Chapter Twelve: Plans

(Dawn)

Darkness.

When I opened my eyes, it was complete and total darkness.

I tried to feel around, to see if I could tell where I was, but I quickly realized that my hands and feet were bound and my mouth was taped shut.

Like a prisoner.

Like a hostage.

I felt the tears start to swell up in my eyes.

I avoided them though and quickly tried to act like my sister had taught me. To think and play smart.

To think and play like a Slayer.

I just needed to calm down and not panic. I needed to think clearly.

If I could just somehow get my hands untied, then I could I untie my feet and my mouth and sneak out of…wherever it is that I was.

A sudden realization jutted my courageous plan right out of my head.

I had no idea where I was.

I had no sense of time.

I had no idea how long it had been since they took me.

Absolutely no idea.

I could be in Port Angeles still, or back in Seattle…but I was betting on Italy.

Call it instinct.

I abandoned the Slayer-think mode ajd started to panic. The tears no longer swelled.

They fell freely down my cheeks, rapidly, warm and salty.

If I had no idea where I was, then neither did Buffy. Or anybody else.

I was alone here. Completely alone.

I would have to face these monsters all by myself.

It would most likely be my only hope-my only chance-at survival.

I could feel the blood start to boil in my veins. My tears of sadness turned to tears of hate.

Buffy, Faith and the other Slayers had taught me well, yes, but I felt that it would a battle of the intellect with these vampires.

Awhile back when we had first had the trouble with them, I read up on the Volturi. They were devious and inventive. They didn't have to use their strength to get you. A little trick of the tongue and they could weave you right into their false sense of security.

AKA they were awesome liars.

I definitely felt that my Watcher Jr. skills were going to be coming in handy, here.

Wherever here was.

They wanted the Key, huh? Well, then, so be it.



(Edward)

It had been three days since Dawn had been kidnapped.

Buffy was an absolute wreck.

After we got back from her little rampage, she stopped speaking, not just to me, but all together. She either went out and patrolled, alone, or stood silently, staring out the window.

It hurt me so much to watch her suffer so much.

I knew that she was blaming herself.

Everything that Rose had said to her, Buffy took to heart.

I tried to tell her that it wasn't solely her fault. We were all to blame. We all let our guards down when they should've been as high up as the sky itself.
But she just wouldn't listen to reason. She would stalk off outside and sit alone for hours.

Between patrolling, sitting outside and staring out the window, she spent the rest of her time sitting with Giles and Xander.

Willow and Faith had woken from their comas.

Faith was completely healed, thanks to her Slayer powers, however, Willow still needed some time.

Xander and Giles were different stories, though.

It had been three days and they were still completely unconscious.

Carlisle was doing everything he could, but their conditions were still shaky at best.

He had managed to sew up Xander's deep side wounds, but they were still bleeding through the stitches, which worried Carlisle immensely.

Giles had so many different cuts and scrapes on him that it was very clear he was tortured before being knocked out.

Still, Carlisle never once let his worry show. It was only him and I that knew it. It was only him and I that knew there was a very slim chance of either of them making it.

And then there was this business with the Quileute's.

I sat silently on the couch in mine and Buffy's house, quietly mulling over all the possibilities of what would make Alice lose her sight of Buffy when she was near one of them.

Carlisle and I had discussed it and we both knew very well that it was a possibility that their magic could be starting up again.

The last time we had lived in the Pacific Northwest was over seventy years ago. We lived even closer to La Push then. Carlisle had come to a treaty with the Quileute's. We promised two things. To never kill a human and to never hunt on their land.

It made matters tougher, that we couldn't just go marching into La Push and barge all over their land to ask them about it, not that we would anyway. The treaty specifically enforced us staying well off their land.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. The night that we had all run to get Dawn from La Push…the night all of this nonsense started.

We had drove right onto their territory.

In doing that, we must have tripped up the treaty lines, literally, and stirred up their ancient magic.

Wolves.

They would be forming into a new pack of wolves.

A pack of wolves that was meant to keep us at bay and kill us if we got too close.

My thoughts were jarred by the sound of glass shattering.

I instantly ran to the kitchen to find Buffy holding the splintered remains of a water glass in one hand and…a crinkled, yellowed piece of parchment in the other.

It was quite visible that her hands were shaking and it was quite knowledgeable where the parchment came from.

I involuntarily swallowed, hard.

"Buffy, darling, where did you find that?" I asked, softly.

She was silent, her hands still violently shaking with anger.

I walked up to her and pulled the shattered glass fragments from her hand. Once her hand was empty, I grabbed it and pulled her close to me. She resisted at first, but eventually she wrapped her arms around me tightly and started to sob heavily into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the forehead, softly patting her back. We stood like that for a long time. I just let her cry. She needed to get her emotions out. She had been holding on to them for far too long.

