For those of you who are not aware of this, Volterra maybe the city in the films stated but it was filmed in Montepulciano. It is a city a southeast of Volterra and very picturesque so I can see why they would choose to film there instead. So I wrote a few scenes with Montepulciano in mind given how much more room there is in the city compared to Volterra. If you didn't know then google the cities in Italy and get a better mental image for yourself. I loved them both. I know it was not necessary to point this out but it's a fun fact I just wanted to share.
(June 5th 2010) (Train to Florence)
Bella had rushed with her friends to get to the Train Station early before the sun was fully out. Seeing Rosalie and Emmett covered as much as possible while still looking like models kind of irked her. They needed cover as soon as possible. She was finally able to relax and enjoy the train once they had settled in. unfortunately all of her thoughts were occupied by a certain King. Emmett getting the signal from Rosalie left the compartment to explore while Rosalie focused on Bella.
"What's on your mind?" She said cutting to the point.
"I'm so confused. I feel like this was a mistake." Bella said softly.
"How?" Rose asked.
"I am getting his hopes up Rose. I don't feel that way towards him. I haven't felt anything since Jake. I don't think my heart can take it anymore and just gave up." She said. She knew why she felt like this. A part of her did want to take the chance but she had been hurt enough. She did not think she had anything left in her.
"But you also wanted to come. I know your bond is somehow blocked, maybe it's your power maybe it's another vampire. I don't know. Whatever it is I just want you to take things at your own pace. Don't feel pressured into doing anything." Rose said. She had been repeating herself for a long time. She figured Bella would either give Aro a chance or try to distance herself from him once more. In which case she doubted Aro would allow it to happen and forcibly change her and ruin anything between them.
"I hate this. I hate not having an answer. I feel so broken." Bella said with a sad sigh.
Rosalie simply moved to Bella's side and held her. She hoped things would work out for her in the end. Things were complicated enough as it was.
"Let's just enjoy our trip for now. We can worry about things later." Rose said as Bella took comfort from her.
Bella let herself relax and pushed the thoughts that plagued her out of her mind. This was her first time in Italy and she was going to enjoy it. She had promised Charlie after all to send him plenty of photos. She was sure the pack would not be happy once they found out about her leaving the country but she would not allow them to dictate her life.
(June 12th 2010) (Volterra)
The week had been magnificent for all of them. Traveling five major cities in 7 days was exhausting, for her, but thankfully they could go by train and it was only a few hours each time. There had been a few close calls with the weather but they managed to pull through. It did not help when Rosalie attracted a lot of attention with her otherworldly looks. She made it a point to keep her face away from as many cameras as she could. The last thing she needed was to be recognized 50 years from now.
She had never been so happy to travel. It felt very relaxing to simply wander around and not have to worry about anything. She had been especially happy to take part in a small cooking class they had stumbled upon in Rome. The smells had been divine, even if Rosalie and Emmett had kept a nice distance from it since it overwhelmed them. She could easily see how living in Italy would be something she could do. She just didn't think she could ever do so as an immortal. She loved the sun too much.
What she also didn't think she could ever give up was having children. She had seen firsthand how much yearning there was in Rosalie's eyes when she saw a baby or any little child running around. She did not want to miss out on being a mother at all. Something that would never happen if she decided to be with Aro.
Thinking of him brought her back to her current location. Somehow they had stumbled upon the topic of Volterra and ended up deciding to see the city before they departed back to the Americas. It had been another impulsive decision and Rosalie supported her. Emmett did not like it at all. He made his opinion known very well but still ended up accompanying them. They had even rented out a 2010 Porsche 911 to get around in. Bella had thought it was too much but had agreed to it since in the end it was their money to do with as they wished. It also helped that Emmett was the only one allowed to drive it. Rose didn't care since she rode shotgun while she was relegated to the cramped backseats which she was thankfully small enough to fit in without too much fuss. There was no way she would ever get a car this small ever though.
Emmett had insisted they enter the city at high noon and explore from the car first. He said it was to give them a little wiggle room incase Bella changed her mind. Emmett wanted to do it like this to give them a higher chance of escaping since there was little the guards could do against them while the sun was out and in full view of others. He made sure to approach the city with the fastest route out by car as well. He had not spent decades with Jasper without learning about strategy.
A quick run through the city by car was a nice change of pace that Bella had actually enjoyed. The fact that the guards kept close to the castle while the sun was out played a part in why Emmett and Rosalie were also relaxed. Bella wanted to see the castle closer though, her curiosity had gotten the better of her eventually. Emmett circled around and found a spot far enough away from the castle on the opposite side of it and a quick getaway just in case. Rosalie kept looking at him funny for his tactical awareness.
