After Midnight

Chapter Eight

Neither Frank or Joe trusted the girl that had offered to take them to the Volturi. But they knew that she was probably their only chance to find out what was going on. Frank had wanted to turn her down, wait until she left, then follow her—but Joe, throwing caution to the wind, almost as if he wanted to prove that he was still the impetuous one and that Frank was still the fuddy-duddy, had agreed to accompany her.

"Besides, they might not even be bad," Joe pointed out quietly as they followed the girl, who had introduced herself as Jane, a spokesperson for the Volturi, into ancient catacombs.

"So, uh, what exactly is the Volturi all about?" Joe asked the girl, his voice echoing eerily in the dark, creepy halls.

Jane looked a bit surprised. Her black eyes narrowed, she asked suspiciously, "You should know the business of the Volturi if you have come seeking us." She then smiled wickedly and muttered, "Then again, if you knew anything about us, you probably would have stayed away."

Frank shot his younger brother a worried look that clearly said, Why did you have to go and open your big mouth?

Joe shrugged and mouthed, "Sorry." Then he decided the best course of action was to pretend he and his brother knew all about the Volturi. No matter if this group was composed of terrorists or gun dealers, Joe knew their chances of survival were greater if they pretended to be terrorists or gun buyers. Joe chuckled. This was just another undercover assignment. They needed to find out what they needed to know, bow out, then use it to their advantage in finding Bella. Of course, these things were never as easy as they seemed. But it was all they could do at the moment.

"Of course we know about the Volturi," Joe said loftily. "But we won't talk to a spokesperson. We want the man in charge. Only he can help us out with what we want."

The girl's face was a mask of anger for a moment, but she calmed almost immediately. "And what exactly is it that you are seeking?"

Frank shook his head defiantly. "We don't make deals with hired hands. We need to see the top dog, or the deal is off."

Jane gave the boys a half smile. "Deal? Fine, you can talk to the bosses." In a lower voice, she muttered, "It's your funeral."

Jacob cursed loudly, causing a few people to turn and stare in his direction. Leah shot him an annoyed glance. "Shut up, Jake. We're supposed to be incognito."

Jake glared at her and took out his cell. "Hey, doc, bad news…oh, of course Alice already knew…well, what do we do?" There was a pause. "…alright, doc, we're on it. We'll cause the distraction; let you guys sneak in…no, we won't do anything dangerous…alright, see ya doc."

He snapped the phone shut. Leah and Seth looked at him questioningly. Jake smiled slyly. "Guys, have you ever heard of mass hysteria?"

Frank and Joe blinked in surprise as the dark tunnels of the catacombs led into a brightly lit reception area, complete with a secretary at a large desk and several overstuffed chairs. The woman at the desk smiled, looked up, saw the two boys, and looked puzzled. She said nothing; turned her head back to her work.

Jane turned to the boys. "Sit," she said fiercely. "Please," she added through gritted teeth, almost as if it was painful for her to be polite. "I am going to speak with Aro. Then you may be able to speak to him."

The brothers sat side by side in the stuffed chairs and began to whisper. "Should we stay," Joe wondered, "or make a break for it while we still can? We know where their 'headquarters' are…we can come back later with reinforcements."

Frank debated over this for a moment. "We don't know what these guys are," he said finally, urgently. "But there's something screwy with them. Obviously we're getting in way over our heads." He nodded. "I think the best strategy at the moment is to get out of here while we still can and get help; if there is something illegal going on, maybe we can get the Italian police."

Joe contemplated Frank's idea. "True, but we don't have any proof that these guys are up to no good. I mean, for all we know, they could be eccentric bankers who like catacombs. We can't go to the police without evidence."

"What do you suggest, then?" Frank snapped, a bit annoyed at Joe for getting them into this situation in the first place. But then again, it was his idea to go to Italy without telling anyone…

Before Joe could answer, Jane was back, smiling a calm, twisted smile. "Aro has agreed to speak with you. Follow me."

"Is everybody clear on the plan?" Jacob asked his friends.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Yeah. But I don't know why we're risking our lives to save some friends of blood—"

"Leah, don't!" Seth snapped at his sister. "Can you be nice? Just once? Please, we've gotta do this!"

"I never said I wouldn't do this," Leah muttered. "I just don't like it."

"Too bad," Jacob snapped, his dark eyes icy. "Now remember, we've got to do anything we can to make these people believe that they are in real danger. The Volturi will suspect that someone—one of their own kind—has come to cause a bit of mayhem. Most of them will rush out to 'take care' of the problem, and while they're doing that…"

"…we make our escape and Carlisle, Edward, and the others can sneak past the havoc and get the guys out of there."

Leah snarled at Jacob but nodded curtly. "Alright!" she said in a falsely cheerful voice, "let's go get ourselves killed for two people we don't even know!"

~Emachinescat ^..^