ALICE
A couple hours after the angering and painful meeting with Edward, Kenzi was back at the Denalis' house. She was in a deep and peaceful sleep, compliments of Jasper, in her nice warm bed. Tanya and Kate were there to keep an eye on her. I would have much rather have been the one to sit with her, but I knew that there were more urgent matters that I had to attend to.
That's how I found myself standing, with my family, in the center of the circle of our army, preparing to brief them on what happened with Edward and what was about to happen next. Needless to say, only part of my mind was there. The rest was with Kenzi.
"The meeting with Edward," I began. "Went just as I had expected. Edward not only declined our offer to step down without force, but he hurt and threatened Kenzi's older sister, Kari, in an attempt to scare us away from a war. As much as I hate to say it, his tactics didn't work. Even though, my family and I have become very fond of Kari in the little bit of time that we knew her, before we left, we understand that we can't put everything in jeopardy because of one human. I hate the idea of seeing any one human suffer at the hands of Edward, but we don't have the luxury to pick and choose which humans get saved. They're all important and need an equal chance. Kari's suffering will be regrettable and unfair, but there isn't much we can about it. Kari understands this. She knows that she might get out of her position alive and that's fine with her. As long as we save as many of the others as we can and kill as many of those bastards that we can get our hands on. So, let's do everything in our power to win this war and save those girls. That way, Kari's suffering won't be in vain."
A murmur of general agreement went around the circle, and then everyone fell silent. To me, it felt like a respectful silence. Not one of mourning, but of gratitude. Gratitude for what Kari was willing to go through in order to save the future of the human race. I let it linger for a long moment, praying that Kari would make it through all of this.
"Now, we've already declared war on Edward and he's not the type to sit around waiting for someone to make the first move. If I know him, he's already got some kind of plan. This means that we have to get started on ours. I know that you're all worried about our army being smaller than Edward's is. That would be a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that he doesn't know how big our army is. He's already admitted that he thinks we've only been able to gather fifty together. And yet, here we are standing at a strong two hundred. We may not be able to surprise attack him the first time, but as long as we stick to the plans we've been making, he won't be able to make sense of how we're doing so much in such a short space of time and even when he figures it out, he'll be too shocked to know what to do." I finished with a smug smile. I wasn't positive about the last part, but why not give them a little more hope. "We need to take this time to prepare our defense as well as our offense and make sure we're ready when Edward does strike. The team leaders and I have spent the last couple of days splitting all of you up into your proper groups. We factored in everything from diet, to potential, and personality and put every one of you in the group that we felt would fit you best. Then we discussed what your first steps in this are going to be. I will be handing you over to the capable hands of my family very shortly, because I have to get back to my daughter. I'll be around to check on all of your progress when she's goes to sleep. However, my sister has some things that she'd like to say."
I stepped back and let Rosalie step forward. This was the part that I was going to hate. The part that made me look like a selfish coward. The family, however, insisted that it was necessary. I hated the idea of taking two perfectly able vampires away from this fight, when the humans needed them more than I did. In fact, the only reason why I had eventually agreed was that the family brought Kenzi into it. They convinced me that this was as much for her as it was for me. I would not have agreed, if I could've proved otherwise. Still, it might not be too bad having someone to help me protect and take care of her.
"As Alice said, we've spent the last few days going through and sorting everyone into the groups that we feel would best benefit from them. We realized, though, that if we used the exact numbers that Alice wanted per group, we'd have two extra. Alice's solution was simple; just give Jasper and Emmett the extra. Their groups would need all the help they can get. However, the family and I felt that there was one other place that would benefit from having them around. One place that Alice completely forgot about when she was delegating the rules. She forgot to consider the fact that Edward would have recognized her as our leader by now. That, of course, means that he'd immediately try to break her. Now, I'm not saying that we couldn't go on with this war without her, because we could, but it wouldn't be right to let her get slaughter when she's the reason why we're already here. She's the one who gave us this better idea to hope for. Why should she be put at risk of getting killed before she has a chance to realize this dream?" Rosalie explained, using the same argument that the family used with me the other day. "Besides, she's our family and we don't want anything bad to happen to our family. That's why we decided she should be given two bodyguards."
