Chapter 7
Initiation
Damien:
I found myself looking through several brochures for schools while I was watching Ren. After many arguments with Bella, I got Ren a modern game console with a ton of games to keep her occupied. I also made sure to get as many puzzle games as possible so she'd have enough to challenge her mind. Then she would go outside and play for a while, at which time I would sit outside with her, and we talked about all the games she had gone through. Which ones were boring, which ones she liked, and why.
Bella walked in just then, and threw another manual on the table.
"Bella, home school regulations for Washington State?"
"It's a thought, baby. I thought you would appreciate the innovation."
I looked up at her, "I thought we had agreed we'd try to send her to a regular school."
She knelt on one knee next to me, "Carlisle just had a birth certificate prepared for her to send to the city. How do you think it'll appear if our daughter, who is supposed to still be crawling and needing us to change her diapers, walks into a class room literally a month after she's born?"
"Bella, we might be able to register her at a school as a Cullen."
"Even though the whole town knows that Esme is barren, and that she only has her adopted children as her progeny?"
I thought about it a moment, saying, "She's a niece from out of state. It's not like anyone will check on it. We're trying to have our daughter start her life. This is the first step towards that. We know she's our daughter. The state knows we have a daughter, so they won't be surprised to see us around with a young girl-"
She sat next to me now, placing one hand on my knee while using her other hand to pull my face to hers, "Let's say a gunman walks into the elementary school where we register her, and she has one of her growth spurts to defend herself. She will age maybe 2 to 3 years, even 10, right in front of her classmates and teacher. She will use everything she's learned from us, and will kill the gunman without a thought, but she'll be exposed."
"Babe, that's pretty extreme, don't you think?"
"Damien, I need you to think about this. You said it yourself that as an angel, she will mature to an age where she can defend herself if faced with a life-threatening situation, like the one I just gave you. Also, even in school, she will different. She will certainly be smarter than everyone in her class. Hell, she'll be smarter than the teacher. Do you really think that won't raise any questions?"
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, "So, you think having her in home school will cover her education?"
"It's only a matter of having her go through a set curriculum, which she will breeze through. My mother's an elementary school teacher. She could probably administer the lessons, the standardized test, and she'd be able to sign off on Ren's education. There. Problem solved."
I pulled her close then, "You know this means that we'll have to tell Charlie, and you're mom about what's going on. Victoria, and Carlisle thinks that's a bad idea."
She squeezed my knee, "I know you really want to, though, baby. So, we'll tell Carlisle that it's absolutely necessary so we can cover for our child. Once she gets to physically being 18, we'll be able to send her to college, and no one will worry about her age too much, and how much she knows, and she'll get all the social networking and friend-making you want her to have."
I nodded, "I suppose that works. So, we tell Charlie what's going on, and then we go to Florida to tell your mom. You know, she's probably going to flip."
She kissed me then, "Well, it's a good thing you're used to taking a beating."
She pulled away, looking up at the clock and saw it was 8 already, "I'm sorry, baby. I've got to get to school, myself. Just make sure that she gets her veggies. There's plenty of food in the fridge, so don't order out, and No Pizza."
She sped up the stairs, got dressed, and sped back down to kiss me before she took off, after snaking my car keys out of my pocket, "I'll take your car today. I'll see you when I get back. One more thing; don't let her stay glued to that game box you got her, ok?"
Bella:
I got to school in time, and everyone looked up when I drove onto the parking lot with my fiancé's car. I knew that Victoria already said we were married by natural law, so a wedding wasn't necessary. I wanted a big one, though. I also thought about how much I wanted to tell my mom and dad some of what was going on. Damien did too, and I know he'd been dying to tell Charlie something. I guessed that this would be the best place to start. I really hoped that my parents would understand, and I know that there were a lot of things that happened around Damien, which our situation would explain. I would probably need to tell them both about being part angel, and tell them about the vampire part later. If anything, that would just worry them more.
I heard someone knock at the window, and looked up to see Edward and Becca waiting for me, so I got out of the car, "What's up?"
Edward stood next to Becca as she stepped up close to me, "I want you to turn me, now."
