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Here's another chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Remember to social isolate yourselves and STAY SAFE AT HOME!
JASPER POV (since he's merging with the Major I'll call him just Jasper from now on)
Bella did a damn good job.
She even sent us her notes and pics, prolly when she saw that Kai fella look at her.
She sleepin' now, after havin' emailed Charlie ta keep up our cover. She's sprawled on the bed Caius had installed her for her, snorin' lightly. It wasn't even necessary ta give her a bit of sleepiness: she was out cold the second her head touched the pillow.
"She gave us plenty of good info" Caius says, writin' down on paper Bella's findings. I walk up to him and plop down the nearest chair. "She sure did. Do ya think that Kai fella kept the newborns from trainin' 'cause he sensed our other scouts there?" I ask.
"It's a possibility, but then why didn't he capture them?"
"They're just guards, they knew nothin'. Maria ain't aimin' for the small fish. She wants the sharks. By lettin' the guards go she taunted us with her strength and checked our rounds at the same time. She ain't stupid" I say, rememberin' all the times I was at the head o' one o' these operations.
"But now we have an ace in the sleeve she doesn't know about. We have you and Bella, that should count for something" he muses, finishin' up with the transcription.
"It does. Maria would shit a brick if she knew I am here. She don't change her tactics, she still the same. I know 'em all, an' I'll help ya fight her. That's why I'm here. Bella will be the perfect scout for us. I suggest ya stop the other scoutin' parties and leave that duty ta the lil' darlin' here" I nod my head at her snorin' form.
Caius looks at her, too, and smiles slightly. I narrow my eyes at him, "Ya like her" I growl angrily, my voice low enough not to be heard by the other guards. His head whips in my direction, "I feel for her like a brother would feel for a sister, strangely enough. I never thought I could stand—let alone like—a human, but then again, Aro did warn me something like this could happen."
I cross my arms over my chest, protectiveness an' a bit o' possessiveness sparkin' inside me. "Ya won't get ta keep her in the Citadel, if she don't want it."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Don't hurt her or I'll have yer hide." I'd do anythin' for my Bella—wait, my Bella?
"Rest assured that I won't."
I nod sharply. I change the topic, "Now, I s'pose that yer guards are trained an' ready ta fight them babies?"
"They were trained to fight newborns, yes, but a little bit of training won't hurt them. You know her strategies, you can train them accordingly" Caius says, as we walk down the stairs, closin' the door behind us.
"I'll see what I can do. How long 'till we attack?" I ask.
"Four days at most. I want this over before the end of the week" he says, then he asks a guard to rally the other vamps.
I stretch my gift and feel for possible spies. I can only sense the guards comin' back to base, Bella's sleepin' emotions an' a few o' Maria's newborns. I turn to Caius. "I can sense some of her newborns. She's smart, but she ain't infallible. She placed her camp just outside the range o' the typical vampire gift. But mine is stronger. She don't know I'm here, nor she was expectin' me. This is an advantage. I'll be able ta know when they come. Newborns get excited when they need ta fight."
He nods, "That's good. I was debating if we should let her come to us or go to her and fight her on her ow territory. What do you say, Major?"
"I think we should do neither. She'll have the advantage on her territory and she'll be able ta think o' a plan if she comes ta ours. I think we should use the lurin' thing Bella thought of in Volterra" I say, recallin' her idea.
Caius seems to remember that, too. "I see. Do you think that will work with the mind controller?"
"We'll see. We might need ta send Bella to do some more scoutin'. We'll figure out somethin'. But now, I see that all o' yer guards are here" I say, lookin' at the eighty or so vampires in front of me. Usually in the house itself there are just ten or eleven, the others all 'round the perimeter. So it's the first time I get a good look at them all.
There are those of the Elite Guard and several of the upper guard, then there are a few of the lower guard. Many are like the average vampire—medium height and fit, some are tall and bulky like Felix, and some are small and lithe.
"Soldiers." My voice rings out and all the guards stand at attention in a sec. "Soldiers, divide yerselves by body type. The small ones on my right, the Felix-types on my left and the others in the middle."
Immediately the guards divide themselves as I requested. "Very well. Let's train."
In the morning
I suddenly feel eyes on me as I train with the guards.
I have divided our forces: those small will be our last line, those average will be in the middle and those like Felix will be the first line, breakin' the initial formation of Maria's army.
