A/N: Alright, time to get to know our characters a bit better, don't you think? Special thanks to my best friend, Jill (check her out JasperAndJill), her fantastic brother, Brendan, and my own darling sister, Lauren for letting me put them into my story. These characters posses their names and bits of their personalities. I have altered other aspects of their personalities and personal lives to fit in with the story.
"Okay, stay calm. This is just another day at school. Nothing to be nervous about. Keep your cool today, Brendan. We can't afford for anything to happen. The last thing we want is to arouse suspicion." I'm not sure if I am trying to calm him or me at the moment.
"Suspicion, hmm. Like the emotion that will overcome the entire student body when you just stop coming to school one day." Hearing that I wasn't going to make it out of the battle was a major wake up call for Brendan. When the pack told him that it was urgent that he get himself together after he phased for the first time, he was sort of put out. He was angry at the lack of sympathy from the pack, so he resented the coming battle. He wasn't thinking realistically until it came out that that is going to be the end of me. Now he is as nervous as the rest of us.
Nessie and I leave Brendan and walk into homeroom. I tap into his mind so I can be on guard. Upstairs, Edward has done the same thing. He knows better than I do the danger of a new werewolf. He knows that they all have a short fuse for the first few weeks. Things that are seemingly insignificant can set them off. Without practice and experience, he will transform if his temper is pushed too far.
I keep an eye on him through first period English and when the bell rings, Nessie and I race off to Algebra. Brendan is already there when we arrive. He is staring incredulously at Jill who is standing just inside the doorway, staring right back.
"You!" he breaths, pointing at her. Jill looks around at Nessie and me. Brendan's nose is wrinkled and he continues to point and gape at Jill.
He is seeing her in a new way for the first time. Looking at her now, I see it too. The subtle glow of her pale skin, the perfection of her features that I previously underestimated. Her beauty is not ordinary as I thought. It took Brendan's new sense of smell for us to realize it, but she is something more than the human we mistook her for.
"It looks like we all need to talk," I say calmly. Edward already knows what is going on and is relaying it to Bella and Alice two floors below us. "My family would like you both to sit with us at lunch today, if you don't mind." I picked the invitation out of Bella's head seconds ago. The rest of the class begins filing into the classroom. I take my seat and the other mythical beings take my hint and do the same.
We all sit through class absorbed in our own thoughts. My thoughts taking in the thoughts of everyone else. I gather that Jill already knew about my family and our secret. She is a half vampire like Nessie, that is why we didn't recognize her right away. She was afraid to talk to us about it. She has never seen a family like ours and it intimidated her. She is confused about Brendan and how he suddenly knew her secret. He is wondering how he didn't know about all these sentient creatures before. Nessie is dumbfounded by the discovery of another creature like her. The rest of my siblings have been informed of our meeting during lunch and they are eager to learn more about Jill.
We should have realized…
I know, Edward. We should have paid closer attention.
You're right, Cassie, we were too afraid of our secret getting found out that we were oblivious to what was right around us. I've searched through the rest of the school, just in case. The rest are all humans.
Good to know. At lunch we'll find out her story. Maybe she is in danger of the Volturi. Or maybe she can help us against them.
We're soon to find out. Heads up, Ms. Conley is asking you a question.
"The square root of 15," I say in answer to the question that I didn't hear her ask, picking the answer out of her head; not missing a beat.
"Perfect," she says, unsurprised that I got the answer exactly right. The end of the period approaches and I stack my books into a neat pile and return my pens to their place in my purse. In my old life, my friends used to make fun of me for being such a perfectionist. I feel a pang of longing for my old life. I miss my mom and my old friends. I miss my best friend, Chase. For a moment I wish he had come South to see me on my birthday like he wanted to. I wish I hadn't stopped him. I wish that he had been with me that night. But no, I don't really wish any of these things. He was my best friend; I wouldn't want this life for him. Hell, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I am glad that everything happened the way it did. I only wish my mom hadn't had to die.
