AN: I'm sorry for not updating. I was painting my room all week and now I am finally done! whoops. It feels so good not to be covered in paint.
Sunlit Pathways
Chapter 10: Fire
The earth shook. Thunder rumbled. Winds blew violently. Lightning bolts flashed, striking the ground, hitting the fighting vampires, friend and foe alike.
"Charmaine!" screamed Riley, attempting to spot her in the chaos. Seeing Serena was occupied, he ran in the direction Charmaine had been sitting. Blindly running, he stumbled over something.
"Charmaine" he said, taking her still shaking body by the shoulders. Her eyes were closed now, and she couldn't seem to control the shaking. "Charmaine!" he tried to get through to her, "Come on Charmaine, snap out of it!"
More lightning bolts hit, a few vampires screamed. Emmett took advantage of the distraction to finish off his opponents, throwing their bodies into a fire which had been started by the lightning.
"Please Charmaine," said Riley desperately, stroking her hair, "Snap out of it, please"
Charmaine gave one last shudder, and remained still. In five seconds, the weather cleared, everything was calm. The ground was strewn with leaves. The fire was still going, blazing strong and letting off purple, sickeningly sweet smoke. Serena's army was reduced to about twelve vampires Serena, Yvonne, and Brett were still standing.. Edward was lying motionless on the ground, as was Kayla.
Bella was sobbing, kneeling over Edward's body, shaking him, begging him to wake up.
Anthony's eyes were blazing with fire, as he saw his mate on the ground, attempting and failing to rouse her.
"What's wrong with her?" he asked at large.
Alice knelt by Bella, shaking her brother too, and consoling Bella.
Serena looked on with twisted pleasure, "We do have some mourning to do, don't we?"
Anthony looked up at her fiercely, "You sick, twisted, bitch" he said angrily, tackling her and taking her to the ground.
Riley helped him, both of them grappling against Serena. Yvonne jumped in the fray, and Brett was about to follow, only to find his way blocked by Bella.
"Step aside" he commanded.
Bella smirked, "Dream on"
"Look, Bella, I don't want to hurt you"
"Looks like you don't have a choice," she said, moving forward.
"I didn't kill him, your pal Riley's girlfriend did"
"He's not dead," said Bella, "He's hurt. You attacked him didn't you, while he was distracted by the lightning. The same way Serena attacked Kayla? None of you fight fair, do you?"
"All fifteen of you were prepared to fight the three of us"
Bella laughed hollowly, "But we ended up fighting twenty four"
"Please Bella, I don't want to fight you. I've been looking for you for so long. You still look like that same beautiful girl I saw at the window"
"Shut up"
"I wanted you, Bella. Your blood was the sweetest thing ever, but I was so happy that Yvonne pulled me off. You could have been my mate."
"I said, shut up!" Bella flew at him, crashing to the ground, pinning him, "You killed me for your own selfish reasons. I can't be mad at you for that though, atleast I met a loving family and Edward. I am mad at you for hurting Edward though."
Brett used the same trick he had on Edward, flipping her over so she was pinned to the ground.
"I've dreamed about this," he said, grinning down at her, "Not quite in the same circumstances, but—aaahhh!"
Bella threw him off and he hit the ground hard, causing the earth to tremble. He stood up, glowering at her.
"Now Bella, that is no way to treat your mate"
"I am not your mate!" Bella screamed, slashing at him violently. Bloodless gashes began appearing on his body as she attacked fast and furiously. Just as she was about to bite his neck, hands on her arms stopped her.
"Let me take care of this part love" In one fluid motion. Edward sliced off Brett's head, swiftly dismembering him and chucking everything into the fire.
"Edward!" said Bella happily, jumping into his arms.
He laughed as she kissed every part of his face she could reach. "Should I look forward to this kind of welcome every time I return?"
"Nope" she said, "You're not leaving again"
He chuckled once more, proceeding to capture her mouth in a kiss.
As Edward and Bella rejoiced, Anthony and Riley managed to dismember Yvonne and cast her into the large fire. Serena, who had managed to avoid their hits for so long, quickly ordered what remained of the army to attack the Cullens, only to be tackled once more the ground by Riley and Anthony.
The order had been given, however, and the army attacked once more. Kyle scooped up his still motionless twin and laid her beside Charmaine, who was in the same condition.
Bella and Edward joined the Cullens and Parkers to help finish off the army, which seemed to be shaken by the loss of its nine members.
Arielle slashed off her opponent's neck, tossing him into the fire. Kyle followed with his own opponent.
The slashing and burning continued until there were only three vampires, plus Serena, left. Serena was being attacked by Riley and Anthony, who showed no signs of giving up soon. The three vampires, two males and one female, were being held by Emmett, Kyle, and Carlisle.
