Immortal Bella

Chapter Eight: The Volturi

We arrived to the Cullen's mansion again, and I was through the front door as soon as Edward put the car in park. I heard him laugh softly at my eagerness to be around them again, and they all looked up from where they sat, smiling brightly at me. Carlisle and Esme were playing a game of chess, sitting near the grand piano, Emmett and Jasper were watching the same basketball game that Charlie was watching before I left the house, Alice was reading a fashion magazine sitting on the couch opposite of Rosalie and Emmett, beside Jasper, and Rosalie seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"Welcome back, Bella." Esme was the first to greet me, hugging me softly as soon as I entered the large living room. I smiled back at her and took a seat on one of the chairs, Esme taking her place at the chessboard again. Edward entered quickly after, and Emmett flipped the television off. Carlisle began speaking then. "Bella, now that you've learned the story about us, we need to tell you about the Volturi." Looking confused, Edward walked over and stood beside me, taking my hand in his and squeezing softy.

Carlisle began to tell me the story of the Volturi and how, in our world, they are like royalty. They made all these laws in order to keep our existence secret, and the ways they made us into myths and fairy-tales instead of reality. No human can find out about us, because it would be a danger, a risk to our kind. If the Volturi found a human who knew our secret, they would either be executed or transformed. My thoughts were quickly at Charlie, and for a second time that night, I was glad my thoughts and his were protected from Edward. Well, most of Charlie's thoughts.

I had learned that at the beginning of Carlisle's acceptance of what he is, he lived with the Volturi for some time. He left the room and returned with a very large painting and showed it to me, I examined the vibrant colors, there were four men standing on top of a balcony, looking down at the chaos below. Carlisle pointed out the men one by one, telling me their names. To my immediate surprise, I recognized Carlisle painted as one of the men.
There were two men with long black hair, and one with hair snowy white. The man standing in the middle of the white-haired vampire and the other black-haired, was Aro. He was more powerful out of the two, if he grasped your hand in his, he could read every thought you have ever had. Marcus, the other black-haired man, who was painted to look extremely bored, had the power to identify how strong a bond between two people are; whether they are mates, or related. Caius, the snowy-white haired vampire, didn't have a special ability; though Aro loved his ambition, and his plans for domination.

They were the biggest and most powerful coven of vampires, and provoking them would only harm yourself. According to Edward, they are the foundation of our peace and civilization. With Edward's power to read minds, and Alice's power to see the future, they tried to avoid the Volturi as much as possible, as they were always looking for strong vampires to join their guard. I had learned about the twins, Jane and Alec, who had powers even the strongest vampires can't fight. Jane had the illusion of pain, while Alec had sensory deprivation. The stories continued and I listened to each one carefully, feeling a wave of calmness wash over me, thanks to Jasper, when I would get anxious. After Carlisle placed the painting back in place in his office, he pointed out other paintings and explained the story behind them to me. The whole time I was listening to his stories, Edward would hold my hand and stand next to me. I noticed Esme looking at our hands time to time and smiling, which would only cause me to smile back at her. The stories finally ended after a while and slowly everyone went off into different places.

Edward and I sat on the couch downstairs, watching some television show that tried too hard to be funny. Edward and I were alone in the room, and I could see from the corner of my eye that Edward was watching me, playing with strands of my hair. My thoughts drifted off to my mother, and I wondered what she was doing, if she was doing okay. I haven't spoken to her much since she left, and that made me feel sad. I didn't know my face exposed my emotions, because suddenly Edward asked me what was wrong.