Chapter Six: Emergency Rations
Forks - January 25th
Eliza was staring at the waterfall, which had become an easy way to pass the time. There was something magical about the way the water cascaded down the mountain. Sometimes finding new ways around the smooth rock, and oftentimes creating a small cloud of mist which gave the pond below an almost ethereal quality. But more than the visual spectacle, it was the sound that truly captivated her. Not a roar like the great falls near Niagara, not small like the sound of a shower, but something in between, akin to a tiger growling as it paces back and forth when facing an enemy.
She had decorated her room, twice. Helped her mother set up her own room, and even coordinated with Henry on the kinds of furniture she liked. She moved through the house touching everything, making it her own. She knew her mother's tastes too and made sure to incorporate things that would make her comfortable without drawing attention. Isabella existed on the surface most of the time, reacting to things but never fully letting them in. It took time to affect her, and Eliza wanted this place to feel like home for her mother.
Yet after three days of trying to keep busy in the house, she realized she was bored.
"Mom." Eliza said from her perch overlooking the waterfall. A few seconds later Isabella sat down beside her.
"What is it?" Isabella said softly, her face no longer tense with worry about their mission or the Cullens.
"I need to do something. School is months away unless you want to start now before the end of the year. We haven't heard anything from the cities we're covering, and I'm getting restless." Eliza didn't like to bother her mother with these kinds of things, but it had become obvious Isabella was in no rush to do anything.
"We could go down to Portland to hunt, there has to be something there. Plus, we need to feed anyway." Isabella's suggestion was good, but it still didn't feel right to Eliza.
"I guess that would be fine." Eliza said settling on something rather than nothing.
"I still don't fully understand the need to pretend we're high school age. I mean one year doesn't mean anything in the long run." Isabella grumbled slightly, putting herself through school again, with the Cullens to boot felt like the wrong choice. Yet she had to confront them eventually, she had put it off for a century already.
"That's why I said we should start as Seniors. A single year isn't that bad." Eliza tried not to pout, but Isabella knew she desperately wanted this kind of experience. She forced a smile, and reached out to touch Eliza's hair.
"I know. That's why I had Henry create identification papers with school transcripts placing us as Juniors. "Henry will enroll us tomorrow." Isabella said with a soft sigh, it wasn't just the act of pretending to be a teenager but going to the exact same school she attended as a human.
"Are you sure, they will be there too." Eliza said, trying to conceal her joy.
"I know, it's inevitable. We cannot live around them, so we'll figure it out. I expect a confrontation of some kind, probably more surprise than anything else, it wasn't as if I mattered to them." Isabella shrugged; her anger clearly shifted into indifference.
"Thank you. By the way, it looks like Henry finally has a line on a blood supply." Eliza said off hand, not sure if Isabella had been paying attention to that conversation. It was an idea Isabella came up with originally and had presented to the council. It was a simple plan, and easily exploited using certain cover businesses. Every year, the Red Cross alone discards more than 1.3 million pints of blood. While the reasons were varied, such as diseases, or even little things like too little or too much iron, to a Vampire those imperfections were irrelevant.
"Good." Isabella responded simply. She hadn't really cared about the morality of it, nor did the council. Her proposed idea of 'acquiring' blood in this fashion was controversial, but after some compelling arguments, they conceded the use as a sort of emergency stockpile. Caius immediately hated the idea, sneering about disliking his food being cold. Marcus had been typically indifferent to the whole concept, but he hadn't opposed it. Aro had loved the idea, especially in terms of having an emergency supply on hand; though he explained he had no intention of going off humans.
"We should definitely feed before we start school." Isabella offered again, shifting to stand.
"Probably a good idea, I heard local gang activity is spiking, so I guess we're headed to Portland." Eliza suggested with a less than enthusiastic response.
"It's that or we risk feeding locally, at least while Henry is working on our supply." Isabella said as she jumped off the windowsill to the roof below. Eliza followed as they made their way down the two tiers of roofs to the patio on the north side of the house. Isabella pulled out a chair and sat down heavily, as usual, the metal frame of the chair creaking a little from the force of her small exertion.
