I have wanted to go to Volterra for a long time, wanting to see the castle where kings lived and where people were protected in times of old. Now I can thanks to my Granma for give me the money to go. For my 16h birthday she wanted to send me and my friend Sally away for a holiday on our own, for a taste of freedom. So here we are stand waiting for the tour to start. My friend Sally is bouncing with happiness, bursting to go into the halls and see the statues and the paintings she has been reading about feverishly since I asked her to come, she is an art student and while two years my older she acts like she could be a six year old at a sweet shop.
Lots of the other people in the group are American and waving cameras about. There is one family we saw on the plane that have a small child, called Sandy I let her draw in my book when her mother fell asleep on the airplane. I wave at her when she spots us.
The great doors finally open revealing a young woman who is a little too beautiful her hair blonde and eyes…purple? She is about 5'7 tall and has a great body curves in all the right places, but is what my mother would say is too skinny. She leads us in introducing the castle and the art work around the entrance. Sally then gets into a deep conversation about art work with her, while I walk behind captured by the sheer beauty of the place.
"And this..." She says, "Is the main part of the tour, the great hall. Now please don't take pictures, they can all be bought in the gift shop at the end." I go to walk in with the others but find myself feeling ill and worried.
My friends says it's like my spiddy sense, I know when something is wrong, it is normally a very accurate way to judge a situation. It becomes really intense making myy slide down the wall to the floor.
"Bobby?" Sally questions as she walks past the people filing in to the room, "What's the matter?" Her face knows something's up, she can read me like a book
"It's a bad place in there..." I point to the room, "If we go in, you will die and for me nothing is clear, but it's hazy, but horrible." I add, "We can't go in."
"Spiddy?" she asks again making me say for definite
"Spiddy." I say confidently
"Ok." She breaths, "Hey! Tour guide person? Little help please?" She goes over to the lady who smiles at us
"Yes dears?"
"My friend is feeling really unwell. Can she just sit here a moment?" Sally says
The lady looks at me as if knowing Sally is lying through her teeth, "No, if she comes into the hall I can help her better because there are chairs not just the floor. Is that ok?" There is venom in her voice
Sally looks at me, "Can you go in?" she really means is it safe?
I say, "Sure it's nothing." I try to remember to breathe, and then nod confirming my words. They help me to stagger over to the hall and sit me down on a cold bench at the door. Three men stand on a platform up ahead us, looking old and frail, yet young. All dressed in black clothes with red linings, an aura of power surrounding them, emitting from them. Sally stiffens, the door we came through has been shut.
"Oh god…"says Sally "You were right."
"What do you mean?" I ask worried, starting to get myself feeling better
"We should never have come here." She looks up as if praying, I lay a hand on her back, "Bobby." She says in an out of breath way "the men standing there should be dead. They were in a photo in my book…" She then looks at me and holds my hand.
The one in the middle looks around at us all eyeing us, smiling savagely putting his hand to his mouth saying, "Welcome, to our home. And thank you for dinner." Then he shouts, "Begin!"
Screams fill the air, as body's fly across the room. I drag Sally's petrified body behind the bench hoping beyond hope they don't see us. Sandy is at her mother's body crying as a black cloak engulfs them her high pitched scream filling the air making my blood run cold. I start to look over the bench, a mass of people who were not there before are ripping at the tourists each one of them dying swiftly and then being crouched over for a period of time then their bodies flung to the floor like apple cores. Each one of the attackers has the same uniform black with a red lining. Not able to look anymore I hug Sally rocking back and forth.
A shadow chills the air above us. We have been seen.
"Get up!" A voice commands
Tentatively I hold Sally and she grips my hands and we stand looking into red eyes and a hungry face. He is a boy no older than 17, tall and slim and deadly. We are going to die is all I can think.
"Well you two thought you could hide from us? " He laughs
"Don't hurt us." Sally begs
Then I do the only think I can think of, I fling myself in front of Sally shielding her from sight and saying, "Kill me, please. Just let her go. I will do whatever you want just let her go."
Then he puts his face near mine and says, "That is not your choice." And before I can think he has Sally in his arms and is biting down on her neck as she looks into my eyes thanking me as she dies. He tosses her body back to me, I catch it gently laying it on the floor and wiping the hair from her face, I close her eyes watching her slip away, her body drained of its blood. She had been so god looking with a bright future and now she is dead.
I look back up at the boy and scream, "You killed her you fucker, you killed her." Then I am over whelmed and sob over her in a mess of snot, tears and blood, begging her to wake up. I don't notice the hall is silent as I scream for my loss of my friend, "Sally, don't be dead." Her body is lifeless and I know I can't get her to wake so I just fall to the floor waiting for him to kill me to. The boy must have picked me up because I am not on the ground anymore but in someone's arms. Again I beg, "Kill me. Kill me." Over and over, but it never comes. It's like an all-consuming fire wanting to die and be safe, "Please." I say as we enter a room and I am laid on a bed, what are they going to do now? Torcher, rape or just laugh at me? I lift my head the boy killer sitting next to me. I go to punch him, but he stops me. I thrash out but every time I do he pins me down till I stop struggling altogether.
Finally I look up, my arms still pinned to my side he lays almost on top of me. Brown hair falling on my face and red eyes trained on my body.
"Go on then." I say
"Go on what?" He asks
"Just rape me! Don't play games before hand. I won't put up a fuss just kill me after." I state as calmly as possible
"How did you…?"
"I just did… ok?" I answer
He then lowers himself down on to me, "Tell me and I might be kind."
"You won't, you never are." I confirm, "So please no games."
He grabs my face, "Tell me." he shouts
I wince, then start shaking, "I know when bad things happen, to me or round the world." I whimper as he starts to take his top off, "Told you."
"A man has his needs." He explains bitterly
"I know just make it quick Alec." Then he freezes
"What did you say?" a white mist oozing from him, I crawl away to the other side of the bed trying to avoid it.
"Alec that is your name." He nods the mist fading fast, "As the horror gets closer I can see who does it that means things about them. So, Alec makes it quick." I put emphasis on his name hoping to stir something in him
His belt comes off and he is between my legs his erection growing against me, his hands reach to tear my top off and it comes off in a clean movement ripping down the middle. Then he moves to my skirt pulling it up revealing my pants, making me gasp as he nears me, but then he hesitates, looking at my face grimacing not looking at what he is to do. I can't help but whimper at his proximity to me I can't bear the thought of him this close.
"Is it really that bad?" I nod unsure of what he is asking
Before I know it he has me to his chest and is hugging me. I can't stop thinking this is just a sick foreplay. That he won't stop, spiddy tells me nothing. I struggle to get out of his grasp,
"Please don't do it?" I shudder
He just holds me tight, making me squeak slightly You will not cry, i think and we nothing for a long time, then says, "How old are you?"
I stay silent
"Answer or I might change my mind about you." He hisses
"16 today." I answer, why does this matter
"Happy Birthday." He says stiffly, "Your name?" he strokes my face
"Roberta." I say quickly, not wanting the threats, and hating him touching me.
"Beautiful, but your friend called you something else." I nod, "What was it?" He asks
"Bobby." I say my voice cracking
"Sleep Bobby, all will be well." He strokes my hair and a white mist engulfs me
MYSTERY POV:
I am burning in a castle. A man with no face watching me.