Chapter 23

One of Those Nights

"If seconds heal the wounds, I'll put these tips on you. When faith is left to prove it's all you have to lose." –One of Those Nights by The Cab ft. Brendon Urie and Patrick Stump.

"Alice, we're about to board the flight. Yeah, they're leaving now. I know. Okay, love you too. Bye," I closed my phone and looked up at the flight plan again. Our plane was on time still. Nothing had changed. We still had to wait five minutes before it landed; and then another twenty to board.

"Relax, love," a soft voice murmured in my ear. I did as I was told and relaxed into his arms. "There." Edward smiled smugly before resting his chin on my head.

"How much longer for the plane?" Tanya appeared by our side in a new outfit.

"Five minutes," Edward and I answered in unison.

"Lovely," Tanya muttered and stalked off towards a magazine rack, flipping aimlessly through one. "Did you hear that Robert Pattinson got hit by a taxi?" Tanya feigned horror. "Who is Rob Pattinson anyways? And why do I care?" I laughed as she put the magazine down with a sour expression.

"Come on, we should get on the plane," Edward inclined his head towards the line that was forming at our gate.

"Yeah," I tugged on Tanya's arm.

"Edward, I miss your piano," I admitted while peering out the window of the plane. We had been on it for five hours and I was anxious to get home.

"I miss your guitar," Edward nudged my shoulder. I looked up to see him gazing at me with hooded lids.

"Is it all the voices?" I asked quietly. Edward nodded his head. I pushed my shield around him and put a block up.

Thank you. Edward thought with relief.

Don't mention it. What is with all the voices though? We're just on a plane; it shouldn't have been that bad… The few seconds I had heard the voices, I had been bombarded with shouts and yells.

I'm not sure. There might be something going on that has all these people fired up.

I'll see what it is. I left the block up for him, but I let my mind wander into others on the plane.

I wonder what the score is. Nope, nothing there; I moved onto another. After several different thoughts on nothing important, I came across one who spoke in Italian.

Fretta in su Ambrosine. 'Hurry up, Ambrosine.' I decided to stay in this person's mind for a moment. But as I waited for the person to continue, the mind went blank. Nothing was going through that person's mind. No one has yet to do that. See, you can't not think about something. It doesn't work that way. By trying to not think about anything, you are thinking of not thinking.

Edward, I returned to his thoughts.

Yes?

There is something weird going on in third class. I was going through everyone's minds back there and one had thought 'Hurry up Ambrosine' only in Italian. Well, I stayed with that person's thoughts a little longer, but nothing more was thought. I mean NOTHING. The person's mind has gone completely blank.

That's strange. Let the block down. I did as he said and dropped the guard. After a moment, Edward responded. I found them. There are two minds that were blank. Another was repeating a chant in Italian, but I can't translate Italian. So, I'm not sure what was being thought.

Hold on, I started searching for this mind. I found it quickly though.

In nome di Volturi, mantengo questi pensieri liberi. My eyes widened and pulled out of the mind instantly. I took a sharp breath, alarming Tanya and Edward. I quickly spread my shield to surround Tanya.

That person wasn't just a person, Edward. It was a vampire from the Volturi's secret guard. 'Ambrosine' was thinking 'In the name of Volturi, I keep these thoughts clear.' I guess it was a spell to clear their mind so I couldn't hear them. I'm not sure. But there are three of the guard on this plane. Tanya and Edward just stared wide-eyed at me.

Bella, are you sure? Tanya thought frantically. I nodded my head in assurance. Oh my.

What are we going to do? Edward asked.

As soon as the plane lands, we will move quickly and quietly out. Since we only have carry-on, we will be able to leave quicker. But the sun will be rising as we land in New York. So, we are going to have to hide out in the parking garage. When we are sure it is clear, we can start on our trek back to Forks. But no planes, no trains, no credit cards. We can't risk it. We are going to have to leave trails leading away from our main direction. I quickly put together a plan. Both nodded in agreement. So, for now, just sit back and enjoy the rest of the trip. We will be on the move as soon as this plane touches the ground.

