"And… submit!"
With one click, Bella was finished with her first year of college.
"How does it feel?" Emmett asked. "Because you're gonna be doing that over and over again for the rest of forever."
Bella was curled up in the corner of the couch in Emmett's game room, watching him play God of War. She had come over spontaneously, but most of the family was out of the house on a hunting trip. Only Emmett and Carlisle were home, the latter upstairs, working on something in his office, not to be disturbed.
"It gets easier, right?" she asked, setting her laptop on the coffee table.
"Of course. I wouldn't be sitting here playing video games if it didn't."
Bella eyed the black cap and gown hanging sloppily from the side of Emmett's dresser.
"How many times have you graduated so far?"
"Oh, babe, I am not keeping count," he said, laughing as he leaned back and crossed his legs. "That is not a tally I am looking to keep."
"Are you sick of it?"
Emmett pursed his lips and tilted his head from side to side, his mop of curly black hair bouncing as he did.
"I dunno. I don't really think about it. I guess I can say that I'm not unhappy. I don't think anyone wants to go to school over and over again, but we make it work, and it never really gets boring. You've certainly made this go-round super interesting."
He reached over and bumped her with his fist. One of the enemies he was fighting took that moment of distraction as an opportunity to give him a good walloping, and his attention shot back to the TV screen.
Bella was tired for a wide variety of reasons, but having school on top of everything else was draining. She was almost ready to give up on transferring and become a complete NEET going forward, which she assumed wouldn't be hard for a vampire but would probably go against what Carlisle wanted for the family. School had never been her primary stressor and often served as a distraction from her problems, but thinking about doing it over and over and over again was beginning to weigh on her.
Emmett noticed her silence and paused his game. He scooted down the couch closer to her and put an arm over the back, leaning in close.
"Look, it's really not that bad, I promise. Once you do it two or three times, you pretty much have it down pat, and it's smooth sailing until they like, reinvent math again or whatever. Honestly, I think it might be better than, I dunno, living in recluse in a castle somewhere in eastern Europe." Bella laughed. "Hey, that's a real thing that vampires do. I mean, you've been to Volterra. There are more places like that."
"And you've been to them?"
"No, but I've heard about them. Read about them."
"If there are so many books written about vampires and vampire society, how come humans haven't found out about you guys yet?" Bella asked.
Emmett shrugged. "I'm sure a few brave souls have come across some vamp lit, but that shit's hard to get your hands on if you aren't buddy-buddy with the Volturi. The only reason we have so much of it is because of Carlisle."
Bella let her head fall back. "Maybe that's what I'll do… I'll start writing vampire books."
"You wanna become a vampire scientist?"
"No, I just wanna write. About us. Don't you think there should be stories about people like us?" Bella sat up and grabbed her laptop. She opened a fresh word document and started typing. "People—humans—love to read stories. They can be a method of escapism, or help with self-identification. We like to read stories about other people because it can help us feel less… alone."
Emmett nodded. "I'm not much of a literature guy, but I'm picking up what you're putting down. You don't wanna write stories about vampires, necessarily—you wanna write stories for vampires."
"And wolves," she said, smiling a little. "Everybody needs something to relate to."
Bella was rapidly typing away, writing out a bullet-point list of ideas that were suddenly coming to mind while Emmett returned to playing his game.
Carlisle, who had stopped to listen as he passed by Emmett's room, smiled and continued on his way down to the library.
-X-
Bella hadn't properly talked to Rosalie yet. They had seen each other and said a few words in passing, but there was yet to be any kind of proper heart-to-heart conversation. There was no time. Everyone was busy, running back and forth, making plans.
Bella was sure Lucrezia was busy too. Somehow, that was the last thing on her mind today. Because, today, Bella had to attend two different graduation ceremonies. Of course, she wasn't the one graduating, but there was no way she was going to miss her friends' ceremonies (even if she would go on to see many of them graduate several times after this). Charlie, of course, had insisted on attending both, so she found herself riding up to Port Angeles in the passenger's seat of his Crown Victoria.
Leah, Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie were all walking in this morning's ceremony. As soon as they arrived at PC, Bella left Charlie to find them seats in the auditorium while she snuck back to where the graduating class was waiting in the wings. She found Leah and Emmett first, towards the front of what was trying to be a line, standing with the rest of the Cs. Bella lunged at Leah, pulling her into a hug.
"Congrats bitch!" she said, squeezing her tight.
"It's not a huge deal, it's just community college," said Leah, blushing a little.
"Yeah, but you have a whole ass associate's degree under your belt now! Isn't that exciting?"
"I guess…"
"No warm welcome for me?" asked Emmett, raising his arms.
Bella let Leah loose and wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Not sure you need it, champ. This is just another day on the job for you." He gave her a fierce noogie and she wrestled her way out of his massive arms. "Alright, alright! I gotta go find the 'twins'. See you guys on the stage!"
Bella waved goodbye and walked further down the hallway, looking for the Hs. It wasn't hard to spot Jasper and Rosalie, both of whom were standing off to the side, away from the other students. As friendly as the Cullens had gotten with certain humans, the two of them always preferred to keep to themselves.
They spotted Bella coming towards them. She gave Jasper a hug first, then Rosalie, giving her a quick peck on the lips. The kiss felt as though it was missing something important, but they didn't dwell on the feeling.
"I know you guys have done this so many times, but I can't help but feel a little excited for you," Bella said quietly.
Rosalie smiled. "I mean, it is a little exciting. It never quite gets old."
"I appreciate the meanin' of it all," said Jasper. "We might be cheatin' the system a little, but it's not like I didn't learn anythin' new. Things do change over time, after all. Even if we don't."
"Always the philosopher," said Rose, rolling her eyes.
"Can't help it. It's in my nature to wax poetic about the meanin' of existence."
The faux twins playfully shoved each other.
"I can't help but get this good feeling today," said Bella. "It feels wrong to be so… excited. And happy, I guess."
"You're allowed to be happy, babe," said Rosalie, giving her forehead a kiss.
Their tender moment was interrupted by the arrival of some other underclassmen—Jessica, Eric, and Angela were walking down the hall from the other end of the line, presumably having snuck back here to greet some of their own upperclassmen friends. Jessica spotted Bella, waved, and yelled, "Hey! You guys coming to the party tonight?"
