Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Stephenie Meyer created it all.
Esme POV
As the doors shut on the Suburban, the giggles filling the air were enough for Carmen and me to smile over at each other in anticipation. After the men had returned from the lakeside, we'd announced that the girls were going on a hunting trip. The kids were in bed, and we didn't get the opportunity to spend time with just the girls often. It was a shame really. Carmen's coven didn't live that far, but it seemed that we just came together for major activities. I made a mental note to fix that.
Carlisle had immediately begun to gather stuff for a trip and I'd taken him aside to explain, that it was a girl's only trip. His beautiful gold eyes had begged to come along, but I'd set my foot down.
"Carlisle, I don't get opportunities like this often. Carmen and I haven't been able to really visit since we left Alaska. You know I love you beyond all reasonable thought, but when I go hunting with you I'd rather it be just the two of us. My body reacts quite differently when you're in the area after feeding. I won't pay any attention to our family if you come, and you know it. I promise the next night you have off from the hospital we'll make a private trip," I offered, while smoothing my hands against his beautiful face.
My admission and promise seemed to appease him, as his eyes slanted slightly. He'd maneuvered me up against the wall in our bedroom and kissed me thoroughly senseless. It didn't help that I could feel every muscle and niche of his body pressed against mine.
"I'm going to hold you to that promise, Esme," he rumbled against my chest.
I shuddered in remembrance. Carmen noticed and grinned over to me.
"He and Eleazar both tried really hard. We'll have to make it up to them later," she smiled serenely.
As the truck hit Interstate 5 heading north, the girls chimed in from the back.
"So we're going where?" Bella asked from the back row of seats where she sat with Alice and Tanya.
"Wallace Falls State Park," Rose responded quickly, and turned back to Kate.
Kate, Rosalie, and Anna sat directly behind Carmen and me. They were discussing the progress Rose was making on Henry's car.
Rosalie had done all the work scouting out the territory when we'd moved back to Forks the last time. She knew the location of all the state and national parks within a three hour drive of Seattle/Forks area. She stayed informed of the local wildlife and which animals were in abundance, and which were protected. When I'd thought of the idea of making the last night of our visitor's stay together a girls' night, Rose had suggested we head north to Wallace Falls. Mt. Pilchuck state park was just sixty miles north of Wallace Falls, and Spade Lake lie between them. Carlisle and I had once visited the area, on a weekend away from the family. We'd selected it because Carlisle had a thing for spectacular falls, and the park hadn't failed to reward him. Mt. Pilchuck offered a panoramic view that was worth the climb. I thought that the girls would enjoy both. The moon was full making it perfect for a midnight hunt and ride.
"Alice?" I asked.
"You're fine," she offered up, with a quick grin.
I pushed the gas pedal to the floor, causing my own personal beast to gain speed. It would take a human about an hour to reach the area north of the city, but every moment we could fit in for fun would be cherished.
"Don't forget that we have to meet the guy in Everett that Jasper spoke with," Alice murmured.
Jasper had arranged for us to rent ATVs for the night. Running was always fun, but sometimes you just needed to do something different. Alice had already foreseen that the rain would set in just before dawn, so we had all evening to enjoy. We made Everett within a half hour, met up with the owner of the rental place, and made arrangements to return the trailer and equipment the next morning before dawn.
So it was with a degree of anticipation that I pulled on a road that wandered north of Wallace Falls, and parked the truck.
"We'll run down to see the Falls first, then come back here to pick up the rides and head north," Rose said as she climbed out.
I was pleased to see Bella and Tanya shoving each other around playfully. Bella had seen my relieved look early in the weekend and grinned. She'd explained that, although Tanya had pursued Edward in the past, she'd been nothing but respectful toward her after the wedding. She didn't hold Tanya's previous attraction to Edward against her. He'd been unmated then, and she'd never crossed the line after Bella and Edward's relationship had been established. Bella had further stated that since she'd done everything she could to corrupt Father Edward, as Emmett had been calling him lately, before finally caving into his demand to get married first she couldn't blame Tanya for attempting the same. Seth, on the other hand, had been a source of contention.
"Ah … young Seth. I keep attempting to convince Edward I mean him no harm," Tanya murmured, in response to a comment about him, as we'd sat around the pool.
"You might actually be convincing if he couldn't read exactly just what you have in mind," Bella had quickly replied in defense of her younger step-brother, as the rest of us laughed.
