Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer is the creator of these intriguing characters. She and the filmmakers have made a fascinating and beautiful trilogy. I wish to borrow her background and add a plot twist of my own. I also made use of the site ' wiki/Volturi' a fantastic site if I may say and well worth a read for twilight fans.

Chapter 33 – Painful memories and devious plans

Caius's POV

I had been called by Aro probably because the screams that had reverberated through the corridors of my west wing. Damn, I didn't even know why she screamed! Demitri came to deliver Aro's request at the same time Athenodora came to explain the incident.

Entering the throne room I saw that both Marcus and Aro were present. Marcus was chuckling, something that was very strange and I was wondering if he had finally lost his mind. Aro however had a very stern look on his face and I recognized the storm clouds gathering.

"Dear brother how was your trip to Greece with Isabella?" Aro asked as the smile on his face grew.

I laughed "Very entertaining; it was the first time I didn't have a moment to enjoy the scenery"

"So, am I to understand that you two have been able to resolve your disagreements?" he asked while plucking imaginary lint off his coat.

"Yes, very much so!" I began to snicker

"I'm very happy for you both!" He said and then his detachment crumbled as he screamed "And why pray tell, did you bring her to Alaska?"

"She wished to see the Cullens and the Denalis and as you know; a relationship is give and take." I informed him.

"You know you cannot trust them" he shouted as he stood up.

"They know the consequences of betrayal" I countered with a grin on my face

"I request you to bring her back here" Aro demanded as he paced the throne room

"Why? She wishes to stay a couple of weeks with them and considering the results of our 'little trip'; I agreed". I said as I watched Aro walk back and forth.

"Why didn't you rapport this to us before you decided?" Aro inquired as he stopped to face me

"She is my mate" I insisted slowly becoming irritated by his desire to possess her "and being so; she is under my rule".

Aro was furious when he replied "She has an undeveloped talent and it needs to be nurtured, no one is better equipped to do this than my special guard. You knew that it was my intention! "

"Over 3 weeks we can always speak of this, she will then be back from her visit" I reasoned.

"You do not understand; she must not use her powers outside the Volterra" He argued.

"We do not even know if she has powers" I declared

"I am sure she does! Being impenetrable to the gifts of both Jane and me is a feat that no vampire has been able to accomplish let alone a human"

"And you already want to incorporate her in your guard?" I said trying to compose myself.

"Why not?" Aro enquired in a condescending tone

"Because she is my mate!" I roared "I will never allow her to fall under your guards for that would mean that her priority as my mate would be compromised".

"You forget Caius that the guard falls under our rule" Aro argued.

"Maybe so, but the obstacle would still be present. I did not want this bond, you both practically forced it on me and now that I desire it I will not relinquish any part of my hold on Isabella".

Marcus then said "You are right Marcus, the welfare of your union is more important than the gifts your mate holds"

Aro was infuriated and turned his head to look at Marcus as if he had grown two heads "Marcus you usually stay quiet and when you finally decide to communicate; all you can do is speak nonsense?"

"No" I said my anger peeked "Marcus is right and that is how I look at the situation. Now if you have nothing else to say I will be leaving your company as I must catch up on my paperwork".

I then turned and left their company and as I left the room heard a table crash against the wall. Aro was very unhappy!

When I arrived at my room I was furious; how dare he demand I give him Isabella! I quickly walked to Athenodora's room but not finding her went to the library venting my anger on anyone I came across in the hallway.

It was difficult to work under such stress but I sat behind my desk trying to sort out my papers. After an hour Athenodora came into my room and in my temper I looked up saying "where the hell have you been?"

"I was with Edward" she said her voice tinted with annoyance "When Aro called you I went to Edward and helped him get through the necessary passageway so that he could be in the alcove of the room adjacent to the throne room.

"Why?" I questioned

"What Aro says is important but what he thinks is even more so" she slyly remarked as she leaned her backside against the writing desk and folded her arms over one another.

"Where is the Cullen Boy?"

"Stop calling him that!" she uttered venom in her tone as she turned her angry face towards mine "You know it is not tactful; call him Edward that is his name."

"Whatever…. Where is he?"

"He is in Alexia's room of course! He was able to collect some information that you might find of interest."

I looked up at her, my face shaded by confusion.

Edward POV

I had just come back to my room and immediately went further to check up on Alexia. I saw her lying on her bed, her back facing me. At first I was afraid she was in trance but she soon turned around and looked at my face as she held her hand out, her eyes large with fear.

"I missed you" she said "I have always been so self-sufficient but now I feel like I'm falling apart. Thank you so much for your helping me through last night".

I sat beside her on the bed whispering "May I ask you what happened and why you are so afraid of the past? When I tried to probe your mind earlier; all I got was static".

She bravely smiled saying "I guess you deserve it after last night but I will only tell you once because it's extremely difficult for me to discuss this at all".

