After Dawn Broke

Chapter Nine: Memories

"Who are the Volturi?" I asked in a quiet but frightened tone. Even though I did not know what that meant, just the name sounded terrifying. It also sounded oddly familiar, as if I'd heard the name before. Who were these people? Why did they what revenge?

My thoughts faded away as a new picture appeared in my unshielded mind. I closed my eyes to get a better vision of the image that must be coming from Grandpa. Looking through his eyes, I could see Grandma, but she looked different... Her eyes were chocolate brown; she was human.

She was sitting on Grandpa's lap, and they seemed to be in a vaguely familiar house. I realized it was the cozy family room in her old home when I recognized the television playing in the background. When she first moved to Forks, she lived with her father, my biological great-grandfather, Charlie Swan. I payed much closer attention as Grandma Bella began to speak.

"What is a Volturi?" she asked in a demanding tone.

"The Volturi are a family," Grandpa explained to her, as flashes of old memories clouded my view of Grandma through his eyes. I thought I even recognized Li in some of the brief flashes. The one that stood out the most to me was of a brightly colored canvas, with a quartet of ancient men overlooking a great city from a balcony. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America-do you remember the story?"

Vampire royalty? The thought puzzled me just as much as the confirmation of Li being with the men in Grandpa Edward's thoughts.

"Of course I remember," Grandma responded firmly. I wondered what the story was about - I assumed it involved more of Li's unknown past. Well, unknown to me...

"Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi," Grandpa continued. "Not unless you want to die-or whatever it is we do." I watched as Grandma's expression became horrified, but the memory was over before I could figure out why.

I slowly opened my eyes and found Grandpa standing in front of me where I was still sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. "Did that help any?" he casually asked as if he'd done some simple favor.

"It certainly was interesting... I still don't get why anyone would want revenge, though." I stared at my fingers and traced microscopic designs in what was remaining of my blue fingernail polish as I waited for a response.

"Umm.." Grandpa looked to Grandma for help.

"Well..." she hesitated. "It's kind of hard to explain..." As she struggled with her words, I felt a slight rush of air rush passed me. I looked up to see that Grandma, Grandpa, and I were the only ones remaining in the room. For the first time since I'd awoken in the room, I looked around to realize I was in the Cullen house.

"I need to know," I pleaded. I closed my eyes once again as my awareness shifted to the past.

This time it belonged to Grandma. I had to concentrate harder than I ever had because this was a human memory. It was blurry and the sounds were unclear. Looking through Grandma's human eyes, I saw Aunt Alice's panicked black eyes staring at her. Her expression was so frightened that it was hard for me to look at her.

"Bella," she whispered. "Edward won't call again. He believed her."

Grandma had been too shocked to answer, so she mouthed the words, "I. Don't. Understand."

The room was silent for a moment. Then Aunt Alice looked us straight in the eyes. "He's going to Italy."

A blurry flash of an older memory of hers ran through my mind. "NO!" Grandma screeched as the memory faded in my mind.

"Not unless you want to die," he had explained before. Why would he want to die?

I repeatedly blinked my eyes in shock and looked up to see Grandpa. His eyes were closed, and his expression was pained.

Grandma stood from where she was sitting next to me and was by his side so fast that my eyes did not see the motion. She whispered something reassuringly in his ear that sounded to me like, "I love you."

A smile was faintly visible on his features for a moment, but then he was abruptly serious as he opened his eyes. "It was a stupid decision of mine... But I wasn't about to live without your grandma," he answered my unspoken question. "I should not have accepted it secondhand from Rosalie." He looked up sadly into Grandma's eyes.

"It was actually my fault... I'm the one who jumped off the cliff, Edward," she said as she put her finger over Grandpa's lips so he couldn't protest. She looked at me as she finished her part of the story, "The water was rough, and I was drowning, but your father saved me."

I smiled slightly as I tried to imagine my indestructible vampire grandmother needing help from my father.

"And then you saved me," Grandpa said to her as soon as she removed her finger and allowed him to talk.

"Then what?" I interrupted their moment.

Grandpa's eyes locked with mine for a moment before I saw a new flashback of a bright stone room. There were several others in the room, all vampires... Except for Grandma, of course. The ones that stood out the most were the three in the darkest long robes. Grandpa's memories told me their names were Aro, Marcus, and Caius. They were the ones with Li in the painting.

The one with the snowy white hair, Caius, pointed his finger at Grandma Bella. "She knows too much. You have exposed our secrets," he accused. Then the memory changed, as if Grandpa had fast-forwarded through something he didn't want me to hear.

"Dear Caius," the black-haired one named Aro exclaimed. "Do not fret. Think of the possibilities! They do not join us today, but we can always hope for the future. Imagine the joy young Alice alone would bring to our little household... Besides, I'm so terribly curious to see how Bella turns out!"

I opened my eyes and a million questions ran through my mind. Join us? Why was this Aro so interested in my family? Why would they want revenge?

"Maybe this will answer your question..." Grandpa whispered to me.

My eyes closed yet another time.