First Chapter of the Prequel for:

"Where's the Excitement?"

"Where we've been…"

"Bella, I don't want you to come with me…'

"I will always love you… in a way…'

"What happened the other night made me realize that it's time for a change…'

"I am… tired of pretending to be something I'm not, Bella…'

"I am not human."

"Every second that I'm with you is about restraint...'

"You're too fragile Bella…'

"You're not good for me Bella…'

"I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me...'

"I won't come back…'

"I won't put you through anything like this again."

"You can go on with your life without any more interference from me…'

"Bella you're just not good for me!"

"You just don't belong in my world Bella."

"It will be as if I'd never existed…'

"Time heals all wounds for your kind."

For my kind, for humans. That's what he means… I am not like him because he is a vampire, and I am just an infinitesimal and meek little human. I should have known I would never be good enough, or worthy enough for a vampire. I am nothing compared to him, how could I be?

How could I, little human Bella Swan be good enough for Edward Cullen?

I was a fool to think I could live up to the expectations he had for me. All he ever did was lie and lead me on. I was never going to be more than just a distraction…a human distraction…a plaything…a toy. I wasn't good enough to be more to him…I wasn't good enough to be his mate. He didn't want me for eternity…and if he had it his way, I would always be human for as long as he exists in this world. But I can't even have that. He won't even give me the choice to have him in my life…because I am nothing to him and I never was. I am nothing…

For my whole life, I have been this, weak and small. I have never felt the power he has, and until I met him, I never knew there could be more. I never knew there was another life, another reality just below the surface of my human life. And yet again, I am left out in the cold, all on my own. He has always prevented me from getting what I want, what is right for me, what could potentially be the answer to my problems. No, he insisted on controlling everything around me. From the food I ate, to the people I spoke to, the clothes I wore, to when I should go to bed. Every choice slowly slipped through my fingers.

He has always made my decisions for me…to keep me forever in this life that is ruining me and stopping me from becoming my true self. Strong and powerful.

If I weren't human, would he have to protect me all the time? Would he have to leave me? Would he have to put me out of his life?

No, but he is selfish. He wants me to stay the way I am.

My kind may go on with their existences, unknowing and unafraid, completely unaffected by the supernatural creatures that lurk in the night, but I will know. I will know because he chose to leave me this way. He chose to leave me weak and unprotected.

'"Time heals all wounds for your kind"', for my kind, for which he is not a part of and he never would be again.

Once you turn cold and evil, you may never see the sun again.

VvVvV

This is the life of Bella Swan, before she was transformed, after she was transformed, and so on from there.

This is the story of the young girl who was changed and survived.

This is the life of Isabella Hunter.

VvVvV

No!

How could he do this to me? How could he leave me?

He said he doesn't want me anymore…he promised he would never leave me!

I need him!

I love him!

I will never live without him…I will die without him.

My legs gave out as the weight of my pain pushed through my frail body. I fell to the ground and curled up into a ball, into a fetal position, my body closing in on itself, trying to protect me from the harm on the outside.

Nothing can protect me anymore…

I was never protected.

The waves of pain that had only lapped at me before were rearing high up and washed over me, pulling me under. Forever shunning me from the life I never actually belonged in and never would again.

The truth stings my shocked and frightened heart, love lost, love stolen, and love is gone.

Large burning tears fell from my irritated eyes. The heat from my tears blurred my vision and I closed my eyes to keep away my fears. To hide behind a useless shield.

I am all alone.

I am weak.

I am pathetic.

I am nothing.

No wonder he doesn't want me, he should have never loved me in the first place, and there was never any logical reason why he did. I am ordinary; I am invisible, I am not some jaw dropping beauty with an interesting story to go with the incredible award winning looks.

I don't belong in that world and I don't belong in this world, but I've been forced and shoved into my own little corner of the world, stuck between two worlds that both don't want me.

No one wants me.

I feel the air, heavy in my lungs. My despair comes in and fills my airways. The air is pushed out because there is no room. My heart is erratic in my chest, beating too fast and too irregular.

I can't breathe, I am suffocating.

Help!

Please!

Someone!

I can't die like this!

He did this to me…Edward, this is all his fault! Anyone can come and kill me, and no one will be here to stop them!

