of her love's supposed death.

Unexpectedly, and a little disappointingly, Alec and Demetri had not awaited my summons before returning. The other Cullens had neared them, and they were outnumbered. They returned only a few hours after Jane.

I was disappointed that they had not been able to watch as the Cullen boy learned of his love's death; it would have been so entertaining to watch his pain. I would have liked the full set. I made a tentative plan to travel to America sometime in the future to observe him.

The guard assembled in the room as the human's change neared its completion. I didn't know if she would remain inert following her awakening, but it did not do to be unprotected. I ensured Renata was at my side, and Felix and Santiago were prepared to restrain her. It had been a long time since we had a newborn in the city. I rather looked forward to the entertainment she would provide.

Her back arched as her heart gave its final racing beats, and then it fell silent. Her eyes snapped open and she stared up at the ceiling. I wondered what she was seeing. Was she enjoying the same moment of revelation we all did upon awakening, every sense honed to devastating detail, or had the insanity persisted?

I glanced at Marcus. He had been destroyed by the death of his mate; would the same fate befall the girl? That would be a shame. She would be far less entertaining like that.

"Master?" Jane said questioningly. She wanted to test her gift on the girl. She had tried as the girl burned, but it either failed or the pain of the burn overcame its affects. Now there was nothing to distract from the pain.

I nodded to her. "Feel free, dear Jane."

She smiled cruelly and focused her crimson eyes on the girl.

The girl's back arched and she shrieked in agony. The scream was not as satisfying as the one she had given when I told her that her mate was dead, but I took my pleasures where I could find them.

Jane laughed in triumph. She was joyous at her victory over the girl at last. She hurt her over and over again, drawing fresh screams from the girl. Each of them warmed my heart.

"That will do, Jane," I said softly.

The girl's screams cut off abruptly, and she lay back on the ground, her chest heaving with panting breaths.

"That was interesting," Caius said mildly, "but loud."

Jane tried for an apologetic expression, but she did not succeed.

The girl's panting breaths slowed, and she pushed herself clumsily to a sitting position and looked around the room. This was all very odd. There was no sign of newborn mania, or being overcome with the sensory overload, or even thirst. In fact, she seemed remarkably tame for a new vampire. If I could not see the physical proof of her change in her enhanced appearance and vivid red eyes, I would have said she was still human.

"What's wrong with it?" Caius asked. "It's behaving strangely."

She really was. She was standing now, her eyes still scanning to room. She did not pause to rest on any of our faces but continued searching for that unknown something.

"I think she is looking for the Cullen boy," I said.

Her eyes snapped to me at the mention of the name, but she did not speak.

"Is that right?" I asked in a friendly tone. "Are you looking for Edward?"

Her expression twisted in pain, and she wrapped her arms around her middle as if embracing herself.

This was just too perfect. She had forgotten or perhaps not believed what we told her. Now I could see her break all over again.

"They have gone, Isabella. Jasper and Carlisle, they left after they spoke to you."

She shook her head frantically.

I continued on mercilessly. "They brought you here to our care after you destroyed their family. A lesser man than Carlisle would have killed you in revenge, but he was always far too kind. He asked us to look after you and to pass on a message."

Her eyes were wide. The fear came from her in almost tangible waves. This was going to be immensely satisfying.

"They asked us to tell you that you are to avoid them at all costs. They have appeased their grief with your pain for now, but should they encounter you again, you will suffer for it. I rather think Jasper would kill you. He certainly wanted to."

She hid her face in her hands. As pleasing as it was to see her pain, I wanted more. I wanted to hear her scream as I had when she learned of the boy's 'death'.

"I'm sure you understand that desire. You would want revenge if it was you. You killed them all. Esme, Alice and… Edward!"

I had wanted the scream and I was not disappointed. The pitch was above what Jane had drawn from her. She dropped to her knees and slammed her head against the floor over and over. The impact of her head left deep divots in the heavy stone floor.

"Felix, restrain it please," Caius instructed. "I do not want to see our chamber destroyed just because it is unable to manage its emotions."

Felix lifted her bodily into the air and clamped his arms around her, holding her against his broad chest. She continued to fight against him, but it was futile; he was just too strong. Denied the chance to hurt herself on the floor, she slammed her head back against his chest instead. He grunted with the effort it took to hold her.

