Chapter
5.
The Voultri.
I
don't own a thing, not Meyers book, not Edward, not even a
penny.
So it wouldn't do any good to sue me.
The cars crept up the slope of the city slowly. As I looked ahead I could see people leaving their cars to walk the rest of the way.
"They wont let us in the city." Alice moaned. Alice parked the car on the side of the road. I looked forward as Danielle gave me a wink and blended into the crowd. "Listen Bella. You need to become invisible. You're going to have to run. Run in the direction of the Palazzo dei Priori. The big clock. Don't get lost." She paused and looked around quickly. "Edward will be under the clock tower, to the north of the square. There's a narrow path on the right, and he'll be in the shadows there. You must get to him before he can go into the sun."
I nodded as I gripped the handlebars, unknowingly breaking it off. Alice pointed to where the street widened into a patch of bright openness. "There- we're right at the southern end of the square. Just run straight across." Alice gasped. "There everywhere."
I froze in place, but she pushed me out of the car. "Just GO Bella!" I became invisible and slammed the door open. I ran as fast as I could. I pushed a surprised lady out of my way. I reached the middle of the platform when I realized there was no way around the wall of bodies. I pushed against them, fighting the hands that fought me back. I heard exclamations of anger and pain in languages that I didn't understand.
I looked up at clock realizing I was too late. I wasn't halfway across yet. I wasn't going to make it. I was stupid and we were all going to die because of it. I hoped Alice would get out. I hoped that she would see me from some dark shadow and know that I had failed, so she could go home to Jasper.
Finally there was a break in the throng of the people, I ran forward. The clock tolled as I ran for the alleyway. I could see him now. And I could see that he could not see me. It was really him, no hallucination this time. And I realized that my delusions were more flawed than I knew, they'd never done him justice.
He smiled slightly as if in a pleasant dream. He raised his foot to take a step that would put him in the sun. I ran into him so hard it made a booming sound. The collision made my head snap back, and my invisibility to go away, and Edward caught me in his arms. All the humans looked our way, as Danielle came around from the back of the alley.
He looked at me with quiet surprise.
"Amazing," he said, his exquisite voice full of wonder, slightly amused. "Carlisle was right."
"Edward!" I said tensely. "We have to get back." I started pushing him back, making little progress. He was still stronger. I reached out my mind and let go of him as I made Edward move backwards.
Comprehension flickered on his face as he saw that I was 'alive'. Before I could say anything, he yanked me back into the deep shadows, spinning me so that my back was tight against the brick wall, and his back was to me as he faced away into the alley. His arms spread wide, protectively, in front of me.
I became invisible, as I smelled other vampires coming near. The two figures seemed to detach themselves from the gloom.
Alice and Danielle skipped to Edward's side. Both looking like innocent children.
"Good Evening Felix, Good Evening Demetri." Danielle spoke with calmness.
"Danielle," the smaller one said and nodded. "Let's go somewhere more privately." He suggested.
"We haven't broken any rules, Felix. There's no reason for us to go."
Demetri spoke up. "Aro wants you to come with us." He started moving in towards us.
"Tell Aro I'm sorry, we will have to decline his request."
"Aro will be disappointed." Felix purred. "Please Edward, lets be reasonable."
Finally a small figure came out of the shadows, and Felix and Demetri relaxed from their offensive positions. Edward dropped his arms and relaxed his position as well but in defeat.
"Jane," he sighed in resignation.
"Show yourself." She spoke to me, and I looked at Danielle, who shook her head 'yes'. I did as I was told. "Follow me." He childlike voice became a monotone. Edward grabbed my waist and pulled me along to walk after Jane, as the others followed.
Edward spoke up casually. "So what happened?" He directed his question to Alice.
"It's a long story." Alice's eyes flickered towards me and away. "Bella's all about the extreme sports these days."
We approached a small hole in the street. It looked like a drain, sunk into the lowest point of the paving. The hole was small, and black. Alice jumped down into the hole, than Danielle. Felix went to push me in, but Edward growled at him to get back. I followed into the hole. It was dim, but not black at the bottom. The light from the hole gave a faint glow in the darkness. Edward jumped down and he came to my side, holding me.
As we continued walking Edward's grip tightened around my waist. For now, it felt like he wanted me, and that was enough to offset the fear. It was probably only guilt, but I felt his lips press against my forehead, and I didn't care what the motivation was. At least I would be with him again before I 'died'.
At the end of the tunnel was a grate. A small door made of bars was left open. Edward ducked through and hurried on to a larger, brighter stone room. We stepped through the door, and I glanced around me in surprise, relaxing automatically. Beside me, Edward tensed, his jaw clenched tight.