Yay! It's a longer chapter! Sorry the updates have been slow...too much work to do in high school sigh...anyways hope you all like it!
Disclaimer: I'm firing my lawyers...apparently Stephenie's were better than mine in court...a lot better (evil laugh will be back though!)
Chapter 6- The Volturi
Filthy humans. Everywhere I went, they stared at me. If it was a girl, they hated me, my body, and my face. If it was a guy, they stared at all the inappropriate places on me instead.
My anger did absolutely nothing to help. It was unbelievably strong. All the emotions I felt in my human life together could not even compare to the anger that was present within me.
I either glared at the pathetic humans or muttered the cruelest of insults just loud enough for them to hear. And unfortunately for me, it was the busiest day the damn airport ever had.
Thankfully I somehow managed to sneak around security without taking my very dark and very large sunglasses off. After all, my eyes were still the brilliant red of a newborn.
Finally, after spending countless hours in a flying aircraft with a bunch of humans, I had arrived in Volterra, Italy. I admit my control over the hundreds of heartbeats had been excruciatingly difficult. Thankfully though, my row had been empty; otherwise, I'm positive that I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from drinking. I would have become a monster, although, I was on my way to join monsters just like that. The irony gave me a brief chuckle.
I followed the streets to the great plaza that held many memories for me, passing the Clock Tower on the way there. It was strange. The sun wasn't shining, and there was only the occasional human draped in a cloak walking by. It seemed totally different than how it was on St. Marcus Day. It was oddly depressing to look at.
I managed to find the alley to the tunnel opening. The opening to my new future.
I hesitated though, a sudden thought popped into my diseased mind. What if they too didn't want me? Aro had said that I could join, but Caius had never liked me. I still remember his red eyes burning invisible holes into my body with his angry glare when Aro let me go alive. After all, the Volturi were kind of a three master thing, Aro, Caius, and Marcus. It only worked if they all liked you.
However, I had nothing left. If they didn't want me, then I would make them kill me. It was as simple as that. I had no other path to follow, no other desire to live, to exist.
It was with this last thought that I jumped past the threshold of the tunnel to face fate itself. Now the only question was what would fate decide for me?
I did not like the dark coldness of the damp, underground tunnel, so I ran very quickly. It did not take long before I reached the guards.
As soon as I got there, an extremely burly vampire with cropped, jet black hair and the usual pale face and red eyes, stepped towards me, blocking my view of the door and making his long, grey cloak sway slightly.
"What is your business here?" He demanded in a harshly cold, monotone voice.
"I wish to see Aro." My voice matched his.
He paused for a moment to look me over.
"Have you met the master before?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Then you know to show respect…Give me your name and I will ask him if he wishes to speak with you." He said. A well hidden but still visible curiosity showed through his eyes.
"Bella Swan." I had the strange feeling that he was trying to remember my name for more than the reason of passing the information to Aro. "Tell him that I visited with the… Cullens last year." I added. It still hurt me to say their name and although I hesitated to say it, the guard did not notice. He was too busy scowling at the mention of the word. I could tell that he did not approve of their diet.
"I will be back in a moment to request a meeting with the master. You must wait here until I get back." With that, he swiftly turned around and headed through the iron door.
I hadn't noticed them before, but two other vampires stood guard on either side of the door. I couldn't see their faces from the dark hoods of the cloaks, which were pulled up on their heads, but they stood as still as statues.
It had been quite sometime since that guard left. I was growing impatient. Just when I had almost had it and was about to barge my way through the door, it opened.
"Aro will see you now," was the guard's only reply as he stepped aside, making room for me to go through.
Just as I entered the door, I was met with another guard. This one was more slender than the others outside of the door, and his long, auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
"Hello. I'm Altair. I will be taking you to Aro's office now. This is a big privilege for someone like you. Please keep up, his time is limited, and we do not want to waste it."
Someone like me? God, the guy was rude. I could tell by his accent and his name that he was Greek, but he was definitely no god.
He was also a very fast walker. I was practically jogging to keep up with him.
I now knew why he rushed me. Aro's office was millions of miles away. I mean it was hallway after hallway after hallway. Altair led me up stairs and down corridors and back down stairs and through doors that I didn't even know were there.
After a very long time, Altair finally stopped. He gestured towards a door that was inserted in the stone wall. "Aro is inside. Keep it quick. He is very busy." Then, he walked around the corner and disappeared, leaving me with only a door between a very powerful vampire and me.
Carefully, I knocked on the door.
"Come in." was the only reply.
When I opened the door, I was met with a spectacular room. Lining the burgundy walls were shelves full of books and strange knick knacks. The wall opposite me was made entirely of glass, so that one could practically see the whole town of Volterra below. In the center of the room, was a large desk covered in papers. And behind it, was none other than Aro himself.
