Volterra
Driving with a vampire was always a terrifying thing. Alice broke just about every speed limit possible; she knew exactly what speed to go and how to turn the wheel to avoid an accident. I stayed glued to my seat, arms locked onto the frame in horror. We didn't speak while we drove to the airport. I was feeling sicker with every mile. I preferred morotcycles.
Alice did all the talking as we made our way through security and got to our flights. I don't know how she secured two seats to Italy on such short notice, but Alice had a way.
It was when we sat in our seats that I could finally process everything.
"I didn't even write a note to Charlie. I always let him know where I'm going," I said to myself. The thought devastated me. Charlie would come home from the funeral planning to me missing.
"Julie will tell him." Quietly, she added, "I assume."
"What are we even going to do? Do we have a plan? Who told Edward I was dead?" I pressed my fingers against my temples. I felt a headache coming on.
I hadn't thought to ask any of the important questions before I hopped on the plane. I just blindly listened to Alice. This was a horrible idea.
"For whatever reason, Rosalie tracked Edward down in Brazil to tell him of your untimely demise. My family relies far too much on my visions, despite the fluidity of them. Edward is going to ask the Volturi to kill him, but we don't know if they will. They like Carlisle, and won't want to cause a fuss. And Aro has a particular interest in those of us with prominent abilities."
The possibilities of different futures ran past Alice's eyes. "Edward is plotting on what do to if they refuse him. Murder a sleu of people, lift a car, step into the sunlight... he hasn't decided yet. Our best bet is to get his attention before he does anything rash."
"What's the possibility of that actually working?" I asked.
Alice frowned. "Slim."
After a few long moments, I quietly stated, "You said we'd find him before he reached the Volturi."
She said nothing.
"You lied to me." It was a statement. My voice broke.
"I had to get you on the plane, Bella. I couldn't see a future unless I lied to you. I had to promise your safety to get you here." Alice's light eyes had a dark glint in them. "I suppose Julie wouldn't allow it any other way. But I will keep you safe, Bella."
I sighed and sat back in my seat, the plane starting to take off. I felt sick. When we were safely in the air, Alice spoke again.
"This trip will be dangerous for you, too, Bella."
"How so?"
"The Volturi don't take kindly to humans that know of us."
I paused. "So I might die on this little trip to Italy? And you didn't bother to tell me that before I got on the plane?"
"You coming with us is the only chance of my brother surviving. I couldn't risk it."
My heart sounded furiously. I tried being angry with Alice for her trickery, but I understood. She was protecting him. At the expense of my demise.
Vampires and their promises.
Julie was right to not trust her. I shouldn't have come.
I was an idiot.
We went from one plane to another in New York. I contemplated making a break for it on account of Alice's lies, but decided better of it. There was a real possibility the Alice would drag me onto the plane, kicking and screaming. Or knock me unconscious and pull a Weekend at Bernie's.
My mind stayed on Julie instead. I would be apologizing to her for the rest of my life, if I even lived to beg her for forgiveness. Maybe she wasn't worried. Maybe she trusted my judgement of Alice enough to believe I'd be fine.
I had to wake Alice up when the plane landed, which was a strange experience. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked almost groggy.
"Sorry," she apologized as she grabbed our luggage. "I was watching to see what would happen."
Another plane, another set of seats. Alice was watching, silent, and the low roar of the plane lulled me into sleep.
"Bella," Alice hissed to me. "Wake up."
I twitched back to life, looking over to Alice's butterscotch-colored eyes. "I'm awake."
"They're going to reject his request, thankfully. They're going to ask him to join them. Aro will use the word 'wasteful'." Alice smiled to herself. "I'm sure Edward's response will be colorful. We just have to wait again."
I don't know what the importance of waking me up for that tidbit of knowledge, but I nodded and closed my eyes again.
I heard the faint rocking of the seat next to me; Alice was in the fetal position, arms wrapped around her legs and her forehead on her knees. She liked to do that sometimes; said it helped with her premonitions.
I felt a shift in the plane; we were starting to angle downwards. I looked over to Alice, who seemed to wake from her trance just as I woke up from my sleep. I felt gross all over and my hair felt oily.
"Any updates?" I asked.
"They told him no. He cycled through what to do, he was planning on hunting in the city. A real bloody mess. But he changed his mind at the last minute, he's just going to walk into the sun instead. They're holding a festival, he'll go at noon when the square is crowded and the sun is high."
"How good are our chances?" I asked.
"Shockingly good, actually," she said with a positive tone. She double-checked my seatbelt. "Depending on how fast we drive."
"We're renting a car?" I asked.
Alice smiled and looked straight ahead. "Not quite."
Once again, I was cemented to the seat of a vehicle. Alice drove the canary-yellow Porsche like a bat out of Hell. She carefully dodged both pedestrians and other vehicles.
"You could have stolen a more discreet car, Alice," I said through gritted teeth. I tried to admire the landscape as it whizzed by, but it was too much of a blur.
"I stole the fastest one, a fortuitous turn of events. This is going well. What day is today?"
"The nineteeth."
"That's ironic. It's Saint Marcus Day."
"Which entails?"
Alice laughed darkly. "The story goes, some fifteen hundred years ago, Saint Marcus drove all of the vampires from Volterra and was later martyred in Romania. They hold a celebration in his honor every year. This is the same Marcus that's in the Volturi now."
"So the irony is Edward exposing himself on the day of vampires being banished?"
