Give In to Us Chapter 6

The early lunch was over much quicker than what I thought it would be. I was hoping it would have taken longer to eat and clean up. But I ended up only having a simple sandwich, which was delicious for a sandwich, and then Didyme wouldn’t let me clean anything up. I would have argued with her about it, but something about arguing with one of the queens of vampires just didn’t bode well to me.

The walk back to the office was faster than when we had walked away from it. We were going to talk about more things I was sure was going to emotionally drain me. But I had to admit it was nice to be informed. With the Cullen’s, the decisions about me were made without talking to me, without asking what I wanted. They always did what they thought was best for me and I always went along with it, even if I didn’t agree. Even though these topics were pretty heavy, I was happy they were including me. It seemed as if they hadn’t even considered not including me. They were including me in on everything and while the decisions being made weren’t necessarily something I agreed with, at least they were giving me information. It was a lot more than what the Cullen’s ever did; Edward and I would argue a lot about him taking the initiative to make decisions for me.

When we walked into the room the first thing I noticed were the seating arrangements. They hadn’t changed. The only seat left for me was in between Jane and Heidi. I had expected it, but I was hoping for at least a little distance to get used to the idea of not only supposedly having two mates but having two female mates. It was definitely something new to me. It was something I didn’t agree with. Edward was still in the castle and he was my mate. He had to be.

“Come sit, Bella.” Heidi said as she held her hand out towards when I paused in the door way. She had stood up from her seat to stand next to me.

I nervously looked at her hand and told myself not to take it. If I took her hand it would only help to prove they were right about Heidi and Jane. Something I didn’t want. But looking at her hand, after only a second or two, I couldn’t help but it. There was something appealing about putting my hand in hers I couldn’t resist. That was a thought I didn’t want to think too much about.

She guided me back to my previous seat in between the two vampires. The queens still wanted to go over things with me and while they hadn’t explicitly said what, I could take a very good guess.

“I promise what we have to talk about isn’t as heavy but still very important to talk about.” Didyme said.

“We want to talk about your transition to staying here permanently and the measures we are and will be taking in order to make sure you are completely safe at all times.” Athenodora said.

“But in order to do that.” Sulpicia said, as all three queens stared intently at me. Whatever they were about to talk about, it was definitely very serious to them; something not to be taken lightly. I felt not only myself tense at the seriousness about to happen but I also felt the two vampires beside me tense. Well, not so much as tense as sitting up straighter and seemingly paying more attention. “According to the young Edward some unfinished business was left behind in Forks. You had some very unfortunate luck in attracting the attention of a hunter.” I could feel Jane and Heidi shift to sit closer to me. I was sure if they thought I would be okay with it they would have grabbed my hand. I almost wanted them to. “The Cullen’s managed to persuade the lead nomad to leave, and they were able to kill the hunter before he could kill you.”

“So the main threat is gone?” Heidi asked, just a slight sense of urgency in her voice, as she leaned forward in anticipation of Sulpicia’s answer.

“The hunter James is gone.” Sulpicia answered but neither of the vampires beside me relaxed. They were waiting for Sulpicia to confirm the entire threat was gone. She must have figured out what the Cullen’s seemed to have forgotten and what I figured out when I went cliff diving. “His mate remains.”

Both vampires next to me hissed and both immediately placed their hands on my thigh; like they were grounding themselves, instead of trying to run away. Heidi and Jane looked on the verge of losing control.

“We would like to get all the information you have Bella as to what happened.” Sulpicia demanded. I saw her hand just barely move as if to reach out for me, probably so she could use her powers to get all the information but she stopped before she did. “We would like the full story from your perspective, so we may know everything about what is going on and make the appropriate decisions for your safety.”

“We currently only have Jane and Heidi assigned as your personal guards as they have the best motivation to keep you safe.” Athenodora added. “But we also have the entire main guard aware of your importance and we have them do random rounds around the castle to help Heidi and Jane with your protection.”

“We don’t need help to keep her safe.” Jane hissed at the ancient blonde.

“Of course not Jane dear.” Sulpicia quickly stepped in before Athenodora could respond; she did not look happy with how Jane talked to her. “We felt you would prefer to have some moments getting to know your mate instead of having to be constantly on guard around her.” Sulpicia said in a placating tone. It was easy to see Jane was a favorite of Sulpicia’s.

