Chapter Fifty

Bella

The coffee machine was still on and I poured myself a cup, it was still hot and tasted enough like coffee after stewing for so long that it was acceptable. I took another shower and picked out a pair of jeans and a jumper pulling the tags off. I'd only just finished brushing my hair when there was a knock on the door. I ignored it and it came again followed by a curse then Jane put her head round,

"Bella you're wanted now"

"Wait. I've got a headache and I'm not going anywhere until I get something for it."

I sat in one of the chairs and folded my arms.

"I'll get you something if you come with me."

I shook my head,

"Nope."

She swore and disappeared leaving the door unlocked so I got up with a smile and walked out into the corridor. It was empty so I wandered along looking at the paintings hanging on the walls. They were obviously very old and mostly boring although I liked a couple of the portraits of young women so I took them from their places and replaced them with ones from my room that I hadn't liked. I was just hanging the last one when Jane came back, a pack of pain killers in her hand. She was astounded to see me wandering the corridor but didn't say anything. I took the pack from her and went back to my room for a glass of water, swallowing two of them before smiling,

"I'm ready now Jane, lead on"

We went back to the smaller room I'd been in the night before, the same three sitting waiting for me.

"I hope your room was to your liking Bella" said Caius.

I nodded,

"Yes thank you. It's a beautiful room and thank you for the clothes too"

He smiled and stepped back leaving things to Aro again.

"Bella, you are looking much better this morning although I understand you have a headache"

"Its going thank you. Now where were we?"

"I think the best thing would be for me to tell you of our plans for you, then you can react."

"Fine by me. Go ahead."

"As my daughter I think it right that you become one of us. After this it would be good if you would use your gift in order to help us enforce the laws of the Volturi. As a member of the guard you would have the freedom of the town and anything you need within reason of course."

Aro

I waited to hear her response, knowing it wasn't going to be an unqualified yes. Her eyes narrowed and she smiled,

"OK, Now I know how you see things going I'll tell you how I see them. I am already part vampire so I see no need to be changed further. I don't see how my gift as you call it can help you to enforce the law and the freedom of Volterra means nothing to me. So, this is what I want from you. I want the freedom to go where I like, Italy or beyond, I'll keep the secret of the Vampires, but I wont work for you."

She was going to be much more of a problem than I had hoped.

"My dear daughter, surely you can understand why I would want you here with me. Now your poor mother is dead I am all you have. As for travelling, I'm sure something could be worked out. Your gift, well until we know how strong it is we have no idea how it could help us. Sometimes we need protection ourselves and I'm sure you would think that a fair exchange for your birth."

She shook her head,

"No, and don't use my mother's death as leverage Aro. I have no wish to be here as a guest or a prisoner. I just want to be left alone and if I have to use my shield to protect myself then I will."

Had I heard her right? Was she threatening me?

Caius

This was going better than I had dared hope, I had spoken to Marcus and we both had the same concerns, if Bella agreed to work for Aro he would be invincible. We both knew she was a powerful shield, much more so than Renata his personal shield. If she had agreed then we would have had to act ourselves against her but she was working on our behalf without even realizing it.

Aro

This wasn't going how I had hoped and I saw Caius smile at my discomfort, Marcus too seemed happy that Bella was being less than cooperative.

"Bella, I appreciate this has all been a shock to you especially after your mother's death but I'm sure you can see how impractical it would be for you to go back to the human world knowing what you do."

She shook her head,

"No actually I don't see that. I lived in the human world up to this point and I could quite happily do so again. After all what can I do? I don't have an offensive gift so I'm not going to start slaughtering the humans. I just want to finish high school, get a job and live out my life."

"You would choose a short life as a human to immortality?"

"Yes. If it's a choice between freedom or incarceration."

"No one suggested you should spend your life here in a prison my dear. You would be one of our family."

"No thanks, families don't seem to mean much here. I had one and that didn't work out too well so I think I'll stick to myself."

"Family here is all important and that's why I must insist you stay."

Bella

Finally he'd come out and said it, something I could fight against that was out in the open,

"You are refusing to let me leave father?"

"Yes my dear. I cannot let you go back to the human world. What if you were to fall into the hands of an enemy?"

"I'd tell them the same as I just told you. I'm not playing."

"If it were that simple my dear. I think you need time to adjust to what you are. Perhaps a friendly face would help"

That was rich coming from him, a friendly face in Volterra, some trick.

"Jane perhaps you would ask my other daughter to join us."

Other daughter? I knew about Jane but there must have been others but if he thought the fact a red-eye was my sister would make a difference then he hadn't been listening at all.

Caius looked at me as if reading my thoughts,

"I think this might be a shock to you Bella."

I tried to ignore him but he had it nailed, when the door opened my mouth fell open.

"Alice?"