CHAPTER 2

Italy? Italy. No matter how many times I ran the notion through my head it still seemed un-real, intangible and unimaginable. After my dad had told me that in order to live with him I would be in Italy, I had told him I would think about it and then call him back. That was three hours ago.

It was eleven o'clock and I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling.

I had wanted to get away from Rory hadn't I? But this seemed so permanent; perhaps that was what I needed. Yes, it was.

I would call my dad in the morning and tell him that I wanted to come and live with him.

I turned over and adjusted my pillow. I'd had trouble sleeping recently. I missed the feeling of another body next to mine. The vacated side where he used to stay now seemed sad. I used to think that this bed was barely big enough for one person let alone two, but now I felt lost in a sea of blankets. I tossed and turned for a bit longer before eventually falling asleep.

I woke up from the sensation of an icy hand on my cheek, I turned on my side. Rory lay in front of me. (This is not meant to be stalker-ish it just came out that way) It was a dream. I wasn't really awake. Since it was a dream my actions couldn't act against me. I rested my head on dream Rory's chest.

"Don't go." He said.

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked groggily.

"Because I love you." He told me.

"If only this weren't a dream." I said longingly.

"It isn't" he said.

"You do know that figments of my imagination are not supposed to argue with me?"

"I'm not a figment of your imagination Cassie." He said.

"Even if you really are here, just let me am ignorant." I said closing my eyes and drifting back to sleep. And then began the real dream.

There was a man walking down a cobblestone street at night. I couldn't tell who it was because they had their back to me.

Down the street was an alleyway and beyond that was a large stone castle like building. I looked at the rest of my surroundings. It seemed as if we were in a valley, there were hills around this small town. I looked up at a clock tower in the corner, but couldn't make out the time.

The sound of water made my head turn and I could see a fountain in the middle of a square.

The man turned down to the alley way. I tried to move but I couldn't. Luckily for me he took a couple steps backwards. Another person came into view. It was a small girl, thin and she looked as though a gust of wind would blow her away. I still couldn't see the man's face though. This girl obviously held some type of authority.

She advanced on him a murderous look on her face and I felt a feeling of true fear run from my neck to my toes.

"I don't care who she is, you need to do something about It." she said.

"I can't just do that. You don't understand." He said, his voice reminded me of someone but I couldn't out my finger on it.

"Well then, your only other choice would be to change her."

"no." he said resolutely.

This was normally when my dream ended.

"It is one or the other Robert." The woman said. The name struck a chord in my brain.

"I would never do either, she's my daughter. And Aro said that we wouldn't have to do anything, he's interested in her, nothing at least for a while."

"And how long do you think 'a while' is? You'll have to do something sooner or later." The woman said.

The man turned his back to her and for the first time I saw his face, and it was my father.

My eyes fluttered open as my alarm clock shattered my not-so-peaceful recluse. I rolled over and the

Sound of crumbling paper brought me to my senses. I reached under me and withdrew a piece of paper.

It wasn't a dream

That was all it said. I knew it was from Rory because of the hand writing though. I think that last night I knew it wasn't a dream. But by saying it was it gave me an excuse to be close to him.

I got out of bed got dressed, did my hair, grabbed my bag, and left for the bus stop. Just because I had a license didn't mean I had a car.

At my job the day wore on slowly. I was procrastinating calling my dad. I wasn't going to back out of my decision; I just had something holding me back, some unknown barrier.

Around one I got out from my job, I headed back to the bus stop and rode home on the smelly public transportation that the government thought they were being nice by giving us.

I walked into my house.

"Hello?" I called. No one answered. I walked to the office and sat in front of the computer, I fiddled idly with the keyboard as I dialed my dad's number. It rang a few times and then I got the voice-mail. I left a short message asking him to call me back.

I knew that I shouldn't be surprised that he didn't pick up. He was probably working. But what was working for him? What exactly did he do?

