Author's Note: Whew! This is another long chapter, one which took some time to work out. Sorry it took so long, but this might be more like the updating pace from now on. Hopefully I can punch on through and finish this up before June!

Just as a request-- please tell me if this chapter seems rather out of character. I try to stay accurate to SM's portrayal of her characters, so if Carlisle comes off rather more like Edward than Carlisle, just tell me. Although I think they share a resemblance to each other most people overlook. Carlisle has his vampire side, you know. ;)

To the reviewers, anonymous or otherwise...THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly cried when I saw there were over 100 reviews! You have driven me to higher heights of determination to finish this story. Again, thank you for the encouragement. I sincerely appreciate it, and will endeavor to keep the same quality of writing to the end of the story. Since most of you are writers yourself, you know how much it means to me when I see another couple people have taken the time to critique (or praise) my story! :)

Enjoy the suspense! Oh, and if you're a song fanatic, listen to 'Thorns' by Demon Hunter while reading this. It puts a different light on both Adelaide and Rosalie.

26. The Monster

I stared at my dark irises in the puddle of pure water, seeing through my reflection to the bottom of the rocky pool. The contacts we'd purchased had worn away around an hour before, revealing our true eye colors. I still had the others I'd stored away for later use in my trench pocket, but I determined to save them. Since neither I nor Rose had hunted in three and a half weeks, our amber eyes had grown to black, sufficiently masking our difference from our captors.

This presented me with a problem: we were thirsty. Naturally, if we had been normal specimens of our kind, telling the vampires guarding us that we needed blood would not have been an issue. But since we we were abnormal, I had to weigh the consequences of asking for animal blood or going thirsty.

Asking for animals would undo the work the contacts had accomplished, which had been to (hopefully) deceive the woman, Adelaide, into thinking we weren't Cullens, and thus the wrong people. We had hoped she would let us go, assuming she knew the hunting habits of the Cullens, because we would be red-eyed creatures as opposed to amber-eyed. This strategy hadn't worked so far, seeing as we were still on the move.

The other alternative, going thirsty for however long our captivity lasted, wasn't a pleasant thought either. I had kept an eye on Rose, and could tell she was having more difficulty than I; she was getting more snappish by the minute. Touchiness was a luxury we couldn't afford at the moment, surrounded by six of our kind with short tempers and a common goal. What that goal was, I still couldn't divine.

"Come on, doctor," said a dark-headed man, with a malicious swing at my ribs. I ducked and rose before he could provide further encouragement. "Faster," he commanded, prodding me with the end of a lighter. It was one of those lighters with the handle like a scissor and the tapered metal stalks. The dark-headed man was fond of sticking it into my back as a warning. I wasn't foolish enough to tell him he wasn't in the least intimidating.

"Rose," I asked quietly, as we were marched along over the coastal terrain, "how are you holding up?" By some stroke of luck we were side by side, pressed right into each other. Adelaide made a point of keeping us separated, employing the isolation factor to wear us down. It bewildered me; we had no idea why she was holding us as prisoners, so we couldn't very well talk of anything that was significant to her, and escape was out of the question.

"I'll survive, Carlisle," Rose answered testily. "I've been through worse, as you know."

I did know. "I'm just worried about you. It's been over three weeks--" I broke off as they hustled us onward.

"I know how to count," She snapped, then was silent for a second. "I'm sorry, Carlisle. I shouldn't have gotten irritated."

"Can you make it..." I estimated how long it would take me to formulate some sort of a plan. "Thirty more hours?"

"You know I can." She raised an eyebrow. "Why thirty--"

"Keep them apart!" came the crisp order from behind us, and I nearly groaned. Adelaide had returned from hunting.

The woman swished over to get in my face, forcing me to back up, away from Rose. "Well, hello, Dr. Carlisle," Adelaide sneered, her breath reeking of human death. "What were you and your lovely Rosalie doing?"

