Jane is a high ranking guard in the Italian royal family named the Volturi who maintain a permanent residence in Volterra, located in Tuscany which is a region of Italy. She was 13 or 14 when Aro changed her and her brother Alec - saving them from being burnt at the stake for their witch-like abilities. This group of vampires is essentially the police of the vampire world, making sure that their kind is kept an absolute secret. Jane possesses a formidable gift that frightens even the strongest of vampires; she can create the illusion of a pain second only to the fire of vampire venom coursing through one's veins - excruciating pain that leaves anyone bearing it collapsed and writhing on the floor. There is but one exception to her wrath, Isabella Swan. The immunity to Jane's special power infuriates her greatly, to the point that Bella may have developed a new and very dangerous enemy.