Chapter 4 is heeere!
Thank you readers for all the hits and reviews so far! Last weekend I saw Hollow Man 2, the movie that stars Peter Facinelli. (Squeal!)
If you are a fan of Carlisle, you should take time to watch that movie this summer.
Ahem, anyway, back to the Cullens' cronaca (chronicle).
Chapter 4: Trentino Train Trouble
The meadows were very quiet and tranquil, except for the chirping of birds and the wind blowing through the grass. So when Carlisle's cell phone vibrated and the ringtone rang, both Carlisle and Esme jumped at the sudden noise. Esme got up so that Carlisle could fumble in his pocket and pull out his cell phone. He checked who was calling and sighed.
'It must be Alice: calling in to tell me her whole shopping history during the last few hours.' He thought. Nevertheless he slid his cell phone open and answered.
"Yes Alice...?"
"Carlisle, there's no time to explain!" Alice's voice came over the phone loud and urgent. "Felix wants the whole family and the Volturi coven in the sewers, like, now!"
"What-?"
"I told you, no time to explain! I gotta call the others!"
Alice hung up.
Esme had listened through the whole conversation while she put up her drawing tools. "What did Alice want?"
"She says that Felix is calling an underground meeting. And the Volturi only do that when something extremely serious has happened."
Carlisle looked around the beautiful countryside with sadness and held Esme's hand. "We have to get back to the city and see what's up."
Esme tightened her grip on his hand. "I'm with you." She replied with determination. Then, as fast as they went up the hill, they sped down and made for the city of Volterra within minutes.
Xx0xX
As soon as the couple arrived within the city's proximity, they took dark, rarely-used roads to reach the alleys of the Volturi castle. Carlisle and Esme went down the very same porthole that Bella, Alice and Edward had used during their previous visit to Italy. With their enhanced golden-eyed vision, Carlisle and Esme had no problem walking down the dark, dank corridors and catching sight of a tiny figure holding up a lantern. At first Carlisle thought it was Alice, but then he realized it was Jane from the hooded cloak she wore.
"Good. You're here. Follow me."
After a few turns and jumping over rivers of sewer waters, they arrived at a dimly lighted cavern. The only sources of light were large candles posted on the four proximities of the circular room. This was the catacombs under the castle plaza where the Volturi would gather to discuss the most confidential matters. At the center of the room most of the Volturi members have already arrived. The only non-Volturi vampire among them was Alice, who stood next to Felix. Bella was also with them. When Alice saw Jane bringing in Carlisle and Esme, her face lit up in the dark.
"Great, you came! We just need to wait for the other people now!"
Soon Rosalie and Emmett, who were escorted by Demetri, filed in. The last people to come were Edward and Jasper. Since Edward was the fastest member of the Cullens, he was sent by Aro to go fetch Jasper at the Vatican. Everyone took their places among the rocky outcrops that jutted out from the floor or the walls. Aro began to speak.
"Fratellos, sorellas, and amicos. We have a serious matter in our hands. Felix, present your case."
All eyes turned to Felix, and the newspaper that he held up. Then everyone's eyes changed from curiousness to astonishment, save for the Cullens, as they read the headlines printed in bold:
Trentino treno distrutto, Giaccomazza sfugge!
(Trentino Train Wrecked, Giaccomazza escapes!)
"Hey, that's the same train we took from France to Italy!" Emmett gasped.
"Escaped from prison? But how?" Carlisle's calm demeanor was shaken. "I thought you were able to foresee this!"
"That's the problem." Marcus growled. "Giaccomazza has this strange ability of blocking out all manipulation on his mind and body."
"The same ability that Bella has?" Jasper asked.
"Yes. And now that he's on the loose." Said Demetri from the very back of the room. "I'm unable to track him down. Never in my life have I been unable to catch my bounty. E molto frustrante."
While all this was going on, the rest of the Cullens were very confused. Alice plucked up her courage to interrupt the conversation briefly.
"Wait a human minute...who is this Giaccomacco guy you're talking about?"
"Giaccomazza," Carlisle corrected. "is a very infamous Italian criminal, and vampire, who is charged with countless crimes of kidnapping a whole bunch of people at once. Humans think that he may have sold them to foreign countries as slaves. But we vampires believe that he keeps them as hostages for future meals." There was a hint of disgust in Carlisle's voice. Everyone knew only too well how he hated the concept of vampires and their natural food source.
"That's why we call him the Leopardo." Said Caius. "When leopards kill their prey, they take it up to the trees and hang the animals' heads between the branches. A lot like Giaccomazza kidnapping and imprisoning humans."
"Thanks for the nature lecture, Caius." Marcus said sarcastically. "Now, back to business. The newspaper doesn't have much information that we find useful. But it does say that the incident happened around three to four o' clock. It's also been reported that 14 people are missing. In a minute, Heidi will come here and report to us all the details that only a vampire could uncover."
As soon as Marcus was finished speaking a pale, beautiful vampire with mahogany hair glided in. She had a notebook in her hand.
Emmett leaned toward Alice and whispered into her ear.
