Ok, so I had a seriously hard time with this chapter XP I'm sorry. It's rather disjointed, and a bit all over the place, but passable. My Mum really liked it :D so here we go...

Sunlight was filtering in through the small window to the left of Bella's seat; just a few teasing tendrils of caramel colour. I shifted uncomfortably as they crept closer and closer to my bare hand, resting on the arm of my seat.

I glanced furtively left and right to check the other passengers were still asleep – then reached over my friend's lap and swiped the shade shut on the window. The sun caught my hand for the briefest of instants; diamonds flashing and glinting into view – then vanishing as the rising sun was blocked by the shade.

Bella mumbled something in her sleep and turned over, her eyes flickering open and blinking curiously up at me.

"…what's happening…?" she mumbled, voice slurred with sleep.

I stayed very still, eyes on the seat in front of me, hands folded tight as they would go in my lap.

What to tell her…?

I thought for a moment, uncomfortably aware of Bella's hopeful gaze watching me intently. Then…

"They've told him no," I said quietly and firmly.

A brief silence.

"What's he going to do?" Bella asked, her voice full of familiar dread.

"It was chaotic at first," I murmured, eyes still on the back of the seat. "I was only getting flickers – he was changing plans so quickly."

Too quickly. My head was still spinning from the crazy rush of them.

I flickered a glance at Bella – she was looking wary, like she could sense I didn't want to go into detail about this.

"What kinds of plans?" she asked slowly.

"There was a bad hour," I whispered, my hands clenched so tight it was almost painful. "He'd…decided to go hunting."

Bella frowned slightly; uncomprehending.

"In the city," I explained, voice so quiet I was surprised she heard, lips moving the tiniest amount possible. "It got very close. He changed his mind at the last minute."

Shock flashed across Bella's pale face – but she hid it quickly, turning her face away so I couldn't read it.

"He didn't want to disappoint Carlisle," she mumbled. "Not at the end."

"Probably."

I hadn't thought of that. I wasn't angry with Edward, of course I wasn't. Just thoroughly shaken. Of all my family…Edward was the last person I would ever have expected to resort to…that. Rosalie, maybe – though I felt selfish thinking it, it was the truth – Emmett too…and Jasper…yes, if it had been Jasper…

Well.

Now, at least, I knew how wrong my preconceptions had been.

I knew why he'd done it, of course, knew why he'd almost made that terrible decision…I knew why…

But he hadn't. He hadn't. That was all that mattered, I told myself firmly, all that would ever matter, and there was no need for Carlisle or Jasper or anyone to ever know about it…

"Will there be enough time?" Bella was asking.

I bit my lip. I didn't want to lie to her.

"I'm hoping so," I said carefully, not meeting her gaze. "If he sticks to his latest decision…maybe."

"What is that?"

"He's going to keep it simple. He's just going to walk out into the sun."

Bella nodded slowly, understanding, then turned away from me once again. The plane juddered and dipped a little, making a little boy a few rows behind us shout out in fear and his mother instantly bombard him with shushes…down towards the city airport that lay beneath us

The sound of a shade being pulled away from the window made me glance round and over Bella's shoulder. The patch of sky beyond the glass was grey, tinged with pink…

"We'll be too late," Bella was whispering, her voice suddenly choked. I started to shake my head – but inside, even I was beginning to wonder.

"Right now, he's leaning towards the melodramatic," I told her, both of us still gazing out at the breaking dawn. "He wants the biggest audience possible, so he'll choose the main plaza, under the clock tower. The walls are high there. He'll wait till the sun is exactly overhead."

But the decision could change at any minute…

"So we have till noon?" Bella asked, turning to look at me with eyes full of suppressed fear. I forced my expression to remain calm – and not let the swarms of increasing doubt…and fear…show on my face.

"If…we're lucky."

I felt horrible saying it – horrible watching the terror build at my uncertain words in the brown of Bella's eyes, horrible making our chances seem so slim, horrible for making it seem like we had so little hope…

But it was the truth. Truth even I couldn't deny.

