Hearts & Spades

Hall of the Volturi.
Volterra, Italy.
April 2010.
Ivory.

I stand silently to the side, ignoring the event happening around me as I quickly go through my memories, attempting to block or erase several that I don’t want known. And, in the blink of an eye, the Cullens are gone, and I snap myself out of my distant state, looking up at the vampires waiting patiently before me.
“Ivory!” Aro smiles cheerfully. “It’s been years-“
“Sixteen years,” I hear Alec murmur under his breath.
“-and now we can finally talk,” Aro continues.
“I’m not sure if there is really anything to discuss, sir,” I say carefully, keeping my voice quiet.
“Jane tells me you still have not made your decision?” he questions, and I notice Melody and Evan slip into the room and stand towards the back, followed by a tall blonde man with his arms folded behind his back.
“To be honest, I really haven’t considered it.”
“It would be wonderful if you returned,” he says. “We’ve all missed you.”
Without looking, I know that Alec’s gaze is completely focused on me, unwavering, his eyes never leaving my face.
“But before you say anything else, let’s see what you’ve been up to,” Aro says suddenly, extending his hand towards me. I rest my hand on his, and his expression becomes distant.
“I see…” he trails off. “Interesting. You’ve been quite a troublemaker, haven’t you?”
I don’t answer and he continues making observations, mostly talking to himself.
“And where are the others you were traveling with?” he asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know. Still traveling. I haven’t spoken with them in a while.”
Aro nods, releasing my hand and muttering to Cauis and Marcus; I hear both Bryony and Miles’ names, and guilt begins to gnaw at my core. Now I know they’ll be tracked and cornered, with an offer to join. Not that they’ll truly be forced, more like intimidated.
He turns back to me, and smiles once again. “As a formality, we would like to extend the offer for you to rejoin the Volturi guard.”
”Come on, you know you wanna do it. Go ahead, say yes. Your friends are here. You know you’ve missed Evan and Jane and Melody…”
I look sharply at Melody. “Get out of my head.”
“Aw, what gave me away?” she frowns.
“The second you mentioned your name.”
“Well, damn.” She snaps her fingers and I bite back the urge to laugh.
I turn back to Aro. “Regarding your offer… I’ll consider it, sir. But for now, the answer’s a no.” I can practically hear Alec’s silent plea for me to say yes.
He sighs sadly and nods. “Of course. We understand. You can leave.”
The room is filled with a tense silence for a moment before I turn and walk out the open doors, past the crowd of unsuspecting tourists being led in by Heidi.
And, even though part of me knows I shouldn’t, I can’t help but take one last glance over my shoulder at Alec, whose face is heartbroken beyond words.
My expression probably is too.

Cullen residence.
Forks, Washington.

“You all know what I want,” Bella starts, “and… I know how much I’m asking for. The only thing I can think of for it to be fair is for us to just vote.”
Vote on her becoming immortal. I stare at a sharpie mark on my sneakers. She can’t be serious.
“You don’t know what you’re talking ab-“
“Shut up,” Bella cuts Edward off, and I snicker under my breath, earning a glare from him.
“Alice?” Bella asks.
Alice smiles and walks over to her. “I already consider you my sister,” she says, hugging her. “Yes.”
“Thank you,” Bella nods.
“I vote yes,” Jasper says suddenly. “It would be nice to not want to kill you all the time.”
Bella nods uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry,” Rosalie sighs. “I’m really sorry to both of you, for how I’ve acted, and I’m really grateful you were brave enough to go and save my brother.”
She pauses for a moment before continuing. “But this isn’t a life I would have chosen for myself, and I wish there had been someone there to vote no for me… So, no.”
“Well I vote hell yeah,” Emmett grins, breaking the tense silence, picking Bella up and swinging her around in a hug. “We can pick a fight with these Volturi some other way.”
“I already consider you a part of the family,” Esme smiles. “Yes.”
I keep my gaze on that stupid gold sharpie mark on the toes of my converse. “I think I know better than everyone why you want to do this.” I glance up at Bella. “Why you want to give up mortality to be with the one you love. And… from that point of view, it would be easy for me to say no.” I laugh bitterly. “It didn’t exactly work out well for me, even thought it wasn’t planned at all.”
Bella simply stares at me in silence, waiting for the rest.
“But… I also know, better than anyone, the rules that to apply to us all. And that view overrides the other.” My stare returns to the floor. “So I vote yes.”
Carlisle steps forward, looking up at Edward.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Edward questions. “You know what this means.”
“You’ve chosen not to live without her, which leaves me no choice,” Carlisle responds. “I won’t lose my son.”
I exchange a silent glance with Esme and she nods, granting me permission to slip out the back door and let it close silently behind me.

Oh, how cliché I sound. My head and my heart are in turmoil once again. I don’t know where I belong.
Scratch cliché, I just sound downright emo.
I head deep into the forest before reaching a small clearing and hold my hand out, palm facing up, with my fingers spread out. A warm tingling sensation shoots up to my fingertips and a small, dancing ball of fire appears, illuminating the area and casting strange shadows all around. I casually toss the fireball from palm to palm, watching it flicker and crackle in the moonlight, until I am suddenly hit with the eerie sensation of being watched.
I press my hands together, listening closely for a human heartbeat; the closest, however, is Bella’s back at the house.
“Over here.”
I spin around and lock eyes with the tall blonde man I remember from Volterra.
“Who are you?” I demand.
“Isaiah,” he introduces. “I’m not here to bother you. I’m here to make a delivery.”
His hair is cut in razor sharp layers that fall over bright red eyes, and I’m almost reminded of Evan, which is why I don’t blink when he extends his hand and offers me the beige envelope.
“I was never here,” he says, offering a small smile, before disappearing.
I blink in confusion before looking down at the envelope in my hands, where my name is scribbled across in a familiar scrawl. All the air leaves my lungs, and I know without looking that if I flip it over, the red wax Volturi seal will be holding it closed.

And the signature at the end of the letter will read:
Alec.