The sun seemed to glow five shades brighter with every minute as my wonderful Porsche shot up the hillside road to the city; the light was no longer beautiful, no longer the pretty caramel streaks it had been on the plane; it was sharp and blinding, harsh and cruelly victorious as it poured itself over the car we both sped along in. The sun was winning, so very easily. Effortlessly. Naturally following the course it always did, to the top of the sky, the peak of the day…
My elbow, leaning on the edge of my window, began to glitter. I jerked it away, cringing back into my seat to avoid the light.
Two cars beeped simultaneously as I narrowly missed crashing into both of them.
"Alice," Bella mumbled, and I wasn't even sure whether she was chiding me for almost crashing the car, or begging me to go faster as the clock on the dashboard clicked another minute further to midday.
Sixteen minutes, twenty-five seconds till he would step out…
My hands clenched like claws round the handle of the steering wheel, so tight it was almost painful. My insides were writhing.
Fifteen minutes, three seconds till it would all be over…
"Alice…" Bella was groaning, from somewhere beside me as the traffic grew more and more congested, and we slowed to a crawl. "Alice…"
"It's the only way in," I tried to soothe her in a voice almost as strained as hers. Maybe we should just drop the car, get out, and run…I could carry her, and if we were careful, and didn't go too supernaturally quickly…
"Alice…"
I'm trying, Bella, I moaned inwardly, honking loudly as I tried to edge round a large white van. I'm trying…
Should we drop the car and run? But wouldn't it be faster, really, to stay driving, no matter how slow…?
Oh Jasper, I don't know what to do, and we're running out of time, but I don't know, I don't know…
Caius pacing backwards and forwards across the large room with the thrones again…Aro was back there too, sitting a few feet away, chin still resting on papery hands…
Caius hissing softly under his breath, the sound almost inaudible; a whisper of a caress along the deadly sharp blade of a knife…
"What's taking them so long -?"
"Perhaps dear Edward has changed his mind after all," mused Aro, a trace of sudden hope in his voice, as he glanced up to meet his accomplice's angry gaze. "Maybe we have acted too quickly, brother, perhaps we should reconsider…"
"Reconsider?" Caius's tone was incredulous. "But Aro…!"
"We should send someone to bring him back in…"
"Bring him back in? But…!"
"…ridiculous…"
"…cannot believe you could be so…"
"…you truly believe that…?"
"…send someone capable this time, then, brother, we've wasted enough time as it is!"
"Where is Jane?"
"Chelsea, find Jane, and send her in…"
"Have a little job for her…"
"…hurry, please…"
The one called Chelsea nodding once, turning to drift from the room, her misty curls floating behind her like golden candyfloss…
Jane, Aro had said…
…Jane…
Two very young ones, Alec and…
"Jane," Caius sighed in relief, and I watched with wary but undeniable curiosity as the tiny figure of another guard member, dressed in pure black with a silky cloak trailing from her petite shoulders, entered the room. "At last…"
The little person, Jane, tripped forward with dainty steps that tapped against the stone floor and echoed round the room. I did a double take at her face; despite the blurred edges of this new vision, this new person, even I could make out the soft, sweet, angelic features of a girl who couldn't be anything more than a child…her hair was pale brown, hanging neat and simple around the cherub-like face, her expression apathetic, and her eyes that same dark, glinting red as her twin brother's…
There was something…horribly wrong about the sight of those terrible eyes in a face so young, so sweet, so innocent looking…all wrong. Wrong. And yet, still…
How, then, could the little girl still look so very lovely, so endearing, so…childlike…?
"Master," she murmured, voice sweet and bell-like as Alec's, but with a very slight reedy edge I didn't like one bit – and her eyes were on Aro as she spoke the word, not Caius. He smiled down at her.
"Jane…"
"…after Demetri, Felix…"
"…you saw what happened before…"
"… tell them our minds have changed…"
"…speak with him again…"
"…want him back alive…"
"Yes, Master…
"Make that quite clear to them, my dear…"
"I want this kept well under control…"
"Yes, Master…"
"Make sure nothing goes wrong…"
"Yes, Master."
"And make sure he's alive."
"Yes, Master."
He nodded then, a nod half of satisfaction, half of dismissal.
"I shall expect you back sooner rather than later, Jane dear. We have waited long enough."
"Yes…Master."
