The Night We Met || Marcus Volturi X OC

1

The sun pounded against my back in the blazing summer heat of Tuscany, Italy. My best friend Elise was bouncing from foot to foot with her suitcase swinging with every step. I shot my hand out to stop her from continuing the annoying excited pouncing.

"I'm sorry Nerissa," Elise giggled. "It's just so exciting!"

"El... Are you seriously excited about cleaning?" I deadpanned her.

Sometimes Elisa confused me. She was always cheery over the strangest things but easily tempered. That happiness could sour at the slightest pinch. Cleaning for rich Italians who lived in an ancient castle didn't sound like smooth sailing. More like unicycling across a tightrope.

"It's a castle!" Elisa hissed with a wide smile. "Anything could be in there. Dirty secrets, history unheard..."

"A cult of Satanic robed monsters who drink the blood of virgins," I lowered my voice and widened my eyes. Elisa broke out into a fit of giggles and smacked my arm.

"Shh! Someone could hear you!"

I looked around us, the open balcony corridor was completely barren of anyone other than us and a few other girls who were hired on. I gestured to the bottle blonde girl who had her earbuds jammed so deep in her ears that she was probably deaf.

"I doubt even she heard me."

"Well, I still rather not offend anyone." Elisa began looking around. "I wonder who painted this... There positivity ghastly--"

"They're amazing." I blinked at her.

"So much death though! Look that man is being impaled with a spike--"

"They're medieval paintings, El. They're not supposed to be pretty. Regardless, I think they're beautiful. It takes a lot of skill to make a painting look as if you're staring through a window." I crossed my arms, glowering at her.

"How could I forget... You can't take ridicule to art. Miss bloody brush." Elisa rolled her eyes playfully and nudged me. I scoffed at her.

"Stop calling me that."

"Why?" Elisa grinned. "It's true... You paint death just as much as the twisted mind that painted these. Though yours are more ominous and mental."

"Thank you!" I placed my hands over my chest.

"That's not a compliment." Elisa looked at me worried. "Seriously, it wasn't. Stop it. Get some help. Freak."

"Will you two shut the fuck up?" An older woman around thirty glared at us from across the corridor. She was sneering.

Elisa flipped her off and stuck her tongue out making the woman stomp her heel on the stone floor. It was childish the both of them but Elisa was and always has been mentally younger. She dreaded the idea of acting like a nineteen-year-old. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile.

We fell into a comfortable silence, leaning against one another while we waited for our boss to come to fetch us and take us to our rooms. We didn't have to wait much longer. This woman was older, reminding me a bit of my grandmother with the way she was hunched over the wooden cane. She smiled, greeting us with shining eyes that held the promise of so much wisdom.

"Good morning, Ladies. My name is Lenina. You may call me Nina or Mother." She chuckled. "You will each be my children while you work here under my care."

That was actually rather sweet. Shows she respects her employees.

"Please if you will follow me, I will show you to your quarters." She turned back around and began walking down the corridor.