"The Volturi…what could they possibly want?" I heard Esme ask, her voice just barely above a whisper. It was the tone in her voice that caught my attention; seven, going on eight years as a vampire I was still fascinated with my extraordinary hearing. Though my adoptive parents were in Carlisle's office, with the thick oak door closed tight, I could hear them perfectly.

I paused at the door and stood waiting for Carlisle's answer, curious as to who the Volturi were and why my mother's voice seemed so anxious. I heard my father sigh, before clearing his throat and I made myself comfortable on the steps that ran along the wall of his office. I'm not one to eavesdrop, and I certainly do not make it a regular habit, but I had also grown accustom to my new abilities, one of which warned me with a feeling that I needed to listen to this and like my family I had learned not to doubt my ability, but I could not shake the uneasy feeling, as my adoptive parents argued, the first argument I had ever heard between them.

"To meet him…" was all Carlisle could say. A few tense moments passed with silence between them, before Esme spoke again; gone was the anxiety in her voice leaving only anger. An emotion I had never heard from Esme, ever.

"Meet him?" she hissed "you have said it yourself Carlisle…friends or not, the Volturi do not simply extend an invitation at random. They want something." There was another pause "oh Carlisle…you don't…you don't think they believe him to be…"

"One of the immortal children? I do not believe so, how could they even come to that conclusion, there is no ground to base it on."

"You cannot take him to Italy,"

"Esme I do not have a choice. Aro and Caius have sent out the 'invitation,' they are allowing me to bring him on my own terms. If they feel the need to ask again, it would mean we have something to hide which we don't. I cannot chance them coming here. He'll be safe Esme, I swear to you,"

"It's not polite to eavesdrop." I looked up and saw Emmett standing in the doorway at the top of the stairs, he had a wide grin plastered on his face, which I slowly returned. I'm a quiet low key person, Emmett is not, so we offset each other well; like the others, he quickly welcomed me into the family and looks out for me like an older brother should, but I still find myself being timid around him, for one thing, he's much, much bigger than I, and another he can be very loud and doesn't hold back on his joking, I mean, my first meeting of him entailed his comment of finally having fresh blood in the house...

He gestured for me to come upstairs and after glancing back at Carlisle's closed door, I quietly did so.

Upstairs in the room he shares with his wife Rosalie, he and our brother Edward were listening intently to the wireless.

I timidly sat down on the floor near Edward and looked at the both of them, my curiosity was growing about what I had heard downstairs, but I kept the conversation blocked from my mind so Edward wouldn't catch wind of it. But I knew I had to ask them, I had to know what was going on and if I was somehow the cause of the argument between Carlisle and Esme.

"Um, Edward, may I ask who the Volturi are?" Edward and Emmett exchanged a look and I wondered if perhaps I had asked something I shouldn't have.

"The Volturi are our kind's equivalent to a royal family. They are self-proclaimed rulers of the vampire world." Edward explained "they rule from Volterra, a city in Italy."

"I thought it sounded Italian," I replied "but I wasn't sure."

Edward nodded

"Carlisle hasn't told you anything about them has he?" it wasn't really a question, Edward could read my mind, he could see that the words Volturi and Volterra really meant nothing to me, even so I shook my head. "Well, after he was changed and discovered he could survive on animal blood as opposed to human, he left England and somehow ended up in Italy where he was found by the Volturi and welcomed as a friend. At that point they were the most sophisticated of our kind he had encountered; they were and still are well educated. He was invited to remain with the Volturi, but when he found out they lived on the typical vampire diet, he politely refused. They tried to convince him to accept the normal sustenance for a vampire, but he left for North America, but he still considerers the Volturi friends, though they find it strange he refuses human blood, they find our entire coven oddities of the vampire world because of our diet."

Ok, so the Volturi were friends of Carlisle, why then was Esme so against him bringing me to them, why did she sound so frightened. There had to be more to it, I thought about the other phrase that Carlisle had used.

"What abou….what about Immortal Children, who are they?" Edward's eyes seemed to grow large, his face told me he didn't feel this was a question for him, it wasn't just my mind he was reading…it was our whole family, he knew what Carlisle and Esme had been discussing downstairs, no, what they had been arguing about, and he knew this was not something he should answer, this was a question for Carlisle, this was a question for our father.