Jane didn’t answer her, but I swore I felt her relax… just slightly.

“Can you tell us what happened, Bella?” Didyme asked as she leaned forward in her seat, as if getting ready to listen to a very captivating story. “Everything, since you met the Cullen’s all the way to meeting us?”

I nearly said I didn’t want to tell them; that it wasn’t any of their business. But I figured it wouldn’t do any harm to tell them. In fact, after what all they had said, perhaps they could help with Victoria. I got lucky with Laurent and the wolves coming to my rescue. But Victoria was still out there and I didn’t want her to get impatient about me not being in Forks and decide to kill Charlie as a way to get me to go home. Charlie was going to be hurt enough about the length of time I was stuck in Italy, I didn’t want to make it any worse if I didn’t have to.

So I talked to them, focusing mostly on the queens instead of the two vampires next to me. I told them about how I wanted to move to Forks to live with Charlie so Renee could enjoy her new marriage. I told them about how fascinated I was with Edward when I first saw him, which caused Heidi and Jane to growl just loud enough for me to hear, and I told them about how persistent I was to find out what the Cullen’s were. Telling them I figured out their secret myself didn’t seem to ease their concerns with the Cullen’s. Athenodora commented under her breath that they should have left the second I began questioning Edward.

I then told them about the baseball game I was invited to watch and how we first met James. I explained how scared Edward was of me getting hurt and how sad he was when we needed to be separated to trick James. I told them how James tricked me into leaving Alice and Jasper to go to the ballet studio.

“And then James bit me.” I said, subconsciously wrapping my hand around the bite mark. “Edward was able to suck out the venom so I wouldn’t be changed.”

I received very different reactions when I told them about the bite. Didyme and Sulpicia laughed while Athenodora seemed to glare and smirk at the same time. Both Jane and Heidi growled and snarled. It actually made me jump just lightly in my seat, causing them both to wrap their arms around me in what I could view as a comforting gesture.

“I saw that from young Edward but I didn’t want to believe it.” Sulpicia said, quickly calming from her laugh.

“Don’t you see Bella? That just helps prove us right.” Didyme said. “If Heidi or Jane were in Edwards’ position, they wouldn’t have thought to stop it. They would let it happen and comfort you as you changed.”

I opted not to argue with them, not necessarily because I thought everything they said was right but because I really wished Edward had let me change. It was the perfect opportunity but he was too afraid for my soul.

“So James was killed in Phoenix while Victoria was in Forks keeping the Cullen’s distracted and Laurent was sent to Denali. What happened next?” Athenodora asked, putting us back on track.

I told them about my eighteenth birthday. I explained I didn’t want a party because I don’t like parties and I don’t like people spending money on me. All the vampires scoffed when I said that but I continued talking about what happened. I then told them about the Cullen’s leaving me, and how they had left me.

“I’m going to kill him.” Jane said and from the tone of her voice, I had no choice but to believe her.

“He should have never left you in the middle of the woods where he knew you would have no chance of finding your way back.” Didyme said.

“He did not even think about you being able to get back to your house until after he was already in another country, trying to very poorly track Victoria. Or at least what he thought was tracking Victoria. That boy has no business trying to find anything.” Sulpicia explained with a shake of her head and a frown.

“What happened next dear one?” Sulpicia asked.

I explained how I was when Edward first left, when I was first abandoned. They weren’t happy it took months for me to stop being catatonic and to try to live my life. I told them about how I would hear Edward’s voice when I did something that could put me in danger. I hadn’t meant to tell them I could hear his voice, but as I talked with them, everything just came out. I told them how hearing his voice escalated to doing very dangerous things just so I could see his image. They didn’t like that.

I then told them how Alice showed up after she saw me jump off a cliff; after which I had to spend about ten minutes assuring them I wasn’t suicidal, that I was just cliff diving to try and see Edward again. The queens all shared a look after that but I couldn’t decipher what the look meant.

I made sure to leave out the incident with the wolves and Laurent. I remembered Edward saying Caius didn’t like hearing about werewolves and had actually hunted them to extinction and I wasn’t sure if the queens felt the same way. I didn’t want them to go after the pack and hurt them.

