Don't think. Don't think about it.
My body plummeted into water. A newborn straddled my torso, fists colliding with my chest and face beneath the surface of the river. If I were human, the need to breathe would have resulted in a gurgled scream as I fought against the creature's extended arms. Instead, I grabbed the man above me and pulled him forward. Rearing up in a headbutt, I twisted his arms behind him in a sickening crunch. I knocked him off balance, stood, and threw the newly turned immortal into the air above me.
Carlisle leapt forward and caught the creature by his head. He twisted, decapitating the man in one smooth motion. The body slumped, landing on its knees and falling forward on its stomach, splashing me with river water. Carlisle lifted the head and tossed it onto shore with a throw-in motion of a soccer game. There was no time to burn the remains. We kept moving, kept running. We kept fighting.
There were more of them than Alice had originally predicted. Victoria had turned 23 creatures, not including Bree, over half of them in the last few days alone. She was unhinged. The newborns did not understand why they fought us; they only knew rage and frenzy as they picked up Bella's scent, driven wild by the droplets of blood that Bella planted along the Amelia Island state park trails. The lure led them to a large campground in the heart of the island where we ambushed them. Her mouthwatering scent surrounded me, ever present in her physical absence. In some twisted way, it made me miss her. In the same breath, I was eternally grateful that Bella was not here, far away from this bloody hellscape.
After three extraordinary days of having her back in my life, cutting off all contact with her was torturous. Not being able to call her after hearing those callous words in the school parking lot was torturous. Not being able to protect her myself was agony. I couldn't reach out to her, not when she was being watched. We did not know who the intruder was, only that they had stolen from her, and seemed intent on removing any trace of my presence from her life in the months we were apart. Her phone messages were not secure. I would ensure that our reconciliation would come soon, but now was not our time.
Don't think. Just keep moving.
I heard Esme shout from above as she charged after a creature that tried to get away by climbing a tree. Within a second, a dark vampire arm clattered to the ground and plopped in the water. A few more limbs followed, clattering to the ground a few feet away, the sound resembling a rock slide.
I heard another newborn approaching, his thoughts giving away his plan of attack. The creature ran at me like a glittering bull, moving at the rate of a meteor. His face was surprised as I sidestepped the attack at the last second. I hit the newborn man with a haymaker so powerful, his body flew through a nearby cabin, knocking the structure to the ground. Emmett caught the creature as it made to stand from the rubble and lifted its body over his head, ripping the man in two with his bare hands.
No, this was not a scene I would have wanted Bella to witness, not in the least. She was safe with the Denali sisters. It was early in the afternoon, she was likely still at school, perhaps sitting in the sunlight in the quad with her friends. Where she belonged.
Don't think. Keep moving.
I heard Emmett's mantra in his mind as I repeated my own. Rose and the munchkin are safe. At least they are safe, Emmett thought. His worries for his mate and his adopted child echoed my own.
Another newborn vampire woman approached us, this one smarter than the others. It planned to attack Emmett from above, using the roof of a nearby cabin to stage her assault. Just as she leapt forward, I grabbed a wooden bench and swung, hitting the creature's body like a baseball. Emmett pursued the body as it flew through the trees. More smashing, tearing, crunching, and ripping sounds followed. Another monster jumped on my back. I leaned forward and threw it off of me, sinking my venous teeth into its throat as the blonde woman screeched and kicked.
I did not know where the rest of the family was. We became separated from Alice and Jasper as half of the newborns sprinted toward the river, not far from the cabin where Rosalie guarded Bree. Victoria's nearing presence began to confuse Bree's newborn mind. Emmett and I worried that she wouldn't be able to control herself, that she would hurt Rosalie in her desperation to literally meet her maker.
Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and I fought the new immortals four miles away from the safe house while Alice and Jasper pursued another group that doubled back heading south. We had killed nine newborn vampires so far. Victoria was not among them. Her talent for evasion could not be understated. I checked my phone for the third time, looking for any message from Alice indicating Victoria's whereabouts. I swore under my breath, using a word Bella would never hear me say aloud.
"What is it, Edward?" Esme asked, running to my side. Emmett and Carlisle had begun pouring kerosene on the bodies, burning the creatures that we had successfully dismantled.
"Something is wrong, I can't explain it." I climbed a spruce tree, listening for signs of vampires approaching. It was too quiet. "I can't shake it." I ran my hands through my hair. "I think we need to find Alice and regroup."
