Twilight: The Shadow

Chapter 15

A yellow Porsche sped down the country roads of Italy as it headed toward Volterra, Bella was anxious in her seat and Alice was calmly speeding down the road. André sat in the back with a blank look, he studied the area and he noticed that they were driving into a town center with people draped in red cloaks.

"Is it Halloween for them here?" André asked as he watched the people.

"Yeah. Why are they all in red?" Bella asked.

"Its the Saint Marcus Day Festival. They're celebrating the expulsion of vampires out of the city." Alice explained calmly.

Then they came up to a hill, where they got stopped by traffic officers, Bella quickly climbed out of the car.

"Where do I go?" she asked.

"The Clock tower is up ahead, you need to reach it before noon." Alice said.

Bella then took off running toward said location, André jumped into the front passenger seat from the backseat and closed the door.

"Back up a bit. There's a passage that's less crowded, we can use it to get to the tower faster." he said pointing behind him.

"Okay." Alice nodded before shifting the Porsche into reverse.

She backed up the car while avoiding people behind her before coming to a stop infront of the passage that André mentioned, then she shifted the car into first gear and turned into the passage and drove into it while honking the horn to get people out of the way.

"I hope she gets there in time." Alice said before turning into the main street.

"She will." André said watching the time on the clock tower.

They sped down the road before they saw the clock tower come into view, then Alice came to a screeching halt and they both quickly stepped out of the car and ran up the steps. Alice pushed the large door open that was bolted shut with ease, they both walked in and saw Bella standing close to a shirtless Edward.

The two Volturi guards, Demetri and Felix watched them as they entered. They got a whiff of André scent and glared at him.

"Why's there a Strigoi here?" Demetri asked.

"Come on guys. Its a festival." Alice cut in with a smile. "You wouldn't want to cause a scene."

"We wouldn't." Felix smirked darkly holding a red robe.

"Enough!" Jane said as she appeared from around the corner. "Aro sent me to see what was taking so long."

"Jane." Edward said lowering his head a bit.

She glanced at her two fellow guards before she glanced at Alice, Edward and Bella. Her gaze lingered on André a bit longer and he stared back at her, she smirked before turning to walk away.

They followed her along with Felix and Demetri, Felix then handed Edward a robe and he took it and put it on. They made their way down an old stairwell.

"Go ahead." Jane ushered them to go further.

"Are you scared?" Edward asked Bella as they walked.

"Are you?" she asked.

"No." Edward said.

"Hmph." Jane said.

Then they all got into an elevator, the boring elevator music played as they waited. André watched the three guards carefully, he didn't want to take any chances with them in case he let his guard down. Eventually, the doors opened and they walked out, André noticed a woman by a reception desk and she stood up to greet them in Italian.