Author's Note: Hey guys! I will try to make this short: thanks to all of my reviewers-evwannaB3, snakes and lions unite, Fantasy Dreamer1992, BelissaAdreana, Romance4ever, LAoR, Unerose93, VampireKa-Lyrra, Strong on the surface, ninja-frog101, FRK921, SparklingTopazEyes, psychotic kitsune, afallenheart, Eta Carinae1, rocnrollperson, '.Lamb, Bookits, faerie kitten, and wingedvampiregirl! Thanks so much! This is a longer chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I do own Lyla!

Previously:

She smiled, "I dont, but Edward does." She nodded her head toward the vampire standing at the back of the room. "Perhaps he will play sometime for you."

"Perhaps," Edward answered softly. "But now," he said, walking forward toward me, "I believe we were going to go on the grand tour."

With that, he grabbed my hand, and led me up the stairs.

Not Ready

My mouth dropped open as soon as the library doors were opened. I had traveled up the stairs, hand in hand with Edward, after we had left Carlisle and Esme. Once we reached the top floor, we had come face to face with the double French doors serving as the entrance to the library. The moment the huge wooden doors were opened, my face became that of a goldfish.

To say the place was gigantic would be an understatement. It could have been some very old book collector owned the library for what the place looked like. Which might have been true, actually, I thought. Carlisle was most certainly older than any book collector by far, and it seemed he had acquired a number of volumes over those many years.

I walked past Edward, my hand dropping away from his. For a moment, I missed the contact of my hand with his, before I shook myself out of it. I didn't like Edward that way, or well...I didn't really know what I thought of Edward. He was nice, most certainly, and for once, I didn't have to hide from someone, but I didn't know if I liked him like that. At least, not yet.

I pushed the thoughts out of my head for the moment and walked over to the nearest book shelf. It was as though the multitudes of shelves were calling me toward them.

The room itself was at least two stories high, with a banister aligning the balcony on the second floor. Because the shelves were stacked to the ceiling, large ladders were placed along the wooden shelves. A large, stain glass window laid into the back wall provided some limited light, but along the shelves were sconces to illuminate the room in a soft glow.

Everything was ornate, like someone had designed every nook of the room to make it perfect. Into the shelves were carvings of what looked to be different eras of time, probably all of those Carlisle had lived through. The rug, too, was a majestic red, traced with different patterns inside by a skilled maker. Part of me was scared just to walk on it, for fear I would damage the perfect rug.

In the center of the room was a mahogany desk, completely antique. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was three hundred years old. Stacks of books were placed on the desk, surrounding a single open volume at the center.

As I reached the shelves, I lightly ran my finger through all of the volumes of books. Some of the larger books dealt with medicine, even some medical school textbooks from many years ago. I discovered some old first editions of now famous old books, reminding me of all the time periods Carlisle would have lived through. It occurred to me that Carlisle might actually have known these authors when they were alive.

Among the array I found a book about the Civil War, with a page marked in it. I glanced back at Edward, who was watching me, slightly amused, and raised my eyebrows as I took the book out. Glancing back down at it, I almost dropped the book in shock. There, in the center of the page, was a picture of Jasper.

It wasn't identical to how he looked now, his hair wasn't as thick, and his nose was slightly crooked, like it had been broken in a fight, but still, it was him. The black and white picture showed him wearing what I recognized as a confederate uniform. With a jolt I realized this was Jasper as he had been as a human.

Underneath the picture of Jasper's name, there were two dates, but I only paid attention to the last one. It was the time of the new born wars. I knew about them, but only in theory. I assumed that was how Jasper had been changed, for if he was part of the Confederates, he had been in the South at the time as well.

It would certainly explain the scars. However, I wanted to know the whole story...

I read aloud the title of the article on the page, "Major Jasper Whitlock and His Rise to the Top." I looked back at Edward for an explanation.

Edward smiled at me, I almost swooned at the gesture. "Yes, Jasper was part of the Confederate army as a human." He walked toward me and picked the book up out of my hands, before placing it back on the shelf. "But, if you want to hear the full story, you will need to ask Jasper." Edward finished adamantly. I had assumed as much, Edward didn't seem the type to share someone else's stories, but perhaps that had to do with the fact that he knew every detail.

I kept on walking down the shelves, thumbing through the titles. "Is there one about you in here?" I asked Edward, curiously. If there was one about Jasper, I wondered who else was mentioned in all of these stories.

He chuckled, "No, you won't find a book in here where I am mentioned." I caught his eyes again, both were sparkling with mirth. His joy was infectious; I smiled myself. Part of me was upset I could not glean anything about him from this library.

It was then that we both heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Whether he wasn't sure it I could hear the footsteps, or if he was telling me who it was, I didn't know. However, it was in the next moment that Edward spoke, "Carlisle is coming." I only nodded in response. Part of me wasn't ready to hear what the vampire world thought of Lyla, though I knew it was necessary I find out.

The doors burst open as Carlisle walked inside. When he saw Edward and I, he smiled, before addressing me, "Now, Bella, I am assuming you want to know anything about the early days of the Volturi I can tell you."

I nodded in affirmation, though it was not posed as a question. Carlisle swiftly walked over to one of the far shelves, and climbed up the ladder. To a human, he would have appeared almost invisible with the speed at which he moved, but my eyes were able to catch every movement.

"Ah, hear we are." Carlisle said as he grabbed a huge book from the top shelf. As he reached the bottom of the ladder, I walked over to him, curious as to what so large a book could hold. Edward, too, moved toward us.

