A/N: So, has Pumpkin landed on your most wanted list? I got a few reviews that weren't terribly kind to her, but they all made me laugh. I promised that the story was going to pick up, so here's where the roller coaster has stopped and you see the miles of track before they slingshot you down it. Have fun!

Carlisle: You're not being very nice to Pumpkin.

Me: Yeah, but I created her so I'm allowed to give her Hell. Dawn, Pumpkin, Alex, and Victor are the only ones I can claim in this story. Everybody else belongs to the real author. Stephanie Meyer (spelling?)

Carlisle: You enjoy torturing people, don't you?

Me: Yeah, but at least you'll be there to pick up the pieces as usual.

Chapter 12………….Revelation and Betrayal

It wasn't easy to get out of the house. Alex seemed particularly overbearing after he'd bitten her. Pumpkin was beginning to think she'd never escape. She normally thought Alex was always right, but something inside of her screamed that she knew something he didn't for once.

Carlisle and Alex were doing something in Carlisle's home-made lab one day. Alice, Bella, and Rosalie were out with Renesmee. Edward, Jasper, Emmett, and the wolves were playing vampire-style baseball.

She realized with a strange tingle in her gut that she was actually by herself. It would take roughly three hours to get to Volterra. Taking a deep breath, she hoped that the wind would be with her today and shorten her flight. She'd been in this form for what seemed like an eternity. She felt nauseated remembering all the blood she'd drank for the sake of keeping her cover. It would be nice to actually eat real food again and feel the sweet energy coursing into her veins uninhibited.

Dawn would probably be glad that she was gone. At one point, Dawn's band had heard Pumpkin sing and asked her if she wanted to join. Dawn had been very, very ticked off at that suggestion. She'd heatedly argued that there was no room in the band for Pumpkin and had nearly caused the breakup of the band.

Easing out of the house as cautiously as a rabbit, Pumpkin slipped out of the house and streaked into the woods. She didn't stop moving until she was sure she wasn't being followed. As she passed Dawn's castle, she began to feel sick. It was probably just nerves.

Pumpkin didn't feel safe until she reached the English border. There, she stripped away the yellow zip-up sweatshirt that she'd been wearing, revealing a pastel pink top underneath. It had been Alice's gift to her. Then, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Her skin traded its chalky pallor for the familiar golden shine and her wings unfurled from her back. God, how she'd missed them.

As she flew, the nausea increased steadily. She'd had to stop on the way at least twice and was on her third time. There was absolutely nothing left and it caused the back of her throat and head to ache painfully.

What's the matter with me? I don't think I've ever felt this horrible in my life, Pumpkin thought miserably. After her gut stopped heaving, she staggered a few paces away and sat down on a large rock. She rubbed her forehead, willing the awful sickness to pass.

Carlisle's face came to mind again. If she were still back at the house right now, he'd probably give her something for the sickness...but that was too risky. Vampires didn't throw up.

Either way, she would have had some comforting arms. The thought of what she was about to do nearly made her lose her resolve, but her hatred of Alex and her jealousy of Dawn overrode her affection for the others. As long as they both lived, Dawn and Pumpkin would always be enemies. Dawn's jealousy made sure of that.

Once the sickness had subsided, Pumpkin launched herself into the sky again. She was getting tired, but she would be there in roughly an hour's time. The sun was going down and it seemed to reflect what she felt like on the inside: it was blood-red and exhausted-looking as it set. The sun reminded her of an elderly being, one that knew its death was coming soon.

The vampire guards recognized Pumpkin immediately. She was escorted deep into the bowels of the underground system. Despite her slight nervousness, she felt more relieved than words could say.

"Pomona! I was hoping you would visit soon," Aro's voice called. She turned her head to see the ancient vampire striding towards her.

Aro seemed to age more and more with every visit. He seemed to be petrifying. One day, Pumpkin wouldn't have been surprised to find that he'd frozen up like a statue.

It was odd to hear her true name spoken. No one ever called her Pomona, not even Alex.

"Hello, Aro," Pumpkin said meekly.

"What brings you to my humble home? Have you any news of Aurora yet?"

Pumpkin nodded.

"I found her, sir. But I'm afraid it's rather a predicament."

Aro frowned.

"How so? Is someone we know hiding her?"

The expression on Pumpkin's face told him what he wanted to know. Pumpkin's blue-green eyes began to fill with tears and the nausea she'd been fighting all day reared its ugly head again. Aro seemed angry and troubled at the same time.

"Who is it?"

His voice came out in a hiss. Pumpkin shivered and looked at the floor. Instead of telling him, she offered her hand. Aro seized it with more force than was necessary. She felt him dig into her memories and instantly regretted coming here.