She sluggishly sat up "You see when I was about seven years old my family moved into this nice little house. My brother and I had a bunch of friends over and when we were playing hide and seek I hid in the coal cellar. I sat down in a corner waiting to be found when all of a sudden I fell into some sort of trance. In that trance I saw a man chopping something with a meat cleaver and being curious as most children are at that age, I walked towards him to take a better look. When I got closer I saw a small hand on the ground, it was a child's hand and at that moment I realized what the man was chopping up".

I could see her mind was far away and her body began to tremble so I put a comforting arm around her ready to let go if she wanted that. "I became hysterical" she said "and ran towards the door but when I tried to open it I realized that it was locked and I thought he would come after me but he kept on working not giving me any notice. I screamed and slammed my fists against the door but it wouldn't budge; after about 10 minutes the others found me. They tried to get me out but they couldn't, the door had a security device and it was rusted. I was locked up for an hour watching this scene before they could open the door and by the time they got me out I was catatonic."

She then looked up at me and said "I don't really know much more about the incident, my mom told me that at first I was brought to the hospital and later a mental health care center. I would occasionally 'wake up' and the longer I stayed and the care center the more responsive I became. By the end of my second year I was alright and they brought me back home".

Now her trembling gradually began to cease as she finished her story "I missed two years of school and we moved so that I would be saved the embarrassment of confronting my old friends. My family however were always a bit nervous around me after that; they never understood what happened to me. I couldn't really blame them for their prejudgment after all, I was a real mess for a long time".

She looked into my eyes saying "When I was a teenager I decided to investigate, I wanted to confront my 'self-inflicted' fears so that I could bury them. Unhappily, when I went to the library to research the house I found out that it had a history". She continued "I found it in an old newspaper in the school library. In the 1930's, at the time of the great depression, a family had lived there and one night the man when crazy and murdered his family. They found the body pieces in the coal cellar".

Her body relaxed, she leaned against me and sighed as if she had finally found peace by telling someone.

I then muttered "Have you had other incidents since then"?

"No, that is not until last night."

"Do you still remember what you saw last night?" I quietly asked hoping that this would not take away her tranquility.

"I remember the battle and I remember you coming into my illusion to help me get out. Most of all I remember Caius, my god he was fierce; now I understand how he got his reputation".

I smiled at her reaction and whispered close to her ear "But you didn't go catatonic and you seemed to have recovered from your ordeal".

"Your right, maybe because I am older, maybe because I'm a vampire or maybe just having you in the vision helped my mind to overcome the situation. Whatever it is I am just glad that I could avoid another collapse".

Athenodora's POV

I let Caius blow off some steam before we went to Alexia's room as I knew Edward would be there trying to help her understand what happened last night.

We walked through the hallway together and I knocked on the door before carefully entering; always being wary of spies in the corridors.

As I had predicted Edward was with Alexia, trying to comfort her but when he saw us he whispered something in her ear and immediately stood up motioning us to his room as he shut the interconnecting door.

He sat down on the couch and spoke softly "I heard Aro's mind after you left the room and he was furious, swearing that he would have the last word. He has his mind set on Bella and will keep after you until you give in"

"Let him try! I will not give in." Caius laughed

Edward looked into his eyes saying "If you don't comply by the end of the week he will send an old friend and Jane down there to take a look". He then added "While he was thinking about the 'old friend' he remembered how helpful he had been when he needed his sister taken care of".

He was about to object when I waved my hand asking him to listen to what Edward was about to say "He will then have Bella kidnapped so that he can discredit the Olympic and the Denali covens; say that they had not taken good care of her. If she is not recovered in time he wishes to send an army to wipe them out so that he can get a hold of Alice, me and Kate. Having destroyed the Olympic and Denali covens we will no longer have emotional bonds to protect ourselves so he will be able to use Chelsea's gift to recruit us to the Volturi guard".

Knowing Caius would have difficulty composing himself I put my finger on my lips and motioned towards the hallway.

He turned to look at the hallway door and grumbled "I can't believe this; I know Aro is ruthless but he would not touch Isabella, he knows I wouldn't stand for it".

Edward turned to face him whispering "Aro has decided that if you do not give her up he will forcibly recruit Bella to his guard and if it means that he must take your life he will do so. You were necessary in the old days but now that his army has gotten stronger he can do without".

"You Lie!" Caius snarled

Edwards face was marked by fatigue as he completed his statement "Why should I? If you don't believe me just wait until you have proof. We have a week to solve your mystery. After that Bella will be taken and Aro knows you will do anything and everything to retrieve her".

After a moment of silence Edward continued "He is counting on your mistrust, anger and viciousness; setting you against the covens so that when you arrive there you will be ready to kill. If you were to 'meet with an accident' while looking for her, then his problem would be solved. Bella will no longer be protected so she will be his puppet to control".

I now praised the gods that my intuition was still sharp; I didn't like how things were going but at least we were prepared for this. In a weeks' time Alexia and I will have seen Sulpicia and looked into Didyme's murder.