Chapter 28 - Spy
Nina
I walked back to the Volturi encampment, a hollowness where I once felt my heart. Dead as a zombie I guess would be the best way to describe how far gone I was. My body moved mechanically, without any real conscious thought from me. My mind was going so fast it felt like I was standing still.
As soon as the camp came into view I felt all the weight of the world crash onto my already weary shoulders. I was the messenger that was to be killed from bad news. My heart and head felt heavy with the news I had to deliver to Master Aro.
To the family for that matter.
It had been sheer coincidence really that I had even noticed anything at all.
Waiting in my tent for our meal had gotten beyond boring, so I took to exploring around the campsite for something to do. There was really nothing. No satellite, no cable, no internet, not even a piece of paper or anything old school to keep myself occupied; at least not without bugging some of the bonded vampires anyway.
That is, until I saw a few vampires slipping into the nearby forest, looking around them as though they didn't want to be seen.
My interest instantly peaked. Where were these vampires going in such a hurry? And why did it look like they were sneaking off? I couldn't tell where they had come from, but tracking three vampires would be a piece of cake for me.
Grinning mischievously, I cast my cloak around me and slunk after them. They moved quickly through the woods, eager to be away from something. Every step and sweep of the forest kept them on high alert. Covered in my cloak I didn't worry about sound. They simply wouldn't hear, smell, or see me unless I wanted them to.
And it was well that they didn't.
Following the scent trail, I gradually sorted through the smells to identify who I was tracking. Delilah, was the foremost, leading the way toward the west. Jackson, her new mate, and Santiago, were following behind right behind her. I was so confused, I didn't know what to expect as I tracked them along their quiet foray through the woods.
It certainly wasn't what I ended upon.
They had joined the Cullens.
They were committing political, social, and literal suicide. This was not two factions of the jocks fighting for control here with the drama club caught in-between the two of them. This was a full blown war. World War III sounded very apropos for this scenario.
I watched with rapt attention, silent horror my constant companion, as Delilah, Jackson, and Santiago met up with even more of my family already here with the Cullens. Teresa, Erica, Jeremy, Laci, Alec, Corin, and Lucy all stood here in the company of our immortal enemies, conversing as normally as if they were attending some company dinner party.
Confusion washed over me. What was possessing them to behave so strangely? All of them were loyal friends and deadly fighters, so why the change all of a sudden?
As a vampire I had learned we didn't change easily, often staying obstinately in our paths no matter how wrong we were. But every now and again, something would change us. Finding our mate was one of the most powerful changes. Meeting the one person who completes all the facets of ourselves that we didn't even think needing fitting. The universe itself would shift until it was like we didn't understand how we had lived so long without this one person so perfect for us.
At least, that's how the others had described it. I couldn't be sure of their descriptions since I was still single. David, Amanda, and I were all still single come to think of it. It had been beyond depressing to be the only ones in our small circle that were left partnerless. I was upset that first night I would have settled for anybody. I wouldn't care that much about them, so long as I had someone to be with.
I eventually quieted the jealous voices in my head, promising to stay nearby in case of emergency. But, with all my family switching sides on me, it went beyond torture. It was downright hell. Especially seeing Lucy there. She was my best friend in so many ways.
I was crushed. My insides felt so numb that I had a hard time breathing.
And so it was, that I ghosted around the camp with not even the slightest breeze to give me away with a scent. Denial was a poor comfort as I heard the resolution in their voices and saw how dedicated they were to this new cause, even helping to plan an attack on the rest of us and caring for the witch child.
None of the vampires seemed privy to my presence, though I did notice one small spiky haired vampire glancing in my direction a couple of times. I don't know how, but it seemed like she knew where I was.
But, I was the phantom that no one knew about. Being a dead ghost would have been better. I could have vented my frustration out on them. Knocking over their small tents, throwing and levitating objects around them, even possession. Screaming in a ghastly voice to scare them away.
I did not have these opportunities though. I was stuck as a vampire; not quite dead but not quite alive either. It perfectly described the way I felt right now.
On the one hand, my emotions had gone haywire. I was furious, hurt, offended, sad, depressed, angry, jealous, and so many other emotions I ran out of ways to describe them. Every violent and hateful thing I could think of I wanted to do. I was ready to fight someone to the death I was so enraged by my families' choice.
What were they thinking!? How could they do this to me?! Didn't they care how this would affect the rest of the family? I thought they loved us.
Nothing I could think of would justify their tragic suicide.
Suicide. Just thinking the word in my head ripped the remnants of my heart even farther apart from each other. There weren't many pieces left anymore. It was the only way I could think of to describe the feeling of death anymore.
