Disclaimer: still don't own the characters. Except for an OC you will meet briefly near the end of this chapter. I own him.
"The Cullens, hm?" Caius asked, moving to take Bella's now-empty seat. Human visitors didn't last very long in the castle, and Caius was very partial to their warmth. "And just how did the girl come across them?"
Aro waved a hand.
"A sordid love affair with Carlisle's eldest progeny. It was all rather melodramatic. But even more intriguing are the powers Carlisle has kept hidden all these years! Brother, he has a mind-reader and a true seer!"
"I suppose we'll just be overlooking their recent transgressions then." Caius sounded irritated but Aro knew he wasn't truly disappointed. They had all been good friends at one time, even if the Cullen patriarch hadn't shared their views. "That would be a terrible waste, after all."
"Indeed. And considering the things I've heard recently coming from Romania–"
"Don't concern yourself with those peasants, Aro. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. Truly, I don't know why you bother with them at all."
Despite his objections, Caius listened to Aro's latest reports from the spies he'd stationed near Romania before retiring from his office.
Aro sat for some time in silence, contemplating what he would do with the Cullens. The young girl in the midst of changing held great potential to him, but he'd need her complete loyalty. First, he needed to know how strong her ties were to the animal-drinkers.
After collecting his morose companion Marcus, the two followed Bella's unmistakable scent down to Demetri's chambers. He filled Marcus in on what had transpired thus far as they walked. The only sign he gathered that Marcus was even listening was a grunt of acknowledgement.
"Hello again Demetri," Aro said as he and Marcus entered the tracker's room. He raised an eyebrow at the way Demetri held the girl, turning to Marcus with a silent question. Without a word, Marcus held his hand up.
Aro took the offered hand and moved quickly through all of the previous memories he'd seen plenty of times in Marcus's mind. At last, he reached the most recent observations. He noted the fast-growing and one-sided bond developing on Demetri's part toward Bella before he narrowed in on the human.
Strong familial ties and an even stronger romantic bond roped themselves to the girl. The strength of her love was nearly as strong as a vampire's mating bond, even as a human. If she truly was the singer of Carlisle's mind-reader Edward and the vampire had managed to not kill her, Aro had no doubt that the two were true mates.
"Thank you, Marcus," he said with a nod.
"Have you any other need of me?"
Aro shook his head.
"That will do." As Marcus left the room, Aro turned to face Demetri.
"I wouldn't get too attached," he warned. "She's quite taken with another."
Demetri scoffed.
"Human memories fade."
"They do, indeed," Aro murmured quietly, a plan already formulating in his mind. "Demetri, take her downstairs please."
Demetri narrowed his eyes. 'Downstairs' was code for the dungeons — usually reserved for punishment.
"Are you going to hurt her?"
Aro's gaze darkened.
"It is in my power to decide what to do with the girl," he hissed. "Who are you to question me?"
Demetri dropped his eyes immediately.
"I apologize," he said quietly. "I can't explain it — I feel very protective of her."
The expression on Aro's face softened.
"I'm not going to hurt her." The irony of his statement was ignored as Bella continued to whimper, their conversation littered with small cries and groans as the pain of her transformation continued to grow.
"Bring her to the dungeons, and leave her. You can see her again, once the change is complete."
Aro watched as Demetri stood, keeping Bella tight to his chest. Once the tracker had left the room, Aro dug a shiny new cell phone from the inner pocket of his robes. He loathed the threat of new technology and how it made keeping their secrets more imperative than ever, but even he had to admit there were many conveniences that came from it all. Only one ring passed before the recipient of his call answered.
"Colin, my friend! Tell me, are you close to Volterra?"
Demetri hesitated in the doorway of the bleary dungeons. Sighing to himself, he stepped forward and carefully set Bella's rigid body on the tattered cot.
"Where… where are you going?" she asked him through clenched teeth.
"I won't be far. Aro should be coming along soon." He left the room quickly, knowing if he gave himself even another moment with her, he'd be too tempted to stay by her side, and Aro's instructions had been clear.
"Goodbye Bella," he whispered, more to himself as he closed the heavy door behind him. His only answer was another piercing scream that he heard as clearly as if he were in the room, despite the ancient stones separating them.
Bella writhed in pain, choking on her own breath at times while her muscles seized and contracted over and over. Her throat was raw from screaming, her still human flesh bright red and even bleeding from where she'd scratched at herself, tearing her skin open as she tried to extinguish the burning.
At some point, she managed to crawl from the cot to the ground, hoping the stone floor would cool her down, but the pain only grew. She cried out, begging for it all to end in a cracked voice but it was hours until the door opened once again, though to Bella it felt like a century.
A cold hand pressed to her forehead, but she was too far into the change for it to dampen the heat at all.
"Her defense is still down." Aro grinned, standing from his crouched position. "Perfect."
Colin stood in the doorway, assessing the girl on the floor before him. He took a deep breath in through his nose, shaking his head as the scent of her blood hit him like a brick wall.
"How on Earth did you manage not to drain this one?"
"By the grace of God," Aro answered with a laugh. Colin stepped forward and took Aro's place, crouching down next to Bella.
Her vision was blurry, but she still managed to make out the silhouette of a handsome man with long, bright ginger hair tied into a ponytail at his nape. She curled further into herself as he trailed a finger over one of the scratches on her arm. Colin sucked the finger into his mouth, savoring the smear of blood he'd dragged from her skin.
He pulled the finger from his mouth with a pop, looking up at Aro with a smirk.
"And how much should she remember?" he asked.
Aro deliberated for a moment.
"Nothing."