BPOV
Over the next two years I greatly enjoyed my time in both countries.
When I first got back to Volterra, I found that, as promised, my tower was now decked out with a supersize flatscreen TV mounted on the wall, combined with the best sound system money could buy, and every type of gaming system possible. A comfortable white leather lounge suite sat in front of it, and on the coffee table was a beautiful chessboard made of ebony and ivory.
In a different corner of my open living area was a large desk with a computer customised by Jane, complete with two 32inch monitors. While in a separate area, to the back of the room, was a large kitchen which would make chefs drool, with a plethora of shiny new kitchen appliances resting on the granite counter. My room now had a huge king size bed complete with electric blanket, and a soft white, silver and blue comforter.
All around my tower there hung priceless original paintings, each more beautiful than the last.
I also found, to my delight that, after finishing the furnishing of my room, and stocking my closet and bathroom, they had fulfilled my last request and taken out the stairs that had led to my bedroom. My bedroom was now 100 feet above the floor below, and the only way to get to it was to levitate myself there using my shield. It was just high enough that vampires couldn't jump to it, and could only get up if I wrapped a shield around them and brought them up. This made it a perfect getaway from everyone, where I could have uninterrupted quiet time if needed.
I settled easily into a new schedule. Santiago had been as good as his word, and a shiny, new, silver Audi R8 had been waiting for me on arrival, although I learnt to drive in the castle's other cars because I had no wish to crash my brand new car.
Driving lessons quickly became one of my favourite parts of the day. I started off in an Ariel Atom at a private track, with Santiago running at vampire speed beside me and teaching me how to control the small vehicle. Being an overexcited eight year old that was just learning to drive, I managed to crash on my first lesson.
I had been begging Santiago to let me go faster, stating that as long as I was going in a straight line it shouldn't matter what speed I was going at. Santiago refused, but, being the stubborn person I am, I ignored him and floored the little Atom. The speed was so exhilarating that I forgot that the end of the track was near and didn't have enough time to stop. Luckily, thanks to my shield, both myself and the Atom were fine, although my pride took a big hit, and there was a large sent in the wall that we crashed into. Santiago of course, couldn't resist teasing me about it for years to come, to my immense embarrassment, and Demetri and Felix, who watched all of my driving lessons, occasionally mentioned the incident to get a rise out of me. "It's times like these that I wish vampires didn't live forever and have perfect memories." I grumbled shortly after the crash as all three vampires laughed at me.
Eventually I managed to learn to drive properly, end I quickly enjoyed the speed of the cars. Santiago wanted me to be able to control any type of car and I had progressed to a Hummer after the Atom, before quickly moving to a Pagani Zonda. I tried many different cars, from muscle cars to exotics before I finally began driving my Audi almost exclusively.
Santiago's driving lessons included racing, drifting, and drag races, as well as burnouts and a plethora of car tricks. Of course, Santiago also continued to show me the best ways to boost my cars performance, and I was soon tuning my Audi under his ever watchful eyes.
Although I hadn't been able to convince my vampires to install a pool, they had enrolled me in swimming lessons at the public pool, and I quickly learned that I was much more graceful in the water than I was out of it, much to Felix and Demetri's surprise.
Now that I lived in the castle, Felix and Demetri decided that I had time to spare, so they taught me how to play different games on the multiple gaming systems they had had installed in my room. I have to admit I enjoyed competing against them at Mario Karts and Halo a lot more than I let on, and it was amusing to watch two vampires who were centuries old pout at me when they lost.
Most of my other lessons were still fairly similar, only more advanced, and I still enjoyed them all. One of the others that changed was Alec's lessons. Now that he had my list we regularly took weeks off to travel to a different country and explore- choosing weeks when the weather was forecast to be overcast so that we could go outside during the day. Often one or two of the other vampires came with Alec, Felix, Demetri and I. Jane was one of the most regular. She seemed to enjoy being close to her twin, and came on at least half of our trips. The others took turns coming, seeming to enjoy watching my sense of wonderment each time we went to a new location. Heidi especially enjoyed coming along, and dragged me off to the largest shopping centres to buy things for me.
By the time I was ten I had travelled to every continent in the world except Antarctica, and I had added many languages to my repertoire.
Shortly after my arrival in Volterra for another six months, and just after my tenth birthday Aro, Marcus and Caius called me into the meeting room for a discussion.
"Bella, you know we feel like you are part of our family, and you know we are somewhat regarded as royalty amongst the vampire world, so we have a proposal for you." Aro started.
I stared nervously at them, unsure of where this was going.
"We would like to crown you Princess of the Volturi." Aro explained.
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I could feel tears prick in my eyes as I was overwhelmed with happiness. "I would love to officially be a part of the family." I choked out before succumbing to my happy tears. They all stared at me perplexed as my cheeks were overrun with salty water. I quickly regained my composure and boldly hugged all of them.
All of the vampires were pleased that I had accepted, and I was even presented with a beautiful tiara. I soon started calling Aro, Marcus and Caius my uncles, Didyme and Sulpicia my aunts, and Felix, Demetri, Santiago, Heidi, Jane and Alec my cousins.
