The Painter

Chapter 32

There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted. ~Henri Matisse

~O~

The cool air swirled around Bella as she lay on the cold wooden floor. Her eyes were closed, pretending to be asleep as someone paced back and forth within the room.

She didn't know where she was, other than someone had grabbed her. He covered her face as he ran with her.

"Shit," The guy bit out and Bella flicked with the harsh word, but remained unmoving. She remembered all the times the boys in class would scream in her ear, trying to get a reaction until she learned not to react.

She knew better. It was better to pretend to be incoherent or unmoved as to not cause any untoward attention because she knew that as soon as she was showing any signs of life he would undoubtedly come for her.

"I've never done this before," he said softly to himself, "I'm not this kind of person but I don't have a choice. I won't go back… I... can't."

Bella frowned at his pained words, wondering what it was he was running from and why he felt kidnapping a teenager was the answer to whatever was going on with him.

What did it have to do with her?

Did he take her here to kill or torture or worse?

"I know you're awake," he hissed. It seemed like he was across the room one moment and next to her the next. "I can hear your heart."

Bella gasped, Vampire.

Opening her eyes slowly, she took in the guy in front of her. His hair was cut short like a young boy but he dressed older, like he was trapped in a body he could never outgrow.

He wasn't someone that she'd ever seen before, but he seemed to know her.

"I'm Alec," he said quietly. He watched her stoically as if he needed to be ready for any type of reaction.

"You took me," She whispered, wanting to look around but not wanting to take her eyes off of him.

He rolled his eyes, "Obviously."

"Why?"

He shrugged, moving closer to her as she backed away minutely, "Because I need you."

Bella's breath hitched as she pulled her legs to her chest, curling herself into a ball. She moved her hands to her sides and scooted herself as far from him as she could without setting him off.

Where was her pepper spray when she needed it?

"Oh, not like that," He scoffed, showing the frustration he was feeling. He moved toward her slowly, completely non-threatening. "I plan to change you into a vampire and use you as a shield," He said, smiling brightly.

Her eyes went wide and searching, but Bella still couldn't understand what the vampire was talking about. The pictures forming in her mind weren't helping either, "A shield?"

He nodded, sitting down. "Watch," He lifted his hands toward her and she could see the smoky swirls coming toward her. It was frightening yet she didn't move as it inched closer and closer.

The smoke wrapped around her like a blanket with a few flicks of his wrist. "That's what I thought," He grinned, clearly pleased. "You're a shield. If you weren't, my gift would make you feel nothing. Absolutely nothing! You'd be passed out by now."

Bella gasped in shock and he laughed, clearly liking her reaction. But then he continued in a low, sinister voice, "Sometimes they use me to relieve the pain caused by my siste, Jane. When the Volturi are feeling kind, they'll have me anesthetize someone before they are executed."

He talked about killing so easily, totally apathetically.

Tears pricked at Bella's eyes as her chest tightened painfully. She couldn't breathe and she was coming way too close to having a panic attack. But he seemed unmoved.

"Why are you so upset? You're already a strong shield as a human. You'll be exceptional as a vampire. You're stronger than Renata, already, I would suspect. That's why I want to change you. A shield with newborn strength and the ability to be unaffected to psychosomatic threats will leave little room for my sister's attacks to harm you and by default… me."

He laughed then, eyes dancing with excitement.

"You're insane," Bella gasped, trying to breathe while trying to understand everything Alec was saying. He was talking so fast and mostly to himself, "Edward will find me!"

"Oh, Bella, I'm counting on it." He grinned maliciously and stood up straight. He towered over her, seemingly bigger than he was before. "It's all part of the plan."

"The plan? What plan?"

"The plan to gain my freedom from my sister and the Volturi, forever," he sneered.

"Who?"

"Vampire royalty. I'm part of their guard that they keep to protect themselves from any outside threats and enforce vampire law."

"But you already left-"

"Left," He scoffed, instantly angry, and he stood up to pace, "You don't just leave the Volturi, Bella! It's not something you just get to walk away from!"