"He said it would probably be a couple of weeks. So yeah, we feed. Perhaps just one, I don't mind sharing." Eliza smiled in a mildly mischievous way, but Isabella wasn't fooled by the joke. Eliza was always serious about taking life. Their nature compelled them to kill, and while neither actively objected to the morality of killing humans, it was hardly ideal for them. Eliza was also partially convinced every time Isabella fed from a human, more of the tattered vestiges of her soul vanished.
Eliza turned and shook her head as she noticed Henry watching them, wondering how long he had been listening. He nodded at her once and stepped forward.
"School will not be a problem, I received identity packages this morning for both of you. Isabella and Elizabeth Irutlova." He smirked slightly as he handed them each an envelope with universal identification cards, birth certificates, school transcripts, and death certificates for their parents if the need ever arose.
"Kinda obvious, might as well make our last name Alucard" Eliza muttered, but couldn't think of anything better when Isabella had suggested it.
"I can have them changed if you wish. Although it would take a couple of weeks, I assume from your relative mood the last few days that you are bored of sitting around doing nothing." Henry said to Eliza who sighed in response.
"What gave you that impression?" She exhaled loudly and pursed her lips. "It's fine, we're vaguely Russian than."
"I will not do an accent." Isabella said with a deep frown of disgust.
"I vant to suck your blood." Eliza said sticking out her tongue.
"Wrong accent." Henry said with a small shrug.
"Do we have to pose as twins?" Eliza said looking at their new paperwork.
"Sisters make more sense; I don't think I can pass for old enough to be your mother." Isabella gave her daughter a look and Eliza narrowed her eyes and looked at Isabella as though examining her face for wrinkles.
"I don't know, maybe around the eyes…" Eliza pointed at her mother's face and traced a circle in the air focusing on the area around her eyes.
"Finish that sentence and we'll start school in a decade." Isabella's face was stony, but Eliza could tell she was just pretending. Or at least she hoped she was pretending.
"Fine, fine. You win." Eliza said and Isabella nodded and went back up to her room.
Isabella stood at the large window overlooking the ancient tree dominating the center of their property and took out her phone. She turned around so that she was facing towards her room as she let it ring, which it did twice before the image of the council appeared. She used two fingers to drag the image projected above the phone out to full size, the hologram hovering above the ornate rug Eliza had picked out for the center of her large vaulted attic space.
"You have a progress report?" Aro said with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, we have settled into our new home. We are monitoring the news and will make sure to tamp down any rise in violent activity." Isabella said as professionally as possible.
"Good. How do you like the house, Sulpicia had a hand in the design?" Aro looked proud of his wife, and Isabella had no problem singing her praises in this case.
"It is perfect, Eliza and I will be comfortable here. The views, and attention to detail are impressive." She let out a rare smile of appreciation which was not lost on Aro whose own face twisted upwards into a wide grin.
"Ah, she will be happy to hear that. You should speak to Henry about monitoring, he has apparently set up some kind of surveillance equipment. I cannot speak to what he has set up, but I assume it will assist you in your task. Oh, and check in with Jane she has some suggestions for your own hunt." Aro's expression and tone made it clear he was already done with the conversation.
"Yes Aro, I will." With a small nod she watched as the connection stopped and the image of the three vanished. She closed her eyes briefly, then dialed a number she hoped she would never have to use. It rang for longer than it did with the council, but after a moment a small high voice answered.
"Bella?" Jane said with her usual dry tone of voice. She and her brother were nearly as emotionless as Marcus, save for their vicious and sadistic streak which was stoked by Caius. Aro was generally the only thing that kept them from killing everything in their path when they were sent on an assignment.
"Jane. Aro suggested you have advice for me." Isabella always felt uncomfortable around Jane, and to a lesser extent her brother Alec. Isabella knew the feeling was reciprocated because Jane made no secret of it. While they kept things cordial most of the time, there was a definite tension between them, partially because Isabella and Eliza were immune to both of their powers, but also because the council relied on them more heavily than Jane and Alec. Isabella and Eliza were more careful, more precise and more discerning. While Jane and Alec were a hammer, Isabella and Eliza were a scalpel. Both effective but served vastly different purposes.