I looked around, "You mind not being so public with this?"
Edward chimed in, "She's really serious about this."
I moved my head to shoot him a cold stare over her shoulder, snapping, "You should have talked to her about this."
"I did. That's why she insisted on talking to you."
I waved my arm, gesturing to the crowd of kids gathering at the school, "Do you see where we are? We need to have this talk in private. We'll talk at the mansion, but definitely not now."
Mike was suddenly behind me, "It's ok, Bella. I think she should be able to talk to you anywhere, don't you think?"
I reached next to me, taking his neck in hand, and lifting him, "How the hell would you know about this?"
He looked down at me, tapping at my hands, "Victoria told me I'd need to talk to you about Jess. She's been turned into a hybrid, but she's out of control. She's in the school right now trying to-"
We heard screams from inside the school, making me drop him, "One question, how?"
"We went to a make-out spot by the cliffs at La Push. We were approached by a red-haired girl-"
I barked, "Victoria."
"Um, yea, her. She asked us if we knew you. She told us why you and Cullen were acting so weird. Vampire, huh?"
I dropped him, and kicked him in the shin, which made him almost stumble over himself, "You mind not being so damnably loud about it?"
"The thing is she said that she saw a lot of potential in Jess, but knew she wouldn't come over to this side alone."
Edward took Mike's shoulder, "Do you realize how traumatizing this is without being mentally prepared?"
I shot him a look, "Exactly. Edward, let's go talk to her. Mike, you stay with Becca while we calm Jess down."
Edward grabbed him by the collar, "If you even think of hurting her, I'll make this after-life very painful for you."
Mike gave him a thumbs up sign, "Ok, ok. I got it. Go handle Jess."
We ran into the building as the biology teacher was coming out with a group of students. "You really shouldn't go in there. There's a gunman in the building, so…"
Edward spoke up, "I'll call Deputy Summers, just take care of everyone else, and keep them out of the building."
I ran in ahead, and I heard the bio teacher ask, "Where's she going?"
Edward told him, "She's looking for Jessica Stanley. Have you seen her?"
"She came this morning, and she had some kind of health problem, and then the gunman struck. I think they might have been hiding in one of the classrooms this whole time."
That was all I needed to hear.
When I got to the classroom, I found Jess sitting against a wall in the corner of the room, and Edward was right behind me moments later. I heard Jess scream just then, and went in to check on her as she held her head.
She held her head between her hands, and screamed, "Make it stop! Make it stop! Everyone's thinking too loud!"
I knelt next to her, and reached up to pull her hands down gently, "It's ok, Jess, do you believe me?"
She gave me a stricken face, her eyes red as she cried, "What's happened to me? I thought that girl was joking about vampires, but that would explain you and Cullen."
Edward walked in, "Damien just left Ren with Esme. He's on his way."
Then I heard Damien's voice, as he came in with a blanket wrapped in a plastic bag, "I'm already here. I came in the cruiser, so there should be others coming soon. Charlie too. Can you take her to the mansion?"
Jess looked at both of us, "Mansion?"
I held her shoulders, easing her into a smile, "There's a lot to tell, but we need to get out of here now if we want to keep your cover as a human."
Victoria appeared with a dead thug, dropping his body to the ground with two rifles. She took each one and fired them both into the ceiling. Then she looked to Damien, and told him, "Now, you've got a cover story. You took out the gunmen, while Bella rescued her friend."
I turned on her, "Victoria, what the hell's the idea?"
She regarded me impatiently a moment, and then with a resigned tone, "It's best to have people you know in your circle. It's easier to guard information with friends than with strangers, Commander."
Edward growled, "Do you realize how many people could've died today if she didn't know how to control herself?"
She didn't even look at him, "I don't have to answer to a pawn. Now, keep quiet and get your girlfriend home."
He protested, "Now, just a moment-"
I agreed, "She's right. Take Becca home, Edward, back to the Cullen mansion. I will take Jessica and Mike. Victoria, make yourself scarce." She vanished.
