Chapter Twenty - eight

The rain was still pouring down heavily. The rain in Volterra was dense and chilly. The leaden-gray sky was extremely gloomy, as if it had been smeared randomly over a large area of white drawing paper with a pencil.

Before leaving, Katherine, who had been kindly reminded by Sulpicia that her attire was no longer suitable for the weather, sat on the bed, looking rather worried as she eyed the clothes she had bought a couple of days ago. At that time, she hadn't paid any attention to the change in temperature. Little did she know that her collection of T-shirts and flimsy jeans were no longer appropriate for the current weather in Volterra.

With a deep sense of nostalgia for her salary card, she closed the cardboard box and sauntered downstairs slowly, making up a speech in her mind on how to ask Gianna for some clothes to borrow.

However, unexpectedly, it seemed as if Gianna had known all along that Katherine would come to her. Before Katherine could even stammer out her request, a brown autumn overcoat with horn buttons and a hood was handed to her. It didn't have any particularly fancy style. It looked like something bought from an ordinary clothing store, and it probably cost no more than thirty euros at most.

"I thought you'd like it." Gianna said.

"Thank you."

Katherine stuck out her tongue and carefully put it on. The incomparably soft quality and comfort made Katherine feel that perhaps her initial estimation of its value had been completely off. Adding three zeros after thirty might be a closer approximation.

Wearing this overcoat felt like being wrapped in a stack of banknotes. It seemed that the bridge of communication between humans and non-humans still relied on money. The tentacles of capitalism were everywhere, making it a paragon and exemplar of promoting harmony across different races.

"Cassie, dear, are you ready?" The gentle voice was as smooth as a ribbon in the wind. Katherine replied, "Yes."

...

Despite the rainy weather, Sulpicia still brought along a sunshade umbrella. According to her, the weather in Volterra was as changeable as Caius's mood. It was entirely possible for it to be overcast one moment and sunny the next.

She spoke quickly, interspersed with pleasant laughter from time to time. However, Katherine had to admit that her metaphor was extremely apt and fitting.

The rainy day didn't deter the tourists in Volterra. In fact, compared to the sweltering heat of a midsummer sunny day, this kind of weather actually relieved the intense heat and stuffiness. The sightseeing buses came one after another. The painted colors on their bodies were vivid and bright, making one couldn't help but take a second look in this gloomy weather.

The business of the ice cream parlors was a bit sluggish. The dark green awning above the entrance had accumulated water, which then poured down like a miniature waterfall.

Walking further ahead was Volterra's farmers' market. Women with umbrellas passed by Heidi and the others. They closed their umbrellas, shaking off a puddle of water droplets on the ground, and then, without bothering to dry the water stains on their bodies, they began to haggle with the stall owners. That poor fish was repeatedly placed on the scale and then taken off again because the argument was still unresolved.

Katherine watched the woman and, after a while, withdrew her gaze and muttered under her breath: "If I were her, I wouldn't buy that fish."

"Why?" Sulpicia, like Aro, was always overly curious about her abilities.

"She'll die a tortured death because of that fish." Katherine frowned, looking rather pained, and then ended the topic by shutting her mouth.

The Volterra Tourism Bureau was just around the corner, and now Katherine and the others could already see it clearly.

After entering the Tourism Bureau, the man who was registering the employees' attendance at the entrance greeted Heidi enthusiastically. He solicitously took her coat for her and, by the way, asked considerately if she needed hot water.

Heidi and Sulpicia handled such situations with ease, which Katherine greatly admired. Unlike herself, after being the focus of so many people's stares and enthusiastic praises, Katherine could only smile stiffly and look around aimlessly, trying to find a direction where no one was looking at her. Her hands unconsciously clenched due to this sudden and excessive attention.

Apparently, Heidi had been very popular here before. However, considering her grace and beauty that would even make international supermodels feel inferior, it wasn't really surprising.

Another batch of new tourists entered, and the already strong human scent became even more unbearable. Katherine held her breath to block out that smell, suppressing the restlessness within her, and subconsciously retreated to the corner.

