I'm pretty new to the site, but I've been inspired by so many of the amazing writers here and at FanFiction to try my hand at one of my own. Of special inspiration to me are the talented Emily Bowden and OCDJen. Thank you for keeping me up late reading ladies. I have a general framework of how this story will play out, but fiction is a fickle mistress and she does what she likes. Any comments (praising or outraged), suggestions (plot twists or character additions) or general words of good cheer would be appreciated. Thanks.

All characters and original settings belong to SM. I simply borrow them to paint pretty pictures.

Chapter One

I woke up, stretched my arms and opened my eyes to an oddly hazy, but familiar room. Everything was out of focus, and my sense of smell seemed to be lacking its usual vampire edge. I could tell if Charlie has shaved in the morning before he even opened the door of his cruiser to walk the final 10 feet to the Cullen's door.

"What's happening to me and where am I?" I asked out loud to an empty room. My voice sounded strange too. I hadn't noticed until after I'd spoken that the small room I awakened in was almost completely silent. The realization hit me quickly: I woke up?

The last time I'd woken up had been months before, on my first morning as a vampire, or my last birthday as Alice called it. But everything was so clear and sharp then that it scared me. I could see each individual grain in the wooden floor and every tiny imperfection in the glass window of Carlisle's study. It wasn't only the last time I'd woken up, but also the last time I'd slept. The last time I would ever sleep. Like food, water and other human needs, as a vampire I no longer needed sleep, or even rest.

Nor did I need to stretch. I did occasionally, but it was just another part of the human facade we all performed daliy to stay in Forks with Jacob and Charlie, and avoid any unnecessary attention. Every muscle in my body was ready in a sixteenth of a second to spring into action, whether I was hunting or playing with Renesmee.

My brain felt clouded, like it was full of dust and cobwebs. I was usually capable of thinking about one hundred different things in great detail at one time, another perk of being a vampire. I laughed as I shook my head and blinked my eyes in hopes of clearing out the hazy. I imagined how hard Edward would laugh if he saw me like this.

Edward?

Where was he and why couldn't I even smell him? The slightly familiar, if not empty room held a few faint smells, one of the jogged my brain as the muted version of Edward's sweet scent that I could take in before my change. The others reminded me of food and cleaning products.

The small room held no furniture, but the angles and color of the walls, the placement of the windows and even the inside of the closed door felt familiar to me. It certainly wasn't in my cottage, or Edward's room at the Cullen house.

I raked my brain trying to remember where I'd been and what I'd been doing before to begin figuring out where I was now. In a flash I remembered, and then wished I hadn't. The battle against the Volturri.

Aro had invited his brothers, Marcus and Caius to council with him. In the same moment Jane launched her attack. I felt a sharp force as her crippling power hit my shield, followed my several smaller volleys. The first strike had been directed at all of us. In the half-second it took Jane to realize we were all still standing unaffected my her power, she launched individual attacks on Edward, Carlisle and Eleazar. I realized my strength was enough to hold her at bay, so looked up at her tiny form and grinned widely. Cruel little Jane lost the first round. Probably for the first time in history if all the stories my family told were true.

Her brother Alec tried his hand next.

"Does anyone see it yet?" Edward asked. "Alec's gift is slower than Jane's. It floats toward its victims."

I searched the ground for it and final noticed it barely two feet in front of the Volturi line. The creeping thread of smoke wound its way across the field at a maddeningly slow pace. I had no idea what it would do to my shield, or for that matter, whether my shield could repel it or any physical attack.

We all watched and waited as the terrible mist advanced. Each pair of golden or blood red eyes locked on it, staring like our lives depended on our views of the mist. They did.

While we watched the mist, someone watched us.

The warning came to late. Edward's attention was strained from trying to listen to the many internal voices of the Volturri, their guard, the witnesses and our friends. It wasn't until Demetri slipped under my shield that Edward noticed his thoughts.

"Bella!" He shouted, "He's coming for you!"

"Protect Bella!" Carlisle yelled.

"Blind him! Shock him! Help Bella!" various members of my family yelled out in the confusion.

Zafrina and Benjamin were at my sides and closest to the attack, but under my shield they could not harm him without harming all of us. Zafrina's blinding spell would leave us all in the dark and unable to maneuver. Benjamin's ability to cause a whirlwind or open the Earth might shake us all into his chasm.

The huge russet wolf at my side turned in the seconds I took to process these thoughts. He shook his back gently so my small daughter landed softly in the snow at my feet. In the same fluid motion he leaped at the hulking vampire. I picked Renesmee up and kissing her forehead, I passed her to Rosalie. If they breached our defenses again I would be the obvious target. For the first time in her short life, I didn't want Renesmee anywhere near me.

Demetri's key placement within the inner circle of the Volturi Guard spoke to his strength, fighting skills and cunning. He was always at the spear point of any attack, and always survived to fight another day.

As Jacob's teeth were about to connect with Demetri's arm, the vampire backhanded him across the snow. Renesmee covered her eyes when Jake let one small whimper escape his teeth as he skidded across the snow. He was back on his feet in seconds, with Seth and Leah joining him at his flanks. The three wolves closed in on him slowly, circling. Seth and Leah came around his sides while Jake never slowed his advance straight for Demetri. They left him nowhere to run.

Demetri bared his teeth at the wolves and let loose a vicious growl from deep within his body. He would not go down without a fight, but neither would we.

The wolves closed in and Emmett, never one to be left out of a good brawl, leaped hissing onto Demetri's back. The unexpected weight of my massive brother-in-law threw him off balance, and he fell face first into the snow. The wolves closed the distance in a heartbeat, and began the task of ripping his body to pieces. I almost jumped for joy, but everything went dark and silent.

And then I woke up. Here. Alone.