My stupid dream had been haunting me all day. I was a bit perturbed to realize that for the past year I had been dreaming of my father being told to kill me. It was a bit offsetting.

The phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Cass, you just called?" my dad said. I hadn't been expecting him to call back so fast.

"Yes, I did. I just called to tell you that I would like to come and live with you in Italy." I spoke slowly.

"Oh…that's…great." He said sounding nervous. I didn't understand why he should sound nervous; he was the one who said that he was okay with me spending the year in Italy with him."

"Hey dad, will I have to know Italian?"

"No, most of the people here speak English.

"Good. So…when do I leave here?"

"Well, we want to get you here before school starts so that you can be there the first day. So you will most likely be on a plane in two or three days, I just have to talk to your mother."

"Two or three days? Umm, wow. Isn't that sort of soon?"

"Well, yes, but you will want to have a day or two to be here before school begins unless you come in the middle of the school year?"

"No, no, I'll come then, I understand now." I said. I heard my mom open the back door.

"Hello?" my mother asked. I cupped my hand over the phone so I wouldn't scream into my dad's ear.

"I'm in the office." I called to her. I removed my hand. "My mom just got home." I told my dad."

"Oh, that's great. Would you mind giving the phone to her, I just need to work out a few small details with her." My dad said.

"Sure." I said getting up and walking down the hall to give my mom the phone.

She took it and sat down at our kitchen table. I sat across from her. I was already excited, my stomach bubbled. I watched as she took out a pen and piece of paper and started to write. It seemed like my father was doing most of the talking for her responses were mostly single worded answers such as 'yes' and 'okay'.

When she handed the phone back to me I took it confused.

"Hi?" I said again.

"I just wanted to tell you to start packing and that you will be leaving in the morning the day after tomorrow. Love you Cass, I'll see you soon." My dad said.

"Love you" I said before hanging up and going to my room. My mom knocked on my door. I opened it and faced her.

"I just wanted to give you this list" she said handing me the paper she had been writing. I scanned it quickly. It was just reminders about what to bring.

"Hey mom, don't forget to call the school and tell them that I'm not going to be there this year." I said. My words sounded strange to me and they sent a tingle from my head to my toes. It just didn't seem real yet. I closed the door and looked at the page once again.

All clothing

All bath products

All books or other possessions you will want.

So it was pretty much telling me to bring all of my things. I didn't think that I had a suitcase big enough. I started to empty my drawers only leaving out what I would want for the next two days. My clothes ended up filling a bag and a half. I didn't really have any possessions that weren't books and I would only bring my favorites of those. If I had had an ipod or something like that I would bring that but I didn't. I went into my bathroom and got together the entire bathroom items that I actually used and realized that I had barely any and there was no reason for my bathroom drawer to be full. I put my toiletries in the suitcase. I only had two suitcases? I looked around my room. I had packed a few pictures and a disposable camera for new ones.

Something on my desk caught my eye, the box with the bracelet that Rory gave me. I didn't want to leave it behind so I surreptitiously put it in my bag while feeling guilty about doing it.

My room looked so empty now. So…boring and plain.

I walked out of my room and into the kitchen where the refrigerator was calling my name. I pulled out a piece of frozen pizza and popped it into the microwave. I walked into the living room and plopped myself on the couch, my mother sat at the dining room table doing drafts for a new house.

"Cassie, I was thinking since tomorrow is your last night here that maybe we could do something?" she said. I turned myself around and looked over the back of the couch to see her.

"Yeah, that sounds nice, what would we do?" I said. I hadn't really thought about how my decision would affect my mother and I could only hope that she didn't think that she was the reason that I wanted to leave.

"Maybe we could go to a fancy restaurant or something that sounds fun." She said.

"That would be." I said smiling enigmatically.

She smiled back and returned to her work while my pizza in the microwave pinged to signify that it was ready. I went and ate it quickly, and then I returned to my room to think.

