I awoke the next morning to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I sprung out of my bed, diving over to where my phone sat on its charger by the laptop. I answered without looking at the number.
"Hello?" I croaked breathlessly.
"Did you really just wake up?" Jake's voice was like a slice of Heaven. I glance at the clock hanging on the wall. It's already 1 in the afternoon?
"I had sort of a weird night last night. And it's not like I'm anywhere close to beating your record." I giggle, knowing Jake could sleep a full 24 hours after a rough wolf shift.
"True." he chuckles. "And I bet it was weird. What's it like there? Are there cobwebs everywhere? Do they all glare at you? Is it scary? Is it huge?"
"It's actually very clean. My room is amazing! You wouldn't believe it! I'll take pictures to show you when I see you next. And no, they don't all glare. Only some. It is sort of scary, but I've actually made a friend. He is really nice. And yes, the palace is the size of about six of our houses put together." I laugh.
"A friend?" his voice sounds worried. Of course... He is so overprotective.
"Yes, a friend. He was very kind to me. His name is Alec." I figured there was no harm in telling him. I mean, it's not like he has all the Volturi members memorized... There was a long pause of silence.
"Alec Volturi is your new friend?" the words slide from his teeth in a quiet yet deadly tone. Okay... Maybe he does have them all memorized.. I gulp.
"He is nicer than you would expect." I say defensively.
"I don't want you hanging out with him."
"Well, that just sucks for you."
"I'll tell your mom." he threatens.
"Snitch!" I hiss.
"I'm just trying to protect you!"
"From what? Having a friend for a few months? I forgot how dangerous that can be." I growl.
"From getting your heart broken." he says calmly.
"What? I don't think of him like that!" I fib a bit. "I've only known him for one night!"
"Calm down, Nessie." he says quietly. Ergg! I hate how being a wolf has made him so in control of his emotions. I open my mouth to tell him off, but decide against it. The thing Jake hates the most is being ignored. So I press the end button.
He calls back less than a second later. Dad is the one who got him this phone which is only to be used to call me or get in contact with my family since it is long distance and costs much more than Jake can afford on his small-town mechanic's salary. He'll keep calling for hours because running up the phone bill isn't an issue to him. Might even do it partly as one of his many ways that he is constantly getting a little revenge on Dad for stealing the girl of his dreams.
He says he holds no hard feelings towards Dad, but that has to be a lie. If my natural born enemy stole the girl of my dreams, married her just out of highschool, got her knocked up with some half breed freak, and then turned her into the thing I despised most, I don't think I could get over it ever, much less in a matter of a few months which is how long Jake says it took for him to forgive Dad. I asked him why he did and he said "for reasons I don't think we should discuss yet". No idea what the hell that means..
"Nessie? Are you okay?" Mom's gentle voice asks as she knocks lightly on my door.
"I'm fine." I say in my happiest voice. The knob turns and she comes in hesitantly.
"You've been asleep for quite a while. Carlisle is concerned." She says, coming to sit on the edge of my messy bed.
"I was up late last night. I did a bit of exploring of the garden. It's beautiful." I don't lie, just don't tell her all of the truth.
"Renesmee," she looks disapprovingly at me, "you know you aren't suppose to be doing those kinds of things alone. You should have asked Alice to come with you, she has always loved their garden."
"I didn't think I needed a baby-sitter to go walk around right outside the castle." I growled, walking into my closet to find something to change into.
"There are areas out there where we can't see or hear or smell anything. If someone were to have come knowing you were here and would have taken you, we wouldn't even have realized anything had happened." She tries to use her scare tactic, but it doesn't work. It stopped working when I was like ten.
"Mom, trust me, I was perfectly fine out there." I skim through my rack of sundresses, picking out a cute yellow one. It has a white hem, a white band under the bust, and white straps that criss-cross in the back. It is sort of on the short side, and I try to convince myself I'm not wearing it because I know Alec is right downstairs and is going to be seeing me.
"You can never be sure of that. It might seem safe, and when you least expect it, one of the savages will come out of nowhere." she tries to stress her point. I slip on cute white flats.
"I was sure. I was totally safe, trust me." I roll my eyes, clasping on a string of pearls around my ivory neck and slipping on a few chunky white bracelets that are a little too large for my wrist.
"Just because we are at the Volturi does not mean you are safe at all times!" she is getting worked up now, which is making me worked up.
I come out of my closet, stare straight into her gold eyes, and say, "I know I was safe because Alec was out there with me." And then walk into my bathroom and begin brushing through my bronze ringlets.
"You were with Alec?" she says quietly.
"Yes. Yes, I was." I put on a super-thin line of brown eyeliner.
"That boy is bad news, Renesmee." she sternly says.