There was however, one aspect of my family that I did not like: Their feeding habits. Now that I was old enough to understand that they got their food source by sending Heidi out to "fish," I was not happy with the fact that as a future vampire I might have to take innocent lives in order to live.
I decided to have a very serious discussion with Aro, and I found him in the library, looking up literature on mythical beings to show me. "Uncle Aro, can I talk to you about your feeding habits?" I casually asked, hoping he wouldn't refuse me.
Aro turned to me, confusion in his eyes. "What would you like to know?"
"Well, I know you kill humans to survive, and I know that when I become a vampire I'm going to have to drink blood, but I don't think I would ever be able to kill an innocent person just for food." I explained. I had long ago accepted that my vampire family killed humans regularly for food, but I knew that I didn't want to do that if there was another way to live as a vampire. "Is there any other ways to live?" I asked, hoping there would be some other options.
Uncle Aro sighed, "We thought you might bring this up soon, and you will be happy to know that there is another option." He promised.
"A couple of centuries ago we had a visitor stay with us for around 80 years. His name was Carlisle Cullen, and he had never drunk from a human before."
"He had golden eyes- though they still went black when he was hungry, and he drank exclusively from animals."
I considered this, relief washing over me as I realised that there was another option. Then I realised something, "If it's possible to survive off animal blood, why don't you all do it?" I demanded, looking defiantly up at Uncle Aro.
Aro looked apologetic. "While it is possible to maintain the diet, it is almost impossible for vampires who have tasted human blood to remain on a strict diet of animal blood. It's like the difference between always having plain white rice, and steak."
"Humans taste a hundred thousand times better than animals, and they actually satisfy our bloodlust. From what Carlisle told us, animals fill you up, but they aren't truly satisfying. After millenniums of drinking human blood, we are just so used to it, it's almost like an addiction now." He tried to explain. "It's the type of diet that can really only be maintained if you start it from the moment you are changed. A bit like the saying, 'you can't miss what you've never had.'" He chuckled for a bit. "We used to call Carlisle a vegetarian vampire because of his aversion to our natural food source." He told me.
I mulled the concepts around in my head and finally nodded, accepting his explanation. "So it's possible for me to survive off only animals when I'm changed? I'd never have to kill a human for food?" I clarified.
"Yes." He confirmed. "In fact, if you would like, before your change we could take you to meet one to the covens that adhere to this diet. Maybe even arrange for you to stay with them after your change " He offered.
"There's more than one?" I asked surprised.
"Yes there's Carlisle's coven of course. He now has a family of vampires that follow his diet. I don't know where they are at the moment, somewhere in America I think, but they move around every few years so that Carlisle can maintain his job as a doctor at hospitals." He stopped and waited for his words to sink in.
"Doctor?" I asked, astonished.
Uncle Aro smiled, "Yes, he has such excellent control of his bloodlust that he dedicated his existence to saving lives." He confirmed. I was impressed.
"The other coven of vegetarian vampires, live in Denali, Alaska. They consist of three succubi sisters, and Eleazer and Carmen, a mated couple. Eleazer used to be a part of the Volturi, and his gift is the ability to tel the gifts of others, although i'm fairly positive that it wouldn't work on you. He is a good friend of ours, but when he found his mate he wanted to try a different way of life."
"We still keep in contact with him, and he seems to be quite satisfied. We even mentioned to him that we have recently crowned a new princess," he winked at me. I frowned, worried, "Don't worry though, we didn't tell him you were human, or who you were." He assured me. "You know we can't allow anyone to know we bent the rules and let you live." He reminded me.
I sighed, relieved, "But as a close friend of ours, we wanted to tell him that had crowned a new princess, and that she is extremely powerful. Anyway, it won't hurt to have a few rumours of the new, extremely powerful Volturi Princess floating around. They will all assume that you are a vampire of course." He seemed amused by the thought of it.
"Hopefully it will help vampires fear us, so that they don't go breaking the rules." He explained. "We don't want to have to send out your guard to deal with another newborn war like the ones in South America again." I shuddered; Aro had told me about the newborn wars that had happened, and they sounded horrific. I was happy to let the rumours of me spread through the vampire world if it prevented vampire wars that Felix, Demetri, Santiago and Jane would have to go and break up.
"As far as finding you a vegetarian coven to live with for at least your newborn vampire years, or longer if you get attached, I would recommend Carlisle's coven." He mused. I raised my eyebrows at him. "They have a structure that is more like a family, with three mated pairs, and another male, and they are more integrated into human society. Besides," he mused, "I hear that the single male, Edward has never found a mate..." he trailed off suggestively.
I scowled at him. "I'm ten years old uncle Aro," I stated firmly, "I'm too young for you to start matchmaking."
He grinned at me, "But not for long my little princess, not for long." He laughed as he walked away, and I gritted my teeth to try and quell the urge to smash him into a wall.
