A/N: Thanks to everyone, 'Evil Inside Me' reached 60,000 hits whereas 'My Damned Town, My Damned Rules' passed 20, 000 hits and 'You Call that a proposal' made it to 10,000 hits xx Alexis
I was patiently waiting for Rose and Emmett to arrive when we heard the commotion outside and it was! Yep, you guessed it, Rebekah. I thought we'd seen the last of her, well until her brother arrived but obviously not. She had been spying on us; jeez it must be boring been that anal! Turns out that Elijah was aware she was out there and said nothing knowing she couldn't get into the room, but he should have said something. I was a little pissed at him and he knew it! Anyhoo, she saw Rose and Emmett arriving this evening and knew what they were and tried to interfere. That was a mistake, of course, Rebekah didn't know that then, but she does now.
"My husband doesn't need your services, go ply your trade elsewhere!" Rose said loudly, in her best ice-cold bitch tone and then in an aside to Em,
"Nothing brings down the neighbourhood, like prostitutes hanging around in alleyways!"
There were others milling about, customers, Marcel's spy, etc. I was beginning to feel like an exhibit in the zoo! Rebekah's screech alerted me to her next move and from inside I shielded Rose and Em. She bounced right off it and ended up in a heap on the ground looking worse for wear. I'm guessing she couldn't resist being present when Niklaus arrived but he was a no show so far! Elijah stormed out and in front of everyone tore a strip of her and cut off her finances. Telling her if she wanted to act like a child, she would be treated like one. She would have to have everything approved by his P.A. before it would be paid for.
"Oh and Rebekah, Isabella is my new Personal Assistant! Now leave, or should I ask Klaus to deal with you, as you've done in regards to Isabella?" he snarled at her and most of the traditionals out there took a step back,
I was unashamedly peering through the crack in the door; as he had left it open. Mutinous and smug was her strange look at that moment. Like she couldn't care less what he said. Was she that much of an airhead, jeez I thought, Rebekah was the Original blonde bimbo! I castigated myself for the thought but as Rose entered she validated it for me.
"Dear God, she's who gives blondes a bad reputation! What a vapid waste of space!" she growled and I knew she was pissed,
So belly-bean, what was that thing she hit, 'cause it was awesome?" Emmett asks and I blush,
"That was Isabella's shield; she's what we call in our world a Natural. A supernatural power wielded by a human basically!" Elijah says coming back inside,
"I'm sorry Isabella! I knew she turned up last night, expecting Klaus to be here ripping me a new one no doubt and breaking your neck on her behalf. I should have told you and I have no good excuse not to have done so! I'm sickened that my family and my past, is causing you so much drama. You have enough worries without their help and I'm sorry, so dreadfully sorry!" he says pleading with me to understand and I do, but!
"You have to stop trying to hide things from me. You have to stop second-guessing what I want or need. Because it only hurts me more when I find out. Please Elijah, why can't you trust me to know my own mind?" I sob and have to turn away,
Why can't anyone trust me to know what's best for me?
IOOH
Damn it! I did exactly what she asked me never to do because I'm an idiot! It's not like I didn't know, it's not like I haven't heard her father do exactly the same thing, what the hell is wrong with me? I don't need my family around to drive her away, I'm doing it myself! Isabella has gone off upstairs and I know it's to her old room and not ours. I was going to follow but Rose just gave me a death glare and went after her.
"Dude, Bella is the least complicated, most trusting and lowest maintenance woman I've ever met. How the fuck, can you mess that up? Is that your superpower? Being a fuck up like my recently deceased brother?
I'm married to Rosalie and don't walk headfirst into shit like that! You need to stop and look around you bro, she's the best thing that ever happened to you or will ever happen to you!
She hates being kept in the dark; it's not that big of a demand. All she wants is a little respect and to be treated as your equal! The things she's asking for cost nothing, nada, not a dime!" Emmett huffed at me,
"I know that, but I've spent the last one thousand years or so being in charge, making all the hard decisions, hell just making all the decisions. It's a hard concept to grasp, someone who doesn't need me to be in charge! I've lost so many people by taking my eye off the ball for a split second! Most families fall out, mine kill!" I rant and feel his hand on my shoulder,
"Damn dude you're more screwed up than us!" he mutters but I hear him,
"You have no idea!" I said and invited him up the stairs,
Emmett walked around admiring this and that and suddenly stopped at Kol's picture. He raised an eyebrow and I laughed dryly. Telling him this was one of my brothers, that this was actually his place. He seemed amused and said he looks like fun.
