:::::

Chapter 025

My Contingency Plans Have Contingency Plans

:::::

Forks, Washington

Saturday, October 02, 2010, 7 a.m. PDT

:::::

At the same time I walk into the kitchen Saturday morning, Kol says to Elijah, "Brother, I don't like it. He can't be trusted, and I have a bad feeling about all of this."

Damon who is sitting in his usual seat at the table nods and says, "I agree with Kol. Whatever my brother wants to talk to you about could easily be said over the phone, and his insistence that he speak with you in person sends up alarm bells inside my head. Because he hasn't yet written in his journal why he needs to talk to you so badly, I suggest you exercise extreme caution."

Elijah nods and says, "I know, and I agree that caution should be taken. However, we need to know whatever it is he feels I need to know so badly. You said it yourself he hasn't written in his journal, so this is, unfortunately, the only way for us to find out what we need to know."

While I sit down beside Damon everyone nods at me, and I ask, "Uh not to just jump into your conversation half way through but isn't it odd that Stefan hasn't written in his journal?"

Damon nods and says, "Very. He usually writes in it at least twice a day, once when he wakes up, which is usually about his plans for the day, and then once before he goes to bed, which usually details the events of the day and speculation about the day to come. Then sometimes he squeezes in an entry in the middle of the day. He's almost 10 hours late on his evening entry and at least a few hours late on his morning entry, so I think that's significant and probably means he's too busy planning something to write about it."

Isa frowns and adds, "Elena hasn't written in her journal either, which also strikes me as odd, especially given that neither of them has written last night's or this morning's entry. I don't think Elena has ever skipped a day's entry, never mind two of them in a row, so this seems significant to me."

Elijah sighs and asks, "Well what would you have me do? He says it's important, and if they haven't written it down then talking to them in person may be the only way to find out what they want in an expedient manner."

Kol looks at him for a minute and then nods and says, "You're correct, but that doesn't mean any of us have to like the fact that you're going in there blind. Right now I think Stefan is more of a loose cannon than even Nik is, so just promise me that you'll be on high alert while you're there, and you'll use a charm to teleport the hell out of there instantly if something happens."

Elijah nods and tells him, "I will, Brother."

I frown and ask, "What do you mean by a 'charm'?"

Kol smiles and tells me, "It's a little piece of wood, usually, and the teleportation spell is placed inside it. When the wood is broken the spell is released, and the person holding it is moved to the predetermined location without having to recite the usual incantation because it was already done when the spell was placed inside the wooden piece."

I just nod and say, "That is so cool."

Everyone chuckles at that while Damon gets up and starts making breakfast for all of us. Bree comes down and joins the rest of us, and we chat about nothing important while Damon cooks, and then we eat. When we're done and the kitchen has been cleaned Ric and Isa leave to go run some errands, and the rest of us all go into the hidden rooms and start reading looking for the spell to separate and trap Klaus' essence inside some of us.

At ten minutes to nine, Elijah stands and asks Damon, "Has he written anything?"

Damon puts down the Grimoire he was reading and picks up Stefan's journal and opens it before frowning and telling the older Original, "No, he hasn't. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Elijah shakes his head and says, "No, but I don't see any other way."

Kol hands Elijah a little piece of wood that is no thicker than a twig and only about two inches long and tells his brother, "Be safe, Brother. Know that if you're not back in an hour and we haven't heard from you I'm teleporting you out, so call if you'll be delayed."

Elijah smiles and nods before saying the necessary incantation and teleporting himself to the woods behind the Boarding House.

We go back to reading until about half an hour later when we hear Isa's thoughts as she pulls up into her driveway, 'What the hell is Edward doing here?'

We're up out of our seats, up the stairs, and out the door as fast as our legs can carry us.

Isa is standing on the porch of her house just in front of the stairs while Edward is standing between her and her door leaning against the door jam.

I can hear the frown in her voice when she asks, "What do you want Edward? I think I was pretty clear that I don't want to see you."

He smiles and says, "I just want to talk to you, Sweetheart and make you see that I left for your own good."

She laughs and tells him, "Yeah okay, whatever you say, and I'm not your anything and certainly not your Sweetheart. Now, I want you to get off of my property, and let me go inside."

His eyes widen when he sees all of us coming towards the house, and he reaches out and grabs hold of Isa's arm. Or he tries to at least, but she takes a step back at the same time and miscalculates her distance from the top step and tumbles down the stairs.