"Oh? You know him?" I inquire, putting on a little mascara.
"I know of him."
"So you don't know him. And you have no place to be saying anything bad about him." my tone is feisty and challenging. I just can't control it sometimes. I am over fifteen on the inside, fifteen on the out, and yet she still seems to think I am ten years old just because that is how long I have been on the earth.
"It doesn't matter if I do or not! You have no place to be saying such things to me! Why are you talking this way to your own mother?" She is angry. Mom rarely gets angry. But then again, I rarely talk like this to her. I squeeze my big brown eyes closed, clench my fists, and then relax it all. Calm yourself, Renesmee. I walk out of the bathroom, going to sit by my mother's side.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I just.. I don't know. There is just something about Alec that makes me feel sort of protective. Like he is a little boy." I sigh, brushing my hand through Mom's long dark hair.
"He is anything but. He is dangerous, and a bad influence. Manipulative, scheming, calculating. He knows just what to say to people to get them to do what he wants. And he never has good intentions. Never." she warns. For just a flicker of a moment, I believed everything she said. But then Alec's smiling face glowing in moonlight flooded through my head, and I shook off all the bad she was saying about him.
"You're wrong. He isn't like that." I whisper, staring into her topaz eyes. I bring my hand to her cheek, showing her the image of him in the moonlight that makes him look like some sort of angel.
"I know you want to believe that, but it isn't true. I'm sorry, Nes, but I can't let you become even so much as friends with him. He is a bad influence. " she stands to leave. I force my mouth shut and just glare at her as she disappears out the door at a speed I wish I could accomplish.
I sit on the edge of my bed for a minute, thinking about things. My family doesn't want me to be friends with Alec. Apparently he isn't a good kid. But I don't believe that. I think he is misunderstood. And I think he needs someone to be his friend. Mom can forbid me all she wants, but I am just as stubborn and strong-willed as her.
I slip down the stairs, quietly walking down a few hallways and staircases, just wondering around and hoping I find where I'm suppose to be. Soon enough I end up in the room with the thrones. Aro is the only one in the thrones, and he has a band of black cloaks surrounding him as they discuss too quietly for my less sensitive ears. They split as soon as I take a step in.
"Renesmee, so glad to see you awake." Aro smiles, not bothering to get up from his throne.
"I am terribly sorry for oversleeping." I tell him with my sweetest smile. His face goes soft.
"Oh, don't worry about it dear. If I could I would sleep in everyday." he winks at me and I laugh. It's fake, but he doesn't notice. "I was wondering if perhaps you would want to take a tour of the great town of Volterra today." he suggests, and I use all my strength to keep my face from falling. I hoped maybe I could hang out with Alec today, or at least see him.. Now I'm going to be spending my day walking around this boring old town with some boring old vampire.
"That sounds lovely." I keep my smile firmly in place.
"Fantastic! I'll have someone take you.. Jane, maybe?" he muses, and my eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. My throat constricts, cutting off my air.
"I can take her, Master." the most wonderful, magical voice in the world says from the sea of black cloaks. Like a ray of sunlight shining onto a dreary day. A figure steps out of the crowd, and the cloak hood falls back. Alec grins at me, flipping his long black hair.
"Excellent." Aro breathes. Alec walks over to me, still grinning.
"Mademoiselle." he bows gracefully as I giggle. He stands again, offering his arm to me. I link mine through his and he leads me out.
"Thank you for saving me from Jane." I whisper to him as we walk through dark halls.
"No problem. I don't really want my sister to kill you. Well, not yet anyways. At the moment I think you're rather interesting. And hot. But my feelings might change today, depending on if you annoy me or not. And if you do, I'll sic Jane on you." he grins, probably picturing the scene in his head. I try not to dwell on the fact that he called me hot.
"You really have a way of making a girl feel special." I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"I know." his grin broadens. We reach the bright receptionist room and Alec hangs his black cloak on a hook there revealing his jeans, red shirt, and black leather bracelet with a ruby-encrusted silver V on it. We continue walking, talking lightly, until he abruptly stops.
"You're really slow." he remarks.
"I'm a half breed.." I remind him.
"Right. Because even though I can hear your heart going a mile a minute, and smell your intoxicating blood moving under your warm skin," he brushes a finger against my throat, "I had somehow managed to forget that you aren't a vampire." he rolls his eyes.
"Oh, shut up." I laugh. Alec suddenly scoops me up in his arms bridal style. I release a scream, which he muffles with his hand as he takes off running. I shut myself up, trying not to get sick as he goes much faster than what I am used to. Finally he stops under the manhole we had jumped through yesterday.
"You could have given me a little warning." I say nauseously as he sets me on my own two feet.