A smooth voice sang out over the intercom, announcing our imminent landing.

"Alice? How far is it from Florence to Volterra?"

A hint a smile reached my lips as I remembered the visions and the plan they had signified. At least that part of our journey was clear; clear as day, decided and ready to be played out.

"That depends on how fast you drive," I replied, watching her reaction.

She frowned, obviously confused.

I glanced furtively left and right – then turned back to my friend.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

I eyed her speculatively, considering...Charlie was chief of the police force…

Well. It wasn't like she was likely to say no, considering our circumstances, was she?

Drastic times called for drastic measures.

Such as…

"How strongly opposed are you to grand theft auto?"

"Four hours. We have four hours to get to Volterra."

Bella bit her lip so hard I held my breath for fear she would finally, this time, draw blood as we burrowed our way through crowds of plane-goers towards the exit.

"That's not enough, is it?" she barely whispered, panting as she struggled to keep up with me. I was half-guiding, half-dragging her along by one hand, my bag clutched in the other as we shoved our way through the revolving doors and stumbled out into the grey, early morning, flecked with sunlight. A few speckles of cold, wet rain sprinkled onto my bare arms. Maybe we'd have a rainbow.

"It will be," I insisted determinedly in response to her question. "It can be and it will be, Bella, I promise, now if you just wait here –"

"Can't I come too?"

I rolled my eyes, grinning in spite of myself as I pushed my bag into her arms. "What would Charlie have to say about you helping me steal a car?"

She glared. "Be quick, then."

"Don't move – I'll be right back."

A brief summary of the resident parking lot cars would have been: one blue mini. Two in red. Three green, ancient looking Volkswagen Rabbits. Numerous white vans and four orange minibuses. Two people carriers in dull faded grey. And a purple convertible with a half smashed windscreen that looked like it was ready to crumble into pieces with one touch.

I stood in the centre of the packed parking lot, arms folded, teeth gnawing at my lip, and frowning furiously as I frantically scanned the rows after rows of every car imaginable. I dithered over a land rover – huge and red, it reminded me of Emmett's, and I knew his was just about as fast as you could get – but it wasn't the same make, wasn't quite the same style, and I didn't want to risk it. I could go for one of the vans – they were probably decent – but I didn't want decent, I needed fast, something fast, high-speed, something state-of-the-art, something like…like…

…like that…

Bella was not impressed when I finally ground my brand new, freshly stolen Porsche 911 Turbo to a halt mere feet from her beside the sidewalk. The tires screeched against the pavement – making every human dithering on the sidewalk stare.

Bella was staring too – but with a thoroughly doubtful expression on her pale face.

"Hurry, Bella!" I shouted through the open window, leaning over to shove open the door. Glancing worriedly over her shoulder like a convict checking for policemen, she made a dash for the open door and half threw herself in.

I had the car moving and shooting towards the crowded exit within seconds.

"Sheesh, Alice," Bella muttered as she tossed our bags into the back seat and flopped back against the shiny leather. "Could you pick a more conspicuous car to steal?"

I shot her a glare, partly because that was completelybeside the point – but also partly because of the common sense ringing in every word which I had deliberately disregarded when breaking into the gorgeous vehicle. I had known it wasn't the most sensible one to have chosen…but I hadn't been able to resist. The car was beyond perfect…

"The important question," I corrected. "Is whether I could have stolen a faster car, and I don't think so. I got lucky."

Very lucky…

The discovery of the Porsche had been a dream; too good to be true. Smooth and sleek, with stylish dark-tinted windows and shiny new paint of bright sunshine yellow, plus the giant, cushioned seats swathed in waves of elegant black leather…not only was it drop-dead gorgeous to look at, it was also pure bliss to drive. The car turned at my lightest touch, accelerated to exactly the kind of speed we needed within seconds, and flew along so smoothly it seemed to practically glide…

But Bella just didn't understand it.

