Go unnoticedLet the freedom wash awayLosing focusThe pretense is second natureIt's a broken life that I cling toTrying to make rightI feel dismay just like you doI feel decayedSo find me a way to leave this wasted lifeBehind me (this wasted life)Find me a way to leave this wasted lifeBehind me after all
Waste- Seether
BPOV
"Daddy?" I said backing away from him, the scent of his blood was too much. He didn't flinch, could he even tell I was here? I was trying very hard to focus on anything else but the scent of my father's hot, blood pulsing through his veins, protected by only a thin layer of skin.
"Stop, Bella," I heard Edward say. I turned around to find him, but he wasn't in the room.
"So," Aro clapped, "What's your decision? Will you be mine or will you be forced to kill your father?"
"Bella, I'm here. Listen to me, you can hear the thoughts that I want you to hear, as I can hear the thoughts you want me to hear. Aro does not know this and we must keep it between us. Join Aro, okay? I will find a way out of this"
"I'll join you," I said quietly.
"Excellent, my dear!" Aro smiled, "Let him in!" I turned to the double doors as they opened, two men walked forward holding chains around their hands, I followed the length of the chain as they walked through the door. I gasped when I saw what was at the end.
With chains wrapped around his neck, hands and feet, Edward fought his way into the room, "Why are you doing this to him!" I turned to Aro, infuriated. "Bella, I'm okay, please, quit worrying about me, its only going to provoke Aro," I couldn't just not worry about Edward.
"Edward," he spat, "needs to learn where his allegiance lies. Release him," he said to Edward. I was expecting the men to let Edward go, instead I heard my father.
"Bells, what's going on? Where are we? Why are your eyes red?" his words were sluggish and slurred. What had they done to him?
"I'm going to try my hardest to get him out of here, Bella." How did this thought sharing thing work? Did I just think that I wanted Edward to know what I was thinking?
"Yes, Bella," he answered.
"Mr. Swan, would you please come over here?" Aro politely asked my father. I tensed up as he stepped closer to me, the scent was too powerful.
"Edward, what do I do? I can't kill him, please help me," I cried.
"Bells, what's wrong?" my father stepped in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"Bella, just stop breathing, and stay very still. I'm so sorry, angel."
"Mr. Swan," Aro said, commanding his attention, "Edward sent the women to kill your wife and will now kill your daughter, say goodbye."
"Bella, I did not! I had nothing to do with your mother's murder, please believe me."
"I believe you," I honestly did believe him.
"What?" he turned to Edward with anger in his eyes. Aro stepped behind my father, sandwiching him between us. The scent took over, "Edward, help," I cried internally. I couldn't control myself, my mouth opened as I moved in closer to my father's neck. "Don't you fucking do it, Bella!" Edward yelled angrily, the harshness of his words caught me off guard, then I realized he only said them to distract me. "Thank you, Edward."
I backed away from my father, "I love you, Daddy, but you need to go. I won't see you anymore."
"Isabella, you can't leave me, I have nothing without you. What is going on, baby girl? Why are you here? Why did Edward kill Renee?"
"I don't know, Daddy, but I'm too different now, I can hurt you, please just go," it hurt so much to tell him goodbye, I wanted to cry, I should have been crying, but my eyes were dry. I could cry no more.
"What am I going to do without you? Bells, I can't lose you, your mother is gone. You're the only thing I have left."
"Which is exactly why you're no longer needed," Aro whispered.
"What?" my father spun around to face Aro as he extended his teeth out and bit into my father's neck.
"DADDY!" I yelled as I ran to his limp, bleeding body lying on the floor. Venom surged in my mouth and my throat ignited with need for the red liquid pouring from my father's neck. I felt the heat leave his body as he died. This shouldn't have happened; there was no need for his death.
Aro would perish for this.
With all thoughts and feelings of thirst abandoned, I stood with rage and hate quaking through me. I let out a guttural, menacing growl as I charged at Aro; I gripped his throat as tightly as I could as I sent our bodies flying into the wall behind us. The entire room trembled as I cracked the bricks around Aro's body; pictures fell off the wall and shattered on the ground. "Bella, stop, he will kill you," I heard Edward's small voice echo in my head. I didn't care if I died again, but I was sure as hell taking Aro down with me. My fingernails made a screeching noise as they tore into the tough flesh of Aro's neck. He looked up at me with a smile, "You aren't going to kill me, angel," I snarled once more as I dug my fingers deeper into the gashes they had created.