To my surprise, there was a general murmur of assent throughout the group. Everyone seemed to agree with Rosalie. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure that they would all get angry and think that I was being selfish.
"The family and I have discussed it at great length with each other, as well as with Kenzi and have decided that the two best people for this job are Galen and Quinn." she continued, not sounding in the least bit surprised by everyone's agreement to the bodyguard idea.
I was even more shocked by who the family decided on; than I was by the fact that everyone seemed to like the idea. I mean, Galen and Quinn had been the most angered and hurt by the things we did to them in the past. In fact, I was sure that they were both still extremely bitter. Surely, they couldn't do the job of protecting someone I cared without being bias.
On the other hand, Kenzi was indeed an innocent human who had her life ripped away from her, just like they did. That might be enough to keep them protecting her. I could live with that. As long as Kenzi was safe, I could live with anything.
Jasper, who could feel my shock and confusion, turned to me with a sad smile on his face.
"I know what you're thinking right now, Alice." he said, in a tone that made me think for a minute that he actually still cared for me. "But there are reason why chose them. They were our fiercest fighters during the first war. They fought for our case even when they didn't believe in it or want anything to do with it. They still fought hard and were the reasons we won a great number of our fights."
"Not only that, but they were extremely loyal to us." Bella continued standing next to Jasper. For the first time in a month, her tone was not antagonistic or scathing. "And not just because they had to be. We all know the Volturi offered all of our men many chances to go to their side with the promise of getting their families out of Edward's grasp, but they didn't. Instead, the continued fighting for us. Most importantly, though, they were the most protective of their follow men. They would jump in front of an attack for anyone, whether or not they liked that person. I seem recall Galen saved your life at least twice."
I hadn't forgotten those two times, especially not the first time.
Aro, who had known how my power worked, had been playing with the holes in my vision and I could only guess the outcome of this particular battle. Thankfully, Edward was a better leader than I was a psychic and he managed to get us out of it, but not before I got into it with Caius and Jane.
Jane had caught me off guard with her gift and was using it to give Caius the chance to destroy me, but Galen stopped him. It was amazing. He just swooped in out of nowhere, before Caius could even get close enough to me, picked me up off the ground and ran with me, until I was out of reach of Jane's gift.
I tried to thank him when he put me down, but he didn't want to hear it. He just flashed me a wink and walked back into the battle.
"And, more importantly still," Rosalie continued pulling me out of my memory. "These are the two that Kenzi is most comfortable with. And we know how important Kenzi's comfort is to you."
I nodded feeling a little better about this. At least, about Galen, that is. I still wasn't too sure about Quinn. That fact that he was not a vegetarian scared the hell out of me. What if he lost control and Kenzi was his unfortunate victim? I suppressed a shiver at the thought.
"That being said," Rosalie continued and turned to look at the two vampires who had come to stand in front of her. "I know we haven't had the best history and you probably still don't like us much. That's fine. It wouldn't be right of us to ask for forgiveness. However, we are trying hard to make up for it, now. And it would be kind of hard to do, without our leader. So, Galen, Quinn, I'm asking if we can put the past and whatever negative feelings behind us from now until the end of the war? Can you protect Alice and Kenzi to the best of your ability, despite what happened before? If you can't, please tell us now and we'll find someone else. Galen?"
"Yes, I can." Galen answered. I could hear the sincerity ringing in his voice and it made me feel a little better.
"Quinn?"
Quinn stood there for a moment without answering. That worried me a little more. Was he going to say no? I could understand if he was hesitant about protecting me, but Kenzi was just a little girl. She was a defenseless human. Surely, there was no way he could be considering saying no to protecting a sweet and innocent girl like her.
