Chapter 24

I had my head in a noose,

I had nothing to lose

Had enough of abuse

And now, I'm dangerous

Hateful, contagious, it haunts us

The next morning arrived, bright and sunny, just as Henry had forecasted. The day passed quickly, though for Isabella, it was unusually full of visitors. Normally a solitary vampire by nature, with the exception of Eliza, who's presence was constant, Isabella almost never socialized. She spent most of her time reading, or refining her skills. Isabella either lacked, or ignored, basic social skills and sometimes even common courtesy; despite the fact she regularly reminded her daughter about the same things.

After making breakfast for himself and their four wolf-shifter house-guests Henry dutifully called the school to let them know Isabella and Elizabeth wouldn't be in. He made up a story about the both of them being sick in bed; possibly due to the overwork and stress of the recent move. The secretary told Henry to tell the two women to "get better soon and not to bite anyone." He was coughing in surprise when he hung up.

"Why did the school secretary tell me not to let you bite anyone?" Henry asked, an expression of complete bewilderment on his face.

"My daughter thinks she's funny." Isabella replied in mock exasperation.

"It was just a freaking joke!" Eliza protested when Isabella raised an eyebrow at her. "How did I know she'd think it was funny enough to repeat a gazillion times?"

Henry chuckled softly and shook his head. Then he waved to them, yawning, "I'm going to bed. Like the school secretary said. Try not to bite anyone. I'll see you this afternoon."

Leah and Rachel took the large breakfast Henry prepared up to Seth and Paul, both of whom were woken by the smell of the meal. They fell into it, eating as if they hadn't seen food for days.

Carlisle arrived shortly thereafter and declared himself pleased with the progress of his patients. He informed them that it seemed like their bones were healing properly, though he insisted on one more day of bed rest. When they protested, Carlisle calmly explained several facts to them. While their bones had healed, they were still very sore and still had some bruising on their chests; their internal organs could still be suffering from trauma.

Carlisle explained it was better to be to be safe than sorry in giving their bodies enough time to heal. He finally calmed them by saying they'd probably be okay to shift as soon as Sunday without hurting themselves. After finishing their checkups, he left with a small nod to Isabella who returned it.

It was shortly after lunch when Jacob, Tekali, and Embry arrived to check on their fellow pack members. They stayed several hours joking with Paul and Seth, keeping them company and making sure they knew they were missed. Isabella noted they spent more time with Seth, since Rachel never left Paul's side. They obviously didn't want Seth to feel left out. Even though Leah checked on him regularly, he seemed happy with the attention.

Leah and Seth's relationship was somewhere between the antagonism of siblings and playfully combative. Tekali confided in Eliza the two of them cared very much for each other, but were far more comfortable with their games of one-upmanship, only hinting at a far deeper affection. The trio of left about two hours later, claiming they had different responsibilities which needed attending to.

It was getting on towards late afternoon, when Eliza and Leah emerged from the Batcave where they'd spent most of the day. Leah had made the mistake of mentioning that she had never spent much time playing video games. Eliza had reacted as if Leah had just confessed to a hobby of clubbing baby seals. Eliza had wasted no time in hooking up a game system to the central monitor, in the basement. The "monitor" was a 59 inch flat screen TV. Eliza then proceeded to give Leah a crash course on videogames, starting with the most recent Halo and Call of Duty. At some point during the day Halo and Call of Duty had turned into Dance Dance Revolution. There had been laughter and teasing floating up from the basement all day.

When they finally emerged from the basement, Eliza nodded to Henry who was eating toast and talking to Isabella about the complete lack of attacks in Seattle over the past 48 hours.

"Mom, Leah and I were going to go out for a run. Kind of stretch our legs, if it's okay." Eliza half asked, half informed. Eliza didn't really need to ask permission, and Isabella had never demanded that she do so. Eliza did so largely out of habit, a comfortable routine for both of them.

Isabella nodded, "Of course it is, just be safe out there, keep aware of your surroundings."

Eliza nodded, the warning was hardly necessary, but Eliza had no intention of ignoring her mother's advice. She headed for the door with Leah in tow. "We will, we'll be back sometime tonight." she said, excitement evident in her voice.

