I could hear the tires of a black Saab '93 rolling up the long driveway, gravel flying from the speed of the car as it raced against unknown time to get to the house.
"What could be going on?" I could hear one perky female question the rest in the car.
"I don't know, Tanya. Something must be wrong with one of them; Carlisle, perhaps." A male voice now entered the discussion.
"But that's not what Rosalie mentioned, Eleazar. She said, 'This is a great deal to my family, for you to support us. We're all in trouble,' and it doesn't make any sense for all of them to be in trouble if something is wrong with just Carlisle," another female mentioned. The nails of the driver dug into the leather of the wheel, her solid foot stomping on the peddle for the vehicle to move faster.
"Time to prepare." Jacob gave me a you're nuts look. "We need to do this right. I am aware of the risk, but need not worry about this first group; they're the only coven that doesn't drink human blood like we do." Without a comment, Jacob carried Renesmee into the dining room to sit at the polished table while I waited anxiously—and nervously—for the Denalis to come up the steps and enter the house. I didn't really enjoy playing host. It reminded me of the graduation party we had where Bella played host for our house. I shuddered.
Four small doors creaked open and closed shut. No one spoke but their thoughts were screaming with one main question.
What is going on? Confusion was in the air outside the front door. I opened it before they could even raise their hands to knock on it.
"Edward!" a strawberry blond female enthused, greeting me with a big huge.
"Hello, Tanya. Kate, Eleazar, Carmen."
Three murmured hellos.
"Rosalie said your family was in urgency of our help, and that you needed to talk to us right away," the first, high-pitched voice mentioned, a voice from Tanya. Tanya was a tall, feministic vampire. She was very outgoing and outspoken, a true leader. Not as fashionable as Alice could be, but loved to wear high heels that made her even taller. "What's the problem? Trouble with the werewolves?" A smirk smeared across Tanya's face, wanting annihilation of the wolves.
I heard Jacob huff in the other room; I assumed he rolled his eyes as well.
"No," I began to reply. "Our truce with the werewolves is stronger than ever."
The other blond, Kate, chuckled a bit. Kate on the other hand, was much different than Tanya. Though sharing similar physical aspects, Kate didn't enjoy wearing stand-out-ish clothes like Tanya; however, Kate was more of a tomboy and loved to show her skills against any guy. She, like Tanya, is a brave female.
"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Tanya asked. "Where's Carlisle?" Obviously curious about Carlisle's state as the other three were.
"Carlisle had to leave."
There was a short silence.
"What's going on, Edward?" Tanya demanded.
How could I explain this carefully? The Denalis were going to be the toughest group because they'd seen their mother be burned alive because she had created an immortal child, the mother of Irina, the reason we were in trouble. Who knows how they'd act. Would they side with their sister? Or would they side with us?
"If you could give me the benefit of the doubt for just a few minutes." It was all I needed for them to listen. "I have something difficult to explain, and I'll need you to be open-minded until you understand."
"Is Carlisle all right?" the male voice, Eleazar, questioned. Eleazar had dark, maroon hair, slick and cut short. He was just as tall as Kate but more sophisticated because of his spectacles. His clothes were in the decade, but uptight and thin.
"None of us is all right, Eleazar." I patted his shoulder to help move along the mood. It would be easier for them to understand with my compassion and understanding about this whole situation. "But physically, Carlisle is fine."
"Physically? My, what ever do you mean?" Tanya asked sharply.
"I mean that my entire family is in very grave danger. But before I explain, I ask for your promise. Listen to every thing I say before you react. I am begging you to hear me out."
There was a long silence as the Denalis waited for my hearing. Even Jacob and Renesmee were wordless in the other room.
The silence compelled Tanya's voice, for she was the first to speak again.
"We're listening. We will hear it all before we judge."
"Thank you, Tanya," I said fervently. "We wouldn't involve you in this if we had any other choice."
They walked through the door once I stepped back; they sniffed the air, scrunching up their noses at the stench.