"Bella, my dear!" He exclaimed as if he was not expecting me.
"Nice to see you again, Aro." I said politely. I had not moved forward since our conversation began, and he had not risen out of his chair.
"I see that the Cullens have kept their agreement. Is that why you are here? So that you can save Caius a trip? Although, I'm sure that he'll be disappointed about that." He said with a chuckle. "So, how is dear Edward? I hope he's keeping that temper of his in check."
At the mention of His name, my body stiffened into a stone statue, and my lips became a thin line.
Aro, shocked at my reaction, looked at me curiously and waited for me to explain.
"The…Cullens," I choked on their name, "and I have had a sort of…falling out." I put it in the simplest words I could manage. "They did not change me. A lone vampire had found me in the forest one day after their absence, and I was changed. I am also not here to save Caius a trip."
"Oh," was all I heard as Aro's eyes glazed over in thought for a moment. "So, none of the Cullens are with you anymore?"
"None." I replied in a monotone voice.
"Not even Edward?" He obviously couldn't understand the word, none.
"No." Hearing his name this many times was dangerous. My temper spiked every time I heard it, and that was not a good thing.
Aro must have gotten my I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it expression, so he changed the subject.
"Then, if not proving that you are indeed one of us, why are you here?"
This was the part that had made me nervous, although I was glad that we had gone off the topic of Them. "I was wondering…i-if your offer still stands." I stammered.
His face was still confused as he waited for a better explanation.
"I was wondering if I could join you, the Volturi."
Aro's expression went from confusion to shock to thoughtfulness to joy.
"Of course, Bella! Ah, that would be wonderful to have another member! You especially!"
I was dumbfounded. I didn't expect his decision to come so soon.
"Do you have any powers yet?" He stood up as he said this and closed the large gap between and replaced it with a few feet.
"Well, I know that I am immune to the smell of human blood. I fainted at the smell of it when I was human, so that trait was probably carried over. However, I don't really know if there is something else…I've only been a vampire for a little over a week." I added sheepishly.
He nodded in amazement. "Immune to human blood, incredible." He murmured.
"I wonder if you are still immune to my gift and Jane's and Edward's too."
I flinched again at the sound of his name and spoke in a low, snarl. "I'd rather not talk about the Cullens anymore, especially Him. To me, they are now a forbidden subject."
Aro gazed into my eyes, which were probably darkening due to my anger, before speaking. "My apologies. May we do a little test, though?" He reached out his hand.
A small smile crawled its way onto my face as I placed my hand into his.
What happened next was unexplainable. As soon as I had touched Aro, I felt a small spark tingle up my arm and through my body. Immediately after, a giant tsunami of thoughts crashed into my head.
Gasping, I found my arms entangled in my hair, trying to keep my mind from falling apart. I was also on my knees on the ground.
As quickly as it had come, it left. I felt completely normal, but the information was still in my head. I had heard Aro's thoughts. I had heard everything single thing Aro had thought in the past centuries or however long he had been a vampire.
"Whoa!" I muttered as I stood up slowly to look back at him.
"Bella, are you alright? What happened?"
"I-I heard your thoughts." I stammered.
Stunned, he said, "I still didn't hear any of yours, though. What did you hear?"
"Everything. Everything you ever thought in your entire existence. I-I think I just did what you can do…what your gift can do."
"Interesting, very interesting." He murmured under his breath. "Well, I'm not sure what your exact power is, but you definitely have one.
"Oh, and welcome to the Volturi." He said with a true, genuine smile.
I smiled back.
He suddenly spoke, all his words in a rush.
"We can experiment later and begin your training in a few hours, but right now, I have to attend a meeting. After all, I'm a busy person." I noticed that he said person instead of man. Well, he was a vampire.
"Besides," he said, "you look thirsty anyways. We will all be feeding after the meeting if you want to join us."
It was true, I was incredibly thirsty, but I said "thanks but no thanks. I prefer the animal diet."
"Of course, the immunity to human blood, I forgot." Aro gave a slight smile.
I only nodded my head, thankful that I didn't have to explain how wrong I thought it was to drink from a human anyways.
"Well, I must be off. Meet Altair at the same spot today, and he will take you to the training grounds."
I nodded and turned to leave, but before I did, I whispered, "Thank you, Aro."
He chuckled and waved his hand in a farewell.
Be sure to tell me what you all think (review coughcough)
And obviously, Bella has a power...we will hear more about it in future chapters
Oh and if you are confused about how Bella knows about the Volturi and stuff, read my note at the top of the very first chapter. That should explain it.