"Exactly. You know my brother; he loves the melodrama of it all. The spectacle of it." Alice weaved around cars effortlessly. "I'm going to get you as close as I can and point you to where you need to go. You take off running and try not to trip. You should make it."
The sun grew high in the sky as we drove. It was so bright, even through the tinted glass of the Porsche.
"There," Alice announced with a finger pointed out the window. "Volterra."
I felt a deep sense of dread at the steep hill ahead, the city sitting atop like a crown. Ancient sienna walls and towers decorated the top of the hill. It looked unreal.
As we grew closer to the city, traffic grew more crowded. Alice couldn't weave around anymore. We slowed to a crawl as we entered the actual city. Vehicles were everywhere, parked on the streets.
We had to stop at a checkpoint of sorts. A guard came to our car, his voice apologetic. Alice responded to him in perfect Italian. I didmt understand any of the conversation. I saw a flash of money in her hand and a brilliant smile, and suddenly we were being ushered forward.
The actual streets were lined with people in strange, dark red cloaks the color of blood. They shot glares as Alice shamelessly honked at them, revving the Porsche's engine.
Our crawl came to a stop entirely. I opened my door, the sunlight instantly blinding me.
"Four minutes, straight that way. Go, Bella."
I took off, weaving through people. So many bodies, all crammed in like sardines. All wearing those odd crimson cloaks. Children on their parent's shoulders, their little faces with plastic vampire teeth poking out of their mouths. I shoved into people, words of Italian spoken to me in a displeased tone. There were several warnings.
The sea of red was not helping with my increased disorientation. I ran ahead, stumbling straight into a fountain that put me shin-deep in water, but my stride didn't falter.
I was going to faint. I hadn't eaten since breakfast the day prior, and breathing was becoming difficult. I couldn't remember the last time I even drank water. My entire body ached from sitting for so long.
I could see him now, straight ahead. He stood in the smallest patch of shade under the clock tower, waiting for the signal.
He looked beautiful as ever, but strangely unwell for his kind. Deep bruises under his eyes, cheeks almost gaunt. His shirt was unbuttoned. The outfit looked vaguely familiar, but disheveled. It needed cleaning.
"Edward," I screamed as I trudged ahead. He looked like he was smiling.
The clock tolled overhead right as I knocked into him.
Running into a concrete wall would have been more gentle. I could feel the bruising in real time. My shoulder jarred at the impact even as his arms reached up to catch me.
"Edward, back up. You have to back up. Move."
His eyes slid open, just barely. They were pitch black. He looked surprised, but there was that same crooked grin that had stopped my heart before.
I didn't care for it much now.
"Carlisle was right," he murmured.
"Edward," I urged. "You need to get back into the shadows now. Please. Before they see you."
His hand went to my cheek, his fingers capturing a lock of my hair. "Death, that hath sucked the honey out of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty." He looked amused. His eyes closed and his lips went to my forehead. "You smell the same as always. Maybe this is hell. But I don't care, I'll take it. It's remarkable how quick they were. I didn't feel a thing."
I cringed at his touch but continued trying to shove him back. "Edward, we are not dead. But we will be if you don't move. The Volturi are going to kill us."
That seemed to rouse him. He shoved the two of us under the safety of the shadows, my back against a brick wall as my front was protected by him. His arms caged me in behind him.
I had to peek from under him arm to see two dark figures emerge from the darkness.
"Greetings, gentleman. I don't think I'll be requiring your services today, but do send my thanks to your masters." Edward's voice was perfectly polished and polite.
"Perhaps we should take this conversation to a more convenient location," one of the figures suggested. It looked over to the festivities just a few feet away.
"Bella, why don't you go back and enjoy the festival?" Edward stated.
"Bring the girl," the first shadow said.
"No." All evidence of civility left Edward's icy tone.
"Let's behave ourselves, shall we?" A listing voice stated calmly. "There are ladies present."
Alice took her place at Edward's side, body language fluid and casual. As if she wasn't breaking up a fight. The two dark figures straightened up, the even numbers displeasing them.
"We have company," Alice reminded them with a pleasant smile. Her gaze went into the small group watching us nearby.
"Let us discuss this matter privately," the second figure said pleasantly.
"The girl goes free," Edward countered.
"Let's be reasonable."
I could hear the tight smile in Edward's voice. "I am."
"Enough."
The voice was high, like a child's. I peeked through Edward's other arm. This figure was also wearing a dark hood, but the face was clearly visible.
It was hard to tell the sex of the speaker, the figure tiny as Alice with pale brown hair trimmed short. Maybe too pretty to be a boy, with the full lips and large eyes.
Dark crimson irises.
"Jane," Edward said in a defeated tone.
"Follow me," she commanded. Her voice was bored.
Alice followed at once, Edward shoving me in front of him so that I was sandwiched between my only allies.
We walked down an alley, Jane disappearing into a hole in the ground. Alice followed behind a moment later.
I paused, staring at it. It was a drain, the steel cover only moved enough for a body to squeeze through. I felt nauseous.
"Alice will catch you," Edward promised.
I stared into the pitch black below. "I'm supposed to jump into a sewer to be slaughtered?"
Edward gave me a warning look. I'm sure he'd be the one to jump first, simply to catch me, if not for the two vampires trailing us.
"Alice?" I whispered into the murder hole.
"I'm here, Bella. Jump."
She sounded too far away for my comfort. My stomach flipped unevenly.
Edward took my wrists, his hands cold as ice, and lowered me into the dark. I hovered there for a long moment before he dropped me.