The Blood Of One. The Sins Of Many.

Chapter 35: Chaos Ensues

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer; it's unfortunate, but true. I don't own Twilight or any of its characters either... Though I would love to, I can't take credit for that genius. The plot is my own, but all references to Twilight, its characters and the lyrics used belong to their respective owners. Thank you for letting me play in the playground!

God knows what is hiding in this world of little consequence
Behind the tears, inside the lies
A thousand slowly dying sunsets
God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts
Guess the loneliness came knocking
No one needs to be alone, oh singing.

People Help The People by Birdy

Lauren was completely buried into my body. Ryan's growling had made her body fall into stricken shivers of fear. I smoothed from the crown of her head, and down her back in an attempt to sooth her. Unfortunately, the more feral Ryan sounded, the further she fell into little convulsions of shivers. The child was terrified, and I couldn't blame her. We were in a tight spot.

I looked behind me constantly as I cooed at her gently, my murmured reassurances falling on deaf ears. I was making sure we weren't being stalked by the other newborns, yet I still scanned the entrance of the ex-grocery store unsure of what was coming. My heart started hammering so hard I was feeling lightheaded and shaky myself. I was still more pissed off than terrified, but with Lauren in my arms I had the intrinsic need to protect her first and foremost.

Ryan grunted, his head swiveling on his shoulders so he could see me behind him and watch the front doors at the same time. He still wasn't breathing. It was just a constant rumble from his chest. He was making sure we were safe from whatever came at us and he was trying to take everything at once. It was still odd for me to think that he was so protective when my blood made the pain in his throat roar to life. I couldn't explain it, and I wasn't sure I wanted to dig any deeper.

"I'm good. Just watching our backs." I told him quietly as I stroked Lauren's hair. I was cradling her body against mine, but I highly doubted that it hid the rolling shivers that were working down my spine, or the sound of blood rushing through my veins that would probably echo in his ears like a sirens call.

He inched forward as the front boards of the building were kicked in. His power raw instinct as his muscles bunched and tensed ready to spring at whoever came at us. Of course the grand entrance of whoever was at the front echoed around the building, and we were out of luck. I could hear the other newborns shifting through the hole in the wall of the metal box. My eyes locked on the door between the two, trusting that Ryan had whatever was coming from the front.

Panic was like acid in my veins as I strained to hear the bodies moving closer to the swinging doors that led out to the floor we were standing on. Ryan was one vampire, a newborn at that, and I was a human. There was no way we could– When I felt a cool hand on my arm, I jumped and spun around to see Ryan standing straight, his Adams apple bobbing as he pointed to the front doors of the grocery store.

I spun around and almost sighed in relief. We weren't out of danger yet, but Lauren was. Dave was stood at the doors, guns in every space on his person he could find. He'd come for his little girl.

Ryan pointed to himself and back to the doors, then to me and back to Dave. He was telling me to get ourselves out of there. I hated the thought of leaving him there to fight alone, but my first priority in that moment was getting Lauren as far away from the place as possible. With a nod, I took off toward the front of the building, my eyes on my feet as my hands held the small girl to my body protectively.

When I looked up again, I could see Dave's wide, and blackened, eyes staring at me in disbelief as I hurtled toward him. I didn't stop until I was barely three feet in front of him, my breath falling out of me in pants as I skidded to a stop right there in front of him. Tears shone in his eyes as he looked at the child in my arms, and just like that, every tension that should have been between us disappeared.

"Bella– You. You saved her. After I–"

At the sound of his voice, Lauren looked up and launched herself at Dave, and right into his arms. He dropped the gun he was holding and cradled her against his body like she was the only thing that held him anchored. His eyes closed as his hands locked her against him, the tears falling freely now that he had his daughter with him. If the shit hadn't been about to severely hit the fan, I would have spent more time soaking up the reunion. As it was, I was a little high, and a lot distracted.

"Dave, get yourselves out of here. Don't look around, don't come back, and pretend you never saw any of this." I barked out, my eyes flitting to the back of the store, where Ryan was locked in place.

"Bella. Come with us. I can keep you safe."

He had no idea how good that sounded considering what was coming for us, but I had to see this through to the end. High tailing it out of there would do no one any good, and the thought of leaving everyone behind made my stomach roll. I wouldn't abandon them, and I wouldn't rest until I saw Victoria's body disintegrate into ashes before my very eyes.

"I appreciate the offer, but I can't. Get Lauren out of here, Dave. I have to see his ended. I'll find you later."

He nodded sadly as though he'd expected as much and eyed Ryan who was watching the doors, his back to us. Even from this distance you could see the tension in his shoulders as he waited for the attack and fought the smell of human blood that had no doubt strengthened since Dave's arrival.

