There mysterious girl

Chapter 26

They avoided civilization for the most part, but there were times when Bella, Irina, and Laurent couldn't avoid cities. If they wanted to blend in, they had to act human, and humans weren't seen running through the countryside at breakneck speed.

It made the journey take longer, but Bella couldn't help but marvel at the sights and sounds her new senses picked up. Things she would have never seen or noticed as a human- a buzz of electricity, the sound of running water in residential buildings, babies crying, arguments in languages she didn't know, and thousands of heartbeats thrumming at different intervals. They could almost be a low hum of noise.

"How are you doing that?" Irina hissed under her breath.

They were walking through an open-air market, casually looking at vendors stalls. Bella was overdue to hunt but wanted to wait until she got to the edge of town first. There was no sense in starting a panic if someone found a body before she wanted them to.

"Doing what?" she asked, puzzled.

"How can you be this calm?" she demanded in a low voice. "It took me years to walk through a crowd, and you're what- less than a month old?!"

Bella actually didn't know- time seemed different now. It sped up and slowed down at random intervals. She shrugged, stopping to look at a cheap display of rings.

"I am curious about her gift as well," Laurent said, leaning against the stall with one hip. "If only Eleazar was here to take a look at her."

This was a name Bella was sure she hadn't heard yet. She raised one brow, wondering who this vampire was, and what he might see if he had a "look at her."

"And who might Eleazar be?" she asked archly.

"He's family," Irina said, now looking at the rings as well. The stall vendor was ignoring them, talking on a flip phone in rapid Hungarian. "He used to be in the Volturi, actually. He discerns gifts. Information he used to pass onto to Aro before he met his mate, Carmen."

"Well, I'd hate to disappoint him," Bella scoffed, "because I'm fairly sure I'm not gifted."

"I'd bet money that you are," she disagreed. "Carlisle said that Edward couldn't read your mind, and Alice had a hard time seeing your future, too."

"Does every vampire I was involved with read minds?!" Bella hissed, pushing away from the ring display.

Irina smirked.

"Caius doesn't," she said slyly. "He's not gifted at all, in fact."

"You said they all had gifts," Bella said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Laurent.

"Most do," he amended. "Aro is something of a collector if you'll forgive me for saying so. He surrounds himself with talented vampires. It is why the Volturi are undefeated."

Bella tried to imagine Aro. Although there were three leaders, it certainly sounded as though he was the first among equals. Her mind drifted to the other two, Marcus and Caius. She conjured the concerned faces that met her when she fled Volterra. Which one was which, she wondered.

Was Caius the austere blond? He must be, she thought, remembering the set of his jaw. They were all attractive in different ways. The other two were so similar looking they could be true siblings. Their hair was dark, and their handsome faces were pinched with concern. Was that concern for her?

Irina's hiss captured her attention, pulling her from these thoughts. Bella blinked before she saw what had the other vampires stopping short.

There was a newsstand fifty feet in front of them. Laurent flitted over to snag one once the vendor's back was turned, plucking it from the stand and opening it gingerly when he returned.