“Do you know what happened to Laurent?” Athenodora asked, ever the one to keep the conversation focused.

“No, I don’t.” I answered, trying my best to look and sound convincing. Her narrowed eyes quickly let me know I wasn’t fooling her. After all the work I had to do to calm them down about being bitten by James and then cliff diving, I wasn’t sure what they would do about finding out I was close to being killed again. There was also the fact I was trying my best to keep the wolves out of my explanation.

“He didn’t come back after his coven mate was killed?” She questioned. “Not even to verify what had happened to him, or to check if his other coven mate was there?”

I paused before answering, looking to the side, as if I would see Edward’s image again, giving me the correct answer that would help me. But I didn’t see him. All I saw was Jane staring at me. But what threw me off wasn’t that I forgot she still had her hand on my thigh, but the softness I saw in her eyes as she stared at me. I couldn’t help but turn my head to stare at her fully. I was sure the softness in her eyes wasn’t something usually there but I could see it clear as day.

“He um, he did go back.” I hesitantly answered as I turned my head to face Athenodora again. I didn’t want to tell them everything but if I was going to say anything, they had to know it all or it wouldn’t make sense. So I told them what happened, I told them how the wolves showed up and once they killed Laurent, Jake phased back into a human to make sure I made it home okay.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, vampires and your friends are not the only so called mythical creatures that roam this Earth.” Sulpicia explained. “Your friends are called shapeshifters, not werewolves or Children of the Moon. If they had been the latter, they would be extremely dangerous to be around. They can only phase during the full moon and have no control over their wolf side. We had to purge them because they were not only dangerous to us vampires as their strength was nearly comparable to ours, but they were too dangerous to be around humans. They had no impulse control and were responsible for many massacre’s centuries ago.”

Relief instantly swelled in me and I could feel my shoulders become less tense. It was a gamble I had taken to tell them what happened and I was happy to see telling them the truth resulted in nothing negative happening to my friends.

“But this Victoria is still a threat and she will be dealt with swiftly.” Didyme said and I could see a steely look in her eyes that told me even though she seemed to be the ‘nice one’ amongst the queens, she was still an ancient vampire that was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

“We will send Demetri and Alec in the morning to deal with Victoria.” Sulpicia said. “Demetri can find her and Alec can render her gift useless.”

“She has a gift?” I thought James was the only one with a gift. I didn’t know the other two had one.

“She has the gift of survival.” Heidi answered instead of the queens. “I used to be in an old coven with her. Her gift lets her know when there is danger and how to avoid it. She would know right away if she moves left instead of right if she’ll be in some sort of danger.”

“Alec’s gift will be able to easily disable her gift.” Jane added and I could hear pride in her voice when talking about her twin.

“Once that is done, they will dispatch her. Since her mate is dead and she has deemed you to be responsible, she will not stop hunting you until she kills you.” Sulpicia said. “Which we will not allow; we will kill her. We cannot allow her to remain a threat to you.”

As much as I was against killing someone, I couldn’t argue with them. I was fully aware the determination a vampire could have when they wanted to kill someone. Laurent had told me enough to know Victoria was out to get me and she was never going to stop until she killed me. I didn’t want to live constantly thinking about when Victoria was going to show up to kill me.

“We will not accept anything less than your complete safety.” Athenodora said. “And since we are who we are, when we find a threat, we will not sit idle to wait and think about what to do. We will take actions to quickly resolve the matter.”

Hearing her say that, even though I heard it in some variation from them before, I was still awe struck at how committed they were to someone they just met. It was so different from when I met the Cullen’s. The Cullen’s did want me to be safe, but they were protecting me from themselves. Whereas the Volturi wanted me safe, they weren’t concerned about me being around them at all. They were concerned with the threat other vampires were to me. And they weren’t shying away or running, to keep me safe. They were going to deal with Victoria head on.

“Until she is confirmed dead, we will continue to have Heidi and Jane with you at all times with no exceptions.” Didyme said.