"Emmett, Kol makes Jack the Ripper look tame. He's a cold-blooded killer, slightly insane and has no control of his lust, lust of any sort!" I explain and he sobers,
"Damn! Are they all fucked up too? How come you're the only sane one?" he quizzes me,
I start to laugh but it's off and we both know it and he scuttles away looking for Rose. I feel bad making him nervous, but I'm starting to see I'm about to lose it big time. I'm destroying the most important thing in my life, for people who don't really care for me. Well not as much as I thought they did and it was always me holding us together and I don't want to anymore. I can feel myself spiralling downwards and don't understand it. How the hell has my control gone from one hundred to zero in just a few hours? I feel the door in my mind rattling, the Red door and know I'm in serious trouble. I slump to the floor and start to convulse before I remember nothing more.
IOOH
I was sitting consoling Bella when Em rushed in saying Elijah was acting a little off! Then Bella grabbed her chest and groaned deeply. She was up and out of her seat running along the corridor with us at the back of her. His door was open and he was on the floor, God he looked like a real vampire. I mean like the ones in the books, fangs and all. Black veins sticking out all over his face. Bella rushed forward and Em tried to stop her only to be thrown aside by her shield.
"What happened Em, word for word!" she demanded,
Asking this as she stuck her wrist in his mouth and sliced it open on his teeth, dripping blood into his throat. He explained and she thought about it and then shook her head.
"Nope, what went down outside Rose, again word for word!" she demanded and I was slightly taken aback by her take-charge attitude,
I told her everything I saw and heard and Emmett added a couple of things.
"On the bed please Emmett, he's too heavy for me," she asked and Em lifted Elijah onto the bed, his face still not back to normal, his eyes staring at us,
"So she never actually spoke and I was right she looked triumphant?" she asked and we both nodded,
"She threw something at his back, but I didn't see what," I said slowly and Bella blanched,
"Witch! A fucking witch" she mumbled stripping him naked and covering him with the sheet,
Then she pulls his cell out of his jacket and calls that crazy bitch! Except she wasn't in New Orleans she was in Las Vegas hiding by her own admission.
"I know you don't like me Rebekah, but a witch just impersonated you and attach Elijah!" she calmly tells her and her reaction is not what I thought it would be,
"They what? I'm on my way and I'd phone Madame LaRue if I was you. Was this Marcel's doing?" she asked,
I don't know but I will find out and they will wish they were dead when I do! Any idea's what she was trying to do? He's unconscious and looks to be in pain, but not physically" Bella demands,
"Our mother put a spell on him centuries ago, any sin he committed is behind a door in his mind. If it breaks so will he, remembering everything all at once from over our long lives! Marcel knew about this, he was family once! Should I phone Nik?" Rebekah wails,
"Not yet, let's keep him as a last line of defence!" Bella said and Rebekah agreed,
So as Emmett and I watch the almost nineteen-year-old Bella take control of the situation and I marvelled at her strength and intelligence,
"As I told Edward many times Rose, age has nothing to do with intelligence! I was always smarter than him and he just never believed me" she quips and I nod because she is right,
"The witches can't get in here, there's way older and complex magic protecting Elizabeth's. I assume that's why they did that outside. They probably wiped everyone's memory too, but you two were under my shield and so remember it all. I'm guessing this was Marcel's attack that Peter mentioned" she shook her head,
Next, she phoned the woman Rebekah mentioned and hells teeth she was some top-ranking New Orleans witch. I never knew any of this, but I know Carlisle probably did and kept it from us all.
IOOH
"Miss Swan, this is unexpected!" I say before the Natural tells me all that happened,
"They were not from the nine covens Isabella I swear on my life! This must be Marcel's doing, he's getting more and more brazen!" I assure her,
"Thank you Madame LaRue. Check anyway and then get your witches out of the Quarter for a few days. Either that or hole up inside. I will kill any witch still here by tomorrow noon.