She knew Eliza felt the same, beyond their sadistic nature, there was the nature of their relationship. Alec and Jane had been twins changed into vampires by Aro when they were incredibly young according to vampire standards. They were only thirteen or fourteen years of age when their townspeople attempted to burn them at the stake. Somehow Aro had found out about it and arrived just in time to put a definitive halt to the proceedings. He had offered to turn the two of them on the spot. Secretly, he had his eye on them for a long while and their execution was the perfect opportunity to recruit them. Afterward, they were always together, almost bonded to one another, almost closer than most mates were, and since they were brother and sister, in Isabella's mind it made the whole thing incestuous. Of course, Isabella knew it was slightly hypocritical; she shared thoughts and emotions with her daughter, and she was the one calling something "weird". Call it hypocritical, or call it a leftover human bias, it was still something Isabella was distinctly uncomfortable with.
"We have been quite successful the last few weeks, in fact we just squashed a small group in Savannah." Jane's voice never wavered, but she did seem haughty and a bit self-satisfied. Isabella was curious where the attitude came from, perhaps because Jane had always been about her own power and importance within the Volturi.
"Georgia, I hadn't heard of anything that far south." Isabella replied, ignoring Jane's tone.
"Yes, well whenever we hear of anything especially brutal, we investigate and destroy anything we encounter. I suggest you abandon a central location, in favor of a floating base of operations. I cannot imagine your cleaners are happy in a small town." Jane almost sneered at the idea of being centralized, and being more than a little passive aggressive about what she thought of Isabella's methods.
"Kell and Talia are in Seattle. We are monitoring everything from the border up through Alaska and out to the Mississippi. Chicago seems active, will you make it that far West?" Isabella asked, curious if the pair would bother with anything but the coast.
"Yes, eventually. But the Caravelli's would be upset if we arrived without announcing ourselves first." Jane said with a small nod, clearly happy with Isabella's concerns.
"Of course. They can probably handle things locally. Let me know if you need assistance for anything big." Isabella offered, although she was sure Jane would shrug it off as always.
"Thank you, know we are here for you as well. Goodbye sister." Jane said with another small nod and ended the call. Isabella slid the phone in her pocket and turned to look out at her tree again. Some of the leaves were still stubbornly holding on to the mostly bare branches covered in snow.
Their life in the Volturi was a good one, but Jane and Alec were not the only ones that had trouble relating to Isabella and Eliza. Many avoided them, unless it was necessary, and Isabella had been privy to more than one whispered conversation after an especially heated argument between Eliza and Caius where he had pushed for their death because they were "abominations". She had heard murmurs from others when they thought they were too far away to be overheard accusing them of not being vampires at all and nothing but mutant hybrids.
Aro had stood firm against any and all accusations, refusing to take the most politically expedient solution and have Eliza executed. Isabella was never sure what his motives were, she suspected that Aro was convinced if they tried to hurt Eliza, and it came down to a fight pitting Eliza and Isabella with the rest of the Volturi on the other, he wasn't sure which side would emerge victorious. Aro also knew they were immensely powerful, and it was a distinct possibility he had been playing a long game by inviting them into the coven. However, Isabella couldn't put the possibility of genuine compassion and caring past him either.
Enrolling in school. The thought caused a shudder to run down Isabella's spine. It wasn't just returning to school. Putting aside the fact she had never enjoyed school in general, Isabella knew going there would force her to remember things she didn't necessarily want to recall actively. More importantly it would force her to interact with them sooner or later. Isabella grudgingly accepted it, vampires numbered perhaps ten thousand worldwide, it was a community small enough that she could not avoid them forever. Seeing them from afar probably helped more than anything else she had done since her change.
What made enrolling for school even more bizarre, was that she was enrolling as a Junior, the same age as her daughter. A fact Eliza had teased her about more than once. How many people ever attended school with a child or parent as a peer? Eliza's reasons for being excited were obvious, her life before her conversion hadn't allowed for any schooling. Isabella knew what her Eliza had gone through growing up; she had seen it all when they bonded. Perhaps it had to do with Isabella's human life, but something about Isabella's past experiences had fascinated Eliza ever since. It wasn't the education part, of that Isabella was sure, Eliza had effectively ten post graduate degrees. No, it had to do with something else, perhaps she just wanted to try to live among people; experience what humans got to experience and see what she had only been able to view second hand. Now they had the chance and Isabella couldn't deny her daughter the opportunity. She wondered how long the novelty would last and hoped it wouldn't disappoint her.
"Henry." Isabella called, and the man appeared within seconds.
