Hey everyone.
Sorry the update took so long but I didn't have a clue what to do. Thanks to all who gave help and inspiration, it was greatly appreciated.
This chapter is really long so you might be glad for the long wait. I don't know if you will like it or not but... here it is.
Also, I edited the last bit of chapter 3 because the whole 'love at first site' annoyed me a bit, so I just prolonged it a bit. If you can be bothered to go back and read it please do, and if you have left a review for that chapter tell me what you think please.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and please would you review once you have read :)
Edward POV
The sobs came fast and quick, filling up my senses and blocking out all thoughts around me. I could hardly hear a thing, just those thoughts that were based around Bella, and her tragic fate.
My world was crashing down around me. The prospect that Bella, my sweet innocent Bella, was going to the Volturi to get changed was incomprehensible. My any aspect of a soul that I might have gained in the time Bella and I had been with one another was washed away as I read Carlisle's thoughts. He tried to block them out but failed in the attempt to sooth me. The facts were these: Bella, the love of my life, the reason for my existence, was headed towards a fate which should not be hers. She was going to the Volturi to get changed into a bloodthirsty beast, a vampire. She had written me a letter that told me all these things and Carlisle had just confirmed everything over again. She had told me how much she loved me and that she had no choice in the matter. She had also told me to wait three days until following her to Volterra, yet this, I could not do. How could she expect me to wait here while she is in the midst of some of the most vile, destructive creatures on this planet?
Of course I knew I could change nothing, that I going there would stop nothing. But to even begin to think about what they could do to her sickened me to the very bone and a deep anger rose up in me. My Bella, becoming a vampire, was not how I wanted it; especially at the hands of those arrogant fools. No, it was not her fault and she had no power over what could happen. She was scared to death, I could tell that from her writings, and she wanted to protect us. But I did not want protecting; I wanted to protect her for the rest of time and have her with me until her dying day, the day I would die also.
So, she was becoming one of us. That was a horrific thing on its own. That she would be changed into a soulless being; yet I believe that Bella would somehow make it soulful, and a joy to live. She was beauty beyond no compare and I would love her always, even when she was changed I would see her no differently than the angel she is. I would hold her delicate hand, caress her soft face, and touch her perfect lips with my own, but without that hunger. If she were to become vampire she would still be my Bella, but I would forever feel guilty that I had made her like this, not literally but in that I was not there to stop it happening. I could just about live through that.
But she will have to join the Volturi. They are not forgiving beings. She could not be changed and handed to me like that, oh no. They will not let her go willingly. If she tries to escape she will be tortured; told things, lies, and force her to do the unimaginable, they will break her up because they think that she is there's. She is no ones, not even mine, but her own self whom would not, could not, hurt a fly. They will change her and lock her away, and abuse her body and mind in ways that make me want to cry out in pain. She will be deeply disturbed and disrupted and hurt with things past my own understanding. This is not with physical pain, like a punch or a kick, but things that cut deeper then knifes ever could. They know all about Bella, and so she will snap like a twig. But, if she plays it safe, she will be fine, so to speak, in what she does and how she lives. She will have freedom and mostly peace in the life of the Volturi, and she will hate every second of it. She will cry and beg and plead each day for them to let her go, but they won't. She will be there, locked away.
So there is no option, but I join the guard myself. I have to do that for living without Bella is far worst then anything I would have to endure in the guard. But, if we were to live together on the guard, our whole life watched by those pretension fools. I want to be with her and would not care what they would say or do.
"Edward, what are you going to do?" A quiet voice echoed through the silence. I looked up and saw Alice start to proceed towards me. She knelt down and placed a hand on my shoulder, before I could respond she embraced me in a bone crushing hug. I fell onto Alice with relief and she held me as I cried dry tears. I didn't realize it at the time but, if she hadn't of done that, I don't think I would have been able to recover as fast or as clearly.
"I'm going to come with you," Alice announced after a moment or two.
"What do you mean?" I asked her. I was shocked at myself that I even had to ask, yet could not find the strength in myself to go through Alice's thoughts. At the moment, I just wanted to be alone in my head. Unfortunately this was not an optional thing and thoughts from around me still interrupted any silence that I could collect within myself.
