[BamaFan121s]

Alice’s abrupt vision caused us to remain silent for the remainder of the flight into Italy. I sat turning her words over in my head as I played with my wedding rings, trying to make sense of them as Edward sat with his arm around me. Occasionally he engaged in some silent discussion with Carlisle, but I paid him no mind. Rosalie stared blankly while she absentmindedly stroked Renesme’s hair while Emmett sat beside her, sporadically clenching and unclenching his fists. Jasper remained silent beside Alice who kept her head dropped in her hands while she tried again and again to look at any alternatate possibility, but her efforts were in vain. No matter which way she came at it, the end result was the same—she, I and Edward clad in the deep gray robes of the Volturi.
I had all but made my mind up to grab Renesme and hop on the first return flight to Washington when I was roused from my stupor as the wheels of the plane made contact with the runway. Edward, sensing the sudden tensing of my muscles, gently tightened his grip around my shoulders.
At last it was Carlisle who spoke soothingly, crumbling my resolve. “We have no way of knowing what events would be the determining factors in making what Alice has seen a reality. And, her visions are subjective….” He trailed off glancing to Alice momentarily. “At this point, there have been no indications that the Volturi mean to pose any kind of threat to any member of this family. Maggie has visited recently with Amun and he has confirmed to me that she is extremely confident in the genuineness of their actions. Of course, I will not force any of you to continue with this planned visit, but I suggest that we proceed as originally planned. There is no indication from what Alice has seen that any issues with this trip will arise. And if there are ulterior motives, we’ll know with more certainty after meeting with them.”
With his last statement, his eyes locked with Edward. Edward met his gaze and nodded once in response. Carlisle, would no doubt, be depending on his ability to detect even the slightest indication that there was even the slightest mistruth in the Volturi’s intentions. Everyone else seemed reluctant, but in agreement as well.
I turned a worried gaze to Edward looking for reassurance. He leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine and reached up to allow a lock of my hair to run through his fingers. “Bella, I promise I will not leave your side for a second.” I inhaled deeply, relaxing as his sweet breath washed over me and filled my senses and finally nodded in concession.
We retrieved our luggage quickly and walked out to meet Jasper and Emmett who had picked up the rental cars that Alice had reserved. I was relieved that we had opted for staying in a hotel outside of Voltera, but as there was one member of our family who did require sleep, it was a welcomed necessity. Alice had reserved us the top floor of a very typical looking Italian hotel. The floor was comprised of two suites that were connected by a large set of intricately carved heavy wooden doors.
Renesme had awakened on the plane and was bursting with energy as we settled into our rooms. Edward called room service to have her breakfast sent up and it arrived promptly. She sat at the table to eat and glanced around at the fruit, sausages and French toast that lay before her on gleaming silver trays. Rosalie resumed her normal role and busied herself fixing her plate. As she chewed on a large strawberry, a perplexed look came over her face as she extended her hand to rest on Rosalie’s arm. Rosalie stood still momentarily as she processed whatever memory had been relayed to her. Once she pulled her hand back, Rosalie sympathetically patted her head, smiling kindly as she answered her, “Just a few days.”
I heard Edward chuckle behind me and turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. “She likes Jacob’s cooking better wanted to know when we’d be back home.” He explained.
After Renesme finished her breakfast, we returned to the cars and headed towards Voltera. We passed through the large stone gates of the city and parked on the curb of one of the streets that flanked St. Marks Square. We got out of the cars and followed Carlisle’s lead towards the square. I felt unusually calm as we approached the plaza, no doubt thanks to Jasper. I threw him a look of appreciation as we stepped into view of the fountain. The square was fairly empty in comparison to the only other memory I possessed of the place.
Where there had previously been masses of red-clad visitors, there was now nothing but uneven cobblestone and pigeons. The bell tower stood in the distance, towering up into the gray sky that stood in place of the cloudless, sunny day I’d witnessed here before. Aromas and coffee and pastries assaulted me from the various boutiques that dotted the buildings and the smell of perfume wafted in from stores on nearby streets. Alice hovered near a boutique looking disgruntled at the doors that had not yet been unlocked for the day’s business and a small man pushed a wooden cart laden with flowers into position in preparation for the day’s visitors. I couldn’t deny that under these more pleasant circumstances, the scene had a certain charm and inviting façade.
We followed Carlisle until he stopped near the center of the square. “Carlisle, how will they know that we’re here?” Rosalie asked quietly, the perfect tones of her voice subdued to the patrons who lingered nearby.
“Trust me, they knew we were here the moment we entered the gates.” With a slight inclination of his head, he motioned in the direction of a dark alley some two hundred yards away between two large, stone buildings. As my eyes surveyed the alley, a large, gray clad figure stepped forward from the shadows. “Here comes our welcoming party now.” He murmured under his breath.
With no danger of exposing himself for what he truly was, the enormous figure lowered the hood of his robe and an enormous Felix beckoned us forward towards him. I glanced around, momentarily shocked that he was not flanked by his equally intimidating counterpart, Demetri, but my mind didn’t linger on the observation long as Carlisle was already striding forward in his direction. The rest of us quickly matched his pace and followed.
As we neared Felix, he turned and retreated back into the alleyway. Moving at human speed, we followed him in silence down the dark narrow alley way towards what appeared to dead end in a stone wall, only to find that the alley took a sharp right turn. At last, we reached a very insignificant looking brown, metal door. It was inset several feet within the side of one of the towering stone walls—obviously an entrance into the deep underworld of the Volturi. Its location was perfect. It was completely secluded from the daily hustle and bustle of the town square. It wasn’t very likely that any human would stumble across it. Heaven help the poor soul who did accidentally discover its whereabouts!
Felix reached a massive hand forward and pulled the door open then stood aside to hold it open for us. He smiled genuinely at Carlisle as he passed by..“It’s good to see you again Carlisle.” He nodded to each of us in greeting as we passed by him and entered the dark corridor, not speaking again until he reached me. “…and you Bella.” He smiled mischievously as he spoke my name, but didn’t seem to be a threatening tone to his words.
“You too Felix,” I replied smirking back to him.
As we stepped inside, Felix moved back to the front of the group to lead us again. The corridor was dim, lit only by light that filtered in from a few small windows several stories above us, however I had no problem seeing the path before us. Nevertheless, from the corner of my eye, I saw Edward as he leaned down to scoop Renesme up into his arms. I was only vaguely aware that now, out of the view of the public, my family had returned to chatting amongst themselves. I was concentrating on keeping various unpleasant memories of this place at bay as they threatened to overtake me. I could feel the slight, subconscious flex of my shield around me and fought to keep it under my control.
The corridor led to a rusted, metal staircase that spiraled its way downward below the city. The structure creaked with our weight as we began to follow Felix downward. Although we were inside a huge cavernous building, the footsteps of the nine vampires on the metals stairs were barely audible. After twisting our way downward for a full minute, the staircase finally emptied us into an underground corridor deep below ground level. The walls had a very damp, musty smell. The walls were aligned with lit torches every thirty yards or so, which casts strange, flickering patters on the wall.
The entrance to four corridors opened up in front of us and we began to follow Felix down the nearest which slowly sloped downward. “Aro wasn’t expecting you so early,” Felix offered, turning to glance at Carlisle.
“Yes, we ended up catching an earlier flight to avoid a layover.” Carlisle responded apologetically. “I will have to offer my apologies to Aro for having posed an inconvenience on you all.”