"But I didn't." he supports me for a few moments, making sure I won't fall. Then he lets me go and I wobble for a second before regaining my balance.
"Yeah, thanks for that." I smile slightly. Then I look up at the manhole, eying it with disdain. "Think you could take care of that for us?" I ask Alec, jutting my thumb upwards. And one second he was standing there, the next he had disappeared. A white blur scurried up the wall and across the ceiling like something from a horror movie, and then the manhole covering disappeared and Alec appeared by my side again.
"Show off." I say under my breath, rolling my eyes. He just grins loftily. Knowing I could never do that whole wall climbing thing, I stick to the old fashioned method and just jump up using the terribly little vampire strength Dad's genes gave me. I land with a thud on the cobblestone outside, brick walls looming around me and a sky of rolling gray clouds overhead. Alec appears by my side again a second later, his smile now mischievous. I study his face for a second, wondering what is up with the sudden change in expression, and then I realize something. I just jumped fifteen feet into the air with wind whirling around me and my legs poised to make a landing...in a dress.
"Please tell me you didn't see anything." I beg, feeling humiliated.
"Nothing bad." he says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. "And by the way, red is my favorite color." he laughs and begins sauntering away. My face flushes as I remember the silky crimson Victoria Secret G-string I put on after my shower last night.
"I hate you." I growl, catching up him.
"I'm hurt." he puts his hand to his chest in mock pain.
"Just give me this stupid tour." I huff.
"Do you really want to hear me drone on for a couple hours about every last detail of Volterra?" he asks incredulously.
"Not really." I take a seat next to the stone fountain with dozens of shining coins on the bottom of it.
"Good. Because I don't really want to talk about this boring old place." he sits next to me.
"Well, that means we have a couple hours to kill. What should we do? I'm starving." I look up at him from beneath my thick black lashes. He meets my gaze steadily. Then he laces his fingers through mine, and pulls me up. He takes us on a journey to every place he deems okay for me to try something at. I am hardly allowed to take two bites of something before he tugs me to somewhere else though.
After about an hour, I am stuffed. He tries to pull me into another store, but I hold up my hand in the universal signal for stop. "I will explode if I eat another bite." I tell him, finding the closest bench and taking a seat.
"Sorry. I got a little carried away." he says sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it." I place a hand on my bulging tummy. I wonder what he would say if I told him when I said I was starving I meant I wanted blood... I'm not going to do that though. That would just spoil all his fun. I can get blood from my room when I get back. And human food doesn't taste anywhere near as horrible to me as it does to vampires, but it also doesn't taste as great as it does for humans. Still, I loved watching how excited Alec got as he led me around his hometown to all the restaurants he has obviously wanted to go to but never had a reason to.
"Does it hurt?" he asks, placing a hand over mine that is resting on my belly.
"Not too bad." I shrug. Just then a young Italian woman passed by, looking over at a deathly-pale, black-haired, black-eyed Alec and ivory-skinned, copper-haired, chocolate-brown eyed me, both of us clearly very young, with our hands resting on my enlarged stomach. Alec notices her too, and we both laugh as soon as she has moved along. Alec quickly takes his hand away from my tummy. After I stop laughing, I realize the observation I had just made about Alec.. His eyes are as dark as his glossy hair.
"Alec... Your eyes are black.." I brush my finger across the dark purple bruises under his eyes. Those bruises are something I hardly ever notice anymore. My whole family drinks animal blood, not human, which is not very satisfying. Those bruises are under their eyes pretty much all the time considering the animal blood always leaves them still thirsty and wanting something more. But on human drinkers, the bruises only come when they are very thirsty. And I can't recall the last time I saw a human drinker's eyes this dark.
"I haven't fed in a while. And, God, you smell amazing." he breathes in the scent of my wrist, which is dangerously close to his mouth. I begin to pull away, but he grabs my arm, pressing my wrist against his lips.
"Alec.." I whisper, feeling like I am in some kind of danger. His eyes are closed and he continues to inhale my scent. Finally, he drops my arm, letting it plop back to my side. I exhale air I hadn't realized I had been holding.
"Sorry. It is just..." he shakes his head, unable to find the right words. "But no worries. I am perfectly in control of myself. I would never slip up like that." he promises.
"My family has always told me I don't smell appetizing." I tell him, a little confused.
"Of course they did. I don't think you would really want to grow up knowing your whole family wants to drain every last drop of blood from your body." he says bluntly. Alec is so frank about everything. I actually really like it. But sometimes I just don't know what to say back, so now I just stared at him like an idiot.
"Half-breed blood makes vampires stronger. Did you know that?" he looks over at me, a brow arched. I shake my head slowly. "It's true. Human blood makes us stronger, and your blood is practically on steroids. And all those vampires out trying to kill off half-breeds are getting stronger every time they kill more. Which means they also become faster. Like they needed anymore strength on you guys." he sighs.
