"Can we start with Jake?" Bella asked looking up at Edward. I tilted my head to the side slightly confused, why would she ask him? I thought I was the one with the desired information here.
"What do you know about Jake?" She finally asked looking over at me with a look of obvious curiosity. I tightened my jaw and looked away from her instantly with disapproval. Jake had told me all about her, her and her odd fascination with vampires and the Cullens. Bella Swan annoyed me. Everywhere I went I seemed to hear about her. Work, with Jacob, and Charlie, now here? For a moment I was curious to why people compared the two of us, we were nothing alike. The dark hair maybe, and our strange ability to attract mythical creatures, sure, but there was nothing else other than that. She was carefree, open, sensitive, and happy; she had a family, and looked pretty well content. I was an outsider, a freak, and I obviously didn't belong here.
"Jake?" I asked looking her over slightly.
"Yes." She answered sympathetically.
"Ask him yourself." I answered with OBVIOUS dislike. Edward's eyes flickered to me in a way I didn't know if I liked or not.
"Liz." Alice said looking at me oddly, Rosalie simply smirked. I sighed. I had forgotten my promise to her about playing nice with the others.
"I'll answer your questions on one condition." I said raising a brow in a fully stern tone. Everyone looked at me oddly except Carlisle who simply raised a brow and clasped his hands together in his lap.
"Condition?" He asked moving his hands to the space under his chin and began listening to me.
"He is not allowed to read my mind. It's creepy." I said pointing to Edward across the way from me looking intently at my face.
"Then how would we know you're telling us the truth?" Jasper asked looking over at me oddly. Something about him bugged me slightly, not in a bad way but one that was completely unknown to me. He always looked at me as if he had known me once, or in a way that no one else did, and I didn't know rather it was good or bad.
"I'm in a room…..full of vampires, with the exception of her, and you're worried about me?" I asked.
"Besides, You're all hearing right? Isn't there suppose to be this thing that happens with the heartbeat when someone lies?" I finished. I watched the facial expressions around the room to see if what I said had sunken in to everyone and apparently it did. Either way, Carlisle's expression was the only one I was worried about. He took a glance toward Edward and made a small head nod that Edward returned 2 seconds later.
"Alright, we will trust you not to lie to us." Carlisle responded to me. I placed my hands together in my lap and shrugging slightly.
"So….what do you want to know?" I asked looking around the room. I was sure they wanted to know about me, but what they specifically wanted to know I had no idea.
"What is your actual name?" Jasper chimed in first. He seemed more curious in to who I was than anyone else, and the way he frequently looked at me, frightened me.
"Elizabeth Dejour." I answered looking at him. He paused for a moment and backed off slightly, as if he were trying to remember something. I bit my bottom lip and pushed my hands against my thighs.
"My father was an explorer who discovered the Volterian manner in Italy. He was chosen to do research there, but he never came home. When I turned 18, I went to look for him. I arrived in Volterra, and found the manner, but I wasn't allowed entry because I didn't have a tour ticket like everyone else." I paused. A part of me wanted to simply stop talking because I would hate for them to assume I had hatred for all of their kind the way I had hatred for the monsters that I had seen.
"Elizabeth?" I looked up instantly at Carlisle's voice as he spoke my one true actual name. It was slightly shocking to hear him mutter it, with such ease as if he had been calling me that forever. Edward inched toward me slightly.
"What did you see?" He asked squinting his eyes slightly.
"I peeked around back. There was a large window that revealed the lower sanctum of the manner. I saw thrones and statues, but when the travelers entered they weren't statues anymore. They slaughtered every breathing person that entered that room including children." I answered with utter disgust in my voice. Carlisle nodded with a look of disapproval.
"What happened after that?" Jasper asked slightly more curious than everyone else in the room, almost more than Carlisle.
"I ran." I answered with a look of "obviously" on my face. He flinched back slightly almost as if to say "Well…alright" The reaction was almost human that it threw me off a little. I smiled slightly at my attitude toward him. I would hate to be rude to him when he was nothing but nice to me.
"Why did you come here?" Edward asked curiously.
"My father sent me here. Small town, unnoticed, but I doubt he knew a vampire family was already here." Rosalie looked slightly confused.
"How did your father send you here when you said you ran?"
