Chapter 17: Mopping Up
Alice crumbled into herself, tucking her body into a tight ball, her emotions flickering quickly in a merry-go-round of guilt, shame, disgust, and relief. It wasn't hard to imagine Alice in a similar physical pose when she was new to this life and all alone.
How many times in those first decades had she watched me nearly die in a battle and been like this?
Taking Alice into my lap, I held her, sending her every emotion I thought might help and then extending them into the room, figuring they could also help Charlotte and Esme.
Guilt crept into me from my core moving outward. All that she went through for me starting from her awakening, while she waited for me, and my repayment had been to see her akin to Maria. My thoughts became self-reproaching, and this voice in my head scolded me for being ungentlemanly. Upon my analysis, the greatest likelihood was that the voice had belonged to my human mother. In an attempt to stop my thoughts, I explored my guilt. In doing so, I began to feel fear, apprehension, worry, and sadness. It took only a few seconds to recognize these as my own feelings regarding Alice over the last few days as we worked to outsmart James. Wanting to be the man Alice deserved and needed, I tucked all of my feelings away, not wanting them to bleed into what I was sending her.
Esme's eyes focused onto a spot on the wall and her voice even and distant she told us, "James kidnapped people. They are hidden in the mines somewhere."
Charlotte and I exchanged a concerned look, not aware of the possibility that a vampire could lose time or forget events, like it seemed Esme was doing.
"I'll go get Peter," Charlotte stated evenly, keeping her emotions out of her tone.
I nodded in agreement.
"Bring Edward and Carlisle along with José," I instructed, even though she had already darted away.
"Yes, sir," she answered from a distance.
"You did it," I reminded Alice, hoping my words would reach her, as my ability had thus far seemed to be of little help. "You saved them both."
"At your expense," she retorted, full of shame.
"I offered of my own free will," I refuted.
"Not really," she argued.
Unsure of what to say to ease her feelings, I assured her, "I'll be fine."
This seemed to be the wrong statement as she pulled herself into an even smaller ball, while the emotions she emitted morphed into absolute turmoil. There was relief for sure, but the fury, shame, guilt, and lingering fear stronger.
My mind went over our years together and could see how Alice had presented herself how I needed, with few moments of her displaying her vulnerability. It dawned on me that I had probably cast her as Maria, because I had hidden away my heart and been afraid to trust. She failed to inform others of what she saw, for sure, but that didn't make her like Maria. Having Alice in my arms like this allowed the blinders I had on to be lifted. Doing so caused the similarities I had made to begin to disintegrate. In so many ways I had done Alice wrong, imagined her wrong, and had only seen the version of Alice she believed I could handle.
There was a chance that I had been wrong about Edward believing in the projected Alice. Maybe he was the only one out of us, due to his ability, that saw her like this, a broken, hurt, lonely creature that wanted to live in a world where those she cared about were happy.
This wasn't the time to allow myself to dive deeper into this line of thought, so I tucked it away also, and flipped through my memories to find what would best help Alice. Without doubt, she functioned best when she had something future orientated to guide her, so I suggested, "How about we help Esme?"
She looked up at me and blinked like she didn't understand my words. It took her another three seconds before she stated evenly, her voice void of emotion, "Yes, that's good." At her words, the intensity of her emotions calmed some.
Moving her off me, we went over to the pile of Esme's parts. I stood mere inches from Esme's leg and sent out the motherly care Esme usually felt along with the happy exuberance Alice usually oozed as well as hope and relief.
Esme was almost in one piece when Carlisle came around the bend.
When his eyes met her prone form the sound he made was reminiscent of a wounded lion, which caused Alice to freeze and move away from Esme. His emotions were like a tumble dryer, nearly resembling a newborn in the intensity of the chaos.
At his noise, Esme's emotions screamed out relief and comfort, while Alice's guilt, shame, and self-condemnation increased.
Behind him were Charlotte, Edward, Peter, and José, who expectedly was still in parts.
"She needs blood," I told Carlisle, hoping a task to aid Esme would calm him, and stepping aside.
He simply nodded, attached the last toes, picked her up, and ran back out with her.
I told him as he ran, "We'll be burning James soon. If Esme or you want to be here, make it quick."
"He is beyond words," Edward informed me, unable to keep the worry and sadness completely from his tone.
Peter took José's parts all still wrapped in Emmett's shirt and dumped them in front of me. Charlotte and Peter stood at either side of the bundle. They oozed calmness and relief, which was a great aid to me.
Edward sat on the ground, pulling Alice into his lap before beginning to rock her. Him doing so slowed and quieted her emotions. He primarily emitted sadness, anger, disappointment, and a regretful form of wishing.
Moving away from Edward and Alice at a leisurely pace, I closed in on José. When I was over him, I asked, "How are you keeping the humans?"
"One big room," he answered quickly, emitting fear, acquiescence, and hope. "James was stockpiling in case any of the booby traps went off and we were stuck here for a while."
"How many humans?" I enquired.
"Thirty originally, but he had at least seven and I had two," José reported.
Not sure if that included the children, that meant at least sixteen left.
"Quite the appetite," I mused.
José oozed disgust when he said, "He would pick couples or families, especially ones with lots of kids, and play with them. Have them run away, beg for the other, betray each other only to die. It was more like he ate when he was bored."
"And if we let you go?" I asked. "Will your debt to James be paid?"
"More than," he answered revolted.
"And did James make back-up plans?" I checked.
"Not that I know of," he replied.
"You get that I can't let you go if you believe that your debt to James is unpaid and thus requires you to act in retribution," I pointed out.
"Only a fool would come after a coven of six plus three from the southern conflicts," he told me.