"We'll see about that," I snapped.
I felt something hard against my back and was suddenly thrown backwards across the room. I landed on the floor, cracking the tiles. I stood up instantly and was charging Aro again as I felt arms wrap around my torso, I fought and struggled against my captor, there was no way I was going down without a fight. I felt a hand slip under my jaw and pull my head back painfully. I heard a crack as searing pain radiated throughout my neck. I screamed as I felt my captor slowly widen the tear in my neck.
"No, no, my boy, we mustn't kill her now. She's too valuable," Aro said calmly as he stepped in front of me. My captor lowered my jaw back down and I felt relief as the crack in my neck came back together. I turned to see who captured me, it was James.
"Oh, Bella, you feel so good right up against me," he whispered as he ran his tongue up the shell of ear. Rage shook through me again; James would go down with Aro as well.
"You're a disgusting mother fucker, James. I can't wait to murder you," I growled. I raised my leg and thrust backwards kicking him as hard as I possibly could in the balls. He let go of me immediately and fell to the ground.
"Holy shit, Bella," Edward cheered.
Aro grabbed a hand full of my hair and snapped my head back against his shoulder, "Do not hurt anymore of my men, do you understand? You have no more family, no more Edward, you are mine, bitch."
"Play along, angel. We'll make it."
"Put him back," Aro waved to the men that held Edward's chains. This time he didn't struggle, he followed behind the men obediently, it made me sick. Still holding on to me by my hair, Aro dragged me through a door and into a bedroom, "This is your room, Isabella. Do with it what you will."
"What about my father?" I asked sternly.
"Oh, he will be taken care of, darling. Don't you worry," he said nonchalantly. I was infuriated. Aro made a quick exit before I could send him flying into another wall. I looked around my room, black bed spread, black sheets, black headboard, black pillows, black carpet, red walls and black curtains, very comforting and homey.
I heard a knock at my door and when I opened it I saw my father standing before me, "Howdy, Bells. How's about I come tuck you in and give you a good night kiss? A girl like you needs a little lovin'" a strange voice said, then started laughing. My father's body fell to the floor as James doubled over in laughter behind him, "You should have seen your face, Bella!"
Words can not even describe how livid and enraged I became. I launched myself at James, and slammed him into the floor. I wasn't going to give him a chance to escape, not this time. With one high heel pierced through his chest and the other through his neck, I grabbed his jaw as he did earlier to mine and ripped his head from his body. There was a huge fireplace roaring with flames in the opposite corner of the large room, I ran over to it and dropped the son-of-a-bitch's head straight into the flames, I laughed as he turned to ashes. I had no idea where Aro went to, but he never came in during my little murder, I was kind of disappointed, with James gone who would run to his rescue? It would be too easy.
I walked over to my father's body and crouched down beside him. I gently lifted his head into my lap and ran my hand over his salt and pepper hair, "I'm so sorry, Daddy. This should have never happened. James turned me into a vampire, but I killed him so I guess we're even. Edward's a vampire too, Daddy, but a nice one. He's trying to get us out of this place," I ran my fingers over the bite marks on his neck. I licked my finger and wiped away the dried blood that had settled on his skin, "How's Mom? I'm glad you both have each other again; I know you're watching over me now. Do vampires go to Heaven? I mean we're immortal, but we can be destroyed, I don't know. Maybe you can ask God that for me and send his answer to me some how. Tell Mom I miss her everyday and that I love her. I can't believe this happened, Daddy, and just when we were going to get our lives back together. We had a rough time but I always knew that we would pull through. Looks like we'll never get that chance. I love you so much, Daddy, I'm so sorry," my voice was barely a whisper, my eyes stung with tears that could never be shed. We didn't deserve this. I placed a light kiss on my father's head. I picked him up easily in my arms and brought him over to the fire place. There was a shovel for the fireplace and I quickly scooped out the remains of James, I was not going to allow my father to be in the same space as James.
I laid my father's body down over the flames and said a prayer for him. I knew without a doubt that my father was in Heaven with my mother. I missed them both terribly, but I was happy they had each other once again.
"Bella, can you hear me?" Edward's urgent voice asked.
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"What have you done?"
"What do you mean?"
"You killed James!" he sounded so distraught; I thought he would be happy.
