Chapter 1 - Welcome
It was a cloudy day in the beautiful city of Volterra, a soft breeze blowing across the busy plaza. An older couple was wandering through the cobble-stoned streets, taking pictures of the beautiful buildings before they arrived at an open plaza. Their gazes were quickly pulled to the impressive ancient city hall, standing prominently in the middle of the town. In front of its wooden doors a group of tourists was gathered, listening to the woman who stood on the steps. The crowd slowly grew as more and more people joined, excited murmuring rising up.
The old couple shot each other a curious look, but they too felt themselves being drawn towards the doors. The older woman adjusted her backpack and placed her sunglasses on top of her head before she and her husband made their way over to the group.
"Welcome to this exclusive tour of our city hall, please come and join us! My name is Heidi and I will be your tour guide for today," the woman said with a big smile on her face. "I will show you around this ancient building and tell you all about the history of this unique place. Now, I see everyone has arrived, so if you don't mind, follow me!"
Without hesitation Heidi led the big group of tourists into the castle, nodding politely to the guard members at the door. When the last people had filed into the hall, Heidi turned back around. "I will be taking you along all important art works and architecture. If at any time, you have a question, don't hesitate to ask me. I'll be glad to answer."
A door on the other side of the hall opened and Heidi walked over, motioning for the group to follow her. The walls in this new passageway were decorated with tons of paintings, all of which the tour guide seemed to know something about.
The humans were so engaged in her stories that they did not even notice the passageway getting narrower as they moved further along. While windows had let in some light at the beginning, now the only sources of light were the dim lamps on the ceiling.
"This is such a charming place," an American woman gushed excitedly, smiling as she snapped one picture after the other. "I always look forward to the tours, don't you, Frank?"
The grumpy man behind her grunted something inaudible; it seemed he was not as keen on excursions as his wife. However, as soon as Heidi spoke back up, his eyes glazed over and he was enraptured by her voice.
"Please make sure you keep up with me," Heidi told her group with a knowing smirk. "The hallways are a maze. Believe me when I say you wouldn't want to get lost in here."
The blonde loved the charade.
When they turned around another corner, the group came to a stop in front of a large painting. It hung on a wall next to two massive wooden doors, where two guards were on watch. Their eyes tracked the ignorant human's movements, their pupils dilating ever so slightly as they breathed in the fresh scents of blood.
"This painting is our most prized possession," Heidi explained with a smile. "It portrays the kings and the queens who built this city hall to use as a castle decades ago, when they ruled over the area. Of course, they all died long ago. Though some say that even now their ghosts wander through the hallways…"
Some chuckled uncomfortably, shifting a bit, while others raised their phones and cameras to commit the painting to memory. Had they not been told that the painting was hundreds of years old, they would have believed it to be made recently. To them, it seemed like all historical artefacts in this castle were taken care of quite well.
The woman cleared her throat unnecessarily to gain the attention of the tourists once again, before she spoke up.
"Our next stop is the throne room, where the kings would gather and make laws, or speak justice. As today is a special day, we have managed to arrange a small play for you to demonstrate what it was like in those days. I hope you will enjoy it!"
With those words the beautiful vampire led the group of humans towards the doors. Demetri slipped out of the throne room, walking past them, quickly whispering in her ear, "Save some for me, will you?"
Heidi grinned, shaking her head in mock disapproval before winking at the bulky man. "I'll see about that."
Demetri flitted past her, disappearing into the hallways. When Heidi received the signal from the guards at the enormous wooden doors, she turned towards the group of humans once more, smiling widely.
"It is permitted to take pictures inside, but please make sure the flash is off. Enjoy!"
The two cloaked figures opened the doors in a fluent motion. One by one, the tourists poured into the room, their eager behaviour soon replaced with hesitancy as the unease crept onto them. However, their attention was soon pulled to the magnificent creatures perched on the thrones in the centre of the room.
Aro watched in delight as the group of humans trickled in. Heidi had done her job well, as usual. His mouth watered in anticipation, as he inhaled deeply.
Caius was looking at his brother with an exasperated expression. Though he too enjoyed 'dinner time', he did not understand the need to make it into such a happening. Their meal would not have the chance to remember whatever would happen right before their death. Aro had always had a flare for the dramatics, he thought.
The sound of the heavy doors closing echoed through the tall room, shaking the king out of his reverie. Aro stood from his throne, all eyes following him in his movements. He clapped his hands excitedly, a grin spreading across his face before he finally spoke up.
"Welcome, guests! Welcome to-"
"It's so pretty in here," a young voice mindlessly interrupted Aro.
Everyone turned around as one, eyes searching for the source of the voice. Soon, their gazes fell upon a small girl in a red dress, standing near the back of the group: she could not have been more than five years old. Stunned, the guard watched the child as she leisurely looked around the room. She did not even seem to notice that everyone's focus was on her now.