"This is already tiresome," Caius said in a bored tone.

"Alec," I called. "Would you lend us your assistance, please?"

Alec bowed courteously and fixed his eyes on the girl. The curious mist his gift created crept along the floor towards her and Felix. The second it reached the toes of her shoes Felix released her and stepped back, and she became perfectly still. Her eyes stared out unseeingly at the room; her face was vacant of all expression.

Now there was no danger of my becoming a victim to my own creation, I stepped forward and took her hand in mine again.

'Edward! Edward! I have to find him. I have to save him. I need to bleed.'

There was little new information in her mind but that phrase. Her mind seemed as frozen as her body. It looped on the words over and over. She was disbelieving of his death, and she thought that somehow she could save him by bleeding.

I had thought to keep her here and to see how long starvation took to make its affects known, but that didn't seem as interesting now. How were we to see the affects if she was already insane? No. It was not enough. I needed more.

I stared at her still form and considered. What would hurt the most? Death would surely be a mercy to her now. Her lover would soon, if he didn't already, believe her dead. There was nothing else to be gained from making it fact.

I took her hand in mine again and searched her memories for inspiration. It dawned on me like the sun escaping a cloud. Carlisle. Her affection for my old friend was deep, as was her respect. She hoped to be like him as a vampire, compassionate and good, and to my mind, foolish. I could make her Carlisle's worst opinion of our kind.

"Heidi, please fetch us a meal," I instructed.

She bowed to me and headed for the door.

"Oh, and, Heidi"— I smiled cruelly—"make them young."

xXx

I heard the chattering voices through Heidi's tour guide spiel as our meal came into the castle. I always enjoyed this moment. The clever ones realized soon that something was not right, but for the less intelligent it was not until they entered the feeding room and saw our red eyes that it dawned on them. It was, of course, too late by then. They were already doomed. In truth, it was too late for them the moment they accepted Heidi's invitation of a free tour.

Isabella was still under Alec's influence, standing useless in the center of the room. I had planned this moment to perfection. She was to remain influenced until the feeding frenzy had begun, then Alec was to drop his hold on her and we could enjoy the first death at her hands.

It would be hard for Alec to remain in control of his gift once the blood started flowing, but I trusted in his fear of us to keep him in check.

The door swung open and Heidi led in a crowd of humans.

"Welcome to Castle Volturi," I announced, spreading my arms wide in welcome.

Those that had still believed their safety took one look at me and then the horror began. I always enjoyed this moment. Some were frozen in place by their fear, others screamed and ran for the doors and some began to beg. A heavyset male gripped one hand over his chest and dropped to the floor.

I sighed. Another heart fail.

It happened occasionally, and it always annoyed me when it did. If we were too slow getting to them, we would be drinking still blood, and that was not as satisfying as feeling it pump into your mouth.

I cleared my throat, and though the room was filled with screams and cries, my voice carried over them all. "Dear ones, enjoy." It was the permission they needed and they each fell upon their chosen victim. The scent of human blood filled the room, creating a frenzy of bloodlust. I could see Alec struggling to hold his influence over the girl and took pity on him.

I dropped the heart fail man at the girl's feet and slit his throat with a fingernail. There was still enough life in him that his blood flowed, rich and tempting, freely from the wound.

"You may release her, Alec," I said.

He nodded gratefully and hurried to his twin's side. She had held her own meal and one for him, waiting politely so they could feed together as was their custom. He smiled gratefully at her, then in unison they sank their teeth into their chosen victims.

The girl roused slowly. Her eyes opened, but they were blank at first. She shook her head experimentally and glanced around the room. I saw the moment sense returned to her as her eyes became comically wide and afraid. She dropped to her knees and curled against the floor in a protective ball.

This was ridiculous. She was supposed to feed like a newborn, not cower like a human.

Caius dropped his drained meal and wiped at the corners of his mouth delicately. "What is it doing now?" he asked.

"I think she is afraid."

"Which is obvious. What I want to know is, why isn't it feeding? Did something go wrong with the change?"

I didn't know what was wrong, but I was going to find out. I moved to her side and pulled her sharply from her position. I pulled the heart fail man closer to her and tilted back his head. The blood flowed from the wound. He was a lot stronger than I expected. His heart was still fluttering in his chest, though weakly.

"Look, Bella! There is blood!"

