A/N- Hey everyone! So I know I waited an extra day to post, but I do have reasons. 1. Fanfiction didn't send my emails one day so I didn't really want to update then. 2. I have some unnecessary drama in my life and it gets worse each day. So right now I haven't felt up to writing or anything. But right now I do so here's the next update! Woot! Enjoy!
BirdieInABox16- Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're still enjoying it!
Superdani- They're like all of the other vampires rolled in one while each being their own character! Yup, time for more drama thanks to the Volturi!
MainlyMaddison- I'm glad you like it! I really did try to keep them in character, especially James.
AnnaMollyPR- Hopefully this will be the longest wait for an update! I'm glad you like it!
EmeraldLace- You'll have to wait a chapter to actually see them right now…
Before I could process anything James had me outside and was on the trail of some caribou. I tried to get out of his grip, but James wasn't letting me go until he was sure that we had the deer securely within our grasp. The hunt was quick and we trained our victims rather quickly. Usually we would be crashing into each other after a replenishing meal, but the atmosphere was so tense that we quickly returned home.
Everyone remained silent, not wanting to be the first one to speak. "Will someone tell me who the Volturi are?" I asked frustrated. I had been wrapped in James' arms while we sat on the lazy boy, but now I had stormed up.
"They are our… governing body. They're old and they are powerful." Eleazar began. "They have a guard that is composed of vampires with special talents."
"Talents?"
"Powers, if you want to call them that. The small Cullen girl, I believe her name was Alice. He has the power of foresight. Her mate can manipulate the emotions of those around her and Edward can read minds. His mate, although human, would most likely also have a power since she seems to be immune to his power."
"How do you know all of this?" I asked.
"Carlisle and I are old friends. I had met Edward before and knew about his power, but I didn't know Alice and Jasper. Carlisle told me while he was here. He was especially interested in Bella though, that's why we were talking about it."
"So does anyone here have powers?" I asked, looking around the group.
"Two of us do." Eleazar explained.
"Who?" I asked.
"You and me."
"Me? I have some power? I haven't been getting any premonitions and I can't hear what you guys are thinking." I said with a gasp.
"Your power isn't like that. You are what we like to call a mirror. Not only can you block another vampire's power, but you can reflect it back on them. I assume that with training you would be able to spread it over a larger group, protecting others and reflecting the attack sent to us on an opposing group."
"How do you know that I have these supposed powers?"
"As I said before, I have a power as well. It's more of a passive power, and observing power. I can sense if another vampire has a power and if they do what it is. That's why I was so valuable to the Volturi."
"Wait, you worked for the Volturi?" I asked. Eleazar nodded, almost regretfully.
"Right now is not the time for a story. Right now, we need to find some way to train you, even though none of us have any powers." Eleazar said.
"How did you know I was a mirror and not something else?" I asked.
"I saw my own power. I had heard of mirrors, but had never seen them." Eleazar said. "Which is also a reason we need to be extra careful when the Volturi get here. Aro, one of the brothers who heads the Volturi, loves to collect vampires with gifts. He adds them to his guard whenever he can. Of course it helps that he has one vampire who can manipulate who you feel loyal to."
"Seriously?" I asked. "Isn't that messing with free will?"
"Yes, but the Volturi don't care about the free will. I think you're going to be able resist Chelsea, no I know you will be able to. I mean, you mirrored me without even knowing it."
"But how can I protect everyone else?" I asked, finally looking at everyone else in the room for the first time in minutes.
"From what I've heard from others with offensive powers, you push the power out and spread it over the desired area."
"So I have to play Jedi mind games without a Jedi master to teach me?" Finally Eleazar laughed, lightening the mood.
"Ya, something like that. Are you up to it?" Eleazar asked.
"I don't have a choice." I replied. "How am I supposed to know if I'm practicing correctly?"
"Well when a vampire doesn't have a power it's just empty when I search for powers. If you can spread your power over them then I should see my power reflected for me."
