#team volturi

Sense - [One Shot]

“I’ll take that from you miss.” A warm accented voice came from her left, drawing her attention away from the packed mob of people that blocked the view of most of the hallway. The owner of said voice was an incredibly handsome young man with honey and brown hair and strange dark eyes.

“Oh, no I'd like to keep it with me if that’s alright.” Her answering smile was timid as she clutched her small grey backpack to her chest, not wanting to sacrifice it as all the other tourists were doing with their own purses, cameras, and bags respectively. 

The man gave her a small smile that she was sure was meant to look sympathetic, but there was a hardness to his dark eyes that made her feel as though her refusal had annoyed him.

“I’m sorry miss, but no personal belongings of any sort are allowed on the tour. I can assure you your bag will be perfectly safe and that we take full responsibility for all our guests' items.”

He held a hand out to her, silently requesting and waiting for her to give him her backpack. Sure, she understood that his request wasn’t unreasonable and his exact reassurances that her belongings wouldn't be stolen was precisely what was causing the rest of the people meant to walk this castle with her to be so willingly passing their things to his other equally attractive coworkers.

But it wasn’t about the bag to her - even though it had very important items like her wallet and passport. It was about her medications tucked safely in a shirt at the bottom of the bag that made her hesitate. 

A cool hand resting on her bare shoulder suddenly caused her to jump, instinctively flinching away from the unexpected touch.

The tour guide - the absolutely drop dead gorgeous woman with thick mahogany hair and legs that went on for days was right beside her, her vibrant red dress still attracting the notice of the men from the group behind her even though she’d walked away from them to asses the situation between herself and the woman's coworker.

“Is there a problem, Demetri?” The woman gave her a warm, full smile that made her feel suddenly lightheaded. 

“No problems Heidi, our guest is just concerned about leaving her belongings behind.” The handsome man’s voice was positively jovial, and it felt like all the hairs on her arms stood up in response.

There was something so unnecessary and exaggerated about his warmth that it was making her more and more unsure of the situation by the second.

Heidi placed her hand back on her shoulder, slowly this time, before giving her a comforting and knowing smile. “I understand your concern for leaving behind your things, but I can assure you Demetri will take good care of them. The tour only takes an hour! We’ll be back before you know it.”

The woman's hand tightened on her shoulder for the briefest second, and she only felt even more light headed by the time Heidi took her hand away. Demetri took her backpack from where she had it clutched against her chest, and it was with only a small amount of surprise that she found herself willingly letting it go.

“Thank you miss.” Demetri smiled once more and turned away from her. She would have watched him as he made his way over to the pile of belongings his coworkers were making against a far wall back down the direction they originally came from, but Heidi stepping in front of her effectively cut off her view.

“Now come on dearest. Let us not keep the others waiting.”

This time Heidi put her entire arm around her shoulders as she towed her back to the haggle of tourists who’d stood waiting for them, chatting amongst themselves.

BREAK

This tour was far from exciting. Heidi pointed out paintings and statues, gestured to old architecture, and generally talked the ears off of everyone in the group for the first twenty minutes of their walk. 

She stayed toward the back of the group, completely uninterested in everything Heidi said and wishing she hadn’t accepted the woman's invitation out on the streets. She never liked museums or historical places. She’d only stopped in Volterra so she could get lunch at a little restaurant that came highly recommended on Yelp - she had no intention for an extended trip to a stupid old castle that was undoubtedly going to make her miss her reservation.

But she just felt like she couldn’t say no to the beautiful woman. I was like she constantly lost her breath around her.

And now here she was, freezing her ass off as they turned down a noticeably dimmer hallway lit only by torches on the wall that made her think these people were way too committed to their ancient-castle-tour bullshit.

She was only in jean shorts and a grey form fitting crop top that left her navel and collarbones exposed. Her nipples were noticeably hard and she crossed her arms across her chest to hide it - relieved that she was at least wearing sneakers when the middle aged woman in front of her with a short blond bob tripped in her stiletto heels on the uneven stone floor.

At least the woman's husband caught her.  

Heidi was talking some more, and she had to squint through the darkness to make out the guide and the front half of their group as they walked further down the hallway.

She only looked away at a light tap on her right elbow.

The face she saw when she looked down caused her to choke back a startled gasp, both of her hands balling into fists as she hugged herself, pleased that she was at the very back of the group and no one was looking at her.

Because there, the top of his head no higher than her shoulder, was a boy with ashen skin, completely white eyes, and a gaping neck wound that was only accentuated by the blood that coated his Pokémon t-shirt and khaki shorts.