"Are you like a witch or something, you move way too quickly." Isabella said glancing over at him with a touch of incredulity. Either he was in great shape and sprinted through the house when called, or he was not entirely human.
"Hardly, magic would be more fun. Anyway, you called?" Henry gave her a small pleasant smile.
"Aro mentioned you have set up equipment to monitor the area, I wanted to go over that with you." Isabella stood and walked towards him, and he nodded once.
"Miss Eliza expected you would eventually. If you will follow me." Henry sounded almost exasperated, but still positive as he turned and headed out of the room. He led them down through the main basement to a secret door that easily blended in with the rest of the North wall. He cleared his throat and simply said; "Alfred."
"Security access, Henry Philip Jansen, granted. Secondary presence detected, is this an authorized user?" The feminine computer voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Isabella couldn't place it. Henry looked back and smiled. "Yes, level one access please."
"Confirmed, please state your name and code word." The voice was tickling at Isabella's memory, having something to do with both Charlie and Eliza… "Star Trek! You gave our house the computer voice from Star Trek?" Isabella sent across their connection with a touch of irritation. Of course, she never truly minded Eliza's obsession with entertainment from a century ago, but occasionally her daughter made light of serious situations.
"Was there another choice? Checking out the security system finally?" Eliza's mental voice sounded happy, anytime Isabella engaged in banter with her gave her a touch of hope that one day her mother might recover.
"Yes, but does everything have to be a dated pop-culture reference?" Isabella's own mental voice didn't come across as nearly as incredulous as she intended, which was a reflection of her own feelings that were far more difficult to hide through their connection.
"I'll do something new one day, I promise." Eliza said playfully and sent Isabella a mental shrug. Isabella turned towards the door and stood awkwardly as she tried to figure out where the microphone was.
"Isabella Marie Irutlova." She said after giving up the search.
"Name entered, please state your access code word." The computer replied quickly, prompting her to think of a word that had meaning to her. Only one came to mind.
"Swan." She looked down, and a second later the door moved inward and swung open. A small, short tunnel led to a large natural cave with a metal grated walkway lined with metal tubing running underneath. A small sign at the end of the tunnel painted in Eliza's elegant hand read: "Batcave".
"Of course, it's the Batcave." Isabella said with a small sigh, repressing the smile curling at her mouth.
"Through that tunnel there is the escape route as described. This area I felt was a nice place to set up the monitoring equipment. Secure and secret save for the three of us. When Eliza saw it, she almost started dancing. I get the reference, but does she plan on being a superhero?" Henry's eyebrows were raised in genuine curiosity.
"Not that I'm aware of. She just gets excited by things, take me through the protocols?" Isabella said looking at the equipment. Henry nodded, with a small touch of disappointment in his expression.
"Of course, we have tapped into thousands of news feeds, security systems and police channels as requested, starting down in Tijuana and ending in Anchorage and as far East as Saint Louis. Will that suffice?" Henry detailed in a factual tone, and Isabella nodded once.
"Do you have a keyword search going at all times?" Isabella asked briskly, not bothering with etiquette or manners.
"Of course, you can update it here." Henry showed her the program, and while his keywords worked, she quickly tweaked them using the information they had already gained from their months on the warpath.
Isabella spent most of the following few days in that space, and appreciated that it was always dark and cold, it suited her in more ways than she cared to admit. Henry had a fancy air conditioner for keeping moisture out of the air to protect the computers, but she could still hear water flowing nearby. She had explored the tunnels, mapping them out that first day. Yet the sound drew her attention, especially as a distraction for what she was about to face in the morning.
The entrance behind the waterfall was only a few feet across and four feet tall. The small natural platform behind the falls was nearly six feet deep, but only a couple of feet across. It wasn't the best exit out of their tunnels, the one Henry had described was ideal, but this one afforded an interesting and private place to view their property. She stood for hours watching the waters fall, they were almost hypnotizing with sound and the seeming chaos and violence of their descent over the rocks into the small pond below. She could hear the drain at the bottom of the pond, flowing deep into the rocks into an aquifer nearly half a mile underground that served as well water for half the town.
The sound of the alarm pulled her from her solitude, and she rushed back to the Batcave. A police call to the scene of a violent apparently gang related murder resulting in a brutally savaged body had pinged the search.