I lay on my bed not wanting to sit and look at the emptiness of my room. I could hear my heart pounding and the hum of our heater. I turned on my stomach took out a book and began reading.

It was late into the night before I put the book down, but as soon as I did I had no trouble falling asleep.

My dream that night was the same as the night before though I did not wake up before it and find Rory next to me. But I did know that he had been watching me.

The next day I had to call in to my job and tell them that I wouldn't be working there anymore. I told them that I was going to live in Italy and they told me to have a good time. That was probably the hardest part of my day.

My mom had taken me shopping for some more clothes and some nice ones for tonight. I had gotten a black dress.

We had gone home and I had showered and done my hair and makeup, gotten dressed and then we had to leave again.

My mother brought me to a fabulous restaurant that made me not want to know the cost of dinner. I had spaghetti and my mom had some type of crab. I tried to explain to her how much I would miss her and that I wasn't going to get away from her. She looked at me placidly but then smiled warmly. I promised to write her at least twice a month but I wasn't sure how well I would stick to that.

The drive home had been good. For one of the first times I had really bonded with my mother. I had gotten home and made sure everything I needed was packed and then gone to bed early.

My mother woke me up early, very early. I groaned and rolled over to the clock. It read 3:45 AM. Why had they booked me such an early plane flight? I reluctantly rolled out of bed and pulled on my clothes for the plane. I walked to the kitchen and ate my breakfast and then said my last farewell to the house for the next year.

The car drive was quiet as I listened to the radio still in half a doze. But by the time I stood before I got onto the plane both my mother and I were in hysterics.

"I love you mom." Was the last thing I said before boarding the plane to Italy.

I watched as the city below me drifted away. The city that I had grown up in. I sat back in my seat. I had gotten a window seat, for which I was glad. My flight was from San Francisco directly to Italy to a town where my father apparently lived called Volterra.

The plane ride didn't go uneventful though. I had gone to the bathroom five times, twice of which the people next to me were sleeping and I had had to wake them up. They played two b-class movies and I had somehow managed to stuff some of their disgusting food down my throat. Okay, so it was uneventful. I pressed the flight attendant button. She came over looking exasperated but I would be two if she had been called by me three other times.

"What can I do for you miss?" she asked.

"I'm sorry but do you know how much longer until the plane lands?" I asked semi-apologetically. I could sympathize with her but I thought that she should be used to it now, she did choose it as her job.

"About an hour and a half more, is that all?"

"Yes." I said smiling then looking away, just two more hours until I could start my life over. I pushed my hand into my carry on and touched a velvet box. I had moved it into my carry on before I had gotten on the plane. I knew that I shouldn't have even brought Rory's gift. How was I supposed to start over if I was carrying the past with me?

I had asked myself that repeatedly over the span of the plane ride but I hadn't dared answer it once.

My stomach dropped as the plane plummeted a few feet signaling the beginning of the descent. I put my head back and relaxed I was almost there. The 'fasten your seatbelt' sign lit up.

"Thank you for choosing international airlines, and to hose who live here in Volterra welcome home, and for those visiting please enjoy your stay." A flight attendant said in English then Italian.

The plane had landed; I sat still as others around me got up and grabbed their bags. I would rather sit and then get out when there was less of a rush, though I desperately envied those who were stretching. Once the majority of the plane passengers had filed out I got up and eagerly stretched. I pulled my carry-on bag from below my seat and got in line to exit the plane. It was so slow, but I was eventually into the terminal.

I looked around, but I couldn't find my father. A man in a black suit holding a sign that said Cassandra Sunnel looked at me quizzically. What? I looked around mortified, my father had had a driver come and pick me up? I made fun of people who got picked up by drivers. I walked over to him.

"Err, I'm Cassandra Sunnel. Did my dad send you?" I asked vehemently hoping for it to be some freak mix up with another girl named Cassandra here.

"Yes," he said taking out a picture of me to see if it was me. "Are you ready or do you need to pick up bags?"