Are we ready? I asked silently as the plane descended onto the landing strip. Edward squeezed the hand he was holding while Tanya nodded. When the light flashes for the belt we're out of here. Don't worry too much about being seen by humans. We have to get off this plane before the guard and before the sunrises. With this, we all looked out at the ever so lightening sky.

The light flashed for the seatbelt. All of our hands moved at once, quicker than a human's eye could catch. We were standing, pulling our bags out of the luggage department and waiting impatiently for the door to open in under three minutes, making sure we weren't a blur to human eye. Edward and I kept a watch on the three minds and Tanya looked out for pursuers. The door latch opened and we were gone. I knew the airport a little more than the other two so I lead the way.

Anything? I asked Tanya mainly.

No. I saw three people, vampires for sure, trying to make way through the plane quickly when we were leaving the gate. Tanya updated Edward and me.

What about you? I had left Edward to mind watching because I was trying to concentrate on a speedy exit. We steered through the crowds in the JFK airport quickly.

Not much. The three blank minds have just separated but it's hard to keep up with them in all this hectic mayhem.

Okay, we are reaching an exit to the nearest parking garage. From there, we will separate, but my shield will remain so we can stay in contact. Remember I can only hold it for a mile. No further than that please, that is a very hard strain. We will meet when it is clear. They will know our faces and tell if we are vampires quickly from our movements. So if you are out in the open, keep your movements as human as possible, faces covered, and do not go out in the sunlight. Do not go near a window, which is hard in here, I know. Stay out of the bathrooms if you have to hide, that would be an obvious hiding spot. Stay in crowds if you have to. Please though, one mile. Okay? I put up the guidelines quickly. I spotted the exit sign just as the two agreed. Edward, I want you to find a spot in the parking garage, stay there. If you see someone with gracious movements and black clothing that is very beautiful, turn around and walk briskly away. Tanya, take the second floor.

What about you? Tanya inquired as we reached the door to the parking garage. I nodded to Edward and he kissed my forehead before heading out into the dark building.

I'm staying on this floor. I want to deter Ambrosine to follow me. She seems to be the weaker one because she can't keep the spell up. I winked at Tanya and left her to the escalators. I, then, made my way for small coffee/book shop, duffel in hand. Taking a seat at a booth in a corner that had a good view of the walkway I had just left, I picked up a book from a shelf and started to pretend I was reading. My eyes remained on the crowd though.

"Good morning, ma'am." My gaze flickered over to the waiter who was wearing a weak grin. His expression was tired. He looked to be about twenty and had cropped blonde hair and blue eyes. The blue orbs looked at me then down to his pad before doing a double take. Yeah kid, I thought, I know I'm beautiful. I chuckled humorously at his new expression. I wasn't modest and I didn't have a huge ego. I just accepted the price of eternity and vampirism.

"Good morning," I glanced at his name tag, "Asher." I gave the kid a wink. In all technicality, I was older. But at the moment, I was busy. He needed to hurry. I sensed a blank mind rushing down the walkway. They would pass the entryway in exactly seventy-eight seconds; clock starting now.

"What could I get you today Mrs.?" Asher implied asking if I was married. I glanced at the ring on my finger. Well, we were mates, engaged, might as well.

"Mrs. Cullen," I didn't correct him. His face fell. Edward mentally chuckled, as did Tanya. I realized they were probably listening in through my shield. "Call me Bella. I want a cappuccino, nothing fancy," I answered quickly. The blank mind was approaching fast. That was when I saw it; or her. She had shock of black hair pulled tight into a bun. Her skin was stark white and I could see the murky tents of green contacts over her red eyes. A long, expensive, black trench that flowed down to her ankles was on her frame. Black, also expensive looking, boots adorned her feet. A black sweater was under the cloak. She moved swiftly and graciously; her eyes flickering quickly from face to face. After hesitating a moment, she entered the coffee shop and took a seat that enabled her to look around the shop and walkway.

Damn, I cursed mentally. But as I looked closer into her mind, I heard a soft chant being repeated in Italian. Found Ambrosine, I sent out. Tanya sighed and said that she had a male on her tail and was giving him the slip. Edward mentioned another female passing by.

