Troubled Blood

Another time, Heidi Volturi led tourists who were unaware that they were on a straight road to death. The next stop on their tour of the ancient Etruscan city was the throne room, which the woman in front of them said would have a special programme. Little did they know that they were about to experience the last moments of their lives. And could a human being ever think of his own demise? - Please don’t separate, — Heidi said. — The fun is about to begin! — There was a suspicious gleam of excitement in her eyes. — We are standing in front of one of the most ancient works of Italian architecture in our beautiful city! The Palazzo dei Priori was built in the year one thousand B.C., — she continued. The tourists paid less attention to Heidi’s story than to her spectacular appearance. Her snow-white skin, slim figure, long legs… Men gazed at her with admiration, women with envy. The dress of scarlet blood seemed to burn on her, revealing her cleavage. Black gloves above her elbows completed the look. - This way, — the tourists climbed the stairs and the door swung open in front of them. They followed the guide carelessly, taking pictures and chatting. Heidi walked ahead of them all, swaying her hips seductively and smiling mischievously to herself. The thought of what was going to happen in the next minute made you feel excited. The taste of such sweet and tantalising blood was an incomparable, delightful sensation. Finally, they all reached their destination. The wide, massive doors were like a symbol that represented the boundary between life and that fateful moment for people. At least for the insignificant minority that had arrived. The vampiress, holding the handle of the door, turned to the tourists and looked them over carefully. - Come in, — she said, lowering her tone. No sooner had everyone entered the throne room than the previously friendly Heidi suddenly changed her face. She was at the door in an instant and locked it. Everyone tensed. It was then that they realised something was wrong. A sudden change in Heidi’s behaviour. Strange people were already here, waiting for her. Dressed in expensive black robes against which the medallions shone brightly. Volturi. The vampires stared pompously at their victims. The three rulers sat on thrones. They were about to open the meal. - From now on you will be considered missing. Say goodbye to your precious lives,” Aro said with pathos as he rose from his throne. A grin was on his face. Beside him, Marcus Volturi sighed softly. But in the deafening silence of the hall, he was heard by all. Apparently, the head of the Italian clan did this to every group of arriving tourists. And it was with these words that the meal always began. After the trio of rulers, the recipients of the incredible gifts would eat: the young twins Jane and Alec, Demetrius and Felix. Only the leftovers went to the guards. Today, however, the food didn’t reach them right away, and today it didn’t go as well as usual… Alec Volturi never thought about death, believing that the end would never come. There were few immortals who ever thought about it, especially if they had a gift for it. It amused him when people died under his pressure and sadism. He saw the girl standing in a daze of fear when she saw them for the first time… Vampires… But such a reaction evoked no emotion from Alec, how many times in his eternity had he witnessed the same thing. A sharp grip caught her hand in a vice. Alec was not mistaken in thinking that by tasting the blood of a sick girl he would bring variety to his daily routine, even if only in this way. But his blunder was that he should not have flattered himself with self-confidence and assumed that immortality guaranteed him a lasting eternal existence. Fate, which had a property of giving a quick lesson, showed the fallacy of his judgement. Whether you have lived for decades or thousands of years, the hour of death could come upon you at any moment in a most unexpected way. The girl who had been bitten by Alec had always thought about death. And she never stopped doing so. She blamed, tormented herself for the reckless thought of flying to Italy, because if it hadn’t happened, she would have lived quietly on in her homeland without any unnecessary adventures. She would have moved on… Waiting for the fatal disease to finally destroy her. And now that was not going to happen either. She had experienced a lot of pain for her existence. So much of it that she could barely feel it anymore. It was only a vampire bite that finally woke the girl up, for she would lose her life. It was the sensation of the ghoul’s sharp teeth plunging into your flesh that made every nerve, every part of your body realise that in a moment you would die. And then came the unpleasant yet comforting gradual loss of blood, causing heaviness and insurmountable drowsiness. The girl watched the predator’s grip on her wrist as it greedily drank it down, trying not to spill a drop. She knew that just a little longer and it would all be over. Alec suddenly broke away