"I don't know how you are so familiar to me – or why it
feels less like I am getting to know you and more as though
I am remembering who you are. How every smile, every
whisper brings me closer to the impossible conclusion that
I have known you before, I have loved you before – in
another time, a different place – some other existence."
-Lang Leav
"Lizzy, come on! Our flight is boarding!" Isabella said as she dragged me towards the plane. You know, when I signed up as a foreign exchange student going to the US, this was not what I thought I would be doing. Following the host's daughter back to my home country on some life or death situation was not how I wanted to spend my semester abroad, yet here I am… Being dragged through the Seattle airport to fly back to Italy. I swear if this American thinks she can drag me here and expect me to translate for her I may scream.
"Where are we going, Isabella?" I tried to ask as I attempted to pull out of her grip, but all she did was glare at me before turning back to her weird fairy-esque friend. After we found our seats, I shoved in my headphones and continued to read my Edgar Allen Poe book.
While I may only be eighteen, I have always felt more drawn to classical literature like poetry. Since a young age, all I ever heard was 'you just have an old soul'. As I got older, my teachers would leave it as a comment on every essay and creative writing assignment I ever turned in. Most people thought I was mature for my age, and that left me without many friends. I only had my best friend Annabeth growing up. While I had been seen as the weird kid who was obsessed with poetry that most of my peers could only dream of understanding, Annabeth had been a part of the popular crowd from the very beginning. Where I chose to spend my time with books, she was the one getting invited to parties and the like. Of course, my preferences for corsets and older fashion didn't gain me any points, but Anna stuck with me through it all and is more like my sister than my best friend. Reaching the end of my book, I tried again to get some answers for this impromptu travel.
"So, where exactly is our mysterious destination? Considering my home is here in Italy, it would be nice to know where we are going when we land." Isabella ignored me again, but at least her friend took pity on me.
"We are going to Volterra. Have you heard of it before?" She had the decency to at least feign some curiosity, and I smiled at the effort.
"I grew up there actually. You do know that we are arriving during the San Marcus Day festival, right? It is going to be next to impossible to find any sort of accommodations within the city." That seemed to finally interest Isabella as she jumped into our conversation.
"So have you heard of the Volutri?" She desperately asked and I rolled my eyes.
"If you mean Volturi Enterprises, then yes. They fund most of the arts programs within the city as well as a few specialty schools that have internship opportunities at the end of some of the programs. But if you are trying to ask about the rumors that seem to surround the three brothers that run it, then I can't help you. I've never put much stock into wild theories that people seem to continually come up with. They are gracious enough to invest in our city, and that is enough for me." They shared a look as I explained, and I had to refrain from vocalizing my annoyance. Isabella looked like she was about to say something, but her friend got this weird faraway look in her eyes before blinking rapidly and looked from her to me in shock.
"Alice, what did you see?" She tried to whisper, but this girl has no volume control on her voice. But at least I now have a name for the friend… Wait, why did she ask what she saw?
"They refused him! But we may have a way to still keep it from happening. She will have to come with us though." Alice said in a low voice, but I still caught what she was saying.
"No offense or anything, but I didn't sign up to play translator to two American tourists. What are you even trying to involve me in?" And as usual with Isabella, my comment and question went completely ignored. Letting out an annoyed huff, I put my headphones back on and opted for sleeping the rest of the long flight.
Unfortunately, I was woken up way too soon and kind of violently by Isabella and Alice rushing me to gather our things before Alice disappeared only to return with a bright yellow Porsche. I'll say this, Alice drove like she was on the German autobahn instead of trying to get us to Volterra.
"He's going to make a scene. Expose himself to the humans. They won't let him get that far." Alice said suddenly and I had to hide a chuckle as Isabella started to panic.
"When Alice?" I swear this girl is constantly finding ways to worry about everything but herself.
"At noon, when the sun is at its highest. He'll be under the clocktower. You have to go alone, you're the only one he can't see coming. If we go, he'll think we're lying and rush into it." That caused her to fidget in her seat as we neared the walls of the city and I smiled as I felt the ache in my chest lessen the closer we got to my beloved home. In my moment of distraction, Isabella had fled the car and Alice was pulling me out in some shaded alley and not so subtly dragged me towards the very clocktower that I was told to avoid as a child. Now though, I felt myself being pulled further into the beautiful architecture.
"Genevieve? What treachery is this?" One of the two men in front of us growled out.
"Mi scusi, ma non mi chiamo Genevieve. E ' Elizabeth. Posso chiederle perché devo seguirla? Conosco a malapena questi americani. Sono un cittadino di Volterra." (Pardon, but my name is not Genevieve. It is Elizabeth. May I ask why I am to follow you? I barely know these Americans. I am a citizen of Volterra.) They seemed shocked at the reveal, but before they could say anything a young blonde showed up.
"Aro wants to know what is taking so long." Despite her icy tone, the name she spoke sent a warm feeling fluttering in my chest leaving me very confused as to why. I didn't have the luxury to dwell on the thought though because I was soon being ushered down the long hallway before being pushed into an elevator. Once the doors opened, I was surprised to see a posh waiting area but a familiar voice pulled me from my admiration.
"Buon pomeriggio." (Good afternoon.) I almost squealed as I laid eyes on my best friend.
"Annabeth! Da quando hai un lavoro?" (Annabeth! Since when did you have a job?) I sassed and we laughed as her eyes lit up and for a moment we forgot that we weren't in a normal setting.
"Qual è L'Americano con cui sei rimasto bloccato? Ti prego, dimmi che non è quello con zero senso della moda." (Which one is the American you got stuck with? Please tell me it's not the one with zero sense of fashion.) I rolled my eyes as she pulled me in for a hug before the blonde girl cleared her throat to get our attention.
"Ne parliamo dopo." (We'll talk later.) She said with a smile as she went back to doing whatever it is she was doing when we arrived. Alice nudged me back to our group and whispered for me to stay by her as we moved down a long hallway and the warm feeling in my chest turned to a strong pulling sensation when the two huge wooden doors in front of us were thrown open. Taking in the beauty of the room, I couldn't help but to notice the three men that were sitting on very ornate seats that could very well be thrones with how they looked. Sparing a glance between them, I felt like my heart was going to burst as my eyes landed on the handsome raven-haired one in the middle. As he walked closer, his focus was solely on Isabella and who I'm guessing is the boyfriend she was so desperate to save, and I had to swallow down a flash of sudden jealousy as I shook my head to clear away the bizarre feeling. But my eyes refused to leave him as he spoke with the two before the others noticed that I was even present, and they had the same startled reactions that the taller one from before did.
"Genevieve? How is this even possible?" The blonde man said which caused the other to snap his attention to me. What left me more confused than this whole thing was the look of devastation and grief he held in his eyes.
"Mi dispiace, ma mi chiamo Elizabeth. Genevieve è il mio secondo nome." (I'm sorry, but my name is Elizabeth. Genevieve is my middle name.) They seemed surprised by my use of Italian in place of English like the others. while they tried to process what I said, the tall one from before stepped in.
"Lei è di Volterra." (She is from Volterra.) That seemed to surprise them even more, but as my eyes finally met the one who has captured my attention I felt all the previous nerves settle and disappear. For a second, I could have sworn that it was just the two of us standing alone in the room but the fact that the suit he had been wearing transformed into blood-soaked armor I knew something must have been different. What happened next completely changed my theory that I was going crazy.
"Είσαι, αγάπη μου. Είσαι στ ' αλήθεια εσύ?" (Aro, my love. Is it really you?) Where did that even come from? I don't even speak Greek! The longer we remained locked in each other's gaze, the more the scene around us seemed to change. Lavish dresses and parties, the inhumanly gorgeous man and I dancing until the sun was rising on the horizon filled with stolen kisses and tender moments that made my heart fall for the man even though I had yet to find out his name. Even the other two were present in some of the scenes that played in my head like some combination of a cinematic movie and long since forgotten memories from a possible previous life. As more and more images started pouring into my consciousness, I forced myself to look away in the hopes that that would be enough to stop the flooding headache I was getting. However one last thing came out of my mouth, thankfully in Italian at least, that made the whole room go completely silent. "Se sei qui, Cosa è successo ai nostri bambini? Dove sono Aurora e Alec? (If you are here, what happened to our babies? Where are Aurora and Alec?) Okay, what am I even talking about? I sound like a woman possessed. Who are Aurora and Alec?
"How is that possible? No one has called her that since Genevieve…" The man from trailed off as his eyes with tears and it took everything in me to not get closer to him and wipe them away as they started to freely fall. He took a brief moment to collect himself before he spoke again. "May I?" He offered his hand and I went to take it before Isabella stepped between us. Thunderous growls rang through the room which made her boyfriend pull her closer and out of my way. I happily walked closer to him and I heard him let out a broken chuckle as I glared at Isabella when I shoved past her. Gently placing my hand in his, I could swear that I felt an electric shock run throughout my body as he placed a kiss on it. In an effort to calm my burning face, I observed the movement his eyes made. Flicking back and forth as if searching for something, but not anything that was in front of him. No, it was more like he was searching through a memory and coming up empty.
What should have given me pause was the startling scarlet irises of his eyes, but on him, the color seemed to fit perfectly. However, what did give me a bit of a scare was the distinct lack of seeing the edge of a contact lens. Which would make that his real eye color… What made it worse was that I noticed that he also hadn't taken a breath in several minutes either. Add in the sudden realization that his hand was freezing, and I took an involuntary step back as the dots connected in my head. All those warnings and stories the older people of my community about who truly lived under the clocktower, despite the festival that was happening today. Feeling my fear rise, I pulled my hand away from his and backed up until I felt my back hit what I thought was a wall but was only the taller man from before.
"So cosa sei! Stai lontano da me!" (I know what you are! Stay away from me!) I tried to make a run for the door we came through, but as quick as I blinked it was blocked by the shorter one from before. With the tears running down my face, I pleaded with the man who is now one of my captors. "Voglio parlare con Annabeth. Ti prego, fammi vedere prima di uccidermi." (I want to talk to Annabeth. Please just let me see her before you kill me.) That seemed to confuse them until the blonde girl spoke up.
"It would seem that the human receptionist is a friend of hers." She said disdainfully and if I wasn't already more concerned for my life I would have defended my friend.
"I see. That will complicate things. Felix, escort Ms. Elizabeth," He hesitated on my name. "to my quarters and I will make sure to send the girl up once we are done here." As much as I felt drawn to the man whose name I still didn't know, being separated from the only other person I knew here at the moment sent me into a panic.
The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was him rushing forward to catch me before I hit the floor and darkness consumed me.