Ok! as promised, seeing as I am now at 600 reviews (thank you guys, each review means so much to me!) FanFiction were not letting me upload a new chapter, it comes up with an error; Error Type 2 as I have tried uploading since Sunday. I have got an alert that I have posted the chapter so I hope you guys got alerts - please tell me if you didn't! So I was hoping to keep to my promise but the website wouldn't let me post! Will post the next one on the 30th March xx
CHAPTER 56
Darkness
I watched in horror as Felix brought his shining teeth down onto Lottie's neck. "NO!" I screamed. My heart in my mouth, watching my friend about to die, Demetri pulling me into him, tightening his grip on my neck but suddenly, the pressure stopped. I watched as Felix became a frozen statue, I trailed my eyes across the circular room to find the crimson eyes of each vampire widen as they realised that they couldn't move; Aro had the look of horror etched on his face as in the second it took for him to realise; he had been tricked by us and things were not all as they seemed.
Felix's hand slowly detached itself from Lottie's face, the fingers on his left hand were forced open and his other hand disconnected from Lottie's wrist. His movements appeared as if he was a robot. Felix's head moved back from her neck and Lottie stepped out from Felix and flexed her arms, she found my eyes and shrugged. "Games up. Well that was a slap and a tickle," she rolled her eyes as she rubbed her wrists. "You know I've never been around so many people that made me feel normal," she looked around the room. "…really normal!"
I giggled and all eyes turned on me. "Wow…Nifty!" I stared at Aro. "Oh it isn't me," I brought my hand to my chest for effect. Demetri's fingers loosened their grip on my neck, his hand moved slowly away allowing me to step forward.
Lottie walked slowly around Felix, taking in every inch of him. "Sorry mate, I am not becoming a vampire today," she clapped his arm, she turned to me. "Do you think, if they could, that they would be slapping their head and going 'doh!'?" she giggled.
"More like holy crap," I responded. Lottie's face where Felix's hand had been was now turning purple, in the shape of finger prints, her wrists turning the same colour. I reckoned that I had a few marks on my neck. I reached up to trace the fingerprints. "Looks sore hun."
"Yup, just a delicate human!" she waved her wrists around.
"Not that delicate!" I walked round and I prodded Alec who stared at my finger, I then glared at Jane, who I knew was trying her hardest to try and incapacitate us with her gift; I bent down to her eye level. "Won't work," I sang. Her eyes were telling me that for the first time in years, possibly centuries that she was scared for her life. "You should be," I threatened. I reached into my pocket for my phone, switching it on, Aro glaring at me in surprise. "Yeah, no-one thought to search me," I waited for my phone to load then I called Dad. "You may want to tell them off," I nodded my head at the guard. "If you live to see the next hour," I said dismissively.
"Ness? Are you ok?"
"Yes, Lottie has taken over," Lottie looked up at me saying her name as she was examining Renata who was looking wide eyed at why Lottie wasn't being repelled by her gift then skipping over to join me.
"Ok, we will be there in ten, can she hold her own?" Dad's small voice echoing around the room.
I glanced at Lottie who nodded once. "Too right I can," she said confidently.
"Good, be safe." Dad hung up. I slid my phone back in its resting place.
"Do you think I should let them talk? See what they have to say for themselves?" Lottie asked with a cheeky smile.
"Do you really want them too?" I put my hands on my hips. "Quite frankly, I've had enough of hearing them go on and on and on," I rolled my eyes for effect.
Lottie took two paces to stand in front of Aro, her face deadly serious. "I could kill them," Aro's eyes spoke depths at the threat; fear, terror, horror and panic. Lottie turned to Caius. "They know too much," she copied his previous words as her head turned back to Aro. "You my dear," she imitated his voice, badly. "Are of no use to me. You appear to be a normal human and a damaged one at that," I walked forward to meet her. "How the tables have turned," her voice back to her normal Scottish self. "I am far from damaged and definitely far from being a normal human," she raised her eyebrow.
"You see Aro, my best friend and I are a little pissed. Look at you, this is what you do?" I moved my arms to indicate the guard. "Delegate the dirty work to spineless, low level flunkies," I turned to the vampires on my right. "No offence," then turned back to Aro. "Now my family and two very pissed off wolves are ten minutes away and if you think Lottie and I are mad, you will have them to contend with."
"Let's hear what you have to say for yourself," Lottie put her finger up. "If you all start talking at the same time you won't be talking at all," she warned. Aro suddenly moved his mouth to test that he could actually do it.
"ARO! YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING!" Caius shouted.
"I can't move master! What is she?" Jane shrieked. "My power isn't working!" she exclaimed in disbelief.
"Neither is mine," Alec said more calmly.
"Charlotte," Felix begged. "Please let me turn you.
Lottie turned her head slowly to Felix. "I'm sorry. I love my Keith and I don't want to be a vampire, that's not my existence. Maybe you will find someone else who could love you the same way you would love them."
"But-"
"No Felix, to be fair you have been kind to us," Lottie touched her face. "And I must thank you for that and you are a little bit pervy towards me."
Felix smiled. "If you change your mind."
"I can't decide if that's sweet or if I need to lobotomise the bit if my brain that heard that," Lottie said sarcastically. Felix chuckled, winking at Lottie. She turned her head back to Aro. "Well?" she folded her arms.
"Master, what can we do?" Demetri said from behind.
"There was no sign that it was the human!" Jane squawked.