"Seattle. Damn." Isabella frowned and then bolted out of the basement. She took a few seconds to change into her work clothes: simple loose legged pants and shirt with a high neck, gloves, and a long-hooded coat, all in the same shade of black. She liked the hood for appearances, although she rarely used it to cover her head. She thought about calling for her daughter but didn't want to distract her from her upcoming day. Then she found Henry reading in the main living room, he looked up at her as she entered and closed his book.
"Don't you ever sleep?" She asked, feeling oddly curious about her new human companion.
"I've learned to be a night owl, one of the hazards of the job." Henry explained easily and stood waiting for her next request.
"Henry, I'm going to investigate something in Seattle. If I am not home before school starts, please show Eliza her present in the garage, if you would be so kind?" She asked, stopping at the door.
"Of course, should I tell her where you're going?" He asked politely.
Isabella shook her head, "No, I'll take care of it. I just want the present to remain a surprise until the last possible moment." Isabella disappeared through the door, leaving it open as she sped away, Henry stepped forward and closed it gently behind her. Isabella ran full tilt toward Seattle, calling out to her daughter via their mental link just as she crossed beyond the outskirts of Port Angeles.
"Eliza, there's been another killing in Seattle, I'm on my way to investigate it." Isabella said a bit reluctantly, opening up her side of their connection just enough to let Eliza know where she was going.
There was a slight pause before her daughter responded. "Give me two minutes to get changed and I'll join you." Eliza's tone was serious, all trace of her usual playfulness gone. She was clearly upset that she had somehow missed Isabella leaving in the first place.
"No… It doesn't seem serious, and it was only one body. We haven't encountered anything dangerous enough to be a challenge for either of us alone. Besides, I can't have you out, it's a school night!" Isabella responded, allowing her mental voice to sound light and teasing. "What kind of mother would I be if I let my daughter blow off her first day at a new school?"
"You know what takes priority here." Eliza responded somberly.
Isabella frowned as she continued towards the city. "I know. I promise; if it even remotely looks like I need help, I'll tell you."
Eliza grumbled. "You better. Are you sure this isn't YOUR way of getting out of the first day of school?"
Isabella couldn't help but smile as she saw the lights of the large city ahead of her, still several miles away. "Of course not. If I miss today, I'm sure I'll get there eventually. Oh, and don't forget to talk to Henry before you leave in the morning. I'll touch base with you later, gotta concentrate." Isabella effectively ended the conversation as she followed her keen senses through the labyrinth of the city, leading her toward the sounds of multiple sirens.
Given the size of the city, it took Isabella nearly ten minutes to track down the place shown in the police report. When she arrived at the scene, she was careful to stay in the shadows and away from any video cameras, just to be safe. She circled the crime scene until she caught the telltale scent of vampires, except it wasn't just a vampire she sensed, there was another scent. The other trace was difficult to identify, and musky which was distinctly different from the somewhat sweet smell of a vampire. Unfortunately, both scents had already begun to fade. Isabella frowned, realizing her mistake not bringing along her daughter. She had to linger around the crime scene long enough to make sure the police hadn't found a survivor writhing around in pain.
After a few minutes she got her confirmation from the detective as he arrived on scene. A man she had glimpsed when they cleaned up the city the first time. Isabella frowned, the last thing she needed was an investigation into a serial killer that would draw attention from the State which made it far more public and could risk exposure. Yet she couldn't worry about that possibility with an active threat in play.
She turned Southeast and started to track the lingering trace of both scents as they seemed to move in parallel to each other. Until eventually the vampire split off, and she reluctantly followed that scent trail rather than the odd one. A vampire was a more present threat. Yet for some reason the movements followed no rhyme or reason, zig zagging chaotically through the streets. It really bothered her when its scent trail disappeared into an occupied building resembling an apartment complex, and she had to choose whether to follow it inside, or check the perimeter to find where it continued.
The trail continued on the far side of the building, but she ventured inside to make sure the vampire hadn't attacked another human along the way. She found a broken door, and a single dead man inside. His lips blue, and his body entirely drained of blood. She gritted her teeth as she pulled out her phone.
"Six twenty-two Rutgers avenue, apartment two-b." Isabella said quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of any of the neighbors.