"Edward, you already know. You have made up your mind for what you are going to do next." And with those words a vision of Alice and me on a plane as it lands in Rome shot through my head. I looked at Alice understandingly and nodded. The vision continued and an intercom echoed around the plane, stating the date and thanking the passengers, wishing them a good time in Rome. The vision blanked out and I found myself staring into Alice's eyes. "We better get going if we want to catch that plane."
Alice stood up and pulled me along with her. She gave me a reassuring smile and we turned to the rest of our family who had been waiting patiently for us.
"What's going on?" Carlisle asked us in a soft voice.
"We're going to go get Bella," I told them, my voice building up strength with each word.
"In three days?" Emmett asked, unsure.
"I'm not waiting three days; anything could happen in that time."
"Yes, and that's why Bella said it," Carlisle told me in a calming voice. "Edward... you can't stop what will definitely happen. What Bella has explained to us, what I have explained to you, don't you see that... we have to go through this in a tactical way."
"No. I know it sounds stupid and wrong but... I won't let her go through this." As the words left my mouth I realized that there was another option.
"We're going to stop her before she even makes it to Volterra." Alice looked at me, a glint of approval in her eyes.
"Ok son, do what you need to do. But be careful." Carlisle stepped forward and places his hand on my shoulder. We'll be with you all the way.
"No, I won't let you," I told him. "You need to stay here, all of you do," I told them all, turning to Alice last.
"Oh no you don't. I am coming with you," She said, determination set clearly on her face.
"Alice-" Jasper began to protest, but was cut of quickly.
"Jasper, I am going and I am going to come back," she told him. "Stop being such an over protective fool. I won't do anything stupid, I promise." Alice stepped forward and they embraced. I had to turn away from this as it brought me pain, reminded me that I couldn't do that with Bella.
We said our goodbye's and set off towards the ticket office. Suddenly I felt a spring of hope as I realized that we were going after Bella, that we were going to get her back to us.
Bella's POV
Life's unfair; there had never been truer words. I felt empty and alone in the world, and as I flew further and further away from my life, I felt like I was dying. The change from human to vampire had been explained to me many times before and, since the age of ten, I had been waiting and preparing myself for such an event. But now I felt as if whatever they would throw at me, I could take it. For my heart was already shattered into a thousand pieces, any other pain would just be a distraction from the heartbreak.
I felt evil and vile. What I had just done should be punishment under death. I left him... I lied and left. That's all my life is and has ever been, one big lie. I have lied to my friends, to Charlie, to Jacob, to the Cullen's and, most importantly, to Edward. I don't deserve to be a human being, and to be a vampire, I think that even that is a luxury.
I love Edward so much and... I can't face it. I have left him, the most perfect man on the planet, for the Volturi. But that is why I left him; it's because of the Volturi. They are such monsters that to even start to understand what it means to be in love is something incomprehensible to their savage brains. If I even mentioned Edward to them, then they would laugh in my face, if I did anymore then they would take severe measures. I love him so much and to even think about what would have happened if I stayed. Felix said it himself; he would come and get me, destroying everyone in his path. I couldn't do that to the Cullen's, I had to protect them.
I don't want to even begin to think about what is going through Edwards head right now. He must think that I am a horrible person, and hopefully he will feel so much hatred towards me that he won't follow. He won't follow, not even after three days. I was a notch in his wall, a worthless human and nothing more. Who was I to think that he would consider me his mate? He is far too good for me, I am nothing and... This is all I should have ever expected of myself. There no point in running from my fate, I couldn't anyway, but even if I could I wouldn't. This will be my home; there is nothing left for me back in Forks.
At the time I so desperately wanted to believe that no one loved me and that I was running away from dead weight. But deep down I knew perfectly well what was going to happen and that it was all going to be my fault. I guess it was because I didn't want to face the truth, the unrealism of the situation and the tragedy of events that was about to happen.
