Chapter 31: Solar Flare
(Jasper's POV) "The Sound of Silence" cover by Disturbed
I wouldn't call what I saw that afternoon an alter ego. Her eyes didn't change. Her voice remained the same. Pushed too far, she shielded herself from expectations, from the opinions of others, giving into her deepest desires and suppressed instincts without fear. By the time I caught up with her out in the garage, she was chucking all the venom weapons into a pile outside and setting them alight with a blowtorch. She then proceeded to ransack the garage for all the materials used to make the weapons. Anything with Peter's or Maria's scent on it was thrown on the pyre. When she found the syringes we'd used to collect her venom, she shrieked in rage, crushed the tubes in her hands, and threw them into the fire too.
"I think you're the only one who can safely stop her," Carlisle whispered behind me. I waved him off.
"Finally," Felix muttered, approaching with Marcus. "She is a newborn."
"This has nothing to do with that," I hissed. They walked back into the house.
"Her parents are asking for her," Rose told me. "Is there anything we can do to help?" I shook my head and she retreated.
Maria didn't bother stopping to speak to me. She charged past me, snarling, and she tackled Bella. I could feel no genuine anger coming off Maria, so I took the invitation to play along. I growled a warning as Maria rolled off Bella, dodging her sweeping kick. Maria growled back at me and locked eyes with Bella.
"You're soft," she hissed. "You'll get us all killed. Those weapons would have given us a great advantage—you let a few casualties break you."
"I am not broken," Bella growled, holding her ground. "I'm waking up. I let you make these weapons because I thought it was the only way to keep my family safe without losing allies⏤there has to be another way!" Maria attacked again. Bella spun away and kicked Maria hard in the side. Maria stumbled but didn't fall. Turning, she sprang at Bella again. Bella did well, evading each attack. Maria wasn't fighting her hardest, but it was a convincing show.
"Aro's resourceful, but even he wouldn't've thought of poisoning the pack if I hadn't repurposed my venom first," Bella said when Maria stepped back for a moment. "Leah's right to be angry with me—I can only imagine the earful she got from the pack mind, so much the others wanted to say to me, but that doesn't even matter now. Go on. Hate me. I'm doing what I know is right." Maria started to advance, but Bella waved her off, deflated. "I hope everyone heard that," she spoke clearly, facing the house. "I meant every word." She turned to Maria. "And I'm glad you pushed me to say it. Thank you." She turned to me and said, "Just give me a few minutes please? I couldn't even ask Leah for names. I don't know who's dead. I'll try calling Jake or Jillian in a little while. I just... I need to prepare myself."
Shock. Sorrow. Guilt. Anger. Hatred. Love. Longing. Resolve. Restlessness. So much to process, but as much as I wanted to help, her desire to sort things out without my influence was understandable. If she was going to follow her own instincts from that point on, space was essential. Just feeling someone else's eyes on you could make you second-guess yourself.
"I won't go far," I said. "Just call me when you need me."
I walked back into the house, Maria close behind me. I sent her a wave of gratitude for her effort. Maria smiled and murmured, "I told her I saw the same potential in her that I saw in you. I meant it. She'll figure out what she needs."
As we walked past Renee's room, Rose walked out positively beaming—anticipation, giddiness, love, longing. Beneath it all swirled her usual cocktail of wistfulness, bitterness, depression, irritation. There was also a strange hint of curiosity-tinged fear. I had a feeling this particular strand of fear had nothing to do with the danger looming. It was the kind of fear Bella used to feel when talking about her change. Rose was making a big decision. Her eyes met mine and I bowed my head apologetically, caught prying.
Rose smiled and went to sit with Emmett in the living room. He, Jude, Garrett, and Kate were watching a game. Maria went to sit with Jude. "She's due in two days," Rose whispered excitedly to Emmett. "She's doing so well. Baby Mason will be perfect." I sat on Rose's other side and instinctively reached out to give her hand a comforting squeeze. It's what I always did when she was like this—more often than not, the happier she seemed outwardly, the more something was eating her up on the inside. That was when it hit me: Marcus and Felix had promised nothing would be said about the odds of this baby being a Saturno, but one or both of them had more than likely informed everyone about Amelia's true fate when they returned from our hunt. Amelia could reverse the change. Everything Rose had ever wanted... Given the choice, her decision had been made. Emmett caught my eye and nodded once. Whatever she did, wherever she went, he was going with her.
"Bella just took Irwin!" Alice ran into the room, her panic laced with anger. She contained her anger so no one could see it, but the panic in her eyes was clear. Nearly every vampire in our alliance came running into the room.
"What do you mean she took Irwin?" Kate asked. "Jasper and Maria were with Bella just a couple minutes ago. Did she ask him to take her somewhere?" The anger I felt in Alice intensified.
"No! After taking Leah and Angela back to La Push, Irwin was upset. We were heading out for a quick hunt when Bella ran up behind us, grabbed Irwin, and amplified so hard she forced him to teleport. That was fifty-two seconds ago, and I can't see either of them!" Before anyone could respond, Irwin appeared in the middle of the room. Alice leapt at him with a cry of relief.
