1.Volterra
I wiped the sweat , already forming, from my forehead as I exited the airport, and there she was. When I had looked at the picture that my friend Alex had shown me I was sure that it had been photo-shopped . But there she stood, her brown hair glistening in the moonlight and her strange violet eyes looked in my direction. A group of people had already begun to crowd around her , some I recognized from the plane ride here.
"Hello" she called, waving to me " are you here for the exclusive Volterra tour?" she asked, her voice so musical I was surprised she didn't just quit her job and become a singer.
"Yes" I replied , waving the papers that proved this in front of me.
"Welcome. I'm Heidi and I will be your tour guide here in Volterra , what's your name?" she inquired , looking down at a clipboard.
"Evelyn Blackwood"
"Alright" she said , checking off my name and already turning to greet more people coming for the tour.
I sighed wiping more sweat from my brow. I hated heat , and this was night, just wait until the sun came out.
More and more people came to our group standing outside of the airport until Heidi seemed to have checked everyone off and announced that we head to the bus .That gave me awhile to sit with my thoughts, which was never good. "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all" as is said in Shakespear's Hamlet, which was certainly true for me. I always over-thought things until I ended up doing nothing at all. It's a wonder that I even came here, my friends forced it upon me feeling that it might do some good to get away for a while. After my entire family, consisting of my mother, father , sister and brother, were killed in a car accident- well I haven't been the most fun person to be around. After a few months and a couple days before graduation Alex and Frances came across a cheap tour of a little known city in Italy. This , they felt was the perfect remedy for me, especially since I had always liked Italy and was planing on taking European History in University.
Suddenly the bus was rolling to a stop and people were getting up and grabbing their bags. We had to walk a couple blocks as the streets were too narrow for the bus. Finally Heidi led us up to a hotel , which was almost too nice for the price of the tour. We headed to our rooms , which overlooked a small road with little shops along the side. I got my own room , which was simple, with a bed and night table .I could hear the others noisily settling in as well and the wind whistling against my window.
At one point Heidi Knocked on the door to see that I was settled, and told me breakfast would be at nine-o-clock in the little restaurant across the street.
That night I was plagued by the same dream I had been having for months. My family was driving home after a new years party at the family friends house. It was raining and the wintry Canadian air turned it to ice on the road, creating the illusion that the road was made up of mirrors rather than cement.
I had stayed home because I was sick and needed to make frequent trips to the bathroom.
They were talking excitedly about events that had occurred during the day , my dad concentrating on driving carefully over the deadly road. Then out of nowhere something slams into the side of the car, and pushes it , sliding into the black Rideau river and everything fades.
I wake up shaking , as though I had been in the icy January water as well. The warn sun filtering through the windows does not fit with the mood from the dream. I open the shutters, glad for once to feel the heat rushing into the room.
I look at the clock , its eight- thirty. I grab my favourite tank top, white with lace on the bottom and some short checkered shorts, quickly brush through my strait light brown hair, and try to fix my bangs while brushing my teeth at the same time, slide on my flip-flops and rush out the door in record time.
About three fourths of the group were already congressed outside of the little restaurant, sitting at small tables pushed close together under a tarp .
"Is someone sitting here?" I ask a near-middle aged man , who is sitting at the end of the line of tables.
"No" he replies, making room at the minuscule table. I glance around, it looked like I was the only person here who was under twenty.
"It seems people have come from all over the world for this thing" the man says. As I look around I see that he is right.
"I'm Ben" he says, reaching out his hand
"Evelyn" I say , taking it.
" this is a beautiful city" he said , gesturing around to the surroundings " I never even heard of it until this tour."
Suddenly a man stood up in the middle of the set of tables and cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention.
"Excuse me" he said, addressing the group, " but since Heidi is sick, I will be taking her place for the time being in giving you your tour of Volterra."
" That's odd, she looked fine to me yesterday." someone whispered beside me.
He sat back down, and everyone began to eat again. When they finished , he stood back up again and announced that the fist thing we would be seeing would be Palazzo dei Priori.
As everyone got up to follow our new tour guide Ben cursed under his breath as he rummaged through a very large bag.
" don't tell me I forgot my camera" he muttered " I'm going to go back to my room to see if I left my camera there" he said to the tour guide. " I'll catch up with you guys", then to me " The city is so small, what's the worst that can happen, get attacked by pigeons?"
I laughed , the sound foreign to me . There were in fact many pigeons frolicking around on tables, statues and window ledges.
As Ben hurried into the hotel , we took off on our tour of the city. It was like stepping back in time. There were beautiful ancient buildings , statues and fountains. I found myself , as usual, beginning to wish that I had been born in some other time period, to be able to experience history firsthand rather than observing and learning about it.
As the sun neared the horizon we reached the hotel. We had dinner at the same restaurant we had eaten at in the morning. It was then that I realized Ben wasn't with us.
"Where's Ben" I asked the tour guide
"Who's Ben?"
