⸺ ROSALIE.
Near the road into Volterra, I saw a familar face stalking in a back alley way.
"Edward?" I called out in surprise. His eyes met mine, and we both rushed towards each other. "What are you doing here?"
"What you are." That's when it occurred to me, he already knew it all. Flashback of when I found out came back, and they hurt like a dull pain that never leaves. It was impossible not to notice.
"You have to go back home." He insits, emotionless.
You don't actually think I'll do that, I think. "No." You know what it feels like.
"I know," His face nearly crumbles, "But, we're Carlisle and Esme's first children, they need us."
But the hurt, Edward. "You know why I'm going." I look down. You need to stay to catch Victoria, I try to tell him, but I know it won't work.
"No..." He starts to say. "No need for it now."
I nods, and we both agree silently. We know what the other feels. Shame, guilt, grief, pain. And silently, we resolve to continue towards Volterra. But now together.
.
ANDIE.
Immediately, from the airport, Alice stole a Porsche. Because of course. It's the most reasonable thing to do in this situation.
The tears from the plane are still dry to my face as Alice revs the car down the highway, faster with every second. Alice now has a headscarf and gloves on to protect her skin from the sun. She swerves, and I grip the back of Bella's seat. Alice speaks up, her voice shaking, "They refused Edward." She grips the steering wheel tighter, "But Rosalie, they accepted."
My heart drops to my stomach, dread is all I feel. "What does that mean?" I ask frantically. "How much time do we have left?"
"We have to run," Alice says seriously. Her face is like stone, I can tell she's going over the risks and opportunities in her mind. "Rosalie is in the Volturi's headquarters, in the streets behind the square, and Edward is in the clock tower. We have until noon. Andie," Alice whips her head towards me, "You'll come with me down the back alley to get into their layer. We'll have very little time, so we have to be quick. Bella," She turns towards Bella now, looking her right in the eyes, "You'll run to under the clocktower in town square. You can't miss it. There's Volterra."
We all lift our heads to see a centuries-old city of stone. It would be beautiful, if not for the circumstances. As we pass the city in the streets, I see everyone dressed in red cloaks.
"Why are they all in red?" Bella asks, her voice rushed.
Alice replies just as quick, "San Marcos day festival. They're celebrating the expulsion of vampires from the city."
"How ironic." I sigh.
Just then, Alice halts the car suddenly at a road block. Bella gets out of the car quickly and asks, "Where is it?"
"Follow that lane," Alice points, and Bella is already off. Alice and I exit the car, and she yells out to Bella, "He'll be under the clocktower!"
As I watch her sprint off, Alice has already slammed the door, and grabbed my hand, abandoning the car. She leads me into a back alley way, and motions for me to hop on her back. I lift my oxygen tank on my back and hop onto hers, and she takes off quickly. My anxiety gets especially bad now, thinking about the ticking of every second down to the moment she's killed-- Will I beat it? Will I be there to save her in time?
.
ROSALIE.
The Volturi sat huge above me, looking down with disgust. In there eyes, this wasn't a tragedy. I was me being weak and stupid, falling for a human and asking to die when she did.
Edward had been dismissed moments before, being told that his powers were too useful to be wasted. He was offered a place with the Volturi, but left before they could finish the pitch. I would've too. Edward was great at not showing an ounce of care or emotion around these fools, but I couldn't help but feel small under there gaze. Like the men that had kept me under there gaze all their life. There was a time when I didn't have to think about them anymore.
But now was not that time.
My voice shook as I spoke, "Have you made your decision?" For once, I sounded weak, not out of fear or fury... but sadness.
Aro smiled at my grief. "It was an intriguing debate. We don't get many suicidal vampires."
Caius scoffed, "Pathetic."
The words stung, but not as much as they would've in other circumstances.
In these moments, as the Volturi were discussing my fate, all I could think of was Andie. The world as a whole was darker now that she was gone. When we were together, I used to think how depressed everyone else must be because they didn't her. Her light and her beauty and her warmth.
Aro's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "You have no powers valuable to us. Our guards will be back soon, they're on lookout for your... brother."
"Please," I blurted out. "You have to make him go home."
Marcus speaks up, "It's in his hands."
