Alethiology in Volterra (Volturi Kings/OC)

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Chapter II: Volterra

A bright yellow Porsche screeched to a stop a few feet in front of Bella and Altheia twenty minutes later, the word TURBO scrawled in silver cursive across its back. Everyone on the crowded sidewalk gawked.

"Hurry! Get in!" Alice shouted impatiently through the open passenger window. Bella ran to the passenger seat and threw herself in, while Altheia chucked her bags to the back seat and scrambled in.

"Sheesh, Alice," Bella complained. "Could you pick a more conspicuous car to steal?"

Altheia would have laughed, but just a second later, her heart was already lodged in her throat. Alice was already weaving, too fast, through the thick airport traffic — sliding through tiny spaces between cars — leaving her two passengers fumbling for their seat belts. Outside the window, the cities of Florence and then the Tuscan landscape flashed past with blurring speed. The sun continued to climb in the sky while Alice raced against it.

"The sun is too bright." Bella noted nervously an hour later. "Won't Edward feel the need to wait for noon, after all?"

"'You just have to believe in Edward'," Alice reminded Bella in a tone that resembled Altheia's back in the plane. Altheia snorted in the back seat. "You doing okay back there, Altheia?"

"Yes, Alice, thanks for asking," Altheia said sarcastically. "Just spent an hour trying not to look at the speedometer, that's all." Bella hummed in agreement.

Alice rolled her eyes. Humans.

Altheia's eyes widened as she recognized the ancient sienna walls and towers crowning the peak of the steep hill. "We're here," she breathed against the window.

"Volterra." Alice announced in a flat, icy tone. "The safest city in the world."

Bella scoffed under her breath. "For humans."

In the backseat, Altheia narrowed her eyes at her new companions' wicked sense of humor, but decided to ignore it as the two bantered more at the front. She noticed that as they entered the city, the road grew more congested. The cars became too close together for Alice to maneuver between vehicles like an adrenaline junkie. The car slowed to a crawl behind a little tan Peugeot.

"Alice, this is taking forever," Bella complained. Alice soothed her, then pointed to the general direction of the city towers.

"Altheia, Bella, listen to me well," Alice ordered in a rush as the car skidded to a halt, pointing to the clock tower again, which they could see now more vividly. "You have to run to the direction of the clock tower. Palazzo dei Priori. 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. Right now, we're at the southern end of the square. Run straight across - don't even think twice about pushing people, just run!" Bella nodded furiously. "You have two minutes left! Go! Go!"

Bella and Altheia threw the doors open and launched themselves out of the car. They were momentarily blinded by the intensity of the sun at noontime, and the blazing colors of red in shirts, hats, posters, and flags. Not to mention the overwhelming singsong of the celebrants at the plaza. Altheia jolted Bella alert as she took her hand, and started pushing and pulling against people as they ran to the direction of the clock tower. Obscenities were flung in their direction as they forcibly pushed past against crowds of people displaying Saint Marcus relics and religious statues.

Beads of sweat dripping from the side of her face, Altheia suddenly hurled Bella to her front with all her strength, pushing her into the open space just meters from the narrow alleyway beneath the clock tower. Bella ran at full force to the direction of the passageway as Altheia squared her shoulders and braced the full impact of holding a crowd of four kids back from pushing into Bella's way.