"The building style is magnificent," the girl wondered, stumbling over the big word. She sighed softly. "I wish I had a camera."
Aro's gaze followed the girl with an abashed expression plastered on his face. He did not understand why a child was participating in this tour, nor did he understand the reaction she had upon entering the throne room. The survival instincts of children were so much more in tune around them, but the girl did not seem to have a single concern. They had hired a human tour guide for the specific reason of keeping children out of their diets; Emilio was able to show the families who were interested in the city hall around in the upper level of the building. It perplexed Aro that this girl's family had slipped under the radar.
However, as Aro further looked through the group of humans, he could not find anyone who might be her guardian. Instead, the adults stepped back from the girl, as if to show she was not their responsibility.
When Aro glanced at their fisher, she looked as surprised as the rest of them. Heidi stood as frozen, her eyes wide. She had been with the group for nearly an hour now, but she had not once noticed the presence of the little human girl. She shook herself out of her stupor and stepped forward to present her hand to Aro, who did not hesitate to accept the offer.
As the king browsed through Heidi's recent thoughts, a pensive look struck his face. He tried to search for a reason to the ignorance of the girl's presence, but he could not find a single clue. Slowly, he let go of Heidi's hand, the transaction having taken only a few seconds. The girl was still looking around the room, though she seemed to have lost interest in the architecture and she was now looking at the members of the guard lined along the walls.
With a barely noticeable nod of Aro, Heidi made her way over to the child. The humans surrounding her, shuffled backwards.
"Where are your parents, little one? Did you not know this tour is for adults only?" Heidi asked as she knelt down in front of the girl.
The child did not even look at her when she answered with a surprisingly clear voice. "I had to go with you."
Everyone was still watching the interaction, but some of the vampires were getting restless. It had been quite a while since they had gotten presented a feast like this and it was starting to take a little long to start. Caius, who was never one for patience, had had enough of the talking and made his way over to his brother to show him he should hurry up with interrogation. But he had barely taken one step when Marcus, the third king, suddenly gasped.
The guard and the two brothers whipped their heads around to see the otherwise passive king gripping the armrests of his throne with such a force that they crumbled within his hands. With a flash Aro stood next to his brother, who did not even acknowledge his presence.
Excited whispers arose from the guard as Aro's hands fluttered, not knowing what to do. Marcus had not spoken or made a sound in centuries; none of the guard had ever heard him talk. He had withdrawn himself completely after the death of his beloved Didyme. Where he had once been a feared warrior, he now spent his days mourning his lost love by wandering around the castle and its gardens. The little communication he did have was through his thoughts with Aro.
No one understood why he had not gone insane yet.
However, it seemed that something had finally broken through the wall which had been in place for such a long time. The king relaxed his hands slowly, the debris falling to the ground. He did not take his eyes from the girl as he presented his palm to his brother.
Aro's eyes widened as he saw the peculiar bonds which surrounded the child. He let go of Marcus's hand and looked at Heidi, who was still knelt down in front of the subject in question. There was so much mystery surrounding her, so much to unravel and he quickly made a decision.
"Heidi, will you take our small guest to Gianna? We will talk to her later," Aro told Heidi, making sure he spoke too fast for the humans to hear. However, it appeared he did not succeed, as the girl moved her gaze from Heidi towards him.
"But I haven't seen them yet," the girl said frowning. Her expression turned to one of determination. "I can't leave without knowing at least something, he said I had to talk to them!"
Her words only confused the vampires more and although they whispered amongst each other, no one reacted to her cryptic statement. When the girl did not receive a response, her little shoulders slumped forward and she turned around, away from Heidi.
"I really thought I had to be here," she mumbled sadly to herself, making her way to the wooden doors. "I have never been wrong before! And he told me-"
"Who is this man you refer to, little one? What is it you seek to find?" Aro asked, moving towards the girl.
"I don't know," she answered him as she halted in her movements.
"Who told you something? Was it important to know? You can tell us," Heidi said, standing upright. This time, the girl turned around and looked into the vampire's eyes.
"I am not allowed to tell you, your eyes are black. I can only talk to the red-eyed ones," she told Heidi with a firm voice.
The vampire's eyes widened in shock at the girl's apparent knowledge. Aro moved to ask the girl for her hand, when he noticed footsteps approaching the throne room. The child's eyes widened, her heartbeat speeding up in anticipation as she started to bounce excitedly.
"I knew I was right!" she sighed, turning back to face the doors. Not even a second later they opened, revealing the person she had been waiting for.
"Master-"
A/N: Hi there! Please let me know what you think :)
- Laura
27-04-2019: I am in the process of slowly editing and re-writing the chapters of this story, which means there could be some inconsistencies until I correct them. Just know that the plot will stay the same, which means there will be no problem for those of you who start reading this story while I am working on it. Sorry for the inconvenience!