The Bear
Chapter 14: Power
Leah pushed her plate away and sat back with a satisfied sigh. "Harry, you fry the best fish I have ever had in my life. That was delicious."
Harry bashfully nodded. "My take on the old family recipe, as you should know."
"I could detect elements of your Granny's flair there, but it's still unique and all your own." She stood and patted Harry on the back. I had noticed that she had subtly shifted her appearance as we walked towards Harry's house to that of a typical, young Quileute woman—fine featured, long, straight black hair, and laughing black eyes. We were dressed the same: blue jeans, tees, and plaid shirts, under waterproofed hoodies. This wasn't surprising, as she had loaned me a change of clothes back at her house and I was still dressed in them. It seemed all the Quileute had a thing for plaid. Maybe that's where Charlie had got it from.
"Do you have those thermoses I gave you?" Leah asked Harry.
"Yes, Auntie." Harry went over to the refrigerator and took out several flagons. I looked at them hopefully. Could this be more SdL?
Leah packed them in an old Army backpack she had been carrying. Evidently, the She-ra lunchbox wasn't big enough to hold them all. Looking at me, she said, "I made extra."
"Thank you, Leah. I truly appreciate it."
"Well, it's not a good thing to have a hungry vampire roaming around the place, if you know what I mean."
Harry looked distinctly uncomfortable, as he was reminded of my transformation.
Feeling sorry that my situation had cast a pall, I said, "Harry, you must know I'd never hurt you or anyone of the tribe."
He nodded, but still looked skeptical.
Leah elbowed Harry in the ribs and said, "You'd better get used to it. She's going to be around awhile."
Smiling without showing my teeth to try to look as harmless as I could, I changed the subject. "Harry, why do you call Leah 'Auntie'?"
He said, "We're related—distantly. For me, Walalo is too formal. Leah is too informal. Auntie is just easy. She's always been Auntie to me."
Leah got a calculating look in her eye as she looked at me. "Harry here is my brother's great-great-grandson." She was watching to see how I reacted to this bit of information.
I didn't react gracefully, that's for sure. I probably looked like a stunned mackerel, mouth hanging open and the whites showing all around my eyes. Both Leah and Harry laughed.
"I told you that I've been around a while."
"You did, but how?"
"You ask me that when you are immortal? However, there is a difference between the two of us. I live a normal, if prolonged life. I was born. I age. I will die. Though you were born, you won't age, and you won't die unless you meet a violent ending."
I was taking this all in, still in shock.
Leah stepped close to me, took my hand, and said, "All the family that I knew in my earlier years have been dead for long, long years: mother, father, sisters, brothers, friends, lovers—all gone. I mourn them every day of my life. Let me tell you, being the last one standing sucks."
Nodding towards Harry, she said, "These guys fill my heart, but never the hole left by those gone before. The echo that my loved ones have left in my soul still resonates. There are times when I wish I could finally join them."
At that moment, the wheeze and grunt of an old truck announced it was pulling up in front of Harry's house. Looking out the window, I could see Billy's old pickup come to a stop in the glow of the porch light. Jake hopped out of the driver's side and went to help Billy out of the passenger's seat and into his wheelchair. Leah met them at the door.
"It's about time you got here," she said to a rather disgruntled looking Billy.
"I will follow orders, Walalo, even though I don't agree with them." He stared resentfully at me. That felt like a cold slap in the face. This, my almost-uncle who used to consider me as a daughter, was now looking at me like I was a steaming pile dog poop.
Leah cleared her throat and said, "Billy, you need to remember your manners. There are many things you don't know about, yet. I'd appreciate a better attitude, son." Now, in appearance Billy looked old enough to be Leah's grandfather so it was funny to hear her dress him down, as though he was a backwards thirteen-year-old. I tried to look anywhere but at Billy, not wanting to add to his embarrassment, but I was rather pleased that Leah had put him in his place.
He sighed, grumbled under his breath, then rolled forward into Harry's living room.
"The dirt is in the truck bed, Walalo," Jake said.
Dirt? Why would Leah want dirt?
"Good, good. Now, take that folding chair on the porch and put it in the truck bed. That's where I will sit with Bella. Who's going to drive?"
"I will drive, Auntie," Harry said. "Jake and the boys are going with us."
"That is also very good. We'll have a bang-up time, I know. Let's go."
Leah led me out to the old rust-bucket and we both climbed into, or rather, onto the mound of sandy dirt that filled the back. Jake handed up a beat-up folding lawn chair that Leah opened and put into the bed of the truck. She sat down and took off her shoes, poured a handful of the dirt into each one, then put them back on. The truck had started up the road as she was doing this, while I sat in the pile of dirt watching her in complete bafflement.
"What are you doing, Leah?"
She looked at me and grinned. "I can't leave the reservation. It's where my power comes from, so we're bringing some of it with us. The dirt in my shoes is just insurance."
"Have you done this before?"
"Oh, yes. How do you think I get into town to satisfy my anime fix?"
Just then, I noticed a whole pack of wolves of various sizes and colors running through the woods along the side of the road. Leah waved at them and smiled. There was a chorus of yips and barks in response.
As we turned onto the 101, I asked, "We are headed to the Cullen's house, right?"
"Right. Larry, Moe, and Curly Volturi are there and they are going to learn a lot about the efficacy of Quileute dirt. Now, Bella, here's what we're going to do…"
Power.
It is what had motivated Aro since his birth and had become an obsession since his transformation. He had spent his entire existence plotting to gain more and more influence and, ultimately, the control of the world around him. The thrill of manipulating everything and everyone was intoxicating, and he was proud of his innate cleverness to get what he wanted. His only failure, in all his years, was Sanctuary and now he had corrected that. It was his time to gloat. He had his hands at the throats of the only people who had ever eluded his grasp and he reveled in his triumph. After he had the Cullens dispatched, and 'gathered' Alice, he was moving the Volturi here to Carlisle's compound as a testimony to any who would question their right to reign supreme.
