Blood Moon

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

Volterra

The sound of the pilot's voice over the intercom, announcing, first in French and then in English, their imminent landing startled Bella out of her troubled doze. The seat belt lights dinged and flashed.

Digging her nails into her palms to stop herself choking on her own fear, Bella gazed up at Edward. He looked strained. "How far is it from Florence to Volterra?" She asked tremulously.

Edward put his arm around her, a smile which he intended to be reassuring, but looked entirely false, playing about his lips. "That depends on how fast you drive. Don't worry, Bella, it will be fine."

Bella eyed him speculatively. She knew from his tense demeanor that things were far from fine. Something was bothering him, and from the way he kept glancing in Alice's direction, she was certain it had something to do with the petite little seer.

However, Alice's face was an emotionless mask, giving nothing away. She held on firmly to Jasper's hand as they led the way through the throng of people surrounding them on all sides. Jasper was still wearing his shades. He appeared calm and composed, unlike Edward, who was struggling to keep his emotions contained.

It just confirmed to Bella that something was definitely up with the three of them. What was Alice hiding? And was Jasper involved? It tormented her, not knowing what was going to happen next. She was so on edge; she couldn't stop fidgeting. She knew her frantic movements were bothering Edward as his arm around her shoulders tightened, holding her place as he guided her forward.


A black Mercedes pulled to a stop a few feet in front of where Edward and Bella stood, its tinted windows hiding the occupants inside. Everyone beside them on the crowded sidewalk stared at the impressive vehicle.

"Hurry, Edward." Alice shouted impatiently through the opened passenger window.

Edward caught hold of a shaking Bella and practically carried her to the rear door, pushing her in before him, before quickly climbing in after her. His frantic movements caused more than one curious onlooker to regard them suspiciously.

"Get going, Alice." Edward urged irritably. "Before we attract more attention that we already have."

"Calm down, Edward." Alice cautioned him. "You're the reason they're staring. Try to remember to go at a more human pace next time."

Edward scowled back at her, knowing that she was right. "Just go." He muttered again.

Bella sank back in defeat against the black leather seats. The windows were tinted so dark it felt like nighttime.

Alice was already weaving, too fast, through the airport traffic- sliding through tiny spaces between the cars, making Bella cringe in fright as she fumbled for her seatbelt.

"Don't fret, Bella." Alice reassured Bella when she noticed the anxious look on her face. "This car is built like a tank. Even if I did hit something, you would be perfectly safe. But don't worry, that is not going to happen."

Bella didn't have the will to respond. What was there to say anyway? She was trapped, with no way of escape. Any faint hope of rescue began to dwindle, causing her to sink further into despair. She couldn't think how Rosalie would even begin to track her down now.

The Mercedes sped along at an incredible speed, its engine so quiet, that to Bella it seemed like they were hardly moving. She knew she should probably have watched out the window as first the city of Florence and then the Tuscan landscape flashed past with blurring speed. This was her first trip anywhere, and was likely to be her last, too. But Alice's driving frightened her despite the fact that she knew she could trust her behind the wheel. And she was too tortured with anxiety to really see the hills or the walled towns that looked like castles in the distance.

"Do you see anything more?" Edward asked after a while, his stone arm still anchored around Bella's shoulders.

"There's something going on." Alice muttered. "Some kind of festival." The streets are full of people and red flags. What's the date today?"

"The nineteenth." Jasper answered patiently before Edward had a chance to.

"Well, that's ironic. Its Saint Marcus Day."

Bella saw Edward's perfect features twist into an icy frown. "We couldn't have picked a worse time." He complained.

"I don't understand." Bella asked. "What does that mean?"

Edward's frown deepened. He was clearly uneasy. It seemed nothing was going as originally planned. He hesitated before answering, seeming to be internally debating with himself on how much to tell her.

In the end Jasper stole his thunder, twisting in his seat, his eyes still covered with the dark shades, he faced Bella and began to explain. "The city holds a celebration every year. As the legend goes, a Christian missionary, a Father Marcus - Marcus of the Volturi, in fact – drove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago. The story claims he was martyred in Romania, still trying to drive away the vampire scourge. Of course, that's nonsense – he's never left the city. But that's where some of the superstitions about things like garlic and crosses come from. Father Marcus used them so successfully. And vampires don't trouble Volterra, so they must work." His tone turned sardonic. "It's become more of a celebration of the city, and recognition for the police force – after all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city. The police get the credit."

