Florence

It had been about a week since our hospital visit and our first meeting with Carlisle, we hadn't heard anything since our invite to their home. It was weird, he seemed so sure that he wanted to know more about us and even Edward seemed happy with it. Will was his usual self about it and said he 'expected' it. It didn't seem to bother him and he continued with his classes and partying and I also got on with my own life.

I had recently been spending more time with my boyfriend Kai. We're in the same class so that's how we met, nothing fairytale or magical to it. He doesn't know the secret about me or Will and with everything going on with Edward now it would open a can of unnecessary worms. He'll find out when the time is right, or on a need to know basis.

"So how are you doing with this Spanish Flu essay?" Kai asks as we sit down for lunch. It was Tuesday, we had a routine where we would eat lunch together outside of the library after our first lecture.

"It's getting there," I say as I scoop some pasta into my mouth. "I'm seeing Holmes today about it, I just want him to read my second draft."

"Second? Smart ass." Kai smirked. I knocked his knee with my elbow as I held my pasta. "What do you think of him?" He asked as he opened his bag of chips.

"Holmes? He's alright I guess. Why?"

Kai shrugged, "I just find him odd. Tyler was saying he heard he nevers leaves his office, just spends all his time in there."

"What's wrong with that? He is a professor." I asked.

"Well Tyler also heard he researches weird shit." I look up at him with a raised eyebrow. "He believes in odd crap like aliens and vampires. He's a real conspiracy nut." I look up and choke on my last mouthful of pasta as he said 'vampires'. "I know, weird right?"

"Mhm." I cough. I chug some water back to clear my throat and start packing my things away. "You really think he believes that stuff?" I say before clearing my throat again.

Kai also starts packing his lunch away. He shrugged again. "No idea, my very reliable source of information is my best friend who doesn't even have lectures with him." I chuckle and throw my bag over my shoulder. Kai cups my face and kisses me. "I'll see you later, Floss."

I made my way to Holmes' office, it wasn't too far from the lecture theatre so I didn't have far to go. When I arrived his door was open slightly, however I knocked just in case. "Come in… Florence I assume?" I open the door and smile. "Ah amazing, shut the door and take a seat!" He exclaims.

His office was dark, he had all the blinds shut and had his desk lamp on which I thought was weird. He quickly stood up and opened one of the blinds to let some light in. He was tutting and opening different tabs on his laptop before finding my essay. "Here we go. Now I read through your second draft Florence and I must say," He leans back in his chair and looks at the screen. "This is the most brilliantly written essays I've ever read."

"Really?" I askin shock.

"Yep, your wording is brilliant, you've clearly done your research and I'm impressed with the variety of sources you've used."

I couldn't control my smile, I could even feel pride coming from him. "Well… thank you, I appreciate it."

He smiles, "I'd say add your conclusion, a few spell and grammar checks here and there and then you're ready to submit."

"Well thanks again sir, really."

"Oh please call me George." He insists. As I go to stand up I see notes on his notice board about Italy again. I look closer and see more information on a specific place called Volterra and some pictures of people.

"Uh, George, you mentioned before you'd tell me about that research you're doing." I say.

He looks up, looks at the noticeboard and then back at his laptop. "I see there's some time before I'm due at my next class, sit down." I sit down and he turns his laptop towards me. He opens up a folder that seems to have hundreds of articles, documents and photos saved.

He turns in his chair to face me. "So you're aware that most countries have some sort of Royal Family, the United Kingdom have the Windsors, Spain have King Felipe VI, you get the idea… these families are typically still around for tourism, symbolism and ceremonial purposes, they rarely have any major power anymore." I nod, he turns his laptop slightly and opens up a few of the icons in the folder.

"Yeah, because governments tend to take charge nowadays." I state.

"Exactly. What would you say if I told you there's a family, or a cult, that are a mix of the two?" He questions.

"I'd… ask for more information, I guess." I shrug.

He smiles. He was feeling rather excited at this point, it was past passionate. "They reside in a town in Italy called Volterra. Every year they hold a festival known as Saint Marcus' Day. I've been before, it's extraordinary."

"So you're researching this festival?" I ask.

George turns the laptop to me, the screen filled with photos of men, women and children wearing red capes.

"No, I'm researching what the festival is for." He says. He pulls up several more photos. "The festival is a celebration of the day Saint Marcus ran all the vampires from the city."

My throat feels like it's shutting, like it did when Kai mentioned the word. He knows, or at least believes, in vampires. I swallow and manage to find air to breathe again. "Vampires?" I ask.

He nods, "Indeed. I believe that they still reside in the city, hidden away. I believe there is a 'Royal Family' if you will, who live in the city. I believe they oversee all vampire law and ensure their secret is kept that way."

