Chapter Twenty
Esme
I was relieved to be leaving Volterra, I hated the thought of running into that young man again, he had frightened me terribly although I hadn't had a chance to tell Carlisle about it yet. When he told me we would all be leaving together I sighed in relief even though we would be traveling with a human in the throes of transforming into one of us. I felt physically sick at the thought of Caius drooling over poor little Alice but once done we were able to leave immediately.
Edward had been silent all the way to the airfield although Alice's unnatural silence caused by Alex's gift could have been responsible. Aro had sent him to Pisa with us so Alice could get through security as Carlisle's sick patient but once aboard he left and the screaming began. The thought of suffering that noise all the way home was daunting but unavoidable if we wanted to escape from Volterra with Alice.
Once airborne I sat with Alice and my soothing touch did quieten her a little so we could at least talk instead of shouting over her screams. What the pilot had been told I had no idea but then if he flew the Volturi plane on a regular basis he had no doubt heard many strange sounds. He might even be a vampire himself, I hadn't seen him. Edward looked as if he wanted to speak but wasn't sure whether to do so and then Carlisle addressed him,
"What's on your mind son?"
"Nothing really."
He looked at me as he said this and it occurred to me that perhaps he didn't want to speak in front of me but I couldn't imagine why.
"I'm sure whatever it is Esme is capable of coping with."
"Its Alex's thoughts, I read them as we drove to the airfield, he was thinking about The Major, I've heard of him but I thought the rumors of his savagery were just that."
"And now you realize you were wrong."
It was a statement not a question,
"You knew?"
"Yes I knew, remember Aro is a friend, he couldn't wait to brag about his new enforcer. The Major has been around quite a while now but at first he was busy in Mexico and further south so his exploits tended to be told only locally. More recently he has worked both in North America and Europe and his infamy is spreading."
"Why would Aro use such a monster?"
"Use? Aro created The Major to be a monster, after all if you were thinking of breaking our laws or fermenting a revolt and you heard of such a man wouldn't you think twice Edward?"
"You mean he's more a deterrent than anything?"
"No, he's a tool that Aro uses when a simple warning is ignored. If you are going to keep the law in a species such as ours you need to carry an exceptionally big stick. The Major is the ultimate big stick and Aro is only too willing to use it."
As I thought about Carlisle's words Edward continued,
"Have you ever seen him? Spoken to him Carlisle? After all you visit Volterra from time to time."
"Yes I saw him once and that was enough, he radiates an aura of fear, you deliberately avoid him if you can."
"And if you can't?"
"Then you pray Aro hasn't handed him your name Edward."
"What does he look like? Is he like Felix?"
"No Edward, he is nothing like Felix, nothing at all. He looks much younger, his face is handsome until you meet his eyes and then you feel the fear gripping your vitals."
I swallowed suddenly feeling very sick,
"What does it mean if he knows your name?"
They both looked at me and I know there was fear in my voice. Carlisle came to me and took my hands in his,
"You've seen him? Where Esme?"
"When I went to buy soup for Alice, I met him in a corridor and he called me by name, he knew who I was Carlisle, what does that mean?"
He smiled at me,
"Nothing Esme, Aro would have told him we were guests there that's all. Did he say anything else to you?"
I started to shake my head but then stopped,
"Yes, when he called me by name I asked him if I knew him and he said,
"No, you'll be pleased to hear. He didn't introduce himself just walked away but I was terrified, it was like meeting the devil on a lonely road yet I couldn't say exactly what it was that frightened me so much."
I couldn't stop thinking about that young man and the feeling of dread that had hit me when I looked into his face. Was he really the devil he seemed? I wondered what kind of a man he had been before he became a vampire, in fact I couldn't stop thinking about him until Carmen took over watching Alice but then the poor girl became very restless and her cries louder until I came back to her side. So I spent the rest of the flight there beside her, quietening her as best I could when we stopped to refuel, while Carlisle and Eleazar talked about their near discovery.
"Do you think we can keep Alice's gift a secret from Aro for long?"
"At least until our next visit and something tells me that will be some time. I heard from another old friend in the Volturi that Aro is rather caught up in trying to suppress a revolt in Russia which is being generated by the Romanians."
"Why Russia?"
"Because its a huge country with plenty of places to run and hide as well as collect an army of discontented vampires. I think that's why The Major was in Volterra, he was getting new orders. Usually they are careful to keep him away from the citadel."
Edward joined in with a question
"Why not keep him close? As a deterrent."
"Because son wherever he is violence is not far behind and there are those in the guard who feel his reputation is false and want to try their luck. Which is exactly what happened when Aro was called away."
An ambulance was standing by when we finally landed, a rented one driven by Emmett, and Alice was soon settled inside as we drove back to the house glad it was isolated. Alice was due to wake up in less than thirty hours and she was going to be a handful when she did. Housing a newborn wasn't easy as we knew only too well having experienced it with both Rosalie and Emmett. At least this time Emmett would be the one doing the restraining because trying to restrain him had been like trying to keep a pride of lions from ripping a herd of antelope apart! I liked our house in Boston, I'd got it just the way I wanted and I hoped Alice wouldn't destroy too much of it, as Emmett had done. In fact he had totally destroyed a good part of the fabric of the building not just the contents.
Once at the house Rosalie helped me with Alice,
"I've put her in the room next to yours, Carlisle sent me a telegram from the airfield to tell me you were the only one who could keep Alice from destroying the plane so I'm hoping once she wakes she will feel you close by and not try to kill us all."
She looked at the elfin figure who had finally stopped screaming and crying out and was now only tossing as if feverish.
"She's so tiny and fragile. Can she really see the future?"
"It seems like it, Eleazar certainly thinks so, she found us and she got out of Volterra so I guess she knew something."
We settled her in and I took my place by her side listening as she began to cry out again but not incoherent sounds, these were words,
"She'll come, I see her, she'll come...she'll bring him here...she'll come, I see her...I see him..."
She repeated the same words over and over never giving a name, no clue as to who she or he were but they made me uneasy and I decided as soon as she was able to speak I would ask her about the words and what they might mean for us.