Dear Reader.

Should we talk about that month of March?

Ahem, so when I said I'd be back on Monday, what I meant was…nah you know I never meant to be an actual month late. Honestly, I hit a very low point and pretty much checked out of almost everything, only working and not even writing then, as I would normally. I started spiraling down into something dangerously close to depression and I won't go into the details of why with you but suffice to say I wasn't writing, I wasn't drawing, wasn't reading, wasn't doing any of the things that made me happy. Thankfully after a while I called myself out on that and took time off, went to visit my family, rested, and slowly started building healthy habits again. Now I'm even back to writing, yay!

I would like to thank you all for the MASSIVE support I received during that time, other than the regular comments I was sent a few really sweet private messages and I'd like to apologize to anyone who was worried by my absence.

Now, I'm back, and with a really long chapter (by my standard) and the next is almost done! We should be back to regular update on Mon, Wed, and Fri. Yeah, lets do this three times a week to start.

Enjoy!

XXX

Chapter 13: Styx

Phil drove her to the airport. Renée probably thought that sulking in her room would convince her to stay, but Bella had packed the night before and there was nothing in the yoga room that would tell she spend a fortnight sleeping there.

A fortnight. That was how long the experience of going back to her mother's place lasted. That was how long it took her to realize that no beach views and yoga mat could ever make her heal in a house where she wasn't wanted and cared for.

They arrived at the gate at 10 am and the sun was already warming the chrome and glass structure of the moon shaped building. That's when Phil dropped her off and drove away without a word after Bella pulled her own suitcase out of the trunk. He was probably pissed that he would have to pay for the emotional mess that he would find home, but Bella didn't even feel the slightest hint of guilt at that thought. She had left the with a pang of sadness in her chest when she had realized her mother wouldn't get out of bed to say goodbye to her, and she did regret they couldn't part on better terms, but that warmth didn't extend to Phil. After all, he did marry her, warts and all. So, she tuned to the gate and walked in.

Her first thought was: which airline? She reread the card and saw no details attached, nothing in the red envelope but the folded card, with the thorns and roses adorned capital red V and this instruction to come at noon. She still had two hours to find out. She pulled her suitcase to the terminal departure board and looked for a plane doing to Rome, Milano or more likely Florencia. It took her about ten minutes of reading and re-reading to realize no plane was registered to go to Italy. When it came to international flights going to Europe, she had Paris, London, Berlin, Lisbon and Zurich...but no Italian city popped up.

She walked up to a receptionist in uniform who greeted her with a warm smile. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," she stammered "I can't find the flights to Italy."

The middle-aged woman slightly frowned under her glasses: "Italy? May I see your ticket?"

Bella started to feel uneasiness rising "I don't have one...yet. But I've been told there was a flight at noon."

The frown intensified and the receptionist loudly typed something on her keyboard, squinting at her screen before saying "No, I'm sorry. No flight to Italy today."

It was like a stone dropped in her stomach. Bella nervously bit at her nails "Can you...can you check again?" she said, noticing the growing impatience of the people lining up behind her. The receptionist eyed her for a second and said "Look, maybe you have the wrong date. The next scheduled flight to Italy is in...three days. Should I book you a ticket?"

Three days? No, that couldn't be right. He told her to come on this specific day. Behind her, a tall man mumbled something inappropriate.

"Miss?" the receptionist insisted as she didn't answer "Should I book you for the 22nd?"

Bella stammered an apology and walked away to the benches. There, she sat and read the card again, trying to discern a hidden meaning she might have missed. She lost count of the number of times she walked to the departure board, and back the benches, looking at the different flights. Should she take a flight to Zurich first? There was one departing at eleven thirty. Then she'd be somewhat close and she could take a second flight to Italy, maybe? Was the card indicating the departure of the plane? Or the time she was expected at the airport?

She couldn't decide. At first, she was still somewhat calm. She still had an hour and a half. An hour. 45 minutes. The more she waited, the closer to panic she would get. When the digital clock at the departure board indicated 11:30AM, she started imagining having to call her mother to pick her up. The triumphant and smug smile on her face then.

Maybe she was just insane. Maybe she made this whole Volterra thing up. No plane was coming to take her to this beautiful home in Europe. She held the University of Pisa pamphlet close to her, along with the red envelope. They are real, they are real and they want…

Do they really want me?

I don't want you

Why would they want me?

You're not good for me

Why would they want anything to do with me?

"Young Lady Isabella Swan?"

