[BamaFan121s]

I sensed Kate's electric current dance through the damp air as four figures stepped into the chamber from the dark hallway. They all wore the dark colors of the Volturi, but their faces were unfamiliar...except one. Gianna. Her movements were sporadic and jerky-less graceful than her three male companions. Her eyes moved wildly around the room and their vivid crimson color exposed her for the newborn that she was. Bitter venom coated my mouth and for a brief moment, I felt pity for Gianna. I had no idea how long she'd played the role of gracious, accommodating human pawn of the Volturi who had so longed to join their ranks in immortality. But the pity I felt for her was fleeting, for Gianna would not live to enjoy what she'd so desperately wanted. She was standing in between me and Jacob, and she too would die.

For the full second that it took me to consider this most unfortunate scenario and draw the conclusion, the four members of the guard before us merely stood, surveying our group of six. They had only begun to position themselves in defensive positions when Kate straitened up and stepped forward casually. I made a move to mirror her, but was halted by Edward's vice like grip on my arm. I looked at him questioningly, but he merely shook his head, his eyes never leaving Kate's figure. I glanced at Garrett, the closest to her, naturally. His gaze never left his mate. Slightly behind him, Alice was crouched, looking as deadly as I'd ever seen her...with an amused smirk on her face.

I turned back to Kate and narrowed my eyes in suspicion at her pacing figure. "So," she said with a certain air of arrogance to her tone. "You're who Caius sent to die first." The larger of the guards snarled menacingly at her and took two steady steps towards her as the other two males fell back to flank him. Kate, however, never wavered and never flinched. "Who knew that Caius had a sense of humor?" She cast an appraising look at the four. Her voice grew increasingly condescending as she continued to provoke them. "Well, I'll be sure and tell him about the chuckle we all had at your expense...when we see him, that is."

Her final jab had been enough to break the self control of the guards. Suddenly, I became aware of what was going to happen as Kate had intended a millisecond before it played out before my eyes. In one lithe movement, the three men sprang in unison at Kate, who made no effort to shield herself from their attack. True to the level of precision the Volturi were known for, all three made contact with her at exactly the same moment...and keeping true to that precision, all three simultaneously crumpled to the floor as Kate sent a powerful, rolling electric current through them.

Their reflexes having been honed for decades longer than my own, I marveled at the speed in which my five comrades converged on our fallen foes. Having anticipated their reaction the quickest, Garrett flung himself on top of one of the guards who lay convulsing in agony on the floor and had almost instantly ripped his writing arms from his torso, his action very closely mirrored by Alice and Tia who had reached one of the others who was trying blindly to claw his way back down the corridor. The metallic sound of limbs being torn from bodies filled the small chamber as the three guardsmen met their demise.

A movement beyond the mayhem caught my attention. Gianna alone remained standing and seemed completely unabashed by the fall of her brethren in front of her. Her wild crimson eyes locked on mine as she lowered herself into a deadly crouch. I mimicked her action as she drew slowly nearer and we began slowly circling each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

I remembered Jasper's instruction from so long ago as he'd prepared my family to fight the newborn army. By all accounts, Gianna's instinct as a newborn would be straightforward with a strength that easily trumped my own. However, I knew that she had likely received at least some guidance during her short time with the centuries-old Volturi guard so I waited for her to make the first move and prepared to counter it. She however, only continued to circle me as sadistic sneer slowly crept onto her face.

From somewhere to my left, I heard a sharp intake of breath and my favorite sister's gasp, "Bella!"

What happened next couldn't have taken more than a minute, but it stretched on like an eternity in my mind. Unprepared and lacking the immobilization that morphine had once provided, I collapsed on the floor against my own will. Powerless to control it, my muscles convulsed and my body writhed in agony on the damp, stone floor. My ears were filled with the pounding dead echo of my heart as it beat frantically in its race against the searing venom that raced through my veins. My back arched off the floor as the burning pain pulled me upward, only to drop me back onto my side, facing my friends who stood helplessly against the wall looking on in horror.

I wanted to plead with Gianna, wanted to scream for help. Instead, in between my uncontrolled cries of anguish, my traitorous mouth only begged for death. Somehow, through the blinding pain, I turned my desperate gaze to my friends. "Please, kill me! Do it now! KILL ME!" My only hope was that one of them would bring me the relief I so desperately wanted. Edward - surely Edward would not let me suffer like this?

To my despair, they only held their positions, some more willingly than others. Garrett and Tia stood restraining a struggling Edward against the wall as Alice held her own small hands against his chest, pleading with him urgently. "Edward, you can't! Please listen! She will kill us all in seconds." She cast a helpless, tortured glance in my direction before turning back to him. "Bella's the only one."

Kate stood looking frantically between myself and Edward, the battle of her indecision plain on her face - try to help me, or further restrain Edward. My body roiled again as I turned back in the direction of a slowly advancing Gianna, her face murderous and triumphant. As my heart's tempo increased in my ears, Edward's unanswered pleas faded behind me. "Alice, let me go! I have to go to her - I have to save her!"

I grasped wildly and blindly trying to find the stake I had so desperately clung to during my transformation and prayed that my hands would find purchase on that which had been my strength and salvation. As I continued searching for it through the burning fire, I heard Alice's solemn declaration, no more than a whisper, through the crackling flames that licked at every inch of my body. "Edward, it's got to be Bella."

My vision blurred as I tried to focus on Gianna, now only feet from me, her ruby eyes alight with bloodlust as she slowly raised her hands preparing to end me. With one final effort, my hands found their purchase - my stake, standing strong in my own burning pyre. As I had what seemed like a lifetime ago, I clung to it with every ounce of strength I could muster.

As I held fast to my lifeline, I cursed Gianna. During my transformation, I had fought to remain motionless on the table, trying to spare Edward the agony he would suffer and tried to avoid the guilt in his eyes that would surely be there if he were to endure what he was being forced to stand witness to now. Thankful that he could not read my thoughts, I'd vowed to protect him. And now, Gianna was robbing me of that secret that I'd so desperately fought to keep to myself.