The courtyard in front of the castle was beautiful with many people milling about going about their day. There were a few people sitting on the fountain in the center enjoying the shade it was giving or simply conversing with one another. Bella was enjoying the view and was thinking of getting out when Rosalie gave a chocked gasp. Bella followed her eye line and could barely make out a large group of people walking together. Emmett was the next to gasp at the sight. Bella could not understand what was happening for them to react like that. She took out her phone and using her camera zoom she saw the problem. A group of what appeared to be tourists were following a beautiful woman holding a parasol wearing long gloves and a long dress covering her skin from the sun. She was smiling and leading them to the castle. It all clicked then and Bella gasped as well. What broke her though was the sight of little kids in the group.
She put her phone down and covered her mouth to stop the chocking sob that wanted to escape from her mouth. She barely whispered out to Emmett to get them out. Emmett did not need to be told twice. He quickly turned the Porsche on and made his way out of the city as fast as he could without alerting anyone.
Rosalie was looking lifelessly out the window as she held onto one of Emmett's hands. Bella could see the despair in her eyes as she pondered the fate of those poor children. Bella could not let that happen.
"Emmett get us to the nearest airport as fast as you can. You and I will fly back home while rose goes as far as she can with the car and then drops it off at a rental place. After that she can go as far as she needs to on foot and meet us back home. Can you do that?" Bella said as she quickly thought of a plan.
"Why me?" Was all Emmett asked as he sped up after leaving the city limits.
"Rose doesn't leave my side. Demetri will track her not you once he knows we split up." Bella explained as she pulled out her phone once more. Anger marring her face.
"Don't talk, I have a King to yell at." She said. It managed to crack a small smile, grimace, on Emmett's face while Rosalie still looked torn.
Aro was with his brothers in the ante chamber room waiting for Heidi to return with their meal when his phone began to vibrate with an incoming call. He was perplexed but became delighted when he saw the call was from his mate. Marcus gave him a knowing look when Aro beamed at his phone. Caius simply scoffed but grinned at him in humor. They had been delighted to hear that their brother had spent an evening with his mate who had decided to invite him to see her. They had not liked that he did not take more guards with him but they had kept in touch with Felix to ensure everything was going smoothly and sent a few guards to be near the city just in case. Marcus had told him his bond to the girl looked healthier when he had returned to the castle, but he could say nothing on hers since he was not in her presence.
"Good afternoon mia Bella. This is a lovely surprise." Aro said happily as he began to step away from his brothers to get some privacy, he could eat later.
"Tell that woman to send those people home." Bella said ignoring his greeting. Aro was taken aback by her tone.
Aro paused as did his brothers in confusion.
"What woman? What people are you speaking of Bella?" Aro asked perplexed.
"HEIDI. Tell her to send those people home." Bella yelled as her breathing became more apparent to Aro. She had seen Heidi. Oh no.
"Bella, we do not eat animals. Its Heidi's job to-." Aro was cut off by an irate Bella.
"I know you drink human blood! What I have a problem with is killing children. For fucks sake Aro they are barely older than toddlers!" Bella yelled and began to sob.
"You are here?" Aro asked completely missing the point or not caring.
"I was! I wanted to take you up on your offer to see the city but what I found instead drove me away. There are children in that group Aro. Something you keep ignoring. Do you honestly not care at all?" Bella said as she let her emotions lose.
Aro began to feel a throb in his chest as his mates distress began to seep in. He had not noticed it before but now he could not ignore it. It was worse since she was nearby, or was.
"I won't let anything happen to the children then. The group can have a simple tour and then be sent away. Bella come back it is not that bad." Aro missed the look Marcus made. Caius had winced at the words that left his brothers mouth. He really had no idea what he was doing. It would have been funny if it wasn't heartbreaking.
"I am not going back into the city Aro. What were you thinking? How many times has this happened before? Wait, no don't tell me. I really don't want to know." Bella said in distress. Rosalie was holding herself now as she tried to regain her composure. They were still a while away from Cecina from their hotel. Once there Emmett would grab Bella's and his bags and make their way to the airport quickly for the first flight out of the country going anywhere. It didn't have to be home it just had to be far from there.
"Bella, I understand this must be a shock to you but what did you think we did? We have to feed." Aro said in an unimpressed tone. Caius had face palmed once he heard it. Marcus had simply walked out and shaking his head, his brother was a clueless fool sometimes. Aro looked perplexed at the responses not seeing how he done something wrong.
"I thought you fed discretely. Tourists' going missing raises red flags. I thought you would have fed on death row inmates, rapists, child molesters or serial killers. Fed on the people society would be glad to be rid of. Hell I thought there could even be a fake blood bank where you took blood from people and paid them for it. Anything than killing innocent people!" Bella ranted as she tried to calm down.
Aro paused stupidly as he digested the ideas Bella had screamed at him, they were good. Even Caius was looking intrigued. He had no problem in hunting scum the way he hunted werewolves. It would definitely happen more often than coming across a wolf. A fake blood bank would be an intriguing idea when they didn't feel like hunting or had to host a large group of vampires.