I look up. Bella is lookin' at me, her feet danglin' from the window frame, holdin' a glass o' milk in her hand. "Howdy, cowboy" she smirks.
I smile back, "Howdy, darlin'. Slept well?"
"Like a babe. I see you've been training" she says, raisin' a brow an' lookin' down at my clothes. Or what's left of 'em, anyway. My shirt is completely gone, leavin' me bare chested, an' the left leg of my jeans has been ripped at the knee—courtesy of Felix.
"Yes, ma'am. Wanna join us?" I grin, and she laughs. "No, thanks. I'll finish this" she says, holdin' up the glass o' milk, "and change my clothes. Then, I'll join you."
I nod at her and she disappears. I turn back to the fights goin' on around me. I meet Caius' stare and he comes to me. "She's awake?" he asks, and I nod. "She comin' down in a bit. Why?"
"We might need to send her back scouting."
"Let's wait. The newborns are prolly still trainin'. Maria's trainin' session usually last ten hours. We should send her back this afternoon."
"Then we can use this time to train the guards and plan our attack."
"Sounds like a plan" I say.
Bella comes out ten minutes later, lookin' like a peach. Her hair is half up in a bun and half tumblin' down her back. She's wearin' a white wife-beater, brown biker shorts and tan ankle boots. "Hey, sug. Ready for another day?" I ask when she reaches me.
"I was born ready."
"Great" I say to her, then turn to address the guards, "Good job. It's all for now. Go back patrollin' but take turns. Those o' ya who are here keep trainin'."
A resoundin' 'Yes sir!' signals they undersood. The majority goes back patrollin', but a good twenty remain here trainin'.
"Good morning, Bella" Caius says, smilin' at her. "Hey, Caius. How did the training go? Is Jasper enough for you?" she jokes, pattin' my back. Her warm hand on my sensitive scars sends shivers down my back. Very pleasurable shivers.
She don't know what she's doin' ta us, the Major whispers in my head. Every day we are closer to be one and the same, an' I've been hearin' his voice less and less.
I focus back on the conversation, I missed Caius' answer but Bella is laughin'. Her melodious laugh warms my dead heart. I won't let anythin' happen ta her.
"Are we done? We need ta figure out a strategy, an' we were waitin' for yer sleepy ass ta wake up ta do so" I smirk at Bella, and she dramatically gasps, fakin' offense. Caius laughs at our antics but agrees with me. at this, Bella glares at both o' us and stomps back inside.
We chuckle but follow her. If it weren't for the filial love I could feel pouring out of Caius, I would've punched him for his affectionate gaze. Why, I don't know.
Bella is waitin' for us, seated on one o' the chairs around the table. She's lookin' at some maps and at her notes that Caius copied last night. "So, what's the plan?" she asks as soon as we sit down.
"We still need to figure it out" Caius says.
"We were thinkin' 'bout where we should take the battle. We cannot fight at Maria's camp, but we can't fight here either. It would give her too much advantage" I say, and Bella nods.
"So we need to find some place that gives us an advantage, or at least makes us even" she muses. I can practically see the wheels turnin' in her head.
"They are about one hundred, right?" she asks, and Caius nods. "Tell me again how many are we?" she then asks. "Eighty-four countin' ya" I say.
A few minutes pass when Bella slams her fist on the table. Scarin' the shit out o' us, if I havfta be honest. "What's that battle's name. The one of the movie 300! Where there are a few soldiers fighting against a huge army in a small passage…" she says, slammin' her hands on her cheeks.
Caius looks at me before timidly—ya never wanna anger a lady—offerin', "The Battle of the Thermopylae?"
Her eyes widen. "YES! That's the one! Why can't we use the same tactic?" she asks us.
I have no idea what they're talking about. Caius quickly explains, "The battle was led by the Spartan King Leonidas in 480 BC, in Ancient Greece. There were about 7000 Spartan soldiers against nearly 120,000 Persian soldiers. They needed to stop the Persians, so they made good use of the morphology of the place. They managed to hold off the forces for a few days, sacrificing themselves to let the other Greek forces prepare themselves. They fought in a constricted passage to force the enormous Persian army to squeeze inside the small passage. That gave them a big advantage" he says, drawing on a parchment a rudimental map of the battle.
"Since our odds are much better, and we could actually win, we could find a spot similar to the Thermopylae and fight there!" Bella exclaims.