"Please, please don't kill us," sobbed the female, a pretty redhead.
"I think we should let them go Carlisle," said John, "After all, they were acting under Serena's orders."
"Of course," said Carlisle.
"If we must let them go," Emmett said sadly, "We'll let them go when Serena is finished off"
Heads turned to watch the fight going on a few feet away. Riley and Anthony had managed to rip off Serena's arm. Both of them closed in on her, as she attempted to slash at them. Riley jumped up in a sudden movement and sliced off her head, tossing it into the fire. Anthony shredded the rest of her and the pieces followed her head.
Riley rushed towards Charmaine and Kayla, Anthony following behind him. The Cullens and Parkers followed, releasing the remaining vampires and crowding around the two still bodies.
"Kayla…" murmured Kyle, kneeling next to her, "Why isn't she waking up? Edward did"
"What happened Edward?" asked John.
Edward shrugged, "I was looking for Bella. Everything was confusing, and then, Brett was coming towards me, and I… fainted I guess"
"Yvonne hit Kayla," whispered Bella, "I saw it"
"Riley? What happened to Charmaine?"
"It's her power," he said, looking up at them, "In her human life, she used to have a very volatile temper, and then when she was changed it magnified… a lot. That's why the Volturi wanted her, they thought they could help her control her power and keep her as one of their guards. A power like that could be very useful if controlled. If not, well, you saw what happened. She said it used to happen whenever she got slightly upset or angry, but now it only happens when she has violent surges of emotion. She goes into spasms, the weather gets messed up, and lightning hits the ground, she thinks that's to hurt whatever made her upset. And then she faints"
"Does she wake up?"
"Yeah she does, once she calms down. So why did Edward and Kayla faint? I thought vampires weren't supposed to faint"
"They aren't," said Carlisle, "I have never seen anything like this before. I thought it might have something to do with Charmaine's power. After all, she's fainted too"
Riley shrugged, "Maybe it does"
"When's Kayla going to wake up?" asked Arielle.
Alice's eyes glazed over as she attempted to see. "In five minutes," she murmured, as she snapped out.
"I think it was something to do with the hits they took as well as Charmaine's power" said Bella, "I mean, a lot of us took hits, but we didn't faint. I guess Charmaine's lightning bolts just stunned them, causing them to faint"
"That makes sense," said John, "We probably never will know exactly"
Kayla mumbled something unintelligibly as her eyes opened.
"Kayla!" Anthony swept her up, kissing her fiercely, "Don't you dare got o sleep again"
"It's nice to see you too" said Kayla, grinning at him affectionately, "So what happened?" she asked, looking up a everyone, "Is it over?"
"Yes, thank god" said Elena, gesturing towards the fire that was more purple smoke than flames.
"The fire's going down" said Esme, "Hopefully the smoke won't attract attention"
"I doubt it," said Kyle, as he hugged his sister, "They'll probably be worried about that weather spazz"
Charmaine shuddered slightly.
"Charmaine?" asked Riley.
"My head hurts," she mumbled, opening her eyes, "Oh god. I had an emotion surge, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did," said Riley, kissing her, "But it helped us"
Charmaine seemed to just notice the vampires standing around her, "Oh… is Serena dead?"
"Yeah, she is," said Bella, "So is most of the army. Speaking of the army, I think those three ran away"
Sure enough, the no other vampires stood in the clearing.
"Maybe we'll see them again someday" said Rosalie.
"Charmaine," said Elena, "Would you like to stay with us?"
Charmaine brightened, "Of course I'd love to!"
"It includes following our habits" said Elena.
"I think… that I'd like that," said Charmaine slowly, "I might need some help though," she looked apologetic, "I've lived off humans all my vampire life"
"Of course," said John.
"All of us will help," assured Bella, casting a smug look at Riley.
"Alright, Bella," Riley admitted, "You were right"
"About what?"
Bella and Riley glanced at each other.
"Long story" said Bella.
"What time is it?" asked Arielle.
"It's three in the morning," said Jasper.
"School soon," sang out Alice, "Charmaine, I know you're not going, but can I please dress you?"
"Now you're in for it…" muttered Bella.
Alice hit Bella, "I'm not that bad"
"Yeah she's not," said Arielle, "Come on, Charmaine, we'll help"
"Okay" said Charmaine hesitantly, glancing at Riley.
"Go ahead," he smiled at her.
A light hearted atmosphere rested over them, as the vampires entered the house with the newest addition to the family.
XXX
AN: Yay, Riley finally has a mate, and everything is good again. I think there'll be only one or two more chapters, probably with some Bella/ Edward fluff, and an epilogue. I need to end this story, because I'm going on vacation for two months with limited internet access, and I don't want to leave this one hanging. Thank you for reading, and please review and tell me what you think.
oxBluexo