Reach
Italy is now my most favourite country in the world.
In the world.
Seriously.
It's so hot.
The kind of heat that sinks through the layers of your skin and heats the very marrow of your bones. And for a girl who has been stuck in a town that is freezing for most of the year, this is the most amazing phenomenon ever.
It's bright too. As we ride through Pisa in our tinted window Mercedes, we can see the buildings around us gleam a mixture of yellows, oranges and whites. Alice, Rosalie and I practically have our noses pressed up against the window. The people around us are brown and leathery; the whites of their teeth seem like neon signs. The tiny winding cobbled streets are filled with these people, coloured stalls are set up with boxes of different fruit, vegetables and meat set out in organised chaos.
As the city turned into countryside, the cluttered buildings disappeared and fields of dusty yellow and mottled greens spread out in patchwork quilt around the black tarmac road we were driving on. On hills we saw the twisted branches of olive trees, dry and crackly looking in the blazing sun.
I just stared dreamily over the fields, happy to just let it all wash over me. I was resting my head on my folded arms, which were resting on the juncture between the car window and door. Edward was right behind me; I could feel his long, tapered fingers playing with tendrils of my hair. Every now and then, he would reach forward and press his lips to my bared shoulder.
I don't remember a time when I had felt this happy.
"I can't believe we're in Italy!" Rosalie squealed, "Its so amazing!"
As the others talked excitedly, Edward and I were fine with just watching the scenery go by. Although I was pretty sure that Edward was not so much watching the scenery as watching me.
Meh, I'm used to it.
Getting off the plane was an entirely more elaborate than it would have needed to be than if we had been an entire group of humans. Before getting off, a light proof set of stairs had to be attached to the side of the plane. The end of the stairs had to be sort of enclosed onto the cars we were getting into. But even through the thick lightproof material that surrounded us, the Mediterranean heat still managed to get through, swirling around us invitingly as we slid into the also light proof car.
The instant I felt that heat, I couldn't honestly wait to lie in it all day.
I wasn't going to think about vampire shit for a while. This was Italy, where I had dreamed of going since I was small. It maybe for a morbid reason, but beggars can't be choosers.
*B*F*
"There it is!"
Some hours later, I followed the end of Gael's finger up to the Italian town that sat on the top of a gently sloping hill. I'd imagined a dark castle with lots of turrets, stonewalls and moats and shit like that. Its kind of harmless looking like any other Italian village on a hill. As we wound our way up the twisting dusty tarmac road, I saw how the yellow walls were decorated with strips of fluttering red fabric, the emblem of Volturi stamped in black on the material: a V with a crest in the centre, looking vaguely threatening.
As we entered the town, guards in dark uniforms directed us to the centre of the town, where the main Keep was situated. We drove through a gatehouse, more guards passing on either side of us but this time, they were in cloaks of deep crimson, their hoods up and black masks covering their faces, with only three tiny slits for the mouth and eyes. Carlisle had to stop the car and roll the window down as the guards signalled to stop. I heard them talking in low voices, the eyes behind the masks sweeping the insides of the car. They settled on me for a moment and their eyes glittered with a malice that scared me. Edward gripped my thigh tightly, almost to the point of pain, and growled threateningly at the eyes. The guard seemed to snort, tore his eyes away from us, and continued his conversation with Carlisle. The tension was so thick; you could cut a knife through it. Even Gael's usually smiling face had dissolved into a picture of stone sobriety. Edward would not let go of my thigh. I knew that telling him to let go was not going to help. So I only folded my hand over his and smoothed the clenching muscles.
It seemed like a million and one years before they finally let us through. We drove away from the guards and I watched them leering in the car window.
"Creepy bastards," I muttered, as we circled into a courtyard with a fountain in the middle, the drops sparkling in the sun. Mediterranean flowers overflowed in pottery vases set around the courtyard and carved statues of naked men and women interspersed between them. The age of this place weighed heavy on my shoulders as the car pulled to a smooth halt by large oak double doors, open wide to reveal the cool dark interior of the keep. Footmen hurried to us, opening the doors and gesturing for us to get out. I pulled myself up and out standing in the shadow of the huge, old building.
