*A/N I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I only own my own OCs. Story contains spoilers for the books and movies.

I'm breathing extremely hard and probably too loudly for my companions' ears. But I can't help it. Bile creeps up my throat as adrenaline pumps through my veins, pushing the blood harder just under my deathly pale skin. Which is exactly what I don't need in my current circumstances although maybe the bile will off put their hunger, their thirst.

Beside me, breathing just as hard and heart thundering probably as loudly as mine, my twin clutches the pale arm that's holding her protectively. I'm grateful that he's there to protect her, to shield her. It seems so surreal that just minutes earlier, I was ready to wring his neck. Not that I could but I could imagine it very vividly.

Now, however, I don't want to picture any more gory details even if it's about the guy who broke my sister's heart. In fact, I'm fighting desperately not to see anything in my head. Fighting the nightmares that await behind closed eyes.

Some minutes earlier

"This is amazing! So much better than sitting in your room, worrying right?"

I smiled at the excited blonde beside me while she continued to gush in hushed whispers.

I'd only known Daisy Klein for a week, but in that time we'd become quite close and I'd even go so far as to say we had become fast friends. It helped that we shared an interest in the arts and architecture, but I supposed that was to be expected given we were both in Italy for the same two-week art program.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I had applied for the architecture program last September before things had changed. Changed beyond repair. By the time the acceptance letter came in late January, I hadn't been so sure about going anymore.

But Dad had pushed me to go, told me to enjoy it, and he had been surprised when Bella managed to sincerely hope I could enjoy the trip. But I had known what Dad didn't know - Bella had been hoping I'd get out of town and away from the danger that literally stalked my twin. I didn't know what Bella did in her prior life to deserve the bad luck that followed her like a plague. But based on the redheaded nightmare who was just the latest in the string of terrible misfortunes to fall upon my sister in the span of only one year, I was often tempted to say she had been Hitler himself in her past life.

Either way, I hadn't been able to disagree with Bella or my father, nor had I particularly wanted to. Aside from wanting to relieve myself from the awkwardness that now seemed to permanently exist between me and Bella, I had desperately wanted to escape from the constant feeling of paranoia that had begun with the knowledge that Victoria was after us; after Bella. I trusted the wolf pack to protect my dad and Bella but I had really needed to get away before I went mad under the constant scrutiny of Bella's wolf friends and the ceaseless feeling that I was being watched by a redheaded shadow that could kill me before I even blinked. And besides, a two week art program in Italy? I'd be a fool to turn it down.

That was how I had ended up where I was in the present moment walking beside the babbling blonde I had come to call a friend.

Daisy and I had met the first day of class, taking relief in the fact that there was another American amongst the many Europeans. Not that they were snobbish in any way (well, they were but in a funny way that we often joked about together while they teased us for our 'uncouth' American ways) but it had just been nice to have that familiarity as we all sat down nervously amongst strangers. Daisy was sweet too, talking all about her family in Virginia and her father's job as a naval fleet officer, and she was quite pretty with her blonde hair and green eyes that suited her name perfectly. Best of all, she cared about me - which was how we were even walking inside an absolutely gorgeous and ornate hall.

"Do you see that ceiling? And look at the details on those carved pillars!" Daisy said dreamily as we followed our guide deeper inside the cool building and out of the Spring Italian sun. "Wasn't this a good idea?"

I chuckled, knowing she's overdoing it for my sake after my horrendous morning.

I was not a good morning person on most given days, as my mother and sister would vehemently back me up. Even my quiet dad could tell you that about me. But I'd think anyone would be shocked to be awoken in Europe by urgent calls from their dad back in America, informing one that their sister was gone (I'd almost dropped the phone when Charlie had said those words as my first instinct was to assume Victoria had finally gotten through the pack to Bella), leaving behind only a note saying she had gone with Alice ('Why was Alice in Forks?') to chase after Edward, who was apparently in some kind of trouble that Bella neglected to explain (I'd almost thrown my phone in fury at that).

It had taken all my wits to keep calm and to calm Charlie down and ask him if he wanted me to come home early. But the sweet guy my dad really was under his gruff exterior, once he'd calmed down he had firmly told me to enjoy the rest of my holiday. He would just have to wait for Bella to call; although he did admit he wanted me back if he didn't hear from Bella in the next twenty-four hours. I'd agreed and hung up while massaging away a migraine.

