Luckily I stopped to look before I attacked.
It was Carlisle.
My father and brothers had misunderstood my calling for them, they thought I needed help, Emmett and Jasper grabbed the girl and held onto her tight. She let out a blood curdling scream and clawed at my brothers trying to get loose.
"Are you ok?" Carlisle repeated over and over, but I could barely hear him, I was trying to get the girl's attention, if I could just get her to look me in the eye I might be able to calm her.
"Chris!" a sweet voice filled with panic called my name "Chris, Chris, Chris," she continued to call, but no one but me seemed to notice.
My brothers were dragging her to the fire, they were going to kill her. I had to stop them. I struggled to get away from my father.
"Emmett!" I called, my voice hoarse "Jasper…please….no! Let her go I beg of you! Let her go let her go!"
Both my brothers looked at me like I had lost my mind and maybe…I had…after all…I was defending someone who had come here as part of an army intent on killing my family.
"Chriiiiiiiiiiis!" she screamed and despite how strong my brothers are, they were struggling to hold onto her as they carried her closer to the crackling fire.
"Boys, wait!" Carlisle called, finally understanding what was going on, I knew he would, but up until he spoke, I hadn't even realized my father was holding me, nor did I realize I had been fighting to get away from his grasp.
The battle was winding down, the wolves were finishing off the remaining newborns, the girl was the only newborn still putting up a fight, but seriously, who could blame her.
I finally managed to catch the girl's eye. She looked at me pleading, before she let out one more mournful "Chris," before hanging her head in defeat.
Carlisle looked from me to the girl, before he spoke, he gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze.
"Chris," he said softly
"I…I can control her," I said softly "please Carlisle, trust me, she's beat, there is no fight left in her, there was none to begin with, she wanted nothing to do with this battle she only attacked me because I got to close to her hiding spot she was rushing to find a new one and I got in the way."
"Son, did you profile her?" I nodded "and?"
"It's the newborns…their decoys. They were sent here to distract us from the real fight. They think we're planning to attack them, to take their territory it's a bloody set up."
Carlisle's eyes went wide as he nodded.
"And the girl?"
Suddenly I couldn't answer, my mind had gone blank, all I could do was stare at her. Did I? Did I love her? How though, how can I feel this for someone who less than a minute ago had tried to kill me? A girl whose name I didn't even know. None of this mattered to me, none of this made sense.
I feel like I'm dreaming and having a nightmare all at once and for once I cant sort things out. I hate it when I am reminded of what it's like to not be able to profile…
"It's love," Esme's voice filled my ears, "Carlisle…look at the way she looks at him, he is her knight, her prince, he rescued her, oh Christian, my son." Her voice was so happy and I looked over at the girl, was Esme right? I know better than to doubt her…same with Carlisle, but he wanted to hear my words.
"Chris?"
"I can control her, she will listen to me," I replied, I didn't care about love or anything like that…at least not at that moment, I just wanted to protect this girl, help her.
My parents exchanged a look, once again a thought flashing between them with no words, killing the newborns had been tough on my parents, especially Carlisle. The chance to save one of them was too strong for Carlisle to ignore. Carlisle patted my shoulder and walked to the girl.
"Do you surrender?" he asked, his voice level, gentle, yet still authoritative. The girl whimpered and nodded slowly "what is your name?"
She looked up at him quickly, surprised by the simple question? Then I realized why, most of the newborns in the army never gave their real names, their second life was a chance to become someone new. I don't think any of the newborns she had been trained with had given their real names.
"It is all right sweetie, just your name." Esme said softly.
The girl looked my way and I nodded, encouraging her.
"B…B…Bree." She stuttered, as if so unaccustomed to saying her own name. She slowly smiled as if she was reconnecting with her name. "My name is Bree." She finished.
Carlisle returned the smile
"Good, my name is Carlisle," he paused and turned to me "Chris, come here please," Esme released my shoulders. I walked over to my father's side, "we will not destroy you, on the condition that you listen to what we tell you. Do you understand?" she nodded quickly, staring at me, before looking at my brothers wearily. "How much do you remember about what happened to you?"
Bree was quiet for a few seconds, I could see her working the situation out. She took a deep breath and I could hear the whimper in her again.
I didn't even think twice, I held out my hand to her, she looked at Carlisle for permission and when he nodded, she reached out and grabbed my hand tight, holding it as if it was her lifeline, her only lifeline.
"I was coming home from basketball practice…I remember I felt someone grab me from behind, then a burning pain, but I don't remember anything else. Just being around the others…" she looked at us pleading.
There was the look again, like she would cry if she was able to. I could tell she was lying about certain parts of that, which parts I couldn't be sure but she was hiding something though I think it was out of pure shame.
I remembered the newspaper reports, CNN and Fox, most of the missing teen and young adults were runaways, street kids, no ties, no family…I couldn't be sure, but I was willing to bet Bree was one of them, one of the unnamed, never reported missing people that the rest of the city sadly didn't care enough about.