"Master!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
"ENOUGH!" Aro commanded; the room fell silent. "I…I.. confess that I am at a loss," he acknowledged. "Without being able to move and unable to use our powers; we are rendered useless," he closed his eyes.
"If this was the other way around, like it was only a few minutes ago, you would have had us killed or changed. Yet we are showing you mercy which is more than you all deserve, with the exception of Marcus," I declared. Marcus's eyes reached mine. "You were willing to spare our lives so thank you," I inclined my head and on Marcus's lips; a ghost of a smile appeared, my eyes found Aro again. "I think we need to lay down some ground rules."
"I don't think that is your judgement to make my dear," Aro said in a low, threatening tone, a voice he never normally used.
"You are not in a position to make that decision," Lottie cocked her head. "You have no idea what I am capable of. Now that you know that it's me with the power; you want me for one of your own."
"I suppose I cannot deny that. You have suddenly become quite interesting," Aro tried to smile but it not reaching his eyes. "And you my dear," he addressed me. "There is more to you."
"Mmm," I said.
"You can inflict pain with touch. Handy power to have. You can hear thoughts and show people memories, much more than what you could do since the last time I met you four years ago." I shrugged my shoulders non-committedly. "But Miss Willets is a diamond in the rough. She isn't just a physical shield, she is telekinetic; she is a true find, a wonder," he complimented; his voice back to its charming self.
"The charm offensive isn't going to cut it mate," Lottie jabbed him and I think the first time in thousands of years, Aro yelped in pain. "Yeah. I am powerful. I can shield myself and others, explosions for example. I can inflict pain, I could punch you right now and not damage myself but hurt you. I can dismember you, kill you if I wanted. The reason you can't move is because I have frozen you all in place. You cannot use your powers on me when I am shielded or when I am shielding others. And now that I have had the rigorous practice at the thanks of a good friend, I could do this for as long as it takes without failing."
"You are a true find and Carlisle is lucky to have you," Aro whispered.
"I smell bullshit! Carlisle doesn't have me! Nobody has me! As I said before; I am my own master! And the only reason I am telling you this so you understand the gravity of your situation. The Cullen's and the pack are my friends. No, they are the closest thing I have to a family," she corrected herself. "Nothing could change that."
"But you could be powerful," Aro enticed. "You could be part of this guard, a beautiful vampire, limitless power."
"Even if I wanted to be a vampire, which I don't, why would I want to come and work for you?" Lottie said calmly. "If you changed me I would obliterate you within a second."
"You couldn't kill us," Caius argued.
I chuckled. "You really shouldn't have said that."
"You actually want me to prove what I can do?" Lottie challenged.
"Yes!" Aro said excitedly. "I don't think you have it in you."
Lottie stepped back and surveyed the guard. Her eyes set on Jane. Jane's eyes widened as she realised she had just become a target and Lottie glared at her with intensity. A small crease appeared on the right side of Jane's neck, she started to scream in pain, pain she hadn't felt for years. The crease became bigger as it cut across her pale neck, her screams cut off as her head hit the floor with a thud, not even bouncing.
"JANE!" Alec shouted. He was trying to struggle but it was no use. "JANE!" his angry crimson eyes found us. "YOU BITCH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"Are you talking to me mate?" Lottie smiled at Alec. Aro's eyes could only reach round so far as he tried where Jane's head had rolled to. I glowered at Caius who was now looking very frightened. "All I would need to do is set fire to her and," Lottie clicked her fingers. "Poof! She is gone."
"She isn't dead?" Aro whispered, Alec's screams abruptly stopped.
"No, all you need to do is lick the wound at her neck, if you can call it a wound, shove her head back on and the skin knits together. She can't talk, but I think she may be able to see and hear."
"And how do you know this?" Aro hissed.
"I'll explain it in a very simple manner so I don't lose you," Lottie said sarcastically. "I had willing victims who have survived to tell the tale. But all I need to do is find a lighter. I could dismember her completely if I wanted to," she smiled. "It's very tempting, seeing as she tried to inflict pain on innocent babies," her smile vanished. "Look," she whipped her head to the lump on the floor as it lifted and side with Jane's neck was in front of Alec's mouth. "You need to lick it," Alec looked at her over the floating head. "You want your sister back in one piece?" he licked the end of Jane's decapitated head and Lottie floated it back onto Jane's frozen body. The skin knitted together leaving the faintest line as Jane's eyes focused as she was working up to a rant.
"Jane…now is not the time," Aro warned. "I will discuss what happened with you later," Jane had to forced her lips shut so she wouldn't talk.
"I think, by the look on your face Aro," I began. "You have just realised at how your existence may just be wiped out by two girls."
You could tell he was thinking about what he was about to say. "Renesmee, Charlotte, I would like to give you our sincere apologies-"
"I am not apologising!" Caius shouted in disgust. "In three thousand years I have never had to apologise and I am not about to do it now! They should join us or die! They shouldn't have another option!"
"Caius, brother, we do not have much of a choice," Aro said calmly.
"No you do not," I reiterated.
"I would like to join you in that apology Aro," Marcus whispered.
"Brother, you were right, we were wrong. We should never have gone down this route," Aro said. "We promise to let you both go," he said with sincerity.
"Huh, how do we know that isn't a lie?" Lottie asked.
"He is telling the truth, anything else and he would be condemning himself to death and he knows that," I reassured. "Ok. I am laying down some ground rules and you will all obey," I addressed the Volturi, the wives and the guard. "We want to live our lives without interference from you."
"NO!" Caius shouted.
