The trial operation to Venice was scheduled for two days later. Almost all of the Volturi were mobilized, except for Katherine and Sulpicia.
Katherine was certain that the Volturi had carried out numerous trials during their long reign. For Sulpicia seemed to take this operation quite lightly. Perhaps influenced by her police academy mindset, Katherine had never been overly inquisitive about the affairs of the Volturi. Knowing too much always gave her the feeling that she might be "eliminated".
Moreover, the fact was that her own affairs were in such a mess that she had no inclination to delve into the complex, extensive, and invariably blood-soaked history of the Volturi.
Katherine was probably the worst newborn vampire. It took her several days to learn to walk normally, at the cost of colliding solidly into Caius in front of her countless times due to her inability to control her speed. Whenever she looked up from Caius's arms, she would invariably see Demetri's infuriatingly smug smile.
Undoubtedly, Katherine must have been the slowest to adapt among all the newborns the Volturi had ever encountered. Had it not been for the fact that she was truly practicing earnestly and, though impatient, was extremely patient, Demetri would surely have thought that she was blatantly throwing herself at Caius.
"I'm sorry." Katherine couldn't remember how many times she had said this to Caius. Each time she blurted it out subconsciously and then looked up, she would always see Caius's far-from-pleased expression.
No wonder his complexion was so bad. Even Katherine herself thought she was being incredibly stupid. Should she be grateful that her ability was useful? Otherwise, Caius might have burned her like firewood and used her as fertilizer to nourish those precious flowers blooming in the Palazzo dei Priori, which would have been some contribution to the Volturi.
Good heavens, that would have been a worthy death.
Her mood was so bad that even the beautiful surrounding scenery couldn't salvage it. Because she sincerely felt that after leaving the Volturi, a place swarming with vampires, she would find it extremely difficult to adapt back to human life. Although she had a remarkable control over her bloodlust, even Aro found it astonishing.
Typically, to achieve the level of indifference and elegance that the Volturi displayed when walking among humans, it required at least several decades or even hundreds of years of cultivation to attain sufficient self-control. However, Katherine, who had been a newborn for nearly a week, could already approach Gianna without losing control, although she still couldn't endure the overly strong human scent in the reception area for more than two hours.
It was a miracle. Aro always liked to say that about her.
Yes, Katherine thought with no small amount of sarcasm. A newborn with the special ability to see death and who could quickly learn to control her craving for blood, yet couldn't even walk properly, let alone control her strength in a relaxed and natural state without breaking things in her hands.
It was simply too difficult. God was indeed fair. Having given you a special ability, He would surely bestow upon you a useless body.
After crushing the fifth cup, Katherine stared blankly for a long while. She shook her hand, which sparkled in the sunlight, and sat on a stone in sullen silence, angry with herself. Even though she knew that vampire skin would take on such a dreamy effect in the sun, Katherine still preferred to think that it was because she was so angry that she was "glowing".
Before winter truly arrived in Volterra, there was never a shortage of sunlight, but the temperature was indeed starting to drop. Although it had little impact on vampires, it was still necessary to change clothes according to the season.
Last night, Katherine had extremely reluctantly declined Heidi's kind offer to help her choose clothes. She rushed downstairs to the reception area, snatched Gianna's computer, and quickly ordered two or three sets of clothes that she could afford. Paying with her own card and getting her own things made Katherine feel much better.
However, she soon realized that her savings would definitely not be able to sustain such consumption indefinitely. Even though Gianna's expression told her that the price of the clothes she bought was not even as much as the doormat at the entrance of the Palazzo dei Priori.
Her dissatisfaction with herself and the awareness of the difficulty in reintegrating into human society kept her in a constant state of irritability. The bright rays of light wove a chaotic web in front of her eyes. The ants crawling back and forth around the grass roots crashed into the spider webs among the drooping grass leaves - even the tiniest things could be captured by Katherine, and it was all too complicated. So she cast her gaze further afield.
