Guys! Where are my reviews? Two chapters and 0 reviews? Why? Only 2 or 3 more chapters left so start reviewing NOW! I'm on Spring break so I could update every other day or sooner. THE END IS NEAR! Oh, Stephenie Meyer is the best; she made most of the characters; & I don't know her…sadly. If I did I'd be stealing Breaking Dawn from her.
"Here?" I asked. Did he forget that Volturi guards came and took us to Italy? Was he unaware that the Volturi and all the werewolves in the world were after him? Did he care?
"I thought the world was in a power shortage. Power is the only turned on for so many hours a day. It's a fourteen hour ride from Chicago to Rome," said Edward.
"Ask him when he gets here," replied Rosalie.
The two humans sitting at the bar with us began wildly gossiping in hushed voices- thinking we couldn't hear them. I caught a few phrases like "the kings are alive!" and "it's true!" They were glowing orange and red as they ate their food even faster.
"Edward, saben!" called Rafael from behind a stove. Edward nodded, and the chief reluctantly went back to his work. The look on his face showed defeat.
"They speak English, don't they?" sighed Rose.
"Sorta," I mumbled. "but, they're not the problem right now. When will Albert be here?"
"We don't know when he left. Bella, do you know what happens to humans who know about us? They're killed!"
"There's some hope. The 'imports' will be here this afternoon so there's no need to kill them yet," said Edward. By this time the mother and daughter had had enough.
"Will we feed the kings?" asked the girl in tears.
"No," I said, full of determination- or at least that's how I meant it to sound. Just then Marcus entered the room.
"Follow me," he ordered the humans. The three of them walked down the hall towards the servants' quarters.
"Where are Leonardo and Angie?" I asked Rosalie after an awkward silence.
"They're on their way to Rome to meet up with Albert." She turned out the door and tensely walked down the hall. Edward and I followed.
"Now we wait?" I couldn't stand it anymore. All the fighting and all the hatred was about to end, but all we could do was wait for it to come to us.
"What else can we do, Bella? Alice and that guard haven't seen him," sighed Edward. His and Rose's colors reflected their sadness and frustration.
"Lets decide who's going, and lets get to the airport before him!" I screamed. Probably concerned by my screaming, Carlisle and Esme entered the scene.
"Calm down, sweetheart. We just talked to Aro about it. He wants Albert here for questioning," soothed Esme, patting my shoulder. She was slightly glowing a peaceful green.
"Patients," smiled Carlisle.
As the hours wore on even Edward began to lose patients. All of the Cullens and I spent the majority of the five hour wait in the grand library, talking, reading, or staring off in space. Just then my phone buzzed. A text message, but I didn't recognize the number.
LEECH & QUILUTE W/ ME. ALMOST 2 VOLTERRA.
Less than an hour later a Volturi guard announced the arrival of not three people, but four! In came the two wolves we set free, Albert- looking as annoyed as ever-, and…
"Caleb?" I chocked. The fourteen-year old son of Jacob Black hadn't changed since we saw him over a hundred years ago. He was still tall, large, a cocky looking as smiled and flipped back his long, black hair.
"An honor as always, Legend," he greeted. He looked around, slightly nervous, at the room full of vampires. Beside me, I noticed Edward showing off his crooked smile.
"Sit down, Albert," politely said Edward, gesturing to an open chair. It wasn't a request; it was an order. Leonardo and Angie forced him into the chair across from me and took their posts on either side of him. Caleb stayed where he was, leaning against the doorway.
"Andare procurarsi Aro. Ora!" demanded Carlisle. The guard ran to his master and returned in seconds.
Aro, Caius, Marcus, and Jane stopped in front of the murderer and glared at him. Marcus reach out and touched Albert's arm to retrieve all the information we needed. My family turned to Edward for the translation.
"Stop. We'll know if he's lying. Let him tell it," said Edward. Marcus, clearly taken back by the order, obliged. We waited for Albert to explain himself, but he blades-man remained silent.
"Oh, come on!" roared Caleb. "I'll make you talk!" He jumped at the vampire and snarled. With a single movement he took the knives from Albert's belt and held his arms down with amazing force.
"It's better to die from a vampire than by a Protector. Talk," he growled in Albert's ear. Albert was slightly shaking and turned a fiery dark orange. Edward was trying his best not to laugh at someone's thoughts.
"Joanne came to me last spring and told me about her discovery," he began. "We met in the woods when we were both looking for one of Jupiter's moons. We were talking, and I told her I was an expert in astronomy. So when she saw things about the stars in the Mayan passage I was the first person she called.
"I read the English version of the message and knew exactly what the priests were talking about. This is not a new concept we're dealing with. This is something Man has thought about forever…Armageddon.
"Before that the sun will explode, leaving the Earth a cold, dying waste land. Humans wouldn't survive for very long, and vampires need blood. The information was too exact to be a joke, so I began to take action. I quickly persuaded my old friends to protect their ranges and secure their blood supply. To make sure they won I taught them part of my expert fighting style. The goal of the style is to burn what you detach instantly. The Chinese caught on much faster than anyone else, so they were the first to formally start war; however, they failed when you attacked.
"I knew they would all fail, but it would keep the world too busy to worry about the end of the world, and it would prove to humans that we are not a comical myth found in books and movies." It was despicable! I could tell each of the Volturi were doing his or her best not to kill him on the spot, and even Caleb was starting to shake.
