Welcome to my latest story, 'Mountain'. I've been debating on whether or not to publish this first chapter until I have a few more saved up, but I couldn't help myself! Please enjoy!
Disclaimer - I do not own any recognisable or published material. I only own the original characters and storyline in this story.
CHAPTER ONE
Normality is a paved road; it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.
- Vincent van Gogh
Her parents were one of those couples; you know, the ones that epic love stories are based on. They were completely and utterly smitten with each other. It was a privilege to have been raised by parents who had such a strong relationship when there are so many people who are raised in a loveless household. Sometimes, though, it felt like a curse to be around them every day and remain alone while they took every opportunity to confess their undying love for each other.
Marina and Sebastian Silentas had been married for many years before they decided to adopt a baby. Several months and a mountain of adoption papers later, baby Adalina Silentas was welcomed into the family. When she was younger, Adalina had noticed that while she changed and grew, the rest of her family did not. She can still faintly remember asking her parents about it, and the ensuing argument between them as they debated over whether to tell her the truth. Eventually, her father convinced her mother and they told Adalina the reason behind their unchanging appearance – they were vampires. Real, out of the coffin, vampires. After the initial shock, she had spent the following weeks grilling her parents, constantly asking questions and trying to learn everything there was to know about vampires. It was all very fascinating and new to Adalina but, over the years, that juvenile interest had decayed into a bitter fixation. How could she not feel bitter when she had spent her entire life surrounded by such beautiful people and yet she remained painstakingly average in comparison?
While she had grown up with the knowledge that her family were vampires, she didn't know much about the rest of their world until a few years ago. Her parents had waited until she was eighteen to tell her more about their world because they didn't want to overwhelm her at a young age which, she accepted, was completely reasonable. From what they had told her, Adalina knew that there were three vampires that governed over the rest of the species and they formed a coven called the Volturi. When she had asked how three people managed to control an entire species, her parents had been rather vague and mysterious in their answer – 'You'll understand soon enough, Adalina'. They had then moved on to tell her that each country had a leading coven that dealt with small crimes and disputes that happened in their area, and if any major crimes occurred, they handed the perpetrators over to the rulers. Adalina's family were the leading coven for the United States of America but they split some of the duties with another coven that stayed in the north.
Adalina had never met the rulers or anyone in their coven, but that was about to change in a few days. The ruling coven was holding one of their decade balls this week and this was the first one that she was old enough to attend. She had been about twelve years old when the last one had taken place and her entire family had respectfully declined to attend while she was so young. She had been feeling quite anxious in the lead up to the ball; this was going to be the first time Adalina was surrounded by such a large group of vampires and there was no doubt that she was going to stick out like a sore thumb. Regardless, she was going to try her best to not look completely miserable while she was there because she knew it made her parents upset to see her like that. So, like always, she would bottle it all up to make sure that no one else suffered alongside her.
While she carefully packed her clothes away into a suitcase, she went over everything she knew about the ruling coven. The three rulers were originally from Greece and they were each just under 2,500 years old – a staggering age that had make Adalina choke when she heard it. They were brothers in venom, having been turned by the same maker, and two of them were gifted. Some vampires possessed an extra gift that was different from the ones that already came with the bite. Aro was the eldest of the three brothers and one of the two that possessed a gift. Marcus, the other ruler who was gifted, came next and that left Caius who was both the youngest and the one with no gift. While Adalina knew that Aro and Marcus were both gifted, she hadn't been able to find out what gifts they had. However, she did know that they would complement their personalities perfectly – for better or for worse, that's just the way that gifts worked.
With a relieved sigh, she finally finished packing her suitcase and turned around to carry it downstairs, only to find someone standing in her doorway. A startled gasp made its way past her lips and her heart started hammering before she recognised the grinning face of the intruder.
"Mikhail!" Adalina scolded once her heart had calmed down. "You could have given me a heart-attack!"
The grinning man sauntered further into her room before speaking. "Since when do you call me Mikhail instead of Uncle Mikey, huh?"
Adalina rolled her eyes as the overgrown man-child pulled her in for a hug. Despite herself, she let a fond smile tug her lips for a moment before pulling back to continue scolding him.
"Well, Uncle Mikey, it may have escaped your notice but I'm not a little girl anymore," she started. "This is the 21st Century, people tend to knock on doors before entering – don't think that I won't be telling Emily about this."
Emily was Mikhail's wife and she was a stickler for manners. How she managed to put up with Mikhail was beyond Adalina's understanding. He was the definition of rude, and always up to something mischievous, especially when Adalina was around.
