Chapter Twenty-One: The House on the Hill

The Waterfall House - February 1st

It was just after one and Leah had passed out on the couch. Eliza laid a blanket over the sleeping wolf just as her mother leaned against the doorway and sighed to make her presence known.

"You were gone too long." Eliza said quietly, glancing over at Isabella.

"It's been a hard day, and I think I'm done with school. I'm going to ask Henry to withdraw me tomorrow." Isabella spoke normally, and Leah snorted slightly forcing Eliza to frown at her mother. Isabella rolled her eyes and nodded.

"One day, that might be a record somewhere. I'd be lying if I said I was thrilled with the implications of you dropping out, but I'm not surprised. I assume this is to focus on this threat?" Eliza sent across the link, choosing silence as she knelt down on the floor next to Leah on the couch.

"Is there another option? This is looking to be far more complicated than we originally imagined. Pretending to be a teenager just doesn't seem like a good use of my time…" Isabella scrunched up her nose when she realized what she'd said, the sharp tone of her inner voice not blunting the sentiment in the slightest. "No offense."

"No, it's okay. After yesterday with the drama in the cafeteria and everything." Eliza sighed and looked at Leah's face, examining the lines of the woman who was starting to pull on her heart. Then she stood and moved over to lean against the wall opposite her mother so she could look her in the eyes. Then continued in a soft voice that she was sure wouldn't wake up Leah. "I may ask Hailey and Madison to come up, we need to figure out what the frilly heck is going on with them, because if Hailey used actual magic the rules just changed."

"Good idea, we should encourage them if it is something real. Although I cannot imagine the consequences if it proves to be something tangible." Isabella furrowed her brow, normally she would report something like this to the council right away, but she wasn't sure that was a good idea. The alliance with the shifters had strained things enough, broaching the idea of tangible, measurable magical ability was potentially lethal for everyone involved.

"I can't believe we're having a conversation about magic, this is freaking awesome!" Eliza said a little too loudly, and Leah shifted slightly. Eliza watched, but the wolf's breathing hadn't changed and her eyes were still closed.

"Eliza, we're century old vampires and there is a woman that shape-shifts into a wolf drooling on our couch, how is a little magic all that surprising." Isabella said at a normal volume.

"She doesn't drool." Eliza said defensively, shooting her mother a look. Isabella shrugged and looked down at Leah.

"Thanks." Leah said groggily, wiping her mouth unconsciously and cracking an eye open. "Is it morning?"

"You fell asleep twenty minutes ago." Eliza corrected with a playful smile.

Leah sat up and pulled the blanket off, rubbing her eyes. "Oh well, please tell me there is coffee somewhere here?"

"No idea, we don't eat human food." Isabella said flatly. Eliza glared at her again, and opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted when Henry shuffled into the room.

"I'll put some on for both of us. How do you take it?" He asked with a pleasant, but slightly tired voice.

"Shit ton of creamer." Leah said, blasting out some air in a heavy sigh as she stood up.

"One coffee with a shit-ton of creamer coming up. So am I imagining things or did the word magic just get tossed about?" He asked before leaving the room.

"Yeah, magic?" Leah said through a yawn.

"One of the girls at school lit a douche-bag's letterman's jacket on fire yesterday with her mind." Eliza explained, smiling in spite of herself.

"Could just be latent pyrokinesis, a gift." Henry suggested as the group moved into the kitchen. Henry immediately turned on an electric kettle and set up a pour over carafe with some amazing smelling coffee. Leah just inhaled and closed her eyes with pleasure at the aroma.

"Perhaps, but she was muttering something old and archaic under her breath. Sounded like Akkadian or Aramaic." Isabella said with a thoughtful frown, and everyone just stared at her openly questioning how she would know that. "Marcus was born around the time when those languages were in common use."