"That can't be true." Bella recoiled away from the crazy vampire watching him move back and forth. She tried to figure him out, but there wasn't much she knew about vampires other than the Cullen's and what Edward just told her the day before.

This guy was nothing like them.

Alec said he didn't really leave the Volturi, but she didn't know what that meant. This guy basically kidnapped her to use her to protect him from them.

Why didn't he just use his own powers against them?

And even if she was really a shield then how would they not get to him, anyway?

She pictured him hiding behind her as she faced numerous faceless vampires.

He was either deranged or seriously dumb.

Then it dawned on her what he said. She would have to be a vampire in order to effectively shield anyone let alone Alec from the others.

But even if she was changed into a vampire that didn't mean she knew how to be one, or if she would want to protect him after all of this!

Bella licked her lips, breathing in and out over the moisture just as she was taught to secretly calm herself, but it wasn't really working. Her anxiety was building. She knew she was going to have to keep her wits about her if she was going to come out of this alive.

"I think this is way over my head," Bella laughed anxiously, her voice was high pitched. "I'm a teenager. I don't know how to be the shield you need to face anyone."

"That's what I said before! The plan. That's where the others will come in!" he chuckled.

.

Eyes black with rage, Edward tore through the trees searching for and sign or scent of Bella, but he was too late. He had wandered for miles in any direction searching before he came back to her house to see if there were any clues there, but there was nothing.

"Hey brother," Emmett called out as he broke the tree line. "We caught the nomad," Emmett snickered, but grew serious once he saw Edward's face, remembering about Bella being taken. He couldn't imagine if it had been Rosalie. If someone were to take his mate he wouldn't stop until they had the person and destroyed them.

"Who was it?" Edward turned toward his brother, watching him carefully.

"Some vampire named James. He's got a couple of newly created vampire girls stowed away somewhere, he says, but he was coming here for Bella."

Edward's head whipped around, anger radiating off of him in waves. "Why? What does everyone want with her?"

Emmett shrugged casually, "He says he's always looking for humans with gifts and then he changes them."

"He's building an army?"

Emmett shrugged, already bored with the topic.

"Where is he now?"

Emmett snickered as Edward raised his eyebrows impatiently. "Carlisle has him tied up in the basement. You should have seen him! I've never seen Carlisle so badass. He grabbed that nomad and threw him against the wall. He left a nomad shaped door on the side of the house! Esme's pissed about that of course."

The basement in the Cullen home was usually used if they needed a quick, concealed escape. They had created it when they first moved there. It had a door with tunnels that lead to a small house that no one, other than the Cullen's, knew about.

But never had their basement been used to house vampires for interrogation purposes before now.

"They want you to read his mind, see if he knows who took Bella, and why he wanted to take her himself."

Edward Cullen was seething. "I think I already know who has Bella. It has to be Alec. I know his scent since we saw him. I know that he was here."

"Track it, then" Emmett said simply.

"I would if I could, I've tried. But I'm not a tracker. Their scent disappears through those trees."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we have a new tracker slash prisoner!" Emmett laughed but Edward knew that he was right. A tracker could easily find Bella but it could also put them and her in even more danger.

.

Edward and Emmett walked into their house and ran straight to the basement. It was soundproof but that was usually to stop the ranting and raving from Emmett's gaming. But now a nomadic vampire sat on the couch staring at a large, raging fire in the fireplace.

He was staring at Alice as she sat close to Jasper, averting her eyes as she tried to see the future.

Jasper had his arm around his mate, trying to control his emotions, since feelings so intense. It was starting to get to him.

"Can you read his mind, Edward?" Esme asked with a soft smile as she placed herself next to Carlisle. Her eyes held so much emotion and pleading. Edward nodded and then looked at his sire, Carlisle.

Carlisle looked disheveled; eyes were wild, dark, and glaring. His hair was standing on end in wispy blond tufts as his clothes were wrinkled and untucked.

