Chapter Twenty-Nine
Volterra looked exactly how I imagined it to be.
It was traditional, old fashioned and was stuck in time. I both admired it but feared it. Carlisle walked as though he knew this city on the back of his hand—both Jasper and I knew it wasn't just because of looks, he knew this place. He had lived here for decades.
Jasper shifted uneasily and kept his hand in mine, making sure I would not be pulled away from him. We stayed a day in a hotel but the next day I got ready for our meeting with the Volturi.
Putting on the dress I had gotten for the spring dance last year, I smoothed my hair out and put concealer upon my face. A little bit of eye liner and eyeshadow made my eyes pop. A beautiful shade of light red lipstick was on my lips, Alice had put the right kind of makeup shades into my luggage so that I would look my best when I would meet the lords of vampires. I put on the Cullen crest last, knowing that it would show as a sign I had been approved of by vampires. There was no room of imperfection.
As soon as I was finished, I went out of the bathroom, greeting Jasper and Carlisle. Carlisle smiled at me while Jasper stared at me as though I was the most beautiful woman in the world. He reached forward and cupped the side of my check in his cool hand before he kissed my lips. He pulled away and wrapped his arm around my waist, turning towards Carlisle.
"We are ready," he let him know and Carlisle smoothed down the expensive suit he was wearing. Jasper was wearing a suit too. None of us wanted to look sloppy, ungrateful for being invited to meet the lords.
A knocking on the hotel door made us turn, Carlisle opened the door. A tall, muscular vampire stood in front of us. He was pale, his eyes a crimson hue. I shivered from him, he turned and looked at me. He gave me a chilling smile but when he turned back to Carlisle, he bowed his head, as though to show respect.
"It is good to see you, Carlisle," the vampire spoke, his voice smooth but dangerous at the same time. Carlisle bowed his head down too, "it is good to see you too, Felix. We are ready to meet them."
We trailed behind Felix, he moved swiftly and reached one of the exit doors of the hotel. It was apparent he had not gone through the front lobby of the hotel, a smart decision. He would have gotten attention from his eyes and the black cloak he wore—a crimson broach was holding the cloak together.
We stayed in the lineaments, we blended in as though we were them. None of the city people noticed us, they were too busy dealing with their own lives and didn't bat an eyelash at us. It was both welcoming but not at the same time, I wanted them to notice us and tell me I would be okay, they would pull me away from this Felix.
I took a sharp breath when we appeared in front of the castle, it must have been thousands of years old, and held an sinister aura around it. I gulped and Felix gave me a sharp smile, it was a good thing that vampires could not have fangs because I was certain he would flash them at me to make me scared.
Jasper glared at him and wrapped his arms around me, calming me down gradually. Felix went over to where a secret door was, he opened the door and motioned for us to move forward. Carlisle went through the door, without even having to be told to do so, and we followed behind him.
The corridor was small, almost claustrophobic, it was only stone. There were touches that were lit and the only way I could see where I was going. Felix was behind us, looming and keeping guard. He would make sure that none of us could decide to run. He would make sure we would meet the lords.
Carlisle opened the door at the end of the corridor, we went up winding stairs and stopped at another door. He moved to the side and Felix opened the door, he went in first and then ushered me and Jasper through. We went through.
A beautiful room greeted us with a dome above it. The walls were white with gold gilded details along with white marble floors—impeccable French molding made a strong beautiful contrast against the walls of the room. A dais of the same marble held three thrones, gothic and intimidating. Three black robed vampires sat within them with their red broaches bringing out the red in their eyes. At the end of the thrones to the left sat a light, silver blond vampire with pointed features—he must have been in his late forties. His eyes landed on me and he scowled at me, having already decided he cared not for me. A young man who could only be nineteen was on the right end of the throne, he had his hood up and his crimson eyes held emptiness in them. He did not show any emotion towards me.
Yet the important vampire sat in the middle, he had long obsidian hair that fell at his shoulders and milky red eyes, revealing how ancient he must have been. His skin was paper thin, and his features were bright, they held the same features as the other two though he was in the forties. He brought his hands up and clapped them before he stood up and proclaimed, "ah, Carlisle! It is good to see you. Though I am sad you have not become a true vampire."