"Look at Rosalie glaring daggers at that Heidi person. What's up with her?"
"Put it this way." Alice whispered back. "Rosalie's used to being the prettiest vampire in the room. And she is pretty. No doubt about that. But this Heidi is gorgeous too. Rosalie's suddenly not the Queen Bee. And it's making her squirm."
Hearing this exchange between Alice and Emmett, Edward decided to eavesdrop on Rosalie's thoughts.
'Why couldn't that Heidi be old? And ugly? Hair falling out? And toothless? I would like to give her a total make over. Ha!' Rosalie smirked evilly after her bout of envious sulking. Edward tried not to laugh. Then he centered his focus back to the meeting when Heidi began to speak.
"According to what I have seen, I have written down these observations:
One: The Leopardo and six other men wore matching black tuxedoes.
Two: From this note, I was able to see them snatch up about sixteen people and flee the train. I don't think anyone else could have seen it.
Three: A fire was deliberately set to burn diesel fuel. That's what caused the smoke."
"Very good, Heidi." Aro said. "The kidnappings happened too fast for any news reporter to fully analyze the situation. And the paper was off by 2 numbers when it came to counting the missing people."
"But I sense something different about this scheme." Carlisle said. "What made the Leopardo pull off such a thing in a public place? Normally he would make his kidnappings subtle."
"Well, he did go on the same train as us. "Edward said. "Could he possibly pick up our scent?"
The Cullens looked at one another in horror.
"If that criminal continues his activities near us, we could be exposed! What he wants to do is to get his revenge on us! And he used the Cullens' scent to find his way here!" Marcus slammed a fist against the wall. The walls vibrated slightly from the impact. Esme's beautiful face was a picture of devastation.
"We're so sorry that we came! We had no idea that we would create problems for your coven!"
"No need to apologize." Aro smiled soothingly. "Of course you wouldn't bring in a killer vampire intentionally."
"Think about it, Marcus." Said Demetri. "If the Leopardo is on the loose here in our area, we might have the slightest chance of catching that criminal."
"Yes, that could work." Aro mused.
"Cool! We're gonna be official criminal-catchers!" Emmett looked like he was going to burst from excitement. "We need a catchy name for our family. Ooh, I got it! How about CIA: Cullens-In-Action?"
"NO EMMETT!" By now, all the Cullens were sick and tired of him.
"Actually, I like that name." Felix said. "It's way better than Volturi."
"What!?" Aro exclaimed. "How can you not like our awesome name?"
"Think about it, Aro." Demetri replied with irritation. "Volterra's Olive-Loving Team Under the Region of Italy...it is an amazingly stupid name for a regal coven of royal vampires! I mean, if we didn't have such a ridiculous name and a ridiculous love for olives, the Leopardo would still be in our coven right now!"
'Volterra's Olive-Loving Team Under the Region of Italy!?' The Cullens bit down on their lips to keep from howling with laughter.
Aro scoffed. "The name was my brothers' idea."
"DON'T GIVE US THAT EXCUSE!" Marcus and Caius hollered.
"Aw come on, every Italian loves olives. And if you don't, well, you're out of the club!"
"We do love olives! We just wish that our name could've been cooler!"
Jane, Felix, Heidi and Alec murmured in agreement with what Demetri said.
"Hold on a sec..." Carlisle waved his hands. "The Leopardo got exiled from the coven because he didn't like olives!?"
The Volturi vampires nodded their heads.
"THAT'S THE MOST RETARDED THING I'VE EVER HEARD!" Emmett blurted out.
"But I don't like olives." Carlisle said. "And still, you let me stay with the coven for a few decades."
"Well, that was before we made up all the olive rules." Aro waved a hand dismissively. "When we did add those rules in the 1900s, however, that was the time when the Leopardo had joined our group."
"Even those he's a criminal now and might kill us, I'm kind of glad he got kicked out." Jane spoke up for herself for the first time. "He was always making fun of us."
"That pizza volto was no normal Italian, that Leopardo. E troppo pazzo." Aro shook his head. Then he clapped his hands to restore order.
"Now that we have information on the Leopardo's whereabouts, let's all try our best to nab that pizza face for good!"
"Whoo-hoo! The Cullens-In-Action are on the case!"
Despite the seriousness of the situation, everyone couldn't help but relieve their stress and laugh at the sight of Emmett singing the James Bond theme at the top of his lungs and walking about the room all sneaky-like.
Are the Cullens up to the job of successfully catching a criminal vampire? What ingenious plans can they think up of before it's too late? And are you wondering how the Volturi survived with their retarded name for the past one thousand years??
Yeah, not much translations here, but I hoped you're enjoying the story so far. .
Neglecting to review is a sin!! (Just kidding, but it would make me happy if I could hear opinions from other people) I appreciate constructive praise and criticism, lol.
1: Fratellos, sorellas and amicos-Brothers, sisters and friends
2: E molto frustrante-It's very frustrating.
3: Leopardo-Leopard
4: Pizza volto-Pizza Face
5: E troppo pazzo-And crazy, too.