Bella's head shot back up, and her cloudy eyes were graced by the blinding beauty of a slender dark auburn-haired woman. She reminded her of Rosalie, though they looked nothing alike—it was just that her beauty, too, was exceptional, unforgettable. She couldn't seem to look away. She was dressed to emphasize that beauty. Her amazingly long legs, darkened with tights, were exposed by the shortest of miniskirts. Her top was long-sleeved and high-necked but extremely close-fitting, and constructed of red vinyl. Her mahogany hair was lustrous, and her eyes were the strangest shade of violet—a color that might result from blue-hinted contacts over red irises.

Her heart leaped in her chest with the warm familiarity of the inhuman features, with the instant relief that she was indeed not going crazy after all. She stood up, still gazing up at the stunning vampire standing a mere foot away. She held out a trembling hand. Violet eyes studied her gesture, her luscious hair gracefully following every movement of her head like so many crimson snakes. When she spoke, Bella noticed a strange coldness that she couldn't interpret.

"Master tells me you are special. I don't..." Her eyes examined Bella's outstretched hand, and after another second of hesitation she shook her head and finally took it and dipped in the slightest curtsy while holding her fingers. "My name is Heidi, my Lady."

What?

Bella looked around and saw that no one in the airport seemed to have noticed the strange greeting, which truly lasted less than a full minute, before Heidi grabbed the handle of the suitcase and started walking "Follow me." she said above her shoulder as she slid her way through various doors and corridors, a magnetic card somehow opening everything for her. When they finally walked out of the gate and arrived to the sunbathed ramp, Heidi swiftly opened a red umbrella above her head and turned toward Bella with a pleased smirk

"Welcome to Styx Airline"

Bella's mouth fell open.

In front of her, a bright red and black private jet was waiting for them, door wide open and a flight attendant - human - waiting for them on top of the stair by the entrance. Like the steward that relieved Heidi of the suitcase she was still carrying, she was wearing an elegant dark red uniform with a black V pined to their jacket and in her case, on her classy narrow stewardess hat. On closer look as she started climbing up the stairs, she noticed the back of the plane was adorned with black patterns of thorny rose bushes on another, this time giant black capital V. The entire thing felt sophisticated and ominous. Fitting, she thought.

"Welcome abord the Styx, Miss Swann," the stewardess told her with the brightest smile.

Bella greeted her back, but was silenced halfway through her sentence as she walked in.

If the exterior seemed was already impressive, the interior was downright royal. If was less a private jet cabin, and more a presidential suite. lined up with lounge sofas and individual first-class seats, it had a everything you could dream of while flying across the word, including a conference room, an impressive library and - surprisingly for a vampire jet - a fully packed bar.

"Let me lead you to the individual suite, my Lady" Heidi told her as she led her through the enormous lounge and the conference room and into a suite with a king size bed as a main feature, a closet stacked with various suits and dresses, and even an Italian shower area separated from the bedroom area by a large glass window. Looking up, Bella noticed the ceiling was entirely covered by a strange metallic design that reflected light in a way that gave the impression water was suspended above their head.

Heidi started picking clothes from the closet and laying them on the bed. A bathrobe, a silk kimono and pajamas, slippers.

"It's an eleven-hour flight. You should get comfortable." She explained as she led her to the shower to demonstrate where she could find...everything. The bathroom had every cosmetic and skin or hair care product she could imagine, and she wouldn't even know what half of them were for.

"If Miss Swann could find a seat, please" the stewardess interrupted them "We're ready for takeoff"

X

After, she was served exquisite seafood and vegetables that melted in her mouth with an almost illegal smoothness and she repressed a moan, as Heidi was looking at her meal with barely concealed disgust and Bella went to change a bit earlier than she would normally have. She wondered with amusement if it would always be this awkward to eat in front of vampires.

Half way through her flight, Bella tore herself from the copy of the Golden Notebook she found in the cabin's library and had been reading lying on her belly across the king size bed for the past few hours and watched the sun set on the sea of clouds surrounding her.

By the time they would reach Volterra, it would be 5 AM over there. She decided to sleep the rest of the flight off.

Heidi came to wake her up an hour before landing and gently pushed her to the shower, and Bella had the clear impression that Heidi didn't really know how comfortable she could get with her. As she showered and opted for a delicious almond scented soap, she remembered something she said to her as they met "Master tells me you're special." What did that mean? And her way for addressing her "Lady, or Young Lady" was even more confusing. Did she have some kind of high status in Volterra, for some obscure reason? Bella added that to the list of questions she would have to ask Caius.

Caius. Her stomach seemed to fall out of her body and she squatted in the shower, suddenly realizing: she was going to meet Caius. Images of her long-forgotten memories flashed by, his smile, his laugh, his deep voice, his weirdly British accent. Piccola, he would call her when he was amused. Child, when he was serious. He had called her back, but somehow, she was nervous, scared even of how he would react to seeing her. Part of her has this irrational fear that he would take one glace at her and dismiss her, tell her that there's been some mistake, and that this would be it. Her hope would be gone...once again.