Carlisle merely bowed his head, "It is good to see you again, old friend. I have brought Bella as you have requested. I brought her mate, Jasper, with her. You have not met him; he came to my family two centuries after he became a vampire."
Aro listened with rapt attention before he ushered Carlisle to him, he grabbed his hands before he beamed even more, "ah interesting! Very well, Bella, dear, please come. I wish to see you."
I frowned but nodded my hand, moving away from Jasper and going up the stairs of the dais. I held my hands out to him and he reached forward eagerly, but his face fell. "What is this? I cannot read you?"
Everyone in the room peered at me as though I was the freak, I shifted uneasily, but Aro did not seem as though he was insulted by this. Instead he was thrilled, happy that he had someone who was not affected by his power. He must have also been okay with this because I would become a vampire.
"I wonder if…" Carlisle stiffened this time, as though he knew what was about to happen. "Old friend, must you?" Carlisle's concerned lit something inside of Aro, but he nodded his head, "I must."
"Alec, Jane, come forward."
Two figures appeared from the darkness behind the thrones. They were young, quite so, they must have been only fourteen or fifteen. They were showing interest, and their youthful appearances only made them more dangerous. They were both brunettes and their crimson eyes only made their dark hair a greater contrast to their shade.
"Who wishes to go first?" Aro probed, Jane stepped forward. She turned towards me, her eyes shooting towards Jasper, "move and protect her and I will make sure that you will wither in agony until Caius says I may stop."
Jasper glared at her, but she merely ignored him, she turned towards me with excitement in her eyes, "Pain."
I stood there, not affected and her eyes widened before she narrowed her eyes even more, "Pain!"
Aro brought his hand up and motioned for Jane to stop, "I am sorry, Jane but she is not affected it seems. Alec you may go next."
Yet the same thing happened to Alec, and he frowned this time. He did not hold the same kind of anger as his sister did (I had learnt later they were twins and they had been burnt on the stake before they were rescued by Aro himself). Instead he held this kind of fascination that made me shift uneasily.
"This is wonderful, you have a shield! A gift, perhaps in time you will join us. You plan on changing, of course," Aro commented, and I remarked, "of course, Lord Aro. I will be changed when I'm twenty."
"A shield?" Jasper whispered, before he turned towards me, he frowned, "but Lord Aro, Bella does not reject my gift."
Aro craned his head, "is that so? What is your gift, my son?" Jasper almost looked as though he was kicking himself for mentioning that he had a gift, but it was done, and he sighed.
"I can manipulate emotions. Yet I cannot when it comes to Bella."
Aro sat there for a moment, pondering before he spoke once more, "that is quite interesting. Maybe she is open to your gift because she is completely open to you. She trusts you completely That seems as though that is the answer. This is the first I have heard of shields. As it is the first time I have heard about your gift."
Carlisle turned towards Aro, "Aro, I mean not to be rude, but are we done? Has Bella been approved?"
Aro nodded his head, "of course, old friend. I just wished to meet the girl. After all, when I learnt that you had brought her into your family, I wished to see your latest member and last. It has been too long since I last saw you, almost a total of three hundred years! Let us not be apart from each other that long again, old friend. I have missed our conversations."
Marcus kept his eyes off to the side, but he turned his head and peered at me, his head almost craned to the side. His eyes went over to Jasper and I almost detected jealously. Maybe he did not have a mate or if he had she had been dead? It was sad now that I thought about it. He seemed as though he was a lifeless shell without her, Carlisle would later tell me he could know the bond between mates, so it was difficult for him when his mate had died.
We were about to leave when Aro cleared his throat, "please wait in the corridor, Jasper and Bella. I wish to talk to Carlisle."
There was no arguing, so we went into the corridor. Jane and Alec kept their eyes on me, one of them having hatred and probably still trying her gift while the other looked at me as though he thought he would have someone immune to his gift fascinating. I shifted uncomfortably from their staring, Jasper wrapped his arms around me even more as though he was shielding me away from him and was the able to be immune to their gifts. I hadn't expected what would happen next.
Jasper screamed as he fell to the ground, everyone turned their attention to Jane standing on the dais and focusing her attention on Jasper. I fell onto the ground and went to touch him, though was afraid that it would hurt him even more.
"Jane, stop now. Or I will make sure you are punished worse than you will be."