"So when are we expecting the Volturi?" I asked.
"A few days. It's Aro and his brother Caious. Of course there will be a few guards with them as well." Eleazar said.
"How do you know? How do we know they won't be here tomorrow?" James asked.
"Alice told us. She sought us out while we were in Washington. She found us before the funeral and relayed her site to us. I think Carlisle told her where to find us. Either way she said that they would be here in four days." Tanya explained.
"Which would be three days with the time it took us to travel here and then for you guys to come out." Laurent said.
"So when do we start training?" I asked, looking at Eleazar.
"As soon possible." Eleazar replied. I nodded and followed him to the backyard. The rest of the Denali clan followed, but everyone except James, Eleazar, and myself disappeared into the forest to hunt.
"First you need to come find your mirror. I just want you to relax and search your surroundings in through your minds eye. You should see it, or at least a sign of it.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My fingers tensed at my sides then relaxed as a mental image of myself and everything around me came into view. I didn't see anything differently until I noticed something shimmering in front of me. "I've got it." I said with a smile.
oOoOoOo
We had been training for two and a half days, only taking breaks to feed or when the sexual tension between James and I became too great. Give us a break; we haven't had a reason not to be together since I changed. This is new for us and in my opinion it came far too soon!
So far I had learned how to push my mirror forward. I could move it around a bit too, but making it wider was presenting a challenge. I had figured out how to absorbed someone else and protect them if they stood close enough, but that would be far too obvious if a fight actually came up. Plus if it came to a real fight there would be moving and I wouldn't be able to absorb the other vampire or I might absorb the wrong one.
I had also figured out how to turn off my power, although I don't know why I would, and how to transfer it to someone else. If I really wanted to I would move the rectangular shaped shield to someone else, fixating it before them. They would have no idea, but their attacker and I would know. It did take some time although it was getting faster.
Still Eleazar wanted to work on enlarging the mirror. At first I couldn't make it do anything, but after a major headache I was able to get it to waver. Now I was able to stretch it a bit, but it quickly turned into a headache that forced me to curl into James' arms. He become aware of the warning signs of one of the headaches and would always be quick to come to rescue when they took over. Eleazar would always sigh and then give me a break until the headache had passed.
"Eleazar, it's hurting her too much. We don't even know if Mirrors are supposed to expand!" James growled.
"She can absorb you when it is needed, can't she? That means she can manipulate it." Eleazar replied. "She can do it, I know it."
"It hurts." I moaned.
"I think we're done for today. Hopefully we can get some more training in tomorrow before the Volturi arrive." Eleazar said. He didn't waist any time in disappearing into the forest to hunt. James just picked me up and slowly walked back to our room. We had discovered yesterday that using our vampiric speed only made the headaches worse.
James set me down on the bed and helped me change into more comfortable clothes. As soon as he had also changed into cleaner clothes he climbed in next to me and brought me to his side. I whimpered at the movement, but then curled into the chest more. For the first time the James' cold temperature returned, but it felt so good.
"What if I need to protect everyone and I can't?" I asked.
"Eleazar is putting too much pressure on you to protect us. We can protect ourselves too." James replied. "You need to rest before you meet the Volturi. Aro likes to play mind games so you're going to need to be in top mental shape as well."
"We can't sleep, remember?" I said quietly.
"No, but we can still rest. We just shut down everything. We're aware of everything around us, we just… don't care." James explained.
"Did you do that while I slept when I was human?"
"No, I watched you sleep. You were so calm and yet so interesting. I think I got addicted to watching you sleep when we were first traveling to see the Cullen's the first time."
"That's why you were so protective over me while I slept?"
"One reason, but I don't think there had to be a reason. I just did it. It felt right." James replied.
"I know, and it made me feel safe, especially with Victoria around." I replied. "I knew nothing could hurt me." I smiled up at James and kissed him lightly. My headache was starting to lessen, but I decided to try this vampire rest that James had described.
