''Isabella,'' he said with a small smile.

His pale, smooth skin shimmered slightly in the weak rays of the sun peeking through the clouds.

His red eyes ran over me once, causing a shiver of fear to race down my spine. This seemed to amuse him as his smile grew into a large smirk.

My throat was dry, weather it was from the fear of looking into the deep eyes of a human eating vampire or from the excitement of simply seeing another vampire after giving up on the hope that I ever would, I wasn't sure.

''Laurent, w-what are you doing here?"

I cringed internally from the way my voice cracked. My eyes never left his as he circled me, much like one did too their prey.

The realization that Laurent was no longer following the animal diet and that he was most likely hunting when we ran into each other seeped into my brain.

He was probably going to kill me, but that didn't seem like such a bad idea. I was already dead inside. he would be putting me out of my misery.

''Me? Well, you see young Isabella, I was hunting for something.''

I licked my dry lips and gave a short nod. I knew that already and as much as I was willing to die, the thought of someone else in Forks dying worried me.

''Umm, I see. Umm, could you please not hunt in Forks? It's just my friends..and my dad.''

More amusement filled his face as he continued to circle me. It was becoming slightly unnerving now and my eyes scanned the forest for an exit, not that it would do me any good.

I couldn't out run a vampire.

''So, if these people weren't not your friends and family. Would you not care if I took one of their lives?"

His red eyes watched me carefully as his words spun in my head.

''What? No, I didn't say that. Of course I would care.''

But as I said that, a little voice in my head creeped in, telling me I was lying. It laughed and reminded me that if my previous vampire family had feed off humans, I wouldn't have cared.

I shoved the voice away as I stared at Laurent. His smirk was gone now and there was a calculating look in his eyes.

''I would care for anyone else, but you are here right now and I asked you not to hunt in my area.''

I was surprised by the strength in my voice. Never in all my life had I spoke with such authority. It felt good, new.

Laurent's smirk returned and he finally took his eyes off of me.

''Ahh, freight not young one. I am here hunting for something, but I never said it was blood. As you can see by my eyes, I am not hungry.''

That was true, his eyes weren't the black color that signalled hunger, they were a bright red.

''Then what are you hunting for?"

He didn't answer for a while, just kept walking in a circle while staring at the ground.

It was just slightly less unnerving than when he was staring at me. Just slightly. A few minutes passed and I was sure he wasn't going to answer me when he stopped and pulled a leaf from the tree next to him.

''Victoria,'' just as he said the name that had my heart plummeting into my stomach there was a blur of red and I heard a high pitched screech.

Before the scream of terror could be released from my throat, the red blur was caught by something and thrown away from me.

Laurent stood in front of me and crouched down while letting out a furious growl.

''What are you doing?!''

A white figure, with flaming red hair walked out from the trees. Victoria's blood red eyes stared at me with pure hate in them.

''I want her dead, Laurent. it is all her fault!"

She let out a scream as she kicked the large tree besides her, causing it to crash too the group.

A squeak of fear ripped from my throat and I stumbled back. I knew why she wanted me dead. It was because of me her mate, James had been killed.

She wanted revenge.

''Enough Victoria! Stop this at once! we have our orders and we must follow through with them! Do you want to be the one to tell Master we failed at bringing the package too him?"

Laurent's words seemed too calm Victoria down some, her unnecessary ragged breathing evened out and her tense posture relaxed some, but her hate filled eyes still stayed locked on me.

Meanwhile, Laurent's words were twisting in my head. He said he was hunting for something, apparently he was doing so with Victoria and under someone's orders.

Laurent straightened out of his crouch and turned toward me with a pleasant smile.

''I apologize for Victoria. She is still upset about James as you can see. Vampires are good at holding grudges.''

I opened and closed my mouth, but no words seemed to come out. He made it sound like she was a newborn puppy that peed on the couch, not a vampire who had a personal vendetta against me.

''What's the package?"

The words were a whisper, but of course they both heard them. I wasn't sure why that was the first thing I said. Maybe I just didn't want to deal with another crazy vampire wanting to kill me.

A slow smile pulled at Victoria's lips and Laurent frowned and I stood their as dread lodged itself into my stomach.

''You are the package, Isabella.''

My eyes went wide and my breath caught in my throat. The feeling over overwhelming shock sprang inside of me as my eyes flickered from the smug smile on Victoria's face too the amused look in Laurent's eyes.

''Me? Me? I am the package? I don't understand. Me?''

My breathing was picking up and my head began to swim. What on earth was he talking about? how could I be the package?

He glanced warily at Victoria and then back at me.

''Yes, you. Our rulers, they need to meet you. The Volturi have strict rules and some have been broken Isabella.''

The Volturi, the name was familiar. It pulled at some lost memory I didn't want to remember, but it came forth anyway. It was an old oil painting, three beautiful men sat on huge thrones, all in relaxed positions with sinful smirks on their faces. Even from the dim memory I had of them, their beauty still stood out clearly.