Caius came to her side unawares, like a raven with black wings folding them and gliding down beside her without a sound. His scent was already so familiar to Katherine that she no longer had any sense of alarm even when he approached.
This didn't seem like a good thing.
Katherine turned her head and looked at the still erect and elegant man sitting beside her. Suddenly, she asked, "How long did it take you... to adapt?"
She asked the question cautiously, yet her curiosity was unmistakable, and her voice carried the grievance that was characteristic of her when she was still feeling gloomy. Caius was silent for a while, then took a deep breath. "Half a day."
Katherine turned her face away. She knew she had asked the wrong person. Comparing oneself to others could be truly maddening. After a while, she muttered somewhat to herself, "How do you adapt so quickly? I'm already struggling just to deal with these chaotic rays of light and those overly clear yet insignificant things."
"This is what a predator must possess. We are the finest predators in the world. Reborn from death, we have endured the pain of hell and walked back." Perhaps because he was talking about a topic he liked, Caius's voice wasn't as cold and hard. "We are armed to the teeth, with every part of us from head to toe being a weapon capable of easily taking the life of our prey."
"Unfortunately, this 'armament' on me is really pathetic." Katherine said self-deprecatingly.
Caius looked at her for a while, then got up and jumped onto the huge stone where Katherine was sitting. He was as agile and handsome as a black panther. Before Katherine could figure out what he wanted to do, suddenly everything went black. His cold hands covered her eyes, depriving her of her sight.
Being unable to see made Katherine extremely nervous. She tensed up all over. However, Caius held her shoulders to keep her from moving, his voice sounding a bit gritted.
Katherine immediately dared not move. She blinked instinctively. Her curly lashes fluttered in Caius's hand. He felt as if he were holding a butterfly. The slight tickle crept into his heart like a snake. Her scent grew stronger, lingering around Caius's nose and tugging at his nerves.
There were cold breaths falling finely and densely on her earlobes and neck. Katherine trembled slightly. She heard the smooth-as-silk voice glide across her eardrums: "Don't rely on your eyes. Try to feel the surroundings with your body's instincts. You have to learn to feel it first before you can master it."
"How do I feel it?" Katherine's voice was a bit off-key. Venom was constantly secreted and then swallowed back down. She held tightly onto the stone beneath her hand. Due to years of wind and sun exposure, the outer layer of the stone felt a bit soft. She unconsciously exerted force, and pieces of broken stone crumbled off.
"Listen. Listen carefully to all the sounds around you. You'll know what's around you, whether it's safe or dangerous." Caius continued. "Relax. This is an ability you were born with. You don't need to exert effort to do it."
Just listen? What about the other senses?
To be honest, it was really not easy to relax around Caius. It was too much of a test of one's psychological endurance.
Katherine took a deep breath and focused intently on listening to the sounds around her. The most unignorable sound was the rushing of the waterfall, pouring down with the force of thunder, crashing heavily onto the pool and rocks below. The sound of the water flowing, the sound of water splashing up and then falling back into the water, the sound of the rocks starting to crack under the immense pressure.
The tits followed the path of the wind and landed, flapping their wings lightly and standing on the branches, making cooing sounds. From a very far distance, the sound of the church bells drifted over, mingling with the sound of the hares jumping in the grass. There were large elk searching for food. Their heartbeats were strong and powerful, and the blood was coursing through their veins.
There was also a rather terrifying sound, like something slithering through the grass, hissing. It was approaching the hare. Katherine understood. It was a snake. The gray wolves were lying in wait in the forest, waiting for the elk to approach.
After a short hiss, there was a majestic long howl. Katherine heard the elk's heartbeat growing weaker and weaker, and the blood gushing out from the elk's neck where the gray wolf had bitten it.
The aroma of blood, the thick scent of vegetation, and the smell of the humus underfoot mixed with the earthy smell, vividly painting a forest scene in Katherine's mind.
Caius sensed Katherine's body relaxing and gradually removed his hand covering her eyes, whispering in her ear: "Once you're familiar with this ability, you can control your body as you please and make any movement you want."