It was extremely frustrating and, for the first time since I'd known him, I found myself wishing that I had Edward's gift. I wanted so desperately to know exactly what Quinn was thinking. To know if there was anything that I could have done to influence his answer.
"Yes." he finally answered. I was relieved to hear the same level of sincerity in his voice that I had heard in Galen's a few minutes before.
"Good." Rosalie told them with a nod of her head, and then she turned back to me. "Are you okay with this?"
"Yes." I answered. "But I want to warn both of you that Kenzi is and will be my first priority at all times. I will not leave her alone. That means, one of you will be with her at all times, especially if I've gone somewhere that's unsafe for her to be. If, by chance, she's with me, and there's an attack, the most important thing is for you to get her out of harm's way. If I get hurt or die in the process, oh well. She needs to live. That being said, if either of you let anything bad happen to her, I will rip you apart and burn the pieces myself. Do you understand?"
They both looked at me like I was crazy for a long time, but I could eventually see understanding on their faces. There had been a time when each of them had to do what needed to be done to protect the ones they loved. They knew what that felt like and could understand where I was coming from. They both nodded in understanding after a few minutes.
"Good." I replied. "Rosalie, is there anything else?"
"No, go take care of your daughter." she answered with a small smile. "We can take care of the rest."
"Thank you." I told her, and then took off into the woods with my new bodyguards on my flanks.
KARI
I woke up in Edward's bed, sometime later, unsure of exactly how I got there. I wasn't sure if it was the cool, sweet breath blowing in my face or the nearly frozen hand brushing lightly across my forehead that woke me, but I immediately started to panic. Only vampires had those two particular traits, and considering that I was in Edward's room, I assumed that it was him waiting for me to wake up so he could have his fun. My heart sped up and my breathing hitched as I quickly opened my eyes.
"SHH." I heard Ben's soothing voice as my eyes locked with his. "It's only me. Edward and some of the coven went out to dinner. They won't be back for a few more hours."
I knew I should've been calming down as the recognition sent in, but I couldn't. I was relieved that it was Ben lying beside me, rather than Edward, of course, but I was also angry at the same time.
How dare Ben do this to me? He, once again, stood there and did absolutely nothing while Edward broke my arm. Now, he was lying next to me and stroking my hair, like comforting me was going to make up for what he did not do in that clearing. That was not going to fly with me, anymore.
"You had me worried." he said. "You've been out for nearly eight hours. I thought you weren't ever going to wake up."
He leaned over to kiss me, but I pulled away from him and into a sitting position. I gave him what I hoped was my best death glare as I positioned myself a good five feet from him.
Hurt flashed through his eyes at my reaction. It was quickly replaced by worry and confusion.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Do you know?" I asked.
"Did I know what?" He replied.
"Did you know that Edward was going to do this?" I answered raising my right arm.
If I hadn't been so angry, I would've been shocked to discover the hunk of plaster that covered it from hand to elbow. I didn't think that Edward would care enough to make sure that it healed probably. However, my current anger with Ben overrode the feelings of shock and confusion.
He bit his lip and looked down at the bed.
"Yes." he answered sadly.
This answer only increased my anger. I could not believe that. He claimed to care about me, but did nothing to stop something like this from happening to me. What the hell was wrong with him?
"And you didn't do anything to stop it?" I asked, utterly hurt.
"I wanted to, but we both know what would've happened if I did." Ben answered. I could tell that he was making a sincere effort to not be upset with me. "He would've killed me on the spot and you probably would've ended up with two broken arms, or worse, a broken leg."
I couldn't believe that he thought that I cared about what happened to me. Did he not realize what his lack of emotion during those times did to me?
"Yeah, well, two broken arms and a broken leg would've been ten times better than this." I replied.
"What's that supposed to me?" he asked, still trying to control his anger.
"Just that two broken arms and a broken leg would've been less painful than what I was forced to endure."
"How?"
