Four years I've been here.
In those four years I've moved up the ranks and am now Captain Isabella Swan. I honestly didn't believe I would make it this far, much less make this a career, but I don't have anything waiting for me anymore back in the States, so I lost myself in being a soldier.
In these past four years, I've lost both of my parents and I hated that I felt the edges of that ragged hole that the Cullen's left beginning to re-open. Charlie died my second year in Afghanistan due to a bank robbery gone wrong. It still made me a bit emotional to realize that I never really got to know my father. The little time I lived with him I was so caught up in the Cullen's that my relationship with my father suffered. I know he tried to make me feel loved and cared for, but our relationship was always a strain no matter how much we loved each other. My mother, Renee received his flag during his funeral and even though they were no longer married, I heard from Phil that it had a special place on their mantelpiece until I was ready to come back to get it.
Six months later my mom called me with news that she had stage four breast cancer and six months after that she was gone. I had gone back to the States once to see her before she died and I could see the toll that it was taking on her. She knew she wouldn't survive, but she was willing to fight as hard as her body would let her. The day I heard about her death, Char took me to a local bar to get drunk and I drank the pain away. Her death was more difficult for me to handle because it was like losing a child and a parent at the same time. I had taken care of her for years before my move to Forks and her death wasn't something I was ready to accept gracefully.
I did keep in touch with Phil for a while, but he soon found love again and remarried and I was left without any parental figure at all. It was one of the darkest times I'd had since the Cullen's had left me, but with Char's help and with plenty of missions to keep my mind off the pain, I managed to outshine all of my peers and rose rapidly to my new station.
Char called me a workaholic, but she also managed to benefit from working all the time. Her station rose as mine did, but she was one tier lower at First Lieutenant which was nothing to turn your nose up at. She would have made Captain with me, but due to an unfortunate set of circumstances that I was not involved in – which may or may not have involved a monkey, a dress made of corn husks, and the entire collection of the Colonel's underwear – that resulted in disciplinary action, she was demoted. From what I hear though, it was one hell of a night.
Char and I had managed to do some astounding work and take out some very difficult targets in our years together. She was the sister I never knew I wanted and I was the pain in the ass that made her get shit done. As different as we were, we worked perfectly together and we were practically attached at the hip, even on our furloughs we would take mini vacations together.
We were actually scheduled for a two week R&R coming up in the next few days and we had both decided that Italy would be a great place to tour. She had picked a few small towns that she wanted to visit – something about the bigger cities being inauthentic – and I had picked a few of the more historical sites to visit. I couldn't begin to wrap my head around some of the ancient architecture we would see. I think I was more excited about this vacation than I had been about anything in a while and I think Char could notice. I blamed the excitement on the history we would see. She blamed the excitement on the men we might meet.
The first week flew by with us visiting various cities like Florence, Milan, and Rome. We had done shopping at boutiques, we had seen cathedrals and churches, we had been to ancient sites all over, and we had done historical tours, and honestly if I had my way I would never want to leave Italy again! I loved every minute I spent in this beautiful country and I would hate to leave it. Perhaps after I'm retired I can settle here and own a vineyard or something. Not that I would know the first thing about owning a vineyard, but hey, a girl can dream.
Today we were visiting one of Char's picks on this Italian tour. It was a quaint little city called Volterra and I got a kick out of trying to roll my tongue properly to pronounce it. Char just thought I was an idiot and kept putting her hand on my mouth to shut me up. The city itself was set up like a medieval city would have been – or perhaps it just hadn't changed in thousands of years – I wasn't one to judge. It was interesting to see the large city wall that did actually incase the entire city within it and there was an actual castle sitting on a hill in the center. I could see the reason behind the extra height because you could see further out from the castle and be better prepared if a rival army showed up unexpectedly.
After we checked into the little hotel in the city, we took a quick walk around just to see what all was here. We happened upon a marketplace that sold everything from fine silk dresses to shoes to food and everything in between. It reminded me of the bazaars that Char and I visited from time to time in Afghanistan, although this one was much nicer and far more organized. While we were perusing through the marketplace, I happened to notice something out of the corner of my eye and as instinct dictated, I had to look.
I'm not sure if I ever came to regret that decision or not, but it would be a life-changing one. What I had noticed was a man, hiding in the shadows of a building about 50 yards away from us. He was huge! He was clearly the biggest man I'd ever laid eyes on at approximately 6 foot 8 and obviously built like a damn linebacker, but it wasn't what he looked like that had me on edge almost immediately, nor was it the fact that he was looking directly at me. No. It was what he was. Those red eyes stood out to me like damn beacons screaming at me to run and did I ever fucking want to, but I couldn't! I couldn't draw any more attention to myself and I certainly couldn't draw Char into this mess!
Oh shit! Char! How am I going to get us out of this?! Ok. Ok. Bella, think. It was roughly one o'clock in the afternoon and it was actually a really nice day outside, so that is where we'll stay. Outside. As long as we're in the sunlight, we'll be fine. So, there's really nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
"Char?" I ask trying to sound as nonchalant as I can with my heart pounding in my chest.
"Hmm?" She answers looking away from a beautiful ruby encrusted brooch that she was examining.