"If you don't control your mouth," Lottie pointed at Caius. "I will shut it for you. I would listen to what we are about to say," Caius's mouth twitched as if he was trying to stop himself from talking.
"That is something I cannot promise my dear," Aro said seriously.
"You will have too," I crossed my arms.
"What if there is an issue we need to resolve in that area?"
"We will contact you if we need your assistance, but we have the Wolf Pack and the Cullen's, I am sure any threat will be outnumbered."
Aro thought for a moment. "We could arrange that."
"Give us your word," I demanded.
Aro sighed as if he was signing a death sentence. "I give you our word."
"ARO!" Caius screamed in frustration.
"Caius, it is done. Marcus is in agreement, that is two votes to one."
"We have more," I resumed.
Aro glared at me, his top lip curling. "Continue."
"We leave here, unharmed."
"We can promise that."
"You stop your 'invitations'," I finger quoted. "To my Father, Mother and Alice. You will not try and collect Lottie and myself," Aro nodded.
"What else do you want us to do? Relent our power?" Caius shouted.
"No," I said. "There needs to be structure and discipline or vampires would take over the human existence. You are here for a reason but your methods need to change."
"The young one is right," Marcus agreed. "We do need to change our ways. We need to be the authority figureheads and lead by example. Collecting the way you do Aro is scaring vampires into hiding so we do not know the true numbers."
"But if I offer someone a place and they take it…." Aro trailed off.
"Then that is their decision," I finished.
"So what other rules do you want us to obey?" Caius said harshly.
"That's it; we just want to live our lives in peace," I replied.
"Then there is one more thing I would like to ask, seeing as you have set us these 'rules'," Aro requested. I nodded my head to allow him to continue. "Without threat, and without harm, we would like to extend our invitation to join the Volturi guard," Lottie rolled her eyes. "Miss Willets, you have too much talent to waste."
Lottie took a deep breath, put her hands on her hips and looked up at Aro. "I have plenty of talent and vision; I just don't give a shit. Thanks but no thanks. And I think I speak for both of us when I say that."
"But you could be so special," he begged.
"There is a saying, not an old one may I add: you can't polish a turd but you can cover it in glitter," she smiled. "I am special and I don't need acceptance into this coven to know that. Now. We are going. We do not want to be followed. We do not want to be a meal. Do you think you can manage that?" she looked over at Kyle who was practically salivating.
"Yes," Aro drawled. "I am sure we can restrain ourselves."
"Good, cos I am going to let you go, see if you can restrain yourselves."
"We can show great self-restraint," Aro with repugnance. "You are free to go," he closed his eyes.
Lottie reached over for my hand, Aro watching the exchange. They are still not here; I think we should just go.
You think? I looked at her. You think they are keeping their word?
He is shitting himself. Look at him! I did look at him and he was worried. Caius was just angry but I thought he was always like that. Marcus just looked bored again, like this was something that happened every day, I observed the circular room and I could tell that they were all worried about what we could do, with Lottie making an example of Jane who was probably one of the most powerful vampires there with her gift, without her gift, she was just a vampire and scared. I think we have proved our point.
I think we have. You walk towards the door; I will keep an eye on the vampires. I smiled, showing my teeth at Aro. I pulled Lottie back as we walked towards the door. "Time to go," Lottie elegantly (for her) twirled on her feet and slowly made her way to the door, I followed, watching Felix shoot Lottie a fleeting look, Demetri shooting me a threatening look and I had to hold the urge to stick out my tongue. We had gotten half way through the circular room, Lottie waving her hand back to allow the vampires to move; I turned my head and the guard were getting into position, moving to stand in front of Aro, Marcus and Caius. I kept my eyes on everyone as we slowly moved towards the exit, Lottie walking forwards, me walking back.
"Master, what do you want us to do?" I heard Alec ask.
"I can kill them right now," Demetri promised.
"I can still have her," Felix growled.
"I want to inflict so much pain that their brains explode!" Jane hissed.
"ENOUGH!" Aro commanded, the hum of talk silenced immediately. "I said I would let them go," he looked down at his feet. "And so we shall. They have shown that they are two very capable women even though one is a human. We need to ensure that our existence remains intact and by doing that we do need to let them leave."
Lottie pulled me as she opened the door; I turned my head for a moment to check what she was doing. "Kyle NO!" Demetri shouted.
My vampire speed kicked in as I swivelled on my feet to find Kyle, the newborn vampire; crouch and spring from his position. He took flight, his bright red eyes shining, hands shaped into claws, his face contorted as his bloodlust took over him; teeth bared at us ready to rip out our throats. Demetri tried to jump after him but Felix held him back. I stepped forward, ready to take him on but I was knocked out the way by an invisible force as Lottie stepped forward, her left hand out.
But there was something different about her. I landed on the floor, gazed up at her to find her pupils had completely dilated making her eyes jet black, her face was neutral, her legs shoulder width apart, her hair floating as if she was in water. It was like I was looking at someone else!