"Because, Ben, I can deal with physical pain. I've spent half my life enduring it." I explained. "But when I have to be hurt emotionally at the same time, it's worse. Especially when I have to endure being hurt with someone who is supposed to love me, watching and acting like it doesn't bother him at all. Do you realize what that does to me?"
"I understand, Kari, but you know what Edward would do to me, if he found out I was a traitor." he sighed, clearly frustrated.
I let out a frustrated growl and ripped at my hair with my good hand.
"You just don't get it, do you?" I yelled frustrated. "You have absolutely no idea how much it hurts me to endure these punishments when you're standing there, watching, and acting like you don't give a damn about me. Hell, sometimes I feel like you enjoy my pain as much as they do."
"That's not true." he growled back.
"That's not the point." I answered. "The point is, you have no idea how hard it is for me to deal with seeing you look at me like I mean nothing to you, when I'm in that kind of pain."
"Actually, I think I do." he replied, finally sounding angry. "It's just as hard for me to stand there and pretend like I don't give a damn."
"Then why don't you do something about it!" I couldn't help but yell.
The anger on his face was replaced by a sadness and hurt, so strong that I felt some of my anger disappear. I couldn't believe that I was hurting him like this. Part of me, wanted to apologize and just let it go. The guy was doing the best he could, after all. Then I remembered every day the past month where he just stood there and let Edward hurt me. I remembered how much all of that cost me and I was not ready to give up this fight yet.
"I can't." he whispered looking at the bed.
"Why not?"
"Because if I do, then Edward will kill me." he answered. "And that means that you'll be left here, alone, with him. That reality is even harder for me to consider than it is to watch him hurt you. And I refuse to let it come true. If I'm going to die, it's going to be after I know you're safely away from Edward."
"Well, I can't do this anymore." I said, no longer angry, just sad. "It hurts too much to have you here telling me how much you love and care about me, one minute, then seeing you act just the opposite the next. I can't stand it anymore."
"What are saying?" Ben asked.
I could see the hurt and sadness on his face. Upon seeing that face, I wanted nothing more than to put these thoughts out of my mind and take him into my arms. I wanted to tell him that it was okay and I'd deal with it until we could figure something else out. That was how much I didn't want to hurt him. However, I knew that I had to think of my own sanity if I was ever going to make it through this.
"I'm saying that I think it might be better for me, if you leave now and stay away, until you decide what's most important to you." I whispered unable to meet his eyes. Instead, I stared down at the sheets.
"No, Kar…" he said and I felt his hand brush my cheek. I pulled away, knowing that if I gave in now, I would not be able to go through it.
"Just go." I choked out unable to keep the tears away.
"Fine. I'll leave, but I'm not going to go away." he whispered.
I did not say anything to that and just continued looking at the bed with tears falling down my cheeks. I felt his forefinger and thumb grip my chin and gently force me to look at him. I could see hurt and sadness written all over his face.
"I do, love you, Kari." he said. "And I'll do everything in my power to prove that to you."
Once again, I did not answer. I just continued to cry as I watched him get up and walk out the door.
Once he was gone, I pulled my knees up to my chest, noticing for the first time that I was dressed, and laid my head in them, before losing it completely.
I was so lost in my grief over what had just happened, that I did not noticed the door open or someone sit on the bed next to me, until I felt the cold hand on my shoulder a few minutes later.
"What's wrong, treat? Did you and lover boy have a fight?" A familiar mocking voice said in my ear.
I knew the voice very well. It was one that was always with Edward, whenever he took me out of the room. It was also constantly in my mind, too. It would tell me over and over the things that it wanted to do to me when Edward wasn't around. It was a voice that sent shivers up and down my spine and made goose bumps erupt all over my body. And even if the owner of it had yet to hurt me, it still frightened more than even Edward's.
I panicked the second a heard it and snapped my head up to be sure that he wasn't just in my head again. My eyes met the cold black ones of Dimitri's and I gulped knowing nothing good was coming. I suddenly wished that I had not just sent Ben away.