Men aside, it was good to see that what could have been a significant problem really had turned out to be nothing at all.
"Which way, Rosalie?" Anna asked, and received a nod in the southwest direction.
"Then in Henry's famous words, the last one there is a rotten egg," she giggled as her body disappeared into the forest.
We all followed, stretching our legs. I could hear the laughter as the girls chased each other through the dense forest. Several crashing noises carried across the wind, and I knew that we'd be lucky to make it to the Falls without someone ending up victim to mischief. It didn't take long for the sounds of the almost three hundred foot waterfall to reach my ears, and I changed the angle of my direction slightly.
As I came through the last of the woods and stepped to the ledge with my family, I was again struck senseless by the majesty before me. The water plummeted between a thick growth of conifers until it crashed into a deep pool of water at the base. With the full moon above us, the area appeared almost mystical in nature.
"This is amazing," Alice said, from directly beside Bella.
"Just upstream is another fall, but it isn't as impressive because it is broken into five shorter drops," Rose informed us as we all stood on the ledge looking down. "This area was originally homesteaded by a member of the Skokomish tribe."
"I'd love to know what the legend is behind this one," Bella pondered.
She rolled her eyes at our incredulous looks. "Hanging around the pack has taught me that Native Americans definitely believe that there is a purpose for everything in nature. I'm sure there is some explanation for this."
"Speaking of explanations," Alice said in a threatening manner.
Before any of us could react, she shoved Bella over the cliff. As Bella's exuberant scream could be heard echoing down the drop, Anna called over the edge "Do a Swan dive."
Carmen's eyes were rounded out in disbelief, as we all laughed.
"Bella has a thing for cliff diving," Alice explained, shrugging her delicate shoulders. "And I have a thing for paying people back for making me believe they're dead!"
She shouted the last words with particular vehemence over the edge, emphasizing the reason she'd tossed her sister.
"Umm … I'm pretty sure that the water at the base of this fall isn't as deep as the ocean, Alice. Don't you think it was a quick stop," Kate giggled as we heard the splash and Bella's resulting whoop.
"What? Like it's going to hurt her? If nothing else, that hard head of hers probably helped smooth out the bottom of the pool for the animals."
She quickly sidestepped Anna's attempt to push her over and flicked the newest member of our family with her fingertips, pushing her flailing body. We all heard Bella's laughter as Anna's "Cannonball" echoed up to us just before the loud splash.
Alice giggled as Anna's curses floated up to us. Rose and Kate moved to stand beside Alice. She was too busy laughing to notice and by the time the vision caught up, it was too late. Kate grabbed her arm using her gift to render Alice useless, as Rose grabbed the other. They flew over the edge together. I heard them laughing as they neared the water.
"Make her do a belly flop," Bella's request came through the air. We could see her sitting on the bank wringing her socks out as the three fell like comets. Anna was lying beside her, holding her stomach from her laughter. Kate continued her immobilization, of Alice, until just before they reached the water. The slap of Alice's prone body against water echoed throughout the trees. She came up from the water cursing a blue streak. Mimicking rating cards for the dive, Bella and Anna were both holding their hands up in the air having made the number "0".
Identifying Bella as the culprit of the incident, Alice leapt over and jumped on top of her. At first I wondered if she was going to pummel Bella, but instead she proceeded to tickle her. Bella's laughter echoed across the area as Tanya, Carmen, and I made our way to the base. I wasn't quite ready to get wet. I was assuming I'd fall prey to the pranks before the night was out, but for now I was quite comfortable being a member of the minority group. Alice had finally allowed Bella up, and they were grinning at each other
As I jumped across the water to reach them on the other side, Bella's head jerked to the side.
"Hm… are we hunting now or later?" she asked.
"Doesn't really matter? Why?" Rose, the planner, answered.
"Mountain Lion," she answered, blurring into the forest.
"Now why would a mountain lion be stupid enough to get this close to us," Tanya asked, shaking her head at Bella's hasty departure.
Anna proposed, "It probably heard our voices, and hasn't gotten close enough to pick up our scent."
"From what I read, mountain lions are commonly spotted around this area, because of the likelihood of other animals to come to the water," Rose supplied.
Hearing a faint scream from Bella's prey, Alice suggested, "I for one would rather follow Bella's pattern and hunt now so that we can enjoy the trip to Mount Pilchuck."