Death had become a more integral part of my life. I suppose it really shouldn't have surprised me since I ate as a human. All the animals and plants I ate, calling them vegetables, fruits, grains, and meat, had been living things that I consumed to keep on living. I had gone from a predator of one kind to another. Now I hunted the very creature I once was.
But since my death, life meant so much more to me. It was pain. "Life is pain" a popular movie claimed. I believed it.
I didn't see a purpose to this so called life. What possible point could there be for human beings to be born, live for some average eighty odd years, only to die? What good came of that kind of a life?
Under that kind of thinking, there was no reason to be good or do good to another. We're only here for a short while so we should only look out for ourselves and ignore the rest of the world. "Selfish people succeed" was a popular creed among corporations anyway. Why care about the little people that work for you so long as they have just enough to maintain while you roll in the dough they produce? After all, they'll still come back to you by the end of the day for a paycheck.
Pain was my constant companion, in every sense of the word. My throat burned away at all times with the never ending thirst for human blood. And my heart had long since beating, but the broken pieces that once were my heart still throbbed with a longing beat.
I had been engaged when I was killed. Jesse Hernandez. He was so much like me it wasn't even funny. Jesse always understood all my jokes, and all the silly things about media that I referenced during the day. He got the joke at me carrying an energy drink bottle labeled "Mana". When I would smack my hands together in some weird gesture, he got it.
On the day that I had been changed was to be the last week before the big wedding. It was going to be a brilliant ceremony, rich with all our quirky personalities. We had the caterers, the pavilion, the Justice of the Peace, and all the other details hammered out. We even had all the guests RSVP already.
But after my fiancée found out what happened to me, he ended his own life. I suppose I should be flattered that Jesse killed himself because he thought I was dead, but I wasn't. Insult was probably the closer emotion to it. How dare he end his life simply because I wasn't around? That was no way to honor my memory! A proper memorial would have been to go on and live his life, happy. That is all that I would have wanted for him, even though I still missed him dearly.
Demetri and Jane appeared in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. I looked at both of them warily, wondering what possibly could have alerted them to my presence. My cloak was still in place, so they shouldn't be able to even smell me.
"You're sure?" Jane hissed violently.
Demetri nodded his head gravely, both of their eyes staring past me.
"Damn him!" Jane spat. With a graceful twirl, Jane stomped off to a nearby tent and began ripping it to shreds. It was almost intimidating to watch. Almost.
I slipped between the two of them, cautiously keeping my cloak in place. Stopping in front of a tent, the scent of it catching the air in my throat as I realized what I was about to do, I steeled myself against the consequences I wanted to avoid.
Pushing open the flap of David's tent, I dropped my stealth and slid inside. David sat cross legged on the floor, both of his hands resting alongside his face almost like a reverse Vulcan mindmeld, his eyes closed in some kind of meditative trance. Breathing deeply, David smiled. "Hello Nina," he whispered knowingly.
Normally I would have laughed at his mysticism right now. But I was beyond laughter and tears at this moment.
David must have sensed the change in me. Opening his eyes I saw his confusion and curiosity wage in the glistening light of his ruby eye. "What is it young one?" he asked quietly, though it still felt too loud in the empty space of his tent. "What's wrong?"
I knelt down in front of him. I searched his eyes, looking for a script to help me tell him everything he needed to know without making me feel guilty for doing it. But there was no libretto there in his face, only quiet curiosity, quickly growing anxious and impatient.
I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts back on track. "I don't know where to begin," I murmured defeated. My voice sounded dead, matching the tone of my vacant heartbeat.
David cocked his head to the side, arching an eyebrow speculatively. But he stayed obstinately quiet, forcing me to voice myself.
Closing my eyes as I realized the only way I could do this, I barked at David. "Use Aro's gift on me."
David looked at me as though I had grown a third eye. "Are you sure?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes in agitation and nodded my head, thrusting my hand in front of his face.
David blinked slowly, switching to Aro's gift I assume, and reached out to grasp my hand. I held my breath as realization dawned on David's face. "No!" he gasped breathlessly, his face dropping in a mirror comparison to the weight on my heart.
I waited a few seconds to allow David to process the information he'd just absorbed. Pulling my hand away gently, I broke the connection between us. David stared behind me, immersed in the fabric of the tarp of the door even though he wasn't really seeing it.
"David?" I asked secretively.
David didn't move for another few seconds. Then, he spun to his feet in a liquid smooth jerk of his body, and pushed around me through the doorway. I jumped to my feet and raced after him. Whatever he was thinking I had to know.
