Alice growled as she finished reading the same three pages for the fifth time in a row. She had to stop herself from tossing the book out the window. She was beyond frustrated because this book so far had the most information about Death's Shadow but there just wasn't enough for Alice to feel as if she had gotten to know the woman any better. Although the book was written by a rather famous vampire historian who lived in the castle and traveled the world collecting and recording the history of vampires the information he had on Death's Shadow was obviously second hand knowledge. Alice knew that if the writer of this book didn't talk to Death's Shadow there was little hope that any other authors had been able to.
The things she did learn were still rather interesting especially the details of how she supposedly had been watching over the Volturi long before she saved them from the famous coup attempt without them even knowing. The book claimed that Death's Shadow had a hand in them overthrowing the Romanians, it was just that no-one knew how she was involved. It made sense to Alice as it seemed that although the Volturi had outnumbered their enemy it wasn't by much and the Romanians had the castle as a stronghold. She had heard Jasper and Carlisle having many discussions on the pure luck that the Volturi had on their side causing them to win a battle they should never even had been close to winning. If Death's Shadow had been involved then that would have explained why they had won without that many casualties.
The battle itself had caused many future enemies pause as the Volturi had cemented themselves as top military strategist. Alice wondered why Death's Shadow had essentially picked them to be the rulers of the vampire world because there was no other way to describe it. Death's Shadow had picked the three kings and made sure they took power and if the other rumors were true had many times protected them so they could stay in power. What had the woman seen in them that made her want them to be the ones to keep the peace? Many thought them to be cruel and power hungry but Alice was beginning to doubt that.
If Death's Shadow played such a huge part in giving and keeping the kings in power she had to have thought they were the best vampires for the job. In another book it hinted at her being older than the Romanians and even the Egyptians. If that was true then she had lived through the rise and fall of not only many human civilizations but many supernatural ones as well. Alice couldn't image living that long. It could have been why Death's Shadow kept to herself though. She probably saw a lot of death and destruction and the toll it took on her must weigh heavy on her mind. Thinking of the burden Death's Shadow must carry on her shoulders trying to keep the vampire world running smoothly made the burden of seeing the future child's play. Not only did Death's Shadow have to make sure everything was running smoothly in the present but she had to predict the future. Alice's ability to see the future even though it was sometimes fuzzy seemed like cheating compared to that.
Alice picked up the next book confused as to why Eleazar had included it with the others. It was a book about the history of vampires in South America. Alice didn't know who the author was but assumed they were at least respectable enough for Eleazar to have their book in his collection. She skimmed through the first couple chapters until she came upon the name Death's Shadow. Flipping back a few pages Alice felt her excitement grow. The author of this book seemed like he had either been there or had spoken to a member of the tribe themselves about Death's Shadow exploits in what is now considered modern day Guatemala.
The book explained that Death Shadow was mistaken for being two different people because she changed between two different masks during the time she lived there in the 1500's. Apparently she was worship as the gods known as the Hero Twins by the tribe of people she protected from the Spanish invaders. In return for her help the tribes would offer human sacrifices for her to feed off of. When she was done she left the bodies for them to use as a visual representation of their warriors fighting prowess. The author claimed that she protected the tribal land area for over a hundred years.
As Alice thought about it she didn't think that could be true. If Death's Shadow was supposed to be in Guatemala in the 1500's then there was no way she could also be in Italy to save the kings from the coup. Alice grabbed her hair and pulled feeling thankful that she couldn't pull it out or she would have been bald by the end of the first book. She went over the facts in her head again. It was an almost proven fact that she saved the kings and their mates but the author of this book seemed to have an almost first hand account that Alice felt was accurate as well. So how was Death's Shadow in two places at once. It wasn't easy to travel across the ocean back then. So there was no way she could have been able to make it in time for her to be able to continuously defend not only the Volturi in Italy but the tribes in Guatemala.
Alice growled at herself again. She had a feeling she was missing an important piece of the puzzle. It felt like the answer was glaring her right in the face but she was to oblivious to recognize it. Before she could reread the pages Esme interrupted her. "Alice are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm just doing some research on Death's Shadow and found some conflicting information that didn't make sense." Alice told her.
Emmett's voice boomed from the living room. "You found out more about Death's Shadow?"
"I think so. But I don't know if it's true." Alice yelled back.
Esme cut in before Emmett could reply. "One you don't need to yell to be heard and two if you want to talk to your brother either he needs to come here or you need to go down there."
Alice climbed out from under the books she was looking at and made her way down stairs to the living room. She found Emmett and Rosalie sitting on the couch watching tv, Edward was playing piano with Susan sitting next to him watching and Jasper and Carlisle were playing chess. Noticing Alice come into the room Emmett patted the seat next to him on the couch. "Come over here and tell us all about our new favorite psycho ."
"She's not a psycho ." Alice grumbled.
"Are we taking about Death's Shadow again?" Rosalie asked.
"Yes. I was going through some of the books Eleazar let me borrow and I came across information that seemed to come from someone who witnessed the events first hand but the facts don't match what we can confirm to be true." Alice told them shaking her head at the confused looks she received.
