Yay! I Didn't take a month this time!! Woo we reached 100 reviews!! Thank you Amy for being my 100 review!! Much love to you, you gorgeous girl!
Thanks to Anna (Calikisses), my Domestic Diva, who beta-ed this chapter when she had sooo much other stuff to do! Seriously I dont know how you do everything you do!
Special shout out to my wifey, Jess, you have been so awesome. This chapter is for you.
Enough chit chat. I don't own Twilight, SM does.
Edward Cullen's POV
"Edward, how are the others doing?" Carlisle asked, his voice full of concern.
I had been listening in to the other group's minds to see how they were getting along, or more importantly, to see how my Bella was doing. It seems like they also had some problems with Newborns. Thankfully, like us, they managed to deal with them, although not before I had to watch through Rosalie's mind as a child vampire bit into my wife's shoulder.
I hated that I wasn't around to help her. I have often traced the scars from her past that scatter her body with my fingers, and now there will be one more which I could have prevented from occurring.
At the time, I would have run to where she was to protect her myself had we not had our own Newborns to deal with. The training Jasper and Bella had given us was very effective, and we all dealt with everything that came at us with professional ferocity.
"They're all fine, Carlisle. Bella just had a little problem controlling her instincts, but they seemed to have managed to pull her out of it," I told him, proud that I was at least able to help Bella with that, even if I wasn't physically there.
The fact that the mere mention of my name can calm her down made my heart sing with joy.
Carlisle started spouting off theories in his mind about Bella once he realised Esme and the others were safe, but I shut him out as we had other problems to deal with first.
Bella and the others were already inside the grounds of the house on the north side, and we were just reaching the grounds ourselves, but on the south side.
I scanned the brains of James' vampires, trying to work out how many there were. However, this was not an easy task as many of the Newborns could barely form coherent thoughts; thirst was all that dominated their minds. It was so prominent that for a moment it made my own throat burn. I forced back the venom that had risen in my mouth and took in a deep breath; vampire, wolf, and finally the most grotesque of them all, rotting human flesh.
Our group stepped out of the woods and into the clear open space that surrounded the large moonlit house. It was as big, if not bigger, than the Cullen household, but far less modern. The house looked like it was built in the 19th century.
It had dark wooden panelling on the outside and the shutters had long been boarded up, ready for demolition. A large porch that wrapped around the base of the house was falling apart, and it looked like some kids had graffitied on the sides of it with their names using spray paint. I could barely smell the paint, so I assumed that it had occurred over a year ago.
The smell of rotting corpses was coming from a large pile of deformed bodies near us. Clearly, James and his friends weren't bothered by not discarding their kills properly, but they still didn't want to have to smell them, so they placed them far enough away from the house that the smell would become only a small irritation.
The wolves that were with us in our group were whimpering and growling at the sight of the bodies. They were doing their best not make any noise as we crept toward the house, but were outraged and wanted vengeance for the humans' deaths immediately.
"Just a little bit longer please, my wolf friends. When the time comes, I shall hold the blood suckers still for you to tear apart," I reassured them with a wink.
They seemed to calm down then, although reluctantly.
Our group spread out, fanning out around the front of the house. I could smell Bella now that she was in close proximity again, the relief I gained from it was indescribable. However, if I had smelt her, then James had undoubtedly smelt her and knew she had come to kill him.
As if on cue, newborns came charging out of the house.
The wolves instantly charged, not waiting for the vampires to attack first whilst we waited, posed and ready for the assault. The wolves had slowed many of the newborns and were showing us what they were born to do.
I was thankful we were in the middle of nowhere as the noise that erupted on the scene was horrifying; screaming, barking, growling, snarling, screeching.
The newborns were scattering now, realisation about the extent of our power had just hit them, and self-preservation was overtaking the will to obey their maker's orders. This made it a lot easier for us to take them down.
Our groups were merging; wolves from the other group had come around to this side of the house to help, and Carlisle had gone around to find Esme. Kate and Tanya were currently taking down a newborn child with the help of Irina. I felt a little payback going on due to their past involvement with child vampires and the loss of their mother.
I was dealing with my own newborn, his brain illustrated that he had much more control than some of the others, showing me that he was older than them. His thoughts were flashing images; James, Laurent, humans he had killed, photographs of Bella. I didn't bother to read the rest of his mind. That was enough to make me turn murderous.
