Chapter 27: Ricochet
(Bella's POV) "Hunt You Down" by The Hit House ft Ruby Friedman
Stowe, Vermont. The Cullens built their own sprawling chalet in an isolated wood at the base of Mount Mansfield decades before I was born. Some would argue we had a death wish, making a property Aro was fully aware of our new home base, but we'd all agreed this was another one of those 'the closer you are to danger, the farther you are from harm' cases. Peter and Alice had confirmed it was the best base from which to do our recruiting. Aro had already done his due diligence, sending some of his Guard out to spread anti-Saturno propaganda as he had done centuries before. We knew some of the vampires we tried to recruit would hesitate, wondering if I was the crazed newborn anarchist Aro was painting me to be, but I had Carlisle Cullen and Major Jasper Whitlock on my side, and that was enough to make almost any vampire stop and listen. Gregarious covens and reclusive vampires would put their trust in civil and pacifistic Carlisle; powerful covens and combative nomads would answer the Major's call to arms. We only had to fear those allies who only gave their allegiance to the highest bidder. Sadly, we recruited more than one fair-weather friend. Worse, we were stupid enough to assign them the same post.
"I know it sounds backwards," Carlisle had sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose like Edward used to, so accustomed to fidgeting like a human for show, "but Alistair did agree to help us. He could have refused and stayed out of all this, but I'm the closest friend he's ever had and he agreed to help us like a true friend. Yes, he has always been skittish, but that is exactly why I believe he can help guard your mother and step-father. He's a tracker, but instead of using his gift to hunt, he has always used it to map out the best way to evade an approaching enemy. If Guards approach your family, he'll pinpoint their location long before anyone else would be able to do so. Amun, Kebi, Benjamin, and Tia are all accustomed to living in warm climates—they'll be able to fight off small hunting parties with little risk of exposure, and Alistair will be able to lead everyone to safety if they are unable to do so. Alice and Irwin have to be available to help all of our friends and allies at any time. Alistair has the best chance of evading attackers if teleportation is unavailable for any span of time."
"And in the event of the worst case scenario, if they have to escape, then they'll grab Renee and Phil and run?" I asked, "No hesitating or tiptoeing around them for secrecy?"
"Those are their orders, yes," Carlisle answered. "If we must reveal our kind to your family, we will, and we'll address that problem as we are able... I must tell you, however, none of our allies will break our laws for anyone outside your family. We are all of us agreed that some laws may be bent and even broken in times of war, but anarchy is not an option. I know you have been worried about Angela Weber since Aro threatened to harm her, but the wolves have taken full responsibility for her."
"I know, I know..." I had already argued with Jasper over what could be done for Angela. "I don't like it, but I understand."
"If it helps, I doubt Aro will act on his threat against her," Carlisle tried to reassure me. Jasper had said the same.
"Bigger fish to fry," I sighed. "A couple dozen vampires, seventeen wolves last I heard, and my parents... Angela's insignificant by comparison."
"Aro is ruthless, but he is proud and theatrical, and this war is political. No vampires uninvolved in this war would care about the assassination of an unconnected human girl. It's a small comfort, but I am certainly comforted by the knowledge that Aro's kills need to mean something. If he kills needlessly, he risks exposing his whole corrupt regime to the world."
So that was how a skittish Alistair, surly Amun, submissive Kebi, powerful Benjamin, and loyal Tia all ended up in Florida, guarding my blissfully ignorant and pregnant mother and her devil-may-care husband. What were we thinking?
"Benjamin, Tia, and Amun took out the three Guards they saw, but there's another small group of Guards hunting nearby." Five days after my talk with Carlisle, Volturi Guards appeared in Florida. Alice and Irwin came to teleport us to Florida, believing we could still keep my family safe and in the dark if we helped Alistair and the Egyptians destroy the remaining Guards before they reached Jacksonville. "They stopped to hunt near St. Augustine, about forty miles out," Alice explained as we gathered around Irwin. "I can't see beyond their chosen prey right now. They aren't making any other concrete decisions. Kebi was hurt, so Amun is refusing to pursue them."