from his victim, which was unnatural for a vampire. Normally, if you took a victim, you’d be satiated until your last breath. But Alec stopped. The girl pulled away from him sharply, revealing that he hadn’t even drank half the volume of her blood since she was conscious and able to move. The fed rulers, who had been contemplating the gruesome spectacle of dinner the whole time, immediately took notice. However, by the time they realized what had happened, Alec was already lying convulsed on the cold floor, while the girl in a fit of panic was trying to stop the bleeding. In the meantime, all the tourists had already been killed. Exsanguinated to the point that the vessels inside them had flattened. The bodies with torn tissues in the neck area looked truly terrifying. The human psyche could not bear the sight of such a picture. A similar reaction was to be expected from the sole survivor. She shivered in fear, trying to cushion the nausea. The light summer blouse was half soaked in blood, her hands were stained with it, and one of them was wounded. Fortunately the girl, because of her plight, always wore a handkerchief. But in memory of that day there will always be a scar on her skin. It will be in the shape of a rounded bite. Two boundaries, one side. She won’t get out of here. Fragile Jane, seeing the cause of Alec’s critical condition, gritted her teeth, sizzling the victim with her gaze. She could have killed her right here and now in the most subtle way, but a sense of grief gripped her heart faster. Anger was replaced by anxiety and excitement. Jane was beside him with lightning speed. He was just as lying senseless on the floor. Pale, bloodied, with no sign of life — her own brother. - Alec! — An angelic voice echoed, panic in the air. The one who had formerly inflicted pain on others, had felt it herself after hundreds of years. Unexpectedly and fearfully. What could be worse than losing someone close to you? Ten pairs of eyes stared greedily at the mortal. One that could seemingly destroy them individually. Though danger emanated from her, the girl looked very weak, even for an ordinary human. It was unclear whether it was despair or helplessness that made her sit on the floor, hunched over. Her eyes were downcast. She didn’t want to see the dead men, with their faces permanently furrowed in pain and terror, or the bloodthirsty creatures who had caused the feast. No one was going to approach her. The situation was heated and acute. The girl could feel the stares of those present on her, but she did not change her position: she was afraid to make even the slightest movement. To think of getting up and leaving now would have been foolish — these subhumans looked to her like jackals, ready to pounce if she moved. Suddenly Alec was awake. He got up as if nothing had happened, but he remembered exactly what had happened the night before. Jane’s fears immediately dissipated as soon as he looked into her eyes and expressed in a mute look that he was all right. But Jane’s anger still lingered as a bitter sludge in the room. She wanted to straighten out the mortal. - Introduce yourself. Who are you? — said Caius Volturi in Italian. A sob followed instead of an answer. She could not control her emotions. Images of the last few hours flashed through her mind: the innocent invitation to the tour, the pretty Heidi, the greeting of one of the attendees in the hall, the ruthless group murder. Now she was approached, trying to find out more. To ignore their questions would have been more dangerous than to respond obediently, gathering her elusive composure. - My name is Estela, — there was no language barrier as such. She could speak a little Italian. The vampire squinted his eyes in disbelief. - How did you get here? — The next question followed. There were spikes in Caius’s voice. - I… Estela had no idea how to briefly explain the situation. On a plane? Interested in art culture and as a program decided to drop in here? That wasn’t what they were interested in. Or maybe she didn’t have the energy to talk to them? To answer calmly and unperturbed questions from those who had just witnessed the ruthless slaughter of innocent people? It was unthinkable. Phrases popped into her head, but when she tried to say something, everyone heard some absurdity… It became scary to say the wrong thing. The people present were silent. They intuitively felt that Estela posed a threat to their existence. But it was necessary to find out what she concealed within her. At first glance she seemed perfectly harmless, any immortal would have no trouble dealing with such a frail victim. But even so, the sensation of her blood on her tongue caused thousands of nerves to react to the foreign poison, and her body convulsed in convulsions that could only disturb mortals. The most peculiar ideas of how, for the first time in centuries of history, humans had managed to harm a vampire entered everyone’s mind. Perhaps her enemies in the Romanian clan might have recorded her discreetly as one of the tourists. Or maybe it’s a new