Sitting down, I casually listened to the piano as Edward played a beautiful tune alongside Renesmee while Bella, Jacob, Rose, and Emmett all watched on proudly.
Carlisle and Esme were locked into a battle of chess as they sat next to the window. Both of them smiled lovingly at each other whenever they thought the other wasn't looking.
Jasper sat in one of the side chairs, completely engrossed in his newest history book. His eyes whizzed back and forth as he soaked up all the information he could from it.
Theo's head rested in my lap, his gold eyes peeking over the top of his book to look at me. The corner of his eyes wrinkled slightly as he smiled up at me. I smiled back down at him as I began to run my fingers through his dark hair, contently listening to Renesmee and Edward's at-home concert.
Looking up, I smiled as I saw Alice make her way into the room, a relaxed smile on her face. Suddenly, she out a gasp, dropping the vase of flowers, causing the glass to shatter at her feet. The tiny glass pieces glittered in the light as they flew through the air.
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Jasper's head snapped up as he threw the book down and raced over to her. Grabbing her shoulders, he immediately scanned her face worryingly. "What is it, Alice?"
"The Volturi," she announced, looking over at him, her gold eyes shining with concern. "They're coming for us."
She looked back over at Edward, who had already scanned her thoughts, before looking at each of our faces. "Aro, Caius, Marcus, the guard... and Irina."
Theo and I both sit up, our eyes wide as we look toward each other before back toward Alice.
"Are you certain?" I ask.
She looks over at me and nods her head. "I saw her. She went to the Volturi."
Theo just shakes his head and races out of the room, almost running into Jasper on his way out. Everyone turns towards me, almost expectantly, before quickly looking away. I quickly tune them all out as I try to think of a reasonable solution for this whole thing.
After a few minutes, Rose carefully walked over and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, offering me a reassuring smile. "We're all going to go to Carlisle's study... are you coming?"
I lick my lips and nod, following her out of the room and up the stairs toward Carlisle's office, which was cast in a dark light. The curtains, which had been pulled closed, shut out all the natural light, and only a few select lights had been flicked on, causing shadows to be cast on everyone's face.
"-Immortal Children were very beautiful," Carlisle explained, pulling down an ancient-looking book and opening it for everyone to see. "So enchanting. To be near them was to love them. But their development was frozen at the age they were turned. They couldn't be taught or restrained. A single tantrum could destroy an entire village. Humans heard about the devastation. Stories spread. The Volturi were forced to intervene. Since the Children couldn't protect our secret, they had to be destroyed. Their creators grew very attached and fought to protect them. Long-established covers were torn apart. Countless humans, slaughtered. Traditions, friends, even families, lost."
"So the Denali's mother made an Immortal Child?" Bella asked, her eyes briefly flicking to me before turning to Carlisle. A sense of understanding seemed to fall onto her now gold eyes.
"Yes," I said, my voice hoarse as I looked at her, causing her to snap her head back at me.
"and she paid the ultimate price," Theo said, his voice the same as mine. "Death."
We all fell silent as we sadly looked around the room, knowing how this could end for us all.
"Well, Renesmee's nothing like those children," Bella countered. "She was born, not bitten. She grows every single day."
"So, can't you just explain that to the Volturi?" Jacob continued, confused at the seriousness of the situation. Not understanding what a precarious situation we were all in, how close we all were to death.
"The Volturi don't care about what we did or didn't do," I scoff. "Aro knows the power that we have. Alice, Edward, and myself. He would've come for us all sooner or later. This whole thing is just a smokescreen for his true reason for paying us a visit."
"Aro would've had enough proof in Irina's thoughts anyway," Edward added on bitterly, knowing full well that what I had said was true.
"So we fight," Jacob says simply, looking around at us.
"Their offensive weapons are too powerful," Jasper divulged. "No one can stand against Jane."
"Alec's even worse," Alice added, looking down sadly afterward.
"Well, then we convince them," Bella said, her voice laced with determination.
"They're coming to kill us, not to talk," Theo said, his voice sharp as he snapped his head over to the brunette vampire. Sucking in a sharp breath, storming out of the room, slamming the door shut with a resounding slam. The room fell silent as we all let what Theo said echo in our minds, a sense of dread quickly falling on us all.
Bella watched the door in shock, not expecting Theo to have reacted in such a way. "I- I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay," I assure her, waving off her guilt-filled words. "He'll be... I'll talk to him after."
"Theo's right, though," Edward spoke up, nervously twiddling with his hands. "They won't listen to us. But maybe others can convince them. Carlisle, you have friends all around the world."
Carlisle shakes his head, "I won't ask them to fight."
"Not fight, witness. If enough people knew the truth, maybe we can convince the Volturi to listen," Edward explained.
Esme reached up and reassuringly placed her hand on Carlisle's arm, looking up at him with a glimmer of hope.
"We can ask this of our friends," she softly nodded her head in encouragement at the idea.
Carlisle paused, thinking it over and weighing the options before looking down at Esme, covering her hand in his and nodding his head.