"Take a book bag!" Isabella called out to her daughter. "That way Leah doesn't have to carry her clothes in her mouth, or tied to her leg."

"Yes, Mother!" Eliza called out. Sometimes her mother's ambivalence to the people around her could frustrate Eliza to no end, other times Isabella's thoughtfulness couldn't help but make Eliza grin. This was one of those times she was sure her mother's caring side wasn't as deeply buried as her mother pretended, or would like others to think

Once they were outside Leah grinned at Eliza as they made their way to the woods. "Don't worry; I'll try not to run too fast for you." The whole excursion had been Leah's idea. She had been very nervous about suggesting they do something together with her shifted. She had originally intended to see if Eliza was interested in a normal walk through the woods. But some of the bragging that Eliza had done through the day when they were playing video games had prompted Leah to change her suggestion. Instead of a slow walk, she'd suggested they get out where the playing field was a little more even.

Eliza had seemed completely comfortable with the idea of Leah being a shape shifter, but Leah wasn't sure how Eliza might react to her wolven half, at least as far as "doing things together" went. She had been very pleased when Eliza agreed to do it.

Eliza snorted indelicately, "I'm more worried you'll slow me down" she teased. She was excited about going out and being active. Leah's suggestion had pleased her more than she'd let on. She had given Leah a crash course in video games, and it had gotten both of their competitive juices flowing. When Leah had suggested an even playing field, Eliza had positively leaped at the chance.

Leah grinned widely, "Oh this should be fun."

When they made it into the line of trees obscuring their vision from the house, Eliza stopped. "This is as good a place as any."

She turned her back politely, while Leah stripped out of her clothes and then dropped them into the book bag Eliza had picked up at the door. Eliza heard the soft crunch and shift of bones and then a soft growl from Leah in wolf form. Eliza turned back and picked up the book bag, slinging it lightly between her shoulder blades.

"Now, let's see who can't keep up!" Eliza grinned at Leah and darted into the trees. Leah immediately gave chase.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening running through the wilderness. To both of their surprise, they discovered they were relatively evenly matched. Eliza found that she was slightly faster shifting directions and turning quickly, and Leah discovered she had the slight advantage in a full out sprint on open land.

The two of them made a game out of the whole thing. They chased each other through the forest and played their own version of tag. Leah would nudge her shoulder or her nose against Eliza and then abruptly change directions. Then Eliza would give chase and run a hand through the top of her fur, or give her a light swat on the side and leap away in a different direction. Both of them seemed to have an absolute blast as they ran and played without a care in the world.

Leah finally made it clear she wanted to do something besides the game they had come up with. She growled gently at Eliza and jerked her head in another direction several times until Eliza got the point that Leah wanted her to follow. Eliza easily followed her lead as they circled back toward home. Eliza didn't bother to ask where they were headed since Leah obviously wouldn't be able to answer. Finally, they slowed down and Eliza began to smell the salt of the ocean.

Leah came to a stop on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean and a long rocky beach. The area was rocky but Eliza was more than impressed by the view. Looking out they could see the waves of the ocean, with the full moon and stars in the cloudless sky. Reflected on the water it made the whole scene positively beautiful. Their enhanced senses made the panorama even more impressive.

Leah nudged her head against Eliza's shoulder, looking meaningfully at the bag Eliza still carried. Eliza slid it off her shoulders and handed it to Leah, still gazing at the gorgeous tableau. Leah took the bag in her mouth and then trotted into the woods before returning a minute later wearing short jean shorts and a grey top, delectably human again, at least in Eliza's eyes.

Leah stood quietly beside Eliza, setting the empty book bag down. "I love this spot. Whenever I'm home I come up here. I like the view when there's a full blown thunderstorm going or when there's a rare clear night like tonight." she murmured quietly. She kept her tone quiet as an almost unconscious gesture of respect to the peaceful night and view.

"It's... so beautiful." Eliza whispered quietly in return. She was just as struck by the scene. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen a more beautiful view in her life, more so because of the company that brought her to this place in the first place.