No major event on the Olympic Peninsula would go without Jessica Stanley throwing a rager about it. Graduation week was certainly no exception. Jessica had pulled out all the stops, promising a bacchanal festival of celebration at the Park the likes of which Forks had never seen. The Facebook event had advertised ice luges, kegs, an actual DJ, a snack bar, and so much more. Everything you could ever dream of at a party would be there.
And Bella almost decided not to go. It was risky, after all. What if Lucrezia ambushed the party? Hundreds of people would get hurt. But Alice had checked the future, and it seemed highly unlikely that she would risk exposure like that. Her thirst for vengeance was not so great that she would incite a slaughter.
The Cullens talked it over. Despite the threat, Carlisle insisted that Lucrezia should not stop them from enjoying this moment. So they spoke with Sam, and decided to increase patrols. Esme and Jared would guard Charlie. Everyone else they could imagine would be at risk would be at the Park, so they assigned Jasper and Emmett to "sober staff" the event and keep watch. Seth and Paul would run the perimeter. Alice would keep a clear mind and an eye towards the future. If Lucrezia tried anything tonight, they would put a stop to it before she could make a move.
"You know we'll be there," Bella said, shooting finger guns at Jessica.
"Great! See you tonight!"
Bella said her goodbyes to Rosalie and Jasper and followed the humans down the hall and back into the auditorium. She found Charlie sitting next to Sue, Seth, and the rest of the Cullens, talking amicably with Carlisle about god knows what. Bella squeezed into the aisle and took a seat next to Edward.
The ceremony progressed like any other graduation ceremony in the world. Bella couldn't tell if Carlisle and Esme were putting on an act or if they were genuinely proud to see their kids graduating for the nth time.
Bella stood and clapped for Leah along with the rest of her family. Leah looked extraordinarily embarrassed to hear her mother and brother whooping and hollering for her as she walked across the stage to accept her diploma.
Afterwards, they all gathered in the parking lot, exchanging congratulations and well wishes. The weather was unusually nice and the sun was threatening to shine, but Alice had told them earlier not to worry about any direct light making it through the cloud cover.
It was one of those rare moments where things almost felt normal again. Normal families, normal people, a normal graduation. Bella let herself believe it for a few seconds.
Charlie checked his watch and announced that they needed to get a move on to make it down to La Push for Jacob's graduation. The Cullens were heading home, but Edward hitched a ride with Bella and Charlie, unwilling to miss his partner's ceremony. As the families started to part ways, Bella reached out and grabbed Rosalie's hand.
"Will you… uh… Do you wanna come?" she asked. "You can ride with us."
Rosalie blinked a few times. The rest of the vampires were headed off to cover patrols while most of the pack were attending graduation. It was important that they maintain full coverage while half their guard was down. She bit her lip and looked over her shoulder at Carlisle, who nodded, smiling, and waved for her to go with one hand.
"Yeah, sure. I'll come."
Charlie followed Sue's car back down to the reservation. This time, instead of going to find Jacob himself, Leah led them back out into the parking lot to find Jacob's car. She handed out a bunch of window paint pens and directed them to go wild.
"He'll hate this!" she said, cackling as she started drawing on one of his rear windows.
"This is an affront to the beauty of vehicles and I refuse to participate," said Rosalie, crossing her arms.
"C'mon, babe, it washes right off! Don't you wanna piss off Jake a little? Even Edward does!" said Bella, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her over to the car.
And so, Leah, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, and Seth desecrated the Rabbit with innumerable drawings and a dozen or so variations on "Congrats!", "Senior", and "Class of 2018". It was fun. Bella realized that she was having fun, and there was a moment where she stopped to think about how strange that felt, but she didn't allow herself to dwell on it and ruin the moment. There would be time to feel bad later.
The graduation ceremony, like many events on the reservation, took place outside with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. Though the sky overhead was still cloudy, it was lighter here than it had been in Port Angeles. Rosalie continued to wear her cap and gown to keep any stray sunbeams off her face, while Edward borrowed a hat from Seth just in case.
Though it was still awkward seeing the Cullens walking on Quileute land, Edward and Rosalie felt that their regular presence on the reservation had made them stand out less than they had in the beginning. Not everyone knew the old stories, and even those that did didn't necessarily believe them. And there were people who had gotten used to seeing them hanging around at Ateara's, or talking with Sam and some of the other council members. In such a small place where everyone knew everybody and outsiders were held at length and treated with justified caution, they were no longer true strangers.
But no one was paying them any attention today anyways. Today was all about the graduating class. Of course, it was a far smaller ceremony than PC's, but that made it all the more personal and touching. Bella swore she saw both Billy and Charlie tearing up as they listened to the speeches given prior to the awarding of diplomas.
Jacob Black was one of the first to walk across the small stage to receive his diploma. The expression on his face was hard to read, but as he climbed the stairs Bella could only think that he looked uncertain. His brow was furrowed, his lips were turned down ever so slightly at the corners. He looked back and forth between the audience and the principal who was waiting on him.
To Bella, Jacob had always been solid, like a tower built deep into the ground. He was a source of comfort and guidance. He was good at keeping cool and was rarely uncomfortable. Sure, he had his stressful moments, but he bounced back from them with a strength and determination that she had always admired. But, over the past year, Bella had watched that tower crumble, little by little, brick by brick. She was sure it wouldn't collapse, but it had been worn down. There were cracks in its once impenetrable exterior.
Jacob had always been there for her to rely on. He still was. But he needed someone to rely on too.
Billy cheered loudly for his son as he walked, spurring Sue and Charlie and the rest of them to shout his name, as well as a few of the other spectators in the crowd. Jacob would never admit it, but he was well-loved among his people.
And Edward was clapping and cheering, smiling so big that his eyes were smiling too. Bella rarely saw him so ecstatic.
Maybe Edward could be someone for Jacob to rely on, just as Jacob had been for her.
Jacob saw everyone's raucous applause and smiled sheepishly. He shook the principal's hand and accepted his diploma before walking offstage as quickly as he could, returning to the student section.
