Chapter 24, Volterra
Marcus
I stared at the gray castle walls. I wasn’t interested in seeing anything else. At least the castle walls showed some small signs of change over the ages of my life. I could tell the passage of time by the grains of rock that broke slowly off the walls. One grain might take a decade, but I watched. The grains were as chalky as my granite skin, and they fell more often now than they had a hundred years ago.
I moved rarely. Feeding time, when the humans arrived. But I wasn’t interested enough to do more than lunge and feed.
The humans were all the same. Screaming fear-filled animals that needed draining. They held no interest for me. They were bugs, easily squashed, and just as easily discarded. The humans came, drawn here by Heidi or some other member of the guard. I fed. The guard dragged their drained bodies away.
Aro made sure the secret was guarded. I cared little for guarding secrets. Neither did I have interest in Aro’s collection of living oddities. My mind was buried in the past.
I could see the shape of Didyme in the falling grains of granite. She had been my companion for 237 years. Years that shone at me from the past. I had no interest in the present. No interest in the future. Didyme no longer lived.
We had brought our wives for one of Aro’s acquisition maneuvers. It was before we had acquired Jane and Alec. She had been killed by a vampire defending his immortal child. I hadn’t seen him slip by the guard. He had ripped off her head and lit her on fire while I was fighting another vampire. He did not survive.
I shifted. I had been too angry. He hadn’t suffered enough. This uncomfortable memory was moving me past boredom. I watched a different rock. Another grain was about to drop.
There was some movement in the room behind me. I could detect his familiar steps. Demetri had returned from tracking down one of the witnesses to the Cullen event. That whole mess had been created by Caius’s need for admiration. It would take years to kill all the vampires that had watched the humiliation.
Chelsea was in her standard position. She kept the guard attached to us. Her ability was binding and loosening bonds between vampires.
Two other members of the guard were standing in a corner quietly talking. I didn’t care to listen. The rest of the guard referred to them as witches.
The small vampire called Jane could torture a vampire with her glance. The equally diminutive Alec had a gift that was subtler but more powerful. He could disable a whole army of vampires by making all their senses numb. They couldn’t see, hear, smell. As if they were standing in nothing. Jane and Alec rarely left. They were well fed here, and Aro felt defenseless without them.
I’d been with him since our creation, so I knew his every mood, could decipher his every thought. I didn’t need a gift like his to know what he was thinking. Just then, he was thinking about his unmet desire to have Edward and Alice as members of the guard. I knew that because of his frequency in discussing plans to acquire them with Caius.
The Cullens were never alone. Caius had almost been killed by a werewolf, so he feared the Cullen guard dogs. We would not return to fight the Cullens. They would be drawn here.
Naomi had been told to watch the half immortal child, Nessie. She had watched carefully over the years. The guard dog called Jacob never left the child alone—ever. I knew Aro had felt frustrated.
Finally, the moment had come. The guard dog left the child alone with humans. Humans were no match for Nedra and Naphtali.
Aro had sent them to fetch her. He might not have another chance. Aro watched through the eyes of Naomi by holding her hand and whispered the events to Caius as they unfolded. Her visions were real time, unlike Alice’s. Aro lusted after Alice’s gift, the ability to see the future. I listened with bored disinterest.
“They have stopped at the Cullen mansion. No one is there. They have picked up Nessie’s passport. Remember, Naomi had seen Nessie looking at it? It was next to the computer. Ahhhh. They have reached the school. They have entered the building. Nessie has taken the bait. They are walking her to the car.” Aro’s tone changed. I could hear the excitement. I didn’t share it. I was bored, as usual. “They have reached the speedboat. Nessie is climbing aboard. They have an hour before the dog contacts the Cullens. That should be enough of a head start to get them on the plane for Italy. Ah, Caius, since Naomi can’t see the future, your plan to purchase tickets for every flight out of Seattle to Rome for the next week was brilliant.”
The silence was welcome as he waited for the speedboat to reach Seattle. When they reached the shore, his recitation continued, “They are getting a cab. Naphtali is carrying Nessie like an invalid, just like you suggested so no trail will be left.” I found myself wondering how they were getting her to cooperate. Threats, probably. But why am I wondering? Nothing matters. Didyme is dead.