"I had no idea I could be hijacked. I'm sorry, Alice," Irwin said.
"What happened?" I demanded. "Did she take you to La Push? Alice said she couldn't see you."
"I don't think we could have gone anywhere else. She didn't take my gift from me, she just made me use it. We went back to the last location I visited, which was the treaty line, yes. Before I could try to stop her, she apologized and took off across the border."
"You have to take me then," I insisted. No one objected.
"Be careful, Jasper," Carlisle said.
"I will. Take care of her parents."
I took Irwin's hand and he took me back to the treaty line. As soon as he teleported away, I found Bella's scent and followed her trail as fast as I could. I tried to push away any anger I felt. I had encouraged her to ignore expectations and follow her instincts, but this sure as hell wasn't what I had in mind. Then again... Phoenix. Maybe I should have seen it coming—just like she'd gone to meet James, she was running to face the pack alone, but to what point or purpose? What did she think she could accomplish alone?
Anger. So much anger from so many sources. I felt the Major rattling his cage in response. Pain. Sorrow. Fear... Satisfaction? Wonder? Respect?
When I came upon Bella, she was standing in a small clearing, completely surrounded by the surviving wolves, twelve in total. Jillian stood across the clearing, a few feet behind Jacob. The wolves closest to me whirled around and snarled a warning. Before I could attempt to calm them, the wolf I recognized as Sam let out a sharp bark that sounded like a command. Sure enough, the wolves let me be and turned their attention back to Bella. Relaxing a little, I realized Bella's scent was strangely potent considering the amount of wolf stink in the small area. That was when I noticed the fresh bite mark on her right forearm, too small to be a wolf bite. She had bitten herself, removing the small chunk of flesh she held in her right hand, and in her left hand... a lighter.
"As I was saying," Bella's voice shook a little, but she wasn't scared. She was sad, trying not to cry. "The last thing we can afford to do now is let this alliance fall apart. I burned all the weapons, the materials, everything with my venom. I'm sorry. I never expected Aro to stoop that low. I won't underestimate him again, and I swear to you I'll do everything in my power to destroy him. He will pay for all he's done... and it's only fair I pay as well. I know a chunk of flesh is nothing compared to nine lives⏤eleven lives, counting Rebecca and Billy⏤but killing me, killing anyone on our side just puts you all in more danger. Right now, I can only offer a piece of me. If it comes to it, I will burn for you." Bella kicked at the ground, leaving a small divot. She lit the small piece of her arm on fire, and dropped it into the small hole, watching unflinchingly as it burned to ash.
There was a rumble among the wolves, most of them looking between Bella and Jillian. Petting Jacob gently as she passed, Jillian approached Bella. Covering Bella's ashes with dirt, she addressed the pack. "'A wolf has imprinted on a vampire. A vampire grieves and burns for wolves we've lost. Our world has changed. The rules must be rewritten. Let this be the first page.' So say your ancestors, including those recently lost. I swear it on my own ashes. 'Remember who the real enemy is," they beg. 'Be empowered by this sacrifice. You are so valued by this group of vampires, so respected... Do not squander this chance to change the world. Do not seek to avenge us. Live for us.'"
That was how Bella found herself again.
A little over an hour later, Bella and I were back in Stowe. It was twilight in Vermont, and all seemed relatively calm considering all the drama of the day. Bella had apologized to Irwin and Alice profusely for jumping them. Alice was frosty for about a minute, but upon noticing Bella's new wound, she couldn't stop fussing over it. Back in La Push, once the wolves let me through, I had done my best to patch it with my own venom. There would forever be a thick, lumpy scar there, visible to human eyes, but it wasn't a gaping hole. For the most part, everyone was impressed when we told them what she'd done, Marcus most of all. She was definitely winning his favor quickly. Mary and Randall weren't so impressed. I think we all knew then that they were going to leave us. Whatever their decision, we had the wolf pack.
Everyone fell silent when we heard Renee groan in pain, her heart rate accelerating. We could hear a softer, quicker heartbeat fluttering. There was a barely audible pop, then the sound of rushing fluid.
"Ch-Charlie, get Doctor Cullen!"
Carlisle was already opening the door by the time she said his name. Almost every red-eyed vampire present ran outside. Bella started to run to her mother, but she stopped halfway to the room, doubling back and grabbing Rose's hand. After that, Rose took the lead and dragged Bella down the hall.
Love. Fear. Adoration. Determination. Giddiness. Exhaustion. Resolve. Love.
From endings, new beginnings. After death, new life. Bella and I decided we had to tell Eleazar what Marcus had told us about multiple Saturnos in families. After swearing to us that he would tell no one else, he volunteered to help Rose bring food and drinks into Renee's room. Bella and I followed him inside, Bella taking another turn holding her half-brother. Eleazar focused on the baby boy for a minute, then he smiled, meeting our eyes and shaking his head. Bella looked like she might cry from relief. Not a Saturno. No gift at all. Mason Marcus Dwyer was a perfectly normal mortal boy.