"Ry–"

"It's too late. You have to get out of here, Dave. I promise I will look after him. You can't be a part of this world. You have to pretend you didn't see any of this, for your own safety. For Lauren's. Do you understand me?"

He nodded in a jerky movement, his eyes finding mine. It was full of apologies and sadness.

"You come and find me when you can, Bella, you hear?"

If I got out all of this alive I would go and say goodbye. Even if it was just reassure him and reiterate the fact that if he breathed a word of what he'd seen he'd be in danger. Now I knew about the Volturi, I wasn't going to risk the people in my life. I would end this with Victoria and move on. It was all I had motivating me right now. I had no idea where my family was or whether any of them were hurt.

"You need to know, it's a war zone out there," Dave said looking over his shoulder. "Whatever fight started in here, the whole neighborhood is now in on it. It's fast turning into a riot."

"Then you get the hell out of here, and you look after that little girl."

He nodded, just as Lauren leaned out of his embrace and locked her eyes on mine. "Bye, Bella."

"Bye, sweetheart. You look after your daddy, 'kay?"

She nodded and crumpled into him again. Dave didn't hesitate. He turned and bolted from the door, his big arms cradling the child against his chest. I took a second to breathe, my hands on my hips as I drew a deep breath in and let an even bigger one out. I had to find the others. I had to let them know I was safe. This had turned into the biggest mess possible if what Dave had said was true. Sadly, the surreal buzz from the last of the Heroin in my system really wasn't helping either. I was going to light up Victoria's ass for that, I really was.

I looked over my shoulder at Ryan. He was as still as a statue as his eyes locked on the door that lead to the back of the store and that metal room we'd been trapped in. I had no doubt he would stand guard there for as long as I needed him too, but we couldn't hang around. We needed to find the others.

I whistled once getting Ryan's attention, he looked over his shoulder at me, looking disappointed.

"Get out of here, Bella."

"Not without you. Come on, we have to find the rest of my group."

"No. I can't let these savages out into the world. You go."

I was finally starting to see how much a hero complex could be a huge pain in the ass. As much as I agreed about the newborns, he couldn't take them all on again, and he couldn't be left alone. If he took off and came across a human, there was no telling what he would do. He'd held on for too long already. I needed to make sure that he didn't taste human blood, I was afraid he'd be lost to the bloodlust.

"Not leaving without you buddy."

I heard him grumbling at the other end of the store as he started shoving things against the door, and stacking them so it would slow them down. He'd messed them up pretty badly the first time around. Maybe it was enough to keep them inside until they could come back for them.

He addressed me from the other end of the store, his hands fisting and releasing as though he were concentrating with everything he had.

"This thirst thing is getting worse, Bella. I don't think... I don't want to hurt you. I need you to try and keep me from attacking someone. It hurts, my throat is on fire and everything in me is telling me to drain you dry. If I become a danger, promise me you'll run."

"I promise," I said easily, strength in my voice as I held my head up high. I wasn't suicidal. All of this had been about finally living. I wasn't going to go and get myself killed now. Not after what I'd already fought to get through.

"I hate this."

"I know. I promise I will get you help with this, but you have to be strong."

He nodded and sucked in a large amount of breath. His eyes slamming shut as he gathered himself after the shock of smelling my blood on the inhale. He approached slowly, looking a little more comfortable now the fog had cleared. I took point and moved to the door ahead of him. As I stepped through the gap that Dave had created, my breath left me in a rush.

I'd thought Dave had been exaggerating about the chaos on the streets. I'd thought he was just sensationalizing it to get me to go with him, but as my eyes scanned the area around the store I realized how understated the word riot had actually been.

A small strip mall across the street was blazing against the darkness of the night sky, and people were fighting in front of it. There were holes in the buildings surrounding it, many of them brought to rubble. There were smaller fires burning with small cloying clouds of deep saccharine smoke reaching into the dull glow of the sky above it. Humans were smashing anything around the edges of the fighting, their battle cries ringing out along with gunshots and the gleaming of weapons in their hands.

Beyond the fire I could hear the thunder that Ryan had alluded to, and knew that was where the others had moved the fight. They wanted to be out of sight. Their fight concealed by the chaos of the humans own need to destroy everything.

In a word; it was bedlam. They were leveling the neighborhood.

"We have to get around the humans."

"How?" Ryan forced out, using a small amount of his oxygen.

I put my hands on my hips and stared out at the problem in front of me. There were humans everywhere. My eyes lifted to some of the buildings that were, as of yet, untouched around the mess. I hated putting Ryan in a bad situation, but I couldn't think of another way.

"You want to try some more of that vampire strength of yours?"

He shrugged.

"You may have to carry me. Is that too much for you?"

