Beginning notes: Twilight and its sequels and characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.
Also, this is the sequel to Immovable Object, so if you haven't read it then this story will not make complete sense. Do yourself a service and read it first, OK?
{…I wasn't surprised to find my front door bashed in when I arrived at my apartment. I paused, taking in the sounds around me, trying to determine if they were still inside. I didn't hear anything and had waited several hours before coming here. Slowly…slowly, I nudged open the busted door and inched inside. It was very stupid of me to come here where it was expected of me to return, but I needed the money I had stashed under the floorboards.
"Doctor Stein, I presume?"…};
-Chapter 1: Hunting Hybrids-
The wind whipped through my hair as I flew over the vast green canopy only a few meters below me. We were somewhere in the Amazon right now, though I had honestly lost track of where exactly we were. There were very few villages around this area of the rainforest – even fewer who would talk to my companions. You see, the less civilized populations still believed in the legends of blood drinkers down here below the equator. This was no problem for me, but it was for my brother, Ryan, and our adoptive family of vampires.
Let me tell you something about the Amazon. It is completely miserable. I thought Florida had a humid climate, but let me assure you: it's nothing compared to the rainforests here. Outside of the crushing humidity there's the amazing arrangement of insects that all seem to like to bite – and I'm the only one among our 'group' who they flock to. If it weren't for my shield I would have gone home long ago – saving the Cullens be damned.
Alice knows where she's going, right? Ryan questioned through his thoughts. At the speed we were going, my ears couldn't really pick up anything my brother said. I scanned the thoughts of Alice and our surprise guest, Kachiri.
"We're about two minutes out," I responded in a normal voice that I could hardly hear myself. Ryan mentally nodded from beside me.
My brother and I were never exactly normal, though I suppose that's not really a surprise for two people flying over treetops. A long time ago we discovered we were blessed with amazing gifts – Ryan with his telekinesis, and me with my tendency to rip apart skulls and absorb the special abilities of others. We were freaks; meta-humans – well, at least we were. Ryan was changed into a vampire not all that long ago by a vindictive bitch named Victoria, to be used in a vampire army.
I tracked down the legends and myths to the source – a coven of vampires and a pack of werewolves living on the Olympic Peninsula. We teamed up to fight off the bad vampires – I kicked mucho vampire ass – and eventually settled into the vamily ourselves. Things were looking peaceful for the first time in a long time, much to my horror. Luckily, Bella Swan – Cullen, now – was there to keep things interesting.
Bella married a vampire and then got knocked up by said vampire, resulting in her changing into one after the baby was born. To make matters more chaotic, Bella's demon spawn was mistaken as a vampire child – highly forbidden in the Volturi code of justice – and the leaders of the vampire world decided now was a great time to kill my new family. Maybe I should buy Bella a rabbit's foot or a horseshoe before heading back.
Luckily for us, Alice had a vision of a way to save everyone – well, it was more like a blank spot. Bella's baby, Renesmee, was assumed one of a kind. Alice and I couldn't see vampire-human hybrids or the Quileute wolves in our visions of the future; so when blind spots popped up in South America, the four of us – Alice, Jasper, Ryan, and me – left to find another hybrid.
The crux of the situation revolved on Aro's need of power. He wanted the gifted members of the Cullens – Ryan and myself very much included – and would do anything to get them. We knew he would see Renesmee as a threat; Alice and I had seen that. He would require physical, undisputable proof that hybrids could go incognito in the human world just as well as vampires could. The problem with our reconnaissance and retrieval plan was that Aro couldn't know that we were looking.
And so that's why the four of us 'left the family' immediately upon discovering the entire Volturi guard descending upon us. Alice was currently tracking blind spots through her visions. We had already sent back two of the Amazonian coven to Washington as witnesses. That's what the rest of the Cullen clan was doing as well, finding those few poor souls brave enough to attest to Renesmee not being a vampire child. One of the three Amazonians was currently with our group – Kachiri – and was helping us track down the illusive hybrid.
Shit! Ryan mentally cursed as we hit a strong air current and his body started to fall to the earth.
"Think happy thoughts, Ryan!" I shouted from above. Several trees snapped, followed by a thud.
Fuck you, I'm new at this. His thoughts continued on as he ran across the forest floor.
I sniggered, but continued in the direction of Alice, Jasper, and Kachiri. Ryan had only recently learned to use his telekinetic powers to their full potential. That meant flying – lots and lots of flying. He still hadn't quite mastered it yet, clearly. I looked off to the distance and noticed Alice's visions had caught up with her – she was clouded in darkness inside her mind as the future started to disappear.
"Heads up, Ryan, I think Alice found them." I landed with a thud beside Jasper as Ryan blurred up beside me. Alice was standing a few meters in front of me, eyes closed and visions flowing full force – complete darkness clouded our future.
Who are they? What do they want?
So many? A human…
"I hear them," I whispered. "Two; I can't tell if one of them is a hybrid."
"We need your help," Jasper called out in the direction I was facing. "We won't hurt you."
My shield rippled out from my body, distorting the air around me with an almost-invisible shimmer. With a hybrid in the mix I wouldn't be able to predict an attack. Jasper and I sent out reassurance and calm out toward the two unknown vampires, trying to lure them out to talk with us.
Slowly, a female vampire emerged from the dense forest. She was rather small – though not as tiny as Alice – with braided black hair and an olive complexion. Her eyes darted rapidly from Jasper to Ryan, sparing Alice and Kachiri a glance in-between. I smirked as her thoughts assessed me quickly and concluded I wasn't a threat in comparison to the four vampires in front of her.
