c



 



Once inside, Julie guided us to her large office on the third floor, and told us to sit down in one of the
large sofas while she ran to the kitchen to get something to drink. Alice, Edward and I sat down
together in one of the sofas, Jacob comfortably sat down in an armchair to our right, and Smith sat
down alone in the large sofa on the opposite side.

͞Sure is a nice place they͛ve got͙͟ Jake mumbled as he looked around in Julie͛s office, smiling to
himself. He was the only one who seemed okay with all this. I was so nervous I could die. Alice and
Edward did not speak, which I thought was quite good. Smith was clearly not thrilled by the idea that
they were here, and I͛m sure he͛d already figured out that they both already knew about his secret.
He glared into our direction, and as his eyes wandered to Alice, she flinched noticeably and inched
closer to me, squeezing my arm so hard it hurt a little.

Smith͛s cold stare turned to me, which made me shiver in discomfort, and I looked away. My heart
beat with incredible force in my chest, like it wanted to jump right through it, and I breathed slowly
through my nose in a lost attempt to slow down my heart͛s racing phase. I looked around in the large
room, and gasped as I recognized something. I sat up more straight, preparing to stand up, and
dragged my arm loose from Alice͛s death-hold in the progress.

͞Where are you going?͟ she whispered in a panicked voice, staring at me with wide eyes. I could see
the fear in them, and I smiled back at her as reassuringly as I could.

͞I͛m just going to check something out, I͛ll be right back.͟ I said, and then stood up from my seat.
Unfortunately, I rose too quickly and dizziness filled my head. Black spots clouded my eyes, my ears
rang, and I felt how I staggered backwards.

Suddenly, a pair of warm hands caught me by the waist, and prevented me from falling. I regained
my sight, and looked backwards to see Edward͛s worried eyes looking down at me.

͞Are you alright?͟ he asked, his eyes scanning my face.

I waited a moment so the answer would be truthful when I said it. ͞Yes, thank you. It was just a head
rush, nothing else.͟ I told him, and stepped out of his hold. You could see he didn͛t believe me when I
told him, but let it go. I got out of his hold, thanked him once again, and began to walk over to the
other side of the office. There, on the wall, hang a picture. It was the same photograph I had seen in
the twin͛s room, the one with the pale man with long, dark hair and dark eyes, who posed like an
idiot together with the twins. Behind me, I heard how Alice suddenly gasped, and then I felt a cold
touch on my shoulder.

͞What are you looking at?͟ Smith asked in a soft tone, and in the background, I heard how Alice
mumbled ͚How did he do that?͛ I turned around to answer, but when I saw his face, I couldn͛t speak.
He was staring intensely at the picture before him, his mouth formed like a small ͚o͛.

͞I can͛t believe it͙͟ he mumbled to himself, shocked by something in the photograph. ͞It͛s really
Aro͙͟
͞What?͟ I asked him, not understanding his strange behavior. His eyes stared at the picture I had
been looking on and I didn͛t really see what fascinated him so much. However, my thoughts were
interrupted when Julie returned to the room, carrying a tray with 5 cups on it. She looked over at me
and Smith, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

͞What͛s happening over here?͟ she asked, walking over to the others and placing the tray on the
small table in the middle of the seating area. Smith, who before looked like he had seen a ghost or
something, smiled friendly, and placed a hand on my back and began to lead me back to the others.

͞We were just looking at that picture of yours. When did you last visit Volterra?͟ he asked casually
and controlled, despite all the feelings that had to be rushing through him at the moment. We sat
down in our seats again, and Alice gripped my hand the moment she got the opportunity.

͞Oh, that?͟ she asked, looking into the direction of the picture. ͞It was taken this summer when the
boys and I took a trip to visit.͟ She told him, no friendliness implied as she did. Then she looked over
to us humans, and smiled warmly at us.

͞Here, I made you some tea. Please, have some.͟ She said and took one of the cups for herself. With
my free hand I reached for one of the cups, and took a sip. It tasted wonderful, much better than my
lost attempts at making tea. Jake also took a cup, but the other two didn͛t move. Julie watched them
with curiosity, and then sat down next to Smith in the large couch.

͞So, I believe we have some things we need to discuss.͟ She said after a small moment of silence.

͞We sure do.͟ Two familiar voices answered from the door, and in came the twins, grinning ear to
ear. Julie sighed.