"Is that all for today?" Asher questioned, bored now that he lost a chance to flirt.

I nodded in answer so that my voice wouldn't give me away. He nodded once and left. My eyes peered over the edge of the book subtly. The murky green eyes never rested, moving from face to face. When they reached mine, I lowered my face and gaze to the book. I looked up after a second, not detecting any alarm or signal in her mind and took it as a clear sign I was safe. The woman was gone. I started to search for her again, but she was sitting in the chair across from me.

"Ciao Isabella," her voice was laid thick with an Italian accent.

"Ciao Ambrosine," the murky green eyes didn't startle at how I knew her name. Ambrosine simply stared with no emotion at me. Up close, she looked even more deadly than from afar. Her features were sharp and the way she was sitting enabled her to leap at any given moment like a cat. "Qual è il problema? (What is the problem?)" I inquired.

Ambrosine smiled and said, "Perché ci sia un problema? (Why would there be a problem?)"

I shrugged and answered, "Ci sono tre di voi. Se mi seguite su un aereo e sono ora la caccia in tutto questo aeroporto per me. Ci deve essere un problema. (There are three of you. You followed me on a plane and are now hunting all over this airport for me. There must be a problem.)" I lowered my voice just in case anyone in the café could speak Italian. "Perché Aro inviare? (Why did Aro send you?)"

"Isabella," Ambrosine chuckled. "Sai perché Aro ci ha inviato. (You know why Aro sent me.)" My gaze hardened. "Aro vuole parlare con te. Siamo stati in tutta Europa alla ricerca solo per te. Egli afferma che questo è molto importante. (Aro wants to speak with you. We have been all over Europe looking just for you. He says this is very important.)"

"Che cosa devo dire a me? (What does he have to say to me?)" I asked just as Asher came back. He looked startled to hear me speaking fluent Italian. "Grazie," I thanked him. He sat my cup on the table and gave me a quizzical look.

"Dar la bienvenida," I chuckled. The boy had though I had spoke Spanish. Asher ran off back to the counter after an awkward silence.

Ambrosine was staring at me curiously when I turned back. "Cosa?"

"Perché la bevanda? A meno che non servono O negativo, se così avrò una tazza di me! (Why the drink? Unless they serve O negative, if so I will have me a cup!)" I just stared, un-amused, as Ambrosine chuckled at her joke. But her laugh wasn't care-free; it was calculated and restrained.

"E 'per oggetti. Io cerco di mantenere un profilo basso. (It's for props. I try to keep a low profile.)" I regarded the cup before sliding it out of my way. It smelt awful. I could smell all the 'artificial chemicals' they piled into that small container. More harm than necessary for a drink, if you asked me. "Diamo un taglio piccolo talk. Sei suppone di consegnare un messaggio a me? Avete intenzione di connettersi mi Aro tramite telefono? Web-cam? Cosa sta succedendo? (Let us cut the small talk. Are you supposed to deliver a message to me? Are you going to connect me to Aro through phone? Web-cam? What is going on?)" I got down to business. Ambrosine sobered up and her expression was blank again.

"Aro vuole parlare con lei personalmente. Egli ha detto che se si dovesse raggiungere l'America, prima che abbiamo raggiunto è, poi una telefonata di lavoro. Ma preferirei che faccia a faccia. (Aro wants to speak with you personally. He said if you reach America before we reached you, then a phone call would have to work. But he would prefer it face to face.)" Ambrosine's eyes never left mine; she reached into a pocket of her trench and pulled out a slick black phone.

"Permettetemi di parlare con lui. (Let me talk to him.)" I held my hand out after she pressed the one down for a moment. The phone rang twice before a bright cheerful voice answered.

"Ah, Ambrosine, mi auguro che tutto è bene? (Ah, Ambrosine, I hope all is well?)" Aro exclaimed. The same as always, I thought bitterly.

"Ciao Aro! It's Bella!" I put as much 'happy' as I could muster into it.

"Isabella! It is wonderful to hear from you. It's been a long time!" Aro rambled on excitedly.