“Since we do not know for sure where Victoria is, we cannot risk your safety by just thinking being in this castle will be good enough. We won’t make any mistakes or take any unnecessary risks when it comes to your safety.” Sulpicia said and I knew she was telling the truth.

“That said though, we do ask you stay inside in the castle where it is easier to keep you safe.” Didyme added with a soft smile. “I do doubt Victoria is here but there is a chance she may have followed you here and if she did, it would be much easier to get to you outside our castle walls.”

I was surprised to hear she wasn’t commanding me to stay inside. She was asking. And then she gave me their reasons as to why they wanted me to stay inside. And the reasons they gave me were actually good reasons. I felt so much more involved and included than I ever had with the Cullen’s; and I felt my heart ache a little at that thought.

“There are a few other rules we would like to tell you about.” Sulpicia said after a few moments of silence they seemed to be waiting for me to say something, but I didn’t have anything to say. “These rules are just for your safety, I promise.”

“And they will be lifted once you become a vampire.” Didyme added.

For another hour, which could have only been a quarter of the time if Didyme and Athenodora hadn’t kept interrupting Sulpicia to add in their own thoughts on the rules, they explained the rules. The rules they gave were really simple. They made it clear the castle was a very safe place but there was still a chance a visiting vampire could come in and decide I would be a perfect snack. All of them agreed I did smell above average so I would be a tempting snack for a vampire without the best control, and even being with Heidi and Jane, they may still attack depending on how hungry they were.

They ended their discussion of the rules and asked me if I had any questions. The entire discussion they avoided the one topic I was very interested in. I wasn’t sure if it was done on purpose but I wanted to know.

“What about the Cullen’s?” I asked without hesitation. “And what about Edward?” I added right away to make sure I was able to get both questions answered.

The two vampires next to me tensed. Athenodora and Didyme turned to face Sulpicia. It was something I had realized from the little time I had known the queens, that even though Athenodora was the oldest, Sulpicia seemed to be the more dominate one. She was the one that usually had the final say, even though I hadn’t seen them really disagree and Sulpicia more often than not, agreed with them when there was a slight disagreement. But the two were constantly turning to her.

“We haven’t completely agreed on an action quite yet.” Sulpicia answered with slight hesitancy.

“We are hesitant to decide and have young Alice see what it is.” Didyme explained.

“We would prefer it to be a complete surprise to the entire Coven.” Athenodora added. “We have some ideas but we won’t decide until it’s too late for Alice to warn them about anything.”

The way she made it sound, made me think the Cullen’s were going to be hurt and I didn’t want that. The Cullen’s had hurt me, yes, but I still didn’t want anything to happen to them. I wasn’t sure if after everything I’ve learned and felt I still thought of them as my extended family, especially since they did abandon me. But I was still with Edward. I still loved Edward. And at the very least I didn’t want his family to get hurt. I knew they didn’t intentionally try to hurt me and because of that, I could forgive them for what they did.

“You’re going to hurt them.” I asked, even though it came out as a fact rather than a question.

“That hasn’t been decided yet.” Sulpicia answered and I could tell she was watching me very closely for any sort of reaction from me. “We will not kill them, if that is what you are worried about.” She added.

“They will be punished.” Athenodora promised. “They broke the law and will be punished for it. There are no exceptions. And unfortunately punishments are not meant to be pleasant, they are meant to be painful so the offender will never repeat the offense.”

“I just don’t want to see them hurt.” I said with as I looked down.

What Athenodora said made sense. I knew the Cullen’s broke the law. The Cullen’s themselves told me they broke the law. And clearly, since my father is Chief of Police, I knew all bad choices had repercussions. I also knew the three women in front of me were the ones responsible for making sure all the vampires had to deal with the appropriate repercussions for breaking the law. I knew the Cullen’s were in trouble. But just because I knew it, didn’t mean I had to like it.

“I am sorry we have to do something so soon you don’t approve of, but we do have a responsibility to uphold the laws.” Athenodora said, as if she was arguing with me for me to understand. It wasn’t necessary. I just didn’t like to admit it or see it happen.

“I believe she knows that dear.” Didyme said as she continued to study me like her mates were. “I believe she is just upset someone she cares for is going to be hurt. Is that right, Bella?”