I don't think I'll ever forget the snapping sound that I soon realize was her neck breaking.

I rush towards Isa and barely notice that Kol is on Edward in the space of one of my heartbeats. Damon just stands there watching as Kol beats on Edward before tearing off his arms and legs.

Edward smiles and says, "If I can't have her then neither can you."

While I hold Isa in my arms, the tears begin pouring down my face because technically no one killed Isa. It was an accident, so her new Immortality Ring won't work. I look up though as Kol smiles grimly and tells him, "What have I told you about my contingency plans? They have their own contingency plans, and while I preferred to wait to turn Bella, your actions have only sped up the inevitable because I've been feeding her my blood every night since shortly after we met. So while you definitely won't have her, your actions have not taken her from me."

I sigh in relief at that news and reach up and brush my tears away. Edward's eyes go wide when he realizes he's truly lost, and a moment later Kol tears Edwards head off of his shoulders.

Damon walks up to Kol who is breathing heavily and cautiously puts his hand on Kol's shoulder, "Brother, go tend to Isa. Jazz and I will carry Assward's remains into the backyard and burn them."

Kol nods and walks over to me before squatting in front of me and telling me, "She'll be okay, Jules, I promise. We knew this was a possibility. It's why she agreed to take my blood every night before she went to bed."

I nod, and he reaches out and brushes some of her hair away from her face before he takes her into his arms and stands up. He looks down at me and says, "Come on, Jules, let's go lay her down on the couch in our house, and we can sit with her until she wakes up."

I nod and stand before following him back across the street. I open the door for him and then follow him inside. He lays her down on the couch in the den and then lifts her head before he sits, so her head in his lap.

I sit in an armchair before I wipe at some more traitorous tears that just won't stop falling.

Bree comes in and sits in the chair beside mine and grabs hold of my hand for moral support while Kol takes his phone out of his pocket and dials before he says, "Charlie, I need you to come home if at all possible."

He listens for a minute then he says, "Bella's going to be in transition, and I figured you'd want to be here when she wakes up."

Despite him not being on speakerphone, I hear him loud and clear when he asks, "What? What happened?"

Kol sighs and tells him, "Edward happened."

Charlie's "I'll kill that boy myself," is also loud enough for me to hear.

Kol smiles slightly and says, "I already tore him to pieces, but if you like I can have Jules go tell Damon and Jazz not to burn him until you get here."

Kol listens for a minute then says, "We're inside our house, so come over when you get home, and Jules will let you in."

He pauses then says, "Okay see you in a few," and he hangs up.

I look at him for a minute and then ask, "How can you be so damn calm? I'm freaking out, and she's only my best friend, not my Mate."

Kol shrugs and tells me, "Honestly, I knew it was going to happen. I didn't know what the exact circumstances would be, but I always knew she would transition. Don't get me wrong I had hoped it would be at a time of her own choosing, but it was always part of the plan."

He pauses and then asks, "Don't you drink from Damon most every night for the same reason? You know in the end that you want to be with him forever, so you take steps to ensure it will happen even if something happens and you die prematurely in a manner that won't allow your Immortality Ring to work. You probably don't plan to turn until you're at least 18 but you drink from him just in case your hand gets forced. Just so happens Bella's hand got forced."

I nod and sit there staring at Bella's motionless face. The fact that her chest isn't rising and falling is kind of creepy.

Ten minutes later Charlie shows up, so I let him in before he asks, "How is she?"

I frown and tell him, "She hasn't woken up yet."

He follows me into the den and kneels down in front of the couch before he reaches out and caresses Bella's cheek and whispers, "Oh Bells."

He wipes a tear away a minute later and then stands and lifts her feet so he can slide onto the couch beneath them putting her feet in his lap.

None of us talk while we wait for her to wake in transition. The silence is only broken when Damon and Jazz come in with a brown paper bag that I know without asking is full of Edward's ashes. Damon frowns and says, "He's dead, Brother."

Kol just nods and says, "Good."

Half an hour later Isa gasps and shoots into a sitting position with her hand on her chest.

She turns to face Kol, and after he pulls her into his lap, she throws herself into his arms and begins crying. He pets her hair while he tells her, "You're okay, Darling. We planned ahead, and now you get to decide whether to complete the transition or not."

She pulls back and asks in a small voice, "Do you want me to?"

He sighs and tells her, "I want you forever, Bella, but ultimately the decision is yours to make. I want you to consider if you want forever. It's yours for the taking if you want it, but you need to decide what's right for you. Don't worry about what everyone else wants, okay?"

