I feel the bumpy turbulence in the plane as we land, and for the first time in the entire flight, I look up from my seat. Once the plane slows to a stop, the flight attendant helps people with their various suitcases, but I slide past the cluster of people and disappear out of the plane.
The moon is bright and pale and sets a garish filter on the world. Taxis shuffle in and out of the airport parking lot, but I patiently wait for one and climb in.
"Where are you headed?" The woman speaks English clearly, but her Italian accent still comes through.
"L'hotel più vicino, per favore." I say.
She nods. Degno di nota.
The car ride is luckily short, leaving me with very little time to reflect on all of the horrible things going on in my head as I sit on the cool leather seat. The driver doesn't talk much, which I appreciate. We arrive at a random inn a couple of minutes later. I give her a couple of Euros before climbing out.
The hotel looks run down, with a couple of broken windows on the top floors and peeling paint in the lobby, but I couldn't care less. I'll be dead by this time tomorrow. A large reception desk it's in the middle of the lobby, where a tall man types loudly on his computer. He glances up and gestures me towards him.
"Hello, sir, welcome to the Five Star Inn, Locanda A Cinque Stelle." His voice is monotone, like he's said the sentence a thousand times. His thoughts are in English - he isn't a native speaker.
"Hello. I'd like a one bedroom room please, just for tonight. I can be out early tomorrow morning."
"Ok, give me a minute." He types for a few seconds. "You're room 43, floor 5. Here's the key." He gets up and grabs a key from it's hook on the wall behind him.
"Thank you." I take it and follow his pointed finger to the elevators.
The night inches by as I sit and stare at the sky. I try to think coherently, but I soon realize how impossible it is. Bella floods my mind until I'm collapsing into an endless pit of guilt and sorrow so deep that even the thought of trying to escape is exhausting. The sun is just starting to rise when I slowly make my way back to logical thinking.
Today is Saint Marcus' Day, I realize. This is good - they'll be plenty of people around if the Volturi don't agree. I leave the hotel at 9:00, when the sun is up but the world is still cast in an orangey morning light, so I pull my hoodie on to hide myself.
The walk to the clock tower is long, and the streets are filled with people celebrating the holiday, but I don't mind. Maybe part of me doesn't want to die today.
"Edward. To what do we owe this surprise visit?" Aro greets me with a huge smile, but I know that he isn't happy. He sees my hollow face and empty eyes. He knows I'm broken.
I thrust my hand at him in response, which he takes calmly and watches my thoughts carefully. Caius watches in confusion, but Marcus couldn't look more bored if he tried.
Aro's smile fades as he experiences all of my pained thoughts and memories. I suddenly feel exposed, naked, so I pull my hand away. He looks up at me and clears his throat.
"I'm very sorry for your loss." I know he means it - he just saw my agony firsthand. He also saw what I came here to do. "If you'll excuse me, for a moment. I must discuss this."
I take a step back and focus my gaze on the floor while Aro leads Caius and Marcus to another room. Jane and Alec come into the room, but I pretend not to notice.
"What are you doing here?" Alec asks me.
"Just running an errand." I say it sarcastically, but my voice breaks.
"Don't pay him any attention, brother. He's just a brooding teenager." Jane says. They both walk out of the door that I came in, and for a moment I wonder who they're about to kill. I can't dwell on it long, though, because Aro and his brothers come into the room a second later.
Why doesn't Aro just kill him? He will never join us, so what's the use in keeping him alive? Caius's thoughts make me growl in frustration.
"That's a good question, Caius." I speak up, and Caius stares up at me suddenly, somewhat embarrassed. "Why can't you just kill me?"
Aro glares at Caius. "It isn't good for our image." Such a valuable gift could make such a wonderful addition to our forces…
"You and I both know that's not the real reason." I say. I'm angry now, trying to control the rage seeping through my voice.
Aro gives a meaningful look to his brothers. Get Jane. Marcus doesn't react. Caius smiles and flits towards the doors that Jane and Alec just left through.
Fear courses through my veins, but I don't move. I just stare into Aro's deep red eyes, willing him to torture me to his dead heart's content.
"Edward, make this easy on us. We'd hate to cause any extra drama."
"We both know that I'll cause much more drama if you don't give me what I want."
Aro scowls. "Yes, well. If you do choose to expose our kind, we'll assure that you don't enjoy your punishment."
I laugh humorlessly. "It's obvious that you've never been in love."
"I don't see how this has anything to do with this."
"I don't care if you use Jane or Alec. I just don't want to-" My voice breaks again.
"Oh, right. You think you deserve it." Aro remembers my thoughts. She's just a measly human. Barely a meal.
Before I know what I'm doing, I launch myself towards Aro as a snarl rips out of me. He dashes out of the way just in time and I catapult into the stone wall behind him.
Pain flushes through my veins, making my muscles convulse. I gasp out and fall to the floor, begging for the agony to be over. Every nerve in my body feels an unbearable burn of pain. Jane.
"You really need to learn to control your temper." Jane's soft, childish voice rings in my ears. The pain stops just as suddenly as it began. I jump to my feet.
"Fine. But you'll all regret your decision, I promise you." I growl and run past Jane and her brother, out of the room and into the large hallway that opens up to a busy city square of Volterra.
The sun is high in the sky, but it isn't noon yet. I pace back and forth, debating when I should finally reveal myself. Perhaps I should wait until the sun is at its peak. Yes, I should. If I'm doing this, I might as well do it right. I ignore the part of me telling me to leave, to go back to my family and mourn, mostly because the part of me longing for Bella is much stronger.
All that's left to do is remember her and await my death as the clock ticks towards 12:00.
So what did you guys think of the Volturi encounter? I tried to make Aro's response realistic, but it was a bit difficult. He's always one step ahead of everyone else, and really only does things as part of his own agenda, so it was hard to predict what he would say to Edward's request. Feedback is always welcome!