"Yes, it has been. I'm sorry to jump right into business, but I don't have a lot of free time at the moment. But, sorry for my asking, why are three of your guards, who, by the way, I have never met before, tracking me around the world?" I tried not to come off harsh. Harsh would not get me anywhere with Aro.

"Ah Isabella, you are so hard to reach. I much rather speak to you in person. But this will have to do…" Aro spoke slowly, but I waited patiently. "Look, there is something going to happen next week that I'm dreading."

"I know." I answered with no emotion in my voice.

Aro said, "Oh, you know. How do you know of our plans Isabella?"

"You never met her, but my sister, Alice, can see the future somewhat." We had been trying to hide this from him for decades, almost a century. If Aro would come of this knowledge, he would snatch her and me, if he discovered mine, away for his private collection of extraordinary abilities.

"Is that so? I would love to meet her. Her gift sounds simply amazing. I would love to learn more about it. But I know you are on a time crunch, so I won't press for information at the moment," Aro laughed whole-heartedly into the phone. I rolled my eyes at his antics. In all truth, his words meant he wanted to steal Alice away so he could study her.

"Now," Aro continued. "I feel awful about the upcoming events. I wish to prevent them because you mean so much to me. I have such high potential for you. Your coven sounds interesting and also holds much potential to becoming something great. But Isabella, I can't prevent them. What you have gotten yourself into is something I cannot just look over. Immortal children are against the law. You know that. Why are you harboring one?" Aro questioned.

I went to protest but was cut off. "Isabella, I am needed away. Please, reconsider my previous invitation to join the Volturi. I might be able to clean your slate slightly if you surrender now and join our side. It really is a generous offer."

"Aro…" I was once again cut off.

"I must go. My wishes to you and your thoughts. Please consider it, Isabella. It would be the smart choice. I will see you soon either way. Ciao!"

"Ciao," I replied, defeated.

"Devo andare (I must go)," Ambrosine muttered quickly, taking the phone and slipping it in her pocket. I contemplated whether to steal her phone or not and call Aro back later and explain what was going on. But before I could, Ambrosine was standing. "Isabella, si prega di riconsiderarla. Mi piacerebbe vederla lottare al mio fianco. Sarebbe un piacere. Hai tanto potenziale per diventare un grande guerriero. Che cos'è una vita immortale e di vivere per nulla? La guardia è qualcosa di grande per vivere. Per admister le nostre leggi e servire la nostra corsa. E 'veramente qualcosa di speciale. Non so cosa vorrei fare per un eternità senza di essa. (Isabella, please reconsider it. I would love to see you fighting by my side. It would be a pleasure. You have so much potential to become a great warrior. What is a immortal life and nothing to live for? The guard is something great to live for. To admister our laws and serve our race. It really is something special. I don't know what I would do for an eternity without it.)" Ambrosine kissed both cheeks before disappearing out the door.

I sat there for a moment, stunned. I pulled out a twenty, threw it on the table next to the unread book and full coffee and walked out.

Find me now. I'm heading to the parking garage Edward went into. I probed to Tanya and Edward. They confirmed the plans. Five minutes later, we were all in the garage in a deserted corner.

"Bella, I'm sorry," Tanya said as soon as we were safe from any ears. Edward pulled me into his arms.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked, confused.

"Because you didn't get to explain to Aro…" Edward mumbled in my hair. I tugged out of his embrace and faced the bother of them.

"Oh really," I pulled out the black phone from my pocket and grinned wickedly.