"When I found out I was being tracked by these dogs-" The three wolves bared their teeth and growled viciously. Albert's orange light grew even brighter, but he tried to look brave on the outside. "I threatened a pilot to fly to the last place you'd expect- right under your noses! It would've worked if that mutt hadn't followed me! I'm sure I told you, Isabella, that this was not the time to hold a grudge. So why did you send your friend on me?" Caleb smirked, just like his dad.
"Don't give my bragging rights away, blood sucker! I found you on my own! I'm not done with you yet."
"That's what you think," he laughed. Everything happened too fast then.
Albert pushed Caleb away with all his strength, sending the kid flying a few feet away before smashing to the ground. Leonardo and Angie phased into their wolf forms and leaped toward the escaping vampire, but Edward and Emmett refused to let anyone else take this moment away from them. Alice and Esme raced to the two sets of doors to close them before anyone could leave, but Albert was an expert in war. He quickly ran out the far doors and deeper into the castle. Caleb was now shaking harder than I'd even seen any of the Pack, and at last he phased into a giant black wolf with a red mane.
Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and Jasper kept the Volturi back, telling them that this was our war to finish. I suddenly realized what was going on and ran as fast as I could towards the man who killed my daughter. He wasn't hard to find; all I had to do was follow the growls and rotting odor. Albert had gotten a hold of another set of knives and was knocking the older wolves off with them while using vampire speed and strength on Edward and Emmett. Caleb took a bounding leap towards the crowd as the other wolves backed off. Behind me I heard the older wolves retreat to the far back, but that wasn't my target. Albert was all that mattered right then.
Albert growled and snapped at Caleb every time the boy made an attack, and Edward and I took the chance to fight back. Logic told me that this was a battle of wits, but my heart was crying to tear the man apart every chance I got. Again and again Albert screamed out in pain, and occasionally Edward or I would too, but no where near the way Albert was. Finally, desperate for survival, the coward ignored Edward and I and aimed both knives at Caleb. A piercing howl erupted from the pup as Albert threw him across the room. Distracted by the scene, I was struck down to the ground. That was when Edward let all Hell break lose.
On the ground I saw Angie and Leonardo drag Caleb into a broom closet and get a blanket. I ran into the room before the wolves could close the door. Whimpering on the floor laid my best friend's son, bleeding more and more as Leonardo slowly pulled the knives out with his teeth. I took over.
After Angie covered him with the blanket Caleb attempted the painful phase. Before he was a threat, a human who knew my family's secret. Even after Madison's funeral I'd never thought about Caleb as anything else but that new kid. Now, he was a Black, a Quileute chief, a spitting image of Jacob- except with longer hair. I hugged the boy. He shivered at the coldness of my skin compared to his burning temperature.
"Don't help me," he whispered. "It's got nothing to do with you, but I'm ready for this. I took Embry's place as the next teacher, but the next generation never came. There are some people I can't wait to see. Madison is the first person on my list." This took me by surprise. I looked into his eyes, waiting for the punch line, but he was red in love!
"Madison was part vampire, Caleb. You know that." He smiled and closed his eyes. I shook him to keep him with us.
"Yeah, but not completely." Just like Jake. Persistence. Never give up till it's too late. "I didn't realize I loved her until a few weeks after she died. I need to apologize for being such an ass to her the day they took her." He coughed a little and moaned weakly. "When I found Albert's trail I followed him hoping I could kill him. Do you think she ever had a chance at Heaven?"
"I know she did. The ones you love never really leave you. They're always here and here," I said, touching his head and heart. He smiled and muttered something that sounded like "I'll tell Dad you say hi, ok?" Then his heart stopped. At his head, Leonardo and Angie, both clothed humans by now, were bowing their heads in grief and loss. The tight room was nothing but a mixed navy blue and forest green blur.
Outside I heard Edward give Albert the final blow and call for his brothers to burn the pieces. I jumped up and ran to the battle hall. Broken chunks of drywall, broken picture frame glass, Caleb's blood, and white vampire parts were scattered everywhere, and Edward was in the center, breathing hard and shaking. Angry red and happy blue lights radiated off of him. He stood there looking up to the sky, eyes closed, whispering while Jasper and Emmett collected Albert and carried him outside to burn. Cautiously I walked over to my husband and rested my hand on his shoulder.
Eyes still closed he looked down at the ground.
"I thought I'd be happier when I got my revenge. This man took away my daughter, my humanity, part of the reason I continued to live, but now that he's met his fate…it almost feels wrong."
"You've still got us," I said. He smiled at me and looked my straight in the eyes. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Alice walked into the hall.
"It's over," happily sighed Rose. Alice was beaming next to her. The boys came back, looking as pleased as ever until they saw my face.
"Bella? What happened?" asked Jasper. Right on cue Leonardo and Angie stumbled out of the closet. Leonardo carried Caleb, less bloody and tightly wrapped in the blanket. All of the others gasped.
"I'm so sorry. If I would have known I would have done something," said Carlisle in a rush. I shook my head and smiled.
"He was ready to see Madison. The werewolf fell in love with the Halfling." Edward squeezed me lovingly.
"The Volturi are coming back," he said. Emmett and Jasper's colors snapped sky blue.
"They took over the burning," they explained.
"This was found with him," spat Marcus, holding out a piece of paper. The scrap had a crescent moon with the words: "Kings of the Moon fall to His mercy 12:12:12 12/12/2121. Let the Kings be known."