Chapter Two
Isabella Cigno
You go to my head
With a smile that makes my temperature rise
Like a summer with a thousand Julys
You intoxicate my soul with your eyes
You go to my head - Billie Holiday
It wasn't hard to see why this motel had only two stars. Previous customers had taken to the internet to complain of lumpy mattresses, broken box televisions, unfriendly staff, and improperly cleaned bathrooms. For now it would have to do. I scrubbed myself raw in the shower, trying to get the kerosene off of me. I burned my clothes in the metal kitchen sink.
While the other guests were away seeing the sights, I broke into their rooms and stole a few articles of clothes from each. A pastel pullover with a vignette of a cat in a watering can, surrounded by blooming roses, something from a grandmother probably. From another suitcase I took a pair of corduroy mom-pants, with a slight hole on one of the knees. I also managed to scavenge a pair of purple crocs, an army green parka with camouflage patches on the elbows, mittens made from a grandpa sweater, and fluffy grey earmuffs.
The location of the motel was perfect, rural Spain, not too far from a cattle ranch. I was careful about it, but every so often I stole one of the cows and buried the carcass. Still it wasn't a sustainable existence. I was too close to Volterra. I needed to get out of Europe, and quickly. I'd ditched my cell phone in Switzerland, just in case they decided to track me through the phone towers. Gianna was dating some IT nerd who worked in cybersecurity.
On the second day I broke down and dialed Carlisle. He picked up on the third ring.
"Hello, Who's this?"
Hearing Carlisle's voice was like a balm. I felt reassured, the way a child feels when their parent wraps their arms around them and says that everything is going to be okay. Not that I'd really know what a parent's comfort was like. My human memories were hazy, but from what little I could remember, I hadn't seen my father very often. He'd been a Roman senator, always away from home, attending to matters of state. My mother had left most of the child rearing to lowly serfs.
I'd been a good little daughter, going to temple, burning incense, worshiping the goddess Minerva and laying olives at her altar. And for all my good behavior I'd been murdered before my eighteenth birthday, forever frozen as a creature of the night, by Aro's hand.
"Carlisle," my voice cracked, "I've messed up, really, really badly. I don't know what to do."
"Bella, is that you? What's wrong? Where are you?"
"I'm just outside of Estancia. I had to get out of Italy—they're not very happy with me."
"What happened exactly?"
"I can't tell you."
He paused for a moment, taking a few minutes to think before speaking again. "Come to Forks."
My heart soared, I knew I could always depend on Carlisle. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, absolutely."
"I'm walking on thin ice here, and I can't guarantee that I won't take you down with me. They're out for blood."
"Is that supposed to frighten me? I know what I'm doing Bella. Come to Forks. Alice is buying you a ticket as we speak."
My burner phone chimed and I glanced at the email app. Alice had already sent the e-ticket.
"Thank you." I replied, getting choked up. I hung up the phone before I could make more embarrassing displays of emotion.
By the third day, I arrived at the airport in Washington and walked around the front entrance. Eventually, I saw a petite woman holding a makeshift cardboard sign with my name on it. She had an inky black pixie cut, with a pearl barrette that clipped her hair to the side. She stuck out like a sore thumb. More than a few humans snuck glances in her direction, gawking at her ostentatious yellow Porsche and visibly expensive clothes. She was perfectly posh with not so much as a hair out of place.
I approached her cautiously. She grinned and threw her skinny arms around me in a tight embrace. "You must be Bella! It's good to meet you! We're going to be the best of friends."
"It's nice to meet you too—umm?"
"Oh my bad! I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. I'm Alice."
"Alice…" I said slowly, testing the name in my mouth.
She broke free of the embrace, and gave me a once over. Her butterscotch eyes narrowed.
"Oh no no no, this simply won't do!"
"I'm sorry?"
Alice opened her tiny Prada purse and fumbled for her billfold, pulling out a thick wad of cash. I blanched, and shook my head at her.