"Have you ever drank from a half-breed?" I ask him quietly. He looks over at me for a long moment, studying my face.
"Yes." he says finally, and my stomach drops. "But she let me. And I didn't hurt her in any way." he assures me.
"Hm. It isn't too difficult to guess why she let you.." my face twists in disgust. He obviously had sex with a half-breed, and she let him drink from her to make up for her lack of speed and strength. The act itself doesn't necessarily make me want to vomit, but thinking of Alec with another half-breed does.. It's obviously jealousy that is making my stomach do back flips and my vision tint red in anger. I have no right to be jealous though!
"Somebody is jealous." he sings, ruffling my hair.
"Am not!" I lie.
"Are too. Come on, we need to get back." he stands abruptly, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. He doesn't let go of my hand as we continue to walk.
"Isn't Aro going to look into your thoughts and see we never went on the tour?" I ask him.
"He probably could care less about what we spent our time doing. And I long ago mastered how to keep things away from him. If you don't dwell on it, he passes right over it. And I've figured out sort of how to blanket my memories and thoughts from him. He completely misses things. It is all just white noise to him." he shrugs with a cocky smile.
"Aren't you brilliant." I smile slightly.
"I suppose." he winks at me.
"Well, Mr. Brilliant, tell me how to figure this out." I smirk, then using the hand of his already in mine, I replay what Mom said to me. I only do what I heard, not what I saw though, considering I was getting dressed at the time. He jumps a little, startled as Mom's voice begins to drift through his head, but never tried to pull his hand from mine.
"You could have given me a little warning." he grinned breathlessly as Mom's voice drifted away.
"But I didn't." I smile along with him.
"Well, there really isn't anything we can do to change their minds. They're right, you know. I'm not a good influence." his eyes are playful, yet there is still a deadly warning deep within them.
"Well I'm a good one. So we'll cancel each other out." We stop walking by the fountain, neither of us wanting to go back
"Opposites attract." he chuckled. Something in my stomach fluttered. Damn butterflies. "Anyways, if you still want to have training, maybe we should hold it off tonight. Wait til tomorrow night to start."
"But why?" my shoulders sag, thinking he is backing out of what he said.
"I have some things to do with Aro tonight. And I don't want him figuring out what we're doing. He might tell Carlisle." Alec grimaces, thinking of the trouble he might get it.
"You don't have to do this if it will get you in trouble." I tell him, trying not to show my disappointment.
"Please. Aro can't do anything to me. I'm his most valuable member." he scoffs. I roll my eyes. We start to head to the manhole, but then I realize something.
"I think I'm going to go around back. I don't want my parents to see me coming in with you." I frown.
"It doesn't really matter. Aro has probably already told them." he says non-chalantly. I freeze up.
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" I exclaim.
"I didn't know it was a big deal until just now. And it was too late by then."
"Oh God. I'm going to be killed. I got to go." I begin to walk away still planning on going around back just in case. Alec runs to grab my wrist much faster than he should in public, but thankfully no one was paying us any attention in this dark, narrow alley.
"Wait." he said before I could get a word out about how dangerous that was. "If you are going to be killed, I thought I should get something to remember you by." he grins.
"And what did you have in mind?" I try to resist smiling, but it comes anyways. I smile way too much around him. He just provokes this regular teenage flirtatiousness within me and I turn into putty in his pale hands.
Alec suddenly leans forward, pecking my cheek quickly. He pulls back, smiling like a little boy who stole cookies behind his mother's back. I laugh out loud at the expression and the act itself.
"Was that childish of me?" he asks, still smiling but now sort of wryly.
"It was cute. But I really have to go now. See you tomorrow, Alec. Hopefully." I smile at him once more before turning and jogging down the streets of Volterra. I find a deserted back alley and hop the wall surrounding the town. Then I circle around, finding the wall to the Volturi's garden. I hop it, and wander a bit before finding the tree. I climb up it, and hop onto my balcony. I am panting by the time I finally flop onto my bed. I can't wait til little things like running across a town, hopping a couple ten foot walls, sprinting through a massive garden, climbing a tree, and leaping seven feet through the air, won't wear me out.
I took a shower after that, feeling exhausted from my long tour with Alec. I changed into more comfortable clothing, and then went and hung out with Alice in her and Jasper's room, which isn't as large as mine. Mom and Dad never came and talked to me, so I guess for some reason Aro never told them. Maybe he just told them I had gone on a tour and they didn't ask questions, or maybe they just forgot about me for a while. I'm certainly not going to ask about it, so I guess I will never know.