I charged at him and knocked him to the ground. He lifted his feet up and kicked me in the stomach, sending me flying. He was soon charging after me, but I quickly got to my feet.
To my right, Jasper was just finishing off a newborn, and Alice was chucking the parts on the fire as he ripped them off the torso. When he was finished, he came straight to my aid.
Jasper pounced on my newborn's back and bit into his neck. The newborn, Joshua—I heard his name in his thoughts—was taken by surprise and let out an angry scream at the top of his lungs. I pinned his arms to his sides whilst Jasper bit into Joshua's throat. Joshua collapsed to his knees once he became decapitated; it was then easy for us to do the rest. Alice, once again, came to help us with this bit.
"Where's Bella?" I asked Jasper frantically. It would have taken too long to pick through the various brains to find the answers I was looking for. Jasper's mind told me she was still with Jacob and Sam.
The numbers on the outside of the house were diminishing. I assessed our group for injuries as I made my way toward Bella. Apart from a few scrapes and broken limbs, we appeared to be in good condition. A damn sight better than the newborns anyway.
I saw no blame in them for this, we did not kill them, they were killed when they were bitten by James and we were only disposing of the bodies. I was only mad at two people, and I could hear their thoughts inside the house, taunting me.
We took them by surprise, but they were still confident that their newborn army could defeat us. They underestimate the wolves and our family friends. Their numbers were depleting and soon they would have to come out of the house, or else we would go inside and drag them out.
I was just rounding the other side of the house when I was bombarded with angry and frustrated thoughts. Emmett's inner voice, so familiar to me, came through the loudest.
Edward, its Bella. She went inside the house by herself. We tried to stop her, but we were all dealing with a newborn at the time, in fact we still are. Ouch! Fucker! I'm gunna tear your balls off!
I ran towards the back door of the house as quick as lightning. I yanked open the door, let it slam closed, and then froze as I heard Bella's inner voice.
Edward, I know you just came in through the door. Go back out, now! It's a trap, and they want you to come alone. Bring reinforcements, there are six of them up here.
"Shit!" I cursed aloud at the situation, and then ran back out the door once I had read the minds or those upstairs.
I saw that it was, in fact, a trap designed for me to be disposed of in front of Bella. Apparently, he didn't think us getting married was something to congratulate us for.
"Emmett, Jasper, Sam, Jacob, Paul, Carlisle, Eleazar, I need you in the house with me now!"
The others would be able to clear up the few remaining newborns. Meanwhile we would finally be putting a stop to James and saving my wife.
Bella Cullen's POV
Everything was going according to plan. The newborns, as predicted, were too thirsty to focus which left them weak and vulnerable.
My instincts didn't get the better of me again. I channelled my rage into my shield, making it strong and impenetrable. I could feel some sort of power occasionally pushing against it, but I didn't have time to stop and find out what that power was.
The wolves were incredible. I have never seen anything like them in all my years. Their teeth and claws were so sharp they resembled samurai swords, and they were completely deadly. I was glad that we weren't on their bad side.
I hadn't seen Edward at all since the fighting broke out, and that was probably a good thing. If I had seen Edward fighting a newborn I probably would have abandoned whatever else I was doing just to try and help him. I would lose my focus and end up losing sight of my main objective; kill James.
Newborns were dropping like flies; it was a complete massacre. The air filled with the smell of burning flesh, and it reminded me of Volterra; I hated it. I hated the fact that this smell had become so familiar to me, that death had become so familiar. I thought about all the people who had done me wrong in my life as I tore off a teenage girl's head and threw it onto the fire.
Although I hadn't seen Edward, I had seen quite a few members of his group. Carlisle had come running around to join Esme, as did Kate and Tanya to find Irina.
I was just finishing off the teenager when I saw a very deadly side to Esme. Carlisle had been fighting with a newborn for quite some time. They were quite equally matched; what Carlisle lacked in brawn he made up for in brain power. Quite a few times it looked like Carlisle was going to take him. I thought he had him for sure, but then he would lose his grip or the newborn would change position. I was shocked and panicked when suddenly I saw the newborn flip Carlisle high into the air and then slam him onto the floor. It looked as though the newborn was about to finish Carlisle off if no one intervened. I was about to step forward to lend a hand when Esme shot past me, rage burning in her eyes.
