oi all!! I couldn't get on line yesterday...something about someone cutting a Ethernet cable or something. SO I'm going to try to get up a few stories tonight. :)

End of Chapter 23

"I'll do everything that can be done, but prepare Carlisle; the odds aren't good." I whispered.

"Alice, so help me if anything happens to you..I will go to hell and back to bring you back." He snarled.

"I've thought about that already Jazz." I said as I laughed.

"Promise me you will come início to me when this is done. Promise we will never be apart again." He said sadly.

"Yes, I promise. Just one thing Jasper." I said as I thought of the ultimate promise.

"Anything love, anything at all."

"Don't follow me." I whispered.

"I promise, I know you need to do this. Promise me you will do everything you can to come home, you will get out of there and come início soon." He pleaded.

"I promise Jasper. One way or another, I'll get out....and I amor you." I said as I hung my head, silent sobs escaping my lips.

"I amor you too. Never forget that, I amor you." He said as I hung up the phone and leaned my head back against the seat.

"I hate lying to him." I said to the ceiling.

Chapter 24

I sat with my head resting against the headrest, thinking about everything I had just promised Jasper. I knew that I shouldn't have promised him I would get out, there was no way that I could be certain that was even possible.

I was deep in thought when Bella put her hand on mine. "Tell me everything, Alice, I don't understand. Why did you tell Jasper to stop Emmett, why can't they come help us?" She asked.

I took a deep breath, keeping my eyes closed. "Two reasons," I whispered. "The first I told him. We could try to stop Edward ourselves...if Emmett could get his hands on him, we might be able to stop him long enough to convince him you're alive." I said as I turned my head and looked at her.

"We can't sneak up on Edward." I said mais to myself then to her. "If he sees us coming for him, he'll just act faster. He'll...I don't know throw a Buick through a mural or something, and the Volturi will take him down."

I looked at her to see how she was taking all of this. There was a look of fear..well not fear...panic in her eyes. She did understand what I was telling her. She gripped my hand tighter, trying to get me to continue.

"That's the segundo reason of course, the reason I couldn't say to Jasper. Because if they're there and the Volturi kill Edward, they'll fight them Bella." I whispered, my voice cracking at the horror.

"If there were any chance we could win...if there were a way that the four of us could save my brother por fighting for him, maybe it would be different. But we can't, and, Bella, I can't lose Jasper like that." I said as I swallowed the lump that crept into my throat.

I knew that I along with Emmett, Jasper and even Rosalie would do anything to help Edward. I knew that they would lay down their safety if it meant they could help him.

Bella sat watching me, I had to look away and gather myself again. I couldn't let her know how likely it truly was that we wouldn't return from this.

"Couldn't Edward hear you, though? Wouldn't he know, as soon as he heard your thoughts, that I was alive, that there was no point to this?" She asked.

I had to think about that before I could answer her, choosing my words carefully. "IF he were listening. But believe it or not, it's possible to lie with your thoughts. If you had died, I would still try to stop him. And I would be thinking 'she's alive, she's alive' as hard as I could. He knows that."

"If there were any way to do this without you Bella, I wouldn't be endangering you like this. It's very wrong of me." I said as I looked her directly in the eye.

"Don't be stupid. I'm the last thing you should be worrying about." She said as she shook her head. "Tell me what you meant, about hating to lie to Jasper." She said trying to change the subject.

I laughed quietly, and smiled. "I promised him I would get out before thy killed me, too. It's not something I can guarantee...not por a long shot."

I hoped that this would help her take it all seriously, how much danger we were facing in a few hours time.

"Who are these Volturi?" Bella asked quietly. "What makes them so much mais dangerous the Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and you?"

As Bella asked the pergunta I heard the guy in the assento across from us lean in. I quickly shot him a look, one that was not friendly. I usually try to control myself better, but he had no right. He quickly sat back in his assento and put hid headphones on, returning to his work.

Bella noticed all of this, I forget how observant she is...she leaned closer to me to the point that her head was resting on me to hear the words.

"I was surprised that you recognized the name. That you understood so immediately what it meant when I said he was going to Italy. I thought I would have to explain. How much did Edward tell you?" I asked, hoping that he had told her their story.

"He just said that they were an old, powerful family...like royalty. That you didn't antagonize them unless you wanted to....die." She whispered as she shook when said said 'die.'

"You have to understand." I said as I thought out how to explain this without scaring her.

"We Cullens are unique in mais ways than you know. It's...um...abnormal for so many of us to live together in peace. It's the same for Tanya's family in the north, and Carlisle speculates that abstaining makes it easier for us to be civilized, to form bonds based on amor rather than survival or convenience. Even James's little coven of three was unusually large...and you saw how easily Laurent left them. Our kind travel alone, or in pairs, as a general rule. Our family is the biggest in existence, as far as I know, with the once exception. The Volturi." I explained.

I didn't know how much to tell her, there were rules about humans knowing about us...and obviously she knew a lot already..what difference would it make if I explained all I knew before I led her to the belly of the Beast?

"There were three of them originally, Aro, Caius, and Marcus." I said as I looked at her.

"I've seen them." Bella mumbled, my eyebrows rising in surprise. "In Carlisle's study."

I nodded, remembering the large painting that hung in Carlisle's study.

"Two females joined them over time, and the five of them make up the family. I'm not sure...but I suspect that their age is what gives them the ability to live peacefully together."

"They are well over three thousand years old." I said as Bella's jaw dropped a little. "Or maybe it's their gifts that give them extra tolerance. Like Edward and I, Aro and Marcus are....talented."

I saw Bella about to pergunta things, but I had to continue before she could start asking questions.

"Or maybe it's just their amor of power that binds them together....I think royalty is an good description." I said as I shook my head.

"But if there are only five..." Bella began asking.

"Five that make up the family." I correct her. "That doesn't include their guard."

Bella took a deep breath, her eyes focusing on the assento ahead of her. "That sounds......serious."

"Oh it is," I said. "There were nine members of the guard that were permanent, the last time we heard. Others are more...well...transitonry. It changes you see. And many of them are gifted as well, with a variety of gifts. Gifts that make what I can do look like a parlor trick. The Volturi choose them for their abilities, physical or otherwise."

Bella opened and closed her mouth, reminding me of a peixe out of water. It seemed like she wanted to ask something but couldn't get the words to form.

I nodded at her, guessing that she was wondering about how bad these gifts would be. "They don't get into too many confrontations. No one is stupid enough to mess with them. They stay in their city...only leaving when duty calls."

"Duty?" Bella wondered.

"Didn't Edward tell you what they do?" I asked, suprised that he didn't tell her more.

"No." She said.

As she began saying no, I felt as if someone was listening again to our conversation. I turned again to see business suit guy leaning forward, his earphones lifted to one side. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself...it wouldn't help anyone if I lost my temper on a plane.