And so it begins. I hope everyone enjoys the next few chapters.
Bella
It's time. Or, I should say it's time for some of the others. It was agreed that two vampires and one wolf will begin the charge from all angles. All the remaining vampires and wolves will follow behind in a second group. That second group will come up the rear to give backup to those on the front end of the charge. I, being the shield, was forced into group two.
The four groups who are leading the charge are all going to break through Volturi land on different parts of the building. They will be in charge of killing whoever is guarding their path. They will all meet at the elevators where they will proceed into the dungeons. My group will come in a few minutes after they should be done. We will then proceed to the tunnels and follow their lead. If everything goes as planned, we will meet up in the main Volturi room. There we will fight any of them left.
Edward agreed to stay in group two even though no one else wanted. He is a good fighter and everyone wanted him to be in one of the groups. Even so, he wants to be at my side. As we wait in our group outside the city limits, I feel the predator in me escaping. I will kill them all. We must win.
Jasper
As we near the southwest side of the Volturi building, I pick up speed so Alice is a little behind me. I will not allow her to go first since we don't know how many guards we will hit. Jared runs only a few steps to my left. We are in a triangle formation with me leading. I will not fail.
Within fifty feet of the tall wooden doors, I catch the scent of others. I pick up speed just the tinniest bit and brace myself. Here it comes. Just as I am about to plow down the doors, they fly open. A tall vampire with Emmett-sized muscles waits. I fly through the air and am surprised when a girl, probably changed at fourteen, comes at me from the side.
We fly into the darkened walls with a loud crash. I can feel my skin in my back crack. Before she can pin me, I grab her collar and toss her through the air. Jared catches her by the arm and begins to tear her limb-by-limb. Alice is dancing around the big one while he lunges. When his back is turned, I use the opportunity to come from behind.
With one solid movement I have his head in my hands. Alice suddenly flies past my shoulder. Behind me a fight breaks out between Alice and some vampire with bushy eyebrows. Jared continues his duel with the girl. I step into help just as his mouth closes around her neck. With a rough tug he has her beheaded.
I whip back around just in time to see Alice punch right through the bushy guy's head. It shatters into many pieces. All falls silent around us. I take Alice's hand and lead the way toward where Edward said the elevators would be. We get to the elevators before anyone else. Now we must wait to see how many others will make it.
Emmett
Rose, Paul, and I are in charge of breaching the northeast side of the building. The wooden double-doors stand tall, but not heavy. I throw them completely off the hinges in one push. Rose chuckles from my side. She is just as pumped as I am.
The room we enter is pitch black. Through the darkness, I only see the small passage way leading toward the elevators. I refuse to believe that no one is here. I breathe in deeply and catch the scent of some others. Wherever they are, they are hiding.
"Follow me," I say as I begin the long walk down the corridor. Usually I would be running, but I want to walk. If we run, someone might get picked off easier.
We begin the slow trek down the corridor in silence. I really can't see as well as I would prefer, but every nerve in my body is screaming with excitement. This should be really really great. As we near the end, then smell of others grows stronger. Suddenly I hear movement. When I turn around I see a scrawny vampire holding Rosalie against the wall. She snarls as he gropes her. He looks right at me when he does it, as if he is teasing me.
I lunge at the bastard and immediately have him against the wall. Rosalie surprises me by ripping off the part of his body that no man ever wants to lose. He screams out in pain. Instead ending him now, I decide to leave him in pain. With barely any effort on his side, I rip each limb off his body and toss them far away. To ensure he has a hard time being put back together, I crush his pelvis as well.
In all this commotion, I fail to realize the fight going on behind me. Three others have closed in on Rose and Paul. Even outnumbered they seem to be fine. Rosalie fights like a pro. She keeps them guessing with her quick movements. It also helps that they can't take their eyes off her.
Paul, on the other hand, fights with intensity only I could match. In only two movements he has his opponent headless at his front feet. He meets me with his black eyes and winks. I laugh before we both lunge at the two leeches moving in on Rosalie. Soon, we too are at the elevator. I am relieved to see that Jasper, Alice, and even Jared made it back ok.
Jacob
The leech on my left rips his opponent apart with prowess I am impressed by. I wish I could remember his name. The other one, Garrett I think his name in, throws violent punches at the busty girl he fights. I promised Bella I would be careful in here. And so far, I am. I let Garrett and the other—oh yeah! Vladimir is his name. I let them take the two leeches that were waiting for us.
I watch in my mind as Jared, Paul, and Leah fight valiantly on their sides of the building. Finally, I third bloodsucker appears around the bend. He runs full force at me, but I'm faster. I recognize the fool from last time I was here. As he lunges, I meet him halfway. In one chomp I have his neck separated from the rest of him. He falls to the ground still.
"Nice shot!" Garrett shouts happily. Vladimir throws his opponent into a wall and continually beats him. Finally, he throws a solid punch that breaks the guys face apart. He drops the leech on the ground and smiles a sinister grin. "We must continue on," he says in his thick accent.