"That's almost enough to convince me, because how could a teenager from this age possibly know enough to speak one of those languages?" Henry said thoughtfully, scratching his chin and the short stubble that had grown there since the last time he had a chance to shave. "Whatever it is, I imagine you and your mother will handle it with grace and patience." He gave them both a soft smile, and began to pour the water into the carafe slowly and deliberately. Leah just watched with enthusiasm, almost ignoring the conversation.

"You've met us right?" Eliza said with a smirk, causing everyone to look at her.

"Eliza!" Isabella scolded.

"Fine, we'll let the girls investigate the wide world of unknown creepy magic." Eliza scrunched up her mouth into a pouty frown, giving her mother a flash of frustration.

"It is their choice, although I hope it isn't as dangerous as it seems. They seem… nice." Isabella's search for a good descriptive word felt strange coming out of her mouth. Yet she had to admit, in the short time she interacted with them she had gotten the impression they were good people. "I am worried about what they might do with that power though."

"The whole power quote again?" Eliza furrowed her brow, although she smiled in spite of herself.

"Which one?" Leah asked Eliza, who shrugged.

"Um… either?" Eliza shrugged back. "Uncle Ben makes sense if we're talking about them as heroes, and the Acton quote… well that is assuming the girls will eventually master their powers."

"I always preferred the exchange between Jean Luc and Riker." Leah added, hoping the reference would make Eliza smile. The instant widening of Eliza's eyes and the bright smile curling up her mouth made Leah feel something deep and satisfying, as though she had succeeded in something real and tangible.

Eliza's breath caught for the briefest of moments, and then she started to nod thoughtfully. "Riker embellished the quote a bit, but yeah I always liked that one too."

Isabella looked between the two of them and raised an eye, then cleared her throat to gain their attention again. "Anyway, we watch them, but honestly not the most pressing thing in the world right now. I'll be in the Batcave if either of you need me." She turned and headed downstairs without another word.

Henry pulled off a filter and with an oddly satisfying sound poured the rich dark liquid into an oversized mug. Then he finished it with a large splash of heavy cream. "Here is your coffee Miss Clearwater."

"I'll be in my room if you need me." Henry picked up a tray holding his cup and a plate of delicious looking cookies and his coffee and headed out of the room directly.

Leah downed the coffee in seconds and moaned in satisfaction. She held the mug for a few seconds as the lingering heat from the coffee dissipated. She tipped it back once more to get the last drops and pouted as she put the mug in the sink.

After they were alone, with Henry back in his room Eliza turned to Leah and leaned in close, speaking at a volume that none of the supernatural creatures still lingering in the house could hear. "So, I was wondering."

"Wondering what?" Leah leaned in a bit closer and whispered back.

"Can you keep a secret?" Eliza met her eyes, and while she asked the question with a smile, there was something serious in her expression.

"Absolutely. I've been a Beta for nearly a century. I know how to compartmentalize information, even from a shared mindspace." Leah had already shut away the information about Isabella and Eliza's past and powers, what was one more thing?

"Good to know, so I can actually sleep. No more than like an hour or so a night. But dreams are wonderful, so much better than the nightmares of my youth." Eliza had a faraway look, as she tried to push down the memories of her childhood that haunted her from time to time. Bringing them up so recently felt like a reopened wound, and she wasn't sure how to close it up this time.

Leah's eyebrows shot up, and she opened her mouth a few times before responding, "does that mean most vampires don't dream?"

"They don't sleep." Eliza gave Leah a smile, and then broke eye contact before continuing. "I know you're tired, would you like to come upstairs and sleep?"

"With you?" Leah's eyes widened, and she caught a gasp before it could escape her throat.

Eliza looked up with a touch of panic and said quickly, "nothing intimate, just sleep."

Leah almost laughed in response, but managed to keep it to a wide grin. She looked deeply into Eliza's eyes, and felt a pull, like something almost supernatural was tying them together somehow. She didn't miss a beat before responding, "I'd like that."