Setting the huge volume on the table, Carlisle finally spoke, "This is a book I got from the Volturi castle while I lived with them." He blew off the dust to reveal a dark green cover with the words THE HISTORY OF THE VOLTURI. Before I could ask the question which sprang to my mind, Carlisle answered it. "This book was commissioned by Volturi in their youngest days, when they had first started to rule." So it was, indeed, reliable. That was my only concern, I didn't want to read a book with a foggy understanding of vampiric history, whatever they thought it was.

Gently, he opened up the binding of the book, to reveal handwritten characters which looked ancient. The pages were cracking and had faded completely, barely was the book even held together.

Without hesitation I began to read,

"By order of Cauis, Marcus, and Aro, supreme lords of Volterra, and rulers of the vampire race, this book was written, completely and as acurately as possible by Endarphor the story teller. It tells of the early days of their rule, and will, henceforth, be a guide to the future generations of the immortal creatures of the night."

I noticed they didn't use last names in the book, giving credence to the fact that the book was, indeed, old. As though I could even doubt that after seeing the horrible shape it was in, even if it had been taken care of.

"This is the only copy of this book still in existence." Carlisle said, solemnly. "It is also the oldest of its kind, and no where does it tell of the other races other than the werewolves."

I glanced up at him, thinking. Then, finally, the answer came to me. I spoke softly as I uttered the words, "The Volturi didn't want the rest of the world to know that they could be overthrown, so they destroyed any information that could put them at risk." It was the only explanation as to why vampires didn't know of the other races.

"Yes, it seems so." Carlisle said, sadly.

I put my head back down to continue reading.

"After the reign of Lyla Vangonet, a vampire who ruled for a short time, the Volturi first claimed the throne. They overthrew Lyla, who had been known as the Protector. The protector had been the most powerful being alive and had ruled both the werewolves and the vampires, for a time. However, when Lyla gained too much power, she began to become ruthless. With the aid of many vampires, the three brothers were able to overthrow her and gain possession of the crown. Filled with grief for her lost kingdom, Lyla had killed herself."

I couldn't read anymore. None of this was true! Is this what the entire vampire world would believe? Was this how Lyla was remembered? Wind began to circulate throughout the room, I began shaking, my throat began to feel as though it was on fire. All I knew was anger, fury. How could this have happened!

"BELLA! STOP!" I vaguely heard Carlisle's voice in the back round, but I paid little attention, the anger was swallowing me up. It was a toxin running through my veins, consuming me completely.

"BELLA!" I felt a hand on my shoulder at that moment and a voice in my ear. "Bella, you have to listen to me, you have to calm down, ok?" I recognized that voice. The voice of an angel was calming me down, all I wanted to do was obey that voice. I didn't want to do anything but obey that voice. Why was I mad? I couldn't remember anymore...

Slowly, my shaking came to a halt, my throat didn't feel like fire, and the flapping of paper in the wind stopped. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before reality came back to me.

"I didn't think I could do that." I said, shocked, once I regained the use of speech. I didn't realize how much power I could possibly gain before I turned eighteen. Actually, I really hadn't given much thought as to how much power I would have at all...

I opened my eyes to see two very startled vampires. Their eyes revealed concern, probably since I was near panicking.

"Bella, what was that?" Carlisle asked me, his own shock was apparent. It was a question to which I didn't have an answer.

"I don't know." I spoke softly. "I mean, I know I am part faerie, so that probably deals with the wind as faeries can control air." I was attempting to rationalize with myself, it was a trick I often used to calm myself down. "The shaking," I shuddered as I remembered, "I almost phased, it seems. And my throat burning..." I gulped. This was almost too much. "My throat burning, well...." I couldn't continue.

I looked up to a serious looking Edward and Carlisle. Clearly, they knew as well as I did what that meant: I was thirsty. Of all of the traits I could or would get, I was most afraid of the burning thirst of a vampire. By my shocked eyes, which were near bulging out of my head, both Cullens knew this.

"Has this ever happened before?" Edward asked me, his eyes full of concern. Thankfully, he knew to change the subject.

Tears were making there way into my eyes. Though I hated to admit it, I was scared. Scared of the future, scared of what this could mean, scared of what I was becoming...

"No." I said softly. My powers weren't something I had really thought about yet, and it was now staring me right in the face. Sure, I had gained some powers already, but nothing serious or life threatening. Somehow, I had disillusioned myself into thinking that was how my powers would always be: nice, simple, and in no way dangerous. What would happen when I had no control over phasing? What would happen when I began to become thirsty? It was my job to protect humans, surely I wouldn't hurt them, would I? It was then I remembered something: I wasn't the protector of mortals, I was the protector of the mythical races. I kept them from killing themselves off, I kept the peace. Perhaps peace-keeper would be a better word for what I was, because it seemed my job wasn't to protect anyone at all, not even the humans...

What then would happen when I truly gained my powers? Would I begin to hurt even those I loved because of what I was? My thoughts only spiralled downwards: Truth be told, I was terrified: I wasn't ready.

Author's Note: I WILL UPDATE TOMORROW IF I GET 20 REVIEWS!!! I got 21 last chapter, so its possible :-D Yea! It was a longer chapter, because it took longer :-D hope you liked it! I am excited about what is coming next, there should be some ExB stuff soon as well as a little surprise..whoever reviews and asks for me to tell it to them I will! It is not really a preview, but more like a hint... Anyway REVEIW! I love your thoughts! Until next time...

~Dreams of Bubbles~