I stared at him for a while. My eyes revealing nothing, i kept them in a cool and polite expression.
"Hello Edward," I acknowledged him and turned back to the family. "This is beginning to get dull so can you tell me when and where to catch these newborns and can you tell me how many there are and who's controlling them?" I asked. Alice's eyes went blank, i got into her mind and entered her vision:
'Its dark, i stand in front and the Cullens behind me. We are in the meadow and from the darkness of the trees, 35 newborn vampires emerge. Their eyes are a brilliant red and there expressions savage. A masculine, all too familiar voice commands : "Kill".
The vision ends, i know what i need to know and i take a second to process Alice's power, which i just duplicated. Aro will be pleased.
"Thank you, i assume that will be tonight. Am i correct?" I address Alice: she has more experience extracting the times from the visions in which the seen occurrences will take place.
"Umm... yes... Did you see that with me?" She asks. I nod.
"Bella, what exactly is your power?" I smirk. And send them a telepathic message:
All of them
They all jump, not expecting that. Edward still had not taken his eyes off me and it was becoming quite irritating. I get into his mind and begin to command his feet to move to the sofa across from his family and force him to sit. I see his family stare at him, i wasn't being discreet and so they could tell he wasn't moving of his own accord. I got into another part of his mind, the one that controls his power, and read his families mind with him.
-What's happening? -Jasper
-Dude, what is that? - Emmett
-Is this Bella's doing? -Esme
-What an interesting power. -Carlisle
-Bella is so cold now, so distant. -Alice
-She's changed. -Rosalie
Two duplicated powers in one day, Aro will be ecstatic, especially since he's been coveting Alice and Edward's powers for so long. Edward's face was priceless at this moment. Apparently he's not used to having his mind controlled. I laughed. Everyone turned to me and looked at me as though i had five heads.
"Staring is rude, Edward." I said in a mocking tone.
"I'm sorry, Bella. This shouldn't have happened. This wasn't what i thought would happen when we left. I wanted you to grow up, be normal, have a family, be happy. I did it for you: i love you. How did this happen?" He started dishing out apology after apology and explanation after explanation. A part of me felt bad, the part that retained some of my humanity, but the rest of me was just getting increasingly pissed of.
"Whatever Edward, that was a long time ago. nothing will be achieved crying overspilt blood." i said, betraying none of my emotions. I really wanted to forgive them all. However flawed his ideas were and wether he was lying or not still didn't merit the type of sadness he displayed now. It reminded me of me after he left. It was pitiful and i pitied him, though he didn't deserve my sympathy.
He looked broken now, so fragile. I wasn't going to hurt him more, i didn't need to be cruel. My grudge had dissipated, they held none of the pride they had before, none of the things i use to value. They were average, and sad. I let it go; it was time to grow up.
I sighed, "Edward, don't apologize. I've let it go already. I'm just going to do what i was sent to do and i'll be gone." I said. The instant it was out of my mouth though, "No! I don't want you to go. Let me make it up to you. I'll never hurt you again, please! I want-- I need you." he shouted. Something in my cold heart reacted slightly, something in me came back to life.
"Time will tell Edward. I'm not the person you left. Honestly, i don't know if you could love me like you did the person you left, and i don't know if the person i am now could love you like the person i once was did." I answered honestly. I believed his apology, his mind was so messed up and so was his family's. All of them truly regret leaving, even Rosalie. Everything Edward said about having left for my own good and never having stopped loving me was true, as far as what their minds could tell me, and they didn't know i was listening. He was silent now, his expression and his mind both unshifting in his belief that he loved me no matter who i was now.
"I love you no matter what." He stated with conviction. I stared at him appraisingly. "That may be, but that is not the matter at hand." I replied cooly. His pleading and confessing his love for me was getting annoying. I looked outside and noticed that i had lost track of time. It was dark. I looked at my watch : 11:13. I wasn't sure what exactly the time was which i was supposed to fight these newborns but i knew it must be soon, in the vision it appeared to be around midnight.
"It's time to go." I stated. This time, everyone turned their attention to the window and noticed the time.
"Do you have a strategy to fight these newborns" Jasper spoke up for the first time since i got here.
i turned my attention to him. I was never close to him but i had learned of his past in Volterra, i'd looked up the Cullens in the Volturi's files a while ago. Not to mention, one of my assignments last year was to destroy Jaspers creator, Maria, and her army.
"Not really, i don't usually need one. What were you thinking of though?" In my search had learned that Jasper was a talented fighter with a good mind for strategy.
"I thought that for a group that big we'd have to split them up. But you seem to have experience fighting large armies on your own." Jasper answered me.
"Very perceptive. Let's go" With that, we all got up, and went to our cars. (A/N: I'm not a car person so i'll leave the type of car Bella drives up to the reader. Anything that's fast, expensive, and pretty will do) Jasper, Alice and Edward piled into my car and Emmett, Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie got into Emmett's jeep.
We drove in silence to the path that leads to the meadow. Upon arrival, we got out and just before running to the meadow, i shouted to Edward,
"If memory serves, you were the fastest. Lets see if that title still holds true." He smiled at me, and i threw him the first happy expression i've made today: a competitive smirk, one without bitterness or anger, just the happy edginess of competition. We ran and i beat Edward by 9 seconds and the rest of the family by 13, and i was going easy on them (One of my duplicated powers is super speed, even by vampire standards.). Just as we arrived, me positioned in front with edward to my right and Jasper to my left. The rest of the Cullens were lined up behind us. Just as we turned around, we saw the newborns step out of the trees.