It was the first time that Katherine had watched the sunset and the fall of night with such seriousness and clarity, from the setting sun to the twilight and then to the desolate and mysterious night. Watching the flaming sunset gradually wane, being encroached upon and replaced by layers upon layers of other colors that were distinct yet arranged with an uncanny artistry.
Orange-red, kumquat, light blue, gray-blue, dark blue, these colors were spread across the sky seemingly at random yet with remarkable ingenuity, with a profound darkness trailing at the farthest reaches.
Once night fell upon the Palazzo dei Priori, it became as cold and gloomy as a graveyard, so quiet that it was terrifying. In most areas of the palace, including the corridors, old-fashioned wall lamps were used. The dim yellow light was like those ancient parchment papers, fragile and exuding a strong sense of antiquity, elongating the elegant figures of the vampires.
Katherine was sitting on the sofa, her legs encased in jeans swaying idly under the unconscious urging of their owner. In the magnificent room behind her, the gramophone was slowly playing music that she couldn't understand. Tiny glimmers of light lingered on the vinyl record, spinning into bright arcs.
She discovered that it was actually quite a torment for vampires not to need sleep, especially when she was particularly inept at finding topics to talk about.
Because with just one wrong word, Caius's emotional regulation disorder would flare up. Katherine couldn't quite fathom why Caius's temperament could be so volatile. There was no other vampire in the Volturi with such an eccentric personality.
Thanks to his strikingly handsome appearance that was even among the cream of the crop by vampire standards, even when this guy put on a haughty and arrogant expression, he only looked noble, cold, and glamorous.
If she hadn't known from the start that he was mentally unhinged and had a penchant for biting people's necks like a madman, Katherine wasn't sure if she would have been bewitched by his face. Thinking about it like this, she suddenly felt a bit of an epiphany. It seemed that that bite hadn't been in vain.
She withdrew her gaze from the sky and redirected her attention to the book in her hand. It was said that this book chronicled the recent history of the Volturi. The thick black cover with gold-embroidered floral patterns was embroidered with the exact same design as the pendant on Caius's necklace. Katherine surmised that it might be some sort of medal of the Volturi.
This book was even more difficult to understand than the ancient books in Florence. Besides Italian and Latin, there was also a language that Katherine had never seen before, all jumbled together. Apart from allowing her to admire the author's calligraphy skills that were even better than Landon's, it served no other purpose.
She peeked up secretly and saw Caius sitting on the single sofa beside her. His silver hair was spread out casually, as beautiful as a waterfall. A book was open on his lap, and his fingers were tapping the rhythm gently to the abstruse music.
For some reason, Katherine was a bit stunned by Caius's quiet appearance.
Sensing Katherine's gaze, Caius's rhythm with his fingers faltered and he clenched them slightly instead. Katherine stuck out her tongue secretly and quickly averted her eyes, having forgotten that staring at others was extremely impolite, especially when the other person was like a powder keg.
"Finished reading?" Caius tilted his chin towards her. Katherine shook her head honestly: "There are some languages I don't understand, Latin and also..."
"Greek. Have you ever even been to school?" Caius frowned, muttering with a hint of dissatisfaction. It seemed that in his eyes, a vampire not knowing Greek was as strange as a human running naked on the street.
Katherine was taken aback: "Are you Greek?"
The one with all that incestuous stuff between mothers and sons, sisters and brothers in the mythology, and the men were all "experts in potato sowing"...
Caius looked at her expression, his eyes so sharp that they could almost pierce Katherine through. His tone was unfriendly: "So?"
"No, just a bit surprised. I thought you were Italian." Katherine quickly changed the topic, taking advantage of the situation. Although the wind named Caius never blew in a predictable pattern, as long as there was hope for her to survive, she had to keep struggling. "Sulpicia said the Volturi has been here for over a thousand years."
"That's counted from when we began to rule here. Before that, we built up the present Volturi bit by bit." When speaking of the history of the Volturi, Caius's expression changed considerably. It was a look of confidence and arrogance, looking down on others from on high like an emperor.
