You guys are going to be really happy!
I've thought up of a new storyline for a squeal! XD
Lol, I don't know if it's going to be any good, but we'll see.
I'm going to be setting it up in the next 2 chapters.
Then I'll start on the new fic.
So make sure you have me on Author Alert!!
Lights! Camera! …Read!
Bella's POV
Just like Alice had seen, Bethany and Demetri were waiting for us at the airport.
Bethany jumped up as soon as she saw walking towards them.
"Hey guys." I greeted.
"Hi!" Bethany squealed as she took Alice and me into a bone-crushing hug.
"Do you miss us that much already? It's only been a couple of months." I laughed.
She playfully glared at me.
"You guys are my best friends. Of course I missed you a lot." She jut out her bottom lip into a pout. "Didn't you miss me?"
"You know I did." I said as I pulled her into another hug.
She poked her tongue out at me and then laughed.
Demetri walked over and embraced me in a hug as well.
"I missed you more than she did though." He said.
Edward stiffened beside me.
Demetri chuckled and then held out his hand for Edward to shake.
Edward hesitantly stepped forward to shake it quickly.
"Don't worry Edward. I've moved on, honestly." Demetri went back to stand by Bethany and slid his arm around her waist. "My heart belongs to Bethany now."
She smiled lovingly at him and he grinned.
Edward half smiled and took my hand in his. I slightly turned and winked at him.
Alice let out a high pitched squeal and took Bethany's hand in hers.
"You're engaged?!" she squeaked.
"Yep! Demetri proposed just two days ago."
I smiled brightly.
He finally asked her!
It took him long enough, though. He had it planned for nearly two months now and had the ring for nearly a month.
Bethany looked over from Alice to look at me.
"You look way too calm, Ella…" She narrowed her eyes at me. "I thought you'd be more excited for me! You're both going to be my bridesmaids, right?"
I laughed.
"That was the first thought that came to my mind when I first had the vis…um." I bit my lip.
"You knew?!" Bethany gasped.
I smiled sheepishly.
"Well…um, yeah I did. But I didn't want to ruin the surprise!" I defended.
She glared at me.
"How long have you known?"
"Er…" I looked at Demetri and then at the floor. "Since the last time I was here in Volterra… I sort of looked into Demetri's future to see if he would ever move on from me and well…then I saw you two together and then his proposal…don't be mad, I honestly didn't want to ruin it!" I said at vampire speed.
I felt a little bad from keeping something so big from her, but I really didn't want to change the future and ruin it by telling her.
Everyone busted out laughing.
I looked up and Bethany was smiling now.
I felt like blushing.
"Relax Ella. I'm not mad. It's cool. For a minute I thought you knew because he told you before me. Now that would have pissed me off!" She laughed.
I smiled.
"Alright, so let's get going. The car is out front." Bethany announced.
We went to get the rest of our bags and made our way out of the airport.
"Aro let you bring your Mercedes to pick us up?" I asked in confusion.
Aro always sends the limo to pick up his guests, he was always trying to be formal and inviting. He never let anyone take their own cars to pick anyone up from the airport. It was a stupid pet peeve of his.
"Yeah, he said the limo wouldn't be available today so he told me to take my own car."
We all got in the car and started our drive to Volterra.
"So are there any other guests at the castle then?" I asked.
"Hmm…not that I know of. I haven't heard of any other guests coming in, just you three. Why do you ask?"
"Was just wondering who was using the limo then…"
She shrugged and turned the music on.
All too soon we were driving up to the font gates of the castle.
The sun was hidden by the clouds, so we didn't have to worry about sun exposure this time.
"They're all feeing right now. So if you'd like, you could go get situated and wait until they call you in. I assume you two will be staying in Ella's room?" Bethany asked.
"Yeah, they'll stay in my room."
I didn't want them anywhere out of my sight.
"They probably won't call for you for another couple of hours. You could show them around if you like." Demetri paused. "Make sure you let them know the castle rules and where to stay away from…"
I nodded.
Bethany and Demetri went their separate ways as I led Alice and Edward through the castle up to my room.
"Your room is awesome Bella. Who designed it?" Alice asked.
"Bethany and I did." I laughed.
"So you do have good taste! Why wasn't your apartment in Forks looking like this? You obviously know how to do up a place."
