Chapter 20: Volterra

Four minutes. Four minutes away from the silent pleasure of death. Four minutes away from the absence of the horrifying pain that had consumed me over the past several months. It had eaten me alive. I leaned casually against the alley wall bare-chested waiting for those four minutes, wait three minutes to dissolve in to the endless abyss of time. I was tempted to go ahead and step out into the sunlight and expose my kind to the rather large crowd of people that had formed near the grand Palazzo de Priori, as the locals called it. I chuckled darkly to myself. Saint Marcus Day. How ironic. The day the city celebrates in honor of Father Marcus who drove all of the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. For one, no they're beloved "Father Marcus" was ironically now a vampire. And another thing was that they were about to witness a vampire being slaughtered by Father Marcus. I smiles again as I imagined how it would feel when I sucked in my last unnecessary breath. All pain and memory of…her would cease to exist. The haunting memory of her face when I left her was enough to kill me. I was numb, shattered, destroyed.

I pondered for a moment of what I should do with my last two minutes of existence, since life had already been taken away. I decided that despite the self-inflicting pain it would cause me, I would remember…her. I couldn't say her name anymore, it hurt too much. I reminisced through the vaults of stored hallucinations I had been having the past few months. I remembered the first kiss we shared. I recalled in perfect detail how her fervent lips had melted my icy ones. I remembered how her fragile fingers had knotted in my hair. I sighed in pain. I then skipped quickly over to the meadow, where I had professed my love for her for the first time, where she saw what everyone was about to see now.

The bell tolled obstreperously. I knew it was time. Part of me wanted to make this as dramatic as possible, so I decided to wait until the last chime sounded. One…Two…I moved forward an inch, exposing my palm to the sun. It glittered and shimmered as the sun danced mockingly against my skin. Five….Six…

"Edward!" I thought I heard someone call. I shook my head in denial, knowing my mind was jeering me. It tricked me into thinking that I could enjoy the pleasure of hearing…Bella's voice one last time. I shuddered at the internal sound of her name.

"Edward, no!" I heard it call again. I continued to stand motionless against the alley wall, my eyes closed "dreaming" of Bella. Another sharp pain wrenched through my entire being at the thought of her name. The clocked tolled again…Seven…Eight…I lifted one foot to place into the direct sunlight.

"No!" the angelic voice screamed. "Edward, look at me!" I continued to stride toward the blistering heat of the bright sun. I smiled to myself knowing it was almost over.

Then, a weak force slammed into my body. Someone had slammed into me. I slowly raised my purple lids to find Bella standing before me. That was quite laconic…

"Amazing," I said slightly amused, "Carlisle was right."

"Edward," she gasped breathlessly, "You've got to get back in the shadows. You have to move!" Hmm. My hallucinatory Bella's were usually less aggravated. Oh well. I'll take anything. I moved my hand down and brushed her flushed cheek softly. In that moment, a strange feeling washed over me. Despite the fact the I was dead, despite the fact that I had just exposed my kind to the worlds, and despite the fact that the Volturi had slaughtered me publically, I still felt…whole. My once numb body sputtered hyperactively. I was complete, not healed, but like there was never a wound in the first place.

"I can't believe how quick it was. I didn't feel a thing they're very good." I closed my eyes again and pressed my lips to her hair. "Death that hath sucked the honey of thy breath hath no power yet upon thy beauty." I murmured with my face buried in her hair. Romeo had his moments.

"You smell just exactly the same," I noted, "So maybe this is hell. I don't care, I'll take it."

"I'm not dead," she interrupted, "And neither are you! Please Edward, we have to move. They can't be far away!" Her efforts of resisting were futile, as she struggled against my arms. My brow chamfered in confusion.

"What was that?" I asked chivalrously.

"We're not dead, not yet! But we have to get out of here before the Volturi " The sound of the Volturi's name awakened something within me. I suddenly understood what she was saying. She had saved me. She had stopped my suicide attempt before it was too late. But…why? How could she still care for me after I hurt her so? It didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered was the fact that she was alive , and she was with me again.

"Is that a…human?" I heard one of the guards think. I recognized the "voice" to be Felix. "Yes," he thought again, "It is." He inhaled deeply. I could smell the venom pooling in his mouth while he licked his lips threateningly. I growled fiercely internally. I abruptly snatched her away from the shadows so she leaned against the brick wall. I spread my arms in front of her; shielding her from whatever was to come.

"Greetings, gentlemen," I tried exceedingly hard to keep my voice calm and even, "I don't think I'll be needing your services today. I would appreciate very much, however if you would send my thanks to your masters."

"Shall we take this conversation to a more appropriate venue?" Felix's voice replied.

"I don't believe that will be necessary." I was losing the battle to keep my voice calm. "I know your rules instructions, Felix. I haven't broken any rules."

"Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun," Demetri stated, silently gesturing to their flowing gray cloaks. "Let us seek better cover."

"I'll be right behind you." I responded sardonically. "Bella, why don't you go back to the square and enjoy the festival?" Felix growled too low for Bella to hear and thought, "He's quite protective of his…mate isn't he?" Why yes, yes I was. I didn't take offense, but I could see where his thoughts were going.

"No, bring the girl." Felix whispered.

"I don't think so." All civilized nature behind my once calm tone had vanished. My voice was monotonous and icy. I shifted me weight in front of her, tensing for battle.

