(4) "Hate is a Passionate Emotion"
Odessa sat on the grass, relishing in the feeling of the sun on her skin. The back of her shirt wrinkled against tree bark, rising a few centimeters up her spine, blades of green grass tickled her ankles where they laid in front of her, tiny rocks tried creating small indentations in her palms, only to fail and fall quickly to the ground every time she readjusted her limbs. She wanted to be alone, so she had gone outside a handful of minutes ago. However, about five minutes ago, Bella, Edward, and a few of their friends came outside to practice. Bella had the gift of being a mental shield, and they were practicing expanding the parameters of it. Kate, a Denali and "cousin" of the Cullens, was talking Bella through the process. Odessa was facing away from them, watching small critters scurry past meters away, and tried to block out their shenanigans. It was difficult to do so. Irritated and annoyed, she stood up and made her way to the small group.
"She's obviously got tremendous ability, and we're only beginning to touch it. She can do better, I'm sure. She's just lacking incentive," Kate said as she pursed her lips. There were murmurs throughout the small crowd surrounding the newborn. Odessa saddled up next to Garrett, a nomad who was fascinated by Kate's electrifying power, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Kate," Edward said in a tone of warning. Kate darted over to Renesmee, who was walking along a river with Zafrina and Senna, the Amazonians.
"Nessie," Kate said, "would you like to come help your mother?"
"No," Bella snarled. Edward hugged her reassuringly, but Bella shook him off just as Renesmee flitted across the yard to her with Kate, Zafrina, and Senna right behind her.
"Absolutely not, Kate," Bella hissed.
"I completely agree," Odessa said in a menacing tone. She wouldn't let Renesmee become a guinea pig. Some lines shouldn't be crossed, and Kate was close to crossing one of them.
Renesmee curled into Bella and said, "But Momma, I want to help."
"No," Bella said as she backed away from everyone. She looked like a trapped wild animal ready to lash out, and Odessa grimaced when Kate took a deliberate step in Bella's direction with an outstretched hand.
"Stay away from us, Kate," Bella warned her. Kate refused to back down and began stalking forward towards Bella. Kate took another calculated step forward and a vicious snarl ripped up Bella's throat and through her clenched teeth. Bella stopped moving, allowing Kate to strike. Her hand was a millimeter from touching Renesmee's index finger when her movement halted. She tried to move forward, but her body was frozen.
"She wasn't going to harm her," Edward told Odessa cautiously. Odessa stared stonily at Kate, yet her eyes were daggers digging into the blonde's skin. Kate's eyes flitted to meet Odessa's eyes in surprise.
"I don't care what she was or wasn't planning on doing," Odessa said in a low tone. "What I care about is that she would joke and even try to harm a child for an experiment."
"Amazing," Eleazer breathed out.
"You can let her go now," Tanya, Kate's sister said in a pleading tone. Odessa refused to back down and threw Kate against a nearby tree. Kate hit the tree hard and was slow to recover. Pieces of tree bark flew through the deadly silent air.
"If any of you try anything like that again, I will kill every last one of you," Odessa threatened menacingly. She stared the bystanders down and stalked off into the woods. She ran until she was out of hearing distance from everyone else. She slowed to a walk and started up a mountain. She sighed and leaned against a snowy tree. She slid down against the trunk and curled in on herself. Seeing Renesmee as bait, even if nothing was going to happen to her, caused something to stir within her that she wished stayed dormant. She closed her eyes but immediately opened them when flashes shot across her mind. She stood up and punched a nearby boulder.
"Why must you plague me wherever I go?" she whispered.
"If you do not take control of that girl, I will make you wish you had," Joham threatened his daughter. Physically, she looked ten, yet she was less than a year old. His daughter shook her head and backed away with a frightened look marring her brown eyes. Joham, tired of her antics, grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled her hard. She stumbled next to him and cowered away from him.
Odessa glanced at the girl standing across from her. The girl was only six years old with coily hair and big, doe-like eyes. The girl was shaking, and her eyes flitted between Odessa and her father. Tears streamed down her face, and she hastily wiped at them.
"I can't, father," Odessa said defiantly. "I don't want to!"
Odessa's face whipped to the side as a resounding slap filled the air. A crack appeared on her face, and she cradled her cheek. She sniffled and stilled when she realized the mistake she made. A hand gripped the front of her dress and pulled her eye-level with her father.
"Are you crying?" Joham asked maliciously. He hit her again with his free hand and threw her to the ground, spitting next to her fallen body. "Either control her or I'll drain her here and now!"
"No!"
With a sigh, Joham stared directly in her eyes and said, "Take control of the girl."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Odessa repeated over and over again. Her body had a mind of its own and moved even though she was screaming for it to stop. She stood up and held out her hand to direct the path of her gift, seizing the girl. The girl stiffened and started yelling for Odessa to stop.
"Good," Joham said. "Now pull her towards yourself."
Odessa wasn't sure how to do so. He had never ordered her to pull anyone yet and was scared she was going to hurt the girl. Unsure, she closed her hand into a fist. Immediately, the girl's eyes widened impossibly far, and she stopped yelling. Her breath was caught in her throat and her sides were being squeezed. In an instant, the girl was nothing more than scattered body parts.
Odessa held a hand up to her mouth and dropped to the ground on her knees as she was given control over her body again. She had blown her up. A sob broke through her lips, and she threw up the partly dissolved contents of her lunch. Joham placed a hand on her shoulder and ordered her to stand. She gathered herself and stood up on shaky legs. Joham's hand tightened on her shoulder, and she winced from the pain.