After the ceremony, Jacob was bombarded with congratulations from all angles. Friends, friends' parents, relatives. Everyone clapped him on the back and told him he'd done good. He took pictures with his dad and with Quil and Embry, then with Bella and Seth and Leah, and then with Edward, and then with anyone who held up a camera in front of him.
After it was all over and the excitement had died down, they all piled into their separate cars and went back to the Clearwater house for a late afternoon lunch. They sat on the back deck while Sue and Charlie got in each other's way trying to keep meat on the grill. Billy relished in his lack of responsibility and had a few beers. All of the kids sat together in a circle, talking about the day's events. Jacob was still noticeably… off.
"I just don't… I don't feel like I earned this," he said quietly when he knew his dad wouldn't be able to hear.
"Bullshit," said Leah, smacking the back of his head. "So you missed a lot of school. You were exempt. The people who matter know why you were gone."
"But I—"
"No buts! Jake, you weren't given some kind of free pass through school. You were pulled out because you had to go do something even harder. And it's not like you slacked off outside of that! You did all of your supplementary work." She jabbed her pointer finger into his chest so hard that it pushed him backwards slightly. "I watched you sit at Emily's kitchen table and pour over textbooks at 3AM between patrols. You fucking earned this. Do not act like you didn't."
He smiled and shook his head. "You're right. I can't shake the feeling, though."
"Then shut up about it, or she'll keep yelling at you," said Seth through a mouthful of fish fry.
Edward nodded. "Not everyone's path looks the same. Yours was… incredibly different. But you're not the only one! Embry and Quil had to do the same thing. Are they as mopey as you?"
Jacob pursed his lips and looked away from him. "No…"
"Then why are you? Get over yourself, dude," said Bella, elbowing him. "Shit sucks. Trust us, we know."
"Alright, okay, I'll shut up! Everyone stop talking about me. I think we should talk about Leah instead."
"Leah! Congrats to Leah! A college graduate!" Bella yelled, clapping for her once more. "An entire associate's degree!"
Leah waved away her compliments as if they were mosquitoes.
"Yeah, yeah, I did it! Hooray," she deadpanned.
"Don't act like you're not over the moon," said Seth, sneering.
"I'm happy, yeah. Just don't wanna make a big deal out of it."
"It's a big deal! Let yourself be proud. Rub it in. Be the asshole you know you are," said Bella.
"I'll be an asshole to you and throw you off the deck," said Leah, feinting a punch.
"Hey now," said Rosalie, half glaring at her, half grinning. "Don't make me get involved."
"If I have to go toe-to-toe with you to deck Bella in the face, you might have to throw hands. I think Miss Swan deserves a good tussle."
Rosalie bit her lip. "Well… maybe she does."
"Rose—!"
Bella was cut off as Leah dropped her plate and pounced on Bella. They grappled with each other for less than a minute before Sue yelled at them and told them to cut it out. Charlie laughed at the whole affair.
"You all really haven't changed since you were knee-high," he said. "If I had a dollar for every time one of you came crying to us about something the other did…"
Bella and Leah separated and laughed along with him.
Having these ridiculous play fights was a luxury. Spending time with their families was a luxury. Relaxing, pretending that everything was alright was a luxury.
And it was a luxury they felt blessed to have on that warm, partly sunny Saturday afternoon.
-X-
The party was in full swing by the time the Cullens arrived. They were fashionably late due to their final strategy meeting running over; Sam wanted to make sure that all the details were ironed out before they let everyone loose. They needed to operate like an oiled machine tonight, and if one cog was even slightly out of place, the world could fall apart before their very eyes.
It was highly unlikely that Lucrezia would launch a full-scale attack on the Park—so unlikely that Alice had said there was a 0.00001% chance of it happening. It was an incredibly foolish move that would make an uncontrollable scene and attract the ire of the Volturi (even more than she already had).
"I could only imagine her doing something like that as an absolute last resort. To be clear, I can't even see her considering anything of the sort," Alice had said. "The party isn't what you have to worry about: it's individuals. People like Angela. Now, I haven't been able to see anything concrete—and I am still doing my best to get work around wolf interference—but I've put together a list of possible targets that I'm sending to the group chat… now."
Bella's phone lit up with a message containing a list of names that made her stomach turn. She regretted pregaming this meeting with Edward. The tequila was not settling well in her nervous stomach.
ANGELA
EMILY
KIM
JESSICA
ERIC
MIKE
CHARLIE
SUE
BILLY
The last three names conjured the heaviest sensations of anxiety. Bella's stomach twisted; she would need to go to the bathroom again before they left.
"Most of these folks will be at the party. Luckily for us, Charlie will be on the reservation, at Sue's. And Billy is spending the evening with Old Quil, correct?"
Alice looked to Quil, who nodded. "He was already there when I left."
"Esme will keep watch over the Clearwater residence," said Sam. "Jared is on guard at the Ateara residence. Carlisle…" He paused, locking eyes with the vampire patriarch. "You will be in charge of patrolling the reservation with Paul and Seth. I will slip away from the party when I can to check in. Embry and Quil will leave the party once per hour to run the perimeter around the Park."
"And Emmet and I will be on watch," said Jasper. "We'll take turns patrolling every 30 minutes. And Alice will take up a post on the perimeter, keeping watch and keeping an eye towards the future."
"Why do we have to run patrols when Jacob doesn't?" Embry asked, crossing his arms.
"Jacob isn't going to be slacking off," Sam said sternly, looking at Jacob out of the corner of his eye. "He's going to be keeping an eye on our list of targets. No one gets the night off."
That was untrue. Bella was notably exempt from this roll call, having been deemed a "target" herself. She was allowed to do whatever she wanted tonight. Edward was also being let off the hook, though he technically had been assigned the same job as Jacob. Rosalie and Leah had also not been given concrete tasks, but they would stick close to their partners no matter what, and that was insurance they needed.
"Does everyone understand what they're meant to be doing?" Carlisle asked.
Everyone looked at each other and nodded. Bella nodded too, then excused herself to the bathroom in hopes of easing the turmoil in her stomach.
When she returned, Bella came across Carlisle and Alice talking quietly in the hall. They heard her approach and ceased their conversation.
"Nothing for you to worry about, Bella," said Carlisle.
His words did not reassure her. She had something on her mind, something that had been eating at her throughout the entire meeting.
"Can I ask you two something?"
