Volturi
I was sailing through the dark. It was terrifying, the long launch downward, until I landed in Alice's stone arms. I could feel more bruises form. If I got home from this trip, I'd look abused.
She set me down. Aside from the dim light cast from the street overhead, the tunnel was pitch black. There was only darkness ahead. I took a tentative step forward, glued to Alice's side. Her skin glittered in the small patch of light.
Edward landed at my side moments later, his arm instantly welded around my waist. I stumbled across the uneven stone as he guided us forward, the drain hole behind us closing ominously. There was nothing but darkness now. I relied entirely on Edward's eyes.
Maybe we'd live. Maybe I'd see Julie again. Maybe she'd forgive me. Maybe I could have a small, simple life in Forks with people that I love. Maybe I wouldn't live my life in fear for much longer.
My voice was locked in my throat. I wanted to ask what was going to happen, but nothing could come out.
The air down here was cold. My legs were freezing from the water in the fountain. My shoes squished as I walked. It was the only sound, not even the festival overhead causing any noise.
Edward noticed as my teeth started to chatter. He rubbed an encouraging hand up and down my arm as I shivered. I heard heavy sighs behind me, I assumed at my slow pace. It felt like we were going fast to me.
We eventually came across a rusting grate with thick iron bars wide as my arm. Edward guided me inside, his jaw clenched.
We looked to be inside of an office building. It was brightly lit, the walls off-white, the floor an industrial gray carpet. It was warmer in here. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
This place was almost boring.
Jane stood by an elevator, one hand inside and holding it open. We walked over, me shoved into the corner with Edward in front of me. The vampires were quiet as we rode the few floors to our destination. The members of the Volturi seemed to relax further, the two dropping their hoods. They both had olive complexions, an odd look with their chalky skin. One had black hair chopped short, the other in waves to his shoulders.
I almost wanted to laugh. Five vampires in an elevator with a human as if it were a normal Tuesday affair. It was so mundane. At least the sewer of death seemed on brand compared to a corporate building.
The doors opened to a reception area. The walls were lined with wood, the carpet a deep green. There were no windows, but paintings of the Tuscan countryside lined the walls. There were pale couches arranged into cozy groups, and crystal flower vases in the dozens.
In the center of the room was a mahogany counter, a very pretty human with dark skin and green eyes. She smiled politely at us, every bit the polite receptionist. She didn't seem to question us; Edward disheveled, me oily and disgusting.
"Good afternoon Jane. Felix, Demetri." She nodded to each of them individually.
Felix was the one with short hair. He winked at the receptionist, and she giggled.
Jane's stride didn't falter as she walked to another set of wooden doors. "Giana."
There was yet another sort of reception area on the other side of the doors. A boy that closely mirrored Jane was on the other side. They could be twins; same size and build, nearly identical, but his hair was darker and his lips were less full.
"Jane." They embraced, kissing eachother's cheeks in greeting, before clasping hands.
"Alec."
"They send you to hunt for one and you come back with two... and a half," he said with a beautiful smile. "Fantastically done."
Jane giggled. It sounded like a baby's laugh, high-pitched and adorable.
"And this is the one who's caused all the trouble?" His eyes watched my face, flickering down to Edward's protective arm.
"Dibs," Felix said casually.
Edward snarled. Felix grinned, his palms held out eagerly and inviting.
Alice touched Edward's shoulder. "Patience."
Whatever they said next, it was mental. They shared knowing, subtle glances to eachother. We continued down the hallway.
"Aro will be so pleased," Alec said evenly.
"Let's not keep him waiting," Jane agreed in her monotone voice.
We continued, more hallways. I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I nearly groaned when we came upon another hallway made of the same ancient stone as the murder sewer.
This one, thankfully, wasn't quite like them though. It lead to a bright room that reminded me of a castle ballroom. It was tall, at least two stories, with thin rectangles for windows that let in bright streams of sunlight. There were three massive wooden chairs in the curving stone walls, looming like thrones. The floor was slightly tilted down, leading to a drain in the center of the room.
I stared at the drain and felt ill. It wasn't stained red, but I knew why it was there. The room felt inexplicably horrid. This place was haunted.
There were a handful of people in the room, exquisitely beautiful faces turned to look at us entering the room. Their skin glittered in the sunlight from the windows. Their clothing was relatively normal by today's standards. No corsets or petticoats.
Aside from one man. He wore pitch-blade robes the same color as his long hair, but the clothing underneath looked quite dated.
"Ah, Jane! Dear one, you've returned to us!" His voice was delirious.
The man was terrifying. The other vampires I'd met were gorgeous but in an uncanny valley sort of way. He was like a wax figure; clearly not human but enough to make you jump. His skin was translucent, like paper. It looked more delicate than Alice's or Edward's marble skin. His eyes were milky and clouded, the color still a deep red.