Sulpicia patted her hand: "Are you okay? Shall we go somewhere else?"

Before Katherine could say anything, the new tourists began to cast astonished looks at them one after another. Some even came forward to ask if they were also new tour guides. Heidi put her arm around Katherine's shoulders and said in a low voice: "Come with me. There's no one in my office."

Sulpicia smiled calmly and explained to them one by one that they were just Heidi's family members who had come to visit her. Heidi had already quickly led Katherine away from the hall and headed to her office on the second floor.

Once inside the office, Katherine immediately felt much better. The redness in front of her eyes gradually subsided quietly. It was then that she noticed that the decoration of this office was quite simple, without any superfluous items. It didn't seem like it was being used regularly at all. The smell inside was also very faint. Katherine bet that Heidi must have skipped work quite often.

Just as she was thinking this, Heidi closed the window for her and then said: "I have to go. Mrs. Sulpicia will come up to keep you company soon, okay?"

Katherine nodded and sat on the sofa, casually picking up a travel brochure and a house sales brochure to read. The computer had later rendered the sky of Volterra bluer than the sea. The consequence of overdoing it was that the whole picture looked extremely distorted.

She stood up absent-mindedly with the brochure in her hand and walked to the windowsill where water droplets were dripping and jumping. She placed the stiff paper on the edge of the window. The fine raindrops danced rhythmically outside the glass, as if someone was directing them in unison.

Katherine's gaze traveled downward and, inadvertently, swept across a place that made her almost freeze. She saw an address on the house sales page that was very familiar to her - 145 Sandrak Street, Florence.

This house had a two-story design and was in excellent condition. The owner had hardly taken anything away, saying that it would be a housewarming gift for whoever was lucky enough to buy this house. The excellent condition of the house and its extremely low price took up almost half of the sales page. It had been advertised five days ago, and there was no mention of whether it had been sold yet.

145 Sandrak Street, Florence.

This was the location of Landon's house, the place where Katherine had been living since she left Windsor seven years ago. But now, it was being sold so cheaply and casually on this page?!

Katherine gripped the brochure tightly. Her hard fingers were as sharp as knives and easily tore through it. She stared at the familiar address and the familiar appearance of the house in disbelief, her mind in a complete turmoil.

She suddenly remembered that when she called Landon last time, the phone prompt had indicated that the number had become invalid. And now the house was being sold so casually. Did that mean that Landon had...

"Impossible!" Katherine crumpled the brochure into a ball of waste paper, threw it irritably into the wastebasket, and then kicked it under the high-legged sofa. She paced back and forth in the room at a very fast speed, looking like a brown blur flying around.

Then, as if she had remembered something, she grabbed another brochure, flipped to the same page, and quickly jotted down the contact number on it. Glancing around, she saw that there was a white telephone on the desk.

Katherine pounced on it, hugged it in her arms, and quickly dialed the contact number on the brochure. Time was stretched into a long and seemingly endless line in the waiting and agitation. It wound around Katherine's neck coil by coil. Each time the busy signal rang, the line tightened a little.

"Hello?"

The moment she heard someone answer, Katherine felt as if all the venom in her body was boiling. With a forceful grip of her hand, she left a palm-sized cracked mark on the wooden table.

She tried her best to adjust her breathing, vigilant of the movements around her: "Hello, I'd like to ask if the house on Sandrak Street in Florence has been sold already?"

"Oh, you mean that one. That house was very popular and has already been sold."

Katherine clenched her fists. Her teeth chattered due to the excessive force of her bite. The venom flooded uncontrollably in her mouth, and her whole body tensed up: "What about the original owner of the house? Where is he?"

"Well... why are you asking this?"

Someone was approaching!

Katherine hurriedly looked up, lowered her voice, and a low, menacing growl escaped from her throat: "Tell me! Where is Leonardo Landon? Did he hand over the house to you himself?"

The other person was startled by Katherine's tone and stammered so badly that Katherine wished she could grab his collar, pry open his mouth, and straighten out his tongue: "Yes... yes. He was... ah, he was with his friend at that time... said... said he was going to his friend's place."