I mulled over the idea of hunting animals for a few days, and even though I had made my decision to be a vegetarian vampire when I was changed, I was having a hard time picturing a vampire hunting a wild animal.
Unluckily for Felix and Demetri, I decided that I wanted to see a demonstration, and that they would be the perfect vampires to show me.
"NO WAY!" they both shouted at me when I asked them. "When we hunt we give ourselves over to our animalistic side, we might end up trying to hunt you instead." They tried to get out of it.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on!" I whined, giving them my best pout and puppy dog eyes. "Please?" I begged. "It's not like you could hurt me, even if you could go after me, and I'll have Jane with me." I reminded them.
I could see their resolve waiver, so I decided to go in for the kill. "I'll have extra fighting and gaming sessions with you guys for a whole month." I promised.
They looked at each other for a second and groaned. "All right," they submitted.
"Yes!" I clapped, jumping excitedly.
"Manipulative little princess." Demetri whispered lowly to Felix, who nodded slightly.
I pretended I didn't hear as I waltzed off happily.
The next night I found myself comfortably whipping through the trees on Jane's back as we made our way out of Volterra, and into the forest, with Demetri and Felix in tow. I was feeling exhilarated. I loved getting rides from my vampires, the speed, and rush of trees whizzing past us was energising.
I was enjoying myself so much that I was almost disappointed when we stopped and Jane leaped up into a tree, climbing until we had a clear view of Felix and Demetri below.
Jane silently pointed to a herd of roe deer that weren't too far away. She wrinkled her nose slightly, making a disgusted face as their scent hit her, and muttered, "They don't smell very appetising," before lapsing back into silence.
We watched as down below Felix and Demetri sunk into hunting crouches. I was thankful for my developed sight as I watched them silently speed towards their prey before leaping in the air and landing on the backs of two deer. In a matter of seconds the necks of both animals were broken, and the sharp teeth of the two vampires had sunk into the delicate necks of the deer.
I watched fascinated, and slightly disappointed that it hadn't taken very long. But thankfully, after draining the deer, Demetri caught the scent of a wild boar, and took off after it, with Jane and I following. He had a slight tussle with the boar, goading it until it became angry and tried to gouge him with its tusks, before he finally decided to kill it. He straightened and laughed. "Well he certainly tasted better than the deer." He observed, "Although it was nowhere near as good as humans."
I gave him a patronising glance before I realised that Felix was missing. "Where's Felix?" I asked, puzzled. We backtracked and they picked up his scent, following it until we found Felix in a large clearing, laughing as a large brown bear tried to claw and bite him. His shirt and cloak were now ripped, and he seemed to enjoy watching the confused bear try to kill him. We waited patiently until finally Felix seemed to get bored and put the bear out of its misery.
On the way back Felix's only observations were, "Well, fighting a bear before eating it is much more entertaining than eating a scared human, although it isn't nearly as satisfying to drink." I rolled my eyes at him, and settled back, enjoying my ride home.
The only lessons in the castle that I did not enjoy over the two year period were the dancing lessons that all twelve vampires insisted on. With my clumsiness, I was constantly stepping on Renata's toes as she took over my dance lessons now that I had full control of my shield and could use it to do virtually anything with it, from flying, to picking up things, even as large as trucks, and catching and throwing things, or shielding everyone in a five mile radius with both my mental and physical shields at will.
Secretly, once I had learned the basics, and I wasn't stumbling over Renata anymore, I actually quite enjoyed these lessons, although I still complained loudly, and never let on that I liked them.
Didyme had extended my music studies as well, and when I wasn't off exploring other countries I worked hard, learning to play the guitar, flute, cello and piano, although the harp was still my favourite.
My mother was particularly pleased with how well I was developing, and seemed to enjoy both the times I was with her, and the opportunities that my boarding in Volterra afforded her. She was a free-spirited person who loved trying new things, and in the 6 months of the year when I wasn't there she took night classes in all of her interests, from yoga to cake decorating. While her interests never lasted very long before she was off doing something else that took her fancy, she enjoyed trying new things and I was happy to encourage her, glad she was doing okay without me there to look after her. To me Renee was more like a big sister than a mother, and I always did all I could to help her when I was home.
I was fairly sure that she suspected that there was something different about the Volturi, but she could also tell that they loved having me, and doted on me, so she continued to let them have me for six months of the year, realising that it was an excellent opportunity for me. She loved the fact that they had taken me to visit most of Europe (I hadn't told her that I had been to most of the other continents as well) and I was always sending her pictures of me in other countries.
We were sure that she didn't suspect what they really were, or she would have stopped me from going back a long time ago, but to be safe we usually limited her contact with them to mainly phone calls with Aro, Marcus and occasionally Didyme. I of course, called her every day when I stayed there.
I tended to make a few new friends every time I went back to Phoenix, although I mainly stayed close to Chantal and Breeze, who were always interested in hearing the latest stories about Italy and my time there. I told them what I could, leaving out a few details here and there.
Life continued on for me quite happily in this style for a few years. I was pleased that both my rather small human family, and my large vampire family, seemed content and happy.