Ghost in the Volturi Castle

Chapter 16: Isla d' Elba

Claudia's POV

I stroke Noela's back with my index finger, admiring her perfect soft brown skin. She was incredible, sex was something I never gave much thought on since my ex dumped me. I decided to live on with an asexual lifestyle and keep my focus on my work and family. Still though, Noela was amazing, she really knew how to give it to a girl, no doubt because I'm not the first she's ever been with. My back begins to feel sore on the hard floor, and I smelled pastries on the other side of the door Anan left through earlier. My stomach growls at the smell. I slowly rise up, careful not to wake Noela. The door suddenly opens, causing me to react in a gasp. It wasn't Anan who walked in, it was a woman. I've only seen women with her features in western movies, that I only watched out of boredom. Long raven black hair tied in two braids, sun kissed skin, amber eyes. My reaction woke up Noela, she notices the woman, and greets her. "Hello Tallula."

"Well, hello to you too Noela. I see you've been busy." She says looking at my direction, making me realize that my whole body was in full view. I gather whatever fabric of clothing I could get my hands on and cover myself up. "Relax Claudia. No need to be afraid of her, she's Anan's wife."

"Indeed. I heard you had a fright seeing him earlier, he's harmless I promise you." I don't respond to her; I just look at her with my lips tightened. Noela puts her hand on my wrist, trying to calm me down, it works. I keep myself covered with the clothes I have in hand, which wasn't covering much, while Noela's body was in full view, but she wasn't as bothered, do they have history? The thought of that makes me feel jealous. Tallula notices my discomfort, leaves to find more clothing for us. "You didn't have to be rude. They have been nothing but nice to you." Noela scolds. Tallula comes back in the room with clothing in her hand. "Here." She offers a garment to me, Noela pushes me forward to reach for it. I hesitantly take the gowns from her; a short turquoise, floral print spaghetti strapped dress and a plain black short v-neck dress with cleavage inserts. "Thank you." I say in a low tone. I avoid her eyes. Noela pushes me again, reminding me to apologize for my reaction earlier. "So-sorry. For before." I tell her, briefly making eye contact. She raises a hand to stop me and smiles kindly, "no need for any apologies." "Thank you Tallula." Noela says I hand her the turquoise dress, while I put on the black one, perfect for women whom prefer to go braless. "I have a meal prepared for you when you're ready." Tallula walks to the fridge and takes a blood bag, I immediately move my eyes back to Noela, who's shuffling the bag she brought with her. "So Tallula. What are we having?" She asks.

"Gumbo." Tallula says, she smiles widely, "My own recipe. You will love it." She assures us. I've only heard of gumbo on television, I've wondered what it tasted like. Tallula continues to speak "I've learned how to make it during my travels in Louisiana with Anan." She picks up an apron and changes the one she was originally wearing. She beckons us to follow her. We pass the kitchen filled with cooks and workers coming in and out. Anan was barking out orders to everyone while cooking. Hm, a vampire chef? That's ironic as hell. A vampire feeding humans when it's supposed to be the other way around. He notices us for a second then gives Tallula a flirtatious wink, she responds by winking back. One of the workers glances at us head to toe, he stares a little too long at my breasts, it made me uncomfortable. Anan notices, he throws a kitchen knife at him, it hits the wall barely missing his head. Anan shouts at the worker but I didn't understand what he was saying. It sucks to only know two languages. English has been my main language since my parents passed. Around them I always spoke in Spanish.

"Don't mind my husband. He gets riled up when he notices anyone harassing the women. He doesn't let the customers get away with it either." Tallula adds as she leads us to a table for two outside, there is an amazing view of the ocean. "I'll be back with the gumbo." Her attention moves to Noela, they have a brief conversation in a different language. The outdoor part of the restaurant was lit with hanging lights adding a romantic mood to it. Noela tells Tallula on how lucky she is to have found someone like Anan. We take our seats, and I notice the menu, it's as big as the one's Ihop has. There was an unusual choice in food on the menu, the kind you'd probably never expect to find in Italy. Which then got me thinking, "Noela, where are we?"