I was brought out of my thoughts as the wheels of the plane made contact with the ground. This was my stop, Rome Italy, and from there I would be making my way towards Volterra. I climbed off the plane with the other passengers and onto the pavement below. We were all directed towards the building and double doors that led to the gangway. We proceeded in, towards the airport, and into the loading dock where we were to collect our baggage. After a few mix ups and a lot of impatience, I continued into the main hall with a measly travel bag.
As I stepped into the hall, with a mass of busy crowds and panic tourists, it was as if everything just suddenly sunk in. The horror and uncertainty that was to lead was unfathomable, yet each step closer and closer into the building had an extra weight, and this weight held extra pain and suffering. My body felt completely wrong and empty, each breath as shallow and unneeded as the next. It was as if my body wanted me to die for what I had done, wanted me to suffer a thousand times. It seemed that it wanted to tell me, to warn me, that this was wrong and I shouldn't take another step. I wanted to cry out but couldn't, there was nothing left in my lungs to make a noise.
"Hey, are you ok," someone asked around me, and with those words everything turned black.
"Hello? Sweetheart, can you hear me?" someone around me asked in Italian. I wanted to move but everything felt heavy and unattached. I tried to open my eyelids but it was as if they were glued together. I heard the rustle things being moved around me and what seemed like a seat being dragged across the floor. "I'll wait for her to wake up, you go back to your post," the voice said again. What was happening? Where was I? I couldn't remember anything, all I knew was there was a pounding thud in my head and how incredibly tired I was.
I lay there for an indefinite amount of time, just thinking and trying to remember what had happened. Slowly it started to come back, and with each new memory I found my strength. I let out a small moan and sat up slowly.
"Oh, not to fast now," The woman said, again in Italian. "Here, have some water." She handed me a glass of water and I took a swig from it. As the water poured down my throat mercifully, I started to look around at my surroundings. I was in a small office. The furniture was a dull grey, there was a window blocked by blinds, yet, just below the window, there was a sharp beam of light that hit the carpeted floor, giving off a light glow. The walls were painted a subtle blue that, unless you were looking for the colour, looked white. The end of the room opposite to the window was a dark brown door; it had a pane of glass at eye level so you could see who was coming in.
"Wh-what happened?" I stuttered in weak Italian, still unsure about how I got from the middle of the airports hall to here.
"Well, it looks like you blacked out," the woman replied, taking the cup from my hands and putting it on a table behind her. I stopped looking around the room and so looked straight at the woman. She had shortly cropped black hair and dark brown eyes; she was of a mixed race and quite a large woman. She was in a security guard uniform which had the name 'Linda' engraved into it and her face had a happy expression with comely features.
"Yeah, someone said you were breathing really fast and you couldn't keep your feet. It sounds like you were having, either an asthma attack, or a panic attack. But, on the other hand, I could be completely wrong altogether."
I knew perfectly well it wasn't because of any illness or problems I have had, but that it was a panic attack. It was something completely understandable in a situation such as mine, but I still felt indescribably embarrassed, and so ended up sticking with the story of asthmatic.
"How long was I out for?" I asked, curious to how much time I had lost.
"Oh, a good hour... hour and a half."
An hour? How did I lose all that time? Felix is going to... well, let's not think of that.
After that I escaped the office as quickly as possible, rushing to get out the airport, and walked back through a corridor into the main hall. I tried as best I could to keep my mind off of the Volturi and what I had done to Edward, I didn't want another fainting incident, but failed miserably and didn't even want to think how long the shuttle to Rome would be. Making a rash decision I jogged lightly into one of the 10 electronic shops in the airport and bought a ready installed iPod. My thinking in the situation was that I couldn't stand being alone with my pent up thoughts any longer, and so would block them out. Shoving my new iPod into my bag, as quickly as possible, I passed all security checks and rushed out of the airport, stepping onto the pavement. I was officially on Italian soil.
I rushed over to the ticket booth and asked about shuttles going into the centre of Rome. He nodded to me and told me the prices and times. I agreed to it all and handed him over a 20 euro note, telling him to keep the change. Once I had the ticket for the bus in order I waited for it to arrive, luckily it arrived earlier than anticipated and so I got onto the vehicle and sat on a single seat. Taking out my new gadget I plugged it in my ears, listening to the first ear slitting music that would stop any possible chance of thought.
