Revelation

The woodland around us was silent, not a whisper. The only sounds coming from our breaths and the whimpering of the changing child. The dark night enveloped the beautiful landscape of Mercia before it met our disturbing presence where darkness could not hinder us, our eyes were indifferent to the loss of light. Everything took on a different tone without it however; there was an air of fear. And there was a feeling that gave me the idea England was waiting for something. As if a great threat lay just beyond the hills.

We all sat stiffly leaning against various trees at the edge of the forest. My eyes were trained on the changing girl in the centre of our defensive circle. She shook frequently, moaned and wailed every few hours and tried to grasp anything in her reach. Ransley was nervous, his gaze roamed all over our small settlement and his fingers gripped together—restraining himself.

Henry sat with his knees drawn to his chest, his face was thoughtful while his eyes were staring fixedly at Emily. What could be going through his head I didn't know, but I hoped he was going to eventually decide to kill the girl before she could destroy us all.

"All that time ago, I never thought that I would come to this. I never knew that what I considered such a savage creature could form a kind of civilised society." Henry smiled wryly. "The Volturi are a strange group, they have very bizarre ideals, they dreamt of a new world when they took over from the people in Transylvania." I wondered if he meant for us to hear what he was saying or whether he was telling us one of his quirky little stories. But the grave tone of his voice solidified his words to be the truth and not a tall tale.

Suddenly he turned to me, "You will be fine, nothing can touch you. You will win." His eyes bore into me with conviction. What was all of this talk? For one, where did the Volturi come into it, and second…what will I "win"?

"What's this nonsense you're talking Henry? What have the Volturi got to do with it?" Then it struck me. Undoubtedly they would become involved when the girl escaped us, as a newborn immortal child. I took in a dry breath and swallowed, the scent of Emily's humanity slipping away by the second filling my mind. "Oh no…"

Ransley appeared at my side, his arm coming to rest around my shoulders. "What's wrong Bella?" He turned my head to meet his eyes, the crimson begging for explanation.

"She's finally realised our fates Ransley, the Volturi will arrive on English soil the moment word spreads of the massacres cross-country." He paused, "When Emily wakes she will be gone in the blink of an eye, ready to feast on the hundreds of people that live in Mercia and beyond. We won't be able to stop her because she has no sense of right and wrong; she wouldn't hesitate to rip us to shreds. She wouldn't hesitate to use her gift to make us easy prey for her. Either way, the Volturi will intervene and eventually you, Isabella and I will suffer for my foolishness." Henry hung his head in shame. "I'm so sorry."

Ransley sat down on the forest floor with a thump, despair setting in. "So we are condemned," he murmured. I shifted towards Emily, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Is there nothing we can do? Hasn't it occurred to you Henry, that we could simply tear her to pieces before she can do anything?" I stared into the girl's angelic face and I was struck by her young age. Could we really, truly do that to her? Could any of us take her arm and rip it from her tiny body?

"Not in her state, one of the first things the venom does is solidify the skin. Her body could no more be torn apart now than if she were a rock," Henry said quietly. "Didn't you notice the temperature of her skin? Ice cold." He looked away silently and I moved backwards to my previous position in Ransley's arms resting against the tall and harsh tree.

"So we wait."

"We wait." Henry nodded in affirmation.

*****

"Who will lose," I wondered as dawn broke once again. "What will I win Henry?" I turned my head towards him slowly, his eyes met mine evenly. The dawn light gave the forest the most wonderful colourings, varying shades of red and orange gave life to the landscape. But still there was that feeling of anticipation, though the fear became mostly unnoticeable. England was waiting for something.

"You will survive because you have to Isabella," Henry replied simply. "Your opponent will become clear soon." I hated the riddles he was speaking in. Why couldn't he just tell me it straight? My frustration obviously showed as Ransley's arm tightened around me. Sighing, I lay my head back against the tree.