"Good job. Next time, try not to blow them up. I'd rather not spend more money on useless slaves," he told her. He let go and strolled into the house, leaving her to wallow in guilt and anger. That had been the third kid she killed in a month while experimenting with her gift. The first had died when she tried taking control of someone for the first time. His whole body was encompassed by tremors and a seizure had taken over his body. His heart stopped and he was dead within minutes. The second one died when she accidentally pushed him too hard into a brick building. His spine had broken upon impact and his head had ricocheted so hard against the wall that it cracked open.
Her gift was strong, too strong for her to handle at such an age. After the first child's death, she promised herself she would gain control over her power as fast as she could. But it was taking too long. How many children would die because of her gift? No, how many children would die because her father wanted to experiment with it without taking precautions?
Odessa was snapped out of her memories when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. The contact triggered her, and she froze the body behind her. She spun around and narrowed her eyes at two men. One was short, standing about an inch shorter than her frame, with short ash-blond hair and burgundy eyes. The other was about the same height with dark brown hair and red eyes. Both had powdery skin indicative of their age and wore black clothing that barely fit the standard of modern times.
"We saw what you did earlier," the blond said. His voice held a thick Romanian accent.
"We were truly impressed," the brunette said with an equally thick accent. The two of them stood a few meters away from her with smug expressions.
"What do you want?" Odessa asked defensively. "Who are you?"
"I am Stefan," the brunette introduced himself, "and this is Vladimir. We are from the Romanian coven."
"What do you want?" she repeated.
"As we said earlier, we saw your gift in action. It is an incredible power," Vladimir stated. "We are so lucky to have you on our side."
"I'm not here to use my gift. I am only here to witness and attest to the fact that Renesmee is not a threat," she said. His wording rubbed her the wrong way. He emphasized her gift, signaling that he was interested in it. The last person interested in her gift tried to covet it and was left behind swiftly.
"Such a shame," Stefan said. "Your gift would easily assist in taking the Volturi down."
"I was informed the Cullens did not want to fight the Volturi. Was I wrongly informed?"
"While the Cullens wish to avoid battle, the Volturi will not stand around and talk," Vladimir said.
"You hate them," she bluntly stated. She could see the hatred boiling in their eyes like lava. There was history between them and the Volturi; the Volturi did something but what exactly did they do? The Volturi's reputation wasn't great. They were seen as a superpower thirsting for even more power, a giant that put itself in a position of power to regulate the vampire world. They were known for destroying clans just to obtain strong gifts.
"I'm thinking the time has come to fight," Stefan said. "How can you imagine we'll ever find a better force to stand with? Another chance this good?"
"We've been waiting for fifteen hundred years to overthrow them, and they've only gotten stronger with the years," Vladimir spat out. "If the Volturi win this conflict, they will leave with more power than they came with. With every conquest, they add to their strengths. Think of what that newborn alone could give them. Think of what you could give them."
"At least when we ruled, we were honest about what we were," Vladimir mumbled. Stefan nodded. "We never put on white hats and called ourselves saints."
"I would not necessarily associate white hats with saints," Odessa mumbled under her breath. Then, louder, she asked curiously, "You ruled once?"
"Yes. We were not as strict as the Volturi when it came to rules. We allowed the humans of Romania to know of our existence, and we ruled to benefit vampires all over," Stefan said. "The Volturi grew in power and burned down our castle and killed our coven mates, our friends, our family, our mates."
"You want revenge," Odessa stated with a certain gleam in her eyes. She knew exactly what it felt like to want revenge. Her upbringing wasn't the best and she'd do anything to kill the bastard that caused all her pain. That pain still lingered in her veins, and she wanted nothing more than to kill the bastard who affected her. Sadly, she had no idea where he was or who he was traveling with, so she focused more on staying under the radar and living as comfortably and calmly as possible. The second she has the opportunity, she'll kill him with no remorse. Be that as it may, she had no grudge against the Volturi.
"Revenge isn't the way to go," she said. "The Volturi are too powerful. Going up against them is suicide."
"We have some of the most powerful vampires in the world on our side," Vladimir smirked. "There is a chance we will defeat those Italian scum once and for all."
"You never asked me about my opinion on the Volturi," Odessa pointedly reminded them. "Who is to say I do not like them?"
"The only vampires who say they like them are scared to go against them," Vladimir said cautiously. Odessa smirked and ran a hand through her loose hair. She chuckled slowly and stared up at them through her eyelashes.
"If the Cullens ask me to fight the Volturi, I will deny their request. The only one I will fight to protect is Renesmee. I do not care about any of you. It was stupid and dangerous to collect witnesses instead of going to the Volturi personally to sort everything out. The Cullens have put a target on everyone's back now because of their stupidity," she hissed out. She clenched her hands, and her entire body was tense.
"The Volturi do not listen to reason," Stefan insisted. "Those rats-"
"The Volturi are a necessary evil," she admitted. "There has to be order for a community - a society - to flourish. Vampires are humans with amplified senses. More strength, more knowledge, more power. Left unattended, vampires could upend everything."
Vladimir and Stefan took a step back and shared a look.
"I see we were wrong about you," Stefan finally said.
"I wonder if the Cullens know who they've brought to witness," Vladimir said tight-lipped. They took their leave without another word and Odessa took the time to gather her wits. She shook her head and scoffed as she thought about what their agenda was. They were stupid to think she would help them with it. She vowed to never be manipulated again, and she stood by it religiously. As a duo, they had no real power to do anything. However, she'd have to be cautious around the Cullens and the rest of the witnesses. They were not going to be happy.