"I'm sure that will be very comforting at the roadblock," she was muttering sceptically in response to my words, still fumbling for her seatbelt. I laughed, swerving between two coaches and shooting under the exit barrier of the airport car park inches behind a van – trying to prove my point.

"Trust me, Bella. If anyone sets up a roadblock, it will be behind us."

I overtook the van, dodged round a loudly honking mini, and hit the gas to full speed ahead down the now empty lane that spread in front of us in a river of grey.

Bella had always been terrified of Edward's – and therefore, the rest of my family's – driving, I knew, but today, I had no time to worry about that. The clock on the dashboard read 8:09am. According to the GPS I was following closely, we would arrive in Volterra at around 2.45pm.

Somehow, I had to get us there for midday.

Italy really was a beautiful country.

Beyond the dark tinted windows of my beautiful Porsche, the countryside speeding past us was like the front of a Christmas card, only without the snow. Fields of sweeping green and gold spread like a patchwork quilt thrown over the country all around us, dotted with little grey houses and black and white specs of faraway cows. A few horses grazed at the edges of small country lanes we practically flew down, some of them venturing onto the road – but I could foresee these, and avoid them accordingly without having to break speed.

Birds soared up ahead. The sky was misty grey-blue, but brightening with every second, flecked with fluffs of cloud and occasional gaps where the sun would peep through, throwing its rays down to the ground and onto the front of my windscreen – making me wince.

9.27am, read the clock…

The first little twist of fear coiled into a knot round the already frantic anxiety in my stomach somewhere around the time the clock reached 10:15. I shoved it away, determined not to let Bella see, keep her calm, reassured…tried to focus on the road and the scenery whizzing by the windows…

"They have been gone for hours."

"They have indeed," Aro was agreeing in a murmur – but I could tell he wasn't really listening. His expression was glazed, far away, almost like Marcus's – who didn't seem to be present in this particular scene, not that he would have added anything whatsoever…

Caius was frowning as he shifted a pile of papers from one large oak bookshelf to another. "Demetri insists they are still close by, merely scattered amongst the alleyways surrounding the plaza – what, then, is taking them so long?"

"…is not like Afton…"

"…had he already made his decision…?"

"…perhaps we should send someone out after them…"

"…find out what is happening…"

"…shall tell Demetri to follow…"

"…and take Felix with him…"

Demetri, the beautiful dark-haired one, and Felix, a huge, hulking guard member who reminded me strongly of Emmett, only with red eyes and thoroughly disgruntled expression, scrambling up out of the hole…a buzz of voices, like bees, angry bees, sounding from the centre of the plaza, and there were people in cloaks, red cloaks…a little girl with a red balloon, a woman with a red rose-patterned scarf rippling in the wind…red flags waving…

Odd…maybe it was some kind of celebration, some kind of festival…

"Do you see anything more?" Bella asked anxiously as I came out of my daze, her heartbeat pounding like a steam engine from beside me. I shook my head distractedly, still half in the future – the anxiety momentarily stalled as I edged round a loudly honking BMW and concentrated on my question.

"There's something going on, some kind of festival – the streets are full of people and red flags…what's the date today…?"
"The…nineteenth maybe?"

Ah. That would explain it. Saint Marcus Day; celebration of the vampire vanquishing over a thousand years ago from the town, supposedly led by Marcus of the Volturi himself.

What day to choose, Edward.

"Well, that's ironic," I muttered darkly, directing the words at Bella without taking my eyes off the speeding road in front of us. "It's Saint Marcus Day."

"Which means…?"

I laughed briefly – but the sound was strained with suppressed emotions I didn't want to think of. Mustn't think of. Sunlight trickled through Bella's window and danced over towards me, missing my hand by inches. I swiped it away quickly.

"The city holds a celebration every year," I explained to distract myself, repeating the words Carlisle had explained to me just a few years back, when I'd questioned about the date as well. "As the legend goes, a Christian missionary, a Father Marcus – Marcus of the Volturi, in fact – drove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. The story claims he was martyred in Romania still trying to drive away the vampire scourge. Of course that's nonsense – he's never left the city. But that's where some of the superstitions about things like crosses and garlic come from. Father Marcus used them so successfully. And vampires don't trouble Volterra, so they must work. It's become more of a celebration of the city, and recognition for the police force – after all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city. The police get all the credit..."

