Chapter 4 A Life for a Life
"We're almost there!" Heidi said stopping outside a big golden door. "I've got to go in first and check everything out and make sure it's okay to go on in" She then opened the golden door ever so slightly and slipped into the room beyond.
"Wow, Heidi's been some tour guide! She picked us up at about 7:30 instead of 8. Good thing we were ready at 7:15! She also showed us some interesting sights of Volterra. Those Italian paintings in this hallway were exquisite! I can't believe it's already 8:30 and our trip is going to be over soon!" Julianne said almost out of breath.
"Yes!" Alexis responded. "I wonder what the grand conclusion she has been mentioning will be? You took Latin this last semester as an elective didn't you Jules?" " Yes, why?" Julianne said looking confused. Alexis continued, "Remember that plaque in the hallway before those Italian paintings with all the Latin phrases? I was wondering what the phrase mors tua vita mea meant?" "Hmm." Julianne said. "It probably has something to do with the Volturi vampires since the translation would be your death, my life or your death is my life."
Alexis sighed, "Can you stop all the vampire talk? Heidi is really knowledgeable and I've loved this tour, but I don't want to be reminded of that inaccurate vision before we get home." Just then Heidi walked out and said, "We're ready for you!" She opened the door wide and they all walked in to a room with stone walls and marble floors. Julianne who was a couple of feet ahead of Alexis stopped abruptly as a man with bright red eyes got up out of a throne in the middle of the room and walked towards them. He had jet black hair. The man said "Welcome to Volterra! Hello, Julianne and Alexis" He kissed Alexis's left hand. He held it for about ten more seconds and then let go. He continued speaking by saying, "Remarkable! Heidi's right about you."
Julianne looked at his eyes closer. This man did not appear to be wearing contacts. What was exactly going on here? She could tell Alexis felt uneasy. She turned and looked at Heidi who was in the corner of the room and gasped. Alexis turned to look at Heidi and saw a horrific sight. Heidi had just removed contacts and had exposed the true color of her eyes, blood red! Julianne and Alexis both glanced at each other and both turned simultaneously and bolted for the golden door. Julianne screamed almost instantly after about only two steps. Alexis wheeled around to see what had happened and she was immediately pushed so hard in the stomach by a man with huge shoulders that she flew backward into the nearby stone wall.
BOOM! Her body hit the wall and she crumpled into a heap on the floor. After a few minutes of disorientation as a result of the impact. Alexis realized Julianne was still screaming. As Alexis got up on her feet she gasped and saw Julianne writhing around in pain on the floor. She then noticed a little brown haired girl staring intently at Julianne and realized that somehow this little girl was torturing her friend.
"Please stop!" Alexis yelled. "I'll do anything you want just stop hurting her, please!" The dark haired man said "Jane my dear." Julianne gasped and got up onto her knees. Julianne hardly got scared and there was no denying the fact she was terrified of what had just transpired and what they had seen. Julianne stood up and had her arms locked into a vice like grip behind her by another man or vampire as they both realized they were encountering. It was the same vampire that had forcefully pushed Alexis into the wall.
"Just an extra precaution Alexis" The vampire with long dark hair said walking towards Alexis. "Ow!" Alexis thought she was starting to feel extremely sore in her back as a result of slamming into the wall. Thank goodness she had no broken bones. "We won't hurt her, Alexis," the vampire with dark hair continued.
"Aro." Alexis said turning to Julianne. She had never seen this face before in real-life, but she had seen it in the vision she had had before going on this trip. "Remarkable! You know who I am even though; you have never been here before. Who are those two individuals sitting on the other two thrones?" Aro said gesturing to the two thrones on the left and right of his occupied by another dark haired vampire and a blond vampire. Aro grinned as Alexis nodded at the blond and the other guy and said, "Caius and Marcus." Alexis then glared at Heidi who was still in the corner of the room. "You deceitful witch!" Alexis shivered as Heidi let out a feral growl. "Peace" Aro said "She's just somewhat frustrated."
"Frustrated! What the hell do you want with us other than to torture and kill us! I bet you did that with those tourists in Heidi's tour yesterday!" "Oh no!" Alexis said a horrible possibility starting to sink into her mind as she saw Aro flash a smile of sharp white teeth. He looked at her like he was about to bite into a juicy steak. Aro grabbed Alexis by the chin and forced her to look at him. Alexis's heart was starting to beat frantically.
"You would taste good, I have to admit, but you're right in believing we want you to join us. Your power will become so much stronger once you're changed." Aro said finally releasing her chin. Alexis regained some confidence. This guy was power hungry and cared only about himself and his standing. "I'd rather die than to become a vampire!" "Hmm, even if means you'll have to see your friend who's like a sister to you die a slow death?" Aro said tilting his head to one side.
"You wouldn't!" Alexis said her voice starting to sound concerned again. "I don't want to, but Alexis the choice is yours. If you become one of us we'll let your friend go, but if not you'll be forced to watch her demise before your own." Aro said
Alexis's POV
I didn't know what I would do. If I decided to give up my life to save Julianne's I would give up my soul and become a monster. If I decided not to give my life up for hers I would be forced to watch her as she was killed slowly in front of my eyes. They also probably would do the same thing to me. Either way I was doomed. My vision had become a real life nightmare in which a sadistic group of vampires had won no matter my decision.
Alexis noticed that Aro had glided over to Julianne. "Leave her alone!" She ran over to Aro who held up his hand. "I'm just getting a read on your friend." "A read?" Alexis said looking confused.
"Yes" Aro continued. "I can read every thought a person has ever had." Alexis gasped. Every thought, every moment that she had shared with Julianne and others was now ingrained into this monster's brain to say nothing of all the visions she had experienced in her life. All of Julianne's thoughts were also now ingrained into Aro's head. Aro removed his hand from Julianne's shoulder and clapped his hands together again.
"You have a latent power too! I just can't tell what exactly from your thoughts. This complicates the situation my dear Alexis." As he turned to face Alexis she shouted, "No!" sinking to her knees and clutching the bottom of the long black robe Aro wore.
"Take me, please not her too! I'm the one you want most. Just let me see my friend off safely and get to say a proper goodbye. After that you can change me. Just don't subject my friend to eternal damnation or torture, please!" Alexis cried tears streaming down her entire face. Aro gently pried Alexis's hands from his robe and pulled her to her feet with one arm.
"Good decision, Alexis my dear, at least you didn't make thing too difficult for us. Everything will be fine." Aro said flashing his sharp white teeth again. Alexis looked away and shivered. Even though Aro was trying to be reassuring he wasn't reassuring Alexis at all. This trip had become a real-life nightmare she was sure she would not awaken from.
Please review! Thanks to Pandagrl04, AnastasiaNikolaevna, fanpire1288, and finally Pink-Angel 91 (you always leave great reviews!) for reviewing chapter 3. I'd appreciate more reviews for this chapter compared to the last one. Additionally, I would'nt mind getting a few more reviews for Chapter 1 and 2 since I only got one review for the first two chapters combined. I hope to have chapter 5 posted within a week. I hope you guys keep reading, reviewing, and most importantly enjoying this story! OH one more thing! The final Eclipse trailer will premiere this Friday, April 23rd on Oprah.