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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 Seven — The Last Piece ~

Aro POV

I watched the Cullens leaving, broken and hopeless, and a wave of joy filled my heart.

The boy, Edward, was practically being carried away by his brother. Perhaps they were worried he was going to force us to act after all. There was no need to worry. I read his thoughts once more as I helped him from the floor and saw that he thought that to live with his pain was a better testament of his love than seeking death.

He was not alone in his grief. The evidence of their pain was etched on all of their faces, even on the girl Rosalie's face, and I knew that she had disapproved of the girl's involvement in her family.

I did not read the other Cullens, though not for a lack of wanting. I knew from Edward's thoughts that he had not connected the moment of blankness in his pursuit of Bella with Alec, but I did not know if any of his siblings had made the connection. If I was to read them, I would know for sure, and it would force me to act. If they suspected something, Caius would not allow them to leave the city. He would see the risk as being too great. I did not want to waste talents as great as theirs.

"Well, that was not nearly as entertaining as I had hoped," Caius said when the sounds of their footsteps had died away.

"I agree, brother. But it was not completely without merit. There was the wonderful moment of hope when he thought he was going to be destroyed. That pleased me greatly. Though, for a moment, I wasn't sure Felix would relax his grasp."

Felix bowed his head. "I almost didn't, Master. The temptation was great."

"Then I am glad you resisted," I said. "You did well."

He preened under my praise.

"What are we going to do with the girl, now?" Caius asked.

Felix chuckled darkly. I beckoned him forward and took his hand. He was hoping I would allow him sport of the girl. It was rather crass for my purposes. I knew Felix had a predilection for playing with his food, sating himself physically before he fed from them, which I found distasteful. My own cruelties were mental, not physical. I would not allow him to have his way with Isabella. She was immortal now, not human cattle. Her immortality granted her a certain standard of treatment.

"Felix, please retrieve the nomad and Isabella for me please."

He made obeisance and then strode from the room.

"You did not read them, Aro," Caius said softly when we were alone again.

I had hoped he wouldn't draw attention to this fact.

"I saw no need to," I lied. "Their grief was plain to see."

"Their grief," he mused, mercifully distracted. "Do you not find it strange that they are all so affected by a human's demise?"

"It is positively obscene," I said. "But she was more than a pet to them; they genuinely loved her. Personally, I don't understand it. Perhaps their strange diet has addled their minds."

He laughed. "That must be it. Oh, here they are."

Felix came back into the room trailed by Isabella and the nomad.

"Isabella," I greeted effusively. "It's lovely to see you again."

Her vibrant red eyes rose to meet mine. I stepped forward and took her hand in mine. Her thoughts were a little clearer to read now, but they were still confused. I skimmed over the things I had already seen and focused on her most recent thoughts.

Never going to get out of here alive this time. That's good. They will kill me and I will see Edward. My poor Edward. Can't see Edward. Can't face him after what I did. Poor Alice. Poor Esme. Poor Edward.

Then, stuck on a loop, were the faces of Edward, Esme, and Alice. The people whose death she believed she had caused. It was dull and I soon tired of it. We needed something to liven her up again.

"Alec," I called loudly. If he was anywhere within the castle, he would hear me.

"What are you doing, Aro?" Caius asked.

"Well, brother, I have had a wonderful idea for a little more sport."

"What are you doing?" the nomad hissed. "You promised me my revenge."

"And you had it," I said firmly. "All that happens now is my pleasure. You may stay and watch if you can hold your tongue, or you can leave now."

"I will stay," she said truculently.

She had no choice really. I had reconsidered my plan to allow her to live. She was impertinent and did not show due deference to me and my brothers. I had told the Cullens she was dead, after all; now I would make it a reality.

"Kill it, Aro," Caius said behind me.

I did not know if he meant Isabella or the nomad. I would kill the nomad but not Isabella. She was my greatest achievement. A broken mind. I would not have that wasted.

I turned my back on her and moved to Caius' side. He held out his hand, and I sifted through the memories, searching for what I needed to know. Victoria's face was superimposed in his mind and the instruction was clear. Kill it, Aro.

I rather thought I would enjoy ending this life myself.

The nomad saw my intent as I swept towards her. She turned to run, but Felix caught her around the waist before she reached the doors. She screeched in fury, and I smiled.

"Nomad, you stand accused of the crime of exposing our secret," I said. "For that crime there can only be one punishment."

"But you let me!" she howled. "You knew what I was doing."

I ignored her and waved Alec forwards. He focused, and the nomad's writhing stilled. I had once, out of curiosity, asked Alec to affect me to see how it felt. Though I would never admit it, his influence tormented me more than Jane's ability to cause excruciating pain had.

