Jessica sighed contently as she snuggled under the covers. She was going to need to research this bed, for it had to be the most cozy set of mattresses she had ever laid on. Sleep quickly overtook her.

But it was not the peaceful rest she had expected.

Vivid, chaotic pulses of three to five seconds of movement assaulted her brain.

A man sneaking into the mermaid tent, speaking to someone Jessica could not see. He held a small bouquet of flowers. This, with slight changes repeated over and over, each time slightly different than the prior. Jessica realized she was watching a blossoming romance.

Then the tone changed.

She stood outside a huge circus tent with advertisements for a mermaid show plastered around the door. It was late at night with the moon high in the sky, but it was eerily silent.

Jessica found herself transported to the door of the tent where she could peer inside. The benches were pushed to the outer walls as if to accommodate a large crowd, and the gas lamps were trimmed just so, providing sultry lighting. Curtains hung across one end, and she could sense the cages or aquariums that held the mermaids were just behind.

"It has to be tonight," a hushed male voice whispered.

"But Pearl is…" an equally quiet female responded.

"Close. I know. We have to risk it. He is planning on taking the babe. Tonight. Forcefully. I won't have them do this to either of you. Or the child."

"But it is so dange…"

"Shhh! Someone is coming. I'll make sure Dimitri isn't protected. You know what needs to be done."

"I know. I love you."

"I love you."

The room was suddenly filled with men laughing and joking as bottles in paper bags made their rounds.

The ringmaster appeared at the side of the curtains, announcing it was time. Jessica shuddered at the snakelike charm of the man who must be Aro Volturi himself.

With a nod and a smarmy grin, Aro signaled to a giant of a man standing at the other end of the curtain, who began to slowly pull it back.

The lights suddenly went out. Jessica found herself in pitch black and unable to see anything, yet she felt as if a whirlwind were occurring in front of her. Soft singing, a duet, low and beautiful in a language she did not understand began to fill the air, growing in intensity and volume until it was deafening. She covered her ears, and her eyes filled with tears at the pain.

And then all was silent for a moment. Soft thuds, in reality no louder than a sack of flour falling to the ground, filled her ears, sounding as loud as shotgun fire.

"Let's go!"

"Where's Aro?"

"Go! Forget about him!"

"But!"

"Go! Pearl has him!"