Note: I don't own Twilight!!!
Chapter 11
Daddy's Little Girl
Sarah sat on the small table in her father's laboratory. She listened to him as he moved about and gathered what equipment he would need to take another venom sample. Only a few ounces of concentrated venom at a time were available for collection from the venom glands in the roof of her mouth.
With one nervous hand, she groped the table's metal surface. The comfort that she was seeking found her first as Ben wrapped his hand around hers. After two days at Billy's house, she finally settled down enough to phase back. Unfortunately, the change plunged her back into the world of black velvet. It seemed she could only see in her shape-shifted form. This disappointed her greatly, and her parents spent several hours counseling and reassuring her.
Ben, who was forced by his thirst to leave and hunt shortly after their arrival at Billy's, returned to find her normal again. She didn't need to see his face to tell he was relieved. Witnessing her shape-shifting and seeing her in her lion form caused him obvious distress.
She heard her father's footfalls as he approached and she tensed. Ben gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Relax, Sarah," he soothed. Though the notes of his voice were paternal, she imagined the tone was similar to the one he used with anxious patients at the hospital. "Open your mouth nice and wide for me and tip your head all the way back."
She knew what was coming and she didn't like it. While the collection process didn't hurt, it wasn't very comfortable either. Memories of the dentist's office danced through her imagination and she fought to push them back.
Venom collection was a far simpler task than taking blood samples had been when she was in her lion form. Carlisle had to use the largest gauge needle in his bag and she remembered the pain of it as it pierced her thick lion hide. The fluid he pulled from her foreleg was so dark it looked almost black and it was as thick as molasses. To her father's further astonishment, in her shape-shifted form, she had a nearly imperceptible heartbeat.
"Come on, honey," her father cajoled. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner Ben can take you hunting."
Her thirst flared in her throat suddenly at the mention of hunting. The samples needed to be taken before she hunted so that they wouldn't be contaminated. It also helped that her thirst had the buds at the base of the venom glands full and ready to gush out at the smell of her next meal. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth.
She whimpered softly as the rustling of his clothes told her he was moving closer. His movement stirred the air just enough that it illuminated his hands and the syringe he held in blazing golden light against her velvet vision.
"Does it hurt?" Ben's saxophone voice played soft notes of concern.
"No," her father assured him. "I've done this on myself and every member of my family numerous times. It's completely painless."
"Then why is she so anxious?"
"She's just prone to nervousness I guess," he dismissed. "Be very still, Sarah."
She could feel the thin metal catheter as her father carefully treaded it into the opening of her right venom duct. There were two of these ballpoint-sized openings in the roof of her mouth, situated just behind her canine teeth. The ducts secreted venom whenever she was thirsty, when her senses were stimulated by the presence of prey, and during the act of feeding.
"It tickles," she projected to both of them at once. It wasn't the pleasant sort of tickling that made you want to laugh, rather the kind that made you want to shudder.
The first time he collected a sample, she wasn't thirsty at all. Her father had to massage the two jellybean-shaped organs in the roof of her mouth with his fingers, simulating oral contact during feeding, until the venom starting flowing. That's when she discovered she was ticklish. The sensation made her shudder so violently that she nearly bit her father's fingers off.
"Bear with me just a little longer, honey, I'm almost done," her father cooed in his doctor's voice.
"How much will you take?" Ben asked. His voice sounded a little squeamish as he squeezed her hand again.
"I only milk one duct at a collection," he answered as he withdrew the catheter. "That leaves her an ample supply for hunting and feeding." He patted her shoulder gently. "All done. You were very tolerant Sarah, thank you."
She rubbed the roof of her mouth with her tongue in an effort to clear the odd medical taste. "What does it look like?"
She had always wondered what her venom looked like. It had an acid smell to it and tasted just slightly bitter, like unsweetened lemonade. She assumed the acidic quality of it was the reason why her thirst burned.
"It's a thin and transparent liquid," she heard him answer as he moved about the lab, "with just the faintest yellow tint to it. As you age, the yellow color will deepen until it's a rich shade of amber."
"Am I to assume," Ben was more relaxed now that the collection was over, "that the deeper the color, the more potent the venom?"