Her head snapped up and she gave a small cry of alarm. I smiled with satisfaction, thinking the feeding frenzy was about to begin. I was wrong.

She slapped her hands over the gaping wound as if hoping to staunch the flow of blood. Her grip was too tight; she snapped the man's neck, silencing the feeble heart at last. She didn't seem to realize what she had done. She continued to hold her hands over the wound. The crimson blood spilled over her fingers and onto the floor.

She was kneeling in a pool of blood, and yet, she seemed completely unaware of it. Even a century old vampire would have struggled to control themselves in this situation. But it was as if she didn't even notice the scent.

I touched the bare skin of her arms and rifled through her newest memories. She was thinking again; the bizarre litany she had been repeating earlier was gone, though her mind was still quite broken.

She truly was trying to save the man. In a mockery of what I had hoped to achieve here, she was doing it for Carlisle. She was trying to emulate him by saving the person. More shocking than that was the last though I heard from her.

'If only I was a vampire, I could have protected him.'

She didn't realize what she was. In her mind she was still human and weak. The delusion was so ingrained that the scent of blood repulsed her it had in her human memories. I had no idea such a thing was possible, but I saw the proof of it. Not once had she thought to hunt the man. Her focus was on saving him and not being ill from the smell.

Caius gave me a curious look, and I shook my head.

We had succeeded in our plan to break her, but we had broken her so thoroughly my personal plan to mold her into Carlisle's worst imaginings of our kind was futile. How was I to succeed when the foolish girl kneeling beside me believed she was still human?

Sighing heavily, I got to my feet and took the meal Sulpicia had held for me. As the blood flowed into my mouth, reenergizing my body and mind, I began to plot.

There had to be some good borne from this.

xXx

I was sitting in my throne considering my next step.

The girl was insane, that much was certain. She was so insane she denied the proof of what she was and clung to the safe human memories.

She was currently cowering on the floor of the feeding room surrounded by the evidence of our meal. Eventually, she realized the heart fail man was deceased and that had brought on a round of tiresome hysterics. We had left her to her misery and, after posting Afton at the door to stand guard, Caius and I retired to the throne room to discuss our next step.

Caius wanted to kill her, but I thought it would be a waste. Her fractured mind was one of my greatest achievements, and I did not want to destroy the evidence of my triumph. But nor did I want to have her lingering in the castle forever, mocking me with her believed humanity.

I should have liked to exhibit her somewhere as a demonstration of my power. Wayward vampires could be shown her as a warning against crossing me. In her I had succeeded. I should also like to see her upon occasion to cheer myself with the sight of her.

"It is a risk of exposure," Caius reasoned when I expressed my desire. "It will not take care to avoid the sun."

"Perhaps we could instill it in her the way we did when breaking her," I said.

"You mean to use their voices again?" He smiled evilly.

Caius had very much enjoyed our torment of the girl. I had already perused his memories of the event twice, each time gaining more pleasure for myself. She was my masterpiece.

"I think if we can distress her enough we could force her into the protective position again," I said. "I think we could perhaps use their voices while she is looking us directly in the eye and still convince her. She truly is broken."

"And what should we say?" he asked with relish.

I believed she would do anything Carlisle asked of her. It would not be difficult to persuade her that she must live away from humans; she would see it as her penance. If we added fear to the delusion, that she must stay hidden for protection… Well, that would surely hold her.

"I think we should call back the nomad," I said. "I have an idea and I think she will be invaluable in achieving it."

If I was correct in my thinking, she would be happy to monitor the situation for us, too. It would save me using a guard to oversee.

"Demetri," I called.

He hurried into the room and bowed before me. "Master."

"Please fetch the nomad for me. There is something I need from her, a service, if you will."

He bowed again and hurried from the room.

He had barely been gone more than ten minutes when I heard his footsteps racing along the halls.

"Master, we have visitors!" he said hurriedly.

"More visitors?" Caius said lazily. "We have never been so popular. Who, pray tell, is coming this time?"

"The Cullen boy, Master," I felt his presence as he passed into the city.

Edward was coming here. This was just too perfect. Surely the boy had learned of his love's death and was coming for our assistance to end his life.

"But the girl is here!" Caius said, alarmed.

"Calm, brother," I said soothingly. "I have a plan."

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

Simaril x