"I got back to my room, and my things were thrown all over the place, and something's were even missing. I managed to salvage some things but not many but ducked behind the closet was a suitcase of new clothes and a letter. It had a ticket here, a check full of a lot of money, and instructions." I answered. Rosalie looked at Carlisle then back to me.
"Where did you get the necklace?" Jasper asked looking down at me.
"My father. Apparently it's been in our family for many decades, but a member of our family abused it because she changed into something, something evil. She took the necklace with her, but my family re-obtained it, and lost it again to the "enemy"." I said air quoting the word 'enemy' to emphasize that it was said to me.
"The enemy?" Jasper asked.
"I honestly don't know. The only reason I know that is because of fairytales my mom and dad told me when I was younger." I shrugged. Then he looked at me again in a way I didn't understand, and I saw Edward narrow his eyes at him. I looked away from Edward's face and I turned back to Jasper who was still looking at me that way he did the past couple of moments. I looked back to Edward and opened my mind to him.
'Edward.' I thought, curious to if he could hear me or not. My curiosity was answered when his eyes moved to me slowly while his head stayed still. He obviously wanted to keep our mind conversation a secret between us.
'Can you read Jasper's thoughts?' I thought curiously. Edward gave a small nod and returned his eyes to Jasper. His attempt at trying not to be obvious with me was working very well. For a small fraction of a second I found myself wondering if he was even talking to me or motioning to me.
'Does he….know me from somewhere?' I thought. Edward looked at me oddly as if he were unsure how to answer. I sighed heavily. If only I could read minds then this conversation would be so much easier. Edward smiled slightly, I had guessed he heard my last thought.
"Tell me more about the stories." Carlisle demanded becoming more curious and moving to the edge of his chair. This action confused me because it was undoubtedly human, and when humans did that it was mostly so that they could hear the person talking clearly. He was a vampire, he could hear me whispering 6 doors down.
"Well…." I started. "My father used to tell me these silly stories about vampires and gypsy witches and how they didn't quite get along the way they used to thousands of years ago. However, since I was just a little girl he never really referred to them as 'vampire' not until I was 16. He made them fairytales, but at 16 he told me they were all legends that I needed to remember and never forget. Then at 17 he told me he was going to Volterra, and he was so excited about that I could never forget the location he said he was going to. I just couldn't." I stopped for a moment and looked toward Alice who rubbed her hand on my arm slowly.
"Go on." She egged me on.
"There was a specific legend that caught my attention more than the rest because it involved this." I said pointing to the necklace. It moved slightly on its own when I pointed to it, as if it knew I was talking about it. Carlisle looked to my chest and watched it with awe for a moment before his eyes returned to my face. I shrugged slightly and smiled a little at the thought of how it responded to me, it was definitely meant to be mine.
"The story…" Jasper and Carlisle said at the same time. The way they were so interested in me surprised me. No one else cared about the story; they mostly just wanted to know what it was I was doing here.
"My father explained that there was a woman in our family, one of the most beautiful. This necklace was pasted down to her as it was to her mother before her, and her mother before her. The story states that she received the necklace at such a young age because her mother had died suddenly of scarlet fever, and she had started a family on her own. A baby boy she named Stefan. She was one of the longest descendants with the necklace until a war had broken out around our family's estate. There was so much violence and robbery that the war had found its way into the personal lives of everyone around. She was attacked one night while tending to her crops, and there was so much blood no one believed she would make it. However…" I paused looking at Carlisle knowing that he knew what had happened to her in the next three days.
"She was turning.." Carlisle had guessed.
"Back then, they didn't know what to call it. She suffered three days, claimed she was burning, on fire. They assumed she was in some sort of dream like state, a nightmare where she was burning, but I guess all of you know that that's not true." I said looking around the room at their expressions. They all looked at each other and nodded.
"She awoke with eyes…like fire." I said quoting my father before standing and moving away from the chair. It was becoming uncomfortable to talk about my history knowing that there was a vampire within my own family.
"She had kept the necklace for a decade after that time, and the Gypsy family apparently wasn't very happy with that. She had not only become a quote on quote 'monster' but she was creating more and more to become like her, and building an army. The Gypsy family didn't see it as a threat at first because they were unaware of the strength of newborns, but they had it in mind that she was creating the army to take out the gypsy family so that no one would be able to challenge her. They were unsure of this but refused to take the chance of that happening in the future."