Damien unwrapped the blanket, and tossed it over to me, "Drape that over her shoulders. Don't speed out of the building. Make sure you've got her eyes covered, and just tell Charlie you'll get her home. Just make sure he doesn't catch a glimpse of her red eyes-"
I just realized it myself, taking her shoulders, "Jess, did you drink from anyone?"
She started crying again, "Angela asked me what was wrong, and I turned on her because she smelled so good. Oh my god, Bella, I killed her."
We heard another voice interrupt, "Why's everyone arguing?"
I turned to see Angela, and asked her, "Where's Eric?"
She shook her head, "He ran out with everyone else. I was still in the bathroom when Jess turned on me. How am I still alive?"
I shot Edward a look, "You brought us into this world. Just remember that."
Damien took my shoulder, "Angela hasn't drunk yet, I don't think. Just get them to the car, and to the mansion. Ren's waiting for us there, so go quickly."
I helped Jess up, and Angela walked on her other side as we left the classroom, then the building. As we walked out, I saw my dad with a few of his other officers.
"Bells! Thank god you're safe! Is Damien in there too?"
I nodded, "He got the guy that was trying to hurt Jess, dad."
Damien came out moments later, "The gunmen is taken care of. We'll call in Dr. Cullen to do an autopsy, but I'm guessing it's pretty straight-forward."
"Dad, I'm going to take her to Dr. Cullen's mansion. I don't think the hospital will be very good for her right now. It'll scare her more than help."
Angela took Jess over to the Impala so I could talk with my dad, "I'll help her out, Bella."
Charlie hugged the two of us, "I'm so glad the both of you are safe."
Damien and I just allowed him to hold us a moment longer, and then he got gruff again, and told his officers to go in and secure the building.
My fiancé held me before I went to the car, whispering, "We really have to tell him, now. I guess we'll talk at home."
I kissed him deeply, "Just hurry your ass home, ok? I'll take care of the Jess and Mike situation."
He grimaced a bit, "Jessica and Mike? As in, Newton?"
I shrugged, and reached up to hold his face, "I know. I know."
He grumbled, "Great. That's all we need. I'll see you at the mansion."
He went in to join the other officers, and I already knew the toxicology reports would need to have observed the use of heroin or steroids. I now realized what he meant by having to doctor reports, and my heart went out to him. He hadn't realized it, but I had heard the conversation he had with Carlisle and Victoria. Now, finally, he would be able to tell Charlie, and my mother about our daughter.
When we got to the mansion, everyone was gathered in the living room. Ren came out to meet me while Jessica looked on. I picked my daughter up, and showed her to my friends.
"You three, this is my daughter, Renesmee."
Jess gave a bit of a look, "What? Did you have her when you were thirteen?"
I shook my head, and smiled as I let Ren down, telling her, "I had her at the end of last year. She grew pretty fast, but now she's shot up like a rocket."
Jess reached out for her, "Hi there, little one, I'm Jessica."
Ren reached up to touch her face, showing her all of her memories, and turned to me, "She's really nice. I like her. Aunt Rose, can we play chess, again?"
Rose came over, taking her hand, "Of course, Ren. Excuse us."
As they walked away, Mike looked at Ren, and then at Rose, "Wow. What a gene pool. Is that your daughter with-?"
I also watched as Ren left with Rose, "Damien, yes. She's our first."
He whistled at that, "Only the first, huh?"
I turned to him, "The first of many. Go on in and join everyone. I have to talk to someone."
He saw Damien walk up the road now, and turned to walk into the mansion suddenly, hurrying in, "Yeah, gotcha."
My fiancé walked up to me as I pulled him into an embrace, "It's about time you got here. I was hoping we could talk to Carlisle about talking to my parents."
He regarded me gravely, "Now's as good a time as any. I hope he understands this isn't a negotiation."
Victoria suddenly spoke up, "Are you going to give the head of your coven an ultimatum? Doesn't sound like you're giving the coven leader much credit."
Damien gave an exasperated heave, and turned to her, "It's a decision we both made for our daughter. It was the best thing we could think of to offset possible exposure to the public at large."
