It was normal for a person to get depressed over a film or the ending of a tv series but they usually find another piece of media to fill the void. However it clearly worked differently with real life relationships, and it solidified my opinion on having a relationship myself.

Numerous months had passed since the Cullens suddenly left Forks claiming they needed a change of scenery, they thought they were doing something good but all they did was ruin my life. I personally didn't know them like Bella did so their departure didn't affect me like it effected her which is one of the main reasons why I suddenly hated them. She had spent the past few months depressed, but not the depression that would make someone kill themselves. It was as if she was completely detached from reality, over the months I watched as her personality wilted and she became an empty shell that was barely getting by. What hurt the most was how it affected me and Charlie, I was fine calming her down from her nightmares in the first few months but after a while it was starting to grow old. She must have really loved him if his departure caused her to lose the spark she once had.

I'll admit I also missed the family, not because of the impact it had on Bella but because of the feeling of being wanted by others. I mainly kept to myself when studying in London apart from talking to the few friends I had made and the guy I invited to my place during the last few months I was there. Of course I didn't do much with the guy apart from hugging as I found out he had no romantic feelings for me but I still wanted to spend time with him as I was genuinely desperate for the company.

I tried my hardest over the months to support Bella and her actions but I was shocked by her latest idea. She wanted to ride a motorbike even though she had no clue how to actually ride one, and I had to roll my eyes once she enlisted the help of Jacob Black. I didn't hate the guy as I remember playing together when we were children and it was painfully obvious that he saw Bella in a different way than a typical friend would. I too would jump at the opportunity to get with the person I loved if their other lover was out of town. It sounds bad I know, but Bella said that Edward wouldn't return to Forks and I would rather her be happy in a relationship with Jacob than be miserable.

Spring was starting to come around now which meant the weather wasn't as bipolar as it usually is. I took the opportunity whilst we had the nice weather to visit the bookstore in town and ended up buying over 5 books ranging from poetry to romance. Yes I am so lonely that I read romance novels to fill the dark hole in my heart. That was also something I wanted to figure out in the future. I had a bookshelf full of books that I had to put into storage due to my sudden move back home but there was books that I didn't have access to here. Maybe Charlie would let me go but I have a suspicion he would be worried in case I didn't come back so I would rather take Bella with me and treat it more like a sister bonding excursion.

It was dark by the time I got home, my shoulders and back were hurting from carrying the stack of books in my backpack. It was the weekend and I wanted to do nothing more than lay in bed and read through the books I bought. I understand that the majority of teens my age would prefer to hang out with their friends and go to parties but I wasn't feeling very social right now. Besides the only friends I made since moving back were the Cullens and they're clearly nowhere in sight. Wait, did Bella have any experience of going on a night out? Hm, guess I'll have to try and persuade her to come with me to a party or club since we were both now 18.

Speaking of birthdays, my eighteenth birthday was shortly after the Cullens left which was honestly bad timing on their part. Charlie got me a new watch as he was probably sick of me complaining about not bringing mine with me to Forks and he insisted that phones weren't reliable as they could die and I would have no clue what the time was. It was a smart idea if I'm being honest. Bella bought me a hardback version of Romeo and Juliet which I immediately started to read once my birthday ended.

I certainly wasn't expecting to see Carlisle's car parked outside the house and I had to blink a few times to make sure I was looking at the right thing. It really was their car and without thinking I ran up the steps to the front door, frantically pulling my key out to unlock the door. Hushed voices sounded from the kitchen and I quietly crept through the hallways, I heard Alice's voice grow closer and it turns out she was barrelling towards me at lightning speed. I completely forgot that vampires were speedy and I managed to shrug my backpack off within a few seconds before Alice's small form crashed into mine, her arms wrapped around my waist.

"You have no idea how much I missed you Charlotte, I don't know if I could have lasted any longer without seeing you." She exclaimed as she buried her head into my shoulder. Bella appeared behind her with a worried expression on her face, I frowned as I realised Alice didn't come all the way back to Forks to hang out but rather for something more serious.

"What did you see Alice?" I spoke calmly as she pulled away from me, gesturing to sit down in the living room. Alice and Bella followed as we gathered in the living room, all of us sitting down on different seats.

"Firstly I want to know how Bella is still alive. Did you know she tried jumping off a cliff earlier today? What were you thinking Bella? We all thought you died!" What a way to drop a bombshell, my eyes widened slightly as I processed the information only to shake my head. All I knew is that Bella said she was hanging out with Jacob but I doubt Jacob would let her do something as reckless as cliff diving.