"No." she mouthed letting the tiniest breath of air surpass her lips.

"Shh." I uttered for Bella alone.

"Felix," Demetri began. "Not here." He looked to me. "Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all."

"Certainly," I concurred. "But the girl goes free."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Demetri spoke again. "We do have rules to obey."

"Then I'm afraid that I'll ne unable to accept Aro's invitation, Demetri." I retorted.

"That's just fine," Felix whirred. I smiled internally as I struck the weakening blow. I had weakened them, but from their thoughts I knew they weren't defeated.

"Aro will be disappointed," Demetri sighed. He was attempting to make me feel guilty. But I knew that disappointing Aro would most definitely not make me feel guilty.

"I'm sure he'll survive the letdown." I replied callously. Felix and Demetri cornered me slowly, yet, I didn't budge.

"There it is…the fragile little human." A shrill voice thought. I caustically whipped my head around to face the darker side of the meandering alley, nostrils flared in sheer ire.

"Let's behave ourselves, shall we?" and articulate voice proclaimed, "There are ladies present." Alice fluttered lightly to my side.

"Damn it," I heard Felix think; "Now we have even numbers." I smirked to myself.

"We're not alone," Alice reminded them. She gestured to behind Demetri. The little family, with the girls in red dresses, was watching us.

"Non guardano strano?" the mother said in italian, "Non douremmo partire qui?"

"Please, Edward, let's be reasonable," he pleaded.

"Let's," I agreed. "And we'll leave quietly now, with no one the wiser." Demetri sighed with impatience.

"At least let us discuss this more privately," he begged. My teeth gritted together containing my fury.

"No." I growled. Felix simply smiled.

"Enough." My nostrils flared again at the sound of the external voice. I dropped my arms in defeat.

"Jane," I sighed. Alice shifted her position so that her arms were folded neatly across her chest.

"Follow me," Jane said. No on dared arguing with her. She spun around and began to walk down the alley. Felix motioned for us to go first as he smirked.

"I knew they would lose." He thought. Hah. I snorted. Let's just see about that. I enveloped my arm around her scorching waist, and hauled her along beside Alice. The guard was following close behind. Her chocolate brown eyes stared up at me filled with questions. I simply shook my head in denial. This was not the time, nor the place to discuss the matters at hand to her.

"Well, Alice," I said colloquially as we treaded along. "I suppose I should be surprised to see you her."

"It was my mistake," Alice replied. "It was my job to set it right."

Now I was curious.

"What happened?" I asked politely, though I was sure she could hear the impatience in my tone.

"It's a long story." Alice's eyes flashed to Bella and then back to me. "In summary, she did jump off a cliff, but she wasn't trying to kill herself. Bella's all about the extreme sports these days." I felt Bella's body temperature rise rapidly. I knew she had flushed at the completion of Alice's summary. I quickly scanned Alice's thoughts for a more detailed synopsis of what had happened in my absence.

"Near drowning, stalking vampires, werewolf friends…"

"Hm." I replied curtly. Anyone else would've been better off when the vampires left, but not Bella, no, not Bella. I will need to speak with Bella as soon as possible to confirm these events. But not before we shared a tight embrace and kissed passionately, me knotting my fingers in her hair...Stop it Edward! Get a grip! I thought. Okay, back to confirming…we approached the brick wall at the end of the alley. Alice strode forward and floated down into the street.

"It's all right Bella," I soothed. "Alice will catch you." She observed the hole dubiously and crouched down. She swung her legs into the hole.

"Alice?" she whispered, voice replete with trepidation.

"I'm right here, Bella," she replied. I grasper her wrists in my hands and lowered her into the darkness below.

"Ready?" I called.

"Drop her." Alice commanded.

I released he wrist and let her drop silently. I heard Alice set her down noiselessly. I myself stepped through the hole and was once again towing Bella beside me. My arm encircled her waist, holding her closely. She wrapped both of her arms around my waist. She tripped and stumbled along the cobblestone path to hell. With this thought in mind, I suddenly held her tighter. My free hand floated to her face, tracing my thumb across her soft, warm, luscious lips. I pressed my face into her hair and inhaled deeply. The once delectable scent, did not appeal to me. I no longer wanted to take her life, for I knew how it felt to be without her. I never wanted to feel that again. EVER. No pain I has experienced in the past one hundred and seven years was insignificant compared to thinking I had lost her. I felt her clinch closer to me. I smiled as I thought that she might actually want me back. I would beg and plead if that's what it took to convince her that I still loved her. I loved her more than anything I had ever loved before. She once told me that she returned the same affections. But, how could she love me after what I had done to her? The lights at the end of the passage signaled the gates to Hades. I realized that Bella was shaking. Her entire body quivered. Was it fear? No, she was much too brave for fear. I suddenly noted the abrupt drop in temperature because of our location. And our embrace was not helping with that. I let go of her unwillingly, but still help her hand tightly.

"N-n-no," she chattered. She was freezing. I attempted to produce friction by grating my gelid hand against her arm. We hastened now as we reached the grate. I ducked through the door and scurried to the stone room that contained our death sentence.

"Oh, how pleasant," Thought their leader Aro. "A human." He smiled wickedly to himself.

"She smells delicious…" Caius thought. Marcus began to drool venom at the first smell of her, his eyes glistening a hypnotic red. My jaw clenched tight as I tensed in protection around my one and only true love.