Aro's voice was harsh, as though he was sharp rocks upon the waters and was waiting for her to be pierced by them. It was the coldest voice I had ever heard. He turned his attention towards Jane, his eyes so bright but dark at the same time. Jane stiffened and bowed her head, Jasper stopped withering and I gently pulled him up from the ground. I wrapped my arms around him and led him to the corridor.
As soon as we reached the corridor, I couldn't help but sob, my hands reaching and putting them on my mouth. I could feel eyes on me, I almost screamed as I saw Felix looming a few steps below us but still taller than us in many ways other than height. I moved closer to Jasper, as though I was shielding him more than I had ever shielded and protected someone than before.
Thankfully, Felix did not say anything, he merely peered at us. I didn't know how long we were in the corridor, sprawled across those stairs. I waited for Carlisle to come, but also feared him not arriving. I didn't want to imagine him being forced to stay behind—they would want him and make him stay or kill him for thinking about leaving them once more.
The door opened swiftly, Carlisle stood at the top of the stairs, on the doorway. The marble in the background only made him paler. He turned his head, his eyes focused on someone or some people that were looking at him. He turned his attention away from them and went down the stairs when the door shut behind him. He bent down and helped Jasper up from the ground, he kept one arm on Jasper and made sure that he kept his other arm around me.
Jasper stumbled, as we moved down the corridor, alien in all our eyes. A vampire was not supposed to be clumsy; a vampire was to recover from things without even problems to be deal with. Yet I knew it was different for Jasper, maybe him being able to feel emotions made it worse for him. He could feel what she had gone through, he could feel the sadistic pleasure that traveled through her body.
When we arrived at the door that led out of the castle, Felix opened the door and let us out. We didn't turn to look back; we did not want to acknowledge what had just happened. I could only pray that neither Jasper nor I would ever have to come face to face with them again. I could not pray the same for Carlisle, he had cursed himself when he had first formed a friendship with them.
It was starting to get later in the day than we realized. Time was almost an illusion within that castle, it was as though the Volturi were the ones that controlled the time you were to spend in there and you were at their mercy. They were the masters of everything within the castle, what they said was final and what they did they did without any hesitation on their end.
When we reached our hotel room, Carlisle motioned for me to take a shower first. I went into the bathroom and did what he said. It was not a glamorous bathroom. It was simple which was refreshing, it reminded me being back at home. I wouldn't have to feel as though I was around poisoned jewels and artifacts—I would not be afraid if I would touch something I would be doomed.
I did not notice how long I was in the bathroom but when I did, I got out quickly and changed into one of my fuzzy sweaters and a pair of my comfier jeans. A pair of wool socks finished off the look. My feet would not be brushing against the cool floorboards while I would be here.
Carlisle and Jasper had already changed into their normal clothes, both seemed as though they were troubled. They straightened up and Carlisle cleared his throat before he patted the spot on the bed next to me that was closest to the small balcony that the hotel room had. I sat down next to him quietly and he reached his hand out, taking my hand in his softly.
"I know you said that you had made your decision before, and I support it. I must tell you there cannot be any second thoughts, now that the Volturi know that you wish to be a vampire they would make sure you are turned one with or without any of our permission. You must be careful, Bella. You know not to tell anyone about us being vampires, only the wolf-shifters know, but make sure that you will not even talk about them, because I am certain they will make sure everyone will know about our family being vampires," Carlisle gently told me this, as though he was hoping I wouldn't be insulted with what he was telling me.
If it were anyone else, I would have just pushed them aside, but Carlisle knew these vampires, I dared not call them men now that I knew if vampires were monsters, they were the kings of them. Carlisle was a bystander in that castle. His heart became sadder the longer he was in there, he was suffocating. He wanted out and he finally managed to find a way out. I could only hope that the lords would not come and swoop him back into the castle—threatening him that if he would even think about leaving, they would make sure to do something to his coven.
Something inside me stirred and I stood up before I went to the sliding doors, I opened the balcony doors and stepped out. The cobble houses and roads had cars parked on the curbs and people were wandering happily. Tourists were taking photographs of the city and they were without any care in the world.
If I had not just seen them only a few hours before I would not have noticed them, but they were in the shadows of an alleyway, their cloaks blending into the darkness. Two of them were there, staring straight up at us. One of the vampires I had not seen before but now I shivered at his deep crimson eyes, there was this look in his eyes as though he was ready to track me across Italy, even back to Forks, to make sure I would continue to keep my promise of changing next year.