I think a bit 'bout her plan, it's not without its merits, but—"There's no place similar to that" I point to Caius' drawin' of the Thermopylae, "here. But we could use somethin' else, like an enclosed space." I look around, "Like this house."
Caius closes his eyes, "This is a Volturi base, it might be soundproof but it isn't reinforced enough to sustain a newborn attack. It would crumble to the floor in a matter of minutes."
Bella frowns, "Why would you build a base that it's not reinforced?" She stole my line.
"Because usually we don't bring the fight to our properties. This base was built a long time ago, and was only recently upgraded. With the emergency of Maria's army we didn't have time to reinforce the structure. Me and my brothers might have many powers in the guard, but none that can manipulate time itself."
A few seconds pass when Bella suddenly perks up. "And if we have time to adjust to the enemy's territory and make it our own?"
We both look at her like she's just lost her marbles. "What do you mean?" Caius inquires.
She clicks her tongue and explains, makin' grand gestures as she speaks, "I mean we could leave this place as soon as we realize they're coming here, and, being careful about staying out of Kai's range, we could go back to their base. AKA the camp. By the time they realize it we'd be already accustomed to the place and we could surprise them. Would Maria expect a move like this?" she asks, an' she looks up at me with her big brown eyes.
I think 'bout it, "Nobody ever used a move like this on her, an' she never suggested doin' somethin' like this, either. I think it's not a move she'll expect us ta do. But there is a tiny problem: how can we figure out Kai's gift's range?"
Just then, Bella pales even further and panic swims in her emotions, "Bella, sugar, what's wrong?" I say, shakin' her shoulders. "Bella!" I call when she doesn't answer me.
She looks up at me, tears in her eyes, "If this guy can control minds, how can we fight them without falling prey of his power, too" she sniffs. Even while cryin', she's the most beautiful woman on this earth. Wait, what?
I hug her to my chest, squeezin' her tightly. She's so small compared to me. I must protect her.
Caius places a hand on her back, makin' soothin' circles. I don't want him to touch her. She's in my arms, she doesn't need anybody else.
Before I can voice my displeasure, Bella regains her composure. I look as she slips out of my embrace—much to my regret—and straightens herself. "Sorry. I guess the situation finally caught up with me. Plus, Charlie sent me an email saying that there are problems at home. A series of killing in Seattle and he was sent there to investigate. I'm scared he might get hurt… But all of this is irrelevant right now, I need to concentrate" she gives herself a pep-talk.
"Dear, it's not irrelevant," Caius comforts her, "We are friends, right?" he waits for her to nod and continues, "Then we are here if you need us, just as we know you'll be here if we have a problem. Your concerns aren't irrelevant."
"I agree, darlin'. Ya ain't a burden for us, so speak if somethin' bothers ya. Whatever it may be."
"Anyway, my concern still stands" Bella says, wipin' away the last of her tears.
I sigh, "I actually have thought 'bout this, and I've come up with a solution. We could use Jane's gift, from a distance, and momentarily incapacitate him. I'll paralyze him makin' him feel the pain of the change all over again, so he won't be able ta move, and then some guard will kill him. This is our safest strategy while dealin' with him."
"Sounds reasonable" Caius says, but Bella frowns, "Why don't you incapacitate the entire army?"
I snicker, "Where would the fun be in that?"
Both me and Caius laugh loudly as she scoffs and mutters disdainfully, "Men."
Some hours later
Bella agreed once again to be our scout. We are near the camp now, coverin' her back, and waitin' for a possible threat to appear.
Caius is on her left side, and I'm on her right one, I can see both him and her, but she can't see us. I watch as she places herself on the ground, behind a group of bushes, half a mile ahead of us. I can see our trainin' paid off. Her body moves as seamlessly as water and as silently as a fox. I can barely sense her.
I feel her emotions: nervousness, hate, a bit of fear and a lot of concentration and determination. I'm proud of my lil' darlin'.
I send her some of my pride and I feel her relax a bit, and she pushes back gratitude at me.
Suddenly she freezes, she even stops breathin', and I look at my phone. Sure enough, a message pops out, but I can't read it as an infernal pain fries my brain.
I grunt. Shake my head tryin' to run away the pain. My body flares as the pain consumes my brain. I grip onto the stone, crushing it to dust. The pain intensifies, it's fuckin' burnin'. I can feel talon-like tendrils grippin' my brain. I can feel myself slippin' away, so with the last of my strength I run back, stoppin' only when the pain leaves me completely.