He marched determinedly toward the plane, his shoulders squared though his head drooped ever so slightly. It took little time to make the jump from his behavior to his decision.
"David no!" I hissed at him. I launched myself at him, crossing the few feet between us in a blur of movement. My hand firm on his shoulder I brought him around to face me. "You can't tell them!" I growled fiercely.
David's face was a perfect mask of calm. "Nina," he whispered gravely. "Think about what you're saying. Sooner or later, Aro is going to notice that ten vampires from his guard are missing. Sooner or later, he is going to put it together that both you and I knew about it and didn't tell him; then it will be even worse for us than if we tell him now and get it over with."
He paused to let that sink in before he continued. "This is the only way for me to save as much of my family that I have left," he said in a meek voice. "I will not lose any more of my family!"
David sped away from me at an incredible speed, dashing up the steps to the plane and vanishing inside before I could register that he had left me. I was frozen in shock. I was so totally unprepared for his reaction that I didn't know what to do.
I hurried over to the plane, preparing to scale it myself when I felt a restraining hand on my shoulder. "Nina," Sherilyn asked worriedly. "What's going on?"
I turned around slowly, dreading the audience I could feel gathering around me. Sherilyn withdrew her hand slowly, crossing her arms in a determined gesture. Felix stood behind her, his face a menacing scowl as he studied me like he was planning on attacking me. Bekka and Beau, Nicole and Lane, Amanda, and Natasha were the foremost of the small crowd gathering around the plane. Demetri, Jane, Brandie, and the rest of the guard were quickly assembling with them, anxious for either gossip or news; whichever would prove more useful to them for the moment.
Looking out into their faces I knew I couldn't hide anymore. Even if I tried to go invisible, Sherilyn would catch, then kick, my butt. Disappearing was exactly what I wanted to do, but I couldn't be invisible now.
I wiped away any pretense of sugar coating and flat out told them what I'd seen. The decision of the ten vampires from our guard, their integration into the Cullen collective, planning strategies that they tossed around and all the other trivial observations I'd made. The guard seemed very alarmed to realize that as long as Bella could cast her mental shield over the two pack leaders all the mutts would be protected from our mental gifts.
It was a pin drop silence as I lectured on for almost five minutes straight. No sooner had I finished I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. David stood behind me, his eyes showing just how defeated and terrible he felt. Gesturing down to the ground, I followed him down the steps as Aro swept out of the plane with the other two ancients.
Aro looked out at us, his hair and the fringes of his cloak fluttering loosely in the wind, a solemn expression on his face. Just by the look on his face I knew he was preparing some grand speech to rally us together. It mattered little to me; I just wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury myself in it.
"Dear ones," Aro declared with his airy sigh, his arms open in a helpless gesture. "You have already been told about the treachery of some of our own. It is a black day for the guard."
Aro's eyes locked with Jane. "I'm sorry dear one," he told her sincerely. Jane looked away, biting her lower lip against the profanities I knew threatened to explode off her tongue.
Aro brought his gaze back up to the rest of the guard. "Tomorrow will be a fight," he continued somberly. "The Cullens have already made their decision. One of our newest additions to the guard, Nina," he said beaming at me with a proud smile on his face - it only made me want to hide all the more - "has been able to learn of their plans. My brothers and I will analyze everything until we have a plan.
"Until then, Demetri and Jane will be in charge. Any complaints will go to one or both of them, and unless they feel the absolute necessity of conversing with us, we expect not to be disturbed for the rest of the night."
Aro waved once, just like the President waves to the "adoring" public, and retreated back into the plane. Caius' face was full of unrepressed glee; all of us knew he loved a good fight and the more vampires involved in it that he didn't have to worry about the better. Marcus' face was actually different this time. His normally blank mask was gone, replaced by an uncertainty about something I couldn't guess at.
"Master," I called, sprinting to the plane and grabbing the hem of his robe. Demetri was at my shoulder, Jane focusing her gaze on me before I heard a low growl, coming from deep in David's chest, by my side.
Aro turned to face me with no more than polite interest. It didn't seem to concern him that there might be a fight right here because of Demetri and Jane against David. And between those two against him, I had no doubt that David could handle himself. Especially with some of the other gifts available to him and his anguish right now.
"What is it dear one?" Aro asked quietly.
"What about my family?" I asked breathless.
Caius hissed in frustration, but Marcus' face was carefully composed into neutrality. I could tell in his eyes though he'd seen the strength of our family, it had surprised him into sharing it with Aro at one point. Aro studied me for a moment and then shook his head ever so slightly to the sides. "They are dead to us dear one," he said in a hauntingly calm voice.