Edward followed, careful to keep within the shade. Gael was helping the bellboys remove the baggage from the back of the car as the others gathered under the shade of the Keep. A beautiful woman stepped out not the steps, a welcoming grin splitting her cheeks. "Welcome to Volterra! My name is Gianna, you must be Cullen Coven. Follow me, and I will show you to your quarters." She said this in flawless English, with only a slight accent, her warm brown eyes sweeping over all of us.
She turned and bustled away, her long caramel coloured ponytail swinging from side to side as she walked. Edward curved an arm around my waist as we walked behind her. I kept close to him, as our shoes clacked against the marble floor. It was cool in there; mosaics of battles decorated the walls and floor. The place emitted casual intimidating power and I swallowed as we passed through.
"How was your journey?" Gianna asked politely, tossing her caramel hair over her shoulder as she looked at us.
"Very well," Dr Cullen said smoothly, walking close to Gianna, while holding Esme's hand as they walked, "When are the Volturi Brothers expecting me?"
"Aro Volturi requests the presence of you and your sons as soon as you are settled in," Gianna said formally, glancing over all of once more.
"What about mates?" Alice asked, skipping up to catch up with the long legged stride of Gianna.
"Mates can explore the grounds as much as they like but are not allowed in rooms that are locked. Dinner will be served in the Dining Hall at 7 for those who want it."
"So who else has arrived?"
"The Bell, Xi and Rahotep Covens are all here," she said, slowing by a pair of panelled doors, "these are your rooms." She opened them to reveal an opulent living room, with gold chairs and walls, French windows which were shuttered were on the right. 5 other doors were set into the walls, panelled with oak wood. "There are 5 bedrooms, one for each couple and," her face twisted into a slight look of contempt, "one for the hunters. There is also a main living area to commune."
We heard thuds and huffs coming behind us and we stepped aside as Gael, Kam and the bellhops carried our luggage across the threshold. Gael huffed a stream of red hair out of her eyes, heaving one of Alice's huge suitcases, "Bloody hell woman, what did you put in here? The kitchen sink? A spare fridge? The entire Australian continent?"
Gianna frowned in distaste as Kam and Gael dumped the bags on the sofa. Gael wiped her forehead with her sleeve and plucked at her shirt, her cheeks puffing out as she blew air out, "is it just me or is it hotter than hell in here?"
Kam's hands did a series of quick movements, a glint in his eyes, and Gael burst out laughing, hands clutching at her sides.
Gianna's look of distaste increased before she glanced back at us, "I'll leave you to get settled in. Remember to meet with Their Graces as soon as you have unpacked." Gianna whisked away before we could reply, leaving us in by these luxurious rooms.
Gael, now recovered, rolled her eyes and shook her head, "well she didn't have a pole stuck up her arse." She glanced at Doctor Cullen and asked, "we're gonna just check this place, and then leave you all to settle in."
Doctor Cullen nodded and waved his hand to his employees, who had come along with the carrying of the luggage, "Help them."
We waited for 10 minutes as they scanned the rooms, searching every cranny for any sort of 'bugs'. Edward took this time to suddenly push me up against the wall and kiss me with a passion that made me weak at the knees.
He cupped my face and took my waist flush against his. I could feel the slight pinch of fangs against my lip and I moaned low into his mouth. I could feel his grin as he finally pulled away, brushing my hair out of my eyes, "what the hell was that, Vampadonis?" I asked weakly, tracing my fingers over his jaw, "not that it wasn't welcome..."
"Just so that I have something to hold onto for the next few hours," he bent to kiss the line of my neck, pausing over my pulse. He licked it, slowly making me shiver. Over his shoulder, I could see the others were completely oblivious to this as if it was normal occurrence for them. I gently tugged on his hair and the other hand skimmed down to the edge of his shirt, gently toying with it. He growled, tightened his grip on my waist, "don't tease Bella. Not with me."
