So I'm sorry that it took so long to update it's my first year in college and it has been hectic. Nevertheless, it's better late than never right?

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT

Chapter 6: A Compromise

Bella hadn't really expected anyone to bother her, at least not today. For a fading second she thought that maybe it was Alec at the door, coming to apologize for what he had said, and what he had done at the 'hunt'. However, she found that the scent at the door did not provide her with any calm so it couldn't be Alec.

Pushing the door open, she froze in place as the scent overwhelmed her senses and venom poured into her suddenly hungry mouth. "I am Sophia; you will be feeding off of me today." The human girl said; her bare neck turned to the side for Bella to get a better view. She was instantly horrified, darting across the room she found herself on top of the dense oak dresser.

"What are you doing, are you crazy?" Bella hissed at the stupid human girl that looked no more than thirteen or fourteen.

"You are Miss. Bella, no?" she asked, her accent sounded vaguely French. Bella nodded, but stayed where she was.

"Aro sent me, I am to be your meal for the night," she stated matter-of-factly as though saying the sky was blue, or the grass green. Bella looked at the strange girl. Was this her life? Going around and offering her blood to vampires as a snack, hoping they don't kill her? But Aro knew that Bella was newborn, that she surely would if provoked to feed.

"But I told Aro that I wanted to feed on animal blood," Bella stated, though even as she said it she realized Aro was a deceptive bastard.

"Ah yes, Aro did mention this," Sophia stated, taping her porcelain white skin. Her eyes were a soft shade of green, and Bella noticed how they off set the golden color of her hair. The girl was very pretty. "He said that he considered it, and decided that he did not approve."

Bella growled, she should have known.

"I'm not going to feed off of a human, I would rather starve." Bella convinced herself, than held her breath.

Sophia looked at her perplexedly, as though she were somehow not in the right frame of mind to live in society.

"What are you talking about?" she asked softly, her voice barely an octave above a whisper. The poor girl was so scared she began to shake like a leaf in the wind. Her calm demeanor had dissolved and Bella wondered briefly if Aro had something over her.

"I'm not going to feed off of you," Bella said with more conviction than even she knew she had. However, it was promise; she would find a way over Aro's stupid rule.

"If you don't Aro will just kill me," Sophia stated sadly, her head hung as she pulled her long sleeves down over her arms. "Just like he killed my family," she let out a pitiful sniff that led to a fully fledged sob in zero to ten seconds.

Bella was not very good at this kind of thing; she had never been good with tears or really anything else that involved excessive emotions. She slowly reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulders, hoping to provide some form of comfort.

Instead Sophie moved swiftly out of her reach and was across the room, glaring at Bella with tear stained eyes. "Stop playing with me and just do it, take my blood. You're no different from all the other monsters in here."

Bella felt something shift in her body. Sophia's words didn't make her mad in the slightest, hurt yes, but not mad. She was more concerned with the fact that in anger the girl's heart rate was rising rapidly and Bella could almost see the blood pulsing in her veins. Bella was still a newborn, and despite control that astounded her she still hadn't fed since waking up.

"Sophia, you have to calm down or I won't be able to control myself," Bella hissed. Her finger nails clenched into the palms of her hands and would have bled had she been human. It was taking all her might not drain the human in front of her. She smelled delicious like the most expensive meal at a fancy restaurant and Bella was starving.

However, Bella's words didn't seem to register with Sophia as she began to hyperventilate. Bella started to panic, she was going to drain this poor girl and she would feel horrible about it. Bella could hear the humans breathing getting faster and faster, if she did not stop soon she would pass out. Bella smiled, that's exactly what she needed. Taking a step forward, she knew would give the girl a last push and with that she collapsed on the floor with a thump. Bella sighed in relief and crossed the brief expanse of her room to where the girl lay. Bending down she placed her hands beneath the girl's knees and the back of her head and lifted her effortlessly off the ground. The girl was to light, weighing what Bella guessed to be about eighty pounds. How long had she been here?

Bella shook her head and walked the girl over to the large bed and laid her in it. Bella would never need it so she didn't mind giving it up. Tucking the girl into the covers so that she would be warm Bella sat on the edge beside her. The girl couldn't be any more than thirteen years old and Bella felt immediate sorrow for her. She was too young to be a meal for a vicious species. She was too young to know what she knew and to have seen all that she had. Shaking her head she didn't need to dwell on the problems of another when she had her own. She knew it was selfish but she had begun to fear her position in the Volturi guard. The human had just added to these troubles. How was she to explain this to Aro? He would kill her when he found out that Bella hadn't.

She sighed; she felt doubt that it was impossible for a vampire to feel tired.

There was a shift in the room and Bella was up and in a defensive crouch in the blink of an eye. Standing on the opposite end of the bed was none other than masked man. The Mask, dressed in his usual black, stood only a couple steps away from her. She thought she would never see him again, never get to thank him.

He spoke for the first time. "If you wish to keep this human, you will have to mark her." His voice was barely above a whisper as though he was trying to disguise the way his actual voice sounded, or it pained him to talk.

"Mark her?" Bella asked, throwing her thoughts off track.

"Like the one you have on your arm right there," The Mask whispered. He extended his arm to point at the bite mark that James had left on Bella's forearm. "It's the mark of a vampire's private food source; it's against Aro's law to hurt one." The Mask stated simply. Why had the Cullen's never told her that that was what the mark meant, that James had meant to make her food?

"I don't feed on humans," Bella stated matter-of-factly. For some reason she thought The Mask was against Aro and all the other Volturi bullshit.

"I know," He stated simply. "You might want to rethink that if you wish to remain alive here." He walked toward her, and for some reason this made Bella excited. "But until then…" He said placing something hard and metallic in Bella's hand and stepping away. Bella knew instantly what it was she could smell it and it made her mouth water. Blood, but not as potent as Sophia's, milder in that aspect, it was animal blood. Bella looked up at The Mask with shock.

"For a second," she started, looking at The Mask as he made his way to the window. "I thought you were just like this other guy, I thought he was different but he turned out to be Aro's lap dog."

Bella took a step toward him; however, he took a step away.

"Why did you save me?"

He studied her a moment. One foot out the window the other making its way there, he was going to disappear again but Bella felt like she would see him again this time.

She thought he wasn't going to answer her question, but he did give his own version of an answer.

"Sometimes you have to play by the rules to win the game."

With that he disappeared into the night as though he never existed into the mist and darkness.

Can't promise anything as far as updates; just know that I will sorry about that.

Much love,

Azriel Night