"How many?" Talia asked with no intonation as Isabella preferred. She had listened to many long calls between her and Eliza, but had no interest in developing a relationship with the cleaner.
"One." Isabella said and ended the call. Then she went back out and began to track her prey again, which thankfully stayed out of buildings and most of the populated areas. The trail was often bizarre, and showed clearly that she was following a newborn who had at least some restraint since it had only created one body so far. The hunt was slow going and time consuming, and before she knew it dawn came and passed as she continued her pursuit. It started as a rainy day in Seattle, so Isabella was still able to move quickly as people dashed from their cars directly into shops. Yet the sheer number of people diluted the scent she was following making the entire hunt even more difficult.
It was past eleven in the morning, and moving toward noon as Isabella continued to the edge of the city, still following the scent. Isabella was idly wondering how her daughter's first day was going when suddenly the trail ended, and she was plunged into a wall of stench so heavy that it was obvious she had found their nest. She quickly put aside thoughts of her daughter, and the inevitability of her own first day of school as she caught signs of the other scent from the first crime scene. Only now it was joined by others, and she was able to examine it more clearly; garbage, exhaust, oil… and dog.
She narrowed her eyes, was this a Child of the Moon or had one of the Quileute wolves turned bad? The warehouse looked abandoned, and dilapidated, having not seen maintenance in well over two decades. The convergence of so many scent trails spreading out into the city gave her pause, unable to detect how many were fresh given their close proximity. She knew drawing on her daughter's gift would immediately call her attention, and she wasn't sure she wanted her involved yet.
Isabella approached with caution, observing the outside of the warehouse for any signs of life. She stilled her body, and then waited eventually making out movement inside, but no one seemed to have noticed her presence. Of the options available, an aerial reconnaissance made the most sense, so she quickly and quietly scaled the wall and crawled slowly towards a broken skylight in the center of the sheets of corrugated metal that made up the roof.
Risking a glance inside, she found six figures, five upright and one prone. Of the five, three were vampires, two men and one woman. The other two men appeared human, but something about them felt off. They were also clearly not members of the Quileute tribe, although she couldn't entirely rule out the possibility that they were distant cousins. The one on the ground was lying in a crumpled heap, obviously dead, and giant chunks of flesh were missing, as if someone had started to eat him.
"You can't just go running off!" One of the vampires said nearly at a shout, he was pencil thin, with sandy blonde hair in an unattractive bowl cut, made worse by what seemed to be a giant cowlick on the edge of his forehead. The other two vampires were standing behind either shoulder supporting the man who was obviously, if nominally, their leader. The second male vampire was rather plain looking, his hair close cropped, and he seemed as if he had been overweight in life, because he definitely carried a significant paunch. The female was short with bleach blonde hair and a perpetual sneer on her face, while pretty, she had the air of someone who was stuck up and thought too highly of herself. All three were young, perhaps in the first month after the newborn madness had faded.
"Why not? We're not the ones who fucked up!" One of the humans practically snarled back in the vampire's face. Isabella watched the interaction with surprise. Normally any vampire worth his salt would have snapped any mortal in two at such insolence, further confirming her suspicion that she was dealing with shifters.
"That's not the point. The last group may have gotten sloppy and drew the damn Volturi down on the entire west coast. But it is now up to us to rebuild again, or the bosses aren't going to be happy." The thin vampire sounded somewhat rational, yet there was terror behind his eyes.
"You've never even met your boss. Not since you were turned. Who cares whether your boss is gonna to be upset?" The same human demanded.
The pencil thin vampire smirked, "Well, your big bad Alpha certainly cares, for one. I admit it'll take a few weeks to build up our numbers again. By then, if what the boss said is true we'll be ready to move. No more sneaking in the sh-"
The vampire broke off as the other human, who hadn't said anything, suddenly snarled, and sniffed audibly at the air. "We're not alone!" Isabella blinked in surprise as he looked up and at her directly, meeting her eyes. She pursed her lips, and let loose a small sigh as she jumped through the skylight.
"We have company!" The mortal yelled and the other four looked up as she fell. Isabella used her momentum and smashed into the other male vampire who hadn't said anything yet. His head snapping off as though he were a statue hit by a sledgehammer. Isabella spun low, keeping her back away from her enemies.