Kyle froze in the air, a foot away from Lottie. He growled and snarled, his eyes wanting to complete the kill but something strange happened. Lottie cocked her head, I jumped up from the floor to stand behind her and I noticed the rest of the Volturi and their guard could move but they stayed exactly where they were, their faces showing shock, fear and terror as they stared a Kyle was frozen in mid air. I glanced at Kyle as his face started to form the tiniest of lines and those lines formed cracks. I looked at his hands; they were doing the same. What was Lottie doing? I stepped forward, Lottie's right hand moved so quickly and I felt another invisible force knock me down, sliding along the ground, hitting the right wall. I could hear the big doors creak open behind me but I didn't turn back as I concentrated on Lottie. Kyle's face now had the look of fear as it continued to crack and now little bits of him fell to the floor as dust….as ash. More and more fell from him as it fell like sand then hit the floor as ash. I got up again and this time Lottie didn't force me back, Kyle's clothes now joining the little ash pile on the floor. "Lottie?" I stepped forward an inch, she didn't answer me as she continued obliterate Kyle; her fingers splayed out in front of her. Particles of light from the windows started to shine through him as holes in his body formed. He suddenly exploded and what looked like sand floating in the air, falling gracefully like snowflakes until they hit the floor. The ash pile that was Kyle was glistening from the light shining down from the windows.
The vampires in front of us stared at Lottie in shock. The last little flake fell and Lottie stepped forward, I could feel the ground beneath me quiver and quake as Lottie positioned her hands so that they were at her hips but the back of her hands faced the floor, her fingers splayed out facing the ceiling. The Volturi reared back Aro and Caius on their feet, the guard protecting them but not knowing how to.
I noticed a line appear on Jane's face as her hand reached up to feel it; her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O, Alec looked at his sister as he felt the line and Jane felt the line that had appeared on his angelic face. Aro stared at his hand as it started to crack then he looked up at Lottie in horror. Marcus closed his eyes; waiting for death, Caius's face had a large line travel up from his neck to the opposite side like an iced over lake that breaks when you step on it. Felix gazed at Lottie in shock, Demetri looking at his hands. I stepped forward, waiting to be knocked back but nothing came, I took another step then another until I was in front of Lottie; I waved my hand in front of her face, but no reaction, her hair waving like medusa's, writhing, coiling like snakes as it whipped around her ready to strike, her clothes rippling as the wind around us became stronger. . "Lottie," I whispered. "You don't want to do this, I think we all understood why you killed Kyle, it was an instinctual reaction. Lottie. This isn't you," her body hard and rigid as I stood in front of her and I could feel the ground beneath me shake and tremor, a strong breeze starting. "Lottie, you need to come back!" I spun round to see more cracks and lines appearing on the vampire's faces and now I could smell the fear. I looked back to Lottie, who was unmoving and she was starting to scare me. I looked past her to find Jacob, Mom, Dad, Emmett, Jasper, Keith, Carlisle, Eleazar and Kate staring in horror at the impending destruction of the Volturi and their guard. Large cracks travelled up the walls, bits of marble broke off from different parts of the walls and floors, joining the cascading wind before hitting the floor, circling fast around the room like a cyclone; I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "LOTTIE! YOU NEED TO STOP!" Without blinking, her black eyes moved to focus on me for a moment then I found myself sailing through the air, I raised my hands as I slammed into the left wall, feeling my right side crunch into it, my head banging against the marble wall and then I landed on a marble bench, rolling to the floor. My right side in agony as I struggled to catch my breath.
I looked up from the floor and I could see that Dad and Carlisle walking towards her but suddenly their arms and legs were in front of them as they were thrown back into the wooden double doors, sailing right through them, the steel bending at the force. "NESSIE! STAY THERE!" Mom shouted, looking at me in fear for my life. My family and friends all crouching so they could keep their balance as the trembling started to feel like an earthquake.
I got up, holding my right side with my left hand, I could feel something trickle down my right temple and I stumbled forward, feeling bits of marble hit my back, I raised my right hand, pain shooting down my side; I ignored it as I now felt like I was walking against a strong snow blizzard the sleeves of my top billowing behind me against the 'wind'. I turned to see the vampires on my left, cracks and lines forming little crevices as their marble cool skin was ready to break and crumble like Kyle's had done, their skin matching the cracks and lines forming in the walls, ceiling and floor; ready to form dust and ash. A smashing sound made me glance up; the four large stained glass windows had smashed, the glass falling then getting caught in the now forming cyclone of dust and chunks of marble, circling around and around. I pummelled through the marble, glass and dust, my top half almost horizontal to the floor as I struggled through the blazing winds to reach Lottie again. I felt little, sharp slices in my skin as shards of glass carved into me, cutting into my top. I was practically crawling on the floor as I reached Lottie; her blue veins were bulging, out of her skin, the veins in her neck protruding, veins bulging from her hands, her face; I reached out to her, grabbing her outstretched, veiny hand. Glass, dust, Kyle's ash and chunks of marble swirling around us as I made contact with her.
I shut my eyes and I thought of every memory I had that we shared together, every good and bad no matter what it was but there was resistance, I could feel her shield preventing me from getting through; But I could get through any mental sheild. I concentrated on latching onto her power and I imagined an invisible fist breaking it down and I was through to Lottie's mind.
It was chaos! Memories everywhere, jumbled as this black force took over her. Black mist swirling through her thoughts until I realised that it tasted like adrenaline, fear and pure raw power all combined. I felt myself get drawn in but I shook myself and I pounded through the darkness until I found a tiny white light. I held onto it, curved myself around it, thinking of every memory I had of her and imploded, I imploded so hard that I thought I would kill her but I knew I wasn't causing her pain. "Come on Lottie, come back to us….please!" I begged; my eyes snapped open, I let go of the breath I was holding as Lottie's eyes changed slowly from black to her jade green, her pupils constricting to normal size then she blinked a couple of times, her hair floating back to her head, her free arm finding her side. Her rigid body relaxing, her pulsating veins constricting, falling into me, taking deep breaths. I held her in my arms as she took slow deep breaths, the shaking ground stopped, and the cyclone of dust, glass and chunks of marble fell to the floor.