"That won't be necessary Alice, I'm rather resourceful."
"Take it Bella. You're going to end up taking it anyway, so let's just save us both the trouble!"
"What do you mean? What makes you say that?"
Alice shook her head quickly and shot a pointed glance at an eavesdropping human a few paces to the right of us.
In a barely audible whisper I asked, "Do you have the gift of foresight?"
Alice nodded once.
"Wow."
I was breathless. Aro wouldn't know what hit him. I smiled, biting back a giggle, I could see it now, Aro seething with jealousy, a seer on my side—a shining chess piece that he couldn't collect. If I could just find the words to convince her, there was no telling what the two of us could do. Well six of us if I was lucky enough to convince the others, Carlisle, Eleazor, Kate, and Ed—
"We better get in the car now, it's going to rain in about five minutes or so."
Alice opened the door and sat on the driver's side. She pressed the car to start and sped out of the parking lot so quickly the tires squeaked. I wondered how she could drive so quickly in such high heeled shoes.
"Honestly Bella! That outfit is a crime against humanity. I think you've broken no less than three Geneva conventions with that parka alone." She complained.
I glanced down at my jacket and then over at her. She was wearing designer sunglasses, a tennis skirt, patent leather pumps, white thigh high stockings trimmed with lace, and a cropped cardigan, buttoned up and worn as a matching top.
"I know I'm not as stylish as you but I don't think it's that bad."
She made a puking motion with her finger, "Please tell me you're joking!"
"It'd be less embarrassing if I were."
"We'll fix that in no time, for sure."
"Umm—how's Carlisle been?"
"Well he's worried, but in the end it was a no-brainer. Family comes before everything else."
"And how is—how's—," it was pathetic. Even after all these years the guilt was too much to bear. How does one ask about the woman who's life you've ruined?
Mercifully Alice interjected, "She's good. She met someone he's—shoot not he, uh they are quite nice. Actually they kind of remind me of you, the resemblance is a bit uncanny. Anyways , they're good for her, she's been smiling more. I don't think I've ever seen her so happy."
"That's good to hear."
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled loudly, fat raindrops began to pour.
"See," Alice said triumphantly, tapping one of her french-tipped fingers against the window. "That's why no one bets against me."
"Ugh," I complained. I've always hated the rain.
The droplets fell in a steady rhythm, the wipers quickly swished back and forth, but even so there wasn't much visibility. I gripped my armrest tightly, Alice needed to slow down. What if she lost control of the car? Supernatural creature or no, we were not immune to hydroplaning.
"It should let up a bit in about thirty minutes. Oh and we'll be fine, don't worry." Alice said before I could voice my thoughts aloud.
"Thanks?"
"I know my gift takes some getting used to. I try not to freak people out, but I'm not very good at it. To be honest, I don't remember my human life at all. It's hard to act human when you don't even remember what it's like."
"Sorry to hear that." I replied blandly, unsure of what to say to that.
I heaved a weary sigh and stared out the window. The trees were a yellow, red, and orange blur. We were well away from the Seattle airport. Alice sped past a sign that read, Welcome to Forks, population three thousand eight hundred and twenty eight.
Finally, we arrived at our destination. The Cullen house was a Victorian-style home tucked reservedly amongst a thick cover of woods. There were what looked like three stories, a cylindrical tower, large front porch, lush garden full of fall flowers, and a juicy coat of fresh paint on the window panes. Alice pulled into the long driveway, opened the multi car garage door, and parked her Porsche. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and followed her into the house.
If I still had a heart it would be speeding up right about now. What if she was in there, sitting on a couch in the living room? What was I going to say to her? I wrung my hands, and paused in the entryway.
"Bella!" A woman greeted warmly, embracing me. "Carlisle's told me so much about you."
I stared at her, she had a kindly face, heart shaped, caramel brown hair, and faint smile lines at the corners of her soft eyes. So this must be Esme.