"Make her kneel," I ordered and Felix manipulated her form so she was kneeling at my feet. "Hold her." Felix gripped her shoulders firmly, and I placed my hands on her forehead and jaw.

I hear a whimper behind me. I turned to see Isabella staring at us with wide eyed horror. She had broken from her confused thoughts and was watching us with an expression of horror.

"Pay attention, Isabella," I instructed. "This is what happens when you break our laws."

She whimpered again, but did not speak.

I returned my attention to the nomad. I smiled with satisfaction and then twisted her head in a sharp clockwise movement. With a screeching sound, her head came away in my hands. Felix released his hold on her shoulders and her body slumped to the ground with a satisfying thud. I tossed her head away to the side.

"Caius, would you mind?" I asked.

He came forward and pulled from his pocket the device he himself had created that would send a spurt of fire from its mouth. He handed it to me, and I shot a plume of flame onto the nomad's body. Alec collected her head and dropped it into the flames.

The fire burned so fast it only took a matter of minutes for her body to be completely consumed. Soon, all that was left was a pile of ashes.

I heard a thud behind me, and I turned to see Isabella hunched on the ground. Her face was pressed against the stone floor, averted from the sight of the ashes.

Sighing heavily, I went to her side and took her hand in mine.

Just like them. That's was all that was left. Just like them.

She had made the connection between the nomad's death and the supposed death of her dear ones. In her mind, she saw their faces superimposed on the nomad's.

I was impressed by the enhanced nature of her torment. Her changing mind had been cruel, it was true, but the enhanced nature of a vampire made it all so much more entertaining. The ability to think of multiple things at once meant that her delusion of humanity ran constantly, while her grief assaulted her near constantly, too.

"Get up, Isabella!" I ordered.

She didn't move, but remained curled in a ball on the floor. This would not do; I expected instant obedience, even from the insane.

"Jane, please show Isabella my displeasure," I instructed.

Jane smiled beatifically and fixed her eyes on Isabella's form. A moment later, the air was rent with screams as Isabella twisted and writhed in pain.

"Cease that infernal racket!" Caius shouted.

Jane dropped her influence and Isabella was left panting for unneeded breath.

"Now, Isabella, unless you want me to do that again, you will get off of the floor and do as you are told."

She got to her feet and turned to face me. She seemed wary of meeting my eye and fixed her attention on a spot above my head.

"I would like you to clean up this mess," I said, pointing to the remains of the nomad on the floor. "In the next room, you will find a drain set in the floor. Please dispose of the ashes down there."

She nodded jerkily and then crouched at the pile of ashes. With a look of utmost horror, she began scooping them into her hands.

"I see you are going to need to make multiple trips," Caius said, not hiding the amusement in his tone.

She nodded again, and rising carefully, she slowly exited the room cupping the nomad's remains in her hand. I knew it would be an uncommonly unpleasant task for her. No vampire liked handling the remains of another; it was a sharp reminder of our one weakness.

"That should keep her busy for a while," Caius said, clapping his hands together in glee. "What shall we do with her next?"

"We could keep her as a servant," Alec volunteered.

I shook my head. "I think we can do better than that, dear Alec. I would like to torture her with the voices a little more first."

"But how are we to do it?" Caius asked. "We will not be able to confuse her with imitations if she looking at us."

"Well, brother, I rather think we need to call upon an old friend."

He smirked. "Zafrina?"

"Yes, Zafrina."

Five decades ago, we received news of a nomad living in the Amazon that was conducting interesting experiment on humans. It seemed he had developed a theory that procreation was possible with a vampire male and human female. It may have been possible if not for the fact he killed the female while fornicating. His activities drew attention, and we destroyed him.

While there, Demetri picked up a trail of another coven in the area from the man before his destruction. We traced them to the Pantanal wet-lands. There were three females in the coven, one of which was gifted. She had the ability to create illusions in another's mind. It was a fairly innocuous talent, and I had no desire to recruit her to my guard. We allowed them freedom on the proviso that they make themselves available should we ever have need of them.

Now we had need.

xXx

One week later, Demetri returned with Zafrina. I had spent the intervening days enjoying my progress with Isabella. We had discovered that she had a remarkable threshold for pain. The more she was exposed to Jane's gift the better she was able to bear it. By the end of the fourth day of experimentation, she was able to grit her teeth and suffer through it without the tiresome screaming. It pleased Caius immensely. He enjoyed another's pain just as much as I did, but he had no patience for the screaming.

I had initially worried that the exposure to pain made Jane's gift less potent, but I read Isabella during one bout of pain and discovered it was as potent as ever. She had just learned to think around the pain. It was pleasing as it meant she was not only tortured by Jane's created agony, but by her mental torments, too.