Raising an eyebrow, I indicated that he should explain himself.
His fear rising, he explained, "James is known in circles for his tracking abilities, cunning, and capacity to thwart other vampires. I've known people to hire him to do a job that's unpleasant, and he does it, because he thinks it's fun, and he enjoys horse betting. Only someone from the southern conflicts would be able to out strategise him, and the couple with a natural eye colour and you work together like you've done this thousands of times before."
"You have an extra ability," I pointed out.
He shrugged. "You could say that. I have a sense of the weakest spot in a plan or a building, etc. Not once was it around the human the couple guarded or you. The one called Esme was the weakest link, and then the biggest male and the blond female, then the Coven Master, then the copper-haired male, and then Alice. My ability, if you want to call it that, suggested that he severely underestimated you." He eyed James' head. "I never mentioned that to him. He was an arrogant prick, so I told him the truth for the questions he asked, but never more."
"You're from the south?" I wondered.
"More South America than Central, but I had the misfortune to get near North Mexico once," he explained.
While speaking he had primarily emitted honesty, low level fear, and distrust, but with truthfulness sprinkled in.
Pick up anything indicating that he'll cause problems in the future? I asked Edward.
"I thought the border covens didn't allow survivors," Edward stated, as if the comment was casual yet curious. He was also indirectly fulfilling my request.
"That is true, but I used my instincts to avoid them altogether. Truthfully I came too close many times," José agreed, his tone and emotions indicating that he was trying to say what was needed to leave alive.
His coven might come looking for him, assuming he has one, I pointed out to Edward. I'd rather him leave grateful, than create enemies, but only if there's no risk to the family.
"Yeah, lesson learned, I guess. You'd be served to warn off others. If it were me, I'd steer clear of Italy as well by all accounts," Edward said, answering my question indirectly, while also warning him, which was great.
"I'm inclined to believe you, José, and I have no interest in making enemies," I told him. "If we put you back together, can you disarm the traps so that we can kill the humans?"
He looked around, and then checked, "Just the two looking for something to quench the thirst?"
"Yes," I answered, "the rest of us subsist on animal blood."
"Ah," he replied as if confirming his suspicion, and being unsure what else could be said without accidentally offending us.
Not wanting to give away Edward's ability, I faced him and asked, "Can you please go, update those guarding the entrance, and retrieve anyone who wants to come down?"
"Sure," he agreed, putting Alice on the ground beside him.
As Edward left, I turned to José, increasing his fear while adding my truth serum and a touch of fidelity to the mix. "If anyone, especially the Volturi, gets a whiff of us allowing Alice's pet to remain living with other humans I will assume you told someone and will hunt you down. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," he replied in earnest.
"Good, as long as we understand each other," I stated with authority.
With that Peter and I reassembled José in a way to let him know how often we had done this, confirming his assessment that we weren't to be messed with. He had lost too much venom for the joints to bond properly, so Peter supported him, and the three of them went down the tunnel that led to the humans with José giving instructions.
"Are they safe?" I signed to Alice.
"Yes, he has decided to be agreeable believing you to be a man of your word," she answered also using ASL.
"Good," I replied with the sign.
Opening my arms up, I sat down, and she crawled into them, making sure there was no skin-to-skin contact. The shirts she had given to us were proving very useful in multiple ways.
José had started speaking in Spanish to Peter.
"So, your friend used to be with the one James wanted?" he asked.
"That's right," Peter answered gruffly, but I could hear the humour hidden in his tone.
"But she's with the copper-haired one?" José verified.
"That's right," Peter confirmed with even more humour in his tone.
"And they fought, but not to the death?" José checked.
Peter gaffed, "No, the Coven Master, Carlisle, believes that women are not property. Alice was with Jasper, but became interested in Edward. Jasper agreed to their parting."
"So, they share the women?" José asked, clearly confused.
Peter chuckled, "Nah, they are committed to only one partner at a time,"
José must have made a face, because then Peter said, "The best thing is to try to not figure it out. The animal blood makes them strange. They marry like humans, Carlisle is a human doctor, they go to school with humans, and treat each other with respect." Peter paused for effect. "Would you believe that when they need to make a decision that they vote?"
"Vote?" José replied like it was blasphemous.
"I know," Peter answered like he was also disgusted. "But they are also closely bonded, call each other family, and protect one another. They stand united."
José whistled, and then in awe stated, "Seven vampires united. That is a larger coven than the Volturi."
"Glad you can count," Peter retorted. "Can you keep a secret?"
José must have indicated that he could as Peter continued, "Carlisle is friends with the Volturi coven, particularly Aro."
"Protégeme Dios," José uttered softly and I could imagine him crossing himself. There was a brief pause when José questioned, "The doctor doing some studying of human blood for the Voltrui?"
"Probably," Peter replied. "That doctor might look like an easy mark, and he's certainly not the strongest fighter, but with friends in high places, who knows what he's really doing, and the wrath he could bring down if that was interrupted. Without doubt the Volturi wouldn't support such a large coven if there wasn't something in it for them. And the rest follow him as a result."
"Of course," José answered.
By that time their voices were too soft to carry to us.
Chuckling, I whispered into Alice's ear, "Peter was always into propaganda. I swear he started half of the stories about the God of War. He really is the best in almost true information."
Alice snuggled into me saying nothing, working through her feelings, searching the future, and sending me a cocktail indicating her apology. Eventually she uttered into my chest quieter than a whisper, "You are truly a remarkable man Major Jasper Whitlock. I wish there had been a better way. And I wish I could help soothe your wounds."
"I've had worse," I retorted softly, sending her comfort in addition to the soothing emotions I had already been dispatching.
