The Southern Thing

21

I felt the world around me start to close in, a million thoughts going round and round within my head. I hate him. That stupid idiot. That incredibly stupid idiot, how could he do this? How could he come to me, to my home and ask for death? How could he put that decision on me? Though I guess I can not be too mad without being a hypocrite, I too ran here. Perhaps the Volturri is everyone's escape; I look around and see so many people who use the castle walls are their barrier from the past. Maybe I can't hate him for running here. No actually, I can. Gosh I hate that stupid idiot.
***
I sat in the thrown room alone waiting for an unknown period, of time, perhaps it was hours or days or simply minutes I could not tell you. Time simply passed me by. Though of that time prepared me for the feeling I was hit with when he walked through the doors. My chest felt as if it had a stake though it, an unbearable sensation of true heart break.
"Edward," I whispered.
"I request an audience with the Kings and the Queen," he spoke clearly without meeting my eyes.
'Edward please do not do this. Do not make me do this. I am begging you' I pleaded with him within my head. 'You can not just ignore me. Do not make me kill my own brother. You know I will say never say yes to your death. Just as you know that they will only offer you a place in this guard that you will never accept, so please do not do this.'
With this he finally brought his eyes up to meet mine, within them I saw the true pain he was in and they held two words "I'm sorry".
"Oh my dear Edward," Aro's voice echoed through the room, "For what do we owe the pleasure?"
Instead of responding vocally, Edward simply held out his hand for Aro to take. I watched in Aro's head as memories of Bella flashed. Her discovering the existence of our kind, her meeting the family, Bella's birthday party, their last meeting, and finally Rosalie's call of Bella's death.
"Aha, I see. Edward's human lover has gone and killed herself, and now he requests a punishment."
"For the crime of exposing our being, it should be death!" Boomed Caius.
"No please, we do not need to go to that extreme," I quickly spoke.
"No. That is the punishment I request. I deserve to die for the lives I have put in danger," Edward finally spoke.
"Please," my voice broke "we do not have to do this."
"No. No. Do not fret dearest Adeline." Aro spoke in a calm voice, "I do not wish to kill Edward today."
"Brother what are you thinking? He has committed our most punishable offense!"
"Edward would much more of an asset to us alive than he would be dead. I do believe that our guard could easily be expanded."
'Please Edward I am begging you. If you must leave the Cullens then take this offer. Please'
"No thank you Aro. That is not the future I see. If you and your court will not grant me the ending I want, then I will find it elsewhere." Edward spoke before turning around to leave.
"You have twenty four hours to think about it dear boy. I would not want you to rush into a decision like your darling Bella." Aro said with a laugh.
These were going to be the longest twenty four hours of my immortal life.
***
"YOU," I screamed at Edward when I found him hours later, "You inconsiderate idiot! What do you think you are doing, throwing away your life like this? Turn around and face me you coward!"
I watched as he turned slowly, looking completely lost and empty.
"What do you want me to say Adeline? She's gone. I can not continue in this damned life knowing that she is dead because of my existence."
"How do you know she is dead? Yes, I know Rose called you, but how do you know? How do you know that she wasn't saved? How do you know that her future didn't change from when Alice saw her?"
"I called the house. A boy said that Charlie was at a funeral. She is gone Adeline."
"Charlie was at a funeral? The day Bella jumped off a cliff and died? The day of? That is not even enough time to plan a funeral. Nor is it enough time for her mother to make her way from wherever in the country she is at this very moment. You are seeing only what you want to see, take a look at the bigger picture Edward Cullen. Isabella Swan is not dead. I know what happened and I am begging you to listen to me."
We sat in silence as he thought over everything I had said, "Perhaps you are right and Bella is not dead. That does not change what I must do. I exposed her existence to the kings, they will kill her if I am alive or not."
"Do you not think that I have not already confessed her existence? She lives because I persuaded them to allow it. Do not be stupid."
"Adeline, I have to do this."
I watched him, taking in every feature of my brother. Burning every hair and every bit of him into my memory, knowing that these features would no long exist if Isabella Swan did not succeed.
"I love you Edward, but if you get the ending you want I will never forgive you."