Edward POV
"Alice? Are you sure?" I asked her in a low tone as we walked over to our luggage. We had set foot in Italy not 2 minutes ago, Alice getting us through security by using ways only Alice knew. We were both wearing items of clothing that covered us up completely, so that the sun wouldn't be a worry.
"Yes, very," she replied, not missing a beat.
"But she will be long gone by now. Her fight landed an hour and a half before ours and you haven't even had a vision about it," I retorted.
"Your lack of confidence in me is insulting. Trust me to find Bella." We walked in silence through the airport; I kept my nose high in the air for any traces of Bella.
"She was here," I spoke out, hope glistening on the edges of my voice. "I can't tell how long ago though, it's mixed with too many other scents."
Speeding on faster to get out of the crowded building I rushed to the doors and swung them open. An over powering smell hit my nose and I could feel my pupils dilate instantly. Bella. She had been here barely 15 minutes ago. Dropping my bags where I stood I raced off at a slow pace, for a vampire, in her direction of scent, when I was out of human eyes shot I started running properly.
Bella's POV
The bus stopped around the centre of town, the journey hadn't been too bad, only 15 minutes of loud, thought consuming music. I unplugged the earphones to find I had a splitting head ache and a ringing in my ear, but, ignoring this, I carefully and calmly got off the bus. I stepped onto the cobble streets below with an ungraceful 'thud', and then another loud 'thud' as my travel bag slipped through my fingers and onto the floor.
Recovering it quickly I started on my way up the ally. It was market day in the cramped street, people shouting and buying, colours everywhere, the smell of freshly made bread strong in your nose, and all this compacted into an atmosphere of an energetic world; it was as if you could hear the music of activity in the air. Really, it was quiet magical if you stopped to take a breath, but that was something I didn't have time for.
I darted through the busy crowds at a quick walking pace; I headed for the small side ally where Felix and I were to meet. My iPod headphones were dragging along the floor, almost tripping me up as I accidently steeped on them. Wrapping them around the iPod I started to debate what I should do with the device. I knew I wouldn't ever need it again, not where I was going, and so decided that I should just throw it away. I looked around and saw an over flowing bin and proceeded that way, as I was about to drop it in I saw a boy laying, sleeping, on the floor next to the bin. He was about the age of 14, and was wearing tattered jeans and shirt; he had no possessions of what I could see apart from a bowl, with the words 'please give' roughly engraved into it. All he had to rest his head on was a rugged blanket with the dirt of the street stained into it. Next to him was a scruffy dog of black and white, quiet skinny and weak looking, curled up into a ball at his side. An idea suddenly struck my mind and so I stopped myself from throwing away the iPod and walked over to the boy; I place the iPod and the rest of my Euros into the boys bowl, then stood up, and walked away. Thinking nothing of what I just did but the small thought of hope, that it would do him some good. I had no pity for the boy, for I would rather be in his shoes then in mine.
I continued up the street, going right to the top of the street where the market ended, until I reached a little fruit stool with no one behind it. Veering towards it I slipped behind the stool and to the small side street that had been kept hidden by the over hangings and crates from the shop. As soon as I took a step forward into the ally, I wished I hadn't.
It was dark and cold, hidden deep in shade, and completely out of view from the rest of the street. The walls that made up this ally were of an uneven stone brick, and felt like ice when I put my hand up against the side and pushed myself on. As I got deeper and deeper into this secluded spot the sounds of the market disappeared, and an all of a sudden it was just me and the silence. There was an unearthly feel about this place, probably why Felix had asked to meet here, but not only the complete isolation and loneliness, but also, it felt as if the walls had eyes. When I looked back at where I had come in I realized I had gone little more than 10 steps, and that I could still see the street I had left behind. Ignoring the erg to turn and run I went straight forward, not taking my eyes off the wall at the far end. I think that, if I had been in any other situation, then I would have been fine, I mean the dark and supernatural has never scared me before, as living with vampires gets rid of that irrational fear, yet by knowing that there is more out there, it kind of puts everything into a new perspective and makes you more scared. But, no, this fear wasn't a kind of fear that had you fearing for monsters, more like one of those fears where you know that someone you love is going to get hurt and there is nothing you can do about it. I tried to shake off the feeling but it wouldn't go away, just buried deeper and deeper into my chest until the feeling got so consuming that I couldn't breathe. I knew I was having another panic attack yet I couldn't stop it, just like the time before. Something was about to happen and I didn't know what that was. I was scared.