It rather irritated me, the way she always referred to my daughter as 'your Rosalie'. As if Rosalie was merely my creation, one of my possessions. I understood that nomads couldn't possibly grasp the depth of the ties we Cullens shared, but Adelaide didn't even try to respect our relationship. I wondered if she thought Rose was my mate, which was what I had hoped for. That's why I had left my wedding ring with Esme, so I could masquerade as either no one's mate, or Rosalie's. If the woman thought the two of us made up the Cullen clan, I could work that to my advantage and protect the rest of my family from her insane whims.

"Are you ever going to tell us why you're doing this?" I asked, a bit snappish myself. To be truthful, I was growing tired of the experience we'd been having for the past several hours, stopping and starting, being pushed and insulted, getting blindfolded and then released.

Adelaide put on an innocent face; the expression was ill-fitted to the elegantly harsh planes of her face. "I haven't yet? My, I've been so lax! I never think of these things, you know." She said the last phrase with a sly slant to her eyes, cutting them to the other vampire that was tied up and guarded.

Blaise had divided his time between throwing looks of loathing at his mate and grimaces at Rose and me. He had at first tried to apologize for involving us in the mess his mate had made, but was silenced by the threats of the six vampires Adelaide controlled. I knew Blaise was as impatient with the nonsense of being hustled around Ireland as we were. The only difference was that he might have some inkling as to what Adelaide was doing, where she was taking us, and why she was taking us there. From what I'd observed, however, he wasn't cued into his mate's designs.

"Blaise," said Adelaide, "tell the good doctor why I decided to find him."

Perhaps I was wrong in my assessment of Blaise. I stared at him inquisitively, tamping down the new suspicion rising in me. Had Blaise been part of Adelaide's plot all along, and just been betrayed at the end? But that couldn't be-- Maggie had said he was telling the absolute truth. Rosalie snarled at Blaise, expressing both our mindsets. "Rose, consider our position," I muttered, knowing she would hear me. Our position was dangerous, exceedingly so, and Rose knew this as well I.

With a sigh like a parent weary of a small child, Blaise shrugged. "I don't know what you're about, woman. Since you murdered that monster you created, I have no idea what your purposes are. But I'm guessing your immortal child scam was just that: a front to attract this man to whatever strange plan you have in your head."

Blaise had a point that was hard to ignore. When she had been confident neither Rose nor I was resisting her guards, Adelaide had gone back to the cave we'd fought in and killed the young vampire she had made. That was what Blaise had told us, anyway, as he had joined us in captivity several minutes later. He had been captured the second he'd entered the cave to negotiate with his mate, and had been pushed off to the side and subdued while the six vampires attacked us. He claimed to have seen Adelaide rip the immortal child to shreds in a silent, efficient manner, then drag the pieces outside and burn them. The thought gave me chills, but such things are not unheard of, vampires creating newborns for one function and killing them later. The one thing that puzzled me was that we never heard the child being torn to pieces, which was nearly impossible. We had heard it scream earlier on, and that had been outside the cave. Why hadn't we heard its death throes?

"Oh, Blaise!" Adelaide smiled; the effect was dazzling. "Very well, then, since you've forced me to explain. Listen to me carefully, Doctor Cullen." Her smile lifted into a sneer on the word doctor. "I have received word of your beautiful little coven and the title you bear. Doctor-- not many of our kind have that sort of distinction, do they? How could we, vampires that thirst for blood, become medical doctors for humans? The thought was impossible, and so I said to myself, 'Well, we shall have to see about this Dr. Cullen, won't we?'"

"There are other doctorates besides medicine," I objected. "And creating an immortal child just to see me seems rather extreme, does it not? You could have called me."

Laughing, Adelaide came very close to me, her perfect body inches from mine. Blaise stiffened, his face rigid from suppressed unease. Because the woman was obviously eager to make Blaise jealous of me, I steadily disregarded her close proximity. Not to mention, the morbid smell of human blood was all over her, repulsing me. "I know for a fact that you are an M.D., Dr.. It's not as if I didn't ask after you, after I'd heard the odd rumor of how you abstained from human blood. You, and your coven, as well. You can see how that intrigued me, can't you?" I chose to ignore her. It may have been an unwise move, but my thirst was really getting to me. I simply had no patience.

