Chapter One: Cause and Effect
A human daughter, twice as beautiful as any vampire, radiating from her still beating heart to the smile and wise eyes that melted any hard resolve like flame to candle wax; a prisoner of the timeless and the blood mongering kings…
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Renee wasn't sure what to do in these kinds of situations. She had a couple bottles of beer and a tuna sandwich before departing on her mission, only now her head swirled and her stomach threatened to throw up the well spent ten-ninety-five on her dinner.
Oh, the wedding was grand (she thinks, not really remembering), and the idea of spending a few romantic nights in the heart of Italy made her swoon- in a lovely way, not the 'I'm going to puke out my guts' kind of way. Of course as soon as Renee and her new husband Charlie, who she only met a night or two ago in Vegas, were dismounting the plane her spouse disappeared into the crowd with all their baggage except Renee's carryon stuffed with her credit cards and money. What an idiot.
Perhaps bad luck is contagious or it just multiplies and worsens like an untreated fever. No matter. However it happened and she can remember at least that, Renee now cradled a whimpering baby in her arms.
The haunting images of the man in the dark, hooded cloak behind the pub returned to her. He bent down low to brush away the strands of mahogany hair from the poor beggar woman's neck. Her daughter cried in a crate beside her, wrapped up in a blanket of a bit of old sweater and newspaper, while the woman was assaulted by the man. Once finished he had sniffed the air. Renee backed herself closer to the kitchen door hoping that the smell of burning grease would disguise her cheap perfume.
Odd though that such a harmless woman must be murdered like that by a man who probably thinks he's a mythological creature- talk about your sadistic freaks.
The dark man scooped the woman up into his cloaked arms and swung her over his shoulder. As he walked away Renee rushed forward and scooped up the baby to soften its cries. With whatever life still resided in her the beggar reached a hand back to the dirty corner where she was attacked.
"My baby!" She choked. The man bounced her up so she landed back on his shoulder with a huff and a splintering crack. Renee hoped dearly that the woman had a pencil or something in her pocket and it wasn't her rib that just popped.
Renee's vision was hazy but she could see the dull death seeping into the beggar's eyes at the murderer slowly sauntered off into the dark. If she hadn't followed his movements she wouldn't have know he was there. The night was his camouflage.
Baby in hand she had nothing to do but follow. If she gathered enough evidence then she would be able to inform the city detectives. Somehow, though, Renee knew that a beggar wouldn't concern the police. But just for the sake that she had seen the killer drink her blood like some freaking vampire Renee had to deliver some justice.
So she followed and walked, more like ran to keep up, trailing behind the victim and the culprit on the cobbled streets until they simply vanished. Renee halted, confused. Surely she hadn't lost them; she had been right on their heels! Then she noticed an even darker spot on the road. It looked like an oil stain, only the street was too narrow for any kind of automobile and the spot was perfectly circular. The closer she got Renee could clearly hear the drip noises and the almost silent footfalls. There was a hole in the road!
She tried to measure out how to go down the hole without hurting the baby. She didn't know its depth and she had no light to shine a beam into the darkness.
"Stay here," she commanded the child who only coughed when Renee gently set her on the ground.
Slowly Renee crouched before the hole and lowered her self in, her feet dangling in the abyss as her arms straightened and only her fingers still clung to the world above. "Jesus Hubert Christ," she muttered before letting go. Her butt slammed to the floor and began to throb where she knew the bruises would form. Goodness, if she could even get out of here, tomorrow morning she would have one sore ass and one sore attitude.
Still, curiosity pushed her along down the dark tunnel guided only by her hands against the stone walls. Everything was eerily quiet.
"What are you doing down here, Missy?"
Renee jumped at the voice that seemed to come at her from all sides. The pace of her heartbeats quickened and her breath caught. She had been spotted, although when she squinted she couldn't see anything. The feeling of nausea increased. Could it be him? Was he going to kill her too? Renee had to find a way out. This was stupid. It was suicide!
She turned and fled down the corridor back to the vague patch of stairs in the ceiling of the tunnel where she jumped down from. Footsteps followed here yet they seemed to luxuriously be taking their own time.
Finally she spotted the opening, hearing the baby wailing outside as it cried hungrily for its mother. 'I'm coming,' Renee chanted in her mind. 'Don't worry. I'm coming.'
"Got you," the masculine voice said again. A cold hand clamped down on her one arm and pulled her to the ground. Renee released an ear piercing scream as she felt the bones sever. Her good arm reached toward the hole as if she could some how will it to come closer. Or maybe she was reaching for the baby, not that either of these gestures was very effective.
A prick was felt on her neck that soon became a gushing purple fountain of pain. Her life was rushing out of her body and she was helpless against it. All the sounds of the world faded and the out-of-your-body feeling hospital patients told tall tales about took over Renee's mind, if she still had one.
She watched the man clean out the last remnants of her life from her dead body and then turn to leave. But the crying baby must have called him back.
"No!" Renee shouted, there was no sound but she still heard the word. Apparently the murderer did not. A ghostly hand clamped down on her shoulder. It had no substance but had enough force to hold Renee's equally ghost-like self in place.