I was frozen in place as he broke free from my grip and stepped inside the metal enclosure. Slowly, Demetri's hand released my shoulder, followed by the hushed echo of vampire feet leaving. I blinked, turning slowly. David's face was blank, his eyes broken.
The rest of our family was in the same kind of mourning. Nicole was nestled deep into Lane's embrace. Natasha hugged her arms close to her chest, standing next to Amanda, her head bowed and hands clasped in front of her like she was going to be punished. Sherilyn's head rested against Felix's shoulder as she closed her eyes against the pain I knew she was feeling, while Bekka held her hand over her mouth, Beau's arm around her shoulders in a bracing hug.
Our family was dead.
It was such a strange sensation to think of them as dead. I knew they were alive and well, for the moment at least, less than a few miles away. I had the insane urge to rush over there and confront them.
David must have guessed what I was thinking. Facing me full in the face, he shook his head sternly. "Don't Nina," he mouthed to me. "We can't lose anybody else."
My face cringed, straining to cry, to release the tension building inside of me. "But-" I began, but David cut me off with a glance.
"It will be a fight tomorrow," he said in a hollow voice. "We will fight the Cullens and we will defeat them. It won't matter if we join the Cullens or not. There is no way all of our family will survive this fight anymore. Before their switch, we could have all pulled out of this with maybe a few scratches, but not now. Not like this.
"The Cullens are going to lose tomorrow. The Masters have already devised a plan to defeat them. Even with the missing powers of Alec and Laci, we will be the ones winning."
"I can't accept that David," I said calmly, a decision already made in my mind.
Jumping unexpectedly, I flew to the plane, made contact and pushed off, soaring over the heads of all my family. I hit the ground at a dead sprint, dashing toward the west with a fierce determination to confront them. I would drag them kicking and screaming back here myself if I had to. It was time for an intervention.
"Nina!" David yelled behind me.
I turned around just slightly to see that all of them were running after me, surprise rich on their faces. In a sudden blur of speed, David appeared in front of me. I stepped on the brakes, throwing my cloak around me quickly. Dodging to the side, I danced out of Felix's crushing arms as he dove for where I just was. A smile on my face I turned to find Sherilyn smashing into me.
I collapsed to the ground, Sherilyn's powerful grip on my shoulders pushing downward with all the force of gravity. "Nina!" she hissed. "Think about what you're doing!"
"I have!" I spat back.
"Obviously not enough," Sherilyn replied more calmly, though her grip didn't slacken even the tiniest fraction. "Either you're just selfish enough to commit suicide too or you weren't paying attention to what David said."
I stopped struggling, devising a trick ploy, but also to listen. What had I missed? While David was trying to calm me down I had been putting an argument together in my head to win back the others from the Cullens.
"Aro is planning to kill every vampire and werewolf over there," Sherilyn said slowly. The realization slammed into me. Our family was as good as dead anyway.
I relaxed as I saw what the others were seeing. It must have looked like I was going to commit suicide too. How badly it must have hurt them to think of that. It reminded me of just how much I'd hurt when I first found out.
This was their own intervention.
"I'm not committing suicide," I told them, as Sherilyn let me up slowly. She stood behind me, Felix joining her in a dash of shadows. Both of their eyes were trained dangerously close to every movement I made. "I was going to try and talk some sense into them and bring them back."
David shook his head, sighing heavily. "If I thought we could I would fight the entire guard right now to bring them back," he said fervently. "They knew the consequences of their choice. There is no turning back now."
"So what do we do now?" Natasha asked in a meek voice. She was almost like the adopted foster child with the odd family dynamics around her, but I considered her a little sister. Slowly, she would finish blending in.
David's mask shattered on his face. "I don't know," he whispered, dropping his head in sorrow. "I don't know."
Amanda cleared her throat. We all turned to face her. Her face was smooth, but not calm. I could only imagine how hard it was for her to keep such a straight face during this hard time for our family. "I think the only appropriate thing to do is have a funeral and properly mourn them." Her voice was as defeated as her eyes.
David took a quick vote, which was unanimous and lead us away from camp. We walked in silence, the usual quiet solitude that accompanies a funeral procession.
We continued through camp before we were stopped at the edge of camp by Demetri and Jane. We came to an abrupt halt, each of us tensing for action. "You're not going anywhere," Demetri barked, his arms folded menacingly across his chest. Jane glared at us, her eyes glittering maliciously.
I waited for David's reaction with baited breath. David looked Demetri dead in the face, even from the distance of six feet, and whispered in a very dark voice, "Move out of our way Demetri."
Demetri's face hardened, his head shaking infinitesimally. Jane's gaze quickly focused on David. I flinched automatically, but David didn't even twitch an eyebrow or increase his breathing. Turning his brooding eyes on Jane, he smiled.