"Agreed." Carlisle nodded, throwing a lighter into the pile of limbs behind him. The sky filled with a dark purple plume of smoke. We ran south following the path we last saw Alice and Jasper take. After several minutes we all stopped cold. We sensed it at the same time.
"Carlisle, I can smell him," Esme gasped. "Oh, dear. Oh no…Jasper."
I ran ahead, faster than the others. This odor was ingrained in my mind, conjuring the memory of when Victoria had broken me. It smelled like Jasper, like everwood and chestnut, but it was wrong. As I approached, I caught another scent, a sickly candy apple that assaulted my senses. Victoria.
Alice sat on her knees with her legs tucked beneath her in the center of a thick salt marsh. On her lap, she cradled Jasper's head, brushing his long blonde locks out of his eyes, rocking back and forth. I approached her from behind, preparing myself for what I was about to see when I leaned over her shoulder.
I hardly recognized my brother, my fellow warrior. The doctor in me recognized that Jasper's jaw was crushed. Fresh bite marks glittered in the sun, marring his arms and the side of his face. One of his eyes was open wide, staring into nothing. The other was deformed, sparkling with silver venom.
I knew she needed me. I wrapped my arms around Alice, holding her together. She took a deep shuddering breath, crying without producing tears.
Alice did not look up from her vigil. She caressed Jasper's shattered face, looking at him with the eyes of a lover, as if he remained flawless to her. I had to stay with him. I couldn't leave him, like this. I'm sorry, she thought.
"Don't apologize" I rocked her. Carlisle and Esme reached Jasper moments after I did. Carlisle was speechless as he examined the damage. Esme wept into Emmett's chest. Ironically, this was the moment Alice relaxed. She appeared to be waiting for this moment.
"We've got him," Carlisle promised.
As soon as Carlisle touched Jasper, Alice saw a flash of a vision. In this instant I envied her gift, her ability to experience the future in real time and just know. She suddenly came back to life in my arms.
Then, all Alice saw was red.
I'm going to kill that Bitch.
Alice's wrath was beyond words. She stood and began running, following the tendrils of a premonition as it formed, ignited by her decision to destroy Victoria. I saw flashes of woods, river, and purple smoke. Whatever path Alice was following; it was not definite. This path was a novice dancer on a tightrope, a decision balancing on the razor thin point of a needle.
Emmett and I exchanged a glance as we detected the pursuit of at least ten newborn vampires, flanking us in the forest as we ran. Alice couldn't be stopped. We ran further north, passing the trail where we ambushed and burned the other newborn bodies.
No!
Emmett pushed his body faster and further as soon as he registered our designation. We were running to the cabin where Rosalie hid Bree.
I could taste Victoria's syrupy candy scent on my tongue, so thick that I wanted to gag. As we approached, I heard the thoughts of seven different creatures coming from inside; I heard Rosalie's fear and Victoria's poisonous delight with the chaos and pain she had caused. I wanted to tell Emmett to stop, to give us a moment to strategize, but I knew I would not be able to deter him in time. Right now, Emmett was a husband and a father. Nothing would stop him now, not until he saw his family safe again with his own eyes.
Four newborn monsters leapt at us as we approached. Emmett tackled the body of one into the side of the cabin, smashing its granite-like body through the wall. Another creature sprinted at Alice. She leapt over the monster with the grace of a gymnast, snapping its torso in half as she flipped through the air. She kicked another in the chest, and the man crumpled. Alice ripped off the creature's leg and proceeded to beat him with it.
I was briefly distracted by Alice's violence; I did not notice as a fourth newborn attacked me from the side. If I had air in my lungs, she would had knocked it out of me. I recognized this vampire from Alice's vision. The small Asian woman growled as she grabbed my arms, squeezing me with her immense newborn strength. I broke out of her hold and hit her with an uppercut, then a jab, until finally catching her skull in my hands. I watched the life extinguish in her eyes as I crushed it. She turned to dust in my palms.
Thirteen down. Ten to go. Emmett was already inside. Alice and I approached the cabin, using our abilities, communicating in synchronization. She filtered through a million scenarios, quickly deciding that our best course of action would be to enter from the back. She showed me the plan in her mind. We sprinted in.
Victoria stood in front of the fireplace, her red hair ablaze in the fire glow. Her hand constricted Bree's throat, cracks began to form on the immortal child's neck from the pressure of her long red fingernails. Bree cried out in pain.
