A/N: Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all are well and Santa is good to you xx Alexis
Twas The Night Before Christmas!
(Clement Clarke Moore)
Corin
I want to be the one who is content and happy for once, is that so wrong? I'm trapped here day after day, year after year! I have less freedom than a prisoner in the dungeons. Why? Because the brothers want their mates protected and hidden away. But I'm not a mate and I never will be up here in the wives tower! Why are my wants and desires less than everyone else's? I barely get through to them anymore, they are not content, they are bored and depressed, but nobody cares. As long as they are out of sight and out of mind, that's all that matters. I want out, I want freedom and I am beginning to think the only way to get it, is for them to die! Everyone else gets some modicum of freedom, everyone but me!
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of Volterra and the Volturi!
Huilen
Why do I always have to be the eternal mother? I loved my sister, Pire; I really did, so much so I died to help her son! But that was long ago and I feel trapped now. I raised him to be a decent, caring young man. Granted it only took several years, but I was a new vampire myself then and yes it was hard. But now his father has managed to drag us into his drama and I look after his three sisters too! I never wanted this, when do I get to have a life? I can't stay like this forever, trapped here in the back of beyond. I would like the chance to be free, free to explore the world, meet my destiny. But no, I get to spend eternity separating Nahuel's sisters, as they once more squabble like petulant toddlers!
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of Joham problems and this Rainforest!
Renata
I feel trapped; I'm Aro's eternal shadow! I walk behind him day after day, month after month, year after year being ignored. It's not as if I protect them all, oh no! Just him, just who he thinks is important and Chelsea has convinced the other two it's him. I want to be out there enjoying my freedom; I have never had that pleasure. I was only meant to be here for a short time, but once in Volterra I was tricked, conned. Any friends I made were disposed of in the beginning as a punishment when I tried to leave. So now I have none! I stay now only to keep Makenna alive, Aro has her watched. The fool thinks I stay because I want to, that I respect and believe in him! I hate Aro with every breath I draw, every fibre of my being. I want out!
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of Aro and the citadel!
Isabella
I'm beginning to think I've made a big mistake! No, I know I have, but in my defence, I was being railroaded by Edward and Alice. I can understand him, but why her, why is she trying to marry me off to Edward? For someone who sees the future why is she seeing mine all wrong? Thankfully Charlie put a stop to her party crap, in September. I didn't want that! I don't want to live with the Cullens and I don't want Edward anymore! He is showing his true colours and I don't like his controlling, misogynistic ways. I need to get free of him, but how? Who will help me escape because it will need to be a supernatural, not a human to stop them? My future is calling out to me, too run!
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of Edward and the Cullen's drama!
Sue
At last, I've finally made the potion that can give Leah her life back. This will stop her phasing, for now, it's not permanent, doesn't take away the wolf. But I can keep making it for her, for as long as she wants me to. The pack and the elders are having a bonfire to celebrate Christmas and now's her chance to get far away. I'll go say she's on her way and by the time they realise she will be long gone. They won't find her if she doesn't phase into the link. If she goes far enough away, it should be too far for them to find her mentally. I just wish she didn't have to go alone, but I have a funny feeling in my bones someone else in Forks wants a way to escape as well! I don't care what they say, I just want her to be happy, let's hope she agrees with me.
What I really want for Christmas this year is to see my daughter happy and free again!
Tia
I can't stand much more of this mindless, pointless existence. The only thing stopping me from building a pyre and walking into it is Ben! I'm just a glorified unpaid slave in this coven. Just because we're not human now, doesn't mean we don't make a mess and guess who gets to clean it up? Amun and Kebi do absolutely nothing; it's all left to Ben and me. Sometimes I just want t grab him and run, anywhere but here. It's not like they would or could chase us, they have become so sedentary. I've heard that happens to ancient ones and they are the oldest of us all! Amun forgets that we can't forget his tyranny, cruelty and nastiness over all these long years. Kebi is just a lazy entitled spoilt brat, who forgets she's no longer a deity!
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of Amun's cruelty and Kebi's entitlement!
Makenna
I thought I could be happy with Charles, but he revels in this nomadic life while I hate it! I'm not his true mate, just a companion and it is no longer enough for me because I live in constant fear. Will other nomads attack us? Will the Volturi get bored and come looking to collect him and I'll be alone? It is wearing me down; I shouldn't have to live under this threat permanently. But he just laughs it off, like he actually enjoys the chance this might happen. I want stability for once, no I want to go home, but my fears make me afraid to try. I often think I'm being watched! I think I'll go and visit Renata for Christmas; she's as trapped as me. We can console each other in our shared misery.
