Waking on the Break of Dawn
I pulled myself out of the backseat of the yellow car. I wasn't looking forward to this, for it was exactly the opposite of what Mom wanted for me. To have to run away from our kind like she had to do. Alice tossed me my sunglasses- mandatory thanks to my unusual eyes- and I caught them with ease. My eyes were brown, yes, but still had one trait of a vampire. When I was thirsty, they changed not black, but a bright, vibrant blue. And I hadn't hunted in weeks. We walked under the archway and into the Italian hotel. I, of course, surprised all who looked my way. I was carrying all three of my heavy bags with no assistance. They gawked at my strength, compared to my miniscule size. Alice walked up and spoke Italian to the desk attendant.
"One room please, least expensive as possible," she muttered quickly to the black haired woman, but apparently slowly enough to understand. Jasper took one of the keys and tossed it to me. I caught it perfectly in my teeth, as my hands were full. We walked up to the room.
Opening the door, I couldn't imagine how this could've been the least expensive room possible. I knew the reason why we'd been cutting back on expenses lately. Kind of pathetic, I think. The Volturi had somehow been hacking into all of our accounts, withdrawing all the money. They left us with a mere fifty-thousand dollars. Yes, that really is the least amount the Cullens have ever possessed. But this room looked absolutely exquisite! The bedposts perfectly carved to detail, the wallpaper had exact illustrations. Even the cherry wood floors looked perfect, the reddish brown color even throughout the boards. I tossed my bags onto one of the beds, and flung myself onto the other. The softness of the bed was unexplainable. It was firm, but felt like lying on a cloud at the same time. I was totally savoring the moment. Until the buzzing of my phone snapped me out of my daze. It was Jacob.
"Hey, Jake. What's up?" I asked through the receiver.
"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if you guys were settled yet. Alice got some big fancy hotel, didn't she?" he replied.
"Yeah. But it's also Italy, all the hotels are fancy here. You guys catch Luke yet?" I asked. Luke. The name made me flinch at the thought. Let me explain. I'm the demon child, right? Half vampire. But also half human. Luke, a friend of James, had heard. He also knew how Dad had killed James and Victoria. And apparently he wanted revenge. I didn't like this, but that was also why we were running. It wasn't all about the Volturi. Luke was a tracker. And guess who he was tracking? Harder than my mom had been. More heavily protected. More special. It was me. Oh, but Luke wasn't alone. He had stolen Victoria's idea, but made it a thousand times more efficient. He was creating an army. And he was training them.
It took a moment for Jacob to respond to that.
"No, Ness, we…we can't even pick up the trail. He disappeared, and there aren't even any crime reports here to give us a clue. They've stopped biting. Listen, Nessie, can you put Jasper on? He's the expert on this stuff," my beloved big brother said. I think there was more before I handed it to Jazzy, but I couldn't hear it through my tears. Alice was holding me and trying to comfort me, and I hoped Jasper would help some time soon. But he was rushing around, starting to pack up his stuff, where it was just beginning to get unpacked. Alice was too confused by this, and she left me to figure out what was going on. Jasper tossed my phone back to me.
"Alice, we won't be staying for a week as planned. We're leaving Italy tomorrow," he said.
"Explain," she said simply. But I couldn't listen to the reasons. My life had been fairly complicated as far as people hunting me, so I was done hearing why I was such a magnet for hatred. I just started packing up my stuff. Alice ordered some mushroom ravioli for me. There was some significance behind that food, other than it being my favorite, but I couldn't figure out what.
When the waiter came to our room, I took the food and ate it quickly. Then I drifted off to my own little dream world. The rest of my family had always been jealous of me as far as sleep, all because I could dream. I didn't see why, it wasn't that great. Just natural. I knew that a nightmare would go on forever. A strange thing not many know about me: once I fall asleep, I can't wake up on my own. Someone has to wake me up. So once the dream started, it wouldn't end easily.
It started with the Volturi. I saw them walking through the streets, toward me. But this wasn't Italy, or home. Judging by the language on the billboards, this was either China or Japan. They kept walking, and stopped. Then, from in between gentle Aro and demented Caius walked my one sworn enemy. Jane. I reached out for Alice's hand, but couldn't find it. I kept searching, but knew I'd have to live through this nightmare alone. No one was there to wake me up.