Carlisle tried to help her sort out her thoughts. "Why don't you explain the new information you found out first. Then we can compare it to the other information."
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Alice agreed. "Ok so I found a first hand account of a person who lived in a tribe of native people in what is now modern day Guatemala. During their time living there they we able to fend off the Spanish invaders for over a hundred years. They claimed to do this with the help of the two gods they called the Hero Twins."
Rosalie rolled her eyes."Let me guess they were actually not gods at all and one of them was Death's Shadow."
"Yes and no. Yes they were not gods but they were also not two people. The were just Death's Shadow. She switched between two different masks." Alice told them. "They apparently worshiped her and offered her human sacrifices to appease her and win her favor."
"Oh my god that maniac is getting cooler and cooler with every story we hear about her." Emmett said excitedly. "She had the humans willingly giving up their lives for her to feed."
"That is rather impressive." Jasper agreed.
"It's disgusting. How horrible of a creature are you that you trick innocent humans into believing you are some heathen god." Edward growled. "If I ever meet her I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."
Emmett laughed. "Yeah I'd liked to see you do that. I bet in turn for speaking negatively to her she does worse than what she did to that guy who disrespected her honor."
"What are you talking about?" Edward asked going wide eyed as he saw the phone call with Eleazar run through Emmett's mind. He then huffed. "Do you honestly believe she is actually capable of all this stuff? I mean the only eye witness account we have is from Eleazar and he was probably to scared to really see what was really going on."
Rosalie glared at Edward knowing full well that he was putting on a show to impress his little human."Then how do you explain Aro going missing or Afton's mate getting him back in pieces?"
"Aro probably secluded himself for a week due to embarrassment and as for Afton his gift isn't that impressive. I bet even Susan could capture him easily." Edward replied.
"Now son, you shouldn't be saying things like that about her. Death's Shadow is not one to be talked down to." Carlisle warned. "I have been in her presence a few times and you can't understand how truly terrifying that woman is until you look her in the eye. Speaking negatively about her is not something she tolerates."
"I'm not worried about Aro's pet freak." Edward told them. "If she was all powerful like everyone says then she would have taken power for herself not helped the kings keep it. The fact that she didn't just proves that she wasn't able to."
"You have no clue what you are talking about Edward." Alice said angrily.
Emmett sighed dramatically. "Oh man, you did it now Eddy. You insulted her girlfriend."
Rosalie stifled a laugh as she put her hand over Emmett's mouth. "Stay out of this. I haven't had proper entertainment in a while. Watching these two fight over someone like Death's Shadow is main event worthy."
Emmett's eyes went wide. "We should call Kate."
"One you are not calling Kate and two she is not my girlfriend." Alice yelled causing Emmett to gulp at seeing the amount of anger Alice directed at him.
"But you want her to be." Edward said. "Even right this second you are thinking about how much you wish you could have a romantic relationship with her."
"Stay out of my head Edward!'" Alice yelled causing every one to flinch at the sound." You have no right to not only read my mind but broadcast it to everyone else."
"I don't want to know about your delusional fantasies of a faceless woman in black robes. They are sick." Edward hissed at her. "Your whole obsession with that degenerate is pathetic."
"Don't you dare call her that." Alice screamed rushing Edward. He tried tried to move out of the way but a pissed off Alice was faster than her usual non pissed off self so she was easily able to grab him and throw him through the living room window out into the front yard. Before he could get back on his feet Alice already had him pinned down and was pummeling his face over and over causing his nose to break and his face to crack as he wasn't able to get his arms up in time to defend himself. As she made a move to take off his head she felt someone grab her from behind and try in pull her off of Edward. She fought with that person until her arms were pinned to her side and she wasn't able to move.
It was Emmett's voice that broke her out of her fog of anger. "Holy shit Alice remind me not to insult your girlfriend."
"Emmett, language." Esme scolded as she rushed to help Edward.
Emmett looked at Esme in disbelief. " Alice just went kung fu ninja on Edward, broke your house and scared the human and you are worried about a swear word?"
"There is never a situation when you have to be that crass." Esme turned to look at a fuming Alice still being held in Jasper arms and shook her head. "Jasper why don't you take Alice and go hunt. Rosalie you go with them. Emmett stay with Susan while Carlisle and myself take care of Edward."
Rosalie stopped Emmett before he could complain. The situation had gotten completely out of hand and he didn't need to add to it. Glancing at Edward's pitiful state she felt proud of Alice for defending not only herself but Death's Shadow. Just like Alice the more she learned the more she felt the woman was going to be an important part of their lives. She couldn't explain it nor would she try but it was there in the back of her mind. It was like a piece of the family was missing and maybe Death's Shadow was what that piece was. As she followed Jasper and Alice into the woods she rolled her eyes at herself. Alice's obsession was rubbing off on everyone. It must be because it seemed like the more horrible things they learned she was either involved in or did none of them thought she was actually that bad of a person. Sure she was scary but Rosalie didn't believe that scary had to mean bad.