"Guards first, then we'll deal with him. Let's go," Jasper bit out, his eyes still clear but his voice commanding. He, Carlisle, Esme, and I latched onto Irwin and I amplified easily, allowing Irwin to drop us in Florida in just over four seconds. As soon as we landed, Irwin went back for Alice.
"Almost everyone else is in motion," Alice said, her eyes unfocused as she scanned the future. "We'll waste too much time trying to teleport to anyone running or hunting." Jasper growled in frustration.
"Six is enough this time. As soon as we're done here, we're drafting a strict hunting schedule for everyone," he said, "and everyone not staying in Forks or Stowe will be given a checkpoint they'll report to regularly."
Alice could see only four Guards remaining in the area, a little over a mile from our landing point, hunting humans from the narrow shadows cast by the afternoon sun. We quickly found their scent trails. We broke into pairs when their trails parted, leaving only one Guard unchecked while we disposed of the other three. Jasper and I reached our target first, making short work of the distracted male and dumping his broken body into a trash can before setting it alight. We found Irwin and Alice finishing off a much larger Guard beside the body of a dead human male, the strong smell of liquor on him masking the smell of what little blood trickled from his limp form.
"He shattered his arms," Alice noted from where she knelt over the dead man. "We can't leave the body like this."
"I'll take him," Irwin offered, having dumped the vampire's parts in a trash can a block away, the purple-tinted smoke visible from where we stood. Irwin scooped the man into his arms and teleported away. Alice gasped, clearly alarmed by a sudden vision.
"Alice?" Jasper rushed forward to take hold of her shoulders as I'd often seen him do in the past, instinctively grounding her while her vision carried her elsewhere. Before Alice had a chance to speak, Irwin returned and took Jasper's place holding her. Alice shrugged him off.
"I'll go help Carlisle and Esme," she blurted as her eyes cleared. "Take Bella and Jasper to Jacksonville now! Renee and Phil heard Alistair and Amun fighting. They're going to get hurt, go!"
Irwin grabbed us without preamble and teleported. We landed behind a dumpster several yards from my mom's condo. Hearing the loud crack of one vampire striking another, we leapt over the fence behind us and ran to break up the fight. Amun had Alistair pinned, but he was struggling to maintain his hold on the tracker. Venom trickled from large cracks around Amun's arm at the shoulder; Alistair had nearly torn the limb free. Hovering a few feet away, Kebi stared at her mate's wound, rubbing a fresh scar around her wrist. Benjamin and Tia weren't visible, but we could hear and smell them coming closer.
"That's enough," Jasper snapped quietly, his tone commanding enough to make the brawling vampires spring apart, but too late.
"... No, go on home. Jen said she heard a gator over here. We heard some weird noises too, I'm just checking it out." That was Phil. He was approaching the fence behind the dumpster.
"Amun, Alistair, that's enough!" Benjamin spoke too loudly as he and Tia arrived on the scene. He stomped one foot hard as he said 'enough', creating a long fissure in the ground between the two vampires.
"Did you feel that?" It was Renee. Of course it was. "Phil, that was an earthquake, it's not a gator! Come back inside."
"This isn't Arizona, hun," Phil said. I could hear the smile in his voice, and I could imagine him using the same fondly-teasing tone every time my mom told him some magazine article said she wasn't ready for her new baby.
"Move," I hissed to everyone as Phil began walking the length of the fence, my mom heaving a sigh and following a few steps behind. In an instant, everyone was either hidden behind a bush or standing in the shade far from the crack in the ground.
"I told you! Look! Look at the ground!" Renee waddled around Phil, one hand supporting her back while she gestured wildly at the ground with the other. My breath caught and my eyes stung with venom tears that wouldn't fall. She looked so happy, more beautiful than I remembered, and her belly was full and tanned where it peeked out from under her small maternity top. She smelled like apricots and toasted coconut. I could hear the baby's heartbeat thrumming beneath her own.
