To Be or Not To Be Volturi

Chapter 6

*Ava's POV*

After exploring around Volterra all day, I went back to the same Italian restaurant from earlier for dinner. This time, I tried the real, authentic Italian pizza in a personal size. Eating it for the first time made me want to eat this type of pizza forever instead of the pizzas at different parlors back at home. Once I was finished with dinner, I talked with my father over the phone for almost an hour; mostly talking about my trip and how it's going so far, but also about him speaking with one of the summer class professors from Stanford about me being an excellent, academic student I'll be for the class I'll be taking. Quite embarrassing for him to do that to me, honestly, since I don't him bragging about me and academics. I headed back to the hotel as soon as I was done talking with my father.

As I was walking down the streets, the sky was becoming more dark and there was barely anyone around, which seemed rather odd since it wasn't even close to midnight; it was only around nine-thirty. I was beginning to get this strange vibe that something or someone was lurking around the streets somewhere and I felt that I was being watched. So I held my purse and my art bag tightly with my hand and increased my pace as much I as I could to get back to the hotel more quicker.

But when I wasn't even getting closer to the hotel, I, suddenly, heard a whoosh sound from behind me. I turned around and there was no one there. I turned back and proceeded on walking. But another whoosh was heard again, only this time it felt like it was next to me. My heart was beginning to race as my nerves had started kicking in. I walked, slowly, while I was looking everywhere. "Hello? Anyone there?" I called out. But there was no answer. Heck, why would someone answer calls anyway? Dumb on my part. I continued on walking, but I still proceeded with caution.

Then, a scuffling noise came out of nowhere and before I knew it, I let out a panicked whimper and started running as fast as I could, hoping that the hotel was just around the corner where I could reach my safe haven. But that hope did not come true as I reached an nearby alley and a hand reached out and grabbed me as quick as lightning, causing me to yelp out in fear. Within seconds, I was slammed hard against a brick wall, causing me to cry out in pain and my stuff to fall on the ground. I shook in fright as I looked up to see who my attacker was; he was tall, with dark hair, pale white skin like a porcelain doll, and he had crimson red eyes. An evil grin appeared on his face, revealing his fangs, making my blue eyes wide.

"We got ourselves a tasty mortal, Gerald." The man in front of me said, with an accent. Then, another man appeared from the corner of the alley and strolled down towards the man and I, with similar features that the man in front of me had, including the red eyes. "I can see that, Antonio. She's a very pretty one. She looks adorable when she's frightened." The man who goes by the name Gerald said, with a sinister smirk on his pale face. The man in front of me who goes by Antonio looked back at me and said, "She is very pretty. I'd bet her blood is very delicious."

When those two said those things that involved the word 'blood' towards me, I tried to move away, but I was pushed against the wall even harder. I struggled to get out of his grip, but he was very strong. That's when I started to panic even more and I began screaming. "Help me!! Somebody please help me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I continued struggling. The two diabolically chuckled in amusement as they watched me attempting to get away and scream in fear.

*Third Person's POV*

After a hard day of waiting impatiently for their mate, the Volturi Kings had decided to take a stroll out in the streets of Volterra, along with the Guard. It was rather dark outside for the Volturi to be outside of their castle and there was no human around to see them. Even though the Kings were saddened that their mate didn't arrive earlier as they had originally anticipated, they knew that taking a stroll in the quiet empty streets would distract them. But yet, they still wondered when they were ever gonna meet their mate if she was still here in Volterra.

But the quiet evening was, suddenly, different when something caught all of the seven vampires' attention. "Help me!! Somebody help me!" They heard the sound of a woman screaming in panic as if she was in trouble. "Oddio me (Goodness me). Did you hear that?" Aro asked. "Yes, brother. It's a human girl in distress. There's an enemy here hunting in our territory." Caius said. Marcus looked as if he was deep in thought until he spoke. "It's not just any human girl who's in distress, brothers." Marcus stated.

In an instant, Aro and Caius knew exactly what Marcus meant, so Aro turned to the Guard. "Demetri, lead the way." Aro ordered. Then, Demetri, along with Jane, Alec, and Felix, sped down the streets to track down the direction of where the human girl was in trouble. The Kings followed in pursuit as they let the Guard lead the way towards the enemy attackers and the human girl, who happened to be very important to them.

"Leave me alone!" Ava yelled, as she kept struggling and screaming out of the enemy vampire's grip, but all has failed as he kept a firm grip on her. Then, in an instant, the enemy slammed the fragile human girl against the wall even harder this time, making her cry out in more pain. Her head slammed so hard against the wall, she felt like her body went numb and she couldn't move.

Her breath was shaking as the two immortals moved closer to her. Antonio moved towards her neck, while Gerald grabbed her arm and put her wrist closer to his mouth. Ava whimpered in fear as she felt that this was the end for her. Antonio inhaled the human girl's scent before he said, "Don't worry, daring. We won't bite...hard." Gerald laughed at his companion's words before he looked down at the blood veins in her wrist, preparing to taste what was in front of him.

But before the two could sink their fangs deep into Ava's skin, Gerald, all of a sudden, dropped down to his knees and groaned in pain. The sudden action caught a now confused Antonio's attention as he watched his friend groaning in pain. Then, he glanced up and saw the twins, Jane and Alec, standing at the entrance of the alley, looking intimidating. When he saw the smoke coming out of the palms of Alec's hands, Antonio released Ava and started running down the end of the alley, panicking, while Ava crumbled down to the ground, whimpering. But Antonio was stopped by Demetri and Felix when they both jumped in front of him out of nowhere. He tried to fight them off, but they blocked his punches and Felix ended up pushing him against the opposite wall, along with Alec pushing Gerald up against the same wall.

By the time the Kings arrived, they immediately sped towards the frightened human girl, who was whimpering with her eyes closed. They stared down at her with awe and admiration. They knew that this fragile human girl was their mate they have been waiting all day to meet and they couldn't be any more happier to finally see her in person. Even Marcus could see all four golden threads of the mating bond finally connected altogether; all four were now one.

Ava opened her eyes halfway and her vision went completely blurry as she was trying to see who it was standing in front of her now instead of the other two monsters who were now being torn apart and burned by the Guard. She could barely hear what they were saying before she closed her eyes and passed out due the shock and pain she was feeling.

When the Kings saw their mate unconscious, Caius immediately stepped forward and scooped her up in his arms, holding her protectively close, in a bridal style, and brought her over to his brothers. The two briefly observed their beautiful mate before they snapped back to reality. "We must get her back to the castle. Quickly." Aro said, sounding concerned, while he ran his cold hand down her blonde hair for a second before he, Marcus, and Caius, along with the Guard, sped through the streets to head back to the castle, with the Kings' mate finally safe with them.