"I need to pick up my bags." I said heading towards the bag pickup area. When we got there, there were only a few bags left circling the belt. I quickly took hold of one of mine and yanked it off the belt. I stumbled backwards. My driver grabbed my other bag much more gracefully and without the stumbling and headed off towards the parking lot. I scampered behind him.

We left out the doors and the air actually felt lighter, I inhaled deeply. The driver was loading my bags into the trunk of a limo. I went to it and got in.

The man who I had earlier suspected to be my driver got into the back of the limo with me. I looked at him strangely, then when the car started to move I was completely confused.

I studied the man across from me closely while trying to be inconspicuous at the same time.

He looked about twenty-six with short brown hair. He was probably 6'2", he had pale skin. He seemed rather well-built, but it was hard to tell while he was wearing a suit. He looked up to me; I guess he could feel my gaze. But what before I looked away were his eyes. His strikingly green eyes.

"Um, I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked embarrassedly.

"Oh, forgive me." He said sticking out his hand, I took it uncomfortably; I wasn't used to shaking people's hands. "I'm Mac."

"Nice to meet you Mac, but what are you doing here exactly? I know this sounds stupid but I thought you were the driver." I said looking away. He laughed warmly.

"No, I am not the driver. You're father has hired me for the year that you are here."

"What did he hire you to do?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"To look after you when he isn't around."

"My dad hired a babysitter for me??? I'm sixteen!" I looked crossly at the ice chest imagining it was my father.

"Oh…well…" Mac said, obviously unsure of what to do.

I looked at him once more from his pale skin and blue eyes it gave me the presumption that he was a vampire, but I might have just been acting paranoid.

"Are you going to have to follow me everywhere or something?" I asked dispirited by the very idea.

"Not exactly." He replied

"What does 'not exactly' mean?"

"I'm not going to be following you to school."

"That's all, you won't be with me while I'm at school?!?" I felt my eyes wide. "What about when I'm at home?"

"I won't be following you or anything but I do have a room at the house that you live in." he said slightly scared by my neurotics. Great, I had a live in manny (man-nanny).

I was now grateful that I had had such an early flight because it was late into the next morning and I hadn't slept at all.

I exhaled loudly. I could feel my eye-lids threatening to close. I worked hard to keep them open but I still didn't win against them. I was asleep within minutes.

The next morning I awoke to sun spilling across my face and over the bed I was in. I sat up and looked around.

The room was very plain. It had white walls, a large bed with white sheets, a closet, a desk, a dresser, and two doors. My suitcases and carry on bag were in the middle of the floor.

I pushed the blankets off of me and stepped onto the plush carpeting. I was still wearing my clothes from the plane ride. I walked to one of the doors and turned the knob before pushing it open.

There was a large bathroom, the counters were mostly white with a few light blue tiles and the walls were light blue. I sniffed at my clothes and to my immense surprise found that I smelled (sarcasm). I walked back into the room I had slept in and dug through my suitcase until I found my toiletries. They were wrapped in a plastic bag which I carried to the bathroom.

I showered in the enormous bathroom, immediately feeling cleaner after peeling off my putrid clothes.

I stepped out of the shower and exited the steaming bathroom. I dug through my bag and pulled out some jeans and a green stretchy tank top.

I walked back into the bathroom and blow dried my hair. I walked into my room and pushed open the second door into a hallway. I looked both ways to decide which direction to walk. At the end of one I could see a se of stairs going down. At the other there was a dead end. I walked toward the staircase that was going down.

In a few feet there was another door, I counted a total of 3 in the hallway. I stepped to the stairs and looked over the railing.

Below I could see the spread out of an entry way and to the left was a dining room with a large table and chairs.

I walked down the stairs careful not to trip. I rounded the corner opposite to the one of the dining room and ended up in the kitchen. Both my father and Mac sat in there. I ran to my dad and hugged him.