"Doesn't change your sacrifice," she rejoined. Then, a second later told me, "Esme is coming and Carlisle with her."
"Maybe not," I replied, "but I would do it again for the outcome. It would have been terrible for Esme or Charlotte to be used as he wanted. You and me were the best options, and you played it in a way so he believed that we were his minions, making his beheading possible. He didn't light up Esme. Bella and Charlie are injured, but their human bodies are much more fragile than ours. James control in handling them was remarkable in many ways and showed how comfortable he was with humans. Given all that James knew and his skill sets, was there a path available, which would have resulted in the same outcome or better?"
"Not that I could see," she answered, continuing our near silent conversation, then after a pause added, "but your ideas often improve outcomes."
"So, without the benefit of time and in dealing with a sadist who knew about your visions, it was the safest route that you found," I pointed out.
"Yeah," she agreed. "It still feels like I failed."
"You might wish for omniscience at times, but we all thank the heavens above that you're not. All abilities have limits, and you did your best. Work though it," I told her, trying to keep out the commanding tone.
Her sadness increased.
"I'm sorry, June Bug," I muttered, immediately recognising that my approach was more suited to Peter than her. Attempting once more to aid her, I uttered, "The whole thing is hard. I too wished that there had been another way. It was a challenge to watch you be hurt and not react. Battles are ugly and war has a heavy price. But you are not to blame. All the blame lies with James. Everything else was merely the price we chose to pay for the survival of the ones we love and ourselves. We survived and he's in pieces. Remember that. Hold onto that."
Her eyes fell to him, and her emotions calmed in their intensity.
Relief filled me. At least something I had said had been helpful to her.
We fell into silence. The screaming humans were barely audible.
Edward, Carlisle, and Esme arrived.
Carlisle's eyes were forlorn and his tumble dryer of emotions had barely improved. Esme was still mostly blank, which told me that she was still in shock and only moving on autopilot. Edward's emotions were not very strong, apart from determination.
Thanks, I told him, extremely appreciative of his efforts.
"I already explained," Edward told us.
"We'll wait. Charlotte deserves to be here," I told them.
In an attempt to block what they were emitting, I focused on James' pain, revelling in it, grateful in my capacity to cause it to him. Holding onto those emotions firmly allowed me to not get swept away in everyone else's. It was one of the tricks to manage my ability that Peter helped me learn in the camp.
It took almost fifteen minutes before the screaming ended and then there was a rumble. Shortly after the three of them appeared.
At the rumble, Carlisle's grief became displayed on his face for nearly a minute before altering it back to neutral. Through it all he held his tongue.
Peter looked at Carlisle with sadness and explained, "James had been playing games with them. They were terrified before we got there. He had left the rotting corpses with them as some form of torment. We were as compassionate and kind to them as possible, Carlisle, but none of us wanted to drink the children. We were trying to calm them, but couldn't, so just broke their necks and then buried the lot. If there's any blame, it belongs squarely at James' feet."
"Thank you for your respect of them and explaining, but I wasn't judging you," Carlisle told them, "I'm solely saddened at what they were forced to endure before their untimely death and my Esme's experience at the hands of one of our own."
Peter nodded in acceptance.
"Do you want to do the favours?" I asked Esme.
"No thanks," she replied meekly.
"Can I?" asked Alice.
Gazing into her eyes, as there was still no anger that she was emitting, I checked, "You sure?"
"Yes," she replied with certainty. "He plagued me as a human. I will be grateful to watch the man of my nightmares burn."
Handing over James' lighter to her, she smiled at the irony.
"Stop," José pleaded.
We all looked at him.
Nervousness was the strongest emotion he emitted.
Then, Alice stilled to stone, emitting terror.
José scratched the back of his neck before muttering, "James coated the walls in petroleum. Any spark of fire that is misplaced could be the ending of us all."
His confirmation of one of my worst-case scenarios solidified in my mind that the path Alice and I had taken, but it also was frustrating to know how much ahead of us James had been.
"Crazy motherfucker," Charlotte muttered.
"Get his parts," I ordered, "let's burn him at the surface."
No one wanted to touch him, so José and Peter ended up doing the honours.
Greeting Eleazar and Carmen when we arrived on the surface, I introduced them both to Charlotte, Peter, and José. Fortunately, both of their emotions, although contained worry, were not much different than their usual.
I explained why were going to burn James on the surface, while Peter arranged his parts in a pile.
Carmen and Eleazar stood to the side, and the rest of us circled James.
"Enjoy the punishment meant for a vile creature like yourself, James," Alice said as she spun the lighter. After taking a moment and a breath, she added, "You will not be missed."
Then, she flicked James' lighter open and dropped it. The smoke of death filled the air, but none of us moved.
"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," Carlisle uttered softly, and then José crossed himself.
His death only slightly increased relief in Alice, Esme, Carlisle, and Edward.
When the smoke was gone, Carlisle carried Esme a few feet away and sat down on the earth to the left of Carmen and Eleazar. Shortly after Edward picked up Alice and sat to the left of Carlisle and Esme.
I turned to José, "Can we set off the booby-trap from the inside in order to hide all of this from the humans?"
He thought for a moment before replying, "I don't think so."
"Got extra explosives?" Peter questioned.
"Yes," José answered, his tone mostly hiding his excitement that he emitted as the suggestion.
"Let's blow this joint," Peter joshed.
José smiled and with Peter they disappeared into the tunnel we had created.
"We shall leave them to it," I told the group.
Carlisle began muttering soft words to Esme, while running his left hand through her hair in a comforting gesture. Edward had his arms wrapped around Alice and they were both silent. Charlotte stood near me, continuing to offer me emotional support.
