Author's Note:
I am sorry for the pre-chapter Author Note (I know you want to see what happened to Edward in Volterra). Here is TLDR version since last posting...strep/pneumonia for my daughter (2 weeks of this), Christmas, virus for me (which looked like strep and pneumonia, but wasn't) that ended with a 4 day migraine (thanks to the storm that crawled up the coast through this morning), New Years Day with family. I'm exhausted but happy to be feeling better and not have my left eye socket being jackhammered for days on end). I should be back to posting on Friday/Monday this week. See you Friday!
~ Volterra, Italy - June 12, 2005 ~
I felt as if a dream was fading away as the world began to focus again. Involuntarily, Bella's name escaped as a whisper from my lips, I then started to pickup thoughts before sounds, smells, and sights became available to me. I felt like I was in motion, but not in a normal way. When I forced my eyes open, I found that I was riding as a passenger in my rented Ferrari. Next to me Gianna glided the car down the winding Tuscan road that led away from Volterra.
"Welcome back, " Gianna said as she downshifted effortlessly through a tight curve. "Somehow I don't think it was me or the Tuscan countryside that is Bella to you."
It took me a second to comprehend her meaning, until I realized that I said Bella's name out loud. I quickly glanced around and reached out with my gift to see if anyone other than Gianna heard me.
"Don't worry, Edward. Only I heard your whispered confession and I won't ask who this beautiful creature is. Although, I am a bit jealous. She must be an extraordinary vampire to have captured your attention." Gianna looked over at me with a sly wink before working the car around another bend in the road.
I decided it was best to not say anything. If Gianna thought I was attracted to a vampire I met someplace, so be it. Plus, Aro would at some point want to see her thoughts. What just transpired would be a tease, but ultimately not give away any real concrete information.
As we drove along, Gianna's thoughts were of all that transpired. As I followed her mental ramblings, I started to wonder what happened behind Caius' study door when I realized I knew everything. Despite being under Alec's fog, my ability to read the minds around me had remained. Alec may have blocked any sense of time and my core senses, but not my gift. The events of the past few hours, from many points of view, including Aro's, Caius', the Guard, and the guests, were fixed in my memory.
I played the memories through my mind. I had been under the influence of Alec's gift for a little over four hours. During that time I remained in the small anti-chamber and was guarded by Gianna to ensure no harm would come to me. Aro, Alec, and the rest of the Volturi Guard were convinced I was not aware of what was going on around me, however I remember all of their thoughts as if I was not indisposed.
Right after I succumbed to Alec's gift. Aro approached his brother. Given Marcus' grief over losing his mate, Aro rarely asked Marcus to share his memories. The pain and depression were great for Marcus and Aro did not like experiencing his grief. It had been nearly four hundred years since Aro used his gift on Marcus, but once convinced I was indisposed, he reached out and took Marcus' hand in his.
I had always wondered how Aro would experience all of the memories a person has had. In my mind I had envisioned it being like a movie being played in a super fast-forwarded mode. I was wrong. Aro felt or experienced nothing upon contact with Marcus. Then an instant later, all of Marcus' memories and thoughts were available to Aro's mind as if they were his memories and thoughts. He did not have to search for one of Marcus' memories, he just instinctively recalled it. It was fascinating to experience, but also a bit unnerving. At least for me, experiencing someone's thoughts was a linear process like normal hearing, which made the process relatable. Suddenly having all of that information was like having another person reside in yourself. It is no wonder Aro seemed a bit schizophrenic.
Aro quickly saw from Marcus' memories that he was aiding Maria. The how was simple enough, but the reason why was something much more disturbing. It was no wonder Aro did not want me to see these thoughts. Marcus' mate, Didyme, never enjoyed living her existence as the wife of one of the vampire world's rulers. She was very unhappy. Given that a vampire will do nearly anything to make their mate happy, Marcus had agreed to walk away from Volterra to lead a simpler, less drama filled existence. Just before Marcus was to announce his plans to leave, Didyme was destroyed. For centuries he believed that the ancient Romanian vampires were responsible for her demise. Besides his grief, the only other meaning his existence had was to avenge his mate's destruction. Finally, about three hundred and fifty years ago, Marcus tracked down a Romanian vampire who he suspected was involved. Ultimately the Romanian did admit to destroying Didyme, but he was able to do so because Aro had aided in the plan by reassigning the Guard members tasked with protecting her and allowing the Romanian vampire access to Didyme's private chambers within Volterra.
Marcus was enraged by this betrayal on behalf of his brother. From that moment on, Marcus plotted his revenge against Aro. He knew he had an eternity of time to extract his vengeance so he watched and waited. He allowed everyone to believe he was despondent with grief and lacked any true enthusiasm for any official Volturi business. Given this, he was rarely directly consulted on Volturi matters, but he was always present to know what was going on. He also capitalized on Aro's reluctance to view his memories. The more depressed he seemed, the more Aro shied away from any type of contact or direct communication. Marcus' only enjoyable memories after he started scheming was his conversations and interactions with Carlisle and Eleazar. It was Marcus who advocated that Eleazar should be allowed to leave the service of the Volturi Guard. It was Marcus who convinced Aro and Caius that Carlisle's unnatural lifestyle was not a threat to the Volturi way of life.
Eventually, Marcus found the vehicle for his revenge in Maria. He quickly saw that she possessed the cunning necessary to eventually undermine Aro's and Caius' efforts, and perhaps even bring about their demise. So began his secret alliance with Maria's coven. In Marcus' grand plan, he would have subtlety pushed Aro and Caius to increase the attacks on Maria's coven until it reached a point where the brothers would lead a direct assault against her. During that time, he would work to ensure that Aro would become vulnerable, thus allowing Maria's forces to extract his revenge. If the plan failed, he would wait until another Maria-like opportunity presented itself. Although Aro was always the primary focus of his revenge, Marcus would not mind if Caius was ensnared as well. After Didyme's demise, Caius had never been supportive or caring. He saw Marcus' grief as a constant annoyance and burden that they were all forced to share. If Caius became collateral damage in the scheme, so much the better.
