Chapter 20: Volturi

The seer's words made the household descend to chaos. The air turned tense as everyone around Bree stood up, their figures hardening from the thought of the ancient vampires arriving out of the blue.

The newborn felt her chest sink. The announcement of Volturi's arrival had been so sudden, she'd not had time to process yet her existence was going to come to an end. She had thought about it—even accepted the imaginary situation—but had not adjusted her brain truly to the fact she was going to die.

Panic flared inside her brain. Perhaps she could still run away. She would be a coward if she managed to do so, but at least safe from the horrors of facing the cloaked immortals.

Her breath hitched.

No. Head shaking in reluctance, she refused to let hesitation latch itself onto her. She wasn't going to back down. No matter what, this needed to be done. For Fred. And for the uncanny-looking woman and her child. She had to become ash.

The faraway tree she had sat in when mourning the deaths of the two humans flashed in her mind. She wondered if the Cullens could bring her remains close to the plant and let them rest there. She had promised the plant she would take care of it. That way, they could both be happy and protected. Together forever, literally.

Unknown to her, her legs attempted to escape on their own accord. To her bad luck, the rest of her body had to follow the unconscious action. As she realised what had happened, she was grabbed from all sides and thrust to the ground, her futile attempt to escape stopping before she had managed to go far.

The room filled with a thud as she fell to the wooden floor, the impact she was thrown creating a dent in the material.

Her legs were banned from deciding any of her next moves. The decision firm in her mind, she concentrated on calming her anxious body. Although she tried doing it quickly, Jasper was faster. His gift pushed itself inside of her, unwanted. The serene feeling overtook her muscles as she relaxed.

"Get up," the southern vampire commanded. "They are almost here. You cannot be lying on the floor when the Volturi arrive, although I doubt they would care if-."

"Jasper, me and Esme will handle her." Carlisle interrupted him.

The man growled, "Fine."

New hands took hold of the young teen as she was helped up. Esme and Carlisle's scents washed over her while she took balance in their grip, steadying herself. She didn't want to fall again. It would be embarrassing.

During her legs acting up—which, for the record, was not her fault—she had not paid much attention to the Cullens. Her mind had become fixated on the movement of her shoes. So for the first time, after Alice's vision, her crimson eyes fell on the leader and his mate. They were standing on both sides of her like they'd never stood up from the couch in the first place and left her to sit on it alone.

"You'll be alright," Esme tried reassuring her. It was a dead end. Bree was not going to let the woman convince her she was going to be fine when they both knew that was not going to be the case. She wasn't as dumb as she looked. And most importantly, old enough to realise there was nothing to be done to save her.

She didn't even want to be saved.

The girl's silence didn't go unnoticed by the two. She'd wished they'd just let her do her thing and stop trying to convince her she wasn't going to die.

Carlisle softened his hold on her arm. "Alice saw that your chances to survive are not as slim as before," he reminded. "We'll figure something out. I'm sure the Volturi will listen to us depending on which of them are coming."

"I doubt so," Jasper said, inserting himself into the conversation.

Esme hushed him away, giving him a scolding look. "Don't listen to him. If Alice sees your surviving chances are better, she should be listened to."

Bree shaked her head, doubtful to believe them.

A sight broke out from the matriarch's lips, but she did not say anything else. She had clearly stopped trying to convince her, registering it was not going to be successful to try changing the mind of the stubborn newborn.

Pleasement dripped into the brown-haired girl's expression. She had won.

Her victory was short-lived, as her ears picked up fast-paced running. The sounds were coming closer without a single heartbeat pumping near them. The inhuman sounds brought her back to the house, comprehension of her upcoming death dawning upon her face.

She gulped.

Carlisle and Esme tightened their grips on her, their amber eyes unsure if she was going to attempt bolting away.

"They are here," Rosalie whispered.

The Cullens didn't dare to move until the footsteps stopped on their doorsteps. Nervousness rattled in the air, suffocating the last positive emotions inside the house.

This was it. Her death was here.

Time stretched as the newborn waited for the doorbell to ring. Her nerve-cracking feelings swirled in her stomach like butterflies begging to get freed. Their screams haunted her, warned her to run, but she was stuck in her place. Her feet had glued themselves to the wooden floor in hopes of being somehow saved by their laughable action. She wished they did not truly believe in getting rescued from that. If they did, they were idiots.