"And then what happened?" Jasper asked moving closer to me and sitting in the chair that I had gotten up from.
"Gypsy witches are very powerful, but they are often disregarded because they can easily pass as humans." I said motioning to myself.
"When you first met me….did I seem human? Smell human?" I asked. They all looked at me strangely until Emmett finally spoke.
"Well aren't you?" He asked dumb found.
"Technically….." I nodded. "To become the wielder of this, I was told that there had to be a change, a change in the mental and physical features of the host. It's slightly painful, and the length of it, depends on the strength of the host."
"What do you mean?" Jasper asked curiously looking down at the necklace.
"I remember my father explaining, he wore it for 2 weeks before the necklace decided it was time for him to be put through the process." I answered trying to remember my father's words.
""I remember this." Carlisle said nodding.
"Yeah, It's a lot like what you guys go through with your transition to becoming a vampire, but slightly different. When you turn, you have a three day period of burning right? Well with the necklace it's a mixture of feelings because the necklace is pulling out your weakness, literally probing through you to find what areas need to be strengthened, and in the last few hours it builds on those areas and literally becomes one with you. In that moment it pairs with you and literally becomes a part of you. It becomes a weapon within you, when you use the necklaces power it comes from within. I've heard the process is very powerful for some, and very painful for others." I finished and then shrugged.
"But don't let that fool you, I am still human. I eat like a human, I feel like a human, except I don't quite die the same way. Some vampires….ancients, know that Gypsy witches can be quite dangerous. They can not only control the bodies of the dead, but they have immense power especially in groups. However, the thing with newborns is they still have their own blood lingering in their tissues so they aren't quite dead, this flaw makes it harder for them to be killed. My ancestor, she knew this. She trained them to be stronger, stronger than us, and she almost succeeded." I said finishing and slipping my hands into my pockets.
"She was much stronger than the newborns not only because of her age, but the necklace will protect any Gypsy that wares it. Even though she was a vampire, indeed, she was still of our bloodline so it protected her. It took quite some time to get close enough to her to destroy her, but the necklace was lost for centuries after this event took place. Your superiors…..The Volturi?" I said quite unconfident.
"Learned of the Gypsy witches and their powers and felt they were a powerful foe to them, and tried their best to wipe out every generation of them, and with that the necklace was lost. Now here it is…" I said tracing it with my fingers.
"This ancestor….what was her name?" Jasper asked.
"Maria." I answered. With that Jasper looked at me in a way I did not understand, a way I was completely taken aback by. He had gotten so close to me I was surprised none of the other Cullens had gotten up to control him. I saw Edward move slightly in his chair as Jasper approached me and then relaxed himself as he focused in on Jasper's head. I guess he had discovered within Jasper's thoughts that he wasn't going to hurt me. His eyes moved over me in appraisal and then he returned his eyes back to mine as he bore into them as if he wanted to see something else other than just them. I stared up at him confused and dumb found wondering what it was he was thinking.
"Maria, was one of your ancestors?" He asked me without moving his eyes away from mine, as if he were using them to force the truth out of me.
"A woman named Maria. Long dark hair, very beautiful…" I said trying to put the image of her in my mind which was very difficult due to me only seeing a picture of her one time. A black and white picture that was slightly distorted.
"Is that why you keep looking at me that way? Did you know her?" I asked curiously tilting my head to the side not taking my eyes away from his.
"That's impossible." Jasper responded raising a brow. I looked over at Edward.
"Edward, tell me. Is the woman I see in my mind the same as the woman he sees in his?" I asked looking over at Jasper for a moment and then back to Edward's. Edward squinted his eyes toward Jasper and then returned his golden specks back to me.
"Yes." He answered simply.
"You're a descendent….." Jasper said trailing off before walking in a slight circle around me like a lion usually did its prey before devouring it.
"How is this important?" I asked curiously to the manner of my ancestry. This was all very interesting I would admit, and it did explain why Jasper had always looked at me the way he had, but this was not the issue at hand.
"The Volturi couldn't have possibly known about Elizabeth being related to Maria." Carlisle said finally speaking up.
"No…..but they could have known about Maria. Maria was as old as you Carlisle, if not more. She could have met the Volturi somehow, or even been turned by one of them. On top of that how could you explain them inhabiting the necklace once again?" Jasper asked while pacing slightly as if trying to piece together a puzzle in his head.