"Only good things I hope."
When you've lived as long as I, let's just say the bad deeds tend to add up, one after the other. There was that time a few centuries ago when I'd tried to proposition Carlisle. Then there'd been the times after Edward had been murdered, and I'd been grieving. Now, facing his wife, I'd never been more grateful he'd never taken me up on the offers.
Esme laughed good naturedly, "Oh no, that look on your face. Should I be worried?"
I laughed along with her, as if the notion were preposterous.
"It's so good to finally meet you Bella. I just wish it were under different circumstances. Carlisle has a late shift today, but he should be back in an hour or two."
"Thank you Esme, it's really nice meeting you too."
"The others should be back from their baseball game in three, two, one." Alice said.
The door opened and in walked a group of teenage vampires, two girls and two boys, a blond haired man, a bulky brown haired man, a buxom blonde, and a bombshell bronze-haired goddess, with flowing locks and onyx eyes. Oh no, I knew it was coming, this was inevitable. Even so, I'd hoped to avoid a direct confrontation.
"Bella," the red headed woman spat.
"Long time no see Mason, how have you been?"
"Not nearly long enough."
"Edythe!" Esme scolded.
It hurt to look at her, she was practically her fraternal twins' mirror image. In life they'd even shared the same eye color, an exquisite shade of emerald green, with the smallest flecks of gold in the iris.
"I'm going to Beau's," Edythe spun on her heels and walked out the way she'd come in.
"Tell them I say hi," Esme called out at Edythe's back.
No one tried to stop her, a good move on their part, they knew her well.
Edythe and him were alike in that way too. Don't get me wrong, Edward hadn't been a coward, but he'd never been good at facing problems head on. I couldn't blame her for the hostility. If I were her, I'd hate me too. In that department she had stiff competition. No one hated me nearly as much as I hated myself. There was no getting around it, if I'd left Edward alone, he could have lived. He'd have fallen in love with some pretty girl, proposed with his mother's ring, had a few kids, and lived a long happy life.
"So you're Bella?" The burly one said, appraising me slowly. Was this one going to insult my outfit too? "I thought you'd at least be taller. The infamous Isabella Cigno, the Belladonna of the Volturi guard. You don't look scary at all." He held up one of my arms and tsked, "And your shrimpy too, now I know Kate was full of—"
Not one to back down from a challenge, I grabbed the arm that was holding me, and fell forward, flipping Emmett onto his back. I'd been somewhat gentle, but under his unyielding body the hardwood floor cracked.
"Awesome!" He clapped from his position on the ground. "Well played."
"Emmett, how many times do I have to tell you?! No fighting in the house! Now I have to go all the way to Port Angeles to pick up wood planks."
"But I—"
"No buts!"
"Bella's the one who—"
"Is Bella my foster son, destroying my property left and right?"
"No," Emmett mumbled.
"Is Bella the reason I'm on a first name basis with all of the associates at Home Depot?"
"No."
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'll fight outside next time," he grumbled.
The other two teenagers were apprehensive, standing at a distance. The blonde girl's lips were pursed, and her arms crossed. Alice tugged the blond boy by the hand, bringing him over to me.
"Come on Jasper, I want you to meet my new friend. Bella, this is Jasper, my mate."
"Pleasure to meet you." He said, inclining his head. His accent was vaguely southern, dulled somewhat with time.
Up close I could see a myriad of scars on his forearms, silvery crescents covered nearly every inch of his pale flesh. If I had to guess, this man must have been turned for the purpose of joining an illegal vampire army. I'd seen enough of them in the 1800's to know the signs. How this one had managed to escape execution, it was hard to tell. He must have run away before we'd cracked down on his particular brigade.
I glanced up from the scars and saw him staring at me, gauging my reaction to them. If I had to guess, I'd say this was a threat, he could have kept these bite marks hidden beneath his shirt. Instead he'd rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, deliberately putting the battle scars on display.
