Sorry about the wait. My roommate that lived with me last year came down from Washington to visit and I had to drive her all over So Cal for a week and a half, which kept me busy. Yay for sitting in LA traffic...not! Also my MS word expired so I had to go out and buy one. Don't worry though the next chapters will not take nearly as long. I promise the next one will be up within 24 hours unless some major catastrophe happens.
Playlist: Pokerface by Lady Gaga. Wild Horses by Bush(it's also by the Rolling Stones but I listen to this version more)
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I'm sitting in my car, in Seattle, where I just fought my best friend's father who happens to also be the only other vampire like me, with Edward Cullen…the vampire that shattered my heart. Today is just wonderful!
"Really, can you stop staring now? I'm fine."
He smiled a perfect apologetic smile. "Sorry, it's just a habit from your more human years."
"Great let's just bring those up, shall we," I muttered while looking out the window, avoiding his dazzling eyes.
He sighed. "Bella I'm… I… well…"
"You're what Edward? Sorry?" I sneered.
I kept my gaze out the window but I felt him turn towards me. "Well yes, but I'm much more than sorry. Sorry doesn't even begin to make up for anything that I've done."
"Well you have that right," I scoffed but then quickly changed the subject; I didn't want to talk about that and make today even worse. What do you think you were doing in there? You could have gotten yourself killed."
"You could have been killed Bella and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened. He's the only vampire on earth that could kill you if he felt like it."
"Ok you swooped in on your white horse and saved the day. Now you can feel really good about all the bad things you've done and be on your merry little way. Don't you have some distractions to attend to?" I was surprised at how mean I was being. Usually Edward would have me wrapped around his finger…this felt good.
"Bella look at me please," I huffed but obliged. His golden eyes were molten, filled with emotion and pain. "I made the mistake of leaving you once; I'm not going to do that ever again. I lo-"
"You won't ever have to make that choice because I won't ever be put in the position for you to leave me again. How about you do me a favor and tell me what Brendan was thinking in there. Does he know what I am?"
Edward looked out the window solemnly for a while before speaking. "No he doesn't know what you are. He knows you're different, like his father, but not what you are. He was shocked when he saw you fighting Victor but his love for you is…strong. He wasn't too happy that I was there."
"What can you tell me about Victor and what he was thinking? Why did he attack me?"
"I could hear his thoughts when I was running up the stairs. The moment he saw you he was…attracted to you but he also wanted you dead. He liked being the most powerful vampire in existence; you're a threat to him."
"So it wasn't that he was worried about me attacking Brendan?"
"No, I'm afraid not. He cares for his son a great deal; it was Brendan whom he sacrificed himself for. Now that he is a vampire though, he is extremely selfish."
"Does he…?"
"Hunt humans? Yes. Just because he was good enough to save his son doesn't mean he is good all around."
"Yes, I guess it doesn't," I replied.
"Bella, will you tell me about your power?"
I chuckled and lifted my shield. 'I have a mental shield. I had it when I was a human, I just couldn't control it then…which is why you've never been able to hear my thoughts. I can extend my shield and protect other's minds and I can lift my shield, allowing those with powers that affect the mind to use them on me.' His eyes were wide and I quickly replaced my shield to keep him from hearing the scandalous thoughts I was thinking about him. I wouldn't allow him the pleasure of knowing I still felt the same way for him as I had before he left me.
"Do you know how amazing you are?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Riiiight."
"Well I guess you never have seen yourself clearly."
"That's what everyone tells me." I glanced at the clock, "Well… I have a plane to catch."
"Will you be back from Volterra soon?" he had the expression of a sad puppy.
"What does it matter to you? I'm sure you won't be here when I get back no matter when it is."
"I'll be here. You and I need to talk about what really happened."
My dead heart fluttered a little. What really happened? Wasn't I there witnessing what really happened? I distinctly remember the whole 'Bella we're leaving and I don't want you to come' thing. I remembered Alice's words on the beach that day in La Push, "Bella, not everything is as it seems. One day you'll learn that but this isn't the time for that discussion." I don't know what exactly she meant but I was scared to find out.
"Uh, um…sure," I stuttered. I quickly reminded myself that I needed to seem in control. "That is if you decide to stick around," I said a little more confidently.
