Chapter Text
Stairs stretch up as far as the eyes can see, twisting and winding to follow the natural dips of the mountainous valley. Near the top, closer to the sky than she is to the ground, a tall blonde woman stands. “Dude, hurry the fuck up.” Sea blue eyes peer over big blocky sunnies, a frown painting her peach lips.
“If you say that one more bloody time.” A wheeze follows the weak threat. Perched on the midway point, perfectly manicured fingers run through wavy bubblegum locks. “How did you get up there so fast, anyway?” She unscrews her drink bottle, choking it down gracelessly, uncaring as beads of water spill past her lips and trail down the gentle curve of her golden neck and disappear between the jut of her collarbones.
“That’s because I chose to wear sandals, not heels.” The blonde cackles, showing off her new pair of white laced sandals. Asha turns down to look at her own black platforms and scoffs, putting her drink away. “It’s a fucking miracle that you haven’t broken your ankles yet by the way.”
“Kat, I’m a professional.” She gloats when she finally makes it to the top. The sun glares menacingly down at them from watercolour skies, making them both glad they bought those matching sunhat’s in town just previously.
“Whatever.” Kat grumbles. The pair are currently walking through the empty streets of Italy, enjoying the summer heat and the wonderful view of this picturesque little town. The blonde can’t quite recall the name of it from the top of her head, but her best friend certainly seems to enjoy snapping their pictures every now and then.
They haven’t encountered many people outside of the general tourist areas though, not that it’s unexpected. With how COVID has made an unexpected comeback, it’s a miracle there are people out and about at all.
With Asha’s newly acquired PhD and Kat on the run from her family’s shitshow, when the opportunity to travel presented itself, they both leapt at the chance. What? The airlines were practically giving the tickets away for free and they’re nothing if not opportunistic.
By ‘they’ it was mostly a one woman decision. Asha was fine with having a nice dinner to celebrate her success but Kat came home one day and told her that, “My dickless stepfather just kicked the bucket and he left the family fortune to me, can you believe that? Anyway, I’ve gotta dip for a bit before the fucking vultures come swarming.”, which is how they both find themselves halfway across the world.
Leaving the country unnoticed without alerting Kat’s family was easy with her cousin Derek’s help. He’s heading up the company while she’s laying low and it’s probably the best decision she’s ever made. If anyone deserves to be in charge, it’s Derek. Not her step-siblings.
Kat is glad her family drove her out. Besides, business is the last thing on her mind right now. Why would she be happy being stuck to a chair with paperwork when she’s got some newfound cash to burn? Really, this family feud has only given her the perfect excuse to travel the world.
“Is this really worth all this effort?” Asha sighed. They’ve been on the search for the castle where Twilight was filmed since yesterday. “Are we sure this place even exists? We’ve been circling this block for the past hour.” Kat merely rolls her eyes in response, tugging her friend’s arm forward.
“Stop complaining. We’re nearly there. According to the map, the fountain should be juuussstt… here!” They turn round a crumpled column and lo and behold, there it is.
They can both clearly picture it:
The day is just as bright and sunny as this. The streets are overcrowded with figures in red hoods. Bella: worried over her suicidal idiotic vampire, rushing through the streets, pushing pedestrians, across the fountain and crashing into the arms of said dumbass pale boy. Edward: looking like he had just snorted 6 kilos worth of cocaine, just stands there in a daze, not daring to hope— to believe his love is still alive.
Kat and Asha face each other with matching grins, bursting into rowdy snorting laughter. Ah yes, America’s favourite couple making one dumbass decision after the next, why? Because apparently communication doesn’t exist. There is no doubt that the Twilight franchise is the shittiest thing they have ever seen but they eat it up every damned time. It’s too terrible not to love. It’s one of those things that people bond over to make fun of.
That is after all how the two of them met when they were kids— fighting over who was the worst romantic option: Edward or Jacob. Edward of course won by a landslide, and the rest is history.
“Wow, this is like a dream come true!” Asha squeals, already snapping pictures.
“I told you it was worth it.” Grins the blonde, admiring the open space. It’s so similar to how it looked in the movies but it’s clear that no one has been here in a while. A part of the building has crumbled, vines and weeds have grown in between the tiles and the cracks of the building. The most prominent thing however is the fountain: shiny, white, and porcelain. It stands out like a lotus would in a desert.