Bella's voice shook just a little at the edges as she spoke. "They're…not going to be very happy if Edward messes things up for them on St. Marcus Day, are they?"

My hands clenched tight on the steering wheel as I fought the coil of fresh, twisting anxiety quickly slipping into fear inside me at the truth of the words. I shook my head sharply once.

"No. They'll act very quickly."

Bella was silent then; her teeth beginning once again to attack her bottom lip, this time with frantic desperation – but her expression was such I didn't dare tell her to stop. Guilt washed over me again as I watched her. She didn't deserve to go through this…

I tried to prise one hand from the smooth leather steering wheel to put an arm round her, but the car swerved alarmingly all of a sudden…and I knew that letting go of the wheel whilst we drove at this speed would do nothing to help her in the slightest, no matter how much I wanted to.

The sun was terrifyingly high in the pale blue sky above us.

"He's still planning on noon?" Bella asked in a voice like a rubber band being stretched to the limit; struggling not to snap. She was trying so hard to stay calm…

"Yes," I replied in response to her, weaving between a gaggle of badly parked cars and beeping angrily as a camper van swerved in front of me. "He's decided to wait. And they're waiting for him."

"Tell me what I have to do."

I let my eyes flicker shut for just a second, just to make sure, just to check…

Bella running, running like a maniac, pounding over cobbled streets, into Edward's arms…and the path was clear, the streets I would take showed up on the GPS, I could drive close to the square, so Bella could see the tower, then all that had to happen was…

"You don't have to do anything," I tried to reassure her, but my voice strained too high with anxiety for reassurance. "He just has to see you before he moves into the light. And he has to see you before he sees me."

That was crucial, utterly crucial, or he'd rush into it, step out the instant he heard my thoughts, and the whole plan would be ruined faster than blinking…

"How's that going to work then?"

I directed the car past a blur of a lorry and winced as two speed camera signs glowed neon yellow up ahead

"I'm going to get you as close as possible, and then you're going to run in the direction I point you."

Which was going to be fraught with peril enough as it was, for someone like Bella…

"Try not to trip," I added, flickering a pleading glance in her direction. "We don't have time for concussion today."
She groaned, and nodded, wrapping her arms tight round her stomach like I'd seen her do back in Forks. My own stomach felt like it had the entire world's population of butterflies trapped inside – diving and twisting, tangling together…

The needle on the speedometer was just edging towards the far right-hand side with alarming speed …when we suddenly rounded a corner – and saw what lay ahead.

The city rose in towering turrets of sandy stone up on the hill before us, huge and stunningly, breathtakingly impressive. I was reminded, oddly, of a sandcastle – all that light brown stone, shaped into houses and windows and roofs, towering up and looming down on us from a hill carpeted in green grass and scattered with a few shops and tourist stands.

I thought of that for a moment, leaping at another chance of distraction from the writhing anxiety – thought of the one sandcastle I'd ever made, a huge one I'd built on a beach decades ago, back when it was just me and Jasper travelling alone. We'd come across the sandy spot completely by accident – and I'd decided to make the most of it, despite how childish I knew it was, whilst Jasper watched and occasionally gave me an opinion on the design of the shell-patterns or shaping of the turrets…Jasper…

Oh Jazz, I wish you were here with me. I wish you could drive for me so I could comfort Bella, keep her calm, hold her hand, reassure her, and you could keep me calm – I'm trying so hard to stay calm, trying so hard, but I'm scared, Jazz, I'm so scared, I'm trying not to show it, but Jazz…oh Jazz…

Edward glancing down at his watch; the clock read 11.30am…

I pressed hard down on the pedal.

"Volterra," I murmured, by way of an explanation both Bella and I knew wasn't needed – and began to climb the hill to the city above.