Eliza held out a hand, which Leah took with a shy smile. Then she led them upstairs to her bedroom. She motioned towards her closet and then grabbed some night clothes and escaped into the bathroom. Leah looked through the drawers and found something simple, a t-shirt and cotton shorts and changed quickly. Eliza came out a minute later in a knee length purple nightgown, her hair up and her hands fidgeting in front of her.

They got into the bed facing each other and Eliza leaned up and turned off the lights. Returning to her pillow she stared into Leah's eyes for a long time, until she leaned forward and tentatively pressed her lips against Leah's waiting mouth. She felt something deep release and a quiver of intense emotion raced down her spine. It didn't last long, but it was more passionate and deeper than the first one. Then they reluctantly pulled away from each other and both let out a soft sigh.

"Goodnight Leah." Eliza said with a breathy sigh.

"Goodnight Eliza." Leah said back feeling like her world was changing by the minute. She knew her body had already burned through the caffeine, and she could feel her exhaustion creeping back in the corners of her eyes. After a few minutes she found herself falling into a deep slumber, happy and content for the first time in a very long time.

Beach Front, Lake Michigan - February 1st

Angela's feet were half buried in the cold sand staring at the horizon line. Although she was fully aware that it wasn't an infinite expanse of water, for just a moment she let herself pretend that it was. She had come to the beach after an hour sifting through rubble. The Caravelli estate was leveled, and after most of the crowd and emergency responders had cleared, they searched and found very little had survived the explosion. Charlie did find Michael's charred pocket watch, which was no longer functional, and then confirmed he had been holding it when the explosion went off.

"Zoey found a number for a Tanya Bialy up in Alaska. I understand she is the lead of that coven." Charlie said with a sigh putting away his phone as he approached Angela across the darkened beach. The contact with the sand triggering an ancient memory of traveling to California with Bella and tiptoeing across a similar strip of beach that was too hot against his feet. He shut his eyes as he stopped a few feet from where she sat, and pulled out the notepad he had jotted down the number Zoey had found.

"Give me the number." Angela reached up and he handed her the pad then she pulled out her phone and dialed, the line immediately went to voicemail.

"This is Tanya, please leave a message." The line beeped. Angela frowned, and hesitated almost hanging up.

"My name is Angela Webber, I'm a private detective out of Chicago, and I have reason to believe your family is in imminent danger. Your home is not safe, and the goals of this group seem to be chaos and destruction and several people have already been killed. I urge you to leave everything right now and run as far and as fast as you can. I hope this reaches you in time, good luck." Angela ended the call with a soft sigh and tucked her phone back in her jacket.

"I think it might be too late already." She said somberly. "After Tokyo and now the Caravelli's that means most of the large covens are gone. Who does that leave?"

"The Cullens." Charlie said with a frustrated sigh.

"Do we even try to help those selfish pricks? Hell, do we even know where they are? For a non-nomadic coven they move around a lot." Angela looked up, and Charlie shrugged.

"Zoey probably knows, I bet they are in Australia or something." He was looking down, but not at Angela. His countenance was hard to read, although to a small extent they both blamed the Cullens for Bella's disappearance.

"They own an island somewhere off the coast of Brazil." Angela said randomly, remembering a fact from her search about their family upon learning they were vampires. She had been so tempted to confront them back then, but Charlie didn't think it was worth it.

"Must be nice." He muttered, picking up a shell and tossing it into the water.

"I guess. Let's head home and pack. We have to get out of here soon." Angela got to her feet and brushed off the sand before slipping back into her boots.

"Where to?" Charlie said as they turned back towards the parking lot near the beach.

"No idea, Los Angeles? New York?" She shrugged, she honestly didn't care where they went next. It was going to uproot Zoey and she had been lingering in Chicago primarily to avoid causing her daughter more trauma. Charlie stopped and took a deep breath, Angela looked back after taking a couple more steps and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm tired of big cities, we could go home." He looked tense, not sure what to expect as a response. She pursed her lips and tilted her head in thought.

"I don't know, let me think about it." Her voice held back the emotion raging behind her eyes. The idea of going back to Forks was painful, but the image of her family plot and her own name etched into their gravestone was worse.