It wasn't something any of his family had seen him like before.

Edward turned his attention to James and stared at him. He glared at Edward defiantly.

"He was watching Bella from afar," Edward says softly but his eyes were hard, "He suspected that she was special because she had our vampire scents on her."

Alice gasped remembering all the times she would embrace Bella. She looked at Esme who looked just as upset. But Edward just looked enraged.

"He was thinking about Alice. How to get around Jasper-"

"He's all hat and no cattle." Jasper drawled.

James hissed.

"There's a light or two burned out on his string!" Jasper scoffed and then narrowed a glare on him.

Suddenly, Edward's lip curled with disgust as he turned to Alice and Jasper and said, "James. His name is James, and he knows Alice, directly."

Alice gasped as Jasper rose to his feet in protection. He put his mate behind him and crouched into a protective stance, ready to attack.

"He's the reason she was changed," Edward continued. His eyes were trained on James who was fidgeting in his seat. "He was there in the sanatorium when she was changed. He was tracking her for a while, making her crazy, paranoid. Her family put her there to protect her from whatever unseen thing that was bothering her as they couldn't see him. One of the orderly's happened to be a vampire, too, and was very protective of Alice. He and put her into a solitary room to hide her from James.

"The night he came for her he killed the orderly but it was too late. The orderly had already sired Alice and she-"

"Stop it!" James sneered, spitting venom from his mouth.

But Edward ignored him, "She was writhing, changing in that solitary room alone and James killed the orderly but couldn't get to her."

James snapped and hissed lowly at Edward before his eyes darted and stayed on Alice.

Alice stood there, defiantly staring back at him.

Edward scoffed, bringing the attention back to him, "He's changing the women for their gifts that would benefit him."

"What's he want, a harem?" Emmett grunted, eyeing Rose playfully.

"Gross," Rose hissed, swatting her husband.

"He wants what we have… kind of," Edward sighed, more resigned. "I didn't say he was rational. But he doesn't know where Bella is now, but he knows the one who took her. The one who took Bella is the one who saved Victoria. Alec, from Volterra."

"Victoria?"

Edward nodded, "She's a newborn vampire."

"She's my mate," James hissed, eyes narrowing.

"Well, Bella is Edward's mate," Esme snapped. "And Alice is Jasper's! You can't just take and change vampires to keep them!"

James snarled at Esme and Carlisle snapped his teeth in warning back.

Growls emanated through the room.

If James noticed he was severely outnumbered you couldn't tell.

Edward could see that everyone was behaving very animalistic and it was wasting precious time.

"Victoria's probably taking a bite out of Seattle waiting for me to get back."

"When you throw dirt, you lose ground." Jasper scoffed. "

Several questioning eyes drifted to Alice who still stood a little behind Jasper, "I don't see that happening." She said softly, shrugging. "I do see her, though. She's allusive. A runner. She's getting ready to bolt… without you."

"What do you want from me?" He growled, eyes darting at each Cullen. James growled jumping to his feet but was instantly surrounded by all the Cullen's."You're wastin' time on me when he could be searching for his pet."

Edward made a motion to get a James but was thwarted by Emmett.

But it was Alice who stepped forward and put her hand over is unbeating heart. "I can't really blame you, for wanting your own family, James. It is ideal to have a coven of gifted vampires for protection and such but the way you're going about it is wrong. You can't have Bella, James. She's Edward's mate and we'd see it and we'd destroy you. But you can help us find her by tracking her for us." She smiled coyly, playing with his ego. "You like the hunt. I can see you helping us. If you find Bella- when you find her, we'll let you go on your merry way like this never even happened."

"If I don't?"

Jasper stood up, "If you don't, I'd recommend considering the pros and cons of death by werewolf verses vampire. Either way, we'd both enjoy taking you apart piece. By. Piece." He pulled up his sleeves to show the bite marks that marred his skin.

"Werewolves?" James scoffed but the glint in Jasper's eyes and the other Cullen's made it known that they were serious.