Really, I hadn't known what to do with my sister anymore. In the recent months, I had hardly felt like she was my twin, the other half of me that had existed at my side for my whole life. I understood that we could lead separate lives now that we were older. In fact I embraced that change and had even encouraged Bella to pursue her independence when we'd first moved to Forks.

But what I couldn't understand was how she seemed to have gone from tied to me to tied to a boy - worse, a one hundred-year-old vampire frozen at the age of boyhood. And now, even after said boy had broken her heart and she'd spent months moping over him, she was dropping everything to go after him? I just didn't get it. And really, I had wondered irately, just what kind of trouble could Edward have gotten himself into that needed my mortal sister to be there? The infuriated redheaded vampire he had pissed off was in Forks chasing my sister.

Needless to say, my mood had been extremely soured after the way I had started my day. But Daisy, the only brave soul from my new group of somewhat friends to enter the lion's den, had dragged me from my misery to join in the festivities outside. A lunch at the overcrowded palazzo had managed to lift my spirits a little bit, especially the sight of the beautiful clock tower that had been right across from our restaurant. And a last-minute free tour of one of the castles had finally managed to pull me out of my slump and I was able to laugh with Daisy as we entered the inner castle walls.

"Good afternoon, all."

We looked over as a pretty woman with dark skin and green eyes greeted us at the front desk of what appeared to be an entrance hall.

"Please make your way straight down the hall. Your official guides will welcome you in the chamber at the end."

She gestured to an open doorway at the side of the entry. The other tourists in our group of about forty or so nodded and chattered as they moved in the direction the woman indicated. Daisy and I followed, trailing near the back where the tour agent, who had managed to successfully sell the tour to Daisy in the five minutes I had taken to find the bathroom only to give up when I saw the line, was picking up the rear. Not that I paid too much attention to the guide, with everything else my eyes were busy drinking in.

"Look at those windows." Daisy hummed as we looked at the gothic cut-outs in the walls. "Definitely a signature of the time period, although it's a little odd that they're so small and a little thin. I'd have thought they'd make it larger, let in more of the natural light."

"Yeah, it is odd, but maybe that left them more vulnerable to enemies..."

I trailed off as something odd caught my eye and I looked to four figures who were pressed against the wall to the side of the room, standing mostly in the shadows as they let our group pass by. Three of them (one of whom I could barely see, they were so short compared to the others) had snapped their heads toward me the instant I started talking - no, the second I stepped foot over the threshold and into the hallway. The odd synchronization was what had caught my attention but it was as my eyes drifted instinctively to the group that I was really surprised.

"Bella?!"

The one head that hadn't turned toward me before whipped around and my sister looked at me with wide eyes. I didn't know why she was so shocked, I was the one who was actually supposed to be in Volterra whereas she should have been in Forks, USA.

It was then that I registered that I also knew the pale boy with bronze hair standing beside my twin, and something clicked. So, Edward had been in Volterra, and naturally, my sister would be here after chasing after him and probably forgetting that I was also in Volterra. If she even remembered the name of the city I had gone to (with how zoned-out and self-absorbed she'd become after her nasty breakup with Edward, I didn't doubt it if she didn't). Instantly and briefly, my irritation flared again and I would have strangled both of them now for what he did and for her stupidity.

But something wasn't adding up, something didn't make sense to me - what possible danger could Edward, a basically indestructible vampire, be in in Volterra, one of the safest cities in the world with absurdly low crime rates?

"Bella? That's your sister?" Daisy asked, glancing from me to my twin.

It was almost a statement rather than a question as Daisy took in the obvious similarities between my sister and I. Both Bella and I shared dark brown curls, exceedingly pale skin, thin faces and even the slight point of our noses. Only our eyes were different: she had Charlie's chocolate browns while I took after our mother's baby blues.

It also said a lot about my new friend that she refrained from staring too hard when she noticed Edward… especially given the fact that he was, for whatever reason, shirtless although he was partially covered in the grey cloak he wore. Which is also somewhat an odd fashion choice, but I was too absorbed in my twin to really question it yet. It was also for this reason that I didn't respond to Daisy immediately as I watched Bella's eyes widen further as her surprise faded and a different type of shock set in.

"Mia?" Bella asked, going white as a sheet as if she'd seen a ghost. Again, I couldn't fathom why, when I was supposed to be more surprised to see her in Italy. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? I could ask you the same thing." I replied incredulously, glancing at Edward who was staring at me with strangely panicked eyes.

'Weird…'

"Miss, I must ask you to keep going." The tour agent spoke up from behind me, her voice silky smooth and lovely; easily one of the loveliest voices I'd ever heard.

'Wow, now I see how she convinced Daisy to join the tour so quickly…'

I shook the thought from my head and frowned when I saw Edward look even more alarmed. It was then that I noticed I recognized yet another of the strange party. Alice was standing on Bella's other side with equally wide and concerned eyes, and my brows knitted even further at the bizarre picture before me.

"Sorry." Daisy responded to the tour agent before she glanced at me. "I'll go ahead, catch up later?"

"Yeah..."

I responded vaguely as I tried to solve the puzzle before me although I could feel the tour agent hovering behind me. I ignored her as I took in Bella's ashen face as if she'd just walked out of a haunted house experience, Edward and Alice's growing panic, and my eyes finally shifted to the last figure in the group as I started to speak again.

"Bella, why are you in Volterra and why is he here…?"

I trailed off yet again as my eyes glided up the tall, darkly-clothed figure on Alice's other side, tracing along broad shoulders that were covered in the same grey cloak as the one Edward was wearing, up a pale neck and strong jaw that looked oddly familiar, until I was staring into narrowed, unhappy eyes. Eyes I recognized despite never having seen them in such bright light before.

"Demetri?"

Edward and Alice seemed to freeze at my question, as surprised as me as I stared at the dark-haired man. Alice's face went blank for a moment, her dark gold eyes going vacant, and Edward's head shot to the side to stare at his sister so quickly I didn't even see the blur of movement. Demetri's unhappy expression intensified although whether at my question or at the Cullens' reactions I wasn't sure, but it was the tour agent who spoke next in equal surprise as mine.

"Demetri? You know this one?"

The musical voice behind me sounded at the same time a different melodic voice sang from down the hall, "Welcome, guests! Welcome to Volterra!"

"Go on ahead, Heidi. I'll be right there." Demetri said in a surprisingly conflicted but still velvety voice. It sounded like he had meant to sound stern but decided simultaneously to sound friendly and polite at the same time that an unnamed doubt and wariness pulled at his tone.

Behind me, I could almost feel Heidi's skepticism but she shrugged off her friend's odd tone and started to walk away. I barely registered either her or Demetri's words however.

Time seemed to have slowed from the moment I had looked into Demetri's eyes and I finally registered the colour. Dark, almost black eyes with just a hint of deep scarlet that was barely noticeable in the reflecting sunlight.

It all hit me then, one after the other in painfully slow succession. Breathtaking beauty. Unhealthily pale skin, even compared to me the albino unable to tan even when I lived in Phoenix. Musical voices that sounded like bells chiming. Edward and Alice's presence in Volterra and Bella's face that now had an expression of dawning horror as she stared at the tourist group I had left behind, her expression switching from badly shaken to downright terrified.

My eyes slid to the tour guide, Heidi, whom I hadn't paid attention to before. Daisy had said she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, but after having witnessed Rosalie Cullen's beauty I had doubted Daisy's word so I hadn't really taken a good look at Heidi. Now I wished I had. My breath caught as I glimpsed the woman's face just as she was turning to walk away. It wasn't at her obvious beauty, which I admitted could rival Rosalie's. With mahogany curls that were perfectly styled around an equally perfect face and a tall, statuesque build that would put models to shame, this woman was stunning.

Too stunning.

The realization had sunk in even before I saw her strange violet eyes. As if someone had mixed blue eyes and red contacts. Or, blue contacts with red eyes. My mouth fell open and I started to turn in absolute horror down the hall where Daisy had just entered the chamber at the end of the hallway behind the other tourists, our drop-dead gorgeous tour agent gliding quickly and gracefully at the rear. Too quickly.

"D-!"

It all took less than a second.

I had begun to scream when cold, thin arms wrapped around me faster than the eye could see at the same time Edward shouted, "Alice!"

My scream was momentarily cut off as those arms picked me up and spun me around so fast my breath escaped me in a sharp exhale. Alice didn't pause as she darted after Edward, who was carrying a shaking Bella while he and Alice flew down the hallway toward the doorway I had walked through, where the doors had swung shut behind our group without my noticing.

My scream resumed as soon as the whiplash subsided enough, ripping out of my throat just as Alice crossed the threshold behind Edward.

"DAISY!"

My scream rang off the walls as I was carried out of the hallway at alarming speed. But not before my voice was matched by a different sound. Because neither Edward nor Alice, even with their inhuman speed, had been able to get entirely through the doorway before the screaming started in the chamber at the other end of the beautiful hallway.