Jane crumpled to the ground, her scream ripping through octaves that would have made Mariah Carey jealous. It was the most piercing shrill I'd ever heard. It would normally have raised hair on my arms and made my heart skip a beat.
"Enough!" Demetri yelled, charging David recklessly. Amanda froze him in place before he had even taken two steps.
David lifted his eyes from Jane, her body suddenly going limp though she still moaned on the ground. Locking eyes with Demetri again, he repeated his command. "Move out of our way."
Jane slunk off on her own, glowering in our general direction. Amanda gave Demetri his body back, but Demetri didn't relax for a moment. He studied us for a long minute, measuring our resolve. Sighing exasperated he stepped to the side.
David led us on, Felix pushing roughly past his old friend. "Cover us Nina," David whispered quietly.
I drew my cloak around us, blocking us entirely from sight and every method of tracking. I knew that my cloak was the only reason that Demetri hadn't been able to track me, but I was surprised that he had allowed all the others to disappear without notice. I don't know what he thought they were doing that far away, but maybe he just knew general directions and not distances for those he was tracking.
David stopped just a few feet into the trees. Clasping hands with Bekka, the two of them uprooted and shifted the landscape to create a small clearing about twenty feet across. David turned back to face us. "Lane you come with me," he commanded softly. "Bekka, you're in charge of construction. We need a platform and ten coffins."
We all nodded our heads. David and Lane raced off, David throwing my cloak over them. Bekka set all of us to squaring off the broken timbers into coffin figures. While we set to work, Bekka faced the center of the clearing and focused her power again. Twisting and churning the earth, she formed a flat raised platform, about five feet off the rest of the ground. A set of gradual steps led up to the top of the platform. It was absolutely beautiful.
A short while later, David and Lane returned to the clearing, a triumphant smile on their faces. Lane and David joined us with Bekka in finishing the coffins.
They were very ornate. Each one was six feet long, carved with vines and roses running along each side. Across the top, with a delicate inscription under Bekka's steady gaze, the names of our ten condemned family members stood in relief against the aged woods of mahogany, oak, cherry, and beech.
We moved each coffin up to the platform, one at a time. The boys carried each coffin, David and Lane grasping the front two corners while Beau and Felix bore the last two. Amanda, Nicole, and I stood in a triangle at the head of the coffin while Sherilyn, Bekka, and Natasha brought up the rear triangle.
Alec. Laci. Lucy. Corin. Erica. Jeremy. Teresa. Santiago. Delilah. Jackson. Each one nestled next to each other in a tight formation.
We stepped away, the view very somber. David detached himself, to stand by Delilah's coffin. "You saved me," he whispered reverently. "You saved us all." Bending down he kissed the head of her coffin, moving to each member of our family, whispering goodbyes such as "Vaya con Dios" and "Until we meet again", kissing each coffin in a parting gesture.
Slowly and with growing dread, each of us said our last goodbyes. Sherilyn knelt next to Teresa's with broken sobs in her throat. Amanda bowed her head at the foot of every coffin, whispering in a mute voice. Bekka ran her hand over the width of every coffin.
I waited until the very end, unable to face my reality. This was the hardest thing that I'd ever had to do. Reaching out and placing my hand on each coffin I said my goodbyes in my heart. Lucy's was the hardest to let go. Of all of us in our family, I was closest to her. She had been a steadying rock for me, yet bubbled like a running brook with laughter. I would miss her the most of all.
I joined the rest of our small funeral party, turning to face the somber coffins. At a nod from David, Lane stepped back up to the platform. We watched in silence as Lane poured a white powder all over the coffins, glazing them into a wintry beauty. When he finished emptying the tan fabric bag, he laid it gently on the platform.
After Lane was back by Nicole's side, their hands clasped fiercely, David pulled a silvery metal wand out of his pocket. It looked like a regular lighter, but far more sophisticated. A simple trigger attached to a metal rod about seven inches long. Two support beams, smaller than the width of the full rod, held a darker steel sphere on the end.
I knew exactly what this was. This was Caius' favorite toy. This was what the guard lovingly called The Incinerator.
Clicking the Incinerator once, David collected a tiny flame in his hand. Holding it, despite the shocked gasps from the rest of us, David clicked the Incinerator off. David pulled his hand up and cast the flames out to the platform.
The flames ignited in violent bursts of blue and green. So the powder was sea salt, I mused.
Quickly, all the coffins were caught in the blaze. Watching the deluge of flames I was oddly comforted. Somehow, the color of the flames or the symbolism of closure, I felt almost at peace.