The strange pair shared a smile for one more brief moment – then Jane was gone, a blur of gold hair and slick midnight fabric past my sight, out of the room…
…up and out of the hole…
…into the city, slip quietly into the maze of alleyways and backstreets where her fellow guard still lurked…
Swarms of red-dressed festival goers everywhere…
…walking everywhere…
…walking, but no cars…
…no cars, and there was a signpost up ahead, a minute or so in Bella and my future…Italian words, 'for the safety and enjoyment of festival attendees'…'no cars shall be allowed to enter or park in the city from this point on'…
"Alice," I heard Bella's voice saying urgently, from a very long way away, marred by the loud honking of another horn…
"Alice…"
"I know," I murmured, my eyes focussing on the road crawling along in front of us very slowly, as though lifting the weight of the whole world away from them. "I know…"
The car parks we were just passing were crammed to bursting with vehicles, as were the edges of the road and pavement spaces. People were getting out and walking the rest of the way into the city…
Eleven minutes to go before Edward would move from his position safe in the shadow of that alley…
But if we couldn't even drive into the city…
Oh no, no, no, no, no…
I frantically dove into the future; but the visions dithered and turned in on themselves before my eyes, refusing to give a straight answer…maybe if I drove fast enough, I could edge round the guards that I could now make out guarding the entrance…
…but no, Edward's body was being ripped by teeth and hands of the guard before my eyes, we wouldn't be in time, wouldn't be in time…
If I begged the guard…
…"please, sir, please, try to understand"…
…but that wouldn't work, and Edward was burning, his limbs consumed by flames, dead and gone, going, gone…
…if I offered him money, then, I thought wildly, the panic rising with every second as the Porsche edged closer and closer – I had money in my bag, a lot of money, maybe enough money…
…Bella leaping at Edward, shoving him back into the shadows before the sun could conquer his skin…Edward burning, we were too late, the guard wouldn't accept and we were too late…but it wasn't clear…wasn't decided…decided…
"Bella," I hissed under my breath, winding round another few badly parked cars. "I can't see what the guard here will decide now – if this doesn't work, you're going to have to go in alone. You're going to have to keep asking for," – I glanced at the GPS, at the name, at the place – "Palazzo dei Priori, and running in the direction they tell you. Don't get lost."
"Palazzo dei Priori, Palazzo dei Priori, Palazzo dei Priori," she chanted under her breath, which was growing more uneven by the second – already hyperventilating.
"Or 'the clock tower,' if they speak English. I'll go around and try to find a secluded spot somewhere behind the city where I can go over a wall."
I saw her nod almost frantically out of the corner of my eye. "Palazzo dei Priori."
"Edward will be under the clock tower, to the north of the square – there's a narrow alleyway on the right, and he'll be in the shadow there. You have to get his attention before he can move into the sun."
More nodding.
Ten minutes and fifty-one seconds to go…
The car in front of us finished arguing with the guard in a blue uniform who's job it seemed to be to direct the people away from the city gates. It revved its engine, did a giant U-turn, and headed back past us to look for somewhere to park. The way was clear.
I accelerated instantly, weaving round the guard and shooting forward towards the wonderful wide open gates amid angry shouts of Italian words I couldn't catch…
Eight minutes and two seconds to go before Edward would step out…
But then another blue-uniformed man stepped into the road, straight in front of my Porsche – the man from the vision, the one I'd already seen, the one who I needed to somehow bargain with…
Carefully, I angled the car to a stop so that the fingers of sunlight crawled over Bella's window, but were unable to reach mine. Stamping down on the brake, I reached behind into my bag, and yanked out my purse.
But if he felt my skin, my freezing cold skin, or if the sun were to catch it by accident…
I delved deeper into my bag and pulled out my favourite pair of tan gloves, slipping them on just as a loud and angry rapping sounded on the window.
I wound open the window, took a deep breath – then plastered a painful smile over my lips, and turned to face the young gate guard. He was wearing a uniform jacket several sizes too big for him – and a glare.
Predictably, his mouth fell open instantly in amazement as he focussed on my face.
"I…I'm sorry…" he stammered in heavily accented English, the anger vanishing as quickly as it had come. "Only tour buses allowed in the city today, miss."
"It's a private tour," I said as sweetly as I could, flashing another agonizing smile – then, quickly as I could, I pulled all the money I could find from my purse, reached out of the window to press the roll of notes into his hand, which was still raised from tapping on the window, and folded his fingers around it. His expression was dazed as he looked down to examine what I'd given him.
Even I couldn't suppress a small pang of regret as the crisp outside note – a thousand dollar bill – fluttered in the sunlight.
The man gawped – first at the money, then at me.
"Is this a joke?" he managed to mumble weakly, eyes wide and wondering as they flicked once up and down what he could see of me. I stretched my smile an impossible touch further, and clung to all the thoughts of Jasper I could muster as I replied.
"Only if you think it's funny."
He grinned a little then, too – but still didn't move from his position against my car. I clenched my teeth.
"I'm in a bit of a hurry," I hinted, turning back to the steering wheel and fighting the urge to yell in panic as I focussed on the clock.
Five minutes to go…
The guard blinked twice – but then, finally, moved. Shoving the roll of money into his vest, he stepped back from my Porsche and waved his hand a couple of times to the side, gesturing for us to enter the city.
I stamped hard on the pedal, and the car shot through the open gates even before he'd finished waving.
Please don't ask me how the guard knew Alice spoke English before he'd even spoken to her XD it's a Stephanie Meyer error, not mine!
Seeing as so many peeps have been complaining that I don't offer character-rewards these days in return for reviews, I think I'll try bringing them back for this chapter...
REVIEW AND YOU'LL RECEIVE A PERSONAL EDWARD CULLEN OF YOUR OWN, COMPLETE WITH TOUSLED BRONZE HAIR, MELTING AMBER EYES AND HONEY SMOOTH VOICE! YES, REALLY THIS TIME!