"Help me!" a small voice exclaimed through clenched teeth. All of our heads audibly turned to the quivering child lying on the floor. But she was looking at me. Staring straight at me, as if she could see what was meant for me and I knew what was meant for her. The icy blue of her eyes was dull now, darkening to sapphires imbedded in snow-white skin. For the first time since I knew what this strange girl would be capable of, I felt sympathy towards her. What a life to be tied to.

Emily didn't move but lapsed back into her restless slumber, Henry appeared astonished that was able to do such a thing. I found that I missed that part of humanity; the hours of sleep each night could do so much good. So calming and relaxing for the mind. I closed my eyes and willed sleep to come for me, though I knew it never would again.

"Do you think it's all over? We haven't heard anything from anywhere in the world for quite a while. Have our people finally learned?" a tall and willowy creature asked. He spoke quietly to a number of pale and quivering figures. Only two of what looked like a few dozen appeared to have any comfort in the stony, circular room.

There were red banners hanging from various golden poles fastened to the walls. Behind the speaking creature there were three extravagant thrones, much like I imagined our King's looked like. With gold and bronze adorning the top of the backs of the chairs, it was fine craftsmanship. In the backs of them was a wooden carving of three blackbirds—their necks joined and their beaks came into one to point to the floor.

The creature who'd spoken had his back to me, but the two other confident creatures stepped through the crowd to take their seats in the thrones. Their eyes were a bright red and they wore red cloak with golden on the trims, as they moved their pale hands came up to take down their hoods. One bore jet black hair, the other a very light blonde. The crimson of their cloaks only made their vampirism more obvious and I felt as though I should be fearful of them.

Those remaining white people still shook silently and then sat on their knees on the stone floor. I watched them with curiosity. Why would they bow? At that moment, the heavy wooden doors behind the trembling people opened wide where another seemingly confident figure stood.

"There's been another report of immortal children in England, Master," the man said, his eyes roaming around the room swiftly before turning his gaze back on his Master.

The Master sighed and went towards the man in the doorway, stepping carefully through the bowing people. "You bring me terrible news Felix…I was rather hoping we could call this plague over. Alas, we must renew our efforts." With that he swivelled on the balls of his feet to address the rest of the room. "My friends, we must take another trip to England," he said impressively, his voice flowing into the room.

"The report is coming from the north, by the name of Alistair, he says that there is one in the making," Felix said to the Master's back.

"In the making? How did he manage to get word here so quickly?" the white-blonde vampire asked from his throne. His hand held his cheek in a look of utter boredom though his eyes reflected a great amount of interest. He put on a good front.

"He ran to Calais and spoke with Katrina, she carried the message to various other members of the guard across France so that you could hear it today," the man rushed through his explanation. He still held one of the doors in his hands and his fingers were gradually beginning to crush the metal of the handle.

"We must act swiftly then," the Master said to the blonde vampire. The blonde man nodded and waved off Felix before he settled back into his chair more comfortably. The Master came to rest in his own throne between the two other vampires. Felix left the room and began walking down the corridor, taking the initiative to organise one of the horse and cart be ready within the hour.

I wrenched my eyes open, shocked by my dream. I'd thought sleep was impossible, Henry had been it was such a disturbing dream, it felt almost real. And if I had dreamt, why would I be thinking up these regal characters? Felix and the Master? Such bizarre names, that I decided to voice my concern.

"Henry, I thought vampires could not sleep…" I started, pausing. My mind had conjured such unusual people, such a strange room. I had never witnessed royalty, so where had I got the idea of the magnificent thrones.

"We cannot sleep, it is true." Henry smiled slightly, comfortingly. Ransley's arm clenched around my shoulders and brought me to his chest. My head lay on stone as I considered this fact. I had not felt drowsy before I 'slept'. I had no idea how I had created the beings in my head. Nor did I know where the beautiful and sinister room had come from. Most peculiar…

My companions held puzzled looks on their faces. How could I communicate my own bewilderment to them? It felt almost impossible and they would probably think I was mad. But I needed to know what had just happened.

