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Last updated/edited 09/22/2024.
First Person POV: Astrid
I wove through the crowd in the Piazza della Signoria to get a better view of the Fountain of Neptune. The sun was setting, casting golden light across the area. I snapped a photo, sending it to my family's group text. Seeing the fountain had been one of Becca's ideas.
I was trying my best to manage my grief over the death of my best friends, but the healing process was slow. It had been a month now, but I still felt overwhelmed by grief at times.
Closure was the main reason I took this trip to Italy. I wanted to honor our plans, the plans we made the night they died. My eyes stung as my mind wandered back to a month ago.
No, I scolded myself, I wouldn't go down that road again. I needed to remember what my psychiatrist always told me. What I remembered from that night was only a nightmare and my belief that it was reality was just a delusion caused by grief.
The week before I graduated high school, I had the most vivid dream, so vivid that I genuinely believed it had happened. In the nightmare, I had snuck out with my best friends, Eva and Becca, and trespassed at Sandy Hill Beach. I remembered sharing a bottle of vodka and reminiscing about our memories together through the years. We had started planning a vacation to Italy, just the three of us, to make the most of our time together before we started college at separate schools.
It had felt so real… I could still feel the heat in my cheeks and the dizziness from the liquor. I could still feel my panic as I spotted the flashlight down the beach. But most of all, I remembered the instant before we crashed.
An errant tear ran down my cheek as I tried to reign in my thoughts.
I was so confused when I suddenly found myself back in bed at home, I had been in the car with Becca and Eva only a moment before. I must have passed out soon after because I was awoken that morning to my parents informing me that my best friends had died in a drunk driving accident on our road.
The memories of that night had come flooding back to me and I admitted to my parents that I had snuck out with Eva and Becca, that I had been there with them in the car right before the crash. I told them that I closed my eyes before the impact and appeared back in my bed. Obviously, my parents thought that I was crazy. They told me that it was just an unlikely coincidence that I had a nightmare about a car crash on the same night my friends died.
I searched desperately for proof of the events. But we had planned all the details at school, I had no text evidence, no photos, nothing. All I had were two missed calls from Eva that night, and that didn't prove a thing…
But I insisted. I was there. It was real! So, my parents made me see a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist hadn't believed my claim either and concluded that my grief over the loss of my friends was making me delusional. Since grief is a temporary ailment, I was put on a low dose of an antipsychotic and told to attend therapy until I made a full recovery.
I never truly stopped believing that my memories of that night were real, but I eventually learned to fake the correct responses when I saw psychiatrist and therapist. I did well enough during the first month of treatment that I was able stop taking the medication as long as I agreed to continue attending my therapy sessions.
Surprisingly, it was my therapist who encouraged me to take this trip. Afterall, it might help me gain closure or at the very least, it would cheer me up.
"Excuse me, miss?" a smooth, feminine voice with a subtle Italian accent called from behind me. I brushed the tear away and turned to respond.
When I saw the woman, I was dumbstruck. She was by far the most beautiful person I had ever seen in my life. She had high cheek bones, a sharp jawline, and cat eyes with long dark eyelashes. I couldn't help but admire her long shiny blonde hair and fair skin. She had a flawless hourglass figure accentuated by a form fitting but professional black dress. The only thing that didn't seem to fit with her appearance was the dull brown color of her irises.
I averted my eyes and blushed in embarrassment as I realized that I had been staring at her for longer than appropriate. But she just smiled politely as if it hadn't bothered her – I guess she got that reaction a lot.
"I'm offering a free tour of the clock tower and castle located in the city of Volterra." she told me.
"Free…?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow in suspicion. I highly doubted there would be a free tour without a catch.
"We are looking to promote tourism in our city, so we are offering this free tour including transportation to and from the city for a limited number of people." She informed me.
"Okay… sign me up." I responded automatically, feeling oddly compelled to stay with her. A quick tour couldn't hurt, right? Plus, I didn't have any set plans in Florence anyways.
"Excellent!" She said cheerfully and jotted something on her clipboard. I followed along as she recruited a few more tourists and then led us to a coach bus.
The ride to Volterra was about an hour long. However, it flew by quickly as I watched the beautiful landscape fly by. I checked my phone briefly and saw my little brother had responded to the photo I had sent earlier. Erik would never admit it, but I knew that he missed me.
The bus parked and Heidi, as she introduced herself, ushered the 40 or so people into the town square. As she had claimed, there was a grand castle and clock tower right in the center of the town square.
I followed behind her as she guided us through the square to a pair of grand double doors that lead into the clock tower. We entered a well decorated lobby which featured red velvet couches, a large crystal chandelier, and a dark stained hardwood desk with a secretary behind it.