"Get the fuck off my husband!" she screamed in an unfamiliar and terrifying voice.
The Newborn, stunned by the unfamiliar voice, turned his head away from Carlisle. This gave Carlisle the perfect opportunity to punch the Newborn and push him off. Esme sprang forward like a tigress, pouncing on her prey. Just like a tiger, she sunk in her claws and teeth, taking down her kill and then demolishing the remains.
I shared a rather amused looked with Emmett before we both went back to fighting off the next attack.
The massacre, because that's what it was, was drawing to a close. Only a few of the older, wiser Newborns remained and they were currently being dealt with by the wolves and the stronger members of my family. The only problem yet to be dealt with was inside the house.
Jacob and Sam currently had their hands full, and although I knew I should stay close to them, I didn't want to drag them into one of James' sick games.
I ran up to the porch, ignoring the calls from Emmett, and went through the back door. When the door closed behind me it muffled the outside noise and left me standing alone in a broken down kitchen. Cupboard doors were hanging off their hinges, the ornate wooden table had been flipped onto its back, and the windows were boarded up so very little light being cast off the moon was being let in.
I used senses other than my sight to asses my situation.
There was a strange smell mixed in with James and the other vampire's scents. It was sweet and delicious; it was human. I held my breath and listened with my ears. Low, strangled, cries of pain were coming from upstairs in one of the bedrooms at the front of the house, and they were accompanied with a steady heart beat. I put this piece of information in the back of my mind for later and listened again to find out where James was.
I heard footsteps across carpeted floors in one of the rooms above my head, and I perceived the sound of a low chuckle that I knew belonged to James.
Seething with rage, I made my way through the other empty rooms towards the stairs. I could tell this would once have been a beautiful grand house where couples like my mother and step-father used to live and throw parties.
I reached the foot of the stairs and looked up into the dark, looming hallway that waited above me.
The cries of pain still continued, the thumping of a heart beat ringing through my ears.
I placed my hand on the dusty banister and took the first step up to the second floor. I worked my way up slowly, the situation seeming off, but I kept climbing the stairs anyway.
They must know I'm here. They must know I'm coming upstairs to kill them. Why haven't they attacked? Or at least tried to defend...?
Against my better judgement, I followed the scent of vampire and the sound of footsteps to the back of the house; the room above the kitchen.
The other doors on the hall were open, only two were closed. The one at the front of the house, where the heartbeat was coming from, and the one I was about to head in to.
My hand hovered on the door handle, and after one final moment of deliberation, I twisted the knob and pushed open the door.
James was standing at the window, looking out over the destruction he had caused. He didn't turn around when I walked in the room, but he did laugh, taunting me. I stepped forward further into the room, determined to confront him and teach him a lesson that would be his last.
I was four steps into the room when I was tackled to the ground. Each arm and each leg had been grabbed by a vampire. Laurent walked over to my struggling form and put his foot on my chest. I was unable to do anything but look up into James's glowing red eyes.
At least he wasn't going hungry, I thought sarcastically.
"So nice to see you again, my beauty. I must say this has worked out far better than I expected. I was planning on trying to lure you up here, but you came willingly, and alone I might add. So, now all we do have to do is wait for your beloved boyfriend to come to your rescue and my plan will be complete."
"Husband," I spat, still trying to struggle under the combined weight of five vampires.
"What's that, Bella?"
"He is my husband," I told him, enunciating every word.
James looked furious; he snarled at me, but said nothing on the subject.
"Tie her up."
They wrestled me into a chair and wrapped my body up in thick titanium chains. I would have maybe been able to break the chains, but not in that position, and not with so many layers of the heavy material. Laurent held onto my head, covered my mouth, and made sure I was facing James.
From my place in the chair I could take in the room we were in.
It was a very large bedroom containing a few pieces of unwanted furniture left behind, including a large four poster bed. I felt revulsion when I noticed that there was a freshly dead body in the room, a young girl who could have only been about 13. The sick fuck.
"Ah, here comes the groom now."
The room went silent, and sure enough, I heard the back door slam.
