In the year 2020, Vampires took control of society and ordered all humans placed in vampire custody. The people who were not captured formed a Resistance movement, headed by the Human Council, who began to plan the Insurgence.

I am, of course, indebted to Stephenie Meyer for this world we all play in, and these characters we all adore. Additionally, I am indebted to hitntr01, who has graciously allowed me to use certain concepts from her wonderful story "In Need of Rescue", which constitute much of the background of my own story. These include: the language Vampiri, the Rules, the machines used to draw blood from humans, Manners Training, and the plot theme of Edward working as a guard at a facility holding humans. Thank you, hitntr01.

Chapter 45 – the return of Marcus and the opening of the brothels

December 25th, 2039

(Bella's POV)

I organized the allies for the midnight attack on the food manufacturers. They fanned out and divided the plants between them. At midnight, I would use my gift kill the staff at each plant and any owners not present at the time. One hour later, the allies were to arrive and remove any human bodies plus any feed already manufactured. The plants were to be photographed and records removed, then the plants were to be destroyed using C-4 explosives. We wanted the sites cleansed by fire; we would consecrate them later, in memory of our human dead.

Another set of allies was poised to deliver alternative food to the living death camps, and to the stores. All food at the stores would be removed. This process would take a few days, as there weren't enough allies to handle the job of replacing the food at all stores at the same time.

The vampire world was unsettled by the televised death of Aro. The explosions at the plants didn't trouble them as much, since they didn't understand what was going on. But after Aro's televised execution, we felt they would be ready to believe that the Resistance had the ability to kill any vampire, anywhere, at any time. The Human Council was in the process of deciding how to communicate this news without causing utter anarchy. We were worried about setting off a killing frenzy by the vampires, who might start killing the captive humans at will, feeling it didn't matter if they could themselves die at any moment. The council did decide to keep the fact that it was only humans with tainted blood who could perform these executions a secret. They didn't want the vampires looking for me.

At the time the human council had confirmed my ability to kill any vampire who had drank my blood, there was much discussion over what to do with this ability. The human world now had the ability to eliminate almost every vampire currently in existence at any given moment.

There were obviously both human council members and freedom fighters who wanted to take this route to the Insurgency. But we chose not to do this immediately. There were three reasons.

First, if we killed all vampires simultaneously, we would kill many of the allies. Without the allies, we would have very limited chances at survival during the years prior to 2037, when my ability was discovered. The allies had sheltered us, helped us build up food stocks, transported us to safety as well as between cities, and provided safety and security in the wilderness. The vampire doctors were almost our exclusive source for medicine, and the allies had done this all of this at great personal risk to themselves. Many had been tracked down by the cops or Demitri when their activities were suspected and were killed, before we learned how to protect them.

Second, if we killed all vampires except the allies, there was just no way to get to all of the humans in custody to safety. So many people were behind locked doors throughout the cities spread across the globe that the allies could never have gotten to them all in time. We risked losing hundreds of humans to painful, lonely deaths of starvation.

But the third and main reason was that we planned to re-introduce the human justice system. We wanted to give the surviving humans closure and also show the difference between ourselves and our oppressors. We were going to put all surviving vampires on trial. The surviving humans could bring charges, and we had testimony to provide trials for the humans who had died. We would not simply kill the vampires, as they had killed most of the human population in 2020. There was a difference between the humans and supposedly superior immortals.

The human council had kept laying down rules to prevent us from killing vampires slowly or painfully while fighting. That was in part due to the possibility of an immortal opponent breaking free and retaliating during an extended death, but also so that there wouldn't be psychic or moral damage done to the fighters. The fighters were to have peaceful places in the new world of humans.

I was waiting for the Human Council to outline the plan for the release of the human race from vampire custody. They were devising plans to obtain release from the brothels, from the living death camps, and from the individual homes. We needed to get the brothel girls out first. Their wounds would overwhelm our meager medical facilities, but it was better they die in our hands, while we were trying to help them, than to continue in their torment.

After the midnight attack on the plants, I went to my room to try to get a few hours' sleep. But about two hours after I lay down, the mind-reader woke me up. Marcus was on his way to Forks; he wanted to see Eleazar before returning to Volterra.

I contacted the Human Council. I needed to know what to do. Papa had never registered his coven, and now not only had Eleazar seen them, in a few minutes Marcus Volturi himself would be walking through Carlisle's front door.

They told me I should act to save Papa's coven from disclosure. His disciplined band of boys contained the top fighters in the vampire world.