"I knew those werewolves were involved somehow," Tanya muttered. I could hear Jacob softly snarl in reaction to the comment from the dining room.
"Yes, and their on our side. Again." The reminder silenced both Tanya and Jacob, Tanya with a frown and—only assumed—Jacob with a smirk of pride and joy of the victory, though a depressed one for the fight with me and Seth when he was hurt.
Finally Carmen spoke. "Where's your Bella? How is she?"
The same question as earlier stung me, like hornets again and again and again.
"She did not make it," I spoke in response, a mute noise but still slightly audible.
Silence became present again as we all took in what ever memories of Bella we had, including Jacob and Renesmee.
"Tell us about the danger, Edward. We'll listen, and we'll be on your side, where we belong." She tried to distract my mind; it worked for now.
I sucked in a deep breath that wasn't really needed, my nose aching from Jacob's stench. Somehow, I moved on, though small amounts of venom flowed to my teeth. I was sure that my eyes were black as coal by now. I hadn't fed in a few days and I was getting thirsty.
"I'd like you to witness for yourselves first. Listen—in the other room. What do you hear?"
Carmen moved to stand on her other foot, closer to the room to get a better listen. Tanya, taking a step forward, started to head into the room instead of listening.
"Just listen first, please," I said.
"A werewolf, I assume. I can hear his heart," Tanya stated, turning her ears back to me.
"What else?" I pressed, knowing that she'd only guessed half right.
There was a pause as the four of them listened more closely.
"What is that thrumming?" Kate asked, now just as curious as Tanya. "Is that some kind of a bird?"
"No, but remember what you're hearing. Now, what do you smell? Besides the werewolf."
"Is there a human here?" Eleazar whispered.
"No," Tanya disagreed. I smiled, knowing that she was on the right track. "It's not human…but…closer to human than the rest of the scents here. What is that, Edward? I don't think I've ever smelled that fragrance before." My smile widened, she was close to bulls-eye.
"You most certainly have not, Tanya. Please, please remember that this is something entirely new to you. Throw away your preconceived notions," I begged.
"I promised you I would listen, Edward." She had a, now girly tone to her voice. Her attraction to me still, after a few decades, was incredible.
"Jacob, will you bring out Renesmee please?" I asked.
"Stupid leeches," I heard him mutter as he brought Renesmee out.
In reaction, Tanya and Kate skidded back four or five steps, both hissing fervently while quivering and shaking as if humans frightened by a venomous rattlesnake with no escape. Eleazar was in a protective stance in front of Carmen, who was also releasing multiple hisses out of shock.
"Oh please," I heard Jacob complain under his breath.
"You promised to listen," I reminded them, stroking Renesmee's face.
"Some things cannot be heard!" Tanya exclaimed. "How could you, Edward? Do you know what this means?" There reaction wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still, they were overreacting when they promised to listen.
"We have to get out of here." Kate trembled as she reached for the doorknob, ready to run out and far away as possible.
"Edward…" Eleazar seemed to go beyond words, knowing what this meant.
"Wait." My voice was like a stone in the graveyard now, a hard volcano ready to erupt. "Remember what you hear, what you smell. Renesmee is not what you think she is."
"There are no exceptions to this rule, Edward," Tanya snapped back at me, carefully eyeing Jacob, thinking of how she'd be able to escape with the two of us; he could rip her to limbs only.
"Tanya,"—my voice was now even sharper—"you can hear her heartbeat! Stop and think about what that means."
"Her heartbeat?" Carmen whispered, peering around Eleazar's shoulder.
"She's not a full vampire child," I answered, directing my attention toward Carmen's less hostile expression. "She is half-human."
They all looked at me, not completely comprehending, not knowing what to say against the facts of truth that my mouth spoke.
Seeing their expressions calming down, curious still, my stone voice became softer, more appealing as Bella would put it. "Hear me. Renesmee is one of a kind. I am her father. Not her creator—her biological father."
Tanya, still trembling, stood up straight; however, Kate was still very cautious of Renesmee, so she was still crouching, but she stopped trembling and hissing.
