Chapter 25: The Rescue

Before Chelsea could break the bond, Alec ran into the room. "My lord, there is a fire," he called. They dropped Edward down on the bed as they ran out. He closed his eyes waiting for his strength to come back when someone touched his face, making him jump.

"Edward, it's me," Bella whispered gently.

Biting her lower lip, she looked at his torn clothes. "My God what did they do?" She whispered.

"Jane," was his only answer.

Placing her hand on his face, she slowly helped him up from the bed. "Come on, lean on me," she told him.

"Wait, how…" he started.

"We will explain later son, come on we need to get out of here," Carlisle answered as he stood in the doorframe as a lookout.

Looking at his son, Carlisle felt more rage erupt inside him. "I've got him Carlisle," Bella reassured him. She wrapped her arm around Edward's waist as they started walking through the halls.

"I'll be able to hold my own weight soon, her torture is starting to wear off," he explained.

"I wanted to get here before this happened," Bella said quietly.

Carlisle pulled them aside and Bella carefully set Edward down on the floor. Looking up, Edward swallowed when he really got a good look at Bella. "Bella…" he whispered in disbelief. She smiled softly before kissing him.

"I've missed you so much," she whispered against his lips.

Edward stroked her face when he looked up to see that his father was gone. "Father?" He called quietly looking around for him.

Carefully walking through the old secret passageways to the castle, Carlisle walked up the stairs and opened the door seeing one of the guards there. Striking like a rattlesnake, he grabbed the guard by the throat, biting his neck. Once he knew the vampire was unable to stop him, he dropped the guard to the floor as he continued sneaking through the halls.

Carlisle stopped at the doors to the main hall, using all his strength to pull a door open. Walking around, there was no one there, or so he believed. "Well, well, I'm glad to see that you have returned to Volterra, if only it were on better circumstances," Aro commented walking from the shadows. Glaring, Carlisle got down to the crouching position.

"Why? You were once my friend, why did you have to become so evil and betray us?" Carlisle demanded.

Shaking his head slowly, Aro walked around the main hall with his arms behind his back. "I was thinking to myself while you and your boy were here, your son has so much potential. If he stayed in Volterra, so many opportunities would have been opened to him," he explained. Carlisle swallowed hard, his jaw clenching.

"To be your slave…to be a fighter you could call on your every whim whenever someone was out of line!" He snapped.

"Come, come Carlisle it was a better life than you were offering him," Aro answered with a sneer.

"A life where he could at least be as normal as he was allowed to be for awhile! A life where he could actually be happy!" Carlisle exclaimed.

Aro started laughing at his words. "A life pretending to being something you are not," he stated truthfully.

"As his father I have the right to give him a life with opportunities," Carlisle answered.

"Please you stopped being that boy's father the moment you went vampire hunting that night," Aro sneered.

Carlisle let out a growl and lunged at the Volturi leader, slamming him to the floor. Aro was laughing still, gripping his arm. Gaining leverage, he shoved Carlisle to the floor, gripping his throat. "You remember don't you? Just remembering your little boy calling for you to stay," he sneered. Carlisle growled and shoved Aro off him, watching the Volturi leader fly across the main hall, hitting the wall.

"You will NEVER understand the love a father has for his son! You will NEVER understand how I sacrificed my life to protect my son! I will do it again too if I had the chance!" He snapped.

Before Carlisle could react, he was pinned down on the floor. "Very good Felix," Aro told him getting up from the floor. Squatting down in front of the pinned vampire, Aro sneered. "Well, I hope you have said your last words to your son, you won't be seeing him again," he told him. Carlisle glared before Felix lifted him up off the floor. "Tear him apart and throw him into the fire he started," Aro ordered.

"Felix you will do no such thing!" A voice snapped.

Marcus walked into the room with a glare. "You have gone too far Aro," he snapped. Alec walked into the room.

"Kill him," Aro ordered again without looking at Marcus.

"You're going to kill the only family that boy has left from his human life! Have you gone mad Aro?!" Marcus exclaimed.

Aro glared at the other Volturi leader before watching as Alec gripped Carlisle's head. "It was nice knowing you Carlisle," he commented. Carlisle closed his eyes tight as he struggled against Felix.

"NO!" A voice shouted.

Alec was shoved to the floor and Felix was thrown across the room by an unseen force. Marcus had Alec pinned to the floor while Edward ran to Felix, grabbing him by his throat while Bella held her hand up to keep Felix in position. "You have abused your power for the last time Aro!" Carlisle snapped getting up from the floor.

"We shall see," Aro answered as the two vampires lunged at each other.

"Father!" Edward called when Marcus grabbed his shoulder.

"No don't boy," Marcus insisted.

Bella watched in horror as both Carlisle and Aro fought each other. They both tried to rip a limb off their opponent, only for the other vampire to deflect the attack. Carlisle jumped, landing on the windowsill before he dove back down slamming Aro into the floor, cracking it from the impact. Aro growled before he grabbed Carlisle by his shirt, throwing him across the floor, the stairs to the thrones breaking from impact.

Just as Carlisle got up from the floor, Aro grabbed his throat, throwing him into a door. The door broke under the impact, revealing the fire that was on the other side. Carlisle ripped off whatever was left of his jacket just as Aro lunged and they both flew back into the flaming room. "DAD!" Edward shouted.

Carlisle growled as he gripped onto Aro's throat, slamming him into the wall. Laughing, the Volturi leader kicked Carlisle's stomach, sending him flying into a beam. Hissing in pain, he felt the flames lick at his forearm. Ripping off his flaming sleeve, he got into the crouching position as Aro attacked again. They both ended up on the floor, Aro was no top with his hand around Carlisle's throat. "Well, I guess you still have the fight like you did all those years ago hunting that vampire. Doesn't make you less of a fool," he commented.

"Not as foolish as you!" Carlisle snapped.

He kicked Aro in the stomach when they heard a crack above them. Carlisle glared at Aro to see that he wasn't getting up this time. "I'll see you in Hell!" Aro called to him with a grin. Aro started laughing as the ceiling fell in on them.