Denali, Alaska - February 1st

"I was thinking." Tanya started, lowering her book and looking out of the floor to ceiling windows in the great room. The view was overlooking a large expanse of snow and ice stretching miles down into a valley between two mountains and a thick ancient forest. It was one of the reasons they chose this spot to build their house.

"Dangerous pastime." Kate said with a smirk, and Tanya rolled her eyes at her.

"Ha ha." Tanya shot back sarcastically, before continuing, turning her attention towards her sister. "I was thinking, we should visit Carlisle and Esme sooner rather than later. Returning to Forks is a big deal for them."

Kate nodded, and bit her inner cheek as an ongoing concern forced her to finally say something outloud, "maybe we should get Alice out of there for a while, she hasn't been right since they left that human."

"We should make it a formal invitation." Irina said with excitement at the chance to spend time with Alice.

"To join us?" Tanya said, clarifying the point. They both nodded, practically in unison. "Good idea." Tanya nodded, she had wanted to help Alice for a long time, and this seemed like the right time and opportunity. Alice took leaving Isabella worse than the rest of her family, even Edward, so getting her out of Forks was a good plan, even if it was just a temporary fix.

"I try." Kate said with a smirk taking full credit, causing Irina to roll her eyes at her sister. Kate gave her a flash of a wide grin in return.

"The logistics of that may be difficult, we might have to ask Rose and Emmett to come as well." Carmen pondered out loud.

"To keep the balance, Carmen and I could stay with them for a while. It's been an age since we spent time with the family." Eleazar added, and Tanya gave him an approving nod.

"That sounds like a plan, so how do you think we should approach…" Tanya started, but was stopped as Irina quickly got to her feet and moved close to the window.

"Um… what is that!?" Irina said in clear panic, as she pointed several miles out to something surging up the slope towards their house. She squinted slightly, and could just make out a huge number of people, all with bright red eyes, running alongside several exceptionally large wolves.

"That's a lot of newborns." Garrett couldn't suppress a wry smile, a small bounce and a wrinkling of his eyes in excitement for a real fight.

"That, we cannot fight." Laurent said with a panicked tone from next to him.

"So do we run? I mean with those numbers… where can we go?" Carmen's voice was full of fear, and she was clutching her husband's hand so hard it almost started to crack from the pressure.

"South, the Cullens. They're our only chance at survival." Tanya said as she stepped up in front of the window.

"That's a long run." Kate shook her head, and began to chew on her bottom lip.

"Maybe they can meet us halfway?" Irina suggested, looking at Laurent who started to nod but Garrett shook his head.

"And die along with us in the middle of nowhere?" Garrett said with a frown. "No, we need to go, now."

As he finished speaking a loud crash from the back of the house alerted them that it wasn't just a frontal assault. Kate, Garrett and Laurent turned to stand firm while the rest escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Two wolves lead the attack, followed by six vampires with bright red eyes. The first wolf launched himself towards Kate, who on initial inspection seemed like a safe bet. She grabbed him by the throat in midair sending a current of electricity through his body and stunning him to the point of muscle failure. He landed hard and laid twitching on the ground afterward, reverting to human form. He gained just enough control to look up as she stomped on his chest, crushing his heart and ending his life instantly.

Then she looked up at the other wolf who had turned towards Garrett. They were locked in a staring match, waiting for the other to make the first move, then Garrett smiled wickedly and feighted forward, causing the wolf to lunge. Garrett sidestepped, and then twirled around the wolf punching him several times in the flank before grabbing his tail and tossing him into the nearest newborn. It let loose a pitiful, but loud howl of pain and fear as it knocked down three vampires with its body. As it tried to scramble to its feet, Laurent launched himself into the air, utilizing the vaulted ceiling to maximize effect, landing like a jackhammer on the side of the wolf crushing his ribcage with a sickening crunch.