“Ahhhh. They are on the plane.” I glanced at Aro and saw him smile widely. His plan was working just as he’d planned it.
I turned my attention back to the wall. It would be several hours before Aro would bother to check on his latest project. The grain of rock was not moving. I kept watch.
Aro had not bothered with updates. All was going as planned. I heard the footsteps of Felix followed by three other footsteps. Two were Nedra and Naphtali. I didn’t recognize the light placement of the third step. I assumed it was Nessie, but I didn’t turn to look. Aro’s plot held no interest for me.
Light, quick footsteps headed in my direction. I didn’t try to puzzle their meaning. The grain of rock was about to fall.
Suddenly, a touch as warm as the sun was on my face and I was seeing visions of the day, visions I couldn’t block out. Visions of fear, of anguish, of loneliness—feelings that I had long ago forgotten I had.
I blinked and looked down at the person who was touching my face. It was Nessie Cullen. I had only seen her as a small child. Her long bronze ringlets framed her perfect face. She had grown, matured, since I had last seen her. My eyes widened and I felt the granite chalk on my skin start to crumble. I was shedding my powdered skin as I saw Didyme in her face.
Boredom was not a possibility with this vibrant being in the same room. I felt animated, reborn, and I smiled down at her. How long had it been since I had smiled? I thought my face had forgotten how.
I could sense a change in the atmosphere and looked up at the other vampires. They were staring at me like they’d never seen me.
And they hadn’t—not like this. I hadn’t felt this vibrant since before Didyme had died, and that had been almost 1,300 years.
I could not resist this woman-child. She looked at me with wide brown eyes, so different from Didyme’s brilliant red. But she touched me the way Didyme had, and a strange urge to protect her overcame me. “Please.” She begged. She had shown me her desire to go home, her fear of living in this castle, and her fear of watching vampires feed. Nessie’s gift of showing also involved feelings. Intense feelings, and I couldn’t block them out.
Heidi would be bringing in a group of humans that evening. The guard was hungry. I was hungry, but my strange desire to protect this… half immortal seemed stronger than my desire to eat. I had never had to choose with Didyme. It was a strange feeling, one I did not understand.
I looked at Aro and Caius. My eyes narrowed. I hadn’t moved my eyes in ages. It almost hurt as the granite flakes continued to fall off my skin. It had been far too many years since I had tried to move my face.
Astonishment showed in their eyes. They were accustomed to my non-committal boredom. They recognized the change in me and must have wondered.
The words came strangely to my lips, unbidden, “Amore Mio, I will keep you safe.” Those words had not crossed my lips in thirteen centuries.
I wondered what had led Nessie to run to my side. Was it because I had voted for her at the Cullen event? Was it because she had seen the evil malevolence of both Aro and Caius? I had been too bored to care, but I hadn’t seen any danger in the child, and I
had been thinking about Didyme. I had sensed the ties of the Cullen family, and it had reminded me of the tie I felt for her. I was not tied to any other sentient being. I hadn’t been since she died, and I hadn’t been before we met.
I had thought Didyme was a once-in-a-lifetime event, but Nessie had touched me, and my feelings had changed. This woman-child had a draw that was irresistible, and her touch was the heat of the morning sun.
I positioned Nessie behind me and then pondered my actions. It had been an age since I’d left this castle room other than occasional forays with Aro to acquire someone for his collection. There were other rooms in the castle, rooms that would be distant from the feed that was going to occur when Heidi returned.
Rooms that would be beyond the sound of human screams. The screams had never bothered me, but I felt the power of Nessie’s fear when she touched me. I reached for her hand and led her swiftly from the round room. Aro and Caius watched me pass in silent astonishment.
I worked my way through a labyrinth of rooms and found myself in one of the highest rooms in the castle. The cloudy sunshine spilled onto the granite floor. This had been a human room, once, before we’d taken over the castle. Cobwebs hung over the ancient furniture. A horsehair couch sat in the corner. A canopy bed sat in another.
“Would you like to rest?” My voice held life. I was surprised at the sound.
Nessie nodded then whispered. “I’m hungry.”
I pondered a moment. Hungry for me meant heading downstairs to wait for Heidi. I’d felt the power of Nessie’s revulsion and knew that wasn’t an option. I hadn’t ever hunted animals. I wasn’t sure where to go.