I got Carlisle to relight the fire in the main room and snuggled in to one of the pillows in front of it. "Marcus is on his way," I told Carlisle and Papa. Papa glanced at Luther, and the boys assumed positions around the room, looking casual, but covering strategic points.

Jasper had run back home to Forks to check on Ardella and Amy. He had switched to the food service that Carlisle used and was getting home deliveries, openly bypassing Miniver's store. Carlisle now called him, requesting him to return urgently.

Soon Marcus and his small entourage were on the front porch.

Carlisle welcomed Marcus at the door. They exchanged pleasantries too low for me to understand, and then Marcus came into the room. It took him a moment to adjust to the scent. His eyes went black as his nostrils quivered. He was visibly steadying himself, and then he smiled, and opened his eyes calmly. My cousins' scents was just as strong as mine, and there were three of us in the house. As he looked around the room, he stopped at the sight of Papa. He was clearly viewing the room using his gift, which was to recognize relationships. In Papa, Marcus was seeing a strong, unknown vampire, with deeply forged ties to the others in the room and to me.

Marcus recovered himself quickly, but he walked carefully into the center of the room. He pulled a chair over by me and seated himself in front of the fire. Rodrigo started a growl, but Papa shushed him.

Marcus listened to the heartbeats he could hear from the rooms above and then turned to Carlisle. "I see you have other guests."

Carlisle nodded and began to introduce Papa. Once he introduced Papa to Marcus, Papa cut Carlisle off in order to conduct the introductions himself. "I am Papa, and these are my sons."

Marcus' eyes moved between the individuals in the room and then looked at Eleazar. "Hello, friend, I didn't want to return home without saying farewell. I am obviously cutting my visit short due to the events in Volterra."

Eleazar nodded, and Esme peered around the corner. Marcus looked at Esme, then followed an invisible line over to Papa, and smiled. "I see we will be friends; our ties will run deep, my friend."

Papa nodded but stayed reserved. Esme slowly walked over to Papa, for the first time. Papa pushed her behind him, protectively.

Marcus smiled. "Please, I have not had the honor of your acquaintance, I would like to know you better," he said to Papa.

Papa stood firmly. "I do not count those who destroyed the human world among my friends," he stated simply.

Marcus sat in silence for a moment, looking down. "My brothers went too far, it is time to rein them in. It would appear the Aro has paid the price for his arrogance. But I don't know how to begin to undo the damage," he said softly.

I glanced up, catching Papa's eye, and he nodded.

"I want you to free the brothels tonight," I said. I was surprised that my voice sounded uneven. I took a breath to gain some control.

Marcus looked at me steadily, as I continued. "I want you to free the brothels, to order them closed. I want all the brothel workers, the girls enslaved within them, sent to freedom. And the brothels will not be re-opened, nor will the living death camps plundered for more human sex workers."

"And that means all the brothels, including the girls being held in Volterra," I stated firmly. "They are all to be freed. I want this accomplished by noon tomorrow. At noon, we will expect to have the girls start arriving at the hospitals."

Marcus continued to stare directly at me, and I held his gaze. If he did not agree, I would execute him. Those were the orders coming in from the Human Council. Marcus had seen Papa and the boys; they would not allow him to return to Volterra with this knowledge, unless he began to agree to work with us.

Marcus nodded. "It will be done."

At this moment, Leah came in from the patio. She had managed to slip past Byron, who was supposed to be keeping her outside and away from the non-Cullen male vampires. When she walked into the room, Marcus stiffened as his eyes landed on her. She froze, as if unable to move under the burden of his gaze. Rodrigo flashed across the room to crouch in front of her as Papa snarled his displeasure.

But Marcus held up his hands in front of himself, in a conciliatory gesture. He gave one more glance at Leah and then moved his gaze to Carlisle.

"It seems there is much to be done. May I use your office?" he asked Carlisle.

"My office may be more suited to your purposes, Lord," Jasper replied, redirecting Marcus from the office that also served as entrance to the bedroom where Celeste lay sleeping. He had returned to the house quietly during the introductions. He led Marcus upstairs to the third floor and installed him in his old office, then flashed back downstairs.

Jasper, Papa, and Carlisle began to consult quietly, while Rodrigo pulled Leah close, stroking her hair. Leah's eyes were glazed, and she was shaking.

All I could think was, at least I hadn't had to execute Leah's mate in front of her. It appeared the vampire world had a new queen.

PLEASE REVIEW. I WILL SEND EXCERPTS FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER TO ALL REVIEWERS.