͞Enfin! I thought you wouldn͛t show up, you impudent sons. We͛re just about to begin.͟ Julie sighed
in irritation as her sons made their entrance. They gave me a wink as they sat down in the two last
chairs in the room, and then looked at Edward and Alice.

͞Huh͙well, since we͛re beginning now, can Bella please explain why she brought the pixie and her
boyfriend?͟ Mick said, and everyone turned their eyes to me. This was the moment I had been
dreaded for all this time. What would they do once they knew? Would they punish me? Would they
tell those Volturi guys and have us killed?? They wouldn͛t do that, would they?

͞Yes, that is something I͛m wondering myself actually.͟ Smith agreed, and his yellow eyes burned
into mine. I swallowed audibly and looked down at my hands.

͞Well͙I-͞I began to explain, when I got interrupted by Edward.

͞We found out.͟ He said simply in a calm, strong voice, and I turned my head to look at him. He
looked at Julie calmly, not paying me any attention, and he wore a small smile on his face.

͞Found out? Just like that? Found out how?͟ Rick asked him with a frown on his face, and from the
corner of my eye I noticed how Smith glowered at him evilly. Jake, who hadn͛t said anything, just
stared at us with pure curiosity. My eyes grew big as I stared at him, and panic started to grow inside
of me. What was he going to tell them; that they both have supernatural abilities that made them
figure out that vampires exist in this world?
Edward sighed, and then spoke just as calm as before. ͞I can read minds, and my sister is psychic.͟ He
said simply and looked Julie right in the eye. He said it so natural, like he was telling us something
͙normal, instead of this craziness that just happens to be true.

Rick and Mick began to laugh, but was then curtly hushed by their mother. It was clearly that the
twins didn͛t believe any word of what he just had said, but Julie was serious. She stared at him with a
slight frown on her face, and thought quietly to herself. Smith just glared at him, his jaw stiff in anger.

͞Really? How interesting͙ May I ask you-͞she began, but then Edward interrupted her.

͞How that͛s possible? We don͛t know. My sister has been able to see the future since she was a
child. I on the other hand just recently developed this gift of mine. Before, I just had a hint of what
others opinions were and such, but I haven͛t been able to read minds as clearly I can now.͟ He
explained, and Julie smiled in delight.

͞I see. What about you, child? How does your ability work? Can you see the future now??͟ she
asked, and I turned my eyes to her. She looked a little calmer now than before, but a troubled look
lingered in her eyes. When Julie had asked her, she wrinkled her nose, and then shook her head.

͞Right now, I can͛t even see my own. It͛s all because of ‘im.͟ She hissed the last word, and shot a
small glare towards Jake͛s direction. Julie raised one eyebrow, and then turned her head to Jake.

͞Jacob, would you please be so kind and help us in this experiment??͟ She asked, and he grinned.

͞Sure, sure. How far do you need me to go?͟ he asked Alice and stood up from his seat.

͞It͛s not really that far. Just͙just get out of the room; that should be enough.͟ She said, and he
grinned.

͞Whatever you say, pixie.͟ He said, and then walked out of the room. Alice released my hand and
began to rub her temples slowly, and closed her eyes in concentration.

͞Is͙is something the matter?͟ Julie asked, concern ringing in her voice. Alice opened her eyes, and
lowered her hands, smiling slightly.

͞No I͛m fine, it͛s just a headache. I always get one when I͛m around that mutt.͟ She sighed, and I
heard how Jake scoffed from outside the room.

͞Are you sure it͛s okay? I can get you an aspirin if that will help you see your vision clearer.͟ Julie
asked concerned again, but she just shook his head.

͞No it͛s alright, I can already see now.͟ She said, and then took a small, but deep breath. ͞You
wanted to know how it works, right?͟ she asked, and Julie nodded calmly, but you could see the
burning eagerness in her eyes.

͞Well, it͛s very complicated to explain. I get pictures in my head, showing me exactly what will
happen in a certain place or to a certain person. My visions are always clear as a bell, and as long as
nobody changes their minds, the vision will come true. It͛s very rare that I get visions that doesn͛t
involve me in any way without me focusing on it, but it happens time to time.͟ She said, and glanced
at Smith.
͞Oh, that͛s how you found out about Mr. Smiths secret?͟ Julie asked, and Alice nodded.

͞Yes.͟

Julie raised an eyebrow at Smith, and then looked at Alice again with a warm smile creeping on her
lips. ͞Would you care to demonstrate your gift?͟ she asked hopefully, and Alice shrugged.

