Hey there you all,

Firstly, I'm really sorry for the long wait and second thankyou to all of you who read and reviewed for my other stories as well.

Enjoy reading!

CHAPTER – 16

Felix and Heidi lead the Cullen family through the dark tunnels that lead to the throne chamber of the Volturi, for any normal observer it would have seemed that the vampires were not under any stress but Edward knew better and the thoughts of both Felix and Heidi surprised him to say atleast, he had never thought the Volturi members to be caring of each other.

'I really hope the seer could lead us to Jane, Aro should have never sent her away…' were Heidi's thoughts and Edward could see how tense her shoulders were.

Felix was not as caring as Heidi about Jane's fate but still seemed to be worried, were these vampires capable of emotion even when they fed on people not respecting the emotions of humans, Edward thought but then again Rosalie fed on animals and yet didn't have an ounce of care about humans.

She was shouting her disapproving thoughts at him as they walked towards the chambers, 'I cannot believe I am getting dragged into this! Why the hell can't you choose someone less problematic as your mate Edward?'

'Oh wait, I know, you need all the attention!' Edward growled low in his throat and turned to glare at Rosalie who glared right back. Did she really think he did all this too seek attention, deep down he knew Rosalie cared about him but her certain attitudes were intolerable and the bitchiness masked her care most of the time.

Alice and Jasper were silent, Alice knew the weight that was placed on her shoulders was great and feeling her anxiety, Jasper always kept an eye on her staying as close to her as possible, Jasper was an over protective mate but then again so was Emmett and even Carlisle, above all else their kind was loyal to their mate and protective of them, he remembered the time when he was like that with Bella but his anxiousness was never so grating when he was around her and she was a fragile human unlike Jane.

Now, he was feeling more and more guilty for everytime he had put off the thought of helping Jane, he felt like he could never redeem himself for his actions and the guilt was all consuming and crushing. He literally jumped when anyone so much as touched him and even his precious daughter couldn't break through to him. Now that he was here to help the Volturi find Jane, he finally felt like a big burden had been lifted off of his shoulder and Alice's vision still kept haunting his mind.

They reached the ornate doors of the throne room and Edward immediately remembered the time when Jane had opened them, that was a long time ago and Edward wondered if he had felt any connection to her at that time. Heidi opened the doors and they all entered to find the three brothers seated in their throne, Reneta, Alec and Chelsea were with them all of them tense and the air was thick with anticipation.

Aro at once got up and glided forward as Carlisle stepped up and they both greeted each other, Aor as always started with "It is a pleasure to meet you again so soon my friend"

"Likewise Aro" Carlisle said non comitally, his tone nothing but polite disinterest.

Aro then proceeded saying "I wish our meeting were under better circumstances but as you all know Jane was taken from your mansion just three weeks ago, now I know it isn't of relevance to your lives but…" he turned to Alice and asked "have you had any visions of Jane?"

"Yes" Alice replied and continued to tell everyone about the visions she'd had about Jane, by the time he finished Alec's anger was palpable to everyone in the room and he left hurriedly as he was close to letting his power run loose.

Aro thought about the visions for a moment before saying "Well the vampire you saw in your visions is Stephanovich, he is an ancient much like Alistair, a wanderer and a nomad but very ambitious as well"

Edward couldn't contain his curiosity and anxiety anymore as he asked "Does he share Jane's power then?"

Aro turned to Edward and said "No" in a solemn voice and continued seeing the expression of confusion in Edward's face, "He has a very tricky power, his power is that he can borrow the gifts of other vampires"

Edward's sharp intake of breath was heard around the chamber and he asked "How long can he borrow the gift?"

"Indefinitely" Aro said eyebrows creasing slightly.

"So we would all be useless in defending ourselves against him" Jasper said as he knew that without their specific gifts the odds of winning were next to none but then again if there was only one vampire but someone who was daring enough to kidnap a member of the Volturi must be a fool to be alone.

"Not exactly" Aro paced the room in front of the Cullens, "He could only borrow one gift at a time so we still have some advantage, however I fear his coven would have more members with gifts to support him"

"We guessed as much" Carlisle said quietly.

"So it's war then?" Jasper asked wanting to know what he was up against.

"I fear so…"

"Why does he want Jane?" Rosalie asked with barely contained disdain surprising them all.

"Stephan was always obsessed with her, this is not the first time this has happened" Aro said now a prominent frown visible on his impeccable vampiric features.

"And that is why you should have never sent her away!" Caius shouted getting up and gliding away mush like Alec had done moments ago.

"He's related to them" Edward said and Aro nodded contemplating what to do.

"If you have any more visions inform me, Heidi take them to their quarters" Aro said dismissing all of them.