A/N: I'm so sorry that this took so long. Stupid virus… Sorry, also, for all the Italian… I, um, got carried away on the online translator again… I'm going to be spurting off Italian words for the next week now. ;) I need a life. Oh, but I have one too! Last Saturday, June 27, I had probably the busiest Saturday of the summer yet. My Saturday when I went with Emily, you know the one who was supposed to be co-writing this story with me. Anyways, we had went to her swim meet early in the morning, then Chili's, love that place! And then we went to her house, got ready, and then went to the mall. THEN, we went to my house and watched Repo! The Genetic Opera! I love that movie too! Ha-ha. Back to my last Saturday. Okay, my mom is trying to become a semi-professional photographer. Well, I went with her to help do a photo shoot with the best paranormal investigator in Arkansas and his group, that he founded, is based in Little Rock. Well he needed the photos for his new book and his publicity tour this summer. He hired my mom for the job. We started out at the Old Mill, if you even know where that is in Little Rock. It's a nice place; you should go if you are ever in the area. Anyways, we started there. We, then, went to the Razorback Submarine docked in the Arkansas River right near the metro area of Little Rock. He took us on our own little special tour without a guide because he was good friends with the people there because they did an investigation there and had an anniversary party there. Well, I'm a little claustrophobic. We had an air show at the LR Airbase last year and I went on a tiny plane. I never realized I was claustrophobic until I got on that plane. It was packed with people and it was only meant for like three people. So, I started getting a really bad tummy ache. I was sweating profusely, but then again it was hot, but still. I didn't start hypervenalating or anything, but I figured it was just an upset tummy. I sped off the plane as quick as I could; I hadn't even reached the cockpit! I found the nearest porta-pody and did, well, you know.

Well on the sub, we were in the control room when it hit. He started talking about how the sub still worked and one wrong button pushed could sink it. That started me thinking about the fact that how far down we had got in the sub, that we were underwater. And that there were only two exits on either side of the sub, I was in the middle, several levels down. Gosh, I'm getting sick talking about it… I didn't get too sick. But my stomach was in knots. He had asked if either of us were claustrophobic before we had got on and I had hesitated before answering. I'm not sure if I am claustrophobic, but I just psych myself out. Anyways, we went down into a room that no one else could go in. It was pitch black and on the bottom level. It was supposedly the battery room. And everywhere you stepped it made a crunching noise. I had my phone out as a flash light and sending 'Get me out of here's' as prayers to no one in particular. Finally, we reached the other end of the sub and I looked up a shaft to see blue. I cried out in joy and started to attack the ladder. I slipped at the top during my hurriedness and almost fell a good ten feet, but luckily latched on for dear life. When we reached the ground, I really thought about leaning down and kissing the ground.

As for the rest of the day, we just drove to different locations he knew about in Little Rock. We went to this one bar that was behind this cozy little pizzeria across from The Weekend Theater. You had to go through the pizzeria and then slide a door back to reveal the bar and then the dance area in front of a stage. The walls were half black and the other half white. On the white people signed each brick. It was cool. We went back through the pizzeria and the two adults went into the second room. In there, there was a painting of a naked woman. Well they started discussing how they liked it, and I noticed these really cute guys were staring at me. I blushed crimson and ran out the store. My mom and him followed leisurely. On the way out, they spotted a dead bat on the street. Mom got fascinated by it and started snapping pictures. Then the craziest thing, okay not so crazy for Arkansas, it started raining. It was 103 degrees outside, no clouds, except for one right above us. There went my hair.

After a couple more stops, we called it quits and headed home. Well, all day and the day before I had been tracking people down for plans to go to the IMAX and see Transformers 2. I finally found three people. One was watching it and told me while I was at the photo shoot. Then the other told me the 7:45 show was sold out and that they couldn't go to the 11 showing. But my last friend held through at the last minute! But my mom and sis went. Making me sit in front of my friend and not share funny comments about the movie. Not cool mom!

Okay. I'm done blogging. I guess that was what it was? Wasn't it. Hmm. Fun. I should try venting more. I get to let go on a lot of steam! Well, I'm done with the longest, LONGEST, author's note ever on fanfiction. Later!

OH, almost forgot.

Lyrics Game: becky1993, australiantwilight95, Lambofthenight, TwilightParamoreObsessor for guessing Slow Dance by Framing Hanley! If you have never heard the song, go listen to it now! On youtube it has a video of Nixon and one of the guitarist performing it acoustic! Amazing band and song!

Also, voting is up for Epic T Contest! Go vote please?

This chapter Lyric Excerpt:

I'm not a perfect person.

There's many things I wish I didn't do.

But I continue learning.

I never meant to do those things to you.

And so I have to say before I go,

That I just want you to know.