Chapter 12

Edward POV:

Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Jasper and I were waiting in the lobby at the hotel for the girls to come down with their luggage so we could get in the car and make the long journey to Italy. I was against the whole idea of going to Italy and endangering Bella. But it didn't make sense for us to go see Aro while we were there. Last night's conversation suddenly sprang into my mind:

(Okay so I'm going to use just the initials for the people who were in the room. C is Carlisle, E is Esme, ED is Edward, EM is Emmett, J is Jasper, R is Rosalie and A is Alice)

Carlisle had told us to meet up in Alice, Rosalie's and Bella's room for a family meeting after dinner at 7:00pm, sharp. Emmett, Jasper and I had just arrived at their door and we quietly entered the room. Carlisle was watching Esme sketch in a notepad, while Rosalie and Alice were both looking at a fashion magazine. I cleared my throat and at all at once, they all looked up and shushed me.

Confused, I looked over at one of the beds in the room and curled up in a tight ball, was Bella sleeping. I put my finger to my lips and turned to tell Jasper and Emmett to be quiet. Emmett was fighting hard against a smile and Jasper just silently went over to a chair and sat down. Just as silently I went over to an open chair and sat down.

C- Okay, now that everyone is here, we have to discuss about our plans to Italy.

ED- I think we shouldn't go right now, maybe another time but it's not a good time to go right now.

A-What?!!!! But I already have clothes waiting to be picked up at different stores I found on the internet!!

I looked over at Jasper till he finally looked up. I motioned with my head for him to say something to Alice; he was the only one who could convince her about anything, even when it came to shopping trips. He frowned but nodded and then he turned his gaze to Alice.

J-"Sigh" Alice, we will make an extra trip to Italy by ourselves next time but right now, I think Edward has a point. Aro will be too interested in the news of learning of a new Cullen in the family.

E- I agree with Jasper about the Aro part, but I don't believe we should skip out on the opportunity of taking Bella to visit Italy.

I looked over at Rosalie but she shook her head me before I could say anything. She looked at me for a minute and I saw in her eyes that she was in agreement with the others. I shook my head at her but she had looked away and was looking at Carlisle.

R- Maybe Esme is right and besides if Aro finds out about Bella, than we will be ready. She's a part of this family now and if it takes a small visit to Aro to keep Bella safe from harm's way, then we will do it with our heads held high.

EM- Yeah!!!! My Rosie's right!!! Even if Aro doesn't like it, we Cullen's will fight to protect one of our own.

Emmett got up and went over to put an arm around Rosalie. She leaned against him and put her arm around his back. Jasper got up and went over to Alice. She got up and Jasper sat down in the chair, while Alice sat down in his lap. Everyone was looking at me, expecting me to contradict them with some lame excuse. I sighed and looked over at Bella, who was still asleep.

She looked so calm and at peace, that I didn't know what to do. I thought about what to do and sighed. I looked at them and said, "I'm going to show you why going to Italy right now is a bad idea." I walked over to the bed where she was laying. Everyone shot at attention motioning me to go away and let her sleep. I held up one finger and put it to my lips to silence them.

They only relaxed for a second before they saw me reaching for Bella. Emmett was about to let go of Rosalie and stop me but Rose held onto him. Jasper was trying to move Alice to get up but the pixie clung to him. Carlisle was also getting up out of his seat but Esme held his hand. I gave my sisters and my mother a small smile and then proceeded to reach for Bella.

As gentle as I could, I rolled her onto her stomach and caressed her exposed skin. She relaxed and like last time, two beautiful white wings came out of her back. Everyone was shocked and all of them were gazing at her wings. They stuttered and tried to say anything but nothing came out. Every time they looked at me or at each other, they couldn't help but let their gaze go back to the angel that was sound asleep.

I knew they still wanted to go to Italy, so I gave up. I sighed and they looked at me again. "We can go to Italy and stay there for a while. But, I am not going to allow, no matter how long we are in Italy, Aro cannot meet Bella." With a final glance at Bella, I strode out of the room.

Rosalie, Alice and Bella finally came down with their bags and we checked out. We got into the car we had rented for this trip and was on our way to Italy. I sat next to Bella on her left while Alice sat on her right, chatting away at her. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to catch up on sleep from last night. Alice's voice slowly faded out, like a radios sound being turned down. I turned my head away from Alice talking and drifted off to sleep.

Bella's POV:

It was a long trip to Italy. Alice wouldn't let me sleep like Edward had done two hours ago or let my attention wander off; she kept on talking to me. Finally, Rosalie got her attention and she started talking to her. I looked over at Edward and he was still sleeping. He is so lucky that Alice wasn't talking his ear off, I thought. I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep before we arrived in Italy.

I instantly regretted falling asleep. In a flash of bright light, the nightmare I have been dreaming about started up again:

I was flying at full speed, I didn't know what I was running away from but it didn't feel safe to slow down. Suddenly, something caught my hand and squeezed it. I looked back and saw Edward. His beautiful emerald eyes were full of shock but he was smiling at me. I looked at Edwards face a second longer and then looked to see if he was hurt.

I screamed and I almost let go of his hand. Edwards's beautiful black wings had been sliced and sickly looking branches were sticking out of his left wing. It looked painful and I wondered how he could fly with all those in his wings. Edward caught my chin in his hand and I looked back into his eyes. Edward leaned in and whispered very softly, "I'm sorry."

Suddenly something hard grabbed me from behind and I let go of Edward's hand. Edward fell into the shadows of the trees and I couldn't see him anymore. I screamed and thrashed at the stranger but no sound came out of my mouth and my strength had suddenly disappeared. I looked up into the strangers face and saw that I knew this stranger.

He looked like one of the Cullen's with the black wings but his face was different and his smile was menacing. I knew this person, one word; a name came out of my mouth when I realized who it was, "Aro."

My eyes snapped open and I blinked looking around. I was in a hotel room and I was all alone. My heart was still pounding in my chest from the nightmare, but I wonder if I had scared anyone with my screaming. I looked at the bedside table and saw that it was 5:00 pm, I slept longer than I would have expected. I turned on the lamp and saw there was a note addressed to me in a fancy script. I snatched it off the table, curious to see who had written me a note. I opened it up, looking at the unfamiliar hand writing and read:

Dear Bella,

Alice couldn't wait to pick up her clothes, so Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie went with her to pick them up. Esme and Carlisle wanted to walk around, so they are out exploring the city. I decided to stay here and read a book. If you could join the family for dinner at 5:30 pm, we will be waiting in the lobby. Carlisle said he wanted to take the family to one of his favorite restaurants in the city.

From,

Edward C.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth twice, got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, combed through my hair a few times and put on my converse shoes. I checked the time and it was 5:25 pm, I took my purse, the room key and rushed out the door. The elevator took two minutes to get up to my floor and the trip down was even longer.

I finally got to the bottom floor and I see the Cullen's. I almost tripped twice while walking over to them. When I got close to them, I gave them a small smile and said, "Hi." They all turned to me with grins on their faces and we all went into the dining room. After dinner, we all went back up to our rooms and went to bed. Before I went to bed, I heard Rosalie and Alice whispering something about the Volturi and about someone named Aro. I curled up in bed and waited for sleep to come.