Defective - Jacob Black {1}

Chapter 23: Confrontations

Volterra was a small town perched up on a hill built entirely out of sienna stone, tall walls surrounded the outskirts making the town look like something out of a fairy tale. The turrets of the towers outstretched the rest of the city making it look completely picturesque.

As Alice began to manoeuvre the car up the steep, winding roads towards the centre of the city. As we moved higher the harder it got for Alice to weave in and out of the gaps as the roads became narrower. We ended up slowing to a crawl.

More and more voices began to fill my head as the streets became more crowded. I had decided to keep my barrier down; to keep an eye on Alice's visions and if I had the slight chance of hearing Edward's thoughts. On the plane to Tuscany, Alice gave Bella a quick overview on the Volturi and their rules and how much they valued their city. She had another vision too, Edward had been refused as the Volturi believed his gift was too marvellous to destroy. Instead Edward was going to make a scene and expose himself in the sunlight at noon. If it came to trying to defend Edward, we would lose.

"Alice," Bella groaned, her eyes trained on the little digital clock on the dashboard.

"It's the only way in," Alice attempted to calm Bella but her strained voice was in no way comforting.

As we got closer to the centre, more and more cars were beginning to park up along the sides and the people were walking the rest of the way. The locals all had splashes of blood red adorned on them and the further we got the more I began to take notice of not only the crimson dressed people but the walls and windows too all had deep red decorations. "Why are they all in red?"

"San Marco's day festival. They're commemorating the expulsion of vampires from the city." I held back the urge to snort. How ironic? "It's the perfect setting. The Volturi will never let him get far enough to reveal himself." Alice continued as Bella pulled on her hair.

"Alice," Bella whispered urgently.

"I know." Alice hardly stated. My hands gripped the leather of my seat, I was sure my fingertips were tearing through the fabric. "Bella, I can't see what the guard here will decide now - if this doesn't work you're going to have to go in alone. You're going to have to run. Just keep asking for the Palazzo dei Priori, and running in the direction that they tell you. Don't get lost."

Bella began to repeat the name over and over again to let it sink in. "Why can't you come with me?"

"The sunlight will take a little longer to manoeuvre around. And if Edward hears my thoughts he'll rush into it." Alice explained.

"Aria?" Bella asked quickly.

"If I left my barrier down he'd hear me too, I could get through the crowds easily but he'd smell me from a mile off. He won't be able to see you coming. He wouldn't believe our thoughts." Her face turned hopeless as she gripped the handle to the car door.

"Edward will be under the clock tower, to the north of the square. There's a narrow alleyway on the right, and he'll be in the shadow there. You have to get his attention before he can move into the sun." Alice continued and Bella nodded hastily.

Suddenly, a man in an official, navy coloured uniform stepped out in front of our car, wanting us to turn around. Alice accelerated around him, and made for the gate. He shouted something at us, motioning for the cars behind to ignore us as another uniformed man approached. He rounded the car and tapped on Alice's window angrily. She rolled the window down halfway, she had positioned the car perfectly so the sun was only on the passenger's side of the car.