"Wild horses couldn't drag me away," he whispered.
If I was standing my knees might have become weak. Stay in control, Bella!
"Let's not quote songs. It really raises your cheese factor, you're almost at Mike Newton level."
He looked disgusted and I couldn't help but laugh. He chuckled at my hysterics. "Alright I suppose it was a tad cheesy. I guess I'll see you later?" he said as he got out of my car.
I rolled down the window. "Yeah, see you in a few days…maybe," I said before taking off. I saw him laughing and shaking his head in my rear view mirror. Yeah pal, you weren't expecting that huh?
I shoved the various screwed up things that happened today in the back of my mind. I would deal with those later, not today. Security didn't take long due to the fact that all I was bringing with me was my wallet, iPod and car keys. What didn't dawn on me until I was already in my first class seat was the fact that Aislinn was going with me. She glided into her seat and went to touch my hand.
"Don't touch me," I snapped, pulling my hand away.
"Bella…" she started but I put my headphones in and turned the volume all the way up on my iPod to drown her out. This was one of those times when I wished I could sleep, my mind needed rest. Apparently Aislinn didn't get the memo that I had a rough day and tore my headphones out of my ears halfway through the flight.
"I can't just sit here while you ignore me Bella," she said in a harsh whisper.
"You had no problem doing that earlier."
"Bella, you honestly think that I would hide something that big from you? Alice said when they went back up to Alaska he showed up and obviously they couldn't hide what they knew about you forever. When they left he stayed there, Alice would get visions of him coming to see you but keeping his distance, then he would change his mind. She and I were trying to figure out what to do, which is why we were being secretive. We didn't want to mention him unless it was necessary because we know how it hurts you."
I studied her face, searching for signs that she was lying but I found none. She smiled timidly.
"So is my apology accepted?"
"Sure," I replied.
"Now can I see you memories?" she asked sheepishly. I held out my hand to her in response. A minute later she came out of her haze.
"Oh my, that was something. When you left Alice saw that Victor would be there but then it kept getting blurry because Edward was changing his mind about what he should do. Poor Brendan, he is probably so confused and worried. What are you going to do about that?"
"If he wants to call me then he will. I'll understand if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore after what happened."
"But it wasn't your fault, his dad attacked you."
"Well Victor could tell him a lie, that I was going to attack him or something and he decided not to give me the chance."
She gasped. "He wouldn't dare!"
"He attacked me on the sole basis that I'm the only other vampire like him, I wouldn't put anything shady past him."
"I think we should take him out," she said with a small growl. I could see that she was imagining ripping him to shreds.
"Not a chance. Someone could get hurt. Edward and I were lucky today that neither of us were injured but that might not be the case next time. I'm not even sure if he has a power."
"We could take him easily!" she objected.
I rolled my eyes. "Even if I knew for a fact that no one would get hurt I couldn't do that to Brendan, that's his father. Evil or not that's his family, you and I know what it's like to lose someone in your family."
"You're right," she sighed. I could tell she was reminiscing about the times when life was simple, before the myths of vampires and werewolves became realities… when her parents, our brothers and Charlie were all alive. Whoa, time for a change of subject.
"So what do you think Aro wants?" I asked.
"Who knows…"she rolled her eyes, I laughed.
"We should really convince Falyn to come back with us, don't you think?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
She gave me an incredulous stare. "No Bella, I'd absolutely love for my twin sister, the last blood member of my family to stay thousands of miles away with the vilest vampires in existence."
"Ok you can tone down the sarcasm."
She smiled apologetically. "Right, sorry."
Our flight went smoothly all the way to New York as did our connecting flight that took us to Italy. Aislinn and I were extremely excited at the thought of seeing Falyn but very nervous about what exactly the Volturi, Aro in particular, wanted. When we arrived at the airport a tall man with greasy hair, olive skin and flat brown eyes was standing with a sign that said 'Bella & Aislinn'.
"What is that human with the Volturi?" I asked Aislinn.
"I'm guessing he's here with the car that I got for us," she replied.
I raised an eyebrow. "Bought or rented?"
"Rented...for now," she said as we reached the man. "Mi Chiamo Aislinn (my name is Aislinn)" she spoke as she reached her gloved hand out to the main.