Fountains are always majestic, yes, but this… this is different. The water fountain looks brand new. The weeds around it don’t touch the porcelain, shy as if it wouldn’t dare to. It’s breathtaking in an eerie untouchable way. With the decrepit surroundings, the fountain is a beacon. It almost begs all eyes to fall onto its clean and sleek form. No water is currently cascading down the tiered rock, however nonetheless clean water ripples invitingly at the base of the structure.
“Ooh, let’s take a selfie here!” The pinkette drags her friend in front of the fountain and rearranges them both into position. Sweeping some loose golden strands out of Kat’s high braided bun, she frames them on either side of her face, accentuating her sharp jawline. Asha dabs some lip gloss on her friend’s lips and doubles it as a light pink blush on her pale freckled face. It’s the work of seconds, but it fully transforms Kat into an innocent beauty. The blonde looks down at her own reflection in the water and scowls. She looks great, there’s no denying that, but she hates how it makes her look: weak and soft.
While she is checking herself out, Asha pushes her bubblegum pink hair over her shoulders and ensures her bobby pins remain in place, making it look like she had a natural and voluptuous side part. With her dark caramel skin and sharp winged eyeliner, she looks the polar opposite to her friend.
“Ready?” She asks. Kat hums, leaning forward from behind and seeing their reflection in the water's surface. “Well, don’t we make an attractive pair?” Kat goes to open her mouth, no doubt to say something snarky, but she doesn’t get the chance before they are suddenly pushed face first into the water.
She catches a hint of red retreating from the corner of her vision before they both sink like stones. Panic seizes Asha’s bones as the ice cold water holds her captive. She can’t even flail or gasp for air, frozen in gripping soul crushing fear. Her lungs burn with a hot desperate fire, beseeching for breath, but her body refuses it. She can’t see anything, the black abyss spreading before her.
Help me. Help me. Please, help me! Her mind screams loud and shrill, but they refuse to pass her iron lips. The light is fading. She’s sinking. Lower. And lower.
And lower.
And lower.
The water warms, beckoning her to close her eyes, when there’s a rough tug on her forearm. Suddenly, she’s dragged from the abyss of despair, hauled over shore where the air is rich and her body is once more her own. She heaves and gags for air she’s convinced isn’t actually there, light burning from behind irritated corneas. There are burning hands on her shoulders, searing into frozen chattering bones, and suddenly she’s face to face with concerned electric eyes. Blue, wide, and familiar.
Her friend’s mouth is moving but nothing gets past the soaring blood in her veins, ringing loud and clear underneath the frantic beats of her heart. Hiccups lurch her frame uncontrollably between breath to breath, a ragdoll in her own body. Scalding hands methodically rub up and down on her back.
Up, down… up, down… up, down.
Awareness creeps forward as shadows swallow their surroundings, only wretched sobs filling the empty air. They sit together for a moment, her friend a warm rock and grounding Asha to the earth beneath her.
The sky is overcast with pregnant clouds, lengthening their silhouettes and inviting trees to rustle and writhe with the worming wind. The two of them are soaked to the bone, seated next to the fountain.
“Thank y– Uh, thank you.” Asha finally mutters through chattering teeth. A soft smile is thrown her way, devoid of pity and full of understanding.
“Anytime.” Kat whispers. Neither of them speaks of that day. They don’t need to. It weighs heavily in the air between them. “Anyway, who was that arsehole who pushed us?” She grumbles, choosing to push those thoughts away for now.
If the shivering pinkette notices the abrupt change, she doesn’t say anything. “Yeah, what kind of arse does that? Did you get a look at their face?” She helps the blonde up who— really should look like a drowned rat, but instead looks unfairly good despite being soaking wet.
“I didn’t see shit. But I think they were wearing a coat?”
“Yeah, you’re right! It was either that or a hoodie, I think. It was like… bright red.” They both look around but find themselves with only the birds for company. Weird. Kat glances towards the fountain again and is surprised. Pennies litter the bottom of the pool, looking to be no more than ankle deep.
How the hell did they even drown?
Asha, on the other hand, found herself surveying the buildings. They were no longer cracked or crumbling. In fact, the buildings look quite new, standing strong and firm– shiny even. Did too much water seep into her brain or is she remembering wrongly? She could have sworn…
“It doesn’t matter, let’s get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.” Kat mutters.
“No arguments here.” They both gather their things and drip out the area hand in hand, only the luminescent beams of moonlight illuminating the way.
Two pairs of glittering red eyes trail after them from the shadows.
“Come along, Alec. I believe the Masters would like to hear about this recent development.”