"She was building that army to take down somebody. What if it was the Volturi?" Jasper asked moving his hand from his chin and looking up at Carlisle. Carlisle simply stared at him for a moment as if he himself was trying to remember something.
"That's very possible." He answered looking away from the entire family before standing himself.
"The Volturi did make a mass of enemies." He continued.
"Also, Maria was a rogue when I met her. What if the Volturi family had planned on using her, and turned her into an immortal to control her and the gypsy power, but Maria betrayed them, and started building her army to kill them off so that she wouldn't have to run?" Edward skimmed in curiously. I slipped my hands into my pockets and sighed slightly. This apparently was an age old battle that didn't even concern me, and I was frustrated to learn I was in the middle.
"You were born into this, this wasn't your fault." Edward said defending me for once. It shocked me because he once again answered something that my mind had conjured and it never escaped my lips. I smiled slightly at him and nodded a little.
"Even so…..what am I to do?" I asked curiously at a loss. They were the ones with the strength and power to protect themselves and me, but here I was confused and lost at what to do now.
"Tonight, we can discuss everything, after the party." Bella said nodding in slightly excited that she had come up with some kind of plan. I felt my lip pull down slightly in a frown and Rosalie quickly noticed.
"What? You don't like parties?" She asked sarcastically and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"No ….I guess I don't." I said shrugging with a slight smile. I didn't want to tell them the truth about the special guest arriving at their party tonight. I bit my bottom lip and saw Alice's eyes flicker towards me.
"You can stay here, with us. Bella has to go home and get dressed and let Charlie know everything about the party being held here tonight, and in return you can stay here, and help me prepare. That way I can keep an eye on you." Alice said smiling with excitement.
"No no that's ok. I would hate to be around your party and mess it up. Besides….I don't even have anything to wear for it." I said shrugging and trying to find a way out of it. I no longer wanted to be here. It felt awkward that they knew pretty much my entire family history and I still knew nothing about them. Ontop of that Jasper continued to look at me so oddly and I did not seem to like it.
"Oh come on, we can protect you here." Alice said putting in her point.
"Why don't you just let her go with Bella. I'm sure Charlie would like to see her." Esme said looking over at Bella. Oh no, I knew exactly what she was getting at with this. Forcing me to try and get along with the infamous Isabella Swan that people compared me to. The girl everyone loved to stalk, and apparently kill since they're put through so much effort to keep her alive.
"Sure, you ready?" Bella asked me. I took in a deep breath slightly and looked around the room trying to hide my annoyance. I did not want to go with her, but I had to admit it would be nice to see Charlie. He had been calling me and asking about me for a while now to see me, and check up on me, but with all this going on, I wanted to stay away from him for his own safety. I was apparently a hazard now, and being around other people was dangerous to them in so many ways. Bella looked at me and waited for my response and I couldn't help but put on a fake smile for her.
"Hooray." I said sarcastically and watched Edward's face turn in a stern look as if telling me to play nice, but he had to understand where I was coming from. This girl was completely and utterly annoying to me in so many ways. With all the comparisons people made between her and I, but at the same time every time I turned around there she was. I smiled at him as if to say I agreed and then turned back to her.
"Sorry." I apologized. She bit her lip awkwardly and nodded as if I had hurt her feelings but she was trying to hide it.
"Head home, we'll be watching around your house to make sure everything's ok. Liz will stay over so we can watch you both and make sure you're ok. Tomorrow Alice will drop over clothes for you both to wear and you'll head here for the party." Carlisle said standing from the chair and nodding as he spoke. I could never argue with him for some odd reason, he reminded me slightly of my father when he spoke. I simply nodded and looked over at Bella.
The ride to Bella's house was extremely awkward, we both kept staring over at each other as if we wanted to say something but never did and just returned our eyes back to the windshield. I could see that there were things she wanted to say to me and ask me, but I simply could not get along with her. Maybe I was being childish but I simply could not get over her annoyance. When we finally walked inside her house Charlie's voice was the first to be heard.
"Bella is that you?" He asked.
"Who else would it be?" she whispered to me, and I couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah….Rayne is here!" She answered back. I could hear quick movement from the other room and could instantly tell he was excited to see me.