"Find her and you're free," Edward reiterated. "Please."

James looked from Jasper to Edward with curiosity. He could hear the faint beating of his heart, the blush of his skin. It wasn't something he had ever seen before in a vampire but there wasn't time to figure out what he was when Victoria was about to run and their human pet was somewhere out there with an awol Volturi guard.

The guard's attention wasn't something he wanted to attract.

He looked at the little psychic vampire. She was just like he remembered, perfect lithe body and glossy black hair. He could see himself with her, sure that Victoria wouldn't mind. James gave her a slight smile and a wink.

Jasper growled, snapping his jaw.

Emmett stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. He narrowed his eyes on the nomad, "We're not playing. Make your choice."

James rolled his eyes, shaking his head slowly, knowing he was severely outnumbered. He could always track Mary-Alice down later, if he felt like it and Victoria was game.

Edward growled, reading his every thought. He stood with his hands curled and read for attack.

James just gave Edward a lazy grin and said, "Fine."

It was seconds before they were out the door and running through the forest toward Bella.

At least they hoped.

.

"I want you to sit down, here, and try to think about what your shield would look like if you had one," Alec said softly. He had scared Bella, enough, earlier on accident and after she finally calmed down and ate, he decided it was time to start pre-training her.

He was surprised that the Cullen's had yet to find them or even come for her of course, but now he was distracted with his phone, texting someone throughout the day.

It was making Bella anxious.

But since the Cullen's hadn't come for her, it gave him plenty of time to talk and try to teach her things like meditation and projection.

She was going to be an excellent vampire someday.

He just couldn't bring himself to bite her to change her… yet.

"Do you have it?" He asked, walking around her as she sat in the chair.

"I would imagine it's like a big fishing net," Bella frowned. All day she noticed her captor went from crazy to kind, but maybe that was because his gift had yet to do her any harm. She was cautious. If she was a shield, was he trying to get beyond it to harm her or was he truly trying to help her control it?

Either way all of this was for his benefit, not hers.

"That's a good start, actually. Now, I want you to imagine rolling the net into a big ball and you are about to throw it out to cover all the people around you."

Bella huffed, closing her eyes. She could see the silvery net sparking in the warm sun. The salty sea breeze was weaving through her hair like her mother's fingers use to do when she was upset. Below her was a school of fish, their scales glinting in the sunshine above. They had no idea there was a whole world above them and below them. She pictured Edward in the water, Renee and Charlie beyond him, and the other Cullen's bobbed in the water just beyond them. Bella pictured the silvery net and threw it around all of her people, but it was as if they didn't notice or feel it.

Then she remembered they weren't really there.

She opened her eyes with anger, breathing through her nose. "Done," she huffed, glaring at Alec but he just tapped at his phone with a smile.

"Who are you texting?" Bella huffed.

"A girl."

"Oh, yeah?"

Alec nodded.

"What's her name?"

"Jessica Stanley." Alec grinned. "I met her on the plane."

"She's fun. I know her. I go to school with her."

Alec looked up from his phone. "Really?"

"She's nice. You could use some nice if the stories you've talked about are true."

"Thanks." Alec sensed that Bella was sincere. "I really am sorry about all of this." He motioned around him. "I was trying to help- or at least I thought I was helping."

"It's okay," Bella eyed the door and windows, wondering if she could even make it, but deep down she knew the answer.

Even if she made it outside, there was no way she'd make it much farther.

"You should let me go, though."

There was movement outside the window.

Edward's face appeared in the window for a split second.

Bella couldn't believe it

"You can go." Alec went back to texting.

He was out there.

And then he was gone.

Her breath caught in her throat and Alec dropped his phone.

"Go." He hissed. "They're waiting for you outside."

Bella opened the door and saw nothing but trees. As she looked around she was that there was another vampire just on the outskirts that backed away into the trees and disappeared.

.

A/N: The original posting of this chapter has Alec being awful… and I've changed it somewhat. As ever, thanks for reading and your kind reviews.