Chapter Thirty Eight
Bella
I had no idea what they were talking about and Jasper could see this,
"I guess its time to tell you my story Bella."
"Well its daylight now and we are in company so go ahead."
Emmett looked puzzled but I just smiled at her recollection of my words and started,
"How I became a vampire isn't important at this point except to introduce you to my sire, Maria. She holds huge territories in Mexico and was looking for someone to lead them. I was a Major in the Confederate Army and she hoped I would be a good commander. She was right I was, I was also a very good fighter."
"The best"
I scowled at Peter but he shrugged,
"Hey its the truth. That why she kept you alive so long."
"Ignore him Bella. It's not something I was proud of but I was an excellent killing machine, humans, animals, vampires it didn't matter to me. I got my orders and I carried them out. I was also good at keeping her newborn army under control and training them. That's new vampires by the way. Newborns are formidable fighting machines but only for about a year then they lose their extra strength and Maria would have me destroy them and make new ones for her. We waged war all over Mexico and into Guatemala, we also raided Texas for new blood and its there I came into conflict with Caius Volturi. I had no idea at the time who he was of course, not that it would have made any difference. Maria had heard of a village close to the Mexican border that was rumoured to be the lair of a wolf pack, not like the Quileutes but werewolves and she wanted to see if they could be turned by our venom. If so they would be a great asset in her constant fight for new territory. I took a group of newborns and we raided the village looking for the wolves. We had captured a number of them in human form and wanted to get them back to our compound before the full moon. As we were about to leave a number of other vampires arrived led by Caius Volturi and ordered us to hand over our prisoners. I refused and there was a fight, I lost most of my newborns but escaped with the wolves in the confusion. He chased us over the border but ran into more of Maria's men who had come to meet us. They took the wolves back to Maria's while I and a few others stayed behind to delay Caius and his men. There was a fight and he lost his group and almost his life in the fight. Caius Volturi escaped the flames only because reinforcements arrived from his camp, but he was torn to pieces and as far as I l know he still has three odd fingers which replaced the ones I destroyed. He vowed to get even but decades passed and I left Maria and joined Alice, then the Cullens. I guess I should have known he would never forget what happened."
"What about the werewolves?"
"They lived for a while, Maria split them into two groups, one we changed before the full; moon but they stayed vampire and never change to wolves again. They were good fighters but almost uncontrollable in their savagery. The other group were bitten as they transformed and most died straight away. Two survived in wolf form and their bite was venomous but it killed, it didn't transform others and Maria in her disappointment ordered them killed. They were the last of the werewolves and Caius feeling he'd been cheated vowed that one day he would find and destroy me."
"So you have to kill him before he kills you?"
"No, it will be impossible to kill him, he has the entire Volturi guard behind him and his brothers Aro and Marcus."
"Then what do we do?"
"We find Alice Cullen and we kill her. Without her help his chances of trapping me are nil and he will go back into his shell until he gets another opportunity. Which he will eventually."
"I understand why he wants you now but why the Cullens?"
"Carlisle was quite influential in our world and the more who joined him, especially gifted vampires like Edward and Alice, the more threat they were to the Volturi and Caius will never give up his control over our world."
Thinking about this I was suddenly aware that I could lose Jasper having just found him, he could be snatched away from me at any moment and that upset me, it made me angry and I felt a sudden feeling as if something was building up in me. It felt as if I were getting ready to explode my body was so full.
"Stop Emmett".
He was startled by my cry but he slammed the brakes on and I scrambled over Jasper to get out before something terrible happened. The others followed me looking concerned and I understood they thought the story of Jasper's past had frightened me to such an extent that I was fleeing. This calmed me to a degree but I knew something was going to happen. I could feel it and I closed my eyes holding out my hands as they started to tingle then I heard a gasp and opened my eyes once more. I could still see the others but they were behind a shimmering curtain of gold hued air. I looked round at Jasper only to find him my side of the curtain.
"What's happening to me?"
I was scared and he came to me slowly and put his arms around me, pulling me close and kissing my cheek,
"Its OK Bella, I'm fine, you can let go now. Just relax, listen to my voice, feel my love".
I tried to breathe and his scent washed over me with a feeling of love and peace so strong it almost knocked me over and I saw the gold shimmer fade away slowly until it was gone.
Peter
I thought Bella had flipped out hearing The Majors story and we scrambled out of the car after her, unsure whether to approach or not. Then we saw it, a golden curtain drift between us and Bella, but The Major was inside it. I tried to move forward as Bella closed her eyes but I couldn't, it was as if there were a vast gulf between us that I couldn't cross. We heard his words and saw her hands fall slowly to her sides, the golden shimmer disappear until it was gone and I could move again.
"What the fuck was that all about?"
Charlotte looked at me and smiled,
"That Peter is the power of love."
"Isn't that a fucking song?"
"No idiot. Its Bella's gift revealing itself for the first time. She understood that The Major was in danger, threatened, and she protected him. If she'd been in the car when that happened I don't think any of us would be here now. She felt that and she got out of the confined space to prevent it".
"You mean she's a shield? Cool!"
"Not if it only protects them Emmett. What about us? We end up as chopped liver on the fucking floor."
My words registered with him but Charlotte smiled,
"I think with a little practise Bella will be able to control it And she may be able to protect us all."
"Well I just hope you're fucking right."