͞Sure, why not?͟ she said. Then she dropped her smile, and an angry frown was planted on herface.
I stared at her in confusion, but the second later I got my answer. The twins had taken one of the
teacups when no one had looked, and thrown it into Alice direction, flying directly towards her head.
Alice͛s hand snapped up fast as a cobra, and caught the teacup before it made its impact on her, and
then slowly turned her head towards the two twins. She glared at them angrily, and they both looked
at her with a guilty look.

͞If you͛re planning to throw something at me, I recommend you do it when the mutt is here,
otherwise I͛ll see it coming.͟ She hissed at them, and I realized that the anger in her voice wasn͛t just
there because they had tried to throw the teacup at her. She was still sore because they almost had
destroyed all her plans between me and Edward. Even though they had saved me from getting killed
by Smith, she still hated them.

͞‘ mon dieu... That͛s just-͞

͞Fascinating? Some may put it like that, yes. But if those two weren͛t sure about throwing the cup at
me, the vision would͛ve been blurry. But even so, I would͛ve still gotten a glimpse of what they were
planning.͟ She explained to Julie as she put down the teacup on the tray again.

͞How extraordinary͙͟ Julie mumbled, and you could tell by the look on her face that she really
thought that all this was fascinating.

͞But why can͛t you see the wolf?͟ Smith suddenly asked her. Alice tensed by the sound of his voice,
and then took a deep breath before she answered him.

͞I don͛t know. I can see you bloodsucker just fine, but when it comes to him, it all just turns out
blank.͟ She said, hissing the word ͚bloodsucker͛. I was surprised she was this bold, daring to offend
Fishy this way. I͛m not saying it was wrong, because he is a bloodsucker, no fact can change that, and
he͛s a terrible person in general. But it was kind of stupid to say such a thing. Smith hissed at her
angrily, and she stiffened in fright.

Luckily, Julie stepped in before things got ugly. ͞Hey! Cut it out!͟ she said, and slapped Smith͛s arm.
The sound stopped abruptly, but he wouldn͛t stop glaring at her. I sighed in irritation at his stupid
actions. I had told him even worse things than bloodsucker, but those times he wouldn͛t even stop
smiling at me. He was only doing this to scare her, I knew it.

͞Smith, please just stop it.͟ I told him in a firm tone, and he snapped his head into my direction. His
eyes softened and a flawless smile appeared on his lips.

͞Anything for you.͟ He said calmly, like the previous little quarrel hadn͛t happened, and I rolled my
eyes at him. I heard how Jake made a gagging noise in the hall outside the room, and Rick and Mick
laughed at him. Edward and Alice looked very disgusted, but tried not to show it so much.
͞Hey, can I come in now?͟ Jake said loud enough so we could hear.

͞Absolutely. Come in.͟ Julie said, and seconds later, Jake reappeared into the room, grinning and
wrinkling his nose in disgust at the same time and then sat down in his chair again.

͞So, to summarize all this; Alice had a vision about Smith which revealed his secret, and then her
brother read her mind and found out, am I right?͟ Julie said, and the three of us nodded. ͞I see. Did
you tell them anything else?͟ Julie turned to me.

I looked down at my hands for a few seconds, and then met her eyes as I told her the truth. ͞After
Alice found out, I explained everything I knew about vampires. Then Edward came and read her mind
and that way found out about everything too. Then they both wanted to come to this meeting, and I
agreed to it.͟ I told her, leaving out the part when they had to force me to agree with them coming
along.

͞Well,͟ Julie said with a small sigh. ͞What͛s done is done, we cannot change the past. I͛m not so
thrilled by the idea that you told them, but I guess you had to. I will have to tell the Volturi though͟

͞Speaking of the Volturi, is it not your turn to tell?͟ Smith asked Julie.

͞Remember that you have things to inform too.͟ Rick said in a warningly tone, his eyes narrowing
slightly.

Smith sighed and looked at Rick. ͞I know that already, kid. I͛ll tell you everything you want to now
once you have.͟ He said, and looked at Julie again.

Julie shrugged casually. ͞What do you want to know?͟ She asked almost bored, and looked at Smith.
His eyes darkened a little, and I could tell that he was getting irritated.

͞You know what I want to know. Tell me about you connection with the Volturi.͟ He said sourly.

͞Alright, Alright.͟ She said, and then turned her eyes to me. ͞What do you know about the Volturi?͟
she asked.

͞Not much really. Smith said that they were this powerful family that almost worked like police in the
vampire world.͟ When I told her this, she began to laugh. I frowned in confusion. Had he lied? Was I
completely wrong?