The rest of her body agreed with her mind, making her twitch as the doorbell rang. The sound was ominous, promising a never-forgotten scene to unfold in front of her. She'd become ash at the end of it, but at least, would not suffer. Or at very least get tormented fast, and then her life would be taken.

Carlisle let go of her. He gave a reassured smile to the sixteen-year-old and started moving towards the front door. His form disappeared behind a wall as he walked out of the living room. Steps slowing down, he came to a halt. The patriarch must have reached the door.

With an unassuming click, the door creaked open.

"Ah, Carlisle!" an unfamiliar voice spoke. The stranger continued with a polite voice, "I'm so thrilled to see you again, my dear friend."

The patriarch greeted the unfamiliar vampire, keeping his tone courteous "Aro, I was not expecting your company. It's a delight to see you…even if the situation is far from pleasing."

"Yes, indeed. It's quite unfortunate. Which brings me to my next question."

Bree's muscles turned rigid. If her face could have paled, she would have become white as a ghost. A memory from two weeks ago repeated itself in her head like a broken record. It consumed her mind, sweeping all of the other thoughts away. She remembered the yellow-eyes leader mentioning Aro when telling about his past, her crystal-clear memories recalling the leader of the Volturi without a struggle.

Aro stalled his words, like he was getting fatigued from letting them out of his mouth. "I hope you have managed to catch the newborn. I'd hate to see anything happen to you and your little…family."

"We have, in fact," Carlisle answered. His voice dropped as he made his tone serious. "Would you like to perhaps meet her?"

"Yes. I'd love to."

Footsteps filled the newborn's ears, their rhythmic pace moving on the creaking wood. The Volturi were going to walk into the living room. By her estimation, five guards were following the Cullen patriarch and Aro, the vampire world leader. Shudders created by her imagination travelled up her back. This was not good.

Panic jumped on her face as she took a breath in. This was no time to show her weaknesses. If she looked defeatable, she'd get killed faster. The pressure from the mixed emotions built up around her heart. What if she had changed her mind and did not want to die? Pleading her case could be idiotic, but maybe it was worth revisiting in her mind. Perhaps she could convince the Volturi to let her live.

Her head flipped, locking itself on the room's entrance. The resolve solidified inside of her. She'd give herself another chance to live. Her previous assumption of being ready to die wavered away in front of her feverish need to live. In her desperation, she hardened her face, preparing to face the monstrous ancient immortals.

The girl needed to be brave.

Carlisle returned to the uneasy room. He looked around, his careful gaze bouncing from each of his coven members to another, telling them to stay put.

Behind him, a man with black cape walked in. His strange pink-coloured eyes looked around, full of curiosity. With jet black hair falling to his shoulders, the ancient vampire sighed like he was delighted to see the yellow-eyes.

He was accompanied by four vampires. Two of them were very familiar to Bree's terror—Jane and Alec placed themselves on the black caped man's both sides, scowling expressions plastered on their young faces. The two other guards, or so she assumed, were unfamiliar to the newborn. She had not seen them before. One of them was a short female. She stood right behind the pink-eyed vampire, touching his cape. The contact was subtle but noticeable enough to create shudders in the sixteen-year-old's back. She for a second wondered if the short guard had a gift that needed a touch to work. The last guard was a male. He looked brawny, his huge muscles flexing as he settled to stand next to the short female.

"Is Isabella here?" The jet-black-haired man, Aro, inquired.

Bree bit inside her cheek, being careful not to make a noise from the action. The question was dumb. If the human had been close by, he should have been able to hear her heartbeat.

"No. Not anymore. I'm afraid you missed her and Edward by fifteen minutes," Carlisle apologised. His voice was hesitant, careful in case he would anger the ancient immortal.

Aro's smile dropped. "Oh, that's such a pity. I would have adored seeing her again." He turned to Alice, a grin re-entering his expression. "But it's marvellous to see you again, darling Alice."

"The pleasure is all mine." The pixie gave a polite answer.

Aro smiled, thrilled. He widened his enthusiastic eyes. "I'm sure you have seen how this meeting will go."

"Yes, I do have seen a few outcomes." As Alice's calm composure did not reveal anything worth noting, the Volturi leader focused his attention on Bree.

His spooky demeanour left her feeling uncomfortable, as the girl's instincts told her to hide from his prying gaze. She reminded herself to stay calm and not show fear in front of the ancient immortal.