"Edward, you can't expect us to—," Eleazar started to say.
"Tell me another explanation that fits, Eleazar. You can feel the warmth of her body in the air. Blood runs in her veins, Eleazar. You can smell it." Jacob let out a huff; he'd been trembling and shaking, trying to keep in his wolf form from the Denalis who'd at first opposed me, ready to kill Renesmee; therefore, he was only being protective of her.
"How?" Kate breathed, releasing her crouch into the more curious step and stance. She had the courage to ask the same question that the rest of them had. Jacob chuckled; all eyes were on him.
"Sorry."
"Bella was her biological mother. She conceived, carried, and gave birth to Renesmee while she was still human. That's what killed her. I tried to get enough of my venom into her heart to try and save her. I was too late."
Silence busted, once again, into the room; though not for the grievance and sorrow of Bella's death and my failed triumph to save her. The Denalis were trying to contemplate the situation that was uncommon to both the vampire, wolf, and human world.
"I've never heard of a such a thing." He stiffened into a thinking position of his, wondering how something like this could ever happen.
"Physical relationships between vampire and humans are not common." Humor arose from my tone of voice, but there was no smile or smirk or giggle or chuckle to accompany its darkness. "Human survivors of such trysts are even less common, hence Bella's death. Wouldn't you agree, cousins?"
In response, Kate and Tanya scowled lowly at me, but I ignored it.
"Come on, Eleazar. Surely there is a resemblance that you can plainly see."
Carmen was the one who emerged completely. Moving around Eleazar, who growled in a low warning to her, she stepped closer to Renesmee, whom Jacob had passed over to me.
"You seem to have your mother's eyes, but your father's face." Renesmee being so irresistible, Carmen smiled at the young child.
Renesmee held her hand up to my face, wondering if it was all right to show Carmen her talent. I nodded.
"Do you mind if Renesmee tells you about her side of the story? She has an incredible gift for explaining things." There was happiness in my voice now, the tension had eased up more in the room, everyone now curious—except for Jacob and I—about this unexplainable talent that Renesmee had.
"Do you speak little one?" Carmen's curiosity had Renesmee in her arms, out of mine, in an instant. Eleazar let out a low hiss, warning the child not to hurt Carmen.
"I will not hurt her," Renesmee said, answering Eleazar's warning. "And, yes. But I can show you more than I can tell you." Her voice was a trilling high soprano, a beautiful wind chime that had Tanya and Kate flinching and stepping back a few centimeters.
Carmen took a breath in shock, the room easily tensed back up. Eleazar was at Carmen's side instantly, as if to yank the child away as soon as Carmen was hurt.
"You said you wouldn't hurt her," he grumbled, yet another warning. Jacob stepped forward, being very protective of Renesmee.
"Wait." Carmen was obviously mystified by this half-immortal, half-human's abilities. She looked tranced like Alice with her visions.
It took a while for Renesmee to show Carmen the whole side of her story, Jacob grumbling with impatience.
"What's Nessie showing her?"
"Every thing," I answered.
Another minute passed until Renesmee finally dropped her hand from Carmen's soft cheek. Carmen smiled, stunned by the indescribable talent of Renesmee's.
"She's really your daughter, isn't she? Such a vivid gift! It could only have come from a very gifted father."
"Do you honestly believe what she showed you?" I asked, my expression intense from knowing the truth. She had to. It was the only way for us to get this past us.
"Without a doubt." A simple answer.
"Carmen!" Eleazar exploded in disbelief of his mate.
"It seems impossible, Eleazar, I know, but Edward has told you nothing but the truth. Let the child show you." She passed Renesmee on to Eleazar, Jacob still as tense as he was. "Show him, mi querida."
Renesmee touched Eleazar's face lightly.
"Ay caray!" As an instant reflect, Jacob had Renesmee in his arms immediately, giving her a protective stance away from Eleazar.
"Calm down, Jacob," I warned him.