Victoria considered it, "So, Bella was in agreement with this…"
I nodded, "It was my insistence on making sure we could keep our daughter's education private. We'd still need my mom to sign off on everything, so it would be necessary to tell her something. Charlie just has to know a few things so we don't have to run around in secret all the time."
Victoria nodded now, "Always showing good judgment, Commander. I concur, and I'll continue the recruitment."
Damien called out, "Can I ask exactly why you'd bring her friends in?"
She smiled at that, "I think you know the answer to that…"
He inclined his head, "So the enemy wouldn't bring them in as hostages, and if we tell her parents, we can prepare them for whatever's coming. They'd have no way to restrain us or get information out of them."
Before she vanished again, she said, "You were definitely made for each other. Two brilliant minds into one fully capable leader."
I replied, "I'm not the only one leading."
He shrugged, "Well, let's just say, she's more comfortable with you calling the shots. I am, too."
I kissed him, and whispered, "You're my partner, remember?"
"Of course, I do. She knows that, too."
"We'd better go talk to Carlisle."
As we sat down with him, we saw that Carlisle looked resigned. I decided to speak first, "I know that you've tried to discourage Damien from telling my father some measure of the truth. However, it now seems absolutely imperative to have my parents take care of Ren in case something should happen to us. They are removed from the situation well enough that they'd be considered on non-issue."
He looked at me for a moment, "Bella, it would be folly to bring your parents into this if you wish for them to remain as removed as you first pointed out. I understand you want your parents to know your child."
"Exactly. As long as the Volturi have no knowledge of her, she's better off with my parents."
Rosalie entered, "We would be able to take care of her too, Bella."
I stood up, and put my arm around Rosalie, "I know you can. I just want my parents to know their grandchild. I'm sure you understand the importance in that. I feel so bad about keeping my father in the dark, as much as Damien does."
Carlisle countered, "I already explained to Damien why we couldn't reveal ourselves to them. It would put them in terrible danger, and we would not be able to protect them."
Damien spoke up, "What if we bring them here? I'll introduce you to her mother as my family for now, and then I'll explain the situation. Also, Charlie does have to know if he's going to be able to tell Federal authorities anything about what's going on. You need someone to cover you, Carlisle, and I can't be the one to do it anymore."
Carlisle looked to me, "Bella, please. You have to talk your fiancé out of this if you want your parents to remain relatively happy."
I took his hand, "I don't want to leave anyone behind. They deserve to know some measure of the truth."
Edward entered, "I didn't know about Renesmee being born until coming back home, to tell you the truth, Carlisle. As a matter of fact, her very presence was cloaked from me. If I hadn't even see her in the study just now, playing chess, I wouldn't know she was here. If she were to stay with Bella's parents, it would in fact cloak their presence from the Volturi, or any members of an enemy coven."
I looked over to Damien as his shoulders sank with relief, "So, it's settled. We will be back in a few days. We'll fly to Jacksonville tomorrow morning with Ren."
I held his arm, and Carlisle conceded, "Well, I suppose your minds were already made up. Are you going to tell Charlie today?"
Damien looked over at me, as I said, "Definitely, we'll take Renesmee home with us tonight. I hope you can talk to the newborns and fill them in. They can train with Victoria while we're away. By the way, Carlisle, while we're away, she's in charge."
Charlie looked at the two of us as we brought Ren with us. He gave us a greeting, his expression puzzled. He closed the door behind us, and sat down.
Ren turned to ask her father, "Can I go play Puzzlemania now?"
Damien shook his head sternly, "No, Ren. Just sit here with us while we talk to grandpa."
She looked disappointed, lowering her head, "Oh, okay."
Charlie laughed a bit at that, "Wow, you've got that niece pretty tamed now."
I looked at my fiancé, and placed my hand on Charlie's, "We have to tell you something, Dad. Renesmee's our daughter."
He gave a huge sigh, "I was wondering when you would tell me. The only thing I was trying to figure out was how."
Damien started, "I'm an angel, Charlie. As a matter of fact, I only found out a few weeks ago."
Charlie looked to me skeptically, "Bella, you need to get your guy to a hospital, or some kind of psychological help."