The bell rings loudly and interrupts my thoughts. I stop Nessie, Jill, and Brendan just outside the door. "So we'll see you both at lunch. We have a lot to discuss." With that, I turn and walk toward Spanish class. I feel Jill give an involuntary shudder behind me in response to my tone. We are in the middle of a dangerous situation. The time for being nice is past.
Nessie and I sit through Spanish class thinking about Jill. We are both anticipating lunch when all our questions will be answered. The period seems to last forever before the bell finally rings and we rush out of the room to the cafeteria. Edward and Jasper are already seated at their usual table. We make vague excuses to our friends for ourselves as well as Jill and Brendan and join our family. Neither Brendan nor Jill have arrived yet when we take our seats. Brendan walks into the cafeteria accompanied by Emmett and Bella. Even from the door I can see he is sweating a little; not from his new extreme temperature, but from nerves.
Even though he seems to be adjusting well to his new life, I can tell that every new step in this direction freaks him out a bit. He had to adjust faster than any of the other wolves. He thought he knew Jill better than he thought he knew us. All that considered, he is doing okay. To his credit, Brendan handles everything extremely well; it is only his thoughts that give him away. What he doesn't know is that Jake and Sam have been sitting in the woods outside all morning. They will stay there until the end of the day unless Nessie calls them in.
Rose and Alice take their seats with us. Rose pushes one of the trays of food that Edward and Jasper got us further away from her. I pull the tray in front of Brendan. Someone should eat it. Edward's head turns toward the door and I know that Jill has finally arrived. She takes a seat between me and Nessie.
"Hey Jill," I say; the happy smile back again. My family follows my lead.
"Hi," she says, "so…"
"Jill," says Jasper calmly, "we need to talk to you. Obviously you know our secret. You know that we are vampires-"
"WHAT?" Her wide eyes rest on each of our faces. After a few seconds she giggles. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Yes Jasper, I've always known." I laugh too. She has a way with lightening the mood. She is perfectly at ease with us.
"Well, we need to know a bit more about you." Jasper continues.
"What do you want to know?" She asks boldly.
"Are there more of you?"
"No," she says, "I'm alone now. I was born in Italy 12 years ago. My mother died giving birth to me. My father worked as a guard in Voltera. He had never heard of anything like me before. He hid me for 7 years. In that time, he rose through the ranks of the Guard. He had a special power. He was able to lie in his thoughts. You know of Aro, I have no doubt. My father was able to hide all of his thoughts that had anything to do with me when he was in Aro's presence.
"Five years ago, something changed. My father took me to see Aro and he told him my story. He told him what I could do. The brothers decided that they could use someone like me. They had only recently discovered that people like me existed. I was able to walk among the humans without drawing attention. I was able tell the brothers secrets.
"It was a year later that they started using me for things that I didn't like. Vampires would come to them to ask for favors or mercy. The guard would capture vampire who dared to enter Voltera. They brought them all to Aro, who brought them all to me. They used me. I had no choice. I didn't like what they made me do; I didn't like what they did with the information that I gave them. My father warned me that getting on the wrong side of the brothers was dangerous, but I couldn't take it anymore, so I left.
"I traveled across the United States for a year and trained myself to eat human food. Finally, I settled here. The administration here doesn't ask many questions. And if they do, I lie."
"What exactly did they make you do in Italy?" Jasper asks gently.
"I have a gift," she says, "I'm able to see someone's most desperate desire. I see the thing that means the most to them in the world, whether it's just wanting it or wanting to keep it."
"I don't understand," says Nessie.
"Nessie what you want more than anything is for Jacob Black to be a part of your life forever." Nessie nods. Jill turns to Jasper. "Jasper wants to be with Alice, no matter what that means. He wants to be strong and please her and make her happy."
"But if Aro can read every thought that someone has ever had, then why would he need you?" Jasper makes a good point.
"I once asked his that same question. He told me that when he reads someone's thoughts different things pop up that are important to them. It is not enough to know people that they love, it takes knowing the single most important thing in their lives to control them. It's not always obvious through their thoughts and actions. You can threaten their lives or everything they own, but unless you hit it just right, you don't own them." Just like that I know where this is going, and I don't like it.