I can feel my skin running cold the more he talks about this but I couldn't move from the chair. I swallow again, "But… don't they need blood? Where are they getting that from?"

His eyes suddenly change. They look dark. He shuts the laptop lip slightly and turns to face me properly and takes his glasses off. "They do need blood." He says. He sits forward in his chair and looks me in the eyes. "When I was a child, I visited Italy with my parents and sister. We travelled all over the country, my parents loved travelling and every summer break they would take us to different places. I remember we were staying just outside of Volterra, one evening I remember a woman approaching us and telling us about this magnificent tour of the oldest buildings in the city, how it wouldn't cost us a penny. To this day I remember how… how beautiful this woman was, I was only seven at the time but I remember thinking she looked like some brand of barbie." He looked down and took a moment before looking at me again. "The following day I wasn't feeling well, I can't remember why… but my father insisted on my mother and sister going on this tour whilst he looked after me back at the hotel."

"What happened to them?" I asked as he looked out of the window.

He shrugged. "They never returned. We never saw them again. The Italian Police got involved but nothing ever came of it."

"I'm so sorry."

He looked back at me. "My Father was never the same after that. He died just as I started High School, he drank… but he may as well have been dead from the day they vanished." He said. I felt sadness and resentment flowing from him.

"I can't imagine what that must've been like."

"I returned to Volterra after I finished College myself. I needed to know what happened to them. I spent days in the city trying to figure out what could've possibly happened to them." He said. He then turned his laptop to me again. "One day… God I remember it so clearly… the day after the festival, I was sitting in a wine bar in the square, where the festival parade usually starts. It was so quiet and the sun had just gone down. I remember glancing up at the clock tower and down at the entrance to it… she was there. The same woman who approached us all those years ago, she was outside."

"She still lives there?" I questioned.

"She looked exactly the same, like she hadn't aged but literally." He said, he proceeded to show me blurry and zoomed in on photos of a woman with a red dress and dark, long hair. "I returned the next day at the same time, but this time she had a group with her… women, men, children…" He gritted his teeth as he said this. "She led them into the clock tower, I decided to wait and see what happened when they returned… I was there all day and into the night… they didn't come out."

I gasped slightly. "So… they…"

"They killed them, those bloodsuckers." I cringed at the word.

"You think… vampires killed all those people?" I asked.

"Yes. I believe it's what they do, they lure innocent humans in for their own selfish feast."

I didn't know what to say. I mean I could see why people thought he was crazy, he sounded it but… he wasn't. Vampires existed and I wouldn't be surprised if this family he's talking about does actually exist. But I can't reassure him, I can't tell him about me, Will… My Dad, his family because who knows what he'd do.

"You think I'm crazy." I hear him say.

I look at him and shake my head. "No… not at all, just a lot to process. The world is a strange place, we haven't explored nearly half of it yet… you could be right." He sinks back into his chair, running his hands through his hair. "So… what do you plan on doing next?"

"I want to go to Volterra again, go on one of these tours… but I don't know where I'd start, I don't know how strong these vampires are." He says, pulling up a bookmarked page of flights to Pisa. "I want to meet one." He then says, looking at me again.

I nod slowly, my heart pounding but I seemed to be hiding my nerves well. Oddly, I couldn't feel what he was feeling now. "And how do you plan on doing that?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I'm not sure. I've got my theories on vampires though. I've heard stories that they're residing around Washington." As he says this, there's a knock at his office door. I sigh with relief as he stands up to answer the door. "We're going to have to continue this discussion later Florence." I look up and see another student outside his door.

I stand up quickly. "It's OK, thank you for your time." He smiles as I leave the office.

I run out of the building and back to my dorm to find my room empty.

"Shit." I whisper. I dump my bag on the floor and sit on my bed. I check my phone to find a list of unread messages and a missed call from Charlie. I will scroll through them to find a message from an unknown number. I opened this one first.

"Hello Florence, it's Edward. I got your number from Will's next of kin from when he was in hospital, we forgot to exchange. I hope this isn't too invasive? I was just sending you this to apologise for the lack of communication recently. I wanted to let you know my family are still wanting to meet you both if you're still interested. If so, I will explain then. Please let me know if you're available tomorrow at 6pm. I'll send you the address before you set off."

I shake my head slightly at the text. His message was so formal for a text message.

"Hi Edward, not too invasive at all, my fault for not exchanging haha. An explanation would be nice but we both have been busy with College. I'll check with Will but I'm sure he's free too."

I spent a few minutes deciding on whether to put a kiss on the end but decided against it for now.