Shortly later Peter and José ran a wire out to the entrance we had dug, and lit a fuse. There was an almighty bang, the earth shook under our feet, and the entrance we had created along with the top of the hill caved in.
They congratulated each other.
When their celebrations ended Charlotte moved to stand next Peter and asked José, "Would James really have ended himself?"
"He was of the mindset that if he went down, everyone would go down with him," José told her reluctantly.
She looked at him puzzled, likely trying to reconcile her experience with him to this information.
José's tone softened as he explained, "James is known for facing dangerous situations and coming out the victor. He was certain of his victory and getting what he wanted, while simultaneously he took every precaution possible. I think he learned about how to be on edge from Victoria. The fact that you ended him only demonstrates how better at his games you were, and that's really saying something. But if it came down to it, and he had nothing left to lose, he would have burned the world down."
"At least Maria wasn't that kind of psycho," Charlotte muttered.
José looked at her and radiated curiosity, but said nothing. A few seconds later, he turned to me, as if checking that he was free to go.
"You shall keep your vow?" I verified.
"Upon my mother's grave and her descendents," he swore.
"Then, with my coven members as witnesses, I vow to keep my word," I told him. "Stay out of trouble."
"No can do, man," he teased back. As he ran away, he continued repeating, "No can do."
Once he was out of hearing distance, and seeing that Carlisle was in no state to assess the situation, I signed to Peter, "Is the area clear of ears?"
"I'm no Emmett, but Eleazar and Carmen did a sweep, they say that we're clear," Peter reported.
"The clearing is on the way to the house," Edward offered as a suggestion, no doubt pulling my plan from my thoughts.
"Let's move out," I directed.
"I'm going to head into town in order to get reception and text everyone else where to meet us," Carmen volunteered.
"I'll go with her," Eleazar told us.
Carlisle headed out first, continuing to carry Esme. He was followed closely by Edward, who held onto Alice while standing and then running. Charlotte and Peter were next running side by side with usually a mile of separation. Close behind the pair, I brought up the rear.
"The room where the humans were kept was full of monitors. Many of them were blank, and a good number were watching every inch of the mines, but some were still receiving signals. A few indicated eyes near the lumber mill, your house, and in town," Peter reported too softly to be heard beyond Charlotte and I.
"Well, that explains why Alice's visions were against us running with Esme and why the entrance we dug out worked," I mused.
"It would not have surprised me if he had figured out how to display the images remotely through his phone or a laptop," Peter added. "The technology was beyond my skill sets. I wished Emmett could have looked at it."
Frowning, I was disappointed they hadn't consulted me, but then I hadn't informed them how much about technology I had been learning in the last couple of years.
"I looked for a hard drive, but found none," Charlotte added. "Not that I'm an expert."
"José said it was all remote," Peter put in.
Moving past my irritation, I agreed that José would have known best. If it was remote, it was likely that my examination of what they had seen wouldn't have added anything.
When we were close to the field Peter sent me his worry and I sent back assurance. Even if I wanted to hunt, my conditioning from Maria wouldn't allow me. Blood was only allowed after the enemy was defeated and all troop members accounted for.
We picked a part of the clearing where there were no nearby trees and stood close together protecting against the sound carrying. It was less than two minutes later when the others' footfalls could be heard. Eleazar, Carmen, Rosalie, Emmett, Tanya, Kate, and Irina joined us, appearing distressed. It couldn't be good.
"We need to debrief, but first, what are our liabilities?" I asked the group, as Carlisle, although slightly improved, was still in no condition to lead us.
"Blood," Eleazar pointed out gently. "You five need blood."
"Charlie and Bella," Rosalie put in.
"Cover story related to Carlisle's search for Esme," Edward added.
"Events to account for us all aiding Carlisle," Tanya stated.
After a few seconds and no additions, I added, "Quiluetes."
After a few more moments of silence, making it seem like no one else had an agenda to add, Rosalie reported, "The Chief is in a coma and is at the stage that they don't think he'll wake up."
"Bella is at his side, refusing to talk to the cops," Emmett added. "Initially she told them that a guy called her from a blocked number, and told her that he had her dad at the old lumber mill. Then, once there he drugged her and she didn't remember anything after that. After the cops checked out the old lumber mill, they wanted to talk to her more, and she has refused. She keeps saying that if she remembers more, she'll let them know."
Carmen asked worriedly, "How about her health? She looked pretty bad."
"Fortunately, she walked away with only broken bones and bruising. So, she is healing and in casts," Rosalie informed us all, "but she'll recover. However, Charlie is highly unlikely to at this stage."
"What cover story did you use?" I wondered.
"We came across Charlie on a hike, while we had been camping," Emmett stated.
"Kate, Irina, and I added to that saying that we came across Bella in the same way, as we were camping with Rosalie and Emmett," Tanya contributed.
"I set the camping scene with the equipment we had in the garage, and walked the trails, using some of their outer garment fabric that we had kept from them both to make it convincing," Emmett reported. "The police checked it out and were stumped."
"Where does that leave us with the Swans?" I wondered.
"Charlie's going to be taken off a ventilator in a few days," Rosalie commented sadly. "Bella is a mess. She needs a break, but more she needs an update."
"Did she give a description?" I asked.
"No," Rosalie answered, "she said that she was assaulted from behind with a cloth. Could say from the hand that it was a Caucasian male, but that's it. I think she left out the rest of the details to avoid lying."
"What does the town and cops think about Esme?" I asked.
"Still missing," Tayna stated.
"Suggestions to resolve their questions?" I requested.
"Death," Peter suggested.
"That means moving," Edward pointed out.
"Any other ideas?" I asked the group.