Katherine opened her eyes. The sunlight was still as intricate as the densest net. Her vision was incredibly sharp. The details that had been completely chaotic and unmanageable before were gradually falling into order in front of her eyes. She relaxed herself and silently thought, Run forward.
Her body shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow, with a rapid speed yet completely under control. She looked around, capturing every minute change in the forest without worrying about tripping. The forest, under such rapid movement, became a painting smeared with various shades of green, rapidly receding beside Katherine.
She looked back and saw Caius not far behind her. He couldn't keep up with her.
The advantage of being a newborn was fully demonstrated. Katherine saw a smile suddenly appear on her face, and then she disappeared in a faster blur. His eyes could still see the blue figure, but it was getting farther and farther away from him.
The momentary pleasure instantly crumbled. A surging sense of impatience churned in his chest. Realizing that Katherine had left him behind and was almost about to break free from his control and flee from his side, the black in Caius's eyes became manic. His face was gloomy and distorted, and his anger flared up: "Katherine, stop immediately!"
The violent voice was full of irresistible commands and terrifying anger. Katherine was startled by the fierce voice. Losing her balance due to the huge inertia of the high-speed movement, she crashed straight ahead.
Accompanied by a terrifying dizziness, a sharp pain on the right side of her body, and the sound of a huge rock cracking, Katherine was slammed onto the ground, leaving a several-centimeter-deep scratch on the forest floor.
Her clothes were completely torn. The hard skin developed small cracks and then quickly healed, and the pain disappeared. Katherine looked back at the huge rock that had been smashed and then at her own intact skin, amazed at the powerful regenerative ability of her body. Even a car couldn't have such a terrifying destructive power, let alone remain unharmed.
Thus it could be seen that trying to run over and kill someone like Caius with a car would be a futile attempt.
Before she could finish her exclamation, Caius had already teleported in front of her. He grabbed her and lifted her up. His arm was shaking uncontrollably, and his face was terrifyingly cold: "Where were you planning to run to, Katherine?"
If he hadn't called out to her, would she have just run away like that? Her speed was so fast that Caius couldn't catch up with her. He could only watch helplessly as she ran farther and farther away. For a moment, Caius really thought she had left him and would never be found again.
When he saw Katherine sitting on the ground in a sorry state, Caius hadn't had time to breathe a sigh of relief when darker and more crazy thoughts clamored to occupy his mind. He really wanted to break her arm and leg bones right then and there, so that she would lie obediently in his arms for the rest of her life and never be able to leave.
Katherine looked up blankly, meeting Caius's angry eyes. The intense, unnamed emotions in his eyes were wild and crazy. Katherine thought he must really want to strangle her. What a brutal guy!
However, regardless of everything, the feeling of being able to control her body freely was simply wonderful. Katherine thought she should still thank him, although she was very doubtful whether Caius would be willing to continue teaching her.
Standing up, Katherine was about to speak when she noticed an extremely strange scene:
Caius's soft and thick black robe was spread casually on the ground. A curious hare was biting and tugging at the corner of his robe, trying to drag the soft fabric back.
Of course, it couldn't possibly move Caius, but Caius seemed oblivious to it. He was still glaring at Katherine with a terrifying expression as if he wanted to skin her alive and devour her.
Katherine looked at him in surprise. She didn't understand why Caius didn't shake off the hare that didn't know its own death. He should have flipped his hand and smashed the hare into a pulp. That was Caius's style. But now he was just looking at Katherine as if he didn't feel the insignificant pull behind him at all.
"Using the speed of a newborn to outrun me, and with your excellent endurance, you could have slipped through the crowds in Volterra and then left the Volturi forever, right?" Caius's smile was almost cruel. "I really underestimated you, Katherine."
"You..." Katherine didn't have time to pay attention to what he said. His indifference left her dumbfounded. "You... behind you, behind you..."
"What other tricks do you want to play?" Caius remained unmoved.
Katherine looked at him in disbelief: "You... don't you feel it?"