͞I͛m sorry, I did not mean to laugh, but the way you put it makes them sound so͙ so unimportant
and childish.͟ She apologized, and her laughter died out. ͞But to put it as simple as possible, you
could say that. As you know, the Volturi is a powerful family that has its roots from Italy. They make
sure you follow the one and only rule in the vampire world; never expose your existence to the
humans.͟ She said, and Alice gasped.

͞But Smith has already done that, and ͙and you know about vampires too and so do Rick and Mick.
Will͙will we get killed??͟ I asked, feeling how the panic made its way through my system once again.
But Julie just began to laugh at me again, which made me feel a little calm.

͞I was getting to that. Since I work for them, they will not do me or my family any harm. But for
you͙I do not t‘ink this will become so problematic that you will get killed, no. But Smith on the other
hand͙͟ she trailed off, watching him with thoughtful eyes. ͞For you, my friend, I do not know. It is
their decision to make, not mine. But I don͛t think this will be a problem for Edward and Alice, Bella.
Since your friends here has such͙ amazing skills on their hands, I think they will let them live.͟

Relief filled my whole heart, and I could almost burst of joy. Edward and Alice would surely get to
live! All this stress and anxiety that had been pressing on me these last hours͙it was so wonderful
hearing this kind of thing. I know she said ͚t‘ink they will let them live͛, but that͛s good enough for
me.

͞But what about Bella?͟ Edward asked suddenly, bringing me out of my blissful thoughts. I turned my
head to see his face, and I met his worried eyes. They stared at me for a small moment, and then he
looked at Julie again. ͞Will Bella be okay?͟ he asked again. Julie looked at me with slightly sad eyes,
and then shook her head.

͞I told you, I do not know. They will probably let her live, I do not see any reason why she shouldn͛t,
but I can͛t make any promises.͟ She said, and Alice gasped. I just stared at her, not knowing what to
say. Even though she told me something like this, I was still revealed that Edward and Alice were
safe. If I die, I͛ll die. I͛m not suicidal or anything, but I͛m not stupid either. I know the possibility is
there, and if that happens͙ well, I don͛t really want to think about it, because if truth should be told,
I͛m kind of scared just of the thought.

But they decide to kill Me, at least I͛ll die alone. If Smith joins me, I won͛t contradict. He͛ll have a
swell time in hell. But just as long as anyone of my friends doesn͛t get hurt, I͛m okay with it. I͛ll try to
protect them with all my might, even if that means death.

͞But͙but that͛s just crazy!͟ Jake exclaimed and frowned in disapproval.

͞Mom, Aro wouldn͛t do that to us, Bella is our friend.͟ Mick said, but he didn͛t sound so sure. It
almost sounded like he was trying to convince them both, instead of just Julie. I had no idea who this
Aro was that he mentioned, but I guess it was someone they knew. After those words, the chaos
began. Everyone began to talk at the same time, and the anger and confusion rose quickly. They all
wanted their opinion to be heard, but the problem was that no one listened on the others. Besides,
they all thought the same thing: it was crazy.

͟Ça suffit!͟ Julie yelled in a loud and clear voice that silenced everyone. We all stared at her as she
glared back at us, her blue eyes flashing with anger. ͞I said, that͛s enough. I don͛t know what will
happen to Bella, but she will most likely be spared by the Volturi. If not, I will try my best to make
them change their minds. I love Bella too, are you forgetting that??͟ She said in an irritated tone, and
then looked at me. Her eyes softened, and her expression became gentle.

͞Bella my dear, I want you to know that I already consider you as a part of my family, even though
we͛re not related by blood. I will do everything in my power to keep you alive.͟ She said, softly, and I
smiled at her.

͞Eh- Thank you, Julie.͟ I said truthfully, and then looked around at the room into the others faces. ͞I
thank you all for worrying about me, but I͛ll be fine, I promise. Now can we please continue?͟ I asked
Julie, and she nodded. I had no desire of discussing if I will or will not die in the future.
͞Alright. Where was I? Oh right, the rules. Bella, when you mentioned before that the Volturi were
like the humans police, you were right in some extent. The Volturi is very harsh with their rules when
it comes to vampires, but they aren͛t just making sure they all follow the rules. Sometimes vampires
run amok, and begin to kill a lot of humans. It can be because they͛re bored, that they͛re crazy, or
that they͛re a newborn. A newborn in the vampire world is a newly turned vampire. They are new
with all their senses and often kill many people under their first years as a vampire. They are like that
because their animal instinct rule over their actions, and make them very irresponsible and foolish.
That͛s where the Volturi comes in. They kill those vampires who can͛t control their thirst, and keep
them in order.͟ She explained in a serious tone, looking me straight in the eye.