It took me a moment to respond because I was so used to when the Cullen’s talked about me they talked like I wasn’t in the room. They didn’t ask to confirm what they were assuming about me. The queens letting me confirm anything was unusual at best. I wasn’t used to vampires acting like I was an equal.

“Um, yes.” I answered in shock. “I really don’t want Edward, or the Cullen’s, hurt.” It was getting easier to ignore both Jane and Heidi tensing whenever I mentioned Edward. But I wasn’t used to how much they seemed to like to move closer to me, no matter how close we already were.

“We will do our best to not upset you but they must be punished.” Sulpicia said and I believed her. I don’t know if it was the tone of her voice, the way she was looking at me, but I believed they didn’t want me upset. “We cannot let them not be punished because other vampires will think we are becoming lenient and may decide they too can break the laws and be punished.”

“It is a very fine line we tread so other vampires know they have been punished and so the Cullen’s know they have dearly miss stepped in hurting our daughter the way they have.” Athenodora said.

“Although we will take into account they knew not of our connection at the time.” Didyme added when I opened my mouth to point out just that fact. I nearly blushed at realizing I was about to accept outloud I was their ‘daughter’.

“I’m afraid there will not be much we can disclose to you about what will happen with the Cullen’s until the day we deliver the punishment.” Sulpicia said, clearly finishing the conversation. “We will not hear any negotiations from the Cullen’s about what may happen to them, but we would be willing to listen to you as the one who was wronged.”

I felt myself sink back into my seat at hearing that. Even though they couldn’t tell me what was going to happen, they were still going to give me a chance to defend the Cullen’s. I was surprised they were willing to let me argue with them in front of the Cullen’s. I felt my heart swell at realizing how much they are already including me in their lives and integrating me into their world. They were treating me, not necessarily as an equal because they were the queens, but I felt as if I was a close second to being equal. It was an odd feeling, feeling like I was practically on even footing with a vampire.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t give a better answer, but I’m afraid that is the best we can do at the given time.” Didyme said and I could tell she was genuinely sorry. It was so foreign to me, to see a vampire that was actually sorry about not being able to tell me something. “There is one more thing we would like to discuss with you.”

“We want to talk with you about your father.” Sulpicia said.

Guilt bolted through my body. I had barely any time to think about how much he must be worried about me, much less what the Volturi would do about him. I knew they wouldn’t hurt him because he didn’t know about vampires. But just because they wouldn’t physically hurt him didn’t mean they wouldn’t emotionally hurt him.

“What about him?” I nervously asked.

“I’m sure you’ve already figured this out but we want to make sure.” Didyme said, taking the lead in the conversation I didn’t want to have. My hands subconsciously found both Heidi’s and Jane’s hand on my thighs, gripping them tightly. I was actually seeking comfort from them and they were willingly giving it.

“You’re not going to hurt him, right?” I couldn’t help but ask, even though I knew the answer. All three queens looked at each other before answering. The second or two they stared at each other made my stomach was suddenly filled with lead.

“We have decided we will make all the arrangements for Charlie to believe that you have passed away.” Didyme answered. “We will not allow you to go back to Forks while anyone that may have known you is alive. I am dearly sorry you will lose your father but it is best this way in the long way.”

“Would you like to know what we plan to do?” Athenodora asked me.

I wanted to know. I did. I wanted to know what my father was going to be told. I wanted to know how I was going to die. At the same time, I didn’t. I wanted nothing to do with the giant lie that was going to be told to my father. I didn’t want to know how long he might try looking for me, or how upset he was going to be. More importantly, I didn’t want to see how hurt he would be. I left with no warning, only leaving a note saying I was going to another country while he was helping to plan the funeral of one of his closest friends. Now he was going to have to plan the funeral of his only daughter. It wasn’t fair. I felt like the worst daughter alive and that made my mood plummet even more.

“No.” I answered in the smallest voice I had ever heard come from my mouth.

“In that case, we will carry out our plans and if you ever wish to know what we have done, you need only ask.” Didyme said.

“For now, I think you need some time to digest all that you have heard.” Sulpicia said. “How would relaxing in our library sound?”

As much as I liked reading, I wasn’t sure I could keep focused long enough to be able to read anything. There was too much information I needed to process. I couldn’t take in any more information.