"Ray! Hey there girl! How have you been?" He asked walking into the room with his hands in his front pockets before pulling them out and wrapping his arms around me. I had to say Charlie was slightly the soft type especially behind closed door.
"Great, just busy busy ya know?" I asked. He smiled at me.
"What are you girls up to?" He asked curiously looking down at us both.
"Nothing dad, we're just really tired and gonna head to bed." She answered swiftly and I was glad she understood how catching up would be a stretch.
"Oh, too tired to catch up?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah sorry Charlie. Girl things to do ya know?" I asked shrugging and smiling slightly at Bella. I watched her move quickly towards the stairs and I couldn't help but follow. I heard a small "hmph" from Charlie as we got upstairs and closed Bella's door.
"I'm sure catching up after all that discussion at Edward's would be awkward for you. Hope you don't mind my rushing Charlie off." She said apologetically. I just shrugged at her.
"You did me a favor really." I responded. I looked around her room and smiled to myself at the fact that it was so cozy. Ontop of that, the numerous pictures of her and Edward scattered around her mirror made me roll my eyes slightly. It wasn't her fault that she was likable and able to build a life is this small town and I couldn't because of my path. I couldn't be jealous of her but that didn't stop me from feeling the monster of envy build up in my chest again.
She moved around the room awkwardly and I smiled walking deeper inside.
"You don't have…..to like entertain me or anything." I said shrugging and sitting in the middle of the floor. Bella nodded and bit her bottom lip again before pulling clothes from her drawer and setting them on the bed. I had guessed she was about to take a shower and get ready for bed.
"Sorry, I just…you look so uncomfortable…" she slightly stuttered.
"I'm still learning….how to be around other people, you know?" I answered honestly. She paused for a moment and began moving around her room again. It was slightly funny watching her move quickly in the small space, and she slowly began asking me small questions every now and again to either entertain us or to simply know about me. It felt strange to answer her questions and laugh with her considering I thought I had hated her before. Maybe all I really hated was all the hype that centered on her, jealousy was obviously a very horrible emotion, one that clouded judgment about everything.
When she returned she began discussing her and Edward, when they met, how she felt, when they started dating, when she first met the Cullen family, and what it was like telling Charlie about dating him. I think she was honestly just glad she could talk to someone about the truth instead of covering up everything like usual. We giggled a few more times before her speech began to slur and she eventually stopped talking. I smiled to myself at the thought of having a sleep over with a friend, a friend who I claimed to have hated not too long ago. The thought of it brought a smile to my face, an actual smile, not one of those fake ones I had been putting on lately, but an actual smile. The sleep that overtook me in that moment was so powerful that it was disorienting, and I did not fight it.
The next morning was slightly awkward due to the fact that I woke up in a room that did not belong to me without slightly any comprehension of what happened the night before. Things started to sink in slowly as I sat up slowly and looked around. It all seemed like a dream, actually sitting and talking to the Cullen family, and then staying the night at Bella's house as if we were friends that did this all the time. I would have to admit, getting to know Bella was more interesting than I had first thought, I looked up to see her coming into the room with a few pieces of clothing.
"Alice must have dropped these off last night, left them in here for us to put on." Bella said placing the clothes gently on the bed and smiling as she laid them out perfectly.
"Classical blue jeans combo." I said sitting up with a smile. I had to admit Alice knew all too well already what I like, and for that I was eternally grateful. According to Bella, Alice was pretty much the one responsible for all the clothing and style around the Cullen family. It was simply her trade mark and what she was very very talented at over the years. We decided to not deviate from the plan and put on the clothes before we headed to the Cullen home to watch Alice set up considering she insisted on doing it all on her own. Bella and I didn't mind letting her do it all considering if we stepped in we might have ruined it all before it even began.
The way she sped through the entire house putting up streamers, banners, and lights made me smile to myself, I had never seen anyone move so fast and create such beauty so quickly. I found myself jealous of her ease to do these things. The night came pretty quickly. Bella and I pretty much sat in the front room putting out the drinks and finger food while all the Cullens began flowing back into the home. Many people began showing up quickly and I laughed at the fact that it had took me so long to find the place when I first came upon it, yet these people seemed to find it instantly, maybe Alice had given great directions.
"Jake's here." Bella said near me. I merely looked at her and then in the direction of the door. I had wondered how Jake would respond when he say that I was here before he was. Last time I checked we had planned to crash the party together. I nodded for her to go over and talk to him, I had known how Jake claimed to have felt about Bella, but I did know for a fact that he would never hurt her.