Leah smiled shyly and hesitantly reached out to take Eliza's hand. She was grateful when Eliza slipped her fingers easily into Leah's own. "The rest of the pack has seen it in my mind. I know some of them come up here from time to time, but they usually leave the spot alone when I'm around. You're... the first person I've ever shown this to intentionally. The first person I've ever actually brought up here."

Eliza squeezed Leah's hand gently and shifted her weight lightly to settle in against her. "Thank you. This is wonderful." She turned to meet Leah's eyes with a shy smile.

Leah was already looking at her, her dark brown eyes meeting Eliza's deep violet ones. She tilted her head slightly and moved closer, watching Eliza's expression carefully for any sign of disapproval. Leah was thrilled when she saw nervousness, but excitement as well. She leaned in to kiss Eliza and then something on her visions periphery caught her eye, so she stopped and tilted her body to the side to get a closer look at the beach below.

Eliza had closed her eyes, but opened them again with a frown as she saw Leah no longer moving to kiss her but instead looking at something behind and below her. Eliza immediately felt offended, wondering what could be so important as to interrupt this moment. But before she could protest, Leah gripped her shoulders and turned her around to face the beach below as well.

Eliza turned just in time to see four figures emerge from the frothy tide, who half walked, half stumbled out of the water to join a fifth already on the beach. A woman had already emerged before Eliza was turned around, and she was joined by three other women, and a male. Two of the women were blond, one had darker blond hair, and one had dark brown hair. The male had short black hair.

Eliza frowned, and felt Leah stiffen behind her. "Vampires." Leah whispered softly.

Eliza nodded, crouching down behind a rock to watch. The movement of the vampires seemed rushed, and both Leah and Eliza strained to hear them talking.

"Quickly, we must get to the Cullen's. Their house is not far from here!" The blond woman, who had first emerged, said.

"We have to wait!" Insisted another blond woman, "I know Garrett and he won't be far behind."

The woman with slightly darker blond hair chimed in, "She's right, they're both not far from here."

The woman who'd spoken originally nodded slightly, crossing her arms to wait, though her look and bearing was clearly one of worry and impatience.

They didn't have to wait long, Eliza and Leah both turned their head as they heard the pattering of feet on water soaked sand. They saw two more figures running down the coast line where the water met the sand. These two were male, and they quickly joined the group who'd had just come ashore. One of the males had brown hair and was holding his left shoulder as he ran. The other male had a darker complexion and dreadlocks.

"Did you lose them?" The blonde woman, who had first spoken, asked urgently.

One of the men who had just arrived shook his head, "No, I don't think so. They have some sort of tracker and three or four fucking wolves. We managed to slow them down by running through some obstacles. I ran them into a mini-avalanche but probably only gave us half an hour at most. It won't slow them for long."

"Quickly, we have to get to the Cullen's house. We need to warn them. We can try to run together." The first woman spoke and then turned and took off through the forest. There was no more discussion as the others followed her.

Eliza turned to look at Leah. "Shift, you need to let the pack know something's happening."

Leah nodded, though she took a quick moment to begin stripping off her clothes, without bothering to retreat a distance this time.

Eliza quickly spun around before she got more than an eyeful of bared midriff. "Mother, something's going on."Eliza said urgently on her mental link. Her face would have blushed were she human; the image of Leah's bared mid-riff was in her mind.

"Dear, you are far too old for any sort of birds and bees explanation." Isabella's voice thought back to her, her tone amused as she perceived Eliza's emotions and the image currently in her daughter's mind.

If possible Eliza's face would have turned even redder, she wasn't sure which embarrassed her more. The fact that she was embarrassed and Leah's form had so easily stuck in her head, or the fact that her mother knew about it. ""Mother! I'm serious!" At any other time Eliza would have rejoiced at her mother making a joke.

"What's happening?" Isabella's voice replied to Eliza calmly, without teasing her daughter further.

"Seven vampires just showed up on the coast. They're headed for the Cullen's house." Eliza stated, hearing a wolf howl in the distance.