"I just wanted it to be simple and low key, just in case I had human company over."
Alice rolled her eyes and plopped herself on the couch.
"So what are we going to do until we have to go see them?" Edward asked.
"Do you guys want a tour of the castle?"
Alice's eyes glazed over.
"Nah, too boring for me, take Eddie with you. I'm going to call Jazz. Make sure you're back in a two hours, they'll send Demetri for us then."
"Alright, we'll be back by then. See ya."
I took Edward's hand in mine and led us through the first corridor.
"This is where the personal rooms are. Aro gives one room to each person in the guard and to their guests when they have them. They can do what every they want with them. Most are just game rooms though. Some of them are libraries and music rooms. Not many are actual bedrooms, seeing as we don't sleep. Unless someone invites you, the guard's personal rooms are off limits, especially the wings for Aro, Marcus, and Caius' rooms"
"Are all the personal rooms like yours?" Edward asked.
"Um...no. Aro has his favorites…Bethany, Demetri, and I have our own wing of the castle. This one houses most of the rest of the guard. Aro's pets: Jane, Alec, and Felix, have their own wing and of course Aro, Marcus, and Caius have theirs as well."
"I see."
We walked down to the next level of the castle.
"Why would the Volturi have a ballroom?"
"The Volturi loves to have extravagant parties. They like to show off and entertain guests." I said and rolled my eyes.
I skipped the next level.
"That level is where the grand hall and private meeting rooms are. You'll see them later so no need to go now."
They real reason was because they were probably still feeding and I didn't want Edward anywhere near that.
"Through those doors is the reception area and main entrance that we came through. This floor is mainly just for false pretences. To all the humans in Volterra this place is being used as a law firm and for private and exclusive 'historical tours'."
"They actually give tours of this place? Doesn't that risk exposure?"
"One of the vampire's here, Heidi, she goes out to other cities and uses her power of seduction and desire to lure tourists to give them a private tour of the castle." I took in a deep breath and sighed. "In reality, she's actually the Volturi hunting party. She convinces a large group to come on this 'tour' and when they get to the grand hall…well those tourists are their meals…"
I hated how the Volturi fed.
They are very cruel and enjoy watching their prey in pain.
"You mean they don't even go out to hunt for themselves and use some chick to lure innocent tourists to their deaths?"
"Yes, and it truly is disgusting. What's worse is they don't only just kill them. They make them suffer and also rob them. How do you think the Volturi is so wealthy? They get thousands of dollars off of what the tourists bring in each time. They feed every other day." I said with venom.
We took the elevator again and went to the next floor down.
The doors opened up to a new passage way filled with paintings.
"This floor holds a lot of Volturi history. These are all paintings done by Marcus of how he has seen the world change over the years."
"They all look very depressing." Edward said furrowing his brows.
"Marcus is a pessimist. He also hasn't been the same since Didymie was killed."
"Who was that?"
"She was his first wife and Aro's sister. No one knows exactly what happened. But when she died a part of Marcus died too. He pretty much lost all interest in this world and now the only emotions you can get out of him are 'doom and gloom' as you can tell from the paintings."
We turned the corner and came into another hallway full of colorful artwork.
"Now these are my favorites." I said with a smile.
Most were big, bright scenery paintings and some were of Volturi parties and different people that have lived in the castle many years ago.
"Wow, these are amazing. Did Marcus paint these before his wife's death?"
"Nope." I laughed.
"Then who did?"
"Carlisle."
He grinned.
We walked to the end of the hallway and entered a room full of artifacts.
"What the hell…" Edward's eyes widened as he took in the contents of the room. "Most of these things have been missing in history for years! Some of these aren't even supposed to exist…" he said looking at the large collection of Alexander the Great's ancient scrolls.
"The Volturi have had their hand in a lot of this world's greatest history. A lot of what you have learned in your history classes is load of bull. The Volturi have covered up a lot and have just let the humans believe in miracles."
He made his way to the other side of the room where a lot of Egyptian jewelry and tablets written in hieroglyphics were.
"Oh wait, don't tell me, vampires were the ones who built Egypt's pyramids." He said rolling his eyes.
"Ok. I won't tell you." I tried to hold down my smile and failed.
