Disclaimer- I own NOTHING pertaining/referring to The Twilight Saga. All recognizable characters and text belong to Stephenie Meyer and/or Summit Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended. I am merely borrowing a few things...so please don't sue me.

This is going to be a Aro/Bella story, if you care nothing for the pairing then turn back now...you have been forewarned! Wow...that didn't sound ominous at all. O.o Anyway, I love the character Aro...especially Michael Sheen's interpretation of him. So the Aro in this story is based off of that portrayal, but you are welcome to imagine him as you like. This basically begins when Edward leaves Bella in New Moon. Victoria decides that, instead of taking things into her own hands, the best revenge would be telling the Volturi about Bella's knowledge of their world. So, in order to bestow the proper justice, Aro and some of the Guard go to Washington. Then...well you'll just have to read to find out. Hope you enjoy!

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Prologue-

I stared into his eyes. Those scarlet eyes that seemed to peer into my very soul. This man, this vampire could have been my undoing, my death. But he had managed to awaken in me a persona that I never knew I possessed. What had happened in my past was long forgotten as I kissed his lips, knowing that he would never leave me.

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Chapter 1- Hole In My Chest

Volterra, Italy-

Aro's POV-

The marble hall was alight with the sun streaming through the vaulted windows, high above. The three of us, Marcus, Caius, and myself, sat resigned in our thrones, administering the justice in our world. The double doors across from us swung open to reveal Jane and Alec, two of the most feared of the Volturi Guard, leading a red haired, female vampire into our midst. The trio crossed the distance and paused in front of the dais, bowing.

"Masters," Jane began. "this woman said that it was of great importance that she speak with you."

"Very well." Since I was often considered the overall leader of the coven, I spoke first. "Tell us, what is the matter upon which you wish to elaborate?"

"Sir, there is a human that is knowledgeable of the existence of our kind." she replied.

"Is there?" I asked, rising from my seat. "Would you allow me to see for myself, my dear?" I offered her my hand and, when she gave me her own, I was immediately swept into a swirl of memories.

The vampire before me was called Victoria, she, her mate James, and another vampire, Laurent, had came across a coven that I automatically recognized as the Cullen's. They were playing the American sport, baseball, and a human girl, of about seventeen or eighteen years of age, was in attendance. The Cullen's had eventually killed James in order to protect the human.

Victoria had been trying and failing for months to catch her unprotected. She had sent Laurent to gain information concerning her status. He had reported that the girl confounded one of the most gifted of the Cullen family...Edward-the mind reader. He had revealed his vampire nature to the human and now they had left her alone, with her knowledge of the truth. But instead of killing her herself, Victoria had decided that informing the Volturi, watching us kill the girl, and then taunting the Cullen's about it, would be an even more fulfilling revenge.

To say that I was intrigued by the young woman would have been a vast understatement. She was beautiful to say the least and seemingly intelligent...for a mere human. The fact that young Edward could not hear her thoughts garnered a great interest on my part. Even more so, there was something about the young woman, about the image I had glimpsed in Victoria's mind, that pulled at my long dead heartstrings, a feeling that I had not felt in well over a millennium. Though I would have never admitted it then, there was a slight attraction underlying my intrigue.

"Very well, we will assert the proper justice." I announced, hoping to assuage the thirst for vengeance within the woman before me. "I will personally see to the matter, myself."

Victoria smiled an evil, half-crazed, smile before bowing once again. "I will leave you, sir." she said. "But, if you don't mind, I would like to watch her die."

I vaguely nodded, lost in thought. "We will bring her back here." I heard myself say, then Victoria turned and left the room.

"What was that about, brother?" Caius' dry, sarcastic tone cut through the silence.

"It seems that our old friend Carlisle has allowed his...'son' to become involved with a human. They have recently abandoned her and, because she was so closely involved with the Cullen's, she has knowledge of our existence." I explained.

"Then she is to be transformed or it is death for her." he replied.

"I am not so certain, Caius."

"Whatever do you mean, Aro?" Marcus asked.

"I did not wish to elaborate further on the matter until I had gained more information," I began. "however I think that this human might be worth keeping. Edward, the Cullen who can read minds from afar, could not hear her thoughts. It could be a power laying dormant within her."

"Brother, as much as we love to endure your hobby of collecting talented vampires, this issue must be dealt with if we are to maintain secrecy and order in our world. We cannot allow a single, conversant human to slip through our fingers unpunished." Caius declared.

"The issue will be dealt with, brother." I explained.

"Aro, I am certain that the guard would be more than capable of properly dealing with the situation without your involvement." said Marcus.

"Perhaps, but I would much rather see to it myself, Marcus." I would not tell them about my interest in, not only her potential power, but in the woman herself. From what I had seen of her, as well as the information given to me by Victoria's mind, I deduced that woman was a puzzling specimen of the human race...a mystery that I had resolved myself to solving.