Then I remembered the new receptionist. It was convenient to have a human greet the humans destined to be our meal. It kept the humans calm until we started to eat. The receptionists didn’t last long, though. We’d eaten the last four.
She would know where to get human food. I smiled. “Stay here, Amore Mio, I will be right back.” It seemed natural to be calling her that. She had touched my soul.
I saw her shudder and lightly touched her cheek. “Do not be afraid.” I said gently. “I will keep you safe.”
I pondered as I walked down the stairs to find the receptionist. Nessie was young, but Didyme had been young also. I had been born long before Shakespeare, and the human lifespan had been very short then. Nessie looked to be about the same age as my Didyme had been. I ached for the same kind of touch Didyme had given me, an ache I thought had died with her.
When I approached the receptionist, she shrunk back in fear. “May I help you?” she finally got out.
“I need some human food for Nessie, the half immortal that arrived with Nedra and Naphtali.”
Her eyes looked puzzled. “Who are you?”
“I am Marcus.”
She shook her head dazedly, as if trying to readjust her eyes. She stared a moment, then picked up the phone and put in an order for spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and a bottled water. “They’ll be here in 30 minutes.”
I waited until the order arrived, then walked with the bag of food back up the stairs to the room that held Nessie. I noticed slight changes in the room. She had cleaned while I left her alone. Cobwebs no longer lined the walls and furniture. The dirt had been swept into a neat pile behind one of the chairs.
I walked over and handed Nessie the bag. She opened it and quietly spread the food containers on the couch and sat on the floor. I watched her eat. I couldn’t remember ever watching a human eat. My human memories had faded beyond my ability to recall them.
Nessie sat quietly next to the couch. Her eyes seemed to be shutting of their own accord, and I remembered that our human receptionists needed to sleep. The receptionist’s living quarters were closer to the reception area.
I walked over to the bed and saw that the bedding was severely moth eaten. No one had been in this room for nearly nine hundred years. I could not possibly expect Nessie to be comfortable in that bed.
Once again, I left on an errand for her. This time, I didn’t say good-bye. She was leaning on the couch and her eyes were already closed. I pondered on the tender feelings I was having for this half immortal being. I couldn’t understand how her touch had brought me to life. Maybe it was the images so vividly presented, the feelings that had cut deep inside me.
I rushed through the castle back to the reception area. “I need you to have some pillows and bedding delivered.”
“What size?” the receptionist asked.
“I don’t understand…”
“What size is the bed?” She asked again.
I was frustrated. I thought all beds were the same size. Bed size. I had no idea what she was talking about.
She could see my frustration and tried to explain differently, “Is the bed big enough for two people or just one?”
I puzzled a moment. I hadn’t thought about how many people the bed would hold. Was it big people or small people? And which direction did she mean? How many would fit up and down or across? I finally decided that too big of bedding could be fit around the bed and small bedding wouldn’t. “Get the biggest size you have.”
“That would be king.”
King. That sounds fitting. Fit for a queen. Nessie will be my queen. I saw it then. I smiled. I had finally discovered the being that would replace my Didyme. Life has meaning again.
“When will it be delivered?”
“Let me call.” She called a bedding store and talked a few moments. “They only have one set available. They can have it here in 15 minutes.”
I waited for the delivery then took the box upstairs when it arrived. The bedding smelled like satin.
I opened the box and puzzled over the contents. I didn’t remember making a bed—ever. I glanced at Nessie. She had slumped to the floor. My queen shouldn’t be on the floor. I ripped the old moth eaten bedding off the bed. It had been luxurious, once. The feather mattress underneath looked less moth eaten. It would work for the moment.
I pulled the snow white sheets out of the box and studied them. The bottom sheet must be the one with elastic to keep it firm on the mattress. I pulled that on. The excess material hung off the bed. I threw the larger sheet on top and then stuffed the pillows inside their cases and put them at the part of the bed that was closest to the wall. The satin sheets rose in folds over the bed like rolling hills. I carefully picked up Nessie and put her softly on the satin sheets. She was stunningly beautiful, her bronze curls falling around her.
I left her alone and went to satisfy my hunger. Heidi would be back with the humans shortly.