Ryan looked at me for a moment. I could see him trying to edge closer, his mind processing the heat in my body and the tumbling beat of my heart and the flood of blood through my veins. He got so close I could feel the coolness of his skin as it ebbed through his clothing and washed over me. I knew he was testing himself. Making sure that he could handle having me that close. When he finally held out his arms, I sighed in relief and gave him a nod.

He pulled me into his arms easily, cradling me against his chest as his arms locked in on my neck.

"Focus, Ryan. We'll get you something to drink the moment this is over."

He closed his eyes and swallowed a couple of times. He was still not breathing.

"You need to jump up on that roof and follow them around. You're capable of covering a lot of distance quickly now. You can jump to that building across the street and carry us around. You good with that?"

Ryan didn't acknowledge the question, he just leaped into action, his body bunching and moving quickly as he followed the path I'd laid out. None of the humans below on the ground noticed our path, and as we leaped over them the noise was enough to rattle my molars. It was like hell on earth had been unleashed.

I tried to keep my eyes closed as we traveled. It seemed to go faster that way. Ryan, being so new to it all was surprisingly fluid and graceful in his movements, and when he came to a stop, I allowed my eyes to flash open. We were still on the roof, but below was another kind of chaos.

There were vampires everywhere, and now two wolves were in the mix. Most of the family was in view and eased me a little, but there was no Victoria, Luke, or Edward anywhere to be seen. Ryan lowered me to my feet on the roof next to him and looked over at me.

I knew he was wondering who I was looking for. I could see the curiosity in his eyes as he scanned the fight going on below us. Then his head turned to the west, his body lowering into an attack stance as his growl rose in his throat again.

"Oh, now this is disappointing," Victoria said, landing on a thin wall and pacing slowly. "I'd thought he'd be the one to end you. Especially when it was your name he screamed out in his nightmares."

Ryan cringed but stayed in his attack stance. The growl he was emitting simply got louder. Victoria really did have a way of pissing people off.

I was so tired of hearing her voice. She was just clucking away like a mother hen as she paced the small ledge of the building, her red hair fanning into the wind as it swept around her. She still moved like a cat, she still had that undeniable grace she'd always had, but her eyes were crazed. Rosalie was right about her. She'd lost her mind.

"Still, the debt is settled. Apparently, Luke doesn't like knowing his Bella has been playing with other vampires." She ran her finger along her neck and made a cracking sound before letting out a laugh that was close to a hyena's.

I dove forward, but strong arms caught me until I was flailing like a flag in the wind. My body twisted and bent to get out of the grip. I was going to tear her throat out with my bare hands. I was going to light up her ass like she was a fucking candle and stomp on her until the flames went out.

"You sick fucking bitch." I screamed as Ryan pulled me back against his body, his arms going around my waist holding me against his body. I didn't believe Edward was gone. I couldn't. He would never have been incapacitated that easily, especially not be someone like Luke. She was, once again, pushing my buttons and she knew it.

Victoria curtsied on the lip of the building. With a flash of her teeth, she held out her hand, her smile triumphant. "I'll take that as a compliment. Now, come to me, Ryan."

I looked up at Ryan over my shoulder. Was he tied to her in some way? Did he– His eyes narrowed with raw hatred and his lips peeled back over his teeth until even I was shrinking back. I guess that answered that question.

"Go to hell, you megalomaniacal whore."

"You said–" Victoria hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"I lied," Ryan said. "You think I have any interest in you whatsoever? You're a cold, bitter bitch. You live for vengeance, and it shows the ugliness in that pretty exterior of yours. Maybe one day you'll get the concept of self-preservation, but by the looks of it, the hot blonde behind you won't let you live that long."

Out of the shadows of the building behind her, Tanya flew through the darkness and knocked Victoria to the ground of the roof. The two of them rolled over the tar and stone mixture until Tanya was straddling Victoria's waist, pinning her to the ground below.

"You really think I'm hot?" Tanya asked, winking at Ryan.

Was she seriously flirting while pinning Victoria down as though she were an inanimate object? I could swear the woman could flirt in the apocalypse. She never missed an opportunity. It was a little inappropriate, but hell this was Tanya we were talking about.

Victoria let out a feral scream, bucking wildly under Tanya's body, but she was immovable. A force of nature that would counter any move Victoria tried to make against her.

"Will you just shut up?" Tanya growled. "I would end you right now, but I made a friend a promise and... Oh, here she is now."

I looked up and saw Rosalie crouched on the edge of the building, and man did she look pissed. Her blonde hair was a mess, falling out of the neat braid she'd put in before we'd left the hotel. Her jeans were torn and dirty, and her shirt was ripped up one side. She'd been fighting hard. Her normally golden eyes were a flat black as she glared at the woman writing under Tanya's hold.

"Bella?" she said, her eyes moving from Victoria to me, softening only a little. Her eyes moved over my body checking for injuries and to the man behind me, still holding my arms. He dropped his hands quickly, but stayed close.

