Daybreak

Chapter 8: Showdown

"Edward Anthony Mason, Isabella Swan, Jasper Whitlock, Emmett McCarty, Rosalie Hale, Mary Alice Brandon…" He lingered over Alice for a while, smiling when Alice gasped, her eyes showing a glint of recognition of who he was. "And, my beloved Renesmee Carlie Cullen."

Everyone growled at the way he talked about my daughter.

"My my, even Jacob Black of the Quilete tribe is here. What a wonderful family reunion! And my dear Caroline and Sarah. Thank you so much in helping me accomplish my task." Richard sang. "Of course, I can't leave out the wonderful hosts Tanya, Kate and Garrett. Yes yes, I know all about you. I know everything about you."

"No!" Edward must have heard something nasty in his thoughts, and lunged to attack the man, but before he could do anything, a pack of 10 huge grey werewolves leapt through the walls of the house, windows, and surrounded us.

If I could, I would have turned pale. We were barely evenly matched, not counting Carlise, Esme and Renesmee as fighting experts.

"What do you want?" I hissed, my hackles rising, leaning into a crouch, as all of us were.

Richard Worthington only smiled smugly as I glared at him with unblinking eyes.

"You." Alice slowly stepped forward. "I know you."

"Remember me, my child?" Worthington looked at her almost fondly.

Alice pulled back her lips and snarled ferociously at him. "Not from my human memories, thanks to you." She eyed him carefully. "You were known as Alexander Grangefield, and you were the one who recommended my parents to send me to a mental assylm."

"Very good." Worthington applauded heartily. He seemed so relaxed and at ease.

"Why!" Alice growled.

Worthington looked regretful. "Because of your talents, my dear. You had special abilities that the human race couldn't appreciate. But I did. I meant to take you from the asylum once things were more settled, but it seems that someone beat me to that. After you became a vampire, there was no more use of you."

"So what do you want from us now!" Alice snapped.

"My dear Mary, it was never about you." Worthington turned to Edward, who was obviously struggling to keep his rage in control. "You have something that I need, and I want. And yes, all these, everything, is all about Renesmee."

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All about me?? I blinked, uncomprehending.

"Never in the rest of your existence, which would not be long from now." Edward said between clenched teeth.

"Oh, I wouldn't' be so sure about that, if I were you. Our werewolf venom is much more potent then your vampire venom. Look at the odds." Worthington replied rather pleasantly. "I think we do have time for a little story….my marvelous plan actually. Peter," he called out. Peter Worthington, as large as life, slinked out from behind the shadows of the door. He looked petrified. It must be new to him. And, why didn't I notice his scent before?? It must be all these new werewolf scents around…..

"Peter, this is part of your heritage, so you must listen carefully." Worthington started. "I, well, we come from a long line of werewolves all the way back to the dawn of time. There used to be more of us, but as time passed, it became such that the gene only passes down from father to son. Once. Then there was the time when we were hunted down by you vampires." For the first time, a hint of a malicious glint entered his eyes. But quick as it came, it vanished again. "Which further reduced our numbers. Since then, my forefathers took great pains never to disclose our true identity. It was a secret that was only kept between father and son. Not even our mothers know about it."

"My grandfather in particular, was very obsessed about the idea of immortality. We are long-lived, having a life span of about 100-150 years, but he wanted more. He never wanted to die. So he was the first who pioneered the research on immortality. Unfortunately, he passed away before he found anything substantial. My father took over the research, as he wanted more power. He was not content to turn into a wolf only once a month. He wanted the power that this ability could give. But he too, did not manage to find the key to immortality."

"It was only until my turn, when the break through came. My father taught me all his secrets, how to make use of my shape shifting to my benefit. I made the most money, finally obtained the most power and influence in the natural realm, and finally I found the secret. The key to my immortality and power is in the blood of a vampire half breed."

My mom instinctively pushed me behind her, not that it would help. Finally everyone understood what was happening.

"Just as I discovered this, I wasn't too sure if such creatures exist. But I heard about the Volturi confrontation….yes, I know about everything and anything under the sun, anything not under the sun as well. I rushed to South American, to capture one half breed to test my hypothesis, and it worked. But the blood of 1 half breed is not enough. There is still my brothers to think about. Its time for the werewolves to return and rule the world! Why should we hide our existence, as if it's something to be shameful of."

Good gracious, this man maniacal! His completely intoxicated with power! I thought, fearing a little

"I managed to find 2 other unprotected half breeds in South America, but it is still not enough. The only other available one is Renesmee Cullen here. But at that time, I was alone. Remember, the only other werewolf I knew was my father. So I decided to make and create new ones. All I had to do was bite a human man in a strategic spot, and voila, a new werewolf was created. Now, I had the resources to keep this secret."

"But if its so easy to create werewolves, why didn't you guys create more before then take over the world?" Alice piped up.

"Because we can only turn once a month, you stupid! That isn't going to work very well. It means we only have power that one day." Worthington snapped angrily, annoyed at his story telling interrupted.

"It was so easy to lure you here." Worthington's anger vanished quickly, as he resumed his story. "It was I who directed the job offer to Carlise. It was I who arrange Jasper's accident. It was I who thought of attacking Renee and Charlie to lure Edward and Bella away. It was I who poisoned Esme with werewolf venom. It was too, I, who made use of Caroline to let me come here undetected." He boasted proudly, glorying in his own genius.