"This little piggy went to the market," Victoria sang, her voice high and nasally. Victoria lifted Bree's hand to her face and bit one of Bree's fingers clean off. Bree shrieked. Victoria turned and spit the pinkie finger into the fire behind her.
Emmett roared. He was being held to the ground by four of Victoria's followers. Rosalie was silent, her porcelain face frozen in a silent half-scream. Three more newborns held her in place where she sat on the rocking chair, thrashing as she took in the scene before her.
"Well if it isn't the wonder twins," Victoria's snickered. She played with the end of Bree's hair, then pulled on her scalp, bringing the child to her knees and choking her again. Bree whimpered. Victoria smiled widely at me, though it did not reach her eyes. There was too much mania there.
As Alice and I began to move, Victoria clamped down on Bree's throat harder.
"I wouldn't move if I were you," Victoria tisked. We stopped. Without speaking we exchanged plans of attack through our minds. Every scenario resulted in Bree's death. Every single one. Emmett and Rosalie would not survive the loss. Alice growled in frustration, rifling through the future, searching for the loose string in the tapestry.
Three more newborns entered the cabin, entering from behind. They grabbed Alice and I, holding us in their vice grip.
"I'm the one you want," I said to Victoria, keeping my voice low. "Let the child go."
"No, I don't think I will," she replied, backing up and pulling Bree with her. "She's mine after all. I always wanted a little girl."
"Don't touch her," Rosalie screamed. "I'll kill you. I will kill you."
"That's what the other pretty blonde one said too," Victoria hummed, looking directly at Alice with the expression of a catty teenager. "But he's not so pretty anymore." She pouted dramatically.
The violence I heard in Alice's mind was striking. Alice thrashed against the creature that held her. For a moment, Alice did not care if the immortal child that she saved lived or died. She would have torn through any of us to get her hands around Victoria's scrawny neck.
"Bored now," Victoria sang. "Here's the deal. I'm going to walk out of here with this little cutie pie. I'm going to hold on to her until I get my hands on your Bella. Then you'll get to watch as I eat your little human alive."
"You won't live long enough to get the chance." I growled.
"You know I'm really getting a kick out of this whole parenting thing," Victoria said as she played with Bree's ear. "Maybe I'll turn Bella instead! I've gotten quite proficient at it," she mused.
Victoria turned, pulling Bree behind her by her ponytail.
"Oh, and if you try and follow me, I'll break this baby girl in half like a twig," she called over her shoulder.
As soon as Victoria walked outside, I snapped my head back. The nose of the vampire behind me crushed into his skull. Alice tossed the creature holding her into the fireplace by performing a somersault. Two of the newborns that held Rosalie threw themselves onto me, clawing at me and pounding me into the wooden floorboards. I flipped and kicked them into the wall.
Suddenly, Rosalie's arms were around me, holding me down. I bucked against her in confusion.
I am so sorry Edward. I can't let you go after her, she'll kill her, she thought. I can't let Bree die.
Could a lifeless frozen heart drop? It felt like mine just did.
I stared, hurt, into the golden eyes of my first sister. I'm sorry, she chanted. This was a betrayal I would not forgive. She was ready to trade Bella's like for Bree's. She would have traded all of our lives.
The remaining newborns screamed and surrounded us. I broke free from Rosalie's grip just as a set of immortal teeth snapped at me. We were outnumbered and cornered. The next moments were pandemonium. I lost sight of my siblings; newborn immortals descended upon us all. I wasn't going to let them take me alive. If I was going to be taken down by these creatures, I would ensure that I would take as many of them with me as I could.
Throughout this God forsaken day, I had been trying to put Bella out of my mind. Don't think about it, I had recited – compartmentalizing in order to survive the ordeal. I abandoned that mantra now, letting thoughts of Bella envelop me, warm me from inside. Seeing her face in my mind gave me peace.
A strange noise broke through my mediation. I snapped back into awareness to a loud inexplicable ZAP! Followed by an electrical WHIZZ! The newborn creatures that tore at me shook as if convulsing from a seizure, their eyes rolling backwards. After a beat, their bodies collapsed as others suddenly flew through the air and off of me.
I looked up to find two blonde vampires, resembling Slavic Amazons, as they stood over me.
I made a mental note never to pick a fight with Tanya and Kate.
TO BE CONTINUED. . .
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, the Twilight Series. No copyright infringement intended.
Plot is mine :)
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