One. Volterra

I had never been further east than Albuquerque. I know that's an odd thing to think about, but it's true. Now, I was headed for Italy- and I had never been further east than Albuquerque. It was an interesting point to ponder.

Or maybe I was just trying to keep my mind off the fact that I was in a plane several miles above an ocean.

It was odd, really. Flying had never bothered me when I was human- frail and easily broken. Now that I was a vampire and could probably survive the impact, I found it frightening to be above the ocean in a piece of metal that I really thought should have been too heavy to defeat gravity and lift up off the earth.

"Bella- calm down," Jasper Hale, my sort-of brother, ordered softly from where he sat with his wife, Alice Cullen. "I don't get why you're so frightened."

"We're in a flying piece of metal several miles above and rather large body of water- I'm allowed to be a wee bit antsy."

I heard Edward Cullen, my boyfriend, chuckle from his seat next to me, and I shot him an angry glare.

"Aren't you supposed to be comforting your girlfriend?" I demanded. "Cause, you know, this whole laughing at her thing will help you find yourself on the couch real easy."

Edward gave a suffering sigh.

"Bella, you won't be harmed. Practically invincible- remember?"

"You really want to use the couch, don't you?" I asked acidly. "Practically isn't actually."

"Bella, you are so absurd," murmured Edward in reply, leaning down to give me a kiss. As it usually did, my will became non-existent and my mind became mush as soon as his lips touched mine.

"You have to learn to resist that," Alice advised me once we had separated. "You don't want him to think he can get away with anything as long as he gives you a kiss- it sets a bad precedent."

"I'll have to work on it," I replied dryly. "I'm afraid I have a very weak will."

"I'd have to argue against that," Edward told me. "I seem to recall that you learned control in less than a month because you wanted to come after me."

I didn't have an answer to that because it was true- Carlisle said it was a nearly impossible feat, yet I had succeeded. I still had moments when the urge for human blood was strong- like on the plane for instance- but one of the others always noticed those times and managed to distract me.

Edward was especially good at that.

"Are we there yet?" I heard Emmett Cullen, another sort-of brother of mine, whine from a couple of seats back.

"If we were there, don't you think they would have announced something?" asked his wife, Rosalie Hale, in reply.

Our… family consisted of eight vampires. There were the six of us already mentioned, then the parent figures- Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle had been the first to be turned. He had then turned Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. Alice and Jasper had joined the family later, already vampires. It had been Edward who had turned me in a moment of weakness when the scent of my blood had been too much for him to handle.

I did miss my human life, but I wouldn't give up Edward or any of the rest of my family for all the world.

Jasper and Alice were murmuring quietly to themselves now, and I tried to pretend to sleep, although the feeling of Edward's gaze on me was somewhat distracting.

"Is something wrong?" I asked opening one eye lazily.

"No," he replied. "I'm just worried about you- I don't like that we're going to Volterra. Despite their fondness for Carlisle, the Volturi are dangerous."

The Volturi- the whole reason we were headed for Italy. Carlisle had met them early in his existence as a vampire and had befriended them. Somehow they had heard about me and wished to make my acquaintance. You didn't disobey the Volturi- they were the closest thing vampires had to royalty and, according to Edward, were nearly invincible.

"Don't worry," I replied softly. "I'll be good and we'll be on our way home in no time."

Edward gave me the crooked little smile I loved so much and gave my hand a squeeze.

"I hope you're right."

Volterra was a lovely city- very… tourist-y. How I managed to notice this with how nervous I was, I would never know, but I did. We had to leave the vehicle behind and walk to the Volturi stronghold because of the crowds in the city.

"I hate this city," Rose muttered. "It's too full of naïve idiots and blubbering fools."

I had to grin to myself- that was classic Rosalie, showing disdain for everything and everyone but those in her family.

I couldn't help but be glad I was included in that category.

"Do they feed on these people?" I asked Carlisle softly.

He looked down at me and shook his head with something close to regret.

"No. They bring in tourists and outsiders- they have a guard who's members take turns going out to bring in their prey," he replied, his voice bleak.

I shivered at the thought of so many innocents dying. I could see why the Volturi would feed on humans- I myself had attacked one a couple of months ago, and the blood did taste better than any animals- but I still couldn't condone killing so many. Maybe it was because I hadn't been a vampire long and still remembered my life as a human.

"And they didn't think you would successfully resist human blood and survive on animals?" I asked.

"No, they didn't," replied Carlisle. He pointed ahead of us to a large castle that we were approaching. "That's our destination; the home of the Volturi."

I felt a thread of nerves begin to coil in my stomach. I couldn't help but remember the conversation that had occurred the first time I had ever heard of the Volturi.

As long as you don't expose vampires and bring down the wrath of the Volturi, you'll be fine," Rosalie assured me.

"Volturi… do I wanna know?"

"They're like the royalty of the vampires. Carlisle spent some time with them when he was in Italy, before he turned any of the rest of us. They make sure no vampires reveal us. They also live off of humans- if I were you, I'd avoid them," replied Edward.

"I'll have to remember to never go to Italy," I replied pertly.

Despite the words I had spoken, I was now standing in front of the fortress of the Volturi, about to meet the vampire royalty.

I was really missing Canada right now.