The group dispersed with the plan to meet back at the truck within a half hour. Anna walked over to my side and we took off together. She'd become my companion during many of our hunting ventures, probably based on our bonding the first time she'd taken down an animal. She had been hesitant, unsure of the possibility, but eager to learn.
"You know this goes against the grain," she had growled over the neck of the deer. "I went so long being a vegetarian as a human, that this is almost disgusting. But, it's better than living with the reality of being a murderer."
"I see what you mean. It takes the edge off the hunger, but it doesn't quite satisfy it," She'd mused afterward.
We found a group of sleeping deer, and selected out two from the group that startled and ran. I ruminated about my newest daughter, while the warm tangy blood ran down my throat.
She and I'd talked about the parameters her new existence placed on her. Carlisle and I'd decided, it was only through the incredible bond she'd shared with her parents that she'd been able to become a part of their lives again. Most of what she knew about her life before her change had come from the musing of her blind parents about their daughter. She still missed them terribly, and I'd spent many nights comforting her.
She was inquisitive, wanting to know everything she could about our existence. She'd been hesitant, though, when she asked about sex. I was a little confused, thinking that she'd probably heard enough from the other girls to satisfy her curiosity. She'd grinned and shook her head in a way that I'd come to identify as her being embarrassed about something.
"I've heard it all from the others, but I wanted to know from you. I'm beginning to believe that the family's prolific extracurricular activities may be a result of funneling all the extra aggression into mating versus dominating humans during the kill."
"From what I've heard from Carlisle, sex for vampires is more intense, no matter the choice of prey, but perhaps you're right. I don't think however you'll find anyone in this family who's going to complain."
She'd chuckled her agreement.
After disposing of the deer, we ran back to the truck to join the others. Within minutes, we were on the ATVs heading toward Mt. Pilchuck.
Rose had taken lead, having already mapped out a route to our destination. We were crossing a mixture of public and private land, but it was clear we weren't the first to venture this way from the established trails. The moonlight made the woods vibrant to our vampire eyes, and I heard the laughter from the girls as we startled night creatures from their journeys. I even heard the scream of another mountain lion, and Carmen's teasing comment to Bella. "That one doesn't know just how close his life came to ending tonight."
Bella laughed unabashedly. Not much later we pulled to the base of the mountain.
"Esme, tell us about the mountain?" Kate asked, looking upward at the peeks through the trees.
"It's a three-mile trail to the summit and the old fire lookout. The trail winds through an old growth forest to alpine heather and large rocks at the summit. It gains about two thousand feet from base to top. But at the top, you can see the Cascades, Olympics and Puget Sound. It's an incredible view for a human. For us, well it's breathtaking," I said, and then began laughing. I sounded just like Carlisle when he'd read the description to me.
"He had to figure a way to make it sound intriguing to me. I was interested in something other than climbing a mountain when we visited," I admitted, seeing the smirks on the other's faces.
"I say we make a little wager, the first one to the top wins something," Tanya suggested.
"Hm … winner's choice of something. Something that can be determined at anytime during the future," Alice suggested, giggling.
"I claim foul," Rose started. "The only reason she's proposing that is because she probably sees who is going to win, and it must be her."
"Actually I can't, because no one has decided on their strategy yet," she mumbled, clearly disgusted.
"Poor little fortune teller … life's difficult when you can't be in control of everything," Anna teased unmercifully, causing Alice to stick her tongue out at her.
Carmen and I erupted in laughter as we dismounted the ATVs. Everyone else followed suit.
Bella looked at me and said, "Esme, either you or Carmen have to be the one to say 'go', because everyone else will cheat."
The others in the group looked over at her and began rubbing their eyes with their fists mimicking crying sounds. Bella just laughed, and Kate earned hisses as she defended her by saying, "It's true."
When the others joined us at the tree line, I looked down to see them all eagerly leaning toward the trail.
"GO," I shouted and watched them blur away. Carmen and I laughed as we walked around to the other side of the outcropping and looked at the stone wall.
As she placed her hands in the small grooves created by the weathering of the rocks, she said, "I'm so glad you told me there was a short cut. I know my girls. It's going to get nasty on the trail upwards."
We waited patiently for them to join us, having scurried up the side of the mountain face and closed watch tower. We watched over the mountain and occasionally saw a tree shake. One, about two-thirds of the way up, actually fell crashing into the others surrounding it. Alice's "Damn it" reached us just shortly afterward. When Rosalie appeared leading the pack, I couldn't help but grin.