"This is the first time I'm hearing of it.." I trailed off, was life that bad that she wanted to try and kill herself? Sure I can't be there for her at every waking minute and she is probably sick of me but it hurt knowing she felt like that.

"Charlotte I..I'm sorry, I didn't want you to worry." Bella spoke quietly as she reached over for my hand but I moved it out of reach.

"Anyways I had a vision of you jumping off and I couldn't see anything else so I thought you died. I told the rest of the family over the phone and Rosalie must've told Edward." Horror spread across my face as I tried to think of the different reckless decisions Edward must have come up with.

"Why do you look so horrified if I may ask?" My attention was focused on Alice and the way she looked so terrified for Bella.

"He's heading to Italy." Bella looked over to me in confusion and I shrugged my shoulders as I encouraged Alice to keep talking.

"Why is he going to Italy?"

"He is going to the Volturi to ask for death." A gasp left Bella's throat but I simply furrowed my brows. Who was the Volturi? Were they important?

"They're basically the vampire equivalent of a government, they're the largest and most powerful coven to exist. They're basically royalty." Alice must have seen the confusion on my face as she briefly described the clan. I'm genuinely hoping I can find an accurate history book or something on vampires as the sudden mention of the Volturi has me intrigued.

I must have zoned out for a while as Alice is suddenly snapping her fingers in my face whilst Bella is rushing around the room. How much did I miss? I watched as Bella shoved her passport in her bag and that seemed to snap me out of my daydream.

"Are you guys seriously going to Italy? Without me?" I feigned shock as I got up from my spot, grabbing my book filled bag from the hallway and rummaged around for my passport.

"You do have a passport right?" Alice spoke just as I pulled out my passport, I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at her. She knew I came back to Forks by plane so her asking that question was pointless but she probably thought I lost it or something.

"Got it right here, lemme go and pack real quick and then we can go." This is the sort of thing that I loved. No plans or organisation, just acting on a whim and praying everything will run smoothly.

It didn't take long for me and Bella to gather enough necessities for a quick trip away, and Alice helped out by booking our airplane tickets within the next few hours. I wrote a quick note to Charlie stating that we were going away for 'sister bonding time' which was slightly true except we'll be bonding over how stupid Edward is for making this decision. I made sure that Bella and Alice were outside before I stared over to my stack of recently bought books, they would be too heavy to carry upstairs all at once and we were pretty short on time considering the circumstances. I calmed myself down and closed my eyes, I imagined the books sitting in a pile on my desk and after a few seconds passed I looked at where I left them and they were nowhere to be seen. A wave of fatigue settled into my bones as I got into the back of the car, I fell asleep as soon as my head made contact with the headrest. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to use my gift but it can be exhausting if a long period of time has passed between usage.

Have I made it clear that I hate flying? It was a nightmare getting to Forks but it felt worse going to Italy, it might have been due to the fact that we were travelling as a small group instead of travelling alone. It must be some sort curse us Swans have to suffer as we had to rush through security yet again, the sprint to the gate was something I was starting to get used to. If we were a few seconds later then we would've missed our flight completely and I don't know if I was ready to listen to Bella's ramblings about Edward until our next possible flight. I rolled my eyes as Bella and Alice fought over who was going to sit where, even after I suggested me taking the aisle seat. The two made their decisions and I managed to finally rest my eyes as they started talking between themselves.

"So have you ever been to Italy before Charlotte?" Alice asked as Bella fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket, the plane sitting idle as we waited for take off.

"No but it is somewhere I have wanted to visit since it's on my bucket list, so I guess we're doing two things at once. However I have a suspicion we won't have time for sightseeing." My eyes scanned over the passengers and I groaned at the sight of two toddlers and their parents a few rows in front. Alice shook her head as she briefly pulled her dark sunglasses down to look at me, her topaz eyes shining.

"No, we're only going for the day. If I knew you wanted to go so badly I would have booked us a place to stay." Guilt flashed in her eyes as she pushed her glasses back in place, her head looking around and zeroing on a man two rows behind us. What a coincidence that he also had sunglasses on and I didn't miss the way his attention turned to us once Alice started to thoroughly explain what the Volturi was.

Once the plane took off, I immediately pulled my copy of Romeo and Juliet out of my bag. Bella glanced over for a second and I didn't miss the small smile on her face as she recognised the book in my hands. I could feel Alice's gaze burning holes into my head as I turned my attention to the story before me, I have read it over a hundred times but my love for it has stuck all of these years.

"Oh that reminds me, this might sound a bit odd and you can laugh at me all you want. I know there are certain rules you have to follow and I was wondering if there's some sort of handbook with the rules for those of us that are human." I placed my bookmark on the page as I made eye contact with her, I noticed the way her immaculate brows raised above her glasses as she was pondering my question.