"Very good Benjamin." Enthusiasm echoed in the bells of her father's voice. "That's correct. Because younger vampires have weaker venom, it requires more of it to turn a human. I'm not at all sure a newborn like Sarah could create another newborn and, at any rate, it would be highly inadvisable for her to try."
Sarah did not intend to create anything beyond sculptures and pots in clay. She remembered the fiery agony of her transformation and couldn't imagine inflicting that much suffering on anyone.
Ben was helping her off the table when she heard the footsteps coming down the basement stairs. She recognized them as belonging to Rose. When her sister knocked softly at the lab door and then spoke, Sarah wasn't surprised.
"FedEx just brought this for you." The pitch of the violin in her voice was a bit distressed. Sarah wondered why.
She listened as Papa crossed the room. Like everyone else, he tried to move at human speed whenever she was around so that she could follow his movements with her ears. It wasn't necessary, and she had said as much, but the family insisted. Emmett even joked that it was good practice for them.
There was the sound of ripping cardboard as her father opened the envelope, then the rustling of paper as he unfolded the letter. The next thing she knew, her delicate ears were accosted by Papa's menacing growl and a string of curses coming from his mouth that made her want to cover her ears. She had no idea her papa knew so many profane words, or that he could string them together so poetically.
"Carlisle." Ben's voice expressed the shock she was feeling. "Mind your language, there are ladies present."
Once a Knight, always a Knight, she thought to herself, and she waited for an explanation.
Papa said nothing, but the letter and envelope clattered onto the table next to her. She could make out her father's disgusted grunt as he kicked what sounded like the trash can. The heat of his rage radiated off him like a bad odor but he said nothing.
She listened as Ben picked up the letter. Seconds ticked past like years as he read it for himself.
"Light of Heaven! Carlisle, you've been summoned." The shock in Ben's voice matched the intensity of her father's anger.
Sarah was confused, summoned by whom and for what? "Ben, I thought you took care of Papa's legal issues before we left Louisiana."
Ben wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head before answering. "I wish this were as simple as a court case, Sarah. I could make a few phone calls, bribe a few judges, and have the whole matter forgotten before lunch. But not this."
"It's a Volturi summons." Her father informed her. The bells in his voice were pensive. "Rose, tell Esme to have everyone gathered in the dining room in an hour for Council. Ben, you'll stay, of course. This involves Sarah and therefore you."
* * * *
Carlisle stood at the top of the basement stairs; beyond the closed door, he could hear the murmured whispers of his waiting family. For the first time in his life as a father and the leader of his family, he was reluctant to face them. He didn't want to meet their questioning gazes, didn't want to feel the heavy burden of their expectations. All he really wanted at that moment was to build a mighty wall as high as heaven around all that he cared about and hunker down behind it like a frightened child.
He took a deep breath and opened the door. As much as he wanted to avoid this, it couldn't be put off. Esme and Sarah would be the most difficult to deal with. He hoped that Ben would help ease things for his daughter, which would leave him dealing with his devastated mate. Pain and regret twisted in his chest, it wasn't supposed to end like this.
He steeled himself for the worst as he entered the dining room. As expected, all eyes were fixed on him. A part of him wanted to shout at them to stop staring. Another part wanted to run off into the forest and hide there until forever came. Indecision was a new and frustrating emotion for him. Just when he thought he couldn't take it any more his eyes locked with Edward's. Of course he knew, he always knew. Edward would make a good leader; he would keep the family together and safe.
His oldest son nodded just slightly, the faintest of reassurances as he took a deep breath and prepared to speak. He handed the Volturi letter along with some other papers and several legal documents to his son and then began.
"As you probably know by now, Aro has sent a summons." He swallowed hard and tried not to look into Esme's eyes. "He wishes to see the following: Esme, Sarah, Edward, Bella and myself. It seems, however, that he made a mistake in his wording of the letter and his summons only demands me."
Alice had her cell phone and credit card out faster than he could blink. "Let's see, we need ten tickets to Italy, I'm assuming first class, what airline and how soon? With that many I think I can manage to finagle a group discount."
He looked sadly in her direction. Could she not see, or was she just trying to be hopeful. "Just one ticket Alice." He tried to smile but he feared the effort was pointless. "I've already booked it . . . I'm going alone."