"D-d-dimitri, s-s-sir," I stuttered trying to calm myself. "I thought you went to dinner with Master and the others."
"Well, I was going to." he said running his cold hand up and down my arm. "Just for the fun of it, but then Mike decided to go and Edward asked me to stay and keep an eye on you." He leaned close to me and took a whiff of my hair. I blanched and he chuckled. "And I couldn't pass up the chance to finally get my hands on you. Besides, why would I want to go out to dinner, when we have things here that are so much more delectable," he smelled my neck this time. I flinched. "Than anything you could find on the streets, right here."
He licked my neck then and I tried to pull myself away from him. He took his free hand and locked it with the one around my shoulder, creating a steel cage around me. I was unable to move anywhere.
"Now, now, none of that." he whispered seductively. "I just want a taste."
"M-m-m-master doesn't like to share his things." I managed to whisper. "Especially his pets."
"I'm well aware of that, treat." he responded and pulled me up to sit in between his legs. "But what Edward doesn't know won't hurt him. Just like what Edward doesn't know won't hurt you or young Benjamin, will it?"
My heart rate picked and my breathing hitched as I start to panic. Surely, he didn't know. There's no way that he could have known which side Ben was really on. He was so good at hiding it. How could Dimitri ever have figured it out?
"I don't know what you're talking about." I stated, but knew he could hear my racing heart.
"Now, now, there's no reason to lie, m'dear." he replied planting a kiss on my neck. "I know all about the two of you. You're both very good, though. The way you act like you don't mean anything to each other, but I'm a fairly intuitive person. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in your cries of pain when Edward hurts you in front of him. It was so obvious then."
I panicked even more then. If Dimitri had been able to see all of this and recognize it for what it was, then surely, Edward had seen it too. And what if he had. What would that mean for Ben and me? Surely, if he knew, Ben would be dead by now.
"Don't worry, sweet." Dimitri continued as he slid one hand up my shirt. "Edward doesn't have a clue, right now. He still thinks that Ben is as loyal as Mike Newton. It would be a pity, though, if he ever found out the truth. Just think of what he'd do to Ben."
I gulped as the images of Ben being torn apart and burned assaulted my mind. I knew it was one of Dimitri's mind tricks, but I couldn't fight it off.
I may have been angry and hurt by Ben's current actions, but the images of him dying were killing me. I did not want to see that happen to him. I still cared a great deal about him. Hell, if I was being honest, I probably even loved him. I didn't want him to die because of me.
I swallowed the bile in my throat, took a deep breath, and did what I had to do.
"What do you want?" I asked in a shaky voice.
"Well, treat, I want the same things as Edward." he answered planting more kisses on my neck. "I want your body and blood. I want you to be my pet and call me Master. I want you to do everything that I say and scream my name when I pound into that beautiful vagina of yours."
He let his hand slide from my breast down into my pants. I let his finger slip between my lips and start stroking me.
"I want you to be mine, in every sense of the word." he continued. "Of course, this would only be behind Edward's back. I shudder to think what he would do to me if he ever found out. Just like I know that you shudder when you see Ben's future if he's exposed as a traitor. So do we have a deal?"
I knew that I didn't have any options. If I said no, Dimitri would tell Edward of Ben's betrayal the minute theygot back. Yet, I knew, if I said yes, there was nothing stopping Dimitri from taking what he wanted from me and running to Edward with the information anyway. Still though, I knew that if I could do anything that would potentially keep Ben alive, I would do it. This is why I nodded.
"Ah, ah, ah." Dimitri said letting his hand rest on my clit. "Is that an answer?"
"No." I whispered knowing what was coming.
"No, what?" he asked pinching my already abused clit.
"No, Master." I said, cringing.
"So, I'll ask one more time; do we have a deal?"
"Yes, Master." I answered through the tears that were falling down my cheeks.
"Good girl." he said, removing his hand from my pants. "Now, I know that Edward has special plans for tonight and your body couldn't take it twice in one night. So, we'll start small. Besides, I'm in the mood for a little snack."
