Chapter 11 – Fire and Fury

BPOV

The tension in the room was almost tangible as we waited for a response from the newborn. My eyes couldn't leave the familiar strangers face as I held my breath, feeling the air shake around us from Jacobs trembling.

The crimson eyes should've been brown, and warm. The now pale skin should've had a tinge of colour to it, some semblance of humanity. But it didn't and it hurt me to look at the person stood before me.

"It's me Bella." I wanted to cry at the admission. This was never supposed to happen; they were all supposed to be safe.
"Angela." I whispered once I had found my voice again. "How?"
"I could ask you the same thing Bella."

AnPOV

I couldn't believe it when I reached the house. I'd been here before, right after graduation for the Cullens party. Sure they never seemed normal but never would I have guessed that they were vampires, maybe someone else had moved in here. There it was; the sickly sweet smell of humans. I could hear their heartbeats so clearly, the wet thumping sound of the valves opening and closing as the blood rushed round their bodies.

The venom was pooling in my mouth, maybe these other vampires would share their snack? It wasn't that I wanted to be like this but the burning in my throat wouldn't stop, the only time it'd even come close was when I'd found that man in the woods. He seemed familiar but the red cloud that had obscured my vision stopped me from discovering who it was, and when I went back to find out the body was gone, and there was the scent of another vampire. I waited deep in the woods for a while, trying to decide what to do, when I went to go follow the scent, there were more, a whole group of vampires. And something else, but I didn't know what the damp, musky smell was.

So when I finally made it to the familiar house, the last people I'd expected to see were the Cullens. But what shocked me even more was that Bella was there. That she was part of this world. Her scent told me that much. I wondered how and why she'd been changed. But my attention was caught as she spoke. Her voice melodic, but soft and filled with shock.

"No. Please, tell me it's not you." I couldn't help but stare at her for a moment before the ability to speak returned to me.
"Hi, Bella." I said quietly, my eyes fixed on her, yes, I could still hear the humans hearts pounding in my head, almost beckoning me to them, but Bella's eyes, those golden liquid eyes, held me in my place. Of course it didn't hurt that she had Edward on one side, looking as gorgeous as ever, and...was that Jacob Black on her other side? Yes, I think it was. The two males had stayed in their defensive positions as Bella had taken a few steps toward me.
"It's me Bella."
"Angela. How?" Her voice was so quiet, but it cracked a little as she said my name.
"I could ask you the same thing Bella." I replied with a small smile.

BPOV

"Bella? Do you...know her?" Jacob asked after a moment, pulling me out of my daze and back to reality. The reality in which a newborn vampire was in the same room as my mother and stepdad.
"Yeah Jake, I know her. It's Angela. Angela Weber." I said softly, glancing at my best friend before looking at Edward who relaxed his stance a little, though he still stayed behind me, keeping the guard around my mum complete. "Edward." I said quietly, not looking away from Angela. "Get Renee and Phil out of here." I felt the movements behind me, and heard the sounds of six pairs of feet leave the room. I knew who was still stood behind me, but I couldn't turn to look at them. Angela had shifted slightly as if she was going to follow the group that had just left.

"Angela. You wouldn't make it three steps." Edward said softly, but there was definitely a warning note to his voice. She looked up at him and those crimson eyes struck me again. The air was still vibrating around us as Jacob tried to keep his temper in check, something he'd gotten a lot better at over the years. Edward and I switched paces, him moving in front of me whilst I stepped back next to Jacob. Tearing my eyes away from Angela I looked at my best friend.
"Jake. Calm down."
"I'm trying to Bells." He said, his jaw tight.
"I know Jake, I know." I said softly with a glance at Jasper who nodded a little and I felt the waves of calm wrap around Jacob and myself. The trebling eased and Jake stood straight.
"Thanks Jasper." He muttered before looking at me, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Go, make sure she's ok." I said with a smile. It took only a fraction of a second for Jacob to be gone, back to Renesmee.
"Thanks Jazz." I smiled before turning back to Angela, Edward still hadn't fully relaxed, and I knew why, she was still a newborn, still unpredictable, still a danger. In theory.