"Of course," said Alice.
"We have that list of people but… I can't help but think… What if they don't go after one of those people? What if they just pick someone at random?"
Bella had been thinking about the party in Phoenix, about Nick. He wasn't exactly a random person, but he had clearly been sent to the party to spy on her and told not to interact with her. Lucrezia might have known that Nick was her friend. She might not have. With the purpose he was supposed to have served, he could have been anyone.
And it could be anyone tonight. Lucrezia could try to pick anyone from PC, anyone from Forks, anyone from La Push, and either make them her puppet or hold them hostage. Neither Carlisle nor Sam would let an innocent person die in this conflict. It could be anyone. Anyone would work.
Carlisle frowned. He opened his mouth, but Alice spoke first.
"I haven't seen anything like that happening. And I think it's something I would see. It's… something I've been keeping an eye out for. I think, for all the planning she's done, she doesn't really know our weaknesses and our limits. She's playing a general strategy. She doesn't know that we would go after her for a random human."
"Because she doesn't see human life as valuable," said Carlisle. "In her eyes, humans are disposable. She wouldn't think that a random person would work as a hostage. Maybe as a spy, but it's a little late for that. No, if she wants to go for anyone, it would be someone she deemed close to you, close to us." He put a hand on Bella's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry, Bella. We've got this."
Bella wanted to believe him so badly.
Despite the Cullens opening up more than they ever had during the course of the school year, they still managed to turn heads when they walked into the Park. This was, of course, the first time all of them had attended the same party. People Bella had never seen or spoken to before were staring at them.
Once they were into the crowd, they all split ways. Emmett and Jasper headed for the far side of the clearing, setting up shop near the treeline but not too far from the crowd. Bella and Edward made a beeline for the bar as usual, Rosalie in tow.
The attending members of the pack would arrive later; they were running a quick patrol before heading over, and they didn't want to arrive in a large group. It would have drawn even more attention and perhaps tipped off any prying Valenti eyes that their territory was less guarded than usual.
Before the meeting, Bella had told herself that she didn't want to drink that much tonight, that she wanted to keep a clear mind in this tense situation. Unfortunately, a clear mind was also a panicked mind in her case. Carlisle had told her not to worry, and that made her worry even more. So she found herself at the bar, venmoing Eric an extra dollar to make her drinks extra strong.
Bella was in a bad mood. She wanted to have a good time. Everyone else was living it up, blissfully unaware of what was at stake. They were drunk, they were celebrating, they were happy. The more she looked around, the more she wanted that to be her. She wanted to be happy. To be in ignorant bliss.
But she wasn't going to find happiness all of a sudden, so she decided she might find it at the bottom of a red solo cup like she always had in the past.
The alcohol sank into her faster than she expected, and the world became a beautiful but dizzying flurry of colors and sounds. The promised DJ setup was more than Bella had expected, completely with a wide array of vibrant, flashing lights that put her into a trance. She grabbed Edward's wrist and pulled him deeper into the dancing crowd, catching a glimpse of Rosalie following them at a distance. Bella was too drunk to see her expression.
As nervous as Edward also was, he let Bella lead him into a dance. They were close to the DJ, the music thumping through the ground and up into their chests.
"This is insane!" Bella shouted, closing her eyes and moving to the music. "This is the best party I've ever been to!"
"Hell yeah!" Edward responded.
Bella got close to him and, before he understood what she was doing, swapped their drinks, giving him her double-strength screwdriver and taking his gin lemonade. He gave her a weird look, questioning her actions. It was almost as if he was saying, "We really shouldn't be doing this", but she ignored it. Bella downed the rest of his drink with one hand and pushed the cup to his lips with the other. Edward gave in. He got the gist; they were getting fucked up tonight.
The best laid plans…
They slipped in and out of the crowd, keeping Eric company at the bar. He was used to this, and gladly served them whatever they wanted however they wanted it (especially because Edward liked to tip heavily when he was tipsy).
Bella had no idea how much time had passed when she spotted Jacob elbowing his way through the crowd towards them, Rosalie at his side. She could see their expressions clearly now—too clearly—and they were disappointed.
"You assholes," said Jacob, grabbing their arms and pulling them out of the fray to a quiet spot towards the edge of the crowd. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Carlisle told me not to worry," Bella slurred.
"How are you this drunk already? How much did you have to drink at the house?" Rosalie asked. "Can you guys keep your shit together for like, five seconds? Y'know, when we're dealing with matters of life and fucking death?"
"I'm sorry, Rose, I—" Edward started.
"No, shut the fuck up!" Rosalie put one hand on his chest and shoved him to the ground. "This is all your fault, just like it always is! You have no control over yourself! You had the nerve to preach all that bullshit to me last weekend like some kind of sage, and now you go and do this!" She would have been on the verge of tears if possible. "I really, really wanted to believe that you were changing, Edward! That you were working on yourself! But I can see that you haven't done a single fucking thing! You're never going to change your ways! You're going to keep wallowing in the mud and dragging everyone else down with you!"
Jacob was startled by her outburst, but he didn't jump to Edward's defense like he might have in the past, because he was also quite upset. Edward sat in stunned silence, knowing that nothing he could say would be good enough for her.
Bella had no idea how many times this exact scene had played out over the decades Edward and Rosalie had spent together. Her, standing over him, furious. Him, on the ground, dejected, unable to do anything but accept her scorn.
But this time, it wasn't his fault. It was hers. It was entirely hers, and she knew it. This had nothing to do with Edward, and everything to do with her.
"Rose, stop," said Bella, laying a hand on Rosalie's forearm. "Stop it, okay?"
"Why should I? Why should I just let him do this?"
"He didn't do anything. Please, believe me, I… This is my fault. It was my idea. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, I just…"
Bella lost her words when she looked at Rosalie and saw her mate looking back at her like she had never seen her before in her life. She felt a familiar, sharp pain in her chest. Rosalie grit her teeth and made a face somewhere between sadness and anger—no, revulsion? Bella couldn't tell. All she knew was that it was painful.
Rosalie pulled her arm away from Bella, turned, and disappeared into the trees.
Jacob sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. He extended a hand to Edward and helped him to his feet.
"I want to be alone," said Bella, sitting down against a tree trunk. "Just for a moment."