"Anything else means too much police involvement," Alice replied sadly.
"How and where?" I threw out to everyone.
"Near the camping site?" Emmett suggested.
"If we make it to look like the same people or person that took Charlie and Bella, took Esme, we can stage a car to be found around the lumber mill area where the police have yet to look," Rosalie pointed out.
"And a shallow grave that dogs can find," Edward added, "with Carlisle and Esme's bodies."
"To make that work," Rosalie schemed, "both bodies will need multiple injuries so severe that only dental records will confirm."
"Were Alice, Edward, and I camping with you guys?" I wondered.
"No," Emmett answered. "We told them that you had gone up to Canada with Tanya's uncle and aunt to a hot springs."
"When are we returning?" I questioned.
"We left it open," Tanya answered.
"Bodies?" I enquired, switching gears.
"I'll get them," Carlisle spoke up.
"Sure?" Edward asked. "I can."
"To fool a medical examiner, I should help," Carlisle insisted.
"Edward and I can do it," Rosalie offered.
"It's okay," Carlisle stated, even though he sounded weary.
He wasn't emitting any emotions other than sadness and worry anymore, which indicated that he was keeping them below the surface. I knew from experience him doing so would make them worse in the long term, but it was what we needed for the time being, unfortunately.
"Us five should make an appearance, be upset, one of you five call the Forks PD and they can talk to us," I suggested.
We all looked at Alice for confirmation.
"No suspicion from the humans as far as I can tell," she informed us.
After a moment, Emmett pointed out, "We need to remove all the cameras James installed."
"I'll help with that," offered Kate.
"Me as well," Irina contributed.
"I went to the lumber mill and removed them all there, I hope," Emmett told us. "Thus far they haven't seemed to come across any cameras. We don't want them hunting for footage."
"I'll see if I can trace where it went to," I told them.
Peter and Charlotte gave a brief pulse of surprise before going back to their calm peaceful vibes.
"I'll go talk to Bella," Charlotte told us.
It was unspoken and assumed Peter would go with her.
"The police will be a pest, but once Esme and Carlisle's bodies are found, they are likely to back away from our family," Alice added. "Their theory will be that a perpetrator used the fog to lure Charlie and Esme, and used the same trick on Carlisle that they did Bella, and Charlie and Bella were lucky in some way, running away. They are likely to credit Charlie's years on the force. Leads are unlikely, so the greatest chance is that it will remain an open case. If we can find a human or gang who does something similar and plant evidence, that would be helpful."
"Good to know, Alice," I told her my voice gentle, as she looked like she was ready to break apart at the seams.
"Quileutes?" I stated, as it was the last on the list.
"We need to speak with them and explain events," Carlisle said.
"You sure old man?" Peter asked incredulously.
"Yes," Carlisle confirmed. "In a century or so we would like to return. The Quileutes have long memories."
"Blood first, then humans, then Quileutes," I suggested.
"That's reasonable," Carlisle agreed and everyone else nodded his or her head.
Carlisle and Esme left first, him carrying her.
Then, Emmett, Kate, and Irina went to carry out their task.
Carmen and Eleazar went to drive their car to the spa and back, so the mileage would match and there would be forensic evidence on the car, if the police went that far.
Since she was unwilling to wait, Rosalie, with Tanya as support behind, went to Seattle to see about bodies, trying to help out Carlisle.
"Hunt together and comfort each other," I told Edward, as he seemed reluctant to leave.
"You good?" he checked.
"Peter and Charlotte are sated, so won't be fighting me for any of the local wildlife. No concerns about me finding something," I teased back, not wanting to talk about my own state.
Edward assessed me.
His brotherly care for me was meaningful.
As soon as he left holding Alice, I looked at Charlotte questioning.
"Bella will hold," Charlotte answered, which was her indirect way of also telling me that she wanted to be here with me.
Running in a direction no one else had gone, I found a coyote, then a herd of deer, from which I took a buck, and then found a juvenile male bear.
Peter and Charlotte kept pace, while maintaining a respectful distance.
The blood helped, but inside I was still a bull ready to charge.
Sending them regret, I stated, "It will probably take a fight first. I am loathed to cause either of you harm. James' emotions were steered towards violence and reminiscent of Maria's."
"I want to be included," Charlotte requested. Her emotions were close to what they have been in the mines.
The change in the emotions that bound us together pleased me, and was something to speak to her about later.
"After Peter and I fight, Peter will submit. At that point, crawl over as low to the ground as possible and put yourself like how Peter was before we left to confront James," I decided, and then turned to Peter, "That okay with you?"
"Should be," he replied, warning me through my ability not to hurt her.
"Charlotte stay up in a tree and downwind please," I appealed.
Immediately she left.
"Come on Major, see if you can take me. Certainly some pussy like you who gets off on being assaulted by a guy like James couldn't beat me," Peter taunted, knowing what he needed to say and do in order to force away my reluctance.
It worked, just as he knew it would. Letting down all the barriers I had constructed while with James to complete the task, I roared back in a threatening painful tone.
He charged me. My whole body screamed at him, as if he were James. Peter was a fantastic fighter, mostly because he had learned how to avoid me in those first years together. Yet, this war had been far more personal than any in the past. It hadn't been another army against mine. It had been a person who had attacked those I cared about. The rage this generated within me fuelled me to be faster than ever before and hit harder than usual. There were a few moments when my ability would pick up that I was fighting Peter and my affection for him would cause my haze to clear ever so slightly. In each case, he would taunt me once more, pulling me back into my rage-filled quest.