I heard a footstep enter the ally, very subtle but still there. My first initial response was that it was Felix, but knowing that if it was Felix, he would have done it in a stealthy way that would scare me. I suddenly realized why this feeling was so intense, so real, it was because something was about to happen, and I didn't know if I wanted to run away in fear or embrace it with open arms. Running away wouldn't stop it and embracing it defiantly wouldn't. All I wanted was for this to all be over, but I knew for sure that it wouldn't ever end, and so I just took a breath and made a decision.
"Edward," I breathed, swinging round to look my follower in the face. How I knew I it was Edward I don't know, but as soon as I saw his face all else cest to matter.
"Bella," he mouthed shakily, a look of deep pain and regret. I didn't know how to react; I was stuck still in place, as if my body was taking its own path to survival.
Edward then took a step forward, as if testing the ground, and when he saw that I didn't respond to his moment in any way he rushed forward, taking me up in his arms and holding onto me with dear life. I wrapped my arms round his neck with such desperation, burying my head into his neck and relaxing completely in his hold. A sob suddenly escaped my lips and, to my surprise, his too. I could feel all the darkness and mysterious allusion of the ally creeping edgily away as he held me in his arms, I felt safe for the first time since leaving Forks and didn't want it to end. I loved him so much and never wanted to let go, I could feel the passion and love radiating off of him and I reflected that, how I could have ever thought that I could leave this magnificent angel I have no idea. I don't even care why he came, why he forgave me, that fact that he did was good enough for me. Tears poured freely down my cheeks but I didn't care, it just intensified my grip on him.
"You're so stupid," I whispered into his ear, barely even able to get out a single word.
"I love you so much," he replied back, not even hearing what I said. Leaning back and pulling me away, yet keeping a strong grip on my waste, he looked at me. I saw such love and content in him and I just melted, I felt that they could do anything to us and we would still love each other forever more. Nothing could bring us apart, then in one swift moment, Edwards lips came crushing down onto mine with such brilliance and care. It felt like my first kiss, except much, much better. I was young and in love, I hadn't ever seen a bad day in my life and I wanted to spend every minute with this man. I was on top of the world. The kiss was, actually, indescribably beautiful, the most pressures, memorable moment in time and I have never known such peace or joy or... wonder. I would take years to describe my exact emotions for they were so strong, and amazing. But it all ended too soon.
The air suddenly turned cold again, leaving a dark, empty feeling where the kiss had been seconds before. Edwards's arms stiffened around me and I looked up at him in confusion, completely forgetting where we were and what was happening. Edwards face was scared, something I had never seen before. I had seen strained and restrained and even pain, but not fear. I knew what had happened and why Edward was scared, our moment was gone and now it was back down to business. Before I even knew what was going on my feet were on the floor once again and facing the opening to the ally way. Edward had got into a protective crouch in front of me, a low growl rippled in his throat, and I prepared myself for the worst.
"Hello Bella, and my, my, what do we have here?" A shadow appeared at the exit of the ally and stood there, hands behind its back and waited.
Yes, definitely the worst.
Wow, is it just impossible for my not to leave cliff-hangers?? Lol!
Anyway, what do you think? It was pretty long; my longest chapter yet in fact, so I hope you enjoyed the lengthyness.
Don't forget about chapter 3... If you can be bothered that is.
Also, if you weren't able to review last time please do include your thought in for what you thought about it. If you cba then just write a 'great'... I'm good with that.
Also, has anyone got any ideas for a good summary, because mine sucks. I want to draw more people in so... any idea??
So, again, please tell me what you think!!
REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!