I'm going to die…

"Oh my child…" A cold and ageless voice reaches my ears. The sound is frightening to anything with blood running through their flimsy veins…

"What has happened?" The voice asks.

"He's gone. He left me…they all left me." My voice is foreign to me, it sounds dead and weak.

"Do you know our secret?" The secret…the one that is keeping us apart. The secret that has always kept us apart.

"Y-Yes…" Pathetic…

"Well then, you must die my lovely young friend."

"Kill me." My plea to end my life from this suffering, I cannot live without Edward and he has taken everything from me, but he cannot hide death from me! The sweet release I call to, take me from this place.

Please! Kill me!

He moved closer to my whimpering form and lifted me off the ground into his stone arms.

"Oh no…this is impossible…this cannot be…" His voice was very low, as if it were a thought, something I should not hear. I tried not to move as not to anger this mysterious cloaked man.

"My dear, are you with child?" The words burned my ears.

Shock invaded my senses instantly, and I froze.

No!

This can't be…it isn't possible!

He would never leave me like this…would he?

The questions ran through my head quickly…did Edward know? Did he do this on purpose? Did he leave me like this to hurt me? I couldn't face that if he did. No, he would never have used me if it could have this kind of lasting affect…he must not know...

Vampires can't get humans pregnant.

Can…they?

I was suddenly snapped out of my frozen state of mind and once again very afraid for the future that lay ahead...

"Well this won't do…Bella, is it? Yes, I have heard much about you from the Cullens. Now, why would they leave their pet here all alone…?"

"I am not a pet!" The rage, abrupt and strong, rolled off my tongue, not thinking about the consequences.

The cloaked man dropped me to the ground with a thump and I stood up to look a few inches above his head. His red eyes flared with anger…a human drinker. The fear I felt did not outweigh the anger boiling inside of me. I tried to push back the hot tears that were threatening to roll down my cheeks, but I couldn't.

"They didn't want me." I spoke quietly.

He laughed and looked me in the eyes, "Do you know who I am?"

"No…not exactly…" He looked familiar, but I couldn't place exactly where I had seen his face before. My head was too clouded at the moment.

"I am an old friend of Carlisle's, he served with-'

"The Volturi," I was shocked that I had remembered, but I had always tried to remember everything Edward said. The image from the old oil painting I had seen in Carlisle's office did little to portray the being in front of me.

"Yes, and it seems the Cullens have committed a serious violation for leaving you alive, but that will be dealt with later…"

"What do you mean?" My voice broke as I spoke.

"Never mind that my dear, you know too much, and I'm afraid there is only one option for you. You will come back with me to Volterra, and my brothers and I will deal with your situation as we see fit. You will abide by our rules, and join the guard once you are changed."

"Do I actually have a choice?"

He smirked at me, and the evil sparkled in his ruby eyes. In that instant, I knew my fate had been sealed. My life was not my own anymore, I belonged to someone. I had become a pet in that one instance.

"No."

VvVvV

The next time I awoke, I was lying on a cold stone floor. I ran my hand over the stone, it was slightly ruff to the touch, and very uncomfortable. As I moved, I started to feel pain in my lower abdomen. My stomach felt like it was about to explode, and my head was starting to pound. As I rolled over onto my hands and knees, the bile in my stomach could no longer be contained, and I threw up all over the uncomfortable stone floor.

"My god, humans are such nauseating creatures. Why did you bring us this pet Aro?"

"Caius, don't be rude to our guest. Bella?" The familiar voice, Aro, called a little louder toward me.

Do they think I'm deaf? Seriously, I don't need this crap right now.

"What?" I look up at three vampires, all sitting on thrones thinking they are so damn worthy of everyone's respect.

"The tone, it has to go. This is absurd! What are we doing? Housing homeless humans? Saving the earth, what are we 'going green' too? Like those Cullens…"

"Caius, would you just kindly shut the hell up, no one needs your cynical bullshit! Thank you, now Bella-'The third vampire started ripping into the other vampire, Caius, but I cut him off when he called me Bella. I'm done with the innocence of that name.

A new life, a new person, a new name.

"Isabella, I would like to be called Isabella." I said sternly.