"Sorry to interrupt." She said darkly, a small smile spreading across her face as everyone moved at once.
Isabella didn't move at her full speed, the need to play with her prey was something she rarely gave into around Eliza. She moved directly for the lead vampire, getting within lunging distance and then feinted right and into the woman who was holding back waiting to see what would happen. She was utterly unprepared for Isabella's attack and tried to run, but Isabella got a hold of one of her arms and twisted, effectively tearing it out of it's socket.
She screamed in agony, but the sound was cut short as Isabella rolled over the woman's back, taking her head along with her. Isabella was back on her feet and turning around, but the twin sounds of fabric ripping and snarls erupting from the wolves put her on edge. The one on the right immediately attacked, and she ducked underneath him easily, coming up behind and grabbing his tail, spinning him into a far wall. The pathetic cry of surprise was almost comical, if it were not a life and death situation. She glanced at her two closest enemies, and moved again towards the lead vampire, only to duck underneath his attack yet again, shaking her head at his incompetence and jumped up onto the back of the wolf who tried to buck and snap at her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and snapped it in one smooth motion before landing easily next to his body.
"I wondered what the stench was! God, someone needs to give these mutts a bath." Isabella said with a touch of vicious mirth as she smoothly ducked when the other wolf re-joined the fray. She stepped back and landed a solid blow to his jaw as it snapped it's powerful maw towards her head, knocking the wolf back towards the remaining vampire.
She gave them both a malicious smile, and motioned for them to attack. The vampire balked, and he looked at the wolf who had a large gash below its right eye. The overgrown mutt glared at the vampire and wolfed loudly at him, before turning and running through one of the open doors at a full sprint.
"Fuck me." The remaining vampire said as he started to look back at Isabella, who had already positioned herself in a blind spot and attacked him, launching him towards a nearby wall. She followed up and grabbed a hold of his neck as he landed, pushing him against the steel exterior harshly, denting it slightly in the process. He started to open his mouth, but she held up a finger, listening for any sign of the wolf returning. After waiting a full minute, over the sounds of a futilely struggling vampire beneath her grip, she was satisfied they were gone. She leveled a dangerous glare at him, and he immediately stopped struggling.
"Now, we're going to talk." Her voice begged no argument, her expression terrified the young vampire to his core. Far more than a disembodied voice on a phone that barked pointless orders at him. Yet despite his willingness to talk, within five minutes he found himself divested of both of his legs and his arms, and he still hadn't any information to offer Isabella she hadn't heard before. The only difference was this coven or cell was tasked with working with the wolves. The vampire had never even seen his creator or knew who was giving him instructions. He'd been captured, changed and then contacted via phone by a man with a deep voice. Isabella thought about trying to extract more information, but took pity on the creature and ripped off his head quickly and suddenly so he had no time to fear his own death. She dialed Talia and once she heard the click she started to talk.
"Third warehouse on Industrial Way, four including one human." Isabella was irritated, and she had to keep hunting.
"On it." Kell answered unexpectedly.
"Where's Talia?" Isabella said with a touch of concern, she rarely spoke with Kell.
"Busy, the last case ended up tricky. The girlfriend came home." He said in explanation.
"Fine, confirm by text when you're done with this one." Isabella said coldly, not caring in the slightest about their problems.
"Roger, later Isabella." Kell said with his usual awkward friendliness, which always felt unprofessional to Isabella.
"Bye Kell." She said simply and ended the call.
Isabella stooped down and picked up a large section fabric, a remnant of a pant leg from the wolf who had escaped, before taking off out the same door it escaped through in an attempt to follow its scent. She picked up on it immediately, and followed the trail for half a mile before it abruptly stopped. It took her a moment to figure out he must have escaped down a manhole. Isabella took one sniff of the sewer entrance before realizing there would be no way to follow his scent through the stench of human waste, the attempt would be absolutely fruitless. She frowned, and stood in the middle of the empty street for a few seconds before she turned and set off back toward home, the patch of jeans still in hand.
"There's a major problem. After school, put on your work clothes. We have to take another trip down memory lane." Isabella sent to her daughter mentally preparing herself for another painful reminder of her past.
Author's Note:
I'm posting this as a gift for the Holidays. Happy Thanksgiving (my American readers).
Next Chapter: High School Sucks
Thank you for reading!