"Go ahead." I said nodding for her to go over to him. They stood and talked for a moment while I was putting some small sandwiches into a flat clear plate. I saw Alice stop at the stairs as if something had ran past her feet, but there was nothing there .She simply stopped and stared blankly at the floor with a look of mock terror on her face before looking up at Bella and Jake. For a moment I thought she had stopped because she realized that there were werewolves in her home. I knew full well how vampires and wolves felt about each other, but I had assumed they would put all of that aside considering the witnesses and the situations at hand.
"They're coming here." Her lips said, and I instantly felt confused. I pushed the plate away and walked over to here and placed my hand on her arm.
"Are you ok Alice?" I asked curiously and she looked at me in a way I didn't understand.
"The decisions been made." She said looking down at Bella and I.
"What's going on?" Jake asked moving closer to Bella and looking up at Alice.
"You're not….going to Seattle are you?" Bella asked.
"They're coming here." She said turning toward me and looking into my eyes in a way that made even me nervous. When a vampire looked frightened then you had reason to be scared for your life. Jake's eyes fell on me for a moment in a way as if to say 'you little sneak' but it was quickly overcome by curiosity as he stared up at Alice on the stairs.
"Who's coming?" He asked and then looked back at the 2 boys he had brought with him. They stared at him blankly and Alice motioned for us to follow her to a more private setting while making sure to alert Jasper, Edward, Emette, Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie to come over as well. By the time Jake, Alice, Bella, and I reached the room the other Cullens were already there sitting and waiting for us.
"The newborn army….they're coming here. They will be here in 4 days." Alice said simply before looking over at Edward. Everyone looked around at each other in slight surprise but others had faces they showed they knew this had to be coming.
"This could turn into a blood bath." Carlisle said simply, while getting up and beginning to pace. I patted his shoulder slightly for him to stop, he only paced when he was intensely worried.
"Who's behind it?" Edward asked curiously.
"I didn't see anyone I recognized…..except one maybe…" She trailed off.
"I recognize him, he's a local. From Forks…..Riley Biers." Edward continued looking into Alice's eyes. I had guessed he was inside her mind at this moment, probing it to find something useful.
"He didn't start this." I answered. Riley couldn't have, not on his own. I had seen Riley before and the last time I did he was human, studying in a coffee shop near me months ago. It just wasn't possible.
"Well whoever did, is staying out of the action." Alice said with a look of slight defeat on her face for not being able to see who it was.
"Whoever it is, is playing with the gaps in your sight." Carlisle continued.
"Which is exactly why it can't be Riley. He could never have known the in depth secrets of your families abilities, especially as a new born. Whoever it is, is someone who knows you, otherwise you would have see who made the decisions." I stated.
"Either way, the armies coming and there aren't enough of us to protect the town." Jasper said looking at me and then back to everyone else in the room.
"Hold up….what damn army?" Jake asked obviously frustrated by the lack of knowledge, and I felt slightly guilty by the fact that I knew more than he did only because I ditched him and came to the Cullen's on my own.
"Newborns, our kind." Carlisle added.
"What do they want? What are they after?" Jake asked looking at Carlisle.
"They were passing around Bella's scent." Alice said motioning to Bella.
"The hell that suppose to mean?" Jake asked curiously with a hint of anger in his voice.
"It means a large battle, with lives lost if we don't do something." I said folding my arms around my chest.
"Ok, we're in." Jake said looking at the two boys he had brought with him and then back to us.
"No, no way. You'd get yourselves killed. No way." Bella said sternly turning towards Jake.
"I wasn't asking for permission…." Jake said looking around the room.
"Edward…." She said simply. I had guessed she was hoping for him to back her up but he didn't. He explained that them helping would mean more protection for her and even me.
"Jacob….do you think Sam would agree to….an understanding?" Carlisle asked.
"As long as we get to kill some vampires." Jake said looking over at Jasper.
"Hey…" I said looking at him. I didn't like the way he said that, and I really didn't like the way he looked at Jasper.
"He'll give us the numbers. Newborns won't even know they exist, it'd give us an edge." Jasper answered.
"We'll need to coordinate." Carlisle added standing up.
"Carlisle…..they are going to get hurt." Bella said standing up.