I gave her hand a gentle squeeze,
"It'll come back," I reassured, lying through my teeth. Alice was still waiting for her memories to come back. There was a 99% chance that without help Bree would never learn about her human life. Her past would be easier than Alice's to uncover, but it wasn't a guarantee.
The transformation is the strongest memory most of us have…for some we forget it and everything that occurred before it. But again I'm pretty sure Bree remembered a lot more than she was saying, as if lying had been part of the newborn life too.
Alice had joined our group by now and I could see the smug look on her face, which was fighting with a glare at surprisingly Jasper, I raised an eyebrow and followed the glare to really look at Jasper, he looked worse than I had presumed I did. He was covered in bite marks and his clothes were destroyed.
Obviously Jasper had taken it as his responsibility to be everywhere, mainly of course making sure that Alice was out of harm's way and was paying for that.
"Idiot." Alice hissed before looking at Bree with satisfaction. But I saw a flash on her face, something was right and wrong about this. My sister had predicted a long while back that I would not be alone in our family of perfectly matched couples much longer, but she had flat out refused to go into more detail about it.
I knew by Alice's face this was the beginning of what she had seen, but as both of us have insisted to our family over the years, the future can always change…nothing is ever set directly in stone and it can change very quickly and I knew by her look, this was not how things would end up.
I suddenly felt a wave of pain wash over me, but it wasn't my own, it was Jacob, he was hurt. I had made it a point to remember each of the wolves, since they refused to meet with us in human form I had managed to get an excellent pinpoint of each of their feelings and how they react to certain emotions and at Bella's request I had kept in tune to Jacob especially.
The pain was so real, so intense, that it actually brought me down, doubling over as the entire pack's emotions hit me all at once.
I knew the pack was connected to one another and could read each other's thoughts as well as each other's emotions, the pain Jacob was feeling went through each member of the pack and since I was basically watching and waiting for their emotions, I got hit with backlash.
Bree tightened her grip on my hand, unsure what was going on as she looked around, frightened.
"Chris!?" Carlisle exclaimed, instantly he was at my side, looking me over, trying to make sure I was not hurt "Chris what is it?"
"It's not me…it's…the pack…"
I looked over at Carlisle quickly, he saw the panic and pain on my face and understood what was wrong.
"Who?" he asked
"Jacob, a newborn was hidden and attacked Leah, Jacob jumped in to help her and it crushed him badly. The pack killed the newborn, but he's hurt. I can feel it, I can feel the whole pack, it's their emotions, it's all pain and it's echoing through them and…me" I answered. Carlisle nodded "do you need me?"
"No," Alice spoke up "Edward is coming with Bella, someone needs to control Bree, someone she already trusts."
"It is all right Chris. Alice is correct. Explain to Bree as much as you can. If Jacob has returned to human form you will not be able to calm him and you are needed here." Carlisle paused and looked at my brothers "you can let her go." He ordered gently "but stay close. We don't know how much time has passed since she last hunted. If it has been a while and she reacts to Bella, Chris you may not be able to hold her. Do not take any chances." He paused and looked at each of us, Jasper, Emmett, and I all nodded as Carlisle shot off to the other side of the field to find Jacob.
Esme and Rosalie stepped forward slowly. I recognized their moves, their facial expression. This was how both had approached me all those years ago when I first was brought to my new family.
"Chris, maybe it would be best to take Bree home?" Rose suggested.
I shook my head
"No, she needs to experience Bella's scent. The more she is exposed to it the better she will be at resisting it. I'd rather that now when we are all here to restrain her if we have to."
I looked over at Jaz, if he told me it was a bad idea I would go by his judgment. I trust Jasper over everything, including my own feelings.
All eyes were on Jasper, he walked over to Bree and I, she tensed and cowered into me, hiding her face in my bare neck.
"Look at me!" he commanded, not as gentle as Carlisle had been, but I'm sure more gentle then he had ever been when he had been the commander of a newborn army. "I said look at me!" slowly she pulled her face from my neck. I could feel her shaking, and she was instinctively breathing quicker. She looked at me, unable to look at my brother. Jasper saw this and knew he would never get anywhere this way. "Chris, let go of her."
At first I didn't, but like I said, when it comes to newborn vampires and controlling our kind in general, I trust Jasper completely.
"No, No, No!" Bree shrieked as I pulled myself from her grasp. I knew she would be ok, but it was not easy.
"Now!" Jasper started, he took hold of her shoulders and held them tight. Alice and Rosalie reached over and held me in between them, the three of us knew this would be easier once Jasper took control, but I felt like I was betraying her a bit. "You will look at me when I speak to you. In a few moments a human will be here. She has the smell of the sweetest blood you can imagine." He paused "you will NOT touch her, you will NOT go near her. The only reason you stand here is because of my brother. Newborns are dangerous and newborns who were turned to only fight are even more so. I do not agree with trusting those whose sole purpose is to fight and anyone else would have tossed you onto that fire while you are still alive. But I trust my brother and trust the care he has for you. To long he has been alone and had that care for someone. But if you force us to decide, we will protect our brother's human…whom you WILL not go near." He paused again "understood?"