"He made you tell him what it was: the person's desire. He used that against them. Denied them of it. Didn't he?" I ask. Jill nods.
"Desire is a complex thing. It really defines the person. Someone's desire is also their greatest weakness; losing it, their biggest fear. It is the key to control."
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"It's going to be sunny today. Looks like were ditching school." announces Alice at 5am the next morning.
"Really?" asks Jill curiously from the couch.
"Well we really can't go in on a sunny day. You can go if you want, or you can hang out here with the rest of us." Jasper explains.
"I have to call the school to excuse my kids, Jill. I can excuse you, too, if you want to stay." Carlisle says. He will tell the school that we are taking our good friend hiking with us on this sunny day. The school would never question Dr. Cullen.
"Could you excuse Brendan, too, Carlisle?" asks Jake, "I think he should spend as much time here as possible and a sunny day with the vampires might be good for him."
"If you think so, Jake," Carlisle goes up to his study to make the call.
"I think we should do some more training today," Jasper says, "We still haven't seen what Jill and Nessie can do. We can work out a better game plan.
When we told Jill about the Volturi and their new regime, she did not object to our plans, but was reluctant to take part. She make us promise that we would not harm her father, Felix. Edward was against her terms, but eventually agreed to them. The more vampires we have on our side, the better.
Carlisle, Jasper and Edward have been planning and scheming up in Carlisle's study for days. There are some things that they just don't want to discuss in front of the rest of us. Every time the three of them go upstairs, I mirror Edward. I know what is going on. They have been calculating our chances, and their results aren't good. Alice's visions haven't changed much. She is beginning to see shadows of Nessie and Jill because they are a part of her. Even though Jill will be fighting with us, the odds are still against us. Everything will have to go our way if Alice's vision is to come true. That would be the best we could hope for. Carlisle, Jasper and Edward are not sure that everything will go smoothly. There will be variables that we can not predict. We will be faced with more than we are prepared for. The question is… when?
Nessie and Jill turn out to be decent fighters. They are both quick and strong. If we were fighting newborns, they would do well. The Volturi are a different story, but if we pair each of them with a wolf for the battle, they will be able to hold their own. We put this theory into practice by teaming Nessie and Jake against Jasper. They work well together and bring him down relatively easily. We pair Jill with Brendan. They have a fierce brother/sister relationship . They work extremely well together.
We work on some other pairings that Carlisle, Jasper and Edward worked out in Carlisle's study. We want to make the most efficient and strongest pairings possible. We experiment with Alice and Edward, Emmett and Edward, Jasper and Nessie, Bella and Emmett, Bella and me, Edward and me, Alice and me.
"Well, we know one thing," Edward says as we scramble the pairings again, "Cassie can work just as well alone as she can with anyone. She can work with anyone because her power can be compatible with everyone." I think about that for a moment. When the Volturi army arrives, I will have an unbelievable arsenal. We know that with Alec's power, we will have an advantage right away. What we don't know is what new people have brought to them. What new powers have they acquired? Worst case scenario, they get a shield of some sort that will stop me from throwing their powers right back at them.
"I have an idea," says Jasper, "Cassie and Jill against Emmett and Edward." This is a fair match. Jill is a good fighter. I have power and nobody can catch me.
Jill high-fives me as we walk out into the field. We stand before Edward and Emmett. I mirror Edward, gaining full access to their minds. I contemplate mirroring Bella to keep Edward out.
Play fair, Cassie. Block me out only if you start losing too badly. You need the practice.