What is a human doing here? Are these vampires a threat? Why are their eyes golden…those three? Her thoughts were quickly becoming incoherent fragments. Her name was Huilen and she was fiercely protective of the other person she had with her. They had familial love for one another, I could sense, and were not mates. Her thoughts skimmed over our potential reaction to this…Nahuel, and from the mental picture she projected of him I could tell he was indeed a hybrid.
I brushed my hand against Jasper's, allowing what I'd seen to flow into his mind. It was an interesting gift, Renesmee's talent; limited through touch, but still able to circumvent Bella's mental shield – and thusly my shield. Jasper mentally nodded and stepped forward, spreading out his hands in a peaceful pose that I'd seen Carlisle use regularly.
"What do you want?" Huilen asked, shifting into a subtle crouch.
"It's…a complicated story," Jasper began. "But the short version of it is that our niece, a hybrid, like your friend, was mistaken for an immortal child. The Volturi are coming to destroy our family and we need Nahuel as a witness."
Huilen hissed. "How do you know his name?" She inched backward and crouched lower.
"She's getting ready to bolt," I stated the obvious to Jasper. Huilen snapped her eyes toward me and I returned her gaze. "And we know his name because I read it from your thoughts." I tapped the side of my head.
"What would I be a witness to?" Nahuel asked, stepping out of the foliage and walking to his aunt's side. "I have never even met this other hybrid."
"It's not quite clear yet," Alice answered as she actively searched the future, "but I think Aro is going to want proof that a hybrid can exist without drawing attention to our existence. He'll want to play off the fact that – as far as the rest of our family is concerned – Nessie is one of a kind."
"So you want me to go with you? To give my life story, as it were?" Nahuel asked.
"Yes." Alice answered with a nod. "It may be the only way to get the Volturi to leave peacefully."
I rolled my eyes. This whole cloak and dagger routine was a little stupid, in my opinion. Sure, having a grown hybrid as evidence that they could remain unknown to the human race was a good plan for getting out of a fight. But Aro still wanted me – he would still fight to get me.
Disregarding the immortal child accusations, someone would demand that I be either changed or killed. I would probably call them names and tell them to shove it up their ass, which would bring another round of near-death tension. To be honest, I wouldn't mind being a vampire. Sure, I would miss eating food; but the draw of super-strength and indestructibility were mighty tempting. My pride wouldn't allow it, though. In my mind, if I became a vampire just to appease Aro and his laws, then he won. No, I'd just have to kill him.
Nahuel's upbringing was vastly different than Renesmee's. He was around one hundred fifty years old – which was a good thing, since it meant hybrids were immortal – and had killed his mother during the birthing process. Apparently this was a common occurrence, considering his father had a habit of impregnating human women to create a new race of immortals. The plan was to create enough hybrids to overwhelm the Volturi.
To be honest, the guy sounded like a teenager who guessed their friend's social networking password and thought himself a badass enough to hack the Pentagon. How would an army of hybrids be able to overcome full vampires? Stupid.
"OK, the private jet is ready whenever we're ready." Alice said, closing her phone and bouncing into the room.
After our jungle adventure, we moved our group east to the city of Manaus. It was shockingly large for being in the middle of South America. The hotel we were currently holed up in was very nice by my standards – light-years away from the crappy one in Seattle. The floor was marble, if you would believe it, and it had multiple bedrooms along with its own balcony. It was nuts.
Not surprisingly, Nahuel and Huilen were curious as to why a human was associating with vampires. These questions were never directed at me, of course; I was merely cattle to the red-eyed vampires. Jane's power coupled with Ryan's was very effective in enlightening them, and they soon dropped the subject.
The flash of a camera went off and I turned to Jasper, who was adjusting the focus and lining up another shot. It was no surprise to learn that Nahuel and Huilen had never ridden on an airplane or driven a car – hell, from their thoughts, they had never left the continent. Jasper's contact in Seattle had arranged for papers for the two of them, but had opted to finish them himself. Kachiri had a passport and driver's license, much to my surprise, so she was already set.
"I just don't get why you don't want to fly commercial," Alice whined to me. "We would buy out first class; it would be no trouble at all!"
"Those two have never flown before and I really don't want them spazzing out and crashing the plane," I said. "Besides that, there's no fucking way I'd get my knife and 'medical supplies' through airport security." Of course, that hadn't been the real reason. While these were concerns, the truth was it was me that would set off the alarms; not my things. While I was sure I could pass it off as a pacemaker, the vampires with me would grill me about it.
Alice let out a sigh, but nodded in defeat. I really couldn't understand her insistence on not using a jet. The Cullens loved to spend money on ridiculous things, and we had plenty of time to get back to Washington before the Volturi showed up. By my estimates, we had about six days to get there; plenty of time, even if we drove – vampire speed, that is.
"All finished," Jasper announced, holding out the documents to Nahuel and Huilen. I smirked as they looked through the forged papers. They had little to no idea what these were for, exactly. Their expressions were set for approval, though, and they nodded in approval like they were impressed with Jasper's work.
"I'll go find us a few cars," I said, reaching for my jacket.
Emily… Ryan thought to me, sending me waves of disapproval as he imagined my idea of 'finding a few cars.'
I shot him a glare, daring him to voice his thoughts aloud. He clenched his jaw but said nothing, only shaking his head slightly. With as much as a blessing as I would ever get out of Ryan, I walked out the door to the hotel room, excitement flooding through me.
End notes: For those few of you who followed the first story, you'll be waiting a bit longer for chapter updates. A week isn't so long, is it?