"Yes," I said curtly. Why should it matter to him? I did everyone a favor.
"Shit, Bella, why? Aro is on a rampage now, we're starting the war early."
"What war?"
"A war with an opposing coven, Bella. Aro was depending on all of us, James even more so to help us win. Why would you kill him? I know he's vile, but-"
"Edward, do not make excuses for that piece of shit! You want to know why I killed him? He was using my father like a puppet, saying sick things to me. I couldn't handle it. I ended him."
"Bella, I really am sorry, but you can't be so rash anymore. You need to think things through; I know as a newborn it's tough. One emotion can take over and fill you up completely, plus the thirst. It's nearly impossible to create a coherent thought, but you must try," My throat burned at the mention of thirst, I had been doing so well not thinking about it, "Shit, Bella! Aro's coming your way. Act completely apologetic and say that your newborn instincts took over, and just do whatever he says, okay? It's going to keep you safe."
"Okay," I responded sheepishly.
"And, Bella?"
"Yes?"
"I love you." Edward loved me? After only a week, he had fallen in love with me, how was that possible? I didn't know what to say back to him, and I didn't have long to think about it as Aro burst through the double doors and flew right next to my face.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? YOU BITCH!" He slapped me across the face with the back of his hand. I stood my ground, teeth clenched and fists balled up.
"He was a cretin; the world's a better place without that mother fucker in it. I'M FUCKING GLAD I MURDERED HIM!" I yelled back just as loudly. "Bella, THINK!" Edward yelled in my head.
"You better be glad that I need you today, otherwise it'd be you dead, not James. I have quite the surprise for you and Edward." he grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me out of the great room. I was led down several flights of stairs and we eventually ended up in a basement-garage type room.
Aro kept me next to him as he addressed a group of eight cloaked vampire men. I scanned the group looking for Edward but he was no where in sight.
"Edward, where are you?"
"I'm being held in a room alone until it is time to leave, Aro doesn't trust me."
"Why doesn't Aro trust you, and why are you in chains?"
"James was a spy for Aro; he kept a watch on me to see where I was and if I was handling my mission correctly. I thought it was the other way around. Apparently James was Aro's right hand man, his beta, if you want to call it that. James saw that I had developed feelings for you and told Aro, he kept an even closer watch on me then. And after I found my parents, he-"
"Wait, you found your parents?"
"The Masens are actually the Cullen's, Bella. Carlisle and Esme are my birth mother and father."
I was shocked, "So, if you're a newborn how are you so well controlled and why haven't they put out a missing child report? No one was even trying to find you."
"Bella, I'm not a missing child nor am I a newborn, I'm one hundred and eight years old. I lost contact with my parents in 1918."
I couldn't believe this, how were they still alive? Unless- realization hit me, "They're vampires?"
"Yes, Bella."
"Alice and Jasper and Emmett and Rosalie?"
"Yes, Bella. They all are, listen, I'll explain this all to you later. I'm in chains because I saw James bite you, I ran after you hoping that I could save you. I was ambushed and captured by Aro and one of the other vampires. He didn't want me to find you and explain everything that I just explained to you. He wanted to turn you against me."
"Isabella, do you understand?" Aro turned to me. I heard not one word of what he had been saying, I was so lost in the conversation that Edward and I were having. I simply nodded, "For the Volturi!" Aro exclaimed as he raised his hand in the air. The group cheered as Aro led them outside.
"Okay, I'm out, Bella. I will be fighting with you. Listen to what Aro says, angel."
Aro handed me a cloak as I exited, I slid it on over my dress and walked out into the night. My vampire night vision surprised me. My eyes adjusted to the darkness in one second and it was as if it were still daylight outside.
With Aro at the head of the group, we ran into the forest. Running was as easy as breathing, my body knew when to jump, how to avoid limbs, and maneuver gracefully through the dense trees.
"This is awesome!"
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but you need to focus, Bella. The war will begin soon and I don't know what we're up against."
We ran for almost fifteen minutes before Aro made a sharp turn to the right. I found myself along a familiar road. Too familiar, my heart dropped when I saw my truck still parked on the side of the road. We ran up the road for another minute and Aro led us down a driveway. I knew what was at the end of the it, I dreaded it.
"Edward, why are we here? What does Aro want with the Mase-Cullens?"
"He told me that an enemy coven wanted something he had, something he wasn't willing to give up. That's you and I, Bella."