Kate had turned to the nearest newborn and managed to get a hold of his arm, sending a current through his body causing him to fall to his knees in pain. Garrett was there a split second later to take off his head. But there were still two left standing and they got a hold of Garrett and began to tear at his shoulders.

"No!" Kate screamed in fear, as she threw herself towards them. Laurent turned, having only dispatched two of the vampires under the wolf, and the third reached up to grab his hand. He felt the pull before the pain shot up his arm as the newborn ripped two fingers from his hand. He gritted his teeth and punched down, again and again trying to pulverize the newborn into submission with his one good hand.

Kate's power ripped through the three of them, including Garrett as she mercilessly tore at their faces trying to get them to stop hurting her husband. Her cries of pain and rage could be heard all the way down to the mass of newborns sprinting up the hill as fast as they could manage given the deep snow and ice.

Garrett pushed through the pain of her gift and got loose from one of the newborns, twisting with just the right leverage to pull the newborn's arm out of his socket. The other one tried to back away but found all three of the Denali gathering themselves up. He got two feet before Kate had him in a death grip, and Garrett took his head.

"Are you okay?" Kate said to Garrett who just nodded once before turning to Laurent.

"Ça ira." Laurent said reverting to French, clutching his shattered hand. He picked up the pieces of his fingers and put them in his pocket. The healing process would need blood and time, neither of which they had. Unless he broke his vows and drank from the dead wolfman at his feet. "They will follow, now enraged from these dead."

"They were always going to follow." Garrett looked out the main window and held back a wince of pain from the large gouge across his back. Then the three took off out the side entrance, following the path the rest of the family took. They caught up with Tanya, Irina, Carmen and Eleazar just as they heard an explosion in the distance. They all looked back up the slope, the wide expanse of tundra with just enough trees to provide cover. Through the gaps they could see a large blossom of fire, as their house erupted in flames. A few seconds later the mass of newborns and a couple of dozen large wolves began to follow them.

Tanya stood for a moment in shock, at an utter loss of words, before Kate pulled on her arm to get her to run.

The Cullen Residence - February 1st

"Where the hell have you been Alice!?" Edward demanded as she wandered in around two in the morning.

"Busy." Alice said dismissively, her mind a perfect tapestry of ordered thoughts about the upcoming fall fashions.

"What does that even mean?" Edward said aggressively, his body language screaming anger and frustration.

"Honestly, you don't want me to answer that out loud." Alice couldn't stop the feelings of rage and betrayal from creeping into her voice.

"Will you please stop with the fashion nonsense?" Edward sneered at her, so she sighed and dropped the thought facade. His expression soured even more, "so it was you who poisoned Isabella against me!"

"No, you did that yourself. I just told her the truth, and she told me the truth, and guess what, I'm done with you." Alice kept her voice low so it couldn't be heard by the rest of the house. Edward did show her that much respect.

"Truth! She's twisted and corrupted. How can you expect to rely on anything she says right now until her mind is fixed." He spoke as if his world were on the verge of collapse, which in a way it was. Alice could see his entire house of cards folding in on itself. His lies compounding on each other until even a vampiric mind had trouble keeping track. With Isabella alive and able to contradict his version of the story, he couldn't keep up the pretense. Yet Alice focused on another point, because it made her even more angry.

"Fixed. You can't fix what happened to her. She doesn't need to be fixed. She needs to be loved. You took that from her, and I'm going to give it back." Alice kept her voice low, bit no longer concealed her contempt. Yesterday it was possible, but she could no longer pretend after speaking with Isabella directly.

"Love, you're not capable of love. A hundred years as a zombie, and in one day you think you can be the emotional support for a dark version of someone you knew for a year nearly a century ago! That's bullshit Alice." Edward threw his arms up dramatically and paced as he spoke.

"At least I'm going to try, you told her we didn't want her!" Alice's rage boiled over, and she yelled at him without bothering to modulate her volume, giving up any pretense of holding back to keep the family together.

