The room erupted in outrage and Carlisle, Alice and Jasper had to step away, into the corridor to avoid being smacked by one of the frantic arms.
That leaves just seven wolves to fight.
Leah and Embry are too injured.
This is bullshit.
I can't just sit back and not do anything while everyone is at risk.
Carlisle listened to the what if, possibilities, agreements, disagreements, all being thrown around from the relative safety of the corridor. He understood they needed time to process and to plan, but in all honesty, they did not have that liberty.
Instead, he turned to his daughter. "Alice, call Bella and tell her everything. Both the alternate visions. We can't leave Charlie, but she does need to come back quickly. We need Edward and Emmett too. We are not winning this without everyone present."
Alice nodded and disappeared off to the third floor.
Carlisle turned back to the room and with a deep breath from Jasper, the people quieted down from their high. The patriarch spoke to Jacob and Jared, explaining the double perimeter plan they had. Given that half of the family was absent and only five wolves were in fighting state, they needed to improvise. Jacob offered the alternative of a single perimeter with both the vampires and the wolves.
"Esme needs to stay back," Jasper insisted. "People will slip through, no matter how well we fight. Someone needs to be here to protect Renesmee and the humans."
There was some disgruntled mutterings at the prospect of leeches protecting humans but it was understandable. Carlisle was only happy to know Esme would not be on the front-lines. He still had a bad feeling about the fight.
Jacob relented on that.
"We need to kill the mind-control bloodsucker first," Jared snapped. "But what if she does not show up?"
That elicited another round of unhappy cussing and Carlisle hung back, letting it quiet down once again.
"Apart from tracking," he finally spoke, "most psychic gifts that I have seen have, in some way, a geographical limit. Jane and Alec need to be able to see their victim. Edward has an auditory radius. Aro and Kate have a tactile requirement. It is unlikely this woman's powers are absolute. But yes, some of us need to be ready to break away and go after her because she will most likely hang back and not join the attack. That will create gaps in our defenses."
Carlisle leaned against the wall, abruptly tired beyond measure. The longer he spoke, the more futile their attempts seemed to be. Jasper continued talking strategy and plans with the wolves and Carlisle only half listened. They went over every possible scenario. Who will do what in each situation. Alice was done talking to Bella and he knew Rose, Alice and Esme also listened in, staying in the loop with the plan as it formed.
All the while Carlisle wished for nothing but to be past this. He wanted to feel something. Anything. Nervous. Scared. Guilty. But his own defenses and Jasper's gift, together just left him…empty. Mostly because he knew without one crucial detail, it was a lost cause.
And he hated for that to be true.
Jasper spared him the grief of being the one to ask that.
"Some of the wolves will get killed." He was blunt. Matter-of-fact. They had already gone over so many scenarios where they were unable to catch hold of the she-vampire. Or where Bella does not make it back in time. Or countless others. Even the people present before them knew it was a possibility.
And as accommodating as Jacob could be about most thing, this gave him a pause. Emily sucked in a breath and Rachel whispered out a hurried, "he means the younger ones."
"We will do our best to restrain or immobilize them till they can be free. But that will not always be possible. We need to know that should such a need arise, we can use full force without worrying about retaliation from your side," Jasper kept his word neutral yet the shift of mood in the air was almost palpable. Had his son not been using his gift, he knew both of them would have been ripped to pieces in that instant.
"Absolutely not," Jacob snapped. "They are children. And they are not themselves. We can't kill them. We have to help them."
Jasper had expected as much even before he had asked. He gave a curt nod of understanding, unhappy.
Carlisle looked at Jacob. His worn face and the guilt ridden eyes. At some of the boys from Sam's pack who looked even more forlorn. He could not begin to imagine what these children would go through if they had to kill their brothers.
"Rose, Alice, Esme, will you join us please?" he called softly. By the time he was done speaking, the three of them were beside him. Carlisle turned to his family, all four who were present. He requested the room to be emptied a little and the girls and Sue volunteered, along with some of the younger boys.
With the help of an extremely reluctant Jared and a relatively smaller wolf who phased in the room, Carlisle pointed out to his family the places whose injuries would cause maximum immobilization on a wolf. His knowledge was gleaned almost entirely from Jared's injuries. The bones to snap, the nerves to injure. All painful and debilitating but none lethal. He asked them to limit their attacks to these places.
They knew training with the wolves would have been a lot more useful than a demonstration, because right now they only got the point of offense and not how to defend themselves against the attacks. But a part of Carlisle knew they did not have enough time for that.