I looked at her a bit puzzled, "Are you seriously considering buying a brooch? What the hell would you wear it with?" I ask her bewildered and completely thrown off track.
"You never know, Bells. I could marry into high society one day and have to wear these things. Isn't it beautiful?" She asks.
"It is beautiful, but Char, honey, we're in the Army. The likelihood that you'll ever have to wear something like that is slim to none. Just leave it. You don't need it." I state with a huff.
"Some fun you are, Swan." Char deadpans.
"That's why you love me." I return in the same tone. "Anyway, before I got distracted, I wanted to ask if you have your Zippo on you?"
"Always, why? You wanna smoke?" Char asks.
"Yeah." I reply. "I'm getting a craving."
Char passed me the Zippo and her cigarettes and I lit one, took a drag, and shoved the lighter in my pocket where I could have easy access to it. I know smoking is bad for me, but frankly, I don't give a shit. I didn't smoke very much, but I was surrounded by it at the bases I was stationed at and the habit was one that I just picked up. The hit of nicotine did help calm me before and after a particularly difficult and stressful mission. This time however, the craving came from a different stress entirely and one that I hoped to take out at the first opportunity. Now I just had to figure out how to get to my target without a) revealing that I knew what he was and b) warning him of my intentions.
Shit. This wasn't going to go well. At. All.
I turned my head for a few minutes just pretending to look at the different items the next person had for sale and when I looked back up, the brick shithouse had friends. One was medium height, medium build, and all around mediocre and unimpressive as vampires go. The other two were slightly more terrifying even if they did look like children. The female had blonde hair that was pulled up into a tight bun on the back of her head. I'm not sure if it was a personal preference to keep it out of the way, or to make her look older; either way, it looked so tight that it was giving me a headache. The male looked like he could be her twin, but had dark brown hair and looked just as lethal. All four of them were wearing dark cloaks, almost black and they were obviously discussing something. When all four looked over at me, I knew exactly what they had been discussing. Me.
Fuck.
Too late to play ignorant now.
"Char, we gotta go." I told her quietly.
She looks over at me questioningly, "What do you mean we've gotta go? I'm enjoying myself here, Bells! I don't wanna go back to the hotel yet." Char replies indignantly.
"Char, I'm serious. I'll explain as much as I can later, but right now we've gotta go." I reiterate as I see Shorty One and Mediocre move to my left and Shorty Two move off to my right. Brickhouse stays right where he's at.
"No. I'm not going anywhere. You can cut this portion of the trip short just because you don't think it's interesting enough, but I'm staying right here." Char states challengingly.
I take my eyes off of Brickhouse just long enough to look at Char and say, "Charlotte. If there has ever been a time in your life that you needed to trust me, it's now. We have to go."
There must have been something in my eyes that Char saw to make her believe me, because she says in a much quieter voice, "Ok. We can go, but you have to tell me why."
I drag her further into the sunlight to the center of the market where a beautiful fountain sits and look around for options. "I swear I will tell you, but we need to get out of here first."
I was trying to keep all four in my sights, but Brickhouse still screamed 'biggest threat' at me, so I chose to watch him more than the other three. Perhaps that assessment was due to his sheer size, but my gut told me to watch him more than the rest. However, that didn't keep me from noticing that Shorty One had planted herself halfway down an alleyway further into the city; Shorty Two was on my other side and directly across from Shorty One, keeping that alley secure and making sure we didn't run out of the city. I didn't see Mediocre anywhere, but I was guessing he would be stationed somewhere behind me.
Damn it! When the other three moved off, I knew exactly what they were trying to do. Box us in. Surround us. And they had fucking done it! I didn't know if I was more pissed off at them, or at myself for acting like a damn greenhorn. I had to get us out of here! Now! Like right the fuck now! I wasn't concerned with the 'why's' of the whole situation yet. I was more concerned about surviving it. Then I would ask the 'why's' and the 'who's' and the inevitable 'what if's', but only then. Only after I got us out of this mess.
"We're surrounded, Char." I tell her. "Please tell me you've found a way out of here."
"I don't think you're going anywhere ladies." Says a very sinister voice from behind me. Mediocre had made his move and approached us from behind, walking around the fountain to get to us. What I wasn't expecting was for the area of the marketplace that he had come from to be covered. I was so caught up in my fear that I was thinking in two dimensions and had completely missed the banner hanging over the alley where Shorty Two was standing. That banner provided just the right amount of shade for Mediocre to get the drop on us. Shit. I fucked up. Badly.
"Who the fuck are you?" Charlotte asks. "And why would we stay here when you're obviously being a creepy motherfucker?"
Mediocre looks a bit shocked, but it quickly passes. I took the distraction Char provided me and reached into my pocket, grabbed the Zippo, and flicked it open, and shoved it right into his mouth when he went to answer her. It was a stupid move, but it was the only one I had and I was gonna take it. He lit up like a Christmas tree and started burning from the inside out.
"Into the fountain! Now!" I commanded Char and bless her, she didn't hesitate before nearly diving headfirst into that fountain as I tried to maneuver around Mediocre to get out of the way of the burning vamp. I didn't dive in, but I did manage to get most of me out of the way before he turned to ash right before my eyes.
I turned back to Char and said, "Other side of the fountain! Out!" and we were off running through the marketplace, completely drenched, and terrified.