"What did she do to you?" Tanya asked warily, creeping forward just as Kate was.
"She's just trying to show you her side of the story, just as Edward had mentioned." Carmen's voice was soft and smooth.
"Jacob, give Renesmee back to Eleazar. Nothing will happen, I promise," I assured him.
With a snarl, he handed Renesmee back to Eleazar. Looking encouragingly at Carmen, Eleazar let Renesmee touch his face once more.
After Eleazar's show, Tanya and Kate hesitated to see but eventually were won over by curiosity of Renesmee's talent and the truth of her existence.
"Thank you for listening." I took back Renesmee into my arms, but then Jacob asked for her to hold. So I handed her off to him.
"But there is the grave danger you warned us of. Not directly from this child, I see, but surely from the Volturi, then. How did they find out about her? When are they coming?" Her somewhat understanding of the grave danger was a remarkable guess. Then again, the Volturi were the largest coven other than us; therefore, they have to be the threat.
"When Irina appeared in the mountains that day, Renesmee was with us."
Kate and Tanya released hisses, their eyes squinting in understanding. "Irina did this? To you? To Carlisle? Irina?"
"It had to have been someone else. Irina would never do something like that to you," Tanya whispered.
"Alice saw her approach them." I winced at Alice's name, knowing I was the only different one in my family since she and Jasper left—aside from Renesmee.
"How could she?"
"Imagine if you'd seen Renesmee that day in the mountains, only from a distance, no explanation given. Wouldn't you make the same assumptions?" I pressed, stepping closer into the circle we'd all formed by accident.
"No matter what she—," Tanya began.
"You are our family. She shouldn't have done this to you," Kate interrupted.
"There's nothing we can do about her choice now. It's too late. Alice foresaw a month given," I stated louder, grabbing their attention from all their babbling.
"So long?"
"All of them are coming. That's got to take some preparation."
"The entire guard?" Eleazar gasped.
"Not just the guard." My jaw tightened at this explanation. "Aro, Caius, Marcus. Even the wives are coming."
Shock spread across everybody's expression—except for Jacob's because he didn't really know what any of this meant, nor Renesmee because she didn't even know who these powerful people were.
"That's impossible." Blankness crossed over Eleazar's pale face.
"I would've said the same thing three days ago, but it's true."
"But that doesn't make any sense at all. Why would they put themselves and the wives in danger?"
"From that angle, there's no sense at all; Alice said there was more that just the unjust punishment for a wrong crime. She thought you could help us."
"More than punishment? But what else is there?" Eleazar began pacing across the room, everyone's eyes on him as he thought of any other possibilities.
"Where is everyone else?" Tanya asked.
"Looking for friends like you, who can help us."
"We can't help you win, Edward, no matter how many friends you can gather. We'll only die beside you. Of course, after Irina's actions we deserve that, and of how we've failed to support you in the past."
I immediately shook my head, stopping her from whatever more she had to add. "We're not asking you to fight and die with us. Come on, do you really think Carlisle would ask for that? No. Since the Volturi are having their own witnesses brought, we might as well have ours. Just enough to make them hesitate, to listen to our side of the story."
"Do you think they'll care about her past?" Tanya asked, nodding at my preposition.
"As long as it foreshadows her future. So as long as she keeps from exposing us to human knowledge, then there is no punishment," I explained kindly.
"I am not dangerous at all," Renesmee interjected. "I never hurt Grandpa or Sue or Billy. I love humans. And wolf-people like my Jacob." She nestled closer to Jacob, making him smile. Kate choked in disgust. As so Jacob gave her a warning glance.
"Renesmee grows at a remarkable pace. By the end of the month she'll have gained another half year development."
"Well, that is something we can witness, no doubt. How can the Volturi ignore such evidence?" Carmen said in a decided tone; almost a sure felt one.
"We will witness, certainly, and consider some other actions, just in case," Tanya decided.
"Tanya, we don't expect you to fight with—."