He glided to Jane, so smooth that it made Alice look clumsy in comparison. He didn't even seem to take actual steps. He took her face in his hands, kissed her forehead, and smiled widely.
"I brought him alive, just as you wished." Jane's innocent expression made her look like a little cherub.
"And you've brought Alice and Bella as well!" His hands clapped together excitedly. "How wonderful."
He said our names with such a familiarity that it took me by surprise. As if we were old friends.
"Felix, be a dear and fetch my brothers. I'm sure they'd love to meet our guests."
Felix nodded and left the room the same way we'd entered it.
"Now, Edward. Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?" The strange, ancient vampire said in a loving but chastising tone. Like a teasing parent.
Edward's hand tightened on my waist. "Yes, Aro, I am."
"I do so love a happy ending," Aro said with his hands clasped under his chin. "They are so rare. But how did this happen? Alice? Your brother seems to think your visions infallible."
"Oh, I'm far from it," Alice said with a pleasant smile. "It would appear I cause problems as often as I solve them."
"You're far too modest," Aro cooed. "Your powers are truly something to behold."
Alice's curious silence made the strange vampire smile.
"I realize we haven't been properly introduced yet. It just feels that I know you so well. I share some of your brother's talents, though mine are far more limited."
"Aro is being far too generous," Edward said with a forced smile. "Where I can read a thought from a distance, he can read every thought you've ever had by simply touching you."
Alice's eyebrows raised. Edward's head moved subtly.
Aro noticed slight gesture exchange. "But to be able to hear thoughts from a distance would be so convenient."
Everyone turned before I did, my sad human reflexes not alerting me to the new additions to the room.
Two more men wearing black robes and old clothes. They had the same paper-thin skin as Aro, one with similar long, dark hair. The other had hair so pale it matched his skin.
"Marcus! Caius! Look, Bella is alive and she's brought Alice with her. Isn't that splendid?"
Neither shared Aro's enthusiasm. The pale-haired one looked like he'd smelled something rotten as he drifted to one of the chairs by the wall. The one with darker hair looked exhausted but touched Aro's hand as he walked by.
Edward made a faint sound. I looked at him curiously.
"Thank you, Marcus."
Alice's brows crumpled in frustration.
"Marcus can see the bonds between people. He's surprised at mine and Bella's," Edward explained. His voice was strange, choked.
"So convenient," Aro sighed. He clapped his hands together excitedly. "But tell me, how can you stand to be so close to her?"
"With great effort and practice," Edward responded.
"If not for smelling her through your memories, I would scarcely believe the call of anyone's blood would be so strong. La tua cantante! Most would trade for such a gift. And yet..."
"I waste it," Edward finished in a flat tone.
Aro laughed. "Even the memory of her blood singing to you... It makes me thirsty."
Edward tensed protectively over me.
"I mean her no harm," Aro reassured him. "Though I am curious about you, dear Bella. Since you are an exception to Edward's talent, and ours are so similar, I was curious if you were able to block me out as well. May I?"
I froze, but knew the question was only a courtesy. Here, in this place, I didn't have a choice. My freedom was an illusion.
I walked to him carefully, Edward glued to my side the entire time, and held out my hand tentatively. It trembled like a branch in a storm.
He glided closer, his face a mask of reassurance, but his eyes were too leering. Like I was an insect under a microscope. He was too alien-looking to calm my anxiety.
Aro's hands wrapped around mine. He held my hand delicately, like he was carrying an injured bird. His skin did feel strange, brittle almost. More like graphite than granite. Akin to pencil lead, easily broken, yet like his flesh underneath was made of steel. He was colder than the others. If the vampires I'd encountered were ice, he was the arctic tundra.
His eyes stared down into mine. I was unable to look away from the strange film of them. I felt myself get lost in the foggy crimson waves.
Aro's face faltered slightly, and he began laughing to himself again. "Remarkable." He released me and drifted back.
I saw Edward smiling smugly from the corner of my vision.
"I wonder if she is immune to our other talents. Jane, dear?"
"No." Edward's voice was a snarl. "Absolutely not."
Jane's head lifted, an eager smile on her face.
"Let us see if she's immune to you as well," Aro commanded.
"Don't!" Alice yelled out as Edward lunged for the vampire child.
Edward was on the ground in an instant. His body contorted into obvious agony, no sound escaping his mouth as he writhed on the ground. I watched in horror. It looked like a possession, the type I'd seen only in movies.
That's what Aro wants to do to me?
"What... is that?" I whispered.
I watched, Alice now behind me, as he seized. "He's okay," she whispered. "It just hurts."
That explains why everyone seemed to agreeable to Jane.
Aro didn't look even remotely concerned. "Jane," he said calmly before nodding his head to me.
As soon as her gaze left Edward, he was fine. He sprang to his feet an instant later, as if nothing had happened to him.