It was during one of these moments of experimentation, late at night, that Demetri and Zafrina arrived. Zafrina was as wild looking as she had been the last time I had seen her. Her clothes were fashioned from animal hides, and her braided hair was strewn with dried leaves and twigs. I would have to have Heidi or another of the female guards clean her up before she left. I didn't want her drawing attention.

As I held out a hand to greet her, I felt the momentary thrill of excitement that I always did when presented with a new wealth of memories to enjoy. Zafrina's contained an unexpected surprise. It seemed that Carlisle and his mate had paid her coven a visit a decade earlier. I knew the Cullens were acquainted with Zafrina and her coven, but I did not know a friendship had been forged. It made my use of her gift all the more poetic. She would help me to break the girl a little further.

Zafrina's searching eyes found Isabella cowering in the corner. "Is this why I have come?" she asked.

"It is indeed," I said quietly, though Isabella didn't seem to be paring us any attention. "As I know you recognize, you owe a debt to us. We spared your life when we could have taken it by law, and now we are calling in that debt. You are to blind the girl while we do what must be done."

"And what is it that must be done?"

"That is not your concern," Caius said savagely. He had no love for Zafrina or her coven. He had voted to destroy them when we had first encountered them. It was Zafrina's gift that had stopped me, innocuous as it may be. I didn't like to destroy any talent.

Zafrina nodded sadly, and I continued my instructions.

"You will blind her and keep her blind until I say otherwise. No matter what you might see or hear. Do you understand?"

"I understand," she said quietly. It was obvious she was unhappy at the prospect, but her own life, and that of her coven mates, mattered more to her than her morals.

"You are acquainted with the Cullens, yes?" I asked Zafrina, and she nodded. "Wonderful, we are going to be speaking with Isabella. I would like you to use your gift to create an image of Carlisle and Jasper in Isabella's mind."

Caius laughed delightedly. "Oh, brother, this is just too wonderful." He turned to Zafrina. "Can you do this?"

"I can," she admitted. "Though I have no desire to hurt Carlisle."

"That is not a problem," Caius said lightly. "We have enough desire for us all."

I laughed in spite of myself. I had not seen Caius this lighthearted in decades.

"Isabella, come here," I called.

Obedient as ever, Isabella scurried to my side. I took her hand, more out of curiosity than actual concern, and sifted quickly through her memories. She had noted nothing of our conversation with Zafrina. She was thinking only of her lost love and the pain of Jane's torment. The vampire ability to think of multiple things was working in my favor yet again.

I gestured to Zafrina to begin, and Isabella's eyes became glazed and unfocussed.

"What can you see, Isabella?" I asked.

She shook her head.

I took her mute signal to mean nothing and gestured Caius forward to begin our torment.

"Bella, can you hear me?" I asked, affecting the tone of my old friend.

She gasped. "Carlisle?" Other than screams, we had not elicited any audible words from her since the moment she learned of her love's 'death'. This was interesting.

"Yes, it is I."

"I didn't think you would come back." There was a definite hint of longing in her tone.

"I am not back for long," I said. "I am only here to deliver our last message"

"Message?" The hope in her expression faded and was replaced by pain.

"Yes, message. We have taken a vote as a family and have decided the price of your life is not an equal payment for our loss. You will be allowed to live, but there are stipulations. You loved our family, yes?"

"Always," she breathed.

"Well, we once felt the same for you," I said. "But things have changed. Your payment for the lives of our loved ones is to live out your life, but you must live it alone. You must stay hidden from all others at all times. If you see someone, you hide. If someone sees you, you run. If you break these rules, I will allow Jasper the revenge he thirsts for, do you understand?"

She nodded frantically. "I will live. I will hide. I promise."

"Very well. Remember, Bella, we have friends and they will be watching you."

She whimpered but did not speak again.

I stepped forward and took her hand in mine. I wanted to know whether my words had penetrated her confused mind sufficiently or whether we needed a second attack to make the message sink in.

Have to hide. Have to pay. I see them, I hide. They see me, I run. Only way to pay. Have to pay the Cullens. Pay for Esme. Pay for Alice. Pay for my poor Edward.

Satisfied that my words had been acknowledged, I strode back to my throne and sat contemplating the masterpiece that was Isabella.

I had done my work; her mind was broken. Now it was time to sit back and reap the rewards of my efforts, not here though. The castle was not the right place for this child.

"Zafrina," I said thoughtfully. "You know every inch of your beloved forest, yes?"

"I know it all," she replied.

Wonderful. I would need somewhere remote and the Amazon rainforest would suit my needs.

"In that case, I have another task for you."

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

Simaril x