"Fine, Isabella. I am Marcus, this is Caius," he motioned toward the angry white haired man who I already knew I did not like, "and you already met Aro. Now, do you understand why you are here?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're going to change me because I know too much about your world, and I can't go on living with all this knowledge. I get it, could you please just bite me already?" I was starting to get a little restless in this stupid human body, what the hell is the point…

"Pushy little thing, isn't she? No wonder the Cullens got rid of her, even the freaks of our world couldn't stand something so weak and pathetic! Just kill her! Guards!" As soon as the command left his lips, I was being lifted off the floor.

"Get off! Stop! Don't touch me! Let me go! You can't kill me!"

"Let her go, now!" Marcus yelled. "Demetri, Felix, put Isabella down! Unless you want me to dismember you, I suggest you be gentle with her, she is human after all, but not for long. And my I remind you, she is also with child and any harm that comes to her will not be tolerated. Isabella, I am very sorry for this, let me show you to your room." He moved from his thrown and to in front of me, helping me off the ground where the guards had dropped me in less than a second.

He smiled down at me with his scary vampire smile, but still I felt the kindness he was showing me, and I smiled back hesitantly, carefully accepting his welcoming gesture.

"Thanks."

VvVvV

After being deposited in my room, Marcus left me to get settled. He instructed me to get changed and then someone would be by to direct me to the wives. He spared me all of the details and left, leaving me to wander around the castle on my own. Not a great plan.

"Excuse me," I tapped the woman's shoulder in front of me, hoping that maybe she could help me. She turned around and smiled at me. She was tall with long black hair and I immediately noticed her red eyes…of course they're red. "I think I'm lost…I'm-"

"Isabella, of course. I'm Renata. I'm sorry I didn't meet you at your room. I have been instructed to show you around, and keep you in line. I wanted to congratulate you on your baby, it's simply wonderful!"

She seemed quite excited to actually be with a human instead of just eating a human. Strange…

"Thank you that's very kind of you. I need to see the Volturi wives. I know they don't come out very often, but Marcus said that I might want to speak with them. I don't have much time before my change, but I may as well try to make this work. Giving up for eternity sounds pretty lame…"

"Of course, follow me." We started walking through hallways and corridors, making our way to the back of the castle. "They usually spend most of their time in the gardens, or of course, with their mates. No one is really supposed to associate with them, but I guess you are special Isabella."

I blushed at her words, because who the hell could stop that crazy bodily reaction. I will be very glad to be rid of this stupid trait, driving me insane and it is such an attention grabber…I hate the attention. It's just embarrassing.

"I know we aren't really instructed to speak to humans, but I would like to formally welcome you to the Volturi, and I know things seem a bit bleak at the moment, but I hope that we can be…civil and maybe be friends…?"

"You do realize you could kill me with your pinky, and you're asking me to be your friend? Why don't you just force me like everyone else?"

"Well that wouldn't be very welcoming would it now? I know I haven't been around humans in a very long time, so I apologize if my behavior is unusual. I was just wondering if you were in need of a little guidance while you are here, is that so unkind? I was hoping you and I could get acquainted. Well, unless you don't want to associate yourself with any other vampires while you're here, and if so, I assure you that will be impossible. Everyone will want to meet you, I was just lucky enough to be first."

Her smile seemed genuine as she spoke, and she actually seemed interested in me, which seemed a little weird. Everything was so strange here. I thought the Volturi was supposed to be cold and evil.

What the hell have I gotten myself into this time…?

"I'm sorry…it's just, the image the Volturi has painted for themselves didn't really seem to have a friendly side. I was just caught off guard, I guess as long as my future has me here I should try to make it work and that means… acquaintances, or friends…or whatever." My laugh was shaky as I smiled.

"Good, well here we are. The only advice I can give you is just be honest. I'll be here when you are finished."

As soon as she spoke, I realized we had come to an iron gate. Renata pushed open the gate for me and I walked through to an open courtyard. The doors swung shut behind me and then I came face to face with two beautiful women. I barely had time to breathe before they were bombarding me.