Jacob looked at her, and she tried so hard to understand what she was seeing in his gaze but she couldn't parse whatever emotion he was trying to convey. He looked away from her, at Edward.
"Sure," he said, his voice low. "We'll keep an eye on you, though."
"Yeah. Sure."
Bella closed her eyes to shut out the bright lights of the party, and the world began to spin. She felt herself tilting to one side while the ground went the other way, and she opened her eyes and immediately felt sick. She struggled to get onto her feet and ran into the woods, not wanting to vomit in front of half the town.
She ran as far as she could get before the ground almost slipped out from underneath her. She stumbled and fell to her knees, then threw up violently. It had been a long time since she had puked this hard from drinking and it felt awful. As soon as it was over, she was feeling miles better.
Bella got to her feet and made sure she hadn't gotten anything unsavory on her clothes. As she checked over her shirt, she felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket. She was sure it was Jacob texting her to tell her to get back to the Park, but when she pulled it out, she found a message from an unknown number waiting for her.
The message was a photo of the back of her house.
A second message came in. It read:
COME ALONE
Bella felt sick again, but it wasn't the alcohol this time. She slowly looked over her shoulder, at the distant, colored lights flashing through the trees. She could barely hear the music from here. No one would hear her. No one could see her.
She put her phone in her pocket and walked deeper into the woods, headed south, to Forks.
Headed home.
-X-
Rosalie opened her eyes and found herself on the bank of the Sol Duc, the river running gently westward, filling the air with the natural rhythm of water.
She was shaking. She was angry. She was afraid. She was disappointed. She was upset. She didn't understand how she felt.
She fell to her knees by the riverside, staring into the dark water. Her hands were balled into tight fists, her arms trembling. She dug her fingers into the moss, into the dirt beneath, grabbed fistfuls of the earth and threw it into the river. She ground her teeth and held a growl in her throat.
She froze in place, staring at her distorted reflection in the running water. She relaxed, let her fists open, let the tension leave her body.
She wanted to cry. She wanted to cry so badly. But all she could do was tilt her head back and wail like a wild animal, sending birds flying from the trees.
Rosalie had spent her entire existence fighting with Edward. She was brought into this nightmare because of him, and that was reason enough for her to hate him. Everything else was just fuel on the fire, which had burned long and bright for decades.
Somehow, Bella had started to douse it a little. She came into their lives and befriended him of all people before anyone else, because they were kindred spirits. Rosalie couldn't help but acknowledge this. There was something between them, something she would never understand, that tied them together, just like something tied her to Bella.
It would have been so much easier for Rosalie if Bella had hated him too. If she had seen him and thought the same way, thought that he was a miserable piece of shit with no love for himself and no concern for those around him. If Bella had also looked down on him, this wouldn't be happening.
But she didn't. She couldn't. Rosalie absolutely hated to admit it, but Bella had more in common with Edward than she did with him. And it drove her insane, because she had spent decades, almost a century hating him, and she found herself forever bound to someone who could be just like him.
Everything hurt so much. It hurt because she hated Edward, but she had learned how to love him, and she wished that he would learn how to love himself in turn. It hurt because she loved Bella, but she could see the worst of him in her, and she couldn't help but be angry at her for this.
Tonight, of all nights. Tonight, when everything was on the line.
Maybe Bella was worse off than Rosalie had thought.
Maybe Bella was in deeper than she even realized herself.
Rosalie realized that she wasn't helping. She hadn't been helping. She had never been helping. She had never helped Edward, and she had never helped Bella. She had always told them to help themselves, to do the work on their own. Because Rosalie didn't know how to help them. She didn't want to think about how to help them.
She had asked so much of them and offered almost nothing in return.
Rosalie sat down, crossing her legs, and taking several deep, stabilizing breaths. She needed to get back to the Park, to make sure nothing went wrong.
For once in her life, she needed to be helpful.
-X-
Bella was sure that someone would notice, but it appeared that no one had accounted for one of their own going rouge—especially not her. Jacob must have been distracted by Edward, or keeping an eye on someone else. Edward couldn't hear her thoughts. She hadn't seen Emmett or Jasper anywhere nearby, or anyone else that was supposed to be keeping watch. But they were looking out for people coming in, not people going out.
Bella knew this was stupid. She knew she was walking straight into a trap. Straight to her death. She could have blamed it on the alcohol, said she was doing it because she was drunk, but her head had dramatically cleared after her bout of sickness. She was doing this because she had to. Because tonight, everyone else was working hard, throwing away potential moments of happiness and celebration in order to keep not just her but everyone safe. Bella had watched all that happen and let herself relapse into a weak mindset. She had behaved irresponsibly with her own interests in mind, disregarding how everyone else was putting their lives on the line because of her.
Bella remembered her conversation with Jasper, and her conversation with Leah and Angela. She remembered the promise she had made with Leah, a promise she had broken so quickly and so easily, without a single thought.
I'm the one to blame. It's me. It's always been me. It was never Edward's fault. It was always me. Every time I hurt myself, I'm hurting everyone around me.
It was a sobering realization. It was something she already knew, but didn't understand, something Jasper had tried to tell her, but his words hadn't sunk in all the way.
Bella had grown up in an environment where, no matter what she did, no one cared about her. At best, she was scolded for being self-destructive because it was in some way inconvenient for others, which only pushed her to behave worse out of spite. All of that conditioning culminated in her sloppy suicide attempt, which had been nothing more than a harrowing nuisance for her mother, who ultimately made it more about herself than her daughter.
Renee had found Bella sitting soaked in bloody water in the bathtub, surrounded by empty bottles and smelling strongly of liquor. Bella had been largely out of it in the moment, and now the memory was even hazier, but she would never forget how her mother, the woman who gave birth to her, had looked at her with an expression of what could only be called disgust before erupting into the most melodramatic crying performance she had ever seen. All sound was muffled, muted, but Bella remembered Renee stepping out into the hallway, yelling for Phil and pointing at her daughter in the same manner someone would point at a large spider and beg for someone else to come kill it.