If I don't deal with this then Niklaus Mikaelson will have to be told and you know he'll kill everyone innocent or not! Impersonating another Original to commit an attack was cowardly!" she tells me and I hear the steel in her tone,
Oh, I fear Marcel has gone too far this time and Isabella will thin out his traditionals for us! The man's a fool, being a vampire doesn't make you smart; it just makes you a target!
IOOH
I place a shield around Elijah's mind and he seems to relax a little. This is not something I've done before, but I seem to be working on instinct here and will try anything to save him. Maybe I need a witch of my own, one of the Bennett witches. I know they only do things for the Mikaelson's out of fear and coercion from Klaus. Maybe I should call Damon and get him to bring one here! Why can't anything go smoothly? Why is my life such a drama? Plus that damn fool of a puppy will be here soon and I don't have the time or patience to deal with him! Aha! I have a plan, let's hope he gets the message, but a little photographic evidence should do the trick.
"Rose, I want you to take a picture of Elijah and me. Then when Jake comes sniffing show it to him!" I say stripping off all my clothes,
"Fuck Bella! I little warning!" Emmett yells before turning his back as I climb in beside Elijah,
I pull the sheet away and arrange myself beside him like we'd fallen asleep after sex. Rose grabs her phone and snaps a couple of pictures.
"That should do nicely! Here's hoping he gives up this time!" she says, knowing how I've been literally dogged by him, at the same time as Edward did,
Is it a little drastic, yeah maybe? But Jake is particularly dense and this seems a good way to ram it home I'm not interested in him and I'm never coming back to Washington. He knew I was a virgin when I was with Edward, he could smell it he said. Well, I am no longer that girl and as a little incentive, I rake out a sheet from yesterday and put it in a Ziploc bag. Proof positive! Once I redress Emmett huffs at me and I can't help laughing at him. The first real laugh in hours.
"Sorry Em, but I grew up and I won't feel guilty to anyone, for it!" I tell him,
"I know little sis, it's just a shock, that's all. It's your life and I know you love him, it's written all over your face!" he says hugging me,
They set off to meet Jake further away from here and I once again pick up Elijah's cell. I want to talk to Peter, see if he knows what I can do for Elijah. It vibrates in my hand,
"Hi, Peter!" I say without looking,
"Hi Bella, it's Jasper! Peter thought this might be more my forte than his. I'm on my way, but darlin' I'll have to bring Alice. She'll be no trouble, I gave her my matin' mark a few days ago and she's different now!
I really didn't expect it to change her so drastically, but it has and well you'll see. Anyway, I was thinkin' if I put Elijah in a trance like state, rather than an unconscious one. Then you might be able to slip in under your shield and access his mind!
Play around with your shield till I get there, you need to visualise it and manipulate it, okay? Really get the feel of it, not just the defensive outer part. See you in a few hours darlin', we'll bring him back" he explained and I felt relaxed just from having talked to him.
Jasper just has that way about him; he's calming and interested in you as a person, setting you at ease so to speak. Yes I know he was once the most feared vampire in the world, but even then he had this side of him that very few were privileged to see. I only know of three, Peter, Charlotte and Damon.
IOOH
I will admit I was surprised when Peter called and suggested I go to New Orleans to help Bella. I had seriously had my hands full with Alice. But once we reach the first house she became all lovey-dovey and I knew it was a ploy! But damn it, I'm a man and her mate and well I let her seduce me and unfortunately for Alice, I bit her. I did that one thing I should have all those years ago and I can't believe how much it's changed not just her but me too. Being mated, because she reciprocated at that moment and also bit me, has changed our gifts more than slightly. I'm still an empath and she's still a seer, but they are more refined or is that defined?
I can now shut out extraneous emotions. I can after all these years protect myself from other's wants and needs. She has had only two more visions and they are detailed and no longer just decision-based. One was of the final demise of the Olympic Coven and the other was of us in New Orleans! I didn't know that this was a possibility because not all mated couples both have gifts and very few fight the bond. Hell, none I knew of fought the bond! Alice did us a great disservice and now she sees it herself and is beyond contrite. All of those years wasted, just to get her own way and now she learns the proper way would have been far, far better for us both.