"Jas, please, you'll frighten her." Alice interjected when she saw Bella's face pale.

Jasper shrugged, not seeming to care. "I'm merely stating fact."

Edward's expression was grim. He was obviously angry that Jasper had overrode his misgivings and told Bella the truth. "Hush, my love, you don't need to concern yourself with any of that."

Bella looked away, fighting against her teeth as they tried to break through the skin of her lower lip. Bleeding was not the best idea right now with Jasper so close by.

The sun was high in the sky now. Alice kept her eyes on the winding road ahead of them – the needle on the speedometer was touching the far right of the dial.

"What's going to happen when we get there?" Bella piped up again eventually. The tension inside her was like a coiled spring, she felt like she was suffocating under the heavy burden of her fear. A small red car seemed to be racing backward as Alice zoomed around it.

"Please put any worries out of your mind, Bella." Edward soothed in his velvet voice. His arm felt like a lead weight on her shoulders.

Bella blinked back the veil of frustrated tears that were forming in her eyes. She clocked Alice giving Jasper a meaningful look. He stared back at her, emitting an irritated sigh. Immediately calming waves floated in Bella's direction, numbing the tension that threatened to send her screaming into the void. Against her will she relaxed against Edward, her head finding its way onto his stone shoulder.

The sun continued to climb in the sky while Alice raced against it, though its brightness did nothing to penetrate the gloom inside the car.

"We're almost there." Alice announced abruptly, pointing to the castle city atop the closest hill.

Bella fought against the fatigue that Jasper's powers were inducing. She raised her heavy head and stared out of the window. She gazed at the ancient sienna walls and towers crowning the peak of the steep hill. Dread pierced through her partially numbed state, she supposed the city was very beautiful, but she found it absolutely terrifying knowing the horror that resided within the pretty walls.

"Welcome to Volterra, Bella." Jasper intoned in a flat, icy voice.


They began the steep climb, and the road grew congested. As they wound higher, the cars became too close together for Alice to weave insanely between them anymore. They slowed to a crawl behind a little tan Peugeot.

"Alice." Edward complained, his tone thick with impatience. "You must have foreseen this."

"Don't pressure me, Edward." Alice retorted. "It's the only way in."

The cars continued to edge forward, one car length at a time. The sun beamed down brilliantly, seeming already overhead.

The cars crept one by one toward the city. As they got closer, Bella could see cars parked by the side of the road with people getting out to walk the rest of the way. At first, she thought it was just impatience -something she could easily understand. But then they came around to a switchback, and she could see the filled parking lot outside the city wall, the crowds of people walking through the gates. No one was being allowed through.

"Alice." Edward whispered urgently. "How are we supposed to get inside? We'll be too conspicuous. Our skin will sparkle like a thousand diamonds as soon as we exit this car no matter how fast we move."

"Will you stop complaining!" Alice answered sourly. Her face was chiseled from ice in her annoyance. "Let me think!"

Now that she was truly concentrating, and the car was crawling slowly enough for her to see, Bella could tell it was very windy. The people crowding toward the gate gripped their hats and tugged their hair out of their faces. Their clothes billowed around them. She also noticed that the color red was everywhere. Red shirts, red hats, red flags dripping like long ribbons beside the gate, whipping in the wind – as she watched, the brilliant crimson scarf one woman had tied around her head was caught up in the sudden gust. It twisted up into the air above her, writhing like it was alive.

While the others were preoccupied watching the surging crowd, Bella looked at the woman in fascination as she reached for the floating scarf. The woman was quite tall, with the wiry figure of a trained athlete, she jumped gracefully in the air, but the scarf continued to flutter higher, a patch of bloody color against the dull, ancient walls.

For one brief second Bella glimpsed a flash of russet toned skin as the woman jumped impossibly higher, higher than any normal human female would be able to manage. Her extended fingers caught hold of the errant scarf, she snatched it, landing lightly back onto her feet. Immediately she wound it around her head again, almost as if she was trying to disguise her features from being seen. Then she quickly melted into the throng of warm bodies, disappearing out of sight.

