3rd person POV
Edward slipped on a pale blue v-neck shirt after drying off his body from the snower. He technically didn't need to but Jessica was complaining about him... smelling? He stopped questioning his lady's logic since before they started dating. He paused when he faintly heard her mind yell out "shit!" along with some other choice words. There wasn't anyone in the room and she wasn't in immediate danger, so it must be something else.
Edward stepped out of the room, drying off his still dripping hair and observed Jessica.
She was in the middle of throwing on a thin, white cardigan. Her eyes wide and Edward could hear her heart rapidly beating in her chest like a sudden march.
"I'm going shopping, I'll be back in a little while." Jessica said frantically as she flung her crossbody purse over her head.
'Odd, I thought she packed everything," Edward thought to himself, gently prodding through her mind to hear her thoughts. His body slowly tensed up like a cat about to be put in a bath as he recognized the thought pattern in her mind, she was singing in her head. It was to some children's tune that he was unfamiliar with, telling him to get out of her head immediately.
She did not need to tell him that twice to listen. Edward knew when he was beaten.
"Send me a text when you reach the store and when you are on your way back!" He told her as the door slammed figuratively in his face. He snuck a glance at his hoodie, draped uselessly over a chair from yesterday's date night to a local festival. He had worn it because of how crowded it would be, didn't want to risk someone brushing against his skin.
"No... that will just make her upset," He said while shaking his head, taking a seat back on the couch. He picked up his book on the coffee table and opened the book to his marked page. Edward made a mental note to himself that he'll need to ask Carlisle to rotate out his book in his room, he's running out of reading material.
(linebreak)
An hour and a half has passed since Jessica's left and Edward has yet to receive any text messages from her. He had migrated to the dining table, tapped his fingers and was not really noticing that he was beginning to make the dark, polished wood crack under his index. He shot out of his chair, briskly walking over to the window and scanning the people below to find Jessica, not hearing her thoughts or seeing her figure. After another 20 minutes and no sign of her presence anywhere, Edward decided to try calling her.
The phone rang 3 times before Jessica picked up.
"Ed... Got.... ped.... Gone.... While.... Don't worry." Edward could barely hear her between the static and often muted voice. She sounded scared but obviously trying to hide it, she always does this.
"Jess.... Tell me what happened." Edward calmly stated to the speaker, trying to keep his grip loose so he doesn't break another phone. Esme already said this was his last phone this year unless broken by other means than his own strength.
"Can't... Talk.... Later... Love you..." and then the phone call ended, just like that.
Edward stared down at the phone in his hand and tried to think of all the places she could possibly be. If she wasn't at the store, or distracted by some kind of festival that this town keeps having... Then the only thing coming to mind is Aro and his brothers.
Rubbing one side of his temples a bit, Edward sighed heavily. 'Of course they waited until Jessica left without me to get her, I should have seen this coming.' Edward hissed in his head. 'But I'm not Alice, I wouldn't see this coming unless she saw it before me...'
Aro must have decided this at the last minute.
A buzz from his phone and a look at his screen was enough to prove Edward's thoughts correctly. The lack of forgein data plans delayed Alice's text by at least an hour prior to Jessica leaving the hotel room.
Edward growled low in his chest. They took her in broad daylight, where Edward couldn't leave without risking breaking several of the Volturi's laws, even if he covered his skin it would just take one bad turn. Edward focused his powers outside of the hotel room. Yep, he was being monitored.
"Damn!" Edward cursed, smashing his arm into the dining table and it collapsed to the ground, split down the middle. He sat on the couch again, ignoring how the legs under the couch snapped. He had all day to collect his emotions to get his girlfriend back...
He will get her back, or else.
(linebreak)
The second the sun was no longer in the sky, Edward leapt out of the hotel's window. Anything outside of his natural speed was too slow, too slow to get Jessica back to him. If he was a human he would be near on the ground without a breath to produce. Edward could only remember running this fast when he was a newborn, never has he felt the need to move this quickly.
Edward ducked into a tight alleyway to check the time and to avoid a tour group heading his way. His phone screen was 8:36 pm... Jessica has been in the Volturi's "care" for almost ten hours now. He silently hoped that Aro was in a fair mood when he arrived, because nothing was stopping his mind as he imagined each and every possible way he would rip the Volturi apart for taking Jessica away. She better still be unharmed, and still human when he arrives.
Edward looked up at the sky, he could see the stars beginning to peek through the clouds and the full moon illuminated his face, a fierce and angry glint in his eyes as his chest rose with a deep, unnecessary breath, his eyes black with rage, closing as he released the air from his lungs.
It took a few minutes of the deep breathing for him to calm down enough for his eyes to become a honey brown. He took this moment to leave the alley and stuff his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, making his way towards the castle. Luckily for him, the Volturi only do the larger tours once every other week according to Carlisle.
He weaved around the people who were still wandering the streets that night and it wasn't long until he found himself in the lobby of the clock tower that the Volturi castle was built under.