Peter's attunement to me was spot on as usual. The second that my rage turned into a need to dominate, he dropped himself into the position of complete surrender. My de-clothing of him and entering of him was swift and violent. Nonetheless, as each time prior, he had prepared himself in such a way that he welcomed me in, his emotions pulling on me to immerse myself fully into him. The part of my mind always on alert noticed a female vampire approaching. Tensing automatically, Peter's emotions soothed me, reminding me that she could be trusted.
When her hands went over mine, which were placed on his hips, it was like the world stopped spinning. My tempo slowed immensely and my body simply rocked back and forth enjoying the emotions they surrounded me with, offering me comfort. The world spun once more on its axis, except I was rooted on it, held not by gravity but by their care for me. Their admiration, trust, care, appreciation, fidelity, dedication, and commitment to me washed away all the ugliness of James that had entered me. They baptised me over and over again, and I never wanted it to end.
It was Charlotte who spoke first and in a tone of complete submission tinged with longing promised me, "We can do this again."
The tentativeness of her tone told me that there was a but, something she didn't want to say. It took me a few minutes to acknowledge that we needed to stop. There was still mopping up to be done.
Even though I hadn't released, I moved out of Peter and began to assess him. He had a few places where he was still bonding back together, but he looked far better than I expected.
"I absolutely gluttoned myself knowing you would need this, and they had to die anyway," Peter told me as a form of an explanation.
Then looking over Charlotte to ensure she was well, she assured me, "I'm good. Doing that helped purge some of James' ugliness out of me also."
"We'll debrief later," Peter reminded me. "You're returning with the others and Charlotte and I are going to visit Bella."
My brain was taking a bit to process everything, as my emotional world still hadn't completely settled, but I nodded in agreement, trusting him implicitly. What I had endured, pushed aside, and absorbed wasn't gone, but at least I was no longer a bomb about to explode.
As we ran, they were each on a side of me, reminding me through their emotions of how much they cared about me, how much I meant to them, and how grateful to me they were. It was more than humbling and helped combat the self-doubt plaguing me.
As soon as we neared Forks, we parted ways.
Upon me entering the house Eleazar informed me, "Carlisle and Esme came back and then took Rosalie's car to Seattle to retrieve the bodies. They will meet up with Rosalie. Tanya is on her way back. Alice and Edward just arrived. Carmen is going to mimic Tanya in order to call the police, letting them know of our return."
"Charlotte and Peter continued on in order to keep an eye on Bella," I updated them.
At that, Carmen pretending to be Tanya called into the police dispatcher, using the house line.
The family had almost filled me in with event since our parting in the field when two officers showed up. Fortunately, despite their quick response, Tanya arrived before them. With Carlisle's guidance, we arranged ourselves as to present the human version of upset and being in shock. Then the two of them hid themselves in the forest nearby.
Alice did most of the talking, blaming herself for wanting to get away, and that she should have never allowed Eleazar and Carmen to convince her to leave. Her story, told in sobs, described how she had only recently lost her classmates, all while begging them to find and save Esme and Carlisle. Her acting skills as a young human girl distraught and inconsolable were on point. Unfortunately, much of what she said was her truths, which made the lie easier to sell, but was hard for all of us to hear, making the atmosphere heavy with grief, affecting me.
Eleazar told the cops the details of the trip, I handed them the print off of the reservations Alice had cooked up right before I had gotten back, and both Edward and I answered their questions about the last time we had seen Esme or Carlisle.
I used my ability marginally to increase their trust in us and to dispel any suspicions.
Once they were a safe distance away, the family went back to the business of covering up James' actions. I hacked into the spa reservation system and placed it there, covering our tracks. Then, I started the process of finding James' video feed. It was laborious, as he had it well hidden.
Edward and Alice along with Eleazar, Carmen, and Tanya had left to help stage Carlisle's and Esme's brutal deaths.
When Charlotte returned, I paused my efforts and got her debrief.
She reported that Bella was barely holding it together, the cops had backed off, and the doctors had scheduled Charlie to be pulled off the machines tomorrow. I instructed her to tell Bella that Esme and Carlisle were soon to be found dead, but it was staged, so not to worry too much. Charlotte agreed with my plan, and left again, intending on guarding Bella by staying hidden from the other humans.
It was two in the morning when the death arranging squad returned.
"Carlisle and Esme," I asked them, "do you want to stay here hidden or leave ahead of us?"
"Stay," Esme stated, begging Carlisle with her eyes.
"Of course," he answered her.
Shortly after the sun rose Carlisle called Billy Black and requested a meeting that evening with them.
In the meantime, Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya, and Rosalie had gone to help Emmett with his task of removing cameras across the area, while Alice and Edward had made sure there was no detail out of place. I had gone back to my tracing.
At eleven o'clock Charlotte texted me to inform me that the doctors had called Charlie's death, and I relayed the message. Two hours later Bella showed up at the house, Peter and Charlotte in toe, claiming that she couldn't face Charlie's house. Through the walls and floors, I heard her requesting the details of what had happened after she had been saved.
"It was brutal," Charlotte told her, "and maybe in time we'll be able to form the words to tell you, to tell each other, even, but the bottom line is that he used our love and care for each other for his pleasure and we killed him for it."
"Who?" Bella asked, as if this mattered.
"Jasper and I tore him apart and Alice burnt him," she answered.
There was movement and then Bella voiced, "Come on Esme, join us."
When I took a second to visually examine what was happening, Bella had made a bedding area out of the pillows, and Alice, probably seeing her intention along with Edward, had acquired many other pillows along with blankets. Esme, Alice, Charlotte, and Bella were wrapped around each other, with Carlisle, Edward, and Peter stroking their pair's hair, leaving Bella out, but she was in the middle of the girls, with them stroking her. Sending them all back the feelings of care and tenderness they were feeling for each other, I retreated.