"It is good to see you to." My dad said commenting on my hug. I smiled sheepishly.

"The house is so pretty." I said.

"Thank you Cass, you have already met Mac." he said nodding his head in Mac's direction.

"Are we doing anything today?" I asked hopefully. My dad looked at his watch.

"I'm sorry Cass; I have to get to work. But Mac is going to show you around." He smiled. "I want to bring you to some of my work partner's house tonight though. They are very…excited to see you again." My dad said awkwardly. He stood up and gave me a hug. I looked down I wished he would be able to stay.

It wasn't that I was upset that I would be with Mac I just wanted to spend time with my dad. My dad waved one last time and then left us. I heard the door close. I turned to Mac.

"Have you already eaten?" I asked to be polite. And why no, I didn't know for sure that he was a vampire.

"Yes" him smiling at some inside joke. "Your father and I had breakfast this morning." I turned to hide my disgust at the prospect. There was one point towards vampirism. Though he didn't drink from humans, I could tell by his eyes.

I opened the large fridge and was surprised by how well it was stocked. I pulled out a cantaloupe and took out a knife after some looking. I cut the cantaloupe and ate it quickly.

I turned to face Mac.

"Do you have anything else to do before we go?" he asked.

"Not really, I just need to get my shoes and a bag."

"Alright why don't you run up and get that and I'll wait here." I walked out of the kitchen. Although I did want to look at the house a bit more, looking at the actual town sounded more interesting. I ran up the first few stairs but became tired quickly and settled for walking. In my room I grabbed my converse and bag, but not before I looked out the window in my room.

I could see pretty far out. For the first mile and a half it was just grassy plains but in the distance I could see a town of small buildings. I couldn't help wondering why the house was so secluded.

I walked out of my room and down the stairs once again. I would soon grow tired of the stairs, I could already tell. Mac waited for me at the door and when I got to the bottom of the stairs he opened it and walked out. Today his clothes more casual which made me happy, I wouldn't mistake him for a driver again.

I followed and let out an audible gasp to the outside of the house. It was beautiful. It had brick walls and ivy crawling up the side. The front had some bushes and gardening and in front of it there was a small hill. The hill reminded me of the Haven's hill.

I looked to my right. Mac wasn't there I spun around where had he gone. I turned to face the front of my house and I scratched my head. There was a loud honk behind me I jumped and turned around.

The car was a silver Mercedes. It looked very nice. I ran and got in the passenger side.

"So where are we going?" I asked my heart beating loudly in anticipation.

"Eager are we?" he asked laughing. "Well, I thought that I would take you into town. I know that girls like shopping. We would park the car and walk. Most of the streets aren't for cars." I nodded and we started to drive.

I looked out the window most of the drive. It was very beautiful. The fields swayed in the slight breeze and the skies looked like crystal. We were approaching the town. It looked as if there were some type of stone wall around it, as we got closer I realized that there was.

We drove through an opening in the wall and into a parking lot. It was cobblestone. My stomach did a small flip. Mac and I walked in silence to the shops. I was awed by the architecture of the whole town. It looked very 17th century. The entire town's roads were cobblestone.

We flitted in and out of a few shops.

"I'm supposed to make sure that you get a dress for meeting your dad's colleagues while we are here." Mac said abruptly.

"Okay, but I don't have money with me."

"That's alright I have a credit card that your dad took out for you." He said. I was pretty sure my eyes had bugged out of my head. I rarely had twenty dollars on me at a time let alone a credit card.

"Whoa, um okay, let's go into some dress shops them." I said still in shock.

I thought our day was going quite successfully. I had bought a dress and shoes. The dress was black and double spaghetti strapped with a bow in the front under the bust and the shoes were black heels that laced about ¼ of the way up my calf. We were walking back to the car when I saw it though. I saw the fountain, the alleyway, the cobblestone ground, and in the background a large castle-like building. It fit the description of my dream. I stopped in cold blood and stared. Mac looked behind him he backtracked over to me.