"The pleasure is all mine." I replied.
I extended my hand to him and watched his eyes travel to the inside of my wrist, no doubt seeing the cursive v, scorched into my skin. When you get your arm ripped off it's hardly the most pleasant experience, but it paled in comparison to being branded.
The blonde girl scowled. "Carlisle can't possibly be serious about this."
"Rose!"
"What? Am I supposed to pretend that she's not putting all of our lives in danger? She could have gone anywhere in the world, and yet she comes to us. I mean she's practically painting a big red target on our backs."
Faintly I heard the sound of the garage door opening. I looked to the entrance and sure enough, Carlisle was home. Carlisle's blond hair was drenched with rain, and his eyes a shade of dark gold. He wore a cashmere sweater, crisp button up, brown oxfords and pressed trousers with a crease down the middle. The clothes were more timely, and his hairstyle had changed, but otherwise the years had not much changed him. His eyes lit up when he saw me, and I bounded forward to embrace him.
"Carlisle! The years have been kind to you, old man."
He laughed fondly. Despite our appearances, I was technically much older than he, but when a person's changed our cognitive development is pretty much frozen in time. We could learn and pick up new skills, but we were incapable of maturing past our age of death.
"I see you've met my family. I'm glad to see you again Bella. I just wish it were under different circumstances."
My mouth twitched with amusement, "Your wife said the same thing."
"Well we have a lot to discuss, wait where's Edythe?"
Rosalie rolled her eyes, "She had a hissy-fit and went off to sulk with the human,"
My head snapped over to Rosalie, my jaw slackened. "The what?!"
From the very beginning Edythe had disapproved of me. She'd warned Edward against dating me in hushed whispers she hadn't known I could hear. After catching Spanish influenza and being changed, her mistrust had solidified to hatred. When Edward died, she attacked me, and I'd been too stricken with grief to fight back. I'd just laid there and taken it, until Carlisle managed to pull her off of me. After that we'd never spoken to each other again, at least not until now.
I recalled the exchange I'd had with Alice in the car. So this was the person Edythe was seeing? A living, breathing, heartbeat having, fragile, and breakable human. I couldn't believe it. After witnessing the fiasco that was my union with Edward, and blaming me for years, now she was in a relationship with a human?! Not only was she a huge hypocrite, she was needlessly putting the human's life in danger too. How could she treat me like garbage, then turn around and make the same mistake I had?
"Where's the human's house?" I growled.
The Cullens exchanged worried glances amongst each other. Jasper stepped forward and deliberately placed a hand on my shoulder. A wave of calm rushed over me, like a sedative. I stepped back, and glared at him.
"Bella, I don't think that's the best idea." Alice said.
"Why not?"
"You're not thinking clearly, and how many years has it been since you got in close proximity with a human? Edythe would never forgive us if something went wrong."
"Did you see me kill the human Alice?"
"The future doesn't work like that Bella, it's not set in stone, one snap decision and it can change in an instant."
"Did you see me harming a single hair on the human's precious little head?"
Alice sighed, "No."
"Then tell me where they live!"
"I can't do that."
"If you don't tell me then I'm going to track her down by scent. I'm not Demetri, but make no mistake I will find her."
"I'll call Edythe," Esme, interjected.
"No." Alice said curtly, her eyes fixed on a point far off in the distance. "She'll listen to me, I'll call her."
It had been a brisk spring night, only a couple years before the roaring twenties. Prohibition had yet to be passed, but the temperance movement was starting to gain some traction. In the heart of major metropolitan cities, the Gibson girl was on her way out, and the flapper was on her way in.
I'd been staying with Carlisle for a month or so, with the permission of the big three. Marcus had been indifferent as always, Caius had been suspicious of my sudden interest in a vacation, Aro had the final word in all matters, but he'd been reluctant to approve the time off.