I knew I needed to get a message to Edward, so I closed my eyes and focused on pulling up my shield for him so he could read into my mind.
Edward, I know you just came in through the door. Go back out, now! It's a trap, and they want you to come alone. Bring reinforcements, there are six of them up here, I thought frantically and hoped to hell he heard me.
I let out a huge sigh of relief as I heard the door open again and him run outside.
James and the others let out angry cries. Laurent let go of my head and James slapped me hard across my cheek. The force of his slap knocked the chair off its legs and sent me to the floor. If I thought I was in a difficult position before, it was worse now. I only hoped Edward would return with reinforcements soon.
I felt unbelievably embarrassed that I had let my own arrogance take me up into this room. What was I thinking? I couldn't handle this all by myself. I was a fool. Apparently, more of a fool than even James had pegged me as.
James picked me up off the floor, chair and all, and grabbed my head by my ponytail. He pulled my head to the side to gain access to my neck and bent down to my throat where he licked up my cheek with the flat of his tongue. I tried to turn my head away from him, but it was no use. The other vampires in the room looked on hungrily.
"Isn't she a sight for sore eyes, gentlemen?" he asked the group.
"She is indeed, so...mouth watering..." Laurent replied, creeping forward.
The other vampires were licking their lips eagerly, and disgustingly enough I noticed one of the larger vamps had begun to rub himself through his trousers. I realised then what might become of me if my rescue team didn't arrive soon.
I tried to scream but it was muffled behind James' hand.
I heard the back door open once more, and many pairs of feet charged through the house. I think I even heard the distinct noise of claws scraping across wooden floor boards.
James' crew got back into position, ready to attack whoever came through the door. James stayed holding onto me and placed his teeth at my throat, ready to bite. Clearly, they were trying using me as a hostage.
I pulled back my shield again and let Edward see the situation he was walking into. His pace did not falter, so I assumed he was prepared for this.
Edward's foot connected with the closed bedroom door and it came crashing off its hinges and onto the floor. He looked livid. His eyes darted to my own and his face filled with worry and sympathy, but only for a moment, as he soon turned back to James, making his face harden. He snarled and then almost flew across the room.
The other vampires tried to grab him, but he was moving so quickly that they missed. They were then tackled themselves by either one of the wolves, or a member of my family. Edward had somehow managed to get James' mouth a safe distance away from my throat, and although I was still tied up in chains, and the chair was righted again, at least I could talk.
"Can someone please get me out of these fucking chains?" I asked, irritated.
I heard Emmett laugh before he punched a newborn in the throat and sent him flying into the wall. The force caused it to crack and some of the plaster came off. He then abandoned his fight and came to my aid.
He managed to break the chains, but it was not without effort. Once he broke one section the rest of the titanium came unravelled. I thanked him, and then he went back to beating on the newborn while I turned to help my husband.
Edward had James pinned up against the opposite wall where they were gnashing their teeth at each other, each trying to get the first bite without getting themselves bitten in the process.
I joined Edward in pinning James to the wall, and he struggled far less now, making it a lot easier for Edward to take a chunk out of him. He ripped off a piece of his throat and then spat it out onto the ground. James cried out in pain, his face, no longer the mask of cruelty, resembled that of a scared little boy. However, I felt no sympathy for him, only disgust and anger.
Behind us, in the crowded bedroom, I could hear the fight between good and evil. Cries of pain from both animal and vampire ensued.
I resisted the temptation to turn around to see who was hurt and who was doing the hurting, focusing on James and my husband beside me.
"You know, after what I have seen in your mind, James, regarding your plans for my wife, I should do a lot worse than just kill you," Edward threatened.
"However, my desire to get her away from you is stronger than my hatred, so I shall make this quick, although I can't promise it won't be painless. Darling, would you mind holding James for me?"
"It would be my pleasure, sweetheart," I told him.
I gripped James' arms behind his back and kicked the back of his knees so that he kneeled down on the floor. Edward grabbed hold of James' neck; he snapped, twisted, bit and wriggled it until it popped off his torso. Edward then placed James' decapitated head on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly. Meanwhile, I worked on dismembering the rest of James' remains.