"Doctor, look at me," Adelaide commanded, taking my chin in one hand and turning me to face her. I looked at her with a dead expression. "You're so forthcoming," she said dryly, showing some of her teeth. "Make this easier for me, Doctor. Just do as I tell you, and I may let you alone."

"Promises, promises," retorted Rose.

"Rose, don't involve yourself," I told her. One of us subjected to the woman's queries was more than enough.

"See?" exclaimed Adelaide. "You automatically protect your dear Rosalie. It's not a natural reaction, Doctor. Nothing about you is natural. Why? You do these things, like becoming an M.D. and keeping your coven safe, but why?"

"Why should you care?" barked Blaise in a hard voice. "Why didn't you just leave them alone, Adelaide?"

"Blaise, darling, you have no ambitions." Tossing her straight brown hair, the stunning vampire waved her hand in her mate's direction. "You know I never leave things alone. Where's the adventure in that? And as a matter of fact, I do have a reason for getting acquainted with the good doctor." That was an ominous phrase if I'd ever heard one. "Now, dear Dr. Cullen, answer me truthfully." Adelaide leaned toward me, her eyes lit with a burning depth I couldn't decipher. "Do you have a mate in this coven of yours?"

I dreaded the direction the interrogation was taking. "I'm not entirely certain I want to divulge that information," I answered coolly. I made a point of glancing at Rose as I said this, and saw her nod at me in the slightest degree. She approved of my strategy.

"All right," chuckled Adelaide, still scorching me with her eyes. "Did you create your mate?"

I was relieved that she had apparently taken the bait. "I did." It was true, I had created both Rose and Esme.

"Very good. There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"If you don't mind me asking, what does that have to do with why you brought us here?" I was pushing it. This woman's equilibrium was a fine line, and Rose's and my health teetered on the edge.

"How many of your coven did you create, Doctor?"

Ah, the question I couldn't dance out of. Should I lie, or should I expose my family members? I made the decision quickly. "There's only Rose and I," I said convincingly.

"There are two of you?" reaffirmed Adelaide, with the tiniest of changes in her gaze. However, I caught the nuance.

Adelaide was going to draw the lie out of me, centimeter by centimeter. "That's what I said."

"I understood the Cullens numbered more like seven," the woman said.

Yes, they do, I thought, but I am not going to throw them into this bedlam. What I actually said was, "That was a rumor. There are only two Cullens." There were technically four Cullens, but Esme was the only one that bore the name Cullen as her true last name.

"Hmm. Strange, I remember my friend saying emphatically, 'There were seven of them, those Cullens. Freakish creatures, the lot of them.' She said those exact words, Doctor. What do you say to that?" She was daring me to lie again, and what could I do but fall into her trap?

"Your friend must have seen some of my close companions," I said smoothly, raising my eyebrows to solidify my indifference. "They visit Rose and I often, you see."

Adelaide pursed her lips and stepped away from me, then turned to face us. I could infer what a dreadful mistake I had made by lying, from a triumphant flash of the woman's neat, white teeth. "What a liar you are, Doctor! An attractive one, but a liar, nonetheless. I only gave you half of what my friend said to me. She met you, in fact, and you yourself told her coven, 'I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella.' That is seven Cullens, beside yourself."

I felt my heart sink low into my chest, barely hiding my horror. I'd been snagged in my own deceit. Adelaide knew the name of every single member of my family. She knew who Bella was, too. What frightened me even more was I knew from whom this insane woman had gotten her information: Victoria, the nomad who had been the cohort of James the tracker.

Rosalie hissed again, louder this time. "She's in league with that vixen?"

"Rosalie." My voice was unintentionally threatening. "Be quiet." We couldn't give away how much we knew.

"So why did you feel the need to lie to me, Carlisle?" Flicking flecks of dirt idly off her dress, Adelaide didn't grace me with a glance as she talked.

"Excuse me for being rude, but I don't intend to answer any more questions until you tell me why Rosalie and I are being held here, against our will."