"We'll all need some training. Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper had. You're welcome to join us." Carlisle said moving closer to Jake.
"Alright, time and place." Jake said slightly cocky. I shook my head at them.
"Bella's right….They could get hurt. They aren't ready for this." I answered surprised that I was taking her side.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Bella said standing beside me.
"This is what you wanted….us getting along remember?" Jake said looking at the both of us before continuing.
"Besides, this is what we do.." He said before walking out of the room with the two boys he had come here with. I looked over at Bella and then back to Jasper and was slightly surprised when I found his eyes were on me. I was slightly frustrated with him for not backing us up, he was the one with the battle skills, why would he allow them to do this? His eyes were becoming odder to look at due to my anger in them began to fade and I felt more and more at ease, but I instantly rolled my eyes and looked away from him. If he thought I didn't know about his persuasive gift he was obviously wrong, and I was offended that he tried it on me. I shook my head in disapproval before slightly storming from the room. I heard footsteps behind me and I felt Jasper's cold hard hand on mine and it spun me around slightly to face him.
"How could you let them do this, Jasper they are going to get hurt." I said slightly whispering for reasons that I don't know.
"They can handle this, with a little training….. the newborns will never even see them coming." He answered back trying to reassure me. I shook my head and folded my arms around my chest.
"What if you're wrong? What if something happens to them? They have families Jasper." I whispered loudly.
"They will be fine." He answered looking me in my eyes. I looked over his shoulder to see Alice starring in our direction curious to what we were talking about. I would explain it to her later, but that look she gave was slightly odd as if she was worried about something, worried about me maybe. She knew better than to be jealous didn't she?
"Fine….if they will be fine, then I demand to be taught how to use the shield." I said pointing to the necklace.
"Have you gone through the transition you were talking about?" He asked looking me over. I knew I couldn't lie to him and say that I had because things were completely different when you became one with the necklace. You find your center, you became powerful and elegant.
"No." I answered. "But that doesn't matter. I've used the power of the necklace before without being bonded to it, remember?" I asked him putting my hands on my hips. He looked me over for a moment in appraisal and then nodded his head.
"No, you will not be a part of this fight." He said dismissing the matter.
"No, I have to protect Bella, AND myself. I can do this, and I will. You can either teach me how to use it, or let me die with everyone else." I spoke sternly.
"Teach you? It'll be difficult. Since you're not bonded to the necklace, it will be harder to harness the power of it. How long before you….transition?" He asked curiously.
"I honestly don't know. You never really know when it's going to start your process. I remember my father's grandmother wore it an entire month before it put her through. She was a lot stronger than I so I don't know when it'll decide I'm worthy to wield it." I answered truthfully before shrugging slightly. He smiled at me, a crocked smile that I had never seen him give before. I could instantly see that I reminded him of my ancestor, Maria.
I saw Jake and the boys he had come with head toward the door most likely heading towards the field to practice and train for the big battle and I instantly moved past Jasper to get to him.
"The hell are you thinking?" I asked Jake placing my hand on his forearm. He tightened his jaw at my touch and looked over at jasper who was staring in this direction.
"Me? What are you doing here. I thought we made …plans." He responded tilting his head to the side in obvious disapproval.
"I know….I know but I was just trying to fix things." I answered.
"Fix things….By yourself? I thought we had established we were in this together, but now I have no idea what to think." He almost sounded hurt and I quickly felt the guilt wash over me.
"I'm sorry, but you guys can't go through with this, what if you get hurt? I wouldn't be able to live with that." I answered truthfully. He sighed a little and looked back at the boys who were with him and they looked at each other before walking out the door.
"We, are going to be fine." He said putting his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the fact reassuringly. I had to give it to Jake he always knew how to calm me down by simply looking at me, I liked that he looked at me. It made me seem more real, like I was actually here, and I adored it.
"Well, you're not doing it without me." I answered folding my arms around my chest.
"What do you mean?" He asked curiously and slightly aggravated by what I was saying as if he didn't approve of something.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked curiously. I didn't responded simply raised a brow and looked at him.
"You're not gonna be part of this." Jake demanded easing up on me slightly in a frightening way, but he didn't quite scare me. Yes he was very large, and he was powerful, but I was so safe with him and knew he wouldn't hurt me even if he wanted to. I slipped my hands into my pockets and smiled.