"Book a second ticket, Alice, any airline you can manage." Esme's voice was the coldest he had ever heard it. "It seems my husband has forgotten our marriage vows, till death do us part."
Though her face was placid, her eyes burned with honey colored fire.
"Don't bother Alice," Carlisle said with a tired sigh. "The credit card will be declined. I was afraid this might be your reaction so I took the liberty of freezing all our accounts for the next seven days. I'm sure there's enough petty cash in the house to tide you over in the meantime."
He looked down at Esme, sadness and anger played in alternating waves across her beautiful face. "I'm sorry my love, this is the way it must be."
He left the room hastily and retreated to the solitude of his study. As a matter of practice he never locked his study door, preferring to leave it open to his family. Tonight he broke with that tradition. If he was going to maintain his resolve, he could not look into their pain-filled faces. He settled into his desk chair and nearly jumped out of it again as the loud roaring of a lion made the whole house shake.
He sighed. Before the night was over, he knew he would have to deal with the two people in his family who loved him more than life itself, his beautiful and adoring mate Esme and his fiercely loyal daughter Sarah.
* * * *
She paced from one end of the long front porch to the other. Every muscle in her feline body was bunched and ready to pounce. Irritation kept a constant growl in her throat and made her thick tail lash from side to side like a tawny fur- covered whip. She paused her agitated pacing only long enough to stifle another roar. She knew exactly how those caged animals at the Audubon Zoo felt.
She wanted to bite, tear, and rip at something until there was nothing left of it but minuscule pieces. So keen was her irritation that her mother had quietly asked Ben to take her out onto the porch before she finished shredding the sofa. Bits of cloth and foam cushion still clung between her claws. She couldn't understand what the fuss was about, the sofa was beyond repair now anyway. A few more good paw swipes and a bite or two wouldn't make that much difference one way or the other.
Moreover, how did the sofa fit into the grander scheme of things anyway? She heard her siblings talking in hushed sad tones and she felt her father's intentions. By virtue of a stupid technicality, he was going to face his enemies alone . . . he was going to face his death alone. She didn't have to be Alice and have visions to see that. He was going to Italy and he wasn't coming back.
That thought made a fresh wave of pain swell in her chest and threaten to steal her breath away. She stopped at the end of the porch, took a deep breath and held it but, try as she might, this time the roar would not be stopped. A defining sound rang into the moonless night, bouncing off the trees and everything else in its path. The echo of it eventually died away as did the shaking of the porch beneath her paws. Only the pain in her heart remained.
The front door opened and closed, she knew who it was without looking. She wasn't sure whether to expect a reprimand for her outbursts or fatherly counsel. Her irritation increased.
"Aw, Sarah," the bells tolled somberly. "Come on, honey, don't be like that."
She continued to stare out into the night. He'd tried the same line on Mama not long ago and in response, Sarah heard the crash of a porcelain vase against a wall. She had nothing to throw and no hands to throw it with. A frustrated growl rumbled deep in her chest.
"Please Sarah, as I tried to explain to your mother," his plea sounded just a little tired, "this is for the best. Everything is going to be just fine, you'll see." He paused briefly. "Now, what can Papa bring back for his little girl from Italy?"
His last phrase was more than she could stand. Her anger and pain broke through the fragile dam she'd built to contain it and flooded every cell of her body. She turned suddenly on her haunches and raced across the porch. Even the look of shock and horror on her father's face wasn't enough to stop her. Her paws left the floorboards and she sailed through the air for a few short moments before she slammed into her father's body. Her weight and momentum took them to the ground together and they tumbled until they rolled off the end of the porch and onto the lawn. When they finally stopped, Sarah was on top of him with her massive forepaws pinning her papa's shoulders against the damp earth.
Her mind raced with a thousand angry, hurt and confused thoughts but she couldn't grab hold of any one of them long enough to project it. In desperation, she lowered her tawny muzzle until her stiff white whiskers were touching her father's face, opened her mouth, and bellowed out the loudest roar imaginable.
There was the slamming of the front door and a cavalcade of feet tromped across the porch as her family came to see the cause of the commotion. Ben and Edward were off the porch in an instant and they would have hauled her off her father if he hadn't stopped them.