She turned to face the beggar woman who looked as translucent as a white t-shirt soaked in water. Together they watched murderer become kidnapper and escape with the little girl back into the hole and dissolve into the darkness. The woman's calm words did nothing to comfort either of the two dead women; they just made the emptiness and hopelessness inside them grow stronger. "There's nothing we can do."
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Charlie Swan wasn't much of a socialite, in fact, he wasn't much of anything. Sitting on his couch at home watching an infomercial he finally decided that he deserved so much more in life that an apartment in the middle of nowhere. He had to find something, somewhere; anything really that he didn't have. So Vegas it was, and when boozed up Renee proposed to marry him between the slot machines he eagerly agreed. So what if she wouldn't remember the ceremony, or if she'd want a divorce when she came to. What Charlie didn't have was a wife. Or hair, or a nice car, or expensive clothes. Renee had all of these things. So if they were gone in the morning and paperwork left in their place he could at least say he had it… once. That was something, right?
Charlie only started to question his on sanity and how many shots he'd taken when the newly married couple, bubbly from the martini's the flight attendants awarded them, nestled down for the night in their first class plane seats. It was a one way ticket to Italy, or as Charlie now put two and two together, he had a one way ticket to hell.
Renee was snoring lightly in the seat beside him. With her hair disheveled and martini salt stuck the corners of her lips she was still beautiful. To bad he didn't know anything about her. He had an urge to know her favorite color but she would probably be a roaring dragon if he woke her up from her slumber now.
He sighed. His mother always told him not to rush into things. Then again, he hadn't seen her in over five years so he figured the advice didn't count anymore.
"Hey," a seductive feminine voice called out to him. A curvy woman with pretty eyes and a full rack rubbed his arm as she leaned over to him across the isle.
"You okay?"
He slipped his jacket off and put the bundle on his lap to hide his arousal. There's no better turn off than noticing a man is more excited to see you than you are of him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just having a pretty weird night is all..."
"Oh. Have you ever been to Italy before?" she traced lines along his arm until his muscles shivered. She had rather cold fingers but Charlie wasn't about to give up his jacket.
"N-no; have y-o-o-ou?"
"I live there, but I like to travel. I always seem to come back, though. It's just so beautiful, you know? It warms my heart…" she place one of her hands between her breasts, making her low rise shirt seem even more risqué. "Right here," she patted with a smile. Charlie watched earnestly as her hand rose and fell. "My heart."
He gulped not moving his eyes. "Uh-huh."
"I'm going to Volterra. There's a beautiful castle there I always visit. Are you going to Volterra? You should."
Charlie's hands shook. "V…v…"
"Oops!" a map of the country fell between the two of them. Charlie reached forward to get it just as the woman did. He felt just like a teenaged boy looking down her shirt. "Sorry, I meant to show you the map." She took a moment to adjust her bra, his eyes never leaving her shirt. She opened the map and pointed out where she had marked the city of Volterra in red marker.
"See," she poked the spot with one delicately manicured finger. Her other hand rubbed circles in his back. Charlie began to wonder if she was one of those loose women.
He woke Renee up once the plane had landed, too distracted to give her any other greeting then pull her down the steps and off the plane hand-in-hand. The woman had disappeared but Charlie had a desperation to see her again. With baggage in hand he walked brusquely away from his wife into the throng of frantic people ignoring Renee's angry shouts.
She was there, leaning beside the men's room bathroom door. She smiled as she saw Charlie approach and beckoned him to come closer. Everything about the woman Charlie found sexy, she was surely something Charlie never had either. Nor had he ever done it in a bathroom stall. But here was crammed against the toilet seat and the back wall with all Renee's and his suitcases squished in with them.
She brush up against him and grabbed his thigh pressing her lips hard down on his neck. Soon her hand on his leg started to grab on tighter until it was like a vice. It was too much pressure for his leg and it felt as if her thumb and fingers were strangling his thigh muscles. He let out a cry of anguish.
"Now, now," she whispered. "Don't want to ruin the mood." And her teeth clamped down on the pulsing artery in his neck, savoring the taste.
Charlie had never died before either. That was something.
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The huntress left the battle field in triumphant victory. She licked her lips as she thought in amusement of the heyday the press and the police force where going to have when they found her victim popping a squat on the toilet seat of death amidst all of his luggage.
She smiled when she spotted her companion waiting patiently on one of the various benches in the building. He rolled his eyes and stood up gracefully.
"So, what did you think?" She asked.
"Heidi,… that was the most vulgar hunting technique that I have ever seen." He answered.
She narrowed her eyes scathingly. "So you think you can do better, huh, Demetri?"
He nodded and pulled the dark hood of his cloak over his head so only two blood lusty eyes could be seen from underneath. The rest of his astoundingly handsome face was hidden in the shadow.
He grinned maliciously, "My turn."
This first chapter acts like the prequel to the story. I thought it was best to put this chapter in third person point of view, is it? The points I'm trying to get across is that the vampires in the Volturi aren't as humane as the Cullens who have not entered into the scene yet. Everything in this chapter will affect the next, so please wait patiently… my stories are just experiments so far. I'm deliberating which stories to delete, which ones to put aside for the moment and which ones I should continue. Your opinions and words of advice are appreciated.