A stranger soul
Cullen Mansion, 23 November 2010
Everything seemed right. Everything seemed normal. Sometimes, Alice had the passion to let the curtains leave being pulled away, letting the sunshine in. After all, nobody could spot them here if they had that much of luck. Usually, despite her efforts, the trees covered it all up.
But not this day. She felt as the first rays of the bright sun touched her body, her back and her head. She could almost feel her body glowing, mirroring back the light like a small, bright moon. She slowly turned in the bed so that she should face the window. And then, she saw something else. A tall man standing in front of Jasper but she was about at the half of his height. She felt she saw something. But she couldn't say it. In fact, she wasn't able to do anything.
All of the family – except Jacob who had gone hunting – gathered around the seemingly petrified body of Alice. Her eyes were left open and nobody – even with a vampire's strength – was able to close them. They became even more confused when Carlisle ran some tests on her. Her brain was definitely alive. There was only one problem left – it could not respond to anyone. Even Jasper. He could also feel her but her mind that was usually full of emotions was like a blank sheet for now. Edward experienced the same. He could not read anything from her mind. Renesmee also tried to communicate with her but all the same. She said that as far as she could tell, she thought that Alice understood her but there was no reaction. After about an hour, Edward was the first to give up trying and sat down on the floor a few feet away from the bed.
"How is this possible?" asked Jasper again. Nobody answered. They have discussed over this a few times. She was definitely not attacked by a vampire or a werewolf – unless this was a specific ability of a vampire. But in that case, they should have got a scent of the attacker. But Alice's room was clean like a hospital.
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for her now."
"We can guard her." replied Jasper intensely.
"Frankly, I doubt that whoever has done this, would return here." said Edward quietly.
Silence fell for about a minute. Even in the desperate state they were now, they were rational. They had no other choice.
"What if it's the Volturi?" asked Rosalie with a dark voice.
"Not a chance." said all the others in one moment. Edward was the one to continue.
"First, if they were them, Alice should have seen that months ago. Second, if it was really them, they would have slain us all in one night. No, it's not their hand. We are all alive and in a better form than she is, and I'm brave enough to consider this a good sign."
"If there is any good sign now." Jasper added darkly.
"Wait..." murmured Edward.
"What?" Jasper jumped up with the speed of light. "Hearing something?"
In a second, they all heard something. A horn of a car. They made a race from the tiny distance separating them from the window. A dark limousine was parking in front of the mansion. Just as they looked down, a man got out of it without the help of his chauffeur. He was tall, impossibly tall for a human or a vampire. He was at least as tall as Jacob, but possibly taller. He was wearing a dark suit and sunglasses.
He looked up at them.
"I would be very happy if you would mind to invite me in." he said and all of them could feel, something strange was in his voice. It resembled much to Carlisle's but sometimes is seemed to be hissing and rattling. They withdrew in a moment and stared into each other's eyes. They all knew what would they find there. Fear was all over the place.
"Do we have any other option?" asked Bella, looking to Edward.
"Don't stare at me. I don't know anything about his intentions."
"That's bad news I guess." she remarked.
"I suggest you," said Jasper looking at Bella" to stay up here and extend your defense. He doesn't look offensive right now, but God knows. I'm afraid this guy's presence is not a coincidence."
"You're right," Edward added. "Can you deal with him while I'm here?" he asked, looking at Bella with a much other look than Jasper did.
"If you want to..." Jasper began.
"Edward, please." interrupted Carlisle.
"Do you think you have any use of me down there?" he asked back.
"We are a family."
"And Bella is a part of it, too." replied Edward.
"You can..." Bella began but Esme interrupted.
"We go down and Edward stays here."
Nobody argued.
"We do not attack." said Carlisle once again before he opened the door. He was very afraid that some of the boys might lose his cool. Jasper because of his anger and Emmett – he was used to it, especially when hunting.
The huge man was standing right in front of the door, staring around like he had been on a vacation.
"Pretty nice house you have." he remarked.
"I'm Carlisle Cullen, though you seem to know us quite well," he said, as calmly as he was able to. "Please come in and join us."
He stepped in, although he had some difficulties passing the door.
"Pardon me," he said. "I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Dunkelzahn. I come from a long journey and I am really happy to see you here."
Carlisle introduced the present members of the Cullen family.
"And what is the reason of your visit, Mr. Dunkelzahn, if I may ask?"
Dunkelzahn stared at him and then right to Alice's room towards the walls.
"Should we wait for your other family members, should we?"
As the others left, Bella concentrated on them with all of her strength, while Edward sometimes shifted to Alice to see if something changed in her state. Some minutes passed and they heard the door opening. No sign of offense, just talking. It would have sounded quite pleasant if the others wouldn't have been as nervous as they were.
"D'ya think you'd stop'm with that pesky defense y'v'got?" said a high voice behind them. It was annoying like a mouse's squeak. Edward and Bella both spun around. A thin guy was standing beside Alice's bed who had his face painted very strangely – two red squares around each eye and another around the mouth.
Bella growled as she was getting ready to strike him. But Edward held him back with his arm which turned to a hug. Like he wanted to protect her.
"Please." the guy squeaked. "I would really like to have some fun."
"Who is he? And..." If Edward could turn any paler, he would have done that surely. "What are those memories about Shakespeare?"
"Oi." he raised his eyebrows, making him look even funnier with the painted face. "It's been that morning? Goddamn scaleface didn't tell you were that Awake?"
"What is he talking about?" screamed Bella, trying to get free to attack.