“Would you prefer watching a moving in our room?” Jane asked me.

“I promise there will be no funny business; just a relaxing time watching a movie.” Heidi added, sounding just a tad disappointed.

I wasn’t looking forward to spending any alone time with them; not after everything we had talked about. They themselves was something else I wanted to think about. I wanted to process everything I had learned and been told about the two vampires next to me. I wanted to try and get an idea about what I could expect with them from now on.

“Can I go visit Edward?” I asked.

I wanted to tell him everything I learned and I wanted to know what he thought about it. I wanted to know what he thought I should do. Even after all they had said, I still wanted to go to Edward for his help. At the moment, I still trusted him more than the Volturi. What was truly scary was that I was starting to trust the Volturi more than Edward. I wasn’t sure what to think about that.

“I don’t think that would be best for right now.” Sulpicia answered right away and I once again felt my face drop. “We understand you truly do care for him but we want to get to you know you better. Heidi and Jane want to know you better and they want the opportunity to learn more about you. They want to be able to do that without Edward interfering. We want a chance for you to get to know us and not have your opinion of us tainted by anything someone else might say.”

I couldn’t fault them for that. They wanted a fair chance and even though I didn’t like everything they were telling me, I could still understand where they were coming from.

“Oh.” I said, even more deflated than before.

Heidi stood up and pulled me up with her so we were both standing.

“Come on Bella, lets’ go watch a pointless movie that will allow your pretty head to wonder wherever you want it to.” Heidi said but didn’t bother to pull me towards the exit of the room until I nodded in acceptance. Jane was quickly standing and following us out the door.

“Whenever you get hungry, let them know and they will make sure you get food.” Didyme said.

“If you have any questions for any of us, just let them know and they will help you.” Sulpicia added. I expected Athenodora to say something, but she remained silent as she stared at the two vampires dragging me out of the room and down the hallway towards someplace new.

“If you decide you don’t want to watch anything, just let us know.” Jane said as she followed me and Heidi.

The two lead me to their room and quickly ushered me inside. Their room was smaller than mine. I couldn’t help but notice there weren’t many personal touches in the room. The room looked like a larger than normal hotel room with a sitting area. In front of the TV was a comfortable looking couch and off to the side was a small table with a couple of chairs to sit at. It seemed like a basic room, almost like a dorm room.

“You’ll have to excuse the lack of decorations, Jane and I just moved in and we are currently only using this room temporarily.” Heidi said as she pulled me towards the couch and sat us down together.

“Temporarily?” I asked as Jane walked towards the TV to grab the remote that was on top of it. For a really old castle the rooms were really high tech. I wondered if they updated all the rooms or only the actively used ones.

“Eventually we’re going to move in with you.” Heidi said as she tossed her arm behind me on top of the couch. “There’s no way we’re not going to live with our mate; at least not for too long, just until you get more comfortable with us.”

I didn’t think that would ever happen but I tired of saying anything against what they told me so I decided to keep my opinions to myself. There was nothing I could say that would change their minds and it wasn’t like they were actually living in my room right now. She said they were there until I was comfortable enough to live with them; I doubted that would ever happen, so I was safe.

“Do you want to pick something to watch?” Jane asked as she flashed over from the TV to sitting next to me on the couch.

“I don’t really care what we watch.” I answered, I just wanted something to keep my mind distracted.

Jane hummed in response, turned on the TV and started flipping through channels. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching TV. I didn’t even know what they had put on half the time. I thought about everything I just learned. I started to over think everything I was told. At one point, after thinking a lot about what was going to happen to Charlie and that I was never going to be able to see him again, I started crying and leaned my head against Heidi. I was surprised she didn’t say anything; all she did was move her arm to around my waist and pulled me into her. Jane moved her hand to my thigh in comfort. I felt both of their silent support and at that moment, it was all I needed. Once I calmed down, I didn’t move away from Heidi. I was there against her, until dinner and after dinner, I ended up leaning against Jane. We stayed there until I kicked them out when it was really late and I was close to falling asleep. My first full day at the Volturi castle was definitely a very emotional one and unfortunately I didn’t think it was going to be a one-time event.