Damien let out a harsh breath as he had Ren lean on me and went behind the couch to stand there. After a moment, he flexed his shoulders, and spread his white wings with a span of ten feet across.
Ren had no reaction, since she already knew, so she only shifted a little in my arms. Then she looked to Charlie, "Are you ok, grandpa?"
Damien came back to sit next to me, "See? The thing is, I did end up getting Bella pregnant. It changed her in such a way that she is part angel. In fact, as Ren developed within her, that process was able to give her enhanced abilities like mine. So, she is your daughter, only she's…invincible. Right now, there are other parties that want to take our daughter from us."
Charlie leaned forward, "You're serious about this."
I put my arm around our daughter, "Really, really, Dad."
"Well, that explains a lot. I was thinking there was something going on that you weren't telling me. Well, maybe you can take her to Florida to see your mom."
"That's the plan. So, we're going tomorrow morning. We have to leave tonight for Seattle to catch our flight to Florida. We'll probably take the Impala."
Charlie shook his head, "I know a rent-a-car nearby. Still open now, if you rush to catch the place open, and then drop the car off at the airport. I did them a favor a while back, so they'd be glad to spot you a car at no charge. Just mention my name, and you're set."
Renesmee went over to Charlie and hugged him, "Hope to see you soon, grandpa."
Charlie smiled, picking her up, and asked, "Is she as smart as the two of you?"
Renesmee shook her head sadly, saying, "Both still beat me at chess."
I gently took her into my arms, "You'll beat us one day, dear."
We both went to the car, put Ren to sleep in the back for the moment, and she easily fell asleep.
I took Damien's hand, squeezing it, "Ok, now I'm nervous about seeing my mom, you know?"
He didn't say much, but he did squeeze my hand, "I think it'll be fine. Let's get to that rent-a-car soon, shall we?"
I turned to him for a moment, "Baby, you hate flying."
He shrugged, "I'll deal with it. Besides, it's your mom."
We got to Jacksonville around 9pm EST. We decided to check in at one of the finer luxury hotels. I called my mom as Damien took Ren to get something to eat.
"Hi, mom?"
"Oh my god, Bella! This is a surprise. How're you and Damien doing?"
"We're fine. We're here, mom. We just checked in at a local hotel."
"Why don't you come over?"
"We'll be over tomorrow morning, mom. We'll tell you everything then, I promise."
"Sweetie, tell me what?"
"It's good news, so don't worry."
"What good news?"
"We'll talk tomorrow, mom. I'll tell you then."
Moments later, my family came in, and Ren pulled a brand new chess set out of the plastic bag she had. It was Sesame Street themed, and she wanted to play as soon as she could set up the board. She looked to both of us, "Ok, I'm ready for both of you."
We got there at 7 the next morning. We had stayed up until midnight before she gave up on beating us. For both games, our daughter carefully backtracked our moves all the way to the first. We both watched, admiring our daughter as she carefully reverse played the games. We told her we'd play with her more once we got to talk to her grandma. So, we promised to take the board with us the next day.
My mom and her husband, Phil, were both home when we arrived. Both of them actually hugged me, and while my mom did hug Damien, Phil only shook his hand.
"I hope you're taking care of my favorite step-daughter here. Been missing you, girl."
I hugged him back fiercely, "It's good to see you again too, Phil."
He looked Damien over, "So, you must be the guy she's dating. Are you two being careful? I know her dad said you two were getting serious."
I blushed at that, "Phil! Geez! No need to embarrass him like that. He's been great, actually."
My mom sternly asked him, "Bella said you had a surprise for me. So, what would you need to tell me?"
We both stepped aside, and Renesmee was standing between us, holding her bag with the Sesame Street Chess set.
"This is Renesmee, mom. She's our daughter, and your grand-daughter."
Her eyes went between us, as she finally offered, "Come in, then. Have a seat, already."
Once we got in, Ren sat between us, looking around bored as we talked to my mom.
"So, you adopted her? I mean, that would be my first assumption since she's physically about 8 years of age now."
Damien cleared his throat, "She's our biological daughter, actually. It's a very interesting story, ma'am."
