+++++

"I'm gonna be sick," Magnolia mumbled in the back of the stolen Porsche. Alice drove like a manic through the streets of Italy.

"If we want to make it in time, you'll suck it up." Alice huffed. Magnolia understood, saving Edward from needlessly killing himself was important, but that didn't mean she liked the speeding anymore. She watched as Alice's eyes glossed over as a vision presented itself.

"What? What do you see?" Bella asked nervously.

Alice took a moment to digest what she had just seen. "They refused him," She was referring to the Volturi — the thought of them made Magnolia's skin crawl. She was taking a big risk to help Bella and Edward. Going into the den of the most powerful vampires in the world is a death sentence for a sorcerer. "He's gonna make a scene. Show himself to the humans."

"No! When?" Bella began to hyperventilate.

"He's gonna wait until noon when the sun is highest," Alice explained to both girls. She gasped as another vision crossed her mind. It was strange to Magnolia to see how nervous and frightened Alice was — normally the vampire was happy and smiling.

"God, you gotta hurry, Alice," Bella bit her lip, gripping her seat until her knuckles turned white.

"There's Volterra, Bells," Magnolia pointed ahead of them, lightly touching the human girl's shoulder. "We're almost there." She hoped her words were comforting, but judging by the look on Bella's face, they were far from that.

As they approached the streets of Volterra, they were greeted by a sea of red. People of all ages were dressed head to toe in bright red robes. "What's going on?" Bella asked, panicked. Alice honked the car's horn, trying to get the people out of their way. "Why are they all in red?"

"St Marco's day festival. They're commemorating the explosion of vampires from the city," Alice explained as she struggled through the crowd. Magnolia watched as people angrily moved out of the way, some even flipping them the bird. "It's the perfect setting. The Volturi will never let him get far enough to reveal himself."

Bella gripped her hair tightly. "We have like five minutes."

"I know, Bells," Magnolia kept her hand on her shoulder, gripping it tighter. "Just breathe."

They had driven all they could. Alice was stopped by cops at a roadblock. "Alice!" Bella had gotten out of the car, panicking.

"Bella. You're the only one he can't see coming!" Alice explained. "If I go he'll read my thoughts. If Magnolia goes he'll read hers. He'll think we're lying! He'll rush into it."

Magnolia had moved to the edge of her seat as she watched Bella look around frantically. "Where do I go?"

"He'll be under the clocktower. Go!" Bella wasted no time in running off. Magnolia watched as she disappeared into the crowd of red hoods and robes. Alice turned to Magnolia. "I'll need your help with this," Working together, the two of them managed to get through the blockade. Once through, Alice paused, eyes glossing over once more. "They're safe."

"Oh, thank god," Magnolia sighed. "Should we go get them?"

Alice turned to her with a frown. "I will, but it's not safe for you to go in. Someone will meet you back there," She pointed back towards an alley. "They'll take you home and don't you worry about me or Bella, we'll be back before you know it." She nudged Magnolia forward.

"Please, Alice. Be safe," She couldn't help herself. She quickly grabbed the vampire and wrapped her in a hug. And as quickly she had done it, the hug was over. They separated and Magnolia made her way back to the blockade. The cops gave her a funny look as she passed them once more, but she ignored them. She looked around the alleys until she noticed a person standing in one, back turned to her. They were male, freakishly tall and pale. Magnolia's heart dropped and a wave of anger unlike any she had felt before surged through her. "Jasper," She snarled.

The vampire in question turned slowly around. Instead of the normal smirk she had grown used to, or the stoic expression that resulted from his resistance to human blood, Jasper's face looked hollow and sad. His pale skin looked sickly and his eyes were scarily dark. This caused Magnolia to falter for a moment, but it couldn't stop the copious amount of anger and hate she felt towards him at that moment. "Magnolia, darling," His voice was hoarse and he sounded tired — he looked to be on the brink of death.

"Don't," Her lip quivered. "Why are you here? Why would Alice..." She trailed off. Alice had set this whole thing up. She was forcing Magnolia to face him again when she wasn't at all ready to do that.