"It has never come up to change it. I agree that those are good ideas, it would certainly make things easier for us." Aro said.
"Send them home Aro. Don't kill the children." Bella said as she chocked up. She definitely wanted children now. There was no way in hell she would allow herself to be changed without having a baby of her own. Aro was definitely not her happily ever after.
"They will be sent home. Do not worry yourself over it." Aro said soothingly when Caius began to tell him in a low rushed whisper that Heidi had been told she should only give them a brief tour. The guards would be sent out in small groups and be allowed to feed when they found suitable prey once the sun went down.
"Give me your word Aro." Bella said as she tried to control her breathing.
"I swear it." Aro said. He was now grasping at the fact that whatever progress they had made was most likely well and truly gone. The thought of going back to no packages or texts from her began to gnaw at his heart. It could not be allowed to happen.
"I will make it known that no children are to be fed upon from now on." He said trying to salvage something with her.
He could hear Bella sobbing and breathing heavily into or onto something.
"Okay."
"Bella come back, we can talk about this. I do not wish you to leave in such a state." Aro said. Caius had left the room and Aro had run back to his quarters for better privacy but he knew some of the coven had heard. This would most definitely cause a stir within their ranks.
"No. Right now I need space Aro. Do not call me or try to contact me for a while. I will not be answering." Bella said decisively.
Aros' heart constricted.
"Bella please don't do this. We have been getting along fine this past year. Don't throw this all away for something insignificant." As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them.
"Human life is not insignificant! You were a human once so was all the members of your coven. I am a human! Would you say my life doesn't matter! Would you be fine with me disappearing from the face of the planet one day? Never knowing what happened to me or who was responsible?" Bella argued back incensed. He didn't care about them.
"Of course I would you're my mate. I would scour the planet to find you, to avenge you." Aro replied back instantly and knew he had trapped himself.
"Those people have someone out there that means that much to them as well. I had hoped that you would feed on those who would harm others. I had hoped that you wouldn't mindlessly kill people or harm an innocent. But seeing those children being led to their deaths by that woman's wide smiling face was too much." Bella said. She gathered her resolve and told him.
"I want children Aro. I won't give that up. And I won't be with someone who would kill them without a second thought."
Aro thought he had felt pain when she had rejected him before. He was wrong. Having gotten closer to her he now knew the pain could be worse. He felt his heart breaking. He felt his world becoming bleak. It was like all of his senses were becoming muted. Life was becoming grey. His rage and despair was growing. The thought of some random male getting HIS mate pregnant sent a wave of raw rage and possessiveness through him. He felt consumed by it.
"Bella wait." Aro said agitated by his emotions.
It was too late. She had hung up mid sentence. He dialed her number again and found her voicemail answering. He tried a few more times before tossing his phone at the bed. A last second decision instead of the wall. He rushed to the hall and found Caius with some of the guards. He quickly ordered Demetri, Jane, Alec and Felix to go and bring all three of them back by any means necessary. They were to make sure they did not harm his mate though, or else.
Caius had to step in at that point to tell Aro that his plan was foolish. Marcus had come in as well most likely being told by one of the guards about the commotion going on. Both tried to tell Aro he was overreacting because of the bond. He would not listen though. Caius had been given the task of mediator for once since Marcus of all people had begun to berate Aro over his actions. His anger on display for the first time in many years.
Having lost his mate many years ago Marcus told Aro that he should of thought of what would have happened when he invited the girl to their city. She was mortal and did not want to be changed. He should have tried to either change her mind or enjoy her mortality with her. He had a gift and should not be wasting it. He should let her calm down and then try to talk to her but once more Aro did not listen. His mind would not let him leave his mate alone. Not when she said she did not want to speak to him and wanted to be a mother. She was single now and he had a horrible feeling in his gut about it.
NO! He would keep her in the castle until she would see reason. He would not lose her. Marcus and Caius seeing their brother not about to change his mind decided to try and do damage control as best as they could. Hopefully Aro would calm down enough to listen to them eventually. Both were thinking of calling the girl and intervening before the idiot did something drastic.
Yes, I have left it at another cliffhanger. I am the queen of them. LOL. No I just wanted to set the tone and leave y'all in a bit of suspense for the moment. In case it wasn't obvious, this was the drama I had spoken about in previous chapters. I didn't want it all to be smooth sailing for them and I cannot see Bella being with someone who kills innocent people like that.
Aro doesn't truly see anything wrong with it because again he is over three millennia years old. He has long lost his humanity and although Bella is bringing some of it back she has not brought all of it since they have not completed their bond.
I will continue to upload every week as I have been doing. I like having more time to write now but until my sons classes are done with in May I won't have more time to dedicate to my laptop.
As always don't forget to follow, favorite and review. ;-)