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of fear and to see my family again!
Angela
I love my family, I truly do! But I can't be what my parents want me to be. I tried to be the dutiful daughter, who dated the right guy. But he wasn't the right guy for me, hell he wasn't even the right gender for me! I'm eighteen now and it's time for me to take charge of my own life. I don't want to be trapped in Forks looking after my brothers while my parents spread the good word around the state of Washington. I want to go to college; I want to be an artist! No, I want my life to be my own, my choice. So for once, I'm putting myself first, everyone else does so why not me as well? I am no less important in this world than any other person. Why don't they see this and help me, because I'm their unpaid babysitter that's why!
What I really want for Christmas this year is to be free of Forks and the expectations of my parents!
Siobhan
I'm happy; I love my mate Liam, and my adopted daughter Maggie. Our life is not perfect, but it is good and it makes me happy. I know I'm one of the very few vampires who can say that. Many are not happy with their lot, in this new life. They didn't ask for this, but should they be made to suffer because their sires trapped them in this world? I want my friends to be as happy as me in their lives and I want their friends to benefit too. So my wish for this Christmas is that the joy of the season will breathe new life into the souls of those who need it! I ask nothing for myself because I don't need anything. I ask instead, on behalf of those who are feeling trapped and need a helping hand!
What I really want for Christmas this year is for everyone who deserves it, to get what they truly want.
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!
It was like a small miracle to all those who had wanted to be free and yet couldn't find a way, up until now. Suddenly doors were opened for them all just at the right time. It was to some a Christmas wish come true. In Volterra the Volturi brother's, well two of them had decided to spend Christmas day with their mates. Marcus had stopped Renata to talk in passing, not a strange occurrence, he liked the girl. Telling her that there will never be a better time to go, to be free! But to please take Corin with her, before she kills the wives in her dire frustration! Meanwhile, Makenna had decided to visit her cousin and when she heard she was going home to Malta, she grasped the chance to join her. So three of the eight are on their way.
Amun and Kebi were indulging in some Christmas debauchery and blood play. They had told Ben and Tia they would not be needed that day. That was the sign Tia was waiting for and grabbing the rucksacks she'd packed long ago, she pulled Ben away from their home. They ran long and hard until they reached the ocean and started swimming towards South America. Huilen, who had been ranging further and further with every hunt found the two young lovers and with their encouragement joined them in their bid for freedom. They decided that they all would like to see China and off they went after she informed the four hybrids she was taking back her life, to tell their father to bite her ass! Now five of our eight are finally free.
In Forks, Bella was at her father's house for Christmas lunch, which she, of course, had to make. When he was suddenly called out to work. Bella shrugged on her coat and went for a walk only to bump into Angela Webber, who had had an argument with her parents. They commiserated with each other, each telling of their worries and wishes to be free of Forks. They were sitting hugging each other in tears when a truck pulled up next to them and Leah Clearwater asked if they wanted to join her on a road trip to nowhere in particular. If she thought she'd have to convince them she was mistaken, both just looked at her, then each other and jumped in the jeep! Things were taking a turn for the three women from Forks and La Push.
Leah liked Angela's attitude and realised Bella wasn't the goody-two-shoes Jake made her out to be. This changed everything; they would become very good friends and each other's support system. They stopped only at Bella's to leave a goodbye note, get Bella's stash of money and enough clothes for her and Angela to share. Also being in the company of a wolf would protect Bella from Alice's visions. This was a blessing in disguise and one that would give them time to get further away. This felt too easy to Leah and Bella, but they weren't looking a gift horse in the mouth. So they just took it as a sign of good things to come for all three. The further from Forks they drove the happier Bella felt. So finally our eight are in the wind.
It'll Be Lonely This Christmas!
Corin and Renata's disappearance wasn't noticed for two whole days thanks to Marcus. He told Felix he had sent them to Rome for a mini-vacation and the guard smiled. Felix knew they felt trapped but was unable to help them. Marcus then asked his friend, his only real friend, not to look for them. Or more realistically not to find them just yet. Demetri agreed and when Aro demanded to know where they were, he acted confused, saying he didn't know. Telling him as soon as Renata lifted her shield he would inform the brothers. But he like Marcus knew it would be after they reached home, well Renata's home. He smirked when he saw they were now a group of three, knowing Makenna had wanted to go home as well.
He did find it strange that two others he knew of had also run! His brother of sorts Ben and his mate Tia were in South America and running as well. They were with an unknown to him, female vampire. As soon as they made contact she appeared in his head as a dull light. How could he help his brother in his escape from Amun and Kebi? Because Demetri knew exactly what their life would have been like, one of servitude and pain, just as his had been. Quietly he left the Citadel and made arrangements for a courier, a vampire courier to intercept them and give them a Christmas present from him. Demetri had more money than he knew what to do with and this was something he should have done long ago.