What Marcus hadn't planned on was someone with my skills being able to expose his betrayal. Although, when I effectively singled him out as the traitor, his final thoughts before Alec numbed him was that of relief that his grief would soon be ended along with his life.
Upon seeing these memories from Marcus, Aro worked in earnest on damage control. After a brief consultation with Caius, it was agreed upon that Marcus needed to be destroyed. Aro did not tell Caius the entire truth about Marcus' motivation for the betrayal. Surprisingly it was Aro and Caius who ended Marcus' existence and not the Guard. Next the two remaining brothers addressed the still sequestered assembly. Aro spun a tale involving Maria using Marcus' grief to turn him against all that Volterra stood for. Although not everyone bought his explanation, no-one dared to openly question it. Before releasing the assembly, Aro and Caius vowed to re-double their efforts to stop Maria.
The next two hours were spent engaging in politics and further fact finding. Caius rallied the Guard while at the same time Aro used his gift to question everyone in their service. Aro considered using his gift on me why I lay succumbed to Alec's ability, but he did not want anything to jeopardize his relationship with Carlisle. Suddenly Aro needed allies like Carlisle and Eleazar more than her ever had. Although publicly the Volturi would condemn Maria's coven, the real battle looming for them would be a battle of public relations. The Volturi need to appear strong yet united with other powerful covens around the world.
Eventually, Gianna was told to take me back to Florence and see that I left the country without any issues. As we drove away from the Castle, I moved out of the range of Alec's gift, which is when I awoke.
It took me the better part of the trip back to Florence to work through all of the thoughts my mind had captured during my Alec induced fog. Gianna was fine with my silence. She had her own thoughts of the day's events to sift through. Plus, she greatly enjoyed driving the Ferrari. At one point in the trip she thought back to 1924. She had met Enzo Ferrari right after he won the Coppa Acerbo. It was a pivotal win for the young Ferrari. She found his lust for life and speed intoxicating so she celebrated his win by seducing him. I couldn't help looking over at her as a lazy smirk grew on her face.
"What can I say," she answered in her thoughts, "he was a very sexy man. And to think I almost gave in that night and bit him. It would have been a terrible loss. We would never have marvelous machines such as this if I did!"
When we pulled into the airport, Gianna drove straight to a private security gate. She gave the guard a fake name and a sexy smile. After shaking some very provocative thoughts away, he checked his list, found her given name, and cleared us to continue to the hanger where my airplane stood ready to depart.
Once we parked, Gianna reached into her purse and pulled out two letters. One for me and one for Carlisle. She did not know what the letters contained, nor did she really care. Gianna knew what her role was within the Guard and she not only accepted it, she enjoyed it.
"Aro wanted me to give these you. He asked that you wait until you are airborne before reading it. He also wanted me to thank you for lending your services." I knew what would be found in the letters. Besides some words of appreciation, there was a request that we not openly spread word to the vampire community what transpired during my trip. Aro's public relations effort would spin and distribute the desired story. The Volturi wanted us to confirm his retelling should anyone ask.
I took the letters from Gianna, before looking at the car with a questioning look.
"Oh! Don't worry about the Ferrari. I'll take care of it." She said as she loving dragged her hand over the steering heel. "I may keep it for a while, but I'll make sure it gets returned...eventually." I could see form her thoughts that Aro may be getting a very expensive bill from the rental company.
"Thank you, Gianna for everything," I said as I exited the vehicle. "Enjoy the car."
"Ciao, Edward Cullen. It has been a pleasure." Gianna started the car, revving the engine aggressively. "Tell Carlisle he still owes me a dance," she called out to me before driving away fast enough to make the tires squeal and leave tread marks. I could see that 'dance' was a private joke between the two of them that really was innuendo for sex. Nothing had ever happened between the two of them, but she wished it had.
I walked up to the airplane, where I was greeted by the same flight crew I had on the way out. From their thoughts, they all greatly enjoyed their two day layover in Florence. I wish I could have been able to say the same thing.
Just like on the way out, we would stop to refuel in Paris before making the long flight back to Port Angeles. I was just happy I was indeed going home. I told the captain I wanted to be underway immediately.
I turned on my phone. Bella had sent me several text messages hoping I was safe and expressing her love. She knew I would not get them until I was on my way home, but she sent them anyway.
After reading her messages, I sent her one as well.
"Thank you for the messages. I'm safe and I'm headed home! I love you more than words can say, so I guess I'll just have to show you how much that is when I have you in my arms next."
I waited for Bella to respond, but none came before we were done with the pre-flight checks and taxiing towards the runway and towards my reunion with her.
Two hours later we pulled up to the hanger in Paris for refueling.
"Mr. Cullen, we should only be on the ground for about an hour while we refuel and check the airplane," the steward told me after the plane came to a stop. "Unless, you would like to stay longer in Paris. We are at your disposal."
"No, thank you," I answered. "I am eager to get..." I stopped mid-sentence when I thought I heard a familiar mind outside the plane. I few seconds later, I heard the thoughts again as they became stronger the closer they got.
I looked up at the steward. He was still waiting for me to finish my previous statement. "Forget what I just said. I think I might be staying in Paris." The thoughts were louder as the limousine got closer.
As soon as the stairs were secure, the steward opened the door. I could just now pick out my favorite rhythmic sound in the entire world. I rushed past the flight crew and out the door, careful not to go too fast. I reached the bottom of the stairs as the car pulled up. The passenger door opened and I felt whole again.