"Ahright ye horny bastards, the rooms are free for your perusal and your baby making," Gael's voice rang out again, mischievousness in her tone, "get a room you two."
"Not funny, Hunter!" Edward snarled to the side, staring daggers at the grinning redhead.
She sniggered before waltzing off into the rooms again, whistling as she went.
"I'm going to kill her by the end of this trip," Edward swore, pulling me away and walking us into the rooms. He picked up our luggage along the way and led us to one of the rooms, pushing our way into a beautiful room with a double bed and expensive paintings of Italian landscapes.
"Ok then," I said, as Edward placed the bags on the bed. I glanced around the room, taking in the huge wardrobe, large windows that would probably have a fantastic view, the en suite with him and her sinks. "This is…too weird. I'm in Italy. Here. This is Italy."
He laughed, wrapped his arms around my waist, "Indeed we are."
"I think I am going to explore after unpacking."
His brow creased and he took my chin, "Don't go on your own. Ask the others, and have Kam or Gael with you when you go."
I didn't dispute this. This wasn't Forks, where the worst thing I could come across was a logger who had had too many beers.
"That's my girl," he said, kissing my forehead and tightly embracing me before pulling away. He glanced at the double bed and grinned widely, "Look, we're sharing a bed."
I arched my eyebrows at him, while moving to pop my case open "I swear, you feel me up and try to disguise it as 'embracing' they'll be hell to pay."
"Sounds terrifying," he said it mockingly, as I began to separate my clothes out, his eyes sparkling teasingly.
"Was that sarcasm? 'Cos you should be afraid, very afraid," I bantered.
That's when he threw one of those tiny throw pillows from the bed at my head. As it bounced off my forehead and rolled to the floor, I stared at him incredulously. "You didn't." I said it slowly, dropping the silk shirt I was holding in my hands.
"I think…I did," he teased back, walking around the bed so that it sat between us.
I gave a disbelieving laugh, then snatched a pillow and lobbed it at his head. He ducked, grabbed one of the larger pillows and hit me on the waist. "Dick!" I yelled at him, uncaring if other people heard and also grabbed on of the larger pillows to smack it over his head.
I hopped up onto the bed, laughing my ass off as I dodged another blow from him. "Bring it Vampadonis!" I threatened at him, swinging the pillow between my hands, "I've got an Egyptian cotton, goose down, worth hundred of thousands of billions of dollars pillow in my hands and I am not afraid to use it."
He laughed raucously and whipped the pillow out against my legs. The suitcase fell off the bed, along with all the clothes but we kinda didn't care. It somehow ended up with me lying on the bed underneath being kissed senseless by him, his hands on my boobs, mine in his hair. He kneaded my flesh, making me arch up into his touch, moaning hotly into his mouth.
He felt so fucking good.
…Yeah, we are horny bastards.
"Edward its time to head- woah! Get in there, stud!"
Emmett's loud booming voice shocked us apart and Edward stood up, smoothing his rumpled shirt, only looking slightly irritated as Emmett guffawed in the doorway. I huffed my tousled hair out of my eyes and scowled at him, "Seriously Em? What would Rose say?"
He sniggered and Edward said exasperatedly, "Can't you knock? I was in the middle of something."
"She let you touch her tit! Call the fucking new stations! Hell! Call the President, because this is fucking HUGE!"
"FUCK OFF EMMETT!" I shouted, taking one of our discarded pillows and throwing it at his head. He ducked away and ran laughing like a hyena and telling everyone who asked him what was up: "Bella let Edward touch her tit!"
I groan and slump onto the bed again, arm over my face to hide the blush. Edward seemed completely at ease. He even laughed. Fucker. "That's my brother for you." He leaned down, pried the arm away from my face and kissed my burning forehead, cheeks and finally my mouth, "I'll see you soon, princess. Keep safe."
I grumbled, gave him one last kiss and he was gone. I leaned up on my elbows, trying to get my body to quit humming with restrained energy. I felt like a light bulb: hot and glowing. "Aw shit," I muttered to myself, before smoothing the material of my dress and standing up again. I picked up the strewn of pieces of silks and satins off the floor and began putting them away extra neatly, getting myself ready for the storm.
