Alec had run away from home, but perhaps running away is too strong a word for what he was doing, after all, he would end up coming back when he felt like it.
Since Aro had secluded himself and refused to receive visitors, the orders regarding the Volturi Guard came from Caius, and he seemed to enjoy torturing everyone with the lack of human blood since he thought that, whatever Aro saw through the thoughts of that future-seeing vampire, the possible defeat of the Volturi would come from the ineffectiveness of the guard members, which rendered them useless. The watches on Volterra had also increased and even someone as high-ranking as Alec had been forced to watch the walls of a city that had not been invaded for centuries by rival clans. Alec found it all too tedious, until he found the first lost cat.
It had been centuries since an animal had approached him, not so naturally, but there was something different about Volterra's cats. They knew they were facing a predator, but they also knew they were not the chosen prey.
The cat was black and white, and looked very thin, perhaps it had fallen from the roof of one of the old houses and didn't know how to get out. It approached Alec, who first gently pushed it away with his foot, being careful not to kick him away, but the vampire felt sorry and before leaving he ended up taking the cat as close as possible to the piazza so that it could find someone. to help.
Alec was supposed to return to the tunnels and meet with Demetri, but ended up watching the cat until he found a boy who finally fed him and gave him a home. He tried to tell Jane what had happened, but his sister wasn't very interested in that matter.
The second time Alec heard the cries of some kittens trying to take shelter from the rain among crates of vegetables. He took them to the house of the same boy who helped the previous cat, hoping that he would think it was all just a strange coincidence.
This time, when he told Jane what had happened, she reprimanded him firmly and forbade him from visiting the boy again, leaving Alec frustrated. Jane didn't understand that Alec didn't want to visit the human, but just to see how the animals were living.
- Don't worry - Renata said after he told him the story - you can tell me where the boy's house is, if it's close to my route I can take a look for you, that way you won't make Jane angry anymore.
- Would you do that?
- Of course! - Renata was hanging upside down from a wooden beam. She had watched a vampire movie that portrayed that this was how our species rested and wanted to test it since she had a lot of free time since Aro was in seclusion. It was funny talking to her that way, especially because she kept holding her clothes.
Renata finally came down from the beam, going to sit next to Alec on an old bench at the top of the Clock Tower. In the past, some humans could go up there on guided tours, but since they returned from the United States, Aro had taken the palazzo for himself, no one else could enter, and the humans thought everything was under renovation.
Alec reached out to touch the rain that fell outside the palace. Renata's hair was disheveled from having been upside down for so long and he noticed that her eyes were completely black while his still had a little red. She was younger, so she couldn't tolerate the thirst as much as he could.
- What do you want most now, Renata? - Alec asked. This was one of the moments he would like to share with Jane, but Renata fulfilled her role as younger sister well.
The vampire sighed for a moment.
- I think I would like to go home, we don't have to worry about being thirsty there, we can swim to the nearest town and have a feast whenever we want.
Alec was disappointed, he wasn't talking about blood.
- But I would also like to see my family, I heard I have some new cousins, I would like to meet them.
The boy withdrew his hand, already soaked with rainwater, part of the sleeve of his coat was wet, much to Renata's despair. Alec didn't say another word that day, as he spent the night imagining what it would be like to have a real family like Renata.
The next day started the same, as he had to meet Demetri at the same meeting point, which defined the routes for the day for him and Renata.
Alec admired Demetri even when Aro and his sister told him there wasn't much to admire. They were friends, the adventures they had experienced when necessary for the good of the clan classified them as friends and that was more than enough.
Sometimes he imagined what it would be like if they lived like the Cullens. He and Demetri could pass as brothers, even though he was older and had his hair in a style that Renata considered outdated. As for Jane, she would just be Jane.
- You need to come back on time today, understand? - Demetri said.
Alec's position was higher than Demetri's, but technically he was in charge when it came to guarding the city.
- Yes, sir - Alec replied.
Renata chuckled and Demetri rolled his eyes.
They both knew their order wouldn't be carried out, but as long as no one got hurt, everything would be fine. At least that's what Alec had in mind, until he left his post and started wandering through the city's tunnels after hearing the call of a lost cat.
- Where are you? - Alec said while looking for the small animal that possibly had no idea it was in a den full of wolves. Alec had yet to see anyone from the Guard lose control, but the blood deprivation imposed by Caius would soon spiral out of control and he feared that even the animals would not be spared.
He had already crossed two old, dark corridors, whose channels mixed clean water and sewage, until he saw the gray cat running ahead. Alec tried to reach it, but ended up coming face to face with a stone wall, the cat had crossed through a hole that was half Alec's height. The vampire continued following the cat through corridors without a trace of light, but he knew there must be oxygen for that small creature to still be alive.
Unable to see anything, Alec concentrated on listening to the cat's footsteps until he finally saw a light up ahead. It seemed to come from one of the houses, which meant that this passage was one of the original ones, and that it had probably been sealed after the Volturi began building the tunnels to prevent the residents from being attacked by the more aggressive members they had initially.
The cat stood before the illuminated opening in the wall, its dusty gray fur but its eyes large and proud as its tail swished. He was calling for someone, and Alec imagined that it was calling for him, so he was careless, because when he reached out his hand to pick up the animal, he almost touched the human hand that had the same idea on the other side!
The human picked up the cat and from the sounds of its footsteps, Alec imagined that it must have fallen down in fright, as it obviously didn't expect to see a person inside the walls!
- Who's there?!
It was a girl, Alec could tell by the frightened tone of her voice. The cat had stopped calling him now, it seemed irritated, its footsteps moving away. The girl should have let him go.