I shuddered as he took my left arm in his hand and flipped it over. He ran his cold fingertip over the vein before making a slice across my wrist with his fingernail. Not wanting to see this, I turned my face away as he brought his lips down to my wrist. I shuddered as the made contact with my skin and he began sucking.
It did not hurt much, probably because he did not bite me, but I hated it. I hated that it was my life force sustaining a monster. He moaned in enjoyment a few times and I flinched and whimpered every time. It only lasted about thirty seconds before I felt him pull his mouth away.
Less than a second later, I felt the sting of McIntyre special decontaminating peroxide and something was wrapped tightly around my wrist. I still had not got the guts to look at me arm yet.
"There," he whispered. "Now, it should be pretty much healed by the time Edward gets back."
I still refused to look, until I felt his hand reach out for my cheek and he forced me to look him in the eye. I could still see blood on his smirking lips and he pulled me in for a kiss. I was too shocked and disgusted to think to close my mouth and he shoved his tongue in.
I could taste the leftover blood from his lips and tongue. I wanted nothing more than to gag on it, maybe even throw up. I knew, though, that Dimitri would never allow that. Instead, I refused to kiss him back as I forced the bile down my throat. He held my head tightly to his face, so that I could not break the kiss.
He finally let go after thirty seconds, and licked the remaining blood off my lips and his before pulling away completely. He had an amused smirk on his face. No doubt from the sight of the tears rolling down my cheek.
"Now," he said lying back, "I hope Edward has given you a crash course in giving a hand job."
I nodded and mentally rolled my eyes. Edward had not only given me a crash course in them, but he made me give him them whenever he needed some attention, but didn't have time to actually rape me. I hated them, though. They were so painful.
"Good, then take off my pants and get to work." Dimitri ordered.
"Yes, Master." I choked out as I unbuckled his belt.
I slowly took off his pants, praying that Edward got home, before I could go through with this. My prayers went unanswered as I got Dimitri's pants all the down and was staring at his enormous cock. He was bigger than Edward, who I had thought was huge. I cringed at the thought of him shoving that inside me. I prayed it be a very long time.
I tried my best to steady my hand as I reached out to do what was ordered of me. I knew Edward didn't like it when I was shaking and imagined that Dimitri wouldn't be very different. I wrapped my hand around his cock and started pumping the way Edward showed me. Dimitri started moaning almost instantly and I couldn't hold back my tears.
After a minute or two of this, my arm started cramping and screaming for me to stop, but I knew I couldn't. Not until Dimitri ordered it, which I doubted he would for a long time, or I'd be punished. I did not even want to consider what kind of punishment; I'd have to endure at the hands of Dimitri.
"Faster, treat." he grunted after another couple of minutes.
I did as he said, even though, my arm screamed in protest. I could only hope that he was almost there. Tears slid down my face, as I pushed myself to keep going.
"I'm close, treat." he growled. "Take me in your mouth; I want you to taste me."
"Yes, Master." I said choking on a sob.
I removed my hand and got into a good enough position. I leaned down and put my mouth around his cock. Instinctively, I started sucking and it did take long after that. The cold and disgusting liquid filled my mouth and it took everything I had not to spit it out. Instead, I forced it down my throat, knowing that's what Dimitri would want.
"Good, treat." he panted after a minute. "Now put my pants back on."
I did what he said as tears continued to run down my cheeks. I tried very hard to keep from sobbing. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of hearing that.
Once I got his pants back on, he sat up and looked at me with a twisted smile on his face.
"That's all for today, sweet." he said grabbing my chin. "Edward's back anyway. He'll be up here really soon. You need to compose yourself. Because if he so much as suspects what's going on, I'll rat out lover boy and you know what'll happen then."
"Yes, Master." I whispered, unable to look away from him.
"Good." he replied and pulled me back in for one final disgusting kiss. "I'll see you later, then."
With that, he got up off of the bed and walked out the door.