Startled I spun to watch David, but I realized he was still channeling the Cullen's avatar to keep the flames going. I looked even farther behind us and saw a pained look on Gloria's face. She was the source of the calming feeling.
I hadn't heard any of the other members of the guard I saw there arrive, their approach had been so reverent and solemn. Gloria, Brandie, Chelsea, Afton, Renata, Muse, Demetri, Jane, and all the rest of the guard were all there. Jane's eyes were alight with the same kind of pain that she had felt when David had assaulted her with her own gift, only this time she was beyond words and sound.
A soft soprano voice began singing. The song was melancholy and sweet in the same instant. A perfect funeral song. I didn't recognize the name, but David smirked and whispered, "The Soft Goodbye" just before the singer began the lyrics.
When the light begins to fade and shadows fall across the sea, one bright star in the evening sky, your love's light leads me on my way. There's a dream that will not sleep, a burning hope that will not die. So I must go now with the wind and leave you waiting on the tide.
Time to fly, time to touch the sky, one voice alone, a haunting cry. One song, one star burning bright, let it carry me through darkest night.
Rain comes over the grey hills and on the air a soft goodbye. Hear the song that I'll sing to you when the time has come to fly. When I leave and take the wind and find the land that faith will bring, the brightest star in the evening sky is your love waiting far form me. Is your love waiting far from me.
It was the perfect song to voice the unfathomable feelings of our hearts. We had lost so much of our faith and love, but we could still hope for something. I was hoping beyond all hope that somehow we'd all survive this encounter. That somehow, I would be able to hold onto my family for the rest of my existence.
Pointless hope. Foolish hope. But hope was all that kept me from running and jumping into the flames on the platform right now.
Maybe it was only a natural reaction to death to think about the death of oneself. I wasn't suicidal, and yet I still wondered what it would feel like to be ripped from my body and cast upon the wind as ashes. How much did it hurt? Was there a heaven and hell after all?
The flames swelled into a giant blaze. My eyes blinked automatically, even though I could stare at the sun and have nothing happen to me other than an irritation. But, the fire swirled and jumped with a life of its own, twisted by the power of David's mind.
We stood in silence. After several hours the coffins were the only source of light in the dark, dimming into cooler piles of ash. All of a sudden, it began to rain. It startled me, but I could tell on the look of David's face that he was honoring them again. Jeremy, our little weatherman.
The cold Washington rain extinguished the remaining cinders, and seemed to be the proper end for this ceremony. Rain was very much tears, the very shape called teardrop. I turned my face up, forcing the rain down my cheeks and throat, pushing my sorrow into every drop running along my skin.
Slowly, the other members of the guard who had joined us later, ghosted away from our clearing; except for Jane. She knelt on the ground, holding her face in the most human gesture I'd ever seen, consumed in the depth of sorrow for her brother. Alec was her twin after all. I hadn't realized just how hard this would be on her. It was incredible to see her perfect demeanor shattered so wholly.
Raising his hand, David summoned a gentle breeze from the west. Fluttering over the platform, the ashes of the coffins floated up, with some help from Bekka, disappearing beyond the line of trees around us.
David turned to face us, his face smooth and hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but seemed unable, shaking his head and waving silently at us as he walked away. Nicole and Lane, Sherilyn and Felix, Bekka and Beau left to find solace in each other's arms as best they could. Natasha left, still clutching her chest with her arms, her eyes on the ground ahead of her.
Amanda and I were the only ones left in the clearing beside Jane. I turned to go, but paused when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Pivoting around, I watched Amanda move toward the platform again. Bending down, she dug her hand deep into the soil; once, twice, ten times in total. Rushing over to the nearest trees, Amanda ripped off young shoots and planted them into the holes.
Dusting her hands off, Amanda got off the ground again, pausing as she saw me watching her. She betrayed no emotion or explanation on her face, only nodding as she headed back toward the camp.
I realized with a jolt what she was doing. Planting new trees to replace those we had destroyed. Mending the tender fabric of nature should be so easy.
Turning away from the clearing, I closed my eyes and followed my nose back to the camp. It was the simplest way to get back, the trail - rich with the scents of calendula, thyme, cinnamon, hyacinth, and a dozen other scents - left by numerous vampires, was a beeline from the clearing.
I got back to the camp, pausing at my tent door to see the stars beginning to wake overhead. But there was no moon. It was a new moon, the darkest night of the month. But this was to be the darkest point in my life.
Sighing, I went inside my tent. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of my tent I thought back over the day, morbidly ripping myself apart again. I snorted at myself as I realized that I had been the perfect informant for Aro without even realizing it.