"Yes," Bree whimpered again
"When she comes I will PERMIT" he put force on the word permit so Bree understood the control Jasper had. After all, following Carlisle Jasper is the oldest in our family and I saw it in Bree's eyes she saw him as second in command of this coven…she obviously didn't realize we were a family…as with most of our kind…the word family is foreign. "I will permit you to stay with my brother Chris." Her eyes brightened at my name "But I expect you to do what he tells you. If he says close your eyes and you hold your breath, you do not question it you simply do it." Jasper looked over at me and nodded. I bent over and in the grass drew a large circle around Bree and a line touching it just in front. "You will stay in that circle. If you move even a hair over that line I will destroy you myself."
Jasper looked at me his face full of sympathy, I knew he would do all he could to keep Bree alive, but if she put Bella at risk even I couldn't deny what had to be done.
Jasper released Bree and she reattached herself to my arm. Jasper had obviously frightened her as she clung to my arm, her nails digging into my skin, but I didn't pull away… for the first time in my life I felt complete…for the first time in my vampire life, I truly felt alive. I had someone I could protect, someone who needed me to protect them, I've never felt like that before.
I may want to do all I can to protect my family, but none of them right out need me to protect them… being the youngest, it tends to go the other way around, but Bree, she did need someone to protect her and she had picked me, she was letting me be her protector.
"He called you brother," Bree whispered so soft I nearly missed it "are you really? You don't look anything alike,"
I grinned. Better explain something's now, 'fore Bella arrives, it might make Bree understand things a little better.
"He is my brother, but not by birth" I paused "or blood" I added carefully "Carlisle, the man who just left," she nodded "he is the one who changed five of us, Edward who is coming here with the human, then Esme." I nodded my head towards my mother who was gazing lovingly at the pair of us "she was next to be changed. Carlisle married her soon after and she has become a mother to all of us, just as Carlisle has become a father to us. Then Carlisle changed Rosalie," Rose gave Bree a gentle smile and nodded "Emmett came next and he and Rosalie are married."
Em for once didn't give his maniacal grin, it was instead gentle and kind to which I was not only thankful…but owed him for.
Bree nodded as she began to understand the base for my story. Family. Love. Home.
"And you?"
I grinned
"I was last to be changed. Carlisle and Edward saved me after I had been nearly crushed to death."
"When?" she asked curious
"1940, during the second world war."
Now Bree's eyes went wide, I had originally thought that she assumed all of us had been changed recently, but now looking in her eyes I could see her surprise, not at my physical age but by my actual age. In fact if anything she had expected me to be older.
"1940?" she repeated "that means you're…you're"
"Eighty in December." Her mouth dropped "if it makes you feel any better, Jasper getting ready to celebrate his 164 birthday." I grinned, this didn't surprise her as much, again I think she saw the authority in Jasper… "and Carlisle is about 366." I paused and looked at her "what is it?"
"Riley…he told us that you were an old coven, that is why your ey…" she looked into my eyes apparently unsure how to compare my eyes to the rest of my family. "-Your eyes are different than ours, that old age had made your eyes that color. He told us that this was your territory and you would come after us for feeding in your territory, but you were old and would be weak, that your abilities were the only thing that would be dangerous."
I blinked in surprise and I wondered what other lies Bree had been fed; lies to keep the newborns somewhat under control, lies to assure loyalty, and a desire to fight.
"No Bree, my family's eyes are that color not because of age. We do not hunt humans." Her eyes went if possible wider.
"You don't feed?"
"I didn't say that," I sighed "we hunt animals. It keeps us satisfied and keeps us in control. We can lead relatively normal lives." I looked over at my family Esme looked so happy, as did Rosalie, Alice's sullen face was a little unnerving but I didn't pay attention to it. I brushed it off as her annoyance with Jasper. "Carlisle is a doctor, he works at a hospital, Esme is an amazing architect, we go to school. It gives us something to do, it's easy to go crazy sitting around doing nothing for twenty-four hours straight."
Bree seemed to smile and relax at the mention of such familiar, everyday human things.
"We can go to school and get jobs?"
I grinned
"Well, to be honest the only job you and I would ever be able to get is in the delivering papers industry." She returned my grin "we're seen as kids, that's why school is worth it. I mean it can get repetitive, but there are worse alternatives. You'll see."
Bree nodded, she still looked nervous and unsure, but at the same time she seemed comforted by my family's presence, for the most part everyone was looking at her gently, comforting (minus Jasper of course who was still on edge).
I still couldn't shake the pit in my stomach, it was gnawing at me, but I could ignore it for now. My feelings, my ability, my hunches, all have been wrong before, no part of my ability is perfect, nothing I profile is set in stone.
Xxx