"I love you too, Adeline Cullen."
And with that, he was gone.
***
Twenty three hours, fifty eight minutes, and three seconds had passed since Aro gave Edward his time to determine. All I could hope was that within those hours, Bella had saved my brother. That I would have to watch him die in my court.
Suddenly my attention was drawn to the doors being pushed open, I felt a weight leave my shoulders as Edward walked in.
I felt Aro perk up beside me before speaking, "Jane, dear one, you've returned!"
The interaction between the two groups passed me in a blur, for I did not care about the words passed. I only cared about making sure my brother left this castle alive. What drew me out of my trance was Jane using her power on Edward.
"Jane," my voice boomed within the room, "I think that has been more than enough. You may step back, you are not needed at this moment. Aro I suggest you get the point of this meeting, rather than attempting to torture and test on a poor girl." I knew my words could get me into trouble, however they felt completely worth it at the moment.
"Perhaps I shall run the rest of this interaction," I said moving to stand in the center of the room. "Edward, I assume you have no interest in either ending your immortal life or joining our dear court?"
"That would be a correct assumption."
"Isabella, I also assume that you will be leaving the castle today, and not staying with us."
She began to open her mouth to speak, "No need to speak dear. It was not truly a question. It was a statement directed towards the mean behind me."
I turned to face the three men, "I will not ask, and I will not back down. These three will our castle tonight, in the form in which they entered. No one will be turned tonight, nor will they be joining us. I have no doubt that Edward will never let Bella slip through his fingers again; she will be turned into one of us in the future. Perhaps I will do it myself."
Caius was the only one brave enough to speak, "but how do we know that they will not return to their home and run from us? Never to follow through with what you are so certain of."
"I will be going with them. If you do not trust their judgement, than you must trust mine."
This time Aro spoke, "You seem as if you had this planned, dear Adeline."
"No I had not planned this. However, I know how horrible it would look to the multitude of covens out there, if the Volturi let a law breaker walk out of our court without someone to hold him accountable. And so I will volunteer myself to be that someone."
"Perhaps this will work. However you will always know our agreement, you are ours. Whenever we call you back to this court."
"I will not fight that condition for now, however do be warned in the future I will be owned by no one. Now may our guests and I be excused to make our way back to their home?"
I did not wait for a response before I turned around and exited the thrown room. I guided my small group all the way to the elevators before feeling as if I could let down my defense.
"Adeline," Bella's voice spoke in a whisper, "thank you for everything you did in there."
"There is no need for a thank you. I love my brother more than I do myself. I also know how much he loves you. And so I will protect him and you until the end of time."
She seemed content with my answer, and so we all sat waiting for night to set on Volterra so that we could make our journey back to the States.
"Adeline!" I heard a voice call out to me from down the hall. There he stood, Nathaniel. "So you're running away this time. It feels like deja vu."
"Nathaniel we both know that we are not meant to be together in this lifetime. Perhaps in a different one, but not in this immortal one. I am not the type to stay in this castle and waste my life away punishing those just like us. I need to be free, somewhere in which the law is at my hands. I can bend it and make it fall in the way in which favors me. This was all just temporary."
"I know that it was, our love was not meant to be. I wish you the best in your endeavors, and I hope one day you will return to at least say hello. Goodbye, my Adeline"
"Goodbye Nathaniel."
Perhaps our love was short this time, however I have always known that Nathanial was not what my heart wanted. He is much different than I am, he accepts this Voluturi life better than I have and will ever be capable of doing. We both stand as fillers in each other's hearts, and now it is time to let that filler go. To deal with simply an empty heart.

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hey!! so i know i am the worst on updating. honestly i forget that this book exist. however i hope that you enjoyed this chapter. i am truly so excited that there is only one more chapter in new moon, i think writing a book for new moon ( my least favorite ) was why it was so hard to get these chapters out.
hopefully i will not forget, and i will write to you all soon
xoxo