"It's just for a few months. I need some time away." I pleaded.
"You only want to visit Carlisle? How can we be certain you're coming back? For all we know this could all be a ruse to start a coven with him."
"If I wanted to, I'd only do so by your leave Caius."
"What does it matter if the girl leaves? You see threats where there are none. A coven of two people is hardly noteworthy." Marcus said.
"Fair points both of you, but I concur with Marcus. You're not our prisoner Isabella, visit Carlisle if you wish. Who knows, the face of an old friend might do you some good."
"Aro!" Caius protested.
"Well surely you've noticed it too Caius, our Bella could use a break." Aro turned to address me, "You've been quite dutiful throughout your service don't get me wrong, but these past few centuries, you've lost your spark"
That was one way of phrasing it. I would call it developing a moral compass and deprogramming after centuries of their brainwashing, but I knew better than to say as much.
Carlisle had taken the night shift as he was prone to doing, and I'd wandered through the south side of Chicago, bored out of my mind, looking for any source of entertainment. Eventually I stumbled across a bustling building packed full of sweaty humans, coming and going. There was a line around the block, so I snuck in through the back.
The room was lively to say the least. At the bar were groups laughing amongst friends, drinking from champagne flutes and smoking. On the dance floor several couples did the foxtrot, and a few of the early flappers were doing the Charleston. The fringe on their short dresses moved prettily with their steps. The ones with cheap feather boas shredded quite a bit, like molting chickens. I sat on one of the barstools, and waited for a few minutes. One of these men was bound to approach me.
"Hey doll, what's your name, mind if I buy you a drink?"
Hook, line and sinker. I bit back a smirk, "Sounds good to me."
"What's your poison?"
"Hmm, I don't know. Surprise me."
"In that case you have to try a Manhattan, it's the bee's knees."
I glanced over at the man, and felt the air rush from my lungs. He was remarkably attractive for a human, tousled bronze hair that even pomade couldn't slick back. His jaw was sharp, his lips were plump but not overly so. There was a boyish charm to him, what with his rosy cheeks, flushed with drink, and suit that needed the hem let out. Not that I was complaining, the suit he'd outgrown showed off the broadness of his shoulders. But most strikingly of all were those damn eyes, greener than I'd ever seen before.
"Your Manhattan, Mr. Mason," the bartender said, setting the cocktail glass on a napkin in front of us.
I took the drink and sipped it slowly.
"Well?" He asked.
"You're right. This is really good."
He smiled and if I still had blood pumping through my veins, I would have blushed. I grinned back at him, and his heart sped up, which made me grin all the more.
"Well don't leave me in suspense, what's your name Miss?"
"Bella Cigno."
"Cigno? Is that Italian?"
"Yes, it means swan."
"Bella means beautiful, right? Beautiful swan? I think that name suits you rather well."
To my inner horror, I giggled, like a love struck school-girl. "What's your name. Or should I call you, Mr. Mason?"
"Mr. Mason is my father, you can call me Edward."
The name sounded vaguely familiar. I think Carlisle had mentioned a Mason family. They were involved in government, fairly well to do, lived in an estate just outside the city. They were old money, from a long line of business men, lawyers, politicians, and doctors. If I'd heard the whispers correctly, they'd had a few shady business dealings with the mob, not anything too obvious of course. Crime was starting to run Chicago, and unless you wanted to end up swimming with the fishes, you did a few favors here and there. The Mason's had done more than a few.
"You're an awful long way from home, rich boy. What brings you to the wrong side of the tracks?"
"I work here," he said.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" I scoffed.
"As a matter of fact, I do a couple gigs for this place on the weekends."
"Okay. Then what do you play?"
"The piano."
"Mmhm," I replied skeptically, "Then why aren't you playing right now?"