Pleasantness oozed from Aro's words as he opened his mouth. "You must be Bree."

The newborn nodded, looking down at her legs. She kept her body unmoving despite a strong pulsating urge to move it further away from the room. Wanting to stare out of the window to get an excuse not to look at the man, she flickered her crimson eyes to the huge glass panel. They returned to her feet as an emerging panic rose in her throat. Hiding her fear was turning out to be impossible.

"You aren't really talkative, aren't you, dear?" The ancient vampire sighed, lifting his attention from the teenager.

"She is nervous, which is quite understandable in her case." Carlisle redirected Aro's attention to himself.

Relief engulfed her. She felt like she was able to breathe again. As the Volturi leader's eyes were on Carlisle, she could rest assured she had time to gather some of her thoughts in peace. Perhaps attempt regaining her confidence too. Her mind needed to work quickly—pull all the strings needed to make her stay sane.

"Indeed," Aro agreed. He turned to look at Bree yet again, eyes sparkling with yearning. "It may be time to dwell on our little problem. I got rather carried away for a second. Your Alice is so wonderful!"

"Yes, I'd like to actually propose something if you permit it," Carlisle said.

The ancient immortal's expression twisted to curiosity "Oh, of course, my friend."

Bree's gaze went to the patriarch. She was just about as intrigued as the Volturi to hear what the blond man had to say. What could he be thinking? A proposal to the vampire world leaders didn't seem smart. Even she, a newborn, was able to figure it out. On the flip side, Carlisle did have a history with the terrifying group of vampires. He, if anyone, could try talking to Aro.

Others in the room agreed with her, their stances tattling their emotions.

The yellow-eye closed his eyelids, reopening them as the living room's air became thicker. "Me and Esme pondered together a day ago what to do when you'd arrive. We considered all the possibilities and ended up coming to a conclusion." He gave a warm look in his wife's direction. "We would be prepared to take full responsibility for Bree. If she would kill someone, we would be ready to get punished."

Aro cut off his speech. "Carlisle, I appreciate your notion, but she has broken the law. I thought Jane went through this with you last time. I do agree that it's such a shame to kill such an unusually gifted vampire, but the safety of the rest of us needs to be taken into consideration."

The sixteen-year-old's hopes shattered, their pieces falling to the wooden floor, ready to be swept to the trash can.

"I urge you to reconsider."

"No, we have made our choice regarding her. She is dangerous to the world." Aro's tone shifted to remorse. His expression, however, did not give off the emotion. Instead, it was filled with calmness.

The patriarch stayed silent, looking like he was weighing down a thought. His eyes sharpened. "It would be a shame if others of our kind found out you let the newborn army in Seattle grow and befriended its leader."

Aro's body straightened in surprise. He took a sharp breath before rotating his head towards Jane. The two stared at each other, the sadistic girl turning humiliated. As his head returned to look at Carlisle, he said, scandalised "I did not have any knowledge of that happening."

It was a lie. The man's unmistakable pretend voice rang in the air, revealing his true understanding of the events. Without a doubt, he was quite well aware of his guards mishaps. Bree kept her face neutral, not desiring to let anyone see her emotions. Maybe they wanted her dead because she knew about the deal Victoria and Jane had made—the very same reason why Diego had been killed by the redhead. It made sense. They hadn't wanted the knowledge to spread. Eliminating everyone who was not part of the deal but had found out about it seemed clever. It was unknown how the Cullens had come to know about it. Perhaps Jane had accidentally revealed it to Edward in the clearing.

A challenge did arise from the brand new information. The yellow-eyes had shown they knew about the agreement, throwing the Volturi's plans to get rid of all involved dead. They wouldn't dare attack them here. The ancient vampires numbers were too small to defeat the Cullens at their contemporary house.

"Then you could perhaps let Bree live. I'm sure you're curious about how her gift would develop. And like I mentioned, we will be willing to face consequences if she kills a human during her newborn year." Carlisle softened his earlier words.

Aro's pink eyes moved around the living room, taken aback by his friend. "I suppose we could make an exception if you are truly ready to risk your life for the child."

"It's settled then?" the blond vampire made sure.

"...Yes."

Exhilaration broke out in the newborn's chest. She had to hold down a squeal, each part of her body undergoing a splash of feelings as a sense of security filled her. The threat of dying had affected her more than she had imagined. She was going to be safe.