While I stared at my mom, she and Phil stared at the crack Benjamin had left in the ground. Irwin's phone buzzed. Jasper growled loudly at the sound of seven unexpected vampires fast approaching. "Hired by the Volturi," Irwin called out, also throwing caution to the wind. The time for discretion had passed. We had been played. The Guards had been disposable decoys, meant to keep us busy while these outside vampires executed the hit. A faded human memory came screeching to the fore: the van Edward stopped. I leapt into the sun and tackled my mom and Phil gently to the ground. The sun shattered off my skin and brought out the flecks of green in my mom's wide eyes.
"Stay down, Mom," I spoke before she could question me. "Yes, it's me, Bella. I'm not dead. Just let me save you and Phil now, okay?" I didn't wait for an answer. I glanced at Phil to make sure he'd heard me, then I stood to take in the fight breaking out around me.
Irwin latched onto the largest enemy vampire and teleported. When he didn't come back right away, I assumed he'd gone to collect Alice, Carlisle, and Esme. Jasper was black-eyed and raging, fighting two of the remaining six at once. Tia produced an old lighter and Benjamin shaped the flame into a fiery whip, lashing at the horde. As I expected, Irwin reappeared with Alice, Carlisle, and Esme, but they appeared right in the path of Benjamin's flame whip. They all four dove away, but Esme was struck in the back. Carlisle rolled with her to extinguish her burning clothes and he pulled her further from the fray. Witnessing this, Amun grabbed Benjamin's arm and tried to drag him away. When he put out the flame but refused to flee, Amun whirled until he spotted Irwin. He charged and Kebi followed.
"Get us out of here now," he growled, heaving Irwin off the ground. Alice attacked without hesitation, ripping off Amun's arm. Kebi turned and attacked Alice. I was about to intervene when I heard Phil getting to his feet.
"No!" I cried out, "Stay down, out of the way!" They needed to be teleported to safety, but Irwin was fighting off Amun. Alistair! He was supposed to take them to safety! I turned in time to see Alistair sprinting down the street, away from the fight. I risked abandoning my post to run to Jasper as he ripped off the head of his third opponent. I latched onto him and amplified with all my might. "Sedate them!"
On cue, Jasper sent out a wave of mind-numbing lethargy that struck everyone. Amun and Kebi wavered, backing away from Irwin and Alice. Alistair slowed dramatically and finally stopped running. Renee and Phil both slumped to the ground, asleep. I could only hope the baby would be okay. To my horror and dismay, I spotted a few other humans asleep on the ground or slumped against the windows through which they'd been watching us. How many humans had seen us fighting? Why hadn't I thought of this tactic before the fight started? I'd been too distracted by the sight of my mom. Her presence had given me tunnel vision, not for long, but long enough to let this disaster unfold. Benjamin and Tia tore apart one more enemy vampire as I looked around, seizing the last one and holding him securely between them. Kebi whimpered and set to reattaching Amun's arm.
"Well, you know what we have to do now, right?" Amun said cooly, glaring at us. "Just look at all these human witnesses. You did say only those two were to be considered exceptions to the law, did you not?" Amun stepped toward my mom and I hissed a warning. He shot me a condescending smile and walked to the nearest unfamiliar human, pointing at the man's body. "Are you fighting for freedom or anarchy, little Saturno?" A human behind me cried out and I turned to see Alistair drinking from a half-conscious woman. I stared, frozen. Did these humans really have to die because of our mistakes? Because they saw us for five minutes? We certainly couldn't turn them all. Amun snorted disdainfully. When I turned back to him, he snapped the neck of the man at his feet, not drinking from him. Two down. I couldn't move. I couldn't think.
"Run, Saturno. Take Mommy and run," the male held by Benjamin and Tia taunted, a smirk like Amun's forming on his face. "More Guards are on their way now. They'll burn everything. They'll clean up your mess."