Phil also cleared his throat, suggesting, "I'll go get some meat for a barbecue this afternoon. I'll get some hotdogs and hamburgers. Bella, you want me to get some eggplant, or bell-pepper?"
I shook my head, "Hamburgers sound fine to me, Phil. I'm cool with whatever you're getting."
They both seemed to almost drop their jaw, making Phil laugh nervously as he went out the door. Once we were alone with my mom, Damien explained to my mom what he was, and about how Ren was born. I think Charlie took it better, because my mom almost smashed a vase over my fiancé's head, and that made him show my mom his wings. After that, she got overly flustered and apologetic. He was very gracious about it, though, and said he would play chess with our daughter while I talked with my mom about everything concerning her growth.
We sat outside as we took in sun, and I asked her how she felt about the whole thing. She seemed silent for a moment, and then let out a long breath.
"So, I'm a grandma. I can't even believe it. Is he a good father, Bella?"
I looked over my shoulder as he played with Ren, "You tell me, mom."
Ren finally beat him, making her stand up to hug him. He took her up into his arms, and spun her around, making her giggle.
"He's wonderful. Has he been good to you?"
I smiled, "He's the best, mom. He wanted to send Ren to school as soon as possible, but-"
She gave me a pensive gaze, "You're worried about her throwing a tantrum and making the lights all bust out all over the building. I get it. What'd you come up with?"
I gave her a hopeful look, "We were hoping you'd be able to help home school her, and get her through standardized tests as well as go through the curriculum, over the summer, that is."
She hugged me tightly, "Of course, I'd be only too happy! Oh my god, I'd love to have her over for the summer. This coming summer?"
I pulled back, "Yeah. That'd be awesome, mom."
She looked over at Ren, and asked, "So, how far along is she? ABC's?"
"Well, the thing is, she's learned everything at an advanced pace, so she gets bored easily. From what I can tell, as far as math is concerned, she's gotten through advance calculus. For English, she's read through all of Shakespeare's anthology, and Geoffrey Chaucer. The only thing is that since Damien doesn't have a teaching degree, he can't really qualify to teach our daughter and have it as official. That's why we were hoping you could get her through up to high school, and I'd take it from there."
She gave me a skeptical stare, "Are you even finished with high school yet?"
I hugged her now, "I was hoping you could come, mom. I know he and dad will be there. Ren is going to be staying with a friend of ours, so she'll be fine."
She sighed, "So, when are you two going to tie the knot?"
I smiled as she said that, "Well, soon. The thing is I wanted to ask you to be there for that, too."
She laughed delightedly again, "Oh my god! You're the luckiest girl I know. I can't even believe it. I know you might have a lot to do, with your daughter keeping you busy, but I want you to…"
"Visit often, I know, mom. I will, promise."
She let me go for a moment, "Will he let you go to college, you think? I think he might be one of those traditional guys who might want you to stay home."
I placed a hand on her shoulder, "Mom, no way. He's been the one taking care of her when I go to school. He's also agreed to take care of her when I start going to college for my teaching degree. He's all for it, actually."
She stood up, "I'll be back. I need to get you something."
She came back with a huge box, "This is for you. You can call it an all-in-one gift if you like. For this, your graduation, your wedding, etcetera, etcetera."
I opened the box, and saw a blanket, "These are all our trip tee-shirts. This is awesome, mom. Thank you."
She helped me spread it, "I thought it would be great if you had something to pass on from one generation to the next. You can have more babies, right?"
I blushed at that, "Definitely. We're not going to be trying for another one soon, but we get excited pretty easily."
She nodded, "Like bunnies, I know."
"Mom!"
"You were wide open for that one, so don't blame me. Is he going to still be working with your father?"
"Dad let him work weekends. We have friends that will baby-sit when we're both busy."
We watched as they played again, and my mom let me lean on her shoulder as she asked me, "When are you all going back to Forks?"
"Well, something happened at school. There was like an asbestos scare or something, so they cleared the school for a week. I can stay here until Sunday, if you want."
"Well good. Then I can pick his brain, and see how much he knows about child care."