"Right, now story over. Peter, its time for your first kill. As my son, I allow you to have the honour of taking the first blood. Renesmee Cullen, any last words?" Worthington said off handedly.

"No!" Edward growled and flung himself at Worthington, only to be thwarted by another werewolf who restrained him easily.

"Edward!" Bella yelled, panicking at the thought of Edward getting injured. She posed to join but was held back by Emmett. "Wait, we need to protect Nessie."

"There is no point really. You are all out matched. Werewolves were never meant to fight in packs, so one of us can easily deal with a few of you." Worthington shrugged and turned back to his son. "Your genes should have just activated, you having just turned 18. All you need to do is concentrate on the moon, and instinct will soon take over."

Peter gulped, and rubbed his sweaty palms together. He closed his eyes.

Minutes passed. Nothing happened. Worthington frowned. "Why aren't you morphing?" he muttered, looking his son up and down.

"Because he has a son." Sarah's clear voice suddenly rang out.

Worthington's head whipped up, his eyes gleaming ferociously at the speaker. He went white with anger. "Say. That. Again."

"Because he made a girl pregnant so she's carrying his son." Sarah repeated calmly.

"YOU STUPID FOOL!" He turned furiously to his son and slapped him sharply. Peter's eyes widened in fear, as 4 red marks appeared on his cheeks. "WHAT DID MR BRISCO KEEP TELLING YOU!!!"

"It wasn't my fault! She offered herself to me…" Peter babbled, confused. "What's wrong?"

"WHAT"S WRONG? WHAT"S WRONG! You come and ask me what's WRONG!" Worthington hollered. "Stupid boy! I chose your mother carefully to ensure that you'll have the best genes. I made sure you had the best care, best education, best food, so that you can be my right hand man one day. And you choose to pass your gene to some slutty whore??? When did you make her pregnant? Before or after your birthday?"

Peter was too scared to reply.

"Before." Sarah volunteered.

"Shut up, you b***h. Nobody asked you." He cursed angrily at his daughter.

"Fool! The gene is gone, that means." As quick as he blew up, he cooled down, almost resigned.

"Means?" Peter squeaked.

"You'll never be a werewolf. If you have a son before you do you first morph, the latent gene will pass straight through you and to the newborn baby, which means…..holy crap, she'll have a freak as a baby!" Worthington stared as his son grimly. "Then I have no more use for you. Who is the girl?"

Peter was silent.

"I asked you a question, boy. Who is the girl?" Worthington repeated, his voice getting dangerously high.

"Yes. You are correct" Edward said to Peter, from the corner of the room.

"What!" Worthington turned, and looked back and forth at them. He never liked being out of the loop.

"So is this it dad? You never appear in my entire life, and now you drag me into this WITHOUT my consent, and because I turned out useless, you're going to kill me because I know too much, is that it?" Peter said bitterly.

"Fond attachments, emotions and passions are useless, and hence meaningless." Worthington said pompously. "See what trouble these 'family ties' has gotten them into. No, only power and money will last."

"So who is the girl, and where is your son. Don't worry, we will provide and care for him adequately. He will take your place when he comes of age." Worthington continued.

"No." Peter said surprisingly. "I will not let my son come under your care. If I die, so be it. My life was never much fun or meaningful anyway. No, I want my son to learn what it is to be really loved, to have as normal a family as he can have. I want him to have what I was too poor to have, all because you wanted to make use of me. He'll never be made used of by you." He spat at his father's feet.

"What a pity. It doesn't matter you know, I can always extract information from the others. I'm sure they know a lot." Worthington shrugged his shoulders again.

"No please," He turned to the others pleadingly. "I know I have been a jerk and bastard, but please, one favour. Don't let them harm another innocent child."

But before anyone else could say anything, Worthington had snapped his fingers and another werewolf leap, taking Peter down with him easily, snapping his neck as easily as if it were a twig.

I gasped, and leaned on Jacob for support. No, this wasn't supposed to be. The ending of my family wasn't supposed to be like that, not dying for me, giving up their lives for me. I can't bear that. Its all because of me. If its like that, if I were to give myself up as a sacrifice for their peace and happiness, it would be worth it. Really. I had 13 wonderful and happy years. Its enough. I just regret not spending the last few months of my life with my Jacob. But he will get over it. He is strong.

"If I volunteer myself, will you let my family go?" I spoke up bravely. I could hear the snarls and hisses in protest.

"Of course, its only you I want. I only fight them because they are withholding you from me." Worthington replied.

"No, Renesmee, please." My father looked anguished.

"Please Daddy, I can't let you all be hurt because of me. There's no way out." It was true. It would be easier if we didn't put up a fight. Less casualties.

"Smart girl." Worthington nodded approvingly.

"Wait, I have an offer to make." Jacob suddenly said.

I looked at him, wondering what he had up his sleeve.

"Renesmee is my betrothed." He announced. "On her behalf, I would like to challenge you to a duel, only between you and me. If I win, you cannot hurt or kill any of us, especially Renesmee."

"And if you loose? No, its either I take her by force or willingly. I will win either way. There's no point for this dual." Worthington said.

"And if I loose, my pack and I will agree to serve and work under you, to help you take over the world." Jacob continued. "You will need smart, capable, and united servants. And we will do a blood oath, as known among the wolves, to ensure that the agreement would follow through. Any betrayal by any party will result in immediate death by the oath."

Worthington paused. He was beginning to like this offer.

"Done." He suddenly said. "Let this agreement be."

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Completed on 8 March 2009

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