Unfortunately for Edward, but fortunately for me, Emmett knows no such boundary. He sat down on the floor next to me.

"Their exactly what they sound like." He replied, Edward was shaking his head at Emmett, but our brother didn't seem to notice. "A bunch of vampires thought it would be a good idea to create these children vampires. The problem was, the kids were so young they had no self-control; I guess they threatened our exposure. One of the Volturi even tried to study them; you know to see if they could be taught."

Edward sighed, and continued the conversation when Emmett paused, in his face I could see he was trying to minimize the damage…in other words the panic.

"Because they were considered a danger to our existence, they were removed."

"Removed?" I repeated. "Removed…how, exactly?"

Edward exchanged another look with Emmett, before continuing.

"The Volturi and their guard sought out each of the Immortal children and destroyed them, a law was also passed forbidding anymore from being created and for any of our kind to protect them."

I let this sink in before I looked at my brothers.

"What…what about the ones who created them? What happened to them?"

A few moments of silence passed, before Edward finally spoke up

"They…they were also destroyed, as punishment and to serve as a warning."

"punishment for what exactly?" I asked, my voice cracking just a bit.

"Threatening our exposure is highest offense on the Volturi's list. They feel that endangering our kind in anyway is the worse crime one could commit, it is punishable by death. You do not threaten the Volturi unless you are prepared for the consequences and you do not threaten exposure unless you are prepared to die." Edward explained gently.

The Volturi had now moved from good friends of Carlisle and not beings to fear… to cruel dictators in my mind.

Flashes of the newsreels I had seen when the war had begun…scenes from Germany and Hitler's Nazis, marching…invading… murdering, the same thing happening in China in Nanking only by the Japanese… things that hadn't seemed real at the time. It had just seemed like fiction, like the movie I had been about to see when the reel was over, but it wasn't, it was real…and this…this was real.

Quickly I shook that thought from my head; Edward saw this in my mind and offered a sympathetic nod.

My head was swarming with thoughts, so many I doubted even Edward could untangle the web.

Slowly I stood up and nodded thanks to my brothers. Edward knew that I was not right, but he was giving me my space.

I could feel in my mind, that he would tell Carlisle about our conversation and I knew before long he or Carlisle or both would be searching me out to check on my state, but at the moment I needed the space he was giving me.

I went up the back stairs to the loft…attic; it was my favorite room in the house. We had left Hoquiam about two years ago and lived now just outside of the town of Neah Bay, a small fishing village I suppose you could call it, in Northern Washington State.

From the large attic window I can see out to the bay itself and the view usually calms me down.

Since we don't sleep, I find that I can spend hours just looking out at the bay and watching the fishing boats coming in and going out.

I especially love it in the morning…early in the morning when the fishermen are heading out for the day, when dawn hasn't even shown her face.

But all that Edward and Emmett had told me, and what I had overheard from Carlisle and Esme, was racing through my mind as it began to piece together what was going on and even my peaceful comforting bay couldn't calm my fears.

Obviously the Volturi wanted Carlisle to bring me to them, a few moments ago I had no idea why…but now I know and I now knew why I felt a pit in my stomach.

Neither of my brothers had specified how old the immortal children had been when they were changed, only that they were not capable of self-control and could not be taught as such.

But…

I glanced at the mirror forever attached to the attic door and looked myself over. I was thirteen, nearly fourteen when I was changed, but many assume when they first meet me or even just see me quickly that I am younger, I was just starting to resemble the fourteen year old I was about to become when I was changed.

But at a quick glance, I do not look the age I am supposed to be frozen at. I mean on a positive note, I can pull off any age between ten and fifteen, depending on how I act, how I dress, and even how I style my hair.

It would come in handy when we moved, because the younger we start at a place, the longer we can stay there.

But here is where my thought process really took a turn for the stressful and I began to believe what had been a blessing could potentially get not only me killed…but could possible put my family in harms way.

What if the Volturi thought I was younger than thirteen, what if they did think I was like those children, that I wasn't capable of keeping our existence protected, that I to had no self-control.

My reflection stared back at me, reminding me just how much I thought I knew about what I had become was false.