"What are you looking at?" he asked he then cocked his head to face the same direction as mine did. "Ah, the castle, it is beautiful isn't it? I think that is where we will be going tonight." He said.

"You're going to?" I asked "not to be rude, I'm just wondering" I added quickly.

"No offense taken. Yes I am going I am well acquainted with your fathers work partners and it is always good to see them." He said. I forced myself to turn my head and start walking back to the car.

The drive back was mostly quiet. I fiddled with the radio to try and find a reasonable station. None were all that great.

We arrived back at the house and yet again I ended up ogling it.

The sun was starting to set. I went inside and sat at the table I realized that I was famished. I fixed myself a grilled cheese and salad, with a glass of milk.

The phone rang. I walked to it and picked it up.

"Hello?" I said then noticed that they probably would think that they got the wrong number seeing as I was a girl and my dad wasn't. "Sunnel Residence." I tacked onto the end.

"Hello Cassandra." A rather old male voice said on the other end.

"Err, may I ask who is calling?"

"It is Aro; I work with your father. I was just calling to see if he was in yet. Is he?"

"No, may I take a message?" I asked. I could hear my voice quaver at the thought of talking to one of the people Rory had called the 'Volturi'.

"That is alright, I guess I will see you tonight." Aro said calmly.

"Yes, I will see you tonight, goodbye." I said.

"Goodbye." He said before I hung up the phone.

I sat back at the table to eat. I had just stabbed a piece of lettuce when the phone rang again. I stared at it daring it to continue ringing. It did. I got up and answered it.

"Hello, Sunnel Residence." I said politely.

"Hey Cass, it your dad."

"Hi dad. How was your day?"

"It was good. Did you get a dress?" he asked me.

"Yes, it is very nice."

"Well that's good. Would you mind going and starting to get dressed now, I'm running a little late and I don't want to be late for tonight?"

"Sure, um, Aro just called." I said. The words came out vague and awkward. My father's voice stiffened.

"And what did he want?"

"He wanted to talk to you, I told him you weren't here and asked if he wanted to leave a message. He said no and that he would see us tonight."

"Why aren't you a little secretary?" He said jokingly. "I'll be there soon, go get dressed okay?"

"Yea sure, see ya dad."

"See ya." He said. I hung up and hurriedly ate my food before anyone else could call. I washed my plate and half ran half walked upstairs to my room. It needed some serious decorating. But now wasn't the time to think about that.

I did my make-up first so none would get on my dress then my hair. I pulled on the dress. It fit very well and it was very nice.

I walked into the hallway and looked at the two doors next to mine. I was guessing that they were the other bedrooms. I wanted to tell Mac to start getting ready, but I didn't know which door to pick. I picked the door to my left. I knocked. At first no one answered, then I knocked again and Mac answered but it was from the door on my right.

I turned embarrassed towards him.

"I just wanted to tell you that my dad will be here soon and that you might want to start getting ready."

"Thank you Cassandra." He said. He was about to close the door.

"Can you call me Cassie?" I asked he opened the door again.

"Um sure."

"It's just that you have been calling me Cassandra all day and I go by Cassie, Cassandra is just so formal." I rambled.

"Okay than, thank you Cassie." He closed his door and I thought that it would be smart to start walking downstairs. I walked around the ground floor and discovered a living room and a bathroom.

There was a honk out side.

"Cassie!" Mac called. I ran as fast as I could in heels without falling, which wasn't very fast. Mac stood in front of the door. He opened it and I followed him out a limo was in front of the house. I wasn't sure if I liked riding in them, they made me feel kind of snobby.

My dad and I ran through questions, explanations, and exclamations about my life, Volterra, and Marin.

The car pulled up in front of the castle that I had stared at in shock and awe this afternoon. I stepped out of the car and looked up. It towered over me intimidating.

My father stepped up behind me.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes." I said making my way toward the doors inside.