kind of virus, or maybe it’s God’s punishment… No one could get to the bottom of it except Aro Volturi. - My brothers, I think it is not worth wasting time questioning,” he addressed the problem adequately. There was a calmness and measuredness in his voice. — She is in no condition to answer. - I know how to make her, — Jane said in an iron voice. It would only take a second for her to do her thing. - Jane, — Aro signaled to the girl with his hand to step back. The vampire was very submissive to her master, so she obeyed. Even so, the sternness was still on her face because she wanted revenge for her brother. Or to satisfy her sadistic needs. The Volturi left the throne and made his way towards Estela. As usual, he had a welcoming smile prepared for everyone. However, his inner world did not correspond at all to the image he had created. His personality was suspicious, treacherous and, for many, murderous. It was not for nothing that he had held such a slippery power in his clinging hands for so many centuries. Someone yanked on her arm and whispered almost in her ear: - Get up! The Lord is coming to you! But her weakened legs did not obey. It took her some time to get up and with the strength she had, she clung to the man standing close by. She was lucky — he didn’t pull her away. Aro took her hand, thereby causing her body to shiver, and plunged into the dark depths of the past… He read her thoughts without looking away, frozen… Illness had been attacking her for years after she had lost someone dear to her — her grandmother. And her mother had no memory at all… It was as if she’d never existed. Her relationship with her father had been strained, his image seldom emerging. She had not originally planned to go to Volterra. But an emergency hospitalisation and then a flight postponement forced her to spend some time in Italy. But that was not the most important thing. The emotional context is what matters. Aro went through the feelings she had experienced grit by grit. It was as if he was peering into a dark corridor with many doors. Behind them lurked only negative feelings: fear, pain, sorrow. One of the doors, which was at the very depths, was massive and exuded such a sweet yet nasty smell… Behind it lurked herself. Dead. At that moment a thought so maddening struck him that he refused to understand with his mind, but felt with all his essence. Could a vampire who had lived for thousands of years have a soul? After all, he considered himself a devil. Patron of the fates of the immortal. Something burst forth from him, something he had never felt before. Something that drowned him whole, stunned or even killed him… The same phrase hit his temples: “She knows neither joy nor happiness. She buried herself after her family fell apart and her health deteriorated. She will never be cured.” Then the obsession evaporated, dissipated, leaving only a slight residue on his soul. Aro broke away from his thoughts and looked at her again. A pale face with cheekbones no different from a vampire’s. Flushed eyes from recently shed tears maintained eye contact. Aro stepped away from Estela, thinking about what he had seen. He was not concerned with what was happening now. He had to concentrate on one thing — why was this happening to him for the first time? And the strange thing was why he hadn’t fully seen her past, especially her childhood. It could be logically explained by the fact that not all memories from the past were well preserved in memory, but the suspicion increased from that. - Brother? — Caius turned. His voice brought Aro back to reality. Everyone around him noticed his strange condition. - White blood, — he cut off. - She almost killed me, which means she can hurt the others,” Alec Volturi growled, hinting that Estella should be destroyed. He looked well enough by now, as if nothing had happened to him. - Right… — Caius agreed. — Do it. Alec headed towards Estela without hesitation. His hands were itching to aim his poison at her, but it would be better to commit her murder in a more spectacular way: by strangling her with his hands. He wanted to look into her eyes, to see how she would not have enough breathable oxygen to live. She instinctively leaned back as she realized that the forces were unequal. Alec had already raised his hands to seize her as Aro Volturi’s voice echoed throughout the hall: - Stop! All eyes shifted to him. - I take charge. There will be a council today, — he said without hesitation, returning to his seat. No one dared to cross him because he was in charge. Everything was supposed to be announced at the meeting, which meant no one had the right to ask unnecessary questions just yet. Some vampire guard took over to carry out the order. Barely now Estela began to grasp the meaning of the words Aro had spoken. All she had to do was get up and hide from everyone. She turned around one last time before she left and looked incomprehensibly at the one who had stopped the lynching. Confusion froze on her face: what did he want? Why was he the only one standing up for her?