He's right: I do need the practice. Emmett and Edward start moving. Jill and I follow their lead. Emmett fakes a snatch at Jill but I see his real intention in his head and backflip as his hands clutch at the air where my body was seconds ago. A second later I am in the spot where he just vacated and Edward is circling Jill. She knows all about Edward's mind reading so she stops thinking things through before she acts. She does simply the first thing that comes to mind. I mingle myself into their fight and take on Edward with her. My thoughts are so preoccupied with Edward that I don't notice that Emmett has joined the fight until he tackles me. Adrenaline overpowers reason as I fight to free myself from his grasp. His plan is a simple one: to keep me pinned as long as he can. Like I did with Jasper, I reach out to different powers art random. Shielding myself with Bella's does nothing to make him stop wrestling me on the ground. I take Jasper's power and instill fear beyond any that Jasper has even unleashed upon him. Emmett scrambles to his feet and looks around at Rose. I hadn't noticed that I had also mirrored Jill. The fear that I put in his mind was fear for Rosalie. Jasper and Jill is an effective combination.
Jill is making no progress with Edward, so I try the same thing again. Hearing my plan in my head does not make the fear of losing Bella and Nessie any less. He keeps his cool, though and his fear turns into fury. Our game increases in speed until we are all a blur. Jill fights harder than the rest of us because she is not quite as fast.
A gasp from the corner of the house causes us all to freeze. My entire family was so absorbed in the fight that we all failed to hear Lauren coming into the back yard. Her jaw is dropped in shock. Her brown eyes are frightened and a large stack of books falls from her hands. She begins to back up slowly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Brendan slink into the shadows. Jill and I stay put as Nessie takes a small step in her direction. I know from her thoughts that Lauren definitely saw Jill and me fighting with Edward and Emmett, so I think it is best if we stay still. I notice that Brendan is back, wearing a pair of dark blue running shorts. He slowly walks toward Lauren who stops trying to back away. Her mouth closes and she gulps as she looks away from Jill and me and fixes her eyes on Brendan. I step backward and Jill, Edward and Emmett do the same. It is not until we are out of the sunlight that we all look around at each other. We have done quite a bit of damage.
Brendan inches toward Lauren. Nessie stops, not wanting her to feel ambushed. Once he reaches her, he whispers in her ear.
"Let me explain all this. I know you're scared but I need you to trust me. I'm your best friend, let me tell you the truth." Lauren nods shyly. "Do you mind if Nessie comes, too? She can explain better than I can." She hesitates a moment before nodding again. Brendan takes her out to the front yard and Nessie follows. They take her all the way to the end of the driveway so that she can run if she wants to. This is still in my range of hearing both voices and thoughts. Lauren has not connected Brendan with the wolf she saw at the edge of the woods. She knows that he is in on the secret, but doesn't know how much.
I listen as they explain everything. I relay Lauren's reactions to Jill. I listen to Carlisle worrying about what to do next. I think what the hell, she is trustworthy and the Volturi are already coming for us. Why not let her in on the secret. She has felt hurt lately because we have all been neglecting her. It is time to put her mind at ease.
After about an hour, they have told her all she needs to know. They have answered all her questions. Although she understands now, she has not decided what to do with this new information. She doesn't know if she should be afraid of us or trust us. She thinks back to her last few months with Nessie and me, the last few years with Jill, and her lifetime of knowing Brendan. I sigh with relief as she decides to trust us.
We all go back into the house and Lauren gets to know who we really are. We each tell our own story. Once she adjusts to us, things are better, more comfortable. We all hang out, all myths and differences forgotten.
The hours pass quickly. Esme lays out a spread for the wolves and Lauren. Lauren helps herself first before the wolves devour the rest. The mood in the room is surprisingly cheerful and relaxed.
The sound reaches the ears of the full vampires first. My family reacts in mere seconds. Before she knows it, Lauren is being ushered into the corner of the room. Nessie and Jill are pushed back with her. Most of the wolves disappear just inside the dining room or the kitchen. The ones that remain take a stance in front of Lauren, Nessie and Jill. I stand with my family. They have formed a natural formation. I'm hovering awkwardly in the middle, unsure of where to go. Why didn't someone tell me about this?
"Come here, Cassie," says Edward, pulling me forward between him and Jasper. He has placed my directly in front of Esme, in the center of the front line. Carlisle stands facing us, waiting for us to be ready before he opens the door and lets the vampires in.
Nice for her to finally find her place, isn't it? I hope I put enough emphasis on the way her siblings regard her.