Phil lifted her from the tub, dripping blood, water, and vodka all over the house as he carried her down to the car. She knew Renee probably hated cleaning that up after the fact. Phil laid her down in the backseat of the car, wet and trembling, and didn't even think to put any kind of blanket over her. He drove to the hospital with a stark calmness contrasted directly by Renee's fabricated hysteria. She leaned over the backseat, babbling nonsense that Bella couldn't hear and occasionally turning to Phil to tell him to drive faster (he did not).
Bella fell unconscious before they reached the hospital. When she came to, she was dry and bandaged, lying in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm. Renee was asleep in the corner of the room. A nurse noticed that she was awake and came in to talk to her, relaying a bunch of information that she didn't process.
The months after that were a blur. She spent an incomprehensible period of time in a psychiatric hospital and was released after the minimum recommended period because Renee refused to pay for it any longer. There were conversations with doctors about what Bella would do next, and it was actually her idea to go back to Forks, to live with her dad, who she hadn't seen in what felt like eons. Everyone thought this was a great idea, especially Renee, who was almost excited to place this burden on someone else.
Thus, Bella boarded a plane and was reunited with her estranged father, who was more than happy to have her back under his roof. She reconnected with childhood friends and made new and interesting ones. And then everything happened. Everything changed in one instant and continued to change every day.
Except Bella hadn't changed as much as she had thought. She was back where she felt she belonged, but there was no wiping away almost two decades of trauma that had shaped her into the person she now was. She was someone who ignored her problems until they boiled over, at which point it was only fitting to do something extreme to handle them. She only ever had herself to rely on, so even when she was surrounded by people who cared for her, she couldn't truly believe that she mattered to them. She couldn't believe that there would be people who cared about her when she hurt herself, when she drank herself half to death and behaved like a reckless idiot, living only for the moment.
Bella only ever felt alive in the heat of the moment, felt good when she was at least three or four drinks in, felt happy when she was dancing mindlessly in a crowd of strangers.
As she trudged through the dark forest, she understood. She understood why Rosalie got so mad at her every time this happened. She understood why Edward had hesitated tonight. She understood that look in Jacob's eyes.
They were truly, truly worried about her. They were afraid for her. They wanted her to do better.
Do better she would.
Bella broke into a run, drawing on the unnatural speed that she was slowly gaining access to. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but she was able to locate the road she lived on first, then walk down to where her house was. As they had discussed earlier, Charlie was not home. All the lights were off, the house looking like an empty husk.
Bella walked beside the house, underneath her own bedroom window. She saw Lucrezia standing just beyond the treeline, her pale face and red eyes the only thing standing out in the darkness. She raised one hand and beckoned Bella as she stepped backwards into the black of night.
Bella followed. She was terrified, but she didn't let it show. She had come this far.
Lucrezia glided effortlessly through the trees while Bella stumbled over roots and rocks trying to keep pace with her. The path felt familiar, as if Bella had walked this before, many years ago. She understood why when Lucrezia came to a stop in a small clearing that was home to several large rocks. Underneath one pile was a hole, just small enough for a young girl to crawl into and hide.
From behind the rocks came vampires and ghouls alike. The vampires were dressed in deep red just as Lucrezia herself—members of her "family". There weren't many of them, but there were far more than Bella could defend herself against.
"You're actually alone," Lucrezia said, turning to face her. "I can't believe it. I genuinely thought it wouldn't work."
"This was your last resort? A plan you thought wouldn't work?" Bella asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"I had other ideas, but I thought we'd go for the easiest one first. I assumed you would alert your little army of friends about the text and they would go on the offensive. We were going to try to separate them and take them out in small groups."
"Where have you been hiding?"
"I don't think you're in a place to be asking questions, Isabella. But, as it no longer matters, I'll tell you. We've been right underneath your feet this entire time."
Bella felt the ground underneath her stir, and two hands shot forth from the forest floor, gripping her ankles. A face pushed up through the earth, that of a vampire with a sadistic smile.
"Hard to catch the scent of something that's six feet under," said Lucrezia, chuckling.
Bella struggled to pull herself free, but the vampire's grip was too strong. She would lose a foot before she got out of his hands.
"Why are you doing this? Is it because I got you fired? You want revenge, right? Well, go ahead. Just leave everyone else alone."
"Oh, I intend to. They're not of any value to me. It's you that I want, Isabella. Because you? You are the future." She disappeared and was suddenly behind Bella, both hands on her shoulders, speaking directly into her ear. "The vampire world has come to a standstill, Bella. The Volturi have taken our species and ground us to a halt. We are so limited by their 'laws'. There is no longer any progress!"
Bella felt a gust of wind, and Lucrezia was across the clearing again, atop one of the rocks, flanked by two ghouls. She felt the ground beneath her rumble again, and another vampire burst forth behind her and grabbed her hands, holding them behind her back.
"Imagine for me, young Isabella, a world in which vampires were worshipped like gods! Where we fought grandiose wars! Where experimentation and innovations was encouraged! A world of progress!" Her eyes were alight with a manic fervor. "This world was once one of vampiric empires, of large covens controlling great swaths of land. Whole countries, continents even! It was magnificent. I wish you could've seen it. It was what we were destined for." She leapt down from the rock and began pacing back and forth. "We are not meant to hide away in castles and let ourselves petrify and crumble like ancient statues. We are the apex predators of this world. We are at the top of the food chain, and we should be prideful! And we should encourage experimentation. We should do as I have done, and create new life in our own image!"
Bella was still struggling against the Valentis that were holding her in place to no avail. Lucrezia was monologuing like a mad scientist. None of the nonsense she was spouting mattered to Bella.
"If you're going to kill me, just do it already!" Bella spat, pulling against the vampire holding her hands. He squeezed her wrist so hard she felt some of her bones breaking.
Lucrezia tossed her head back and laughed.
"Oh, Isabella! I don't want to kill you. At worst, I'd like to bring you in for some more experiments, but at best… Isabella, I want you to join me."
It was Bella's turn to laugh.
"You… you want me to join you? In your stupid conquest for progress?"
Lucrezia's grin fell into a sharp scowl. She flitted forward and grabbed Bella by the jaw.