I jerked my head in the direction of the band. On the stage were a wide array of instrumentalists, horn players, percussionists, violinists, bassists, a few vocalists doing a jazz scat, and a lone man strumming a banjo. Quite a few of the musicians were brown skinned, the only ones in the entire place, unsurprisingly. Out front there was a small but prominent sign that read, 'We serve Whites Only, No Mexicans, Chinese, or Blacks.' Apparently they were more than willing to dance to Black music, but not willing to mingle with them at a party. At the time I hadn't paid it much mind, which I am ashamed to admit now.
"See that piano right there," he asked, pointing to an upright Yamaha in the shady back corner of the stage.
"Yeah."
"That's for me. I'm just on break."
"Prove it." I said, smirking all the while.
Edward sauntered confidently over to the stage, not a bouncer in sight made a move to stop him. He sat at the bench and tickled the ivories. Together the jazz players got most of the room on their feet and dancing. The music had a freeform, loose rhythm to it that was quite infectious. I had to admit, the man really knew his way around the instrument.
I finished the rest of my drink, and ambled over to the dance floor, enjoying the way his eyes wandered in my direction every couple of seconds. That night was the first of many, that I'd felt more alive in years.
"Bella?" Esme called, I turned away from the window to face her.
"Is she back?"
Esme nodded. I stood up from the couch and followed her into the dinning room, taking the remaining seat, positioned directly in front of Edythe. I glared at her from across the mahogany table. She averted her eyes. Fortunately, Edward hadn't been the only mind reader in the family. I lowered my shield and hurled every insult I could think of at her.
'You're a no good, dirty, rotten, hypocrite Mason!' I sniffed the air, and detected the faintest smell of wet dog, 'And how dare you all assume I'm so lacking in control that I'd kill a human? I managed just fine when Edward was human! By the way, your human smells like shit!'
Edythe growled at me.
'All these years you've—'
Edythe kicked my chair, and I got distracted, my shield snapped back to its default state, wrapped around my mind like a protective bubble.
"That's enough." Carlisle chided, jabbing his finger at both of us. I supposed my mental messages hadn't been subtle.
Alice cleared her throat, and pointed at her whiteboard on an easel, where she'd gotten it from I could only guess. At the top, in blue bubble letters, she'd written 'Emergency Family Meeting.'
"In five days time, six if that snowstorm moves south, Four members of the Volturi guard will arrive in Forks Washington."
"What did they look like?"
"There was a blonde adolescent girl, a man who looks like he only drinks humans who take steroids, a man who looks like he broods more than Edythe," she paused. "No offense, and another tween, this one male, with dark brown hair."
"That sounds like Jane, Felix, Demetri and Alec, respectively."
Carlisle frowned, "They're really pulling out all the stops."
Emmett cracked his knuckles. "We can take them! that's eight against four, they're outnumbered two to one."
I shook my head, "No, Felix's power is super strength, he's an absolute beast in combat. Alone he probably counts as at least three newborn vampires. Jane has the power to incapacitate her victims with unbearable pain. Luckily she can only do this to one person at a time. The problem is she's gotten so good at it over the years, that all she needs is a few seconds per person to disorient a group. Alec has the power to cut off all the senses, smell, taste, hearing, you name it. He can do this to hundreds of people, all at once. Demetri is a tracker, he doesn't even need to have met you to find you. If he encounters someone you know, he can track you through them. You can try to run, but wherever you go he'll find you."
"Luckily Bella is a mental shield, capable of protecting a large group of people from mental attacks. Jane, Alec, and Demetri's powers are not physical in nature." Carlisle said, trying to lift his coven's spirits.
"Ahah, about that..."
"Yes?" Carlisle replied.
"Um, my powers aren't quite what they used to be, not since Edward's death."
"What does that mean?"
"Well…" I twiddled my thumbs. "I haven't been able to stretch my shield onto other people. I can only do it for a few seconds."
Edythe laughed hysterically. It was an ugly, dark, and frightened sound. "So let me get this straight? You're completely useless, and four big bad powerful members of the guard are about to show up on our doorstep to kill us all."