True to Bella's prediction she disappeared from Alice's sight just after lunchtime on Christmas day. Alice, of course, panicked and thus made Edward panic too. Esme told them to get a grip; one of the wolves must have called by to wish Charlie and Bella a Merry Christmas! Everyone else just shook their heads at the stupidity of the two, but Jasper was monitoring Alice's emotions and they were not what they should have been. Instead of worry and irritation, there was real fear and a little panic! Had she allowed herself to become so reliant on her gift that not seeing scared her? Jasper turned to Carlisle and asked that very question, were they all using their gifts so much, that without them they couldn't function properly?
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
On the other side of the world this Christmas night Renata and Makenna had arrived on Malta and were welcomed home like the prodigal children, by their Uncle Luca, along with Corin who was besieged by kindness. He would now be the barrier between them and the Volturi. Because the one thing his family had more than any other coven in the world was shields, lots and lots of shields of every type. No one from his family will ever help the Volturi again, as long as help is synonymous with enslavement and unwarranted imprisonment! Malta may be a small Island, but it has more vampires on it than the rest of Europe had, possibly more than those who reside in America. The Volturi will never come to Malta, they dare not!
Tia. Huilen and Ben were at first terrified when the vampire approached them. But with firm reassurances that he brought Christmas greetings from Demetri of the Volturi, two of them at least relaxed. Knowing his brother, albeit a brother he'd never met or had dealings with was prepared to help him, thrilled Ben. He had sent them money and clothes, but also the address of someone who would make them documents and help them get out of South America safely. Once they reached their destination he had given them directions to a peaceful coven who would teach them all they had never known before. All three were happy with this as being out in the open unprotected was a little scary and beyond strange to them.
Amun and Kebi were confused, where were their peons? Why were their baths not drawn, what were they supposed to do? So many centuries of being waited on hand and foot had left them ill-prepared. Plus Benjamin was an asset Amun couldn't afford to lose and he blamed Kebi for her ill-treatment of Tia making her take him away. Forgetting, conveniently the many unwarranted beatings he himself had doled out to both. It took them a week to work out how to fill the bath, then Amun decided Kebi should be his new slave and she refused. They fought for days and then took several weeks to recover from their injuries. Finally, they managed to do minor things for themselves, but not well and not to their previous standards.
The three girls from Forks were quite happy to be on the road and free, yes it was Christmas, but they all know the only reason they left, was that they were pushed into it and not through choice. The people who should have supported Bella and Angela we lacking in empathy and the pack and elders were trying to control Leah, their Alpha female. So no they didn't feel bad, not in the least. Hell when Bella mentioned she might not want to marry Edward to her father, he nodded and said that she was probably right and Jake was the better choice! So small-town narrow-mindedness was alive and well in Charlie Swan. Angela hadn't even mentioned her sexual orientation to her parents, lest she be sent to a camp, to pray her straight again!
They at first had no idea where they wanted to go, but after throwing out lots of place names they decided on Miami. It was far away, it was hot and sunny and with luck, they all could get work of some kind and until then they could sleep in the jeep and if push came to shove Leah could protect them better than anyone else. They thought if they scrimped and saved for a year then they could all go to college or take online classes. Angela said where there's a will, there's a way! They had had to explain everything to her and she was shocked at first and then angry with the Cullens for coming to Forks and ruining the tribe's lives and endangering the humans. She thought them to be arrogant and entitled assholes!
In Ireland, Liam asked Siobhan if she'd made a Christmas wish this year. She nodded, saying she hoped that somewhere out there someone got what they wanted for Christmas this year because of her wish for them. Happiness should be a given she thought but knew it wasn't always the case. Liam was sure if they did, they would eventually hear all about it. He was correct, slowly the news from Volterra trickled through and the whining and anger from Egypt quickly made the rounds. The Cullens were more circumspect about Edward's so-called mate running away from him with two female friends. But Tanya Denali was so pleased about it she told everyone who'd listen, but it still didn't get her Edward.
It was all in the wording of Siobhan's wish, ensuring only the deserving got what they wanted and the undeserving, well maybe they'd get what was coming to them one day!
A/N: I have a feeling I might follow our ladies on their journeys of self-discovery. Maybe another couple of one-shot to let us see how they are doing xx Alexis
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Brett Eldredge
It'll Be Lonely This Christmas by Mud
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams