Hi everyone! I know that you are getting impatient: when is she actually going to go to Volterra, right? Well, just be a little more patient; all in due time. I have most of the fiction planned out, and don't worry, you'll get your treat.

Did I mention it was a slow burn?

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Chapter 5: Correspondence

The Volturi were the vampire lore equivalent to royalty, he had once told her. Carlisle had spent a few decades with them, before making his own family. He had described them as sophisticated, refined and most of all ruthless. The most powerful of all the covens in the world, the one who made the rules and enforced them. "No one provoked the Volturi, unless they wanted to die." That was what he had said once.

And yet, in that garden, that blond vampire was laughing playfully at her. Caius. "Piccola" that was what he had called her. Little One. The ruthless king of the underworld called her "Little One". She wondered...

"Bella, do not be reckless. Stay away from them."

She sat up in a heartbeat, his voice still echoing in the back of her mind. "Why?" She answered aloud. "Why should I stay away?"

"Did you say something dear?" Renée called from the hallway.

She jumped out of bed. Had she slept that long that they were already back? She checked the time, and it was well over 11pm. She went up to greet them. "No, I was talking to myself." Like a crazy person.

"Oh," Renée said. "Okay. Phil and I already ate, there was this crazy thing outside, you should have seen it, they were playing music and there was street food, I think it was... what? Mexican...Barbadian, yes, that's it. Anyway, it was delicious, we got you some take out so that you could try it…. Bells are you listening?"

Bella had to shake her head a little to come out of her daze. In her mind, the musical laughter of Caius kept ringing, and it was the loveliest memory in the entire universe, so beautiful it made her a little sad. Not sad like the familiar and unforgiving beastly void in her chest devouring her from the inside, no, but sad like a gentle little tug, a siren call telling her "come and find me"

"Sorry mom, I'm just waking up from a nap, I think I'm still a bit under…"

"At this hour?" Renée chided her while hanging her clothes "Gosh, Bella, you won't blink tonight, what were you thinking!"

"Sorry…" She said sheepishly

"My goodness Bella what will I do with you, you're usually the responsible one here" She wasn't even joking. "Make yourself some herbal tea before bed, Phil and I are going to sleep."

The kettle was whistling a few minutes later, and Bella has spread all the notebook and sketchbooks on the table browsing through them with this newfound revelation. It all seemed so obvious now. That man over there with the long dark hair was Aro. Apparently, he was supposed to be in his thirties when he was turned, though the drawing looked nothing like the beautiful piece in Carlisle's office. And next to him, with the brown curls, that was Marcus. He looked so sad in the picture, and Bella wondered why she had drawn him this way. There was also a young girl and a boy, teenagers, wearing grey cloaks. Bella had no idea who they might have been, but certainly members of their entourage. Out of them all, it was Caius that she had drawn the most. His were the best portraits, the ones on which she probably spent the most time. Why couldn't she remember drawing them?

As she turned a page in what seemed like the hundredth volume, a piece of cardboard fell on the table. A postcard.

It was the simplest thing. No photograph of the old city or the sea, of wherever Volterra was supposed to be, but simply a bright red V decorated in roses and thorns, all red as well. On the other side, written in a shaky handwriting, she read:

"Hi mom, I'm doing well with Aunt Dolores, I'm leaning Italian. Here it's really beautiful and sunny. Everyone is really nice. I hope you are also learning a lot too. I can't wait to see you this summer. Love, Bella."

Next to it, an address to write back. "Palazzo dei Priori, Volterra, Italia"

She read the postcard a good dozen times, as barely anything made sense at first, aside from the fact that it must be sunny in Italy, though she wondered how she would be exposed to it if her company was mostly vampires. The card was addressed to her mother, but dated from when she was...about six years old. How could she be in Europe without her mother? She was apparently with her Aunt Dolores, a distant cousin on her mother's side. Dolores Caristo, who lived a mysterious life in Tuscany. Wait, was Volterra in Tuscany? She bit her lip at her own ignorance as she checked on the world map. Yes, yes it was. So, did that mean that Dolores was still in Volterra to this day? She hadn't seen her since...since when?

She had come to visit when she was twelve, but she said she was sick and stayed indoor mostly. She couldn't remember well what they had done that weekend. She didn't stay very long. Her stomach clenched in nausea, when a terrible doubt seeped in: was Aunt Dolores a vampire?

She had to find out more, but she only saw one way to achieve that.

And that was a terrible idea.

"Bella don't you dare" Edward's voice warned her, thrilling her without reason. It dawned on her that perhaps this voice was indeed a warning, keeping her true to her promise of "not doing anything reckless or stupid". But she couldn't care less about precautions. She needed answers. She needed...whatever it was that she had felt when she had seen his face, heard his laughter. She went to fetch some stationary. She found some clean and glossy white paper, no doubt left over from the handwritten invitations to Renée and Phil's wedding, and a drew out her fountain pen. She hesitated an instant, but decided that thinking too much would only let her reflect on the recklessness of what she was about to do. She drew in a long breath, and put pen to paper.

"Dear Caius.

Maybe I have a death wish, writing to one of the three lords of the Underworld, but call me Persephone, for I am not scared of Hades. How many mortals, do you think, can say they have been bitten by the Cerberus, and survived with a beating heart? Maybe you would like to hear my story. Or maybe you are the one who has tales to tell, for I am but a Piccola, who thought that was glitter on your face that day in the garden. If any of this makes sense to you, here is my phone number and home address. I have so many questions, and so little time to shout them, but you have all the answers, and forever to whisper them.

Bella"

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Here you go, a letter to Volterra! What do you think? I've been reading a lot of Lore Olympus lately, so I just couldn't help using the reference to Persephone, especially after reading Midnight Sun. Also, this new OC Aunt Dolores is a new addition to our cast, and she'll have her importance.

Please come back tomorrow, as the next chapter is already done and the one after that is almost finished. BTW, do you like those daily posts, or would you prefer longer chapters once a week?

I love your enthusiasm, please keep sending me your thoughts through comments and messages.