"She called me here, to get you home," He stepped forward and Magnolia took a step back. Jasper felt his entire body tense. She was afraid of him, disgusted by him. He could feel it all. It was his worst fear come to reality. "I only want you to be safe. The Volturi...if they knew of you, of your family, they would kill you. None of us want that."

Magnolia had wrapped her arms around her torso, trying to keep herself grounded, to keep herself from lashing out. "You don't think I know that?" She scoffed. "I came for Bella and right now, she is in there, possibly dead! And what am I doing? Nothing." She spat.

"That's not true," Jasper reasoned. "You're helping just by coming here, supporting her...like a good friend."

"If you think I'm gonna believe a word that comes out of you're mouth, you are sorely mistaken," She glared coldly, her eyes turning a deep shade of aqua. "You left. All of you left. And now, because of Bella, suddenly you're all for Forks again. Well, I don't need you to tell me what a good friend I am, or that I'm so strong for coming here. It's all bullshit. Bullshit! If you really cared, you would've told me why you were leaving! Would've had the heart to say goodbye! Instead,I was left with Alice, telling me that you were going and never coming back, with no explanation as to why! So if you think I'm just gonna welcome you back with open arms, you can run your sorry ass to wherever you were hiding."

Jasper stayed silent, allowing Magnolia to vent the feelings she had been keeping in for so long. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her side and wrap her in his arms, telling her it would all be okay, but he couldn't. Whatever they had months ago, was ruined, and it would take a miracle for them to rebuild that. He watched with sad eyes as she hiccuped and began to cry. She continued to yell word vomit until her throat was raw and sore. "I...I could call a cab to take you to the airport. I have a ticket for you." He hoped telling her he would not be accompanying her would make her feel better, but as her face dropped, he could tell not acknowledging her feelings made it all so much worse. He took the plane ticket from his pocket and extended it to her.

Clenching her fists, Magnolia nodded. "Tell Alice I say thank you." Snatching the ticket from him, she didn't allow him to call her a cab, or to say another word. She was done with talking to him until he plucked up the courage to apologize.

She slept through the whole flight home, and when she landed back in Seattle, Elton was waiting to pick her up. As soon as he saw her, he rushed forward to wrap her in a hug. "Magnolia, I was worried sick! Why didn't you tell me you were going to Italy..." He trailed off when he saw the look on her face. "Oh dear, what happened?" Magnolia merely sniffled, unable to get so much as a word out. Elton understood, leading her to her car. "We can stop at McDonald's on the way home if you'd like?"

Magnolia nodded. "Yes, please," Her voice was weak and hoarse, and it caused Elton's stomach to clench. He imagined the worst as he drove to the nearest fast-food chain and ordered Magnolia's usual.

"Fries, a McChicken, a large Sprite, and a McFlurry, just cause you need it," He watched as she wordlessly took the bag of food from his hands and slowly began eating. For about an hour, he held off on asking, until Magnolia began to cry. "Oh, Maggie, what happened." He reached out, allowing her to latch onto his hand.

Magnolia sniffled, watching the rain pelt the car window. "Alice came back a-and said Edward tried to kill himself because he thought Bella was dead," Elton let Magnolia ramble on about the story of how she got to Italy, and how Alice had made her face Jasper. The mention of the blond male made Elton's blood boil. "And...now I'm back." She of course left out all the details about vampires.

"Wow," Elton was speechless. How could he comfort her? "Did he hurt you? Jasper?" He briefly scanned her body for scrapes and bruises.

"No," Magnolia shook her head, mouth full of ice cream. "But I wanted to hurt him; so badly. I've never wanted anybody to suffer like I wished he would, Elton. It was disgusting to think like that."

Elton's grip on the stirring well tightened, veins popping from his knuckles. "He deserves that," He spat. "What he did to you, he deserves to be punished. If I ever see his sorry ass in Forks again, he'll be greeted by my fist." Elton wasn't a violent person, but when it came to Magnolia, he would do anything for her.

Magnolia smiled sadly. "You won't have to. My dad would beat you to it." At the mention of her parents. Magnolia realized she'd have to confront them about her little trip, and that was more terrifying than the Volturi could ever be.

AUTHORS NOTE
I can't believe we're coming to the end. There will be one more chapter after this and then an epilogue. I can't thank all of you enough for the support on this book and hope the next one is just as well received. I love you all!