A heavy sigh escaped Aro's lungs. He let Pumpkin go and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I always knew that Carlisle's compassion would someday get him in trouble. You certainly weren't joking about it being a predicament..."

"What are you going to do to her?" Pumpkin asked.

There almost seemed to be a trace of sadness in Aro's eyes.

"She'll be executed, of course. As for the rest of them...hiding a criminal is a serious offense."

"I'm not sure how much they know."

It was the first full truth she'd told. The rest had always been half-truths or lies by omission.

"I'll have them brought here and search their memories," Aro mumbled, "then we'll decide what to do with them. If they all knew..."

He trailed off, getting his point across much more quickly with his silence.

"Not Carlisle," Pumpkin pleaded, "I don't think he knows what she is. She's his mate. She can shape-shift at will just as I can."

Aro knew that there was an ulterior motive and he picked up on it quickly. The pleading in Pumpkin's eyes was very strong. Instead of commenting, he abruptly changed subjects.

"Pomona, dear, is there something else you'd like to tell me?"

She couldn't think of anything. Her puzzled expression made him chuckle.

"I hear four heartbeats and Sirens are only supposed to have two," he said in a sing-song voice.

He caught her right before she hit the stones.

"Pomona, wake up dear."

Pumpkin groaned and rolled over. Opening her big blue-green eyes, she looked up to see Sulpicia standing over her. Her stomach did another flip-flop, but she knew she had no nourishment to reject.

It had been so close...how exactly had she hidden this memory from Aro again? Was it because he hadn't been looking for it?

"Sulpicia...I feel so weak..." Pumpkin lamented.

"Of course you do, dear, you're carrying a vampire baby. Don't you know that you're supposed to drink blood?"

Pumpkin grimaced and made a choking sound. The back of her throat was so dry that it hurt.

"I can't," she said truthfully, "it made me sick when I had to do it to pass as a vampire."

"You'll have to or you won't make it. Stay there, Aro wants to speak with you."

She left the room. Pumpkin's shame would have burned on her cheeks if she'd been human. She wondered vaguely why she felt guilty about all this now when it hadn't mattered all those years ago.

"I take it that you didn't know," Aro commented. Pumpkin shook her head. She realized that he was holding a silver goblet. The most appetizing smell was coming out of it.

"This will make you feel better."

He passed her the cup. Without even stopping to wonder what it was, she downed the cup's contents without stopping. The gross feeling in her stomach stopped immediately, replaced by a warm relief. The taste was like nothing she'd ever had before...there was nothing to compare it to.

"You're right," she said in awe, "I feel much better! I think I want more! What was that?"

A smirk lit Aro's pale features.

"I can't tell you," he warned her, "it would upset you."

She decided to take his word for it. Someone else took the cup and went to refill it.

"We have a very interesting dilemma," he said in a business-like tone. Pumpkin shrank back against her pillow. She hadn't realized that she'd been laying in a bed until now.

"Your memories yielded a very interesting thing as you slept," he told her, "so I have a very important question for you. I, of course, know the truth, but I want to hear you say it."

Suddenly, the world came crashing down around her. Pumpkin could see from his grave expression that she knew she was caught.

"Did Aurora truly attack my wife...or was it you?"

Pumpkin closed her eyes, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. What would become of her baby? Of her, for that matter?

"I did it."

Her voice was so tiny in that whisper, but it seemed to explode in the nearly silent room.

"I was afraid of that."

Pumpkin was shaking violently now. There. The terrible truth was out. She waited, eyes closed to see what Aro would do to her.

"I have the sword," he said, barely speaking above a whisper, "I could very easily deal with you right now."

Pumpkin's whimper escaped though she willed it not to. Aro's cold hands pulled her own away from her face.

"It was a terrible thing that you did, Pomona. Why?"

Her answer came out in a choked sob.

"Sirens," Aro muttered, "always jealous."

Pumpkin wrapped her arms tightly around her body that now seemed very vulnerable.

"I heard from one of my guards that the Cullens are on their way right now," he said, "I look forward to getting their side of the story. What would they think of you, the great betrayer?"

He thrust the refilled cup at her and she took it with shaking hands.

"I will let you live only until you have the child. Then you will meet your fate as you should have many years ago."

Before he walked out the door, he paused.

"Oh, and Pomona," he said, his voice getting a hard edge, "take good care of it. I wish to keep it and study it. There are worse things than death, you know."

As soon as Aro left, Pumpkin cried out into her pillow. Shuddering and shaking, she couldn't regain control of herself.

Dawn would probably make her wish she was dead. God knew she deserved it. Not knowing what else to do, Pumpkin lay soaked in her own tears, waiting for her fate to come on golden wings of wrath.