I continue, searching for some compassion, "But our family-"
"Do you want us to do it or not?" Caius yells, looking down upon me.
I look down, and stay silent.
.
ANDIE.
The run through back alleyways is fast, faster running than usual for a vampire. All I can think about is Rosalie. How kind and beautiful and amazing she is. I wonder for a brief moment how she's been doing these past six months, but then remember that she's only a little ways away, and if I don't get to her...
I clutch tighter to Alice's back as she reaches a halt. We're in a dark place, trash litters the ground and a wooden door stands ominously in front of us.
Alice smiles. "We're early."
That makes me grin a little. "Gives me time to prepare, I guess. What can you see?"
She sighs. "Well, I can hear Edward and Bella making out against a wall."
I cringe in slight disgust. "Ew."
"Wait." Alice says suddenly. Her hand rests on the door lock, and she whispers to me, "Keep your head down, eyes low, and only speak when spoken too."
I nod silently, and watch as Alice moves her hand swiftly, breaking the lock. She smiles, and I look to see two men... no, not men, vampires, look back at us, rage filling their blood-red eyes as they look at me.
Alice grabs my hand, lightly stepping through the alley in front of us, "C'mon guys," She says in a witty tone, "It's a festival. We wouldn't want to make a scene." We reach Edward and Bella, and Alice lets go of my hand. I take Bella's instead, and she looks down at me anxiously.
One of the men, looks straight at me as he says, "We wouldn't."
Where is she? I think again. Time is ticking.
"Enough!" A voice echos from behind the men, and they turn to reveal a... girl. As she removes her hood, I see her blood red eyes and a terrifying look in her eyes. She's short, and small, but the atmosphere in the room changes as everyone shrinks under her gaze.
"Jane." Edward greets her timidly, and I see Jane staring at me, smiling.
"Aro sent me to see what was taking so long." She looks at the guys, and even they look down under her gaze. She smiles cruelly at us, "Rosalie is waiting for them."
My eyes prick with tears, and my breath catches. Jane turns, "Follow me."
.
We travel down a long stairway, and file into an elevator playing crappy music. To my surprise, even after going down a long and narrow staircase, the elevator moves down. I look up to see Bella, her clutching Edwards arm, and then catch Edwards eyes. I think of one word, Rosalie?
He nods silently, looking down. Is it too late? my eyes prick with tears and my hands shake a little.
But thank God, as the elevator door opens to a modern hallway, he shakes his head. As we walk into the antique lobby, a woman at a desk stands, smiling "Buon pomeriggo!"
Jane smiles, with a wicked note to it, and continues to walk through the hall down to wooden doors. My heart races as they open, to reveal--
Her. She looks back to me, and her eyes go wide, and my heart feels like it swells in my chest. She looks like she hasn't hunted in months, Her hair is unusually unkempt, and her eyes are hollow and dark. She doesn't look like herself, and yet she does.
"Oh, my God." Her voice rings out as she runs to me in a moments notice, and I notice her feet being barefoot and her ill fitting dress, again not like her at all. Her arms wrap around me, and she buries her head in my shoulder, and my arms wrap just as tightly around her.
She's here... Oh my God, she's right here in front of me.
And although, I know now that she's here and she's safe, I should be mad, and I am, but as her cold hand reaches to my jaw and lifts my eye line to meet hers, I kiss her.
My lips warm as they meet hers, even though hers are cold, and I blush in my cheeks. I thought I'd never feel her lips on mine again, or see her eyes, or--
"What a surprise!" A delighted voice rings out from behind us, and Rosalie pulls away to stand in front of me, still holding onto my hand tightly. "Bella and Andie are alive after all. Isn't that wonderful?"
He isn't like what I expected, an okay face, but strangely weird and scary demeanor. His eyes are dark red... thirsty. On his left, sat someone who was old and young at the same time, with a sorrowful face, I recognized him as Marcus. And on the other side of Aro, sat Caius menacingly, staring down at me with disgust and anger.
And that's when the fear and realization strike me all at once-- through the time with Rosalie and her being by my side... We aren't out of the woods yet. In fact, we're in more danger than ever it seems.
* * *
a/n
hi guys! sorry for not updating yesterday or last week, the holidays have made me super busy but now we're back on schedule!
hope you enjoyed the chapter!
lola