"I know, Edward, but if that's what it comes to, we can't simply just stand by while your family dies recklessly," Tanya interrupted. "Of course, Kate can agree with me because it will be a suicidal mission." Kate's face lit up at those words.
"I'm in!" Kate added with an enthused tone.
I eventually gave up fighting with them. Every thing went splendidly.
While the sun just came up over the horizon, Renesmee was passed around like a brand new Barbie doll that every little girl wanted to see and touch. Jacob didn't enjoy that very much.
"How are the werewolves involved in all of this?" Tanya asked for Jacob, not pleased with asking him directly.
"If these guys from Italy can't stop to listen to Nessie, then we'll be more than happily obliged to stop them."
"You are a brave young one, but it will take more fighters like you to take them down. Especially more experienced ones. And Nessie?" Jacob's eyes narrowed, ready to pounce on the vampire that protested his fighting skills.
"My name for Renesmee, leech," he snapped in response. "You don't know our capabilities."
"Feel free to die then, mongrel," Kate spoke, standing by Tanya.
"But Renesmee is special; therefore, he is able to protect her as are we," Tanya said, out of compassion for their sister and her grudge against the wolves.
"An amazingly talented family, as well; a mind reader for a father and whatever this child's talent is referred to as. Also, Bella was a shield. I don't remember; she blocked me the first time we met. It's incredible, you're sent around the world looking for one like her and you happen to stumble across one. But I wonder if there is a name for this vampire hybrid. Perhaps a flip of what your father and mother could do individually. Amazing." Eleazar paced the floor, his tempo increasing as he glanced between Carmen, Renesmee, and occasionally Jacob frequently.
Anger and fierceness overwhelmed me at his statement. "What did you call my wife?" I stammered, hoping not to kill him with my first swing.
"A shield, I think. I can't remember. She was blocking me the first time we met."
"A shield?" The thought bewildered me, shocked me.
"Come on, Edward! If I couldn't get a read on her, I doubt you could, either. Could you ever hear her thoughts?"
"No," I murmured. "I've never been able to do so."
"Never? That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent, if it was manifesting so clearly even before her almost-transformation. Interesting."
"Neither Aro nor Jane could get a feel on her. It's possible that neither Demetri nor Alec would be able to, even if she was alive. A shield! Why didn't I think of that? Of course, the only one I've ever met was Renata and what she did was completely different."
"Yes, well, no talent is exact because no one thinks the same. That's amazing; I've never heard of Aro's or Jane's talents being thwarted. Especially Jane's."
The silence became a happiness, especially for me. Now I wasn't as confused over her unbreakable, unreadable thoughts, ones I tried to read through her brown eyes, expressionless and seemingly empty.
The sun rose to its zenith as we all paced around the room through boredom. Tanya, Kate, Carmen, and Eleazar had left to hunt. I would've gone with them but I had more guests that could show up.
Why would all of them come? They've only attended the guard's administrations of unfathomable, untrue crimes committed by a coven. But every time, there's been a member of that coven that's been brought to the decision of joining the guard, that person being completely won over. This leaves the Volturi with more power than before. And Alice and Edward, and even Jasper have some pretty incredible talents. And Bella, well she probably would've had a very latent and incredible talent if she thwarted Aro's and Jane's gifts. So Aro must be curious on how she would've turned out, but she's dead and they probably don't know that.
Eleazar and the rest came back through the back door. Eleazar had to have been right. It was the only explanation that made sense for all of them to come. As soon as he walked in, he looked straight at me. "It has to be the only reason," he stated, his intuitive guess that I was listening to his thoughts were correct; but not out of curiosity, only out of mere boredom and frustration. "It's the only one that makes sense."
"But does it make sense to have all of them come here. There must be more than just an immortal child—just as Alice had mentioned, but what?"
"It doesn't make much sense to me. Unless they've come for power, meaning they're heinous criminals, only greedy for power. I don't want to think of them that way." Eleazar gritted his teeth, expressing an unhappy and reluctant look. "If you're right—."
"The thought was yours, not mine," I corrected.