I guess I really could call myself a ninja now. Nobody could understand winning until they understood loss. Reconnaissance had proved invaluable to Aro, but at what cost? I was now the assassin who would have to take down my own family.
I closed my eyes against the dark thoughts from my reality, and waited for the breaking of dawn.
Alice's head bowed in the circle. Edward moaned slightly at Alice's discomfort, while Jasper pushed a powerful wave of serenity through the group. Alice had been giving everybody a minute by minute description of the funeral pyre the guard had built.
Lucy and Erica were perhaps the most touched. Their anguish was sharp enough to cause Jasper to worry about a panic attack, but his quick intervention slowed that. "I'm sorry," Alice whispered in shock.
Teresa shook her head gravely. "We knew the consequences of our choice," she replied hollowly. "I am more grateful than anything else for at least a burial. Its a small compensation for us I suppose, but I will be grateful for at least that much honor."
Bella nodded her head in understanding. When Aro had declared the newest members of her family, dead to their old family, it was a harsh blow. It was the literal separation of them to the rest of their family. Like a Jewish child marrying outside the faith. They had become the forbidden taboo of the guard. No one would be allowed to talk, barely even think about them for the rest of all time.
It was banishment from the clan.
"I suggest we all retire to our privacy now," Carlisle said curtly. "There is nothing more to be done now."
Everybody agreed, sequestering themselves in their chosen fields. The Cullens had enough tents, ironically enough, for all the vampires present to share some tents for privacy. It wasn't much for them, but it was the closest they could come to civility in this wilderness.
Bella and Edward stayed on the log outside of Renesmee's tent. Jacob had already gone back inside to shelter her with his heat, his own mind tricked into sleepiness by a sly suggestion from Lucy. Neither Edward nor Bella could find voice to the emotions raging in them. Loss and pain fro the newest members of their vast family, mingled with fear of the coming dawn.
The only emotion the two were able to convey to each other was their love. Even in only a simple hand hold through the silent night, the depth of their bond washed over each other. At times, Edward would hum to them, Bella's head resting on his shoulder as she sat in his lap, but most of the night passed with the forest perfectly still.
"It will not work Aro," Marcus growled low in his throat. "The newborns will not betray their family so easily."
Aro smiled. "It will work my dear Marcus," he replied condescendingly to his brother. "The plan is perfect. Even with the loss of gifts we have suffered, the newborns are the key to victory."
Caius nodded his head earnestly. "I agree with Aro, Marcus," he chirped gleefully. "The newborns' powers will make us the ultimate force in this world. And with the defeat of Carlisle and his pathetic rabble we will never have to worry about such a resistance being mounted ever again. No more liabilities to watch out for."
Marcus remained quiet, though he was far from finished with the argument.
Aro had outlined for all of them how they could take down the Cullens. With the power of their neutralizer spread in front of their charging forces, much like a dark cloud enveloping a candle, they would breach the invisible boundary of Bella's shield. Once inside, Amanda would lock them in their bodies, while Natasha incapacitated them with her vertigo. Then, Bekka, while still holding the three ancients aloft to protect them from any harm, would work with David and the other guard members to shred the vampires and werewolves into pieces.
David, Lane, Nicole, and Nina would all manage protecting as many members of the guard as possible while Jane and Demetri could pick off the werewolves that managed to avoid Amanda's petrifying gaze.
It was the perfect plan of attack. But, Marcus saw one flaw in the master plan. The newborns were not as under their control as they had thought. Aro had dismissed this objection by reminding him about Chelsea's binding. He would simply ask her to tighten their ties before they engaged in battle.
So the three of them, along with the two wives, shared one last victory meal as they waited for sunrise.
Sherilyn waited outside the door to David's door, struggling inside herself. She had the secret David had buried deep inside her, but was now the time to bring it up? Glancing around the clearing, Sherilyn knew she would never have another chance.
Pushing open the tent, she found David kneeling, his forehead touching the ground. She hesitated, not wanting to disrupt him during such an obviously private moment when David sat up slowly. Opening his eyes, the depths of them farther away than she'd ever seen, David invited her in.
"What can I do for you Sherilyn?" he asked quietly.
Sherilyn hesitated again, deciding how best to speak with him. "There is something I need to tell you," she whispered, using David's words as she recalled them perfectly.
David's eyes narrowed in confusion as he waited. Somehow this conversation was familiar to him, but he couldn't remember why.
"Tell me," he replied with a growing sense of déjà vu. "You know you can trust me."
"Can you still reach the other gifts of our family?" Sherilyn asked, throwing David off course.