Eventually, the heavy sobbing turned to crying and the crying turned to just some small tears. The small tears faded into some sniffles, here and there.

She lifted her head from my chest and looked at me.

Her face was worn with obvious pain and the very visible tear streaks didn't help. It hurt me so much to see her so hurt.

I cupped her delicate face in my hands.

"Love, what did the note say?" I asked, sincere.

In keeping with her silence, she just picked the parchment back up from the counter, where she had dropped it, and handed it to me to read.

"Slayer-By now, I'm sure you realize that we have your sister. Oh, but don't you fret, dear, because we have some wonderful plans for her. It was a grave misfortune on your part that you did not tell us of her ultimate power sooner. You really could have saved all this bloodshed.

Do not try to find her. Not yet, at least. It is not yet time for the cat and mouse game to begin, but when it is, do not worry your pretty little head…we will send a message.

Oh, and also, I'm very saddened and deeply disappointed in you and Mr. Cullen for taking out two of my most trusted and beloved protégés. Jane and Alec were like children to me.
I hope you know that you will both face the penalties of that to come. Every action has it consequences, you see, and yours are both going to be very severe.

You will wish that you had never angered us, Slayer. I can promise you that.

-Aro."

I crumpled up the note and threatened to rip it up. Buffy raised her hand to stop me.

"We should save it. Show it to Carlisle." she said, quietly, speaking for the first time in days.

I smiled sincerely and un-crinkled the note. Buffy took it from me, folded it neatly, and slid it into her pocket.

I grabbed the car keys from the counter top I had left them on and headed towards the door.

"Let's run." Buffy said, taking the keys from my hand.

My face twisted in confusion.

"I thought you hated running with me, love."

She wrinkled up her nose, into a face that I adored.

"Truthfully, I do. But it will help me clear out my head a bit. And I have a lot of thinking to do."

"Buffy…"

"We can't talk here. It's not safe and you know that. C'mon, lets get to Carlisle's."

I pulled her onto my back and she gripped tightly.

I opened the door and ran off to Carlisle's as fast as I could.



(Buffy)

Running with Edward wasn't as bad as it was when I was still human.

Still human.

Eh, I've said weirder things in my life.

Once we got to Carlisle's, I ran straight up to the room he had set up especially for Xander and Giles.

He had turned the room into a mini-hospital room. Complete with the necessary machines and everything.

If I wasn't in so much mind numbing emotional pain, I probably would've found it pretty neat.

"How are they doing?" I asked, softly, walking into the room.

Carlisle had had his back to us when we entered, but he quickly spun around, the sound of my voice obviously startling him.

"I wouldn't say…'startled', love, I would say…surprised. He heard us, he just wasn't expecting it to be you that spoke." Edward said, with a small smile.

"Very much so indeed, son." Carlisle smiled. "It's good to hear you speaking again, Buffy" he added.

I pulled the parchment out of my pocket and handed it to Carlisle.

"Someone sent us a delivery. I found it in the glass cupboard." I said.

Edward looked sideways at me. "It was in the glass cupboard?"

"Yes-that's why I said it wasn't safe to talk there. Someone clearly snuck in and left the note there. And I think we know who that is."

"Kennedy." Carlisle and Edward said in unison.

"Why didn't I smell her?" Edward asked. "If she snuck in I-"

"She probably snuck in when we were here." I said, interrupting.

Carlisle unfolded the parchment and read through it.

Once he was done, he folded it back up and looked very serious.

Great.

He called the rest of the family upstairs, with Faith and Willow joining as well.

Once everyone was assembled, he read the letter aloud to them. Anger was definitely a vibe around the room. I didn't have to have Jasper's emotion detector thing to feel it.
He looked towards Edward and I.

"Edward, I'm afraid Buffy's right. Your house is no longer safe. You shouldn't go back. Aro is seemingly riding the wave of bereavement and anguish at his loss of Jane and Alec. Especially since they have Dawn captive, I know it's going to seem cruel and silly, but I think we should lay low for awhile. Buffy, don't go out patrolling. Don't go looking for her until this said message arrives. It seems that she is of great value to them, so I doubt that they would harm her." Carlisle said, quietly.

"Carlisle, you're telling us to just sit here and not do anything?" Rose questioned, shockingly.

"I agree with Carlisle." I said, lowly.

Everyone turned to look at me in shock and awe, not one of them expecting that.

"What? You agree?" Rose asked.

"I do." I said.

I let my thoughts flow a bit to Edward, who smirked.

"She has a plan." he said, low. "A very, very good plan."

I turned to Jasper.

"So, I heard through the grapevine that you once led an army."

Jasper turned his head curiously.

"I did, indeed." he said, with his slight southern drawl.

"Ready to do that again?"