"NESSIE!" Dad shouted.
I swivelled round to see the guard progressing towards me, the lines and cracks healing as they came towards us, snarling, growling and hissing at us, the whole guard descending onto us; I touched Lottie's bare skin, threw my arm out, feeling Lottie's raw fading power fly through my arm, into my fingers as the guard hit my barrier. "Stop!" I commanded, my hair lifting from my head as did Lottie's again. "Aro. She will kill you all if you don't halt your guard."
Aro blinked as he stared at his hands that were now healing as if nothing had happened, he slowly looked at us, I was keeping Lottie upright and I could feel my cuts heal. "Halt!" he instructed, standing up. "Leave them be."
"Master!" Jane shouted.
"Be quiet!" he said seriously. Jane looked as if she had just been slapped.
The guard halted their progression and moved back to defend their masters like angry snakes. Like scared snakes. Lottie stood up, me supporting her until she was upright. "Thanks Ness," she breathed deeply and I let her go, the barrier dropping. She stepped forward and I held her back. "I need to have a few words. I will be fine," she said robotically. I let her go; I had no choice. She walked forward, the guard poised; ready to strike, Lottie put her palms together and parted them, the guard parting like the red sea, leaving Aro and Caius now looking afraid, Marcus staring at Lottie in fascination. Lottie strode forward; I followed because I wanted to protect her. She kept on walking right towards Aro, not stopping as Aro stumbling back as he ended up falling back in his throne. Lottie leaned over him, placing a hand on each armrest so that she was now nose to nose with him. "Are you scared?" she asked quietly still breathing deeply.
Aro stared intently at her as he was thinking about his answer. "Yes."
"Why are you scared?"
"You have just shown us what you can do and I admit it was powerful but frightening. You could have killed us all," he admitted.
"And why didn't I kill you?"
"You have an amazing friend. She brought you back to wherever it was you went to when Kyle attacked. She saved our lives."
"So why are you going to leave us alone?"
"Because you will kill us if we do not," Aro couldn't keep eye contact with Lottie as his milky crimson eyes met the floor. "You can kill us with just a look."
"Message understood?"
Aro looked back up at Lottie. "Loud and clear. I think you should leave, now," Aro shifted uncomfortably in his throne.
"You and yours come for us again, I will make you live in a state of constant fear by creating an environment of irrational random terror," Lottie threatened and she quickly straightened up, turned and walked away but not looking at me as she past me. I glared at Aro as he stared back down at the ground again, I shot a glance at Caius who glared back at me defiantly and I glared back until his eyes shifted over to the mess on the floor and he sat back down on his throne, not admitting defeat but knowing it was there. Marcus stayed seated but a smile crept up onto his face as he inclined his head towards me. I turned on my heel and walked into the direction of my family, Dad and Carlisle were with the rest, Jacob holding his hand out for me but my family gave Lottie a dubious look as she walked right on past them, not stopping even for Keith who she walked right on by, Keith running after her. I got to where Dad was standing and I took Jacob's hand, without stopping, I just wanted to get out of there before they decided to changed their minds yet again, Dad laying a comforting hand on my shoulder as we walked through the mangled carved wooden doors and down the long corridor, Lottie's hair whipping round the corner as Keith followed her. We picked up pace and I glanced around to find Dad, Carlisle and Mom behind us, Eleazar, Kate, Emmett and Jasper in front and Jacob kept a tight hold of my hand and we rounded down the corner to find Lottie trying to open a steel door. Keith moved forward but Lottie shot her arm out to stop him, she stared at the steel door; it bent and buckled, the metal making a screaming sound as it protested to being bent and broken. The door suddenly shot back as Lottie walked forward to descend the stairs, we followed in silence as Lottie led the way. She practically ran down the stairs, two at a time with us in hot pursuit, she half ran, half walked down the long winding corridor and she held her hand out; blasting the large double doors open, splinters of wood flying out hitting passers-by. She ran towards the bright light that was shining through the cracked, broken door as the light shone on her hair, showing the gold and red flecks in with her blonde highlights. I broke free from Jacob's hand and ran after her. I suddenly realised why she wanted to get out – not from the impending death that we were facing, but because it was nice to feel the fresh air hit my face and run through my hair; freedom. Lottie was bent over, her hands leaning on her knees as she took in deep breaths.
The only people to join us were Keith and Jacob, the others stayed in the shadows. I managed to actually take a look at Jacob who's hair was a mess, he needed a shave and looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He ran towards me and pulled me tight in his arms. "I love you so much; I thought I was going to lose you."
"Me too," I replied, the sound coming out muffled as I was pressed against his chest. "I love you so much."
"Keith and I need to bring the cars around, they are just over there," he looked past my head and I didn't turn as I wanted to inhale Jacob's brilliant scent; I didn't want him to leave. "We need to get out of here Ness, it means you have to let me go," he said softly as he smelled my hair. He pried my arms from him and I noticed Lottie and Keith were embracing. He kissed the top of her forehead as he let her go with a pained expression, following Jacob to get the cars, I walked over to Lottie and I noticed that Mom, Dad and Emmett were staring at Lottie in shock.
I took her hand. "Are you ok?"
Lottie stared at the ground. "I don't know. I...I don't know what happened."
"We are not dead."