The Masen/Cullen house came into view, and I took in the six figures standing in the front yard. Carlisle stood at the head of a triangle with Emmett and Jasper flanking him on either side. Esme stood directly behind Carlisle and Alice and Rosalie each stood behind their men.
"Bella," Alice said sadly from across the field.
"Take out the future seer first," Aro commanded.
"Future seer?"
"Alice," Edward answered.
I growled at Aro's side, "That's right, my Bella, feel the rage against the Cullen's take over. They want your Edward," Aro was completely mistaken if he thought the rage was against the Cullen's.
Carlisle spoke, "We don't want to fight, Aro. We only want our son and Isabella."
"Do you have any idea of the power you would possess with these children? Edward alone is worth killing your entire family, and Bella, she's more extraordinary than anyone here, well aside from me," I'm extraordinary? What did he know that I didn't?
"Bella, you can block out the gifts of other vampires. This is a great power; Aro is the only other known vampire to possess it. He also believes that you can project your thoughts into the minds of others, but it's not true, you can only project into my mind, as I can with you."
"Once I have eradicated your family, Edward and Isabella will have no other choice than the Volturi,"
"Aro, it isn't about the power they each possess. It is about what's right. You stole our son from us, now that we have him back; we are not willing to let him go. It's about love, not power," Carlisle spoke strongly.
"I knew that James should have just finished you both off when he had the chance so many years ago, looks like I'll just have to do it myself," Aro waved his hand and the group began to stalk forward. Aro grabbed hold of my hair once more and pulled me forward, "You belong to me! Now fight!"
Everything was a blur as dark cloaks flew around me, I wanted it all to stop, the Cullen's didn't need to die, I could stay with Aro and let Edward live with his family, he deserved it. I had my time with a family, Edward needed his time now.
I remained still as the battle rage around me, I heard cracking and popping as dismembered body parts flew past my head. I looked around and noticed many cloaks stamped into the ground with piles of parts on top of them, I had no idea which parts belonged to which body.
"Bella, help me!" I snapped my head to the left to find that one cloaked vampire had Edward's head tightly locked into his arms. Edward was no longer wearing a cloak. I ran behind his attacker and bit a chunk of flesh from his neck before tearing his head away from the body.
"We're doing okay."
"Who is Aro or the Cullen's?"
"When I say we, I mean the Cullen's."
I scanned the scene quickly and found that every Cullen was still fully intact, how they were winning was beyond me.
"Bella!" I heard Edward's voice yell out loud, it was the first time he'd actually spoken to me in awhile. I turned to find him and screamed when I saw that Aro had his jaw pulled back and his neck tearing.
"NO!" I screamed as I charged at Aro. Before I could get to him, he was knocked to the ground. Alice had him pinned to the ground; she screamed and then went limp. He climbed from under her, and made his way back to Edward.
"He's using my power on her. Block out his power, Bella, it's the only way to stop him," Edward weakly said.
"How do I do that?"
"Let your hatred for him flow, believe that he can't touch you." I focused on everything that Aro had caused, the Cullen's transformation to vampires, my transformation, and my father's death. It was too easy to hate him, "You're doing good, Bella. Now just extend that power to Alice, know that nothing can touch her."
I let my protection extend over Alice; she opened her eyes and fixated them on Aro before tackling hi once again. This time I held my protection over her as I walked forward and crouched over Aro. Alice handed me a small lighter. With Alice's help, we tore off Aro's arms and legs. We left his head on so that he would still be alive as he burned.
"I never belonged to you, burn in Hell fucker," I dropped the lighter on him and watched as his body became engulfed with flames.
I was free.
Edward was free.
I turned to him and slammed my lips to his, kissing him with every bit of passion I had. He had been with me through this all. He didn't want to be a monster; he proved that by not killing me a week ago. It was ridiculous for me to even question Edward's love for me; the spark we felt when we were together should have clued me in on that. We were meant to be together.
"I love you, too, Edward."
So, what did you think? I will have the epilogue out shortly, and it will tie up any loose ends. I want to thank all of you who stuck with me through this and reviewed, favorited and put this on story alert. I never expected to get such a response! Thank you so much! I've already got another story in the works, so if you would like to continue reading stories from me, put me on author alert so you won't miss any updates. You are all so completely amazing! Thank you for taking time out of your day to read what I have to share, it means the world to me!
