Broken ➳Jacob Black [Book 2]

2.0

Kate was feeling good that night. She and Bella had gotten all dressed up and driven to the Cullen's house to celebrate Bella's birthday. Edward had taken Bella and Kate upstairs to wait for the party. Edward and Bella were having a private moment while Kate was walking through Carlisle's study looking at all of the paintings and books that were around the room. There was one painting in particular that Kate couldn't take her eyes off of. When she looked at it, the very warmth in her blood seemed to disappear.

            "Edward," she called out softly.

            Edward and Bella came up right behind her and stared that the painting she was looking at.

            "Who are they?" she asked him.

            "The Volturi."

            Kate felt as if a weight had been pushed in her chest and she stumbled pack away from the painting as if it would come to life and attack her.

            "Kate, what's wrong," Bella asked her.

            It took Kate a second to compose herself before she could answer.

            "Carlisle told me about the Volturi when I first turned. Fifteen hundred years ago, when they first rose to power, the Volturi led the hunt for the sirens. They wanted to eliminate all of them. It's because of them, that there are very few of us left. They will never stop hunting us. If they find me, they'll kill me on sight."

            Edward placed a hand on her shoulder, "That won't happen."

            Kate shrugged him off and sat in a chair at the far end of the study.

            "Who're the Volturi," Bella asked Edward.

            "The Volturi are a very old, very powerful, family. They're the closest thing to royalty that my world has."

            Bella pointed at the painting, "Is that Carlisle?"

            "Yea. He lived with them for a few decades," Edward answered, "He described them as very refined. No respect for human life of course but a respect for the arts and sciences at least. And the law, above all the law. Vampires do not have many laws and only one that is regularly enforced: that we keep the existence of our kind a secret. We don't make spectacles of ourselves and we don't kill conspicuously. Unless of course, you want to die."

            Kate suddenly stood up, "I need some air."

            She left the room and went downstairs. The whole time that Edward was talking, Kate was feeling more and more scared. These vampires would hunt her into oblivion if they found out about her. It was because of them that no one could know of her secret.

            When she went downstairs she was immediately assaulted by Alice.

            "You're not supposed to be down here yet," Alice told her.

            Kate shrugged, "I wanted to help. What can I do?"

            Alice looked at her skeptically before nodding.

            "You can help Emmett and Rose hang flower banners," she told her.

            Kate went over to where Emmett and Rosalie were hanging some banners.

            "So where did you guys travel to this time?" she asked them.

            Rosalie gave her a small smile while Emmett gave his trademark grin.