"Ciao, Aislinn. I am Francisco, its a pleasure to meet you," he said with a thick Italian accent before placing a kiss on her hand, obviously trying to be seductive and failing miserably in the process. Aislinn stifled a laugh and I almost gagged at the stench that just hit me, he obviously had very bad BO and took it upon himself to spray a whole bottle of cologne on himself to try and hide the horrid smell.
"And you must be Isabella," he said turning to me.
"Non importa (It doesn't matter)," I replied flatly and staring daggers at him, daring him to touch me.
He shuddered under my cold gaze. "Its very nice to meet you, Isabella. If you will both follow me this way we can get your luggage and I will help you take it to the car."
"That won't be necessary, we've brought no luggage," I spoke quickly, tired of going at his slow human pace. I was surprised that even though Francisco obviously had a severe brain deficiency he caught on to the pick the damn pace message I was screaming in my mind. He led us out of the airport and into the parking lot, I was thankful that it was night and I didn't need to walk in shadows. Halfway across the lot I saw the tell-tale bright red of a Ferrari. Of course she got a Ferrari. Now that I looked at Francisco I noticed that to most human tourists he would look attractive and they probably wouldn't smell his BO that he clearly needed prescription deodorant for. I guess two human American women renting an expensive car would probably like it being hand delivered by an attractive Italian man. Too bad he paled, not literally of course, in comparison to Edward.
"Just because you are in a bad mood doesn't mean you should take it out on the poor guy," Aislinn scolded once we were in the car and on our way to Volterra.
"Please, he was so obviously sleazy that I could practically read his thoughts myself. Besides, he smelled horrible and it's not the easiest feat in the world to make a vampire almost pass out."
She couldn't help but giggle.
"And I'm not in a bad mood. I have had a rough day so my bullshit tolerance is set at zero for now."
"Well I can't wait to see what you do to Aro then," she replied with a gleam in her eyes.
"Actually I have a few little things up my sleeve for Aro."
"Spill!" she practically squealed.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to wait until I can tell you and Falyn at the same time."
"Oh but I want to know now..." she protested.
I chuckled. "Well if you would stop driving like a grandma and start driving like a vampire we could have already been there."
The flawless purr of the Ferrari became noticeably louder as Aislinn finally applied more pressure to the gas. We arrived in Volterra half an hour later, the old stone walls brought on a feeling of familiarity but also uneasiness. Every part of my brain marked this place as enemy territory, regardless of the fact that the Volturi never did anything wrong to me. At least not that I knew of.
Aislinn and I walked into the castle like we owned it. Said our hello's to Gianna and made our way to the room we shared when we were here to change into our robes. I never liked wearing them but Aro would get upset if we didn't. We walked down the long hallways and entered the grand room. Aro, Marcus and Caius were sitting in their thrones, once again looking like they had never left that spot.
"Aislinn, Bella!" Falyn yelled and ran over to us, embracing us both in a very tight hug. "I'm so glad you're here I've missed you so much."
"Dearest Bella and Aislinn! We are so happy that you have arrived," Aro said in his annoying always happy tone, while getting up from his throne and gliding over to us. He took my hand and kissed it before smiling at Aislinn. The repulsive feeling I got from Francisco was nothing compared to Aro. The thin papery feel of his skin was disgusting and it was hard for me to not pull my hand away and find some hand sanitizer or bleach."I see your shield is still with you Bella."
I instantly felt pressure on my shield and I recognized it's source effortlessly. "Yes, I still have my shield Aro so you can tell Jane to stop testing it."
Aro turned to glance at Jane who was trying her hardest not to look guilty but I could see the frustration in her eyes.
"Jane dear, let's be on our best behavior." Wow, some scolding...not.
"Yes master," Jane said with a small pout.
"I don't suppose you've been able to extend your shield out for longer than a few moments yet?" Aro asked me, his voice not hiding the hope that he felt.
"No I'm afraid not," I lied. Aro knew that I could extend my shield because of the jokes that Aislinn, Falyn and I used to play on Jane but I had always told him that it didn't last for more than a few seconds. I knew that if he was aware of what I could do then he would want me to join the guard that much more. "I don't get much time to practice with school and the whole fighting off tons of newborns thing," I added.