"Aw, come on, Lina-bean," he whined. "I've only been home for ten minutes and you already want to get me into trouble?"
Mikhail and Emily had been travelling through Russia for the past several months and had returned home just in time to travel to the decade ball with the rest of the family. They both travelled a lot, meeting with other leading covens to discuss current affairs and other such things, so it was rare for them to be home for more than a month before jetting off again. Adalina had always loved it when they returned from travelling when she was younger because they brought back little gifts for her. She now had quite the collection of trinkets from every corner of the world.
"Anyway, your mom wants you to bring your suitcase downstairs now," Mikhail informed her. "We're leaving soon."
"Okay, I'll be down soon," Adalina smiled at her uncle. "I missed you, Uncle Mikey."
The gentle giant smiled softly at his niece. "I missed you too, Lina-bean."
The car ride to the airport was a quiet affair, which Adalina was thankful for; sometimes she just needed a few moments of quiet to gather her thoughts. As such, Cristian was the perfect travel companion and one of Adalina's closest friends. Cristian had stumbled across her family's coven about ten or so years ago, and they had quickly discovered that he was mute. Adalina had been approaching the brink of puberty at the time and she quickly latched on to Cristian's gentle soul from the moment that she met him. In turn, Cristian doted upon her immensely and took any opportunity to be around her. Over time, they had formed a deep bond with one another; Adalina could tell him all her deepest secrets with no fear of rejection and Cristian felt completely accepted, muteness and all, by Adalina. They had even created their own secret language, loosely based on sign language, that they used to communicate with each other.
"Do you know what you are wearing to the ball yet?" Adalina asked Cristian as they made their way through the airport. The rest of the family had already arrived and checked in all of the luggage, so they didn't have to wait in too many queues.
"I'm a man, Adalina, we all wear the same suit in different colour variations," he quipped with a small grin. Something that not many people knew about Cristian is that he had quite the penchant for dry humour and one-liners when the mood strikes him. As a result of their closeness, Adalina had picked up her own dry sense of humour, but it only came out around Cristian.
"Not my dad, he has a grotesque collection of suits ranging from tuxedos to Victorian era three-pieces," Adalina snorted. "Pocket watches included."
Cristian chortled silently beside her as they climbed onto the jet; her father's suit collection was a common topic of discussion between the two, and something that he could never know about lest they face one of his famed tantrums.
"What are you two laughing about?" Her father, the man in question, asked eagerly. Adalina got the impression that he sometimes felt left out when she and Cristian had their secret conversations.
"We were just discussing some of the recent tabloids, dad," she answered with a small smile. "They can be quite ridiculous at times."
Her father then proceeded to spend the next couple of hours discussing the younger generation's obsession with celebrities and social media as the jet began its journey to Italy. Needless to say, both Cristian and Adalina were relieved when her mother finally distracted him and gave them both a bit of peace. That's something else that made the pair extremely close, while they enjoyed the occasional conversation or debate, Adalina and Cristian were both equally as happy to just sit next to each other in silence. There was something comforting about just existing with another person.
The rest of the journey passed quickly and Adalina spent most of it reading a book or taking the occasional nap. That being said, it was a relief to walk on solid ground again and stretch out her legs in the fresh air. This was her first time being in Italy and, even from the meagre view the airport offered, it looked like a beautiful country. The skies were clear with no signs of the grey clouds and pollution that engulfed American cities. It was a rare occurrence to look up and see the sky in all of its glory back home where there was a constant buzz of orange light from the city. And there were trees, beautiful trees that were scattered across the land with no sense of order or formation; she was so used to seeing trees that were planted in perfect rows but this way was definitely more beautiful. Overall, everything seemed so natural and organic here in Italy, she couldn't wait to explore.
The airport that they had landed at was based in a small town a few miles away from Volterra, where the Volturi resided. There were three cars waiting on the tarmac for her family so that they wouldn't have to parade themselves through the airport – especially in the beaming sunshine that enveloped Italy. Artfully draped scarfs and parasols provided enough coverage for the vampires to rush into the cars undetected while Adalina took her time walking down the jet's staircase, admiring the beautiful landscape and scenery. By the time she was finally seated in the car with Cristian, the rest of the family had already left and so they quickly drove after them.
Her father had rented a large villa for everyone to stay in for the duration of the trip as they were much too conspicuous for a populated hotel. The Volturi had offered them accommodation in their residence but Adalina's parents were quick to decline due to the simple fact that a human residing in a building full of unknown vampires was not the brightest idea.