"It's not up to you." I shrugged.
"You're not going to be a part of this. " Jake said finally, as if trying to end the conversation.
"We'll see…" I stopped. We were so deep in argument that we were unknowingly leaning toward each other. I tightened my jaw and looked at him. He obviously didn't know me as well as he thought he did, I was going to that training session tomorrow night, and I would train with Jasper to control this necklace because we were running out of time, an if I could contribute something to this battle I would. Bella's life wasn't the only one on the line anymore, the Cullens were in danger, Jake and his wolves were in danger, and even the innocents of this town was in danger, and I wouldn't just sit back and do nothing.
The Cullens wasted no time to get ready for the big training session that was to be held in a few hours actually, the way it was in the Cullen home was so different from any other home I had been in. They never slept, and there was never any conclusion of the day, nothing ever wound down. I brushed my hand through my hair and put on a new pair of jeans, a t-shrit, and a light jacket, with a small beanie over my head.
"Jake isn't going to be too happy seeing you there today." Bella said walking into the kitchen where I was getting an apple.
"Jake isn't ever happy about anything." I joked. "Besides, he's in this battle against my better judgment, so he has no room to talk." I fired back. She smiled, but then it faded quickly.
"I just don't want anyone to get hurt, especially not because of me." She said looking down.
"This isn't just about you Bells. These people want to protect you, and plus there are others they're protecting in the process, let us help." I said rubbing her shoulder and in response she flashed me a small grin. For a small fraction of a moment I actually realized I liked Bella Swan, she wasn't too bad and she did remind me of myself just a bit.
"You guys ready?" Carlisle asked while pilling Bella, and I in the car and we watched the rest of the Cullens speed away on their own two feet. It slightly blew my mind at how powerful and fast they were. It was incredible. The field was beautiful when we finally pulled in, there were no flowers or much grass, but the trees themselves stood gigantic and beautiful, and Jasper smiled at me.
"Maria liked trees too." He said walking past me, and I couldn't help but smile and shake my head. Didn't he understand how young I was? I knew nothing about Maria or what was going on in her time so I certainly wouldn't remember these memories that he'd bring up.
"That's cool." I said slighty uninterested. I watched everyone in the Cullen family gather around and begin sparring with each other. I smiled at how playful they seemed but how vicious they really were when it came to the battle field. About 30 minutes past of sparring before a large pack of wolves began to make their way through the forest slowly.
"Edward, will you translate?" Carlisle asked. Edward nodded. Carlisle began explaining to the wolves about how newborns operate and how the newborns were different from them, themselves. The wolves seemed to be slightly fond of Carlisle, they always treated him with respect and for that I was grateful to them, I could tell which one was Jake because when the Cullen family started sparring with each other again in front of the wolves I could see the silky light brown wolf walk over to Bella and nuzzle against her, and I couldn't help but smile at their friendship. I saw his eyes flicker towards me and annoyance was clear even on his wolf face. I shrugged and turned away from him. He knew full well when I said I would come here, I was telling him the truth.
"Come walk with me." Jasper said walking past me and rubbing his hand against my arm for a moment to get my attention. I followed him obediently and smiled at the dirt that was still lingering on his shoulder from his sparring battle with Emette. He stopped in a small clearing where we could still see the others but weren't disturbing them.
"What's going on?" I asked curiously. He smiled a little before allowing his face to become serious.
"I was with Maria, when she was mastering the necklace and using it's power to protect her and her newborns. The power of the necklace is truly unbelieveable, but the power of its host is far more frightening. Before you can bond with the necklace, you have to have some sort of power of your own to control it once you have been put through your small transformation." He started. I looked slightly confused at what he meant.
"So you're saying….I have to train BEFORE I bond with it so that WHEN I bond with it….i'll be powerful?" I asked slightly smiling at the thought of me being powerful.
"But….why are we away from the others?" I asked curiously.
"This takes intense focus. I need to have you on a more personal level, they cannot be around to distract you or stop you. You have to be ready to take it all the way, and you can't do that with the others around." He said more seriously.
"So, this will make me powerful?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, I will show you how. The intervention is over Elizabeth, now that you have accepted who you are, use your inheritance to pull your power. Are you ready to begin?" He asked curiously moving closer to me. I smiled up at him.
"More than you know." I responded.