''The Volturi, they are like the kings of the vampire world, self proclaimed kings. Many rebelled against it, vampires didn't want kings, but any who tried to stop them was killed. They are ruthless, they will torture and murder to get what they want. ''

I closed my eyes from the memory as the reality came crashing down on me. They found out about me, about my knowledge of vampires. My legs gave out as I realized what this meant. I always thought I was so ready for this, so why was I so terrified now that my chance had come?

Perhaps, I wasn't ready, but it didn't matter. I had no choice now, I had to go with them too the Volturi or else I would be putting my loved ones in danger. I had to do the same thing I did when James was after me, I had to leave too save the people I loved. The Cullens included.

The idea of leaving Forks and my father had my chest constricting with pain and I almost thought about running, but I reminded myself it was better than Charlie being killed by sadistic vampires. I slowly stood to my feet and wiped away the few tears that had slipped down my cheeks.

Laurent was staring at me with curious eyes as I nodded my head, this was the right thing to do. it was the only thing to do.

''Then do we leave?"

The shock on the vampire's faces would have been funny if not for the situation. Victoria's hard glare was back in seconds as she let out a loud growl. Her fingers found purchase in another tree as she ripped in two. I couldn't help, but to wonder if she imagined it was me she was ripping into pieces.

''Immediately, '' was Laurent's short reply as he watched Victoria tear into more trees. I simply nodded again and I let out a sigh as I realized I wasn't going to be able to make an excuse for Charlie. What would he think happened to me?

Would he think I ran away? that I jumped of one of the cliffs here and was killed? Maybe he would think an animal killed me, but it didn't seem likely. There would be no proof.

''Don't worry about your family, we've taken care of that so you will not be missed.''

I think Laurent's smile was supposed to be comforting, but instead it made my stomach twist as I realized they probably fakes my death so when they really killed me I wouldn't be found and people wouldn't look to deep into things.

''Don't we leave now?"

He nodded as Victoria finally stopped destroying the forest and disappeared. He turned to me with a frown and scratched the back of his head.

''We need to get to the plane quickly. I think I should carry you as I run.''

The memories that brought up was incredibly painful and I felt my eyes burn with tears, but I pushed it away. I had bigger problems than a heartbreak at the moment. I took a step closer and smiles a little at him.

''Alright,'' was so I said.

He picked me up bridal style, much to my surprise and began to race through the forest. I closed my eyes as the trees blurred around me and tried to hold myself together. UP until a few moments ago I thought death was all I had wanted, but now that I was so close to starting it in the face, I realized how much I wanted a future.

I wasn't sure what it would be like since I was so broken inside, but I didn't want to die, at least not like this. I wasn't ready. I wanted more time with Charlie, I wanted to finally bond with him like I promised myself I'd do when I came here.

I wanted to make up with Jake and maybe give things a chance, try to love again. I wanted to fix things with my friends and go back too the girl I had once been, but it was to late now. I was about to suffer the consequences for loving a vampire, pay the price for becoming apart of their family and that price was my life.

I wasn't aware that Laurent had stopped running until I felt him placing me down. I opened my eyes to see us standing in front of a black, sleek car. It looked a lot like the one I ran to Phoenix in with Jasper and Alice.

''We have too drive to the airport.'' Was all Laurent said as he got in the driver's seat. I clumsily climbed into the car and was surprised when I felt the warmth of a heater. After buckling in, I pressed my cold hands against the air vent and let out a blissful sigh.

Running through the woods with an ice cold vampire on a rainy day had me shivering in my chair. The car ride was silent, neither Laurent or I seemed in the mood to make useless chitchat. I just sat back in my chair, trying to understand everything that happened in such a short time.

Was I really about to go to the vampire kings to be killed? I suppose I was, to keep my loved ones safe. maybe if I was dead and the threat was gone, they wouldn't be so hard on the Cullens about breaking the law.

Letting out a sigh, I shook my head. I didn't want to think about all this anymore. It was giving me a headache and anxiety. I reached forward and turned on the radio, getting me a look from the vampire driving.

''Heavy metal?" he asked.

I shrugged with a small smile. After the Cullens had left me, any music, but this reminded me of them. This helped me forget them, my problems, my pain just for a little while.

''Humor me.''

He said nothing, but shook his head slightly. We arrived to the airport an hour later and I let out a sigh as we walked through the crowds of people, pushing and pulling to get to where they wanted. WE kept going until we were outside, walking down a private landing strip.

There was a big, white jet getting fueled up and none other than Victoria was leaning against the small steps leading inside. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a neat bun and she was in nice looking clothes. She didn't look like a nomad.

I carefully climbed up the steps and stepped into the large jet with Laurent behind me. It had white seats, with a cream colored rug and had small little polished wood tables.

Victoria was sitting down on one of the chairs, watching me with hungry eyes that sent chills of fear down my spine.

I quickly dropped my eyes to the floor and shuffled to a seat as far away from the redheaded vampire as I could get.

I picked at my clothes for ten minutes until the jet was finally ready to go. We took off and I began a new journey that would change my life forever.