Twigs of greenery from the heather stuck out in various directions from her hair. Tanya was directly behind her and was covered in fresh mud. Bella, Anna, Alice, and Kate weren't much better off sporting various mixtures of mud stains, conifer needles, and twigs. They came to a screeching halt when they saw Carmen and I leaning casually against the railings above them.
"Everyone else will cheat," Anna mocked Bella's statement in frustration, clearly alluding to Carmen and I being the cheats.
"Tanya just said the first one to the top wins. She didn't say how you had to get here," I reminded them, making it plainly clear that I hadn't been the creator of the challenge.
"AARGH," Rose growled flopping down on the rock outcroppings below us.
"Come on up, the view is spectacular," Carmen encouraged them, and, within minutes we were joined by our children, having already been forgiven.
We stayed on the station for at least an hour, just talking about life as we gazed at the remarkable sight before us. The night was incredibly clear, causing Rose to wax sentimental about how much Henry would have enjoyed being able to see the stars so clearly.
"Just tell Jasper to bring him here," Alice said, as we began the walk down the trail leading to the vehicles. "They'll probably camp up here if they can avoid the rangers. This is just their style."
We made the vehicles in good time and began the journey back toward the Falls and truck. I heard Alice's tinkling laughter echoing from the back just before the spray of mud hit me. Bella, on a whim, had intentionally sped by me hitting a puddle in the trail in order to cover me in the muck. I attempted to catch up with her, but her finesse with motorcycles made her adept at out-maneuvering me. Tanya and Kate weren't so lucky. Carmen fell victim as I knocked her off her ATV with my arm as I passed by. Everyone, including the ever-knowing Alice, was covered in mud before the end of the play, but when Alice froze all laughter and rough-housing stopped immediately. Instinctively we moved to form a tighter group around her.
"They'll be waiting for us at the truck. They were hunting campers in the park and caught our scent by the Falls. They'll follow it there."
"If we leave the truck and go home without it?" I asked my original thought, always to what Carlisle would expect.
"I'm not entirely clear Esme, but when you decided on the possibility, I saw the group delivering news of our presence to another vampire. I can't see who it is though, because he or she is facing away. And of course what this individual will do with that information is unclear as well."
"And if we go forward?"
She stared blankly at me. "You haven't decided yet Esme."
But as my mind wrapped around the possibility, she looked at me with a look of frustration.
"I don't know. I'm seeing so many different scenes, including a fight, because all the decisions haven't been made yet."
"How many, Alice?"
"Six, which seems odd … four men, two women. It isn't usual for nomads to form such a large group."
"Perhaps they're not just nomads," Bella suggested. "We've been gone from Forks for several weeks now. And anyone of our kind could have picked up the information that we moved here just by listening to conversations in town. If the Volturi have been keeping tabs on us, it would make sense that they would send individuals around the Seattle area to see if they can determine where we've landed. But I think they'd be too smart to send such an obvious group, doesn't it make sense to send someone who doesn't know what they're up against. Alice's vision, that they would leave and meet up with someone, it fits. And knowing our preference for prey, wouldn't it be logical to scope out local state parks in their attempts to locate us." Bella nodded, looking down at the ground, in concentration.
I was reminded of Emmett's discussion about the human Bella's keen sense of strategy. She'd impressed him with her intuitiveness during the James fiasco. I saw Rosalie take her phone out of her pocket and start to dial. I ran over and gently closed it.
"They wouldn't be able to make it in time. Let me think first. If we were to wait on the men, then they might scatter into the woods, making it difficult to find them all. We have the element of surprise on our side, because we know they are waiting there."
The others stood immobile, while I contemplated all the different scenarios.
Would it be better to just leave and come back for the truck later? My body internally raged at this. I was tired of scurrying around the Volturi like we were scared children. If Aro was the one behind this group, and I was laying my odds that he was, he would receive the information and believe that we were afraid. He would know that Alice would see the group, and that we would make decisions of how to react, based on that fore-knowledge. In my opinion, Aro would derive entirely too much pleasure from his assumptions if we took the obvious option, and I, for one, was tired of him inadvertently controlling my decisions, or finding amusement at my family's expense.