I lead them through the halls until we are at the elevators I recognize so well. Jared, Paul, and the others are already there. It is only Leah's group that we wait on. I can see that she is doing fine. She fights better that I would have guessed. The leeches she is with are pretty good too. I'm impressed.
Leah
My group may be all girls, but we really kick ass. Kate, Tanya, and I take on our three opponents with ease. They are big, smelly leeches that move with a lot of force, but no accuracy. It helps that Kate has some protection power that causes others to fall in pain when they touch her.
Kate almost tortures her opponent. She holds her hand on his closed eyes and watches him scream. Tanya takes her guy down easily. She's been around for a while and obviously can fight.
My opponent gives me no hard time. I may be smaller than my pack brothers, but I am still big and strong enough to kill a tick. I corner the leech into a wall and snap at his throat. His arms reach out to knock me away, but I catch them in my mouth first. With no arms, he is weak. I have him dead soon after.
Kate finally kills her leech and we head down to the elevators. Our group is last, but we all made it. There are no words exchanged. Instead, Jasper pushes the button. We all pile in the small elevator and begin the passage up.
When the doors open we are in a brightly lit room. A human receptionist sits at the desk. When she sees us she jumps a little. I guess she has never heard of werewolves. "You can't go in there!" she shouts as we walk right past her.
Emmett and Jasper lead us through tall doors into a bright room with marble columns all over. The room is empty except for three throne-like seats. At the other end there are doors leading somewhere else. I can smell leeches everywhere on that side. They must be waiting for something.
Bella
The elevator smells fresh of our friends' bodies as we climb in. The passage here was one filled with severed limps from Volturi bodies. Edward promised that no one on our side has died based on Sam's thoughts. I believe him based on the looks of the passage we chose.
A different receptionist than the one that was here a couple months ago greets us with terror as we file through. It takes four trips for our whole group to make it up the elevators. Our group, consisting of thirteen vampires and twenty-four werewolves, must seem incredibly horrifying to her. I try not to look too scared as we wander toward the Volturi room.
Edward grips my hand tightly. On my right Sam leads his wolves. I know that soon the others will make a huge diamond around me. I am the one to be guarded. Once we are in formation, I will release my shield in hopes that I can hold it the whole time.
We enter the room to find all the others perfectly fine. No one from the Volturi is in the room. They must be preparing. With only a small amount of words exchanged, everyone circles around me. As much as I hate it, Edward and Jake stand in the very front. They are the ones who want to fight most. I focus my shield around everyone just as Aro, Caius, and Marcus enter from the back rooms.
"Well what do we have here?" Aro says with his usual happy grin. "The Cullen's and all their friends are paying us a visit."
"You know why we are here," Edward snarls.
"You want to fight us," Caius says. "But you obviously don't know what you are against."
"Why are you hiding back there, Bella?" Aro asks.
"Can we please get to the point?" It's Caius again. Emmett is eager too. He is practically shaking with anticipation.
"Yes, I am rather disinterested with toying with them," Marcus adds in his usual dull tone.
"Come out!" Aro shouts. Behind the doors I hear the footsteps of many others. Soon, standing around Aro, Marcus, and Caius are somewhere around thirty vampires. The outer circle consists of vampires that seem to be itching with anticipation. "Newborns," Jasper says with expert analysis.
The inner circle consists of Alec, Jane, Chelsea, Afton, Corin, Demetri, Felix, Heidi, Santiago, and Renata—the main Volturi guard. "So you increased your numbers?" Edward asks sounding not in the tinniest bit scared.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Aro responds.
"We never want to fight," Carlisle answers. "But you made this choice when you decided that you wanted Nessie and the wolves for your own experimentation. We are still willing to negotiate a treaty, but it must be in our favor."
"Well that won't happen," Caius snarls.
"Before you begin your attack, I want to show you something," Aro says. "Bring them out."
The back doors open again to reveal the wives—Sulpicia and Athenodora—leading the two half breeds Aro created. The boy looks just as I remember him, except older. The girl is what catches me off guard.
"You remember Maria, I would assume?" Aro says pointing at her. "I wanted to show you what can happen when you bite a half-breed." That's when I finally realize what is missing. She has no heartbeat. And more than that, her eyes are blood red.
"She's stronger than any vampire. She is also in control of her thirst like no other newborn has ever been—except you, Bella, maybe. She could kill any of you if I asked her to, but I won't. She won't be fighting today. She will be watching along with her brother. It is her sister who gets to fight today."
My mind searches frantically for a memory of there being three half-breed Volturi children. The memory doesn't exist. "Yes, that's right," Caius says obviously proud of himself. "We have one other girl. My daughter, Katerina. You may have heard of her. She's been haunting your daughter's dreams for months."
A snarl rips through my chest. She does exist. But where is she? "I suggest you agree not to fight," Aro laughs. "Because Katerina is probably just outside Oregon now. We can call her off from her mission in less than a minute if you agree to give us what we want."