"I don't know," whispered Edward back." All I know that according to his memories, he had met William Shakespeare. Personally."
"That's impossible." said Bella.
"Depends on what do you consider impossible. Let's just say I am much older than you are. And still, I make rookie mistakes. Sometimes I think immortality is not a suit designed for me. But what to do? I love it."
"What do you hear now?" asked Bella as quiet as she could.
"Nothing."
They both stared at him. But he was not looking at them. For one blink of an eye. Then, he turned back.
"Time's up," he said calmly. All of their muscles were strained like a bow, to attack him. "Our great wyrm friend wants all four of us to join the party down there."
"What do you mean four..." asked Bella but she realized she didn't need to. Alice moved, got up slowly and shook her head.
Jasper rushed towards Alice as the group came down the stairs and they hugged each other. She stated that she was OK but she seemed quite tired. Edward tried to read her mind all the way but he wasn't able to find out anything about their mysterious visitors, except that Alice saw the taller guy in her visions before.
"Everything OK, Harlequin?" asked Dunkelzahn.
"Hey, Big-D, don't forget I'm not your clown. Shouldn't I be the knight slaying the dragon?"
"Would leave quite a mess." he answered.
"Do you two talk in riddles all the time?" asked Bella angrily.
The one named Harlequin turned towards her and smiled as charming as he could. "Where's the excitement then?"
"You do act like a clown." she replied.
"I've still got an appointment on the other side of the world, so I would be very glad if you stopped that."
"And you could tell us why did you intrude our territory." added Carlisle.
"Believe me, I had good reasons." He took a deep breath. "I would like to advise you to leave."
They all stared at each other.
"Why?" asked Bella. She was still the one having the closest relation to this town – Charlie. Jacob would surely go with them.
"I think she can convince you better than I can." he said, pointing to Alice.
As he said this, she stared into thin air for about a minute.
"You see?" he asked, still staring at her.
A few of the Cullens who were standing near her could clearly see that she was sweating.
"Mayhem is around the corner." This was her first sentence. "There will be some nasty things going on. Storms, volcanoes, chaos."
"Why should that bother us? We run away." said Rosalie.
"Wait. Our existence can not be kept secret." Alice added.
"What?" asked the family at the same time.
Dunkelzahn began to speak again.
"There will other people. Gifted. Awakened. You cannot hide yourselves from them. And they will not know what to do with you. And then, natural reaction."
"Attack." Carlisle said darkly.
"What's with the Volturi? And who are these? We have an advantage on them." said Emmett.
"The Volturi will be busy cleaning up their own mess." answered Alice.
"And don't think these guys will be so easy to crush. Nobody knows what he might run into. True, Scales?" said Harlequin.
"Never deal with a dragon, didn't you told me that?" replied Dunkelzahn.
"Enemy's truth is truth as well," remarked the painted man. "Anyway, you can choose. You run now, while you have the opportunity or you run when debris's gonna fly all over the place."
There was silence, stinking silence for some minutes.
"We don't have a real choice, don't we?" Esme was to first to talk.
"Choices are always present." Dunkelzahn said. "But dark times will come. And we should try to preserve what's important."
The family stared at each other. They didn't really want to know why their visitor considered them important.
"Just tell me one more thing," Alice interrupted. "This virus. That causes people to turn into vampires..."
Dunkelzahn put his huge fists together.
"Becoming a vampire is due to a virus found in your so-called poison. It will be detected and isolated by human scientists.
"But is there any cure?" asked Rosalie hastily.
"That's beyond my limits." Dunkelzahn answered. Rosalie did look disappointed. She looked like she thought these people were able to do anything.
"Big D, said, you've got some things to handle." interrupted Harlequin.
"You're right, old friend. I've got to go. So, all in one word, I would advise you to get a place with plenty of animals and as far from humans as possible. You won't be the only ones doing this."
Dunkelzahn pushed himself through the narrow door, trying not to harm it. Harlequin stopped and turned back for one moment.
"Bon voyage, mon amis." He turned to Bella and smiled. "Au revoir, cheri."
Both Bella and Edward responded with a growl.
Disclaim: I do not own any rights of Shadowrun or Twilight.
Author notes:
Metahuman: Orks, trolls, elves and dwarves. First elves and dwarves appear around 2011, orks and trolls are exposed in 2021 (Goblinization) These metahumans are Homo sapiens, but in some characteristics they resemble to fantasy creatures.
Virus: It's called Human-MetaHuman Vampiric Virus (HMHVV short). Its primary strain turns humans into vampires. Metahuman bodies respond differently, though all infected become some kind of blood-drinker or flesh-eater.
Awakened: Users of magic (who can read minds or defend other from magic, etc.) are called Awakened.
Dunkelzahn: Giant Western Dragon. Skilled user of magic, that's why he can appear in human or metahuman form. One of the world's main protectors until his death in 2057. Owns billions of gold, loves luxury and collects exotic possessions, artifacts. Sometimes he is referred with the nickname Big D.
Harlequin: Elf wizard with a nasty sense of humour. Many thousand years old.
References:
"A stranger soul" - refers to the first part of the Dragon's Heart trilogy "Stranger souls". The book starts with Dunkelzahn's death.
"Never deal with a dragon" - refers to the first part of the Verner trilogy (same title). Originally this sentence was said by the elven wizard Ehran, Harlequin's greatest rival. Though he states he quoted it from a graffiti "Look behind your back, spare with ammo and never deal with a dragon"