I moved swiftly back to my accustomed place in the round hall. Caius and Aro had curiosity raging in their eyes. Heidi led the humans in. As we leapt to feed on them, I heard their terrified screams with new ears.
Something had changed in me, and I watched the activities with new eyes, trying to see this as Nessie did. Knowing her fear and repulsion of having to view this, I shuddered. It was a new, unfamiliar reaction. I quickly drained my human then stepped away, staring at the wall again and listening to the screams that turned into gurgles.
After the drained humans were dragged away, I approached Aro. “I want you to marry Nessie and me.”
Aro’s eyes grew wide. “This is highly unusual, Marcus. Highly unusual.”
I was impatient with his refusal. “It has been done before.”
“Not to a half immortal. You do understand that vampire venom is poisonous to Nessie, don’t you?”
“Yes, I understand, Aro.” I met his look with an intense one of my own. “I want to marry Nessie.”
“She is young in human years, Marcus.” I shrugged. What did that mean to me? She was immortal and so was I.
“She has not reached full maturity yet.”
I shrugged again. “She looks to be the same age as Didyme.”
“Times have changed.” Aro cautioned.
“What do I care about time? We live outside of time.”
“Nevertheles
s, I do not feel comfortable with this union.”
“I am not asking for your opinion, Aro. I will marry Nessie.”
The glint in Aro’s eye made me suspicious. He was cunning. I knew that. He was planning something, but what did I care? The sun was shining in my life for the first time in 1,300 years. His voice was expansive, “As you wish. When did you want the ceremony to take place?”
“Nessie is asleep right now. I’d like to marry her when she wakes up.”
Aro’s eyebrows ascended in surprise. “That is… quick.”
“I haven’t met anyone who moves me like she does since Didyme died. I’m not waiting.”
Aro sighed. “This could add complications to my plan.” Then his smile turned calculating, and I could see that he was going to twist my move to his advantage. But I didn’t care. I had more important things to think about… like living life again.
I was waiting in her room when Nessie woke up. She sat up and looked around the room. She was disoriented, like she expected to wake up in a different place.
“Good morning, Nessie.” I smiled at her. Moving my face was getting easier. The granite flakes had almost disappeared.
“Hi.” She smiled timidly back. “Thanks for keeping me safe. I thought I could trust you.”
Her gentle smile warmed me.
“Nessie, I want to know if you would be my wife.”
I was surprised by the panic in her eyes. Wasn’t it a privilege to be the wife of a Volturi? I’d never seen this reaction in a vampire. Maybe half immortals behaved differently.
“Ummmm. I think I should grow up a little, first.”
I frowned. “You look grown up enough to me.”
She shook her long bronze curls. “Really, Marcus. I don’t feel comfortable with this. I’m way too young and you’re well… ummmmm way too…. ancient. You’d be like my dad. Ugh.”
I darted to her side and stroked her soft curls. “I don’t age, Nessie. Neither do you. It doesn’t matter our age difference, not really.” I moved closer to her and smelled her strange half vampire half human odor. Almost like food but not quite. I bent to kiss her, something I hadn’t done in 1,300 years. She looked shocked and pulled back. I tried again, and this time she responded. “Ah, Nessie. Will you marry me?”
She nodded her head and buried her face in my chest. How could this be? How could I be feeling like this after so many ages had gone by? I pulled her out of the bed and walked down to the circular hall where Aro was waiting for us.
We stood in front of Aro, and he intoned the ancient marriage rites. “I now pronounce you husband and…wife.” He smiled. I wondered what he was scheming about.
Nessie was shaking. “What’s wrong?” She just shook her head and we walked back up the stairs to her room. She burst into tears. I didn’t know what to do. “What’s wrong?” I asked again.
She unleashed a thunderstorm of tears, and I felt helpless in their onslaught. Didyme had never cried. I’d never seen tears before. What should I do?
I comforted her in the only way I knew how, and she seemed very shocked but her tears stopped, eventually.
I realized that I didn’t know anything about humans and half humans. Nessie had asked for food again and I had gone down to fetch some more human food. I wanted to keep Nessie safe. I wanted to protect her, and I wasn’t sure my actions had been protective.
I puzzled over the problem. Maybe she was too young. I hadn’t wanted to listen to Aro. She had seemed so like Didyme. Maybe times had changed. I groaned.