Emmett was already chucking vampire bits out the window, down to where people were ready to catch them and put them in the fire. I discarded James' body and then attended to Edward.
He was still kicking about James' head, venting out obvious frustrations. Before he could kick it again, I picked it up and tossed it to Emmett to throw out the window.
I turned back to Edward who was looking rather forlorn that I had taken his new toy away, so I pulled him into my arms and nestled into his chest, seeking comfort and warmth. I found my special place and calmed at his touch, but I couldn't stay there for long.
One of the wolves had been badly hurt, and upon further investigation, I discovered it was Jacob. My heart sank as I saw his body writhe and shake as he transformed back into his human form. Carlisle was hovering over him, checking his vitals and easing his pain. Where Carlisle had gotten a stethoscope and some morphine from, I had no idea.
I immediately rushed to Jacob's side and put his head in my lap.
"Is he going to be ok?" I asked, stroking his hair off of his sweaty forehead.
"He should be fine, but we need to get him back home, and I might need to re-break some of his bones as they have begun mending too quickly, and in the wrong places."
"Would one of you mind carrying him? We can't run that fast in our human forms, otherwise we would carry him ourselves."
Sam had transformed back into his own human form and looked well, apart from a few bruises and a dislocated shoulder which he popped back into place.
"I'll take him," Emmett offered, anything to show off his strength and stamina.
"What happened anyway?" I asked.
"Newborn came at him from behind and got him in a tight grip. By the time we had pulled the vampire off, he'd already managed to break most of his bones," Jasper answered sympathetically.
Happy with the fact that Carlisle had every confidence in Jacob's recovery, I focused on the other thought that I had earlier pushed to the back of my mind; the heartbeat of the human still rang heavy through my ears like a loud, beating drum.
I stood and took hold of Edward's hand, leading him out into the corridor and down toward the remaining closed door. When we got there, I tried to turn the handle, but it was locked so Edward kicked it down with his foot.
It led into another, much smaller, bedroom. On the bed lay a young man, a teenager even. He was writhing about in pain, muttering about the burning.
He had brown hair, lightened over the summer months by the sun, and it looked as though it had specks of gold in it. His body was lean but still boyish. He had a very handsome, young face that reminded me of Edward, but he didn't have the distinct jaw line that Edward possessed.
I was horrified that they had left him alone during this ordeal. I walked over to the bed and looked into the boy's face. Would we have to kill him?
I certainly didn't want to. He had almost completed the change from human to vampire, but he was still innocent, so pure. He had about a day left of the transformation, if that.
"Edward..."
"I know."
He knew what I was thinking, even though I didn't have my shield down.
Catching me off guard, the boy's eyes opened wide. They had not changed to the familiar black-red colour yet, still being an even more familiar colour of golden brown.
I gasped in amazement at the natural colour of his eyes, and he silently begged, reaching out an arm to grab my own. I held his hand and squeezed it softly, trying to help him find some sort of comfort.
"Please...Help...Me..." he choked out through the pain.
"I will. I promise you're going to be fine," I responded, my voice sounding surer than my thoughts.
"Can you tell us your name?" Edward asked gently.
"C...Ca...Callum..."
I smiled at him, and he smiled back before squeezing his eyes tight again, biting his lip in agony.
"Carlisle," I called out, knowing that others would come too. He entered the room and knelt down next to the bed beside me, checking Callum's vitals.
"Carlisle...Can we?" I asked, unsure if it was my place.
"We have lost so many lives today...I don't want to lose anymore if we can help it."
I smiled at him and pulled him into a tight one armed hug.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"I'll go to talk to Sam. The final decision is down to him."
I nodded in response and watched him walk out the room back to where Jacob and Sam were.
Edward took Carlisle's place beside me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder. I turned my face towards him and kissed his lips softly.
"Are you ok with this?" I asked, worried I might have upset him in some way.
"Of course I am, sweetheart. Carlisle's right, any lives we can save today is a bonus. Although, it does mean we will have to put off the honeymoon for a while. We have all the time in the world for that, so I'm not too worried."
I smiled and gave him an Eskimo kiss, taking a deep breath in all that was Edward.
"Plus," he continued, "It'll be nice not to be the youngest guy anymore."
We both laughed at that, and then fell back into a comfortable silence as we watched over Callum.