If we went on, Alice had seen the possibility of a fight, and I wasn't certain I could ask any of the individuals looking at me to risk that possibility. It was better I guess to take the passive route, and deal with my anger at being an amusement to the individuals in Volterra, than to put any of the women before me in harm's way. I opened my mouth to let them know we'd just risk the loss of the ATVS and truck and return home by foot. But Alice interrupted me.
"Esme, just because they're men doesn't mean they're better fighters. As we all know I can take Jasper down in a moment, and neither you nor Rose are shabby fighters. Bella was a demon against Jane …"
This statement earned a snarling retort from Bella, and for the first time I saw the face that must have been the sadistic creature's last vision.
Alice smiled at the ferocious look on Bella's face, "… and Kate can take out at least two of them if she can get her hands on them. Not to mention Tanya and Carmen's previous experiences. Anna is the only untried one of us, but we still outnumber them by one experienced fighter. Anna shouldn't be counted out though, considering the way she took out Carlisle in the soccer game."
Anna grinned in triumph, but then looked at me sheepishly hoping I wasn't mad at her. Even in the midst of the tension I shook my head, in humor, at the memories of the rough-housing that'd occurred during our trouncing of the men.
"Honestly, I can't tell you that it will even come to that. Perhaps they will just see us and report on it, if that is the case. Bella can shield us, and I'll watch for anything that can help, but personally I don't feel a need to runaway. If Bella's right, I don't want to let them see that they can control our lives by intimidation," she concluded by expressing the same thought I'd just entertained.
I saw the heads nodding in agreement with Alice. So it would seem as if we were of one accord. But just in case, perhaps we needed someone who could either come collect our body parts, or find the ashes. I held my hand out for Rose's phone, while they strategized.
"Rose?..." Carlisle's voice sounded perplexed, having noted the number calling.
I quickly relayed the vision that Alice had seen and our plan. He was yelling my name as I closed down the phone. Multiple phones began vibrating in the others' pockets and they simultaneously removed the batteries.
"Ooops," Alice chuckled with very little concern. "Infernal males, thinking they have the corner on protecting us. How many times have we saved their butts? Huh?"
Rose's and my eyes met hers in agreement. We'd be fine. A light rain started helping wash the mud away, as we loaded up to travel back to the truck. Our planned method of attack was to appear ignorant, and see where it took us. Within a few moments, we hit the road we'd parked on, and made our way toward the truck. I heard them coming through the wood line as we pulled to a stop. The girls began to load the vehicles as if meeting others of our kind on a deserted road was an everyday occurrence.
These individuals didn't belong to the Volturi; it was evident in the tattered mess of their clothes and unkempt appearance. Tangled, unwashed hair hung low over the men's unmistakable scarlet eyes. The two women weren't much better. Aro would have never allowed such near him. At most, they were pawns … victims to a scheme at best. I relaxed, noting that they were average size, tiny in comparison to the men that made up our family. It didn't mean they weren't talented. I knew that Bella already had us covered as best as she could. More importantly, I didn't catch a whiff of anything metal, other than the truck and trailer, which meant they didn't carry any thing to begin a fire.
I saw a wave of satisfaction cross the leader's face when he saw the color of my eyes. We were right; I realized in response, they'd been sent to look for us.
"Hello," I stated, stepping off the ATV toward them, and the group jerked in reaction to my civility.
The leader chuckled in a manner that he obviously thought to be threatening. I wanted to laugh and tell him that my grandson sounded more frightening than him, but I thought it would just insult him. Kate stepped to my side, having been the first to drive her vehicle onto the long trailer, per our plan. I heard Alice's light footsteps approach me from behind as well. Anna cranked my ride and pulled it on the trailer, thereby completing the loading, and the gate slammed shut with a metallic ring, echoing through the night.
The four men stood in front of the women, attempting to spread out. They immediately became distracted when Rose and Tanya stepped up together, one on each side of Kate. Carmen, Anna, and Bella stood behind us so that Bella could focus.
"We're just leaving, so the space is all yours," I said, furthering the act that everything was normal.
"I don't think so," the leader cackled. "We'd like to get to know you a little better. Such lovely women alone … maybe you need protecting."
I saw the snarl pass over the two women's faces and wondered if perhaps they weren't as enthusiastic.
"Thank you for the offer, but we'll be fine. We were just heading home before the sun rose," Alice offered in a child's voice, somehow appearing to look about ten years old and incredibly helpless.