"Of course, you have been terribly busy. I was most impressed after learning how you took on all of those newborns as well as what was her name, Victoria? Felix tells me that it was quite impressive."
"Unfortunately that didn't matter much, she was still able to kill my father." My heart ached at the thought of what happened to Charlie.
"Tragic..." Aro said nonchalantly.
I was starting to get annoyed with Aro, I needed an escape. I planted on my best fake happy voice. "Aro do you mind if we just visit with Falyn for a while as we recover from our travels?"
"Of course not dearest. You three must have much to catch up on, it's almost feeding time anyway. I know how you don't like to be around for that."
"Thank you," I said before turning and leaving with Falyn and Aislinn right behind me.
"If I wasn't a vampire what Aro said would have made me throw up," I grumbled once we reached the safety of our room. I dug around in my purse for the slight chance that I might have some hand sanitizer in it.
"Yes, I don't know how you put up with him," Aislinn said to Falyn.
"I was about to leave and go to you two until Aro started acting even stranger around me. He's up to something and I've been trying to figure out what exactly that is."
That's when I noticed that Falyn's eyes were no longer red, they were now molten gold pools that mirrored Aislinn's perfectly. "You didn't tell us you went vegetarian!" I gasped.
Falyn lowered her head. "I didn't want to tell you guys in case I wasn't able to stick with it. I didn't want you to be disappointed."
"We could never be disappointed in you Falyn," Aislinn promised with her trademark motherly tone. "Bella and I would have been proud that you even thought of trying it. How is your thirst?"
"It's good. For the first few weeks it was impossible to be around humans but now I can be around them as long as they don't cut themselves when I'm thirsty. In the square one day I passed a little boy that scraped his knee and blood was slowly oozing out of the wound but I had hunted that day and I was able to stand it."
"Wow that's impressive." I admitted. She smiled and Aislinn looked at her proudly. "So what has Aro been doing?"
Falyn explained how Aro was being secretive and was almost obsessed with hearing about how Aislinn and I were doing. He sent groups regularly to do what he called 'checking up' on us. Falyn explained that he was really spying on them but she didn't know what he wanted to find out. He didn't send Felix and Demetri, who were friends with us to spy but he did happen to send them, along with Jane, on that fateful day when Victoria attacked.
"He doesn't speak about you two in front of me, I hear these things from the others. I think he knew that Victoria was going to attack you. He talked about the newborn problem that was in Seattle way before Victoria attacked but didn't do anything about it. If I had known that they were going after you I could have warned you. I didn't think there was a connection at all or that the problem was that big."
I growled at the thought that my father's death could have been avoided. "Ok that's it. I was planning on maybe doing this anyway but now that you've told us all of this we have no choice. Aislinn you're going to read Aro's memories."
"How is she going to do that? Don't you realize that Aro will read her thoughts if she reads his memories? She's forbidden from touching him."
"Yes she's forbidden from touching him but do you know why? Because she would know his secrets and she would have more power than him. He's scared of that, he knows something that he doesn't want us to find out."
"How though?" Falyn whispered.
"I'm going to project my shield, and you will be a decoy."
"Its dangerous," said Falyn with a grin.
"Its perfect," said Aislinn, with an even bigger grin.
Just like that all thoughts of Edward, Victor and Brendan were put on hold. What mattered now was finding out the truth about Aro and what he has been up to.
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Well I hope you liked it. This chapter wasn't terribly exciting but the next chaps will be. There is much excitement coming with the Volturi as well as Edward. Sorry if you're a fan of Edward coming back and Bella just forgiving him automatically. Yes what he did was supposed to be for the best but the saying goes "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." My Bella doesn't just forgive so easily and she certainly doesn't take a guy back so easily.
I'd like to thank all my awesome reviewers L'amante di Destino, RieDonovan, Kaatt, eclipsedbrunette, Slam2k, Yana5, mandee81, Spider-and, MoonstruckManda, Ba ammon, Astrid-Rosslyn-1720-Scotland, omg444888, DaniLUVyou, W||V and Bleached Kitty (Your review wasn't signed but I could tell it was you haha) as well as everyone who read, favorited or alerted.