I didn't focus much the rest of the ride. When we reached the mainland, I dutifully put on the dark cloak that I was given to mask my skin from the sunlight. I stared out at the passing streets as we rode in a car with tinted windows. I was only shocked back to reality when we arrived at an airport.
I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was- it wasn't as if we could drive to Italy. But a plane? I would have to stay in an enclosed aircraft with mostly human passengers? I wasn't sure if I could handle it without attacking someone. I had had little human contact on the island. I hadn't quite developed the resistance the rest of the Cullens had.
Bella noticed my uneasy expression as we boarded the flight, the other vampires grinning sadistically at their fellow human passengers to scare them. "Everything okay?" she whispered.
I shook my head. "What if I lose control?"
She pressed her lips together into a tight line. "I doubt Aro would let that happen. You know, protecting the secret and all that."
"It doesn't matter if he lets it happen or not, what if it does?"
"Then one of the guard will stop you," she said in a clipped tone.
"She's right," said Felix, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. He grinned. "Or do you think you can fight me off?" He flexed his muscles not-so-subtly.
Nonetheless, I still worried. As we entered the plane, I took a breath of only slightly human scented air, hoping it'd last me throughout the flight.
Aro seemed to be keen on seating arrangements. He assigned each member of the guard a seat, much to their displeasure. I wound up sitting between Felix and Chelsea, with Bella two rows behind us. I glanced back at her helplessly.
As the plane rumbled, I tried my best to relax, imagining Jasper was next to me instead. It didn't help much. I needed him to actually be there, with me.
I imagined the rest of the family making the move to Buffalo, New York. I'd learned that each Cullen got a turn to pick where to move next. Buffalo was Rosalie's choice- it wasn't too far from her hometown in Rochester.
Just after we took off, Chelsea pulled out a fashion magazine while Felix took out some sort of handheld device. That left me to be alone with my thoughts in the middle.
Of course, I first tried looking for visions, both for mine and Bella's future and the rest of the family. I gleaned that the Cullens would get to Buffalo without much trouble, which was a relief. As for Bella and I, I could only see that I wasn't going to attack anyone- yet. That could always change as I became thirstier.
After a few hours, I had to take another breath- my lungs, so used to breathing in and out at a normal tempo, finally lost control. It was at that moment every human scent in the plane hit me at once. A low hiss escaped from my throat and Chelsea and Felix held me down. Alec discreetly passed me a bag of blood from the row ahead of us. I eagerly ripped it open, only to pause as I realized it wasn't blood from a mountain lion or deer. This was pure human blood.
"What are you waiting for?" hissed Felix. "Drink it!"
And so I did. It was a thousand times better than any animal blood, despite the fact that some poor human had died so I could have this satisfaction. As the bag was drained, I instantly felt better.
Then, I noticed a lady across the aisle gaping at me. "Is that…"
"Cranberry juice," said Chelsea, smiling sweetly. "Sorry, my little sister is just crazy for that stuff." She added a convincing little laugh at the end.
The lady visibly relaxed and smiled back. Suddenly, her son, who couldn't have been more than five or six, piped up from next to her. "No, Mommy! That girl was drinking blood! She's a vampire!" He grinned mischievously at the end, and I knew he was just trying to be cute.
Still, Felix's hand, still on my arm, suddenly tensed. Aro, who was directly in front of Chelsea, also whipped towards the little boy. The boy had already gone back to his coloring book.
"What's the problem?" I asked my two seatmates.
Chelsea rolled her eyes. "He's coloring outside the lines, that's the problem. What do you think it is?"
"Seriously?" I laughed. "He's just a kid. So what if he guessed what we are?"
"No one can know," hissed Felix. "It's the law."
"But he doesn't actually know," I pointed out. "He was just kidding, in that way kids do."
"Yeah? What if he's not? And what happens when he grows up and tells people about the time he met a vampire in an airplane?"
"You guys are being ridiculous," I said. "He's, like, five years old. He'll probably forget by the time the plane lands."
"We'll dispose of him when we land," muttered Aro from ahead. His sharp tone made me freeze up, a hidden maternal instinct suddenly appearing.
"You can't kill him!" I yelped. People turned towards us curiously.
It was Felix who covered for me this time. He laughed loudly. "Alice, that's how chess works! You're supposed to kill the king."
Slowly, everyone drifted back to whatever they were doing. Felix's voice warned me. "If you don't shut up right now, we're all going to be in trouble. So it's best if you just sit quietly until we land."
I was never very religious, but I started praying to whatever divine being there was to, somehow, spare the little boy's life from the Volturi's wrath.