I wish I'd known, but with havin' a crappy sire myself and Alice not knowin' who hers was we were blind to the possibility. But I can bet my last dollar Carlisle knew and didn't tell us for whatever fucked up reason Edward gave him. I wonder if he really knows how much damage he did to us all, because of that child? Well, it's of little matter now, it pointless thinkin' of the what if's! We will just move on and start from here. From all accounts, Rose and Em are already in New Orleans and helpin' Bella with a pest problem. That should be fun, but not for the mutt I'm guessin'. Damn it's years since I've been to Louisiana, the only problem I foresee is the sun!
IOOH
I'm almost there, I decided to run in wolf form for ease and well it saves a lot of money too. Sam was in my head constantly, ordering me home, but I eventually shook him off and the further away I got, the freer I felt. Why on earth would Bells move to a godforsaken place like this? I get that she needed to be away from the leech, but she should have moved onto the Rez with me for protection. But she ran away before I could tell her what I wanted her to do! The Cullens must have turned her head with all that money, she was much more amiable before she met them. I have had plans for us as a couple for many years and I was not happy when she started dating Edward Cullen, then to find out he was my mortal enemy!
Well, I no longer am prepared to put up with her defiance; she's disrespectful to both me and her father. Shit! Where did they come from?
"That'd far enough dog! There is nothing for you in New Orleans. Bella isn't ever returning to Forks, not for Chief Swan and most definitely to be your bit on the side until you imprint!" the blonde Cullen says,
"This has nothing to do with you leech!" I spit at her once I phase human again,
She raises her eyebrow when I refuse to dress. Let her see what a real man looks like, but she laughs at me.
"Damn Emmett, no wonder Bella isn't interested in him! Anyway, show him the photo, so we can be on our way" she says now and the big guy takes her cell,
I see it but I refuse to believe it! That's not possible, Bella wouldn't do that she was innocent when she left and I was meant to be her first! Why would she give it up for some random guy?
"It's fake! Bella would never do that to me!" I say with a smirk,
"She said you'd say that. Wow, she does know what a douche you are!" the big guy says laughing,
Blondie pulls out a Ziploc bag and the minute she opens it I smell Bella, well a Bella I've never smelt before! It was a mixture of her and whoever that guy was and it was obviously more than once. It was saturated in sex, sweat and even blood! I couldn't believe she would give what belonged to me to someone else! I phased again and was going to kill that guy and drag Bella home with me. They were in my face and every time I tried to get past them they stopped me. I was getting enraged and snapping at them now, suddenly I dropped to the ground in agony, screaming in excruciating pain.
"Rose, Em! I see you got the puppy patrol! Peter sent me to aid Bella with, well you know. So Jacob Black are you goin' to turn around and leave under your own steam or do I have to kill you?
The choice is yours, but we don't give a crap about you, your pack or anyone else from Washington. You're out here in our pond now and you ain't as scary as you think you are. I on the other hand am! You've got five minutes to decide" the blond scary one who appeared from nowhere says,
"You just want her back for your brother!" I yell at their turned backs and they all spin around to look at me,
"Edward is dead! He tried to get between Bella and her new man and got himself terminated! You want to go the same way? I can and will do it, no skin off my nose!" he growled and I knew he was telling the truth,
I ran, I was well out of my depth and I know it. I ran like the coward I am!
IOOH
I had been doing what Jasper suggested. I was trying to lift, no manipulate the shield around my mind. I could feel the edges of it; it was a smaller inner one. Like my own personal protection and I was able to push it away slightly, so maybe I would be able to slip it over Elijah's mind with me and him inside. I was scared, don't get me wrong I'll do anything to help him, but I was terrified of what I'd see in his head. I don't doubt he has killed many people over his lifetime and it will most likely be gruesome. But if I can let them out one at a time and he rationalises each one and why they had to die. Maybe, just maybe I can save him from himself. I can't believe his own mother did this to him, what a bitch!