"Bella, could you please explain what's going on?" Angela asked after a moment and I smiled, placing a hand on Edwards shoulder. He relaxed instantly under my touch, straightening completely and moving behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist.
"Sorry. This is all a bit confusing, I know." I said quietly. "Come on in properly. Don't worry. No one will harm you."
"That's not what it looks like. You have a whole guard here Bella." Angela said quietly, looking at Edward, then Alice and finally Jasper, a small gasp escaping her lips as she finally saw the scars covering his body.
"I know. But trust me, they won't hurt you. They're just...overprotective." I smiled softly, stepping out of Edwards embrace and moving to the sofa beside me. Motioning as I did for Angela to join me. And while Alice looked calm and happy, I could still see the tension in Jasper and Edward's eyes. As Angela made her way to sit beside me I noted the slightly stiff movement of each limb, as if they were trying to take her in another direction, the terrifying thing was, I knew which direction they wanted to take.
"Bella." Jaspers voice floated softly to my ears, "Are you sure?"
"Of course I am Jazz." I said with a smile as Angela sat beside me. I knew he wasn't talking about me trusting Angela though, he could feel the anger bubbling deep inside me. My acting skills had gotten much better over the years, but I knew that Edward could see my emotions, which explained his tension. "Ok Angela. Let's start at the beginning. Do you know who changed you?"
"No. I didn't see him. He came up from behind me."
"Ok. How long ago were you changed?" I knew from the brightness of her eyes it couldn't have been more than a year ago.
"I think it was about a week and a half ago."
"A week and a half." I echoed, doing the mental calculations. I knew now that she had been a completely newborn vampire the day my father was murdered. The anger was bubbling up inside me. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice even. "Have you...fed off anyone since you were changed?" I looked at her closely, watching her demeanour shift into what I could see was guilt.
"Yes." She nodded, "Three people in total. But I didn't want to! Honest Bella, I didn't! It was like I had no control...the burning...oh god the burning...it never goes away, never ends, until I taste their blood."
"Who were they?" I asked through my mask of calm.
"I...I don't know. There was a girl in the woods, but I'd never met her before. And an old man by the river. I don't even remember the first one, it was just a man, he was out, alone in the woods. He smelt like nothing ever had, and this red haze took over and I didn't care anymore, all I knew was that I had to have him. I had to taste him." She paused for a moment, as she reeled herself in a little. "But now I think about it, I can see through the haze, I was on the outskirts of town, out by where you used to live..." She didn't get to finish, because as she confirmed my worst fears a loud growl came from my throat and I sprang out of my seat, hunched on the floor, ready to attack. The snarls were ripping out of me, fuelled as much by my pain as by my anger.

In an instant Edward was in front of me while Alice held Angela down in her seat, her eyes not leaving mine. I could see Angelas face though, and the fear I saw there made me smile internally, she should be afraid. I was going to rip her limb from limb and burn the pieces. The monster inside me had taken over, the red haze clouded not only my vision but my humanity. I was now only vaguely aware of Edwards form in front of my, it was merely an obstacle between me and my enemy. "Bella. Bella. Don't." Came the soft melodic, pacifying voice I could never mistake or forget. I glanced up from my hunched position and my gaze fell straight into the topaz eyes of my husband. My soul mate. The only thing in this world that mattered anymore. Nothing could make me hurt him. Though the creature inside me fought against that notion.

He's in the way. You need to get to her.
No. I could never.
She killed Charlie. She killed him and didn't care.
I know!
You need to get around him. Anyway possible. Do whatever it takes. She must pay.
And what would Edward be paying for?
You already know. You need to hurt him, to get him out of the way.
He'd never forgive me.
Yes. He will. It's Edward.

"Bella, love. Don't listen to it." Edward said calmly, interrupting my mental argument. I hadn't realised I'd released my shield. I'd let him in.
"She killed him."
"I know."
"She didn't even..."
"I know."
"He's gone."
"Yes."
"Stop being so calm! How can you be so fucking calm Edward?" I'd shot up from my crouched position, my eyes burning into his, desperate to know why he wasn't willing to let me do what I had to do.
"Because you'd only regret this later."
"No. I wouldn't." I snarled, looking back to Angela, who now seemed confused as well as scared.
"Yes love. You would."
"No I wouldn't! She killed Charlie! My fucking father! The only person in this world who'd never left me! Even when I said goodbye he was always there, waiting for me to come back." That was it the sentence that would either make him apologise – again – or that would free my path to my enemy. To the murderer who killed my father.
"I know." And at the sound of his understanding voice I screamed. A loud clear scream filled with all the pain and anger I'd been bottling up for days. It flooded out of me like water, there was no stopping the torrent now. Until...

"Charlie? That man was...? Oh my god!"
"Shut up! Just shut up! Don't you dare say his name!" I screeched. I had been so distracted by my rage that I hadn't noticed Emmett's entrance into the room, and only realised it now as Edward stood slightly aside and I tried to run towards the newborn on the sofa. I tried, and failed. Emmetts stone arms were wrapped around my waist, holding me against him. Stopping my attack. "Get. Off. Me."
"Sorry lil' sis. No can do."
"Emmett! Get off me! I swear to god I'll..."
"Bella, I'm so sorry, I didn't know...I didn't think...I just couldn't..." Angela trailed off. No longer looking at me as Alice released her and came to stand in front of me. They were protecting her?! Why were they protecting her?! She'd killed my father! She'd... and then I felt it. The warm wave of calm washing through me. Rinsing every cell of it's anger. Of it's frustration.
"Jasper, stop it! Let me feel!" I whispered, looking up at my brother. Begging him silently to let me just feel all of this. I'd been empty for too long. I'd been trapped in the numbness for what seemed like an eternity with only occasional sparks of life to brighten the world. But Even when those lights had flickered the world around me had been in sepia. As if no colour could exist for me, I was forbidden from seeing them.
"Bella. Please. Just think for a moment. Just try to understand. We're not protecting her. We're protecting you." Edward said softly.
"Me?" I scoffed. What would I need protecting from?
"Yourself." He answered my thought instead of my words, though I knew he couldn't actually hear what I was thinking. No, he'd read it in my eyes.