"I mean, hopefully, not kill us."
Edythe and Rosalie caught each other's eye and exchanged incredulous looks.
"She needs to go, NOW." Rosalie snarled. "My family's not dying for some washed up former member of the Volturi guard. We don't even know her! And the stuff I do know about her is pretty damn horrific."
Damn, why had Kate given them the run down of my 'glory years?' It's not like she hadn't done some messed up stuff too, we'd all drunk the kool-aid. First they break your spirit, then they mold you in their image, and pretty soon you hardly recognize the person staring back at you in the mirror. The scary part is that you start to like it, indulging every urge, relishing the suffering of others, following every abhorrent task they order you to do, without question. 'It's for the greater good,' you start to tell yourself. 'I am the arbiter of justice, I do what others can't, and what must be done.'
Emmett took Rosalie by the hand, and ran his thumb reassuringly over it. I felt a strange tranquility rush over me and I looked over at Jasper. He pretended not to notice my gaze.
"There's always the werewolves," Jasper said.
"Absolutely not," Rosalie protested, wrinkling her nose. "We're not fighting the Volturi, and we're most certainly not asking the mongrels for help."
My jaw dropped. "Wolves? The children of the moon still exist?!"
As if we needed more problems! Marcus was not going to wait long enough to hear me tell him the truth if we fought with the children of the moon on our side. He'd made it his life's mission to exterminate their kind, after they'd 'murdered' his wife.
"No, these creatures aren't true children of the moon, they're shapeshifters that can take the form of a wolf. They're quite powerful actually, believe it or not, they are fast, strong, and have teeth sharp enough to rip our kind into pieces." Carlisle explained.
"Well then it's settled. Let's call Sam."
"No, we're not fighting them!"
"I'm with Rosalie on this one," Edythe said.
I rolled my eyes. Of course she was.
"What are our odds if the shapeshifters fight with us?" I asked our resident magic eight ball.
Alice bowed her head, rubbing her fingers against her temples. "I don't know. The wolves are a blindspot for me. I can't see the future when they're involved."
"Maybe it doesn't have to come to that. Bella, I'm sure whatever happened between yourself and Aro can be fixed. Perhaps if you called him, and sorted out your differences..." Carlisle suggested.
"Even if that were possible, I'd never go back to them." I spat.
"I don't understand Bella, what happened?"
I sighed, taking a moment to calm down, even going so far as to put my hand on Jasper's shoulder, trying to absorb the energy he was putting out.
"Aro, killed Edward."
"Bella, I know you miss him, and I do too, but there's simply no proof that—"
Well then that settled it. Carlisle was not the informant. But if not him, then who? Was it Eleazor, or Kate?
I pulled out a bright red flash drive, and slid it over to him on the table.
"What's this?" He held it close to his eyes, inspecting every inch with morbid fascination.
"A video, from the night Edward was murdered."
Carlisle dropped it immediately. Edythe clasped her hand over her mouth and sobbed. Our kind cannot cry real tears, only shake with pain and misery.
"It's grainy, and in black and white, but it's all on there, plain as day. I've seen it, I don't know, at least a hundred times. Aro gave the order, sat back and watched. Heidi lured Edward into the woods. Alec incapacitated him when he got there. But even that was not enough, Edward could see through other people's eyes, you see? He fought back as best as he could, using their vision to position himself. Finally Felix held him down. Demetri ripped off his limbs and threw them into the fire. Renata was there, she didn't do anything, but Aro, coward that he is, made sure she was by his side, just in case."
Alice rubbed circles on Edythe's back, but she was inconsolable.
"You know it's almost funny, all these years they told me that Edward had died on some mission gone awry, and I knew they were full of shit. The way they described it to me sounded so silly, I mean come on . He's a mind reader! It couldn't have been that easy to kill him."