"Just tell them, Addy," yawned one of the six vampires, a dirty blond with dried blood caked into his clothes.

Adelaide hissed at him. "I don't need you to instruct me on how to handle them, Harker."

"Fine, fine," said the blond, rolling his eyes. "But that one--" he pointed at me "is going to strike any time now, so you'd better get on with it. I'm not in the mood to pull his head off."

Is that what it looked like from the outside? That I was ready to pounce on this woman? Perhaps I was a little piqued, and angry from thirst, but what good would attacking Adelaide do? She wasn't my problem-- her obscure allusions to a plan were.

"The doctor has a good point," said another of the six, a short man with the faded skin of a vampire advanced in years. "Why should he tell us anything when he doesn't even know to what end he and his mate shall reach?"

"Very well, then," pouted Adelaide, suddenly putting on the personality of a sulky young girl. "I had hoped to have you into France before explaining, Doctor, but I've been overruled. Of course you know of the Volturi?"

"Of course." What vampire hasn't?

"Their power is legendary," elaborated Adelaide, pacing around like an animal. "They have more than enough people in their coven, if you can call it that. They're the force of nature none of us can avoid. They're quite annoying, actually, especially when you don't wish to be disturbed. Blaise can tell you all about that."

"Leave me out of this," growled Blaise.

"Do be quiet, dear," laughed Adelaide, but returned to her furious pacing. "I've gotten unhappy with the Volturi lately-- they seem to poke their noses into everything, don't they? But, more importantly, they are the only coven of their size in the world. That brings them out on top. I don't like it, do you, Doctor?"

"What don't you like?" I frowned. This woman had issues with the Volturi...what did that have to do with us? Unless she knew I had been one of Aro's friends so many years ago, but that was unlikely.

"I don't like their dominance. They don't deserve it any more than the rest of us." There was a weird gleam in Adelaide's eyes when she said this, spinning to glare at me. "Why should they have control over the vampire world? They don't have anything more special than others."

Oh, if only she knew. "Well, to be accurate, they have certain abilities many of us cannot possess," I said carefully, not willing to enrage her. "Some talents that they brought with them to this existence that were dormant in their human--"

Adelaide's voice grew very soft as she interrupted me. "Ah, dear Carlisle, that is where your little coven comes in. My friend gave me a great deal of insight into your coven's strengths and weaknesses. It's all theory, naturally, but that's where you can help me."

What? What was she talking about? The words didn't click together like they normally would have. It was like hearing through a tunnel of discordant sound. "I beg your pardon?"

Sighing, Adelaide threw her hands up in the air. "Are you going to make me spell it out for you? My friend claimed that your coven is so unique because of all the beautiful talent inside it. I'm not sure what those talents are, but I think they'll be enough to do the job. What with the entourage I've already got, we'll be able to take down those Italian tyrants without so much as a scratch."

"What?" I baldly asked.

"Really, Doctor, you're being stupid. I said--"

"We heard you," cut in Rosalie fiercely. "You want to get rid of the Volturi."

"In so many words."

I sat in silence. Was she serious?

Rosalie pronounced each word with ruthless finality. "You. Are. Insane."

I really couldn't have agreed with her more. "What you are suggesting..." What to say to this ridiculous proposal? "You believe that my coven can take down thousands of years worth of effort, organization, and strength?"

"No, not just your coven. I told you I have my own group assembled, and they're not without their abilities." Glowing with fervor, Adelaide stared hard at me. "And I do have a plan for you, Dr. Cullen. It's remarkable that you created an entire coven by yourself. You've never murderd anyone you tried to change, have you?"

In spite of myself, I felt my panic levels rising. She couldn't mean what I thought she was driving at. "No, I've not killed anyone I've changed. But I've only made--"

"That's an amazing thing, Doctor. You're just the man to create the rest of the force we're going to need to fill out my ranks. You have the willpower to resist killing my recruits."

"Now, wait," I protested, "haven't you made a vampire? Why can't you do this?" And sign your own death warrant? I added silently.