"If I'm right…I can't even grasp what that would mean. It would change everything about the world we've created. It would change the meaning of my life. What I have been a part of."
Everybody else in the room seemed to have noticed our quiet conversation. Now the attention was placed on us. Not that I didn't mind that, it just made me very uncomfortable.
"What did we miss, my friend? I want to know so that I can argue these thoughts. You've never done anything worth castigating yourself this way," Tanya insisted, approaching only centimeters from behind Eleazar, Carmen and Kate following her steps.
"Oh, haven't I?" Eleazar began to pace across the floor, ignoring the hand that Tanya had placed on his shoulder. Then she turned towards me.
"Explain." Her words were succinct and sharp.
"He was trying to understand why so many of the Volturi would come to punish us. It's not the way they do things. Certainly, we are the biggest mature coven they've dealt with, but in the past other covens have joined to protect themselves, and they never presented much of a challenge despite their numbers. We are closely bonded, and that's a factor, but not a huge one. He was remembering other times that covens have been punished, for one thing or the other, and a pattern occurred to him. It was a pattern that the rest of the guard would never have noticed, since Eleazar was the one passing the pertinent intelligence privately to Aro. A pattern that only repeated every other century or so."
There was a pause as Tanya organized her thoughts, considering the so-called "debate" on our hands.
"What was this pattern?" Carmen asked, stepping into the conversation.
"Aro does not often personally attend a punishing expedition. But in the past, when Aro wanted something in particular, it was never long before evidence turned up proving that this coven or that coven had committed some unpardonable crime. The ancients would decide to go along to watch the guard administer justice. And then, once the coven was all but destroyed, Aro would grant a pardon to one member whose thoughts, he would claim, were particularly repentant. Always, it would turn out that this vampire had the gift Aro had admired. Always, this person was given a place with the guard. The gifted vampire was won over quickly, always so grateful for the honor. There were no exceptions."
Silence was upon us once more as Eleazar continued with his analysis. It just didn't seem likely that all of the Volturi would come to punish us.
"I could only think that the reason Aro had decided to come himself, to bring so many with him, is because his goal is not punishment but acquisition. He needs to be there to control the situation. But he needs the entire guard for protection from such a large, gifted coven. On the other hand, that leaves the other ancients unprotected in Volterra. Too risky—someone might try to take advantage. So they all come together. How else could he be sure to preserve the gifts that he wants? He must want them very badly," Eleazar stated. It made sense of his statement. It had to be the only reason.
"Well, Aro's never wanted anything more than he wants Alice," I remembered. Maybe that was why she had left so abruptly. "I think the Volturi were waiting for this—for some pretext. They couldn't know what form their excuse would come in, but the plan was already in place for when it did come. That's why Alice saw their decision before Irina triggered it. The decision was already made, just waiting for the pretense of a justification."
"But if the Volturi are abusing the trust all immortals have placed in them, then—," Carmen murmured, still intact with the conversation.
"Does it matter? Who would believe any of it? And if others could be convinced that the Volturi are exploiting their power, how could is make a different? No one can stand against them?" Eleazar asked.
"Though some of us are insane enough to try to." Kate had shifted her weight, Tanya nodding her head in agreement with Kate.
"You are only here to witness. If we can take away his argument against us, he'll be forced to leave us in peace," I interjected. Carlisle would never want them to die for us and, honestly, neither would I.
We sat around waiting and waiting, waiting for something other than boredom to come.
"Are you really going to do this?" Jacob wondered, finally moving from the couch and from Renesmee's view.
"Yes, we have—," I began.
"Wait!" Jacob cocked his head to the side, using his extreme sense of hearing. I listened over too.
I heard the sound of a new red Camaro's tires rolling up the gravel road.
"Time to get ready for the next round." Jacob stood in the dining room with Renesmee in his arms. The Denalis were all scattered around the house. Some outside, some on the first floor, some on the second floor. I placed myself in front of the door, creaking it open to reveal Peter and Charlotte.