The men's eyes began roaming back and forth over our group. Whether in lust or strategy I didn't know. They were uncertain, their bodies twitching in their impatience or indecision. Perhaps our number was more than they'd expected. My radical mind wondered what would have happened if they'd met our whole family. I was imagining them running through the woods in terror, from Emmett, when I saw the leader's hand twitch quickly.
I knew, in the moment it took his body to cross the road, that we weren't getting out of here without some sort of fight, and it made me mad. I angled slightly and took the hit. As I fell, I knew that Carmen would be right behind me. I heard the screeching sound of someone's head being removed and prayed it wasn't one of mine. I grasped his legs and tore an upper thigh muscle out with my teeth. I heard his scream and then his body jerk as I assumed Carmen grabbed him as well. I felt a gust of a wind pass by me and the snarls of an ongoing battle.
His nails scoured my back, tearing into my skin, and rage coursed through me. I grabbed one of his legs and ripped it off his body. The second followed quickly. I was able to stand, just in time to see Anna rip his head from his body. She threw the grotesque thing toward the other side of the road. We both gripped his arms and pulled simultaneously. I felt satisfaction in the sounds of one of our kind being dismantled.
I looked for Carmen and realized that she and Bella had run by me, supplying the wind I'd felt, and tackled the two females. Anna and I rushed to their sides, but received snarls as they parried with the spitting wraiths. I was shocked to see the enjoyment and derision in Bella's face, so in contrast to the gentle creature that abhorred the smell of human blood. But, I realized that she was a mother defending her cub at this point, intent on destroying any threat to her family.
I spun to look for Rosalie, and realized that the two males, who had jumped for the lures that Rose and Tanya presented, had fallen prey to Kate. They lay at her feet. Alice, the little savage, had single handedly destroyed the one that had thought she would be easy game. She was stomping her foot into his face crushing his skull. His body parts lay on the ground around her attempting to locate each other. It was a scene reminiscent of one of those B grade horror movies Emmett loved to watch … arms pulling themselves across the road in an effort to locate anything else, legs bending attempting to stand. Alice quit stomping for a moment to rip one of the legs apart at the knee, and throw it in separate directions.
I heard Carmen scream and turned back to her quickly. One of the girls had bitten her arm. Carmen spit out a litany of Spanish curses. Tanya ran to her at that point and between them the female vampire was quickly turned into another pile of parts. That left us with the two males currently paralyzed by Kate, and the female that Bella had subdued. Tanya and Carmen grabbed the vampire's arms to help Bella control the thrashing.
Alice and Anna joined me beside Kate. Rose and Tanya moved to stand behind the man and grabbed his arms as Kate release him from her hold. He was dragged to his feet by the two.
"Who sent you?" I growled, fueled by the venom-induced rage pouring through my body.
Alice must have seen what he planned to do, because she slapped his face causing the spit he'd gathered in his mouth to fling to the side. But we'd underestimated him and he tore free from the girls, lunging at me. He was tackled by all four of us, and as we tore into him, the girl went crazy. His mate most likely. We were down to just one captive before it was over. We weren't without injury though. Anna grimaced at the long gash in her arm and Rosalie nursed her bitten hand.
Alice then growled menacingly and blurred away. I worried for a moment before I heard her thrashing in the woods. We all stood in our spots as Kate continued to hold the last one helpless for us. Alice quickly appeared with a load of tree limbs and threw them in a pile. But as she grabbed the gas can on the trailer and began to make her way to the wood, I grabbed her arm.
"Rendering them temporarily useless is different than destroying them, Alice," I hissed.
"That one," she pointed to the vampire we'd just attacked and dismembered. "Even as he writhes on the ground, he plans revenge. He'll keep coming. They all will until they find us. As soon as you thought about just leaving, I saw it, Esme. It's either them or us, no different than James or the newborns," she added.
"Esme, they find all of us … everyone … and as you know there are some that are less capable of defending themselves," she widened her eyes at me, conveying her message.
I realized she was talking about Henry and Nessie, and the implication didn't escape the others. I saw red. I rushed over to the one that remained as Alice dumped the whole can of gasoline and flicked her lighter. Kate released him, but he remained kneeling and I saw him flinch at the whoosh of the flames. I didn't watch, but I knew that Carmen, Tanya, and Bella were collecting the pieces and adding them to the fire. The smell of the burning vampires made me nauseous, as whiffs of purple smoke floated around us.