"Yes," he replied curiously. "It takes me longer to concentrate on them, but I can still hear them."
"I need you to be Erica for a moment," Sherilyn told him earnestly.
David nodded his head, confusion rich on his face. After a moment of his eyes closed, David muttered "Got it" under his breath. There was the sound of the powerful strain it took for him to focus on the music of Erica's gift from the distance between them.
"Follow me," she said, closing her eyes.
David closed his, and immersed himself in her mind. It was halting at first as Sherilyn exposed her memories to David's scrutiny, but eventually they made full contact. Dragging up the memories Sherilyn knew David needed, she replayed them, slowly, not missing a single detail of sight or sound. Even from the distance between them in the tent Sherilyn could feel his shoulders slump as he recalled everything that Sherilyn played.
"You're the only one I can trust with this Sherilyn," he said quietly. "Aro's gift takes away the privacy of our own thoughts and so we can't even trust them anymore. You are the only one immune to him and can hold our secrets."
"Secrets?" Sherilyn asked intensely.
"Yes secrets," David replied. "Sherilyn, Aro plans to use as weapons to destroy a coven that has done no wrong. They too have some powerful gifts, and Aro wants them so bad. But, he knows they will never join him willingly. He plans to force them into submission with our gifts."
Sherilyn sat in stunned silence. They had come so far from the first masters, Logan and Barbara. Yet, even in their death by fire, the coven was still a weapon. They had come full circle. But who could take down these powerful monarchs? Who could possibly be their savior now?
No one had the power to stand up to Aro and his gang.
Sherilyn dropped her head in understanding. "What will happen if Aro succeeds in capturing these new gifts?" she whispered.
David shook his head. "Game over for our coven as it is," he whispered. "With the gifts he can acquire he won't bother keeping Erica, Jeremy, Natasha, Lane, Nicole, Delilah, or Teresa."
"That's half of us!" Sherilyn hissed angrily.
David nodded his head. "Unless they bonded with a vampire he desperately wanted in the guard, Aro will not keep them after claiming the very same coven we went after with Maria, Logan, and Barbara."
"What kind of gifts are we talking about?" Sherilyn asked angrily.
David studied her for a second before answering. "There are two gifts that he has always lusted after since learning about them, but Aro would end up gaining four. One of the males can read people's thoughts from a distance, while his mate repels all mental gifts much like you.
"The other set of gifts is also a bonded pair. The male can manipulate emotions around him, but it is his mate that Aro truly wants. She can see the future."
"What!?" Sherilyn exclaimed in a hiss. "How is that possible?"
"How is what any of us do possible?" David countered calmly. "What she can see is never perfect, based solely on the choices that she can see. But I'm afraid that she is blind right now."
Sherilyn gave David a confused look.
"You repel all gifts Sherilyn," David continued patiently. "That means she cannot see you. Every choice that is related to you at all will be blind to her. We're invisible to her, so the coven will not be as prepared as they were last time."
Sherilyn sank deeper into the bed, feeling the full gravity of the situation on her shoulders. David had just shared the weight of Atlas with her. No wonder he didn't want to share this with anybody else. The knowledge that Aro wasn't as perky and friendly as he pretended was dangerous. Any of them could be killed because of it.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Sherilyn asked again. "What good can it do?"
David nodded his head once. "I need you to carry this information for me Sherilyn," he whispered. "Its not safe for any of us to know all this, so I need to get rid of these thoughts from my mind. If Aro touches me again and learns all that I've put together then it could be curtains for me, even though he loves my gift."
"But how can you protect yourself? Vampires don't get amnesia."
David smiled wickedly. "Actually, that's exactly what I plan to do," he said mischievously. "Aro has overlooked how powerful one of his guard is. Corin, one of the older ones, can actually erase memories."
Sherilyn nodded her head in understanding.
"That's again where you come in," David continued energetically. "I need you to help me fabricate my memories. I trust you to not make them something I'll regret, because I'll never get these memories back."
"You're willing to sacrifice that much David?" Sherilyn asked quietly. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. Knowledge was the only treasure left to vampires that really had any value. Knowledge and time went hand in hand now.
"Yes," he replied confidently. "I will protect my family."
David recoiled from the memory sharply. "Sherilyn," David sighed, covering his face in his hands. "This complicates things even more than you realize. I relearned all of Aro's thoughts tonight when I told him about our family."
He slumped low into the floor, still covering his face with his hands. Sherilyn reached to comfort him, stopping short when David spoke. "Please just leave."
Sherilyn rose, unoffended by David's plea for solitude, whispering "I'm sorry David" as she left the tent.
"No, Sherilyn," David moaned under his breath. "I'm sorry."