EPOV

It was torture watching my wife, my Bella in this much pain. A pain which burnt in every single cell of her body. An all consuming pain which fuelled her anger. I was thankful when Emmett took hold of her. Not wanting to have to do it myself. I couldn't. I couldn't touch her for fear of causing her anymore pain. She was screaming as if she'd been set on fire. As if nothing in the world mattered anymore except the pain. If I thought for one second that killing Angela would ease her pain, even for a moment I'd let her do it. But that was it. Once the mist had passed, once she was herself again, she'd hate herself. She'd hate what she'd done. What the monster made her capable of. And I couldn't let her do that. I had to protect her, from herself. The worst enemy we'd ever faced.

"Myself? You think you're protecting me?"
"I know I am."
"You're not always right Edward! You don't know everything."
"But I know you. And I know that if we let you do this. If you got your wish, you'd regret it for the rest of eternity. You'd never forgive yourself."
"I don't care." She sounded so weak in that moment. So terribly human that it scared me. She was prepared to kill to avenge her father. To make the world seem a little more justified.
"Yes you do." And for a moment I saw the realisation flicker in her eyes, behind the anger that was bubbling there, silenced by the calm being forced into her body.
"Edward." The pleading in her voice cut through me. "Please. I have to. She can't..." She trailed off, falling into silent sobs as I felt the calm leave the room. She didn't need it anymore.

Her eyes didn't leave mine, so I saw the pain emerge in her eyes, long before her body registered it. She looked so broken. So weak and vulnerable that I almost gave into her wish. I almost let her kill Angela, just so she could feel some sort of relief. Some respite from her grief. Almost. But not quite.

BPOV

The waves of pain kept coming, and as each new one broke it felt ten times worse. It consumed me like a flame, burning every other thought, every other feeling from me. I was powerless against it and I felt my body slump and be lowered to the ground but I didn't register my release from Emmetts grasp, or the new arms which surrounded me. I couldn't think of anything but him. My father, the man who had always waited for me. After every goodbye. Who'd protected me as best he could for my whole life, and even when that life had ended he'd still been there. Begging for me to stay. And now he was gone. Ripped away by an uncontrollable force. An uncontrollable, but removable force.

And then the pain changed. It burnt brighter for a moment before it dwindled, never going out, never leaving, but it was replaced once again by an all consuming anger. Which burned brighter than any feeling before. Brighter than the sun. More fearsome than anything I'd ever experienced. And as I experienced this shift I felt Edwards arms wrap tighter around me, no longer comforting, no longer a safe haven where I could exist in the torment. They were a prison, restraining and strong. It took all my strength to lift my head, to look into his eyes and ignore the pain I could see so clearly there. Those golden eyes were broken, and burning.

"Edward." I said after a moment. My voice stronger than it should have been.
"Bella." His voice was just as broken as his eyes, but his tone begged me, and I knew he'd give anything to see me happy again. To stop the pain wracking my body. To free me.
"Please. Let me go." I wasn't sure if I was talking about his arms or my heart.
"No." And though I didn't know which I'd been talking about, I knew what he was saying. He'd never let me go. He couldn't, just as surely as I couldn't survive without him, he couldn't without me.
"Release me."
"No."

"Bella?" This voice was light and ringing, so calm, so gentle.
"Don't. Please, don't."
"Hush little one." Said the voice again as I felt two more arms surround me, building a safe haven around me. Protecting me.
"Esme." I whispered, falling unwillingly into her embrace, sobbing tearlessly against her.
"Shh." She comforted me as we sat there, her soft, delicate hands running through my hair. Soothing me. Bringing me back to my family. To Edward.

It could have been hours later, or merely seconds, I couldn't tell when I finally rose from my mother in laws arms and turned to look at my husband. The only person in this world who could save me now. The only person who's forgiveness and understanding I needed.
"I love you." Came his whispered voice, and before I could think about it, my arms had wrapped around his neck and my body was flush against his, my face nestled in his shoulder.
"I love you too. And I'm sorry."
"Hush love." And I could do nothing but nod into his shoulder before I turned in his embrace to look at Angela, now sat between Jasper and Alice, with Emmett stood behind her.

"I'm sorry."

Author's Note:
So what did you think of the outburst? There's more to come don't worry. No one, not even Bella can forgive that easily, but it will be a lot harder knowing who's to blame.

So please review and tell me what you think, and what you think should happen next, it'd be interesting to hear your ideas.