"Where's Bella?" he asked Alice once they were all out of his room.
"They've reached Charlie."
Carlisle nodded, relieved and this time, went up with Esme and Rosalie to his granddaughter. Downstairs, he heard Emily rummaging around in the box with the food and ordering the boys around to get the meals heated for everyone.
Can you believe Doctor Fang was a vampire hunter?
Carlisle was almost amused at the wondering tone with which they discussed his newly revealed past. His stomach churned when they passed his open study and looked at the painting though, speaking of it in uselessly hushed tones. But he ignored it all in favor of watching Esme play with their granddaughter. The poor child had not seen a stretch of peace since she had been born. They needed to do better. Create a safer place for her to grow up in. Her formative years should not be full of traumas like these.
One of the phones in the house rang and Jasper flashed down and up, holding it out for Carlisle. The patriarch looked at the screen idly and sat up straight when he saw it was from Edward.
He took the phone from Jasper and answered it, his family listening in.
Before he could even say the customary hello, Edward's frantic voice called out from the other side.
"They're coming Carlisle!" he said, his volume neutral but the edge clear. In the background, he could hear Billy and Bella calming down an agitated Charlie. "One of them was nearby and he heard us discussing the possibility that Bella might be able to shield the wolves. They are going to attack you now. Before we reach."
Carlisle felt his muscles tense as Edward hung up. The last thing he heard was the sound of engine revving up. Absently, he could hear Jasper shouting out what Edward said to Jacob. The nervous energy in the house ran rigid. Rosalie and Alice shot down too.
Esme lingered back. It was Renesmee's terrified whimper that spurred Carlisle into action. One moment he was sitting on the sofa. Next, he was kneeling near the bed, before the child. Never had his granddaughter looked so small, so vulnerable to him than she did in that moment. The bed was massive behind her as she sat on the edge, her legs dangling a good few inches above the floor.
"Renesmee," he spoke softly, but with earnest. "I want you to stay here for as long as it's safe."
She pouted and the small action broke his heart for he knew what he must ask of her after this.
"If anyone reaches the second floor, I want you to jump out of the window, straight into the trees," he gave her the instructions with a heavy heart. He was placing far too much responsibility on her tiny shoulders. "Stay as high up as you can and run. The wolves will not be able to catch you if you stay far away enough from the ground. Go straight north. Follow the stream to start with and run in that direction till you find a port. From there, get on any boat you find and get off the coast. Once you cross the Silash Sea, call Tanya. Tell them where you are and what happened. Ask them to pick you up and stay with them. We will come find you once all this is over."
She nodded as Esme placed a bag on her shoulder and tightened the straps. He trusted Rosalie and Esme to have kept whatever she would need for the day or two she would be on the run.
"Remember, only if someone crosses the second floor or if the house is no longer safe," he reminded and she nodded once.
He pulled the child into an embrace and she wrapped her tiny arms around him tightly. "It'll all be over very soon, we promise."
With that, Esme and Carlisle reluctantly left her in her room.
They reached the living room. The injured wolves had been moved down once again. From the careless way they had been tossed about and the disgruntled look on their faces, he knew his daughters and son had been the one to move them this time. Rosalie had disconnected all IV lines.
Some other boys also hung around, probably the ones from Sam's pack who could not risk phasing. Sue and the girls sat in their midst.
Esme's responsibilities, all in one place.
Carlisle walked till the foyer with Esme's hand tightly grasped in his. All preparation and planning that could be done had been done. Now, fighting was all there was left to do. At the threshold of their house, he stopped. Leaning down, he cradled his wife's face in his hands, memorizing every feature just as he did each day before leaving for the hospital.
Her skin glittered in the sunlight and Carlisle felt the sun had stayed up extra long today and the clouds had parted just so that he could get to see this breathtaking sight once more. He placed his mouth on hers in a brief but passionate kiss.
"Come back soon," she whispered the request she made of him every day. And like every day, he promised to do so.
With one last lingering look, Carlisle stepped out under the ocherous sky to join his children. Five large wolves and four vampires. Alice looked so vulnerably small standing between the menacingly large figures of Jacob and Quil.
He had only a moment to take in a breath before the forest rang out with the clamour of racing hearts and thumping feet. Growls surrounded them from every side and Carlisle said a prayer, asking the Lord to protect his family and allies.
Gray, black and brown figures burst through the tree-line and Carlisle crouched.
The fight was upon them.
A/N:
Annddd it starts!