And it came in the form of Alice Brandon.
"You let Edward touch your boob? Fucking hell woman, you're finally thawing!"
Alice whirled in like an electric storm, grinning like a maniac, Rose following. Rose settled on the bed, eyeing the scattered clothing and pillows, and then also starting to grin like a maniac, "The Ruining of Bella Swan continues. Fuck me dude, I bet under all that prudishness, you're a nymphomaniac."
"Shut up," I growl, taking extra care to fold a cotton shirt so that it was symmetrical, "do not tease me about this for the rest of the day, please."
"Nuh-uh, not a chance sweety," Alice replied chirpily, "Sucks having us as your sisters, don't it?"
"And Emmett as a brother," I gave Rose daggers, "Seriously, can't you reel him in?"
"I secretly love the fact that he has the mind set of a two year old, so no," Rose said simply, stretching languorously on the bedspread, "Suck it up: this is the Cullen family. Deal."
I grumbled but said nothing more, and continued to unpack, "What do you say to taking a look around, with Gael or Kam or both? Get a feel for the place."
"Sure, Bella 'I-let-Edward-Cullen-touch-my-prudy-tits' Swan," Rose chirped and Alice sniggered behind her back.
"Whatever," I said, trying to act unaffected and failing miserably.
After unpacking, we went to knock on the Hunters' door. Kam answered it, looking intently at us. Alice was the first to speak, "Uhm…hai," it was first time Alice had ever been loss for words, like ever. Kam continued to stare silently at all of us, eyebrow arched in question now.
Alice stumbled on, twisting the ring Jasper gave her for her birthday around and around her right finger, "W-we were wondering…if you cooould-uhm…escort us, while we're liiike…exploring the palace and…stuff…"
Alice trailed off, looking terrified but Kam didn't seem to mind at all. He nodded slowly, took out a pen and notepad and scribbled in spidery writing: G in shower. I'll escort you around the Keep. Let me just get my things.
He disappeared into the room and came back within a second, tucking something into the inside of his jacket. He took out the notepad again and wrote: I will walk a few paces behind you for privacy. You only need to shout if you need me.
"Thanks Kam," I said gratefully, speaking when the others were silent. He nodded and smiled that brilliant white grin, his animal tooth swinging slightly.
We walked out of the rooms and began to wander around the huge building, walking through huge halls made of cold marble, past paintings of long dead aristocrats and their wives, under chandeliers that glittered with crystal and past stunning windows showing views of the Italian landscape. Kam did as he had written, walking a few steps behind us as we talked and admired. Alice and Rose continued to tease me and I teased right back, reminding them of all the numerous times I had walked in on them in compromising situations.
We stumbled upon a courtyard garden, filled flowers and small benches to sit in the blazing sun. "I could get used to this," Rose sighed, spreading her arms wide in the wonderful heat.
"Tell me about it," I said, glancing around the garden, "not sure about the décor though. It's all, I don't know…a bit much? I mean, that tiger skin rug and the trophy of its head right above it was plain fucking creepy."
"Well the Romans were big on impressing people," Rose said, "Volturi must have wanted the biggest and most ostentatious castle they could have."
"Actually, this place was first built in the Etruscan period in the 8th century BC," a British voice rang out, cutting into our conversation and scaring shit out of us.
"Holy crap!" Alice yelled, practically jumping out of her skin. My heart jumped into my throat and I swore as our eyes fell upon a small pale girl that had come around a rose bush, book in hand. Her hazel eyes were wide with shock and she stuttered, "Oh I-I-I am sssoooo sorry! I d-didn't mean to sc-scare you."
She nearly dropped the large heavy book she was carrying, her face a perfect picture of shock.
Kam was by our side now, his nostrils flared, eyes darting around us to check that we were ok.
"Its ok," I said breathlessly to the girl, "gave us a bit of a shock that's all." I turned to Kam, "We're ok, false alarm, we're ok."