"He's been great, mom."
"Let me judge for myself."
Ren lost another game, and went back to resetting all the pieces back to first move again.
"She's so cute, oh my god."
"They're awesome, mom."
Victoria:
It galled me that I had to teach all these kids. Riley was recruiting street kids with no place to go. He brought them to the base, and the Cullens bought tons of food to keep them fed. They were the hungriest set of newborns I'd ever seen. They were, however, also indistinguishable from humans. Bella had placed me in charge, as well as Damien, so I know they were expecting results when they returned. The whelp, Mike, was constantly trying to talk to me for some reason. It got to be very annoying after a while, so I used him as a dummy for demonstrations. Throwing him around was a lot more fun than talking to him. I also found out what they could do. Jessica was a Channeler, which meant she could take in the abilities of anyone near her, and those abilities would become as her own. Angela was a tracer, meaning she could touch any vampire and determine who their maker was. Mike was rather ordinary, not surprising since he was so extremely mediocre it was pathetic. Riley himself actually had the talent to see abilities in people with potential for the gift. As most knew, not everyone would survive transformation. So, he knew whom not to turn.
When I was helping Riley manage the coven in the city, Jasper Hale would take over training the newborns. However, I did realize that we were being watched after a while. At which time, I told Riley to cloak himself as all hybrids could, and return to his parents for a month or so. Jasper concurred and agreed to take over helping with the recruitment, but by then we had the numbers we needed.
He asked me one day, "Why are you helping us?"
I rolled my eyes, "I'd rather not say, at the moment."
"I'm only wondering because we had to protect Bella from you at one point."
"She and I have gotten over our differences. Besides, I'm now sure that I was on the wrong side then. As she is now, she is the commander. Also, while he does help her with some of the decision-making, she's proved to be a very capable Commander. I can only guess at how well she'll do on the battle field."
Jasper nodded, "I've seen her train with Damien. She's an excellent tactician, I think. Much better than Edward, actually."
"Their little girl is a better tactician than Edward."
"You're rather critical of him."
I shook my head, "Truthful, actually. Damien was trying to figure out what we were when your brother was still chasing after high school girls. It's a rather sad fate that he's put himself in that very same position with a girl who just happens to be another girl like Bella. It's rather…disturbing, I think."
He raised his brow, "I never thought about it that way. Also, I never thought I'd say this, but I am looking forward to fighting again."
I laughed loudly, "I find that very hard to believe."
"And why is that?"
I ran straight for him, knocking him off his feet, "You've been out of practice far too long. As things are now, I could kill you here and now." I had my foot on his chest, as I stood over him.
After a moment, I took my foot off, and he took the hand I offered him, "Thank you, sister."
"Stand up, brother. There's a lot more to do."
Esme Cullen came out then, and brought more food. I had forgotten how delicious it could actually be. I ate heartily, and looked east, wondering when Bella and Damien would return.
Damien:
When we returned from Florida, we let Ren stay with Charlie. Rosalie and Emmett agreed to help him out at his house, while we talked to Carlisle's contact from Denali, Alaska. His name was Eleazar, and his mate, Carmen formerly of the Volturi. They had some idea of how the enemy faction operated, which was very vital intelligence.
He was able to tell us that the Volturi would destroy whole covens for one or two vampires they'd want to assimilate into their ranks. It made me think that they would also move on us if they knew how many gifted people we had managed to gather into our group. As we trained one day, we heard someone rustling around in the woods. I went out to check, and ended up dragging them back to the camp with me, even as they fought me.
It turned out to be Laurent, and he was griping, "Let me go already, boy!"
"Not anytime soon. What do you want?"
"I've seen everyone training. I was hoping you'd allow me to join your ranks, if possible."
Victoria came out then, and almost attacked him, if Bella hadn't held her, "How dare you show your face around here?"
Bella restrained her, "Enough. Stand down, Victoria. Now."
Victoria regained her composure, "You don't understand."
Bella had Victoria face her, "Then, explain it to me."
"He's a turncoat. He'd only spy on us for the enemy, just to get on their good graces."