I wanted her to be happy and safe. I would have to be more careful and more patient and let her grow some more. I was sure we could be a happily married couple, but she needed some more time. I could wait. I would wait.
I pondered on Nessie’s happiness. I wondered if I could start eating animals. I shuddered. The scent was unpalatable. And then I thought of the screaming humans. Being with Nessie meant I had to see the world differently. I would try.
The ground started to shake. We had never had an earthquake in Volterra. It was highly unusual.
I could hear the screams of the humans outside the castle. The earth rumbled beneath the city. I looked out the window. It was night. I could see the humans scrambling out of the city and down the mountain. I looked up. The castle walls were looking like they wanted to tumble down. I dropped Nessie’s food and raced through the labyrinth to Nessie. I picked her up and ran with her out of the castle. I jumped to the top of the wall surrounding the city and then dropped from the wall to the base of the mountain. Even with Nessie in my arms, I landed lightly on my feet.
I could smell the fear first. I didn’t understand what was happening. I put Nessie behind me and crouched protectively in front of her. I looked wildly around.
I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t make out what was going on. I could smell werewolf in the air and I could see the purple columns of thick smoke that signaled the death of a vampire, but I couldn’t see who was attacking.
Suddenly I saw them—Edward, his face barely recognizable behind mottled camouflage paint, and the huge russet werewolf and Bella, whose face was covered with the same kind of paint. “Marcus.” Nessie reached forward to touch my arm. I could feel the warmth of the sun in her touch.
Bella
The waiting was almost unbearable. I kept my gaze locked on Edward’s eyes and watched for any small change that would signal a problem with Nessie. I saw flashes of anguish, but Edward refused to enlighten me. I watched the play of emotion in his eyes and fear engulfed me. I couldn’t speak. I wanted my precious daughter back, safe and sound.
The sun had gone down when the other vampires made their way to our small group of trees. We painted each other’s faces. Alice looked appalled at having to mar her beauty with a paint job. Rose didn’t seem to mind at all. I was surprised, but maybe it was because Rose didn’t care about anything but getting Nessie back, just like me.
We moved quietly in a line around the south side of the castle hill, near where the road descended down the steep, rocky sides. The easiest route to depart would be the only road that gave access to the city. Unless the vampires suspected an ambush, which was an improbability given the method we were using, they would come down the road.
Siobhan had come with her mate, Liam. Maggie, the little redhead whose gift was the ability to discern truth, to know if someone was lying or not, had come along with them.
Edward whispered our plans to them. Maggie nodded her understanding and Siobhan and Liam agreed with the plan. Liam would be the one relighting the lighter as Benjamin used the little flames as darts to set the vampires on fire.
We looked at each other, eyes wide. Would the plan work? Carlisle stepped forward and said, “Siobhan, I know your gift is powerful.” She was shaking her head at that. She didn’t believe she had a power. “Please envision with all your might a successful outcome for tonight.” He paused and looked over the gathered group. “I would feel better about heading into this battle with some divine help. Please join with me in prayer for a successful outcome.” Awkwardly, we moved into a loose circle and Carlisle led us in prayer. We’d never had a group prayer before, but it seemed right, somehow.
When Carlisle said, “Amen,” we turned as one to face the castle that stood menacingly on the hill.
Benjamin knelt down and pressed his hands to the ground, where he’d located a small fault line during his walk around the castle the day before. The ground rumbled beneath the castle hill, and I could hear the fearful screams of the humans.
As Edward had described, the humans living in the city came pouring down the road. Benjamin continued to rock the castle hill. The castle threatened to tumble. He slowed the movement of the earth slightly. We had not come to destroy the city but to flush out the vermin that lived therein.
The vampires came next, their descent on the road slowed by their natural caution. They wouldn’t have been killed by tumbling castle walls, but they didn’t want the discomfort, the inconv
enience, of having to dig themselves out. They would be strong tonight. They had just fed.
We had watched Heidi as she drove a busload of tourists up the twisty road. Jacob had growled furiously, and I had restrained his huge russet body with a touch.
As the first of the guard, Felix, stepped foot on the ground in front of him, Emmett launched himself at him and ripped off his head. Benjamin’s fiery dart quickly followed and Felix was a column of purple smoke.