An hour later Bella muttered, "What a club," before she got up. After feeding and watering herself, she came and found me.
"What are you doing?" she wondered.
"Trying to digitally find where James' video feeds were going," I told her.
She blanched before mumbling, "And he just gets more sick." After a moment she asked, "Any luck?"
"He had thousands of feeds going to lots of places in order to make the trail difficult, but I'll get it," I told her.
"Of the mines?" she asked.
"Yes, and the crash, and the lumber mill, and spots around Forks, and more," I answered. "Thus far, most of what Emmett has found has been audio only, but there have been a few video ones."
She whistled a low tone, "Wow, a voyeur, then?"
"In the worst way," I confirmed.
She looked green, and then declared, "Enough information for me." Turning, she offered to me, "Hope you get him soon."
The family continued with their jobs and me mine. Every once in a while my search would lead to an active feed, and I would send the coordinates to Emmett.
Through the rest of the afternoon and evening, with one of the Cullens' support, often Edward, ironically, Bella began to make the arrangements for her father's funeral. His bloodlust was off the charts, but he seemed to be containing it, God save us all. If their tone and words were to indicate anything, there was genuine camaraderie and affection between them. Apart from Edward's bloodlust, which would disappear upon Bella's turning, it was easy to imagine Alice's vision of them together as a couple.
At midnight, Bella went with us to meet up with Sam and the pack. Oddly, the Quileute council also came. They claimed that they wanted the truth directly, which was honest, but there was something else there. Hopefully, Edward would hear it.
Carlisle, as our spokesperson, told them in a clinically detached tone all the events that had happened from the car crash pile up to current events, leaving out the details of what happened in the mine, except to say that James was the worst of our kind and had tortured Charlie, Bella, Esme, Charlotte, and me, along with about thirty humans he had captured.
After Carlisle had finished, Sam asked incensed, "You let this José go?"
"He was James' pawn and there was enough death," Carlisle answered.
"He obeyed James," Esme added her voice quivering with terror, "but never harmed any of us directly."
It was the first time she had spoken more than a few words here and there. The courage it took for her to support my decision publicly humbled me. It also offered me a glimmer of hope that she could come to forgive me for the cruelty she experienced at James' hand.
The Quiluetes looked at Bella, as if unwilling to believe Esme.
"She speaks the truth, as much as I can remember," Bella collaborated.
They were extremely unhappy that James' presence had cost so many lives, including Charlie's, neutral about us staging Esme and Carlisle's deaths, angry that Bella was planning on moving with us, but pleased we were leaving the area.
Bella had quickly pointed out that despite their opposition, they were in no place to keep her protected from our police force, her unwillingness to risk the tribe's lives if they came asking questions, and that it was in Charlie's honour, including how much they had meant to him, that she was removing herself from them.
I suspected Bella was drawing upon conversations she and Alice had exchanged when Alice had spoken about the increased chance of the Volturi sending visitors. For some reason James' games had caught their attention, according to Alice.
Bella never once ever hinted at Alice's ability, while nevertheless made a convincing argument that her staying in Forks risked the Quileute and local humans' lives beyond what was reasonable, since she was only one person.
They grumbled, complained, and argued some, but in the end she convinced the elders, making the value of their attendance apparent.
It was six in the morning and Bella had barely been asleep two hours when we heard the dispatcher for the county sheriff's office sending officers out to the location where Carlisle's car had been dumped.
They were quicker than we had expected, but between Alice, Edward, Peter, Charlotte, and myself we got everyone home in preparation for a human visitor. It only took the police seven hours to send someone to the door to report the news. Through the glass they would be able to confirm most of our presence, enough to have them believe that we were all home. Eleazar answered the door and promised to tell everyone.
"Joint funeral?" Emmett joked.
"Yes, let's," Bella answered sadly. "James killed them all in a way. We can hold it in the high school auditorium. No doubt the whole town will come, as well as officers from the area. Might as well go big."
Alice added, "Yes, this will be better for hiding our secret. No one can look too closely if it's all three together."
"Moving date?" I asked.
"The day after the funeral," Edward offered. "We should say that we're all leaving to different locations. Since we're not related, except by adoption, we can make it seem like we're going to find our birth families or something similar. This way we can close up the house, leave the furniture, take the personal things, and offer a reasonable human excuse for our disappearance. It will look like college age students unable to cope with their grief and responsibilities. Then, in ten years we can hire a company to move the rest."
We all looked at Alice.
She informed us, "The town will complain about our thoughtlessness regarding our foster parents and all they did for us, but it leaves no awkward questions."
There must have been a look from Bella, because Charlotte said, "In reality we will all be travelling together and you're coming with us."
Edward's face momentarily looked embarrassed before he added, "Of course I was including Bella in the we. Her not being able to handle Charlie's death and running away from it would fit also."
"Denali?" Tanya requested with a tone of hope.
"Yes," Carlisle spoke, "we could all do with the support and time away from the human world."
"We'll give any lawyers, etc. Tanya's address, as that makes logical sense and fits, since they are technically the alive adult relatives. It would also relieve any concerns from the cops that they would be able to track us down if they had further questions, especially since they already met Carmen and Eleazar," Rosalie contributed.
"Most everything we can do remotely," Emmett supported.
"And me?" Bella asked, her voice wobbling. "What about my life? My future?"
It was the first time in my life being with a human as they prepared themself to enter our world. She was working at it, but her emotions were a whirlwind, seeming to contain every emotion possible.
"You could continue taking online classes," Alice pointed out evenly, like the answer or question was a big deal, "or transfer to an Alaska school."