" The one who went to get his camera"
"...Oh, he had to go back home" he replied, looking down at Heidi's clipboard " family emergency"
"Oh" I replied twisting more fettucini Alfredo onto my fork. "So, what's wrong with Heidi ?"I asked nosily
"She has a virus , I believe, but she should be out by saint Marcus's day"
"Saint Marcus's day?"
"Yes, it's huge. Everyone dresses in red to celebrate, the streets are filled with people and no cars are allowed to enter the city. That's why I hope Hiedi is feeling better by then, because I will be keeping the cars from entering."
" That's interesting, I'll have to remember to wear red" I said smiling "when is it?"
"On the nineteenth... so in two days"
Dinner finished and everyone headed back into the hotel. Except for me.
"Is there a phone here" I asked the waiter
"Yes" and he brought me over to a phone in the back of the restaurant. I figured I should probably call my friends , as they insisted that I do so and I had already been here a day and a bit. The phone rang a few times until the machine picked up, I left a quick message then hung up. I was relieved that they weren't there , I didn't feel like retelling every small detail of what happened after I got onto the plane.
I slowly trudged up the stairs of the hotel, and could hear voices as people settled in for the night. There was one voice in particular that caught my attention. Its musical tone indicated that it was Heidi's.
"Im sorry Master !..." she begged. There was a pause, I assumed she was talking on the phone.
"But he saw me in the sun, what was I supposed to do?...yes...It won't happed again." Then she laughed and continued talking in a voice too low for me to hear.
I walked over to my room which was next to hers, thinking of what I had just heard. That had to be one of the most puzzling conversations I had ever heard. Who addressed anyone as "Master" anymore? and what was wrong with seeing her in the sun, its not like she was ugly. Maybe the virus had done something to her skin.
I got into bed , my thoughts turning back to Ben. I wondered what had happened. I usually found it creepy when older guys talked to me with no apparent wife or girlfriend present, but maybe his wife was sick in the hospital. It would make sense out of the "family emergency", and in all fairness I was the one who had sat next to him.
That night I strangely had no dreams. Perhaps my subconscious mind was preparing itself for something much worse.
This time my body was prepared to wake up early for breakfast. I was surprised that it had, as the sky was a bit overcast and it felt more like dawn than eight-o-clock . Today the tour would only take up half the day and the rest of the time we could use to explore the city. I decided I would use it to find something red.
The only attraction we saw that day was the Etruscan Guarnacci Museum. After lunch we were free to wander off into the city. I walked down the streets looking at all the shops. I got a little distracted from my mission when I came across a beautiful fountain that had, of course, pigeons on it. Then I finally stumbled across a store that looked promising and stepped in. It was a small shop, but I was just happy I had found one because I didn't own anything red.
I looked through the racks and immediately spotted the dress I wanted. I would have liked to buy it right then and there, but I supposed that I should probably try it on to see if it fit. I didn't like the dressing rooms . They were the kind that had a curtain instead of a door , and to make matters worse, the mirror was on the outside so if you wanted to know what you were planning on purchasing looked like ,you would have to leave the dressing room. I made my way up to the mirror, like a prisoner heading to the guillotine . I was planning on doing a quick once over, but as I reached the mirror my foot got stuck on the floor. I lifted it up to find a piece of gum stuck on the bottom. I leaned over and tried to scrape it off without falling over.
"Is that for Saint Marcus's day ?" a voice asked from behind me , making me, as I whirled around, almost crash back into the mirror. I hadn't heard anyone come.
"What?" I asked , momentarily dazed by the person in front of me. He was tall with longish blond hair and very pale skin. Very familiar though was his beautiful voice and violet eyes. I tried to push my dizziness aside and clear my head. "Oh, my dress" I answered dumbly looking down "yes"
" Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" he apologized , but his smile gave him away. He spoke surprisingly clearly, without any sign of an accent.
" I didn't want to look like some silly tourist". I said waving my gum riddled shoe as I spoke. Obviously that plan was foiled.
" you're a tourist"he said " who is your tour guide?"
" well Heidi is our official tour guide, but she's sick so some other guy is taking her place" his eyes seemed to darken at this." Is she your sister?"
"What?" he asked, obviously taken off guard by the question.
"Its just that you have the same eyes"
"Oh" he said chuckling " no we're friends . I'm an albino so I wear contacts as people get a little frightened when they see red eyes , Heidi wears them purely for fun."
"Can I see your real eyes"
"Maybe tomorrow"
"Ah" I replied putting my shoe back on, did he really think he would be able to find me in the masses of red tomorrow. " You don't seem like you live here. Are you a tourist as well?"
" No I moved here a while ago" he replied , apparently smiling at some inside joke. Suddenly some thunder boomed off in the distance, this seemed to remind him of something.
"Well I better head off" he said, and with that turned for the door " nice dress" he called before it closed, and he was gone. It was then that I realized how late it was , the sun was nearly gone. I purchased the dress and headed out the door. Despite the lateness of the hour, I didn't rush back to the hotel. I had always favoured night over day, it was so much more serene than the hustle and bustle that light brought.
When I got back to the hotel It seemed that everyone had gone to bed. It started to rain as I got to the door and a loud clap of thunder sounded making me jump. I closed the door but the sound of rain and thunder and wind made its way into the building . I rushed up the stairs now eager to get to my room. I loved the serene night , but I also loved the energy and excitement of thunderstorms.
I knew I shouldn't be calling anyone during a storm but I still hadn't reached my friends. I decided to call Alex because she was staying in Toronto and I wouldn't have to worry about waking up parents, but as I picked up the phone to dial there was already someone talking. I was about to hang up when I heard something that made me freeze.
" you're a vampire now, so you will have to get used to these things"I heard Heidi's familiar voice say. Vampire? maybe she was in a band.
" Tell me then" a voice I didn't recognize but just as beautiful, demanded.
Then Heidi went off describing a family that lived here in Volterra, they were over three thousand years old, and not just the family but the members as well she named them all and the additions over the years as well as the guards. I could picture everyone she described as if she were showing a picture with each person she described. She spoke of a law about keeping your Identity a secret. Then she mentioned someone named Edward and how they refused to kill him because he could be useful to the family , and about a human girl named Bella and a family that fed off animals rather than humans and how Edward planned on breaking the law by walking in the sun, so that his skin would sparkle like a billion diamonds . I was past the band theory by now. Then she mentioned Ben. She said he had seen her in the sun when he accidentally walked into her room and how she had no choice but to kill him. My blood turned cold as she described it, but I couldn't let go of the phone. I hoped that the thunder was loud enough to keep her from hearing me. Then she spoke of the tourists she was leading, how she would take them to the Volturi tomorrow so they could feed. By this point I didn't want to hear anymore. I followed the phone cord until I reached the outlet and pulled disconnecting my phone.
Then I started shaking, now that I didn't have to worry about Heidi hearing me on the phone, I put it back into its cradle. I sat on the bed mulling over what I had just heard. I had always dreamed that there would be some magical world I would step into , reading tended to do that to me, but I had never Imagined that it would be like this. I lay back trying to think of what to do. I could try and slip away now and hope noone will notice, or I could go and try and find Edward and co. Maybe then I could be turned into a vampire. I thought about that, would I want to be a turned into a vampire ? Its not like I had anything to lose, my family was gone and I didn't look forward to anything in life anymore. Even before the accident I had always been moping around daydreaming of some other life, maybe this was my chance. It was extremely risky though, look what happened to Ben. I seemed to bring bad luck to everyone. I decided I should try plan A first, which would be to escape, besides since I knew vampires existed there was always a chance of finding more. It was unlikely I knew, but I had to tell myself this or else I would never leave even if it meant my doom.
I grabbed a few items , but left everything else in the room not wanting to alert Heidi with any creaking floorboards . The thunder was still throwing a fit outside so I hoped it would give me the advantage I needed. But when I opened my door I saw Heidi standing near the stairs, which would look like guarding even to someone who hadn't heard all that I did .Resigned, I headed over to the bathroom to make it look like that was all I was what I was doing , rather than trying to flee for my life. It appeared that Heidi wasn't leaving room for anymore mistakes. I stood in the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror, I was very pale. I ran the water and brushed my teeth to try and make it seem less suspicions. It looked like I would have to resort to plan B.
I couldn't sleep that night , so I listened to my ipod. Music always seemed to help. I must have dozed off near dawn though because I had the dream again, but this time when the car went into the black water the dream didn't end. I looked out the window to see the water swallowing up the car, I felt like I could still get out .Then out of nowhere a pale shape moves in the distance I move closer to the window to see what it is , when two hungry black eyes appear in front of me.
I wake up covered in sweat. I look over and jump when I see Heidi standing at the door.
" sorry" she said, still at the door frame "I was just checking on you , you missed breakfast but that's okay we won't be leaving until eleven thirty."she closed the door as she left.
I looked at the clock, it was ten thirty. I had a quick shower and as I was drying my hair wondered if last night was all just a dream. No. I knew it wasn't and if I had heard correctly we would be the main meal for lunch today. I hadn't eaten breakfast but my stomach still lurched at the thought, it was probably a good thing I hadn't eaten because I felt sick.
I went back to my room and put on my red dress, it felt sufficiently less important than it had yesterday. I also put on my pearl Tiffany earings as well as a necklace. Sickly ten days after my family car fell into that black void, I won the lottery. It was enough money to indulge in things like Tiffany, I guess I was lucky in that sense.
I looked at the clock. It was eleven twenty-five. Time to go. When I got outside Heidi was there with the usual entourage of tourists , who, not so stealthily would sneak looks at her when they thought noone was watching. We headed off into the red filled streets .Saint Marcus's day.
We walked further than usual until we got to the place that was the point of this tour.
"Follow me" Heidi said to us ,and stepped into the doorway.