Chapter Sixteen: The Volturi

Meanwhile back at the cell...

"What the fuck was all of that!" Edward demanded, bewildered.

"That," Jake gestured toward the door where his best childhood friend just retreated with their enemy, "was Izzy."

"What in the HELL does that mean!" Edward yelled back, his irritation and anger growing by the nanosecond.

Jake sighed, staying amazingly calm through this ordeal, and his face took on a solemn look. "That's the darker side of Bella's personality. The side that's in control when she fights. Our Bella could never do any of that. She's too sweet. Until you piss her off and you have to deal with Izzy. It's not like a split personality or anything, she knows what's going on. She just disconnects all emotions, except maybe anger, and uses that darker side that we all have locked away in our minds."

"Can she stop it?" Edward asked quietly, wondering if there was any hope at all of getting out of here. Jake and him were strong, but they couldn't take on all of those guys, not one man short and with the obvious disadvantage of guns against fists.

"Yes, but usually only when she realizes she's about to hurt something or someone that she cares about. I don't know if she can control it, but her episodes have been getting better."

"How long is she usually out?" Edward asked, a little more confident in their survival.

"That's the thing, though. It varies so much, there's no telling how long she'll be out of it. It's been ranged between a few minutes and a few weeks." Jake paused. "Did you ever learn about psychology? About the Id the Ego and the Superego?" His question was met with a brief nod and he continued. "Well when she's Izzy she just acts on her Id instead of her Superego. It's just her mind's way of balancing out all of her good."

"What about James, though? Won't he take advantage of that?" Edward questioned, finding that the pieces were starting to fit together.

"Unfortunately yes. That's why he was so trusting of her, she walked out of here without being restrained at all. He knows how skilled she is, but he's convinced that she's on his side right now." Jake said, confirming Edward's suspicions.

"What do you think?" Edward asked more directly now, finally stopping and looking Jake in the eye as apposed to pacing around the cramped cell like he had been before.

Jake sighed. "I know our Bella is in there somewhere, but it's been so long since her last episode I don't know if she'll come back in time. I have faith in her, but James is such a manipulative bastard I don't know what she'll do. All I can really do is hope and pray she comes back to us."

Edward nodded silently. He stood there staring at the little trickle of light coming from under the door. And for the first time in his life, he prayed.

A moment later the door screeched open and in the doorway stood a slightly muscled man with short, black hair flanked by a monstrous guard on either side.

"Aro would like to see you." He said in a slight French accent. Apparently that was the cue because as soon as he finished saying that the two guards moved forward and dragged the two boys down the corridor to a large wooden door.

"He'll be with you any minute." said the French guy politely.

The guards opened the door and threw them to the ground, which was very hard, very cold concrete. They looked up and froze at what they saw. Bella- err Izzy- with James' arm possessively around her waist.

BPOV

James led me to a large room with three large chairs on a raised platform. A few moments later Jake and Edward were escorted in to join us. And when I say escorted I mean thrown to the floor with a loud thud by some overly muscled dude in a tank top. I had to remind myself that this was a serious matter and that laughing was completely inappropriate. Jake looked up at me, catching my small smile, and gave me a questioning look.

My eyes flashed up at the guard and he followed my gaze, soon meeting my small hidden smile with one of his own. He caught Edward's eye and gave him a meaningful look. Both of them seemed to relax slightly, but tensed once again when they heard a door open and three sets of footsteps approach. They pulled themselves to their feet and stared straight ahead to meet their enemy head on.

The leaders of the Volturi were young enough, but all had this look and feel about them that they were much older than they looked. Not in years, but in experience and knowledge.

Marcus was slightly taller than average with dark hair that hung in his eyes. Even before any of them spoke you could tell he was the intense silent one. Caius was a bit shorter than Marcus, but was still pretty tall, he had spiked, blonde hair and was obviously the coldest of them all. Aro was shorter than his brothers of sorts, yet he held the most power, the most presence. He had dark hair as well that swept to the side of his face to reveal grey-blue eyes.

Marcus and Caius parted to the sides as Aro stood front and center. They all sat in their throne-like seats simultaneously. A spark of fear ran through me. These men were even calculating when they sat in a chair, there was no way that anyone would find us if something were to go wrong.

I tried to read their faces to see if we really stood a chance. Marcus sat there looking bored out of his mind. Caius looked like he was eternally pissed off. And Aro's face was mostly neutral except for the slight curve of his lips and the look of amusement in his eye.

"What do we have here? A new recruit?" Aro asked, eying me.

"Yes, probably. She is an old student of mine. She can be controlled." James responded, making sure to keep his eyes slightly lower than Aro's as a sign of respect. Even the Izzy side of me simmered a little at James' words. Aro didn't miss the flash of fire in my eyes.

"It looks as if she does not agree. Are you sure you can handle her? She does not look like one to be tamed." Aro questioned.

"She can be handled." James assured him. Marcus was staring at me with a confused look on his face and it took nearly all of my willpower not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze.

"Hmm. And what of these two? Did they not arrive with her?" Aro asked.

"Yes, but I do not know them. I do not trust them." James replied, venom seeping into his voice.

"What do you propose we do with them?" asked Aro. The other two had yet to speak, obviously not wanting to interrupt their brother.

"They are of no use to us. I propose that we dispose of them." James said coolly.

I'm not sure if it was my intense focus on not flinching or the fact that my Izzy side was never fully there or maybe it was the fact that he just threatened the lives of my loved ones. Either way, something in me snapped. I was not able to follow through with my plan to the end. James had been at ease, completely trusting that I would obey. So when my leg swung around and caught him on the back of the knees, he fell to the ground in shock.

Of course after a few choice blows he was snapped out of that and started to fight back. He started to reach for his gun, but then retreated, knowing that at this close of range it was either hand to hand or risk blowing your own foot off.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jake and Edward start towards us to jump in and control James, but Aro dismissed them with a flick of his wrist and the gaurds inched closer, waiting for the signal to take them down. Aro focused intensely on the two of us as we fought, I figured he wanted to see if I was as talented as James had claimed. Oh I've got something for you Aro.

I ducked out of James' way and backed up a few feet, taking on a more defensive stance. I internally smirked at James' smile of triumph. I waited for him to throw me a good shot before I made my move.

JPOV

Watching Bella and James fight was like watching a fucking train wreck; it was horrible and you wanted to look away, but you couldn't because you needed to see the final result.

Bella had backed away and was taking a defensive stance, a sure sign that she was fucked. I saw James' hand come out to hit her square in the face and watched in horror as she stayed still, not dodging the shot like she had been doing. At the last second her hand came up, blocking the shot and opening up James' weaknesses down the center of his body. She wasted no time in bringing up her other hand and getting James straight over the heart in the heart stopper move I had taught her in elementary school in case she ever got into trouble. Another quick blow to his chest knocked the air out of his lungs and he was down for the count.

I stared up at Bella in awe and Aro started clapping. I felt like kicking the shit out of that dude at that moment, but then thought better of it. Bella was in his good graces, James was down, and we had a small shot at getting out of here alive. Damn, I hope today is our lucky day.

A/N: No excuses. Next chapter already in progress. I'm working on a rewrite so I'm not sure about story lines or updates. Plus I'm out of town all summer so…. yeah. Updates are going to be on the fritz. Review please!

XOXO,

Jenny C.