"I'm fine. Not a scratch." Just a little high and freaked out. I finished in my head.

She nodded and stepped off the ledge, her body's raw power in a prowl as she circled her prey. Victoria watched her, her red eyes not moving from the lithe body that fell gracefully into a crouch next to her.

"Tanya, are you comfortable?" Rose ground out.

Tanya grinned and wiggled over Victoria's body. "Yup."

"Good, because this is going to take a while."

I'd never seen Rose looking as animalistic as she did in that moment. There was raw power in her muscles, and hatred shining from her face as she looked down at the vampire pinned under Tanya. She took one of Victoria's arms from under Tanya's hold. She caught Victoria's eyes with her own and smiled viciously.

"I will have you scream for every piece of harm you've caused." She ripped a finger from the hand she had in hers. Victoria's eyes narrowed and she simply smiled. Rosalie took it as a sign to continue, her body working quickly until Victoria was beginning to grunt in discomfort. She dismantled her piece by piece until Victoria's screams bounced from the surrounding buildings.

The pain on Victoria's face began to crescendo, her features twisting and distorting. Rosalie continued to work, ignoring the sound emitting from the woman she was working on. I could feel Ryan shifting beside me. I wasn't sure if it was his hunger, or the torture that was making him uncomfortable.

I stepped out of his body, but he didn't move to follow. He stayed where he was as I moved to Victoria's side and lowered myself to my knees next to her head. Something inside of me shifted as she threw back her head and screamed so loud it made my blood run cold.

As much as I wanted to see her hurt for what she'd done, this wasn't right. This was something she would do. Rose and Tanya were better than that, and as much as I loved them for doing this for me, I knew it was time to end it. It was time to put her out of her misery and watch her ashes scatter in the wind.

"No more, Rose."

"You sure?"

I nodded, and she sat back. Victoria stilled against the ground, pain still distorting her features as her eyes moved slowly to me. She was panting in pain, but the hatred shone from her eyes. She didn't want my pity. She saw this as a weakness in me.

"You're. Pathetic." She heaved out.

I laughed once, the sound sharp and contradictory to my emotions. I had known she would always hate me. I had expected this hatred from her, and I knew she wouldn't take pity gracefully. She'd been dead for a while. She'd died the night we'd killed James. The only thing keeping her going was her retribution and anger. It shone out of her eyes as she glared at me.

"That may be," I said quietly. "But don't mistake this for a weakness, Victoria. I'm tired of running, tired of fearing you, and tired of looking over my shoulder. All this time, and you still can't see that you haven't lived since James died. I want to watch you die, just like you made me do with my father."

I looked down as something was placed in my hand. It was a gold Zippo lighter. Victoria noticed the exchange as well, her eyes going wide with fear. She was finally seeing where all of this was going.

"I don't fear you now. I haven't in a while. I pity you because the truth is you're pathetic. You're all alone. A bitter bitch with nothing but hatred and vengeance."

I flipped open the lighter, the clink of metal echoing through the night. The rasp that followed gave way to the orange glow of the flame that danced in the wind. I lowered it to the mane of red hair and held it until the fire took. Victoria screamed bloody murder, Rose and Tanya pulled me away from the inferno that began and took over quickly. Rose kicked the pieces she'd ripped from the woman's body into the lick of flames that were consuming her.

I stood between two of my best friends, looking down at the one thing that had made my life miserable as she was decimated into a dust pile in front of our very eyes. Much like Carlisle, I hated the thought of taking a life, but I couldn't have had one while she was still alive. She would never have let me live without always being a thundercloud over my head. Her purpose in life for the last six years was to make mine miserable before killing me.

"What the hell just happened?" Ryan asked as he approached, his body stiffening as my blood filled his nose.

"Freedom." Rose murmured, her arm going around my waist and pulling me into her side so our temples met in the middle. "Absolute."

"Freedom," I whispered as the wind carried the ashes off the roof and into the darkness of the night.

Authors Note: I had a bit of a battle going on in my head when I wrote this. I realize that the end of Victoria was probably a little easier than you expected. As much as I was willing to go to a fight, I wasn't sure that Ryan would be able to hold on that long. Then there was Tanya and Rose. They love Bella too much to ever let her down, which is why they waited to attack Victoria until Bella was there. Victoria didn't have a chance. I wanted to show that.

We have three chapters left, and I hope you enjoy them, so we're not through just yet! ;)

Thank you all for reading, adding to your alerts and favorites, and thank you for the reviews. For taking time our of your day to let me know what you think and giving me your thoughts on what may happen next. You guys have been so amazing! I love you all.

PinkIndeed... I adore you and thank you for always being such a supportive friend.

Hev99 and Sabi'sSookie... I don't know what I would do without the two of you. I love you to the ends of the earth and beyond ;)

MWAH!