Somehow, Katherine suddenly understood a bit why Caius said he had never had a wife. He was a victor who had emerged from wars and carnage. Endless time had bestowed upon him boundless knowledge and wealth. The Volturi had always been at the apex, looking down on others in every era. What was precious to someone like Katherine might be as cheap and insignificant as air in their eyes.
Such a person, of course, wouldn't care about anything other than the Volturi itself. Because everyone or everything was replaceable in his eyes, it didn't matter whether it existed or not.
Thinking of this, she suddenly felt an eerie chill. A polite knock on the door interrupted the time the two of them were spending together. Demetri had returned, bringing some news.
Caius glanced at the absent-minded Katherine, got up and walked towards the door. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back, pinched Katherine's chin, and made her look up to meet his eyes. The silky smooth touch of her skin improved his mood considerably: "Stay here."
After the door closed, it took Katherine a while to realize that Caius had gone out on some business. The vinyl record on the gramophone was still spinning. The climax of the classical song was reached, and the intense and textured excitement made Katherine inexplicably nervous.
She opened the door slightly and peeked outside. There was no one. Presumably, it was because this was Caius's room. The entire Palazzo dei Priori was quiet. The dim yellow light of the wall lamps engraved the shadows of the lamp stands on the walls, stretching out neatly all the way forward, pointing towards the way out.
What Demetri had said just now was simple, but he had emphasized the words "trial" and "those guys". Katherine could tell from his tone that he wasn't exactly pleased, but it seemed that Aro and Marcus were already waiting for Caius.
In other words, neither Caius nor the others would finish their meeting anytime soon.
This was the only time Katherine could move around freely, the only chance for her to get in touch with Landon.
The flowing music continued. The deep and low voice of the cello was fast and urgent, and the rhythms of the organ and the piano were as rapid as raindrops. Katherine crouched low and quickly slipped into the corner of the corridor. The Palazzo dei Priori was empty under the dim yellow light.
She didn't hold out any hope that there would be a telephone in the other rooms. The Palazzo dei Priori wasn't that big, and a telephone wouldn't be faster than the vampires' own speed. The only place where a telephone would be used was the front desk, but Caius never allowed her to go there because there would be tourists coming in during the day, and Katherine was still a newborn.
It was already past nine o'clock, long past the tourist reception time, so there was no need to worry about the issue of tourists anymore. Katherine didn't have that parched feeling anymore either. She felt that she must give it a try. Otherwise, the next such opportunity might be a long time coming.
She just wanted to call Landon, hear his voice, and know that he was safe.
The front desk was near the exit of the Palazzo dei Priori. Katherine had never been to that area before and didn't know the way. However, the lingering human scent provided her with a guide.
Rushing through the corridors and down the stairs, Katherine felt that she had never been this nervous even when waiting for the results of her police academy admission. She was on edge, vigilant of every sound around her with almost neurotic intensity. Every nerve and muscle fiber in her body was stretched to the limit. The elongated shadows cast by the wall lamps were as menacing as ghosts.
The further she walked, the stronger the sweet scent exclusive to humans in the air became. Under the combined effect of high tension and the stirrings of her instincts, Katherine's mind began to wander. She stopped and grabbed the base of the statue beside her as if, if she didn't do this, she would lose control immediately.
Caius's cold warning echoed in her mind. If a newborn vampire lost control and caused trouble, they would deal with her. Tear her body apart, rip off her head, throw her into the flames, and reduce her to ashes.
Fear, tremors, excitement, and longing churned in Katherine's chest like a hurricane. She felt a bit breathless and stood there, at a loss.
She realized that once she envisioned the consequences of being discovered, she was no longer satisfied with just making a phone call but wanted to escape from here completely. Anyway, the outcome would be the same. Why not just go for it?
Katherine bit her lip and desperately suppressed this thought that had just emerged and was getting out of control. She couldn't leave now because she had no chance of winning. Not only that, she wouldn't even be able to see Landon. The moment Demetri found her would be the moment of her death. This could be foreseen even without using the ability of "death instant". It was simply stupid!