His jaw dropped.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, the first pharaohs were actually vampires themselves. Back then, being a vampire was a normal thing. But just like the battles in the southern US that Jasper was in, there was always territorial fights. In the history books they only talk about the human ones of course. Those pharaohs were actually just human puppets the vampires controlled to get away with a lot more. In return for their services, vampires would create them a lavish pyramid and leave them everything they will need for their passing to the afterlife they sought."
He looked at me with wide eyes and then furrowed brows.
"What?" I laughed.
He shook his head and stroked the top of a glass box with a journal in it.
"What's this?" he asked.
"It's Aldof Hitler's journal."
"Hitler, eh? What's so special about the journal though?"
"You sure you want to know?"
He nodded.
"Well, he was actually part of the Volturi once…"
Edward let out a frustrated sigh.
"Unbelievable. Is their anything in history that I've learned that was authentic and was with out any vampiric interference?"
"Yes, but nothing too important." I laughed. "Anyways, he was part of the Volturi guard many years ago but decided to venture off on his own a couple of years before that war started. He had an obsession with finding specific blood flavors, more so than any other vampire I've ever come across. He said, to him, that different races of humans had different tastes in blood. The concentration camps he built were so he could hand pick his favorite tastes when ever he wanted. They were pretty much like his personal slaughter houses. When he was caught by another country, he asked the Volturi for help in disguising it so that the humans wouldn't discover what he was and what he was really doing. They made such a mess of things. That's where the history books come in. They made it all to look like genocide. The journal is own, very detailed description of everything that really happened during the holocaust. Shortly after that, they faked his death."
"You mean he's still alive?!"
"Yeah. He lives somewhere in the mountains of Russia now, I think. I haven't seen him in years. I never liked him at all. He was such an arrogant ass just like Felix. I guess that's mostly because they're brothers though."
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Oh, Edward. Don't get too worked up about it. Real history is not all that bad. I know vampires can be ruthless and all but…"
"No it's not that. It's just it's a lot to take in. My mind is spinning from the fact that all the history I've learned is a 'load of bull' as you so wonderfully put."
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you then…"
He pulled me in to his chest and lifted my chin up with his hand.
He sighed.
"It's fine, Bella. Don't worry about it."
He smiled and kissed me gently.
When we parted, I kept my eyes closed and bit my lip still trying to compose myself after his breath taking kiss.
His laugh brought me back out of my daze and I smiled up at him.
We walked out of the room and we stepped into the elevator and went down to the last level of our tour.
"This level is mostly used for storage. There's not much down here. Through those doors there is a passage way that runs through the whole city. If there's ever anywhere we need to get to and the sun is out at the time, we travel through there. And now over here…" We walked to the end of the hall. "No one is allowed to go through this door except by the command of Aro, Marcus, or Caius."
Edward nodded and we started making our way back to the elevator.
Once in the elevator, he furrowed his brows and asked, "What's through that door anyways?"
"It leads down to the dungeons."
"Why is it forbidden to go there?"
"To be honest, I don't really know. I've never seen anyone being put down there . The Volturi tends to kill anyone worth throwing in a dungeon. If a vampire disobeys, they kill them and if a human finds out about the secret they…well most of the time they kill them too. So there's no real need for a dungeon I guess. Besides it's not like some old dungeon can keep in a vampire. But for some reason it's still a restricted area, even Aro's pets aren't allowed down there with out permission. I don't necessarily want to know what's down there either, if there even is anyone or thing there. It doesn't really matter I guess."
The elevator doors opened and we were back on our floor.
When we got back to my room Alice was still on the phone chatting away with Jasper.
"Yeah, Bella and Edward just got back, Jazz. I'll talk to you later, ok? Alright. I'll call you in a couple of hours. I love you too! Bye." She hung up the phone and stood up. "Might as well turn right back around, Demetri will be here in 3…2…1…"
There was a knock on the door.
Edward rolled his eyes as I moved to open it.
"Hey Demetri. Are they ready?"
"Yes, they will see you now."
"Ok, let's get this over with." Edward said as he took my hand in his.
This chapter was just a filler of a bunch of randomness I wanted to throw in that I came up with.
I also threw in a few hints of what I have in store for the sequel. ;]
Next chapter will be the meeting with the Volturi, and possibly the last chapter!
Until next time!
-Jan