"What do I do?", Alec thought, more excited than desperate. This was the most thrilling thing that had happened in his life in years, maybe centuries. His existence as a vampire was not as lively as that of his companions. He was raised by Aro, spent his entire life within the walls that were Aro's eyes, only leaving when necessary.
If he ran, Alec knew he wouldn't have another chance to talk to a human without the presence of someone from the clan.
- I followed the cat - Alec said, still unsure if what he was doing was correct - I just didn't want him to get stuck.
- Is there a passage on the other side? - the girl's voice sounded clearer this time, she was getting closer, but Alec couldn't smell her, just the odor of the hallway and a strong smell of coffee beans.
"There are passages all over Volterra," Alec thought, but he wouldn't tell her that. He couldn't.
- It's better to close your side with something, that way there won't be any more cats coming.
The girl made a strange sound, a laugh perhaps?
- Too bad, this little guy has been appearing here for a week now, he's lucky that the store is always open when he arrives.
- So, I think I'll look for the opening, it must be one on this side as well.
Suddenly there was silence, and Alec wondered if he had scared the girl, but he hadn't heard her leave.
- Why don't you get out of there?
He smiled. She was still there! And suddenly he felt foolish for not noticing the girl's heartbeat.
Alec took a step forward, but hesitated. Then he thought how silly that was, because he couldn't go through that opening, he wouldn't fit. Regardless, he wanted to see who he was talking to, and he wanted that more than anything now, even more than human blood! But when he thought that when he saw the girl's face Demetri would know he had spoken to a human, to a resident of Volterra, the only people in the world they were not allowed to touch. If Alec saw the girl's face, Demetri would see her through his mind, and she would become a target of Aro's wrath the moment he read the tracker's thoughts.
"Aro hasn't read anyone's mind in a year," Alec thought, "but if I do this, Demetri will have to report everything to Aro, so my mistake will become his."
- You're not a pervert, are you?
- I'm what? - the question confused Alec to the point that he started laughing. The human did the same.
- I don't know, one of those guys who does weird things…
- I don't... I don't do that!
- Hard to say - the human was still laughing - you are literally inside a wall now.
- Technically it's a corridor.
On both sides, the laughter stopped, Alec heard the girl approaching again.
- Is it scary in there?
- It's the darkest corridor ever, when you close this passage, there will be no more light.
- So I can't...
- But you will close the opening anyway, I can find my way back.
- Are you sure? - the girl's voice seemed worried for him, and Alec found it funny at first, but at the same time a stir began to form in his body, something he couldn't understand as he had never experienced before.
- I'm going to close the passage with some boxes we have here, so you better find and close the opening on the other side, otherwise our friend will end up getting trapped.
Silence again. Alec didn't quite know what to say.
- This is a coffee shop, you know? You can come here if you want, it's a small store in front of a fountain at the end of...
- I know where it is - Alec said, almost slamming his face into the wall for fear of sounding too desperate - I know all the streets in the city.
- So... See you later, stranger.
- See you soon.
Alec remained still, waiting until the girl closed the passage, leaving him in the dark.
The other side
- What are you doing?
Andrea's question made Elia realize she was acting weird again. It wasn't difficult to find old buildings in Volterra, especially away from the piazza, and she wondered how many of them contained secret passages. After she spoke to the boy inside the walls Elia wondered how he had found free passage until there, so, after her brother picked her up from work, Elia pretended to hear his words of self-help while analyzing the old walls and wooden doors on the way home. Maybe she could find a pattern.
- I'm just looking - Elia hurried to say, then quickened the pace to catch up with Andrea.
He had left Luigi with an old friend of his late wife before picking her up from work. She owned a bakery and liked to give Luigi food as a gift because she felt sorry for him. Andrea didn't say anything, but Elia enjoyed the free desserts.
- Did you take your medicine today?
- Yes, sir.
- It's just, your face is...
- It's not red, I didn't cry if that's what you want to know.
Elia walked with her arms crossed, but her answer made her brother do the same. They mimicked each other unconsciously, so Elia walked again with her arms outstretched this time. They looked alike, but at least she admitted that Andrea dressed much better than her. Elia's style was kind of "scruffy depressive".
- I wanted to ask something, do you know if there is a sealed passage in the house or...
- Claudio called me earlier.
Andrea didn't wait for Elia to finish speaking. She hated that, because it was as if he made it clear that what she said wasn't important, but this time she would let it go, because she didn't want to hear that name.
- And? - Elia used all her self-control to not sound too sad while asking.
- He's your friend, he's worried, you said you needed some time away, but you don't need to stop talking to everyone.
- I call dad every week.
- I'm referring to people who are not family.
Andrea was faster than Elia's abilities to not cry. She took a deep breath, but her eyes filled with tears too quickly, so she stared at the ground.
- Our family isn't that big, it's just me, you, dad and Luigi. It's not that hard to talk to other people, and I do it every day at work.
Andrea sighed. That was a conversation they had had several times since Elia arrived in Volterra, but she seemed more nervous just having heard Claudio's name.
It started to rain lightly, Andrea had an umbrella, but Elia refused. She thought about the boy on the wall, whether she should tell Andrea or not, but now she knew she shouldn't say anything. She just regretted for not asking his name.
They arrived at the bakery still in silence.
- Look, if you want to eat something...
- I don't want to eat anything - Elia replied, harshly. That was Andrea's way of saying he was sorry, and that was Elia's way of saying she didn't feel good.
She was about to enter the bakery when her brother said:
- She told me once that there was a tunnel under the house, Luigi's mother, but it was a long time ago, her grandfather closed it, or something like that.
Elia's eyes lit up again as she looked at her brother.
- And where was it?
The rain increased, and as they were still outside this time Andrea placed the umbrella over Elia's head.
- In your room.
Andrea pulled Elia into the bakery and out of the rain, unaware that the girl was now sure she could be Alice in Wonderland.