"You do not understand the gift you have been given, the role that you have played! I chose you for this! It was certainly a happy accident, having your mother marry into the family, but things played out so perfectly that I couldn't resist! We wanted to get started so much earlier, but I thought I'd let you grow first. I saw so much potential in you. You had so much hatred for this world. So much that you were ready to give up your life so early. That convinced me, and then before I could even move to make preparations, you landed right in the lap of the infamous Cullen coven. It became less of an experiment, and more of a challenge, and I love a challenge!" She let go of Bella and turned her back to her. "But you still managed to cause trouble for me, even after the experiment was a success. See, Isabella, it was my original plan to bring you into the family and recruit you to the Volturi. Aro was particularly enthusiastic about this when you were younger. He also sees great potential in you, but he would use that potential to further protect himself and hide away from the world. Now, I want to use it for dominance. I want to overthrow that foppish megalomaniac and take control. I want blood and power, Isabella. I want the world to fear us as they used to. I want to be worshipped."
Lucrezia had turned to look at Bella again, and stepped close, just a few feet away. Bella stared at her in silence for a few seconds, then said, "That sounds like a you problem."
Bella spat in her face, and Lucrezia winced and closed her eyes, stepping back to wipe away the saliva. In that instant, Bella broke both of her wrists, startling the vampire that had been holding her and freeing her from it's hold. With all her strength, she lifted one leg from the other vampire's grip, breaking her ankle and losing her foot in the process. She reached forward with limp hands and tried to grab Lucrezia.
Her attempt at retaliation was in vain. Lucrezia stepped away without concern, and two more vampires pounced from the rocks to restrain Bella. The ghouls crawled down and surrounded her as the Valentis pressed her into the dirt, into the mud. She squirmed to lift her face, to look up at Lucrezia.
"I can see you do not agree with my ideals," she said, looking more sad than angry. "Such a shame. I had incredibly high hopes for you, Bella. You could've been the greatest of us."
Lucrezia flicked her wrist, and the vampires holding her down pressed Bella's face into the ground again.
"I wonder, dear Isabella—would cutting off your head kill you? Are you still human enough to properly die?"
Bella managed to lift her face again, pushing hard against the vampire holding her down.
"Fuck you," she hissed. "You fucking bitch!"
Lucrezia reared back, ready to strike her.
But she never got the chance.
Bella heard someone she could not see shout, "HEY!" (though the voice was incredibly, comfortingly familiar). Lucrezia turned to face the source of the noise. She was promptly knocked off her feet.
Emmett had tackled Lucrezia and was now wrestling with her on the forest floor. They were moving quickly, but Bella could see what they were doing, and, god, he was throttling her. The rest of the Valentis and their pet ghouls leapt to the defense of their leader, but Emmett was not alone; Victoria pounced over the rock and landed between them and the ongoing fight, deftly knocking back a ghoul that tried to bite her.
Emmett got Lucrezia by the throat and threw her deeper into the woods like she was a football before running after her. Nimble like a fox, Victoria struck and parried her multiple attackers, knocking one off balance and jumping over him to strike the vampires restraining Bella in one swift move.
Jasper and Alice arrived next, drawing the attention of some of Victoria's opponents and evening out the fight a little more. Bella was somewhat forgotten as the Valentis struggled to deal with the ambush. Despite being without one foot, she managed to get herself upright. She leaned against a tree and pushed her right hand against her thigh, trying to force it back into place so that the bones would heal correctly. It only took a few minutes for it to start to fuse back into place. She was sure some of the bones in her wrist were healing improperly, but it was enough for her to be able to use her right hand to do the same to her left and restore some use of them both. She spotted her foot in the center of the battlefield and started limping towards it. Alice, understanding Bella's intent, kicked the body part over to her. Bella pressed it against the stump at the end of her leg, praying that it would start to heal enough for her to walk.
As she sat there, holding her foot, she could see that tiny hole under the rocks that she had sought refuge in all those years ago. Back then, there was nothing she could have done. She was just a kid, with no power to fight back.
Today would not be the same. There would be no running, no hiding.
She saw the skin around her ankle start to stitch itself back together. She breathed a sigh of relief just as a ghoul broke off from the battle and sauntered towards her, a sick grin spread across its deformed face. Those bulbous red eyes used to terrify her, but in that moment, Bella only felt rage. She balled her barely working hands into tight fists, got to her feet, and punched the thing in its shriveled nose. Her hand did not shatter under the force of the blow as it had done when she punched Jane; she didn't know if she had gotten sturdier, or if the ghoul was simply less solid than the average vampire, but her punch sent the thing flying into one of its vampire masters, both of them falling to the ground.
Leah, in wolf form, appeared from nowhere and sank her teeth into the ghoul's neck while she pinned the vampire to the ground with both of her front paws.
One by one, the cavalry arrived. Sam, Embry, Quil. Jacob and Edward. Even Carlisle arrived with Paul and Seth in tow. Bella assumed that Alice had seen her making such a stupid decision and sounded the alarm, causing everyone to vacate their posts and come running. Soon, there were more of them than there were Valentis, and it was clear who would win the battle.
But Emmett and Lucrezia had disappeared. Bella noticed that neither of them had returned to the clearing, so she limped off in the direction that Emmett had thrown her. It wasn't hard to find them. A few hundred yards off, she saw Lucrezia fighting not one, but two people, and as she got closer, she realized that Rosalie was also there, tag-teaming the Valenti matriarch with her brother.
When Bella approached the fight, Rosalie was momentarily distracted by the arrival of her mate, and Lucrezia slipped from her hands. She dodged around Emmett and ran into the woods, fleeing the battle, desperate to escape with her life.
Emmett took off after her. Rosalie went to Bella instead, cupping her face in her hands.
"You're alive!" she said breathlessly.
"I don't know if that's accurate, but… yeah."
They were interrupted by a tortured scream in the distance, coming from the direction where Lucrezia and Emmett had gone. It was distinctly female, which meant that Emmett must be okay, but there was no way he had elicited a cry of pain like that from the woman. They started to head towards the sound, but stopped when they saw four figures cloaked in black moving through the trees.
Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demetri walked slowly and deliberately back to the clearing where everything had begun, an unconscious Lucrezia in Alec's arms, Emmett trailing silently behind them. When they arrived, most of the Valentis and their ghouls had been dealt with, but any survivors stopped in their tracks at the sight of the Volturi guard. Alec dropped Lucrezia and she came alive again, gasping for air she didn't need and blinking rapidly. She tried to crawl away from them, but Felix leaned forward and grabbed her foot, pulling her back towards them. Jane took one look at her, and she was writhing in pain and screaming. Lucrezia's remaining family members trembled in fear at the sight of their leader's torment.