"Tell me now, who sent you, or I swear I will make you scream before this is over. Cooperate and I'll let you live."
He gave me a look full of derision, and I lost it. I felt the strike of my hand against him as I knocked him sideways.
"Esme, we'll take care of him," Tanya said, probably believing that I wouldn't want to participate, because of Carlisle.
I turned to glare at her, and she backed away a few steps holding her hands up in placation. This vampire was stalking my family … my family. And there was no way in hell he was leaving here until I had some answers or he was burning on the pile with his friends.
"Tanya, Rose … hold him."
Kate jumped in to render him useless again until the girls could grab him. Well now was the time for the truth. Did I have it within me? Before I could second guess my thoughts, I grabbed one of his hands and tore it from his arm. It landed on the ground not far from the fire.
"Bella, don't throw that one in yet," I murmured, as the vampire below me screamed in pain.
I grabbed the other and began to pull.
"Esme …" Alice murmured with just a touch of horror in her voice. She was attempting to get my attention over the agony of the man below me. I ignored her.
I raised my eyebrow at him when he didn't utter anything other than an occasional sob. I was tired of playing, and the other hand came off as well. Before I could even give him the opportunity to speak I latched to his upper arm.
"Wait …" he rasped out. "I don't know."
The sound of rocks being shredded echoed through the space, as the arm Tanya was holding came loose from his shoulder. The appendage twitched in my hands, and I held it before his screaming face.
"I'm going to continue until you are in pieces, do you understand me? Don't screw with me, because I will destroy you."
"A woman …"
That gave me pause. I asked to clarify, "A woman?"
"I don't know who?"
I roared at him, grabbing his hair to snatch his head back so that he was forced to look in my face. Then a strange calm overtook me, and I almost looked up to see if Jasper had joined us because of the surreal nature of the feeling. I knew one thing scared vampires more than anything else, and it just happened to be handy. I released him forcefully and ran to the fire. Within a blink of a human eye I stood before him with a burning stick.
He mocked. "You don't have it within you. I heard all about you and your 'family." He then began laughing hysterically.
I lit his clothes on fire, and even the women around me gasped at my action. Rose dropped the arm she was holding as the blaze raced across him. His screams were tortured as he attempted to beat the flames with his one arm. Alice and Anna knocked him to the ground effectively extinguishing the flares. I put my foot against his rib cage and pulled his last arm free from his body. It was still twitching from the burn of the fire.
"Describe this woman?" My voice shocked even me. It was cold and calculating.
"Three women …" he cried out, finally beginning to see that the information given him might not be complete.
Pacifists we may be, but backed into a corner I had no problem allowing the vampire to reign.
"Keep talking," I murmured, kneeling down beside him.
I turned the burning stick over and over, mesmerized by the flame that ate away at the end. The hungry flames were begging for additional fuel. He saw the direction of my gaze and I arched my eyebrow allowing him to see my vexation at his avoidance.
"I didn't see two of them. I just heard them talking before I entered. They left when I came in the room and were covered in robes, so I didn't see their faces. The other one, there was nothing specific or special about her."
I was done. I could think of only one thing that would cause more horror for a man than anything.
"Did the informant that spoke to you about us tell you much about our history? Our backgrounds? Perhaps they should have if they didn't. I was raised on a farm, when I was human. And there were many things I had to help my father do that perhaps weren't considered ladylike. Have you ever seen a horse or a pig castrated? Not a pretty site. I can show you the process if you like?"
And then I slammed my hand into his chest and lowered my face to a safe distance. "I will throw that part of you into that fire over there if you continue this game. It will be the first to go. And I'm two seconds from accomplishing that task, because I am tired of your evasive answers. You will beg me then to destroy you, because I just can't imagine living for eternity like that. Your choice?"
When I grabbed the edge of his pants, he began screaming.
"I don't know. I swear that's it. We were to bring back information. Nothing more …"
"But you decided to take it just a little farther, didn't you," Alice growled beside me.
His panicked voice carried across the small clearing of the road. "I'll leave and I won't bother you."
He stopped talking when I tore his head from his body. His legs followed. I stood and faced the group. Mixed expressions met my eyes. Several of them were uneasy, and several were clearly horrified. At me or the situation, I couldn't quite be sure.