"Isabella, how wonderful that you could join us. I am Sulpicia, Aro's wife." The woman with long dark wavy hair spoke first. She smiled a sinister smirk and led me to a few chairs in the middle of the garden with the second wife following, silently behind us…until we got to the chairs.

"I am Athenodora, Caius' wife. My husband can be such a cruel man, and I do apologize for the way he greeted you in the throne room. He really needs to learn some manners with humans, but of course, he is stubborn and thinks humans are far below him. But let's not talk about me or my husband; let's talk about you, Isabella." Her smile was much more fitting, seemed actually happy to be speaking to me.

"My name is Isabella Swan, I am eighteen years old as of yesterday, and I'm from-'

"No, no, none of that. We know all of that. What was your relation to the Cullens? And you are pregnant, who is the father?" Athenodora asked curiously and a bit aggressively as well.

Who are these chicks…the gossip queens of the Volturi?

"They were my friends, I guess."

"Your friends? Really? How interesting, and the father?" Sulpicia asked.

I couldn't stop the sneer when I answered.

"Edward."

"Oh my, the mind reader... Aro has been trying to recruit that one for quite some time. He was your…mate? Boyfriend? Isn't that what humans call them these days…boyfriends…?" Sulpicia trailed off in distaste.

"I guess I was supposed to be his mate, but he left me, and he said he didn't want me anymore."

"That's absurd! He doesn't deserve a mate, that one. So naïve, unorthodox being with a human, but I guess if that is what his heart said to him then it must have been hard for him to be with you, yes? It looks like he still managed to impregnate you though." Athenodora pointed out…clearly.

"I'm his singer." Let's just state random facts now! Yeah that would distract them from talking about the awkward human-vampire sex that I desperately did not want to think about.

Two loud gasps filled my ears. 'No!', 'What?' and 'Impossible' was all they could come up with for that one.

"Yeah, but he loved me, he said he needed me, but I guess that was just another one of his lies. Never ending, filthy stinking lies. He never needed me or even wanted me; I was just an obsession, a pet." I shivered in disgust at that word.

"He must have had some feeling if he stayed around that long…right Dora?" Sulpicia said.

Wow trying to make me feel better, really? What's with all the vampires caring about my feelings!

"Oh yes, of course my dear." Athenodora or 'Dora' or whatever, smiled a pretty damn fake smile.

"Thanks…"

"Well Isabella, it was wonderful speaking with you. Please try to stay out of trouble before you have to be changed, wouldn't want any problems to arise. Have a goodnight." Sulpicia smiled politely and nodded toward the gate. I saw Renata standing by the gate holding it open for me. I said a polite 'Goodnight' and walked towards my freedom away from the two witches.

We were barely back inside when Renata asked, "Have a nice talk?" While a small smirk played at the edges of her lips. I rolled my eyes at her, she knew it was awful!

"Yeah, it was…interesting." I commented politely, knowing we were still in hearing range of the garden, and I so did not want to get my ass kicked by saying it was pretty damn bleak.

"Well that's good, I'm glad they weren't too hard on you, we wouldn't want you to feel unwanted. I'm sure things will ease up once you have a real chance to settle in and get to know everyone."

After Renata brought me back to my room, she let me know she would see me tomorrow, and left me alone for the night.

Great, my first night in solitary confinement, meaning the rest of my life. Awesome.

Some birthday I've had and now this? Wow, karma has a real funny way of stabbing me in the back.

Just twenty-four hours ago, I thought my life was perfect…yeah right guess again you ugly duckling.

I went to the dresser beside my new bed and opened the drawers. Inside I found some basic clothing folded neatly. I looked through the drawers looking for something suitable to sleep in. Once I found a long white nightgown, I stripped my dirty clothes off, and slipped it on over my head. It felt like silk, and it was so soft against my skin, it actually made me smile.

I turned back to the giant four poster bed that dominated my cold dark cell, and I carefully climbed in. This bed was so unnecessary for only one small person, but whatever these people like to roll in style. I laid my head against the extra soft pillows and tried to clear my head.

The events of the past few days weighed heavily on me, as I sank myself deeper into the fluffy comforter. I could feel the tears beginning to fall again, but I didn't try to stop them.

I fell asleep that night scared for my future, but prepared for the fight.

Bring it on bloodsuckers.