"Hello Giana" Heidi greeted the secretary as we passed. Gianna appeared to be a native Italian, about 30 years old, and was dressed in modest but expensive looking black blouse and pencil skirt. She greeted us with a polite smile and wave as we passed.
Heidi informed us that the castle was privately owned by the Volturi family. According to Heidi, the Volturi family had a hand in founding the city. She also boasted that Volterra was one of the safest cities in the world.
"Now, if you'll follow me to the west wing that is where most of the artwork is displayed."
Upon arriving in the west wing, I saw that it was stocked with art in every medium. However, one sculpture seemed to really capture my attention. It was of two beautiful women embracing. The woman on the left was tall, almost 6ft with straight, shoulder length hair and an angular face. The woman on the right was a few inches shorter with long, fine, wavy hair and a soft, round face. Despite the significant differences between their appearances, both women were stunning. The statue was obviously well kept but the attire the women wore made me wonder how old it actually was.
I admired the statue for a moment longer and then hurried to catch up with the tour group when I saw the group start heading into the next area.
After we visited a toured a few more areas of the castle, Heidi led us back to the clock tower near where we had entered, stopping in front of a set of grand double doors.
"We will now see the throne room. It's absolutely marvelous - you'll just die when you see it." She told us with a tinkling laugh.
I noticed that the secretary was no longer sitting at the desk and two guards were now posted at the doors. The rightmost guard was exceptionally tall and well built, and the leftmost guard was slightly shorter and leaner. However, they wore heavy charcoal gray cloaks with hoods, so it was difficult to decern much else about their appearances. I was surprised by the presence of guards… hadn't Heidi said this one of the safest cities?
The guards opened the doors leading to the throne room, and Heidi motioned for the group to enter. I trailed along towards with the tour group, and I was astounded by the interior of the throne room, it was roughly the size of a theater. The walls and floor were made of black marble with large Corinthian columns lining both sides. There was a large expanse of empty space in the center and at the far back was a dais featuring three opulent thrones under a canopy of draped red velvet. The three thrones were high backed with carved gold and red velvet lining. As I finished gawking, I noticed there were other individuals already occupying the room who weren't part of the tour group. They were scattered around the outside of the room against the walls and dressed similarly to the guards by the doors with thick gray-scale cloaks and hoods obscuring their faces. There appeared to be as many of the cloaked individuals as there were members of my tour group.
There were five figures residing on the dais at the far back of the room, all wearing pitch-black cloaks. Three of them were seated on the thrones and the other two stood behind the thrones on either side of the middle one. However, I barely noticed anything else after I caught sight of the individual on the center throne. I assumed they were male based on the tall stature and broad shoulders. Somehow, even with his face and body obscured by the thick black cloak, I felt drawn to him. I dismissed the feeling as curiosity since I had much more pressing matters to deal with, like figuring out how to remove myself from this sketchy situation.
The man on the center throne stood gracefully and raised his hands in greeting. He had long, slender fingers and his skin was pale and flawless.
"Our honored guests have arrived!" He announced, in a rich, deep voice.
Ignoring the pleasant tingles the man's voice caused, I glanced around, wondering if there was some way to excuse myself. However, given the ominous atmosphere and guards stationed at the exit, it didn't seem likely that they would just let me leave.
Then, the man in the center removed his hood and my breath caught at his beauty. He appeared to be of Greek decent with aristocratic features. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties with a strong jaw, high cheek bones, and straight nose. His almond shaped eyes were framed by dark eyelashes, and he had shoulder length, straight raven-colored hair. He was even more attractive than Heidi… How likely was it that I would see two of the most attractive people I'd ever seen in my life within the span of one night?
My blatant admiration was interrupted as our eyes linked. His gleeful expression morphed into one of shock and awe. His irises were a startling dark red, but despite the odd color, his intense gaze didn't make me feel uncomfortable.
My heart lurched suddenly, and I felt an invisible force pull me forward as we maintained eye contact. I took a shaky step towards him as my heart continued to thrum wildly. My face tightened in concentration as I tried to brake eye contact with the strange man, hoping to end whatever spell I was under. As my eyes dropped to the floor, the pull subsided.
However, as I returned to reality, I realized that my tour group had gone dead silent. I glanced around me and saw that the group was starting to huddle towards the center of the room. I looked at the cloaked figures surrounding us and realized their hoods had been removed. I was surrounded by a sea of red eyes, unnatural beauty, and voracious expressions...
The throne room doors slammed shut and the sound reverberated through the room. I felt the blood drain from my face as I scampered backwards into the center of the room with my tour group.
Nothing good could come of this, it was going to be a blood bath.
The man on the center throne now looked determined as he flashed towards me followed by the rest of the individuals surrounding us. Screams rang out as they converged on us.
My heart stuttered and time slowed. I felt adrenaline rush through my veins.
I wish I had never left the art wing.
I shut my eyes and waited for the carnage to begin.