"No. But I killed someone."
"Lottie," Emmett shouted from the shadows. "You did what you needed to do given the circumstances, nobody is going to condemn you for that."
"But I destroyed him," she snatched her hand back from me as if she was poison.
I could hear the engines of the cars roar to life behind me. I felt so bad for her and the faces of shock on my family's changed to sympathy. "Emmett, no. You can't," Dad warned him. "They are just looking for an excuse."
Emmett pulled the sleeves of his hoody over his hands and flipped the hood over his head, he stepped out into the sunlight, not one little sparkle shone from him as he raced over to Lottie and pulled her into his arms. "You know what Keith told you is right, he told you the same as I did. You are a wonderful person Lottie, if that vamp was trying to kill you, you did your best to protect yourself and Nessie and we have to thank you for that. You and Ness held your own in there, you both did so well and you had to protect number one."
"Emmett is right," I walked forward and took her hand again. "Kyle attacked us even though Aro told him not too. When I was in your mind, when I tried to get you back; at first I thought I was in pools of darkness, it swirled around, wisps, clouds, smoke but it wasn't darkness It was your raw power mixed with adrenaline and fear, it wasn't darkness Lottie because I found a ball of light and that was you. You were there, your instincts just took you over and they were protecting you but you were there."
"But I tried to kill them all, something took me over, something wanted me to kill them all."
"That would be your instincts, deep down and they were protecting you, the Volturi guard came towards you and you did what was right for you."
"It didn't feel like me. I was there, but it didn't feel like me….like it was someone else."
"Charlotte, it was a rare moment when you had no choice but to allow your power to take over," Emmett said through his hood. I felt another set of arms join us as Keith wrapped his around Lottie.
"It's called self-preservation. Flight or fight. Survival of the fittest," Keith leaned his head on Lottie's. "But you came back when Nessie called you. You came back, that's all you need to concern yourself with," Keith comforted.
"And you got rid of the vampire that was hiding them all from us. Alice will be pleased," Emmett said cheerfully. "Shame you couldn't take down Demetri." Lottie snorted, shaking her head at his remark.
"Now stop thinking that you are this bad person Lottie, cos you are not," Keith squeezed her. "We don't know what went down beforehand but it must have been bad for you both to get to where you were when we came."
I let go of Lottie's hand, knowing she was safe and I ran over to Mom and Dad, lunging myself into their waiting arms. "Oh Ness," Mom hand found my hair as she pulled me in closer. "We thought you were going to die."
"So did we, Aro instructed us to either be changed or to die. Lottie was going to be a meal until Felix wanted her."
Dad groaned. "It may pose a problem later on, come on, we need to get to the airport as soon as possible, we will discuss it on the plane."
"There will be too many people-" I started
"We managed to get the whole of first class booked on the plane thats about to take off in thirty minutes thanks to Eleazar," Mom replied, giving a grateful look to Eleazar. "Let's get into the car," she kept a hold of my hand as they got into the large people carriers, Keith, Emmett, Jasper and Lottie got into the first one, the rest of us got into the second. Emmett sped off down the winding streets and Carlisle followed. I was between Mom and Dad who I thought were not going to let me go! I was grateful; I thought I was never going to see them all again. We were in a thoughtful silence as we took the ten minute drive to the airport. I had thought about what had happened and I shuddered at my memory of Felix perving over Lottie, feeling Dad stiffen next to me. I cuddled into Mom and I noticed Jacob had his head in his hands in the seat in front of me, Eleazar and Kate were quiet. We remained like this until we reached the airport, our car moving in front of the other so that Carlisle could say a few words to the guard at the gate, Carlisle kept his sunglasses and gloves on as he articulated with the guard, He showed him the passports, hoping mine was there. The guard looked through the window at each of us, comparing us to each passport. We were let through as we sped over to the small plane that was waiting for us. We got out the car quickly, boarded the plane, the vampires of our group covering themselves up so not to arise suspicion. Climbing in, it was similar to the Volturi plane but less luxurious, the seats were in the same layout but the material was standard. The carpets were beige as were the walls. We all took a seat, the airhostess starting her little safety speech. "Miss," Emmett stood up. "Not today," he handed he some money. "If you could go to your quarters and give us some privacy, we would appreciate that."
She smiled, taking the money. "If you would like anything, please press the intercom," she said in a thick Italian accent. Emmett nodded as she walked by us and into her little area at the back of the plane. I looked out the window as the plane started to make its start down the runway. I felt myself sit back in my seat as we ascended into the air.
"So," Emmett sat forward. "What happened before we got there?"
Lottie was cuddled into Keith, her face hidden. She moved her head out to show her bruised face. "Oh," Mom moved over to touch her face. "What happened?"
"Felix held onto my face and my wrists," she whispered as she held out her arms. Keith stroked the black bruising tenderly. "He shut me up by covering my mouth. Nessie has some too."
Everyone looked at me as I lifted my neck to show the bruising that was already fading, I was aware that that I had dried blood down my face but that wasn't from Demetri. "Ness, why didn't you tell me?" Dad stroked my neck carefully.
"Because I didn't want you going back and kamikaze-ing it over to Demetri and killing him and then the rest of the guard trying to kill us," I explained. Why don't I show you it all from the beginning? Lottie, you too. You need to see as well, see it from my point of view," I held my hand out for everyone to take a piece.