She just wanted to make a phone call to confirm Landon's safety. That was all.
"Is anyone there?" Gianna had been staring at the motionless black shadow for a while and finally asked, "Who is it? Demetri? Chelsea?"
Katherine spun around abruptly. The figure of Gianna was clearly reflected in her scarlet pupils. Her conscience tried to make one last stand, desperately holding back the floodgates of the impending killing urge.
Gianna, seeing the other's eyes that were still shockingly bright even in the darkness, wasn't overly surprised and still spoke in a soft voice: "Hello? Is there anything I can do for you?"
This human wasn't afraid of vampires? No, she was human. Why was she in the Volturi? Was she a tourist who hadn't had time to leave? But she didn't look like one.
"Telephone." Katherine spat out the word stiffly, as if it had taken all her strength.
Gianna smiled and pointed to the telephone beside her: "It's right there. You can use the telephone if you want. How strange. You guys never use telephones."
"Guys"? She knew about vampires?! Katherine was even more confused. Didn't they say that vampire identities couldn't be exposed to humans?
Gianna smelled wonderful. Although there was a bit of a chemical odor due to some additives, for a newborn vampire, it was already a heavenly scent.
Katherine's throat began to have a clear and painful burning sensation. Her thoughts became hazy, and the red in front of her eyes grew darker.
At that moment, a cold and hard hand was placed on Katherine's shoulder, and a melancholy and low voice said: "If I were you, I wouldn't choose to stay here any longer."
Katherine was startled and instinctively attacked the owner of the voice. The other person dodged quickly, and Katherine didn't manage to hurt him.
She saw clearly that it was a dark-haired man, dressed similarly to Aro. The V-shaped necklace on his chest was glittering, and an air of melancholy clung to his brow.
"Who are you?" Katherine looked at him in panic, subconsciously feeling that this person might be on a par with Aro and the others in the Volturi because she felt that this person looked familiar, but she just couldn't remember where she had seen him.
"Marcus." He answered, his voice as ethereal as the bewitching sprites in Nordic mythology. "You shouldn't have come to the front desk. Although it's really a stretch for you, I'm sorry."
Sorry?! A member of the Volturi was actually saying sorry?!
Katherine remembered. Marcus was one of the three elders who had founded the Volturi together with Aro and Caius.
Having had several previous experiences during the day, although Marcus's attitude seemed amiable, Katherine still didn't dare to relax. She stood straight and rigid, looking at him.
Hearing the unusual sound, Gianna left her position to come and see what was going on. Marcus stopped her and then said to Katherine: "You'd better go back. If Caius comes out and finds you missing, he'll go crazy looking for you."
Katherine wanted to force a smile to show that she didn't care, but the truth was that she couldn't do it. She was terrified of that crazy bastard. So she either didn't notice or automatically ignored the strange implication in Marcus's words and quickly walked around him to start making her way back.
After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned around to look at the man who was as quiet and melancholy as if he had walked out of a painting in the dim yellow light, and wasn't quite sure how to ask her question.
"I won't tell anyone. Don't worry." Marcus seemed to have guessed her concern and comforted her softly.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." Katherine was taken aback for a moment and then said it subconsciously. Marcus shook his head: "No need. I understand your feelings. It's normal for you to want to leave here."
If she hadn't known that he was also a founder of the Volturi, Katherine would have thought that Marcus was a fellow prisoner like her, trapped here. Every word he said gave Katherine a feeling of finding a kindred spirit. She could hardly believe it.
Not having time to think too much about it, Katherine bowed to him in gratitude and then turned to leave quickly. Watching Katherine's back, Marcus suddenly said: "If possible, I hope you can be less resistant to this place. Forgive me for taking Caius's side. I just sincerely hope that he can get what he wants. It's really important to him."
Katherine was left bewildered. She knew that in the Volturi, she could never keep up with the rhythm of any vampire: "What does he want?"
Something that was "really important" to him? What value did she have? The ability of "death instant"?
She turned around, but Marcus was already gone. There was only the dim light of the corridor. Katherine looked left and right and then quickly disappeared into the darkness.