"Some kind of attack?"Isabella asked.

"No, they're going to warn the Cullen's. They're running from something." Eliza said, replaying the recent memory in her mind so her mother could see. She tried to leave out the lead up and the almost kiss with Leah, but failed. Fortunately her mother either ignored it or chose to reserve comment for a more opportune time.

"I see. Come home now, I don't know what's going on but I'd rather not be caught off guard here." Isabella replied , her mental voice thoughtful.

"Okay, I'm on my... no… wait a second." Eliza stopped with a frown. She watched down on the coast in the same spot the first group of vampires had emerged, someone else began to emerge. It was a dark haired male walking up and out of the water. Then one by one more heads began to emerge from the water. Eliza's eyes widened in shock as she watched head after head emerge from the water, until the number on the beach totaled almost thirty.

"Whoa."Eliza thought, sharing her initial reaction. Leah whined in shock at the same time, and one of the vampires who'd just emerged turned to frown in the direction of their spot. Eliza didn't waste any time. She cloaked them both immediately, leading to a bigger whine from Leah, and Eliza realized she'd cut her off from the pack too.

"I'm sorry, I cloaked us." Eliza murmured. Leah shook her head as Eliza spoke with Isabella again. "Mom, there's like 30 vampires that just showed up on shore here. They look and smell like mostly newborns. Though I must say, the entrance was a lot better done in Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, is Rachel still at the house with you?"Eliza asked as she again replayed the events of the last few minutes in her mind for her mother's benefit.

"Save the movie critic audition for later. She's right here; she's shifted and whining like crazy. What are the vampires doing?" Isabella asked, her calm voice taking on the hard edge that Eliza was familiar with.

"Tell her to let the pack know that Leah is all right, I've just got us cloaked right now, and I don't know how to let their pack connection in and out yet. As for the vampires, they're still getting their bearings."Eliza said to her mother. Then she turned to Leah. "I told Mom, to have Rachel let the pack know that you're okay, I've got us cloaked."

Leah seemed to relax slightly as they returned to staring at the group below. Eliza connected to her mother again, and let Isabella see through her eyes and ears as they observed the activity below.

The dark haired vampire who'd emerged from the water first crossed his arms and seemed to look up the coast expectantly. One of the vampires who'd followed looked around. "What are we waiting for? We don't want them to get away!"

The dark haired vampire shook his head, "They won't. They've slowed to a stop. I never lose the sense of someone. We're just going to wait for the rest of the group. They're coming down the coast now. They'll be here in two minutes. We will rip the Denali yellow eyes to shreds." There were feral growls and mutters and even a few shouts of agreement from the mob of newborns.

"What about the wolves?" Another one asked.

The dark haired vampire who seemed to be the de facto leader frowned a little bit. "They're farther behind, a few minutes more at most."

"Interesting."Isabella's voice mused thoughtfully. "It must have been the Denali coven who showed up first. We've never been introduced. though you may recall we saw them and they saw us in Calgary a few years ago."

"Oh, I remember them..."Eliza replied. The memory of she and her mother exiting the burning remains of an abandoned fitness center, where they'd tracked a vampire causing problems. They had seen the Denali as they'd left. Eliza clearly remembered two of the women and two of the men. She never would have made the connection given their state as they emerged from the water. "The whole drowned chic look threw me." Eliza said blandly, somewhere in heaven she thought, Versace was shedding a single perfect tear

She trailed off when she saw movement to the north, coming down the coast. This time she couldn't keep her own gasp of surprise to herself. There were another twenty or so vampires rushing down as a group to join with the first one. They slowed to a stop and joined the other group.

The dark haired vampire who seemed to be the de facto leader frowned a little bit. "You didn't manage to kill yours."

One of the vampires that had just joined spoke up, "No, we managed to hurt one, but they got away from us. A small avalanche caused us a few minutes delay.''

"Where are the wolves?" The dark haired one frowned looking around.

"Those six mutts can't run along the coast. Too many stretches where the water is deep enough to make running impossible. They shouldn't be too far behind probably a few minutes more." The vampire replied. "Then we can slaughter the yellow eyes." This prompted eager growls from the large group surrounding them.