The villa was gorgeous with gently faded white walls, a rich terracotta roof and mahogany accents. It had a lot of character, which is what her mother and father preferred as they felt it made a house feel like a home rather than a showroom. That pretty much summed up her family; they preferred to fully submerse themselves in life, even through the nitty and gritty, rather than hide away in fancy houses with only their money to keep them company. Adalina knew of covens that focused their entire lives on maintaining a barrier between themselves and the rest of the world, and she thought it was a rather sad way to live, especially when you have so much time to do so. Of course, that's not to say that her family went around flaunting their immortality for the whole world to see. They were big believers in maintaining the secret; they just don't believe that you have to live in a bubble to do so.
With a relieved sigh, Adalina made her way into the room next to Cristian's. Travelling always took it out of her and, no matter how much sleep she got on the plane, she was always exhausted by the time they got to their accommodation. Gently placing her suitcase beside the bed, she slipped off her shoes and crawled under the sheets for a much needed nap.
Despite only having slept for a few hours, Adalina felt well-rested by the time she woke up. She stretched out her arms and legs while walking over to the window and looking outside to see that the sun had just begun to lower in the sky. Turning away from the window, she turned around to survey her room. She hadn't bothered to look around much before her nap, but it was a lovely room: the decorations were simple and understated, with woven furniture and wooden flooring. She was not the type of person who could sleep in a room that was too busy or messy, she preferred a more minimalist approach when it came to decoration.
Quickly glancing at the watch on her wrist, she noticed that there were only a few hours until the Volturi Ball. As if summoned, her mother chapped on the door before peeking her head in. Upon seeing that Adalina was up and awake, she walked into the room.
"Time to get ready," her mother grinned.
Allowing her a small smile, Adalina walked into the bathroom to shower quickly while her mother started her preparations in the room. From previous experience, she knew that her mother would work on her hair while she worked on her makeup. While Adalina enjoyed getting pretty and dressed up on occasions, she couldn't help but feel that, no matter how long or hard she worked on her appearance, she would never compare to even the least beautiful vampire in the world. But, with a sigh, she fixed a smile on her face before wrapping her wet hair in a towel and walking out of the bathroom. There was no sense in making everyone miserable alongside her.
After two hours, she was finally finished getting ready. Her hair had been expertly styled into glossy waves and curls by her mother, while she had given herself a glowy complexion with champagne hued glitter dabbed carefully across her eyelid and a slick of nude lipstick to accentuate her lips' natural colour. The dress was the real star of the show though, Adalina had spotted it in one of her mother's fashion catalogues a couple of months ago and had immediately known that it was exactly what she wanted for the ball; it was gold, with a strapless bodice that was fitted until it gently flared out from her knees to the floor. The bodice and edges of the skirt were adorned with a metallic, gold applique. Her accessories were simple so as not to draw attention from the dress; a pair of nude stiletto heels and a similarly coloured clutch with no jewellery except from a simple pair of gold stud earrings.
Adalina felt beautiful, looking over her form appraisingly in the mirror, until her mother re-entered the room in her own dress. Looking at her mother, her shoulders slumped slightly – she looked positively frumpy compared to the beautiful vampiress. Even from just looking at her, Adalina knew that she was going to be the proverbial ugly duckling in the room full of gorgeous vampires.
"Look at you! You look beautiful, carino," her mother gushed.
"Not half as much as you, mom," Adalina murmured while kissing her mother on the cheek carefully. "You look lovely."
They both walked downstairs to meet with the rest of the family before leaving. Upon entering the living room, Adalina was quick to walk to Cristian's side. He quickly placed an arm around her waist, sensing her slight distress immediately. She smiled up at him gratefully before looking over at the rest of the family.
They all looked amazing, not that she expected any less – her family loved to dress up at any opportunity, Adalina included. Emily was wearing a stunning red dress with Mikhail wearing a matching tie tucked into his black suit, and her mother was wearing a figure-hugging black dress which her father matched with an all-black tuxedo. Cristian had also matched his tie to her golden dress, they always matched their event outfits as they were the only single ones, and he was wearing a pearl grey suit. All in all, they pulled together quite the ensemble which was sure to turn more than a few heads their way at the ball.
They all exchanged compliments and had a few jokes before separating into the different cars to head out. Adalina stared out of the window nervously as the car started, hopefully she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself tonight.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next instalment. I'm already working on the next one, so it should hopefully be up soon! Feel free to leave a review, it would mean the world to me!