Bella got quiet, and the conversations went into the details. Tuned them out, I went back to my job.
"Want some help?" Emmett asked after a couple of hours.
"Be my guest," I agreed.
He pulled up his computer, as I gave him the task of tracing the local links, and then sending out the Denali girls to destroy any he found. We were close to finding the root when we had to leave for the funeral.
"This is strange," Rosalie commented, as we Cullens drove together in the Volvo.
"First time for everything," Emmett tried to joke, but no one was in the mood.
The funeral was sober and a true honouring of Charlie, with Esme and Carlisle thrown in, while still very respectful. Edward had done most of the work, along with Rosalie, and it held the perfect tone.
By all emotional accounts Edward and Rosalie were grieving them. In truth, Esme, and thus Carlisle, was broken, and it was difficult to witness. Hopefully, something stronger would emerge from the destruction, but only time would tell.
I had underestimated the emotional impact to the town. Based on what my ability picked up at the funeral, Alice would be right. By the time the humans recovered from their grief, we'd be gone, and a whisper on the wind.
We each gave a believing performance for the humans. Then, as soon as we got home, the house was in a flurry of activity to leave. Peter and Charlotte were at Bella's helping her. With so many people helping, it barely took six hours to be ready to leave.
With as many cars as we own, we were nearly in pairs. Rosalie and Emmett were in her BMW. Tanya drove Emmett's Jeep, pulling on a trainer the motorcycles. Edward and Alice were in his Aston Martin. Kate was in Alice's Porche. Irina was in Edward's Volvo. Esme and Carlisle were in her Mercedes. Eleazar and Carmen were in their SUV. And I was driving Bella's Cheverlote Aveo that her and Charlie had got for her when she had started college. Peter sat gunshot with Charlotte and Bella in the back.
We were two hours on the road, me working through a satellite connection when I swore a storm, Edward gasped, and Alice screamed.
Immediately pulling over, the whole caravan left the cars on the side of the road and went to the trees, bringing Bella with us.
Eleazar was the one who demanded, "Out with it."
"James was using the video feeds to create a virtual betting game on the dark web," I tried to explain. "People could pay for certain events, outcomes, and bet on things. We weren't the first coven he did this on, nor the first humans by all accounts." Most everyone was confused, so I offered more details, "There was a live stream, which the Volturi most likely would have been watching. So, good news is that they will have seen how careful we are, and how we covered our tracks well. Bad news is that Bella must die, and soon. On top of all that, he set up the pot of money, if he were to ever be killed, to be claimed by the person who could present proof of retribution."
"That's diabolical," Emmett uttered, half of his tone in admiration.
Carlisle looked at me, his eyes pleading for it not to be true. "How many would have seen?"
"From what I can tell across the globe maybe a dozen locations. I can trace the IP addresses to give us a country of origin, but I'm assuming at least one is Volturi," I told him.
"This explains my visions of their increased likelihood of a visit," Alice added.
Silence enveloped us, with shock being the strongest most shared emotion between us.
"Let's arrive at Denali," Eleazar suggested after an extended period, "and discuss plans then."
Everyone agreed, so we all got back in the car, and I kept at unravelling James' game.
"He didn't mean dead like a doorknob dead, did he?" Bella asked Charlotte in a volume that would have been quiet to her.
"No, sweetheart," she assured Bella, "he meant human dead. I definitely want to keep you."
"What about everyone else? They don't want me to be a vampire?" she asked, clearly upset at a perceived rejection.
"It's not like that," Charlotte refuted. "The first year of being a vampire is rough. The responsibility of raising you will fall to Jasper and Peter. They used to raise vampires for their first year. They are reluctant to do that again, but they want you to be turned, just not the work it means. Honestly, it's a big deal for them to agree at all, as they're both almost defiantly opposed to being around newborns anymore. And the Cullens are supportive."
How Charlotte explained things irritated Alice tremendously and caused a slight unease in the rest of the Cullens.
"Oh," Bella mumbled. "I didn't think about that."
"We'll explain it all," Charlotte promised. "You'll be well informed, so don't worry too much."
It didn't take much after that for Bella to fall asleep. A few hours later she woke up, which had been restless at best, and told Charlotte, "It should be a suicide."
Charlotte looked confused.
"How we kill human me," Bella explained. "No one would be surprised after Charlie's death if I would do something reckless like jump off a cliff."
"No cliffs," Carlisle said from the other car, his voice tense with a note of pleading.
"How about camping gone bad?" Charlotte offered, since Carlisle had rejected Bella's idea.
"No one would believe that I went camping," Bella refuted.
"Ice fishing gone bad?" Emmett offered from Rosalie's car.
"Ice fishing gone bad? You did something to honour him," Charlotte stated, since Bella wouldn't have been able to hear Emmett.
Bella frowned and agreed, "I'd like to do something to honour him anyway."
It was an hour later when Bella spoke again, "Is there a way to give my money, and the money Charlie left for me to the city of Forks?"
"Yes," Carlisle answered.
"Yes," Charlotte relayed.
"And eventually we should do something in Carlisle and Esme's honour," Edward stated, informing us all.
"How soon?" Bella asked.
"I don't see any firm decisions to send Volturi guards yet," Alice told us, "but that could change."
"The healthier you are mentally and emotionally the better," I told Bella, choosing not to relay Alice's input. "Our venom can heal the body, but the rest you comes with you." Then, after a second's thought, added the warning, "But at the end of the day a Volturi visit might force our hand."
I looked over to Peter and met his eyes. In that look he promised to stand by me and aid me in anyway I needed, and I knew that Charlotte would be a part of that process.
In so many ways the worst part of winning the war was dealing with the consequences.