"What are we going to do Mother?"Eliza asked. "We can't just let them slaughter a coven."

"Of course not."Isabella's voice replied in a slightly distracted tone. There was almost a full minute's pause before Isabella's voice spoke again."Here's the plan. I just told Rachel. The Quileutes are going to head north and cut off the wolves so we don't have to deal with them. Things will get a lot messier if we do. I'll head to the Cullen's and meet you there."

"I'll send Leah up to meet up with them once we're away from here. You're going to get the Cullen's to fight with us? Also, bring me something to wear. I'm not fighting in jeans and a tank top."Eliza asked as she gestured for Leah to follow her, snatching up the book bag as they moved away from the area circling north.

"Not a chance. You know they'd just be in the way."Isabella replied, a slightly harsh note to her voice.

"We're never had this many newborns to deal with before."Eliza said, though she couldn't stop a grin from crossing her face. Her protest was merely a token one of common sense and both she and her mother knew it.

"I know. But if we let them help we'll spend more of the fight avoiding them and trying to make sure they're okay than actually fighting. I was more concerned with the wolves involvement."Isabella's reply was a half sigh, though Eliza joined her in wordless agreement.

"What do you mean?" Eliza asked as she moved, careful to stay close to Leah so there was no chance of either one of them slipping out of the small area she'd cloaked.

"You and I are good at killing vampires. That's what we're experienced doing. I learned the hard way in the sewers that we aren't prepared to face wolves." Isabella replied her tone still calm.

"They're not tougher or stronger than us!" Eliza replied, actually sounding shocked at the idea, even more so that her mother might be suggesting it.

"No, they're not. But they've evolved to fight us. Blunt force trauma doesn't work with them. Their species are natural wrestlers. I could punch one of them as hard as possible in their wolf form and it would go flying, maybe be stunned for a second or two. If I was lucky I would manage to crack a bone here or there. Impacts don't do much more than that. If we manage to get our arms around them and have enough leverage to crush we can do plenty of damage to incapacitate. It's managing to do that while contending with the other wolves and vampires that concerns me." Isabella replied.

"Sounds like you've been giving this some thought before now." Eliza said.

"Since the other night in the sewer. It's not about being able to beat them. It's about knowing how, and that's experience we don't have yet. That's why I've asked Jacob to head them off. They can take care of the wolf problem, especially if it's only four or five." Isabella responded

"Asked Jacob to head them off, or ordered him?" Eliza replied her voice teasing despite the seriousness of the situation

"ToMAYto, ToMAHto. We'll talk about it later. I'll see you in a few minutes." Isabella replied, her tone making it clear the conversation was over for the time being.

Eliza dropped her cloak after they were safely away from the coast. Leah let out a soft whine of surprise as she skidded to a stop. Then she growled in protest as someone in the pack obviously filled her in on the plan via the pack mind.

Eliza leaned forward and put her head against Leah's. "I know. But I promise. I'll be fine. The pack is going to need your help though. You're the fastest one they have, and they're shorthanded with Paul and Seth out of action."

Leah growled then whined in acknowledgement. She stepped back and then quickly licked Eliza's face, not waiting for a reaction before darting off to the north to join her pack.

Eliza shook her head slowly and then took off again toward the east, toward the Cullen household.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's notes:

1) Yay! chapter O_O

2) Sorry there wasn't any Alice at all in this chapter. I didn't see them as taking it quickly. But don't worry... it won't take another 20 chapters till the next one. We are however getting ready to head into some serious stuff for the next few chapters, so it may not be a focus for a little bit... Strap yourselves in...it's gonna be a bumpy ride! Woooohoo!

3) DarkBella's author's notes: I can't think of any!

4) She's too busy doing some amazing edits and thought provoking stuff in this story! And generally being awesome and cool all around.

5) Please read and review! It really does encourage me to write more to know other people are enjoying it! I do read them. I'm a bit behind in replies at the moment but i'll be catching up now that I've got this chapter up!

Next chapter... "There's an eye-opener, and no mistake!"