She nods and then throws her arms back around him and says, "I want forever with you Kol. Always and Forever."

He smiles and kisses the top of her head then asks, "So should we ask Damon to go get you a bag of blood?"

She nods and then laughs and says, "I hope I can handle drinking blood without puking or getting lightheaded."

Kol laughs, and after he brushes some hair away from her face, he tells her, "I'm sure your Vampire instincts will override your Human dislike for all things blood."

Damon gets up and comes back a second later with a glass full of blood. Isa's back stiffens when she smells it, and then she turns her head to look at Damon and tells him, "That actually smells really good."

Damon laughs and tells her, "It should taste even better."

He hands it to her, but before she can lift the glass to her lips, Kol puts his hand over hers and says, "Be very sure, Bella, because there is no going back if you drink from that glass."

She nods and tells him, "I'm sure. I want forever with you."

He nods and removes his hand from hers, so she lifts the glass and sniffs experimentally before she drinks the glass down in three gulps. She smiles and says, "God that does taste good."

She begins gasping for air a second later, so because Bree did the same thing when she was turned into a Vampire, I guess at the reason for her gasping and tell her, "Please come in, Isa."

Her breathing immediately goes back to normal, and she smiles for a second, but then she cries out a minute later when her fangs extend. Kol brushes her hair away from her face again and tells her, "Focus on them retracting."

She does as she was told, and a minute later her fangs retract, and the veins that appeared around her eyes disappear.

He smiles and kisses her softly before his brow furrows, and he takes his phone back out of his pocket and dials.

While he listens to the phone ring, Damon looks at him and asks, "What's wrong?"

Kol frowns and says, "I have a bad feeling, so I'm calling Elijah."

When his voicemail picks up, Kol tells it, "Brother, something's happened. Call me as soon as you get this."

He hangs up and then dials again, but it continues to ring before again going to voicemail, so Kol looks at Damon and says, "Teleport him here, right now."

Damon just nods and says the words and a minute later the purple light erupts, but we don't see Elijah until the light disappears and Elijah appears on the ground face down with a White Oak Ash Dagger sticking out of his back. Bree says, "Crap," the same time Damon says, "Damn," before he leans down and pulls the dagger out of Elijah's back and then rolls him over.

We sit and wait for a few minutes before Elijah gasps and sits up almost immediately saying, "I'm going to kill that bitch myself."

We all laugh, and Damon and Kol both ask at the same time, "Who are you planning to kill?"

Elijah frowns and says, "I heard a heartbeat approach, and Elena's jasmine body wash reached my nose a second before I felt the dagger enter my back. She was thinking, 'Just do it,' over and over, but before I could turn and ask what was going on, she daggered me."

Damon frowns and says, "Damn it what the hell has gotten into those two idiots? What could they possibly gain by daggering you?"

Elijah rises to his feet and then sits in one of the armchairs and tells us, "Stefan was going on about needing leverage against Niklaus, so I assume I was their leverage."

Damon shakes his head and repeats, "Absolute idiots: both of them."

Elijah looks at Kol and Bella and then sits up straight before he asks, "What has happened?"

Kol tells him, "Edward showed up at Bella's house and wouldn't get out of her way. He made a grab for her, and she fell down the steps and broke her neck. Fortunately, I have been giving her my blood every night before she goes to bed because her klutz tendencies had me worried that the ring wouldn't work if some accident happened and she died. Anyway, she woke up a few minutes ago in transition and then drank some blood."

Elijah sighs and says, "When it rains it apparently pours. Although, I have to say I'm glad to see your contingency plans still have contingency plans."

We all laugh at that then a minute later when we've all calmed down I ask, "Should I call Ric and tell him to come home?"

Damon shakes his head, "No, he's buying groceries so he should be home soon. There's no need to worry him until he gets here and can see for himself that everyone is okay."

I nod then I frown and ask, "Should we call Emmett and warn him that Assward is dead?"

Isa frowns and says, "That's not exactly something we should tell him and Rose over the phone. Maybe we can ask them to come over and break the news to them in person. As much as Edward was an ass, Emmett's been good to me and even Rose in her honest dislike of me has been good to me in her own way, so they deserve to be told in person."

I text Emmett, "E, need to see you and Rosalie ASAP. Please come to my house as soon as you can."

I press send, and less than ten seconds later he responds, "Be there in 15."

I tell everyone what he wrote, and then we wait.