After Dawn Broke

Chapter Thirteen: Unexpected Visitor

Grandpa's chilling words echoed through my mind.

Italian.

As in what the Volturi speak.

Was the voice in my head one of them?

Did this mean the Volturi were trying to communicate with me?

What did they want with me?

Did they take my parents away?

And my aunt... did they have her too?

Were they coming for the rest of us?

"I won't let that happen. I've already let this go too far. They're not going to hurt anyone," Grandpa snarled. I could hear the determination in his voice, and I knew he would do anything he could to keep that promise.

"It's not your fault..." Grandma tried to comfort him.

"It may not have been my doing, but I could've prevented it. I could've stopped Jacob. I could've gone with him to talk to Renesmee," he uttered.

"No, you did the right thing. They needed to talk it out," she tried once again to console him, and it seemed to work for a moment.

"But..." a non-human scream cut off his statement.

"What was that!?" I gasped in horror. It almost sounded like...

"It almost sounded like Esme..." he groaned, his voice and expression filling with pain. "I have no idea what's happening right now, but I'm going to help!" Grandpa disappeared from from the room in a blur. "Bella, stay with Taylor!" he called from far away, knowing we would be able to hear him. I heard a few whispers and the door open several times. The rest of the Cullens must have been rushing to help, too.

After a few seconds, I finally had the guts to speak. "Grandma, we need to go help."

She looked into my eyes, a frown appearing around the corners of her mouth. "You know we can't do that. Edward told me to stay here with you. I trust that he knows what he's doing... besides," she continued as she touched the bandage on my head, "you're in no condition to be moving."

I didn't like raising my voice to her, but this was serious. "Please! What if something bad is happening? What if they need our help!?"

"I'm shielding them right now, if that makes you feel any better. I promise you, they'll be okay," she responded, but I could see the ever-present worry in her eyes.

As I moved slightly, so I could lay my head on the soft white pillow of the hospital bed, a floor board creaked from somewhere inside of the house. This wouldn't be anything to worry about, if I didn't know any better. The Cullens knew their house too well to step on the faulty sections of the floor.

"Did you hear that too?" Grandma asked quietly.

It didn't sound right to speak in a normal voice, so I whispered in return, "Yes... what was that?"

"I'm not sure... I thought I heard everyone else leave the house after we heard the scream," she insisted.

Another creak sounded, and Grandma flashed to my side. She eased over and blocked my view of the door, as if to protect me from it.

That's when the unimaginable happened. The wooden door to the hospital-like room we were in was knocked down with a loud boom. While splinters of wood flew all over the floor and under the bed, I could hear someone entering. I could feel their presence... but I could not see them because Grandma was blocking my view. I knew she was there for my own good, but all it did was make me more anxious.

We were in danger; I was sure of it.

After I was able to slow my heavy breathing, I heard a new sound. A frantic heartbeat, somewhere in the room. At first I thought it was my own heart, but that was just my mind playing tricks on me.

Because it knew that there was only one other person who was here with a heartbeat.

Elizabeth.

Terrified, I slowly peeked around Grandma's body. I would've never been able to guess what I was about to witness.

A pale-white, black-cloaked vampire was standing within the broken doorframe with Elizabeth in a death grip. The sight of my little sister with a gun held against her head was worse than my recent nightmares had been. She was struggling for air.

"Lizzy!" I screamed in pure terror.

Her eyes met with mine, and it hurt me to see the excruciating pain in them. She was scared out of her mind, and there was nothing I could do.

Trying desperately to make no sudden movements, Grandma began to advance forwards slowly, towards the captor. I assumed they were part of the Volturi, maybe even the same member that tried to communicate with me.

A flint of recognition crossed Grandma's features when the stranger pulled off the hood of his dark cloak. He had shoulder-length black hair, red eyes, and a faintly olive-pale complexion.

She paused for a second and cleared her throat before speaking. "Demetri... you don't know what you're doing," she coaxed, hands in the air as if he was a police officer and she was avoiding getting shot. "Don't do this," she pleaded. I could hear the desperation in her voice. All three of us knew we were doomed. She was invincible when it came to guns and bullets, but my sister and I weren't.

Demetri didn't miss a beat. "Move one more step and I'll press the trigger," he growled.