Keith moved over and sat on the floor with Lottie in his lap. I went as far back as the talk I had with Emily on the bus to where we were now. There were gasps of shock when I showed them my imploding on Aro, kicking Jane and bringing down Demetri. "Way to go Ness!" Emmett bellowed. I smiled and carried on; Aro's decision to kill Lottie and to change me, then to Felix and his horn for Lottie. I could hear Keith mutter something under his breath. I then shown them what Lottie did to Kyle and then what I went through to get her back. They all sat back; stunned.
"They pretty much already made their decision before you girls got there," Carlisle surmised. "We thought you would pretend it was you with Lottie's power."
"We couldn't hide it anymore," Lottie muttered. "Especially when Felix was ready to change me."
"You had no choice," Carlisle rubbed her knee. "It had worked up until that point."
"Then Aro wanted Lottie," I said.
"Oh he wants Lottie, he wants her more than anything in the world," Dad said, a smile forming on his face. "But he is scared of her, scared of what she will do if he was to chase after her. Although he wants her more than anything, his life is more important to him. He has listened to your ground rules very carefully although he has thought of ways around them but he just couldn't come up with anything. And you want to know what's really interesting?" Dad said to the group. "Marcus was happy that he was going to die."
"Really?" Eleazar asked. "I knew he wanted to leave the Volturi but not that he wanted to die."
"Chelsea binds them all," Dad started. "But Marcus feels like his life is over since his wife was murdered by Aro."
"But he wasn't killed," I said.
"No, but he thought about asking Lottie to end it for him."
"I don't think I could have done it, he spoke up for us," Lottie said.
"And Caius was just angry," I began. "And when Felix wanted her, Aro gave his permission to change her and Caius was really pissed."
"Ness," Mom chided.
"I don't care. I think the situation calls for some swearing!" I smiled cheekily and she ruffled my hair. "I can't believe they had the audacity to come and abduct us."
"After seeing it from your point of view, I think you girls did very well," Jasper spoke up. "You kept calm, you had a plan, you stuck to it until the last minute and Ness, I must say; well done on bringing down Aro, that was amazing. Then Jane and Demetri."
"I can say that they didn't appreciate it."
"I can see that," Jasper chuckled lightly. "I've messaged Alice to inform everyone that we are on our way home. She won't see with us being next to Jacob and Keith."
Dad nodded. "I am sure that they will be relieved that we have not been slaughtered."
"Although I have a question..." Jasper trailed off. "Why could only Ness move when we were all frozen? Why wasn't she frozen too?" he looked at Lottie.
We were silent for a moment and I stared at Lottie intently. "Mmmm. I have a thought," I smiled reassuringly at Lottie. "Your instincts took you over. Flight or fight and all that but I think there was a part of you there that wanted to let me in, that wanted to take back control of a situation that you had no control over; that you were unable to control because your instincts took over."
Jasper nodded along with everyone else. Lottie stared at her hands. "Maybe..."
"Lottie, you may have gone all Jean Grey," Emmett started. "She goes psycho, like she has dual personalities. But you are not like that, and I know its a comic book ref and shit but you are not like that. Besides, that is a whole different thing. Your brain is rewired a little different, you were trying to preserve yourself but there was still a little of you there. I think the midget is spot on."
Lottie sighed and nodded. "It's a theory.
"It's called survival of the fittest. You and Nessie are so in tune with each other, you knew her presence would not have caused you harm which is why I think she was able to move. Lottie, I also think you were trying to protect us from them, which is why we were frozen too," Emmett nodded at Lottie who looked down again.
"What do you think will happen now?" she asked.
"I think we have to carry on as normal when you get back," Carlisle interlaced his fingers. "You will need to take a few days off school because of your bruising. It will be hard to explain otherwise."
"You will have me to look after you," Keith wrapped his arms around her. "And don't you be thinking silly things. You did what you did and to be honest, you got the one that was causing us all bother."
"Shame you didn't take down a few more," Jacob joked. Lottie shot him a look. "I was joking….kind of. How are you feeling anyway?" Jacob asked with concern.
"Still in shock I think. I didn't think I was capable of doing something so evil."
"It wasn't evil Lottie," I said. "Your gut instinct protected you and me, if you hadn't have done it, we would have died," I moved so that I was next to her. "You saved my life."
"But."
"But nothing! We are not going to let you deprecate yourself. You were amazing. It wasn't 'evilness' that took you over, your power did," I pulled her in for a cuddle. "It ruled you for a few moments as it was trying to preserve yourself. And not only did you show the Volturi what you could do to them, you were-"
"Bad ass!" Emmett shouted. "You both were. Lottie, you did good! It makes life easier for us."
"Ok," a small smile appeared on her face.
"But another interesting fact," Carlisle raised his hand. "Nessie, you saved the Volturi from Lottie, sorry Lottie and I mean this nicely as you were going with your gut instinct," Lottie nodded. "The Volturi are indebted to you Ness."
"What?" I stared at Carlisle in astonishment.
"Oh yes," Dad interrupted. "That was the thoughts flying through Caius's head; he felt disgusted that they owe you a debt because you saved their lives."
"Really?"
"Mmm mmm," Dad grinned his crooked smile. "They owe you Ness and they are scared of Lottie. Although Felix may pose a problem."
"What do you mean?" Jasper asked.
"He loves Lottie. He truly believes that she is the one for him. He may decide to leave the Volturi one day and come and find Lottie."
"We won't be letting that happen," Keith said darkly.
"Damn right it won't!" Jacob added.
"Why don't we try not to think about that just now, the thought of his hands over me... gives me boak!"