I could faintly hear Carlisle talking with Sam, it sounded like a peaceful discussion.
Alice came skipping into the room. Obviously her talent had already informed her about the circumstances.
"We'll need to leave soon if we want to get him home before the change is complete. He's going to be so much fun!" she exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Can you read his mind, Edward?" Jasper drifted into the room and stood hugging the animated Alice, she calmed slightly in his arms.
"Yes, he thinks we are angels, come to take him away from the gates of hell. You're right, Alice, the burning is wearing off. He can't feel it in his legs anymore. We only have maybe five hours until the transformation is complete."
"We should tell him what's actually going on. He's going to be so overwhelmed," I said, and then leaned forward so my face was closer to his ear.
"Hi Callum, my name's Bella. You don't have to speak, I know that would be difficult, so just squeeze my hand if you can hear and understand what I'm saying, ok?" He squeezed my hand and I continued. "I'm so sorry this has happened to you, Callum, but you are becoming a vampire. Now, I know this is difficult to believe, but throw away any preconceptions you may have about vampires. They are real, and I am one of them."
I gave him a moment to take all of it in and then picked up where I left off when he squeezed my hand again.
"Very bad vampires changed you to try and kill us, but they were foolish and we killed them. My family and I, to put it simply, are good vampires. We don't drink human blood, and we are not like the vampires that did this to you."
"He's noticed our eye colour is different," Edward told me.
"Yes, that's right, because we feed off the blood of animals, so our eye colour is different to those who feed off humans. We don't sleep in coffins, we can go out in sunlight—although it has some rather interesting affects—and we don't turn into bats. However, we do have some other rather interesting abilities..."
Edward chuckled beside me. "He's a smart one. He's already realised I can read his mind."
"Hmm, yes that can get quite annoying, but I have a special power that can stop him from doing that," I teased.
"He senses there are others in the room and want to know who they are," Edward said.
"Ok, well, the annoying mind reader is my husband, Edward. Alice and Jasper are also here with us. They are my brother and sister-in-law. Alice can see the future, and Jasper can play with people's emotions," I joked.
"We want to take care of you, Callum. We want you to become part of our family. Would you like that?" Alice asked carefully, and came to sit on the other side of the bed, taking hold of his other hand.
Alice already had a smile on her face before I felt my hand being squeezed. My heart swelled.
"Shouldn't we have family meetings or some shit like that for this?" Rosalie asked dryly from the doorway.
I rolled my eyes at her and smirked.
"Seriously, if I had known you would bring so much baggage into our lives I would have thought harder about letting you become my sister, Swan."
"Hey, it's Cullen now! And you know that even if you had to spend longer thinking about it, you still would have let me be your sister."
"You sound awfully confident, Cullen."
"You sound awfully like a bitch, Hale, now get off your high horse and come say hello to Callum."
"Oh, very well, I was hoping for an excuse to move away from Forks soon anyway. Hi Callum, how long are you going to make us stay in this hell hole?"
"Sassy bitch," Alice muttered, grinning.
"Whore!" Rose quipped back.
They really needed to stop watching Mean Girls.
I rolled my eyes at them and looked back down at Callum. I was pleased to see that he had something that resembled a smiled on his face.
"We remind him of his own family," Edward said sadly.
The room grew sombre; everyone except Alice knew what it was like to leave your loved ones behind.
"It's ok, he understands he won't be able to see them anymore. He doesn't want to hurt them, so believes it's for the best that he stays away from them."
I lifted his hand to my mouth and kissed the top of it, hoping that I could provide him some sort of comfort.
"Come on, let's leave. Edward would you mind...?"
"No, of course not."
He picked Callum up and held him in his arms. It looked strange, because they were of similar size, but Edward showed no signs of being uncomfortable.
Emmett had already carried Jacob downstairs, and the other members of our party were waiting for us out in front of the house.
The dismembered bodies of newborns and vampires were now just piles of ash, soon to be carried off into the wind. The house would be demolished, and any signs of what had happened here tonight would be erased.
I hope you liked it, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. :)
Btw Check out the UNFmet Contest http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/community/Back2Skool_UNFmett_Contest/73925/99/0/1/
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Thanks Kitty Kats, Love all of you who read this! xxx