Bella
I could feel my mind racing as we hid in one of the many alleyways near the centre of Volterra. Just being in this city made me wary of everything and everyone around me. It was killing me not being able to extend my shield to protect Edward. But the plan wouldn't work unless Demetri could track him. Who knew if the plan would work at all? Demetri was probably in the heart of the lion's den right now, doing his best to convince Aro that he was trustworthy. Or at the very least, not tip him off. Aro was consumed by suspicion, how could we possibly think that this was going to work? All we could do was hope that maybe, possibly, Aro's obsession with his hybrid army was as extreme as Demetri has led us to believe. Obsession does strange things to a person, including blinding them to the truth. We just had to keep Aro blind for a few hours longer.
Of course, if Demetri fails the only backup plan we really have is for Edward to wander around hoping to hear the young girl's thoughts. Unfortunately, Demetri has no idea where she's being kept. Clearly Aro isn't confident enough in the vampire he has hand selected to father his grandchildren to share the whereabouts of his daughter until absolutely necessary, which does not bode well for the plan.
Luckily, Demetri has a few suspicions, based on what little facts he knows. In her letters she had revealed she was in a tower, but that didn't really narrow it down in Volterra. Aro never would have given the letter to Demetri if it had. But he did suspect she was being kept somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Not too close to their own home, but not too far either. Unfortunately, the outskirts could be in any direction from town, meaning that if Demetri is unable to convince Aro that nothing is amiss, our only hope will be Edward and his ability to somehow pick up on the thoughts of a girl he's never met while aimlessly circling the perimeter of the city. The backup plan isn't exactly fool proof. But I guess that's why they call it a backup.
"He did it." Edward says, pulling me from my thoughts. "Northwestern outskirts."
"How long do we wait?" I ask.
"Not long. I don't want to lose his thoughts. They may be necessary." Edward answers. We wait another minute or so, but it feels like hours. "Let's go." He says finally, starting to walk in what I assume must be the northwestern direction. We try to keep to alleyways, avoiding the busiest streets so as not to be seen by anyone. He grabs my hand, giving anyone we might happen to run into the impression the we're just a young tourist couple here to see the sights. Of course, if we happened to run into any members of the Volturi, they would likely recognise us immediately. We hadn't really discussed what we would do in that scenario. Probably because there's no real way to plan for an altercation with one of them, we would just have to wing it and hope for the best.
As we make our way out of town the alleyways begin to open up into bigger streets and more wide open spaces, providing less cover and fewer places to duck into and hide should we be spotted. Fortunately there's fewer people out this way. Edward holds his hand out, signalling me to stop.
"He's at the tower. It's not far from here. We should wait until he's in. We have no idea how heavily she might be guarded." Edwards tells me. I just nod in agreement. I try to read the situation from the expressions on his face. At one point a look of disgust crosses his features.
"Do I want to know?" I ask.
"Let's just say he's playing his part a little bit too well." Edward states, his jaw clenched. "Luckily there's only one guard and he's human. Unfortunately, he's not budging."
"Is he going to be a problem?"
"If he is, I suspect Demetri will find a way to eliminate it." Edward says. I swallow hard, understanding the implication. I hadn't realised our mission would involve killing a human. "If it makes you feel any better, he'll be doing the world a favour." Edward added. He was clearly not a fan of this guard's thoughts.
"That bad?" I ask. If Edward was still human, his teeth would be ground to dust by now with the pressure his clenched jaw was currently putting them under.
"If it was you or Renesmee he was thinking about, I'd have slaughtered him by now." Edward replies. "Shh, this way." He says, guiding me to a small hiding place behind a building. In the distance I can hear giggling.
"She's so lucky." I hear a young woman say.
"If I had him in my bed, I would literally let him do anything he wanted to me." Another adds.
"Can you imagine losing your virginity to someone who looks like that?" The first chimes in again.
"I'd give anything to be in her shoes." The second agrees.
"Why do human girls have to be so naïve?" Edward whispers, his facial muscles still tense.
"Hey, I was a human girl not too long ago." I reply.
"My point exactly." He retorts. Part of me is offended, but I know it comes from a place of love. Spending over a hundred years listening to men's thoughts would make anyone protective. "Time to go." He tells me, as the giggling and chatter slowly fades into the distance. We make our way to the tower, and I quickly notice there's no door handle.
"How are we supposed to get in?" I ask.
"We're not. They'll be out soon." He replies. I breath a sigh of relief as I finally extend my shield out to protect Edward as well as myself. Demetri no longer needs to track him, and if this girl's ability is as strong as we've been told, it would be best not to let it affect the plan. We'd need full control over all of our mental capacities to get out of here unscathed.
After a few short moments that last a lifetime, a girl, or rather a young woman, comes nearly stumbling our of the tower. Her doe eyes are wide with fear. She reminds me so much of Renesmee, the same soft glow to her skin, the same angelic features. Of course, there's no denying she's Aro's daughter, not Edward's. She has his jet black hair, and beautiful facial structure. But her eyes are a delicate blue, and her skin has a lovely pink tint to it, making her appear far more human than her father ever could. Still, the hybrid similarities she shares with my own daughter make me want to reach out and hug her to calm all her fears away. But I know that will likely just frighten her more. So instead I introduce myself.
"Alexa? I'm Bella, this is my husband Edward. We're here to help." I say, extending my hand.
"Why do I need help?" She asks, looking at my hand hesitantly. And in that moment I see the child Demetri had referred to her as. She looks like a confused, lost little girl.
"Demetri is worried about you. I can't explain everything Alexa, but just know that your life is going to get better. We're going to make sure of it. You won't have to stay in a tower all the time. You'll have friends. We have a daughter just like you. She can't wait to meet you." I tell her.
"Like me?" She asks, giving me the impression that she doesn't really understand what she is.
"Just like you." Edward speaks up for the first time. I can tell he sees so much of our daughter in her as well. "You probably have a lot of questions, and we'll answer them, all of them. But we need to get you away from here first."
"Is Demetri coming too?" She asks, as if suddenly afraid that we're just going to take her and run.
"Of course he is. He'll be out in just a minute." I reassure her. And as if on cue, Demetri exits the tower, closing the handle-less door behind him, clearly trying to ensure Alexa doesn't see the guard's lifeless body lying on the floor. As he steps away from the tower he seems speechless.
"Alexa, you look, radiant." He finally manages, a bit tongue-tied. I laugh, remembering the first time we saw Renesmee in the sunlight. While the shimmer of a vampire's skin in incredible, there's somehow something even more amazing about the soft warm glow that a hybrid's skin emits when hit by the sun's rays. It's close enough to being human that it could pass, but it's more than that, it's human perfected.
"We should go." Edward says, probably realising that if he doesn't interject, Demetri will just stand and gawk all day.
"Can you run?" Demetri asks Alexa.
"I've never tried." She admits, blushing.
"Probably best not to start now then." Demetri smiles at her. "Hop on my back." He offers, bending down so she can climb on his back more easily. She gets onto it with ease, although not with quite the same amount of poise I had come to expect from Renesmee. Perhaps years spent in a tower had affected her gracefulness.
"You ready?" Demetri asks her.
"I guess." She replies, clearly unsure. But we don't have time to wait until she is. We take off, running up towards France, and hopefully to safety.