"Boak?" I gave Lottie a look.
"Sick," she clarified.
I took a moment to let that sink in and I reckoned that I would be able to call that on that debt one day. I was brought out of reverie by Emmett. "So how did it feel to go all black mamba?" Emmett asked Lottie.
"I didn't realise my eyes went like that, or my hair. I looked like something out of a horror film," Lottie replied.
"Well, no more than normal," Emmett retorted.
"Git."
"Bint."
"Tard."
"Reject."
"Window licker."
"Hey! I am not a window licker!"
"You look like you enjoy licking windows."
"I do not!"
"Right! That's enough!" Keith told them both off. "I am not listening to you two bicker like two little children," he was trying to supress a smile. "Now missus! Come here," he grabbed her hand and picked her up in his arms and took her over to a quiet spot at the far end of the plane.
Warm, russet arms encircled me and helped me to my feet. "Hey there baby, are you ok?"
I thought for a moment. "Now that you are all here. I knew you were coming to rescue us."
"You didn't really need us in the end; you and Lottie were holding your own."
"Yeah, not nice though."
"No, we were delayed by some idiot who was drunk on the plane. I got quite angry and almost lamped him one before Edward stopped me."
"I can actually see that happening," I giggled.
"Keith was just as bad, he almost got thrown off the plane."
"Oh my god! Keith?"
"Yup!"
I looked over at the couple, Keith stroking Lottie's hair, her falling asleep in his arms. I felt something cool touch my arm. "Here you go Nessie."
"Thanks Grandad," I took the cool bottle of water from him, opening the lid and taking a long drink from it. I hadn't realised how thirsty I was.
"Do you have any other injuries?" Carlisle sat me down next to Eleazar.
"No, just some bruising. The cuts I got from the glass are healing, the one on my head is healed."
"The bruising has gone green already," Carlisle lifted my chin up carefully then traced a small fading line on my arm. "They are almost gone," he had a wet swab in his hand and he cleaned the dried up blood that had trickled down my face.
"Well Renesmee, you and your human friend have rendered us useless," Eleazar chuckled.
"I do apologise," I brought my hand to my chest sincerely then smiled.
"And so you should, although it was nice to get out of Alaska for a while."
"Glad that I could be of service."
"I need to phone Garret, Tanya and Carmen and ask them to meet us back home."
"Garret is at our house?" I asked quickly.
"Not to worry little one, he is happy to leave once he knows we were ok," he patted my knee, he got up to make his phone call.
I sat back in my chair and Jacob joined me again. "How are the babies and the girls?" I leaned back realising how tired I was getting.
"They are ok Ness. All a bit shocked," Jacob started. "We were all astounded that Jane would use her power on babies and Claire. Sam and Emily took them to hospital and kept me updated, twins are fine, in fact because they were so strapped in, they were absolutely fine! Emily and Gemma have whiplash, Adeline is has a lot of bruising on her legs, the engine was crushed into her."
"Is she ok?"
"She is fine, a little shaken up after."
I paused for a moment. "Lottie stopped the van, they thought it was me."
"I know they did. And you let them think that which saved your lives. You kicked some ass from what I could see and you made that barrier when Lottie fell into your arms. You got Lottie back to wherever it was she went," he lowered his voice. "That was some crazy shit, the swirly blackness."
"It was but it wasn't evil or darkness, it was her power, that's what it looks like when it was mixed with adrenaline and fear. It saved our lives."
"It did, I think you two are closer than you think."
"What do you mean?"
"We tried to get closer to you, you saw what happened to Edward and Carlisle and we were frozen in place. It broke my heart watching you getting sliced by the glass."
"I could feel it rip into my skin but it didn't hurt at the time."
"Too much going on."
"Exactly."
"But what I mean, you were the only one that she let in, Keith was shouting at the top of his voice but the noise was so loud that it drowned him out."
I thought about that for a moment. "We are closer than I realised. I mean we are best friends and I can tell her anything and she can tell me anything."
"But because you can use her power and you can get through any sheild-"
"So I am able to break through her walls."
"Yes," Jacob was silent for a few minutes. "She is very powerful. Scary."
"She isn't scary."
"No, but to someone who doesn't know her like Eleazar and Kate, like we do; it is a terrifying sight."
"I suppose."
"But you are ok, you both are and that is the main thing," Jacob pulling me into his chest. For the first time in what felt like days; I felt safe.
I felt a cool hand touch mine, Dad took my hand. "You will always be safe with us my Renesmee."
"I love you Dad, Mom."
They looked as if they were both going to burst into tears (not that they could). "We love you too Nessie," they moved over to sit next to us to encircle Jacob and I in their arms. "You were amazing Ness," Dad complimented. "You handled yourself with dignity and class."
"I hope you are not scared of Lottie," I queried.
"Of course not. Never," Mom stroked my hair.
"Never. She is your best friend and part of this family," Dad said. "You are both like two peas in a pod. She needed you and you got her back. Truly amazing Nessie," he kissed the top of my head. I closed my eyes and I could feel Jacob relax, Mom and Dad moved but I knew they didn't want me to stay out of sight. I wondered if things were going to change? I had a feeling that something was changing, thoughts were changing but I didn't know what.
Little did I know, on that flight back to Seattle, that Jacob was thinking of something else, something else that was going to make me the happiest person in the world.
AN- So...what are you thinking? did you like how the girls kicked some Volturi arse? PLEASE REVIEW! THEY MAKE ME SMILE! :))))