"I guess it would be something we could ask the Volturi as we don't really have any rulebooks for your kind." Her voice was kind as she explained the situation, I had a suspicion she would say something like that.

Hours passed and we were landing into Italy, me and Bella both complaining about how rocky and bumpy the landing was whilst Alice laughed besides us. Once we grabbed our luggage Alice wandered off in search of transport and I certainly wasn't expecting her to pull up in a pretty fancy yellow sports car but it made sense since it was probably faster than a normal car. All I could do is shake my head when she mentioned she technically stole it but that didn't stop me and Bella from getting in the car. If Bella was driving us to Volterra it probably would've taken us about two hours but it only took us around forty minutes to get there since Alice knew how to drive quicker than Bella. That and she ran multiple red lights as me and my sister clung onto the seats watching as our lives flashed before our eyes. I was starting to think that we'll get pulled over if Alice ran one more red light and it would genuinely be so embarrassing.

I marvelled at the streets and eventually the Volterra castle as I could see it in the distance. Alice explained that it was where the Volturi resided and my nerves spiked all of a sudden. If you thought meeting your boyfriend's family for the first time was awful, think again cause meeting the oh so scary governing coven of vampires in Italy was even worse. Capes of red filled the streets as residents celebrated Saint Marcus' day which was supposedly the day Saint Marcus chased the vampires out of Volterra. However, I found it pretty ironic as Alice told me the Saint Marcus in the tale is actually Marcus from the Volturi and it was obvious that vampires still resided in the city.

I was too busy looking at the city that I didn't realised Bella had jumped out of the car and was currently running towards the clock tower. Alice was currently wrapping a scarf around herself and briefed me on the small plan of hers as she had a more clearer vision of the situation.

"So whereabouts do I enter the plan?" I asked as she parked the car in a random alley before taking off towards where Bella and Edward were.

"Just stick with me and this will all be over in a few hours." She sighed impatiently as she watched numerous residents bump into me, the crowd swarming the streets as if it was the red sea. She ended up grabbing my wrist and she tugged me along and up the stairs of the tower. There stood Bella hugging Edward tightly as she pulled him away from the sun, a small smile on both mine and Alice's faces. This reunion seemed too good to be true.

Footsteps echoed throughout the alley and they certainly didn't belong to the rest of the Cullen clan. Two figures moved around in the shadows of the alley, my eyes flickered up to where their eyes are and noticed their crimson eyes.

Oh..

Oh!

My eyes widened slightly as Alice tugged me closer to her side but I gently pulled my arm from her grasp, leaving a small gap between us. I could handle myself and I needed to show others that I'm not as scared and fragile as they thought. My eyes soon adjusted to the darkness and I certainly wasn't disappointed in what I saw. One of the figures belonged to a rather tall and broad man who looked rather strong, whilst the other belonged to a man with wavy black hair that fell to his shoulders who seemed to be looking directly at me. I looked over to Edward who seemed to be glaring at the two red eyed men as he tried to hide Bella from view. That was a rather stupid move considering me and Bella were the odd ones out as we were the only humans amongst the small group.

"I won't be needing your assistance today, you can go back to your duties." Edward spoke as calmly as he could but even I could see how tense he was.

"At least let us discuss matters somewhere a bit more private." The first guy spoke up as he tore his gaze away from me. The way he moved around the shadows in the alley was somehow familiar to me but I couldn't figure out where I knew him from. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"You heard the orders Demetri , we mustn't keep the masters waiting." The tall man spoke up and I watched as he rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you and your sister go enjoy the festival?" Edward nudged Bella who looked as though she just seen a ghost, a scared glint in her eyes.

"No." "I'm staying." Me and Felix spoke at the same causing the guy named Demetri next to him to chuckle slightly. The way the Cullens were starting to belittle me was honestly starting to get on my nerves, they don't know me and the things I have seen. I may be a human but I'm not a child.

I didn't know the two guys that stood opposite up but I had a suspicion that they were nicer than the Cullens. They actually want me and Bella to tag along despite the fact that we're literally asking to be murdered by an entire castle of vampires since we're humans. Despite the fact that I know vampires exist, I still didn't know what the different eye colours meant as I never got told by anyone so you can imagine the shock of staring into numerous pairs of crimson eyes.

"Them two are coming with us." Demetri spoke up, he looked at me and Bella after the little glaring match with Edward. Call me strange but I sort of felt safer around him and Felix, it was like the sense of belonging that I didn't find with the Cullens. To test my theory I stepped closer to him causing Felix smirked over to where Alice was stood, Demetri was visibly surprised by my actions but smiled nonetheless.