"It's OK," he told them calmly. "She needs to get this out of her system. Talk to me, Sarah, let it all out. I'm ready."
Her confused thoughts continued to race and she couldn't seem to find the words to express them. She lowered her head again until her nose leather rested against the end of his nose. She looked deep into his honey gold eyes, seeking some spark to focus her rage but she found only love and concern in their depths
"Have you grown so tired of your existence that you want to die, Carlisle Cullen? Then let me oblige you." She snarled and a growl rumbled in her throat as she projected the thought. "You don't have to waste a trip across the Atlantic for that!"
"You don't really want to kill me, Sarah," he replied kindly, a sad smile curled his lips. "Do you, honey?"
She roared again but this time not so loudly.
"Come on Sarah, let it out," he goaded her gently. "I'm right here, honey, give it to me with both barrels."
"Fifty bucks says she bites Carlisle's head off and uses it for a cat toy," Emmett joked as he nudged Jasper in the ribs.
"You're on," Jasper agreed, and she heard them shake hands.
"Quiet, both of you," he cautioned, and then he turned back to his daughter. "Come on Sarah, let's have it. What's got you worked up beyond words?"
She focused on the writhing mass of thoughts inside her. They were like so many fish in a barrel, rising to the surface and then diving to the bottom again before she could catch hold of one. She concentrated, watching the wriggling thoughts until the biggest and ugliest of them found its way to the surface. With quick mental hands, she seized hold of it and she instantly regretted it. Old pain filled her as if the events that caused it had occurred only yesterday.
"Take, take, and take from Sarah!" She snarled. "The angry universe has done nothing but take from me, it's stolen everything I ever loved and left me all alone. Until now."
"Good Sarah, that's it," he encouraged. "But you're not done yet, let's have all of it."
"I found a new family, they love me and I love them. I have a Mama and a Papa and brothers and sisters and I feel whole again, whole for the first time since I was eight."
"Now the angry universe wants to take that away, too. Well I'm tired of it; no one is taking anything from Sarah ever again. I won't let them kill you, Father, if they want you they're going to have to go through me first." A constant growl built in her throat until it became another roar. "I'll take them apart one at a time, I don't care how many of them there are. No one is taking Sarah's family from her, ever!"
He smiled up at her affectionately and reached up with one hand to scratch her ear. "Good, Sarah, now isn't that better."
"Didn't you hear me? I said they're not taking you from me!"
"Of course I heard you, honey, you practically drilled every word into my head." He continued to smile and stroke her fur. "I understand how you feel but now I want you to hear me out . . . OK?"
She nodded reluctantly.
"I have my reasons for making this trip alone," he began. "This goes for all of you, so pay attention." He turned his focus back to Sarah, their eyes locked and it felt as though he was speaking only to her. "Billy was right about you, Sarah. Your power as a shape-shifter combined with all your other talents and the fact that you're a vampire could make you very dangerous in the wrong hands. If Aro got a hold of you, he would turn you into a weapon the likes of which our kind has never known. It's best if I keep you as far away from the Volturi as possible."
"But Father . . ."
"Shush, let me finish, honey." He took a breath and continued. "If I were to take any one of you with me, I instantly offer Aro and the Volturi a hostage to use as leverage to force me into their will. Do you think that there is anything I wouldn't do for any of you? I would move heaven and earth for each and every one of you."
"But Papa, he'll kill you."
"You've been listening to you siblings' dark murmurings, haven't you?" He dismissed her anxiety as if it were nothing more serious than a speck of dust. "He won't kill me, that would be an ill-conceived move. The last thing Aro wants is an all out war with my coven. I have too many allies who would rally to our cause and Aro has too many sleeping enemies looking for a reason to rise up against him. The Volturi aren't stupid, they know it would fracture our world."
"I feel like you're not coming back."
"Of course I'm coming back, why wouldn't I?" he dismissed her again. "I've every reason to. I have a beautiful wife, an amazing family, my job, not to mention my research." He paused briefly and fixed her in his gaze again. "And then there's the matter of my youngest daughter's pending nuptials. Someone has to make sure Alice doesn't spend us into the poor house planning your wedding. And of course, if I'm not here, who would give away daddy's little girl?"