Don’t panic. She thought desperately to herself, trembling as she forced herself not to look down at the boy again and keeping her gaze firmly forward, Don’t panic. Just pretend he’s not there just pretend-

Something prodded her roughly in the back, and when she turned this time, the boy was not alone.

A chubby man with dark hair and a neck wound just like the boys was behind her, his torso caving in in an unnatural way that made it look as though he’d been crushed. 

His eyes were white too, and his brown blazer was just as bloody as the child’s.

As she looked at him, more apparitions appeared. All of them with white eyes and horrible wounds to their necks, arms, shoulders, and chests. She could see the evidence of broken limbs and brunt force injuries to the head on many of them - one of the most terrifying by far was the face of a teenage boy - well most of the face - who seemed to have had his lower jaw completely removed.

She cast a terrified glance at the group in front of her, the tour guide's voice sounding far away and the other guests' happy chatter sounding like whispers in her current state.

Why did they have to take her bag? If only she had her bag she could take her medications and make this stop.

Her meds. The anti-psychosis drugs that made her feel numb and weak but at least made these terrifying apparitions disappear. This is why she never came to old towns or monuments. There was too much pain and death associated with them.

What do you want? What do you want from me? There’s nothing I can do for you - you’re all dead please just leave me alone!

There was no reason to say her thoughts allowed, these ghosts could hear them anyway.

They could always hear them.

Please. We only want to help you. The whisper of a young voice came from her shoulder, and she looked down at the boy in the Pokémon t-shirt again, only to see his face was turned up to look at her, his white eyes on her face as if he could see into her soul.

It was quite the contrast from the rest of his ghostly companions, who walked along behind them staring forward at nothing.

I don’t know what you want from me. I can’t help you and I’m sorry about that, but you’ve been dead for so many years I don’t know what you think I could-

Her thoughts stopped in her tracks, and for the first time something occurred to her that she’d never noticed on a ghostly apparition at a historic sight.

She’d seen ghosts at war memorials, old homes, and museums that held many tokens of the past and they’d all fit their surroundings of the times they’d been killed hundreds of years prior.

But this little boys t-shirt - his Pokémon t-shirt had Minccino on it. That was a Pokémon from the fifth generation so this boy hadn’t been killed years ago.

He’d died very recently.

They’re going to kill you like they killed us.

Her head whipped around, automatically zeroing in on a woman who had half of her skull caved in - the only other ghost beside the boy who was looking at her.

Before she could think up a reply, it felt like a hand grabbed the back of her head and forced her to face forward again, away from the twenty or so ghosts following behind her and the rest of the tour group.

You mustn’t look at us, girl. A rough male voice whispered in her ear. You must act normal or the woman will notice you.

Heidi?

A chorus of whispers came from behind her, and her skin erupted in goosebumps all over her body at the sound.

Hisses of hate and despair from the ghosts at the sound of the beautiful woman's name.

She led us to our deaths just as she leads you to yours. The others cannot be saved for they cannot see… but you can, and saving just one of you is a victory enough for us…

A different female voice whispered the words, but she did not turn her head to look back.

Why? Why did she kill you? Why did they kill you? What happened to you?

The thought was meant for any ghost who wanted to answer. And answer they did.

These creatures feast on the blood of the living. We are some of the newest victims. We chose not to move on so we can try to help others - but no one has heard us but you.

So listen to us girl and listen good, for we can only do this once-

But a few halls ahead lies the room prepared for your slaughter. Do not try to warn the others, the creatures are too strong and will kill you long before anyone can run-

We can give you a moment, and only a moment. We will converge on the creatures and they will appear confused and distracted for only so many seconds - you must leave the hall at a hurried pace when they do.

You must walk quickly! Do not run. 

Stay with the living, these creatures can hear your heart and smell your fear. Stay near the living to keep them confused.

Many living scents in one place make a very confusing aroma for a short time. Your scent coming and going will go unnoticed if you stick to your group's path. Not for long though. You must hurry out.

So many different voices! So many instructions and no time to ask questions.

Owen will guide you. Follow him and he will take you back the way you came. Stay out of view of the humans who work here but remain close to them all the same. Their heartbeats will hide yours.

My scent? Owen? Heartbeats? I don’t know-

They are powerful monsters. The little boy's voice sounded from her shoulder again, and she looked down at him, trying to ignore the wound on his neck and stare directly into his eyes as his voice sounded in her head, his lips unmoving. I will show you how to leave, just come with me.