Several hours later, the Volturi jet was fueled and ready to take to the air. Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix, and myself boarded, heading to the Seattle, Washington airport.

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Bella's POV-

"And I'll make you a promise in return, I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me. I won't come back. I won't put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I'd never existed."

My knees must have started to shake, because the trees were suddenly wobbling. I could hear the blood pounding faster than normal behind my ears. His voice sounded farther away. I tried to breathe normally. I needed to concentrate, to find a way out of this nightmare.

"Goodbye, Bella. Take care of yourself."

There was a light, unnatural breeze. My eyes flashed open. The leaves on a small vine maple shuddered with the gentle wind of his passage.

He was gone.

Love, life, meaning...over.

I awoke screaming, miserable once again. The same nightmare played over and over in my mind every night and, when I would wake in the morning I would hope, vainly, that it had all simply been a conjuring of my distorted mind...even if subconsciously I knew that he was truly gone.

I listened as my bedroom door creaked open and then, "Bells! You okay?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad. Just another nightmare." I muttered my lie.

"I'm sorry, Bells..." Charlie began.

"Don't, Dad. I just want to go back to sleep." I said, laying back down and turning my back to him.

"Alright," he hesitated a moment. "goodnight."

"'Night."

I could tell the effect that my depression had on him, on everyone around me. They all walked on pins and needles, hoping that they wouldn't say anything that would make it worse. But honestly, I didn't think that it could get worse. A hole, raw and bleeding, had been punched into my chest and inside that dark crevice, my heart had been throughly ripped from me. I was but a shell of the person that I had once been. All because he had left me. I couldn't even say his name aloud.

After the waking nightmare, I had laid awake, mulling over how horrible my life had turned out to be. 'Life sucks and then you die,' I had heard that somewhere and couldn't help but feel that it applied to my situation.

When the first rays of dawn finally arrived, I rose from my bed to get myself ready for school. School, yet another torture. Everywhere that I looked, I was reminded of the family that I had lost, of the love I would probably never have again. I parked in the school lot, remembering the time that he had saved me from being crushed by Tyler's van. Remembering the day of my eighteenth birthday, when we had met here and had shared a kiss. Then the memory of that night reared its ugly head. Just one pin prick of blood had caused me to lose my first love, my life.

I walked to my first class and made it through the morning in my usual daze. At lunch, I no longer sat and conversed with my friends but at their empty table, staring out the windows into the foggy distance. Finally the last bell rang, releasing us for the day and I drove home in my usual depressed stupor. That night passed much the same as every other, nightmares and screams. At breakfast the next morning, however, things began to take a different turn...

"That's it, I'm sending you home." Charlie proclaimed, as I merely stared at him in shock.

"I am home." I replied, after a moment, overcoming my confusion.

"I'm sending you to Renee, to Jacksonville," he clarified.

His words slowly sank into my muddled brain, "What did I do?" Charlie scowled at me.

"You didn't do anything! That's the problem! You never do anything!" He argued. "I want you to be happy-no, not even that much. I just want you to not be miserable! I think you'll have a better chance if you get out of Forks."

"I'm not leaving," I declared, clenching my teeth.

"Why not?" he demanded.

"I'm in my last semester of school-it would screw everything up." I quickly excused.

"You're a good student-you'll figure it out."

"I don't want to crowd Mom and Phil."

"Your mother's been dying to have you back."

"Florida is too hot."

Charlie's fist came down on the table. "We both know what's going on here, Bella, and it's not good for you!" He took a deep breath and then spoke in a softer tone, "It's been months. No calls, no letters, no contact. You can't keep waiting for him."

"I'm not waiting for anything. I don't expect anything," I said, in a low monotone.

"Bella-," he began, his voice thick.

"I have to get to school! I'll make some plans with Jessica or something." I interrupted, I simply couldn't deal with the conversation any longer.

In my rush to get away from Charlie, I was one of the first to arrive in the school yard, leaving me with free time. Something that I absolutely hated! It was when I was pulling my calculus book out of my backpack, trying in vain to occupy my mind, that something in my peripheral vision caught my attention. A flash of black, like someone wearing dark clothing and along with it, a glint of pale white similar to their skin. I raised my head and glanced across the lot, reminding myself that I was more than likely merely seeing illusions. Sure enough there was nothing and I now knew that I was officially crazy.

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Hope that you liked it! If you did...well, see that button down there. Yes, right down there. *points* You could click it and tell me what you thought. But no flames, please...they make me sad. *tear* Anyway, I was listening to "Undisclosed Desires" by Muse, while writing this, you should check it out...its a good song. Well, more to come soon...

Just another note- There is a playlist for this story located on my profile. It's each of the songs that insipired the title and some of the content of all 28 chapters...so if your interested, check it out!