͞But͙where do you come in? How did you start to work with the Volturi??͟ I asked her, and she
smiled at me.

͞It was by pure accident. I visited Volterra in a business trip, and stumbled upon them. I witnessed a
fight between two vampires in the small town late at night. At first, they wanted to kill me, but then
one of them though they recognized me, and they brought me to their leaders. The vampire who
thought he recognized me, actually confused me with my mother, who͛s a legendary supermodel
who͛s well known in the whole world. Lucky for me, one of the leaders had once met my father,
who͛s a great businessman and offered me to work for them. Of course I said yes, otherwise I
would͛ve gotten killed, and I promised to keep my knowing of vampires a secret. After that, I͛ve
worked for the Volturi and it didn͛t take long for my rank to rise.͟ She explained, and I stared at her
with wide eyes, sucking up her words like a sponge.

͞Then later I met Rick and Mick͛s father and fell in love. At that time, his computer company was
quite large, but not as big as it is now. I suggested to the leaders that they should do business with
his company, and they agreed. Because of that, I could tell Léonard about the vampires, and to my
surprise he took it quite good. But it was very good that Léonard͛s company began to do business
with the Volturi. We gave the Volturi an eye of the modern technology, and they got quite interested
actually. They wanted to start to learn more about the technology of today, and I was more than
happy to teach them. Then I gave birth to those two, which made it hard to travel to Italy as much as
I had before.͟

͞But not impossible.͟ Rick joked, and he and his brother snickered together. Julie rolled her eyes at
her sons, but continued.

͞No, it wasn͛t impossible. I brought you with me, didn͛t I? The absolute leader of the Volturi, Aro,
grew quite fond of Rick and Mick as I brought them with me to Italy.͟ She said. Aha, so this Aro was
the leader of Volturi͙

͞What can we say?͟ Mick said with a grin.

͞We͛re natural talented when it comes to bonding with people.͟ Rick finished his brother͛s sentence,
and grinned.

͞Yeah, right.͟ Alice muttered beside me, too low for the twins to hear, which made Jake and Smith
chuckle quietly.
͞But wait a minute.͟ I said then, a question bubbling to my lips. ͞So, you can speak French, English
and Italian?͟ I asked, wondering how talented this family was. Julie laughed at my question, and
nodded.

͞Yes, but I learned quite fast. It wasn͛t that hard to tell the truth.͟ She said with a smile, and then
took a sip from her teacup.

͞May I ask something?͟ Smith asked suddenly, and Julie turned to him.

͞Eh, I believe you already did, but sure.͟ Julie said, dropping her smile.

͞The other humans who work at the Volturi, they wish that they once will get turned. They know that
they can get killed any moment there if the Volturi gets tired of them. I just wondered͙ are you the
same?? Do you wish that you͛ll get turned one day like the rest of them??͟ he asked. I didn͛t know
that͙were there actually people who decided to waste their lives working for them, knowing that
they could get killed at any moment?

Julie shook her head slowly. ͞No, I͛m not one of those people who heard rumors of the vampires in
the city of Volterra, and decided to work for them hoping that I one day would get eternal life. If I
had wanted that, I would͛ve already done it. I have been offered several times though, but every
time I decline. I may be fascinated by supernatural creatures and such, but I never craved to be one
myself.͟

͞Ah, I see͙͟ Smith trailed off in wonder, thinking for himself. Julie looked back at me, and gave me a
small smile.

͞Was there anything more you wanted to know??͟ she asked, and I shook my head.

͞No, I think that was all.͟ I told her, and she nodded in comprehension. Then she looked at Edward
and Alice.

͞What about you? Do you wish to know something else that I haven͛t already told you?͟

Edward shook his head. ͞No thank you.͟ He declined politely, and so did his sister.

͞Alright, I guess that was all I had to tell. Now it͛s time for you, Mr. Smith.͟ Julie said, and her voice
became very unfriendly, and her smile vanished, a frown replacing it.

͞What do you want to know?͟he asked uninterested, and leaned back in the sofa. The question that
Julie asked shocked me.

͞Do you have anything to do with the 4 dead bodies that we͛ve found scattered around Forks??͟