Oh, so this was Owen. She could do nothing more than nod, and she looked forward again, forward at the group of humans who were chatting happily and listening to Heidi as they walked. Unaware there were twenty ghosts drifting along behind them. Unaware they were all about to die.

Unaware a girl in their group knew, and was not going to warn them.

They were turning down another hall, Heidi called for them all to stay close and she noticed that this hall curved slightly as if they were going around a turret. 

Once we get around this curve you will see a long hall, at the end of this hall is a set of large doors that will be manned by two of them. When you see the doors you must stop! We will go forward and you will turn back. The same gruff voice that had scolded her for looking at them before spoke now, and she felt as though her heart was going to stop. We can only give you so much time.

How many of them... how many of them are there?

Too many. The little boy's voice came from beside her. Many vampires walk these halls. But we will help you.

It was the first time any of the ghosts called them what they were - vampires. 

Did they use mind control like in the old books she read as a teenager? Was that how Heidi had made her come on the stupid tour in the first place? Was that why she’d given up her bag and not demanded to leave?

She was so consumed with her musings that before she knew it they’d rounded the corner and she could see that they were now at the end of a long hall.

A dim hall with torches lighting the way, and two large and heavy looking double doors at the other end that were being pulled open by two men - two vampires.

“Welcome guests!” A ecstatically pleased male voice sang the moment the doors began to open. “Welcome to Volterra!”

The tour hurried down the hall at Heidi’s ushering - the doors were hardly open a foot but by the time the others got there they’d be thrown wide - and she stopped in her tracks when she felt a touch at her elbow.

A whoosh. A sound like a soft breeze passing by when she used to take walks down the beach when she lived on the coast back in the states sounded in the hall as the ghosts ran forward - their mangled bodies passing through those of the living people ahead of her as if they weren't even there.

No one reacted to them at all. No one heard or saw them as the souls of the departed crowded around Heidi and the two vampires opening the doors.

She didn’t need Owen to tap her arm again. She did an abrupt about face and turned back the way she came.

The ghosts were yelling. They were calling encouragement to her and Owen while spitting hateful remarks at the creatures leading the other humans to their demise. Owen walked - or was the term floated since his feet didn’t technically touch the ground? - at a quick pace that had her speed walking to keep up. 

She did not turn. Even when she was out of sight around the corner she did not disobey what the ghosts had instructed her to do.

They can hear from very far away. They can smell like hound dogs and they are very fast and strong. Owen’s whispery voice sounded in her head as she hurried along behind him. My friends had them distracted enough they haven’t realized you are gone - they most likely won’t until after they have fed.

Fed. She shivered at the word.

Don’t make any noise! Others will come if they hear you. They can follow your scent - but the trails of the group will remain strong for a few hours. Plenty long enough for you to escape!

She tried not to so much as breathe too loudly at this new information. She even started walking on the balls of her feet to soften the sounds of her steps.

She just needed to escape. Once she was out of this building she could leave this city and-

Owen! My bag! I need my bag or I can’t leave Italy! They have my passport - they know my name!

We’ll get your bag. Owen sounded so calm. He didn’t act like the ten year old boy he undoubtedly was when he died. They don’t know your name yet! But… right now you need to hide.

She heard it then - footsteps coming from a hall up ahead and to the left. Looking around she saw a crevice in the left wall where a statue stood, and she tiptoed over to it as fast as she could and hid behind it.

Owen stayed right in the middle of the hall, his white eyes staring forward as whoever it was she was hiding from came into view.

It was really, really creepy watching the mangled ghost boy as he just stared at the obviously human woman that crossed the hallway they’d just been hurrying down - continuing straight on her path to wherever it was she was going.

Follow her. Owen whispered in her head, and she did exactly as he said.

The woman never turned back to see her or the ghost boy following thirty or so feet behind her. That was a good thing though - there were no crevices in the walls here that she could hide in.

And so they continued. Owen did nothing but drift along at her side, making sure she kept to a quick walk and didn’t lose sight of the human women they followed.

Who is she? 

One of their employees. She could swear Owen sounded angry. She watched them take me and all my friends to our deaths. She watched and did nothing! 

Mixed in with that undeniable anger in his young voice was hurt, there was no mistaking it.

I’m so sorry Owen.

Without warning Owen stopped, and she walked right through him before turning on her heel, about to ask him what was going on. 

He just motioned quickly at her to follow him down a hall to their right - shaking his head when she pointed to the employee they’d been following.

She knew better than to argue, and she was glad she didn’t question Owen’s goodness and kept to her faith that he would keep her safe, because when she realized she recognized the hall they were in she could have cheered with glee.

The pile of the tourists' belongings was the second thing she noticed - the first being the ghost of the teenage boy who was missing his jaw standing beside it.

My brother found your bag! Owen’s voice was clearly gleeful as the teenager pointed at the pile, indicating the bottom corner of her grey backpack that was buried under two purses and a camera.

Brother? Her heart sank as she tried not to think of the horror that had happened to Owen and that apparently his whole family was involved. 

And when she finally stopped beside the pile and yanked her bag from it, she no longer found herself too horrified to look at the teenager's ghastly injury. Because as horror-movie-esque as it was… these boys were saving her life.

I know we scare you. The teens voice sounded in her head for the first time, his white eyes on her face as he motioned at her to follow him now, Owen now drifting along behind her. But try to remember - not all of us are bad.

She swallowed, unsure of what to say, knowing he was referring to the fact that she could see the dead and that somehow he knew she’d always chosen to avoid facing them.

You asked us to leave you alone when you first saw us. You assumed we wanted to harm you. The brother answered her thoughts. We are not all bad. Some of us are good.

I see that now. You can’t deny it though… the no-lower-jaw thing is kind of terrifying.

Just imagine how it felt getting ripped off.

She grimaced and could swear she heard a sigh in her head.

Sorry. That’s my dark humor, it doesn’t always come off as planned.

He stopped suddenly, and this time she was able to still her feet before she walked through him unlike what happened when Owen stopped in front of her. 

It was only at this moment she realized that they were at the end of this hall now - right at the doors that she knew would lead her out into the plaza.

She hardly had time to think “Thank you” before they both vanished.

BREAK

“Heidi!” Master Caius’ angry voice caused the beautiful vampire to startle slightly, turning away from her conversation with Corin and Renata to face the dais where the kings all stood, looking at her as if in speculation.

She gave a little bow, “Yes Master Caius?”

“How many times must we tell you - Wednesday feedings require an extra human for Marcus.” Caius hissed.

Heidi blinked at him, uncomprehending.

Master Marcus used to be on the biweekly feeding schedule that had him eating on Saturdays, but a few months ago Aro and Caius moved him to the Wednesday schedule with them because they found out he wasn’t eating again. The brother’s wanted to make sure Marcus was fed, and when they found out he’d been just sitting in his chair and allowing others to eat the humans bought for him so often that a three month period had passed where he hadn’t had even a drop of blood - well they’d both been furious.

His depression was getting the better of him again, so now they were taking it upon themselves to make sure he was eating.

Even now it was baby steps. Guards who were smaller in stature usually got one human, while larger ones like Felix and Marcus got two, but at the moment Marcus was only eating one at a time.

So their biweekly Wednesday feedings went from thirty-four humans to thirty-five. 

Last time she hadn’t be able to get thirty-five, and now Caius was chalking up a second miscount to incompetence and not just bad luck.

“There were thirty-five this time as required, Master Caius.” Heidi explained, unable to help feeling a little nervous all the same.

Caius’ platinum blonde eyebrows raised as he looked around the room, barely sparing a glance at the mangled human bodies all around the floor. “Who here ate an extra? You all know Marcus will eat last, so there should always be one left alive.”

All the guards present for feeding looked around at one another, whispering denials that it was them under their breath.

Caius snarled when no one came forward, waving a dismissive hand at Aro who’d just begun to tell him to relax.

“Line them up! Body count! NOW!”

No one argued with Caius when he was this pissed. Felix, Demetri, and Santiago all started to flash around the room, grabbing the discarded human’s bodies from around the room and lying them in a neat row on the floor. 

Once they were all collected Caius came forward - walking down the row and counting the bodies in his head as he left bloody footprints in his wake.

The stress in the room was at an all time high, and when the blonde king finally looked up Heidi’s heart sank at the expression on his face.

“Thirty-four.” He enunciated the end and Heidi began shaking her head.

“No! No there were thirty-five-,”

“Are you implying I can’t count? Or are you saying I’m blind?” Caius hissed, his menacing stalk toward her only stopped by Aro appearing in front of him and putting a hand out to block his approach. 

“Caius.” Aro said reasonably. “I know you are stressed, but please keep your head. Heidi dear-,”

Aro turned to look over his shoulder at her. “Look at the humans and recount. If they are all as you remember them, and you miscounted, you will be punished accordingly.”

Heidi swallowed.

“If one is missing…” Aro rolled his eyes, clearly showing he did not believe this possibility. “Well then-,”

He was interrupted mid sentence, and more than one guard gasped at Demetri’s brazenness in interrupting their Master when he spoke.

“One is missing.”

Everyone in the room stopped breathing. The guards all looked around at one another in shock and disbelief. A human from the tour missing? It was unheard of. It had never once happened in thousands of years.

Even Marcus, who’d been staring blankly at the wall next to his throne, turned to look at his brothers in the center of the room at Demetri’s words.

“What did you just say?” Caius spoke slowly, his words deceptively calm.

"There is a human missing!" Demetri insisted, his handsome face turned to Heidi "The girl Heidi! The one with the sleeves and the grey backpack-,"

"Sleeves?" Caius repeated, obviously growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"Tattoo sleeves," Demetri explained, giving Cauis a small bow, his eyes raking down the line of humans just to reassure himself that she definitely wasn't there. "Both of her arms were completely covered in tattoos, and some of her legs too. She was a little thing with mousy brown hair and-,”

“And the grey backpack!” Heidi finished for him. “The grey backpack that she wouldn’t give to Demetri! I had to use my allure to get her to stop arguing with him and come along… She wasn’t a tourist we flew in, she was just one visiting the city today who I tagged on because…”

Heidi looked at the floor, “Because I did accidentally only bring thirty-four in by air, but I fixed it-,”

“DOES THIS SEEM FIXED TO YOU!?” Caius shouted, motioning to the bodies and Demetri, “A human is missing and-”

“And she couldn’t have gotten far.” Aro said gently, putting his hands up toward Caius in the all to clear ‘take it easy man’ gesture. 

Caius' teeth made an audible snap as his jaw clicked shut before he barked. “All of you, scour the castle and bring that girl to me. Now!”

Every single guard left the room, flying down the hall and following the path to where the tour had originally stood waiting for Heidi to lead them through. She and Demetri were the first ones to arrive in that hallway, a dozen others following and looking around expectantly as if the missing human would just be standing there waiting for them.

But she was nowhere to be seen, and Felix and Santiago went to check the lobbies while a couple others went to check side halls even though no one could hear a stray heartbeat anywhere.

Demetri went over to the pile of tourist belongings and started throwing things aside, and only when nearly a hundred items were scattered on the floor around them did he look over at her.

And his expression was not good.

“Her bag is gone.”

“Find her!” Heidi whispered, not wanting to think of what would happen to her if the human had escaped. 

Demetri sniffed the air, walking down the hall toward the front doors of the castle before stopping abruptly, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

“Dem-,”

He cut her off, “I can’t.”

“What?”

“I thought I felt her before…” Demetri’s expression was one of intense concentration, his eyes closed, “But… but she’s gone now.”

“You mean she’s dead?” Corin’s voice came from somewhere behind Heidi, but Heidi didn’t turn to look at her. 

“No.” Demetri went over to the front doors and threw them open, staring out into the dark street with an unreadable expression on his face, “No. She escaped… but she’s gone. I can’t find her mental tenor.”

No one in the hall said a word, thinking about how angry the masters would be once they found out.

They were so fucked.

BREAK

The taxi pulled to a smooth stop in front of her, rolling down the passenger window as she crouched to look at the dark haired man driving.

“You the one who called, miss?” His English was heavily accented but still understandable, and she nodded, hearing the click as he unlocked the car so she could slide into the back seat. 

She buckled herself in and put her bag on her lap, unzipping it and fishing around for her wallet before withdrawing two hundred euros in cash. She held it out to him and he took it with a look of comical surprise.

“Miss?” He said it like a question. 

“I’ll give you two hundred more if you get me to the airport as fast as possible.” She told him, only breaking eye contact to remove her pills from where they were balled up in her shirt and shaking two into her palm, throwing them into the back of her mouth and dry swallowing them with a scowl.

The undead she’d seen today had saved her life, but she was more than happy to not see any more of them for a while.

The cab driver said nothing to the fact she just very conspicuously took pills in the back of his car. He just rubbed the bills she’d given him between his fingers as if checking for authenticity. 

It was clear he didn’t find anything wrong with her money, because he shrugged and stuffed it into his pocket.

“Whatever you say, miss.”

With that he sped from the city only breaking the silence once to ask her what the hurry was.