"Who gave you this jumpdrive?"
"I don't know."
"Is this the information that Aro would kill over?"
"No, and I can't tell you what that information is. Aro likes you quite a lot Carlisle. When he reads your mind and sees you know nothing, I have no doubt he'll spare you. But even he has his limits. No amount of fondness will save you if you know his secret."
"I see."
"I must confess, I didn't come here for safe harbor."
"Bella," Carlisle shook his head, already sensing what I meant to request of them.
"I'm assembling a team of people to assist me in avenging Edward's death. Once we get rid of them, we'll tell the remaining founders what Aro's secret was, they will turn against him, and pardon us."
"I loved Edward like a son, and hearing the truth is like reliving his passing all over again."
"Carlisle." I snarled. I knew him well enough to sense where the conversation was going.
"It's too dangerous. I'm not saying forgiveness is easy, far from it, but you need to let this go."
"I can do this."
"I'm sure you can, but it's not just your safety I'm worried about Bella."
"Oh please! Don't tell me you're going to lecture me on my soul! We're dead Carlisle, and even the best of us rely on more death to survive."
"I seem to remember a girl from a few decades back, who said to me, well of course you have a soul Carlisle! You're the best person I know."
"I was wrong."
"I don't think you were."
"Well it's a good thing I don't care what you think!" I snapped, rising from my chair. The sound of its legs scraping against the hardwood was loud and high-pitched, like nails on a chalkboard. "I'm going to kill every last one of them. Who's with me?"
No one stood up. My shoulders slouched, I bowed my head. Well this had been a bust. I peered over at Edythe. I'd been so caught up in shouting, that I hadn't noticed she'd stopped crying.
"I'm in," she said finally.
"Us too," Alice added, her fingers interlocked with Jasper's.
I looked at Emmett. If anyone was down for a fight, it'd be him, right?
He turned to his mate. "What do you say Rosalie?"
"My condolences for your loss. But my answer is still no."
"I'd follow Rosalie to the end of the earth and off a cliff. Sorry, Bella, maybe next time."
"I understand."
Esme looked as if she were on the verge of tears. "Why don't we all think this over for a night, and reconvene tomorrow."
Alice shook her head, "No we don't have time to waste. If this is going to work we need to move quickly?"
"So you've seen what's going to happen?"
"Not quite, I just feel a strong sense of intuition."
"So, these wolves, do you think they'll make for useful allies?"
Alice groaned, "I had a feeling you'd say that."
Notes:
1. Belladonna was an ingredient in 'eyedrops' and it was used to make the whites of the eyes appear whiter. It is also poisonous. In the 1600's a woman named Giulia Tofana created a product for women to murder their husbands with, which contained Belladonna. It was called Aqua Tofana, and was packaged to look like an ordinary beauty product. One of Bella's nicknames is 'Belladonna' because she like Aqua Tofana, is very deadly.
2. What I hope comes across is that Bella was not an "exceptionally" evil person. In her human life she was much like the girl we knew in canon. However, a government that is systemically corrupt can perpetuate atrocities regardless of one individual participant's intentions. A corrupt system will disenfranchise some, and benefit others because it was designed to function that way. (Even if one, or several individual participants are not aware/in support of this corruption.)
The ones who flourish amid corruption, are those who are willing to do whatever it takes, to climb the ladder. In Bella's case, this is how she rose to power, and partially why Aro was so reluctant to let her go. Bella was ruthless, lacking in empathy, and did not care who she had to step on (or what she had to do) to rise in the ranks. That said, she was not "exceptionally" evil, she saw these actions as full-filling her job description.
While Bella is not necessarily "good" now, she used to be more morally dubious in the past. What spurred that change will be elaborated upon in later chapters.
3. I thought about omitting the bit about segregation, but I decided to include it because that's indeed what happened in that time period. Ironically jazz clubs would not allow Black patrons, but would allow Black entertainers.