There was a knock on the suite's door, and Heidi entered to see Bella's frail body all wet and trembling in the corner of the shower, the water still running. In an instant, she was next to her.

"My Lady." She slid down to her level and helped her up. "You need to dress; we land in less than thirty minutes. I will help you."

Bella was feeling so dizzy that she didn't even mind being pat dry by a complete stranger, naked and trembling in her stone hard arms. A beautiful royal blue gown was laying on the bed next to them, and Heidi helped her slid into it. It was made of velvet and its hue would gradually darken into a deep night blue at its hem, where stars were embroidered with silver silk thread. It hugged her waist and then spread wide, the fabric making way for a leg to show as she walked, and had a broad bateau neckline enhancing the curve of her collarbone.

And she thought prom night had been over the top.

"Heidi…" Bella said, unsure as she arranged her hair in seemingly natural waves around her face "Why are you dressing me up like I'm going to a formal gala?"

"This?" She seemed genuinely surprised by her question "You haven't been seen in the Capital since you were but a babe...sever years old, My Lady! Your return to the Palace has been awaited with great expectation. This is a very important night. You may be human but... like this, arriving at five ...you will shine like the morning star."

Bella mouth felt suddenly dry "They are all expecting me?" they all want me? she almost said instead and looked intently at Heidi through the mirror.

Heidi perceived the emotion in her voice, and the coldness that inhabited her melted for a second. "My Lady, you wouldn't believe how happy Master Caius is that you are back. In truth, I have been honored in receiving this mission. You are very precious."

Bella couldn't hold her gaze any longer.

When the plane finally landed, it was pitch black outside, and Bella's heart started beating at with a war drum rhythm: low, steady, and intense. So intense that if she let herself be unfocused for a single beat, her body and breath could break into a state of utter panic. She barely heard the stewardess tell her to unfasten her seatbelt. Her head was under water. Nothing mattered or existed but the ruffling of her dress, the rhythm of her heart, the feeling of the air coming in and out of her lungs, and the unreal sensation of floating closer to the airplane gate. When it opened, the gush of fresh air that entered the cabin went to cool down her cheeks, but she didn't say a word.

She stood at the threshold and gazed at the assembly waiting at her feet.

They were all wearing capes, the closest to her were light grey, and went gradually darker the further they were from the jet, standing on each sides of a deep red carpet. Some of the light grey caped people held ancient torches, which Bella noticed where the sole light source, if they didn't couldn't the runway neon light on the ground. Such juxtaposition of modern and ancient felt so typical of Volterra, now that she recalled her old memories, that Bella couldn't refrain a smile. It was light walking into a dream you've been having for years: fantastical, yet familiar. She was there for the first, and thousandth time.

She couldn't see the face of the grey caped guards, but the darker caped ones had their hood sitting on their shoulder. She watched them one after the other and each time she would recognize their face, her heart would leap in a surge of warmth and nostalgia: there was Jane and Alec, side by side and across from them a 6'7" tall with muscular male vampire with a slightly olive complexion which looks odd combined with his chalky pallor and short, cropped, black hair...Felix? She wasn't sure. She remembered being afraid of a "giant" in her childhood, and maybe, maybe that was him. She couldn't really tell. Next to him was a slightly shorter, yet still quite tall man with an equally olive and chalky complexion and black hair that reached his shoulder. That would be Demetri, if the other was indeed Felix, as she had a very vague memory of the two of them bantering together in the garden one day. Next to them was a brawny man with pierced ears and two petit women. one with light brown hair and an hourglass figure Bella didn't recognize, and Renata that she recognized instantly because of her dark brown hair and dark grey cloak, and because she was standing closest to…

Aro, Marcus and Caius.

They were standing side by side on the carpet, Renata holding a torch to them, facing Bella in the black capes held with golden chains adorned with the official crest of Volterra. Between the dark night and the torch flames, their gaze was intense, and unreadable. Bella's hand clasped a bit tighter on the ramp as she started stepping down the plane.

As if he felt - or heard - her nervousness, Caius broke rank and started walking toward her in long assured strides, his black cape floating behind him and his blond hair dancing in smooth waves in rhythmic ups and downs with each pace. Oblivious to the audience observing them, he kept her gaze in a firm hold, as if his crimson eyes would support her as surely as Heidi arm. Before she completely stepped out of the stairs, he stopped in front of her and outstretched his hand.

"Welcome home, my Child."

And as her trembling fingers touched his ice-cold palm and he helped her to the carpet, all the guards bent a knee as one.

XXX

So, what did you think?

To keep with the Ancient Greece reference, Styx is the river that the mortals have to take to arrive to the Underworld.