Chapter 4
"What do you mean, he's not going?" I looked at both of my sisters wildly, waiting for an explanation.
"Sorry Cassy. Alice said it wouldn't work out well if he did." Kate looked sheepish. "Boys aren't exactly known for keeping the peace." I groaned. I was traveling half way across the world, facing my possible doom, and my fiancé was staying here. "If it makes you feel better, Garrett's staying too. After his reaction to them last time, they wouldn't be too thrilled to see him."
"Do I at least get to say good-bye?" A pained look passed over her face.
"No," she whispered. "Neither of us do. Alice saw that they wouldn't let us go, and we have to. If you don't go there, they'll come here. We certainly don't want that." I shuddered; no, I didn't want those creeps anywhere near my home.
"But… well, will they be able to control themselves? We won't be able to look after them." I was grasping at straws, and I knew it.
"Alice said she would bring them down to her family once we were gone. They'll have plenty of babysitters there. Now c'mon! We don't want to miss the plane." We ran out and got into a sleek black car of some kind. Tanya drove while Kate and I sat in back, quietly sinking into depression with each passing mile. Even through my own misery, I felt sorry for Kate; she was already married to Garrett, and their love was more… physical than mine and Jack's. She must have been even worse off than me.
Tanya seemed a bit sad as well, but in her own way. She was probably sad that she didn't have anyone to mourn for, that there was no one she could truly give her heart to. I hoped that would change, soon.
I wanted to call Jack as soon as we got to the airport, but Tanya convinced me to wait until we were on the plane. The time passed by slowly, but finally, we were in our seats.
"Hey Cass," Jack said, picking up on the first ring.
"Jack," I breathed, his voice filling me with relief.
"What's wrong?" He asked immediately. "You sound… worried."
"Everything's fine," I assured. For now.
"Where are you? Alice said I should stay at home tonight, that you wouldn't be at Tanya's house." Jeez, Alice sure had a lot to say today; how many times had I heard that phrase?
"Um…" I hesitated, biting my lower lip. I didn't want him to worry, but I didn't want to lie to him either.
"Cassandra?" The tone of his voice had me practically crumbling in my seat. I couldn't lie to him.
"I'm at the airport," I confessed. "With Tanya and Kate. We have to go to the Volturi; they've summoned me to Italy." Silence on the other line. "Please don't be worried. I'll be fine. You're going to go with Alice and Garrett to go-"
"Garrett's not there?" he interrupted.
"No," I whimpered. I hated the frightened tint to his voice.
"I'm coming with you," he said abruptly.
"No! We're already on the plane. We'll be leaving in a few minutes. Promise me you'll be good for Alice, and don't kill any more humans." A pause.
"When will you be back?" His voice was trembling slightly.
"I don't know," I admitted, "but we told my parents I'd be back in a week."
"Fine. I'll give you a week. If you're not back by then, I'm coming after you." His tone was such that I couldn't disagree.
The first flight to Georgia took about seven hours, and I wished I could sleep to pass the time. Considering that was out of the question, I had to settle for talking with my sisters, or face my misery without Jack.
The next flight was considerably longer, but at least we had something to talk about now.
"What does Aro want?" I asked hesitantly.
"We can't know for sure," Tanya replied. "All we know is that he's interested in meeting you. Only Alice knows more than that, and she wouldn't tell us anything more than what we've told you."
"Why didn't she come with us?" She raised an eyebrow.
"The Cullens don't want to be involved with the Volturi again if they can help it, especially Alice. You know how much Aro wants her, and you know he'll do just about anything to get what he wants. It would not have been wise for her to join us." I sighed and nodded. Travelling to Volterra with almost no insight on the future was going to be… difficult.
"So what do we do?" I whispered.
"We go to Carmen and Eleazer. We need all the help we can get."