Everything happened quickly after that. We launched ourselves at the descending vampires and Benjamin’s fire followed swiftly.
It was hardly a battle. It was a slaughter. In the same efficient manner they had killed, death came to them. There was hardly a whimper. The destruction came with lightning speed, out of nowhere. There were a couple of exceptions.
My shield had acted just as I’d anticipated. Jane, Alec, Chelsea, and Aro were easy to shield. I had them shielded before they even left the castle. My shield knew them. Just like an antibody whose purpose was designed to protect. I didn’t even have to work at it. My shield almost found them by itself.
The exception was Renata. My body had never experienced her. I could not find her with my shield. I could have shielded her myself, but my shield could not work the way it had with the others. I couldn’t force what my body wasn’t designed to do.
So Aro and the two wives who had clung to his robe escaped. No one could touch them. Renata’s shield, her ability to divert any approaching sentient being, held strong. Mine couldn’t locate her.
I was fighting another vampire when I saw them speed off the field, and my attention was diverted when Marcus landed next to the base of the mountain holding Nessie. My Nessie. The vampire I was fighting lost his head, and Benjamin’s fiery dart followed immediately.
I watched in astonishment as Marcus pushed Nessie behind him. He lowered himself into a protective crouch, and I wondered at his strange behavior.
He didn’t look like the vampire I had met. He looked younger. His skin was smooth as if the granite powder that had covered it for so long had washed off. But now wasn’t the time to wonder. I wanted my Nessie back.
Edward and Jacob flanked me, and we moved forward as one to kill the vampire that held Nessie. To my surprise, Jacob and Edward stopped with a jerk, as if some unseen force had landed in front of them. I glanced back and forth at them, wondering what could possibly be wrong. There was my Nessie. There was Marcus. Launch already.
Unnerved by their unnatural stance, I hissed, “Kill him.”
Edward and Jacob shared an uneasy glance, vampire to werewolf. Edward hissed back, “We can’t.”
I stared back at Edward, astonished. “Why not?”
“Nessie loves him. And he loves her. I can’t kill someone Nessie loves, especially when he returns that love. I can’t kill him.”
Jacob whimpered his agreement.
My mother-rage took over, and I launched myself at the vampire who crouched protectively in front of my daughter. I hardly heard her voice as she touched his arm and said, “Marcus.”
His head rolled on the ground. Benjamin’s fire followed. Marcus was a purple column of smoke, and I gathered my precious baby into my arms.
With Nessie sobbing uncontrollably, I turned to view the field. It hadn’t been a battlefield. It had been a slaughter field.
The attack had come on so suddenly that the defending vampires didn’t even know what was going on. They were a column of smoke before they had a chance to defend themselves.
Jacob stepped away from the group and phased. He pulled on his pants and came walking back to me. He held out his strong, warm brown arms for Nessie. I handed his sobbing mate back to him. Nessie belonged more to him now than she did to me, and we both knew it.
He kissed her tenderly on the forehead, as if he were her big brother comforting her. He used his long dark hair to wipe the glistening tears off her face, and she buried her face in his chest. “Jacob, oh, Jacob,” I heard her cry.
I turned to Edward, and we marched up the castle road with the other vampires. Benjamin followed closely. It was time to clean out the castle.
As we walked through the city, the few residents that remained stared at us curiously. We looked very much like an oddly assorted military group. Our camouflage gave the impression of soldiers, but our combined beauty even under camouflage paint was like nothing they’d ever seen. We took on the appearance of avenging angels, and that night we were. We were avenging the deaths of thousands of innocent beings and the kidnapping of my daughter.
We made it to the castle and entered through the front. The receptionist was shaking under her table. We ignored her.
We walked through the empty castle, splitting up into twos to cover more territory. The absolute success of our venture outside gave us confidence.
Maggie had accompanied me on my search. Edward seemed curiously reluctant to talk.
In the round room where the vampires had recently fed, we found a human writhing in agony. The red-headed male had been bitten but not killed. We looked at each other in consternation.
Maggie lifted the pain-racked man and carried him out to the field. I followed and watched as she knelt by his head. She stroked his hair, and whispered soothingly. I had a sense that this would be the beginning of a very long relationship.