Before the Storm

There really isn't much you can say after someone tells that they no longer love you. You can go through denial, rage, devastation, and then wish it had never happened.

All of that happened to Althea. So, she didn't opt to be a vampire. She didn't even opt to live with the Cullens, but she could get over that. She had in fact. But when someone tells you, quite blatantly, that they don't love you because of someone outside of your control happened, that just wasn't fair.

Although she was young, Althea had come to realize long ago that life wasn't fair. After her initial shock, the revelation didn't phase her much.

Because she had a plan.

----

As soon as Althea had ordered Paul away, she ran up stairs and looked herself into her room. She thought about everything that had happened since she was bitten - that's when she remembered. Even though vampires are immortal, there was a way to kill them. There was always a way to kill something, no matter how amazing.

She let herself out of her bedroom and walked quietly down the long hallway and towards Carlisle's study. She checked the door and noticed it wasn't locked.

"Almost too easy," she whispered to herself as she walked in. Her attention was immediately caught by the large painting hanging on the wall the door was one. She could tell from just the painting that these people were supposed to be beautiful - unnaturally beautiful, just like her.

"Who are they?" She continued to stare at the painting and thought about all his travels that Carlisle had mentioned. She knew he was in England at one point and for a long time in.... "Italy!"

"But who was he with in Italy?" Althea dropped her gaze from the painting and sat down in the brown leather chair behind the desk. She racked her brains for seemed like forever until it hit her, "the Volturi."

She also remembered that Edward had refused to tell her much about them besides the fact that they were a sort of ruling group. Althea got up and started scouting the thousands of books in the pseudo library and realized she probably wouldn't find anything Volturi related in those books. Books about vampire rulers probably didn't exist. She walked back over to the desk and threw open the doors, ruffling through all of Carlisle's handwritten notes.

Eventually she came across what she wanted. It was actually only a small scrap of paper and read "ancient group of vampires that reside in Italy and keep track off all vampires throughout the known world.

"Curious," she drummed her fingers along the desk and pondered. She thought about what else she had overheard about them and remembered that they killed vampires that broke the rules. The rules didn't know all of yet. Althea smiled to herself as a plan quickly took root in her mind. 

She ran back into her bedroom and grabbed her backpack up and stuffed some of her clothes into it. If the Cullens were keeping tabs on her, which she had no doubt they would, she had very little time to escape.

Once she got everything together she ran downstairs and to the garage where she jumped into the nearest car and started it. She opened the garage door and took off. Lucky for her, the keys were left in the car since they were in danger of getting stolen.

Her destination was Seattle. There she could catch a plane and head to Italy. She wasn't sure that she should be around humans yet, but her sheer willpower could get her through the effects of their blood. She was also chancing the fact that the Cullens probably had some clue by now that she was up to something. She just had to out run them. Italy was all her mind was now.

If she was going to be miserable and hated by the person she truly loved for the rest of eternity, she didn't want to live. She may not have chosen to have been transformed into a vampire, but she sure as hell was going to chose what she wanted to do about it.