"Creating Marie was very difficult for me. The only reason I could was because I knew she was necessary to attract the kind of people I wanted for my army. How else could I have tracked down all the efficient killers outside the Volturi's grasp? No one flocks toward an immortal child but a vampire thirsty for a fight."

"So," spluttered Rose, "all those people you supposedly killed? They're--"

"Part of my army," Adelaide finished proudly, grinning. "I never killed them, I only made it look that way. It was such good fun."

Such good fun!? Did this woman have any conception at all of the mass destruction she was plotting? If the Volturi received any tip from one of Adelaide's 'recruits', we would die. Not only Rose and me, but our family and the vampires with us. And, heaven forbid, if the woman did carry out her plan, if she did place an assault against the Volturi... It was highly possible that the shockwaves from that battle would carry throughout the vampire world, wreaking irreversible havoc. The Volturi, flawed as they were, maintained order in our savage world. If they were decimated, or if a new power took their place, I couldn't begin to imagine the chaos that would ensue.

My family would never have peace again, if the ruled of our kind were not upheld. Humans would die in droves, or be witness to careless vampires' stunts. Whatever the outcome, my family would never be safe if Adelaide carried out this scheme.

I can't allow it!

"No." The word slipped out of my mouth, my mind's screams translating into one calm syllable.

Adelaide half-smiled. "No what?"

"No." I smiled back, but it came off more as baring my teeth.

The woman was flippant. "Are you refusing me?" The potential double-entendre made Blaise growl.

"Yes."

It was fascinating, how that one word changed her attitude toward me. Now she slunk up to me, her movements dangerously lithe. "Dr. Cullen," breathed Adelaide edgily, "I ask you to enable me to destroy the tyrants of the vampire world. Are you telling me that you won't willingly help me destroy them?"

"No." I couldn't help it-- I loved toying with her by setting her hopes up. When I said no she relaxed, until I spoke a second after. "I'm telling you I will not, willing or unwilling, aid you in bringing about the Volturi's end. You cannot, and you shall not, find any means to make me help you. I will not."

"Well said," Blaise commented defiantly.

Adelaide was frozen, her entrancing eyes locked onto mine, her super-model face gorgeous even in shock. Her speechlessness didn't last long, however. As her eyes narrowed, I wondered if I had come on too strong, that I had spoken out of thirst rather than righteousness. I couldn't take back my words, at any rate, so it was no use fearing what they might have done. "I think, Doctor," said Adelaide, almost tenderly, "that you will reconsider my offer. Once you've experienced the might of my army, you'll know whose side to take. Reynard, show dear Carlisle what he's pitted himself against."

As one of the six stepped forward, the other five stepped back, away from Adelaide, Rosalie, Blaise, and I. The man who came forward was nomad from head to foot, a besmirched vampire whose clothes and hair were as wild as the red eyes that shone out from his pale face. He was merely fearsome, bearing none of the manaical light-heartedness of his leader. I braced myself for the onslaught of whichever type of power I was certain he would have, but he turned away from me and faced---

"No," I repeated, but this time it was a snarl.

"I knew this would be more effective," Adelaide beamed. "Reynard, don't go easy on the girl. Dr. Cullen must be taught to respect our regime."

Rosalie didn't quake with dread, as I'm sure the vampires were wishing she would. Instead she held her chin up, hands on hips, and scornfully stared down the dirty nomad. For all the world, she was the one with the power, too confident in her ability to notice the menace of the vampire before her.

"Adelaide," Blaise pleaded suddenly, "don't hurt her. She has done nothing to merit your anger. Let her go."

"It's not personal, darling," the woman assured him. "But Dr. Cullen must understand his role in this. He has to agree to our terms. And you will, Doctor," she promised me lightly.

I won't! I itched to shout, like a petulant child. But I held my tongue, fear for Rosalie leaving me incapacitated.

"Now?" asked the nomad, Reynard. Adelaide nodded. Letting his eyes fall closed, Reynard bit his lip, then twitched his fingers in a nervous habit.