"That's not what I said. I said I didn't want her to come with us, she drew her own conclusions from that." Edward was shaking his head, utterly unwilling to accept any blame for actions in his mind that were right and rational.

"How else was she supposed to take it? You left her alone and vulnerable, with only a bunch of wolves as protectors. Wolves who didn't know their enemy and couldn't fully protect her. So guess what, she was taken. I don't know what happened yet, but I will spend the rest of my life making up to her for my mistakes." Alice could feel the family drawing close, and listening.

"I thought it was my fault." Edward said with raised eyebrows and a shocked expression.

Alice's anger deflated and she lowered her head in shame. "You may have made us leave, but I gave in too easily. For that I am to blame."

"You have always presumed to have an emotional connection with Bella, I never saw such a great thing between the two of you." Alice's eyes shot up to meet his, and her anger came back with a vengeance. She held out a finger and wagged it at him, stepping towards him. Edward, startled by her aggressive action, stepped backwards instinctively.

"Oh really? Because you never got between us! Never stopped me from getting close to her, or spending time with her." Alice was sneering in disgust at him as she finished, he was just shaking his head in disagreement.

"I didn't want to overwhelm her at first, you know how you are… were." His asinine correction hammered home how much she had changed, and she felt it in her chest where her heart used to beat. Could she love Isabella enough for both of them? Was her depth of feeling great enough to help heal the rift between them and navigate through Isabella's trauma? She almost gave into the doubt, but shook her head in rejection of the idea that she was too much for the young Bella.

"Even if that were true, it isn't the case now. You have no say in who she interacts with, and if she accepts me back into her life, I will never leave her again. I would suggest you don't interfere." The warning was as much a promise to herself as it was a threat made against him. Edward reared back, and a look of disgust crossed his face.

"You sound like you want to be with her." His words dripped venom, and his eyes took on a hateful tilt. Alice didn't care, she simply met his gaze with equal anger and didn't back down.

"Yes! I'm in love with her!" She admitted after a few seconds, her anger almost collapsing in on itself, but then her voice turned dark, "I've been in love with her since that first day we saw her, and you took that chance away from me."

Edward shook his head in disbelief, "you're not making sense. How have I ever taken anything away from you?"

Alice stared at him, suddenly unsure of her resolve, lowering her head in defeat, not ready to completely destroy the man she once considered a brother.

"It's not important right now." She muttered almost as a whisper.

"Alice?" Esme came in and pulled her into a tight hug which she melted into, just before her body went stiff in the telltale sign of a vision. "What are you seeing?"

Edward preempted her, having read Alice's vision out of her mind, "Tanya and her family are coming, on foot."

"Strange choice of transportation, but that's wonderful news, when will they arrive?" Carlisle said as he entered the room.

Alice shook her head, "in five hours or so, but this isn't some social visit, they're running from something. They're terrified and panicked, and I can't see why… Oh god, Laurent and Garrett are hurt."

"Is it wolves?" Rosalie guessed.

"Possibly, but I still can't see, but I caught a glimpse of who is following them; newborns, an army." Alice glanced at Jasper whose face hardened.

"A newborn army, I haven't seen the likes of which in decades." Jasper shook his head slightly as he spoke, his tone a mix of disbelief and outright fear.

"This kind of threat, we'll need help. We should get Isabella involved." Alice said confidently.

"I'm not sure, Isabella isn't exactly happy with us right now. Will she act to help people she's only heard of in passing?" Rosalie said with a frown, she had no illusions that they would survive without help, if the group chasing the Denali was large enough to actually pose a danger to them.

"I'll call her." Carlisle said with a nod, picking up his phone.


Author's Note:

There was originally another scene, but it didn't make sense within the context of this chapter.

The power quotes Eliza referred to are;

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" - John Dalberg-Acton

And

"With great powers comes great responsibility" - Possibly Stan Lee - usually spoken by Uncle Ben - Spider-man

Leah mentions a line from a first season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled Hide and Q.

Thank you for your patience, I am not abandoning this even though I cannot promise a timely release schedule.