"Aro sent all of you to start this fight," I hissed, advancing on the vampire. "He already sent Guards to die so we would walk right into this trap."
"You think those Guards you killed while they hunted were just sacrifice pawns? You think those Guards who came here first were supposed to die? They came to kill your family and wait for your retaliation. The Guards out hunting were supposed to attack like we did. We were called to action when the traitor double-crossed us."
Traitor? There had been a different plan? They'd expected to kill my family without issue and wait for us? "Benjamin," Jasper spoke, his tone deadly. "How exactly was Kebi harmed?"
"We were patrolling in pairs," Benjamin answered. "The attacking Guards came across Amun and Kebi first. When Tia and I reached them, two of them held Kebi, one of them taking her hand off at the wrist while another questioned Amun."
"What did you hear?" Jasper demanded.
"We only heard them say, 'Where is the tracker? Will he fight?'" Amun started to retreat, but Jasper was on him in a second. Alice tackled Kebi before she could retaliate again.
"And why were they asking you about Alistair, Amun?" Jasper asked, digging his fingers into the healing flesh where Amun's arm had only just been reattached.
"I know nothing of your wild mate," Amun growled defiantly. "I only know what I will do for mine, and what we believe." Amun hissed when Jasper applied more pressure to his shoulder. "We were told you fought for justice, that you did not seek to overthrow our government altogether, but the first thing you do is order us to break the law for the newborn. What did you expect? I told them I would step aside and let them have the girl's family if they spared my coven. We will still fight for you if you uphold the law."
"Do not speak for me," Benjamin bit out, his boyish face contorted in disgust and anger.
"Or me," Tia added. "Benjamin has only ever been a prize to you, and I an acceptable addition. You lecture us, but you have kept us hidden from Aro. You are a covetous coward, Amun."
The vampire held between Benjamin and Tia laughed harshly. "He's the only one of you who hasn't been taken by this Saturno's madness." I faced him, but my retort died on my lips. His hands were both balled into fists, his eyes on Phil's unconscious body. Phil's lips were blue. It was only then that I realized I couldn't hear his breath... or his heart.
"No!" I ran to Phil, followed closely by Carlisle. I automatically started pumping his heart as soon I hit my knees beside him. It took me only a second to realize there was no point, but I kept going until Carlisle's hands closed around mine.
"He suffocated, Bella. He's gone. I'm sorry..."
I shifted over to my mom and I kissed her forehead, laying my hand atop her swollen belly. A small sob escaped me when I felt a little kick. "I'm sorry..." I looked up at Irwin. "Do you know if teleportation is safe for the baby?"
"Perfectly safe," Alice assured me softly. I nodded.
"Take her."
Irwin took my mom's unconscious body from me and teleported away with her. I turned back to the vampire held by Benjamin and Tia.
"Kill him."
Benjamin and Tia both ripped off the arms they held without missing a beat, methodically dismantling the rest of his body. I turned to Jasper, still in position over Amun. I nodded. Jasper nodded grimly and beheaded Amun with almost elegant skill. Before Kebi could even work up a full growl, Alice grabbed her arms and I leapt forward to behead her myself.
Once all the vampire bodies were burned, we gathered the bodies of the various sedated humans in the immediate area and piled them together in the backyard of one of the nearby houses. The Guards on their way to this little corner of Jacksonville were a cleaning crew meant to handle this kind of thing, but it felt like something I needed to do. I needed to accept responsibility. I needed a reminder why I could never act so recklessly again. I needed a reminder that I was no longer human. I was a vampire fighting in a war. This would be the first of many battles, and win or lose, there would always be a price to pay. To these humans, I would forever be in debt. I poured lighter fluid over their bodies and lit the pyre. The column of smoke that rose above them was an unforgiving gray. The purple smoke lingering in the air blocked the sun. Glittering was not permitted in graveyards.
Irwin carried us all back to Vermont, everyone but Alistair. When we executed Amun, he ran, and ran, and ran... He was a coward, but he knew how to survive.