Masquerade of Life (Caius Volturi )

Preface

Alice dragged me through the crowd of red-dressed people inside the city. I had never been in Volterra before, not in Italy at all to be honest, so I felt a little disappointed that I couldn't stand still and look closer, but I did my best to keep up with Alice's pace anyway.

I didn't want someone to die, not even this Edward Cullen, even if my opinion of him wasn't the warmest after what he had put my twin sister through. But Bella clearly loved him (maybe a little too much) and the fact that he wanted to kill himself when hearing of her supposed death had to mean he still loved her. Even if it was a bit creepy too, to be honest. An image of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen suddenly popped up into my mind and normally I would have giggled at that. 

The clock on the tower suddenly chimed and I gasped, looking at Alice in panic. She was looking into the crowd without seeing, seemingly far away. Then she blinked and smiled a weak smile toward me.

"She got to him. They're inside."

I let out the breath I didn't even knew I was holding, smiling back at her. Then she suddenly frowned, looking scared again.

"Oh no," she said. "They know. The guards are on their way to him. Come on, we must hurry!"

Less than five minutes later Alice pushed the door to the clock tower open with a powerful shove, making the iron latch on the inside drop to the ground. Whoa. Yeah, vampire strength.

I quickly followed her inside, leaning against the door as it shut – finally able to catch my breath. Alice said something but I didn't listen as I took in the scene before me.

Bella was there; in the arms of a pale auburn haired boy I assumed was Edward. 

Good looking, of course, but I didn't find him as 'angelic' as Bella had described him. Tall and lean. Same golden eyes as Alice but the dark shadows beneath his was more prominent. His forehead creased when he looked at me.

"Who's this, Alice? Bella?" he asked in a low voice, throwing a cautious glance over his shoulder.

That made me realize there were two other vampires there. Male, both with eyes red as blood. One actually made me think of the Hulk – bulging muscles and probably over 6'7 in height. The other was shorter and a bit more on the slim side but he didn't intimate me any less because of that. They both inhaled deeply as if tasting the air and I tensed.

Alice put her hand on my arm and looked pointedly at Bella. She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Umm ... Edward, this is Claire. My ... my twin sister."

"Fraternal twin sister," I hastily added to explain the differences in our looks; My crystal blue eyes to Bellas chocolate brown ones. Bellas natural mahogny colored waves and my bob-cut hair, now colored black with blue shifting so I looked a bit like Snow White with my pale skin. We were equally tall however and had the same slim form.