Edward ignored the humans as he walked past and made his way to the elevator. He hit the button for the lowest level possible. It still miffed him on how and why they even have an elevator to begin with, stairs were actually faster for vampires. He was trying to remain calm. He knew rushing into the throne room would have the opposite effect that he wanted.
He tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the elevator numbers blink the lower he went. He is starting to regret his decision to take the elevator. It had to have taken about 10 minutes before the elevator finally stopped on the floor he requested. He grit his teeth and tried to walk as calmly as possible down the hall towards the massive doors that lead into the throne room.
Edward didn't bother knocking or waiting for someone to open it for him. He knew at this point that they were expecting him, he heard Caius' thoughts commenting that he was expecting Edward sooner. He threw the massive doors open and calmly strode up to the steps that led up to the three thrones where each king sat. Though Edward had to note that Marcus, for once, was not in the same room as them.
"Ah, Edward. How marvelous it is that you have come to us," Aro greeted Edward with an enthusiasm that the younger vampire tended to expect now at this rate.
"Let's skip the small talk." Edward narrowed his eyes at the king with the long straight dark hair who sat in the center throne.
"Oh, come now," Aro chastised, smiled widely at the copper haired boy. For to him, Edward was but a child.
"Don't." Edward hissed. "You know why I am here, where is she?" he glared, eyes black with rage.
"Yes, the girl. How fascinating, after decades trying to bring you to us all it took was a single human," Aro continued as if Edward was not even mad. Slowly getting up from his chair and lightly clapped his hands together, pressing the very tips of his index fingers to his lips. "Of course I had to see it for myself. And then I heard a rather interesting quirk she had."
Edward could see what Aro had seen those months ago, Jessica mimicking Aro's voice without ever having to see him. He cursed inwardly, knowing that by now Aro knows the truth.
Aro let out a prolonged giggle as Edward took his sweet time replying. "How long has she known our secret, dear Edward?"
If his heart was still beating, and his blood still flowing, they would have frozen as Edward stared into the dark haired king's ruby red eyes. He knew the best course of action, instead of trying to use his words -something he knew would betray him-, to allow the king to use his ability to view his memories.
Edward tried to appear confident as he strode forward, holding his hand out to the maniac king.
A long, slow smile spread across Aro's face as he eagerly grasped Edward's hand. His ruby red eyes closing as he viewed the copper haired vampire's memories. The smile slowly fell away the further he looked into Edward's memories.
"I see." He murmured softly as he released the other man's hand. His eyes opened and there was a twisted delight mixed with confused caution in his eyes as he looked at his brothers. "It seems we have a very interesting human on our hands."
"You know of my plans for her." Edward said, trying to keep his anger under control with a thin veil of calm. "Will you return her to me?"
Aro remained silent for quite some time as he continued to stare into the brown eyes of the copper haired boy. He knew the darker color meant that the vegetarian vampire in front of him was angered.
Edward felt as though his chest were going to explode as he watched Aro flick his hand upwards towards the Guard behind him.
It was a female guard, around Edward's own age physically but no doubt older than him by many years. She gave a subtle nod before vanishing.
It had to have been 20 some odd minutes of awkward staring as Edward waited. When Jessica finally stepped into the throne room, it was almost midnight. Her feet had a slight wobble to them and bags were under her eyes.
The second she laid her eyes on him, Jessica ran straight to Edward. He quickly wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her upright, slightly worried she would crack her skull open on the ancient stone floor.
Aro smiled wryly at the two of them. "As long as you stick to that plan of yours we will not bother you. I expect results when the time comes."
Jessica looked up at Edward, confused. But he ignored her questioning look and nodded in Aro's direction. He kept a gentle hold of her wrist and led her out of the room.
"What plan is he talking about Edward?" Jessica asked as they walked down the long hallway.
"They didn't touch you did they?" Edward redirected the topic. The sound of her heartbeat relieved some of his worry as they walked, his eyes constantly shifting around.
"No, they didn't." She rubbed her head, accepting the fact that he wanted to avoid that subject, for now. "They did try to help me study though, which was... weird. The text books looked advanced and were entirely in latin. Marcus he... is actually a good teacher," She sighed deeply, the memory flashing in her mind and entirely amusing her boyfriend.
"You're lucky he didn't kill you with how you were talking to him." He said sternly when he relived what she saw when speaking to Aro.
"Trust me, I know. I realized my stupidity shortly after speaking and always felt like he was two seconds away from snapping."
The duo stepped into the elevator and Edward pressed the button for the Lobby.
"Let's enjoy the rest of our vacation and relax." Edward sighed deeply, rubbing his forehead as he felt the tension leave him as the elevator doors opened.
"I should still study. The day of finals is the day after we return." She slumped a bit. "As much as I would like to have fun the entire time, I can't afford to fall behind."
"You're right, don't worry I will help you study this time." He smiled down at her, causing Jessica to smile in return. "You should sleep when we get back to our hotel."
"I will." She nodded, taking his offered hand, blushing a bit as they walked the rest of the way to their hotel hand in hand.