When I first learned what Carlisle and Edward were, and what I was about to become, right before Carlisle changed me; flashes of myths hit me; crosses, garlic, no reflection, holy water, sunlight…I made a face…stakes through the heart.

We could be killed…but not by Bram Stroker's means, not by a stake through the heart and not by sunlight…but I had never asked if we could be…now that I knew it was possible… my mind wondered how…how could we be killed? How would one go about killing us…

I shuddered, surprising myself for a moment that I could even consider how I could be killed. I felt a bit sick as I shook my head.

I allowed my mind to wander back downstairs and I could see Carlisle and Esme, I could see the conversation I could replay it in my mind.

Carlisle would not take me to the Volturi if he truly believed I could be put to death… but I knew if threatened, he would do all he could to protect me.

I shuddered again and sat down slowly on the floor…even if it meant putting his own life in jeopardy to keep me safe, for as long as possible.

No. I couldn't allow that. Carlisle, Esme…all of them had been so kind to me, they had welcomed me into the family with open arms and cared about me. Carlisle had saved me from death. He had the goodness and compassion to save a kid he knew nothing about from death and bring that kid to his family to be welcomed in as a member of it.

I had to protect him…if Carlisle brought me to the Volturi and they decided to put me to death, there was a good chance Carlisle would join me; either trying to protect me or as punishment for creating me, for saving my life.

I couldn't allow that to happen, I would not let Carlisle be put to death for his kindness and I would not let Esme go through the pain of losing him.

My fingers found my charm…my first Christmas/birthday present with the Cullens, it was the Cullen crest carved neatly on a black oynx stone…

I was a Cullen, like Carlisle had promised me when he and Esme had given the necklace to me…and we protect our own…

I knew what I had to do…I had to go to Italy, I had to find the Volturi myself. Introduce myself to them as Christian Callaghan and leave my life in their hands, my life and mine alone, maybe I could reason with them, show them that I had enough sense not to expose what we are, maybe even convince them that if I must be put to death…that Carlisle and the other Cullens were to be left alone.

I found a globe in a box, in the corner of the attic and quickly found Volterra. It wasn't that hard to map out my journey.

If I ran, it would take me a day, maybe two at the most and If I went north through the Alaskan territory I could avoid swimming the Atlantic…or even the Pacific.

I would have to run through or at least around Anchorage, but at least that way I would only have to cross the Bering Straight into Russia, from there I could run all night till I hit Italy, then hide out somewhere until nightfall then find the Volturi.

I'm fast…Edward is the fastest in our family, but I am a close second, I could beat the sunrise and if I didn't I can easily find some place to hide myself.

I checked the globe carefully, determining what cities I needed to be careful, most of those areas are thickly wooded areas; at least that's what I remember from geography classes. Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, past Hungary, through Austria, things had changed though…the war had changed a lot of the landscape through that part of Europe, I would have to find a more updated map, but the main thing was getting down into Italy.

Quietly I slipped down to my room and packed some things into my messenger bag. A change of clothes so I could look presentable to the Italians, if they were as Edward claimed they were, our royal family then I had to look my best, I would not be presented to the British royal family looking as if I had just run hundreds of thousands of miles.

Cruel or not….I had to give the Volturi the same respect and obedience I bestowed on my true king and queen.

I also packed a compass (just in case) a jacket and gloves which I hoped would cover me enough if I was caught out in the sun at any point, though I had nothing to cover my face nor my eyes, I would just have to be very careful, my eyes were not such a problem, they had long lost the red colouration that marked me as a newborn vampire and instead had faded into a odd blue instead of the yellow my family had and had expected mine to be…

The last items of importance were my shoes. I could cover more ground without them, but I would need them upon reaching Volterra.

I looked over at my desk and wondered for a moment, whether I should leave a note to my family. But I didn't want Esme to worry and at that point I wasn't sure what would worry her more, my disappearing without a note or a note telling her I was going to the Volturi alone.

Instead of a lengthy note, that could possibly cause more, I suppose heartache is the word… I decided that two words 'Thank You' would suffice.

With that, I slipped out my window and quietly dropped to the cold ground, the sky was clear and cold, plenty of moonlight which would make the run at least somewhat enjoyable.

Glancing back at the house and more importantly, at the family I was leaving behind. I took off running north.