A/N: Hello, everyone! Happy 4th of July. Here's a new chapter. I hope you like it.

Chapter 10 The Cover Story

There were hundreds of vampires going in our direction. Edward moved toward my back and pressed his back on mine. The moment we had contact, I felt as if I was on ice. As I was doing this, I readied the vampiric trap that Jacob had given me. Then, I said the words to turn it on.

In that moment, the vampires including Edward froze. I was about to leave when I remembered Edward. I felt guilty about leaving him there. He might want to kill me at this moment but it would be useful to have a vampire by my side who could navigate Volterra. Of course, I had to keep him under my control.

I decided to touch him and say the words that freed him. He was so angry, I was beginning to regret freeing him.

"I can still freeze you like the rest of the vampires. The only reason I freed you is because you're Alice's brother. The only reason why I'm with you is because I let you take me. We'll free Alice my way," I said. The truth was, short of reactivating the trap, I didn't really have the energy to do it again. Turning on the vampire trap did take some of my energy. I needed a good night's rest and good food to recharge. I also needed to remember that the Volturi promised Alice's freedom if Edward delivered me to the Volturi.

"Well, then, let's hurry. Volterra is like the Washington, DC for vampires," he said.

Edward and I rented a vehicle and drove to Rome. It only took us 2 hours to get to what would normally take us four hours because of his speed. When we get there, we had seen a lot of people, vampires and humans alike, giving us the eyebrow.

I decided to change my look. People knew Bella as a brunette. However, I was a natural red head. I started dyeing my hair when I was 11. People didn't even remember that I was a red head. I asked Edward to buy me some wig—red hair to match the one I was born with. Then, I shaved my head. It would grow back to my original red hair.

Edward bought a lot of food which was good. He had some apples and pizza—the good kind. I slept well that night as Edward watched. Vampires didn't sleep. I wasn't worried about him at all. In a moment's notice, I would be awake and ready to stab him. Vampire hunting training would turn you into a warrior.

I was a lot calmer in the morning now that I had gotten a good night's sleep. It seemed that Edward needed the silence too. I was getting worried about him. His eyes were getting black.

I ate some of the leftovers that night. As a courtesy, I tried to offer some to Edward but he shook his head vehemently against it.

"What does food taste like to you?" I asked him out of curiosity.

"Dirt. I used to have food before vampires reveal themselves in order to blend in with humans," he said.

"Oh, okay. Have you had blood for the last two weeks?" I asked.

Edward shook his head. "I'm going to need to hunt soon," he said.

"I had a better idea," I said. I found a knife and slit my wrist. "Drink," I told him.

Edward obeyed and I let my blood fall to his mouth. I was being kind. And since I was getting my food, he needs to get some food too. They said that giving a pint of blood burned six hundred calories. Hopefully, this should be enough to help him. I could only do this every sixty days.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for trying to hand you over earlier," he said.

After ten minutes, I decided to stop feeding him. At blood banks, it takes an average of 10 minutes to get one pint of blood. I put some bandages on my wound. After that, I ate more food and drink more water. I needed to eat more food for two days until my body replenishes the blood.

Edward left that afternoon and said that he needed to hunt. He wasn't gone long. He was only gone for half a day before he came back, his eyes orange, both from my blood and the animal blood.

"How are you?" Edward asked.

"Better. What can you tell me about the Volturi?" I asked. The sooner we saved Alice, the sooner I could leave Edward.

"The Volturi don't tell you everything. They even lie," Edward said.

I made a note about it. Edward was obviously still miffed at being tricked. That being said, I realized that Edward might be a good liar but he does his best to tell the truth.

"Other than that? Do they have properties where they can hide Alice at?" I asked.

"Volterra is their headquarters. However, they control the whole Italy," he said.

We tried to figure out where they could hide Alice. Three things were for certain. First, Alice was crazy enough to save a vampire hunter. Second, Edward was just as crazy for trying to serve his sister. Third, the Volturi controls everything and time was not on our side.

It was then that Edward's demeanor has changed. "Volturi," he whispered.

We ran out of time. It was now time for plan B.

I did what I could to make it seem like I had a night out. I opened the buttons of my chest and made my wig look disheveled.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"No time to explain. Just follow my lead," I told him.

In a few short moments, someone knocked at our door. It was a big tall man was on the other side. This was different from the intimidating vampire from the other day.

"Edward?" the vampire asked.

Edward looked confused. "I'm Alec from the other day. Have you seen my sister?" he asked.

Edward shook his head. "The last thing I remembered was I was with your sister and a bunch of the other vampires surrounded Bella. The next thing I knew, I was out of that location I haven't seen them since," he said. It was true. Vampires had their senses frozen by the trap.

"Honey, who is it?" I asked.

"Just someone who's searching for someone," Edward said. He then looked at Dimitri. "I'm a little busy right now."

"I'm sorry. I'll let you get back to what you're doing," Dimitri said as Edward closed the door.

Edward got back to where I was. "What was that smell?" he asked seemingly disgusted.

"Red pepper flakes. I ate plenty with my pizza which should mask my scent," I told him. Changing your diet does create differences in the scent. Since I normally don't add red pepper flakes on my pizza, it changes my scent.

"We need to leave by tomorrow," Edward said.

We better leave this area soon. The sooner we wait, the longer Alice will be captive.

End Notes: So, what do you think of Edward? He's under duress. If he didn't give Bella, the Volturi would hold Alice captive and could kill them. Since Bella is technically a food source, he won't hesitate to offer her. However, if he had other option, he'll take it.