Bella looked pensive a moment, "So, you're saying he might just end up getting the Volturi to come here and deal with us, themselves, correct?"
Victoria nodded, and Bella turned to Laurent, "Tell them everything about us, Laurent. Tell them we're building an army."
"Commander!"
Laurent smiled at this, "You're leading this coven? How interesting."
Bella actually smiled at this, "I'm sure they'd be glad to know all this. It might even get you a good position with them. Go on, now. Leave."
Laurent turned and ran, and Victoria almost gave chase as Bella held her shoulder firmly.
"Let me go! He'll tell them everything about us!"
Bella stepped in front of her, holding both her shoulders, "That's the point. I want him to, Victoria. I doubt they'd send everyone after us without having someone survey the situation first."
"They've probably already done that. We felt someone watching our recruiting drive in Seattle."
"Do you think you can trace their presence?"
Eleazar spoke up, "We have an associate who may be able to track them. We will have much difficulty finding him."
Victoria complained, "That might take too long."
I looked to everyone, announcing, "I'll go find them. I'm a pretty good tracker. I was able to find James and company here. Finding a few Volturi agents shouldn't be a problem."
Bella was suddenly behind me, "I'm not letting you go anywhere alone, you got that?"
I shook my head, "Bella, we can't wait for them to attack us directly. Your plan was to find one of them, and drag them back here."
"That's why I'm using the turncoat to hook them in. Besides, you already know that you don't have to do anything alone. Isn't that what you promised me too?"
I took one of her hands, and kissed it, "Got it. What do we do in the mean-?"
We saw Rosalie speeded over to us, "Have any of you seen Renesmee? She was on Charlie's porch just a moment ago. Emmett is helping Charlie look. I just went to get her a snack and when I came back…" She was crying.
Bella and I looked at each other, and ran to Charlie's house to follow the trail of Laurent as he sped off with our daughter.
Renesmee:
I had been setting up the board again when I saw someone from my parents' memory had come towards me. He took me by the waist before I had time to run from him. He held me tightly as he sped away from home. I watched my home drop back further and further, and I could already hear my mom and dad calling my name. They sounded so sad, and hurt, I wanted to tell them I was ok, but I couldn't.
When we finally stopped, I saw a young boy of 16 stand in front of my kidnapper, wearing a long black robe, "I'll take it from here, Laurent."
The one holding me snarled at him, "I need to see Aro, now! Just take me to him, as I know something about this child."
"I'll handle this. Your services are no longer required." The boy said as black mist rose from his hands. I was dropped, and the kidnapper ran. I felt the mist surround me, and felt myself losing everything until I felt myself growing again. I hated how this happened every time I was in a bad situation. When the mist faded, I had grown out of my clothes. I think I had grown to 15, or so as the boy approached me.
His face in mine, "You will know pain, little girl."
I raised my hand to his face, clawing at him, "You first!"
With all my strength, I sent him a jumble of memories. They were my father's most traumatizing memories, even all the sensations that came with it. "Here! Take it! I saved it! Just for you!" I showed him utter and extreme pain that he must've endured as a child. The boy fell over, shuddering, just as my parents caught up to me.
My father knelt beside me as he pulled off his coat, and draping it over my shoulders, to cover me as my clothes had torn off, "Ren, oh my god. You're-"
I nodded, and hugged him, and my mom went over to the boy, "Who the hell is this?" She turned him over, recognizing him immediately.
He woke up for a moment, looking at my mother, "It's you…"
Mom put her boot on his chest, "It's me. Now sleep, Volturi Scum!" She kicked him to knock him out again.
Dad said, "Well, Bella, I think you have your prisoner."
Continued…
Well, there it is. This literally took me all day. I just wanted to make sure I addressed every issue that I had in the last. I wanted to also start the story moving towards the climax of this arc. Hope you can let me know what you think of this arc, so far. Also, I want feedback on the character evolutions. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm rushing things, because I've actually gotten into a whole other mode of this story. Don't worry. The central theme is still Damien's connection to Bella, as well as all the people they start to gather. Not "Witnesses" but a whole damn army.