He took in my words with a slow nod, still eyeing us all, especially the pale, willowy girl with frizzy brown hair and wide hazel eyes behind thick-framed glasses. She watched him, looking utterly petrified; her thick book now clutched to her chest like it was her only protection. "I'm really sorry," she whispered, looking close to tears.
Kam gave another slow nod, eyeing her from head to toe before stalking off again.
The girl didn't relax though; she seemed to clasp the book harder as we all watched him walk away. Alice was the first to speak. She patted her heart again and also stared at the stone still girl that stood before us, "don't worry about him. He's a Hunter, so he's bound to be a little creepy. I'm Alice Brandon, and these are my friends, or sisters practically, Rosalie Hale and Bella Swan."
The girl's flickered to each of us before she gave tentative smile, "Yo-you all h-have su-such pre-pretty names. B-better thuh-than muh-muh-mine."
She pushed up her glasses and said, "Muh-my naaaaayymes, A-Agatha. Agatha Turnbrook." She scowled over the last sentence and muttered, her stammer starting to smooth out again, "d-don't know what my parents were thuh-thinking."
I couldn't help but smile at this utterly socially awkward girl. She looked extremely uncomfortable in the pretty summer dress she was wearing, as she kept trying to pull the hem down over her pallid knees. Her glasses kept slipping down her nose, so she constantly pushed them back up. I read the title of the thick leather tome she was carrying to be: A History of the Mayans by Arnold Paradis. "Well, thank you," Rose said, arching one perfect eyebrow at the girl, "You're name's not that bad."
"I share a name with the butch headmistress in Matilda," Agatha said miserably, "It is that bad."
She shuffled her feet for a moment, looking even more uncomfortable. A blush that rivalled my own travelled up her neck, through her cheeks and heated her brow. "So…" Alice said, swinging her arms as we all stared at the painfully shy Agatha, "what are you doing here?"
"Oh! Yeah, I uhm I'm with the Bell Coven," she said, "I'm a consort to Jack, the middle son."
We all glanced at each other, startled. I think we all assumed this girl was just a tourist or something. She looked so out of place here. "Really?" Rosalie asked, surprise unhidden in her tone.
Agatha was starting to look quite flustered, "Yes. I am." She shuffled her feet again and then blurted, "You sound American. Are you with the Cullens?"
We all nodded, and she seemed to relax a little, "Oh! You're all a lot younger than I thought you would be. I thought I would be the youngest."
She coughed pushed her glasses up her nose again and then ask, "So you are all consorts, like me."
"Yeah," I replied, taking a step towards her, "its nice to meet you."
Then she smiled. Properly smiled. It broke across her face and her tense position seem to melt, "Its nice to meet you too! The only other consorts I get to talk to are Maggie and Siobhan. And they're really nice but much older than me. I mean; Maggie is even expecting a kid as well. Makes it kinda…lonely sometimes." She sighed and shrugged, "So who are you all mated to?"
"Rose is mated to Emmett, Alice to Jasper and I'm to Edward," I explained.
Her eyes widened behind her glasses and she gasped, "You're…oh my god, you're that girl from the telly! The one that ran away." She smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, you must get that all the time."
"Its alright, I'm used to it," I said, waving my hand.
She smiled sympathetically, "must be hard. Adjusting to it all with the world watching." She swung her arms again, "Jack and the others would really like to meet you. Edward, Emmett and Jasper are good friends with them."
Rose cocked her head onto one side and frowned at this girl, "Soooo…you're from England?"
"I'm from Edinburgh actually," she said, "Scotland. The Bell Coven originates from South England though. Are you all from the same area?"
"Yeah, all from Forks, Washington," Alice said, as we all began to inch closer to each other.
"What are the chances? All of the Cullen's consorts being in one area. Must be pretty high," Agatha said thoughtfully, tapping a random rhythm on the spine of her book. "I mean Siobhan's from Anglesey, Maggie's from Dublin and I'm from Edinburgh, we were all pretty spread out. It was only by chance I met Jack. To think, my teacher hadn't changed classrooms last minute, Jack would have passed right through my school without even catching a glimpse of me."