"We did not intend to interfere," said Jane, releasing her gift. "We have been following you, Victoria, as you have hunted down this traitor's 'family' and eliminated them. We commend you for your work."
"Lord Aro wishes to offer you a place within the guard," said Demetri.
Victoria was silent as she considered the offer. "Thank you," she finally said. "I will… I will have to think on it more."
"If you decide to accept, you know where to go," said Alec.
"We did not intend to interfere," Jane repeated. "But, after observing what has occurred here tonight, we wish to make things clear."
Though the fighting had already stopped, Carlisle raised a hand and motioned for everyone to back down. Sam, who was holding a Valenti's arm between his fangs, let go and reluctantly stepped away from them. The pack didn't quite understand the respect that the Volturi commanded, but they were smart enough to know that these four were an immense threat.
"If not for Isabella Swan, you would have been executed in Volterra, Lucrezia," said Jane, pacing in circles around her. "We let you go. Anyone in their right mind would have gone into hiding and not dared to put themselves in our line of sight for centuries. You could have gone on existing peacefully, Lucrezia. We gave you that chance, and you have completely squandered it. Not only did you break our laws, but you have now openly admitted to planning high treason." Jane was glaring at her, but a terrible smile broke through. "You and, pray tell, what army? This one woman has been picking off your forces across the globe. You couldn't even stop her."
Lucrezia sputtered but could produce no words. For even daring to attempt to speak, she was submitted to Jane's gift again. Everyone winced at her awful cries of pain.
"The future you seek is a delusion. It cannot exist. Our kind rules from the shadows, not in the light. This is what the Volturi have decided, and it is law. We do not hide because we are afraid, we hide because we do not want to upset the balance of nature. We hide because it benefits us more to pull the strings from behind the curtain than to dance in front of it. We would rather manipulate the populace than be worshipped by them. To seek such mass adoration is rather human of you, Lucrezia. Shameful." Jane stopped pacing and straightened her back. "The Volturi do not give second chances. You are hereby sentenced to death for your treasonous acts."
Felix stepped forward and grabbed Lucrezia, forcing her to her knees and turning her back to him. Lucrezia stared at the Cullens, at the pack, at Bella. There was a terror in her eyes unlike anything else. She was silently pleading for them to interfere, to save her.
Bella had made that mistake once. A moment of human weakness, of indecision. For some reason unknown to her, she had taken pity on Lucrezia during that first sentencing. She had seen a woman afraid to die and couldn't bring herself to be the reason for that death.
Now, Bella felt no pity. No remorse. There was not an ounce of mercy in her body. If Jane had asked, Bella surely would have killed Lucrezia herself.
But Felix did it. With a smoothness and ease that could only be from centuries worth of executions, he grabbed her head and twisted it off, one sharp crack echoing through the clearing, bouncing of the rocks and floating up into the treetops. Lucrezia's body fell to the ground, and her head remained in Felix's massive hands, that look of terror and desperation frozen on her face. Demetri produced a lighter from his pocket and tossed it onto her body, which caught fire instantly. Felix tossed the head into the flames, a burst of sparks flying up as Lucrezia was reduced to ash.
Bella heard another crack behind her, and turned to see that Jasper had beheaded another Valenti, and more cracking sounds as the pack and the Cullens did the same to the remaining vampires. Each was tossed onto into the flames, creating a growing bonfire of body parts. The smoke smelled strangely clean, almost like bleach. Bella would never forget that smell.
Jane sat perched atop one of the rocks, watching the cleanup. She spoke more casually now.
"We aren't here for you, Cullens, but I think it's best to issue you a warning. You must realize that you're living a dangerous lie by trying to coexist with humans. You have seen the consequences already." She looked pointedly at Bella. "Vampires belong in the shadows. We are not meant to walk among mortals in any capacity. It can only end in blood."
Carlisle dusted off his hands after tossing the last piece into the fire.
"I disagree, Jane, but I'm sure you know this already. I think that is a backwards belief. We can, and we must learn to coexist. Otherwise, you end up with people like Lucrezia."
"She is a radical, and extreme. The Volturi do not deal in radicalism. We do what is best for everyone."
"Mhmm," said Carlisle, clearly wanting to say more but keeping his mouth shut.
Jane stood up.
"You have committed no crimes. Aro does not consider your alignment with the wolves to be against our laws, and we will not interfere with their traditions. It is not our place. I only wish to make sure you understand that the lifestyle you have chosen cannot be sustained."
"We'll see about that, Jane. We'll see."
Jane looked him over. If it were anyone but Carlisle, they would have felt her pain, but she withheld her gift. She turned her back to them.
"We will take our leave. Aro wishes to see you again. Do not be a stranger."
Carlisle frowned slightly as Jane led Alec, Demetri, and Felix into the darkness.
"We'll finish up here," Carlisle said to the wolves. "Go back to the party, go home. Relax and enjoy yourselves. And thank you, for everything."
Sam nodded once and turned to leave, all the wolves following his lead except for Jacob, who stayed by Edward's side watching the fire burn.
Bella looked at Rosalie, who had been standing just a few inches away from her this entire time, watching in silence. Their eyes met, and Bella felt the same world-altering sensation that had hit her back in August when they first met. Relief washed over the two of them. This time, there was no cause for panic, no fear. Nothing was changing. Instead, it felt as though everything was falling into place.
Bella threw her arms around Rosalie and the two of them fell to their knees, both of them crying, though no tears would fall.
For the first time, Bella and Rosalie got the feeling that they truly understood each other.
i find it hard to write anything for the notes at the end of this chapter because it just feels so amazing that i've actually gotten this far! so i'll just remind y'all to check out my tumblr (ultward) for fic playlists since i should have a new one posted in a couple days. if you guys have any burning questions (or just thoughts you'd like to share) i love getting asks about the fic!
there are still two chapters left! the next chapter is the "final" chapter, and there will be an epilogue. but, i think at this point, it's safe to say that we're out of the woods (wink wink)
as always, thank you so, so much for reading! and happy holidays!