Bella felt a thrill of excitement surge through her, which just as quickly died. She knew she was being delusional, projecting onto a stranger something she knew couldn't possibly be true. There was no way that Leah Clearwater would be in Volterra. The she-wolf was safely in La Push with the others. She was fooling herself, her rising hysteria making her see things that didn't exist. None of the others seemed to notice, which only confirmed her suspicions that she was going crazy.

They were near the front of the line now. A man in a navy-blue uniform was directing the flow of traffic, turning the cars away from the full lot. They U-turned and headed back to find a place beside the road. Then it was Alice's turn.

The uniformed guard motioned lazily, not paying attention. Alice accelerated, edging around him, and heading for the gate. He shouted something at them, but held his ground, waving frantically to keep the next car from following their bad example.

The man at the gate wore a matching uniform. As they approached him, the throngs of tourists passed, crowding the sidewalks, and staring curiously at the pushy, dark Mercedes Guardian with the tinted windows.

The guard stepped into the middle of the street. Alice angled the car carefully before she came to a full stop. The sun beat against Bella's window, but Alice remained in shadow. She swiftly reached behind the seat and grabbed something from her bag.

The guard came around the car with an irritated expression, which quickly smoothed out when Jasper got to work on him, and tapped her window.

Alice slid the window down halfway, and Bella saw him do a double take when he saw the face behind the dark glass.

"I'm sorry, only tour buses allowed in the city today, miss." He said in English, with a heavy accent. He was apologetic now, as if he wished for better news for the strikingly beautiful woman.

"It's a private tour." Alice flashed him an alluring smile. She reached her hand out of the window, into the sunlight. Bella froze, until she realized that Alice was wearing an elbow-length tan glove. Alice took his hand, still raised from tapping her window and pulled it into the car. She put something in his palm, and folded his fingers around it.

The guard's face was dazed as he retrieved his hand and stared at the thick roll of money he now held. The outside bill was a thousand dollar bill.

"What is this for?" He murmured, mesmerized.

Alice's smile was blinding. "A tip." She purred. "I was wondering if you would be a dear and purchase some of those fanciful red cloaks that the other tourists are wearing. Two male, two female. Can you do that?"

The guard looked at her, his eyes bugging out of his head as Alice continued to work her charms on him. He could probably retire on what she had given him.

"I'm in a wee bit of a hurry." She hinted.

The guard blinked twice. And then shoved the money in his vest. He took a step away. "Just park your car over there, miss. I won't be long."

None of the passing people seemed to notice the exchange. Alice drove the Mercedes toward the spot he indicated and parked up. She turned and flashed an annoyed Edward a triumphant grin. "See, Edward, problem solved."

Edward jerked his head in acknowledgement. "Well played." He conceded.

Bella knew her time was running out. As soon as the guard returned with the costumes, she would have no chance of escape. The long cloaks would disguise the others, allowing them to mingle easily with the tourists swarming the city. If she was going to do anything, it had to be now. But first she had to escape Edward's iron grip on her shoulders….

Jerking forward in her seat, Bella feigned a coughing fit, her hands grasping her stomach as she pretended to choke. Alarmed, Edward snatched his arm back, simultaneously snapping her seatbelt so he could reach for to pull her onto his lap. It was this brief window of time, merely seconds, that Bella knew she had to act. With one swift movement, she rolled away from him, her hand fumbling for the catch on the door. She expected it to be locked, but to her surprise it wasn't. For the briefest millisecond, her eyes met Alice's. The little seer stared back at her fixedly, revealing nothing, but something about the way she didn't react made Bella believe that she knew this was going to happen all along, that she had in fact left the door unlocked purposefully.

However, Bella didn't have time to dwell on this. She shoved the door open, praying that her natural clumsiness wouldn't work against her. She tumbled out onto the hard ground, grazing her hands and knees, desperately trying to right herself. Helpful hands from the gathered crowd shot out to aid her to rise. She heard a faint curse coming from inside the Mercedes as she allowed the hands to pull her onto her feet.

Then she was running, shoving a heavy woman out of her way as she did so, head down, and paying little attention to the anything but the uneven stones beneath her feet and the hot, blinding sunshine beating down on top of her head.

A/N-thanks for reading!