"I can see them," I whispered, the cloaked vampires moved further into the alleyway, I knew not if they were leaving or if they were deciding that they would stay for a while longer.
"It must be Felix and Demetri," Carlisle informed me, I turned towards him and he saw the curiosity that was burning in my eyes when he mentioned Demetri. "Demetri is able to track people through their minds. I am not surprised that he has come to check on us, he is making sure that we have not left the city so early. It would be an insult to them for leaving so early, so we will leave tomorrow."
Jasper narrowed his eyes on the other side of me, as though he was ready to challenge Demetri. I didn't want to know what he felt from the vampire in front of him, nor what he felt when we were in the castle. I would have fallen and begged for the Volturi to take away his gift if they could, but then I wondered what price it would be? Everything had a price; nothing was given out for free.
"If you had gone back in time would you have joined them?" I whispered, though I soon cursed myself. There were vampires listening in on us. "No, don't tell me. Please. I don't want to know."
Carlisle nodded his head, assuring me he understood. He instead reached his hand out and placed it on my shoulder.
"Come inside, it is best we not stare at them any longer. They like to be acknowledged but discreetly. It would be best not to stare any longer or a human would get curious and enter the alleyway. The city people will not look for them long neither, this city has known it has its own demons and they will not face them if they can help it."
Shutting the balcony door, Carlisle locked it in safe measure and pulled one of the chairs in the room so that it sat between the sliding doors, up against where the lock was. He was making sure there was no way that those two guards would come wandering into the hotel without him knowing, Jasper would be just as much as a watchdog as his father was.
We ordered room service, some cliché Italian dish I had not looked twice at on the menu. A bottle of wine was in an ice bucket, I had almost been tempted to take a sip but drank my soda instead. Apparently, it was legal to drink alcohol at sixteen, thankfully neither Carlisle nor Jasper cared for alcohol. Carlisle because he was a pastor in his past life and rejected its sin, while Jasper claimed he fell asleep when the pain and anguish of the war managed to knock him out.
Curious as to what I had asked him, I spoke up, "Carlisle, remember when I asked about London?" Carlisle nodded his head, allowing me to know that he was listening. "Is the Volturi part of the reason why you won't go back to England? You don't want to get close enough for them to look for you again?"
"Yes, now that I have a family, I do not want them to be over here at all. I fear that vampires will talk about me, because of the distinct color my coven has with their eyes, and the Volturi would soon learn about us. They would demand that we come and ask those who have gifts if they would like to join the guard. I cannot do that to my children, nor you, my daughter."
Warmth overtook me and I sat my plate that was empty off onto the nightstand next to me before I leant forward and wrapped my arms around him. I just held onto him, tears falling down my eyes a moment later. I couldn't imagine all that he had gone through, all that he had experienced. I would have done the same thing as him, make sure that there was as much distance between us and the Volturi as possible.
"I love you, Dad. Thank you for always protecting me," I confessed, earning a small squeeze from him. Jasper came and sat on my other side, I sighed and yawned, tired. I had just met the lords of the vampires and I just wanted to go to sleep and think of anything other than those red eyes.
Curling up underneath my covers of the bed, Jasper sat on the bed over the covers next to me and Carlisle was on his phone, probably texting the others and telling them what had transpired. It would be better hearing what had happened through someone that had been there and not through Alice.
The next morning, we got our things together and left the hotel, ready to leave the city behind. I hoped that we would never have to cross into this place ever again. I did not turn and look when we drove away, because if I had I would have seen the red eyes of Demetri watching us leave.
author's note:
this is not the last time that I will write about the Volturi for the fandom. I have two stories in the future about Bella being Alec's mate, which yes I know sounds weird but I like their chemistry, it's different. *shrugs* I also have a Carlisle/Bella fanfiction that I will eventually write where they are in college, BOTH of them. Anyway, this is how I perceive the Volturi. And the ages are correct, I looked up the ages again, for Aro, Cassius, and Marcus.
Who is your favorite Volturi member? Or leader? I like Marcus, Aro is okay, and Cassius is just an ass but we all knew that. Aro is my favorite, I also love Jane.
-Emmy
