Hello once again. As I said to one of the reviewers, who Avalon is will not be revealed until the chapter after this one. In this chapter, more questions will be asked (and I'll put the ones from the last chapter in too) and-sorry bout this-only one (extremely unimportant) will be answered. Each chapter will at least ask one more question, and I'll add the answer for those who are befuddled (or want it cleared up). For now, enjoy…
-Starlight1746
We-that is to say me, Alice, Edward, and Bella-managed to get on the first plane to Italy. The rest of the Cullens (and Peter and Charlotte and the Denali) were stuck in Portland for another two hours, by which time-according to Alice-it would be too late. According to Carlisle, we were the most important people to go on the first flight, because of our Gifts. Jacob was taking Renesmee home to Forks with the other wolves; we don't want them to come to Italy, it'd be too dangerous.
Carlisle had told Edward and I to scan everyone's mind-no matter if it was only a mere passerby-to make sure Maria wasn't tailing us. Of course, there hadn't been many people at the airport (it was-what?-like three in the morning when we left) so it hadn't been that hard. No one had been suspicious, and we all were pretending to be asleep.
Alice's eyes suddenly flickered open and I dipped into her mind: The same girl-Avalon-was running down the streets of Volterra; it was definitely daytime, but the sun was behind some clouds, and then the clock tower chimed three o'clock. She was in the thicket of people, so vampire speed wasn't an option. She knew not to hunt in the city, but she was thirsty, and so she was not breathing. Every now and then, she would accidently brush against someone, and take a bit of their energy for herself, but she had to be careful; a mortal dropping unconscious next to her would be quite bad. She finally caught sight of the large castle of the Volturi, and quickly ran into the ornately carved, dark cherry door. The door swung open, right after her first knock, by Alec, his sister, Jane, flanking his left arm. Jane stared at her, and she fell onto the floor in agony. Alec put a cautioning hand on her, and the attack ceased. Alec grabbed the still-panting Avalon by her shirt, and the door slammed shut.
The vision ended, and the three of us who had seen the vision looked up at the exact same moment; Bella's head sprung up a second later.
"So we have until three o'clock today… Hopefully we can get into the palace by then…" murmured Edward, deep in thought.
"Hopefully, if she doesn't get there quicker than that." Alice said.
"Doubtful; did you feel the certainty in that vision? It will definitely happen." I argued. Bella's brow furrowed, and Edward swiftly filled her in on what she had missed.
"We'll have to get there as soon as we can. Alice, will it be easier, since it's not St. Marcus day?" she asked. Well, duh! There won't be a thousand tourists! I thought, but Edward threw me a glare.
Alice nodded and the captain came onto the announcements, waking up the sleeping passengers by saying that we would be landing soon.
We landed in Florence, and ran the rest of the way (it was faster than the traffic that would stir in about an hour) and we arrived at the gates of the city at about eleven o'clock. Alice closed her eyes for a moment then said, "c'mon" before I could get a proper look into the vision. As it was almost noon, we went into a store and nicked some long-sleeved, hooded, long pants' outfits (for Alice, Bella, and Edward, as I was already wearing some)-we left money, of course-then managed to find the palace by two o'clock, by which time the clouds had completely hidden the sun. The only problem now was finding which entrance Avalon had used, as they all looked the same.
About two seconds after three o'clock rang, I heard the knock on the door, the gasp of pain, and then I heard the door swinging shut. I rushed over, but I only saw a sweep of an almost-black cloak before the door clicked shut.
Edward and Bella ran over, Alice on their tail. "What happened, Jez?" Bella asked.
"They just went in, like, half a second before I got here." I told them.
We have to go in, Edward. The same way as before. Alice thought.
No, no, we can't go there, Edward, it's blocked. I thought.
"Are you sure, Jez?" I nodded.
Just then, the door sprung open and Jane stood in the doorway. Gah, I thought I heard conversing out here. This is sooo dumb. She thought as she stared at us. Edward let out a low growl as Jane smiled serenely. She aimed an attack at Edward, but I suppose Bella had us shielded, as it didn't do anything.
"Jane, what are you doing out here?" A voice said from down a corridor.
"Hello, Demitri, I just found these goggling outside our door." Jane answered as the large form of Demitri slid into view. He smiled menacingly, but he knew we could take him in a fight.
"Well, come in, don't just stand around." He said.
Alice stepped in first, though she was concentrating on finding out where they put Avalon to pay too much attention to anything else. Bella followed her in immediately, then Edward. I walked in behind him and heard the door shut as Jane and Demitri followed. Edward was memorizing the pathways we took, but he didn't need to, as I knew the paths well (I had served the Volturi a little while back for about a decade).
I dipped into Jane's mind, and found the conversation from several minutes ago.
"Please, Jane, Alec," Avalon said. Her voice was high (not unlike Renesmee's, I had to note) and pleading; Alec gave no indication that he'd heard her, but I felt a flicker of annoyance run through me: she knew our names, what else did she know? We knew, of course, not to touch her, and Alec kept a firm hand on her shoulder, which was covered by a shirt.
"Please, stop for a moment!" She continued, "Please, this is urgent, it's very important! I need you to stop! Please!" She made to grab for my brother's arm, but he let go of her shoulder and flinched away from her. She turned around to me, and I let her writhe on the floor for a few seconds. Alec went and stood her up, and marched her up one of the staircases.
"I'll take her to the empty room on the second floor, you know, the Viewing Room for extra humans; it should be empty right about now, right?" Alec inquired. I nodded, then heard voices back along the hallway. Ugh, Cullens.
I retreated from her mind and thought to Edward, I know where that is, we just have to ditch Jane. He gave a small nod, and said, perfectly pleasant, "Jane, we need to talk to Aro, as soon as he's available, if that's ok."
She narrowed her eyes at him, then, seeing her attack fail once more, said, "He has an important order of business to attend to first. Jez, if you could, go and show them to the waiting room." Hmm, she still regarded me as one of their own; that's good. Demitri ran after her.
I nodded then, once she was out of earshot, I said, "C'mon, I know where Avalon was taken." We ran up to the third floor, then promptly found the balcony that was over the room.
"… to be counseled by the council of the Volturi. Rise for the entry of Aro, Caius, and Marcus." Jane was saying. Avalon did not rise; she didn't even raise her head. She gave no motion to say she had even heard Jane. Jane glared at her; as she fell over, Jane said, a little louder than needed, "I said rise, you!" When Jane stopped, Avalon sprang up, and the door creaked open once more. Aro, Caius, and Marcus came striding into the room, looking at Avalon.
Aro didn't dare try and gather her thoughts, as touching her would result in the loss of all his energy. Caius walked up to her and looked down at her (she had collapsed the second they walked in) as though she was something disgusting. She made a feeble attempt to grab at him, but he kicked her with the toe of his boot and she fell back to the ground.
Marcus did nothing but stand there, looking utterly bored (as usual). Caius was about to say something to Demitri (who just walked in) when Edward jumped down off of the balcony, shouting "NO!" along the way. Everyone-Avalon included-looked up. Alice's eyes widened and Bella followed him down.
"Oh look what we have here!" Aro exclaimed, "Edward, and Bella!" He looked up. "And"-he gasped dramatically-"Jez, and Alice! Marvelous, come down here!" We had no choice but to jump down beside them.
I bowed my head solemnly and said, "Please, Aro, spare her. She meant you know harm, she only wished to come here and talk with you. I'd be prepared to vouch for her." Aro, Caius and Marcus made a huddle, and Demitri and Jane kept their eyes on Avalon.
A moment later, they broke apart, and Aro said, "Well… I suppose she has done no harm as of yet. We assumed that she came here to gather her strengths and relay it to others. Well, if you're prepared to vouch… as long as she does nothing wrong… you may all leave." Jane shot us all looks of disdain before storming out. Aro sighed and followed her, Caius and Marcus on his tail. Demitri smiled roguishly at us before leaving as well. Avalon looked up at us, her eyes black as night, and her body frail and weak. She moaned, "please help me" before closing her eyes and hugging herself on the ground.
Well, I hope that helped.
Naw, I'm kidding, I know it did nothing for you. So, here are the questions once more (Underlined means the answer as of finishing the chapter, Italicized means a new question):
1) Will Alice be able to find Jasper? Sorry, not yet.
2) Who is this Avalon chick, and why is she so important? Well, it's clear that Avalon is a vamp who drains other's energy and, as of now, is really weak.
3) Will Alice's vision come true? If it does, will Avalon be tortured again (probably) or even killed? Yeah, Alice's vision came true (both of the ones pertaining to Avalon, actually) and she was tortured again, but not killed-well, not yet she hasn't been.
4) What other vampires does Maria have in store for us? We have no clue yet, now do we?
5) What has Avalon done to make the Volturi know so much about her, and be mad at her?