She sighed and grinned, "I think about that too much sometimes."
"When did Jack M' you?" Alice asked.
"Oh, about 2 months before the great Unveiling," she said, nodding eagerly. "So pretty recently. He's the first proper boyfriend I've ever had."
She smiled sweetly at that, before she shook herself and said, "what about you? You all must have been pretty recent…"
After a shy start, we all got to talking with Agatha, the first mate we have met outside of America. Her shyness, once broken through, revealed someone who actually quite liked to talk. A lot. She went to a private school in Edinburgh and was the only Mated girl who still went to school on the entire island of Britain and she was ecstatic to find other Mates her age. She liked history of any kind and was aiming to study it in university as she was in her last year of school. And she adored her vampire; Jack. She'd get this dreamy look in her eyes whenever she mentioned him and would blush profusely. She was sweet and seemed utterly the wrong type of girl to be entangled with a vampire.
"How did you find adjusting to it all?" she asked. We were now sitting on one of the benches, soaking up the sun as it fell on our shoulders, "Y'know…the discrimination and stuff."
"It wasn't easy for any of us," Rose said quietly, smoothing her hands over her skirt, "it was…hard to deal with my parents. They… weren't all that understanding."
I squeezed her hand and gave her a comforting smile. Her parents had all but thrown her in the trash when they found out what had happened to her. Agatha stared down at her hands and said, "That must be horrible. My parents were shocked and I don't think they approve but…they still stick by me. I can't imagine…anyway how about school for you?"
Alice snorted, "There's just the cattle, and there's not a lot you can do about that. Its ok, 'cause we have each other though. What about you? All on your own…"
Agatha's smile became very fixed, "Well…I'm not exactly a social butterfly in the first place. It's a really religious private school. There's a few nice people who still talk to me but when the Unveiling happened...I was...I was..." she seemed to choke, gripping her book so hard I'm surprised it didn't rip in half. "But that's over now," she said firmly, more to reassure herself than anyone else, "my best friend still sticks by me and I'm left alone for the most part. They'd have kicked me out if Alastair hadn't threatened to withdraw the donation he had made to them to pay for the new science building. But sometimes…I find nasty notes and other...things on my desk and I eat lunch in the library, going into the dining hall is like going into the lion's den. Its hard but…at least I still get to learn and I'd take it all to be with Jack." She smiled a watery smile, "he makes it all ok again."
Too. Effing. Cute.
"Excuse me, Miss Swan?"
We all jump and swivel to face Gianna again, who stood at a polite distance. "Yeah?" I asked, a surprised tone to my voice.
She smiled her plastic smile at me again, "Aro Volturi requests your presence in the Main Chamber."
The blood in my face drained away, probably making my face look like bleached bone.
"Bella, you're gonna be ok," Rose said quickly, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tightly, "just keep your head and don't say anything that could set them off. And if something goes wrong, Edward will be with you. He won't let anything happen. You can count on that."
I could only nod, my body feeling cold even when I had sat in the sun for a past hour. Kam had silently moved towards us, his eyes flickering all over us again. When I met his eyes, they seemed to burn into mine for a second, reminding me of our conversation in the plane. I steeled myself, clenched my jaw and stood up, smoothing out my dress.
'Cause I'm Bella Swan.
The Girl who Ran.
"Show me the way," I asked Gianna, and followed her out of the courtyard.
I'm hame! (that's how you say it in Scotland fyi) I'm sad and glad at the same time. I loved Canada but there is nothing like the feeling of coming home.
Anyway, how'd you like Agatha? Personally I think she is adorkable, but what about you guys?
Thank you for all your support! Its so awesome and encouraging to see!
Speak to you soon!
Bones
Random Fact # 13: I have never supported a sports team. That sort of thing has never really interested me, but I have always watched the 6 Nations Rugby when it come around. Go Scotland, Land of the Brave!