Thank goodness! Landon was still alive!

"Where?!"

"Well... I don't know. The accent of his friend sounded familiar, but... but I really can't remember."

After abruptly hanging up the phone, Katherine stared at the crack on the wooden table for a moment, then grabbed the phone and threw it to the ground, smashing it to pieces. Immediately after that, she tore the brochure at hand into several pieces and threw them on the ground.

She knew that her complexion must be very bad at the moment. The appetite stirred up by the overly excited emotions provided her with a cover. When Sulpicia pushed the door open and entered, she wasn't too surprised to see the mess on the ground. She put her arm around Katherine's shoulders and comforted her: "You need to feed. Shall we go back to the Volturi?"

"I think I can just go to the mountain behind here to take care of it." Katherine forced out these words from her parched throat, her bloodshot eyes fixed intently on the forest outside.

Sulpicia couldn't stop the newborn controlled by her appetite. Katherine pushed her aside without much effort and disappeared quickly into the heavy rain and the gray-green forest. Sulpicia quickly followed, not too close but not too far behind Katherine.

Katherine's ears were filled with the roaring sound of the rain and the vibrant heartbeat sounds. She stared intently at a deer, hearing the sound of its blood singing merrily as it rushed through its body. In the second before pouncing on it, Katherine's only lucid thought was - she must go to her former residence.

Although in Landon's eyes, Katherine might have already been dead, at least she wanted to know where he had gone. After six years of his care, Katherine could never just let it go like that. Moreover, she still didn't know if the Volturi had done anything to Landon. After all, he was the last person she saw when she was still human.

...

Venice:

This was the Manloff Hotel. Opening the window, one could see the azure Adriatic Sea and the scattered white sails. This hotel was designed in an antique style. All the walls were built in the medieval way. Even the design of the bookcases and the huge hollow globe on the ceiling were also elements of the medieval period.

It seemed that the owner of this place must be a lover of retro culture.

Leonardo Landon was sitting in front of the desk. Rows of framed paintings were hung on the wall beside him. His figure was reflected and divided on the glass of several framed paintings. Andrew was sitting opposite him, smoking a pipe. The blue smoke curled upward, and occasionally a few specks of ash fell on the table in front of him and on his hands, which were wrinkled and had a soy-sauce color.

There were many scars on these hands. Landon glanced at them briefly. The two most obvious ones were the marks from pulling fishing nets and the scars from being splashed and burned by gunpowder when using a firearm. These were the hands of a hunter, with the muzzle aimed at the most mysterious, elegant, and charming creatures - vampires.

"So, those ancient and rascal Red Shirts snatched your adopted daughter?" When Andrew said the last word, he seemed to find it rather funny and exhaled heavily, almost blowing the ash onto Landon's face.

He coughed a few times, put the pipe back in his mouth, took a puff, and then let it go: "How old is she?"

"Twenty-three."

"How long have you been with her?"

"I've been her guardian for six years." Landon subtly corrected the other person's rather unrefined wording.

"Alright, Mr. Guardian. I think your ward might have been tortured beyond recognition in that hell. You know they don't have any gentle ways with newborns." Andrew sighed. "Not to mention Chelsea and Colin. Have you ever thought that she might not even recognize you anymore?"

"Yes, I have." Landon replied, his voice soft, carrying a certain fragility. "But I still want to see her, to see that she's safe."

"You know the Volturi and should also be aware of their power. We can't confront them head-on this time." Andrew said. "As for your ward, we'll play it by ear when the time comes. It's not yet certain if she was brought here with those Red Shirts."

"Um." Landon picked up the wine at his hand and took a sip, answering in a low voice.

"Leonardo, I have a question I've always wanted to ask you."

"What?"

"I know you care about that child a lot, but I don't understand why. You didn't even know her before."

Landon's hand holding the wine glass froze for a moment, and then there was a long silence. At the last moment when Andrew was about to turn and leave, he finally opened his mouth, his suppressed voice filled with pain: "She never knew. It was I who brought her before the Volturi. It was I who caused her to leave her hometown and finally become a vampire. It was all my fault..."