I fall to the ground, my body shiverin' from the memory of the pain. It's far worse than the one of the change, if possible. When I regain my control—feat that takes far longer than I like—two names pop in my mind.
Bella. Caius.
The second name is quickly wiped of my list as I see him sprawled on the ground a mile away from me. He's massaggin' his head when I slowly approach him. He growls at first—a normal reaction for a vampire when he's weakened—but when he recognizes me he stops.
"Fuck, that hurt" he moans.
I chuckle half-heartedly. "Ya can say that twice."
"What was that? Wait—where is Bella?" he says, lookin' around.
I look back at where she's hidin', but I can't see her. A rock covers my line of sight. I can barely even feel her.
Caius jumps up, "Major, where is she?"
"I don't know. I think she's still back there, but I can't know if she's in pain" I growl.
My entire bein' wishes to go back to her and protect her, the other half tell me she's fine and to trust her. right now, the first half is winning.
I make to walk back to her, but Caius stops me, "We can't!"
"Damn straight I can. Bella might be in danger!" I growl at him, and he growls back, "We can't risk exposure!"
"I don't give a shit about bein' seen by that whore! I need to go back to Bella!" I snarl. The only thought in my mind is that Bella might be hurt or worse, and I'm not there to protect her.
She's alone, maybe in danger. She's alone, maybe in danger. She's alone, maybe in danger. She's alone, maybe in DANGER.
I can feel my beast slowly slitherin' out of his cage.
If Caius doesn't remove his fuckin' arm soon…
"Major! There!" Caius points, still holdin' me back with one arm. I slowly turn my head to where he's pointin', and relief crushes me. My beast purrs in contentment when I spot Bella swiftly runnin' back toward our base.
Thank fuckin' God.
BELLA POV
I freeze. I stop breathing. My heart is pounding but I can do nothing to stop it.
I can pinpoint where Jasper is, since he shot me that bit of pride a few seconds ago. And that's the exact direction where Kai is looking with a suspicious expression.
He's—well, he's… oh, whatever—he's forcing two female newborns to suck his cock (in plain sight, might I add) when he turns sharply in Jasper's directions. I send a warning text to both Caius and Jasper, hoping I'm not too late.
Kai pushes away the two females that scurry away like beaten dogs and I look away—I really don't want to see his cock—as he composes himself. I look back just in time to see him shrug and call forth another woman. She's almost as small as me, with black curly hair and dirty clothes on. The woman lays down in front of him and spreads her legs.
I don't want to watch what I'm sure is going to happen, so as soon as I hear the sound of her jeans tearing I run back to base. I run back not caring of being particularly stealthy—I'm pretty sure Kai is busy at the moment—and don't stop until my lungs are collapsing and I'm on the porch of the house.
A few seconds later Jasper and Caius join me.
"Bella, ya okay?" Jasper asks, frantically checking me over for injuries. I can't form a proper sentence yet, so I nod.
"Thank the gods" Caius mutters, patting my back. "Didn't you feel that pain in your brain?" he then asks, and I shake my head. I swear I'm about to throw up my lungs.
Jasper picks me up, ignoring Felix and Demetri—both worried about what happened—and runs up, followed by Caius, and places me on the bed. He gently removes my boots and dirt-filled scarf, untangling my hair. As I begin to regain my breath, they tell me what they felt.
"It was as if our brains were on fire" Caius explains, "Worse than the change" Jasper adds, and I shiver, remembering a bit of the pain I felt when James bit me. Wow, I can't imagine a pain worse than that.
A couple more breaths and then I tell them what I saw. Jasper doesn't seem surprised by Kai's behaviour. "It's normal ta rape and use the newborns, both male and female, in the camps. I ain't justifying his actions, darlin', but at least we now know his gift's range."
I frown, "How?"
"Yesterday me and Caius were a bit farther from you, about twelve feet away from where we were today. It's a small distance, but one that is decisive for our plan. 'Cause now we know that his range is almost 2500 feet."
"So, you gettin' your brain fried was useful" I joke. They both smile and nod.
"Good, now, can I go to bed? Hoping that I don't dream about that Kai dude, because that would be gross."
What do you think? Jasper and Caius cut it close with Kai's power, didn't they? Let me know what you think about Kai, or the strategy, or really whatever you want! I'm always happy to read your reviews (be they long and detailed or not) so please drop a review! Gaia :)
