𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 ; volturi kings

CHAPTER XIII

CHAPTER XIII

"I heard they got attacked by a wild raccoon, so they're both super deformed and ugly."

"Gross."

"Well, I heard Jas got pregnant- with Edward's kid- her dad got super mad and kicked her out, Jess came to confront him, and he killed them both and ran away."

"Y'know- it makes sense- she was acting weird before..."

"I heard that Jasmine killed Jess and then-"

"Oh my god- don't be ridiculous, Angela."

"Are you serious? That sounds so stupid..."

"Anyways... I heard Jas' dad-"

Bella Swan turned to the flock of cheerleaders sitting behind her in Chemistry class, "do you mind?" She asked, venom lacing her tone.

They instantly ceased their meaningless gossip, eyes averted in shame.

As Bella opened her mouth once more, a loud ringing noise played through the battered speakers, and the gaggle of girls leapt up from their seats.

Saved by the bell, she thought, rolling her eyes.

She trudged out of her final class of the day, multi-coloured textbooks in hand, and was greeted by Alice.

"Hey," the pixie girl cheerfully addressed her, "you ready to go?" She leant up from the cracked plaster of the wall, and gently pulled Bella along by the hand.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?"

"Maybe... I- I was thinking that I could- possibly- walk to my dad's house and then come to yours later?"

"Oh." The small vampire raised an eyebrow at her, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah! Yes- I just... there's some stuff that I still need to pick up-"

"Of course, I understand." The short-haired girl dropped Bella's hand and then reached up to her face, tucking a stray hair behind the human's ear. "Don't stay too long though, you and I are playing chess later."

Bella chuckled, "I don't think it'll be a very fair game if you already know what moves I'm going to make."

Alice smiled back at her, "you always tend to surprise me."

The crisp, cold air of Forks bit at Bella's cheeks, the piles of dead leaves crunching underneath her shoes as she approached her dad's house.

Her assorted key-rings jingled and bounced as she opened the front door and was greeted by a single envelope.

Bella stared at it dejectedly for a moment- it was almost as if she had, somehow, expected for it to have not arrived, for everything to have gone back to normal.

Somewhere in her mind, an illusion sat of Charlie's house; it wasn't quiet and empty, and neither was her dad's chair. He would be sitting there, with a can of beer, unwinding from work by watching some war documentary- Jas would walk out of the kitchen, where she'd been cooking noodles, and ask Bella if she wanted to go to the movies, to rewatch Revenge of the Sith with her and Jess for the millionth time.

Charlie wouldn't be dead, Jessica wouldn't be dead, and Jasmine wouldn't have run away.

The letters had been appearing every couple of days for the past three weeks- sometimes they came with a secondary envelope (which Bella would discreetly pass along to Emmet or Esme), or a small box containing a meaningless gift.

But there was never a return address.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Jasmine Swan shrieked as she entered the bathroom.

The white marble tiles went blurry for a moment as a deep, disturbing terror overtook her mind. She was sure she could feel her undead heart thumping, as pure phobia ran through her veins.

Wisps of grey, premature silk were bundled into the corner of the room, the culprit a miniature black blur.

"Nadia!" She yelled, "there's a spider!"

"I don't care." Her roommate's Bulgarian accent rang out from the living room.

"Please!" Jas desperately called out again.

"Ugh." The noise of annoyance was audible to even human ears as Nadia sped into the bathroom. "I'll get rid of it as long as you stop whining."

"Rude." She shot back.

Her companion turned around to her and raised an eyebrow, "do you want me to get rid of it or not?"

"Please."

Whilst her roommate was tasked with a terrifying venture, Jasmine went to grab her stuff.

As she was searching through the drawers of endless beauty products, she became distracted by her thoughts, and surveyed the room around her.

She and Nadia had been in Siena for a couple of days now, and it was nice.

Their relocation was originally due to a tip her friend received about her mother, whom Jas had been helping Nadia search for since they met 2 months ago.

But, there was something different about Tuscany- the architecture, the people, the food- that made Jasmine feel whole for once.

She looked out onto the balcony, where the gated silhouette of the city's skyline stood. A smattering of light hit her lower arm, and she leaned in, as if she could feel the sun's warmth. The narrow streets between the tall, red-brick houses were quiet at this time in the evening, save for a young couple who were strolling along, laughing as they shared a ricciarelli.

"Hai trovato la cena?" Nadia asked as she approached the balcony.

Both of them had been practicing learning Italian since they got here- albeit, Jas was nowhere near as fluent in it as her companion.

"Non lo so..." She replied, "don't you think he looks a tad..."

"High as fuck?" Her friend chuckled blandly.

"Exactly."

The two friends decided to take a stroll through the sunset-lit Piazza Del Campo, considering they were both fairly hungry, and the only people around were small groups of children, sure to be doubted when they told their parents of the two sparkly girls.

They approached a small, smoky bar, where two men (who were obviously tourists) were arguing in the shaded side street.

Nadia was the first to engage- she didn't often play with her food, rushing forward and tearing his neck open.

The first time Jasmine had ever seen it happen, it had sent a tremendous shudder through her.

Charlie.

But, Charlie was dead, just like this guy was about to be.

As the thick blood seeped out of the man's neck and down Nadia's throat, his friend attempted to flee, only to be pushed back by an inhuman force.

"I- p- please." He choked out pathetically, "I have a girlfriend."

"Cute." Jasmine snarked, bearing her large fangs.