Jane really hated the whole sleeping and waking up in the dreadful place part of her imprisonment, she glared at the tall lady who had dared to put her into such a state but said lady held her hands up and said "Dare to use your power and I will put you to sleep again Jane Volturi"

Jane smirked and said "Well, that doesn't seem like an unpleasant fate now does it?" she focused her eyes and immediately the women fell forward in pain. "Tell me where I am…." Jane said keeping her glare firmly on her latest victim.

She stopped her torture momentarily to hear the gasps of breath from the women before she was enveloped in the feeling of blankness again but before she could pass out completely a voice called out "She has to feed, master gave me orders to take her today"

She heard the other women, presumably the one she had tortured screech, "YOU DEAL WITH HER! She is a damn psychotic! I do not know what our sire finds in her!"

She heard the quick rush of footsteps before the door slammed shut and a lilting voice said "Tsk, tsk, tsk Jane, that wasn't very nice of you"

"You shouldn't a member of the Volturi to be nice" Jane retorted back, now completely aware of her surroundings.

"Is that so?"

Jane turned to look at the women and recognized the long blond hair and the angelic features as she said "Larisa"

"Ah, so you remember my name"

"Vampires have excellent memory"

"Hmm, yes I am aware of that fact"

"Uh huh"

"Well, aren't you thirsty?"

"Shouldn't you know" Jane rolled her midnight black eyes, why was this woman always aiming for small talk with her.

"You seem to be snappy today, something the problem?"

Jane laughed humorlessly before saying "No, there is no problem, I'm locked up in god knows where with a vampire coven and an obsessed ancient vampire wanting to mate with me and not to mention I'm being held prisoner, everything is absolutely fine" her voice dripped with sarcasm and she was truly angered when she heard the other women laugh.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Jane warned her eyes flashing dangerously and Larisa hid her smile beneath her hands.

"Well, we have some humans down in the dungeons, I and Leo will be taking you there" Larisa said and another vampire with the insanely tall built much like the rest of the room entered.

Jane eyed the newcomer, "And you are the one keeping me tied" she said as she contemplated on whether or not she should torture him for it.

But she decided against it and asked "Who was the other one here when I was awake?"

"That was Manda" Larisa said as the other male in the room growled and Jane immediately understood that the women she had tortured minutes ago must be Leo's mate.

"I will release your binds now and if you try anything I will immediately bind you again and you will not be allowed to feed for atleast a week" Leo said in a smooth voice and Larisa nodded along.

"You can move now" Leo said and Jane for move her hands and legs about feeling relieved, she had looked around the room for a way to escape but had found none and she still remembered what had happened the last time. Anyway, she would have a better mind to focus on her escape once she got her thirst under control, she was growing frustrated by the all consuming thirst now and she said "Lead the way" as she quietly planned her escape and looked around at her surroundings with a keen eye.

Jane followed them both along the dark passage, the building was very intricate and meant to confuse people who entered it, there were many turns and archs and doors leading to different places and Jane saw that there was no window or opening anywhere in sight. She could however gather that there were indeed more vampires in the coven as she came across atleast ten different vampires scent. They went down the staircase and through a long dark cavern which widened into a hallway and Jane saw Larisa opening a trap door on the floor before stepping away and indicating for Jane to come forward.

Jane stepped forward and looked down the opening and could discern steps leading into god know what and she went in first followed closely by Larisa and Leo, the steps seemed to go on and on forever before they reached the end and Jane saw a hallway which had a minimal amount of sunlight filtering through. She could now clearly see the dungeons and the prison cells where humans were kept for the purpose of feeding. She saw people huddled inside the bars of the prison cells and wondered if this coven kept humans for torture, in the Volturi most of them finished off their meal as soon as they were brought but judging by the number of humans in the cells Jane knew that this coven didn't grant these unfortunate humans a painless and quick death, she grew angry at the thought, although she drank from humans she almost always killed them off before she fed from them. After all she had been human once and she didn't like the sight she was seeing at the moment but she knew she should have expected it, Stephan was a disgusting and vile vampire even more so than some of the crude members of the Volturi.

"Do you keep them here for long?" Jane asked conversationally not belaying the anger she felt inside. However she also felt immensely thirsty and the scent of the human blood escalated the burning in her throat.

"It's our master's wishes" was the only comment Larisa made as they walked towards one of the cells and Larisa opened the cell to reveal a man about mid thirties huddled in the corner.

Jane could smell the fear of the human and as she saw the huddled person cowering from them all and she very nearly lost her appetite but she knew that the man would have a better death in her hands than Stephan's or god forbid one of his rogue followers. She closed her eyes and Larisa and Leo stood in the corner to keep watch while she glided over to the human.

Soooo, what do you think?

Anyway, tell me if I should change the rating to M or let it be….I'm getting a feeling it's going to be tilting more towards M later on…

Enjoy reading and please leave your reviews!