"I just had the strangest dream, Henry. I dreamt of a fantastic room, with three thrones in its centre. These thrones bore magnificent gold and bronze, and had wooden carvings up the back." I looked up at Henry, where he sat waiting for me to continue. "The wooden carving showed three black birds, they joined at the neck and pointed to the floor. There was a tall vampire whom went by the name of 'Master'; he seemed to be in charge. And then another vampire came through these really high, heavy wooden doors and said… "There's been another report of immortal children in England." There was also mention of Alistair." Henry stared blankly at me.

"I don't think that was a dream, Isabella," Henry said uncertainly, his eyes filling with some foreign emotion I had never encountered before. "I have heard of vampires with gifts, like Emily will have eventually, and other gifts. Like that of a vampire who could tell one's greatest regret from one touch. One who could fill someone with such happiness…or sadness. Or one gift similar to your own, a vampire who could see a person's death." Henry was thinking about something for a very long time before he went to his feet, and began to pace.

"Tell me what you saw, word for word." So I did. Henry and Ransley's expressions became more and more taut, the former angrier than the latter. Emily was all but forgotten by my friends, though she shrieked and cried all the more when she received no attention. Her eyes were now as black as burnt wood and her body writhed helplessly.

"It appears our friend has betrayed us to the Volturi," Henry said, his neck stiff as he spoke. My mind filled with confusion. They were taking my dream as literal?

"What?! You don't know that! It was probably just a dream, Henry. Ransley? You don't believe that Alistair would tell on us do you?" Ransley stared back at my pleading eyes emotionlessly and silently. I could scarcely believe my ears. "Have you both gone mad? It was just a stupid little dream."

"Vampires can't dream Bella! Don't you understand? You've seen the truth, this is your gift! We have a forewarning of their approach that neither Alistair nor the Volturi will have anticipated." Ransley smiled. Henry looked as if he may explode, his face seemingly paler than usual.

"Ransley," Henry stopped and put a hand on Ransley's shoulder. "You know we won't survive, even with Isabella's warning. We may as well try to kill the King if we attempt to escape. We will be found. We will be killed. You shouldn't try to shelter her from that fact," Henry's voice held all the sadness in the world and his face was resigned.

I was shocked. I needed to get away. I didn't want to die, this was Henry's fault. It was all on him! Why should all of us suffer the consequences? I thought of the tall vampire in the beautiful room, I thought of the pale people bowing at his feet, I felt his majesty and realised my fate. I would go down with this ship whether I liked it or not. I would be killed by association and I was struck by the complete unfairness of this. I screamed loudly and for well over a minute in frustration, the cry of Emily and fluttering birds answered my call. I hated this. I loathed Henry for putting me in this dire situation.

I stood up, trying to make myself as tall as possible and approached Henry slowly, with measured steps. "You've ruined us all, Henry! We will all pay for your foolishness and your self-absorbed dreams of majesty falling to your feet because of THAT thing!" I punctuated my point by thrusting a pointed hand in the direction of the demon child. "I shouldn't even be in this situation! I was quite content in my little human life, not a worry in the world. I had a mother and a father and I had a LIFE! I HATE YOU! YOU ARE THE MOST DISGUSTING BEING I HAVE EVER LAID MY EYES ON AND…" I trailed off. I didn't want to say I wished death on him, because truly I didn't. But by God, I hated him. I never wanted to see him again. "…and I never want to see you or Emily ever again. I want to believe I have some chance at living at least a week more before whatever comes for me comes. I will have warning, you won't, you won't know what hits you until it does," I hissed through clenched teeth, and I felt myself crouching further until I was almost ready to pounce on him. But I stopped myself. I would not have a hand in his death, I would leave him.

This second.

A/N: Well? Please leave a review. This is the quickest update ever on this story. lol