"Tanya, Rose, and Bella please come grab a chunk of this thing, and I want you to run in opposite directions for the next thirty minutes and dump the part somewhere a human couldn't see it," I said, handing them separate pieces of the vampire I'd shredded. I held onto his head by the filthy hair allowing it to dangle from my fingers.
"Alice, find a place for the torso, please."
I had no proof of who was behind this. It could be anyone, including the Volturi.
I saw a hole in a tree down the road and flew up it stuffing the twitching head inside.
I whispered to him. "You listen to me. When your body finally finds all its parts and reassembles, you take this message to any other spies. I protect what's mine."
The fire was beginning to die as the rain started pouring over us, cleaning the air of the smoke. Kate, Anna, and Carmen waited with me for the others to return. Our sensitive ears could hear the faint twitching sound of the head attempting to move, but I stood fast. Alice was the first to dash into the area
Ever the prepared one, she brought out a small pop up tent that she set up within a second and produced bags of dry clothes and towels from the Suburban.
"I knew you'd prefer to keep most of mess out of the truck," she said, in hesitant explanation.
"I just figured we'd probably get dirty in some way or the other, so for the really brave I have shampoo," she further stated holding up the bottles, and then pointed to the rain.
Rose smelled the ends of her hair, and grimaced. She quickly stripped running out into the rain with shampoo in hand. Realizing the wisdom of ridding themselves of the smell, the rest joined her after throwing their ruined clothes on the dying embers, of the fire, to burn. Bella finally approached me where I stood immobile.
"Esme, when I lost it on Jane, you told me that I did what I had to do. You expected me to accept that, and realize that the nature to protect is as much a part of us as anything else. Were you just lying?"
I felt my lip twitch at her audacity, but she saw the break and gently smiled.
"Come get cleaned up, and let's go home. Rose just called the men to tell them we are on the way, and you know there will be hell to face there. They were already racing here, and she told them to turn around," she said, tugging me out into the cleansing rain.
Many murmurs of thanks were sent Alice's way, for the towels and dry clothing, before we loaded up. For the first leg of the trip, the interior of the truck was deathly silent. But as we pulled away from the rental place from dropping off the ATVS, I felt a shift in the atmosphere.
"I thought I was going to fall over laughing when Tanya flipped Rose over into the heather," Kate started giggling, being the first to venture into normalcy.
"The look on your face was priceless," Anna indicated, smiling over toward Rose. "But when you lunged at her feet and brought her down, I really thought I was going to lose it. I learned a few creative Russian curses from that maneuver."
"I was dreaming of a night in that Jacuzzi Carlisle installed for you, Esme," Tanya stated in a wishful voice, drawing me into the conversation.
"I'm assuming not alone, though," Rose laughed.
"But of course," Tanya laughed seductively earning a growl from Bella.
Carmen continued the fun by asking, "Who took down the tree?"
"Alice," they all chimed in unison, explaining the curse that had echoed up the mountain.
"Bella used those birthing hips of hers to bump Alice out of the way," Rose said harassing her younger sibling.
"That's okay," Alice's tinkling voice interjected. "Since I already knew that Carmen and Esme had tricked us, I saw which way she was going and made sure to pay her back"
Kate answered the questioning look in Carmen's face by indicating, "Alice scurried ahead and waited on Bella at one of the passes through the rocks. She jumped on Bella's back and blindfolded her. Bella ran into a rock, face first."
"Poor rock," Alice giggled out.
I unfroze at that moment and relaxed, joining in the laughter. This was my family, which I loved, and was bound to protect. They were done with the morbid, and had made a decision to put it behind them. I followed their example willingly. I wouldn't tell them that I felt no remorse for what I'd done. My silence had been a result of my contemplation of what we'd learned, more than a misguided sense of guilt.
The stories of the horseplay and laughter continued throughout the trip home, effectively cleansing the mental wounds. As we pulled up to the main house, the men rose from the seats on the porch. Identical expressions of relief, anger, and frustration were etched across their faces.
Carlisle snatched the door open, grabbing me into his arms. I noted that the others were also similarly treated, and was proud that Edward had Bella in one arm and Tanya in the other. Henry's arms wrapped tightly around Anna's knees as the Romanians provided the glaring stare for her.
"Don't ever put me through that again," Carlisle sobbed into my hair.
A/N: Many, many thanks to CullenFest for taking the time out of her busy schedule to Beta this for me. She is the best, and was the first person to encourage me to continue with my little story. I bet she wishes she'd never done that now. :)