Jane's crimson eyes focused on me. I steeled myself, awaiting the pain, and found myself smiling in relief when I felt nothing.
She glared at me, her jaw clenched. As if focusing harder would cause me to be screaming in pain.
Aro laughed, clapping again. "Remarkable. Simply remarkable. Don't be put out, dear. She evades us all." His arms laced together, put under his chin. "So what do we do with you now? I don't suppose you've changed your mind about joining our company, Edward?"
I saw Felix and Jane grimace at the thought.
"I'd rather not," Edward said carefully.
"Alice?" Aro asked hopefully.
"No, thank you," she said with a cute little curtsey.
"And you, dear Bella?"
Edward exhaled sharply, but it was the strange vampire with the pale hair that answered. "What?"
"Surely you see the potential, Caius. We haven't seen a human with such promise since Jane and Alec. Can you imagine her abilities when she's one of us? A perfect shield?" Aro watched me curiously. "How many more could she evade? Could she protect others? Would it become physical, instead of mental? Perhaps even both. The possibilities are... endless..."
Caius turned his head away at that. Jane's face turned sour.
"No, thank you," I said politely. My voice wavered.
Aro sighed and shook his hand at me impatiently. "How unfortunate. Such a waste of potential."
"Join or die, is that it?" Edward asked. His tone was measured, despite the obvious anger held within it. "I suspected as much when we entered this room. So much for your laws."
"Of course not. We were already convened here, awaiting Heidi's return," Aro said evenly.
"The laws claim her," Caius accused. "She knows our secrets."
"There are several humans here who are aware of your situation as well," Edward countered.
Caius's face twisted. "And when they are no longer useful to us, they will sustain us. If your human betrays us, are you prepared to destroy her?" At Edward's silence, he added, "Nor do you intend to make her one of us. She is rendered a vulnerability."
"I would never tell anyone--" I started, but I was ignored. No one with a pulse mattered here.
"Unless you intend to give her immortality," Aro countered. He looked excited.
Now did not seem like the correct time to tell them that I had no interest in being a vampire anymore. I decided to keep that tidbit to myself; better to live and tell them later than die now.
"And if I do?" Edward asked.
"Then you'd be free to leave and send my good friend Carlisle my regards. But I'm afraid you'd have to mean it."
Edward's jaw set.
Aro smiled smugly. "That's what I thought."
"He won't have to," Alice said. "She'll be one of us; I've seen it. I'll do it myself."
Alice stepped ahead, her hand raised in offering. She walked to Aro, him meeting her half-way with excited eyes. He held her hands just as he held mine before, his eyes staring off into space ahead. His lips were just barely parted, exhaling and not taking another breath in. Edward's face was not pleased; he was grimacing in disgust.
After a solid minute, Alice retracted her arm.
Aro looked exhilarated. "My, that was fascinating. To see things before they happen."
"But will happen," Alice countered.
"Yes, yes. Quite decidedly. There's nothing to be concerned about in that regard." Aro's gaze focused on me again. A chill went down my spine. His smile was haunting.
What did Alice see? What did she show him?
"Are we free to leave, then?" Edward asked impatiently.
"Of course, of course. But do stay until after dark," Aro hummed fondly. "Felix."
With a flick of Aro's finger, Felix tossed his dark gray cape to Edward. He slid it on easily.
"It suits you," Aro complimented.
"Thank you for your continued kindness, Aro," Edward said graciously.
Felix groaned, his eyes rolled to the ceiling.
"Patience, Felix. Heidi will be here in a few moments."
"Let's leave now then. We'll stay indoors until darkness," Edward promised.
"Farewell, my young friends!" Aro said cheerfully with an excited wave of his hand.
Demetri guided us out the way we came. Edward and Alice were on either side of me, Edward's arm still around my waist.
"Not fast enough," Alice said in a sigh.
I looked at her, too exhausted to be alarmed, and trudged along. I could hear the babble of voices slowly coming closer.
A large crowd was entering just as we left, about forty humans of various races and ages. Some looked around like tourists. Some just looked confused.
The one that held my attention was a small, elderly woman with a rosary clasped in her hand. She walked slower than the rest of the crowd, speaking a language nobody would respond to. She grew more panicked with every step.
I felt ill. I could feel tears stinging in my eyes. I couldn't hide my expression of horror.
Aro sang out a welcome to the humans. Another vampire woman was at the end, ushering the last humans inside. She reminded me of Rosalie, though more in confidence and beauty more than her actual looks. She had long mahogany hair, and strange violet eyes. Her skin was completely covered, yet her skin-tight clothes seemed to emphasize her curves.
"Nice fishing, Heidi," Demetri complimented.
"You're not coming to dinner?" She asked him.
"Save me a few, I need to escort our guests out."
The screaming started before the door closed behind us.