The result was instantaneous. With a scream, Rosalie fell to her knees, her hands clapped over her ears, her eyes wide from some unseen plague, her mouth distorted by her screams. There had been no loud noise, no crackle of lightning, nothing to evoke my daughter's violent reaction. "Rosalie!" I cried, appalled by my child's agony. "Stop! Stop this!"

No one heeded me. Reynard remained with his eyes closed, and Adelaide was waiting patiently for me to submit to her. "What do you say, Doctor?" she asked, over Rose's screams.

"Stop hurting her! Your argument is with me!"

"She's got about forty seconds," remarked Reynard off-handedly. I nearly choked from rage and fright.

"Carlisle!" howled Rose, stretching one hand out to me. I rushed toward her. "Carlisle, help--" Her face went ash white, and then she slumped over, her hand falling as dead weight, like the rest of her body. She made no more sound.

"Rosalie!" I flung myself beside her, my doctor instincts taking over. Mindlessly, I checked her pulse, felt her cheeks, lifting her upper body into my arms. "Rosalie, can you hear me? Rose!"

"She won't respond for a good while, Doctor," said Adelaide.

"What have you done to her?" I cut off the franitc note in my voice, vainly seeking to hold back my hysteria. "Rosalie!" I laid my ear against her chest in another blind gesture. Rosalie was not a human patient-- I had no vital signs to look for. What had happened to my daughter?

"Help the doctor carry his lovely Rosalie," Adelaide told her guards, motioning to them. "Reynard, you fall back and keep Blaise in check. We make for France."

"Stay away from her!" I crouched in front of Rose, letting loose the most feral noise I'd made in half a century. I wouldn't let them near the angel who'd followed me into this madness. "Don't touch her!"

"Touchy, touchy, Doctor," said Harker mockingly. "Don't worry, we don't want your mate...yet."

In an avalanche of flame, the thirst building in my system flooded into me, fueling my anger. I looked and sounded more like a demon than a man as I launched myself at the five of them, knowing that I'd never get access to Adelaide. It didn't matter that I was horribly outnumbered-- I could have taken on twice as many in that moment. My one thought was to eradicate those who had caused Rosalie pain. It was wholly unlike me, and yet I was one with this desire.

Oddly enough, even as I attacked, I felt no malice toward my intended victims. They were just collateral damage, pawns in the ultimate objective: releasing my fury on the one who deserved it most. After I removed her protection, Adelaide would be easy prey. And, frankly, anything that I could get my hands on in that moment would not have withstood my wrath. I was unstoppable, Rosalie's ghost-white face sharp in my mind.

My hands were arrowing at their first target, Harker, when I heard Blaise call out a warning to me. The message registered dimly in my rage-infused mind, but I didn't process it. My thirst had driven me half-crazy, and the added anger blew rational thoughts to cinders. "Carlisle...out...Reynard!"

Reynard? I heard that, but I forged on. Harker's unprepared stance made me pity him, somewhat. He would not last ten seconds against me; he was as unpracticed at killing as I was. Ah, well. He shouldn't have tripped the wire to my unexpected rage. Edward wouldn't recognize me, I thought irrelevantly. I'm acting like a monster.

"Carlisle!" Blaise's voice. What was he saying?

My hands closed around Harker's neck and forearm. I began to pull, my thirst-enhanced strength pooling in my muscles. I would just tear them all apart, it was that simple. It would be quick and nearly painless. I wouldn't prolong their--

My world exploded in a cacophony of sound, light, and pressure. I dropped to my knees, feeling my mouth open and emit a soundless scream. It was complete sensory overload: my brain, despite its capacity to absorb so many sensations, was totally overcome. The sounds were too numerous to label, too muffled to sort, and the lights were strobes, punching into my eyes. All inside my head there was an immense pressure, more painful than a human migraine.

I slid sideways, seeking a place where these tortures were not, but they pummeled me mercilessly. Curling defensively in on myself, I gripped my hair in an effort to take away the pain in my head. My body was tensed, flinching from the agony. All I wanted was for the pain to cease--

And I blacked out.