"At least one of them is eager to come with us, Demetri." Felix's voice filled the alley but the sound of footsteps behind the boys silenced them. Whoever it was had the full attention of everyone currently gathered in the slightly cramped space. I could understand why everyone was staring at the person as I got a good look at them and even my jaw dropped.

The figure beneath the cloak removed their hood and I held my breath as I felt a small tug in my gut towards them. It wasn't as strong as it was the other time but it was strong enough for the person to make eye contact with me. I thought I was straight my entire life up until now, however the small woman stood before me made me think otherwise. Her light brown hair was pulled back into an intricate looking bun that highlighted her young facial features. Her lips pulled back into a small smirk as she noticed my rather flustered gaze.

Demetri and Felix relaxed their rather tense stances as the short woman stood between them. Edward and Alice froze at the sight of her but backed down in what looked like defeat. Was it weird that I suddenly felt at ease around her? Probably.

"Are you all done bickering? The masters are getting impatient." Her voice was pretty high but didn't sound shrilly at all.

"Jane." Edward nodded in her direction and Alice crossed her arms over her chest, a slight glare in her eyes.

"Follow me." We made eye contact and I was close to walking behind her but Alice beat me to it, therefore it was my turn to glare at Alice. They started to walk off and I followed behind but movement at my side made me look up as Demetri stood next to me. He seemed to have taken a slightly protective stance as he looked back at Bella and Edward. I'll admit that was low-key hot.

Felix brought up the rear as Jane led us away from the dimly lit alley. I could hear Bella and Edward whispering behind us but my mind was elsewhere, there was something familiar about these vampires but not in a menacing way.

"Your scent is quite divine, I'm curious as to how you're still alive.." Demetri whispered to me and my head whipped up to look at him.

"Pardon?" I whispered back as we followed Jane down the alley that widened slightly but the dead end up ahead wasn't very comforting.

"Relax, Aro will inform you of what I mean." The mention of Aro caused Alice to look back in confusion, it was obvious she didn't see this happen yet it didn't seem to scare me.

I soon noticed how Jane and Alice had disappeared from sight but the appearance of a small round hole in the ground started to make sense. It looked like a drain that wasn't in use anymore with the way it sunk into the pavement. I didn't know how deep the hole was and that thought was enough for my heartbeat to speed up slightly. Demetri placed a hand on my shoulder as he swapped places with me, he must have sensed my fear and thought it would be wise to help me out. His shadow dropped down into the hole but he stood at the bottom with his arms out, ready to catch me. I swung my legs over the edge with ease and took a deep breath before falling down the dark abyss. I thought the fall would be scary but it was pretty quick and actually kind of fun as a pair of strong arms caught me at the bottom. My cheeks flushed slightly as I noticed the way his grip seemed to tighten slightly around my form but the one thing I didn't notice is the way I relished being held like this and it was tempting to ask to stay like this. However the sound of the others jumping down and Bella's small scream broke me out of my daze, Demetri must have sensed this as he carefully put me down. As soon as everyone was down, the sound of a drain cover being pulled over the hole filled the space as all light from the street disappears. I could hear Bella's frantic footsteps and it didn't surprise me as she practically had two left feet with the way she managed to trip over literal air at times. There was the occasional sigh from Felix and Alice but I wouldn't say the silence was uncomfortable. It was so quiet that mine and Bella's heartbeats probably sounded like loud drum beats to the vampires at our sides.

The tunnel began to slope downwards and I don't know why but my arm reached out for Demetri's cloak to help guide me since I had normal human vision compared to the vampires. I don't know if he noticed I was clinging onto his cloak for guidance but if he did he was good at hiding it. The tunnel was cold as we progressed down it, of course the others didn't notice how cold it was but me and Bella were shivering as if it was winter to us. Bella had clung to Edward who tried to keep her warm and a pang of jealousy hit me as my teeth chattered. There seemed to be a light from the end of the tunnel and I noticed the intricate looking gate as we passed through. Even though I couldn't see much, I just knew the details of the architecture was beautiful. Guess you could call it a sixth sense.

A big wooden door opened to a brightly lit hallway, I had to squint my eyes as I wasn't expecting to step into a hallway like that. Seeing a modern looking lift in an old historical building like this certainly wasn't on my bingo card for this year but Jane stood waiting for the rest of us. Her face almost looked as though she was bored and had better to do but I noticed her brows raise seeing how close I was to Demetri.

I wasn't prepared for my entire life to change drastically once I stepped into the elevator.