He heard a whimper from the woman lying in the corner of the marquee where he and the rest of the Volturi were taking their ease as they awaited the sunrise. He looked at her, lying on her side, her hands and legs bound, a gag in her mouth, and abject fear in her eyes. He could hear her thundering heartbeat and was a tad concerned that she'd expire before she could be used. Humans were such delicate creatures.
"Corin, could you please untie our guest and put her more at ease?"
Nodding, Corin inched around Aro, careful not to touch him. She had no wish for him to read her thoughts at the moment. Frankly, she thought he was mad to drag his retinue out here. It was all she could do to keep the wives and Marcos sanguine. Adding a panicked human to the mix was almost more than she could manage.
Smiling sweetly at the victim, Corin sent a wave of calmness towards her and bent to untie her bindings. "Here, you'll be much more comfortable out of these and sitting upright." She looked at Felix and nodded towards an empty chair, silently requesting him to bring it nearer to the woman.
As Corin helped the poor lady onto the seat, she said, "I'll take your gag off, but you must be careful not to shriek. Aro doesn't like unnecessary screaming."
The woman took a deep breath and nodded in compliance. She had absolutely no comprehension of her current reality. Except for the Weirdo passengers, it had seemed a normal workday for her, up until the very end when a red whirlwind had whipped through the jet. Suddenly, she had been held in the Head Weirdo's arms as all hell broke out in the cockpit and on the tarmac below. He had held her so tightly she couldn't move, but she could hear the screams of her coworkers. She must have fainted because the next thing she knew, she was tied up in a cramped, dark space. When she tried to sit up, she hit her head and realized she must be in the trunk of a car. She could sense they were moving. So, she had been kidnapped, but for what purpose? She was an unlikely target. Her folks didn't have any money. So, if not for ransom, then what? She was afraid to speculate what these Weirdos might do to her when they reached their destination.
She wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited her when they finally stopped. A new, Bigger Weirdo lifted her out of her prison. It was dark out, but a full moon illuminated a large house, a huge yard, and the woods beyond. But what had drawn her eye was the group of people standing next to the one she recognized as the Head Weirdo. They looked like the emo-est bunch of goths she'd ever seen. All had pallid complexions, morbid expressions, black clothes, and, of all things, wore capes. It was so last decade to be ludicrous. Really, she'd gone through her own emo stage back-in-the-day; had worn the makeup, wrote self-obsessively in her diary, and listened to Green Day on repeat. But that was when she had been a teenager. These Weirdos were well beyond that age. She'd have laughed at how ridiculous they looked, but she was too scared.
Apparently, she was having a nightmare. It must be a nightmare probably caused by that spicy Rigatoni she had had in Italy. She couldn't wait to wake up.
"Carlisle, they have a woman—a human woman—out there! They plan to sacrifice her once the sun comes up to draw us out." I spoke with urgency; the true evilness behind the plans I could see formulating in Aro's mind shocked me with their cruelty. I shouldn't have been surprised. He had always been merciless during the previous conflict.
"We must do something!" Carlisle exclaimed. He was the most compassionate person I had ever known, willing to risk everything if it saved an innocent soul. He certainly was the opposite of Aro.
"But what can we do?" Jasper asked. "If we go out there, we'll be attacked, and we don't have any weapons strong enough to overcome Jane and Alec."
"If we stay in here for much longer, we'll be driven mad by hunger. We had the last meal of SdL last night," Esme added.
With an unusual grimness in his tone, Emmett remarked, "So, we either die trying to save the woman, or die when we are starved out."
I could only think of one thing to do. "Since we haven't much choice, I have a suggestion. Some of us can create a distraction, while the others grab the woman and escape."
"No!" Alice cried. "That would mean death for some of us."
"It's either that or we all die," I said. "And there's something else. Aro knows you can foretell the future. He even thinks you can read minds."
"I can read minds?" Alice was surprised. Of course, mind-reading was my talent, not hers.
"So he believes. He doesn't know about my ability and I'd like to keep it that way because if he did know, he'd probably try to capture me, as he plans to capture you."
"What?" Jasper said with a small growl.
Carlisle placed a hand on Alice's shoulder and said, "I won't let that happen, Alice. I am who Aro wants."
"No, Carlisle. He wants to exterminate all of us except for Alice, and maybe Jasper. He knows that Alice would turn into another Marcos if she lost her mate and he is in no mind to take on another mourning vampire. The only thing for us to do is to send Jasper with Alice, Esme, and Rosalie to rescue the woman and escape, while the rest of us draw their fire."
"No!" Esme and Rosalie cried. They didn't want to lose their mates, either.
Suddenly realizing that I'd never see Bella again, I was aflame with agony, but I knew she'd be safe if she stayed with the Quileute. I couldn't bear to see the rest of my family die before my eyes. "I will be the distraction. The rest of you rescue the girl."
"You'll need help, Edward," Esme said in a determined voice. "Carlisle and I will join you."
It took us another hour before we finally agreed upon who would draw the Volturis' attention and who would rescue the girl, and that only occurred when I pointed out it would soon be sunrise. We decided not to divide mates. Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Alice would rescue the girl and Esme, Carlisle and I would provide distractions. It was no use in pointing out that I was already divided from my mate. We fleshed out our plans and timing and then got ready to implement it. Suddenly, Alice doubled over and cried out in pain.
Jasper caught her. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Clutching her head, she said, "My skull feels like it's going to explode."
Then, I could hear them—many voices, baying for vengeance and that mistakable pull, that magnetic force, that I shall always desire, always cherish.
I said, "The Quileute are here…and my Bella."